Emperor Shuang: The counterattack started from the Gaopingling Incident Chapter 364: Benevolence and righteousness towards Liu Xuande who is not benevolent and righteous
Chapter 364: Benevolence and righteousness towards Liu Xuande who is not benevolent and righteous
Sun Luban, who was slowly holding on to the wooden railing and going downstairs, also said: "When I was very young, I heard my father talk about the tragedy of Song Xianggong in the Spring and Autumn Period. Treating unbenevolent wars with benevolence and righteousness is destined to end in war.
ended in failure,
The same is true today. It was the same twenty years ago when my father sent Governor Lu Ziming to cross the river in white to seize Jingzhou. If he were to attack Guan Yunchang openly and ethically, he would probably not be able to win. After all, Guan Yunchang was so brave at that time.
I’m afraid no one in the world knows this.”
Bai Lingjun said sweetly: "Sister Dahu is right. At that time, Shu was strong and Wu was weak. If we did not join forces with Wei and thought of some unethical methods,
The weakest among the three families, the Wu Kingdom, could not avoid being annexed by the Shu Han even if it was married to the Shu Han. After all, in troubled times, few people knew how to be moral, even the "benevolent and righteous" gentleman Liu Xuande.
"
In November of the thirteenth year of Duke Xianggong of the Song Dynasty, the Song army and the Chu army met on both sides of the Hong River. At that time, the Chu army was stronger than the Song army, and its morale was high.
Sima Ziyu of the Song Dynasty suggested that Song Xianggong launch a surprise attack while the Chu army was crossing the river, but Song Xianggong refused.
After the Chu army crossed the Hong River safely, they began to set up their formation. Ziyu suggested attacking the Chu army before they had set up their formation, but Song Xianggong rejected it.
After the Chu army set up its formation, the Song army began to attack. However, it was no match for the Chu army and returned with a huge defeat. This is the famous Battle of Hongshui.
In this battle, Song Xianggong was hit by an arrow in the buttocks and died in the end. His dream of dominating the princes was also shattered, leaving him a laughing stock for the ages.
During the reign of Duke Xianggang of the Song Dynasty, the Jin State had no time to take care of the outside world due to internal strife; while the Qin State was blocked by the Jin State from its eastward advance route and could only develop westward, destroying twenty countries and dominating Xirong; while the Qi State was under the governance of Qi Huangong
Dominate the princes and become the first of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period; Chu State is in the period of King Chu Cheng, who is committed to dominating the princes and constantly developing northward.
The Song Dynasty was located in the hinterland of the North China Plain, surrounded by princes, and in the buffer zone between Qi, Jin, and Chu. Its own development space was limited, and it was easily affected by the intervention and influence of the big powers. In addition, the Song Dynasty
The country often suffers from civil strife, so no matter how hard it goes, it has always been a second-rate country.
During the reign of Song Xianggong, with the strength of Song State, it was originally out of his reach to dominate the princes, but an incident happened in Qi State, which gave him the opportunity to show himself.
In the first year of Song Xiang's reign, Duke Huan of Qi met with the princes in Kuiqiu. At that time, Duke Xiang of Song had just ascended the throne and his father, Duke Huan of Song, had not yet been buried, so Duke Xiang of Song went to attend the alliance with great pleasure.
Since the Song State was dependent on the Qi State and the two countries had close relations, Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong established Crown Prince Zhao and asked Duke Xiang of Song to take care of them, and Duke Xiang of Song readily agreed.
Eight years later, Duke Huan of Qi died of illness, and the six sons fought for the throne, which led to great chaos in Qi. Duke Huan of Qi's favorite ministers Yi Ya and Shu Diao supported Prince Wu Kui as the king, and Prince Zhao fled to the Song Dynasty to seek asylum.
Duke Xianggong of Song Dynasty promised Duke Huan of Qi to take care of Prince Zhao, and he regarded himself as benevolent and righteous. When Duke Huan of Qi died, Prince Zhao should succeed him. Yi Ya and Shu Diao supported Prince Wuqi as their king, which was against the law and unpopular, so this was a promotion.
Prestige, a great opportunity to achieve hegemony.
Therefore, at the beginning of the second year, Song Xianggong united with Cao, Wei, and Zhu to lead troops to attack Qi, and helped Prince Zhao return to the country to fight for the throne. Under the pressure of the coalition forces of the vassal states, the officials of Qi State attacked the Guo family and the Gao family.
Under the leadership of the prince, he trapped and killed Shu Diao, and without any loss, he welcomed Prince Zhao. However, the followers of the other four princes suddenly raised troops to attack Prince Zhao who had entered the Qi territory, forcing him to flee back to the Song Dynasty.
