What followed was the wars that shook the Central Plains.

The king of Wu sent 2,000 sailors who were good at water, 40,000 well-trained soldiers, 6,000 well-educated core guards, and 1,000 technical officers to attack Wu. Gou Jian took the opportunity to attack Wu, defeated the Wu army, and killed the prince of Wu. Wu Wangfu sent an emergency to return to China, and Yue Guo felt powerless to destroy Wu, forcing Wu to sue for peace.

Four years later, the Yue State once again led a large army to attack the Wu State, and defeated the Wu army at Kasawa, and the Wu State has been in a slump ever since.

After that, Goujian, the king of Yue, attacked Wu again. In the third year, the Yue soldiers besieged the state of Wu. The following year, the Yue soldiers invaded the capital of Wu, and the state of Wu was destroyed. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, originally wanted to exile Wu Wangfu to Yongdong, give him a hundred households, and let him die there. The husband said, "I am too old to serve the king of Yue anymore." I regret not listening to Zixu and letting myself get into this situation. So he committed suicide and died. King Yue destroyed the state of Wu and killed Dazai Boyao because he was disloyal to the lord, and then led his troops back to the country. The king of Yue, Gou Jian, leveled Wu, and it was a great shock.

After Gou Jian destroyed Wu, he was full of ambition, imitated the husband, passed through the ditch dug by Wu, crossed the Huaishui in the north, and met with the princes of Qilu in Xuzhou, and paid tribute to Zhou. King Yuan of Zhou made people give Gou Jian the flesh and recognized the status of the "Bo" of the Chinese princes, that is, the overlord, but did not have a formal one like the Duke of Wen of Jin and the Duke of Qi Huan. At this time, the territory of Yue had passed north of Huaishui, bordering the state of Lu, east from present-day Ningbo to the sea, south from present-day Shaoxing Zhuji to Wenzhou, and west to present-day Poyang Lake in Jiangxi. From Taihu Lake to the Ningshao Plain, the land is fertile and agriculture is developed. The history books of the king of Zhou said: "The land of Chu and Yue is vast and sparsely populated, with rice, soup and fish, or fire and water rake, and fruit Sui clams, not to be satisfied." The terrain is rich in food, there is no famine, so there is no accumulation and poverty. Therefore, there are no cold and hungry people south of Jianghuai, and there is no home for thousands of daughters. This means that the south of the Jianghuai River, including the Taihu Lake and Ningshao area, relies on the particularly favorable conditions of natural geography, and the people's life is relatively easy. However, "fire ploughing and water raking", productivity is still low.

After Yue destroyed Wu, because of the border with Lu, Lu Guojun hoped that Yue's help would enable him to eliminate Sanhuan's forces. Shu Qing of the Lu State sent an envoy to the Yue Kingdom. The following year, the Yue Zhi Zi returned, and Lu Aigong wanted to go to the Yue Kingdom. Ji Sun was afraid that Gong Ai would be unfavorable to him, so he stopped from obstructing it. Song, Wei and other countries also regarded Yue as their hegemon. Goujian, the king of Yue, adopted the "seven techniques" of literature, namely: donating money to please his monarchs and ministers; Second, it is said that the noble corn is accumulated in vain; Three beauties are left behind to confuse their minds; Fourth, the ingenuity and good materials of the relics are made into the palace room to exhaust their wealth; Five of the relict ministers are plotting to mess with them; Sixth, it is said that the reins of his ministers will commit suicide, and he will be weak; Seventh, it is said that the army will accumulate wealth and train the army to bear its drawbacks. After Gou Jian destroyed Wu, he wanted to go north to the Central Plains to dominate but the literature did not support him, saying that he was sick and could not go to court, which caused Gou Jian's dissatisfaction. In terms of the strategic policy of wanting to be in a corner of the south of the Yangtze River or "going north to the Central Plains and respecting the king", there has been an irreconcilable conflict between the literature that advocates a corner of the south of the Yangtze River and Gou Jian! In Gou Jian's eyes, the Wen Chong at this time had betrayed himself, and it happened that the Wen Chong was not going to resist the court at this time, so someone told Gou Jian that the Wen Chong was going to rebel, which is probably not groundless. The clues of the rebellion of the literary species have been recognized by Goujian, the king of Yue, and the failure to resist the decree is an example, so Gou Jian gave the sword to the literary species to make him commit suicide, and there was no one else.

