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

Chapter 49 The bird of Chu, Jiuding

The second year of King Zhuang of Chu, the one hundred and fifty-ninth year of Bai Kingdom

Zhao Dun, the minister of the state of Jin, took advantage of the fact that the new king of Chu had just succeeded to the throne and had not yet sorted out the country's affairs. He sent General Quque to lead the upper and lower armies of Jin to attack Cai, a vassal state that had been attached to Chu. Chu State launched a fierce attack on Cai State at its doorstep. While Cai Zhuanghou resisted the Jin army, he sent people to Chu State for help.

King Zhuang of Chu, who was enjoying the graceful dance and music, saw Cai Guo's letter asking for help, but turned a blind eye. Soon, the capital of Cai fell, and when the country was ruined and the family was destroyed, the Marquis of Cai Zhuang could only sign a city alliance with Queque.

In the third year of King Zhuang of Chu, the 160th year of Bai Kingdom
Marquis Cai Zhuang, who had lost his power and humiliated his country, could not let go of his anger, and finally died of grief and anger. However, there were still singing and dancing in the palace of the King of Chu.

In the same year, there was a great famine in Chu State. The Shanrong tribe in the eastern part of Ba State took the opportunity to raid the southwest border of Chu State and reached Fushan Mountain. Chu State quickly organized defense and sent troops to set up defenses in the Dalin area. At the same time, the Yi and Yue tribes in the east also took the opportunity to cause chaos and sent troops to invade the southeastern border of Chu State and captured Yangqiu, thus directly threatening Zizhi.

The Yong State, which had always surrendered to the Chu State, also launched various barbarian tribes to rebel. In addition, the people of the Lu State, who had just been conquered by the Chu State, also led various Yi tribes to assemble in selected areas and prepare to attack Yingdu.

In just three years, urgent documents from all over the country flew to Yingdu like snow flakes one after another. Martial law began in all cities and places, and a tense atmosphere filled the air. Amid natural and man-made disasters, it seemed as if the Chu State was about to collapse.

However, the young and careless King of Chuzhuang, as always, hid in the palace, hunting and drinking all day long, ignoring government affairs. The affairs of the court were left to the Chengjia, Douban, Doujiao and other Ruo'ao clan. A big sign was also hung at the entrance of the palace, which read: "Those who come to remonstrate will be killed without mercy."

Why is King Zhuang of Chu so desolate? It turned out that King Zhuang of Chu was less than 20 years old when he came to the throne, and there were many conflicts in the country, and rebellions broke out one after another between Gongzi Xie and Gongzi Yi. In addition, King Chu Mu left him Ling Yin Douban to assist him and supervise him.

In a complicated situation, he didn't know who to trust, so he adopted the strategy of observing the action quietly and identifying the traitor with his senses. He showed himself to be indulging in sensuality and not interested in political affairs, in order to find someone who was loyal and talented. assistant.

On this day, King Zhuang was holding Zheng Ji in his left hand and a Yue girl in his right hand. He was sitting among the singers and dancers, eating the fruit fed by Zheng Ji, drinking the wine handed by the Yue girl, and drunkenly watching the singing and dancing. . At this time, the doctor Wu Ju came to see him. When King Zhuang saw this, he said, "Do you want to drink, doctor? Or do you want to watch singing and dancing?"

Wu Ju said: "Your Majesty, I came here because someone asked me a riddle. I couldn't guess it, so I came here to ask for your advice."

"Oh? Is there anything the doctor can't guess? Then I need to guess carefully."

"The riddle is, 'There is a big bird in Chujing that has been perching in the court hall for three years without singing or flying. It's so hard to figure out, which one is it?' Please guess, it doesn't sing or fly. This is What kind of bird is it?"

After hearing this, King Chuzhuang understood Wu Ju's meaning and said with a smile: "Haha, I guessed it. It is not an ordinary bird. This bird has not flown for three years and then soared into the sky. If it doesn’t make a sound, it will become a blockbuster. Just wait and see.”

Wu Ju understood what King Chuzhuang meant and left happily.

After a few months, King Zhuang of Chu was still the same as before, neither "crowing" nor "flying", and he still loved the sounds of dogs and horses. Doctor Su Cong couldn't bear it anymore and came to see King Zhuang. As soon as he entered the palace gate, he burst into tears.

King Zhuang of Chu asked: "Doctor, why are you so sad?"

Su Cong replied: "I feel sad that I am about to die, and I am also sad that the Chu Kingdom is about to perish!"

King Zhuang of Chu was surprised and asked, "How could you die? How could the Kingdom of Chu be destroyed?"

Su Cong said: "I want to advise you, but if you don't listen, you will definitely kill me. If you watch songs and dances, play and hunt all day long, and ignore government affairs, isn't the demise of Chu State just around the corner?"

