In the fifteenth year of Lu Xugong (645 B.C.), Guan Zhong, who had worked hard all his life to achieve the hegemony of Qi, came to the end of his life. After some greetings and condolences, Qi Huan asked Guan Zhong: "In your opinion, who can take over your phase?" ”

Guan Zhong said very cautiously: "Zhichen Mo Rujun, who are you more optimistic about?" ”

Qi Huan Gong liked Uncle Bao, and Guan Zhong said sincerely: "Uncle Bao is a gentleman, but he is too good and evil, so he can't be a minister." ”

Qi Huan Gong asked, "How about Yi Ya?" One day Qi Huan Gong had a bad appetite and only said: "I'm tired of eating any delicacies, so I want to taste what steamed baby meat tastes like." So Yi Ya killed his son and cooked for Qi Huan. Qi Huan learned the truth afterwards and was very moved, thinking that Yi Ya's loyalty to himself even exceeded the love of father and son, and he was more favored by him from then on, so he first recommended Yi Ya as the prime minister after the old minister Bao Shuya.

Guan Zhong shook his head and said: "In order to please the monarch, this Yi Ya did not hesitate to cook his own son, such a person with no humanity, a person who is greedy for fame and profit, should not be a prime minister." ”

Qi Huan Gong asked again: "How about the prescription?" "Kaifang is the eldest son of Wei Yigong, when the Duke of Qi Huan crusaded against the country, Wei Yigong sent him to bring gifts to the country of Qi to sue for peace. Kaifang saw that the national strength of Qi was at its peak, so he stayed in Qi as an official and did not return to China for fifteen years. Later, Weiguo was destroyed by the Di people, Wei Yigong died without a whole body, and even Wei Yigong's sister Xu Mu, who married Xu Guo, hurried back to Weiguo to rebuild his homeland, but Kaifang was indifferent and continued to stay in Qi to serve Qi Huan. Qi Huan Gong believed that Kai Fang's loyalty to him exceeded his love for his homeland, so he also trusted him very much.

Guan Zhong replied: "Wei Gongzi gave up the position of the crown prince of the country, and bowed to the monarch for fifteen years, and even did not go back to mourn when his father died. Moreover, he gave up the fiefdom of a thousand times and bowed down to the king, and what he wanted in his heart must be more than the seal of a thousand times, and the king must not let it be his own. ”

Qi Huan Gong asked again: "Then what about the erection?" Would he rather mutilate himself to serve the widow, and such a man would still be unfaithful to me? "Ji Diao is the eunuch favored by the Duke of Qi Huan, when the Duke of Qi Huan looked around for a capable person to manage the affairs of the harem for himself, after hearing about it, Ji Diao castrated himself and entered the palace to serve the Duke of Qi Huan.

Guan Zhong said worriedly: "It is against human feelings not to take care of one's body, how can such a person be truly loyal to you?" Please be sure to alienate these three people, pamper them, and the country will be in chaos. ”

The two talked for a long time, but they couldn't determine a successor to Xiangguo that was satisfactory to both parties, and Qi Huan Gong was a little dissatisfied. So Guan Zhong had no choice but to settle for the next best thing, and recommended Xi Peng, who had gone to Zhou with him to complete the task of peace talks with the Rong people, to Qi Huangong, and said that Xi Peng was loyal and patriotic, kind-hearted, and diligent and studious, not ashamed to ask questions, not forgetting official affairs at home, and very responsible. Qi Huan Gong thought about it and thought it was good, so he agreed to appoint Xi Peng as the prime minister.

Soon after, Guan Zhong died of illness, and when Guan Zhong was alive, he often advised Qi Huan Gong as a minister. As a monarch, Duke Qi Huan has many shortcomings, he is so happy, greedy for pleasure, and addicted to women, it is precisely because of Guan Zhong's persuasion and even checks and balances that Duke Qi Huan avoided many mistakes and embarked on the correct road of seeking hegemony by respecting the king, and finally achieved hegemony.

After Guan Zhong's death, although Qi Huan Gong was very sad, he also got rid of this rare person who dared to restrain himself. Originally, after the death of Guan Zhong, Duke Qi Huan expelled the ministers such as Yi Ya, Ji Diao, and Kai Fang according to his deathbed instructions, but at this time, Duke Qi Huan was already too old, and he no longer had the ambition and enterprising spirit of his youth. So Duke Qi Huan thought that Guan Zhong had a wrong opinion of them, so he quickly sent someone to summon them back, and since then he has gradually lost himself in the flattery and sweet words of Yi Ya and other traitorous ministers.

