After Qin defeated Jin, there was no war between the two countries for more than ten years. However, Chu in the south is getting stronger every day, and it is determined to compete with Jin, the overlord of the Central Plains.
In 6 13 BC, Chu Zhuangwang, the grandson of King Chu Cheng, succeeded to the throne and became the monarch. The State of Jin took this opportunity to bring back several countries that had always been attached to the State of Chu and conclude a covenant. The ministers of Chu were unconvinced and asked Chu Zhuangwang to send troops to be king.
But Chu Zhuangwang didn't listen. He hunts during the day, drinks at night, listens to music and doesn't care about any national affairs. So he spent three years in cowardice. He knew that the ministers were very dissatisfied with his behavior, and he also gave an order: whoever dares to remonstrate will be sentenced to death.
There was a minister named Wu Ju, who couldn't stand it anymore and insisted on seeing Chu Zhuangwang. Chu Zhuangwang had a good time there. He heard that Wu Ju wanted to see him, so he called Wu Ju to his side and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Wu Ju said: "Someone asked me to guess a riddle, and I couldn't figure it out. Your majesty is a wise man, please guess. "
When Chu Zhuangwang heard that someone asked him to guess riddles, he felt very strange and interesting, so he smiled and said, "Tell me."
Wu Ju said: "On the mountain of Chu, there is a big bird, dressed in colorful clothes, and it looks very proud. But it stopped for three years and didn't fly or scream. What kind of bird is this? "
Chu Zhuangwang know who WuJu said. He said, "This is not an ordinary bird. This kind of bird, if it doesn't fly, will fly to the sky; If you don't sing, you will be surprised. You go, I already understand. "
After a while, another minister, Su Cong, looked at Chu Zhuangwang's silence and tried to persuade Chu Zhuangwang.
Chu Zhuangwang asked him, "Don't you know the ban I made?"
Su Cong said, "I know. As long as the king can listen to my opinion, I am willing to violate the ban and be sentenced to death. "
Chu Zhuangwang said happily, "You all really think of your country. How can I not understand? "
Since then, Chu Zhuangwang was determined to reform politics, dismissed a number of sycophants, and promoted Wu Ju and Su Cong who dared to remonstrate to help him deal with state affairs. While manufacturing weapons, training. At that time, he conquered many tribes in the south.
Have the ambition to seize power
Chu Zhuangwang went to the Central Plains (Henan) for six years to defeat the Song State, tried his hand, and became familiar with the environment in the Central Plains. In eight years, he personally led a great army north to Luhun, south of Luoyi (Luoyang, Henan), where he defeated the local Rong nationality.
After the victory, they marched openly in the suburbs of Luoyi and drank horses by the Yellow River to show the strength of the Chu army. When the Chu army came to the border of the Zhou royal family, King Ding of Zhou was very afraid and sent a messenger to comfort him. King Zhuang saw him and asked him about Jiuding's weight. According to legend, Jiuding was cast in Yu Xia, representing Kyushu and symbolizing the national treasure and the power of the son of heaven.
Wang said, "Rule the world by virtue, not by tripod." Not convinced, King Zhuang said, "Don't rely on Jiuding. I have a lot of copper in Chu. All we have to do is break the blade of Geji. " The king said to him, "Please don't forget that Yu Xia is a noble man, and all the governors in the world support him. Let all localities contribute bronze and let Qi make Jiuding unrecognizable. Later, confused, Ding was transferred to Shang. The Shang and Zhou dynasties were autocratic, and Ding turned to Zhou. If the emperor has virtue, the tripod is small and heavy and cannot be moved; The son of heaven has no virtue, and the tripod is big, light and easy to move. The national luck of the Zhou Dynasty is not finished, and the weight of the tripod cannot be asked. " King Zhuang has nothing to say. Since then, people have called trying to seize power "winning the championship", which means that someone has wild desires, usually referring to coveting the throne.
It is an important event in history to watch the soldiers surround the border and win the championship. This represents the unprecedented prosperity of Chu and poses a threat to the Central Plains.
Wang advised him not to inquire about the importance of the tripod, and the focus of his administration was "virtue" rather than "strength". When divination was performed, God gave the Zhou royal family the right of inheritance for 700 years and allowed 30 monarchs to govern. Although Zhou's morality has declined now, his fate has not changed.
"In the past, Wang Lizhi was king, thirty years old, seven hundred years old, and accepted the destiny. Although Zhou De declined, his fate remained unchanged. 」
King Zhuang thinks that Wang is right, and Chu did not destroy the conditions of the Zhou Dynasty. He stopped talking and moved back to China.
Pingding ruoyujia
In the ninth year of King Zhuang, Zhou Jiang returned home in triumph. The troops have just finished fighting, and the journey is long and very tired. Yin Ziyue, dissatisfied with Jia's seizure of power, launched a large-scale rebellion and led troops to intercept in the suburbs.