The historians of the Yue Kingdom recorded in detail the whole process of Gou Jian's hard work: first, he ruled by doing nothing, allowing the Yue country to recuperate, so as to "reassure the people". Subsequently, the "five policies" were implemented to "use the people". The "five policies" are "good farmers", that is, to praise farmers, attach importance to agriculture, and strive to develop the economy; "Good faith", cultural education; "Recruit people", recruit the people of the Quartet, and increase the population; "Good soldiers", expanding military power; "饬 (chì) people" means to rectify the military, the administration of officials, and the civil affairs, revise orders, clarify the law, and punish severely. The "Five Policies" have turned the people into tools of war that can be driven, and have become the capital for the victory of the Vietnamese country.

recounted so much content in a free way, Yue Wang Gou Jian was very happy to listen to it. He said that he knew best in his life, and he also knew that he was not easy and difficult.

Yue Wang Gou Jian said lightly: "Do you know why Wu Yue's hegemony will become a doomed thing." ”

"Is it because of history, or is it because of the geographical environment?" Wei Ziheng answers this question from the perspective of a scholar.

Gou Jian, the king of Yue, smiled faintly and said, "It seems that there are many things that you can't know from the history books of our Yue Kingdom. It is only when you are in that world that you feel the vastness of this world. ”

In the first year of King Jing of Zhou, the prisoners of war captured during Wu's invasion of Vietnam were killed by King Wu. In the tenth year of King Jing of Zhou, before Wu attacked Chu, in order to relieve his worries, he attacked Yue and occupied Li. In the fifteenth year, when the main force of the Wu army was in the capital of Chu, the more they took the opportunity to invade the Wu realm, the more the contradictions between the two sides intensified. If Wu wanted to dominate the Central Plains, he must first conquer the Yue Kingdom in order to remove the threat from its rear; The more you want to go north into the Central Plains, the more you must first serve Wu before it is possible, which caused the Wu-Yue War that lasted for more than 20 years. Wu and Yue are located in the water towns south of the Yangtze River, "using boats as cars and poles as horses", and the two sides mostly fight on the water. At this time, the "boat division" as a naval force has become a new branch of the army, which can independently complete strategic and campaign tasks. The Wu and Vietnamese naval armies had three main types of warships, namely, the Lou Boat, the Big Wing, the Middle Wing, and the Small Wing, as well as the Raid, and the bow was equipped with warships such as the Angle of Attack and the Bridge Boat. The main warship, the large wing of the ship, was 20 meters long and 2.7 meters wide, carrying "26 warriors, 50 men, 3 spears, 4 spears and axes, 1 officer, 1 servant, and 1 shooter", together with the captain "91 people". The basic method of water warfare is to first fire with a crossbow, then engage in a broadside battle, and finally board a ship to fight, and sometimes ram the enemy ship with a sudden attack.

In the twenty-fourth year, Wu Wang Lu led his army to attack Vietnam, and the main forces of the two sides fought in Li. Yue killed himself in front of the capital prisoner, and took advantage of the distraction of the Wu army to launch a fierce attack and defeat the Wu army. He Lu was wounded and died, and his husband succeeded him as king. In the twenty-sixth year, the Vietnamese army attacked Wu and fought in Dongting Mountain in Fujiao Taihu Lake. The Vietnamese army was defeated, and the main force was annihilated. The Wu army pursued the victory and occupied the Yue Duji. Goujian, the king of Yue, led the rest of 5,000 people to be surrounded on Huiji Mountain. Gou Jian asked for surrender, and Minister Wu suggested not to allow it, thinking that "if you don't destroy it now, you will regret it later." Because he was anxious to go north to the Central Plains to fight for hegemony, Fucha did not adopt Wu Zixu's suggestion, and on the condition that the king of Yue held Wu hostage, he promised to surrender and withdraw his troops.

