In the Battle of Kasawa in 478 BC, the Yue King Jujian almost wiped out the main force of the Wu army, and had the last laugh in the Wu-Yue hegemony. However, after the war, Jujian did not rush to attack the Wu capital Gusu, but only operated on the periphery of Gusu, sweeping the local troops of the Wu army on the one hand, and looting the population and grain on the other.
Break each and slowly encroach, this is the best and safest way for the python to swallow the elephant, after all, although the Wu State is defeated, but the territory is larger than the Yue country, and the population is more than the Yue country, if you swallow it in one go, it will hold on.
At the same time, the state of Chu also defeated the last vassal state of the state of Wu, the state of Chen, to the north of the state of Wu. It seems that now Chu and Yue are firmly staring at the big fat meat of Wu State, whether it is to divide it or eat it alone, this is a big question mark hanging in front of the whole world.
Two years later, in the spring of 476 B.C., Jujian, the king of Yue, suddenly sent troops to attack the state of Chu, the state of Chu fought back, the Yue army retreated, and the princes of the state of Chu Gongzi Qing and Gongsun Kuan pursued the Yue army and reached the underworld (between Kuling Pass, seventy miles southeast of Guangde, Anhui Province and Si'an Town, southwest of Changxing, Zhejiang), and withdrew their troops back without catching up.
In the summer of that year, the Chu general Shen Zhuliang led an army to attack the Sanyi tribe of Yue in order to take revenge on the Yue State (Note 1), and the Sanyi people surrendered, and the two sides made peace.
It's strange, Chu and Yue have always been strategic allies, and they have always conspired to attack Wu, why did the two sides fight by themselves?
There are two possible reasons: First, the defeat of Wu was imminent, and there was a contradiction between the two sides in the distribution of interests, so there was infighting. Second, this is actually a double reed sung by both sides, in order to confuse Wu Guo and make Fucha relax his vigilance.
Judging from the subsequent developments, the second option is more likely. And this also shows that Wu still had considerable strength at that time, and if he fought hard, although Yue Guo won, he would have to pay a considerable price.
Therefore, Ju Jian is not in a hurry at all, he wants to continue acting and grinding. And Fucha really thought that Ju Jian was just out of anger, and he didn't have to swallow Wu Guo's strategic determination, so he relaxed his guard and began to spend all day drinking, giving up on himself, and enjoying the last madness of life.
At this time, there was a guy who was not afraid of death among the ministers of Wu State, his name was Qingji (Note 2), and he persuaded his husband: "Don't play, the country is going to die, still play!" ”
Fucha was furious and expelled his son Qingji, who fled to Aidi (now Xiushui, Jiangxi) and then to Chu, wandering around like a rootless grass.
In the second year, in November 475 B.C., King Yue Jujian counted on his fingers, ten years of life and gathering, ten years of lessons, and today is the twentieth anniversary of the shame of Huiji (the shame of Huiji occurred in 494 B.C.), and the king chose to let Wu disappear in this world this year!
In the month, the Vietnamese army invaded Wu on a large scale, playing a triumphant song all the way, approaching the city of Gusu, this time Jujian was still not busy fighting, after all, Gusu City is the first metropolis in Jiangdong, the city is high and the pond is solid, and the loss of the attack is too great, so he first built fortifications, and opened a canal from the north of the Wusong River to Hengshan (located in the southwest suburbs of Suzhou City) to transport grain and grass; He also built a small city outside the West Gate of Gusu, that is, Xu Gate, to eat on the spot, and to feed the war with war, as if he wanted to have children and settle down in the hinterland of Wu State.
This encirclement is a full three years.
When Ju Jian entered Wu as a slave, it was three years; Now Jujian is building a city to besiege Wu, and it is also three years; The coincidence of history is embarrassing.
In the past three years, the suffering suffered by Wu Wangfu is no less than that of Yue Wang's practice as a slave back then.
