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Chapter 83: Governing the Army

A year later, Han Jue retired. Duke Ao of Jin appointed Xunying.

Xunying is the son of the general Xunshou of the Jin army. There are two reasons why Duke Dao of Jin appointed him: one is the recommendation of Han Jue, and the other is that Xunying has a reputation as a loyal minister and is a legendary figure. There is a paragraph about this. Experience can prove it.

During the battle between Jin and Chu at Bi City, Xunying was captured by the Chu army. After being captured, she was imprisoned in Chu State. When Chuke defeated Qi State, Jin general Xun Ying was promoted from a lower army officer to a middle officer due to his military exploits. The deputy general of the army, Xun Shou, took advantage of the opportunity of receiving the reward to make a request to Jin Jinggong, hoping that Jin Jinggong could bring his son back from Chu. Jin Jinggong agreed.

At that time, the state of Jin had two bargaining chips: one was the son of King Zhuang of Chu, Prince Yuchen, who was also captured by the Jin army in the Battle of Bicheng, and the other was the body of the Chu general Xiang Lao who was killed by the Jin army. Jin Jinggong decided to exchange the bodies of his son Yuchen and Xianglao for Xunying. Of course the Chu State agreed.

At that time, King Zhuang of Chu was dead and his son, King Gong of Chu, was in power. When King Chu Gong released Xunying, he asked some questions.

The King of the Communist Party of Chu asked: "Do you hate me?"

Xunying said: "The two countries were at war, and I was captured. Thanks to the king's kindness, he did not kill me. As an individual, why should I hate it?"

The King of the Communist Party of Chu asked again: "So, are you grateful to me?"

Xunying said: "The two countries each fought for the country and made peace for each other's interests. Now the exchange of prisoners has nothing to do with me personally. Who am I grateful to?"

The King of the Communist Party of Chu said: "I let you go back, how will you repay me in the future?"

Xunying said: "I don't hate you, your Majesty. Of course, Your Majesty, you can't ask me to be grateful to you. I have no grudges or hatred towards you, Your Majesty. How can I repay you?"

The King of the Communist Party of Chu asked for a long time, but did not get the answer he wanted. He did not give up and simply said bluntly: "I just want to know what you will do to me in the future."

Xunying said: "Thanks to the king, let me go back. If our king kills me, I will have no complaints; if my father kills me and I die in the ancestral temple, I will have no complaints. If they don't kill me, let me If you are still alive, let me lead the troops. When I meet the king in the future, I will definitely obey your orders and dare not have any second thoughts. I will treat you as I should."

The King of the Communist Party of Chu wanted to hear Xun Ying say some words of gratitude, or make some promise of repayment. Unexpectedly, Xun Ying was neither humble nor arrogant, absolutely fearless, and had no intention of being grateful or trying to please. The King of the Communist Party of Chu thought to himself. , this Xunying is really a man, with strong bones. He couldn't help but admire her in his heart. After asking questions, he said to his ministers: "The Kingdom of Jin cannot be underestimated."

In this way, the King of the Communist Party of Chu asked people to treat Xunying with courtesy and politely sent him out of the Chu Kingdom. Xunying returned to the Jin Kingdom.

With this legend, Xunying's reputation for loyalty spread.

After Xunying succeeded Han Jue and took office, she proposed a strategy to Duke Ao of Jin. He proposed that there was a Zheng State between Jin and Chu. The Zheng State between Jin and Chu was like a frontier position for the confrontation between the two armies. It has important strategic significance. Whoever controls the state of Zheng will have the initiative. Therefore, we must control the state of Zheng in our hands. In this way, we can attack when we advance and defend when we retreat. Over time, the state of Chu will inevitably fall into passivity. .

Duke Ao of Jin entrusted this matter to Xun Ying.

In 571 BC, (the first year of King Ling of Zhou, the 2nd year of Duke Xiang of Lu, the 2nd year of Duke Dao of Jin, the 11th year of Duke Ling of Qi, the 14th year of Duke Cheng of Zheng, the 20th year of King Gong of Chu, and the 15th year of King Shoumeng of Wu) Duke Dao of Jin sent Xunying to gather together. Song, Lu, Wei, Cao, Ju, Zhu, Teng, Xue, plus the officials of Jin themselves, a total of ten countries, conquered Zheng.

Zhongsun Fei, a doctor of the State of Lu, said: "The reason why the State of Zheng always rebels is mainly because the State of Chu always invades them. If you want to prevent the State of Zheng from rebelling, it is best to help them strengthen their defense. Hulao Pass is to the southeast of the State of Zheng Gate, we should repair this pass and garrison it with elite troops. If Zheng is not invaded by Chu, it will naturally not rebel."

