A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 39 Beidi chaos in the Central Plains, the alliance between Qi and Chu
In the 658th year of Duke Huan of Qi, the th year of Bai Kingdom ( BC)
The Di people attacked Xing, and the situation was very serious. Qi Gong and Guan Zhong immediately joined forces with Song and Cao to rescue Xing, and at the same time asked Bai Guo to send troops to cut off the Di people's retreat. When the armies of Qi, Song, and Cao arrived in Xing State, the people of Xing State seemed to see their relatives, supporting the old and the young and defecting one after another.

Baiguo
King Bai Zhi decided to personally lead 3,000 elite white troops out of the northwest of Taihang Mountains to block Changdi's retreat at the junction of Xing and Wei.

The prince Bai Yu sat in Taiyuan and guarded various passes in the Taihang Mountains to prevent Chi Di from breaking through the passes and plundering the Bai Kingdom.

Two thousand white troops lined up on the only route through which the Changdi people retreated. In the distance, a large number of Di cavalry came towards here with looted goods and women.

This is a valley terrain. Chang Di saw the White Army's formation from a distance and immediately became confused. He only calmed down after the leader scolded him.

Then most of the Di people gathered together, leaving only a small number of Di people to look after the loot. "Rumble", the sound of the Di cavalry's hoofbeats was like thunder coming towards the White Army, and along with it was the splash of yellow sand all over the sky.

Seeing the Di people charging, the two thousand white troops immediately fired with bows and arrows. After only two rounds of shooting, the Di people were almost in front of them. The White Army quickly organized a retreat.

When the Di people saw the white army retreating, they instantly became excited, because the Di people had never lost a pursuit battle against the light infantry. But soon they couldn't laugh anymore, because what the White army showed was rows of rejected horses.

This was not the most terrifying thing. When the Di people were still thirty steps away from charging, the front row suddenly fell into a deep pit two meters wide.

The Di people in front could not rein in their horses. Even if they could, they would still be pushed down by the cavalry behind them. At this time, the Bai army also formed a military formation and continued to shoot at the Di people.

After the Di people withstood the continuous efforts to fill the pit and the killings of a large number of arrows from the Bai army, they finally filled the pit. Then they kept crashing into the Ju horses. If they hit the Ju horses, they would die. Those who were lucky enough to get past the Ju horses were killed by the White troops. The Halberdier killed.

Finally, the Di people could no longer hold on and began to retreat. At this time, the Di people still had a large number of troops. Suddenly, a large number of white troops appeared on both sides of the valley and pushed the rolling stones into the valley. The large number of rolling stones immediately knocked the Di people on their backs.

Not only that, the large number of stones made it impossible for the Di people's horses to run, so the Di people could only dismount and lead their horses to retreat.

When Bai Zhi saw that all the Di people had dismounted, he ordered the two thousand Bai troops at the foot of the mountain to attack. They crossed the Juma, stepped over the holes filled with the Di people's corpses and horses, and stepped over the corpses left by the Di people along the way. The Di people fought hand to hand.

The Di people who were grazing on the grassland were no match for the White Army who were good at individual combat and traveled over mountains and ridges all year round. The White Army was like a tiger descending from the mountain, killing the Di people until they even left their horses and ran back.

When the Di people who stayed behind saw that the large army in front was almost completely wiped out, they immediately dropped their loot and fled in other directions.

In this battle, the White Army annihilated a large number of Di people, harvested a large amount of loot, and rescued a large number of people in Xing and Wei. The reputation of the White Army once again resounded throughout the world.

In the end, the Di people were repulsed and even annihilated. However, Xing State was completely plundered by the Di people. So Qi Gong and Guan Zhong, together with Song and Cao, decided to help Xing State move the capital to Yiyi, which was close to Qi State and was safer. Bai Guo will give part of the loot to Xing Guo and Wei Guo to speed up their recovery.

With the help of all the princes, the chaotic Xing Kingdom was quickly stabilized. Both Xing and Wei were plundered by the Di people, but under the auspices of Qi Gong and Guan Zhong, they were able to recover.