In the early days of the siege, Fucha still had a glimmer of hope, and often came out to challenge the Vietnamese army, even going back and forth five times a day, in order to break through the siege. However, the Vietnamese army held its position on the periphery of Wudu, and did not fight a decisive battle with the Wu army every time, their plan was to besiege the city and send reinforcements, using Gusu as bait, one by one to lure and annihilate reinforcements from all over Wu, so that Fucha would sit in a lonely city, run out of arrows and food, and surrender obediently.
Such losses are the least, the greatest results, and the safest and most torturous for the enemy.
During this period, Ju Jian was also shaken, and almost wanted to accept the challenge of his husband, but fortunately, Fan Li advised him: "I heard that Heaven is noble, and what has been planned cannot be changed." ”
Ju Jian accepted Fan Li's advice, began to cultivate himself, buried his hatred deep in his heart, ordered the army to stand strong, narrowed the encirclement step by step, and silently waited for the day when Wu Wangfucha and Gusu City collapsed.
The husband challenged several times, but he returned in vain, and he was very depressed, and at this time, the homeless man Qingji suddenly ran back by himself, and kept saying that he wanted to live and die with Wu Guo.
The husband was very moved, in times of crisis, there were people who came back to protect the motherland regardless of their own safety and personal grievances, what a noble patriotic sentiment!
He said to Qingji: "The widow didn't listen to your advice and drove you away, but you came back to tide over the crisis regardless of your previous suspicions, it was the widow's mistake, and the widow was willing to let you preside over the overall situation and fight to the death with the Yue country!" ”
The husband made a mistake, Qingji didn't come back to serve him, he came back for only one purpose, that is, to find a way to make peace with the Yue State, so as to keep the temple of the Wu State. Even if he wanted to kill his husband to seek the forgiveness of King Yue, he would not hesitate to do so.
Of course, as soon as Qingji seized power, he sent someone to sue for peace with King Yue.
In order to achieve this goal, he even killed several main battle factions to curry favor with the king of Yue.
Fucha finally recognized Qingji's true face, was furious, and immediately launched a pro-army to attack Qingji.
After a fierce battle, Qingji's army was defeated and killed, and at this point, the main and faction of Wu were all cleared by Fucha, and the main battle faction won the final victory. But this victory is meaningless.
Because the encirclement of the Vietnamese army continued, and the local troops who came to reinforce from all over the Wu State were almost wiped out, Wu Wangfu had no choice but to defend to the death, and then to defend again! He fantasized that one day, those allies who had been allied with him by blood would step on colorful auspicious clouds to save him, like heroes in myths and legends.
Pictured: Wu Wangfucha enshrined in Yangzhou Erwang Temple (God of Wealth Temple) and Liu Bi, King of Wu in the Western Han Dynasty
It's a pity that in this complicated Spring and Autumn turbulent era, the so-called covenant is just a piece of waste paper, and interests and fists are much more important than it. What's more, most of those alliances are forced by husbands to participate. Now that the alliance leader is in trouble, everyone is already very good if they don't look at the jokes, how can they send troops all the way to find trouble.
At this time, the Duke of Jin Ding, who had been in the alliance with his husband in blood, died of illness, and the prince chiseled the throne for the Duke of Jin. With the national funeral as an excuse, the Jin State can even more avoid sending troops to rescue.
Of course, having said that, the superficial kung fu still has to be taken care of, how to say that everyone is also a country of formal brothers, and they have raised their hands and sworn in front of the gods and ancestors.
So Zhao Wuxian, the ruler of the Jin State, took the initiative to lower his dietary standards and eat vegetarian every day to express his sympathy and sorrow for the Wu State.