Gou Jian and his wife "drove and raised horses" for King Wu, served for three years, won the trust of their husbands, and were released and returned to China. Gou Jian is to exterminate Wu in order to prosper, "lie down and taste the guts", and be angry and strong. With the assistance of the ministers and Fan Li, he formulated a long-term strategy of "ten years of life and gathering" and "ten years of lessons": in domestic affairs, it implemented policies such as developing production, rewarding childbirth, and respecting talents, so as to stabilize the people's livelihood, enrich the resources of soldiers, win the hearts of the people, consolidate unity, and enhance comprehensive national strength; Militarily, we have implemented a policy of leaning soldiers, strengthened training, and strictly disciplined troops in order to enhance combat effectiveness. At that time, crossbows were already used in combat. Chariots and warships are "stopped at the crossbows", and the key to victory or defeat in battle depends on the final charge. Gou Jian hired Chen Yin, who is proficient in bow and crossbow shooting, to teach crossbow techniques, including aiming, continuous firing, and mastering the best ratio of crossbow power and arrow weight, so that "all sergeants can use the skill of bows and crossbows", and hired Yue Nu, who is good at "sword and halberd techniques", to teach "hand combat" fighting techniques, so that sergeants "one person is a hundred, and a hundred people are ten thousand". The folk customs of Yue Di are "happy soldiers dare to die", and they are accustomed to fighting separately. For this reason, Gou Jian opposes the "courage of the horseman," stresses discipline, and demands that combat units unify their combat operations under unified orders in order to give full play to their overall combat capability. It is stipulated that those who obey the command will be rewarded, and those who violate the law will be "beheaded and their wives will be killed." In terms of diplomacy, in view of the situation that "Wu Wangbing was added to Qi and Jin, but resentment was attached to Chu", the policy of "being close to Qi, deeply tied to Jin, being solid in Chu, and being kind to Wu" was adopted. Doing good things for Wu, that is, following the strategy of King Wen of Zhou against the king of Shang's "Wen War", dismantling and weakening the enemy by non-war means. The main measures are, feigning loyalty, so that King Wu relaxed his vigilance against Vietnam, let go north to the Central Plains to compete for hegemony, indulge in whatever he wants, and promote King Wu's desire to love the palace and women, so that he will build a large number of buildings and consume national strength; He also offered bribes to expand the internal contradictions within the Wu ruling clique and undermine its unity. Ten years of implementation have made Vietnam "desolate and desolate, and the people are attached", and the national strength has been revived. The Vietnamese army has also become a well-equipped, well-trained elite force with a "human heart to death".

After Wu Wangfucha conquered the Yue Kingdom, he actively prepared for the north. Wu Yuan once again suggested that "Dingyue and then Tuqi", believing that the more it was "a disease of the abdomen and heart", and "the princes of Qilu were only sick". King Wu still did not adopt it. Thirty-one years, Wu attacked Chen first. to remove the threat from the flanks as it advances northward. In the thirty-third year, Wu attacked Lu and opened the door to march into the Central Plains. In order to establish a strategic base for the northward expansion and open up the northward military transportation and communication lines, Wu built a large-scale Hancheng on the north bank of the Yangtze River in 34 years, and dug a ditch from present-day Yangzhou to Huai'an through Sheyang Lake to communicate the waters of the Yangtze River and Huai, and then connect with the Si, Yi, and Jishui waters. In the thirty-fifth year, Wu led the allied forces of Lu, Di, and Tan to attack Qi by land; Xu Cheng, a doctor, led the navy from the Yangtze River into the sea, detoured to the Shandong Peninsula, and attacked the flank. Wu's naval forces lost the battle at sea, and the land coalition forces retreated. In the thirty-sixth year, Wu attacked Qi again and annihilated the elite of the Qi army in Ailing. In the thirty-eighth year, Fucha led the main force of the Wu army to Huangchi, and allied with the princes of Jin and the Central Plains, "wanting to dominate China". At this time, Wu's hegemony reached its peak.

When Wu Wangfu was in Huangchi and Jin Ding Gong to fight for the alliance leader, Goujian, the king of Yue, divided his troops to attack Wu in two ways. A force entered Huai from the sea, cutting off the road for the main force of Wu to return to help, covering the main force to fight; He led the main force to the capital of Wu, annihilated the Wu army in the suburbs of Hongshui, and took advantage of the situation to attack the capital of Wu. The husband returned to the south, fearing that the troops would be exhausted and the decisive battle would be unfavorable due to the loss of the national capital, the decline in morale and the long-distance return, so he sent people to ask for peace. Gou Jian also thought that the main force of Wu's army was not damaged, and he was unwilling to carry out an uncertain decisive battle, so he made peace with Wu and withdrew his troops. In the forty-second year, there was a famine in Wu. Yue took the opportunity to launch an attack and confronted the Wu army across the river at Kasawa. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, the Vietnamese army induced the Wu army to divide its troops with a feint on both wings, and then concentrated the elite to carry out the enemy's sneaking in front of the enemy, breaking through in the middle, and continuously attacking to expand the results of the battle, creating the success of the river attack. After the Battle of Kasawa, the balance of power between Wu and Yue underwent a fundamental change, and Yue had an absolute advantage. In the first year of King Yuan of Zhou, Yue attacked Wu again. The Wu army was unable to meet the battle and defended the capital. Yue built a city in the southwest suburbs of Wudu and planned a long-term siege. Wu sent envoys to ask for peace eight times, but Yue refused. In three years, the city was broken, the husband committed suicide, and Wu died. Gou Jian led the army to "cross the Jianghuai River in the north and meet the princes of Qi and Jin in Xuzhou". King Yuan of Zhou named Gou Jian as his uncle. "The Yue soldiers were rampant in the east of Jianghuai, and the princes were known as the overlords", and the more finally became the overlord.

