After about forty days, the battle reports of Wei generals Sima Shang, Huan Hu, Yan Kui, Li Ji and others arrived one after another at Luoyang, the capital of Wei King, and presented them to Wei King Zhao Run.
In addition to recording the battles they encountered, these Wei generals also listed the same thing, that is, "King Xiong Tuo of Chu died in the battle, and Chu surrendered."
When he saw the words "King Chu Xiong Tuo died in battle" from the battle report of Song County Governor Sima Shang, even though Zhao Run had expected it, he couldn't help but trembled in his heart and let out a long sigh with a sad face.
The domestic generals won the battle and overthrew the Chu State. This was certainly a joyful thing, but at the same time, Zhao Run also lost a close friend who was his equal.
Han Ran, Wei Yu, Zhao Zhao, Xiong Hu, Xiong Tuo, etc. Among these people, Zhao Run actually has the deepest friendship with Xiong Hu and Xiong Tuo's cousins.
Even though Zhao Zhao is his sixth brother, and the two brothers used to have a close relationship, in the final analysis, since Zhao Zhao went to Qi State, Zhao Run and Zhao Zhao never had a chance to meet each other. Instead, they once hated each other.
Xiong Tuo and Xiong Hu were gnashing their teeth, but they often met Zhao Run.
"..."
With a slight sigh, Zhao Run stood up, walked slowly to the window, and looked out the window with his hands behind his back.
When was the last time you saw Xiong Tuo?
Zhao Run thought.
With Zhao Run's memory, he would certainly not forget the date when he last saw Xiong Tuo, which was in the winter of the 24th year of Hongde.
In the twenty-fourth year of Hongde, the "Three Kings' Rebellion" triggered by King Zhao Xin of Qing had not yet occurred, and the old Seventh Yi King Zhao Yin had not yet emerged from behind the scenes. At that time, the country was still supervised by Prince Zhao Yu.
At that time, Zhao Run was so outstanding that even though Prince Zhao Yu actually wanted to reuse his younger brother, he could not help but be disturbed by public opinion and rumors. He was worried that Zhao Run's stay in Daliang, the capital of Wei at that time, would affect his ability to seize power, so he
He managed to send Zhao Run to a feudal city, namely Shangshui County.
At that time, Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, had gone to Chudong and seized the status of "Prince of Chu".
The problem was that at that time, the Xiong clan of Chudong was still constraining Xiong Tuo, both covertly and overtly. In addition, Shouling Jun Jingyun, Generals Xiang Mo, Xiang Juan, and other powerful generals of the Chu State had not yet returned to Xiong Tuo. To be precise,
At that time, Xiong Tuo was very unpopular in Chudong.
The reason is very simple, because when Shouling Junjingshe was defeated by Zhao Yuanke, King of Yu of Wei, in the last battle of the "Five-Party Battle of Wei", that is, the "First Wei-Chu Yongqiu Battle", Xiong Tuo fought for
Taking the opportunity to go to Chudong to seize power, he ordered Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu to blockade Pingyu.
, General Xiang Mo refused to save the defeated Shouling Jun Jingshe, so Shouling Jun Jingshe had to cross the Song Dynasty and return to the east of Chu. Therefore, he was intercepted by the Wei army and the army led by Tian Dan of the Qi State at that time.
The pursuit resulted in a million Chu troops, and only a handful of them returned to Chudong.
Because of this, Lord Shouling Jingshe committed suicide in the Chushui River because he felt ashamed of his subordinates.
Therefore, for Shouling Lord Jingyun, Pingyu Lord Xiong Hu and Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo are simply enemies who killed their father. In this case, how can Jingyun sincerely help Xiong Tuo?
The same was true for Xiang Mo, who was lucky enough to escape back to Chu at that time.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the east of Chu at that time, except for Ruyin Lord Xiang Gong and a few old subordinates of Runan Lord Xiong Hao, there were only one hundred thousand troops from the west of Chu, which were Xiong Tuo's only support in seizing the throne of the prince.
None of the great nobles in the east, including the Xiong family, Xiang family, Jing family, Ji Lian family, Ji family, Lian family, Huang family, etc., expressed their support for him.
But it’s no wonder, who told Xiong Tuo to do this unethically? If he had ordered Pingyu Jun Xiong Hu to send troops to rescue Shouling Jun Jingshe, Jingshe and the Chu army under Xiang Mo might have been
There are 200,000 to 300,000 regular troops who can return to Chudong alive. The most important thing is that Shouling Junjingshe may not be ashamed and commit suicide because of this.
