The Chu army destroyed the walls of Xiaocheng, and then returned to China; A boulder in the hearts of the Song people fell to the ground. In order to fulfill the alliance of Qingqiu, Duke Wen of Song sent out to crusade against Chen. However, the actions of the Song people aroused the displeasure of Kong Da, and he strongly demanded that troops be sent to rescue Chen. Wei Mugong said in surprise: "Before the blood of the Qingqiu meeting is dry, the master will tear up the letter of alliance; Why? Where is the credit? What's in it? ”

Kong Da said: "In the alliance of princes, any action must be discussed on a case-by-case basis, and there is no agreement in the Qingqiu League to crusade against the Chen State, so this war was originally launched by the Song State without authorization and has nothing to do with the alliance. Xianjun had an agreement with Chen that if one party was in trouble, the other party must be rescued. Chen Ren has fulfilled his promise (to mediate the conflict between Jin and Wei), and now Chen Guo is in trouble, and Wei Guo cannot help it. If the Jin State comes to condemn it, the minister will die and die for the country. ”

Wei Mugong gave Conda an army. When the guards arrived at the Chen and Song battlefields, Hua Jiao thought that Kong Da was here to help him, so he did not fortify the guards. In the middle of the night, the guards suddenly launched an attack on the Song army, and the Song people were unable to organize effective resistance in panic, and ran wildly, breaking for several miles.

In the spring of the thirteenth year of Lu Xuangong (BC596), Qi Qinggong led his division to cut Ju. It turned out that Ju refused to pay tribute to Qi by relying on its alliance with Jin, so once the Jin State suffered a defeat, the Qi people immediately came out to fight Ju.

In the autumn of that year, Xianyu secretly colluded with Chidi to endanger the Jin Kingdom, and was defeated and killed (this incident is described in detail later). After the Jin people liquidated the rebel forces of Xianyu, they turned their attention to defending the country.

Jin Jinggong sent Yin Li (the son of Yin Buyang) to hold the Patriots accountable for destroying the Qingqiu Alliance. Wei Mugong was ready to deal with it, and he put the most precious treasure in the office in front of Hao Li, hoping that the other party could release Kong Da Ma.

He stared at the treasure, paced around it a few times with his hands behind his back, shook his head regretfully, and said, "The widow said before the foreign ministers left: 'We must complete our mission!'" Otherwise, don't come back! The foreign ministers did not dare to abandon the king's order. If the prince is unable to punish the culprit who broke the covenant, the widow will personally come to the great power to inquire about the matter. ”

In fact, it was not that he didn't want to keep the treasure for himself, but Jin Jinggong secretly promised him that if he could complete his mission, he would be promoted to a secretary; And the status of the secretary can't be exchanged for ten tripods.

Kong Da was ready to pay for his life when he decided to send a teacher to save Chen, and he said to Wei Mugong: "If the prince does not hesitate to go to war with the Jin State for the sake of his ministers, then the ministers will become sinners for the defense of the country; No prince in the world will have a grudge against another country for the sake of a sinner, so don't do it. With that, he went home, bathed and changed, and committed suicide.

But the next development of events was unexpected by the patriots. Still dissatisfied with the result of forcing Conda to die, he said: "Conda's breaking of the covenant is well known to the world; However, this death of his did not show the nations that he deserved it, nor could it warn those who came after him, so he asked the prince to inform the allies about the matter of Khondafufa. ”

After Yin Li withdrew, Wei Mugong said angrily: "The Marquis of Jin is really too much of a widow!" Not only do you want to die on your knees to defend the country, but you also have to expose your body and abandon the city after death! The widow would rather die on the battlefield than give in to the Jin people! ”

Doctor Ning Xiang said: "If you can stand, you don't have to die; If the prince could not do what the Jin people wanted, Dr. Kong would die in vain. ”

In fact, the above words were added by Yin Li's on-the-spot performance, and he walked out of the palace gate with a little pride, and he was complacent all the way. After returning to the post house, he felt that the mission had been completed, and there was no need to stare at the patriots, so he led the delegation to leave Diqiu and return to China the next day.

