4.

Time flies, and the state of Chu has undergone several changes of monarchs, and has transitioned to the period when Xiong Tong became the monarch.

At this time, the Central Plains was in the midst of unpredictable deception, and it was also the time when Zheng Zhuang's forces swept the Central Plains. The Southern Chu State has entered the era of Xiongtong. Xiong Tong, the ruler, is one of the epoch-making figures in the history of the Chu State. He was fortunate to have inherited the huge capital of his ancestors, but he was not satisfied with that. His ambition and unruly fighting spirit will push the state of Chu into a new period and become an invincible powerhouse in the world.

His strength and wildness terrified the princes around him. When the territory of Chu extended to the Han River Valley, the princes east of the Han River could no longer hold back their panic and fear. If they can't join forces to resist, when this giant crocodile floats across the Han water, sooner or later it will be torn to pieces by its strong teeth and claws. So the establishment of the anti-Chu alliance gave the princes who were huddled together for warmth a sense of security.

As the largest vassal state on the east bank of the Han River, Suiguo naturally became the axis of the alliance. And Ji Liang, the important minister of the Sui State, is the core of the cohesion of the Eastern Han Kingdoms.

Ji Liang, who was born in an aristocratic family, received a good education when he was a teenager, and his profound knowledge and profound thoughts showed that he studied diligently. Around the middle of the 8th century B.C., he began to appear on the political stage of Suiguo, assisting Suijun in governing the country's affairs. Although there is no documentary record of what position he held, judging from the extraordinary dependence of the monarch of Suiguo on him and the fear of him in Chu, he should be a minister of care equivalent to Ling Yin of Chu. During the period of assisting Suijun to govern the country, he made great efforts to govern the country, repaired the national politics internally, formed good-neighborliness externally, and made outstanding political achievements, and was praised by later generations as "after Shennong, followed by the great sage".

Not only that, Ji Liang is also a philosopher, leaving a complete philosophical system of "the people are the gods" for future generations, which is admired by future generations.

In the face of such a powerful and ambitious country as the Chu State, and the Sui State living in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ji Liang advocated closely uniting the Eastern Han States and facing the powerful Chu State with joint strength.

This initiative has indeed won the support and response of neighboring countries. Therefore, whenever the Chu State wants to hunt for Handong, it will find that the countries here share the same enemy, and it is difficult to deal with it. This made Xiong Tong, who was eyeing him uncertain and hesitant. It is difficult to set foot in Handong

However, Xiong Tong is an ambitious strategist after all, and Xiong Tong wants to fight Jiangdong to win the victory of this conquest of the Handong countries.

The anti-Chu alliance is undoubtedly to confront the state of Chu across the river. Xiong Tong didn't think so, and thought to himself: With your rabble, how can you stop the eastward advance of the male army of Chu State!

Xiong Tong, who swept across the south and devoured all the way, is by no means a vain person who can only put on a show. Shoot the man first and shoot the horse, and capture the thief first and capture the king. The leader of the anti-Chu alliance is Suiguo, so I, Xiong Tong, will go-for-tat to conquer your Suiguo first. The establishment of Xiong Tong's concept almost consumed his life's energy.

The formation of Xiong Tong's bloody nature began when he succeeded to the throne.

In the sixth year of Chu Xiaoao's reign, that is, in 758 BC. Xiong Tong's father, Chu Xiaoao, died. Xiong Tong's elder brother Xiong 眴 (xuàn) succeeded to the throne.

Xiong Wei reigned for 17 years. When Xiong Wei died, it was supposed that Xiong Wei's son would succeed him. Xiong Tong did not give Xiong Wei's son a chance to succeed to the throne, but supported the army and established himself as the monarch of Chu.

The coup d'état of Chu was not like the princes of the Central Plains, which was closely related to neighboring countries, while the state of Chu lived alone and had very little marital contact with the Central Plains, so it did not cause more concern from the princes of the Central Plains.

After Xiong Tong succeeded to the throne, he married Deng Guo and married a woman from the Deng Guo clan as his wife, known as Deng Man in history. Deng Man is virtuous and intelligent, and has become Xiong Tong's right-hand man. In fact, Xiong Tong also married the princess of Yun as his wife, but Deng Guo was a marquis, while Chu and Yun were viscounts. So in the harem, of course, it is Deng Man who holds the power in the palace.

