Ziyu ran all the way and fled back to the Song Dynasty. That night, he went to see Gongsun Gu, the great commander of the Song Dynasty, and the two discussed it. Gongsun Gu suggested that Ziyu should be named the king. He said: "My lord has been detained by the Chu people.
, I don’t know what year or month I will be able to come back. The position of king cannot be left vacant. Prime Minister, if you want to preside over the overall situation, you must have a legitimate name."
Gongsun Gu did not shy away from the suspicion of usurping the throne and made this suggestion. It was precisely because when Song Xianggong came to the throne, he and Ziyu had a brotherly humility trick. In addition, Ziyu was capable and popular, and the ministers supported him.
Therefore, Gongsun Gu dared to propose that Ziyu sit on the throne.
Ziyu said: "I refused at the beginning. Let alone now."
Gongsun Gu said: "I'm afraid that the people of Chu will use my lord to blackmail Song. We must block this road for them first."
Ziyu said: "In this case, I can take care of it first."
Sure enough, when Ziyu took the throne and was thinking of ways to deal with the Chu State, the Chu State's soldiers and horses first attacked Suiyang City, the capital of the Song State.
Dou Bo, the general of Chu State, shouted from the city: "Your king is in our hands, and his life or death depends on our words. As long as you surrender, I will let him go."
Gongsun Gu stood on the city and responded: "Young Master Mu Yi has become the new king. The king in your hands is useless. If you want to kill or behead, please do as you please. If you want to attack the city, we will accompany you. The wall of Suiyang is high and the river is wide.
, come if you are not afraid of death."
Seeing that he could not frighten the Song State, King Chu Cheng ordered an attack on the city. After three days of attacking, Suiyang City remained motionless. King Chu Cheng originally wanted to fight quickly, but he did not expect that the Song people had already prepared and could not take advantage at all. He
In a rage, he wanted to kill Song Xianggong.
General Cheng Dechen said: "Your Majesty once said that Song Gong should not kill Zuozi. Now that your Majesty wants to kill Song Gong, it would be the same as him. Besides, Song has a new king. Let's kill another lost king."
As a king, it is no different from killing a prisoner, it is meaningless. I think it is better to let him go."
King Chu Cheng said: "What kind of talk is this? The battle was not won, and their king was let go. Where is the face of Chu?"
Cheng Dechen said: "Your Majesty just wants to conquer the Song Dynasty, but the city of Suiyang is so strong that it cannot be taken down at once. What I want is for us to change our thinking and hold an alliance to achieve our goal through diplomacy."
"
King Chu Cheng said: "Tell me what you think."
Cheng Dechen said: "The only princes in the Central Plains are Qi, Song, Lu and Zheng. Now Qi and Zheng have a good relationship with us. Only Lu and Song are not convinced. I think that as long as Lu and Song are conquered,
Then hegemony can be achieved."
King Chu Cheng asked: "How to conquer them?"
Cheng Dechen said: "Let's write a letter of confederation to the State of Lu. Our attitude should be soft but hard, and we would like to invite the Marquis of Lu to discuss the matter of handling Song Gong. I guess the Marquis of Lu would not dare not to come. If he comes, we will do it for him."
Duke Song begs for mercy, so we will give him face and let him go. In this way, both Lu and Song will form an alliance with us. If this thing is done, then Qi, Lu, Song, and Zheng will all become our allies.
With our allies, why worry about achieving hegemony?"
King Chu Cheng said: "This is a good idea. You can send someone to do it."
Therefore, while King Chu Cheng besieged Suiyang, he sent people to contact the three vassal states of Qi, Lu, and Zheng, and asked them to come down to Suiyang City to discuss and deal with Song Gong's affairs.
When Duke Xi of Lu received the letter from King Chu Cheng, he originally didn't want to pay attention to it, but he was afraid of causing trouble, so he came to Suiyang City. However, he first went to see Duke Xiao of Qi and Duke Wen of Zheng, and finally met King Chu Cheng.
.This shows that he looks down upon Chu.
The next day, the princes of Chu, Qi, Lu, and Zheng sat together for a meeting.
