In 656 BC, under the repeated attacks of Chu , he could not hold on and asked Qi for help.
Duke Huan of Qi In order to pay for Zheng, he held several military meetings and then led the army of eight countries to besiege the vassal state of Chu Duke Cai . Cai State is small and has a good life. When she saw Eight-Nation Alliance , she was so scared that she quickly reported to the King of Chu.
The King of Chu was a little afraid of the army of Qi, so he sent someone to question the King of Qi: "The territory between us is separated by the entire Central Plains, which is incompatible. Why did you lead the army to come here for?"
The Qi side was not showing any weakness. Prime Minister Guan Zhong sent someone to reply: "The former king once told my ancestor Jiang Taigong that our Qi State can conquer the princes of the world to assist the Zhou royal family. The ancestors of Chu State were enthroned by Zhou in the south, so they should pay tribute to the Zhou royal family. But now the King of Chu not only proclaims himself king, but also refuses to receive tribute. This is a great rebellious move. Of course, he will be attacked."
Qi State's trick represents the emperor's idea of eliminating you. The King of Chu pondered for a long time and said, "Mr. Qi used benevolence and virtue to appease the princes, so that everyone in the world respected him. It seems that I should work harder."
The new official took office but hit a wall
In 672 BC, Xiong Yun (pronunciation the same rhyme) killed his brother and succeeded to the throne, and was known in history as King Cheng of Chu .
It is an old tradition to kill the king and succeed the throne in Chu. His grandfather King Wu of Chu also killed his brother to succeed to the throne. Both of them are the same type of monarch, with abundant martial ethics and clear-mindedness.
The new official took office for three fires, and the first fire of King Cheng of Chu was diplomacy. He asked the historian to go to the vassal states with gifts to show friendship, and also paid tribute to the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. When the Emperor Zhou saw that the old thorny head of Chu still remembered himself, he was very happy and said to King Cheng of Chu: "There are many barbarians around Chu, and the turmoil is serious. You must guard the south well and not let the Central Plains suffer disaster."
is what he wants. King Cheng of Chu naturally understood that "guarding the south" as the south belonged to him. So he immediately activated the powerful armament of a great country and began to attack small marginal countries in the Central Plains.
After some victory, King Cheng of Chu had long thrown the words of Emperor Zhou behind his head and did not pay any more tribute to the country. He turned his eyes to the Central Plains. At that time, the first Central Plains country that Chu encountered after crossing its vassal state. It was a coincidence that it was Zheng State in western Henan.
It is also unlucky to say that Zheng State is also. Originally, Zheng State relied on its advantages as a major Central Plains to develop business and accumulate a lot of wealth. But this trick only works in peacetime. During the war, he, a small country that occupied the main transportation route, had only one end: any country who wanted to compete for hegemony had to beat him first.
In addition, Zheng State has experienced civil strife to seize the throne, and the merchants have long run away, and their national strength has completely weakened to the second or even the third echelon. It is easy for anyone to bully him. It can be said that the Zheng State in the middle and late periods of Spring and Autumn is a helpless fence-bearer. He will turn to the other side and jump back and forth between Qi, Chu and Jin. This is the sorrow of a small country.
For ten years, Zheng State was beaten by Chu State four times. Zheng State was unable to resist it and even had plans to surrender.
At that time, under the rule of Duke Huan of Qi, Guan Zhong and others, Qi was in its peak period. Facing the eight-nation army of Qi, King Cheng of Chu could only avoid his edge, so he sighed and sent an envoy to negotiate with Qi.
Duke Huan of Qi is to make people surrender, not to conquer the world. So he naturally proposed to rebuild friendship and not violate each other.
For Chu State, re-establishing friendship actually means showing weakness, so King Cheng of Chu asked the envoys to see the situation.
The envoy came to Qi's headquarters and was shocked to see that Qi's army was neatly decorated, well-equipped, strict disciplined and strong morale. Duke Huan of Qi asked a little complacently: "What do you think of my army? Which city can resist when fighting with such an army?"
envoy replied calmly: "The king is full of kindness, so the princes are willing to obey. But if the king uses force, our Chu State will be vast and rich in resources and with mountains, rivers as barriers, the king's army will probably not get much benefit."
This is a strong saying, but it is actually a way to show weakness. It is natural that Qi and Chu will be fine, but if Qi fights hard, Chu will not be afraid. It can be said that it has expressed its purpose and protected its own face.
Duke Huan of Qi laughed and did not deny it. Qi and Chu signed an alliance in Zhaoling (Luohe, Henan), which is known in history as the Zhaoling Alliance. Qi consolidated its hegemony, and even Chu was shorter.
Chu's expansion process was forced to be interrupted, and King Cheng of Chu was a little depressed.
edge test
Although the terms of peace were signed, the terms stated that Chu and Qi repaired each other and did not Invasion, it is not that Chu State cannot be used to move troops. King Cheng of Chu was unsuccessful in his expansion, and secretly accumulated strength to wait for opportunities.
