Just as the people of Jin, who had been hegemonic for many years, were losing their hearts, and the Chu State, a powerful country in the south, was almost destroyed, the Qi State, which had been dormant for many years, quietly revived. The accession of a heroic king gave the people of Qi the hope of domination again. , however, the British Lord's accession to the throne was an accident caused by civil strife.
Duke Tang of Qi and Dong Guo Yan were related. Duke Tang's wife was Dong Guo Yan's sister, and Dong Guo Yan was Cui Zhu's retainer. Cui Zhu was an important minister of Qi State with outstanding political achievements and outstanding military exploits in foreign campaigns. He was highly regarded by Qi Linggong. Cui Zhu often accompanied Prince Guang on visits to other vassal states. After the death of Qi Linggong, Prince Guang ascended the throne and was known as Qi Zhuanggong in history.
Duke Zhuang of Qi loved Cui Zhu as much as his father, and the relationship between the king and his ministers was extraordinary.
When Tang Gong passed away, Dongguo Yan and Cui Zhu came to express their condolences. After seeing Tang Gong's beautiful wife, Cui Zhu was moved, so he hinted to Dong Guo Yan that he wanted to marry his sister. Dongguo Yan was a smart man and had studied the divination in the Book of Changes, so he told Cui Zhu: "A man and a woman must not only be of the same family, but also have to identify their surnames. Only when their names match can they marry, I am Duke Huan's. Descendants, you are the descendants of Ding Gong and cannot be related. If you don't believe it, you can use divination to see good or bad luck."
After Cui Zhu went back, he divined and found that the hexagram "Kun" turned into "Big Over". Many Taishi believed that this was a good omen. Only Song Wenzi looked worried and said to Cui Zhu: "My husband is like a gust of wind, and the wind holds the hand." If your wife is blown away, you cannot marry. The line of this hexagram says: 'Trapped by stones, stuck in the thorns, you can't see your wife when you walk into the house.' This is a bad omen. Being trapped by stones Being sleepy means that if you go, you will definitely fail. Staying in the thorns means that the things you rely on will be in people's hands. Walking into the house and not seeing your wife is a bad omen, which means that you will not be able to A home to return to.”
Cui Zhu was already obsessed with Tang's wife at this time. He completely ignored what Song Wenzi said and refuted him: "Tang's wife is a widow. Her dead husband has fulfilled her bad omen. What's the harm if I marry her again?" So not long after, Cui Zhu held a wine banquet to marry Tang Gong's wife Tang Jiang.
Unexpectedly, what Song Wenzi said was true. Since Cui Zhu was an important minister of Duke Zhuang of Qi, Duke Zhuang of Qi often went to Cui Mansion to meet with him. When he saw Cui Zhu's beautiful wife, Duke Zhuang of Qi also salivated. Jiang has something to do with his behavior.
Every time Duke Zhuang of Qi went to Cui's house to have an affair with Tang Jiang, he would give one of Cui Zhu's hats to others. His servants thought that Duke Zhuang had done this improperly and advised him not to humiliate Cui Zhu like this. But Duke Zhuang was proud of this and still went his own way. When Cui Zhu learned about this, although he did not dare to say anything, he hated Duke Zhuang deeply in his heart and wanted to find an opportunity to kill him.
At this time, there was internal turmoil in the Jin State. Duke Zhuang of Qi wanted to take the opportunity to destroy the Jin State, so he sent troops to attack the capital of the Jin State. Cui Zhu secretly thought that he could kill Duke Zhuang of Qi to please the Jin State, but he never had a good chance. Finally one day, Cui Zhu found an attendant named Jia Ju. Jia Ju had just been whipped by Duke Qi Zhuang, so he had a grudge against him, so he colluded with Cui Zhu to discuss a plan to kill Duke Zhuang of Qi.
In the blink of an eye, it was May. On this day, Duke Zhuang of Qi held a banquet in Beicheng to entertain Ju Zi who came to see him. Cui Zhu did not come because he was ill. The next day, Duke Zhuang of Qi came to the Cui Mansion to visit Cui Zhu, who was ill. The name of the visit was actually an opportunity to have an affair with Tang Jiang. Tang Jiang entered the room, Cui Zhu walked out gloomily, and Duke Zhuang of Qi was so happy that he patted the pillar and sang.