His retainer Chu Long didn't understand what was going on, so he asked, "After the death of the monarch, you have lowered your dietary standards a lot, why do you have to drop it again and again recently?" ”
Zhao Wuxian replied: "Back then, my father (Zhao Ying) had an oath with King Wu, saying that he would share happiness and hardship. But now the state of Wu is in trouble, and the uncle is at the most dangerous time. I wanted to save him, but I couldn't do anything about it, so I had to lower my diet to show my heart. ”
Chu Long said: "My lord is benevolent, so masochistic, touching the heavens and the earth. But love has to be spoken. It's better for me Chulong to go to Gusu and express my heart to King Wu on your behalf. ”
Zhao Wuxian agreed, and then sent Chu Long as an envoy to Wu and told him to be careful.
Chu Long came to the outside of Gusu City, first went to ask for the consent of King Yue, and Ju Jian showed mercy and let him in to see his husband for the last time.
The reason why Ju Jian is so relieved is because he has a tacit understanding with the Jin State for a long time, and knows that the Jin people are just here to take care of the face of their allies, and they don't really want to save their husbands.
After waiting for a few years, an ally didn't come to help, and finally one came, but it was just an old man who expressed condolences, and his husband was depressed!
Depressed is depressed, it is rare to have a distant guest, it is better to talk than nothing, you have to entertain it well. Starving to death is a small matter, but face is a big matter. The husband still ordered someone to search for the last bit of delicious food in the palace, and invited Chu Long to a big meal.
Chu Long said his intention, showing that the leaders of the Jin State were very sympathetic to Fucha's experience, but it coincided with the national funeral, and there was no way to save the Wu State, so he could only send him to express his condolences and apologies.
When the exhausted husband heard this, he knelt down and kowtowed to a retainer like Chu Long and said, "The widow has no talent and cannot serve the king of Yue, which makes your lord worried, please thank him for his teachings for me, and extend sincere greetings." ”
The sunset shone on the empty palace, and the lonely figure of the husband was stretched for a long time.
Dong Long shook his head and sighed, sighing.
The end of the hero is sentimental, and I believe that the husband may be able to experience a little bit of the pain of practicing the sentence of the year at this time.
Chu Long couldn't help but comfort him for a few words, and then said goodbye, before leaving, the husband took out another box of pearls and asked him to help transfer them to Zhao Wuxian, which was regarded as compensating for the loss of his lower dietary standards, and said: "Jujian hates me to the bone, I'm afraid that the widow will die well, but even if the person is about to drown, he knows how to force a smile." The widow is the leader of the alliance of princes, and he has the dignity of the alliance leader, and he will not let the people of the world see the joke. ”
Saying that, the husband smiled bitterly, and at this moment, he could only smile bitterly.
This desperate smile was more ugly than crying in Chu Long's eyes.
In November 473 B.C., Wu Wangfucha finally reached his final moment.
At this time, Gusu City has been out of food for several months, the cold wind destroys the last will to survive of the Wu people, all the things that can be eaten are gone, the people of the country began to change their children and eat, and even some people drove the old, weak, sick and disabled to the tree, shook it hard, and could still catch the branches that did not fall and let them live, and those who fell down were killed and eaten.
By November 27, there was no soldier on the city gate of Wu who could stand up. The empty streets were full of corpses and dying people, and the husband stood on the palace wall, looking at this sad scene, and muttered: "All this is to blame on the widows, the widows are unreasonable, ashamed of the ancestors and ancestors, and ashamed of the people of Wu; The widow is stupid and deserves to be laughed at by the world; By now, it's too late for anything......”
At this moment, a panicked shout suddenly came from the city gate: "Flee quickly, the Vietnamese soldiers have entered the city......."”
The husband was shocked, and hurriedly drew his sword and said: "Chong, fight with the Yue people!" ”
There was a messy footstep behind him, and when he turned around, the armor soldiers around him had already escaped, only a few cronies such as Bo Yao and Wang Sunluo, three sons, and more than a dozen cronies and guards were still standing in place, looking at him with fear on their faces.