The second year, Duke Huan of Qi convened again United Nations General Assembly to discuss who the prince of Zhou established. At that time, the Zhou Emperor intentionally abolished the current prince and changed to others. There were too many dramas of deposing the eldest son and establishing the concubine, and there were too many unrest. Qi State thought this was inappropriate and hoped that the Zhou Emperor would not do this, so he held a conference to pressure the Zhou Emperor.
His own family affairs were discussed randomly, and the Zhou Emperor was a little unhappy. He sent envoys to meet the king of Zheng and said, "Don't go to the conference." I will arrange for you to follow Chu State, and I will contact Jin State . We form an alliance so that Zheng State will be stable. "
Zheng Jun did not notice that there was a mine hidden in this sentence, but he felt very happy. So he left without saying goodbye to Duke Huan of Qi and ran home. At the same time, he sent an envoy to Chu State.
Duke Huan of Qi could not tolerate his authority and did not challenge. So, under the attack of Chu State, Zheng State was surrounded by the Qi army again before two years of his life.
King Cheng of Chu saw that the opportunity came, immediately raised his troops north and attacked the hometown of a small country in the Qi coalition. Duke Huan of Qi had no choice, so he sent troops back to aid. Of course, Chu State knew that the Qi army would rescue, so he rubbed it and turned around and wiped out several other small marginal countries. Because these countries were too small, they did not even have the qualification to seek help, and they were inexplicably gone.
Qi State saw that the Chu State's power was indeed Not weak, so he was determined to beat Zheng State to the fence-headed kingdom so that he dared not shake it anymore. Zheng State finally couldn't bear to eat and surrender. The Zhou Emperor's plan went bankrupt without any surprise.
King Cheng of Chu saw that there was no cheaper to make, so he could only go back again and wait for the opportunity.
was born at the wrong time
In 645 AD, King Cheng of Chu came because Guan Zhong died.
The death of this famous prime minister of the ages was a great blow to Qi State. King Cheng of Chu immediately sent troops to invade the Central Plains. Duke Huan of Qi held a United Nations General Assembly again and formed an Eight-Nation Alliance to fight against King Cheng of Chu. However, Duke Huan of Qi became old, and the wise ministers who followed him also left one after another. Both the appeal and combat power were not as good as before.
So, King Cheng of Chu was unstoppable and turned around and actually repelled the coalition forces. Although he did not occupy the land, this was the first time that Qi had failed on the front battlefield since he became dominant.
Two years later, Duke Huan of Qi died of illness and Qi was in chaos. Qi was no longer able to stop the State of Chu. King Cheng of Chu felt that he had laughed and said in the end. The Central Plains country was no longer his opponent, and dominance was just around the corner.
In the following ten years, the situation in the Central Plains was indeed as King Cheng of Chu expected. There was nothing to threaten him. Zheng also turned to the State of Chu again. Although there was a person named Duke Xiang of Song who was very noisy and did not look at how many pounds he always regarded himself as the leader of the alliance, King Cheng of Chu was also punished quickly. Although there was a person named Duke Xiang of Song who was very noisy and did not look at how many pounds he had always regarded himself as the leader of the alliance, but King Cheng of Chu was also punished quickly. This arrogant man.
However, King Cheng of Chu seemed to have forgotten that in the north, west of Taihang Mountain, there was a Jin State.
In 633 AD, the prince of Jin State Chong'er came to Chu State. This was the moment when King Cheng of Chu was proud. He treated Chong'er with kindness and had that famous conversation of retreat.
However, in the opinion of King Cheng of Chu, Jin State is not very good now, and Chong'er is almost sixty. If you go back like this, you should not threaten yourself, so you act very generously.
I never thought that just two years later, Chong'er succeeded to the throne, and soon restored Jin State. Only then did King Cheng of Chu pay attention to this new opponent.He valued the virtuous and capable civil officials around him, and the military generals were brave and good at planning. He suddenly remembered that the arrogant Duke Huan of Qi was surrounded by such talents.
He realized that he was difficult to deal with this time.
Sure enough, afterwards, in the Battle of Chengpu in , Jin defeated the Chu army, laying the foundation for the new era. Once again, Chu State could only be the second international leader.
King Chu Cheng was very depressed, but he was old and couldn't fight anymore. Let his descendants fight.
Since then, the Central Plains has entered a short period of peace. The State of Chu did not fight again, but focused on resting and recuperation.
In 626 AD, King Cheng of Chu, who had been resting for a long time, thought the prince was not good and decided to change the prince.
decided to change the prince again, and then to abolish the eldest son in his later years. History is often so similar. The prince was very decisive and led his troops into the palace, forcing King Cheng of Chu to death, and exerting the "fine" tradition of Chu.
It’s a pity that King Cheng of Chu has been in a prosperous life, but his achievements have not been achieved, but he has fallen into such a thing.
Conclusion
During the reign of King Cheng of Chu, the State of Chu was powerful.
Chu State is located in Hubei, far away from the political center at that time, and there were no various etiquette and customs of the Central Plains. The Chu State's atmosphere is generally strong, with strong people and bravery. Moreover, the State of Chu has a very wide area and abundant food and grass, so it has always been able to maintain a strong military strength.
On this basis, King Cheng of Chu knew the truth, knew the importance of the matter, and did not doubt the employment of people, so that the State of Chu could steadily and prosper.