Of course, if that is really the case, and the two to three hundred thousand Chudong troops are really withdrawn from Chudong, then Xiong Tuo's attempt to go to Chudong to seize power will probably be in vain.
Even if Jing She and Xiang Mo spoke for Xiong Tuo out of repayment, they could not completely change the cruel fact that Xiong Tuo was not destined to become the crown prince of Chu.
The reason is simple, because Xiong Tuo is also a commoner.
Chu Gongzi, who was born as a concubine, basically had no chance of being crowned king. In fact, he might not even be able to get a fief.
For example, Chu Shuijun was also born as a commoner, and as a member of the royal family, Runan Jun Xiong Hao was canonized as soon as he was born, and he was granted a fief at an early age, and governed the huge Western Chu on behalf of the King of Chu; and Chu Shuijun
, before and after the death of the late king and the succession of Prince Xiong Xu, a name was given to the canonization of Chu Shuijun in name only.
Some people may ask, since the son of a concubine cannot be granted a fief, why can Xiong Tuo be granted the title of Yangcheng and govern the entire western Chu?
The reason is very simple, because Xiong Tuo is the person who inherited the thoughts of Xiong Hao, Lord of Runan, which made people like Xiang Gong, Lord of Ruyin, and Xiong Bing, Lord of Xiying (Xiong Bing) in the general environment of "Chu West and Chu East turn against each other" at that time.
Tao's father), Pingyujun Xiong Kui (Xiong Hu
The father of Xiong Hao was waiting for the old subordinates of Runan Lord Xiong Hao. After they learned about Xiong Hao's suicide, they asked Xiong Tuo to replace Xiong Hao. Otherwise, the Xiong family and Xiang family in the west of Chu would force you to death for the sake of "Dong Chu."
"Nanjun Xiong Hao", he and Chu Dong were fighting to the death.
At that time, the nobles of Chudong agreed to the matter when they saw that Runan Lord Xiong Hao was dead, the crisis had been resolved, and Xiong Tuo was still young. This was able to resolve the civil war between Chuxi and Chudong, and made Xiong Tuo the only one at that time.
A concubine of the Xiong family who obtained a fiefdom and rights.
But even so, Xiong Tuo wants to get his hands on the throne, but this is absolutely impossible.
If Xiong Tuo wants to seize the king's power, he must use force to deter opponents.
And since force is needed, then naturally the two to three hundred thousand Chudong troops cannot be allowed to return to Chudong alive. Otherwise, how could Xiong Tuo's 100,000 Chuxi troops under his command at that time defeat Jingshe, Xiang Mo and others?
Two to three hundred thousand troops?
In fact, he could not even defeat Xiang Kuan, the most powerful general of the Chu State who was guarding Zhaoguan at that time.
Therefore, Xiong Tuo has no choice.
But as a result, his reputation in Chudong became very bad. Although he successfully took over Chudong and became the prince of Chu, he made the Xiong family, Jing family, and Xiang family hate him.
——It was not until later that Xiong Tuo put down his attitude and persuaded Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, to assist him. With Xiong Sheng's persuasion, the Jing family and the Xiang family gradually let go of their prejudices against Xiong Tuo.
However, in the twenty-fourth year of Wei Hongde's reign, Xiong Tuo had not yet made up his mind to ask Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng for help. After all, his character meant that he would not beg in a low voice to anyone except Xiong Hu, Xiang Gong and others.
Not to mention that Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, was actually a strong rival with him for the throne.
In view of the depressing stay in Chudong at that time, Xiong Tuo also received a letter from Xiong Hu, Lord Pingyu, and learned that his cousin Mi Jiang was about to give birth to a baby in Shangshui County, so he took the time to go to Shangshui County to visit him.
Cousin Mi Jiang, on the one hand, also wanted to relax.
At that time, Mi Jiang was pregnant with Zhao Wei, the later crown prince of Wei.
At that time, the relationship between Wei and Chu was very bad, and Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, and Xiong Hu, the king of Pingyu, also led their troops to attack Shangshui County in the "Battle of Wei from Five Parties" - although in that battle, Xiong Tuo and Xiong Hu Hu Jie did it hastily, just to confuse and perfunctory Chu Dong.
