After the Chu Kingdom became powerful, King Chuzhuang couldn't help but want to get involved in the Central Plains in order to seek hegemony. In fact, it is not surprising that he has this desire. For several years, the kings of Chu Kingdom have had this idea. But every time
Once when they invaded the Central Plains, they were beaten back by the princes of the Central Plains. King Zhuang of Chu once went to Luoyi to seek the throne, but also met with disgrace.
Going north to the Central Plains was the dream of King Chuzhuang and also a knot in his heart.
The geographical location of Zheng State happened to block Chu State's northward advance. Over the years, Zheng State wandered between Jin and Chu State, and it has become a grassroots. Jin State attacked Zheng, and Zheng surrendered to Jin; Chu State attacked Zheng, and Zheng surrendered to Jin.
Subdue Chu.
Just when King Zhuang of Chu and Sun Shuao were thinking about how to deal with Zheng, news came that a coup had taken place in Zheng. Duke Linggong of Zheng was killed by his subordinates, and Prince Jian came to the throne as Duke Xiang of Zheng.
What's going on? It turns out that this accident was caused by the beating of a finger.
Zheng Linggong had two uncles, one was called Gongzi Song, and the other was called Gongzi Guisheng. Among them, Gongzi Song had a very good relationship with Zheng Linggong, but Gongzi Guisheng looked down on Zheng Linggong, so their relationship only maintained a superficial harmony.
One day, Young Master Song and Young Master Guisheng went to court together. As soon as they entered the court, Young Master Song stopped. He flapped his nose, as if he smelled something, and then said to Guisheng: "There is something delicious today."
The young master returned to his hometown and asked, "Is there something delicious? How do you know?"
Young Master Song stretched out his index finger and said mysteriously: "My index finger jumps. If my index finger jumps, there will always be something delicious."
Guisheng said: "Are you that godly? How is that possible?"
Young Master Song smiled and said, "Just wait and see."
The two laughed and continued walking inside. When they entered the court, they saw a big turtle tied down under the hall. This turtle looked like a huge turtle, but its mouth was pointed and its back was smooth. It is commonly known as
The two men came forward and asked. It turned out that someone had caught this thing in the river. Because of its huge size, they thought it was precious, so they presented it to Zheng Linggong. When Zheng Linggong was happy, he prepared to cook the big turtle.
, shared with ministers.
Young Master Song raised his index finger proudly and said to Guisheng, "How about it, my index finger is pretty good."
Guisheng said with admiration: "The aura is really aura."
After saying that, the two laughed loudly. When Zheng Linggong heard their laughter in the hall, he asked them what made them so happy.
Guisheng said: "Master Song said that his index finger is very clever, and he can know in advance if there is something delicious to eat with just one tap. I didn't believe it at first, but I didn't expect to see this big turtle as soon as I entered the court. Haha, he really gave it to him
That's right."
Zheng Linggong curled his lips and said: "I don't think so. Whether it works or not, we will know when the time comes." After saying that, he called a waiter beside him and whispered a few words. The waiter got the order and left quickly.
Go out. A proud smile appeared on Zheng Linggong's face.
Everything was normal, no one noticed. The court meeting was held as usual, nothing important was discussed, but it was just a routine as usual.
Just after the morning court, the cook came to report that the big turtle was cooked. Zheng Linggong stood up with excitement and announced to the court: Each person will have a bowl of soup, and they will be divided from those with lower positions to those with higher positions.
Young Master Song is the chief and assistant minister. If you rank from the highest position down, he will be the first one after Zheng Linggong. If you rank from the lower position, he will become the last one. Obviously,
This design of reversing the first place was done intentionally by Zheng Linggong.
The cook scooped out the first bowl and presented it to Zheng Linggong respectfully. Then, according to Zheng Linggong's request, he began to distribute it from those with lower positions to those with higher positions. Bowl by bowl, in the end, only the person with the highest position was left.
The young master Song and the young master returned to their lives.
The cook took a large ladle and scooped out a few bowls in the bronze cauldron. He said to Zheng Linggong with a look of embarrassment: "My lord, there is only the last bowl left. There is not enough to share."
Zheng Linggong smiled and said: "Just divide it according to the rules. Give it to whoever deserves it."
Guisheng's position was lower than that of Master Song, so the cook followed the rules and gave the last bowl of soup to Master Guisheng. However, Master Song had nothing.
Zheng Linggong seemed to have forgotten the existence of his son Song. While drinking the soup, he praised the taste of the big turtle soup and asked everyone to taste it. The courtiers all happily picked up their bowls and tasted it.