Deng Man is not only in charge of the harem in an orderly manner, but also can give advice to Xiong Tong on the state affairs of the Chu State. Deeply liked by Xiong Tong. The marriage relationship between countries often maintains the diplomatic relations between countries. Although this kind of diplomatic relations does not play a role for a certain time, it can be maintained for a while. The acceptance of the women in the harem also made Xiong Tong feel the shame of the low title of the Chu State. It can be seen that in his later years, the question of knighthood was indeed a stone pressing on his heart. Let this bloody pride have a mustard.

Xiong Tong succeeded to the throne for less than three years, and led his army to cross the Han Dynasty and expedition to the Nanyang Basin to attack the important town of the Zhou Dynasty in northern Han, but he did not succeed. So he turned to attack the western part of the Jianghan Plain and destroyed the power state. The state of Chu from Xiongqu to Chu Xiaoao failed to destroy the state of power. And Xiong Tong realized the long-cherished wish of the ancestors in one fell swoop and destroyed the power of the country.

The territory of the country is not extensive, but the national strength is not weak. The right country is a sub-surname country. After Tang established the Shang Dynasty, the twenty-third emperor was Emperor Wu Ding of Shang. Wu Ding's descendants were sealed here and established a power state. After Xiong Tong of Chu State broke the power state, he changed the power country to a county system. This is the birthplace of the first county system in the land of China. Xiong Tong set up Quan County in the hometown of Quan Guo and appointed Dou Yi (min) as Quan Yin, that is, the governor of Quan County. This fighting profit made Zhi faint, and under the support of the powerful people, he wanted to call himself the king and fight against Xiong Tong of Chu State. Not only did he not claim to be a county order, but he also did not pay tribute to the state of Chu, which caused Xiong Tong to have to attack power again. The army of Chu once again besieged Quanxian and killed Dou Jin, and then migrated all the people of Quancheng to the north. The people of Quan were escorted by the Chu soldiers and moved north for more than 100 miles to Randi. Xiong Tong reassigned Yan Ao to govern Randi.

It can be seen that Xiong Tong's iron fist has been exposed in the first few years after his succession. Now he had his eyes fixed on Suiguo.

This year, there was a natural disaster in Suiguo. In the autumn, when there was a great flood, all the crops of the land were flooded, and the harvest was very small, and the country entered a year of calamity.

Xiong Tong felt that the opportunity had come and wanted to take advantage of his food shortage to attack Suiguo. In his opinion, as long as Handong takes Suiguo, other small countries will be fine.

Dou Bobi asked to see him, the monarch and the ministers sat down, and Dou Bobi said: "Monarch, you want to expand your territory and attack Handong, but is it true? ”

Xiong Tong replied, "Exactly." The state of Chu has swept through the southern vassal states, and a large area of the southern princes' territory has been returned to the state of Chu. Now the conquest of Handong is the only goal of the widows, after all, the land here is fertile, and the people of Li are rich, which can strengthen the strength of the Chu State. ”

Dou Bobi asked, "So, where did the lord start attacking Handong?" ”

Xiong Tong said without thinking: "The strongest enemy in Handong is Suiguo, as long as Suiguo is taken, Chu can sweep through the Handong countries." ”

Dou Bobbi said: "Does the lord know this person Ji Liang? In recent years, the strength of the Chu State has awakened the Eastern Han Kingdoms. Ji Liang plotted and united the Handong states as alliance states. Handong adopted the strategy of huddling together for warmth and joint resistance to Chu. As long as we attack Suiguo, the surrounding countries of Suiguo, including Tang, Huang, Zeng, Xi, Liao, Jiang and other countries, will rise up and attack it. Monarchs should not think that they are all small nations. On the way here, I saw a huge worm being eaten by a group of ants. When the hundred-legged insect was attacked by a swarm of ants, it looked at its head and did not care about its tail. After several desperate struggles, he was not only controlled and put to death by a group of ants, but also emptied of his internal organs. ”

Speaking of this, Dou Bobi paused for a moment, glanced at Xiong Tong, and then said: "If we attack Suiguo by force, there will be a phenomenon of ants eating worms. At that time, even if the main force of the Chu army is a male lion, it will be entangled by wolves and even difficult to get out. The rear of the Chu State, including the vassal states conquered by the monarch, may be ready to move, isn't the Chu State in danger? ”

Dou Bobi's words were enlightened, which made the swollen Xiong Tong suddenly sober up a lot.