All in all, in the general environment of "enmity between Wei and Chu", the relationship between Shangshui and Pingyu did not show any hostility. In fact, when Xiong Tuo and Xiong Hu went to Shangshui to visit their cousin Mi Jiang, they Without even saying hello, he directly broke into Prince Su's Mansion in Shangshui County - later the residence of "Shang Jun Zhao Xing". This is enough to prove that the relationship between Zhao Run, Xiong Tuo and Xiong Hu is actually very close. close.
Of course, neither Zhao Run nor Xiong Tuo would admit this matter.
Zhao Run once said viciously that he would arrest Xiong Tuo who broke into the mansion, but Xiong Tuo bluntly stated that the former was just his "additional head" who came to visit Mi Jiang.
However, while they were nervously waiting for Mi Jiang to give birth, Zhao Run, Xiong Hu, and Xiong Tuo went hunting together in the surrounding area in order to relieve the tension and pressure.
The hunting range was from Shangshui County to Pingyu County, as if the Wei-Chu border was meaningless to these three people.
Finally, when Mi Jiang gave birth to the future prince of Wei, Zhao Wei, Zhao Run held a banquet at the palace to celebrate.
At that time, the palace was full of guests, including nobles who defected from Chu to Wei, as well as generals from the Shang Shui Army and the Yanling Army. Among these people, Xiong Tuo and Xiong Hu, two real townsmen of the Chu State, Jun, just sitting openly among a group of Wei people.
Zhao Wei is not Zhao Run's first child. After all, Su Ran gave birth to his daughter Zhao Chu before. However, it is undeniable that Zhao Wei is Zhao Run's eldest son.
For most men, when they receive their first son, they are inevitably a little nervous.
The same is true for Zhao Run.
This is not because of any patriarchal mentality, but because most fathers will be regarded as role models by their sons, and the father will also teach his son many things that are not suitable for teaching his daughter.
Zhao Run has no experience in this area.
Perhaps because they were drunk, Xiong Hu and Xiong Tuo started talking about children together with Zhao Run. After all, Xiong Hu already had his eldest son, Xiong Miao, and Xiong Tuo also had his eldest son. Later, Xiong Xin, the prince of Chu, obviously had much more experience in this regard than Zhao Run.
While chatting, the three of them started chatting about other things.
First, Xiong Tuo began to pour out his bitterness, telling how Chu Dong was being held back by the Xiong family, Jing family, Xiang family, and Ji Lian family in Chu Dong. Zhao Run laughed with a look of gloating, saying that Xiong Tuo " Evil will be punished."
Later, under Xiong Tuo's questioning, the drunk Zhao Runyi told the story about the prince Zhao Yu. Xiong Tuoyi laughed loudly and scolded Zhao Run for being a stupid guy. He clearly had the throne at his fingertips, but he wanted to take it away. He recommended it to King Yong Zhao Yu.
Only Xiong Hu had nothing to complain about.
At that time, Zhao Run and Xiong Tuo were not very emotionally stable. Xiong Tuo was worried that he would be deprived of the crown prince's position by the nobles of Chu Dong, while Zhao Run was resentful that Prince Zhao Yu did not trust him.
At that time, neither of them was very optimistic about the future.
Zhao Run ran against Xiong Tuo and was eventually ousted from the crown prince position by Chu Dong. Xiong Tuo made fun of Zhao Run for being the 'number one general in Wei' and being hidden by Prince Zhao Yuxue at such a young age. The two mocked and hurt each other. The fight made my face red and my ears red.
At that time, only Mi Jiang had the most stable mood. In fact, she was more inclined to "Xiong Tuo loses power and Zhao Run becomes idle". After all, the former is her brother and the latter is her husband. If Xiong Tuo loses the crown prince of Chu,
If Zhao Run is left idle by Prince Zhao Yu, it will be a good thing for Mi Jiang. After all, she will not have to watch two men who hold a lot of weight in her life confront each other for their respective positions.
But Mi Jiang never expected that after returning to Chudong this time, her cousin Xiong Tuo would change his unnecessary self-esteem, put down his attitude, impress Liyang Lord Xiong Sheng with his sincere attitude, and win Xiong Sheng's favor.
Full support.
A few years later, with the support of Xiong Sheng, Lord of Liyang, Xiong Tuo gradually gathered the royal power, gradually became a veritable prince, and finally successfully sat on the throne of the king of Chu.
