Duke Wen of Jin defeated the Chu army in the Battle of Chengpu, but he was not dazzled by the victory. Instead, he strictly enforced military discipline and clearly defined rewards and punishments. During the Battle of Chengpu, the Jin army's central army encountered a strong wind by the lake and lost the left flag of the banner. Therefore, the Jin army's Sima executed the person responsible according to military law to alert the princes participating in the battle. After the victory and triumph, when the Jin army was crossing the Yellow River, Zhou Zhiqiao took the lead in returning to the Jin state in violation of military orders. After Jin Wengong returned to the country, he first went to the Ancestral Temple to offer prisoners, then held a banquet for all the ministers and rewarded the three armies. Finally, he publicly recounted Zhou Zhiqiao's disobedient behavior and executed him to warn others. The people therefore greatly obeyed Jin Wengong and praised him. Able to distinguish rewards and punishments.
After purifying military discipline, Duke Wen of Jin reorganized the military system and expanded military strength to prepare for future battles. Before the Battle of Chengpu, Jin had only two armies. In order to prepare for the Battle of Chengpu, Duke Wen of Jin ordered an additional army to be expanded to three armies. After the war, the Jin State's strength greatly increased, and it gained the power to attack the unofficial ministers on behalf of the Emperor Zhou. It added a second army to the three armies, forming a unique five-army force among the vassal states at that time.
According to the Zhou rites, among the princes, the big countries have three armies, the minor countries have two armies, and the small countries have one army. Before the Battle of Chengpu, Duke Wen of Jin expanded the Jin army into three armies, which represented that the Jin country had emerged from the shadow of civil strife and had the military strength to compete with the great power Chu. The expansion from three armies to five armies this time means that the Jin State has surpassed the ordinary vassal states and has become a "superpower" that can compete with the Zhou royal family, laying the groundwork for Jin's future southern and northern wars. solid foundation.
A few months after the Jiantu League Meeting, Duke Wen of Jin held a meeting with the princes in Wendi, the fiefdom of Zhao Shui, the official of Jin State. The kings of Lu, Qi, Cai, Zheng, Chen, Ju, Zhu, Qin and other countries gathered in Wendi. Discuss a joint crusade against disobedient vassal states. In order to show the authority of this alliance meeting and the prestige of the Jin State, Jin Wengong once again sent King Zhou Xiang to Wendi to attend the alliance meeting and accept the visits of the princes. Since Duke Wen of Jin was a minister and King Xiang of Zhou was the king, Duke Wen of Jin's behavior of summoning the king as a minister was inconsistent with etiquette, so he only said that King Zhou Xiang was here for hunting, and he personally led the princes to the residence of King Zhou Xiang to pay homage. The book "Spring and Autumn" mentions the great meaning in a subtle way, and pays attention to the taboo of the venerable, so it records this incident as "the emperor hunted in Heyang".
At this alliance meeting, the princes of various countries first resolved the issue of defending the country. The state of Wei was an ally of the state of Chu. It was once married to the state of Chu and served as a guide for the Chu army in the war. Duke Cheng of Wei once offended Duke Wen of Jin. After hearing the news of the Chu army's defeat and the Jin army's victory, Wei Chenggong was very frightened, so he fled Wei State and went to Chen State to avoid the limelight. At this time, Duke Wen of Jin sent an invitation to the princes of various countries to participate in the alliance. Duke Cheng of Wei was originally worried that the Jin State would retaliate against Wei State, so he did not dare to refuse the invitation of Jin State. He had no choice but to send the doctor Yuan Yao to assist his younger brother Shu Wu to attend the alliance meeting, while Yuan Yao's son Jiao stayed with Wei Chenggong.
But not long after, someone said to Duke Cheng of Wei: "Yuan Yao has appointed Shu Wu as the king, and you have been abandoned." After hearing this, Duke Cheng of Wei immediately became angry and did not send anyone to investigate the facts. The truth, right and wrong were ordered to be executed. When Yuan Yao heard that his son had been killed, he was naturally heartbroken and very angry at Wei Chenggong's indiscriminate killing. But at this time, the Wei State was still in crisis, and the Jin State was watching eagerly. If the Wei State was slightly disturbed, the Jin State might send a large army to destroy the Wei State. Therefore, Yuan Yao wiped away his tears, endured his grief, and continued to perform his mission. The people of Wei were already very dissatisfied with Duke Cheng of Wei. Now that they heard that he still listened to slander and killed innocent people in exile, no one was willing to continue to serve him. Moreover, Jin also agreed to restore Wei. As a result, the people of Wei were ready to establish another king.
