After Wang Zishen was executed, the king of Chu appointed Wang Zizhen as the right Sima.

The third year of Lu Xianggong (BC570) was the beginning year of Chu and Wu Zhengxiong.

Just after the New Year of this year, Zizhong proposed to the king of Chu Gong on a private occasion to attack Wu.

Since the defeat of the Jin State in the Battle of Chengpu, the King of Chu Gong has become a different person: he was originally cheerful, energetic, and had inexhaustible energy; Now he has become decadent, irritable, and indulged in lustful dogs and horses. The battle of Yan Ling not only shattered his dreams, but more importantly, shattered his self-confidence, so that he now looks ahead and does not dare to make any decisions easily.

The king of Chu was noncommittal about his proposal, but only asked him to submit it to the court for consideration. A few days later, Zizhong proposed a crusade against the state of Wu.

With the exception of a very few in the know, the other ministers expressed great shock. People do not understand why a second battlefield in the East should be opened up at a time when the situation in the Central Plains is under great pressure; The crusade against Wu was a long way, and it was impossible to defend the captured city, and it was impossible to maintain the results of the battle if it was victorious.

Wang Zizhen was the first to stand up against it, and he said, "Has Lord Ling Yin forgotten? In the autumn of the seventh year of Wang (the seventh year of Lu Chenggong), the state of Wu captured Zhoulai (now Fengtai, Anhui), and the adults rushed to rescue but returned in vain. In that year, the Chinese princes held an alliance meeting in Maling, and then the Wu State repeatedly used troops against Xu, Chao, and Qunshu, and the adults ran for their lives seven times a year, but they did not achieve anything. Qu Wu's curse is still in his ears, and it is too late to guard against the invasion of Wu, let alone take the initiative to attack? If the people of Wu and Wu start a war against Chu at the same time, how will Chu respond? ”

The prince said: "Your reasons precisely refute your own claims. At present, the Huaxia Alliance is indestructible, and of course it cannot march north. And the state of Wu is not strong enough, and it is in the soft belly of the state of Chu, now is a great opportunity to weaken the enemy country. If you don't fight now, do you have to wait for the Wu State to become as powerful as the Jin State before crusading against it? ”

Wang Zizhen said: "Chu and Wu must have a battle, but the two countries are thousands of miles apart, and the active attack party must be at a disadvantage. We should expand from near and far to the east—just as the kings of the past expanded northward; Making Qunshu and Huaiyi become the barrier of Chu and supporting the Jianghuai princes to be enemies of Wu is the means to weaken Wu. ”

The two sides were arguing back and forth, and the king of Chu Gong was so anxious that he had already shown great impatience, so he stopped the two sides from continuing to speak, and said: "Since Ling Yin and Dr. Sima are both advocating the attack on Wu, then let's cut it!" ”

Wang Zizhen said angrily: "This time the attack on Wu is just for Yin to fulfill his own selfish interests!" For the sake of his vanity, countless children of the Chu State will be killed, O king! You'll regret it! ”

The king of Chu Gong immediately waved his arms and roared to drive Wang Zizhen out, and Wang Zifu shouted and shouted to cure Wang Zizhen's great disrespect. As a result, it was also blasted out by the King of Chu Gong in the same way.

Zizhong then began to prepare for the crusade against Wu. He specially assembled a very ostentatious team for this political curtain call: he selected 300 centurion-level warriors from the whole army, and specially made for them to wear the armor made of silk cotton (ordinary armor was made of hemp rope); He also selected 3,000 warriors of the rank of chief, and made for them armor made of cooked silk (this armor was called "being trained"). What he did could be regarded as the last honor for those warriors who were about to die in battle.

The guard of honor left the capital as if it were a procession to welcome relatives. The army sailed down the Yangtze River in warships. There is a tributary of the Yangtze River called Tongshui, which branches out from the Yangtze River in the south of present-day Wuhu Lake and flows eastward into Taihu Lake. There is a small city named Jiuzi in the south of Tongshui, which is the east gate of Wu. The Chu army landed and then captured the small city. After repairing here for two days, Zizhong crossed Tongshui in the north and led the army to Hengshan (now Ma'anshan Mountain).

Wu Zishoumeng was furious and immediately sent an army to meet him. Zizhong ordered the commander Deng Liao Shuai to form 300 armor and be trained 3,000 to continue eastward, and he led the main force to be stationed in Hengshan as Deng Liao's backup.

