The thirty-second year of the reign of Lu Xun (628 BC) is destined to be a year that needs to be recounted. During this year, Zheng Wengong and Jin Wengong died one after another, and it was precisely because of this coincidence that Qin Mugong naively believed that he could take advantage of the great mourning of Jin to establish a pro-Qin regime in Zheng State. However, to Qin Mugong's surprise, the Jin army made a decisive attack and completely annihilated the Qin army at Kunshan, causing the largest disaster suffered by the Qin State in the history of the Spring and Autumn Period.

In April of this year, Zheng Wengong died at the end of his life, and Prince Lan ascended the throne as Zheng Mugong. Zheng Wengong reigned for forty-four years, during which time Zheng experienced two important periods: the Qi and Chu struggles for hegemony and the Jin and Chu struggles.

After the death of Zheng Ligong, under the oppression of Qi and Chu, Zheng Guo was completely reduced to a second-rate country; Zheng Guo's foreign policy underwent a fundamental change, from active expansion to passive defense. Zheng Guo is like a woman who attracts bees and butterflies, and becomes the object of jealousy of villains; Zheng Guo was unable to realize his national aspirations for independence, so he had to swing left and right between the great powers.

After the decline of the Qi state, the Jin state rose. After the Jin people established Gongzi Lan, the Qin people were angry with the Jin people, and the Jin people regarded the army that the Qin State planted in the Zheng State as a thorn in their side. Although neither country was relieved, neither was willing to take the initiative to make trouble, and the two sides reached a delicate compromise: although high-level contacts were suspended, exchanges on other sides continued normally.

After Zheng Mugong came to power, Zheng Guo began to implement an active pro-Jin policy, although he did not damage relations with Qin. Although the Jin people repeatedly hinted that he would expel the Qin army guarding Zheng State, Zheng Mugong still pretended not to understand and was not moved in the slightest.

It was only at this time that Jin Wengong discovered that this down-and-out son, who used to obey his words, turned out to be a very difficult character to deal with: Gongzilan did a lot of face-saving work, so that people couldn't find fault with it, but his heart was very stubborn, and no one could control his thoughts.

On the ninth day of December in winter, a generation of heroes Jin Wen Gong was in bed. The crown prince ascended the throne for the Duke of Jin. At the age of seventeen, Chong'er was framed and fled by Li Ji, and he lived in exile in Baidi for twelve years, and lived in Qi for seven years; He ascended the throne at the age of thirty-six, reigned at the age of forty-one, and died at the age of forty-five. Chong'er inherited and carried forward his father's martial spirit, but hid the violence of war conquest behind the aura of justice such as "helping the royal family" and "retributing for help".

Confucius used the words "unrighteous but not righteous" to summarize the life of Duke Wen of Jin. The disciple asked, "What do you mean by 'being upright but not right'?" Confucius said, "In the name of justice, it is unjust to do evil." "Master Confucius's evaluation of him is really exquisite.

It has always been believed that Chong'er ran away at the age of forty-two and ascended to the throne at the age of sixty-one (see Historical Records), but this is not true. First of all, the order of the descendants of Jin Xiangong is, the eldest daughter Bo Ji (Duchess of Qin Mu), the eldest son Gong Prince Shensheng, Jin Wen Gong Chong'er, and Jin Hui Gong Yiwu.

Bo Ji only married Qin Mugong after he ran away with heavy ears. If the records in the "Historical Records" are true, then Bo Ji was already over forty years old when he got married, then Qin Mugong would not marry a wife, but find an old lady for himself. In addition, the fox is the maternal grandfather of Heavy Ear, and should be about forty years older than Heavy Ear. When Shen Sheng attacked the Gaoluo clan in Dongshan, Hutu drove a chariot for him, if according to the "Historical Records", Hutu should have been seventy-six or seven years old, and in the fierce confrontation of the ancient battlefield, there would never be a nearly eighty-year-old imperial Rong. Therefore, the statement that Chong'er went out at the age of forty-two is obviously wrong, and forty-two years old is probably the age at which he became the overlord of the princes.

The "Chinese" recorded, "There are five scholars in the seventeenth year of the heavy ear. "Why does the Chinese emphasize the number seventeen, it is reasonable to speculate that it is most likely his age when he went out.

After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, the whole country of Jin fell into heavy grief, and the Jin people were too busy preparing for the funeral of the ancestor to take care of other things, and the Zheng people also focused their attention on the Jin state.

The three marshals of the Qin army who defended Zheng had nothing to do, they were eager to establish fame and glory, and they also hoped to return to their hometown as soon as possible. Driven by this psychology, Qizi wrote a secret letter to Qin Mugong, in which he said that Zheng Bo sent him to take charge of the defense of the north gate of the capital, and if Qin made a surprise attack at this time, he would definitely be able to occupy Zheng State.

Qin Mugong's restless heart began to beat violently again, and it turned out that the people of Qin also had a few exiled sons of Zheng Guo in their hands. The Qin people immediately began to formulate a plan to attack Zheng Guo, preparing to put Zheng Gongzi on the throne in the same way that Duke Wen of Jin promoted Gongzi Lan.

But Qin Mugong's plan was resolutely opposed by Uncle Jian, who said: "It is really unheard of for Xingshi to attack a country thousands of miles away!" The Qin army was tired, and Zheng Guo was prepared, and it was impossible to succeed. If the army does not establish meritorious deeds, it will inevitably produce rebellion; If you have a disobedient heart, you will do evil things. If you do something evil, you will be attacked by the princes. Could it be that the loss of the teacher and the fall of the country is the result of the monarch's pursuit? ”

Qin Mugong felt very unhappy, but he finally suppressed his anger and did not get angry at the old doctor in front of him who was old enough to be his father; He said that he was unwell, so he asked Uncle Jian to quit. Uncle Jian did not give up his efforts, and since then he has dissuaded Qin Mugong on various occasions many times, but Qin Mugong's stubborn head just keeps shaking.

In fact, not long after the death of Duke Wen of Jin, Guo Yan, the inscrutable official of the Jin State, made a prophecy that the Qin army would advance eastward, and issued a military order to strike at the Qin army in the name of Duke Wen of Jin.

It turned out that before his death, Duke Wen of Jin had asked to be buried in the cemetery of Quwo, and according to his last wishes, the Jin people decided to transfer all the funerals to Quwo.

On December 10, as soon as the guard of honor escorting the coffin left the west gate of the capital, a faint sound like a cow's roar came from the coffin. Guo Yan hurriedly trotted all the way to him, and he leaned down on the coffin to listen carefully, his face respectful and solemn, as if he was receiving orders from the monarch.

After the voice disappeared, Guo Yan stood up straight, asked the doctors to bow down to the coffin, and then said: "The monarch has an order: the Western powers will have troops passing through our country, and you must attack with all your might; The Jin army will win a great victory. ”

Qin Mugong selected 100 chariots and 3,000 warlike veterans from each of the three armies, and handed over the command to Baili Xi's son Baili Shi (Mengming), Jian Shu's son Jian Shu (Xi Qi) and Jian Bing (Bai Yi).