Let's say that one of the vassal states, the Song State, started with Song Daigong, moved eastward with the Son of Heaven, guarded a territory, and until the eighth generation of the lord Song Henggong succeeded to the throne, starting a period of 31 years of governance.

That Song Henggong has the eldest son Zi Mu Yi under his knees, the word Zi Zi Yu, this Zi Mu Yi is extremely intelligent and benevolent, and he is deeply loved by Song Heng Gong, but Mu Yi is not born to the queen, so he is not the eldest son, but the eldest son. In that era, the heirs were not important, so Muyi had no chance to become the prince, and his half-brother Zifu was born to the queen as a concubine, so he was made the prince by Song Henggong. Although Muyi was not made the crown prince, he was broad-minded and did not have any plans, and had a very good relationship with his younger brother Zifu, who also admired Muyi very much.

In 652 BC, in the winter of the thirtieth year of Song Huan, Song Huan fell seriously ill and wanted to entrust the future.

The crown prince Zifu knew the virtue of his brother Muyi, and repeatedly asked his brother Muyi to be the heir to the throne, and took the initiative to recommend to Song Henggong: "Brother Muyi is old and benevolent, and my father should make my brother the king." ”

Although Song Huan Gong died soon after the destiny of heaven came, he couldn't let go of state affairs in his heart, but he was so humble and conceiving, how could he not be happy. Then he said to Zifu: "Your benevolence and humility are enough to serve as the king, and you are the crown prince, it should be a righteous thing, why should you give up your brother?" ”

"Father, although Zifu has small virtues, but they are all learned from his brother, governing the country is not ordinary, those who need great virtue, for the long-term consideration of the Song Kingdom, but also ask my father to pass on the throne and Brother Muyi, I am willing to assist my brother and be a virtuous minister."

Song Henggong thought for a while and said, "Since you have made up your mind, then I will let Mu Yi be the king." Then he ordered the audience to be heard.

When he heard the news, he hurriedly excused himself and said, "Father, if you can resign the country to others, is there any greater benevolence than this?" If this is considered a small virtue, the son really doesn't know what kind of virtue can be regarded as a big virtue, this alone, the son can't do it, the son is not as good as the prince! Moreover, it is not in the order of establishing a monarch to establish a son. ”

When the prince heard this, he quickly got up to defend himself, but he was stopped by Mu Yi: "The prince should not bother his father with this matter again, his father is not in good health, so he should not be bothered more, but if he bothers his father again, it is not good." In the matter of the monarch, the prince should not shirk, and he will do his best to assist the prince and achieve great things! ”

The prince was helpless, so he withdrew with Muyi.

In 651 BC, in the thirty-first year of Song Huan, a generation of Ming monarchs Song Huan died of illness with a smile, and the crown prince Zifu ascended the throne as Song Xianggong.

After Song Xianggong ascended the throne, he thought that Muyi was benevolent, so he appointed Muyi as the left master to let him deal with the major affairs of the court, and decreed that the descendants of Muyi would inherit the official position of the left master from generation to generation.

This Muyi is indeed a great talent, governing the country well, good at giving good advice, and wholeheartedly assisting Song Xiang to make the Song State gradually stronger.

In 643 B.C., in the ninth year of King Xiang of Zhou, the overlord of a country, Qi Huan Gong died of illness, but Qi Huan Gong did not have the luck of Song Henggong There are two virtuous heirs, there was a civil strife in Qi State, and the inner servants Yi Ya, Ji Diao and other officials killed the group officials and established the son without loss, and the prince Zhao went to the Song Dynasty for refuge.

Song Xianggong thought that this was a good time to seek the overlord, so he sent the prince Zhao back to China to succeed to the throne in the name of leading the princes to attack Qi. In April of this year, the Song army defeated the Qi army and forcibly established Prince Zhao as the monarch and the title of Qi Xiaogong.

After pacifying the civil strife in Qi, the Song Xianggong benefited from the benefits and prospered in the country, so he formed an alliance with the two small states of Cao and Di in Cao Nan (now Cao County, Shandong Province).

The expansion of territory led to the expansion of power, but it was more difficult for the emperor's heart to grasp and guess, and it was difficult for him to listen to every suggestion.

At one time, Teng Guo, a small country that was attached, deviated from his wishes, so he sent troops to arrest Teng Xuangong, the monarch of Teng State, and wanted to merge Teng State into his name. The ambitious Song Xianggong killed chickens to show the monkeys in order to make the Dongyi countries attach to him, and ordered the Duke of Yi Wen to sacrifice the king of Teng as a human sacrifice and sacrifice it on the Suishui.

