In winter, Prince Chu Kang led a large army to attack Zheng State. The Chu army concentrated its forces to attack the east gate of Xinzheng, Zheng Jiangong was anxious, and the Zheng army was panicked; Shikuo had to abandon the plan to attack Qi and wave his army south to rescue Zheng Guo.

When the Chu army saw that the coalition army had returned to the division, it withdrew its army to the area of Thorn Ze in the southeast of Xinzheng, where there was a water flood to the north of Thorn as a natural barrier to resist the attack of the coalition army. The Duke of Jin Ping ordered Zhang Ji and Fu Song to send a bicycle to the Chu army (the Chu army had some outposts in the north of Weishui), and asked Zheng Guo to provide a royal Rong (because the Zheng people were familiar with the terrain).

After divination, the Zheng people determined that Gongsun Dog (Ziwanju) was the best candidate. Gongsun Dog is an excellent commander and master, but his temperament is too stubborn; Once his temper arches, even the monarch dares to contradict it.

Uncle Zi is also very familiar with Zhang Ji and Fu Song, both of whom are the kind of arrogant maniacs who are pretentious and never have to look at people squarely. Uncle Zi was afraid that Gongsun Dog would provoke the two, so he warned him: "Remember, the people who are traveling with you are people from great countries, and you must not compete with them." ”

Gongsun Dog replied, "There is no size in the country, and it is the same." As a royal jung, my status is naturally above the two of them. ”

Uncle Zi said, "Otherwise, there will be no pines and cypresses on the hillock." ”

Gongsun Dog hesitated for a moment and said, "I will obey the Master's orders, and I hope they don't go too far." ”

Gongsun Dog drove a wide cart specially used for Zhishi into the camp of the Jin army, and he found Zhang's tent, but saw that it was empty. After a while, Zhang Gu held a guqin and an auxiliary foot carried a drum, and the two came back together. Zhang Ji told Gongsun Dog to finish eating and then set off. The two turned around and entered the tent, but left the Gongsun dog outside; The sergeants brought lunch to the military tent, but they ignored the grandson dogs; Zhang Ji and Fu Song were allowed to eat only when they were full—this was equivalent to treating Gongsun Dog as a servant.

The two waited for the grandson dog to finish eating before setting off. They did not wear helmets, and they all rode in their chariots, and in the carts were the chariots. Gongsun Dog led the way in front and sneered in his heart: "Are you going to a concert?" ”

When approaching an outpost camp of the Chu army, Zhang Ji shouted to stop, and the two of them got off their chariot with Qin Se and bags containing helmets, and slowly boarded the Guangzhou chariot. The two sat cross-legged in the car playing the piano and drums, Gongsun Dog lowered his head, glanced at the two of them looking dead, a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth, and suddenly galloped wildly without warning, rushing towards the Chu ** camp. The two of them were so shocked that they threw away the piano and hurriedly took out their helmets and put them on their heads.

Guangche galloped into the barracks, the two jumped down reflexively, drew their swords to attack Chu **, and threw the snatched spears to kill the soldiers who came to support. The two completed their task, and were just about to get into the car with the captive, when Gongsun Dog suddenly started the chariot again, and the chariot sped out. The two were frightened again, threw away the captives in a panic and chased desperately, and then they overturned into the Guangzhou car in embarrassment.

The two chariots of the Chu army then went out of the camp to chase after them, and the two fired left and right, finally forcing the enemy to stop the pursuit. The two of them gasped, sat down cross-legged again, pulled the qin that had been thrown aside, and continued to play and sing.

Zhang Ji suddenly asked, "Gongsun! Since the same ride is a brother, why do we not tell each other twice, causing us to be in a hurry? ”

Gongsun replied, "The first time was because I was excited, and the second time I was afraid." ”

The two laughed and said: "Gongsun's acute son really deserves his reputation, and he really can't bear any grievances." ”

A few days later, the Chu army withdrew from Jianze, and the king of Chu Kang ordered Xue Qiqiang's commander to send Chen Wuyu to the border of Qi.

