Ziyue pepper, known as Doujiao, the more the word, the word Bo Di. He is a descendant of Ruo Ao, who is the ancestor of Chu and Xiong Yi, the monarch of Chu at the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty. After Xiong Yi inherited the throne, he began to be called "Ruoao", which was the first king with a special title in the history of the Chu State. Xiong Yi married the daughter of the fallen son, and later gave birth to Dou Bobby, who took Ruo Ao as his clan. His fief is in Douyi, so he is also the ancestor of the Dou clan.

Dou Bobi gave birth to Ziwen and Ziyu who later served as the commander of the state of Chu, and Ziliang who was Ren Sima. Ziyu made a great contribution in the process of cutting down Chen, and Ziwen gave him the position of Ling Yin. Ziwen's son was called Ziyang, and later Ziyang also became the commander of the state of Chu. Ziliang's son is Ziyue Jiao. When Ziyue Jiao was born, Ziwen went to celebrate, and was very surprised when he saw him, saying that he was like a tiger and a bear, and his voice was like a jackal, and told Ziliang that he seemed to have wolf ambitions and could not be raised.

Ziliang couldn't bear to kill his son, so he didn't follow Ziwen's advice. Ziwen always thought that the Ruo Ao clan would eventually be destroyed at the hands of Zi Yuejiao, and he was still very worried until he died. Before he died, Ziwen gathered the people of the Ruo Ao clan and told them that if Zi Yuejiao was in power one day, let them leave the Chu State quickly, only in this way could they avoid being implicated by Zi Yuejiao, and sighed: "Ghosts need someone to sacrifice some food from time to time, and the ghosts of the Ruo Ao family may starve in the future." ”

When Ziyue Jiao grew up, he was very brave and good at commanding troops to fight. Thirty years ago, when Jin and Chu were at war in Chengpu, Zi Yuejiao followed his uncle and father Yu to participate in this battle. During the battle, Duke Wen of Jin fulfilled the promise he made when he was in exile in Chu many years ago, and took the initiative to retreat to the land of three houses. Ignoring King Chu Cheng's previous warnings, Ziyu led his army to advance rashly, but was attacked by the Jin army from both flanks, and finally suffered defeat. The defeat of the Chu army intensified the contradictions between the Ruoao clan and the other nobles of the Chu state. However, it is worth mentioning that Ziyue Jiao's performance in this battle is remarkable.

Bao Jia, the word Bo wins. When Ziwen was the commander of the state of Chu, the military parade only lasted one morning, and he did not often punish the soldiers. After giving way to Ziyu, Ziyu spent a whole day in the parade and punished many soldiers. Many old ministers congratulated Ziwen, saying that he knew people well, and Ziwen and Ziyu were very happy. A young man who was watching the parade on the side not only congratulated him, but also mocked Ziyu, saying that he did not know how to govern the country or use soldiers, and that if he led more than 300 troops, he would definitely lose the battle. This newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers is Pei Jia.

During the reign of King Chumu, he sent Ziyue Jiao to various countries many times. Zi Yuejiao's arrogant personality is gradually exposed, and his attitude is often very arrogant and unpleasant. Later, Ziyang became Ling Yin, at this time, Ziyue Jiao was the Sima of Chu State, and Jia Jia was Gongzheng, and Gongzheng was an official position in charge of hundreds of workers. Ziyue Jiao was dissatisfied with Ziyang, and there was a split within the Ao family. In the fourth year of Lu Xuangong (605 BC), Zhu Jia framed Ziyang, Ziyang was executed, Ziyue Jiao was appointed as Ling Yin, and Jia succeeded him as Sima. After Ziyue Jiao came to power, King Chuzhuang divided power over Ziyue Jiao with the help of Bao Jia, Qu Dang, Zizhong and others. In the fourth year of Lu Xuangong (605 BC), he relied on the strength of his own people to capture and kill Zhu Jia, who had framed Ziyang for him, in Yiyang, the city of Chu.

After killing Bao Jia, Ziyue Jiao rode a tiger and was difficult to get down. At that time, the king of Chuzhuang was leading his troops on the Northern Expedition, and Ziyue Jiao took advantage of his presence in the Central Plains to launch a rebellion. He garrisoned Jiaoye (present-day Xinye, Henan) to prevent the king of Chuzhuang from returning to China. Because Ziyuejiao's rebellion was relatively sudden, King Chuzhuang was a little caught off guard. At first, as a delaying tactic, he planned to sue for peace with Zi Yuejiao, and captured the sons of King Wen of Chu, King Cheng of Chu and King Mu of Chu as hostages to negotiate with Zi Yuejiao, but Zi Yuejiao categorically refused. He was ready for an armed contest and set up a battlefield in Zhangyue waiting for a decisive battle with Wang Shi.

