In the autumn and July, King Chu Mu died, and the crown prince Xiong Lu ascended the throne as King Chu Zhuang.

King Chu Mu reigned for twelve years, he was a murderer of his father, and he was also the king of Zhongxing of Chu. During his short reign, the chariot of Chu returned to the Central Plains, destroying the Jiang, Liuguo, and Tate, and drawing Zheng, Chen, and even Song into his camp (the relationship between Song and Chu will be described later).

During this period, the state of Chu achieved a crushing advantage over the state of Jin; The state of Chu not only expanded its territory and gained allies, but more importantly, the self-confidence of the people of Chu was established again. The following is a brief review of some of the major events that took place during the reign of King Chumu.

In the spring of the eighth year of King Chumu, there was a rebellion of the five doctors in the Jin Kingdom, and Zhao Dun killed three secretaries because of this. Chu Dafu Fan Shan said: "The Jin monarch is young, the office is unstable, the energy of the Jin people is not in the princes, and the king can use troops against the princes." ”

King Chu Mu then led his army north, aiming directly at Zheng Guo. King Chu Mu stationed his army at Langyuan (southwest of present-day Xuchang, Henan), and then ordered Doujiao and Bao Jia to lead the right army to attack Xinzheng.

The Chu people issued a war letter to the Zheng people, wanting to lure the Zheng army out. However, Zheng Mugong was unwilling to start a war with the Chu army, and saw that the Chu army was not strong enough to attack the city, so he wanted to use the word "drag" to rely on the Chu army; So no matter how the Chu people challenged, Zheng Jun just couldn't hold out.

Dou Jiao is an angry man who likes to work brutally to the end, and he insists on launching a strong attack on Xinzheng City despite the dissuasion of Bao Jia. After several rounds of offensives, the Chu people ended up losing their troops and gaining nothing. Zheng Ren saw that his victory was huge, so he was even more determined to implement the predetermined tactics. Dou Jiao lost his temper and had to ask Bao Jia to forgive him for his recklessness; He also said that if the two of them couldn't achieve results, they would have to go to see the first master Ziyu.

Pu Jia was known as the wisest person in the whole Chu country, and he smiled and whispered a few words in Doujiao's ear; Doujiao's eyes suddenly lit up, and he praised it again and again. The next morning, Doujiao withdrew his army five miles, and did nothing for the day, and did not attack again. Half a month later, the Chu army began to go out in groups to grab food like hungry rats. The sergeants first grabbed the periphery, and after there was no food to grab, they began to rob the far away, and the more they robbed it, the farther they went; So much so that it took three or four days to make a round trip.

The military discipline of the Chu army also became chaotic and disorderly: the commanders bullied the soldiers, the soldiers bullied the miscellaneous servants, and the miscellaneous servants oppressed the locals. Doujiao and Pingjia drank heavily in the camp all day long, and when Doujiao drank too much, he went around drinking and scolding the sergeants at will.

King Chu Mu was still in the wolf abyss at this time, and he was furious when he heard the news: "How dare Jiao drink in the barracks? He didn't think he could win the battle, so he didn't have a day to drink? ”

Cheng Daxin persuaded him: "With Pu Jia here, things will definitely not be as simple as the king seems on the surface." We will see in a few days, and the king will just have to be patient. ”

In Xinzheng City, Gongzijian flipped through the book of the Art of War and said: "The grain and grass of the Chu army are about to run out, and the morale of the army has become unstable. With so many sergeants going out to rob every day, the barracks must be empty. We only need to launch a night attack, and the Chu army will be completely annihilated. ”

Huang Xu believed that this was a textbook conspiracy formulated by the Chu people, so he advocated continuing to hold on to the defense. In the end, the doctors who were in favor had an absolute advantage, and the night attack plan was decided. Huang Xu pointed at Gongzijian's nose and scolded angrily: "You haven't seen the chapter of 'Tricks to Trap the Enemy'!" But I'm sure you didn't get a chance to see it! ”

That night, Gongzijian, Gongziyi, and Le Er led an army to quietly touch the outside of the enemy camp, and the army broke into it with a charge.

