King of Zhou bamboo slips

King of Zhou bamboo slips

Zhou Jian Wang (?)? In 572 BC), surnamed Ji and named Yi, he was the son of King Ding of the Zhou Dynasty and the tenth king of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. From 585 BC to 572 BC, he was in power for 14 years.

When he was in power, the authority of Emperor Zhou had disappeared. In September 572 BC, he died and was posthumously named "King Jian". After his death, the burial place was unknown. His son Ji was upset and ascended the throne for the king of Zhou Ling.

Life of the characters

When King Jian of Zhou was in power, the authority of Emperor Zhou had disappeared, so he had nothing important to say. But at this time, in addition to Jin, Chu, Qin, song, Zheng and other countries attacked each other continuously, the rise of Wu in the southeast, repeatedly invaded Chu, and was involved in the spring and Autumn period.

In the state of Jin, Duke Jing of Jin pacifies the rebellion for Zhao Shuo. He sends for Cheng Ying and Zhao Wu, who is under age. He allows Cheng Ying to lead his troops to attack and kill tu'anjia, destroy the Tu family, and avenge Zhao's family. When Zhao Wu came of age, he inherited his father's position and became an important Minister of the state of Jin. At this time, Cheng Ying bid farewell to everyone and said to Zhao Wu, "it was difficult for me to go to the palace in those years, so I didn't devote myself to death. It was to nurture you and protect the descendants of the Zhao family. Now that you have avenged your family's great feud, you have been vindicated, and you have established your career, I should repay your father's kindness and your old friend Gongsun Chujiu's sincere heart. " Then he committed suicide. Zhao Wu was very sad and mourned for him for three years. He sacrificed to his tomb in spring and autumn every year.

In the 11th year of King Jian of Zhou Dynasty (575 BC), Jin and Chu, who had been fighting for hegemony for a long time, started the first World War in Yanling (now the northwest of Yanling in Henan Province). The state of Jin conquered the great power Qi by the battle of an, and was equal to the state of Chu.

In the seventh year of King Jian of Zhou Dynasty, under the mediation of Hua Yuan, a senior official of Song Dynasty, Jin and Chu made peace. In fact, they accumulated strength and waited for the opportunity to fight for hegemony. Taking advantage of Chu's betrayal of Qin, Jin defeated Qin at machuan (now Jingyang north of Shaanxi Province), temporarily relieved the threat of flanking, and consolidated its alliance with Wu by alliance, forming a north-south coordination against Chu. In the 10th year of King Jian of Zhou Dynasty, the state of Chu also ignored the alliance of eliminating soldiers and sent troops to attack Zheng and Wei, and forced Zheng to rebel against Jin and attach to Chu. In the spring of the next year, Zheng sent troops to attack the Song Dynasty and annihilated the song army against Zheng in Shaoling (now Nanning Lingnan). As a result, protecting the Song Dynasty to Zheng or protecting Zheng to song became the focus of Jin and Chu's struggle for the hegemony of the Central Plains. At this time, although the state of Jin was worried about internal discord, he still ruled out the idea that the Minister of Jin should stay abroad to guard against internal discord. He decided not to lose the opportunity to fight for hegemony and set up an army against Zheng to save Song Dynasty, and then fought with Chu to revive the hegemony of the state of Jin.

In April of that year, in order to prevent the Zheng army from stopping the Jin army from crossing the river (the Yellow River), Duke li of Jin ordered the Wei state allied with Jin to send troops to Ming Yan (now the north of Qi County in Henan Province) first, threatening the Zheng army's flank and making it dare not enter the north. He also sent the new army's chief General Ying and doctor Luan to contact Qi, Lu, Wei and other countries, and sent troops to gather at Yanling in Zheng. At that time, he ordered the deputy general xunxi of the lower army to stay in the country, and Li Gong of Jin personally led the army to the south. According to the upper, middle, lower and New Fourth Army, Luan Shu was the marshal of the Chinese army, commanding the whole army, and Shi Xie was the deputy general; Ying was the general of the upper army; Xun Yan was the deputy general; Han Jue was the general of the lower army; Ying Zhi was the Deputy General of the new army; Li Gong led his family's personal soldiers to the middle army. When the king of the Communist Party of Chu learned that the Jin army attacked Zheng, he also personally led the Chu army and the foreign soldiers to save Zheng, and organized them into three armies: Sima Zifan was the general of the central army, commanding the three armies; Yin Zizhong was the general of the left army; Yin Zixin was the general of the right army; the king of Chu led the left and right "Guang" (30 times each "Guang") to live in the central army. The Chu army went from Shenyi (now Nanyang North in Henan Province) to Fangcheng (from the southwest of Yexian County in Henan Province to a great wall in the northeast of Biyang). It moved northward and quickly joined Zheng army led by Zheng chenggongsuo. It attempted to launch a decisive battle with Jin army before the army of Qi, Lu and Wei arrived at Yanling and won with superior forces. In May, the Jin army crossed the river. Although Shi Xie urged the army to retreat, most of the Jin army, such as Li Gong and Luan Shu, still insisted on their determination to push the army forward and arrived in Yanling in June. At that time, the troops of Qi, Lu and Wei were still on the way, while the Chu troops, Yi and Zheng soldiers had already rushed to the battlefield.

