In the late autumn of 660 BC (the 2nd year of Duke Ming of Lu and the 9th year of Duke Wei Yigong), Beidi, the nomadic people on the northern grasslands, moved southward in large numbers. Some of them went west and entered the Wei River Basin, and some of them went due south to the Central Plains.
Weiguo, located in the central and southern part of the Hebei Plain, bore the brunt and suffered a devastating attack.
At the end of October, Duke Yi of Wei sent an envoy to Qi to ask for help. Duke Huan of Qi did not want to send troops, so he said to the envoy of Wei: "Qi just went to fight the Shanrong last year, and the soldiers and horses have not yet rested. The little Beidi is a barbaric barbarian.
There is nothing to be afraid of. You resist for a while, and I will send out troops next spring."
There are two reasons why Duke Huan of Qi did not want to send troops. First, Duke Yigong of Wei was the son of Duke Hui of Wei (Gongzi Jin) and was somewhat related to Duke Huan of Qi. Second, Duke Yigong of Wei was a dandy, and Duke Huan of Qi looked down upon him.
Get on him.
At the end of December, the envoy of Wei came again. When he saw Duke Huan of Qi, he cried: "Our king died in the battle, and the capital was occupied by Beidi. A large number of civilians were slaughtered, many young men were kidnapped, and women were brutally raped."
, there are mountains of corpses in the city, and the stench fills the sky. It’s so miserable. If the Marquis of Qi doesn’t save it, Weiguo will cease to exist.”
Although Qi Huangong did not like Wei Yigong, he still couldn't bear it when he heard that he died in battle and the Wei Kingdom was almost destroyed. Qi Huangong said with resentment: "His ending was expected, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.
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It turns out that Wei Yigong had a special hobby - raising cranes. Not only did he raise many and beautiful cranes, but he also trained the cranes well. He could make the cranes fly around him, and with a whistle, the cranes would fall one after another.
around him.
Duke Yigong of Wei built a special fleet. When he traveled, he would let his crane sit on the caravan and call it "General Crane". He often took this crane fleet through the city in Chaoge, the capital of Wei State.
Because he raised cranes, he offended three people. First, he made all the "crane officials" who raised cranes doctors and gave them official salaries. This made the officials in the court feel ashamed.
Secondly, he called the crane "General Crane", which annoyed the generals of the army. They felt that the title of general was earned through bloodshed and meritorious service. The crane is also called a general, so is "general" not just a bird? Thirdly,
, his cranes all eat grains, and in order to raise cranes, he deliberately levied taxes on the people, which made the people complain. In short, the matter of Wei Yigong raising cranes made the people resentful.
This was also the reason why Duke Huan of Qi looked down on Duke Yik of Wei. However, he couldn't figure out how a middle-class prince could be defeated by Beidi so quickly. So he asked the envoy of Wei to explain the details.
The envoy of the Wei said: "There are 20,000 people in Beidi, and the troops and horses are strong. Our country's military preparations are lax, and the soldiers and horses are neglected to train. In addition, the Duke of Wei raises cranes, and the army and the people are alienated. Since October, the Wei army has been defeated in a row, and the Duke of Wei has recruited troops from all over the country. The armor is issued
When we went down, someone actually said, 'Wei Gong has General Crane, so he can send cranes to fight.' You can imagine how bad the situation was at that time."
Duke Huan of Qi asked: "How did your Duke Wei die in battle?"
The envoy of the guard said: "In late December, Duke Wei strangled the crane and swore to go out for battle. He held a long sword in front of the formation and charged in personally. The soldiers all moved forward bravely. Unfortunately, the enemy was outnumbered and we were defeated in the end. Duke Guard defended the battle.
Banner, trapped in siege, fought hard and died."
Duke Huan of Qi sighed and said, "If he had known about this, he would not have ended up like that."
The envoy of Wei said: "The country of Wei is still struggling in dire straits. Please send troops quickly, Marquis of Qi."
Duke Huan of Qi said: "Okay, let me summon the princes of the Central Plains and then go to save him."
The envoy of Wei was anxious and begged: "Marquis Qi, if we delay for one more day, many people in Wei will die. How long can Wei continue?"
Duke Huan of Qi said: "Let's do this. I will first send Young Master Wu Kui with 6,000 troops to rescue him, and you can go back to Weiguo with him."
