In the spring of the sixth year of Lu Aigong, Wu Wangfu sent a commander to attack Chen State. Chen Mingong was greatly frightened and immediately asked for help from the state of Chu. King Chu Zhao said: "The first king of Chu made an alliance with Chen, and you can't see death without saving!" "In the summer of April, Prince Chu Zhao led a large army north to rescue Chen.

In the summer of May, Wu's army captured several border towns of Chen, and then besieged the capital of Chen; The Chu army was stationed in Chengfu (southeast of present-day Bozhou, Anhui), cutting off the Wu army's return to China.

Feeling that something was wrong, Fucha had no choice but to suspend the offensive and bring the army to Da Ming (present-day Xiangcheng, Henan). Chu ordered Yin Zixi, Da Sima Ziqi, and Right Yin Zilu (Wang Ziqi, the cousin of King Zhao of Chu) to begin to build a defensive line east of the Great Underworld.

During the confrontation between the two armies, a rare vision suddenly appeared in the sky: one evening, a red cloud on the horizon suddenly shattered into a dense and countless large red birds, and the birds flew westward with the sun, and finally sank below the horizon with the setting sun; This was the case for three days in a row.

King Chu Zhao was greatly confused, and he summoned Taishi to ask what great things this strange celestial phenomenon portuded to come. Taishi sweated on his head, his expression was embarrassed, and he answered honestly that he didn't know. King Zhao of Chu then sent an envoy to Chengzhou to ask for advice from the Taishi of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Zhou Taishi replied: "Death will soon come to Chu Jun, but if he holds an extermination ceremony, death can be transferred to the bodies of Ling Yin and Sima." ”

Zixi and Ziqi were extremely disturbed, and the two begged King Chu Zhao to immediately hold an extermination ceremony, but King Chu Zhao said: "The heart of Chu (King Chu) is sick, how can it be transferred to the femur (minister)?" If there is no sin, how can God cause me to die prematurely (this year is the twenty-seventh year of King Chu Zhao, and King Chu Zhao is about thirty-four or five years old at this time)? If you are punished for sin, what is the point of transferring? No matter how much the ministers pleaded, he just wouldn't agree.

The Chu decided to end the military campaign before the arrival of August. King Zhao of Chu ordered the divination of the date of the battle, but the divination result for each selected date was "fierce". As a last resort, he ordered the divination of the date of the withdrawal, but the strange thing is that every result is still "fierce"!

King Chu Zhao said: "The battle is unlucky, and the retreat is unlucky." All that's left is to die! War is also death, and retreat is also death; Nogu would rather die in battle! ”

All the doctors were sad, but King Chu Zhao began to explain the future very calmly. He said: "Prince Zhang is young, has no prestige, and has no experience in governing the country, so he cannot be appointed by Bugu, otherwise the state of Chu will become even more chaotic than the state of Qi (Chen and Bao had just expelled Gao and Guo a month before). Therefore, Bugu decided to pass the throne to Ling Yin. Zixi was frightened and resolutely refused to accept it.

King Chu Zhao was helpless, and ordered Ziqi to be king, and Ziqi also refused to accept it. King Chu Zhao had no choice but to appoint Zilu as the king again, and Zilu finally agreed after five resignations.

After arranging the aftermath, King Chu Zhao had no worries, so he decided to personally command the offensive operation. However, when he was about to change into a military uniform, he felt a cramping pain in his chest, his face was pale, cold sweat flowed, he couldn't help covering his chest, and he couldn't even stand.

Later, King Chu Zhao felt that the situation had eased somewhat, but his body had been in a state of collapse. King Chu Zhao knew in his heart that he could no longer participate in the war, and he could not turn himself into a burden to the Chu army in battle. Therefore, the king of Chu Zhao had to reluctantly hand over the commander-in-chief to the Great Sima Ziqi, and instructed him: "Bugu will sacrifice his life to the heavens in exchange for a victory over the Wu army." You can rest assured to fight, the spirit of the valley in the sky will bless the soldiers of the Chu State! ”

On July 14, the third army of Chu marched from the city father, when Ziqi led the middle army, Zilu led the right army, and Zixi led the left army. On 16 July, the Chu army launched a general attack on the Wu army entrenched in the area of the Great Underworld. Although the Wu army was at a disadvantage in numbers, the state of Wu was in its heyday, and the Fu Cha personally commanded the battle, as a result, the Chu army was once dizzy and at a loss.