Qu Wu, who was once a doctor of the Chu State, fled to the Jin State with Xia Ji of the Chen State. Now, he has become an important figure in the Jin State with his own talents. He said: "Let me make a suggestion. Southeast The State of Wu is adjacent to the State of Chu and has become prosperous in recent years. We should contact the State of Wu and ask them to harass the border of Chu State from time to time. If the State of Chu is restrained by the State of Wu, it will not attack Zheng State in the north. "

The princes felt that the two men's opinions were good, so they decided to build Hulao Pass and send people to contact the state of Wu.

During the process of supervising the construction of Hulao Pass, Xunying discovered that the Jin army was large in number, but its quality was not high. After he completed the construction of Hulao Pass and returned to Jin, he proposed to Jin Gaogong to streamline the army. , he said: "It's not about having too many soldiers, but about being elite. There are quite a lot of veterans in our army. If we streamline some of them, it will not only reduce the burden on the country, but also improve the combat effectiveness of the army. At the same time, it will increase the number of farmers. This is It’s a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.”

Duke Ao of Jin adopted this opinion and launched a vigorous disarmament operation. A legendary figure also appeared in this disarmament operation.

Qi Xi, a lieutenant in the Jin army, was over seventy years old. When he heard the news, he took the initiative to request to retire from the army. Duke Ao of Jin asked him: "If you retire, who is suitable to take over your position?"

Qi Xi said: "Jie Hu is the most suitable."

Duke Ao of Jin said: "Don't you have a grudge against Xie Hu?"

Qi Xi said: "My lord asked who is the most suitable, not who has any grudge against me."

Duke Ao of Jin felt that the veteran general was really selfless, so he agreed with him. He ordered that Xie Hu be appointed to replace Qi Xi. Unexpectedly, Xie Hu was ill and died of illness before he took office.

Duke Ao of Jin called for Qi Xi again and said, "Jie Hu died of illness before he took office. Can you recommend another person for me?"

Qi Xi said: "Aside from Xie Hu, the only one who can do it is Qi Wu."

Duke Ao of Jin asked in surprise: "Isn't Qi Wu your son?"

Qi Xi said: "My lord asked who is suitable, but he did not ask who is my son."

Duke Ao of Jin sighed and said: "General Qi is really devoted to the country, fair and selfless. Well, let's use Qi Wu as his replacement."

Qi Wu succeeded the Zhongjun Lieutenant. Not long after, Yang Shizhi, the deputy of the Zhongjun Lieutenant, died. Duke Ao of Jin thought of Qi Xi again and asked him to recommend someone. This time, Qi Xi recommended Yang Shizhi's son, Yang Shizhi In view of Qi Xi's public spirit, Duke Ao of Jin appointed Yang Yanchi without hesitation.

This matter became a hot topic in Jin State for a while, and ministers all praised Qi Xi, saying that he "does not avoid enemies when doing external things, and does not avoid relatives when doing internal things".

After Xun Ying helped Duke Dao of Jin reorganize the army, she was freed up to focus on implementing his plan of fatigue and Chu. Based on Qu Wu's suggestion, he sent an envoy to contact the state of Wu.

King Shoumeng of Wu was originally a viscount. His earliest territory was in Meili, Wuxi County, Jiangsu, and later he occupied the land from the south of Huaisi to Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and Huzhou. Wu State is located in a remote area. Like Chu State, it has almost no dealings with the princes of the Central Plains. , and the princes of the Central Plains were trapped in the high mountains and roads and were far away from provoking them. It was precisely because of this isolation and independence that the State of Wu gradually developed and grew and became a powerful country in the southeast. Its border borders the State of Chu.

Wu Zi also followed the example of Chu and called himself king.

Xunying's envoy headed all the way to the southeast where there are few people around, passing through countless barren mountains and ridges, passing through inaccessible jungles, and finally borrowed a fisherman's boat to cross the Yangtze River and finally arrived at the capital of Wu.

After Xunying's envoy saw King Shoumeng of Wu, he proposed to make good friends with the State of Jin and asked him to harass the State of Chu. King Shoumeng of Wu was eager to have relations with a powerful country like Jin, so he readily agreed. When the envoy arrived, After leaving, King Shoumeng of Wu sent troops to harass the border of Chu State.

The king of the Chu Communist Party sent Yin Gongzi Yingqi to lead the troops to fight back. Unexpectedly, Yin Gongzi Yingqi was severely defeated by the Wu army. He walked back with the remaining defeated soldiers. He was ashamed along the way and felt extremely depressed. He has not yet returned. When he arrived at Chu State, he died on the way.

The King of the Communist Party of Chu appointed a new commander named Renfu to prepare to reorganize his troops and fight against Wu again.

