In the spring of the thirteenth year of the reign of Emperor Xiang of Lu (BC560), a vassal of the state of Lu called "Yi (southeast of present-day Jining, Shandong)" broke out in civil strife. It turned out that Lao Yijun died last winter, and his three uncompetitive sons did not obey anyone, and each gathered a group of henchmen to start a melee. However, the three were evenly matched, and neither of them could gain an advantage, so in the end they had to divide one side of their territory and confront each other.

One of the three brothers, named Ziyu, had some friendship with Ji Wuzi, so he sent someone to Lu to ask for help. Ji Wuzi was overjoyed, he said: "Doctor Qi Guoxian has something to say: 'Pushing the dead and fixing the survival, the way of heaven is also.'" 'The chaos has come to me, it is the heavens that want me to destroy it!' ”

Ji Wuzi immediately led his army and drove into Yicheng under the guidance of Ziyu, and the Lu army and Ziyu wiped out the arms of the two brothers without much effort; Then the unfinished Lu army suppressed the elated Ziyu again. Ji Wuzi offered the prisoners and booty to Lu Xianggong, and Lu Xianggong "gave" him Yicheng.

At the same time, two tragic events occurred in the Jin Kingdom: Zhi Gang and Shi Bream died one after another. Zhigang suddenly became ill and bedridden, so that he couldn't take his son into the palace to face the king; Jin Mourning Gong came to visit him in person. Zhigang's eldest son died early, leaving only a young son named Zhiguo. Zhigang summoned Zhiguo and asked him to mourn the head of the public inspector to Jin. Zhi Gang used vague language to show the Duke of Jin that this child was the heir of the Zhi family.

But when Jin Mourning Gong asked him for a successor to the Chinese general, Zhi Gang looked at Jin Mourning Gong and couldn't say a word.

After Jin Mourning Gong came out of Zhifu, he rushed to Shi Yi's house, and found that Shi Yi's heir was younger than Zhiguo.

After the death of the two secretaries, the Jin people held a big ceremony on Mianshang to rearrange the order of the secretaries.

Jin Mourning Gong decided to appoint Shi Kuo as the general of the Chinese army, Shi Kuo was originally the Chinese army Zuo, and Jin Mourning Gong believed that such a decent order would not cause dissatisfaction and contention among the secretaries.

But Shi Kuo excused himself and said: "The reason why the minister can assist Zhibo is only because the minister is more familiar with Zhibo and is used to working with him, not because the minister is talented." Boyou (Zhongxingyan) is older, and his ability is much more than that of his ministers, please Liboyou. ”

Zhongxingyan was eventually promoted to the rank of general of the Chinese army, and the general he had previously served as a general was vacant. Jin Mourning Gong ordered Han Qi to be the general of the army, but Han Qi recommended Zhao Wu; Jin Mourning Gong ordered Luan Huang to be the general of the army, and Luan Huang, who has always been arrogant and conceited, also showed a respectful demeanor and said: "The minister's talent is not as good as Han Qi, Han Qi is willing to take Zhao Wu as his superior, and the prince should obey Han Qi's orders!" ”

So Zhao Wu was the general of the army, and Han Qi was the commander of the army; Luan Huang is the general of the lower army, and Wei Jiang is the subordinate army assistant. Then it was time to appoint the new army generals, and because the heirs of Zhiguo and Shi Yi were too small to choose a new commander from among the doctors, Jin Mourning Gong had to temporarily merge the new army into the lower army.

After the appointment was announced, the Jin people were not dissatisfied, and the princes were also convinced.

Later generations of gentlemen said: "Humility is the backbone of etiquette." Fan Xuanzi (Shi Lu) is humble, and the following officials are all conceded, even villains like Luan Huang do not dare to fight for power. The Jin Kingdom was able to achieve peace for several generations because of the example of good people! If one person is good and all officials are harmonious, how can he not follow suit? The book says: 'If one person has a celebration, the people will rely on it, and he will only be eternal.' 'Do good on the above, and all the people will reap the benefits, and the world will be at peace forever.'