In order to appease people's hearts and stabilize the situation, Ning Wuzi, the official of Weiguo, convened a rally in Wanpu and said sincerely: "God has brought disaster to Weiguo, so there will be discord between the emperor and his ministers, which has led us to the worrying situation we are in now. . But please ask yourselves, if no one stays at home, who will guard the country? If no one goes abroad, who will stabilize the environment around our country? Now I swear to you that from now on, envoys who go out do not have to worry about betrayal at the rear. People in the country don't have to worry about unfounded charges. If you violate this oath, God will kill you!" After hearing Ning Wuzi's oath, the people of Wei really put down their worries and no longer considered betraying Wei Chenggong.
However, Wei Chenggong, who was in exile in Chen State, did not know all this. When he heard that Yuan Yao was assisting Shu Wu in usurping the throne, he immediately hurried back to Wei State. Shuwu was about to wash his hair at this time. He was very happy to hear that the king was back. He didn't even have time to tie up his hair, so he rushed out to greet him with his hair tied up casually. The people around Wei Chenggong always thought that Shu Wu had usurped the position of king. When they saw him coming out, they indiscriminately picked up their bows and arrows and shot Shu Wu to death.
After Shu Wu died, Duke Cheng of Wei took a closer look and found that his younger brother had not usurped the throne, and he was very happy and ran out to welcome him back home. But at this time, the big mistake had been made. Looking at his brother's still warm body bleeding all over the ground, and thinking of his brother's cheerful smile just now, Wei Chenggong felt so regretful that his heart was broken. He could no longer suppress his grief and fell on Shu Wu's bed. Crying loudly in my lap. When the prince She Quan, who mistakenly killed Shu Wu, saw this, he knew that he had killed the wrong person. At this time, the king was too sad to think of himself. How could he have a good end when he came back to his senses? So the young master Xiao Quan quickly escaped without warning, but was later killed by people sent by Wei Chenggong.
When Yuan Yao saw that Shu Wu was innocently killed, he was worried that Guild Wei Cheng would come to kill him again, so he fled to Jin for help. At this time, Duke Wen of Jin held a meeting with the princes in Wendi and sent people to invite Duke Cheng of Wei to confront Yuan Yao in front of the princes to resolve the matter. The officials of Wei, Ning Wuzi, Zhen Zhuangzi and Shi Rong, defended Duke Cheng of Wei on behalf of the princes. It is said that "Marquis Wei and Yuan Yu were involved in the lawsuit, Ning Wuzi was the assistant, Zhenzhuangzi was the seat, and Shirong was the chief scholar." Relevant scholars believe that Ning Wuzi, Zhenzhuangzi and Shirong are the earliest lawyers recorded in ancient Chinese documents.
However, these three lawyers failed to help Wei Chenggong win the case. The public trial of the princes presided over by Jin Wengong ruled that Wei Chenggong lost the case, so Jin Wengong ordered people to kill Shirong, and then sentenced Zhenzhuangzi, who had a slightly higher status, to beheaded. Wu Zi was spared because Jin Wengong appreciated his loyalty. After dealing with the ministers of Wei State, Duke Wen of Jin took the initiative to arrest Duke Cheng of Wei and send him to the capital to imprison him. Then he released Yuan Yao to return to the country and appointed Prince Xia as the king.
The trial of this lawsuit against Wei Guo made Duke Wen of Jin shine in the limelight of the overlord. It was also the first time that Duke Wen of Jin exercised the power of the overlord to "respect the king's order and appease the four kingdoms" in compliance with King Zhou Xiang's order. After that, Duke Wen of Jin relied on his own military strength to besiege the state of Zheng, forcing the state of Chu to ask for peace with the state of Jin. He also supported the state of Wei to take advantage of the civil strife in Di to attack, so that the state of Di also formed an alliance with the state of Wei. Dare to invade the Central Plains at will again. Although Duke Wen of Jin used his overlord status to arbitrarily conquer the vassal states that did not obey Jin, the emergence of Jin as the overlord freed the Central Plains princes from the leaderless chaos after the death of Duke Huan of Qi, and reversed the decline of the Central Plains, and the aggressive invasion of the Di and Chu people. The situation in the Central Plains has contributed to the development of the countries in the Central Plains.