Xiong Tong fell into deep thought, and after a long time, he asked Dou Bobby: "How can the widow crusade against Jiangdong in the opinion of the emperor?" ”

Dou Bobi said: "My Chu country is in the west of the Han River, and it is our own reason that we want to conquer the Sui country but cannot achieve our goal. We, the state of Chu, trained the army, reorganized the equipment, built ships and bridges, and wanted to annex the eastern Handong states by force. Several small countries led by Suiguo were afraid, so they joined forces to deal with our Chu State. This was all Ji Liang's idea. If the monarch wants to conquer the eastern Han countries, they need to defeat each one, but now they are holding their arms and uniting with each other, so it is difficult for us to achieve the goal of each defeat. ”

Xiong Tong was not satisfied with Dou Bobby's answer: "That means that my Chu State has no way to conquer Jiangdong now?" ”

Dou Bobby said: "As the saying goes, only by knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can you defeat the enemy." I found that there were two important ministers in Suiguo who controlled the government, one was Ji Liang and the other was a young master. Now that Ji Liang is older, the young master is a young Zhuang faction with the weight of the country. I have heard that the two people often have different opinions, and if we can keep the monarch of Suiguo away from Ji Liang and trust the young master, then there will be hope for us to divide the relationship between Suiguo and other small countries. ”

Xiong Tong carefully adopted Dou Bobbi's suggestion, so the state of Chu cautiously began to launch a war in Handong.

Under the influence of Dou Bobby, the army of Chu crossed eastward to sweat.

When the army of Chu was on the verge of the border of Suiguo, it did not attack Suiguo but sent a message to the monarch of Suiguo: the Chu army wanted to attack Zeng by the way. The government and the opposition were shocked. The king of the country urgently summoned the ministers to consult.

The young master said, "The king need not be afraid. Although the Chu army claims to be powerful, our army has not yet learned its edge. Our country has been training for many years to deal with the Chu army, and the fact that the Chu army is not entering the country shows that the Chu army is afraid of us. Why don't you take this opportunity to observe the true strength of the Chu army, so that we can defeat the enemy and win. Moreover, if the country does not agree to take advantage of the road, it will inevitably hurt the harmony between the two countries and cause trouble. ”

Ji Liang said: "The sovereign cannot agree to borrow the Tao, and the goal of the Chu State is not only the Zeng State but the large fertile land of Handong. The Chu army is borrowing the Tao in the name, but in fact, it is dividing our Handong Alliance. Therefore, I think that borrowing the Tao is false, and discord is true. If we relent, the covenant will be broken. At that time, the state of Chu will attack me, who will support it. There is no one to support Suiguo, and if Suiguo and Chu fight alone, they will be defeated and destroyed. Handong will be broken by the Chu army individually. At that time, the princes of Handong will be in danger. The current plan is to fulfill the responsibilities of the allies, notify the surrounding countries to reorganize their armies and stand by to help, and jointly deal with the Chu State. ”

Suiguo Guojun immediately adopted Ji Liang's opinion and refused to borrow it.

Seeing that the excuse could not be achieved, Dou Bobi discussed with Xiong Tong the plan to negotiate with the Sui State to negotiate the alliance of the country, on the surface it was the establishment of friendly relations between the Chu State and the Sui State, but in fact it was still a discord between the princes of Handong. As long as Suiguo agrees to ally with the Chu Kingdom, then the Handong Alliance will collapse in an instant. Suiguo still has to deal with Chu alone.

So Xiong Tong sent his own nephew Dafu (wěi) Zhang to Suidu to meet the monarch of Suiguo and ask for reconciliation. In ancient times, there have always been two situations of reconciliation: one is that a weak country seeks reconciliation with a strong country, and if one party has to pay the price to seek reconciliation; One is the forced reconciliation of the strong to the weak. Zhangzhang obviously prides itself on being a powerful country. So he asked Suijun to personally enter the Chu army's tent to observe the strength of the Chu army. Consciousness is to seek peace and alliance, and it is the best way out for the country.

Of course, the monarch of Suiguo did not dare to go, as the saying goes, capture the thief and capture the king, once he falls into the hands of the Chu army, then Suiguo will destroy himself without a fight. So the monarch of Suiguo appointed the young master as a plenipotentiary to go to the Chu army's tent to negotiate peace.

This encounter is also in the hands of the young master, and here Dou Bobi has issued a military order, and the military camp must put on a loose appearance to meet the young master. Don't let the young master see the edge of the Chu army.