In the seventeenth year of the reign of Emperor Lu (643 BC), the elderly Duke of Qi Huan fell seriously ill, and his five sons began an open struggle for the throne of the king. Yi Ya and Ji Diao saw that Duke Qi Huan had died not long ago, so they blocked the palace gate, falsely passed on the king's order, and no one was allowed to enter, and no one even sent water. There was a palace maid who secretly climbed over the wall to enter Qi Huangong's residence, and Qi Huangong, who had been hungry for a few days, was overjoyed to see her and eagerly asked for food and water. The palace maid said, "I have no food or water, and now I have made trouble and blocked the palace gate, and no one is allowed to enter or leave, where is there any food?" ”

When Qi Huan Gong heard this, he sighed and shed tears of remorse: "I regret not listening to my middle father's words, if the dead have knowledge under the spring, what face will I have to see him!" After that, he covered his face with his sleeves and starved to death, and a generation of overlords died at the hands of villains. Under the shame and difficulty, depression ends.

What's even more tragic is that after the death of Duke Qi Huan, his five sons were busy killing each other and competing for the throne of the monarch, and no one had time to ask about his funeral, and Duke Qi Huan's body lay in bed for more than two months and no one paid attention. It was not until later that the prince who had helped the Weiren build a new capital after the Weiguo was destroyed by the Di people won the victory without loss and got the position of the monarch, so that he had time to prepare a coffin for the Duke of Qi Huan and arrange the funeral, at this time the body of the Duke of Qi Huan had been seriously decomposed, and the corpse insects had crawled out of the doors and windows of the palace. Since then, "ignoring the mortuary and attacking each other" has become the biggest warning to the king of a country to arrange the heir, and more than 2,000 years later, the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty once sighed because of the trouble of the heir problem, worried that he would follow in the footsteps of the Duke of Qi Huan.

The history books contain: "Huan Gong is good inside, and there are many internal favorites, such as six ladies." "The three wives Zhou Wangji, Xu Huan, and Cai Ji who Qi Huan married successively did not give birth to a concubine for him, and only six favorite concubines gave birth to a few concubines. Among them, Gongzi Wuqi, Gongzi Yuan, Gongzi Zhao, Gongzi Pan, and Gongzi Shang all served as the monarchs of Qi and then were killed by their own brothers in just a few years. After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the chaos of Qi lasted for more than forty years, and it was no longer the overlord of the Jiuhe princes.

The Song State was the feudal state of the Shang Dynasty royal family Wei Ziqi and his descendants, Wei Ziqi was the eldest brother of the Shang Dynasty King, and had repeatedly admonished the tyranny of the Shang Dynasty. After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, Wei Ziqi exposed his upper body on behalf of the royal family of the Shang Dynasty, tied his hands behind his back, and went to King Wu's military camp to surrender and ask for guilt with the sacrificial ritual vessels of the Shang Dynasty's temple.

In order to appease the remnants of the Shang Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou restored Wei Ziqi's title in the Shang Dynasty and gave him the area around the eastern part of present-day Henan as a feudal state. This position is between the great powers such as Qi and Lu, and the terrain is flat and there is no danger to defend, so the Song State not only has a small territory, but also does not have a military advantage, and it is almost impossible to rely on military strength to expand its territory and dominate for a while. However, due to historical reasons, the monarch of the Song State had a very high title, and he respected etiquette and law very much, and often boasted of benevolence and righteousness.

In the seventeenth year of Lu Xi Gong (643 B.C.), the hegemonic monarch of Qi Huangong, Qi Huangong, died, because he had no son-in-law, he discussed with Xiangguo Guan Zhong to establish Zheng Ji's son Zhao as the crown prince, and also asked Song Xianggong to take care of Gongzi Zhao. But it backfired, after the death of Duke Qi Huan, the sons born to his five favorite concubines all wanted to succeed to the throne, and they colluded with the ministers to kill each other. In order to allow his son to succeed to the throne, Duke Qi Huan's favorite concubine Changwei Ji colluded with Duke Qi Huan's favorite retainer Yi Ya and erected chaos, killed officials who disobeyed him, and supported Gongzi to succeed to the throne as the monarch without loss.

The crown prince appointed by the Duke of Qi Huan, Zhaoshi, was alone and could not compete with the powerful Changwei Ji, Yi Ya, Ji Diao and others, so he had to take people to escape from the Qi State and go into exile. Gongzi Zhao remembered that his father had asked Song Xianggong to take care of him, and the Song Kingdom was relatively close to the Qi Kingdom, so he hurried to the Song Kingdom and asked Song Xianggong for assistance.

The Song Kingdom was originally a small country, and its national strength was not outstanding, but the monarch Song Xianggong was a person with great ambitions. When Song Huan Gong died, Song Xianggong succeeded to the throne as a son-in-law, and named his cousin, the famous son Muyi, as Sima, that is, Xiangguo. The two brothers worked together and worked hard to implement many measures to benefit the country and the people, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and were known as "East Palace Tuzhi" in history.

On the other hand, Song Xianggong saw the rise of Qi power and the Duke of Qi Huan became the overlord of the vassal states, so he decided to follow Duke Qi Huan. Later Zheng betrayed Qi, and the Duke of Qi Huan summoned the princes to crusade against Zheng Guo, and also allocated a lot of Zheng land to Song State. By participating in these actions, the national strength of the Song State and its status and reputation among the vassal states have been greatly improved, and at the same time, Song Xianggong saw with his own eyes that the sword of Duke Qi Huan pointed out, and the princes did not dare to disobey the prestige, and he also felt very envious.