After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu was furious and rebuked Su Cong: "Do you want to die? I have already said that I will kill anyone who comes to advise me. Now you know it and do it, you are really stupid!"

Su Cong said very bitterly: "I am stupid, but you are even stupider than me. If you kill me, I will be known as a loyal minister after my death. If you continue like this, the Chu Kingdom will perish. You will Become the king of the country. Aren't you more stupid than me? That's it, you can kill me if you want!"

King Chuzhuang suddenly stood up and said emotionally: "What you said are good advice, I will definitely do what you say." Then he issued an order to dissolve the band, send away the dancers, and determined to do something big. King Chuzhuang swore to Wu Ju, Su Cong and others that he would stay away from wine and sex and handle the government affairs personally.

The top priority of King Chuzhuang's pro-government was to attack the rebellious country of Yong. King Chuzhuang left his command Yin Douban and took a chariot to the front line against Yongguo, joined forces with the front troops and took command personally.

King Zhuang of Chu divided the Chu army into two groups: Ziyue sent troops from Shixi; Zibei sent troops from Rendi, and contacted Qin, Ba and barbarian tribes to jointly attack the enemy. The King of Chu supervised the battle, and the soldiers attacked Yongguo fiercely. Soon, Yongguo could not withstand the fierce attack of the Chu army, and soon gave out and declared its demise. In this way, King Zhuang of Chu won his first victory since taking office.

After the King of Chuzhuang put down the civil strife and eliminated the emperor, his rule became stable, and he began to aspire to go north to seek hegemony. At that time, Jin was still the strongest among the countries in the Central Plains. It suppressed Qin in the west and controlled Bai Qi in the east. Although Qin and Qi gradually rose or recovered, they were still not strong opponents of Jin.

However, Jin Linggong, the current king of Jin, is very cruel and unethical. He harms his subjects at home and accepts bribes without trust. Therefore, the domestic rule is unstable and the prestige abroad is also declining. King Chuzhuang believes that this is the best way to go north to seek hegemony. opportunity.

The fourth year of King Zhuang of Chu, the one hundred and sixty-first year of Bai Kingdom

Jin Huiwei, Chen and other princes came to Hu, thinking that Zheng had two hearts for Chu, and refused Zheng Mugong to attend the meeting. After Zheng Zi's family sent a letter to Zhao Dun, explaining that Zheng Ju was a big country and had to obey the order of force, Jin finally allowed it. Please make peace. However, after this, Zheng Guo also discovered that Jin State was worried about Chu State's strength, and had to change its attitude towards Chu State.

The sixth year of King Zhuang of Chu, the one hundred and sixty-third year of Bai Kingdom

Zheng Guo thought Jin was unfaithful and agreed to attack Qi and Song together. However, he gave up halfway because he was bribed by Qi and Song, so he rebelled against Jin and took the initiative to form an alliance with Chu. As the stability and strength of the Chu State increased, some Central Plains countries began to look to the wind and seriously choose their own way out.

At the right time, Chen Gonggong died, and the King of Chuzhuang did not send anyone to express his condolences. Chen Linggong became angry and formed an alliance with Jin. King Zhuang of Chu saw that he had an excuse to send troops, so he immediately led an army to attack Chen, and then Song.

Zhao Dun, the high minister of Jin, led his army to join the armies of Song, Chen, Wei, and Cao in Peilin, and attacked Zheng to save Chen and Song. The king of Chuzhuang sent Qu Jia to lead his army to rescue Zheng, and met the Jin army in Beilin. The Jin army was defeated, the doctor Xie Yang was captured, and the Jin army had to retreat.

In the winter of the same year, in order to get rid of the passive situation, Jin followed Zhao Chuan's strategy and attacked Qin's ally Chongguo, hoping to force Qin to come to the rescue and then ask Qin for territory, but Qin ignored it. Later Jin attacked Zheng in retaliation for the Battle of Beilin.

In the seventh year of King Chuzhuang, in the spring of the 164th year of Bai Kingdom

The State of Zheng was ordered by the State of Chu to attack the State of Song to attack the State of Jin. Zheng and Song fought in Daji, and the Song army was defeated. Zheng imprisoned Hua Yuan, captured Le Lu, and 460 armored chariots. Later Hua Yuan fled and built cities for the Song Dynasty.

At the same time, in retaliation for Jin's invasion of Chongguo, Qin sent troops to attack Jin and surrounded Jiaoyi. The relationship between Qin and Jin was tense for a time.

