An Analysis of the Early Background of Wuyue's Contending for Hegemony

In 546 BC, the second time " " officially established the international order that Jin and Chu divided the world equally. Forty years later, in 506 BC, the battle of took place again. After such a long and hot days, the world should be in chaos. In the spring of 506 BC, on the eve of the Battle of Baiju, Cai Zhaohou was bullied by the order of Chu, Yin Zichang, and finally returned to China in humiliation. After Cai Zhaohou returned to China, he immediately went to 晋国 to seek justice from Jin. At this time, the Fan family was the largest family in the Jin country. Fan Xianzi Shimarang, a general in the Jin country, was in full power. After receiving the request of 蔡国, he weighed the pros and cons and found the Zhou royal family at that time. Liu Wengong, the minister of power, discussed this matter. Speaking of Liu Wengong, many people are very unfamiliar. There are countless celebrities and bright galaxies in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is normal for everyone to not understand Liu Wengong. I will briefly introduce him.

The Battle of Baiju

Talking about Zhou Jingwang When he was on the throne, the eldest son, the prince tree, died early, and then the eldest son Ji Meng, the eldest son of Zhou Jingwang, became the prince. In 520 BC, King Zhou Jing died, and his beloved Chen Bin started his mind. He supported Zhou Jingwang’s eldest son, the eldest son, ascended the throne. But at this time, Liu Wengong and Shan Mugong disagreed. In disagreement with Bin Qi, now Bin Qi intends to abolish the prince openly. The two used this handle to kill Bin Qi. Li Ji became the emperor, and he was called Zhou Mourning King in history. But in addition to Binqi, Mao Bode, Yin Wengong, and Zhaozhuang in the Zhou royal family also supported the prince dynasty. These people united to expel Zhou Mourning King. Liu Wengong and Shan Mugong set the prince dynasty as their king. Unfortunately, the King of Zhou Mourning died half a year later. In the order of eldest and youngest, Liu Wengong and Shan Mugong could only support the younger brother of King Zhou Mourning, , as the monarch, and was known as King Zhou Jing in history. The two sides made a mess in the big palm of the Zhou royal family. The first battle lasted for three years. In the end, Liu Wengong won with the help of Jin. The prince and Mao Bode,Yin Wengong and others fled to Chu State. In the following decades, in order to prevent Wang Zichao and others from relying on the power of Chu to counterattack, Liu Wengong chose to hug Jin's thigh tightly. The Jin country is also happy to see the result, after all, the Zhou royal family is closer to him, which is beneficial and harmless to him. Therefore, after Cai Zhaohou asked Jin for help in 506 BC, Liu Wengong summoned the eighteenth princes in the Zhaoling League in the name of the Zhou royal family to discuss the plan to defeat Chu.

Zhaoling may not match the characters of Chu State. Back then, when the Qi-Chu confrontation and the Zhaoling League, and Qihuan were also held in this place. This time, the tenth of the Zhaoling League The Eight-Road princes are not a function word, there are really 18 princes participating, so this time the Zhaoling Union has created a spring and autumn best. With the power of a country, the largest vassal alliance was initiated, which is also a reflection of the Jin Dynasty Spring and Autumn Hegemony. The main issues of the Zhaoling League this time are two: First, the abolition of the covenant between the Jin and Chu parties in the Mibing League. Since then, Jin has been the only legal hegemon of the Central Plains. Another issue is to uphold justice for Cai Zhaohou and to fight against Chu State. During the meeting, Jin’s Xun Yin took the opportunity to blackmail Cai Zhaohou. Cai Zhaohou collapsed when he heard that it was as black as the crows in the world. The Chu ministers blackmailed me, and now even the Jin ministers are blackmailing me. Don’t I want face for Cai Zhaohou? ? This matter is determined not to be agreed, this is the sorrow of Chunqiu Xiaoguo, whoever sees them wants to step on it. After being rejected by Cai Zhaohou, Xun Yin of Jin State was also very angry. He said: Caihou, Caihou, the shoes on your feet are a bit big. I will give you a new one to wear. Xun Yin turned his head and went to Fan Xianzi Shiyang, and said: Our Jin Kingdom's hegemony is at sunset, but the princes have their own ghosts, and we are not in harmony with us. In this case, we will stand up for Cai Guo, and it will not do any good to provoke Chu State, and this year is rainy, malaria rises, plus our next Zhongshan Guo is about to move, if we abandon the prosecutors at this time The alliance of the Alliance will not only offend Chu State, but also lose the trust of Zhongshan State. After all, we have not taken advantage of Chu State since the Battle of Zhanban. Now we can only send troops to seek the last. , Why don’t you just reject Caihou and tell him that the landlord’s house has no more food.We are also hard to protect ourselves.