The first thing to do at the alliance meeting was naturally to discuss who should be the leader of the alliance. Zheng Wengong was once entrusted by the Emperor of Zhou to contact the State of Chu and fight against the State of Qi. So he took the lead in proposing that King Chu Cheng be the leader of the alliance.
Duke Xi of Lu said: "Being the leader of the alliance depends on benevolence and righteousness, not force. Now that Chu has captured Song Gong and marched to Suiyang City, how can we convince people? If the King of Chu lets Song Gong go, I will have nothing to say.
.”
Duke Xiao of Qi agreed, and he also persuaded King Chu Cheng to release Song Xianggong. King Chu Cheng did not want to kill Song Xianggong in the first place, but just to be a favor, he released Song Xianggong on the spot.
When Song Xianggong came out, he couldn't hold back his anger, but he couldn't help but smile and thank King Chu Cheng and all the princes. He felt very awkward. Seeing that he was embarrassed, Duke Xi of Lu asked him to sit down.
He finally felt a little relieved.
Zheng Wengong once again proposed to recommend King Chu Cheng as the leader of the alliance. At this time, King Chu Cheng stared at Song Xianggong. Song Xianggong stood up and said: "The King of Chu is magnanimous and benevolent. I agree with Uncle Zheng's opinion."
Duke Xiao of Qi did not express his position. Duke Xi of Lu did not say anything because he had made a mistake before and could not go back on his words. When Duke Xiao of Qi saw it, neither Song nor Lu objected, so they also nodded. In this way, King Chu Cheng became the leader of the alliance.
After the meeting completed the necessary procedures, King Chu Cheng made an alliance with everyone. King Chu Cheng withdrew his troops and all the princes dispersed.
When all the princes had left, Song Xianggong suddenly realized that he didn't know where to go. Because the prince Mu Yi had become the king, he did not dare to enter Suiyang City. He wanted to escape to other princes' countries, but for a while he couldn't.
Know where to go.
Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Prince Muyi's men arriving. The envoy treated him respectfully, calling him "lord" one after another, and said, "My lord, the prime minister sent me here specifically to take you back, my lord."
Song Xianggong said: "Don't deceive me. He has robbed the throne. Why should I, the old king, be invited back?"
The envoy said: "My lord, the prime minister did this to save you. He sent me here to ask you to go back and continue to be the king."
The envoy spoke sincerely, and Song Xianggong was ashamed, but he still had to give up his position as king. After saying a few words of thanks, Song Xianggong followed the envoy into Suiyang.
After Song Xianggong returned to the throne, he wanted to save face. The Chu State could not afford to offend him, so he decided to take it out on the Zheng State. Because Zheng Wengong recommended King Chu Cheng as the leader of the alliance, he became angry whenever he thought about it.
However, if there is a war, why should he fight? Song Xianggong thought about it and finally remembered what Duke Lu Xi said to King Chu Cheng: Being the leader of the alliance depends on benevolence and righteousness. Yes, it is benevolence and righteousness. When Lu Xigong mentioned benevolence and righteousness,
King Chu Cheng let him go. This showed that benevolence and righteousness were indeed powerful. Song Xianggong had an idea. He asked someone to make a big flag with the word "benevolence and righteousness" written on it. He was going to carry this flag "benevolence and righteousness".
"Big banner" to conquer the world.
In 638 BC, regardless of the opposition of his ministers, Duke Xianggang of the Song Dynasty took the Prime Minister Zi Yu and the Grand Sima Gong Sun Gu to attack the State of Zheng. The State of Zheng immediately asked for help from the State of Chu. King Cheng of Chu sent Cheng Dechen and Dou Bo to lead troops to attack directly.
Song State to break the siege of Zheng State. Song Xianggong hurriedly withdrew his troops from Zheng State and returned to deal with Chu State.
The Song and Chu armies met at Hongshui (now north of Zhecheng County, Henan Province). The Chu army was in the south and the Song army was in the north. They faced each other across the river, forming a confrontation.
After Gongsun Gu looked at Chu's camp, he said to Song Xianggong: "Chu has more soldiers and horses than us. Lord, let's make peace in this battle."
Song Xianggong stared and asked: "What kind of peace?"