As for her husband, Zhao Run, he also came to his senses after the "Three Kings' Rebellion" that followed shortly after the Wei State, and took the position of the crown prince of the Wei State. After the death of Wei King Zhao Si a few years later, he became the crown prince.
The monarch of Wei State.
One night in the winter of the 24th year of Wei Hongde, these two guys drank side by side until they fell unconscious and were quite confused about their future. A few years later, they became the monarchs of Wei and Chu respectively.
This was the last time Zhao Run saw Xiong Tuo, and it was also the last time Xiong Tuo saw Zhao Run.
"..."
Standing at the window of Ganlu Hall's study room, Zhao Run put his hands behind his back and recalled the last time he saw Xiong Tuo.
However, in the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and things have changed. The guy who was hanging around and taunting each other while drinking that night was already in the battle to capture Pengze County. After successfully capturing the city, he died of casualties.
Therefore.
Well, how should I put it, this is very consistent with Xiong Tuo's personality.
Unlike Qi Wang Lu Bai, a monarch who chose to commit suicide, Xiong Tuozhiqiu was not weak to others in his life. He would never choose to end his own life in that 'weak' way. He would choose a more vigorous death.
Law.
Based on Zhao Run's understanding of Xiong Tuo, when Xiong Tuo decided to go on a personal expedition, he was actually ready to die on the battlefield - he might not be going on a personal expedition to turn the tide, but to choose a decent place for himself.
way of death.
After all, if the Wei army can capture Pengze once, it can capture it a second time. Chu's strategy of hiding in Pengli County has proven to be just "slow suicide". If Chu wants to save itself, it must defeat Wei.
But the question is, what did Chu use to defeat Wei?
Yes, the Chu State could not defeat the Wei State. Even if Xiong Tuo recaptured Pengze, it only slightly delayed the fate of the Chu State's fall - even if Xiong Tuo was not injured when he captured Pengze County, he could only
Choose to continue to lead the army to counterattack against the Wei army, either to regain another city, or to die in battle on the way to regain the lost territory.
In any case, as long as Chu cannot defeat Wei, Xiong Tuo's fate is doomed.
I believe that Xiong Tuo himself should also know this.
Of course, having said that, it does not rule out that Xiong Tuo still has a little bit of luck and expectation in his heart to "put himself to death and survive", hoping that through this personal expedition, he will severely damage the Wei State and recover the lost territory.
But the cruel reality caused the heroic leader of Chu to fall in the first city that was successfully recovered, and no miracle happened.
"..."
After hesitating for a while, Zhao Run stepped out of the Ganlu Palace and headed towards Queen Mi Jiang's Fengyi Palace.
When Zhao Run arrived at the east hall of the main hall of Fengyi Palace, he saw Mi Jiang playing with several pots of poisonous weeds.
Noticing the figure of her husband-in-law, Mi Jiang turned her head and glanced at Zhao Run, and asked calmly: "Shouldn't your Majesty be handling government affairs in Ganlu Hall at this time? Why are you here where I am?"
Zhao Run did not answer Mi Jiang immediately. After pondering for a while, he said: "Xiong Tuo... passed away."
"..."
Mi Jiang was trimming the pot of poisonous weeds for a moment. Although her face remained calm, there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
She sighed softly, and after a moment of silence, she quietly asked: "How... did he die?"
Seeing this, Zhao Run told Mi Jiang the description in Sima Shang's battle report: "That bastard imitated me as a chariot, but he couldn't imitate it, so he captured Pengze County, and..." At this point, he felt
His tone was inexplicably heavy, so he changed his tone and said again: "Speaking of which, it's the end. That bastard still wants to break a few teeth of my Wei army. Can't he surrender honestly?"
Hearing this, Mi Jiang shook his head, put down the scissors in his hand, and said in a calm and somewhat sad tone: "Then he is not Mr. Xiong Tuo..."
After listening to these words, Zhao Run, who had already prepared a draft to persuade Mi Jiang to be sad and submissive, didn't know what to say at this moment. He could only nodded and agreed with Mi Jiang's words, and said with emotion and melancholy: "Yes, then it's not."
Xiong Tuo..."
The couple looked at each other in silence.
About a month later, after Chu State surrendered to Wei State, Prince Xiong Xin of Chu State took a ship from Pengli to Luoyang, the royal capital of Wei State, and met with his uncle, King Zhao Run of Wei, and also with Queen Mi Jiang of Wei State.
aunt.
