Just when the troops of Qi and Song were preparing to dispatch, the new king of Wei, Duke Hui of Wei (Gongzi Shuo), came with his troops.
Qi Xigong asked: "Aren't you still attending the funeral? Why did you lead the troops out?"
Wei Hui Gong Shuo stepped forward, bowed first, and then said respectfully: "Grandpa has spoken, how dare your grandson not come."
Gongzi Shuo's attitude made Qi Xi Gong very comfortable. With just one sentence of "grandpa", Qi Xi Gong felt that all the ridiculous things in Weiguo could be written off, and Gongzi Shuo's throne could be accepted. He said: "Since we are here, let's go together
Go and fight against the Kingdom of Ji."
Wei Huigong asked in surprise: "Aren't you going to fight against Zheng Guo? Why did you change it to fight against Ji Guo?"
Duke Xi of Qi said: "I have long wanted to attack the State of Ji. Now I have discussed with Duke Song that it is more cost-effective to attack the State of Ji than to attack the State of Zheng. Let's attack the State of Ji first. When you come, it will be your share.
country, interests are equally shared.”
Duke Hui of Wei said: "Okay. I'll fight anyone who I want to fight. Let's fight against the Kingdom of Ji with you."
Ji State is located in the northeast of Qi State. Its territory is in Shouguang, Laiyang and Yantai, Shandong Province today. Its land area is slightly smaller than Lu State. Qi State is east of the sea, so Qi State has only three expansion areas: north, west and south.
In this direction, Ji State will be squeezed to the north, and Lu State will be squeezed to the south. Ji State and Lu State were squeezed by Qi State, so they joined forces to counter Qi State. Ji State in order to firmly grasp
Lu State, a strategic ally, adopted a marriage alliance with Lu State to win over Lu State. In order to resist Qi State, Lu State has also been helping Ji State to deal with Qi State.
Compared with the State of Lu, Duke Xi of Qi hated the State of Ji more and wanted to destroy the State of Ji more. When Duke Hui of Wei asked him the reason for attacking the State of Ji, Duke Xi of Qi found a reason and said: "The Marquis of Ji is in front of the emperor."
Talk bad about me."
The allied forces of Qi, Song, and Wei marched north, then turned eastward along the border of Qi, and entered Ji State within seven days. The border of Ji State could not be defended, and the coalition forces were invincible along the way, and they soon reached Ji State.
He fell under the capital of the State of Ji and surrounded it. The Marquis of Ji relied on the strength of the capital to resist while sending people to the State of Lu for help.
Duke Huan of Lu convened a court meeting, and the ministers suggested that they unite with Zheng to save Ji. The reason was that Qi and Song wanted to attack Zheng, so uniting with Zheng at this time would definitely hit it off. Duke Huan of Lu immediately sent someone to contact Zheng. Duke Li of Zheng (his son-in-law)
Tu) was extremely dissatisfied with Song Zhuang Gong (Gongzi Feng) and heard that Song Zhuang Gong had united with Qi State to attack him, so he agreed to send troops without hesitation.
A few days later, troops from Lu and Zheng rushed to Ji State from the south and west respectively.
At a time when the sunset was all over the sky, the armies of Zheng and Lu approached the capital of the Kingdom of Ji. Duke Li of Zheng (Zitu) and Duke Huan of Lu (Gongzi Gui) walked side by side and climbed up a hill. They looked down from a distance and saw the capital of the Kingdom of Ji.
Outside are all the camps of the three kingdoms of Qi, Song and Wei. On the gates of the camps, the flags of each country are fluttering in the wind.
Duke Li of Zheng asked Duke Huan of Lu: "How do you think this battle should be fought?"
Duke Huan of Lu said: "Judging from the flags, the state of Qi surrounded the east gate and the south gate, the state of Song surrounded the west gate, and the state of Wei surrounded the north gate. The state of Qi is strong, and the state of Song is small. I think, we
Attack the weak countries first, and as long as you defeat one of the princes, the rest will be in chaos."
Duke Li of Zheng smiled and said: "I think we should attack Qi. As the saying goes, capture the thief first. Capture the king first. As long as we concentrate our forces to defeat Qi, the other two countries will destroy themselves without attacking."
Duke Huan of Lu felt that it made sense. The strategy was agreed upon. The soldiers and horses of Zheng and Lu were nearby, setting up camp near the mountains and rivers, and then burying pots to cook rice in preparation for launching an attack the next day.
On the second day, the weather was gloomy and thin clouds filled the sky. The troops of Lu and Zheng quietly approached the capital of Ji. At this time, the troops of Qi, Song and Wei were all attacking the city, and their entire attention was on the city.