Soon after, the liege received the following message from Wei Mugong: "The Wei State has an unkind minister, Kong Da, who has divided my alliance with the great powers. Now that he has prostrated himself to the law, he would like to inform your country. ”

In the summer of the fourteenth year of Lu Xuangong (BC595), the Jin state launched a military invasion of the Zheng state. In this operation, the Jin State captured the Tiger Prison Pass, a dangerous city of Zheng State; Subsequently, a huge ceremony was held to the east of the Tiger Prison Pass.

The actions of the Jin army caused great psychological pressure on the Zheng people, and Zheng Xianggong immediately rushed to Yingdu with Gongsun Heiqi to ask the Chu people for help. The king of Chuzhuang swore to him that he would never sit idly by and watch the Jin army invade Xinzheng; But the tiger prison is closed, so let's put it in the hands of the Jin people for the time being.

Zheng Xianggong's mood calmed down a little, and he said to King Chuzhuang: "(Gongzi) is the most important minister of the country, if he can return to the state of Zheng, it will greatly strengthen the country's ability to resist the invasion of foreign enemies, and naturally it will also reduce the burden on the great powers." If the big country still has concerns, the widow will leave Hei Hu in the Chu State and let him take the place of Qi Ji as a hostage. The request was also granted.

After Zheng Xianggong returned to China with his son, King Chuzhuang held a secret meeting attended by only Sun Shuao, Zizhong, Zianti, and Wu Shen.

King Chuzhuang said: "There is now information confirming that the relationship between the Jin state and the Chidi state is becoming increasingly tense, and the Jin state has set its sights on the Lu state in the north and has no time to look eastward, and the Jin army's occupation of the Tiger Pass is more like active defense than active expansion. Therefore, Bugu decided to take this opportunity to continue the Northern Expedition and surrender the Song State. Although the Song State is big, it is not as strong as the Zheng State. It's just that Song Guo is not guilty, and Bugu must find a reason to crusade. ”

The participants expressed their approval of King Chuzhuang's decision, and then Zizhong proposed a vicious and cruel bitter plan.

The next morning, King Chuzhuang announced at the court meeting that he would send two groups of envoys to the great powers of China: one led by Prince Feng and sent to the Jin State through Zheng Guo; The other group was led by Shen Zhou and sent an envoy to Qi through the Song State. Then he emphatically emphasized to the two envoys: "Don't borrow from Zheng and Song. ”

Shen Zhou could hardly believe his ears, he immediately jumped up, and said in a tone of great dissatisfaction and questioning: "Zheng Guo is friendly and enlightened, while Song Guo is stubborn and ugly, and the Song people and ministers have old grudges. Prince Feng can successfully complete the task, but the minister will definitely die at the hands of the Song people. Does the king no longer consider giving your commands? ”

King Chuzhuang replied: "If the Song people dare to harm you, they will use Shangqiu City to bury you." ”

Shen Zhou saw the hollow and ruthless gaze in King Chuzhuang's eyes, and immediately understood the meaning of the order, so he retreated into the queue without saying a word. After the meeting, Shen Zhou returned home to explain the aftermath, and the next day he took his son Shen Xi to meet the king of Chu Zhuang and asked the king of Chu Zhuang to allow Shen Xi to inherit his throne. After doing these things, Shen Zhou went north with the mission.

When the Chu envoy entered the border of the Song State, the local officials routinely checked the customs clearance documents. Shen Zhou couldn't get the transit papers, and his attitude was very bad; He scolded the other party for being a remnant of the lost country and the remnants of Yin Shang, and he was not qualified to intercept the missions of major countries. He also said: "I even dare to smoke the ancestors of the Song Kingdom, what are you miscellaneous pieces?" The Song people were furious and immediately tied them up and took them to Shangqiu City.

The festival between Shen Zhou and the Song people originated in the tenth year of Lu Wengong, when Song Zhaogong and Zheng Mugong accompanied King Chu Mu to Mengzhu to hunt, and Shen Zhou was Zuo Sima. During this period, the Chu people arranged for Song Zhaogong to load firewood and grass, but Song Zhaogong thought that the other party was humiliating himself, so he did not obey the order. When it was time to camp at night, King Chu Mu ordered a bonfire to be lit to barbecue the prey, but Song Zhaogong could not get firewood, and people found out that Song Zhaogong had disobeyed the order.