At this time, Jia Ju asked Duke Qi Zhuang's entourage to retreat outside the door. He walked into the room with a few soldiers and closed the door. Jia Ju and the soldiers who entered the room saw the Duke of Qi Zhuang, who was having fun, taking out a sharp weapon on horseback. Seeing that something was wrong, Duke Qi Zhuang quickly jumped up on the high platform and begged Jia Ju to spare him from death, but everyone did not agree; Duke Qi Zhuang also asked for help. The Ancestral Temple committed suicide, but still did not agree, saying: "Master Cui Zhu is very ill now. We cannot do what you asked. We are ordered to patrol the night to search for adulterers. No other orders are known." Duke Zhuang of Qi. Seeing that there was no hope of survival and no hope of death, he jumped over the wall in an attempt to escape. At this time, someone shot an arrow and hit his thigh. Duke Zhuang of Qi fell into the wall. Everyone rushed up and killed him.
Cui Zhu did not bury Qizhuang Gong's body in the north of the city, but buried it in the scholar's grandson. The burial objects included four long-handled fans, no weapons or armor, and only seven dilapidated cars were buried.
After the death of Duke Zhuang of Qi, Cui Zhu launched a "purge", and Jia Ju, Zhou Chuo, Bing Shi, Gongsun Ao, Feng Ju, Duofu, Xiang Yi, and Xiu were all killed. Zhu Tuo's father, who rushed to recover his life, was killed in Cui Zhu's home before he took off his official hat. As an official in charge of fisheries, Shen Kuai said to his head retainer: "You quickly take my wife and children and run away. I am prepared to die." But the head retainer said: "I can't leave you alone. It would be too unethical. ." So Shen Kuai and the chief retainer committed suicide.
Taishi clearly recorded in his record of this incident that it was Cui Zhu who killed Duke Zhuang of Qi. So Cui Zhu killed Taishi. Later, Taishi's younger brother followed in his elder brother's footsteps, and both brothers died at the hands of Cui Zhu. Later, another brother of Taishi also recorded how Cui Zhu killed Duke Zhuang of Qi. This time, Cui Zhu let it go and did not pursue further investigation. Nan Shi had previously heard that the Taishi brothers had been killed by Cui Zhu, so he angrily took the bamboo slips he had written and went to seek justice. However, after hearing that the final record was based on the true situation, Nan Shi returned happily.
Lu Qiuying wanted to escape, so he wrapped his wife in a car curtain, put her in the car, and then fled in a hurry with Shen Xianyu. On the way, Shen Xianyu threw Lu Qiuying's wife out of the car, and then said: "The monarch is foolish and we can't correct his mistakes. When the monarch is in danger, we can't save him. When the monarch is killed, we can't." He sacrificed his life for his country, and now he is running away in embarrassment, but he only knows how to wrap his wife in a car curtain. No matter where we end up fleeing to, who is willing to accept us?"
The two carriages reached the narrow road in Yanzhong, ready to rest for the night. Lu Qiuying said: "Cui Zhu and Qingfeng may come to hunt us down!" Shen Xianyu said without fear: "If they are coming, we have the same number, what should we be afraid of?" So the two of them stayed. Come down. After eating and feeding the horses, the two fell asleep with their heads on the reins, and continued on their way after waking up. When they arrived at Yanzhong, Shen Xianyu said: "We have to speed up. If Cui Zhu and Qingfeng send people, we will not be their opponents." The two drove their carriage to the state of Lu.
Yanzi stood outside the door of Cui Zhu's house. The attendant asked: "Are you ready to die to thank the country for its kindness?" Yanzi said: "The monarch is not my own monarch, why should I die?" The attendant asked: "Are you ready to run away?" Yanzi said: "I am not guilty, why should I run away?" The attendant asked again: "Are you going back?" Yanzi said: "The monarch is gone, where can we go back? Since the monarch is called a monarch, is it just to order the people? Comply with it. Public opinion and managing government affairs are the main tasks. As a minister, is it just to get a salary? Assisting the monarch to make the country prosperous and strong is what a minister should do. If the monarch dies for the country and flees for the country, then we It is worth dying for him and fleeing. If the monarch dies because of himself, then except those he loves very much, who dares to bear this responsibility? If others kill because of the new monarch If I killed him, why should I die for him? Run away for him? Where can I go back?"