The sword fell to the ground, and the husband's eyes were full of despair: "The soldiers and civilians of Wu have abandoned the widow, the widow is finished, it is all over!" ”
Bo Yao said: "King, don't say anything, run for your life!" Where there is life, there is hope! ”
The husband had no choice but to take these 20 cronies out of the city and flee to Qinyu Hangshan (now Yangshan, Suzhou, 50 miles outside Gusu City, on the edge of Taihu Lake). The Wu people fled in a hurry, and they didn't bring anything, so they could only eat raw rice and drink raw water on the mountain, and the husband had never suffered this kind of hardship in his life, but even so, he still had a trace of residual thoughts in his heart, and he fantasized that Ju Jian could be as stupid as he was back then, and promised to sue for peace, so he sent Wang Sun Yu as a messenger for peace, and walked naked on his knees to the front of the sentence, saying: "The minister of widowhood is poor, and he has the courage to confide his loyalty like the king: in the past, our kingdom once offended the king on the Huiji Mountain, and I did not dare to disobey the king's order at that time, and I was able to reconcile with the king." Now I have sinned against the king by disobeying the way of heaven, and the king himself has come to our kingdom to punish me for my sins, and I am convinced. But I still have to take the liberty of asking the king to remember the old friendship and allow me to sacrifice the golden and jade beauties to you as reparation, so as to restore the alliance that was implemented in Huiji, then the people and husbands of Wu are willing to be your slaves forever, and Wu is willing to be a vassal of Yue forever, from generation to generation, and never deviate. ”
Ju Jian saw that this former invincible overlord was now so down, and he also felt compassion in his heart, and wanted to agree to his husband's request for peace. Fan Li hurriedly persuaded on the side: "I heard that the success of the saint is due to his ability to obey the will of heaven. Therefore, the red envelope sent to you by God must be accepted in time, otherwise he will refute his old man's face, and there will be endless troubles. Besides, we have been planning hard for 20 years, and we finally seized this opportunity, how can we give up all our efforts? Now that the king is unable to make a decision, have you forgotten the shame of the meeting? Have you forgotten the pain of raising horses? Have you forgotten the shame of dung? ”
Ju Jian suddenly woke up and said loudly: "That's right, there is a deep hatred, and the widow has not forgotten it for a day." Heart to heart, just for today! Saying that, he waved his hand resolutely and said to Wang Sunluo: "You go back and tell your husband that in the past, God sent disasters to the Yue Kingdom, so that the Yue Kingdom fell into the hands of the Wu Kingdom, but he did not accept it. Now the heavens have reversed this and asked us to take revenge on the state of Wu. How dare the widow disobey the orders of Heaven and obey the orders of King Wu? ”
Seeing that it was useless to talk too much, Wang Sunyu withdrew from the big tent and wept bitterly in front of the Yueying camp, hoping to move Ju Jian with tears.
Fan Li walked out of the camp tent, came to Wang Sunluo, and said: "The king has entrusted me with military and political affairs, Doctor Wang Sun, you better leave quickly, otherwise don't blame me for offending you." ”
Wang Sunluo was still stubborn: "Respected Doctor Fan! The ancients had a saying: 'Don't help the heavens to do evil.' Those who help heaven and do evil will have retribution. 'Now that our country of Wu has reached the point of exhaustion, do you still want to help the heavens to do evil, and are you not afraid of bad luck?' ”
Fan Li smiled wryly: "Respected doctor! Our Yue Guo is just a viscount in the Zhou Dynasty who can't get on the table, so we can only live by the East China Sea, get along with turtles, fish and turtles, and live with shrimp and toads by the water. Although we are ashamed to have a human face, we are actually no different from beasts, how can we understand your words? So you better go and stop talking to us beasts. ”
Wang Sun Yu was stunned, he never thought that a dignified Yue Guo doctor, a gentleman's demeanor, would play a scoundrel like "I am a barbarian, who am I afraid of" at this time, it seems that the Yue people are determined to kill my Wu country, let's go, there is no hope!
