When King Ling of Chu was preparing to send troops to the State of Cai, an envoy from the State of Chen arrived. The envoy said: "Our king died of illness. Prince Liu ascended the throne and sent me to announce the funeral."
Wu Ju felt something was wrong as soon as he heard it because he knew Chen Guo's situation.
It turns out that Chen Aigong had three sons. The eldest son was called Yanshi, and he was established as the crown prince a long time ago. The second son was called Gongzi Liu, and the third son was called Gongzi Sheng. Both Gongzi Liu and Gongzi Sheng were born to concubines. According to the rules of the Spring and Autumn Period,
, when the king dies, the prince naturally takes the throne. How could the prince stay and become the king?
Wu Ju asked: "Where is your prince Yanshi? He should have ascended the throne."
The envoy said in embarrassment: "The prince, well, the prince also died of illness. So it is the young master's turn to stay."
King Chu Ling said: "Okay, you go to the embassy to rest first. Wait until you get the receipt and official document before going back tomorrow."
Just after the envoy left, someone else came from Chen State. Two people came back. One was the third son of Duke Ai of Chen, Gongzi Sheng, the brother of Yanshi and Gongziliu, and the other was Gongsun Wu, the son of Yanshi.
Young Master Sheng knelt on the ground and cried: "Please, Your Majesty, make the decision for us. There is a sea of blood and hatred."
King Chu Ling comforted him and said, "Don't be impatient. Speak slowly."
Gongzi Sheng said: "My eldest brother Yanshi was killed by Situ Zhao and Gongzi Guo. My father was so angry that he hanged himself. I escaped with my eldest brother's son, Gongzi Wu. After thinking about it, there was nowhere to redress my grievances. I had no choice but to come and ask for help from the Overlord.
us."
Wu Ju asked: "The envoy from Chen State has just left. He told us that your monarch and Crown Prince Shi Yan both died of illness. This statement is different from what you said."
Young Master Sheng wiped away his tears and said: "Your Majesty, please listen to Dr. Wu. Please tell me the situation in detail."
It turned out that Chen Aigong wanted to depose Prince Yanshi because he doted on Gongziliu's mother. So he arranged for Chen Guo's officials, Gongziguo and Situ Zhao, to be Gongziliu's masters, and told them: "You should assist Gongziliu well, don't
It failed me."
Situ Zhao and Gong Ziguo understood that Chen Aigong wanted to depose the crown prince Yanshi and install the prince Liu as the throne. The two men made a small calculation. They thought that if they helped Chen Aigong realize his wish, their students would be better in the future.
If Gongziliu became the king, their status would not only be more stable, but also rise. Therefore, Situ Zhao and Gongziguo began to secretly look for ministers to support them and prepare to oppose the prince.
A few months later, Chen Aigong fell ill. He was already old and sick and did not care much about the affairs of the court. Now that he was ill, the power of the court fell into the hands of Situ Zhao and Gongzi Guo. They saw that Chen Aigong
His condition did not improve, and he was worried that things might change if Prince Master Yan was still alive. Situ Zhao then said to Prince Guo: "My lord has been ill for so many days, and he is about to die. We might as well kill Master Yan while he is still alive."
, things will be much easier to handle later on.”
The young master said: "I am also worried that things have changed. It seems that we have come up with an idea. Let's do as you say. And we must do it quickly."
Prince Yanshi was a filial son. When Chen Aigong was ill, he visited him every day, sometimes three times a day. According to this rule, Situ Zhao and Prince Guo ambush assassins in the palace and killed Yanshi.
After Chen Aigong heard the news in his hospital bed, he was so angry that he vomited blood. He originally wanted to deprive Yanshi of his crown prince position, but did not want to kill him. Unexpectedly, Situ Zhao and his son Guo took the decision without authorization and actually killed Yanshi.
. Chen Aigong was filled with grief and anger, and regretted it very much. But he had no choice, because Situ Zhao and Gongzi Guo had the power of the court at this time, and Chen Aigong did not dare to touch them. The old man was already in his twilight years, and he was seriously ill again. He couldn't figure it out for a moment.
He hanged himself.
Gongziliu became the king. As soon as he came to power, he began to purge the princelings. Because Gongzisheng had a good relationship with his eldest brother Yanshi, he was afraid of being implicated, so he escaped with Yanshi's son Gongsun Wu. The two went to several places.
, and finally decided to come to Chu State for help.
King Chu Ling just couldn't find a reason to send troops to the Central Plains, and the incident in Chen State gave him an excuse. So he decided to personally lead his troops to Chen State to help Gongzi Sheng and Gongsun Wu seek justice.
When King Ling of Chu's army reached the border of Chen State, Gongziliu was so frightened that he could not sit still. He handed over the government affairs to Situ Zhao and Gongzi, and fled abroad first.
When the young master saw that the new king had run away, he came to Situ Zhao and said to him: "Young Master Liu has run away. Should we also change places?"
Situ Zhao twirled his beard and thought for a while and said, "It's all right if he runs away. We don't have to run. I will have a way to repel the enemy when the time comes."
The young master asked: "Doctor Situ, if you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy, you might as well tell me."
Situ Zhao smiled and said: "Don't worry. I won't run, so why should you? As for retreating from the enemy, you don't have to worry about it. You will find out when the time comes."
The young master thought that he and Situ Zhao were like grasshoppers on the same rope. As long as Situ Zhao didn't run away, there would be no problem. So he stayed with peace of mind.