The door of Cui Zhu's house opened. Yanzi went in and cried loudly, leaning his head on the leg of the corpse. Cui Zhu's men suggested that he kill Yan Zi, but Cui Zhu said: "He is a person supported by the people. If I kill him, won't I lose the support of the people?"
After the death of Duke Zhuang, Cui Zhu supported Duke Jing to inherit the throne, and he became the prime minister, while Qing was appointed the left prime minister. They made an appointment with the people in the country to form an alliance at the Taigong Ancestral Temple. Cui and Qing consolidated their power in the court. At this time, Yanzi could only look up to the sky and sigh: "If the baby does not attach itself to those who are loyal to the emperor and benefit the country, God will bear witness!"
Qi Jinggong was originally the youngest son of Qi Linggong and was not qualified to inherit the throne. However, because of this civil strife, he was able to ascend the throne and become the king. It can be said that he was a blessing in disguise and picked up a pie that fell from the sky. But at this time, the state of Qi was still in the hands of powerful ministers. If he wanted to truly take control of the power, Qi Jinggong still had a long way to go.
After Qi Jinggong ascended the throne, the power of the court fell into Cui Zhu's hands because he was still young. Cui Zhu was dictatorial and persecuted dissenters. Qingfeng wanted to overthrow this biggest political enemy in the court, so he tried every means to kill Cui Zhu and replace him.
At this time, there was civil strife in Cui Zhu's home, and Qingfeng thought this was a good opportunity to get rid of Cui Zhu. He secretly colluded with the Cui family's children, funded Cui Zhu's legitimate sons Cui Cheng and Cui Qiang with weapons, and killed the Cui family's retainers Tang Wujiu and Dongguo Yan. Hearing this, Cui Zhu felt angry and very sad. He informed Qingfeng of the tragedy at home. Qingfeng knew nothing about it and said to Cui Zhu: "How dare these two traitors do the following? I I am willing to help you teach them a lesson!" Cui Zhu naively believed Qingfeng and said, "If you can help me get rid of these two traitors, I am willing to let my son Cui Ming recognize you as his adopted father."
After receiving Cui Zhu's permission, Qingfeng immediately summoned the soldiers at home and asked his retainer Lu Pu'ao to lead a group of troops to kill Cui Zhu's wife, concubines, and their entire family. He took all the chariots, horses, and weapons for himself, and set fire to Cui Zhu's house. . The next day, Qingfeng came to Cui Zhu with the heads of Cui Cheng and Cui Qiang. When Cui Zhu saw the heads of his two sons, he burst into tears. At this time, he regretted letting Qingfeng do this, but because he had promised Qingfeng before, he suppressed his grief and thanked Qingfeng.
On the way home, Cui Zhu was overly sad and finally realized that this was Qing Feng's plan, but it was too late and he hanged himself in the car.
After Cui Zhu's death, Qingfeng took control of the country, but Qingfeng was not very interested in government affairs. He drank, had fun, rode horses and hunted all day long, leaving all the affairs of the country to Qingshe. Later, Qingfeng took his wife and concubines to Lu Pu'a's house to enjoy themselves for many days. If there were important matters in the court that Qing She could not decide, the officials would go to Lu Pu'a's house to visit.
At this time, Qingfeng issued an order saying that anyone who was on the run and knew about Cui Zhu's remaining party could return to the country to report and be exempted from previous charges. Lu Pugui then returned to Qi State and became a retainer in Qingshe's home. Lu Pugui was very capable and was highly regarded by Qingshe. Later Qingshe married his daughter to Lu Pugui.
At this time, other retainers in Qingshe's family asked Lu Pugui: "Marriage is often avoided within the same clan, and intermarriage between people with the same surname is taboo, but why don't you care about this?" Lu Pugui said: "Since even the clan does not avoid me, , what should I avoid? This is like writing poetry, sometimes we will take it out of context. Now I just need to do what I should do. I don’t have the heart to care so much about things of the same sect or different sects." Later, Lu Pugui recommended Wang He to Qingshe, saying that it was he who asked him to return to China. Later, both of them were reused by Qingshe and became personal guards.
When Doctor Qing was dining in the imperial office, he was supposed to have two chickens every day, but people often secretly replaced them with two ducks in the kitchen, and took out all the meat and only gave Doctor Qing soup. Ziya and Ziwei, the ministers of Qing Dynasty, were very angry when they found out the truth.
