During the first three years of Chu Zhuangwang's rule, he indulged in wine and debauchery and did not ask about political affairs. A minister named Wu Ju wanted to remind the king by guessing, so he remonstrated and said, "There is a bird in the south that won't fly or sing for three years. Don't know why? "
Chu Zhuangwang's answer was unexpected: "This bird is a blockbuster if it doesn't sing; Fly to the sky without flying. " Later, his face changed completely. Chu Zhuangwang put down the civil strife first, destroyed the invaded country first, appointed Sun Shuai as Lingyin, attached importance to social production, developed the economy, enriched the national strength, and began to compete for hegemony in the north.
In the seventeenth year of Chu Zhuangwang, the State of Chu defeated Jin, the overlord of the previous dynasty, and gained great fame, and successively wiped out several small countries in the north. Chu army fought all the way to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and Chu Zhuangwang won the Central Plains, realizing his desire for hegemony.
Why does Chu Zhuangwang have the confidence to say "blockbuster"?
Chu is a vassal state in the Yangtze River valley. It was blocked during the Zhou Chengwang period and was appointed as the leader of the southern region. It is the country with the largest territory and the largest population among the vassal States in the Spring and Autumn Period.
But like Qin at that time, it was excluded from the Central Plains culture. When Zhou came to pay his respects, he took the opportunity to ask about the size. Zhou' s answer is: "The political morality is clear, and the tripod is small and heavy; The monarch has no way, and the tripod is big and light. Although Zhou De has declined, his destiny has not changed, and the weight of the tripod cannot be asked. " Chu Zhuangwang's idea of continuing the Northern Expedition was dismissed.
The courage of the Chu people is also commendable. During the peasant uprising at the end of Qin Dynasty, Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu in the former Chu region also took the opportunity to arise and set up descendants of Chu Huaiwang. It is said that "although there are three families in Chu, Qin will die", and the story of Xiang Yu's "cross the rubicon" to defeat the main force shocked the world. After the Qin dynasty was overthrown, it became the strongest overlord in western Chu at that time.