A few days later, the soldiers and horses of King Chu Ling arrived at the capital city of Chen State. Prince Sheng rode forward and came to the gate of the city. He shouted to the generals guarding the city: "Young Master Liu and others are plotting to kill the king and the prince. Now the Chu army is
The time has come, whoever is guilty will be punished, and no one can escape. If you are not the accomplice left by the young master, open the city gate. Otherwise, I will regard you as a rebel."
The general who defended the city thought that regardless of whether the prince was Liu or Sheng, they were both the sons of Duke Ai of Chen. No matter who was the king, he immediately responded: "What the third prince said is true. I have heard about the prince a long time ago, but it's just that
I speak softly and don't dare to do anything. Now that you have borrowed troops, I welcome you with both hands. Just wait a moment, and I will order the door to be opened."
The Chu army entered the city without any bloodshed.
Master Guo ran out of breath to see Situ Zhao. He saw that Situ Zhao was calm and calm and seemed to be waiting for him. Master Guo said, "The Chu army has entered the city. Didn't you say you have a good strategy to retreat from the enemy? Why don't you use it?"
"
Situ Zhao said: "How difficult is it to retreat from the enemy? I only need to borrow one thing from you."
Young Master Guo asked in surprise: "What?"
Situ Zhao stared at Young Master Guo's eyes and said, "I'll lend you the head on your neck."
Young Master Guo said something, turned around and ran away. How could he escape? Situ Zhao's men had already taken a step forward and cut off Young Master Guo's head with a single blow.
Situ Zhao asked someone to put the prince's head in a box, mounted his horse, and went to the court with his entourage. In the court hall, several ministers Liushenwuzhu were discussing a solution. When they saw Situ Zhao and others coming in, they felt as if they had met the backbone of the court.
, all waiting for him to make up his mind. Situ Zhao said: "Follow me, and we will go to see the King of Chu together."
When Situ Zhao and a group of people saw Queen Chu Ling, they first prostrated themselves on the ground. Then Situ Zhao came forward with the box and said to King Chu Ling: "Your Majesty, the chaos in the Chen Kingdom was all instigated by Young Master Guo. Now I have
He killed me and I came here to offer the guilty minister’s head. Please forgive the other innocent people, your Majesty.”
Wu Ju stepped forward and looked at the head in the box. He asked others to identify it, and they all said it was the young master. King Chu Ling smiled with satisfaction.
Situ Zhao added: "The continuation of the Chen State to this day is all due to the grace of your country. When King Chuzhuang helped our country quell the Xia Zhengshu Rebellion, he had already turned Chen State into a dependent territory of your country. However, King Chuzhuang was kind and restored our country. country. Now, the new king of our country, Young Master Liu, has run away. I, Situ Zhao, have been ordered to take charge of the government. I ask the king to take over our country, follow the example of King Zhuang of Chu, and turn our country into a border town of Chu State. In this way Come, our country will be stable from now on, and we will avoid being bullied by foreign powers again."
King Chu Ling became more and more happy as he listened, and said: "Doctor Situ's proposal is very good. You can go back and continue to govern for the time being, and don't let Chen Guo be in chaos. In addition, you can pack up the palace and wait for my instructions."
Situ Zhao was filled with joy and thought that everything was as he expected. When the disaster came, he easily resolved it. More importantly, if Chen State became a county of Chu State, then he might still be able to become a county. Ling. This is no different from being the king of Chen State. Thinking of this, he even admires himself a little - Gao Miao.
Early on the next morning, Situ Zhao asked people to clean up the palace, and then sent people to invite King Chu Ling. King Chu Ling arrived at the Chen Kingdom Hall and sat down in the king's seat. Situ Zhao stood at the head of the Chen Kingdom ministers and led the ministers After paying homage, he asked King Ling of Chu to give him a lecture. Situ Zhao thought happily that he would be able to receive the merit and reward immediately.
King Ling of Chu said: "Situ Zhao obeyed the order. You have indeed made meritorious service."
Situ Zhao said humbly: "I don't dare to take it, I don't dare to take it."
King Ling of Chu said: "Any merit will be rewarded, so don't be humble."
Situ Zhao said again: "Where, where."
King Ling of Chu said: "You made two requests to me yesterday. One is to turn Chen State into a border town of Chu State, and the other is to forgive the innocent. I will agree to the first one first. As for the second one, Well. Someone told me that you and Young Master Guo were accomplices. I checked and found that this statement did not unjustly accuse you. I should have punished you. But in view of your meritorious service, I will spare your life. Of course, I also said , I want to reward you. What should I reward you with? Oh, I remembered it. There is a place in Chu State called the East China Sea. Baili Xi, the left prime minister of Qin State, once let horses there. I will reward you with a place to let horses in the East China Sea. .”
Situ Zhao was dumbfounded and could not help but tremble slightly. But he did not dare to say anything. After King Chu Ling finished speaking, he quickly knelt down and kowtow to thank him. After that, he was escorted by the people of Chu to the East China Sea to release his horses.
When Gongzi Sheng and Gongsun Wu saw that Situ Zhao had been dealt with, they were very happy, thinking that the Chen Kingdom would be their world in the future. They looked at each other and both came out to express their gratitude.
King Ling of Chu said: "Situ has recruited many party members. Although Chen State has been taken over by me, the government affairs are complicated, so it is better to leave them to the Chu people to manage. Just follow me back to Chu State, and I will let you live in a rich family." The days of the young master."
Gongzi Sheng and Gongsun Wu looked at each other, but neither dared to raise objections, so they had to kneel down and kowtow to express gratitude.
The State of Chen was annexed by the State of Chu.