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Chapter 55: Conquering Zheng Guo

After the Heyang Conference, Jin Wengong summoned the princes of Qi, Lu, Song, Chen, Zheng, Zhu, Cai, Ju and other countries to use troops against Xu State. The reason was that Xu State was attached to Chu State and did not participate in the alliance twice, and even Zhou

When King Xiang came to Heyang, Xu Guo did not come to see him. Jin Wengong believed that as the overlord, he should take care of such things.

In Jin Wengong's conquest army, there were two people with completely opposite moods. One was Cao Gonggong and the other was Zheng Wengong.

Wasn't Mr. Cao imprisoned in Wulu? Why was he in the conquest army? It turned out that Mr. Cao did two things while he was imprisoned. First, he heard that Duke Wen of Jin believed in ghosts and gods, so he sent someone to bribe a servant of Duke Wen of Jin.

Secondly, he sent people to bribe people around Duke Wen of Jin, hoping that someone would intercede for him in front of Duke Wen of Jin.

When these things were almost done, one day, Duke Wen of Jin fell ill. While he was ill, Duke Wen of Jin had a dream. He dreamed that a well-dressed ghost came to beg for food from him. Instead of giving, Duke Wen of Jin drove the ghost away.

The next day, Duke Wen of Jin called the fortune teller to interpret the dream. The fortune teller had been waiting for this day. He pretended to be a ghost and calculated it, and then said to Duke Wen of Jin: "The ghost in my lord's dream is Cao Cao."

The ancestors of the state have no one to offer sacrifices to, so they come to you to beg for food. This is the ancestor of the state of Cao who is entrusting a dream to the lord, asking the lord to restore the state of Cao."

Duke Wen of Jin was deceived by the fortune teller, so he ordered Duke Cao to be released and let him go back and continue to be the king.

Gonggong Cao burst into tears with gratitude. After returning to Cao State, as soon as he heard that Duke Wen of Jin sent troops to attack Xu State, he took the initiative to bring troops and horses to see Duke Wen of Jin. He behaved very diligently and actively.

Zheng Wengong was exactly the opposite. He was extremely reluctant. Because Zheng was located just between Jin and Chu, neither side dared to offend. He knew that following Jin to attack Xu would definitely offend Chu.

There will definitely be trouble in the future.

All the way, Duke Wen of Zheng was thinking about how not to offend the State of Chu. When he was approaching the State of Xu, he suddenly had an idea. He told Duke Wen of Jin that a plague had broken out in the State of Zheng, and he needed to rush back to deal with it immediately. Duke Wen of Jin didn't care whether he was there or not.

He agreed. Zheng Wengong bowed his hand and quickly fled with his troops.

Zheng Wengong fled, but he did something wrong. He was worried that the Chu State would cause trouble for him in the future, so he sent someone to inform the Xu State of the news that Jin Wengong sent troops.

The State of Xu hurriedly asked for help from the State of Chu. King Chu Cheng, because the shadow of the defeat at Chengpu had not yet passed, and because he was fighting several small countries in the south, did not want to fight with the princes of the Central Plains headed by the State of Jin, so he ignored the State of Xu.

Therefore, as soon as Duke Wen of Jin's conquest army arrived, Xu surrendered.

Xu Xigong sent a large amount of gold and silver treasures to the princes, and personally came to apologize to Jin Wengong. Jin Wengong was like hunting. Now that he had caught prey, it was time to go home. He disbanded the coalition forces and returned to Jin.

.

On the way back to China, someone told Duke Wen of Jin that there was no plague in Zheng State at all. Duke Wen of Zheng found an excuse to escape because he was afraid of the State of Chu. When he heard this, Duke Wen of Jin became angry and said: "He dared to lie to me.

Do you still have me as the overlord?" So he decided to summon the princes again to attack Zheng Guo.

Xian Zhen said: "My lord, we have summoned the princes one after another, causing them to rush back and forth, which makes them feel very unhappy. To fight Zheng Guo, our country alone is enough. I think there is no need to summon them."