In July of that year, the Wang Shi led by the King of Chuzhuang and the Ruo Ao clan led by Ziyue Jiao had a desperate battle in Gaohu. Zi Yuejiao shot arrows at King Zhuang of Chu twice in a row, and King Zhuang was lucky to avoid it. When Wang Shi saw the menacing rebels, he was a little frightened and had a tendency to retreat. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, King Chuzhuang hurriedly sent people to inspect the army and spread a lie he had made up. This lie is that the two arrows used by Zi Yuejiao before were used to steal the royal family, after King Chu Wen conquered Xiguo, he obtained three magic arrows, two of which were stolen by Zi Yuejiao, and now that the two arrows have been used up, they have nothing to fear.

After the heart of Wang Shijun stabilized, the combat effectiveness rose suddenly, and all the soldiers marched while beating drums, and if the Ao clan was defeated, Ziyuejiao and many people of his clan were killed. At that time, the penal system of Chu was the same as that of the Central Plains, and the implementation was continuous sitting and clan punishment, but Ziwen's grandson Kehuang escaped by luck and was not killed by the king of Chuzhuang. This is because at the time of the Ziyue Jiao Rebellion, Ke Huang, who was then Zhen Yin, was on his way to the State of Qi as an envoy of the State of Chu.

On the way back to Chu, while passing through the Song State, Ke Huang heard that Zi Yuejiao led the Ruo Ao clan to launch a rebellion. His retinue advised him not to return to China for the time being, but Ke Huang believed that he had been ordered by the king to send an envoy to the Qi Kingdom, and now in the face of a rebellion among his clansmen, if he refused to return to China for fear of being implicated, it would be against the envoy's order. If he does not return to China now because he is afraid of disaster and goes into exile, no country will respect and accept him.

Out of such considerations, Ke Huang put the king's life first and returned to the state of Chu. As soon as he arrived in Yingdu, he took the initiative to ask for the law. King Chu Zhuang saw that Ke Huang was not afraid of life and death, and insisted on returning to China in order to return to him, and thought of his grandfather Ziwen's efforts for the strength of Chu State, and felt that Ke Huang was a loyal and upright person like Ziwen. Therefore, he finally decided to pardon Ke Huang and save him from being sitting.

Since King Chuzhuang ascended the throne, this was the biggest internal crisis he faced. Quelled the rebellion of the Ruoao clan and eradicated Ziyue Jiao, eliminating the threat of the big clans of the Chu royal family to the royal power of the Chu Zhuang king. After that, King Chuzhuang, who had no worries, began to fight for hegemony with foreign countries.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu was very fierce, and many small countries between the two big countries, such as Chen, Zheng, Song, and Cai, experienced very tragic wars. As a subordinate of the two big powers, these small countries are incapable of self-preservation, and generally belong to whichever of the two sides vying for hegemony has the upper hand. As the focus of the competition between Jin and Chu, these countries are always at war.

When the state of Chu fell into civil strife, the state of Chen, which was originally attached to it, turned its back on Chu to Jin under the coercion of the Jin state. After the king of Chuzhuang quelled the rebellion, he led his troops to Chen Guoxing's division to ask for the guilt. Under the threat of Chu, Chen had to reneg on his alliance with Jin and re-ally with Chu. Although Chen Guo succumbed to the Chu State, the King of Chu Zhuang was still not at ease, and even wanted to turn Chen State into a county of Chu State, but fortunately he was dissuaded by Chu Dafu Shen Shushi, and Chen Guo was retained.

As a country with a larger land area than Chen, Zheng suffered more serious war disasters in the Jin and Chu struggles for hegemony. From 608 BC to 596 BC, the Jin state alone used troops against it five times, and the Chu state even crusaded against the Zheng state seven times. In the thirteen years, Zheng Guo suffered almost every year of war, and at the worst time, he was even attacked by two great powers. A small country sandwiched between a large country will never have a good environment.