In the thirty-second year of Duke Xi of Lu (628 BC), Duke Wen of Jin, the overlord of a generation, ended his ups and downs life. Legend has it that when the Jin Dynasty's monarchs and ministers sent Jin Wengong's coffin away from the capital Jiangcheng to Quwo, the birthplace of Jin, a sound like a cow's braying suddenly came from the Jin Wengong's coffin. A person specializing in divination listened carefully and then announced to the bewildered ministers: "The king is issuing an order: An army will come from the west and pass through our country. If we fight against it, we will win a great victory!"
This bizarre story was solemnly recorded in "Zuo Zhuan", but whether it is true or false, the "will" issued by Duke Wen of Jin after his death seemed to be prescient, predicting that after the death of Duke Wen of Jin, The Jin State continued to conquer the north and south, killing generals and seizing cities.
After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, the crown prince named Huan succeeded him and was known as Duke Xiang of Jin in history. Although he did not rule for a long time, he inherited his father's ambitions and conducted a series of foreign wars with a strategic vision, which enabled Duke Wen of Jin to avoid the tragedy of Duke Huan of Qi and continued the dominance of Jin State. .
At this time, Qin Mugong was leading his troops outside. He ignored the advice of his veteran minister Jian Shu not to attack from far away and insisted on leading his troops to conquer Zheng State. After being blocked on the way, he returned to the army and destroyed Hua State. After Xian Zhen, a senior official of the Jin Dynasty, learned the news, he immediately went to Jin Xianggong and said: "The king of Qin did not listen to Uncle Jian's words and went on an expedition to satisfy his ambition. This is a good opportunity given to us by God. It is unlucky for us to go against the will of heaven." We must take this opportunity to defeat the Qin army."
However, another official, Luan Zhi, raised questions: "The State of Qin had a favor to support the late emperor. Now that the late emperor's body is still cold, we will attack the Qin army. This will put the late emperor in the wrong place!" Xian Zhen explained. Said: "Zheng Guo and Hua Guo are both from the same clan as ours with the surname Ji, and our ancestors also had a close relationship with the monarch of Qin. But now that our ancestors have passed away, Qin Jun not only does not feel sad for us, but instead sends troops to attack people with the same surname as us. Since the Qin State has been so disrespectful to our country, why should we care about showing favors? I heard: "If you indulge the enemy for one day, you will suffer troubles for several generations." Even in the face of our ancestors, we can confidently say that this is Plan for future generations!”
After listening to the debate between Xian Zhen and Luan Zhi, two doctors with rich military experience, Jin Xiang agreed that Xian Zhen's words were more reasonable, so he ordered the urgent mobilization of Jiang Rong's army to prepare for battle. Since Duke Wen of Jin had not yet had time to bury him, Duke Xiang of Jin dyed his mourning clothes black with ink, and then led the army to go to war.
The armies of Qin and Jin had a great battle in Miaoshan, and the Jin army won a complete victory. They also captured three Qin commanders, Meng Mingshi, Xiqishu, and Bai Yibing. Among them, Meng Mingshi was an important minister of Qin Bai Yibing. Son of Li Xi. After Duke Xiang of Jin won the victory, he buried Duke Wen of Jin in mourning clothes that had been dyed black. From then on, the mourning clothes of Jin changed to black.
Duke Xianggong of Jin's mother Wen Ying was the daughter of Duke Mu of Qin. When she heard that three generals of Qin had been captured, she persuaded Duke Xianggang of Jin to release them. When Xian Zhen knew about it, he hurried to stop Jin Xianggong, but it was too late, so he angrily scolded Jin Xianggong: "The military commander worked hard to catch the enemy with blood and sweat, but you just listened to the woman's words and let him go easily. If you lose it, you will reduce the achievements and credit of the army in this way, and help the enemy invaders, and you will never die!" However, no matter how angry Xian Zhen was, it was of no use. The three generals of Qin had already crossed the river, but Xian Zhen because of today's gaffe He lost his life shortly afterwards.