On June 29, the Chu army ignored the soldiers and avoided the dark day. Under the cover of the morning fog, the Chu army had the opportunity to approach the Jin army's barracks and set up an array, creating a favorable battlefield situation. Luan Shu, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army, knew that his troops were weak, and he was forced by the Chu army. He advocated avoiding the front first and holding fast to the camp. When the vassal reinforcements arrived, he turned to attack with his superior forces, and took advantage of the Chu army's retreat to break it. Ying Zhi believed that the generals of Chu army were at odds with each other, the Zheng army was in an irregular formation, the foreign soldiers could not form an array, and the troops were mixed, the discipline was lax, they looked on each other, they had no will to fight, and they insisted on winning quickly without waiting for reinforcements. In view of the fact that it will take time for Duke li of Jin to stick to the battlefield and wait for help, it is difficult to predict the situation on the battlefield. He took advantage of the gap between Chu army and quickly launched a decisive battle. Although he was not as strong as Chu army, he could still win. He abandoned Luan Shu's plan and came to his opinion from Ying. He also adopted the strategy of Shi Zhe, the son of Shi Xie, to fill wells and flat stoves in the camp, to expand space, and to form an array on the spot. He could not only get rid of the dilemma of not being able to go out of the camp, but also hide his own deployment adjustment. When the Chu Communist King ascended the nest car (lookout car) to observe the situation of the Jin army, the old minister bozhouxuan who accompanied him only informed the Jin army of the trend, but did not set up a plan. Miao Ben Huang, an old minister of Chu, accompanied with Li Gong of Jin Dynasty to observe the formation of Chu army. In view of the fact that the elite of Chu army gathered in the central army, he suggested that the central army of Jin Dynasty should be divided into two wings, first to defeat the left and right army of Chu, and then to encircle and annihilate the middle army. Li Gong and Luan Shu of Jin Dynasty decided that the upper army and one of the middle army would attack the left army with stronger strength of Chu, while the lower army, the new army and the other of the middle army would attack the right army and Zheng Bing with weaker strength of Chu, and lured Chu army with Luan (Luan Shu) and fan (Shi Xie) family soldiers who guarded Li Gong.

The Jin army made a preemptive attack by opening the camp. It circled the swamp before the camp and advanced along both sides. Seeing that Li Gong's army was weak, and that he was trapped in the mire by car, the Chu Communist King led the royal family's soldiers to attack Li Gong. Luan Shu wanted to save Li Gong in a critical situation and stopped him for his son Luan Zhen. He still kept the command of the whole army in order. Wei Kai, a senior official of Jin Gong clan, shot the king of Chu in the left eye with an arrow, forcing him to retreat, and the Jin army resumed its offensive. When the Chu army learned that the Communist king was wounded, its morale was shaken and its spirit was greatly reduced. The Chu right army and Zheng army, under the attack of the Jin heavy army, were unable to support themselves and quickly retreated. The Chu central army and the left army also retreated. The Chu army was in chaos when they were defeated and retreated, and the Jin army took advantage of the victory to pursue them all the way. Ying Zhi led the new army to pursue the "King's pawn" of Chu. He met the king of Chu three times and tried to avoid it. He also led the army to pursue Zheng Jun with Han Jue Suo. He strictly abided by the etiquette of not insulting the monarch and let Zheng Cheng withdraw his flag to escape. The Chu right army and the Zheng army had been defeated, but the Chu left army was still fighting while retreating until dark. The Jin army captured Chu's son Peng in pursuit and forced Chu's army to the North Bank of Yingshui at dusk. The common king of Chu resisted with his elite "Wang Zu". Yang Youji, who was good at shooting, shot two arrows at Jin Zu. Shu shanran grabbed Jin Zu and threw it to defeat Che Shi. Jin army was shocked and stopped attacking because it was too late.

The two sides fought fiercely all day, although the Chu army was defeated, the main force was not seriously injured. At night, the Chu troops repaired their weapons and replenished their soldiers. They planned to fight again tomorrow. The Jin army did not show any weakness, so it took Chu prisoners and announced the news that Jin would step up preparations for the war and win the next day to Chu army. The king of the Communist Party of Chu wanted to summon his son to consult with the enemy, and when he saw that his son was drunk and could not discuss the matter, he thought that it would be difficult to win the battle again. He also feared that the inferior troops of Chu would suffer heavy losses if they arrived the next day. If the state of Wu took advantage of his humble position to attack Chu, it would be even more dangerous for the country. So he led the troops to withdraw southward at night. The next day, the Jin army entered the Chu camp, took a rest for three days, and then turned around. At the end of the battle, only Qi army arrived at the battlefield. When the Chu army retreated to a flaw, Zifan was ashamed of his dereliction of duty and committed suicide.

In this battle, it was a blunder for Chu to launch a decisive battle with Jin under the unfavorable strategic situation, and it was a defeat if Chu failed to seize the opportunity to attack under the favorable battlefield situation. Only the king of the Chu Communist Party "retreated in the face of difficulties" and withdrew at night to preserve the main force of the Chu army, which was a wise move. According to the formation and terrain characteristics of the Chu army, the Jin army made decisions on the occasion, changed its deployment in time, used its forces flexibly, and won with the typical two wing attack tactics, which reflected the great development of field attack tactics in the middle of the spring and Autumn period. However, the general of Jin Dynasty did not attack the Chu army thoroughly, which was the limitation of the concept of the spring and Autumn period.

Historical records

The fourth volume of zhoubenji in Shiji