Fu Cha was overjoyed, he issued an order to counterattack, and the Wu army rushed out from behind the defense line with a scream like a tiger and wolf, desperately pushing the Chu army back. In the face of the enemy's usual ferocious fighting style, "Wu phobia" gradually rose from the hearts of the Chu soldiers.

Seeing that the defeat of the Chu army was imminent, Ziqi suddenly subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the city father, he seemed to see a white light shooting into the city father from above the sky, and the soul of the king of Chu Zhao rose with the light, instantly covering the entire sky; The soul's face is serene and calm, and its eyes are fixed on the battlefield.

The child mourned in his heart, and tears came out of his eyes; He pointed his sword at the enemy and shouted: "Victory or death today, we must not be defeated again!" Qing died in battle, and the doctor led the army; The doctor died in battle, and the soldier led the brigade; The centurion is dead, and the captain is the leader! If you don't defeat, you won't withdraw your troops; If you don't win, the whole army will die! ”

The sub-period said that he beat the drum hard, and the war horse could not stop; The war drums of the various armies responded to the commander's order, the chariots galloped wildly, the infantry turned into tigers and wolves in an instant, and the situation on the battlefield suddenly became extremely chaotic. The Wu army soon couldn't support it, and no matter how much Fucha beat the drums, shouted, and killed the deserters, he couldn't stop the rout, so he had to retreat into the Great Underworld City.

After the battle, the three brothers gathered in the tent of the Chinese army, and Ziqi went left and right, telling the brothers about his vision on the battlefield. Zixi and Zilu jumped up in surprise and said that they had seen the same vision; Only then did the three of them realize that King Chu Zhao might really have died. Ziqi immediately ordered to return to his father, and on the way he met a small official who came to report the news. The conjecture of the three was correct, King Chu Zhao returned to heaven when the two sides were in the middle of the battle.

After entering the city father, the three brothers decided not to mourn, and Zixi and Ziqi were already preparing to bow to Zilu to see the new king. Zilu jumped up and hid to the side and said: "The first king abandoned the prince and set up a brother, and every courtier did not dare to forget the virtues of the first king. Obeying the king's orders is obedient, and the first crown prince is also obedient, and I think it is more smooth to establish the crown prince. ”

After some conspiracy, the three brothers secretly withdrew their troops and returned to China that night. Every time the army entered a pass, the defenders closed it. After returning to China, the three brothers established the prince Zhang born to King Chu Zhao and the wife of Yue nationality as the king, and the prince Zhang was the king of Chu Hui.

In fact, King Chu Zhao's heart disease had a violent attack a few years ago. He divined the cause of the disease, and the results showed that "the (yellow) river god is haunting". The ministers advised him to sacrifice to the river god, but King Chu Zhao disagreed. He said: "Every country has its own destiny, and the sacrifices of generations of kings will not transcend the national aspirations. Jiang, Han, Sui, and Zhang belong to the land of Chu; The source of blessing and misfortune is nothing but from the four waters. The great river belongs to Qin, Jin, Zheng, and Wei. Although Bugu has no virtue, it is not the turn of the river god to punish me. In the end, no sacrifice was held.

After the death of King Chu Zhao, Confucius commented on him: "King Chu Zhao can be described as the road of tomorrow!" It is not surprising that he can lead the state of Chu to strength! The Book of Xia says: 'But Tao Tang, there is this way; Now the road is lost, and its discipline is chaotic, and it is the end of destruction. And he said, 'Let it go out of here.' It's a rare thing for him to be a good example for the people. ”