At that time, the six officials of the Jin Dynasty were fighting very fiercely. The Zhongxing clan where Xun Yin was located was the ironest ally of the Fan family. Fan Xianzi Shiying pondered it and felt it was not worth it, because Cai Guo offended the Zhongxing clan. So Fan Xianzi Shiyang agreed to Xun Yin's suggestion. However, the Zhaoling League is the largest league of princes since the Spring and Autumn Period. The princes of the Eighteenth Route are all watching. In the end, the Jin country found an excuse. They asked Cai to crusade against and Shen , who did not participate in the alliance, as the end of the Zhaoling alliance. Cai Zhaohou was also forced to be helpless. After all, he had already offended the Kingdom of Chu. If he offended the Kingdom of Jin again, how could he still be in the rivers and lakes. In the end, Cai Zhaohou would divide the Kingdom of Shen by three and five. However, this wave of operations of the Jin State disappointed the 18th Route princes. Everyone felt that the overlord of Jin State was too watery and really unreliable. Only Jin Guo feels good about himself. In this case, Qi State saw the possibility of dominance. At that time, the Qi Kingdom's Qi Jinggong was a person who was unwilling to be lonely. He wanted to take advantage of the decline of Jin to restore the hegemony of Qi Huangong era.

The Battle of Cai Shen

Immediately in the winter of the same year, there was the Battle of Baiju. As the second power in the Spring and Autumn Period, the kingdom of Chu was defeated by and Wu, and the monarch was exiled. . The rapid decline of the Chu State created a power vacuum for the Central Plains hegemon, which created an opportunity for Qi to dominate the Central Plains. Coincidentally, Zheng Guo's ruling doctor died on the way to the Zhaoling Union League. This old man is the representative of Zheng Guo 's close forces. As Zheng Guo's close influence greatly diminished and Chu State fell into despair, Zheng Guo wanted to find a new backer for himself. So in 503 BC, Zheng Guo, the key piece of 's battle for hegemony in the Jin and Chu , turned to Qi, and Qi Jinggong and Zheng Xiangong formally concluded an agreement. Soon after, Wei Linggong, the monarch of Wei, was also dissatisfied with Fan Xianzi Shimaring of Jin.He gradually moved closer to Qi State, and that was it. In the hegemony of Jin State, two core allies took refuge in Qi State. With the fullness of Qi Jinggong's wings, he is finally about to attack Jin's hard-core ally . In the autumn of 502 BC, Qi Jinggong ordered the Qi army to go south and invade Lu.

The Battle of Cai Shen

Many people probably understand that Lu's diplomatic strategy adopts the strategy of even the Jin Dynasty, and Jin also needs to foster an agent in the east of the empire to restrict Qi. Country’s development. Because of this win-win relationship, since the era of Zhao Dun, the relationship between Lu and Jin has been very close. Lu has no longer its glory in the past, and they can’t stand the pressure of Qi and move to Jin overnight. The country calls for help. Since Lu has an important strategic position in the Jin’s hegemony system and is a must-see for Jin, Jin has suspended its internal fighting, and the Shi Martingale personally leads the army, and joins forces with the generals Zhaoyang, Zuo Xunyin, the upper army, sent troops together against Qi. As soon as Qi Jinggong saw the lineup of the Jin army, and the Fan, Zhao, and Zhongxing teamed up to the outside world, his forehead began to sweat. He felt that he was not sure of winning, and he had no choice but to withdraw his troops.

This incident occurred four years after the Battle of Baiju. By restoring the details of this era, you can find that not only the two groups of Wu, Chu, and Qi Jin are fighting for hegemony. On the map of Eastern Zhou , there are beacon fires and raging smoke everywhere. It was precisely in this situation of chaos in the Central Plains that the two generations of kings of the Wu Kingdom Wu Wanghelu and Wu Wangfucha put their strategic focus on the Central Plains region and began a new journey.