Qi Xi was supervising the battle, and he never thought that someone would attack him. By the time the Qi people discovered that someone was attacking him, the troops of Lu and Zheng were already in front of them. The Qi army hurriedly responded to the battle, and the siege soldiers abandoned their ladders and returned.
Dealing with the troops of Lu and Zheng. When Song and Wei saw that Qi was being attacked, they also stopped attacking the city and rushed to the aid of Qi.
When the Marquis of Ji in the city saw Lu Zheng coming to rescue him, he opened the city gate and killed him out of the city.
For a time, the soldiers and horses of the six countries were fighting outside the capital of Ji Kingdom. Flags of different countries were seen flying around, chariots of different countries were rushing through, and soldiers followed the flags of their own countries and fought left and right. The whole scene was
There was a chaos of carriages and horses, the sound of killings was overwhelming, and the dust covered the sun.
The soldiers and horses of Qi, Song, and Wei were attacking the city day by day and were already exhausted. Zheng and Lu had just entered the battle, so to speak, waiting for work. Everyone in the army of Ji wanted to take revenge, and they all moved forward desperately. The battle continued until noon,
The situation on the battlefield changed. The three kingdoms of Zheng, Lu, and Ji gained the upper hand, while the three kingdoms of Qi, Song, and Wei began to collapse. At this moment, there was lightning and thunder in the sky. In a moment, a strong wind blew, and a heavy rain fell.
The soldiers and horses of the Song State fled first, followed closely by the soldiers and horses of the Wei State. They also began to flee. Duke Xi of Qi reluctantly held back his troops and retreated while fighting. The Marquis of Ji personally led his troops and horses to pursue the Qi army. Duke Xi of Qi was urgently pursued.
He couldn't help but became furious. He turned around on the chariot, pointed his sword at Ji Hou and shouted: "You and I swear to be incompatible. I will live without you, and you will live without me."
The Marquis of Ji ignored him and drove the soldiers forward. After a while, Duke Xi of Qi fled far away with the remaining defeated soldiers...
After Duke Xi of Qi fled back to Linzi, State of Qi, he fell ill soon after. His condition was so severe that good doctors from all walks of life were helpless. Seeing that the days were running out, Duke Xi of Qi called the princes and sons and told him: "After I die,
You will definitely destroy the Kingdom of Ji for me in the future. If I don’t let go of this hatred, I won’t be able to rest in peace.”
After the death of Duke Xi of Qi, his sons came to the throne and became Duke Xiang of Qi.
Half a year after Duke Xianggong of Qi succeeded to the throne, the troops of Qi State recharged their strength and cheered up again. Duke Xianggang of Qi was ready to fight against Ji State again to fulfill his father's last wish.
Things were being planned, and the envoys of Duke Zhuang of Song arrived. It turned out that Duke Zhuang of Song had come to invite Qi to attack Zheng again.
The character of Song Zhuanggong is somewhat similar to that of Kong Fujia, the great Sima of the Song Dynasty. He also refused to admit defeat. He suffered repeated defeats and would not hesitate to fight again. After he returned to the Song Dynasty, he carefully summed up the lessons of the failure. He believed that,
The last time we fought against the Kingdom of Ji, we were about to win, but unexpectedly, Zheng and Lu came into contact with each other, which caused the cooked duck to fly. Song Zhuanggong wanted to create a bigger alliance. For this reason, he decided
The blood capital was used to distribute the gold, silver, jade, etc. that had been unexpectedly sent by Zheng Guozi to some vassal states to encourage them to send troops together.
The envoy of Song State said to Duke Qi Xiang: "Brother Zheng suddenly helped Ji State to fight Qi State last time. This incident should be punished, otherwise Qi State will be ridiculed by the princes. It was just to gain this reputation that Song Gong Feng decided to unite with the princes.
We are going to attack him. Now Wei, Chen, and Cai have all agreed to send troops, and we are just waiting for Qi to express its stance."
Duke Xiang of Qi had just ascended the throne and wanted to perform on the international stage, so he agreed to send troops. In this way, Duke Zhuang of Song pulled up a coalition army composed of Song, Qi, Wei, Chen, and Cai.
After the five-nation coalition forces were assembled, Song Zhuanggong advocated choosing the path where Kong Fujia sneaked into Xingyang of Zheng State to attack Zheng State. He said: "If you want Zheng State to be in no hurry to join forces, you have to catch them off guard. It's best to catch them off guard."