When he heard the news, he was so frightened that he didn't even have to wear his shoes, and ran barefoot to meet Song Xianggong: "My king, I heard that the ancients sacrificed and did not use six animals at the same time, and did not use big animals for small things. How dare you use human sacrifice today? Sacrifices were meant for people, and the people were the lords of God. Who would dare to enjoy the use of human sacrifice? Today, Teng Xuangong of the Alliance has abused Teng because he did not obey your wishes. Wouldn't it be difficult to use the king of a country to worship the demon god on the water, so as to seek the position of overlord? With such evil thoughts in my heart and causing great killing, I am afraid that it will be a good ending to be able to die well in the future! ”

It's just that this kind of advice has no impact on Song Xianggong, and Song Xianggong said to Mu Yi: "Zuo Shi, if you don't kill the chickens and monkeys this time, you will definitely make the countries dissatisfied, and you will be lucky." This intention has been decided, so don't persuade again. The left master came by coincidence, and the widow was letting the next person warm the wine, and come to drink a few glasses, and then talk about state affairs. ”

Mu Yi was helpless, and he couldn't persuade Song Xianggong, so he quit on the grounds that he was untidy, and secretly sighed in his heart, how can this power make people change so much, is this still the prince of the year?

In the autumn of the same year, because Cao Guo was disobedient to him, Song Xianggong raised troops to besiege him, and Mu Yifu persuaded again, but Xianggong still did not listen, and finally destroyed Cao Guo.

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, Song Xianggong has reigned for twelve years, that is, in 639 BC.

In the spring of this year, on a whim, Song Xianggong decided to hold an alliance meeting on the deer of the Song State, asking the Chu people to recognize the status of the Song State as the leader of the alliance. At that time, Mu Yi had already served as Sima, so he advised Song Xianggong and said: "Small countries are vying to preside over the alliance, which is a disaster. That Chu State is a hegemon, how can it lower its posture and obey a second-rate country like us? ”

Song Xianggong did not listen and insisted on presiding over the alliance.

In the autumn of the same year, the princes met with Song Xianggong in Yudi and made an alliance. Mu Yi secretly sighed to himself: "The disaster is probably this time, right? The monarch's desire is too strong, how can he stand it? The human heart is not enough to swallow the elephant! Sure enough, in this alliance meeting, the state of Chu took the opportunity to capture Song Xianggong and raised troops to crusade against the Song state.

In the winter of the same year, Muyi was unable to do so, so in order to rescue Song Xianggong, he united with other princes and met in the Bodi League, asking Chu to release Song Xianggong. The state of Chu did not do anything out of line, asked for some compensation money, and released Song Xianggong.

After being rescued, Song Xianggong was overjoyed in his heart, and held a banquet to thank Mu Yi, and at the banquet, Mu Yi said to Song Xianggong: "The disaster is not over, and we need to be more cautious after that." ”

Song Xianggong agreed, but he was secretly unconvinced in his heart, thinking that if it weren't for the treachery of Chu State, how could such a humiliating thing happen, and this matter must wait for an opportunity to retaliate.

In 638 BC, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Xianggong of Song, in the summer, the Song State attached to the small state of Zheng and betrayed the Song State for no reason, and the Song State decided to attack the Zheng State as punishment.

Mu Yi analyzed in many ways, according to Zheng Guo's envoys and frequent visits to Chu State, he was secretly shocked in his heart, and he could roughly guess the reason, so he judged: "The trouble is here." "Hurry up and say that Song Xianggong needs to beware of Chu State.

Sure enough, in the autumn of the same year, the state of Chu attacked the state of Song to rescue the state of Zheng. Song Xianggong was ready to face the Chu army, but Mu Yi dissuaded: "Heaven has abandoned our descendants of the Shang Dynasty for a long time, and you want to revive it, this is against Heaven and cannot be pardoned." It must not be engaged in battle with the Chu army. ”

Song Xianggong didn't listen, straightened out the soldiers and horses, and wanted to take advantage of the situation to be ashamed.

On the first day of November of the same year, Song Xianggong led his army to fight with King Cheng of Chu on the edge of Hongshui (now northwest of Zhecheng, Henan) in the Song Kingdom. The Song army had already lined up, and the Chu army had not yet fully crossed the river.