Even if it wasn't for Mi Jiang's sake, just for the sake of his friendship with Xiong Tuo, Zhao Run would not embarrass Xiong Xin. After some appeasement, he conferred the title of Prince of Chu Xiong Xin as the Marquis of Chu, enjoying the privileges of Peng Li.
As a fief.
At this time, Xiong Xin came to Luoyang with Shouling Jun Jingyun, Xinyang Jun Xiang Pei, Diyang Jun Xiong Li and other Chu generals who stayed until the end.
It has to be said that the death of Chu King Xiong Tuo and Chu Prince Xiong Xin's wish to surrender to Wei completely defeated the Chu generals who fought to the end such as Shouling Jun Jingyun, Xinyang Jun Xiang Pei, Diyang Jun Xiong Li and others.
, causing them to lose their faith in defending the country and had to bow their heads to Wei for the sake of their own family.
Because of this, instead of looking down upon them, they were rewarded and called loyal ministers of the Chu State.
After all, people like Shouling Jun Jingyun, Xinyang Jun Xiang Pei, Diyang Jun Xiong Li and others have indeed never left Chu and the Chu royal family.
If Prince Xiong Xin of Chu had not surrendered to Wei, I believe these Chu generals would have continued to fight.
In order to commend his loyal ministers and to show the world the power of Wei State, Zhao Run returned Shouling, Xinyang, Diyang and other cities to Jingyun, Xiang Pei and Xiong Li as fiefs.
I remember that at that time, Lord Shouling Jingyun asked Zhao Run in surprise: "His Majesty the King of Wei does not blame us, but instead returns us to the fiefdom. Aren't you afraid that we will use this to rebel against Wei and Chu in the future?"
Zhao Run smiled slightly and said without hesitation: "Don't be afraid!"
He really has nothing to worry about. After all, Jing Yun, Xiang Pei, and Xiong Li are just Chu ministers in the final analysis. They are enough generals, but they are not enough for them to hold high the banner of rebelling against Wei and restoring Chu.
What's more, after the Chu State surrendered, the entire Central Plains completely belonged to the Wei State. Even if there was a local rebellion, how could it shake the foundation of the Wei State?
In November of the twelfth year of Wei Zhaowu, four ministers of the Inner Dynasty, Jie Zigui, Zhang Qigong, the Right Commander of Tiance Prefecture, Zhu Jin, the Minister of Rites, and Gongyang Hao, a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, jointly submitted a petition to the imperial court, proposing the "annexation of Korea."
These four ministers believed that Chu State was dead and Wei State had no enemies in the Central Plains except Qin State in the west. Under this situation, the annexation of South Korea should be started as soon as possible to promote the unification of the Central Plains to avoid long nights and nightmares.
King Zhao Run of Wei saw the memorial, agreed to the matter, and handed it over to the Ministry of Rites for handling.
In the spring of the thirteenth year of Wei Zhaowu, the Ministry of Rites of the State of Wei sent envoys Tang Ju, Zhao Zhuo, and Han Chao to South Korea to facilitate this matter.
At that time, South Korea's Prime Minister Kai Kai had learned that the Wei State had conquered the Chu State. He sighed with complicated emotions and finally agreed to the matter.
Two months later, some Koreans excavated a stone tablet near Jicheng, the capital of South Korea, with the words "The Zhao family deserves to win the world" engraved on it, which surprised the Koreans.
Subsequently, such omens appeared frequently in various places in Korea, and each omen hinted that Wei should unify the Central Plains.
Soon after, there were rumors that King Yi of Han should comply with the destiny of heaven and surrender to Wei to avoid the wrath of heaven.
This statement was gradually recognized by the Koreans. After all, in the Central Plains at this time, except for Korea, all the other countries had been annexed by the Wei State. This was in line with the motto that "the Zhao family should conquer the world."
Seeing this, King Yi of Han submitted a letter of credence to the Wei State and petitioned to be incorporated into the Wei State.
Wei King Zhao Run retreated twice, but finally accepted the matter the third time, changed the title of King Yi of Han to the title of Marquis of Han, and enjoyed Jicheng as a fief.
At this point, South Korea was merged into the Wei State, and the Wei State officially conquered all other countries and unified the Central Plains.
At this moment, only the Qin Kingdom in the west is still struggling.