Just as the attackers confidently prepared to make a big move, they found that the tent was empty. Gongzijian exclaimed: "It's not good, it's a trick, retreat immediately!" ”

Before the words fell, the Chu army ambushed in all directions, armed with torches and weapons, and killed from all directions. As a result, Zheng's army was almost wiped out, and the three doctors were also captured.

Zheng Mugong couldn't bear to be the prisoners of the Chu State with the three major doctors and many sergeants, so he negotiated peace with the Chu State.

Soon after the departure of the Chu army, Jin Zhao Dun, Lu Gongzisui, Song Huajiao, Wei Kongda and Xu Dafu each led their armies to arrive.

In the summer, the Chu army conquered Huqiu in the Chen State, and the Chen people were not convinced and did not intend to negotiate with the Chu State. In the autumn, the prince of Chu Zhu attacked Chen again, and the Chen people fought an ambush with the enemy and captured the prince.

Chen Gonggong triumphantly passed the prince up, intending to humiliate him. The prince's face did not change, but he threatened Chen Gonggong with harsh words. Chen Guoren panicked now, they said that being beaten by a bully is not enough to die, but if you beat a bully, you will die for no time. As a result, Chen Guoren also negotiated peace with Chu State.

In the ninth year of King Chumu, Shang Gong Dou Yishen (Zixi) died on the streets, and his death made Fan Wu's prophecy fully fulfilled.

After Chu Ziyu committed suicide, in order to protect Zixi's safety (and also to reduce his chance of accidents), King Chu Cheng relieved him of his position as the Great Sima and appointed him as the county magistrate of Shang County.

After King Chu Cheng was forced to commit suicide, Zixi did not live a day of stability, he was anxious all day long, and he didn't know when a catastrophe would suddenly befall him. Zixi's bad mood led him to do a lot of cruel and bad things in Shang County, and his political enemies took the opportunity to slander him in front of King Chumu, claiming that he had a heart of disobedience. King Chu Mu didn't care about those lies, although he didn't kill Zixi, but Zixi couldn't sit still first. Later, a wizard told Zixi that if he couldn't get rid of King Chu Mu first, Fan Wu's evil words would come true.

Zixi then quietly took a boat down the Han River and up the Yangtze River, preparing to contact his henchmen in Yingdu to cause rebellion. Zixi had just boarded the dock, and as soon as he looked up, he saw King Chumu staring at two wasps with a thin waist and back. King Chu Mu stared at Zixi with his usual inscrutable eyes, Zixi thought that the other party had solved the case, he "pounced" and knelt on the ground and said: "The minister is exempted from capital crime (because of the defeat in Chengpu), and I heard that someone slandered the king and framed the minister to defect." The minister had no choice but to surrender to the defeat of the minister and ask the king to investigate the crime of the minister. ”

King Chu Mu was actually just passing by the dock, he helped Zixi up, and said expressionlessly: "Bugu will not listen to slander, uncle has no shame in his heart, and he does not need to surrender to defeat." A few days later, King Chumu appointed Zixi as Gongyin (in charge of the national handicrafts).

Another good deed said to Zixi, "The king has left you in the capital to better control his master, and his guards can arrest him without leaving the city." ”

Zixi's demons are getting heavier and heavier: King Chu Mu is friendly to him, and he feels that the other party is trying to paralyze himself; If you are cold to him, you think that the other party is about to do something to you. Under the endless torment and entanglement, he finally decided to risk his life and assassinate King Chumu.

He contacted another great master's family who had the same thoughts about King Chumu. In May, spies lurking inside the conspirators reported Zixi's conspiracy to King Chumu, who immediately mobilized his troops to attack the two families, and the two conspirators were killed on the way out.

King Chu Mu is a ruler with strong control and control ability, and he believes that once this strong control disappears, and the successor does not have the ability to control the royal power, there will inevitably be turmoil within the royal family; Thinking of this, he killed several ambitious brothers on the charge of "Zixi Tongdang".