So people all over the world said with admiration: The people of Xing State moved to the new capital city, as if they had returned to their hometown; after the restoration of Wei State, people were very happy, and they soon forgot the grief of the country's subjugation. Qi State is worthy of being a great country in the world. Ah, the Bai army is indeed the strongest army in the world! This is used to show the strength of Qi State and the White Army.

During the reign of King Wu of Chu, although Chu State occupied an area of ​​hundreds of miles, it still held the title of sub-baron. King Chu was very angry and decided to attack Sui State. Sui Jun knew that he could not resist, so he went to see the King of Chu in person and said, "I, Sui Guo, have not committed any crime."

The King of Chu said: "I, the Chu State, have lived in the barbarian land for generations. I have been the southern screen of the Zhou Dynasty. I have conquered the barbarians and expanded the territory for hundreds of miles. Now, all the princes in the world have betrayed the Emperor Zhou and invaded and attacked each other. And I have A powerful army, so I plan to use this opportunity to participate in the political affairs of the Central Plains, and I want to contribute to the maintenance of the Zhou royal family. I would like you to help me request the Zhou royal family to promote my title and respect my name."

The people of Sui helped the King of Chu to request a title from the Zhou royal family, but the Zhou royal family refused. The people of Sui had no choice but to repay the King of Chu truthfully.

After hearing this, Xiong Tong, the king of Chu, said angrily: "The ancestor of the Chu state is Yù Xiong, who was the teacher of King Wen of Zhou. Unfortunately, he died early. When King Cheng of Zhou Dynasty, the emperor wanted to promote my ancestor, but he was just He rewarded his son with land with the title of barony and let him live in the Chu region. Now all the barbarian tribes have surrendered, but the Emperor of Zhou still refused to grant him a title. Ordinary people say: If people don't respect people, they need to respect themselves! In this case, then I Just call yourself your honorary title!"

Xiong Tong then proclaimed himself King Wu, and then left after forming an alliance with the people of Sui.

Later, the Emperor of Zhou summoned Sui Hou and reprimanded him for supporting the king of Chu to become king. King Wu of Chu was furious when he heard that Sui Hou had betrayed him, so he launched an army to attack Sui. But contrary to expectations, King Wu died during the march, and Chu withdrew his troops. After the death of King Wu, King Wu's son King Wen Xiong Kui (zī) succeeded to the throne and began to make Ying (yǐng) the capital of the country.

In the following years, Chu State successively attacked Shen State, Cai State, Deng State, etc., as well as a series of small countries along the Yangtze River and Han River. The small countries were all afraid of Chu State.

King Wen passed away, and his son Xiong Yun succeeded to the throne. After Xiong Yun succeeded to the throne, he wanted to kill his younger brother Xiong Yun, so Xiong Yun fled to Sui. He united with the people of Sui to attack and killed Xiong Yun and established himself as king. This was for the sake of Chu. Become a king.

As soon as King Chu Cheng came to the throne, he showed kindness to the people and restored the former friendly relations with the princes. He also sent people to pay tribute to the emperor of Zhou. The emperor gave him meat and said: "You must take good care of the Yiyue people in the south." If the land is in turmoil, do not invade the Central Plains." So Chu continued to attack the Yiyue south and east, and eventually its territory expanded to a thousand miles in radius.

The twenty-ninth year of Qi Gong, the one hundred and fifteenth year of Bai Kingdom

Chu State sent troops to Zheng State again. When the Duke of Qi and Guan Zhong heard about it, they led all the princes to rescue Zheng against Chu. As Chu State continued to attack Zheng, Qi Gong, Guan Zhong, Lu, Song, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Xu, Cao, Bai and other eight countries formed a nine-nation coalition and went south. They first eliminated Cai State, which had been following Chu State, in one fell swoop. Refers to the state of Chu.

Under the situation where the nine-nation coalition forces were pressing down on the border, the Chu State quickly understood that the situation was stronger than the people, so they decisively sent envoy Qu Wan to negotiate with the coalition forces.