On this day, the general and the young master of the army drove to the Chu camp. After inspecting the Chu army from beginning to end, I saw that the so-called powerful Chu army was not waiting for the battle as expected, but was messy, and the soldiers were crooked and unorganized, and there was no trace of fighting spirit.

The young master returned to the Hou and explained the situation of the Chu army. And said that the army could completely defeat the Chu army. The monarch offered a plan: he could pretend to negotiate peace with the Chu army and conclude a treaty, secretly dispatch troops and deploy troops, and then find an opportunity to sneak attack the Chu army. And affirmed: "This battle will be won." ”

After listening to the young master's words, Sui Hou had the idea of a decisive battle with the Chu army, but he still didn't support it, so he looked for Ji Liang to discuss.

Ji Liang said: "No, the state of Chu intends to seek the land of eastern Han, and the untidy military appearance is because they are playing tricks and hiding from the mountains and seas." The purpose of using the weak to disguise the strong is to make us underestimate the enemy, and it is their purpose to attack and annex the country. The monarch must not be fooled. In addition, the Sui State and the surrounding allies have an agreement to jointly resist Chu, and once the peace alliance with the Chu State is discussed, the surrounding allies will also suspect our Sui State, so we just happened to fall into the Chu State's divisive plan. ”

Suihou asked: "Could it be that our Suiguo will never be able to defeat the Chu State?" ”

Ji Liang said: "I heard that the reason why a weak country can resist a big country is because a small country has a way, and the monarch of a big country is addicted to selfish desires. The word "Tao" means to be loyal to the people and win the trust of the gods. As a courtier in the court, thinking of benefiting the people is loyalty to the monarch; The priest who presided over the sacrifice prayed truthfully and undeceitfully, and this is faith. But what is Suiguo like now? The grain harvest is poor, the people are hungry and the monarch indulges in personal pleasures, the temple wishes and the historians exaggerate their merits to sacrifice, and the ministers really don't know where the Suiguo talent at this time has the ability to resist the powerful Chu State"

Sui Hou said: "The cattle and sheep used for my sacrifice are all white or black, and the cattle and sheep are all fat; The food offered as a sacrifice was also abundant and complete, so why couldn't it win the trust of the gods? ”

Ji Liang replied: "The minister thinks that the people are the root of the gods. Therefore, in history, the holy kings were able to sympathize with the suffering of the people before they went to worship the gods. Ask the gods to bless the people with abundant crops. The so-called incense of sacrifices, the conversion of the people, that is, the absence of evil thoughts in people's hearts. Therefore, in spring, summer, and autumn, we must work farming, cultivate the five religions, and make peace with the nine tribes, and use these behaviors to worship the gods. The people are in harmony and the gods are blessed, so everything can be done. Now that the people have their own ideas, and the ghosts and gods have no to rely on, what blessing can the monarch seek by himself in the abundance of sacrifices? If you take care of your political affairs for the time being and strengthen your relations with fraternal countries, you may be able to avoid disaster. ”

The young master not only didn't believe Ji Liang's words, but was even more indignant. He said to Suihou: "The Chu army is on the border of my Suiguo, and it does not use the road, nor send troops, nor form an alliance, doesn't this clearly provoke the fighting spirit of the Chu army to crusade against my Suiguo?" At that time, the Chu army will be ready for battle, and its strength will be higher than that of our army, wouldn't it be even more dangerous! ”

Later, I also felt that the problem was serious. I thought: Now the Chu army is at the doorstep, not making peace or fighting, but concentrating on the life of the people and good-neighborliness. How could the army of Chu be allowed to withdraw?

Ji Liang said: "Now the Chu army is strong and the territory is vast, but the monarch of Chu is humble. Chu Jun is the viscount, and he is the marquis of the throne. The monarch can ask the Zhou royal family to promote the Chu State to the title of sub-title, so as to achieve the goal of not alliing with the Chu State but retiring the army in harmony. This is something that Chu Jun can't ask for. ”

Suiguo Guojun once again adopted Ji Liang's strategy.

So Sui and Chu reconciled on the grounds that Sui helped Chu to promote the title of sub-title. This point really hit the key point of Xiong Tong. Xiong Tong readily agreed to retire.

In recent years, the state of Chu has fought in the south and the north, swallowing the small princes and countries, and its strength has been greatly enhanced. Only one viscount is really insulting to the prestige of the monarch of the Chu State. If Suihou can accommodate the Zhou royal family and really improve the title of Chu, why not raise the title first and then talk about the future. So Xiong Tong temporarily withdrew from the army.