In the lobby, there was a sound of slurping soup. Among the ministers, some people were praising him from time to time. Only Young Master Song looked around, his mouth watering with greed.
Young Master Song saw everyone in the hall carrying bowls and eating delicious food. He felt uncomfortable and embarrassed, and felt angry. At this time, Guisheng was drinking soup and deliberately glanced at him, as if he was mocking and said: "Look
Look, you're bragging again, your fingers may not be very good."
Young Master Song knew that Zheng Linggong was deliberately teasing him. In a moment of anger, he ran to Zheng Linggong's table, stretched out his index finger, dipped it in Zheng Linggong's bowl, put it in his mouth, sucked it, and said jokingly: "Who said that I
This index finger doesn’t work? Didn’t I eat it too?” After saying that, he turned around and ran out.
Zheng Linggong was furious, pointed at the back of Young Master Song and cursed: "This, this, what, it's so unruly. See how I deal with him."
The ministers hurriedly talked to Xi Ni, saying that Young Master Song always liked to joke, and this time he just made a joke with the Lord. Please calm down, Lord, and so on.
After the end of the dynasty, Gui Sheng walked out happily. It was not because he was gloating about the disgrace of Young Master Song, but because he saw some hope through this incident.
It turned out that Guisheng had a very good relationship with Prince Quji, a brother of Zheng Linggong. He often said to Prince Quji: "If there is a chance, I will destroy him and make you the king." Prince Quji only regarded it as a joke, and never
He didn't take it seriously. However, returning to life was not a joke, he really thought so. It was just because the young master Song and Zheng Linggong were close, that he didn't dare to take action.
Now that this incident happened, Guisheng felt that he could use this to provoke a conflict between Zheng Linggong and Young Master Song, and then draw Young Master Song to his side.
The young master Guisheng thought about it for two days and had a plan in his mind. So he went to the young master Song's house. He first provoked the young master Song to complain, and then added fuel and jealousy to fan the flames, until he fanned the flames of the young master Song.
Guisheng said: "You have really offended him this time. If you step forward, he will take advantage of you sooner or later. I am worried about you."
Young Master Song stared at him and said, "Why do you want to deal with me, Mr. Hun? He was rude first. It's good that I didn't cause trouble for him. Why do you want to deal with me?"
Guisheng pretended to be a good person and said: "After all, he is the king. You have to endure it. Let's go and apologize to him tomorrow."
Young Master Song said: "Humph, what kind of gift can I have to apologize for? I won't go."
On the second day, Master Song's anger was half gone. Gui Shengla forcefully dragged him to apologize to Zheng Linggong.
When Master Song came to Zheng Linggong, he looked dismissive and did not say a word of apology. Master Guisheng had to say some preparatory words first. After that, he asked Master Song to apologize. But Master Song still stood.
On one side, head held high, not saying a word.
When Guisheng saw this posture, he was secretly happy and hurriedly stood up to leave. Originally, it wasn't that Master Song didn't want to apologize, but he wanted to wait for Zheng Linggong to lower his posture before apologizing. But as soon as Guisheng left, he said nothing.
, followed Guisheng out. Zheng Linggong was so angry that he pointed at the backs of the two of them and said, "Are you here to apologize? It seems like you are here to demonstrate."
Young Master Song and Guisheng left the court. Young Master Song said a little worriedly: "Look at his attitude, I really offended him this time. Hey, the trouble is big. If you don't do it well, your head will be at risk."
Gui Sheng added fuel to the fire and said: "Accompanying you is like accompanying a tiger. No one can predict this kind of thing."
Young Master Song suddenly stopped, thought for a moment and said: "It's better to start first and destroy him."
Guisheng was very cautious. He was afraid that the young master Song was speaking in anger, and he was also worried that the young master Song and Zheng Linggong had a quarrel today, and they would get better tomorrow and get themselves involved instead. So he retreated in order to advance, and said: "Don't talk nonsense like this."
Tell me, your head will fall off."
Young Master Song was stunned for a moment, then he laughed and said, "Haha, don't take it seriously, I'm just saying something out of anger."
Guisheng felt a chill in his heart. He couldn't figure out whether what Young Master Song said was true or false. So he bowed and said goodbye.
In fact, what Mr. Song said was angry. But once the words were spoken, he began to be afraid, because he was worried that if what he said reached the ears of Zheng Linggong, it would not be angry words, but would bring consequences.
Troublesome. He thought about it over and over again, not thinking about how to make up for it, but came up with an extreme idea. He decided to work without hesitation to bring Gui Sheng over and do it together.
In the days that followed, Young Master Song began to spread rumors in front of some ministers. He added details about how close Young Master Guisheng and Young Master Quji were. He also said that they often discussed government affairs behind their backs, made nonsense, and even said that they were big brothers.