Qingfeng told Lu Pu'a about this, and Lu Pu'a said: "Compare them to animals. Today I will sleep on their fur." So Lu Pu'a conveyed the matter to Xi Gui's father. , and asked him to tell Yan Pingzhong: "We can't be used by others yet. Even if we say that we are very talented, we don't have any good ideas. But we swear we will not reveal a word of these secrets." Xi Gui's father said: "Now that the words have been said For this reason, I absolutely trust you as a person.”
Later, Lu Pu'ao told Beiguo Ziche about this, and Ziche said: "Everyone has a different way of serving the king. This is what I can do."
All these situations made Chen Wenzi very worried. He said to Chen Wuyu: "I'm afraid the national disaster is about to happen. What can we get?" Chen Wuyu said: "We got a hundred carts of wood from the Qingfeng family on the street. "Chen Wenzi said: "You can just keep it cautiously."
In fact, Lu Pugui and Wang He were not of the same mind as Qingshe. Lu Pugui wanted to avenge Qizhuang Gong. He recommended Wang He to Qingshe in order to have a helper to eliminate Qing's influence in the court.
On this day, Lu Pugui and Wang He performed divination to get rid of Qingshe. They showed the divination to Qingshe and said that it was a divination performed by someone for revenge. One day, Qingfeng went hunting in the vegetable field, and only Chen Wuyu followed him. At this time, Chen Wenzi called Chen Wuyu back. Chen Wuyu asked Qingfeng for leave and said, "My mother is sick and I hope to go back to visit." Qingfeng then gave Chen Wuyu's mother a divination, and the result was a death divination. Qingfeng also felt very sad. Sad, so I let him go back. When Qingsi heard that Chen Wuyu was not with Qingfeng, he felt deeply that something bad had happened. He quickly informed Qingfeng and asked him to go back, otherwise a big disaster would happen during the Autumn Festival. If he went back at this time, the disaster could be avoided.
But Qingfeng didn't listen to Qingsi's words at all. Qingsi said helplessly: "I have to escape. If I can escape to Wu and Chu, it means my fate is good." After Chen Wuyu crossed the river, he moved the bridge and the boat All destroyed.
Lu Pujiang said to Lu Pugui: "If you want things to succeed, you must tell me everything." Lu Pugui then told Lu Pujiang the matter. Lu Pujiang said: "My father is a stubborn person. Others will not persuade him, but they still let me give it a try."
The Autumn Festival was held in Taigong Temple, and Qingfeng personally presided over it. Lu Pujiang told him that someone would use the autumn festival to launch a rebellion and advised him not to go. Qingfeng refused to listen at all, and did not believe that anyone would rebel at this time, and finally went to the Ancestral Temple in person.
When the sacrifice was going on, Lu Pugui and Wang He suddenly held the Ge Ge, and Qing led his soldiers to surround the palace. Chen, Bao and others watched the horse breeder's performance. They were worried that Qing's horse would be frightened, so they gave it some wine. At this time, the soldiers of the Luan family, the Gao family, the Chen family, and the Bao family put on the leather armor of the Qing family, took out their hammers from their sleeves, and knocked on the door three times. Lu Pugui stabbed at the back of Qingshe, and Wang He Ze struck Qing She on the left shoulder with his sword. Qingshe had no weapons in his hands, so he had to throw a wine bottle at his attacker with one hand and grab the rafters of the temple with the other hand. However, Qingshe was still killed in the end. Seeing this, Qi Jinggong was very frightened. Bao Guo said, "The ministers did this for you." Chen Xuwu took Qi Jinggong back to the palace, took off his sacrificial clothes and came to the inner palace. Manage the government personally.
When Qingfeng heard that his son had been killed, he was very angry and sent troops to attack the royal city. However, the royal city was impregnable and the soldiers could only disperse. Qingfeng had no place to stay in Qi State, so he fled to Wu State. The king of Wu State gave Zhufang to Qingfeng, granted him a fief, and received a high salary, and his life was still very prosperous.
After Qingfeng's current situation was known to Uncle Fu Huibo, the doctor of Lu, he said to Shusunbao: "Is this God's intention to bless this adulterer?" Shusunbao said: "Wealth is a blessing for good people." It is a gift, but it is a disaster for adulterers. In my opinion, Qingfeng’s good days are over, and all Qingfeng’s clan will be wiped out.” A few years later, Chu State led various vassal states to attack Wu State. , the entire Qingfeng clan was killed by the Chu people.