Duke Wen of Jin said: "Uncle Qin made an appointment with me when we were making an alliance with each other. Please call him when you want to 'hunt'. Forget about other princes, you can call him here this time."

Duke Mu of Qin really wanted to "hunt" in the Central Plains. After receiving the invitation from Duke Wen of Jin, he took Meng Mingshi, Baili Xi, and his lieutenants Qi Zi, Feng Sun, Yang Sun and others to lead his troops to kill Zheng Zheng.

Come from the country.

In 630 BC, the Jin and Qin armies met under the capital of Zheng. The Jin army was in the west and the Qin army was in the east, and they surrounded the capital of Zheng.

Zheng Wengong was panicked. He asked the officials in the court: "How to deal with the attack from Jin and Qin?"

His brother, the doctor Shu Zhan, said: "If the alliance between Jin and Qin can be destroyed, then this crisis can be resolved. But there must be a capable person as a lobbyist."

Zheng Wengong looked at the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty and asked: "You ladies, who among you is willing to take on this responsibility?"

The ministers looked at each other and did not dare to take on this task. Uncle Zhan said: "I can recommend a person named Zhu Zhiwu. This person is very eloquent and can be a lobbyist."

Zheng Wengong ordered his uncle Zhan to quickly invite Zhu Zhiwu to the court.

Zhu Zhiwu was invited. When Zheng Wengong saw it, he was an old man, more than seventy years old, with gray hair. Fortunately, his eyes were bright and he looked very energetic. Zheng Wengong could not care so much anymore and said: "

I would like to ask you, sir, to make a hard trip to persuade Qin to withdraw its troops. Is that okay?"

Zhu Zhiwu said: "I couldn't establish any merits when I was young. Now that I am old, what's the use?"

Zheng Wengong apologized and said: "It's my fault that I couldn't use you earlier. Now that the country is in crisis, I'd better ask you, sir, to ignore past grudges and make a trip to solve Zheng's urgent needs."

Seeing Zheng Wengong's earnest words, Zhu Zhiwu agreed. That night, the soldiers put Zhu Zhi's weapons in a basket and lowered them from the city wall bit by bit with ropes. So he went to the Qin Army's headquarters alone.

camp.

The Qin soldiers captured him and brought him to see Duke Mu of Qin. As soon as Zhu Zhiwu entered the camp of the Chinese army, he began to cry loudly and cried all the way to Duke Mu of Qin's camp.

Duke Mu of Qin asked, "Why are you crying, old gentleman?"

Zhu Zhiwu said: "I cry for the State of Zheng because the State of Zheng is about to perish. I also cry for the State of Qin because the State of Qin is facing danger."

Duke Mu of Qin found this old man interesting and wanted to listen, so he encouraged him to continue talking. Zhu Zhiwu gestured and said: "Your country is in the west, Jin is in the east of your country, and Zheng is in Jin

To the east of our country. It is impossible for your country to cross over to the Jin State and occupy our land. If your country helps the Jin State to destroy us, then the land obtained will not belong to your country, but to the Jin State. Your country and Jin State

The countries were originally evenly matched. If Zheng Tu returned to Jin, this balance would no longer exist. What would be the situation?

Let me mention one more thing. You were very kind to Young Master Yiwu. You must still remember the time when he bought grain from your country, right? You were a great kindness to the Jin State, but the Jin State repaid you with a grudge.

Also, the Jin State once borrowed a road from the State of Yu, but unexpectedly, they destroyed the State of Guo and destroyed the State of Yu when they came back. People of the Jin State have done this kind of thing of crossing rivers and demolishing bridges not once or twice. Who can guarantee that they will not do so in the future?

also?

Jin is attacking Zheng today, maybe one day he will go to the west to attack your country."

Qin Mugong listened and thought about it. He felt that Zhu Zhiwu's words were indeed reasonable, and he couldn't help but nod in approval.