Renfu was a corrupt official. As soon as he came to power, he asked the surrounding vassal states to send him gifts. Those who gave less were scolded by him. When the envoys of Chen State sent relatively few gifts, Renfu scolded the envoys and asked him to bring them with him. The message was given to Chen Chenggong and told him to be careful. In anger, Chen Chenggong broke off diplomatic relations with Chu and went to join Jin. Duke Ai of Jin was very happy and immediately sent envoys to invite Wu Wang Shoumeng and Chen Chenggong to join the anti-Chu alliance. As a result, the power of Jin State further grew.

After the Chu Communist King found out the reason why Chen State fell to Jin, he immediately ordered Renfu to be beheaded. Then he personally led the troops to attack Chen State. Chen State immediately surrendered. After the Chu Communist King conquered Chen State, he prepared to send troops to attack Zheng State. .

Zheng Bo summoned his ministers and said: "Over the years, we have surrendered to the state of Jin, and the state of Chu has come to attack us. When we have surrendered to the state of Chu, the state of Jin has come to attack us. The two big countries in the south and the north have competed with each other for their own power. We are like rats in a bellows, suffering from both sides. I think if Chu comes, we will surrender. Anyway, it is the same, whichever country surrenders will have to pay tribute."

Just like this, as soon as the Chu Communist King's army entered the border of Zheng State, Zheng State sent people to ask for surrender.

As soon as Chu's army left, Duke Ao of Jin sent Xun Ying to lead troops to question Zheng. Zheng did not hesitate and surrendered immediately. Seeing that Zheng's people had surrendered, Xun Ying could not fight, so she had to make an alliance. He took his people back to the Kingdom of Jin. As soon as he left, the King of the Communist Party of Chu led his troops to attack the Kingdom of Zheng again. The Kingdom of Zheng followed the old method and immediately surrendered and made an alliance with the Kingdom of Chu.

Duke Ao of Jin was very angry and said: "Zheng Guo is so capricious, what should we do?"

Xunying said: "No wonder Zheng Guo. The roots are in Chu State. I have a plan to bring down Chu State."

Duke Ao of Jin said with great interest: "Tell me about it."

Xunying said: "We have the upper, middle and lower armies. Every time we send out troops, we use one army. The three armies are dispatched in rotation. As soon as the Chu people arrive, we will withdraw. As soon as they leave, we will dispatch the second army and wait until they come again. , we retreat again. With this rotation, we can use only one-third of the troops to affect all the troops of the Chu State. As time goes by, they will fall into a state of being exhausted. One day, the Chu State will be dragged down. collapse."

Duke Ao of Jin laughed and said: "Your trick of tiredness is very good, just do it like this."

At this stage, Han Jue, the general of the Chinese army, retired. Duke Dao of Jin appointed Xun Ying to replace Han Jue. Xun Ying organized the armies of Jin, Qi, Lu, Song, Wei, Chen, Cao, Ju, Zhu and Xue The three armies are preparing to take turns dispatching. They do not seek direct war with the Chu State, but only seek to continuously mobilize the Chu State to send troops in order to tire Chu.

At that time, Xun Ying and Xun Yan of the Xun family were both serving in the Jin army. Both of them had the character "Xun" written on their banners, which was easy to confuse. To distinguish them, they changed their surnames respectively. Xun Ying's father Feng Zaizhi, so he changed his name to Zhiying, and his banner said "Zhi". Xun Yan's father, Xun Lin's father, was a general of the Bank of China, so he took this official position as his surname, so Xun Yan's banner said It is "Zhongxing". From then on, Xunyan is also called Zhongxingyan.

In 563 BC, Zhiying organized the three armies and prepared to attack Zheng State to implement his plan to exhaust Chu. At this juncture, the Song State sent people to ask for help. It turned out that the Chu State had recently destroyed an army called Biyang (Shandong Province). The Viscount vassal states (south of Zaozhuang City) then gathered the Zheng State, sent troops from Biyang, and attacked the Song State. The Duke of Jin then ordered Zhiying to lead the first army, mainly composed of Jin troops and with the participation of princes, to rescue the Song State.

In this first army there was a group of troops from the state of Lu. Among them was a general called Shu Liang He. This man's surname was Kong, his given name was He, and his given name was Shu Liang. He was the father of the later famous Confucius.

Zhiying did not go directly to save the Song Dynasty, but turned to attack the empty Biyang. The defenders of Biyang City used the tactic of "catching a turtle in a urn". They closed the gates of the inner city, but closed the gates of the outer city. Open it and lure the enemy into the barbican between the outer city and the inner city.

At that time, it was the army of the State of Lu that fell into the trap. The general of the State of Lu, Shu Liang He, was among them.

