The Duke of Jin Mourning created the heyday of the Jin Kingdom, and also brought a huge war to the Central Plains. The continuous war stems from the ambition of the Jin State to dominate the world, from the tenacious and unwilling spirit of resistance of the Chu State, and from the chaotic grievances and hatreds of the princes of the world.

In the first month of spring in the first year of Lu Xiang (BC572), Jin Luan, Song Huayuan, Wei Ningzhuo, Cao, Ju, Di, Teng, and Xue Guofu led an army to besiege Pengcheng.

As mentioned earlier, Chu and Zheng captured Pengcheng of the Song State with great fanfare, and then placed the five doctors of the Huan tribe such as Yushi in the city, and the Chu State also sent 300 chariots and corresponding infantry to Pengcheng to resist the enemy's recovery operation.

This move of the Chu State is not so much the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chu people as the result of the royal infighting (I will elaborate on the process and outcome of the infighting later).

The defenders of Chu left the five doctors behind and fled before the coalition forces arrived. Before leaving, the commander of the Chu army asked the five doctors to follow the Chu army back to China, and Yushi gathered the exiles together and said: "We fled to Chu only after offending the right division in the Song State, and were abandoned to Pengcheng after offending the king's doctor in the Chu State." There is no place for me in the world, so you can go if you want! And I decided to stay here and wait for the heavens to deal with me. ”

The exiles all shed tears, and they said, "Are you not the only one who cannot be tolerated by heaven?" We want to be with the Master! We have abandoned the Dangze, and we can no longer abandon the Master! ”

The five doctors then declined the commander's kindness, and the people of Chu had to shake their heads and leave. The five doctors sent the people of Chu away, as if nothing had happened, and they did whatever they had to do, and they did not resist.

The coalition forces successfully recaptured Pengcheng, and the five doctors were also placed under house arrest. At the beginning, the Jin people's idea was: if the five doctors dared to resist, they would be sent to the western sky. But when faced with the situation in front of them, people don't know what to do.

Hua Yuan went to visit a few old colleagues, and when he came back, his eyes were red. He said to Luan Huang: "The five doctors are not guilty, they only fled to Chu State because they were implicated by the criminal minister Dangze, and the Huan clan has a great contribution to the Song, so don't punish them too much!" ”

Luan Huang later consulted Zhi Gang, and Zhi Gang reported to Jin Mourning Gong. Jin Mourning Gong said: "Pengcheng was recovered by the Song people, and the five doctors are also Song people. Since Fahrenheit intercedes for them, don't hurt those people and put them under house arrest. The Jin army then brought the five men back to the Jin kingdom and placed them in the city of Guqiu (southeast of present-day Yuanqu County).

After the coalition forces lifted the siege of Pengcheng, they turned north to attack Qi. It turned out that the Jin people begged for the Qi State to attack Pengcheng last year, and Qi Linggong patted his chest to pack the ticket, but later broke his promise.

It turned out that Qi Linggong's opinion on the new monarch of the Jin Kingdom was the same as Luan Shu: "How much storm can a hairy boy who has never been to the Jin Kingdom have?" I am afraid that the Jin Kingdom will not be able to advance eastward within a few years. But this guy who was not afraid of the sky and the earth in the east realized the seriousness of the situation when he saw the overwhelming enemy troops marching into the border, and he did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly sent Cui Shu out to sue for peace.

The failure of the Qi people was an unexpected event, and the princes had no intention of attacking the Qi state, so the contradiction was resolved peacefully, and the Duke of Qi Linggong sent Gongziguang to the Jin State as a hostage; The princes also agreed to fight Zheng together in the summer.

In the summer and May, Jin Han Ju and Zhongxingyan, Qi Cuizhu, Lu Zhongsun Fu, Cao Ren, Di Ren, and Qi Ren went out to attack Zheng. At that time, the Jin army attacked the west gate of Xinzheng alone, and the armies of the eastern princes were stationed in Yan (southeast of present-day Sui County, Henan). The Jin army captured the outer city of Xinzheng and defeated the infantry that rushed out of the city. But Zheng Ren then focused on defense and no longer took the initiative to attack.

Seeing that they could not go any further, the Jin army had to abandon Xinzheng and march southeast with the army of the princes of Yandi, plundering Jiaoheyi of Chen; Duke Jin Mourning and Duke Wei Xian each led the Chinese army in Qidi as a backup for the coalition army.

During the march, Zhongsun said a strange thing to Han Ju.