The best way is to make a sneak attack. At that time, Kong Fujia, the great Sima of the Song Dynasty, succeeded in a sneak attack by taking this route."
The princes of Qi, Wei, Chen, and Cai all agreed.
In 698 BC, soldiers and horses from the Five Kingdoms set out from the border of the Song Dynasty and secretly marched towards the Zheng Kingdom along the route that Kong Fujia had taken.
As expected, Zheng was caught off guard and lost three cities in a row. Under the guidance of the Song army, the coalition troops marched directly to Xingyang. Three to five days later, they reached the city of Xingyang, the capital of Zheng.
Seeing that the Allied Forces of the Five Nations were unstoppable, Zheng Ligong was very panicked, but he could not think of a way. In desperation, he handed over the command to Jizu and asked Jizu to find a way to retreat.
Jizu ordered: "Only defense is allowed, no attack is allowed. Anyone who disobeys the order will be beheaded."
This trick is very effective. Xingyang City has always been a battleground for military strategists. It has been suffering from wars for a long time. Therefore, the city has high walls and thick walls. There is sufficient food and grass in the city, so it can be defended for a long time. The soldiers and horses of the Five Kingdoms came from afar and had limited food and grass.
It is better to fight quickly than to stay for a long time. Therefore, the princes attacked the city every day. As a result, the city was not captured, and they themselves suffered a lot of losses.
Seeing that Xingyang City could not be captured for a long time, Song Zhuanggong used a "counterintuitive strategy". He asked people to spread rumors that Song Zhuanggong did not kill Jizu when he was detained in the Song Dynasty. Jizu felt grateful for this and was unwilling to fight with him.
The Song Dynasty was fighting, so it could not escape.
This was originally a clumsy statement, but monarchs all over the world have a common problem. They are the most unwilling to listen to anyone who has second thoughts. The same goes for Zheng Ligong. When he heard the news, he came to ask Jizu why he only defended and did not attack?
Jizu said: "There are so many people from the five countries that we will definitely suffer a loss when we go out. It is better to hold on for a while and wait for them to run out of food and grass before retreating naturally."
Duke Li of Zheng said: "I heard that you don't want to fight Duke Song."
Ji Zu said: "There is more than one Song State outside the city. Even if I don't want to fight Song State, I can still attack other countries. Such words are obviously counterintuitive tactics. Please rest assured, my lord, if we persist for a few more days, they will not fight.
Retired."
General Gao Qumi shouted: "Lord, I request to go to war. How has the Zheng army ever been unable to retreat? The city is shouting and cursing every day, but we cannot retreat. What does this sound like?"
Duke Li of Zheng nodded and looked at Jizu with his eyes. Jizu shouted loudly: "I have a military order here. Anyone who dares to go to war without authorization will be killed. General Gao, do you dare to disobey me?"
Gao Qumi didn't dare to say a word because of Jizu's historical authority and retreated in dejection. Zheng Ligong also felt embarrassed. But he held back his anger and didn't show it. However, he felt in his heart that Jizu had too much power.
, he didn't take him seriously at all. He thought, now that the war is tense, just endure it for now. I will definitely deal with you after a while.
As time went by, the Five-Nation Allied Forces failed to attack the city, food and grass began to run out, and complaints spread. First, Chen and Cai wanted to withdraw their troops, and then even Qi Xianggong felt that it was pointless to continue fighting.
When Duke Zhuang of Song Dynasty saw that all the princes were interested in leaving, he knew that there was no chance again this time. But everyone was summoned by him, and even if they retreated, they would still give some benefits to others. So he learned Kong Fujia's method,
Send troops to plunder everywhere.
The soldiers and horses of the Song Dynasty took the lead in plundering. The soldiers and horses of other vassal states also followed suit and looted everywhere. The people outside Xingyang City suffered. Not only were their food, livestock, and items robbed, but also some young men and women were robbed.
Seeing the enemy's looting, Zheng's soldiers all asked to go to war. But the sacrifice was enough: "Whoever dares to go to war will be killed."
The soldiers and horses of the five countries looted and looted for two days. They felt that they could not get any advantage, so they set up their strongholds and retreated one after another.
Zheng Guo's battle was one against five, and not many people died. In the end, the armies of the five countries were forced to return without success. When the war was extinguished, the soldiers and civilians in Xingyang City realized how clever the sacrifice was. They all praised it.
, this is all because of the wisdom of Dr. Ji. Without him, I don’t know how many people would have died. Jizu’s reputation has risen sharply.
Among all the praises, only Zheng Ligong's heart became heavier and heavier.