Gongsun Gu said: "The state of Chu only wanted to save Zheng. Now that we don't attack Zheng, what reason do they have for attacking us? I think we should make peace."
Song Xianggong pointed to the "big banner of benevolence and righteousness" flying in the wind in the army and said: "Although the Chu State has many troops, it does not have enough benevolence and righteousness; we do not have many troops, but we have more than enough benevolence and righteousness. The power of benevolence and righteousness is far greater than the strength of the army. I am afraid that he will do anything."
?”
In Song Xianggong's eyes, the "banner of benevolence and righteousness" was like a magic weapon that could subdue demons. He firmly believed that benevolence and righteousness would win. Seeing that Song Xianggong insisted on fighting, Gongsun Gu had no choice but to arrange his troops and prepare for battle.
At this time, the Chu army began to cross the river. Gongsun Gu said to Song Xianggong: "The people of Chu have begun to cross the river. Let us take this opportunity to attack and seize the opportunity."
Song Xianggong glanced at his banner of benevolence and righteousness and said: "We are the masters of benevolence and righteousness, how can we not be fair? Let's wait until they cross the river before fighting."
Gongsun Gu couldn't close his mouth in shock. He couldn't believe that Song Xianggong would think so when the war was about to begin. At this time, the Chu troops came ashore one after another and were lining up in a noisy manner. Ziyu hurriedly said to Song Xianggong
: "Lord, the enemy has crossed the river. Let's attack quickly before they line up."
Song Xianggong glanced at Ziyu, which meant that you simply don't understand benevolence and righteousness. Ziyu was impatient and wanted to persuade him again. Song Xianggong said: "Wait a little longer, we will fight after they have finished lining up."
Ziyu rolled his eyes angrily, but he was helpless.
The Chu army lined up their formation, then beat the war drums, and came with an overwhelming massacre. The Song army was immediately rushed to pieces. Gongsun Gu, Ziyu, and Gongzidang were closely guarding Song Xianggong.
Fight and retreat. The Chu army fired arrows when they saw Song Xianggong's chariot with a canopy on top. Song Xianggong danced with the bronze sword in his hand and only focused on saving himself.
After the general of the Song Dynasty, Gongzi Dang, he bravely took the lead and was wounded in many places, but he still resisted with all his strength. Not long after, Song Xianggong was also injured. He shouted and ordered the soldiers to hit the horse and run away. At this moment, a cold arrow struck
It flew forward and hit Song Xianggong's thigh. He yelled and leaned down. His horse fought hard and rushed out of the battlefield desperately. Song Xianggong's guard, the so-called "gate officer", was thrown far away.
In the back, these "gate officials" were quite brave. They fought tooth and nail to stop the Chu army, and all of them died in the battle. Song Xianggong's "banner of benevolence and righteousness" had long since fallen to the ground and was trampled underfoot by Chu soldiers and horses.
Ziyu accompanied Song Xianggong to escape all the way. When he saw Song Xianggong's painful look, he reproached him and said, "Is this how you talk about the battle of benevolence and righteousness?"
Duke Xiang of the Song Dynasty grinned and said something quite famous. "Zuo Zhuan: The Twenty-Third Years of Duke Xi" records this:
Duke Xianggong of the Song Dynasty said: "A gentleman will not catch two hairs unless he is seriously injured."
What he means is that for injured people, do not kill them again. For "ermao", that is, older people with black and white hair, do not arrest them.
Ziyu said angrily: "If you don't kill the injured, it's better not to hurt them. If you don't catch people with gray hair and beards, then you might as well let them take us as prisoners."
The two quarreled for a few words, and the defeated troops gradually gathered. Gongsun Gu reorganized the army, and most of his troops were lost. Song Xianggong's benevolent and righteous army returned in embarrassment.
In the battle of Hongshui, Song Xianggong was seriously injured. In addition to the arrow wound on his thigh, there were also several stab wounds on his body. He was bedridden when he returned to Suiyang.
When the prince came to visit him, he said: "Remember, Chu is our enemy, don't associate with them. Chong'er, the young master of Jin, is a capable man. When he returns to the country in the future, he will definitely accomplish great things."