Deng Liao's subordinates said, "I really don't understand what it means for Ling Yin to issue such an order!" Allowing Yin to be able to hold on to the dove is the greatest success! Now he ordered us to wait for the lone army to go deeper, we are not familiar with the terrain, and we do not understand the enemy's situation, we will definitely become a living target for the people of Wu. What crime have we committed to go on a senseless suicide mission? ”

Deng Liao said: "We just need to faithfully carry out Ling Yin's orders, and discussing orders is not what soldiers should do." Ling Yin will naturally be punished, and we would rather be killed by the people of Wu as an invader than executed by the king as a sinner. ”

Deng Liao's army then embarked on the road of no return without hesitation, and the army was ambushed by the Wu people when they passed a dangerous road. Although Deng Liao's army broke out with amazing combat effectiveness, and the sergeants also fought with all their might, the Wu people took advantage of the geographical advantage and were in an absolute advantage in numbers, and as a result, the vast majority of Chu people, including Deng Liao, were still killed or captured. In the end, only 80 people escaped back to the base camp, and 300 people were trained.

The bitter lesson did not disturb Zizhong's iron-like cold heart, and he said: "Well, our army has won a major victory, and has figured out a lot of the enemy's situation, and can return to the division. ”

The Chu army returned to the capital again, as if it were a procession to welcome their relatives back, but there were no more loyal and brave men in the ranks, and only a considerable number of dejected captives were replaced.

Zizhong brazenly boasted of his merits, but put the blame for the defeat on Deng Liao (as a result, the loyal and brave general was not only deprived of his fiefdom, but his entire family was demoted to a concubine); The king of Chu listened to his boasting indifferently, and there was no life in his only eye; The ministers, led by the prince Renfu, kept flattering the son.

Wang Zizhen no longer wanted to see the ugly face of the villains of the dynasty, nor did he want to hear disgusting lies, so he turned away angrily, and even refused to attend the grand celebration dinner.

The celebration banquet was held for three consecutive days, and just when the people of Chu were celebrating, the Wu army captured the Jiayi of Chu (now Wuwei County, Anhui). It is the eastern gateway of the Chu State, and it faces Jiuzi across the Yangtze River.

Wang Zizhen said bitterly: "Our country has captured Jiuzi but can't keep it, and the people of Wu will not return it to us if they occupy Jiayi!" Deng Liao is also a good general of our country. Ling Yin suffered heavy losses in the first battle, but only brought back 2,000 prisoners. Where can it be called 'victory'? ”

The Chinese people immediately began to complain about Zizhong. Zizhong originally wanted to make some political capital for himself before returning to seclusion, but it turned out to ruin his reputation for the rest of his life. He can finally quietly summarize and reflect on his life. Zizhong recalled Ziwen's loyalty, Ziyu's responsibility, Ziyang's loyalty, and Ziyue's fierceness; He also compared his own experience with the previous doctors, and even compared it with Luan Shu.

Zizhong finally repented, and his desire to obtain a false name was actually only based on the power he possessed temporarily, and the Chu people praised his merits and praised his virtues, but in fact they were only flattering his power; Once the garment of power is stripped off and handed over to others, merit becomes a crime and virtue becomes evil. Then his soul will be cursed by the king, and his descendants will be hated by the people.

The only remaining fire of conscience in Zizhong's heart was rekindled: he restored Deng Liao's fief and made Deng Liao's son inherit his father's title; Relief for the families of the soldiers who went on the expedition.

He also gave the evidence of Wang Zirenfu's crime to the King of Chu Gong, which was given to him by Wang Zishen. He finally admonished his son to stay away from the political center, not to accept the king's appointments and titles, and not to rely on his father's shadow to walk in the world. He said: "The human heart is unpredictable, and the more people who flatter me now, the more people will frame you in the future." ”

After doing the above things, Zizhong went crazy. Once he climbed a tree and tried to "jump to the sky", but he fell headlong and broke his neck, and died mysteriously.

After hearing the news of Zizhong's death, Luan Shu said, "It's a pity! If Zizhong treats the battle of Wu with the gift of defeat, reflects on himself, relieves orphans and widows, and relieves the people and strengthens the army, he may be able to get the reputation of Ziwen. In the face of power, he behaved stupider than me. ”

Zizhong's accusation of Prince Renfu means that he hopes that the King of Chu will investigate his crimes, but the King of Chu has hatred for Zizhong; In order to take revenge on Zizhong's disloyalty to him, the king of Chu Gong, like a rebellious child, actually raised the criminal who was even more shameful than Prince Shen to the high position of Ling Yin.

But what worse effect did this have than to cause great harm to the country and the royal family and accelerate the decline of the Chu state? But fortunately, there is still someone like Wang Zizhen, who will be destined to be the savior on the road to the decline of the Chu State.