After Prince Zhao rushed back to the Song Dynasty, Song Xianggong sent troops again and defeated all the princes of Qi in the land. Prince Zhao was finally able to successfully enter Linzi, the capital of Qi, and inherited the throne as Duke Xiao of Qi.
Due to this civil strife, Qi State's national power was greatly damaged, and the hegemony that Duke Huan of Qi had worked so hard to build came to an end. Duke Xianggang of Song helped Duke Xiao of Qi ascend the throne, and his reputation was greatly improved. So he began to feel proud, and even imitated Duke Huan of Qi and tried to pass an alliance.
The princes came to achieve their goal of achieving hegemony.
In the twelfth year of Duke Xianggong of Song Dynasty, under the leadership of Duke Xiang of Song Dynasty, Song State entered into a Three-Kingdom Alliance with Qi State and Chu State, and made an agreement on their own initiative to meet with the princes again in Yudi in the autumn of that year. At that time, Duke Xiaogong of Qi came to the throne with the help of Song Xianggong
, so I didn’t refute Song Xianggong’s face, but Qi was a big country after all, so Qi Xiaogong was also quite dissatisfied with Song Xianggong’s actions. Chu looked down on Song even more, so he wanted to take the opportunity of the next alliance meeting to humiliate Song Xianggong.
In the autumn of that year, Chu, Chen, Cai, Xu, Cao, Zheng and other princes and monarchs all arrived as promised, but the monarchs of Qi and Lu did not attend. Only one big country, Chu, participated in this alliance, Qi and Jin did not participate.
, and Zheng, Chen, Cai, etc. are vassal states of the Chu State, and Xu and Cao are the last vassal states. They dare not not go because they are on the border with the Song State. Therefore, this alliance is said to be an alliance of the Song State.
Rather, it is an alliance of Chu State.
Song Xianggong did not recognize the situation clearly and thought that his hegemony was about to be achieved, so he came to Mengdi happily. Ziyu persuaded Song Xianggong to bring troops. Song Xianggong refused because he had made an agreement with Chu State not to bring troops and he could not break his promise. As a result, Song Xianggong refused.
When he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested by people sent by King Cheng of Chu, and he was taken back to the Chu State and imprisoned. He also sent troops to attack the Song State. Later, under the mediation of Lu Xigong, the Chu State released Song Xianggong.
The princes of the alliance were humiliated by the Chu State, but Song Xianggong did not want to repent and did not stop. At that time, the Zheng State fell to the Chu State. In order to avenge his previous humiliation, Song Xianggong even united with the armies of Wei, Xu, and Teng to attack Zheng.
The State of Zheng asked for help from the State of Chu. King Chu Cheng sent out a large army to directly attack the State of Song, forcing Song Xianggong to return to the army to fight, and then the Battle of Hongshui took place.
Song Xianggong regarded himself as the leader of the alliance, so all his actions were flaunted with the word "benevolence and righteousness" in order to win the trust of the princes. However, his tactics did not work at all.
During the alliance between Meng and Di, Song Xianggong made an agreement with King Chu Cheng not to bring an army. He kept his promise, but he was imprisoned. King Chu Cheng broke the agreement, and there was no loss. Instead, he had an extra good card. If it weren't for the mediation of Lu State,
, although the Song State temporarily repelled the Chu State's attack, the monarch was imprisoned and might be overthrown at any time.
Song Xianggong suffered a big loss, but he still didn't know how to reflect on it. In the face of a fateful battle, he still paid attention to what benevolence and righteousness mean: "Don't push people into danger, don't force people into danger", "A gentleman won't be captured unless he's seriously injured."
"Er Mao, if you don't block the passes, if you don't drum, you won't form a line." His military thinking has seriously fallen behind and is out of step with the times.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were originally an era of the weak and the strong. If a country wanted to develop and grow, it relied on annexation. The big fish ate the small fish. If we pay attention to benevolence, justice and morality while bullying and annexing other countries, wouldn't it be the opposite?
At that time, the Chu State was already a first-rate power and was eyeing the Central Plains. The Song State was a second-rate country, and all benevolence, righteousness, and morality seemed insignificant in the face of its strong military strength.
Moreover, the Song State took the initiative to attack the Zheng State, which was morally untenable. Therefore, no matter how much benevolence and righteousness it was, it was just deceiving itself and others!
In the Battle of Hongshui, although the Song State was weak, it occupied a favorable geographical position, and the Chu army despised the Song army. As the saying goes, arrogant soldiers will be defeated. If Song Xianggong had been more flexible in the use of troops, heeded Sima Ziyu's correct advice, and took advantage of the Chu army to cross the border.
If you launch an attack suddenly, you have a great chance of winning.
If the Song army defeats the Chu army, the momentum of Chu's northward advance will be curbed, and it is uncertain whether Song Xianggong can truly achieve hegemony. This is really about being moral when you can't be moral, which is what harmed him, and also harmed him.