King Zhuang wanted to compromise with Confucius and demanded that the two sides live in peace. He can use "descendants of Wen, Cheng and Mu" as hostages to ensure that Confucius will not be hurt. The more you refuse, the more you have to fight. Zhuang Wang led the troops to meet the enemy, and the two sides fought in Gaohu (Xiangyang, Hubei).
Confucius fired two arrows in succession, one on the bronze sparrow terrace and the other on the hood, which almost hit Chu Zhuangwang. It's really amazing! The troops panicked and retreated. Chu Zhuangwang quickly sent a message to the army: "Once upon a time, King Wen attacked Xi 'an and was hit by three sharp arrows. Confucius stole two, and now he has finished filming. "Body-guard just stabilized.
King Zhuang personally beat drums to encourage the soldiers to attack. When the army approached the enemy, archer Yang took an arrow and hit Zi Yue. Ruoao's troops began to break up. It is sad that the Chu people lost this family of God of War, but the civil strife and foreign invasion were finally settled, and the king of Zhuang mastered the national military and political power, and the situation was stable, ready to compete for hegemony in the north.
Farewell party
After Chu Zhuangwang put down the rebellion, a grand banquet was held, and all the concubines attended. During the dinner, the sound of silk and bamboo, singing and dancing, and the sound of wine and food interweaved until night. The king of Chu ordered a candlelight banquet, and specially invited two favorite beauties, Ji Xu and Maggie, to take turns toasting civil servants and military commanders.
Suddenly a gust of wind blew and all the candles at the party went out. At this time, a courtier dared to hold Ji Xu's hand. In the process of pulling, Ji Xu tore off her sleeve, broke free and tore off the tassel belt on the man's hat. Ji Xu returned to Chu Zhuangwang to complain, and hoped that the King of Chu would look at all the hats and tassels after lighting the candles, so as to find out the rude people just now.
Hearing this, Chu Zhuangwang ordered not to light candles, but said loudly, "I'm going to have a banquet today, so I have to say goodbye to all of you. Now please take off your hat and tassel so that you can drink to your heart's content. 」
When Chu Zhuangwang said this, everyone took off their hats and tassels, then lit candles, and the monarch and his subjects enjoyed themselves and then dispersed. After the banquet, Ji Xu blamed Chu Zhuangwang for not venting to her. Chu Zhuangwang said: This banquet is to enjoy the carnival and coordinate the relationship between the monarch and the minister. It is human nature to be rude after drinking. If we want to investigate its responsibility and punish it, wouldn't it spoil everyone's fun?
Three years later, the State of Jin fought against the State of Chu. A military commander named Tang Qiao always took the lead, fought bravely for five times, took the lead in repelling the enemy, and finally won. Chu Zhuangwang was surprised and asked him, "My virtue is superficial. I didn't give you special treatment. Why didn't you hesitate to risk your life for me? " The military commander replied, "I should have died long ago!" " I was drunk and lost my temper. You didn't kill me, king. I will never dare to repay your shameful virtue. I often wish I could spill my blood on the enemy for a long time! It was my hat band that broke that night! 」。
Later, Chu Zhuangwang invited Sun Shuai, a famous hermit of Chu, to be your wife. Sun Shuai became the Lingyin, reclaiming wasteland, digging rivers and rewarding production. In order to avoid floods and droughts, he also organized Chu people to open rivers, which can irrigate millions of acres of crops and harvest a lot of food every year. A few years later, Chu became more powerful, putting down two civil strife between Zheng and Chen, and finally clashed with Jin, the overlord of the Central Plains.
In 597 BC, he led a great army to attack Zheng, and Jin sent troops to save Zheng. There was a great war between Zhai (now east of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province) and Chu State. The state of Jin has never suffered such a terrible failure. Half of the troops died and the other half fled to the Yellow River. There were fewer boats and more people, and soldiers rushed to cross the river, so many people were squeezed into the water. The man who fell into the water climbed onto the boat, and the soldiers on the boat were afraid of capsizing, so they took a knife and cut off the fingers of the soldiers who climbed onto the boat.
It was suggested that Chu Zhuangwang catch up and destroy the Jin army. Chu Zhuangwang said, "Since the fall of Chengpu, the State of Chu has been unable to lift its head. Such a great victory this time has finally washed away the previous shame. Why kill more people? "
Said, and immediately ordered to retreat, so that the beaten army of the state of Jin fled back.
Since then, this blockbuster has become a blockbuster, and Chu Zhuangwang has become the overlord.
From Qi Huangong, Jin Wengong, Song Xianggong, Qin Mugong to Chu Zhuangwang, there are always five overlords. In history, they are usually called "five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period".