Mu Yi made an observation and offered a plan: "The Chu army has many soldiers, but our army has few soldiers, so attack them while they have not all crossed the river." ”

Song Xianggong disagreed: "If we and other civilized divisions fight, we will fight openly and honestly, and we must not be despicable and shameless like the Chu State." ”

After the Chu army crossed the river, it had not yet lined up its formation, and Mu Yi stepped forward again to offer a plan: "Taking advantage of the chaos of its formation, you can attack and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop." ”

Song Xianggong said: "Wait for him to set up a position." A gentleman does not hurt the enemy twice, and does not capture the gray-haired enemy. In ancient warfare, victory was won without relying on barriers and obstacles. Although the widows were descendants of the fallen kingdom of Yin Shang, they did not attack the enemy who did not set up a position. If you want to fight, do the gentleman's battle, a dignified battle. ”

Muyi said anxiously: "The monarch is not very familiar with war. Isn't it a good opportunity for a powerful enemy, who did not open up because of the narrow terrain, and that the heavens were helping us, intercepting them and attacking? Now the powerful countries are all our enemies, even if they are old men, they can't let go if they are caught, no matter what gray hair is, once they take their weapons, they will hurt our soldiers. Soldiers go to battle with the aim of killing more enemies. If the enemy is wounded and not killed, why can't you strike him again? If you spare the wounded of the enemy and do not strike again, then you should not hurt him in the first place; It is better to surrender to those who have gray hair. Mu Yi looked at the somewhat pedantic Song Xianggong, straightened his thoughts, and said again: "The army is used because it is advantageous; The drums of war thundered, and they used sound to boost morale. It is advantageous to use it, and it is okay to attack in a narrow way; The drums are loud to boost morale, and it is okay to attack enemies who are not in formation. Please give the king's order! ”

"Nope! Wait a little longer until they are in position before attacking. Song Xianggong was speechless, but still insisted on his opinion.

After the Chu army set up a position, the Song army attacked them. As a result, it was self-evident that the Song army was strong, and the Song soldiers were weak and defeated. In the war, Song Xianggong was wounded by an arrow in the thigh, and under the protection of the guards, Song Xianggong escaped, but those who followed Song Xianggong's doctors and children as guards were annihilated. This battle is known in history as the "Battle of Hongshui".

In 637 BC, in the fourteenth year of King Xiang of Song, Duke Xiang of Song finally died due to the deterioration of arrow wounds in the "Battle of Hongshui". After the death of Song Xianggong, the Song Kingdom has been in a slump ever since.

After the war, Muyi lost confidence in the Song Kingdom, and after the death of Song Xianggong, he took his family and came to Huishan, the land of the original Teng Kingdom, and lived in seclusion here. On the one hand, it is because of the admiration for the sages of the first dynasty - Huizi, who was buried here after his death; On the one hand, it is grateful that the monarch of the Teng Kingdom was used as a human sacrifice by the Song people, and came here as a memory.

In his spare time, Mu Yi decided to record what he had learned in his life, which lasted for ten years and was compiled into a book, titled: Ziyu Jurisprudence. This "Ziyu Jurisprudence" contains all kinds of things, including the true knowledge and insights of Muyi's life in battle, as well as the idea of governing for officials.

Besides, when the new monarch of the Song State took office, he was very dissatisfied with Muyi's resignation, so he made a will to demote Muyi to a commoner, but still retained the vacant position of his descendant Zuoshi.

With the weakening of the national strength of the Song Kingdom, the Muyi branch who was idle at home, ploughing the fields and weaving cloth, writing books and paintings, gradually faded out of people's field of vision, and also faded out of the aristocratic circle.

Really:

There are distant relatives in the government and the opposition, but there are no noble relatives in the rivers and lakes. No one asks for indifference, and high-ranking officials are revealed like river carp.

There is no trace of time, and you don't want to be a long-term guest. Since Muyi lived in seclusion, the dynasty changed, flickering, it has been a hundred years, and Muyi, who was originally famous in the Great Zhou, no one knows anymore.

This year, according to the Western calendar, should be 480 B.C. On Huishan Island, an ordinary civilian house, outside the ordinary thatched house, a strong man wandered anxiously with a pipe, and occasionally saw several elderly women walking around in the courtyard quickly, fetching water, boiling water, pouring water came in bursts, and occasionally a few women moaned in pain. This scene clearly reveals that the hostess of this family is waiting to give birth.

The anxious strong man looked up into the house from time to time, the tightly blocked windows, and he couldn't see anything.

Suddenly, a loud baby cry resounded through the sky, and the strong man clenched his hands into fists, his heart was overjoyed, and he clenched his pipe's teeth, and finally relaxed and spit out a puff of smoke.