In the third year of Lu Xuangong (606 BC), the Jin State crusaded against Zheng Guo because Zheng Guo betrayed the Jin Dynasty to Chu, and the Jin army fought until the land of Yin, and Zheng Guo had no choice but to make peace with him in order to protect himself. In the summer of that year, the state of Chu sent troops to ask for the guilt. In the tenth year of Lu Xuangong (599 BC), Zheng made peace with Chu under the threat of force from Chu, and soon, Jin joined forces with Song, Wei, and Cao to crusade against it, and Zheng had to turn his back on Chu and Jin. In the winter of that year, the state of Chu came to crusade again.

Sandwiched between the two great powers of Jin and Chu, Zheng Guo was attacked by Jin from Chu, and attacked by Chu from Jin, and in desperation, Zheng Guo's master Ziliang put forward the policy of "with those who came", which is actually a policy of going with the wind, not sticking to the covenant with which side, and whoever brings troops to attack will give a gift to whom to express obedience. Ziliang's wall-to-wall strategy is Zheng Guo's best strategy to survive in that situation.

Zheng Guo's ingenious maneuvering policy was tacitly approved by the Jin State, but the Chu State was very dissatisfied with it. After Zheng and Chu formed an alliance, Chu saw that Zheng still had close contacts with Jin, so he launched an attack on Zheng Guo. In the spring of the twelfth year of Lu Xuangong (597 BC), the Chu army besieged the capital of Zheng State. After being besieged for three months, Zheng Xianggong saw that the Jin State still refused to come to the rescue, so he had to go to the Chu army to make peace in person. Eventually, the two countries made an alliance, and Xianggong's disciple Ziliang was sent to Chu as a hostage.

Zheng Guo had been defeated and surrendered, and Jin sent Xun Lin's father to lead the three armies to rescue Zheng. The Jin army marched to the Yellow River and learned the news of Zheng Chu's peace. Xun Lin's father was ready to return to the division, but the deputy marshal of the Chinese army, Xianyu, resolutely disagreed. He believed that in order to maintain the hegemony of the Jin State, it was necessary to fight a decisive battle with the Chu State. Xianyu's actions were supported by Zhao Kuo and Zhao Tong, and he led his troops across the Yellow River to attack the Chu army. Xun Lin's father realized that if Xianyu failed, he would have to bear all the responsibility as the commander, and the whole army would cross the river, and if it failed, the responsibility would be shared by the generals, so he also crossed the river.

After the king of Chuzhuang captured Zhengdu, he was about to return to the dynasty with his division, but he heard the news that the Jin army had crossed the river. Wu Shen, the minister of Chu, saw that there was discord within the Jin army, and the main general Xun Lin's father had no prestige, and felt that this was a good opportunity to defeat the Jin army. King Chuzhuang adopted Wu Shen's advice and set up camp in Guandi, waiting for the arrival of the Jin army. In fact, although the king of Chu Zhuang understood that this was an excellent opportunity to defeat the Jin army, he was unwilling to engage the Jin army, and he sent people to make peace with the Jin army twice. Xun Lin's father agreed to make peace with the Chu army, but his subordinates had been disturbed by Xianyu and refused to obey his command at all.

The war ended with the defeat of the Jin Kingdom. This is the most tragic defeat faced by the Jin State since the Jin and Chu struggled for hegemony. The original purpose of King Chuzhuang's expedition this time was to crusade against Zheng Guo, but he didn't expect to unexpectedly gain such a big surprise. Thirty-five years ago, when the state of Chu was fighting with the state of Jin in Chengpu, it suffered the humiliation of defeat. Throughout the whole process of the Battle of Yi, the defeat of the Jin army was not accidental. The Jin army was not united, the generals had different intentions, and the commander Xun Lin's father had no prestige, could not convince the public, and had no command ability, so he did not defend the enemy on the battlefield.

However, despite the defeat in the Battle of Yi, the vitality of the Jin Kingdom was not dampened, but the position of the alliance leader was slightly shaken. After that, the Jin state still had the ability to compete with the princes of the Central Plains. The defeat at the Battle of Yi exposed the contradictions lurking within the Jin state, which was a turning point in the struggle for hegemony between the Jin and Chu, and for more than two decades thereafter, the Chu state had the upper hand in the struggle for hegemony.

This shows how difficult it is for a small country to be sandwiched between large countries. The struggle for fame and fortune between major powers is going on all the time and will never stop.