As soon as Qu Wan saw Qi Gong, he saluted and asked: "Foreign ministers have met Qi Gong. Everyone in the world knows that your Qi country lives in the North Sea, and our Chu country lives in the South China Sea. Our two countries are thousands of miles apart. In the past, Everything is mutually non-interference. I wonder why you, the Qi State, came to us this time?" Guan Zhong, who was standing next to Qi Gong, answered for Qi Gong after hearing this:

"In the past, Duke Zhaokang, following the orders of the Emperor of Zhou, once said to our ancestor Taigong: If any of the fifth-level princes and ninth-level uncles fails to abide by the etiquette and laws, you can attack him.

To the east to the sea, to the west to the Yellow River, to the south to Muling, and to the north to the end of the Zhou Dynasty, they are all within the scope of your conquest. Now, your state of Chu does not pay tribute to the Emperor of Zhou with Baomao used for sacrifices and wine filtering. This is a blatant violation of Zhou rites!

There is also King Zhou Zhao’s southern expedition, which has not returned yet. This matter has nothing to do with you. Today we from Qi State have led all the princes to come here just to ask you for guilt! "

Qu Wan replied: "It is indeed our Chu State's fault that we have not paid tribute to Baomao for many years. As for King Zhao's failure to return from the southern expedition, this happened at the Han River. You should go to the Han River to inquire about it and merge with our Chu State. No connection.”

Seeing that Qu Wan, the envoy of Chu, was neither soft nor hard, Duke Qi lost his patience, so he ordered the army to station at Xing. The Chu army and the Qi allied army faced each other from the north to the south for half a year from spring to summer.

Chu State couldn't bear it, so it sent Qu Wan to negotiate with Qi Gong and Guan Zhong. Qi Gong and Guan Zhong had no intention of fighting for a long time. They attacked Chu State this time just to show the power of the overlord and scare Chu State through this conquest. So they quickly agreed to negotiate with Qu Wan and reached an agreement to withdraw their troops to Zhaoling.

After the negotiation, in order to show off his military strength, Qi Gong invited Qu Wan, who had not yet returned, to come to the army and ride with him to watch the army. I saw that the entire army was in uniform shape, with sharp weapons, tough armor and stomach, and as many chariots as an ox.

Qi Gong pointed to the army and said to Qu Wan: "If you command such an army to fight, what kind of enemy can resist? If you command such an army to attack a walled city, what kind of wall can't be conquered? If you command such an army, what kind of wall can't be conquered?" If the army tries to reason with us, what kind of truth won’t make sense?”

Qu Wanze replied calmly: "O Duke of Qi! If you use virtue and justice to appease the princes of the world, who would dare to disobey? And if you only rely on force, then our Chu State can treat Fangcheng Mountain as a city and Han Han The water is like a pool. The city is so high and the pool is so deep. No matter how many soldiers you have, it will probably be of no use!"

After hearing this, Qi Gong didn't know how to answer, so he changed the subject and took Qu Wan to hold a banquet.

In the thirty-fifth year of Duke Qi, in the one hundred and twenty-first year of Bai Kingdom

King Hui of Zhou died. King Hui of Zhou was the son of King Zhou Li, King Zhou Li was the son of King Zhouzhuang, King Zhouzhuang was the son of King Huan of Zhou, and King Huan of Zhou was the grandson of King Ping of Zhou.

Qi Gonggong and other princely states jointly supported Prince Zheng as the emperor of Zhou, and he was named King Xiang of Zhou.

After King Xiang of Zhou came to the throne, he ordered Zhou Gong Kong to bestow Qi Gong with civil and military weapons, red bows and arrows, and roads in recognition of his merits. Qi Gong convened a gathering of princes from all over the world in Caiqiu to prepare for the ceremony of receiving the gift.

At the gift ceremony, Zhou Gong Kong asked King Zhou Xiang for orders. Because Qi Gong was old and virtuous, he did not need to bow down to receive the gift. Duke Qi wanted to obey the emperor's order, but Guan Zhong said from the side: "Although the emperor of Zhou is humble, his ministers must not be disrespectful."