It turned out that Cui Zhu had said to Zhongsun contemptuously in Yandi: "I had a strange dream yesterday, and I dreamed that the former monarch and the prince pointed at my nose and scolded. After scolding him, he said: "Zhaokang Gong once authorized the widow to conquer the five marquis and nine uncles by the king's order. Zhu'er (Qi Xianggong), Xiaobai (Qi Huan Gong), and Wuye (Qi Qinggong) finally did it, but look at how far you have fallen now? What happened to the Qi country that caused my descendants to fall to the point of following others to crusade against the innocent princes, and they didn't know it? 'Please tell me, Master, how should I answer the question of the ancestors?' ”

Han Ju didn't react for a while, so he asked, "Yes, how did you answer?" ”

Zhongsun contempt said: "Cui Zi doesn't need to ask me for an answer at all, he just wants me to know: the Qi State has its own ideas and will not participate in the alliance's actions again." ”

In the autumn, Prince Renfu of Chu led his army to rescue Zheng. At this time, the coalition forces had returned to China, so the Chu army robbed Lü Heliu of the Song State, and Zheng Dafu Ziran led his division to occupy the dog hill of the Song State in order to cooperate with the actions of the Chu army.

In September, King Jian of Zhou died, and King Ling of Zhou ascended the throne.

In the spring of the second year of Lu Xianggong (BC571), Zheng Jun invaded the Song State again on the orders of the Chu State, this time in retaliation for the Song people for recovering their own land, Pengcheng.

In the summer, Zheng Chenggong couldn't afford to be sick. He felt that time was running out, so he invited the doctors over to explain the future. At that time, Gongzi Xi (Zihan) was Shangqing, Gongzi Qian (Zisi) was Yaqing, and Gongzifa (Ziguo) was Shaoqing, and the three of them led the doctors to obey Zheng Chenggong's sickbed.

Zheng Chenggong said that he took Gongzixi's hand and said: "The stubborn (prince) is young, his temperament is not sensitive, and he is not accustomed to political affairs, so please do your best to assist him." Stubbornness and talent are the blessings of Zheng Guo; If you don't become a talent, you will have resentment in the spirit of the sky. ”

The doctors bowed one after another. Gongzi then said: "The big countries compete for the small countries, and the small countries should follow the victor, otherwise they will face the danger of destroying the country." The royal family of Chu is in turmoil, and the country is in decline; And the new monarch of the Jin State is strong and powerful, and his status even exceeds that of the previous Jin monarchs, and the whole of China is dependent on the Jin State. In this case, Zheng Guo could not be close to Chu alone, otherwise he would be an enemy not only with Jin, but also with the princes of the world. Therefore, please allow our country to make peace with the Jin Kingdom. ”

Zheng Chenggong stubbornly waved his dry hand and said, "No! The only monarch in the world who can give up an eye for the widow is Chu Zi. If the widow betrays Chu Zi, it is a betrayal of the covenant and Chu Zi's exploits, the widow has no faith, who in the world can be intimate with Zheng Guo? Uncles, let's let the widow go! Everything else is as the uncles please. ”

On the ninth day of the seventh month of the autumn, Zheng Chenggong died, and the crown prince ascended the throne for the second time, which was for Zheng Xugong.

At the end of July, Zhi Gang, Zhong Sun Mi, Hua Yuan, Sun Linfu, Cao Ren, and Di Ren met in Wei Guo to discuss how to solve Zheng Guo's old problem. This alliance originally invited the Qi State, but the Qi people were absent from the meeting on the pretext that the country was threatened by the Dongfang Lai State; The monarchs of Teng, Xue, and Xiao Yi (郳) of the Dongyi States also did not attend.

"If we just want to solve the Zheng Guo problem by force, we don't have to sit here and scratch our heads," Zhigang said. Alternatives to war may be more effective and more durable, so please come up with whatever is good. ”

Everyone was at a loss, and people thought that if Zheng Chu did not have a major contradiction, Zheng Ren would definitely not turn back.

But Meng Xianzi said: "You can expand and strengthen the system to persecute Zheng Guo." "The system is the Tiger Prison Pass, which used to belong to the Zheng State and was occupied by the Jin State during the Jinggong period of the Jin Dynasty.

Zhi Gang savored it and slapped his leg and shouted, "Wonderful! What a wise man you are! Last year, during the meeting of Yan, the master predicted that the Qi Kingdom would not come, and I didn't believe it at the time, but today it has finally come true. The absence of Teng, Xue, and Xiao Yi is also due to the fact that the Qi people are obstructing them (the Three Kingdoms are small and close to the Qi State).

Therefore, the troubles of the widow are not only Chu and Zheng, but also Qi State. I will ask the widow for instructions and inform the princes of all countries to help strengthen the system, and if this can be done, it will be your credit; If the Qi people do not come, the widow will increase the troops in Qi. The Master's plan is not only a blessing for the widows, but also for the princes of the world. ”