After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the state of Qi was too busy to take care of itself due to civil strife and was unable to maintain its supremacy. At this time, Song Xianggong believed that the strength of the Song State had increased significantly, and it was also very influential among various countries, and at the same time, he had a noble title and was a representative of etiquette and law, so he was the best candidate to inherit the overlord of Qi Huan. It happened that the prince Zhao of the Qi State fled to the Song State to seek refuge, and Song Xianggong thought that this was a good opportunity, if he could help the son Zhao return to the country and take the throne, he would naturally be able to control the Qi State, and when the time came, the Song State could naturally become the overlord justifiably by taking advantage of the prestige of the former overlord of the Qi State.

So Song Xianggong decided to escort Gongzi Zhao back to China and take the throne, so he issued an order to the vassal states as Duke Qi Huan did back then, asking all countries to send troops to escort Gongzi Zhao back to Qi. But the Song State was a small country after all, and although its national strength increased greatly because of following the Qi State, it still could not be compared with the great powers. Moreover, the prince of Qi has already ascended the throne without loss, if he sends troops to help Gongzi Zhao seize the throne, Gongzi Zhao will only be grateful to the Song State if he wins, but he will have an enmity with the Qi State if he fails, so no country wants to make a side difference and contribute to the Song State. Therefore, only the three small states of Cao, Wei, and Yi responded to the call of the Song State and brought troops to come.

Song Xianggong took this four-nation alliance army to march towards the Qi country, which had been fighting in the south and north for many years, and the troops were strong and strong, which was not something that the coalition forces of these small countries could easily defeat. But at this time, the civil strife in Qi continued, although Gongzi Wuwu had ascended the throne, but the henchmen of the other four Gongzi were still making waves, and the heir designated by Duke Qi Huan was Gongzi Zhao, and Gongzi's name was not right. Hearing that Song Xianggong led the coalition army to attack, the ministers of Qi were unwilling to go to war with the coalition army in order to maintain Gongzi's position as the monarch without loss, so they killed Gongzi Wuqi and planned to set up Gongzi Zhao.

However, several of the other Gongzi's henchmen did not agree to support Gongzi Zhao, so they got in the way, and finally the Qi army had to go to war with the coalition forces in the land. Due to the discord of people, the Qi army had no intention of fighting, and soon returned defeated. Song Xianggong took advantage of the victory to send Gongzi Zhao back to Qi and supported him to ascend the throne as king, known as Qi Xiaogong in history.

The coalition army convened by the Song State actually defeated the powerful Qi army, and the Qi Xiaogong also had to rely on the Song State, which made the Song Xianggong's ambition extremely inflated, and he believed that the time had come for the Song State to dominate. Therefore, in the nineteenth year of Lu Xuan (641 BC), Song Xianggong arrested Teng Xuangong, who was disobedient to the Song State, and then held an alliance in the south of Cao State, and summoned the kings of Cao, Di and other countries to come to the meeting. The state of Yan was an ally of the state of Yi, and the monarch of the state of Yan was late, so Duke Xiang of Song asked the prince of the state of Yan to seize the king of the state of Yan as a sacrifice to sacrifice to the shrine god of the second Sui, so as to demonstrate to the princes, and at the same time to warn the Yi people in the east.

Sima Gongzi of the Song State saw that what Song Xianggong had done was really excessive, so he persuaded him: "In the past, Duke Qi Huan rescued the Wei Guo and Xing Guo who had fallen into the country, and showed great favors to all countries, but there were still people who criticized him for his virtue. Now you have convened an alliance and abused the kings of two countries, and violated the etiquette system, using people to sacrifice to ghosts and gods, and trying to dominate the industry in this way. But Song Xianggong did not listen to the advice of Gongzi Muyi, and insisted on killing the monarch of Yan State to sacrifice to the gods.

Cao Gonggong saw that Song Xianggong had not yet become the overlord, but he acted so domineeringly, so he brushed his sleeves away in anger and no longer paid attention to Song Guo. Song Xianggong found that his practice of killing chickens and monkeys not only failed to make other vassal states recognize him as the overlord, but even the Cao State that had supported him left, and he was very dissatisfied, so he sent an army to attack Cao and besieged the capital of Cao State.

Gongzi Muyi also persuaded him: "The poem says: 'Punish the widow, as for the brother, to the family.'" 'How can it be that you are not perfect in your country, but you come to crusade against others?' Please reflect on your own virtues before talking about anything else. ”

But at this time, Song Xianggong had been carried away by the ambition of hegemony, and he no longer refused to listen to the good words and persuasion of Gongzi Muyi, regardless of his own country's small strength, and only wanted to achieve hegemony, which became the basis for his future fiasco.