So Qi Gong politely declined to the Emperor of Zhou: "The power of God is not contrary to the appearance of the emperor. Xiao Bai'an dares to covet the king's orders. Does the emperor want to abolish his official position?" After saying this, I saw Qi Gong quickly walked down the steps, bowed to the head again, and then He went to court again to receive his blessings.

Seeing this, all the princes admired Qi Jun for being a polite king. After the bestowal ceremony, Qi Gong reiterated his alliance with all the princes and made a new alliance.

In the thirty-ninth year of Duke Huan of Qi, in the one hundred and twenty-fifth year of Bai Kingdom

King Zhou Xiang's younger brother Shudai colluded with the Rong people to attack Luoyi. The royal family was in civil strife and was in great danger. When the Duke of Qi heard the news, he quickly sent Guan Zhong to help King Xiang quell the civil strife. Later, Guan Zhong completed this task very well and was praised by Emperor Zhou.

In order to show respect for the overlord's ministers, King Xiang of Zhou planned to hold a banquet to celebrate Guan Zhong's success using the etiquette of being a minister, but Guan Zhong did not accept it. In the end, Guan Zhong only accepted the courtesy treatment.

The forty-one year of Duke Qi, the one hundred and twenty-seventh year of Bai Kingdom

Guan Zhong passed away. Before Guan Zhong died, Qi Gong asked who could replace him. Is it Bao Shuya? Guan Zhong refused and recommended Gongsun Xipeng to Qi Gong, saying: "Bao Shuya is a gentleman, but he is too clear-eyed about good and evil. He will never forget the evil he sees in others. This is not suitable for government. And Gongsun Xi Peng is a loyal person, not ashamed to ask questions from his subordinates, does not forget official duties at home, and is talented in politics, so he is the best candidate for Prime Minister Qi."

He also asked Qi Gong to stay away from the three villains Fang, Shu Diao and Yi Ya. After Guan Zhong's death, the two successors, Gongsun Xipeng and Bao Shuya, continued to use the political system left by Guan Zhong. Qi Gong also appointed Guan Zhong's descendants as senior officials, who enjoyed the blessings of Qi from generation to generation.

The forty-third year of Duke Huan of Qi and the one hundred and twenty-ninth year of Bai Kingdom (643 BC)
The overlord of the generation, Duke Huan of Qi, Xiaobai, passed away due to a serious illness. The five princes (Gongzi Wukui, Gongzi Zhao, Gongzi Pan, Gongzi Yuan and Gongzi Shang) each led their factions to compete for position. The five princes attacked each other, and the country of Qi was in chaos. Duke Huan of Qi's body was left on the bed for sixty-seven days, and all the corpse insects crawled out of the window. It was not until the newly established Qi Jun Wugui succeeded to the throne that Duke Huan's body could be buried.
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Because of the weakness of King Zhou Ping and the violence of Zheng Zhuanggong, the Central Plains countries were reduced to a piece of scattered sand. However, the power of the Chu people was so strong and the Rong and Di were so free. The cultural essence accumulated over a thousand years since Xia, Shang and Zhou was shaken.

Duke Huan of Qi was in such a difficult and critical situation. He relied on his own national strength and a group of wise ministers and famous generals to create a new politics of "hegemony", which maintained the organization and culture of Zhuxia and enabled the people of all countries to balance their power and become well-off. Then the internal development slowly proceeds.

People in the Xia Dynasty expanded their wisdom, integrated their emotions, organized the country's discipline, and drew up the aspirations of the people. Therefore, after the hegemony lasted for more than a hundred years, cultural progress was really rapid. The splendid construction of the Warring States Period was conceived at that time. This is really a figure that deserves attention in the history of the Republic!

However, after the death of Duke Huan, the countries of the Central Plains were still in disarray. Duke Huan's hegemony has all collapsed. At this critical moment, Duke Wen of Jin, the only powerful and talented monarch named Ji in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, took over the will of Duke Huan of Qi and took on the responsibility of respecting the king and repelling the foreigners for the second time.

——"The significance of the Spring and Autumn Overlords to the Xia and even the Republic"

(End of this chapter)