He didn't say another word, he stood up stupidly, and walked back crying, with the sound of war drums behind him.
It's snowing, the snow is falling, overwhelming, the reckless mountains and forests, the mighty Taihu Lake, covered in silver.
This is the first snow in 475 B.C., when it was midwinter, everything was slaughtered, Wu Mountain and Wu Shui, a dead silence.
In the hut on the top of Qin Yuhang's mountain, Fu Cha shivered coldly, confused, hungry, and his heart was like ice.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he saw Wang Sunyu staggering down the mountain, one foot deep, one foot shallow, falling from time to time, his head and face were full of snow.
Fucha rushed out, grabbed Wang Sun, and asked urgently: "Doctor Wang Sun, has King Yue agreed to sue for peace?" ”
Wang Sun glanced at her husband stupidly, and suddenly cried loudly.
The husband understood everything, he let go of his hand and looked up to the trombone: "God, why, what did my husband do wrong, you must force the widow to a dead end!" ”
King! ......At the feet of the husband, more than a dozen ministers and guards fell to their knees and wept bitterly.
The husband pulled out his saber with a loud sigh - the sword of Buguang that the king of Yue had dedicated to him in the past, pointed directly at the blue sky, and asked: "Twenty-one years ago, in order to avenge his father, the widow raised an army to attack Yue, was the widow wrong?" ”
The crowd cried in unison, "No! ”
Eighteen years ago, the widow took pity on the king of Yue, rose and destroyed the country, succeeded the peerless, and let him return to the country, is the widow wrong? ”
The crowd cried in unison, "No! ”
Twelve years ago, there was a great hunger in the Yue country, and the widow thought about the suffering of the people in the Yue country, and borrowed 10,000 stones of food to help him tide over the difficulties. ”
The crowd cried in unison, "No! ”
Pictured: Wu Wangfu cha spear
Eleven years ago, the widow traveled thousands of miles and met with the Jin State in the Huangchi Alliance, and obtained the supreme hegemony, is the widow wrong? ”
The crowd cried in unison, "No! ”
Fu Cha cried loudly: "Then why, why did the widow end up like this, and the Wu Kingdom ended up like this?" ......
The crowd was silent, just crying with him.
At this time, I suddenly heard a cold voice: "You don't know why, then let me tell you!" ”
I don't know when, the mountain has been covered with Yue soldiers, a piece of black oppression, and the heavy snow, complement each other, and the person who spoke just now is the Xiang Guo of Yue - Fan Li.
Husband, you have made five big mistakes, each of which can make you die 10,000 times! Fan Li looked at him, and his voice was like cold snow.
The husband pointed a sword at Fan Li, and shouted hysterically: "The widow doesn't believe it, you say, what are the five major mistakes you say the widow has!" ”
Fan Li's voice was still as cold as the snow: "Don't listen to the advice and kill the loyal minister Wu Zixu, this is your first big mistake; Listen to slander and reuse traitorous ministers, this is your second worst mistake; The country of Qi did not offend you, but you provoked a war for no reason and attacked its country several times, which is your third biggest mistake; Wu Yue is a neighbor, the same customs and the same customs, but Wu has repeatedly invaded and crossed, which is your fourth big mistake; The Yue people killed King Wu Xian, you don't know how to take revenge, and you are against the enemy, this is your fifth biggest mistake. You've made so many mistakes, shouldn't you have ended up like this? ”
The sword fell to the ground, and the husband staggered back a few steps, weeping: "The widow is indeed wrong, and every one of them is wrong!" The widow is ashamed of the ancestors, the Li people, the heaven and the earth, and the ......mountains and riversThere is only one widow to die, and he apologizes to the world! There is only one death, and apology is heavenly!! ”
Fan Li said: "It's not necessary, our king said, human life is not long, I hope King Wu, you don't die easily." How long can a person live in the world, but a passerby? Therefore, the king hopes to arrange you to retire on Yongdong Island (now Zhoushan Island, Zhejiang), and let you choose 300 couples to serve you for the rest of your life. ”
If he wants to spend the rest of his life on a small island, so to say that he wants to treat Fucha as Napoleon, it seems that Jujian really understands politics and understands that leaving Fucha's life can buy the hearts of Wu Guo.
