The twelfth year of the reign of Duke Lu Xiang (BC561) was a relatively quiet year for most of the Chinese princes. But Lu was not so lucky, and in the spring of this year, the Ju people invaded the eastern border of Lu for no reason. You don't have to think about this kind of thing, the mastermind behind the scenes must be from Qi Guo. The people of Lu were very worried, but Ji Wenzi was very happy: Lu had just completed the expansion of the army, and he was trying to test the combat capability of the new army.

At this time, Jushi had already besieged Taicheng (now southeast of Fei County, Shandong), and Philadelphia behind Taicheng was the mining of the Jisun clan. The armed forces in Taicheng were only enough for defense, and the Lu people could only watch the enemy do anything in the countryside, but there was nothing they could do.

Ji Wuzi gathered an army under his command and quietly brought the army into Philadelphia, where there was an arsenal of Ji's army. The army stayed in the city for a day, and the next day, before the sun was born, it rushed straight towards Taicheng under the leadership of Ji Wuzi. After an hour's rapid march, the army reached the outskirts of Taicheng.

Most of the Ju people were not in the barracks at the time, but scattered slowly all over the countryside, and many of them were in a deep sleep from the hangover of the previous night. The Lu army fanned the past and drove the enemy out of farmhouses and other buildings to massacre. Ju Jun was caught off guard and fled in all directions like a wolf. The Lu army pursued closely behind, all the way to the border of Ju.

Ji Wuzi saw that chasing deserters would not achieve much success, so he prepared to retaliate against the cities of the enemy country. He saw that the Yuncheng of Ju was not far away, so he led his army directly into the defenseless Yuncheng. Ji Wuzi plundered the city and snatched back a famous bell in the city and dedicated it to Lu Xianggong.

In the summer, Shi Yi was ordered to visit the Lu State, the main purpose of which was to express gratitude to the Lu people for their support to the Jin State over the years, and to express condolences to the Ju State for its invasion of the Lu State. Shi Yi was not in charge of foreign affairs, but he lost the battle against Qin last year, and shut himself up at home all day to sulk; Jin Mourning Gong was afraid that he would get sick, so he sent him out to relax.

In the autumn, Wu Zishoumeng passed away. Shou Meng reigned for 25 years, and he, like Qin Wengong, was the first to educate the people, so that Wu Jianguo knocked on the door of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty for the first time in nearly 500 years, and opened the door to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, officially entering the Chinese family. After the innate wildness of the people of Wu is organically combined with the advanced thinking and productive forces of the Chinese civilization, this country is bound to do something earth-shattering. After Shoumeng's death, his eldest son, Zhu Fan, ascended the throne.

Since Lu and Wu had already established an alliance, the Lu people wept and mourned the death of Shoumeng in the Zhou temple in accordance with the regulations of the Zhou rites.

Zheng Guo's betrayal was an unprecedented blow to the Chu people, but the Chu people had to face a cruel reality, that is, the comprehensive strength of the Jin State had achieved an overwhelming advantage over the Chu State.

King Chu Gong sighed and said, "Bugu's eye is blind!" Who can tell Bugu how many years it will take for the state of Chu to return to the state of Zheng? ”

The belligerent young Zhuang doctors were furious, and they insisted that Zheng Guo be erased from the Spring and Autumn period now, and Wang Zizhen did not want to hurt their courage and confidence, and had to stop them from going crazy (lest the king of Chu make a wrong decision on impulse), and it took a lot of effort to calm the anger of the doctors.

Later, the victory of the Qin people over the Jin finally dispelled the haze that hung over the heads of the Chu people.

Soon after, Wang Zizhen said at a court meeting: "The Jin kingdom has reached its strongest period, and it will not be stronger now." When the moon is full, it is lost, when the water is full, it overflows, and it is prosperous and declining, and this has always been the case in all countries under heaven. The Jin State is about to begin to decline, and the Chu State has not yet reached its peak, so let's not rush it, just do our own thing, protect Xu, Chen, and Cai, and wait for the opportunity to return to the Central Plains. ”

The Great Sima Wang Ziwu (Zi Geng) said: "The Jin people conquered Zheng State, and the next target must be Xu or Cai; The princes went out to crusade, and the two countries would inevitably seek peace with the Jin state. I think that the best way to prevent the actions of the Jin people is to attack the Song State and attract the attention of the Chinese princes to the Song State. ”

Wang Zizhen then said: "I agree. The relationship between Chu and Qin has never been so good as it is now, and it will be even closer in the future. The Song Dynasty is about to pull the Qin State, and we will give all the spoils to the Qin State, just to achieve the purpose of attracting the attention of the princes. Moreover, Chu and Qin joined forces to defeat the Song Dynasty, which could also reduce the pressure of Jin on Qin. Based on the above situation, the Qin people are definitely willing to help us,"

The king of Chu then sent people to Qin to beg for the Song Dynasty, and Qin Jinggong attached great importance to this joint action, and he sent the chief of the Great Concubines (equivalent to the Chu State Ling Yin) to personally lead the army.

In winter, Chu and Qin jointly invaded the Song State, and the combined army ravaged a large area of land in the southern part of the Song State, all the way to Yangliang, thirty miles south of Shangqiu. The Song people took an evasive attitude towards the invading army and moved the population along the enemy's route. The princes' armies came from all directions to rescue the Song, and the coalition forces withdrew their troops when they saw that their goal had been achieved.

This year, King Zhou Ling reached the age of marrying a wife, and he saw that all the princes were surrounding the Duke of Jin Mourning and following him to fight in the east and west, but no one came over to care about his life's affairs, and his heart couldn't help but be full of resentment. King Ling of Zhou wanted to marry a queen from the state of Qi, so he sent an envoy to the state of Qi to remind the monarch who was also a "spirit" generation to pay attention to the major events that were about to take place in the royal city.

Qi Linggong couldn't figure out the etiquette of the Son of Heaven proposing to the princes, so he asked Yan Wan for advice. Yan Wan said: "It is the custom of the royal family that if the Son of Heaven asks the princes for a queen, the princes should inform the unmarried princess of the basic situation, and reply to the messenger: 'How many sons-in-law are born to a husband and wife, and how many are sons-in-law born to a concubine.' If the prince has no son-in-law but a sister or sister, he replied: 'How many daughters are there of the widow of a certain prince of the first king?' ’”

Qi Linggong replied to the Zhou envoy according to Yan Qiao's instructions, and informed the envoy of the princess's name and resume. Soon the Zhou people took the princess of Qi away.

This year was a rare year of peace in several years, and no other country except Song and Lu had ever suffered any war. But peace is short-lived after all, and short is as short as this chapter.