"When the Zhou Dynasty arose, the "Poem" said: 'The king of ritual punishment, all nations are Fu.' It is to praise the spectacle of imitating the virtuous, and when it is in decline, the poem says: 'The doctors are uneven, and I am the only virtuous.' It is a situation of denigration and disobedience. The gentleman can let him be below, and the villain can serve him, so he is polite up and down, and the evil is far away; This is the result of 'letting good', which is called 'Yide'.

"But when it comes to troubled times, boasting of one's own merits and overslaving villains, boasting of one's abilities and blinding the gentleman, and being rude from top to bottom, the result is chaos and abuse; This is the result of 'striving for goodness', and it is called 'faint virtue'. The withering of a country begins with striving for good.

After receiving the news from the Jin State, the people of the Chu State felt that their opportunity had come. But at this time, the state of Chu suffered a greater funeral - the death of the king of Chu.

Before his death, the king of Chu Gong summoned all the doctors to the sickbed and said: "Bugu lost his father (King Chuzhuang) when he was ten years old, and he was young and took charge of Sheji. Bugu inherited the throne before he received the education of Shibao, so he had no virtue, and he lost his troops in Yanling, which humiliated Sheji. That's not a lot of stuff, it's just a matter of adding to the troubles of the doctors.

"Thanks to the blessings of the doctors, I may die in the main bed, be buried and sacrificed, and place the gods in the temple of the ancestors. Please call me 'spirit' or 'spirit'! The doctors chose one of them, and I was relieved. ”

The doctors looked at each other, and none of them spoke first.

The king of Chu Gong continued to give orders, his tone became more and more severe, but his strength became weaker and weaker. It was not until the fifth time that the doctors wept and agreed to accept the order.

In the autumn, the king of Chu Gong died, and the king of Chu Kang ascended the throne. Taishi asked which nickname to use when he remembered. Wang Zizhen said: "Wait for me to discuss it with the doctors." ”

A group of doctors who don't know why said: "It's better to be gentler with 'spirit', and the word 'strong' is too fierce!" The first king did not come to this. ”

Wang Zizhen said: "Who said that those two words are going to be decided? I think it should be 'together'. ”

The doctors said, "But the king has issued a decree, and the doctors have accepted it." ”

Wang Zizhen said: "The last order of the first king is 'Gong', not spirit and strength. The country of Hehechu, the first king came; The first monarch appeased the barbarians, conquered the South China Sea, made the Zhuxia Fang Kingdom attach to the Great Chu, and achieved great martial arts, but when he was dying, he reviewed his own mistakes, can't he be called 'Gong'? Please take this as a comply. ”

The doctors nodded their heads and said "yes", and the nickname was decided.

At that time, Zheng Guo's envoy Liangxiao and Shi? They were still being held by the Chu people, but the Chu people had already taken the two out of the large garage where the slave criminals were held and placed under house arrest in the doctors' homes.

Liangxiao is young and crazy. He had a noble background (he was the grandson of Ziliang, the leader of the Seven Mu Doctors), and his father died early (Gongsun died in the Weizhi Rebellion); Once he became the leader of the Liang clan, he lost his discipline. He succeeded his father and became the secretary of Zheng Guoqing, and as a result, he began to enjoy the double privileges brought by the power of the family and the office.

Stone? I couldn't bear to get along with him for a moment, so I found Wang Zizhen and said: "The first king of Chu began to divinate the conquest of Zheng five years ago. Now that the state of Chu cannot compete with the state of Jin, what is the sin of the envoy of the state of Zheng? You know the character of Liangxiao, and at the beginning of his tenure, he offended the doctors and the former kings and ruined the former king's Lile. The widow hated him very much, so he sent him to the state of Chu to avenge the murderer, the purpose of which was to kill him with a knife and make him die here.

"Therefore, you have detained a minister, removed the scourge of the Zheng people, and enabled the Zheng people to use the topic to play; The people of the country were pro-Jin and hated Chu, thus strengthening the relationship with the Jin State. Are you holding him for this purpose?

"But if the good night is put back, the widow will surely restore his throne; He hated the widows and the princes, and he was bound to be their enemies. Isn't it beneficial and harmless for the state of Chu to contain and dismantle each other? ”

Wang Zizhen said: "Yes, I really didn't expect it. The two were soon put back.