Zhu Zhiwu continued: "If your country can agree to make peace with us, we will leave Chu and join you. In the future, if your country has any problems on the east road, we will definitely help. We will serve your country wholeheartedly.

'Host', do your best to be a landlord."

Zhu Zhiwu made a powerful speech and finally moved Duke Mu of Qin. He felt that if Zheng was willing to form an alliance with him, it would be more cost-effective than him helping Jin to fight against Zheng. With this thought, he agreed to make peace with Zheng.

Zhu Zhiwu seized the opportunity and proposed a blood alliance with Qin Mugong. Although Qin Mugong felt that the levels were not equal, he was too embarrassed to go back on his words, so he made an alliance with Zhu Zhiwu.

After sending Zhu Zhiwu away, Duke Mu of Qin appointed Qi Zi, Yang Sun, and Feng Sun as generals, and led 2,000 troops to station outside the north gate of the capital of Zheng. He led a large army of troops and quietly withdrew to Qin.

Duke Mu of Qin left without fighting, which surprised the people of Jin. Hu Yan wanted to hunt down the Qin people. Duke Wen of Jin said: "No. Uncle Qin has been very kind to me. Without him, I would never be able to return to Jin. How could I?"

What about going to war with him?"

Jin Wengong changed his strategy. While attacking the city, he proposed two peace conditions to Zheng Guo: first, he asked Zheng Wen Gong's son Lan to be the crown prince. Second, he asked Zheng Guo to hand over his uncle Zhan.

The two peace terms put forward by Jin Wengong all revolve around one core, which is to facilitate the control of Zheng State in the future.

Why did Duke Wen of Jin ask Zheng Guo to establish Gongzi Lan? It turned out that when Zheng Wengong executed Gongzi Hua, his princes fled abroad one after another. Gongzilan fled to Jin. Duke Wen of Jin admired Gongzilan's character and talent, and Gongzilan

Lan was also very attentive to Jin Wengong, so Jin Wengong felt that if he made his son Lan the prince, he would be able to control the state of Zheng in the future.

So, why did Duke Wen of Jin want Shu Zhan? This is because Shu Zhan was more strategic and prestigious among the officials of Zheng State. Duke Wen of Jin felt that if he wanted Gong Zilan to ascend the throne in the future, he must be eliminated.

Zheng Wengong agreed to the first condition, but rejected the second. He said in front of the ministers: "Uncle Zhan is an important minister of Zheng State. Handing him over is equivalent to pushing him into a pit of fire. How can I

Can you do this kind of thing?"

Uncle Zhan said: "If you don't hand me over, the Jin Kingdom will not stop its troops. If it can save the people of the country from the suffering of the war, I am willing to die."

The situation at this time was that the Jin people were attacking the city every day, and people from Zheng were dying every day. The situation was getting more and more serious. The kings and ministers of Zheng were like ants on a hot pot, unable to think of any way. In the end, everyone had to shed tears.

He handed Uncle Zhan over to the State of Jin.

As soon as Uncle Zhan arrived, Duke Wen of Jin set up an oil pan in the hall. Uncle Zhan walked to the oil pan without fear, looked at the hot oil rolling in the pan, smiled contemptuously, and said to the kings and ministers of Jin: "I

Uncle Zhan is a loyal minister. I know you are afraid of me. If I don't die, it will be difficult for you to plot against Zheng. Now that you are approaching the city, I am here to save the people of the city. I will die in exchange for the people of the city not being massacred.

"It's worth it." He paused, then laughed and said, "It must be your rule to throw loyal ministers into the frying pan. This is the rule of your Jin country. So just follow your rules."

At this time, Duke Wen of Jin was in awe of Uncle Zhan. He was a man who wanted to save face, and after thinking about it, he felt that doing this would not sound good in public. He lost his temper and let Uncle Zhan go.

A few days later, Gongzilan came from Jin, and Jin Wengong sent someone to send him to Xingyang City. Zheng Wengong announced at the court that he would make Gongzilan the prince.

Zheng Guo surrendered. Duke Wen of Jin ordered his troops to withdraw.


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