Chapter 50: Abandoning the city and building a letter
When Duke Wen of Jin was preparing to lead the army to King Qin, news came that the army of Qin had arrived at the Yellow River. Duke Wen of Jin frowned and thought that if he and Duke Mu of Qin went to help the Zhou royal family, then the credit would be divided into two.
He had just ascended the throne and his prestige was not high yet. Even if he performed meritorious service, he would not be able to make a name for himself. He told Zhao Shui his concerns. Zhao Shui thought for a moment and said, "My lord, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you don't take advantage of it,
Once you have become famous and established, it will be difficult to find such an opportunity in the future. Therefore, I think we should seize this opportunity."
Duke Wen of Jin said: "Uncle Qin has already sent troops, how can he go back?"
Zhao Shui said: "Hu Yan is an eloquent speaker. If you ask him to be a lobbyist, he will definitely succeed."
So Duke Wen of Jin called Hu Yan and asked him about his plan. Hu Yan smiled and said, "This matter is not difficult."
Jin Wengong and Zhao Shui both stared wide-eyed, and asked in unison: "Why?"
Hu Yan said: "My lord, why can you return to Jin?"
Zhao Shui said: "There is no need to ask. Uncle Qin just wants to win over Jin. You'd better tell me your solution quickly."
Hu Yan said: "Here is the solution. Uncle Qin supported the lord to ascend the throne. He cannot offend us easily. Helping the Zhou royal family is just a trivial matter to Uncle Qin, but to us, this is
It's a big event. Because the Lord has just ascended the throne, he needs to establish his authority in front of the princes. This is related to the stability of his throne."
Zhao Shui didn't wait for Hu Yan to finish, and he also laughed: "Yes, you have grasped the key to the problem. For example, our lord has just ascended the throne. I think Uncle Qin will definitely understand us."
Duke Wen of Jin said, "It can be done. Hu Yan, go and come back quickly."
Early on the next morning, Hu Yan took his entourage and went straight to the Qin army camp. After seeing Qin Mugong, he earnestly explained his purpose of coming, especially emphasizing that Jin Mugong had just ascended the throne and needed to perform a great feat to stabilize the throne.
Finally, he requested: "The Kingdom of Jin has sent out troops. Please don't bother Uncle Qin to travel far. Please leave this mission to our lord!"
Uncle Jian said to Duke Mu of Qin: "Chong'er must be afraid that we will take away his credit. He wants to monopolize his credit, so he asked us to go back."
Duke Mu of Qin said: "I know this. But since Chong'er became the king, he has not made any merits. Since we have raised him to the throne, let's give him this merit."
In this way, Qin Mugong sent his son Ji to Fancheng to express condolences to King Zhou Xiang, and he returned to Qin with his army.
In 635 BC, that is, the 17th year of King Xiang of Zhou, the 25th year of Qin Mugong, and the 2nd year of Jin Wengong, the Jin army suddenly surrounded Luoyi. Taishu led, Kuma, Uncle Dai, Taozi and others were stationed in Luoyi.
The Di people in the city were unprepared and were caught off guard by the Jin army. The Jin army broke through the city of Luoyi and captured Taishu, Kuma, Uncle Dai, Taozi and others in one fell swoop. The king of Di led the remaining troops and defeated General Yuan.
Escape.
While Duke Wen of Jin sent people to welcome King Zhou Xiang back, he took Taishu, Kuma, Uncle Dai, Taozi and other ordinary people to be executed for the crime of usurping the throne.
King Zhou Xiang returned to Luoyi and praised Duke Wen of Jin. At the court, the general ministers headed by Duke Zhou and Duke Zhao were very grateful to Duke Wen of Jin and regarded him as the second Duke Huan of Qi.
One day later, King Xiang of Zhou held a banquet to comfort Duke Wen of Jin, and rewarded him with a lot of gold and silk. Duke Wen of Jin insisted not to accept it. He only wanted to be famous, and when he saw that the emperor was respectful to him, he couldn't help but feel a little inflated.
Driven by this mentality, Duke Wen of Jin took advantage of the wine and said: "Chong'er has not made any great achievements, how can he dare to accept the reward from the King of Heaven. However, the King of Heaven insists on rewarding me, so I will make a request. Ask the King of Heaven for permission.
After I die, I can build a tunnel in the tomb leading to the door."
King Zhou Xiang was stunned for a moment and thought, how unbecoming is this? It turns out that according to the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, only the emperor's tomb can have a tunnel leading to the tomb door, and neither princes nor officials can have one. King Zhou Xiang thought:
"You are obviously trying to take advantage of me. If that doesn't work, I will sell everything to save the face of my emperor." After thinking about this, King Zhou Xiang said: "You can't have the truth, it is the etiquette of the late king. I
How dare you change? Let's do it this way, you are diligent and meritorious, and your contribution is great. I will grant you my four cities: Wenyi, Yuancheng, Yangfan, and Zanmao."
Duke Wen of Jin hurriedly knelt down on the ground and kowtowed to express his gratitude. When King Zhou Xiang saw Chong'er, he didn't refuse and even climbed up the pole very quickly. He felt a little regretful. But after the words were spoken, he had no choice but to admit it.
Three days later, Jin Wengong said goodbye to King Zhou Xiang, and then arranged for Luanzhi to take over Wenyi, Wei Ji to take over Yangfan, and Dianjie to take over Cuancao. He and Zhao Shuai led a large group of troops to take over Yuancheng.
According to Jin Wengong's understanding, the reason why King Zhou Xiang wanted to grant Yuan City to him was because Yuan Boguan was defeated in the battle, which almost caused King Zhou Xiang to lose his throne. Therefore, King Zhou Xiang wanted to take this opportunity to deprive Yuan Boguan of his rights.