Have a disobedient heart, etc.
A few days later, Gui came to Prince Song angrily and asked him: "How could you say those words? That is a crime of treason and will be beheaded."
Young Master Song said: "I have said enough treacherous words. You all know it. Sooner or later, it will reach the ears of the lord. If you don't turn to me, I will die. If I die, I will make you a
Backrest."
The young master returned to life and said, "What do you want?"
Young Master Song said: "Don't you understand this? He is a foolish king. The fact of sharing the soup has already shown the problem. You are also the humerus of the country. Tell me, what should I do?"
Young Master Guisheng said slyly: "I have no idea, I want to hear your idea."
Young Master Song said: "My intention is to abolish him and establish a young master to cure his illness."
Guisheng almost laughed. He knew that Young Master Song was completely fooled. But he pretended to say: "I have no objection. It's up to you. I won't say anything."
This person wanted to eat mutton, but also didn’t want to get into trouble. Young Master Song despised this kind of person the most. He immediately made up his mind to do it by himself. In fact, he also had this ability and strength, and the military and political affairs in the DPRK
The power is in his hands, enough to deal with Zheng Linggong.
In 605 BC, Duke Linggong of Zheng caught a cold. His son Song took advantage of this opportunity and ordered someone to give Duke Linggong some poison and sent him away. Then Son of Song announced to the public that Duke Linggong of Zheng had died of a sudden illness.
Only Young Master Guisheng knew what was going on, but he didn't say anything. Most people in the court didn't know the truth. Of course, no one dared to say it. The matter was just smoothed over.
After the national funeral, the prince Song He returned to his hometown and asked the prince to come out and become the king. The prince Quji refused to work. He said: "The former king had more than a dozen sons. In terms of age, the prince is the longest. In terms of virtue,
I'm not the best either. I can't do this. Please ask someone else to do it."
Prince Song He had no choice but to appoint Prince Jian as Duke Xianggong of Zheng.
After Prince Song did this, he was still a little worried. Especially, he and Guisheng were afraid that the Jin State would intervene, so they sent people to sign an alliance with the Jin State.
After King Zhuang of Chu heard about this situation, he said to Sun Shuao: "I was worried that I couldn't find a reason to beat them. This time it's okay. Let's go and accuse Zheng Guo. It's just and justified."
Sun Shuao nodded in agreement and made another suggestion: "If we want to dominate, we must learn from Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin back then, and build up some momentum. If only the Chu State were to attack them, it would be a bit like
When the big bullies the small, the princes will gossip. So it is better to unite several princes to act together."
King Zhuang of Chu asked: "Who should we unite with?"
Sun Shuao said: "Originally, the State of Cai was the most suitable, but the State of Cai was defeated by the State of Jin. The Marquis of Cai and Xun Lin's father made an alliance under the city. The State of Cai could not be counted on. The State of Xu was too small, so we asked them to come and help.
, it seems ridiculous. The other princely states will not listen to us. There is only one state, Chen."
King Zhuang of Chu said: "Let's make an appointment with Chen Guo. It's better than nothing."
So the State of Chu sent people to meet with the State of Chen. Chen Linggong agreed to send troops, and asked the envoy to convey the message to the King of Chuzhuang, asking the State of Chu to send troops first. He led the troops to meet the Chu army at the foot of Xingyang City, the capital of Zheng State. The King of Chuzhuang went first.
let's go.
The Chu army reached the gates of Xingyang, the capital of Zheng State, with lightning speed. Duke Xianggang of Zheng was panicked. Although he sent envoys to Jin State for help, he also knew that water far away could not quench the thirst of nearby people at this time. He and his son
Song and Guisheng discussed it and agreed to surrender to Chu.
When it came time to sign the covenant, King Chuzhuang looked eagerly at Chen Linggong, but Chen Hou never came. King Chuzhuang had no choice but to make a covenant with Zheng Xianggong himself. Zheng State sent a large number of gifts to Chu State. King Chuzhuang
Ordered the class teacher to return to the court.
On the way back with the withdrawal of troops, an envoy sent by the King of Chuzhuang came to report that Duke Chen Linggong did not break the promise, but was killed by a minister named Xia Zhengshu.
Sun Shuao said: "In the past, Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin often interfered in this kind of thing. Since we want to be the overlord, we have to take care of this kind of thing. In this way, we can establish our authority in front of the princes."
King Zhuang of Chu said: "Yes, let's take care of it."
So the Chu army changed its route and came to Chen. Along the way, Chen's envoys told the story of Chen Linggong's murder in detail.