Gongzi Wukui was the eldest son of Duke Huan of Qi. Although he was the eldest son, he was not appointed as the prince. He served in the military for a long time. When Gongzi Wukui's troops arrived in Caoyi, Weiguo, they saw a large number of people sleeping in the mountains to dig wild vegetables and pickle them.
The bark of the tree was eaten to satisfy hunger. Each one had a vegetable-like appearance, resembling birds and beasts. The dead were buried in the wilderness, with branches inserted as markers. It was horrible to see.
Seeing this scene, Young Master Wu Kui urged his troops to rush towards Chao Ge. By the time he arrived, Beidi had already disappeared without a trace.
Before Beidi left, he drove a large number of people to demolish the city walls of Brother Chao to facilitate their next robbery. The city was in ruins, and the people had ten rooms and nine empty houses. Several ministers with sallow faces came pitifully to see the young master Wugui, calling him
He makes up his mind and thinks of ways.
Young Master Wugui gathered the people in the city and counted the number, and found that only 730 people were left. He also sent people to summon some people from other places. After a lot of trouble, he managed to gather more than 5,000 people. Young Master
If there is no loss, we will use these more than 5,000 people to beat the gongs and drums and open another business to help the people of Wei regain their homeland.
He established a young master and made him the king, who was Duke Wen of Wei.
Wei Wengong took office in a crisis and wanted to restore the country. He and the soldiers and civilians built cities together, built palaces together, and ate coarse grains together. At night, they would find a shack to sleep on any construction site wherever they worked. He was dressed in coarse cloth short clothes.
He always carried tools on his shoulders, and the trousers on his legs were always rolled up. He also encouraged the soldiers and civilians anytime and anywhere to learn from Wei Kangshu, the founder of the country, not to be afraid of hardships and to endure hardships. Under his leadership, five thousand soldiers and civilians
They were twisted into a rope and worked day and night. For this reason, Wei Wengong won the support of the army and the people.
More than a month later, when Prince Wugui saw that Beidi would not come again, he returned to the court with his troops. When he reached Caoyi, he saw the same miserable scene again. He almost shed tears. He thought: Caoyi's city wall is gone.
After he left, what should he do if Beidi attacked again? So he left three thousand soldiers and horses to help the people build the city and protect Caoyi. He took the remaining army back to Linzi.
Duke Huan of Qi heard the report of Prince Wugui and said: "What's the use of leaving three thousand troops and horses? I think it's better to ask the princes to contribute some efforts to help Weiguo build the city wall and build some houses for them.
Otherwise, if Beidi comes again, they will be destroyed."
Just when Duke Huan of Qi was busy with this matter, Xing Guo came to ask for help. It turned out that Beidi had robbed Wei Guo and then went to Xing Guo. Although Xing Guo was a marquis state, its territory was very small and its national power was even weaker, so it could not withstand Beidi's attack.
The envoy of Xing State said: "If the Marquis of Qi does not save Xing State, we will only be destroyed by Beidi."
Duke Huan of Qi said: "I was about to go to help Weiguo. Since you are also in trouble, it just so happens that we can do both things together."
Duke Huan of Qi sent an invitation to Song, Lu, Cao, Zhu and other countries, asking the princes to lead their troops to gather in Niebei at the junction of Xing and Qi, and then go together to attack Beidi.
On the appointed date, only the soldiers and horses of Song and Cao arrived, and no other princes came.
Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong discussed it and decided to hold their troops in Niebei. On the one hand, they all thought that Beidi was a bit powerful. Xing State could still support it for now. It would be better to let Xing State and Beidi fight to the death first, and then defeat Beidi in one go. Then.
Otherwise, the princes have not arrived and they want to wait.
Unexpectedly, after this settlement, the armies of Qi, Song, and Cao were stationed in Niebei for more than two months.
The Xing State looked forward to it day and night, but there was no reinforcement. Beidi soldiers and horses attacked the city every day, and the soldiers and civilians of the Xing State gradually became unable to support it. They thought that instead of trapping the isolated city, it would be better to open a bloody road and rush out as many as possible. So one day
Cruelly, he opened the city gate, soldiers and horses cleared the way, and the people were behind. The whole city's soldiers and civilians, men, women, old and children, poured out. Beidi soldiers and horses intercepted and killed them frantically, and the soldiers and civilians of Xing State completely became the prey of being chased, with only a small number of them being chased.
People had a lucky escape.