At that time, Xian Zhen was leading the Jin army to fight against the Di people. The people of Di knew that Duke Wen of Jin had passed away and thought that the Jin State would decline like the Qi State after the death of Duke Huan of Qi, and that the princes of the Central Plains would be leaderless and become a loose sand, so they sent troops to invade the Qi State and then attacked the Jin State. How could Duke Xiang of Jin allow the Di people to be so rampant? He immediately led the army to go out and defeated the Di army in Jidi (now northeast of Puzhou, Shanxi Province). The commander of Jin's army, Qu Que, also captured Bai Di's leader.
Seeing that the Jin army was about to win a complete victory, everyone was rejoicing. However, Xian Zhen remembered the last time he uttered arrogant words in front of the king, saying that "there will be no day for destruction". He suddenly felt ashamed and helpless, so he said: "I I acted arrogantly in front of the monarch that day, but the monarch was lenient and did not punish me. How dare I not punish myself?" So he took off his helmet, rushed into the Di army like crazy, and died in the chaos. After the war, the people of Di returned Xian Zhen's head. His face was full of relief and lifelike, and Duke Xianggang of Jin felt very compassionate when he saw it.
After returning from Jidi, Duke Xiang of Jin placed all his guilt for Xian Zhen on Xian Zhen's son Xian Qieju. He ordered Xianqiqu to succeed his father to the position of marshal of the Central Army at the highest level, and then rewarded the subordinate ministers who had recommended him but Queque. Finally, he appointed Queque, who had made great achievements in capturing the leader of Bai Di in this battle, as minister. He was given the land of Ji, but no military rank was given to him.
After defeating Qin and Di, which were closer and more threatening, Jin then challenged Chu, which had always wanted to compete with Jin for hegemony. Of course, the Jin State did not go all the way to attack the Chu State, but instead attacked the Xu State, which had surrendered to the Chu State. The Chu State immediately sent troops to rescue Xu, and the Chu Army did not go to the Xu State to directly fight the Jin State, but instead attacked the state of Xu. After the Battle of Chengpu, Chen and Cai, who had betrayed Chu and defected to Jin, forced the Jin army to return to rescue them. After a melee, both Jin and Chu retreated, and neither side took advantage. However, Chu's Ling Yin Zishang was framed by Chu Prince Shang Chen because he fell into Jin's plan in this battle. "It was a shame for Chu to accept bribes from Jin and conquer it", so he was executed by the king of Chu.
After Jin Xianggong won three wars with the great powers in the west, north, and south, he turned his attention to the Weiguo in the east. In the later years of Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Cheng of Wei who was imprisoned in Luoyi was released and returned to his country to restore the throne. Duke Cheng of Wei, who became the king again, hated Duke Wen of Jin and believed that he had formed an alliance with Di, so he refused to go to Jin. The state court met and sent general Kongda to attack Jin's ally Zheng.
When Duke Xianggong of Jin came to the throne, he was busy attacking Qin and resisting Di. After everything was calmed down, he remembered Wei's rudeness. At this time, the funeral of his father Jin Wengong had passed. After Jin Xianggong held a sacrificial ceremony, he sent people to inform the princes and sent troops to attack Weiguo. Soon after, he captured Wei's Qidi (today's north of Puyang, Henan) and captured the guard Sun Zhaozi. Only then did Duke Wei Cheng know that Duke Xianggang of Jin was as powerful as his father, so he had no choice but to ask the king of Chen to deal with it on his behalf. He handed Kong Da to the king of Chen and asked him to send him to plead guilty to Duke Xiang of Jin. This solved the matter. .
After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the struggle among the five sons for the throne caused great chaos in Qi. Not only did the country decline, but its hard-won hegemony was also lost. He was also an overlord. After the death of Jin Wen Gong, Jin Xianggong not only successfully succeeded to the throne, but also quickly took control of all the domestic forces. He used Jin's powerful military power to subdue all parties and maintain Jin's hegemony. It can be seen that Jin Xianggong is indeed a promising king.