When most of the soldiers and horses of the Lu State rushed into the urn city, Shu Liang He had just rushed into the city gate. At this time, the thousand-jin gate on the gate suddenly came down. The gate was impartial, facing Shu Liang He's top gate. Shu Lianghe hurriedly threw away his weapon, raised his hands, and held the gate. At this time, the Lu soldiers who had entered Wengcheng ran out of the city one after another. Shulianghe did not dare to let go and watched the soldiers run out quickly from him. Uncle Lianghe not only held up the Qianjin Gate, but also shouted to Biyang City: "Who dares to fight? Come out quickly before I let go."

An enemy general on the inner city of Biyang saw a big man holding the Thousand Jin Gate with both hands, so he drew his bow and fired an arrow. Uncle Liang He had quick eyes and quick hands. Without waiting for the arrow to come, he let go of his hands and the gate fell to the ground with a crash. Just exited safely.

This feat made Shu Lianghe famous.

After all, Biyang City had only a small number of soldiers, so it could not withstand repeated attacks by armies from several countries, and was captured in less than a month.

When the King of the Communist Party of Chu heard that Biyang had been conquered by a coalition of princes, he was worried that his retreat would be cut off, so he quickly withdrew his troops. The Song Dynasty relieved the siege.

Duke Ao of Jin gave Biyang to the Song Dynasty and asked the people of Song Dynasty to defend it well and turn this place into a forward position against the Chu Kingdom.

After the Jin army returned to the country, Duke Dao of Jin asked Zhiying to lead the second army to attack the state of Zheng. The state of Zheng still implemented their national policy-surrender. However, the Jin army retreated, and the Chu army entered the Zheng state again. Naturally, the State of Zheng signed an alliance with the State of Chu.

In the second year, that is, 562 BC, Duke Dao of Jin sent Zhao Wu to lead the third army to attack the state of Zheng. The state of Chu united with the state of Qin to rescue the state. Zhao Wu saw Chu and Qin and took the initiative to withdraw from Jin. country.

Zhiying said to Duke Dao of Jin: "Usually, the Chu State sends troops to its own country, but this time it has attracted the Qin State, which shows that the Chu State is exhausted. This time we might as well send out all three armies to show them Look at our strength."

Duke Ao of Jin said: "Okay, you have full authority to do it."

Zhiying united the princes of Qi, Lu, Song, Wei, Chen, Cao, Zhu, Xue, Ju, Qi, plus herself, a total of 11 princes, and marched into the state of Zheng in a mighty manner. At that time, Zheng Jiangong, the grandson of Zheng Chenggong, was in power. , he seemed to be facing a disaster, panicked, and quickly sent people to the Chu State for help. When the Chu State saw that all the princes of the Central Plains were dispatched, how could they dare to intervene. In this way, Zheng Jiangong had to prepare all the gifts, starting from the Jin State , sent them off one by one, until all the princes of the eleven countries were delivered, and then walked with the ministers to the Jin camp and asked Duke Ao of Jin to surrender.

Duke Jiang of Zheng bowed and said, "Uncle Zheng is willing to surrender to the Marquis of Jin and make a blood-based alliance with you."

Duke Ao of Jin said: "Forget about the covenant. We have made many covenants in the past. As long as you don't repeat it, it will be fine."

Zheng Jiangong said: "In fact, we have always hoped to be protected by the Jin State. However, every time the Chu State invaded, we could not resist it, so we had to use expedient measures."

Duke Ao of Jin said: "I know your difficulties. From now on, you can either submit to Jin or Chu. It's up to you. I won't force you."

Zheng Jiangong was moved to tears and said: "The Marquis of Jin is so considerate of me. I really deserve this true kindness and kindness. I am a beast, and I have learned to repay kindness. If there is another half-hearted person in me, it will be called God will punish me."

Duke Ao of Jin felt comfortable when he heard Zheng Jiangong's statement. He ordered the release of Zheng's prisoners, removed all the princes' troops stationed at Hulao Pass, and handed Hulao Pass over to Zheng. Zheng Jiangong repeatedly stated that he would send The Hulao Pass was heavily guarded to prevent Chu from advancing northward.

The princes of the eleven countries were satisfied and retreated one after another. Chu State was exhausted by Jin State in recent years and was unable to compete with Jin State for Zheng State's territory.

The State of Zheng got rid of the oppression of the State of Chu and wholeheartedly joined the alliance of the Central Plains princes. Duke Ai of Jin sent people to make good relations with the State of Qin and further stabilized the State of Zheng. At this point, most of the princes of the Central Plains had become allies of the Jin State. Duke Ao of Jin finally restored the prestige of Duke Wen of Jin.


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