Instead of returning to China, the Chu army turned southeast to reach Huangpu (southwest of present-day Shucheng, Anhui). It turned out that in order to retaliate against the invasion of Chu, Wu Zizhufan sent an envoy to Shujiu (now Shucheng, Anhui) to persuade the Shu people to return to Wu. Shu Jiu was close to Wu, and the Shu Jiu people were fed up with the exploitation of Chu, so they secretly concluded an alliance under the coercion and temptation of Wu people.

King Chu Kang sent two envoys to condemn the Shu Jiu people, who received them respectfully, and swore that they would never betray the Chu state, and said that they could make a blood alliance.

The two went back to restore their lives, and King Chu Kang didn't believe the other party's explanation at all, he said: "Deception is originally a means of betrayal, and you must beat Shu Jiuren to kneel here and admit that he was betrayed." ”

Xue Qiqiang said: "No, the other party has already denied collaborating with the enemy, and apologized to the king for an alliance, and his intentions are already very sincere." If you attack again, you will be killing the innocent. It is better to return to China to rest the people's health and wait and see what happens. If Shu Jiu is still loyal to our country, what else does the king want? If we mutinied, we would have a reason to crusade. Only then did King Chu Kang order to return to China.

After Luan Ying was expelled, the position of Xia Junzuo became vacant. Bank of China Wu wanted Zhiying to fill the position, but Zhiying was only 17 years old at the time; A state can produce a monarch for seventeen months, but it cannot produce seventeen-year-old officials. Jin Pinggong borrowed the donkey from the slope and gave the position to a favored minister - Cheng Zheng.

As mentioned earlier, Cheng's is from Xun's. The Cheng family has only produced a middle doctor at the highest, and the family is far worse than the Shiqing family in terms of scale, prestige, heritage, and momentum. Since he was promoted to a secretary by relying on the private favor of Jin Pinggong, his virtue and ability were not worthy of this high position; As a result, although Cheng Zheng became the subordinate military assistant, there was not a day that was not spent in trembling. He felt the pressure was mounting day by day, he was about to reach the limit of what he could bear, and he was overwhelmed, so he had the idea of quitting.

In the winter of this year, Zheng Guo's envoy Gongsun Hui went to visit the Jin Kingdom, and Cheng Zheng asked him an inexplicable question: "How can I lower my status?" ”

Gongsun waved at a loss, scratching his head and saying that he hadn't thought about it. After he returned to China, he talked about it by chance with a friend, Ran Ming, and Ran Ming said: "That person is either going to die or is about to flee." Wealth produces fear, and fear considers demotion. If you want to give up your position and return to your hometown, what else is there to ask? Those who ascend to high positions and seek to be lowered are wise men; Cheng Zheng didn't. He is reluctant to hold a high position but is afraid of danger, I am afraid that he will be expelled, right? Either there is something wrong with his mind (spirit), he is suspicious, frightened, and afraid that he will not live for long. ”

Gongsun Hui relayed this passage to Zichan. Zichan smiled dumbly and said, "He is a person with a low status and ugly appearance, so he likes to say some alarmist things to attract the attention of others. There is not a shred of credibility in his words. ”

In the winter of the second year after Zisheng said this, Cheng Zheng suddenly fell ill and died. Only then did Zichan know that he was too underestimated, and he couldn't help but respect him, and since then he has often humbly asked him questions.

Ran Ming said: "If you are in power, you must regard the people as children; Punish the perpetrators of adultery severely, just as an eagle chases a bird. ”

The child was overjoyed, and said to Uncle Zi the next day: "Before, I only saw the appearance of Contempt (Ran Ming's name), but now I see his heart. ”

Uncle Zi asked Zi Chuan for advice on how to govern, and Zi Chuan said: "Government affairs are like agricultural affairs, you need to worry about them day and night; Thinking about the beginning can be good at the end, and you must work hard day and night, and do not act beyond the boundary, just like the field has a boundary, so that you will rarely make mistakes. ”