Several soldiers and civilians who escaped ran to Niebei, and they cried to Duke Huan of Qi about the tragedy when the city was destroyed. Duke Huan of Qi was moved when he heard this. He said: "It was my mistake. I should have sent troops to save it earlier. I am like this
So I informed Song Gong and Cao Bo and told them to make preparations and go to Xing State tomorrow."
When Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Huan of Song said that Cao Zhaogong and his three men rushed to Xing State with their troops, Beidi did the same thing again. They robbed everything they could and took away everything they could. Before leaving, they set a fire
, the whole city was set on fire. All the princes of the three kingdoms saw was scorched earth.
Uncle Yan, the doctor of Xing State, came to see Duke Huan of Qi and asked Duke Huan of Qi to help Xing State find a way no matter what. Duke Huan of Qi didn't know what to do, so he asked: "How many people are there in the city?"
Shuyan said: "After Beidi broke through the city, all the people were massacred. Now it is an empty city. Not even a wild dog can be seen."
Duke Huan of Qi asked again: "Where are the rest of the people?"
Shuyan said: "They have all fled to Yiyi. I am also planning to go to Yiyi. There is no way to survive here."
Duke Huan of Qi said: "Then we will go to Yiyi. You can go with us."
When the troops of Qi, Song and Cao arrived at Yiyi, they saw that a large number of people were sleeping in the open air. Duke Huan of Qi discussed with Duke Song and Uncle Cao to build a city for them. Lords of Song and Cao also agreed when they saw this scene.
So a massive city-building operation began. Nearly 30,000 troops from the Qi, Song, and Cao kingdoms gathered together with the soldiers and civilians of the Xing State to quarry stones and build the city together.
Duke Huan of Qi was really courageous. If there was no food, he would ask the State of Qi to transport grain. If there was a shortage of ironware and tools, Duke Huan of Qi would transfer craftsmen from the State of Qi and transport iron tools. Apart from these, as long as it was needed, what would Duke Huan of Qi ask for?
What, he even brought clothes and so on. Everyone saw Qi Huangong working so hard, and everyone's energy doubled.
After two months, a new city was built. It was not just a city wall, but palaces, temples and some houses were built in it. The people of Xing State were grateful and regarded Duke Huan of Qi as their reborn parent. Of course, Duke Huan of Qi had done good things and was very proud of him.
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After the completion of the project, Song Gongyu said that he and Cao Zhaogong planned to go back. Qi Huangong said: "Xing State has recovered, but Wei State is still in a mess. When we formed an alliance in Beixing, we said that we would help the weak princes. Now,
A good thing is only half done. How can we give up halfway? It is better to restore the country of Wei in one breath."
Song Gong and Cao Bo both said: "What the leader said is right. We listen to you. We will do whatever you say."
So the soldiers and horses of the Three Kingdoms moved to Wei State again. Wei Wen Gong had already received the news. He led a group of civil and military ministers to greet him from a distance. Qi Huangong saw that he was wearing coarse clothes and looked humble and diligent, and thought it was good. Wei Wen Gong
Wen Gong tried his best to please Song Gong and Cao Bo. These two were also flattered by Wei Wen Gong. They all said,
If Weiguo has any requests, just ask.
Wei Wengong said: "Our capital city was destroyed. We want to build a new city, but even if we gather the strength of the whole country, we can't complete it."
Duke Huan of Qi said: "Where do you want to build the city?"
Duke Wen of Wei said: "We want to build a capital city in Chuqiu."
Qi Huangong said: "Song Gong and Cao Bo are kind kings, and they are also willing to help you."
Duke Wen of Wei hurriedly came forward and kowtowed. Duke Huan of Song and Duke Zhao of Cao showed humility and quickly expressed their willingness to help. In this way, the troops of Qi, Song, Cao and Wei marched into Chuqiu.
The three kingdoms of Song, Cao, and Wei mainly sent people, and Qi not only sent people, but also provided supplies. Just like helping Xing, Duke Huan of Qi still gave him what he asked for. The princes of the four countries worked together, and it took more than two months.
Chuqiu built a new city.
The state of Wei was restored.
Duke Huan of Qi helped the Yan State to fight against the mountain soldiers, helped the Lu State to quell the civil strife, helped the Wei State and the Xing State to build city walls, and other things. He was praised by all the princes in the world, and his prestige was at the height of the sky. The princes all sincerely regarded him as their leader.
.At this point, he became the recognized overlord.