After that, he sealed the original city to Duke Wen of Jin. There was some intention to take out Yuan Boguan's anger.
Jin Wengong knew that it was not easy to take over Yuancheng. Yuan Boguan was a general, and he would not give in easily. Therefore, Jin Wengong decided to bite this hard nut himself.
After making preparations, Duke Wen of Jin led Zhao Shui and others to attack Yuan City. When they arrived at the city gate, they found that Yuan Boguan had indeed made preparations.
It turned out that Yuan Boguan knew that King Zhou Xiang was going to take it out on him. So he made preparations early. In order to make the soldiers and people of Yuan City determined to defend the city, Yuan Boguan made up a lie. He said to the soldiers and people of Yuan City: "Once
If the city is broken, the enemy will massacre the city. I have received news that the Jin people will massacre the city after they capture Yangfan City. Now, if we surrender, we will die, if we don't surrender, we will die. We might as well fight to the death, and maybe we can survive."
The soldiers and civilians of Yuancheng believed Yuan Boguan's words, so they worked together to defend the city to the death.
The Jin army attacked for two consecutive days without making any progress. At this time, news came one after another that the remaining three cities had been successfully taken over. Jin Wengong felt that it was too shameful to be unable to capture even a small original city. He and Zhao
Even though he racked his brains, he couldn't think of a way to break the city.
On the third day, Duke Wen of Jin said: "If we can't conquer the original city, we can't get off the stage. If we can't get off the stage, we might as well find a way for ourselves to get off."
Zhao Shuai asked: "My lord, what good idea can you use?"
Jin Wengong said: "I can give up the original city. But if you want to give up the original city, it must be of some value."
Zhao Shui wanted to ask again, but Duke Wen of Jin smiled and said, "Do as I say, let's give it a try."
On that day, Duke Wen of Jin ordered: Prepare three days of dry food. If the original city cannot be captured after three days, the troops will withdraw. He deliberately sent someone to inform the city of this news.
The news reached Yuan Boguan. Some people said that this was a trap by the Jin people. It was too simple. It was nothing more than pretending to withdraw the troops after three days to trick us into relaxing our guard, and then kill us. Others suggested that Yuan Boguan would use the trick and kill three people.
The Empress of Heaven set up an ambush in the city, and then opened the city gate wide to lure the enemy deep into the city, which could severely damage the Jin army. After hearing this, Yuan Boguan sent people to prepare.
The Jin army attacked for three more days, but still made no progress. On the evening of the third day, a group of people escaped from the city. They said to Duke Wen of Jin: "The city can no longer resist. Many people want to surrender. If the king
If you want to break into the city, we are willing to be your internal support."
Duke Wen of Jin said: "I have given an order. If we cannot capture the original city within three days, I will withdraw my troops. I mean what I say. Even if you offer the city to me, I will withdraw my troops."
After sending away the people from the original city, Zhao Shui said: "These people who surrendered are fake. They want to lure us into the city. There must be an ambush among them."
Duke Wen of Jin said with a smile: "I had expected this. Regardless of whether they set up an ambush or not, we will use the steps to withdraw our troops and really withdraw."
The three-day limit passed in the blink of an eye. The Jin army lined up neatly under the original city, and then set off with great fanfare. The soldiers and civilians of the original city lay on the top of the city, watching the Jin army gradually go away, until they disappeared without a trace and without a trace.
They dared to relax their vigilance. One day later, Yuan Boguan sent out detective horses to search dozens of miles around Yuan City, but no trace of the Jin army was found. Only then did they believe that Jin Wengong meant what he said.
The gates of Yuan City were opened, and people could come and go freely. Various news came, and people knew that there was no massacre in Yangfan, Wenyi, and Zanmao. Yuan Boguan just wanted to call out the soldiers and civilians.
Following him to defend the city to the death, he deliberately lied to everyone. In this way, Yuan Boguan's deception and Jin Wengong's honesty formed a sharp contrast. People said that Jin Wengong was a trustworthy monarch, while Yuan Boguan was selfish.
Self-interested, in order to protect his own territory, he did not hesitate to deceive the whole city. Some people said that if the Marquis of Jin is determined to break the city, then we will all become victims of Yuan Boguan.
Opposition to Yuan Boguan appeared in Yuan City, and the opposition became louder and louder. Yuan Boguan was on pins and needles. As a general, he knew that if the Jin army came again, the city could no longer be defended. He thought,
Instead of doing that, it was better to surrender as soon as possible while the Jin State withdrew its troops. So Yuan Boguan sent people to chase Jin Wengong's army.
When Jin Wengong left the original city, he issued an order, telling the army to move slowly. They had only left for two days when Yuan Boguan's envoys caught up with them. The envoys respectfully submitted a letter of surrender to Jin Wengong.
Only then did Zhao Shui and others understand that everything was planned by Duke Wen of Jin, and they couldn't help but admire him.
The original city was taken over by Duke Wen of Jin.
The news that Duke Wen of Jin had conquered Yuancheng spread, and the evaluation of him in Jin State suddenly rose. People in Jin State said that Duke Wen of Jin was not only benevolent and trustworthy, but also wise and courageous. More and more people supported him. His throne
Further stabilization.
After hearing about this, Duke Mu of Qin sighed and said, "I'm not wrong. Chong'er will become a great person in the future."
Uncle Jian looked melancholy. He said to Baili Xi privately: "Our lord is too kind. This Chong'er will definitely become a strong enemy of our Qin State."