In this battle, Wu Wangfu almost didn't listen to the words of the soldiers, raised tigers for trouble, and was finally destroyed. The king of Yue, Goujian, was lying on the salary to taste the courage, recuperate and recuperate, and listened to the words of the ministers and Fan Li, mainly relying on strategy to win; The diplomatic strategy of pro-Qi, alliance with Jin, and alliance with Chu played an important role in the war. This shows that the war in the late Spring and Autumn period has developed into a war of wisdom. At that time, people thought that "husband war, wisdom is the beginning, benevolence is second, and courage is second." ”

Wu is located in the southeast coastal area, and the Yue country is a neighbor, and there is a custom of breaking the hair tattoo. According to historical records, at that time, the state of Wu was "dangerous and wet, and there was the harm of the rivers and seas, the king had no guard, the people had nowhere to rely on, the warehouses were not set up, and the fields were not cultivated." "Strictly speaking, it's not yet a country, it's just a tribal group. In the eyes of the Central Plains countries, Wu was a barbarian country with a very backward economy and culture. , Jin Jinggong sent Shen Gong Wuchen to Wu to teach the art of chariot warfare and archery, and instigated Wu to betray Chu. As a result, the state of Wu continued to invade the state of Chu, and attacked the small states between Wu and Chu such as Chao and Xu, making the state of Chu busy with the war and exhausted. Under the support of the Jin state, the military power of the state of Wu developed rapidly, and the territory expanded day by day, and the prestige increased day by day. The Central Plains vassal states and the state of Wu began to establish contact. , Wu Zixu fled from Chu to Wu and became Xiangguo. He taught the king of Wu the way of "establishing a city, setting up a garrison, establishing a real warehouse, and governing the treasury" and other ways of "governing the people and becoming a king", so that Wu State jumped from an extremely backward barbarian state to a military power. , Wu Wang Lu took Sun Wu as the general and Wu Zixu as the deputy general, and united Cai and Tang to rejuvenate and attack Chu. Sun Wu was an outstanding military strategist, in order to cut off the connection between the headquarters of Chu and Fangcheng, he adopted the strategy of breaking through in the middle, leading the Wu army from the Huai River valley to the west, to the Huai Wei Shezhou landing, over the Dabie Mountain, at the same time, the Tang army east to take the big tunnel, Zhiyuan, the three passes of the underworld, Cai army followed the Rushui to the Huai River, south to take Ziliang. These two partial divisions blocked the Chu army's northward march to the Central Plains, the main road leading to Qi and Lu in the east, and pinned down the Chu army from the flank, so that the Chu army did not dare to meet the Wu army head-on, but the Wu army took the opportunity to sweep the towns along the eastern border of the Chu State, calmly marched westward, and joined forces with the Cai and Tang armies, cut the Chu State waist into two sections, and confronted the Chu army across the Han River. Chu Sima Shen Shishu found the seriousness of the problem and suggested to Ling Yin Zichang: "Please order Yin to block the Han River, destroy the boats abandoned by the Wu army with outsiders from Fang City, turn around and seal the three passes of the Great Tunnel, Zhiyuan, and Hades, and then flank the Wu army, and you will definitely be victorious." Ling Yin Zichang accepted this suggestion. It's a pity that when he heard Emperor Shi, the doctor of Chu, say: "Now the people of Chu State are all resentful of Ling Yin and like Sima, if they take Sima's advice, then the merit of defeating Wu State will all belong to Sima." He resolutely changed his mind, rashly led his troops across the Han River, and fought against Yu Baiju with the Wu army, but was defeated. The Wu army took advantage of the victory to chase and fight fiercely, won five battles and five victories, and attacked the Yingdu of the ancient Chu State.