In the face of Ju Jian's false benevolence and false righteousness, the husband still showed some backbone at this time, he smiled sadly, and said: "No need, now that Wu Guosheji has destroyed the temple and been razed, and the land and people have returned to you and Yueguo, what is the strength of I, the king of Wu, to stay in the world, and make the world laugh in vain!" You go back and tell King Yue, you are a lonely old man, how can you do anything, only one death, to thank the world! ”
Saying that, he took a few steps forward, picked up the light sword, and laughed miserably: "Do you know, no matter how heroic the widow is now, he must be left behind for 10,000 years, hahaha......."”
As he spoke, he drew his sword and prepared to kill himself.
Before he died, Fucha also left a last word, every hero in Chinese history seems to leave a famous saying before he dies, I don't know if Fucha is a hero, at least when he chooses to kill himself, he looks like a hero.
I am ashamed of my life, and I am ashamed of my death. so that the deceased knows, I am ashamed of the former monarch underground, and I can't bear to see the loyal minister Wu Zixu; Let them be ignorant, and I will lose my life. Death will be linked to the group to cover my eyes, afraid that it will not be hidden, willing to repeat the embroidery of three pieces, to cover up, life does not show me, death do not see my form, how can I be? ”
Meaning: If the dead have knowledge, what face will I have to see Wu Zixu underground; If the dead are ignorant, I am also sorry for the living people of Wu. When I die, you will cover my face and my eyes with three layers of embroidery. I couldn't see clearly when I was alive, and I didn't want people to see my stupid face after I died. What else can I do?
After speaking, the husband cried three times, committed suicide with a sword, and the blood stained the red Luo embroidery, completing the most heroic act in his life.
Wu Zixu's head, which was hanging on the gate of Wu Guocheng, slowly closed his eyes.
Decades of grievances and grievances between the three countries of Chu, Wu and Yue, with the successive deaths of Wu Zixu and Fucha, finally came to an end, and Wu, the short-lived overlord in the center of grievances, was like a meteor that pierced the political starry sky of the Spring and Autumn Period. And Wu Zixu and Fucha, who were carrying revenge and ambition, were like splendidly blooming epiphany, quickly sliding and withering at the highest point of their lives, and finally broke branches and died heroically.
The history we told is coming to an end, in general, this is a history of revenge, everything starts with revenge, everything ends with revenge, Wu Zixu, Fucha, Ju Jian, three unique "revenge male gods", and finally laughed to the end by the most forbearant Ju Jian. The death of Fucha, the destruction of the Wu State, and the hegemony of the Yue State, which is a major landmark historical event in Chinese history, although the historiography usually takes the "Three Divisions" as the historical demarcation point between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but Xian Lesheng personally believes that 473 BC, that is, the year of the destruction of Wu, is the most appropriate year to divide the era. After all, the new wind blowing from a new direction is more profound than the collapse of the old system.
In short, since then, the era of hegemony has ended, and the era of power has come. The brutal Warring States era, which was vigorous and vigorous, opened the law of the jungle.
Note 1: In ancient times, the three tribes that lived in the area of Ningbo, Taizhou and Wenzhou on the southeast coast of Zhejiang were a branch of Baiyue. Note: 2: It has the same name as Qingji, the son of Wu Wangyi, who was assassinated by Yaoli. But it is also possible that the things recorded in "Wu Yue Chunqiu" are just legends, after all, authoritative historical materials such as "Historical Records" and "Zuo Biography" do not mention this matter.