Summer:

Zhao Dun of Jin relieved the siege of Jiao, and then joined forces with Wei and Chen to attack Zheng in retaliation for the Battle of Daji. King Chuzhuang immediately ordered Zi Yuejiao to lead troops to rescue Zheng. Zhao Dun reasoned that Zi Yuejiao belonged to the Ruoao clan and "his clan is fighting for power and profit in the Chu Kingdom and is almost finished. Let him go back and aggravate the Chu Kingdom's ills for the time being." Retreat quietly.

At the same time, because Jin Linggong was tyrannical, he was killed by Zhao Chuan. Zhao Dun and others made the young master Heibu the Duke of Jin, which was the Duke Cheng of Jin.

The eighth year of King Zhuang of Chu and the one hundred and sixty-fifth year of Bai Kingdom

Spring:

The King of Chuzhuang personally led the army northward to attack Lu Hun's army in the name of "King Qin". As for Luoshui, he arrived near Luoyi, the capital of the Emperor of Zhou.

King Ding of Zhou was frightened and sent Wang Sunman, the doctor of Zhou, to comfort King Zhuang of Chu. King Chuzhuang met Wang Sunman in the army and asked curiously:
"I heard that after Yu the Great established the Xia Dynasty, he used the copper tribute from the nine pastoralists in the world to make a nine tripod, symbolizing the nine states. After that, the Xia spread to the Shang Dynasty, and the Shang Dynasty spread to the Zhou Dynasty. Finally, after Zhou Gong built Luoyi, he placed it in it.

It is said that the female gold is used as the yin tripod and the male gold is used as the yang tripod. The cauldron is always full to take advantage of the weather. It is engraved with dragon patterns and phoenix decorations, which is a rare thing in the world. I have lived in the south of Chu for a long time and have never seen such a gorgeous thing. I don’t know the importance of Jiuding. I happened to pass by Luoyi today. I wonder if I am lucky enough to see it. , Satisfy us princes from the south? "

Wang Sunman was very angry when he heard the King of Chuzhuang's bid for the throne. However, the state of Chu was so powerful that he had to respond tactfully: "The size of the nine tripods depends on the morality and justice, not the tripod itself."

When King Zhuang of Chu saw that Wang Sunman had rejected him, he boasted about Chu's military power and threatened him, saying: "Don't rely on your own Jiuding. The enemy's spearheads broken by Chu soldiers on the battlefield are enough to make Jiuding."

Facing the King of Chuzhuang who looked southward and was arrogant and disrespectful, the eloquent Wang Sunman made a clever rebuttal. He first bypassed the King of Chuzhuang and talked about the age of making Jiuding and the process of its inheritance. He said:
"Dayu ruled the nine states of the world, and each state sent bronzes produced to cast the nine tripods, which symbolized the entire world. Xia Jie was immoral, so the tripod was moved to the Shang Dynasty; six hundred years later, the Shang Dynasty was tyrannical, and the tripod was moved to the Shang Dynasty again. Zhou Dynasty.

It can be seen that as long as there is morality and justice, the tripod will be very heavy even though it is small, and it is too heavy to move. If there is no morality and justice, the tripod will be very light even though it is large, and it will be easy to lose it. King Cheng placed the tripod in Jiaxuan and divined that the Zhou Dynasty's lineage would last for thirty generations and could last for seven hundred years. This was God's will.

Although the virtues of the Zhou royal family have declined, the destiny has not changed. The importance of Jiuding cannot be asked. "

After hearing this, King Zhuang of Chu also realized that despite the presence of Jin, Qi, Qin, Wu and other great vassal states, the conditions were still far from adequate, so he withdrew his troops.

Taigyo Mountain

"Wars are becoming more and more frequent!" Bai Yu, a man with white hair, stood on the top of a mountain and looked to the south, sighing.

Bai Jun, who was already in his middle years, said, "Father, are we going to be in troubled times?"

"The more frequent the wars, the harder the lives of the common people will be! We must seek ways to calm the world!"

"Don't you have enough classics at home?"

"After staying in the mountains for a long time, your horizons will become narrowed! I have decided that in the future, a large number of Bai family members will go out of the mountains to take a good look at the world and find ways to help the world. Don't stay in the library all day long.

Especially that boy Bai Xun, who stays in the library every day without leaving the door. "

"Father, don't the princes have any objections?"

"What do they think? We didn't send troops. We sent our children to other countries. It's too late for them to be happy?"

"Well, I remember, kid."

"Also, is Yu'er going to be crowned?"

"Yes"

"In this way, after Yu'er is crowned, let him travel with his third uncle Xun."

"This is too young. There has never been a precedent for the young master to go out before!"

Bai Yu looked at Bai Jun and said, "Precedent? If the world continues to follow precedents, will I, the Bai family, still have the status I have now? Maybe we will still be slaves!"

Bai Jun said helplessly: "Here!"

Bai Yu looked at the blue sky again and said, "Time is running out!"

(End of this chapter)