In 591 B.C., King Chuzhuang, the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period of Rong Ma's life, died early with his most brilliant light at the age of 43. In the last three years of his life, the state of Chu did not wage war against the outside world, most of the princes of the Central Plains surrendered to the state of Chu, and the two kingdoms of Qi and Qin also became the hardcore allies of the state of Chu, only one of the Jin states was still a little rampant, it is said that the king of Chu Zhuang still wanted to fight another battle with the state of Jin, completely subdued them, and made up his mind, so he announced in the court: "Those who dare to admonish will die without forgiveness", so that Yin Sun Shuao risked his life to persuade him: "There is an elm tree in the yard, and there is a cicada on it, and it is about to spread its wings and fly to drink the dew on the leaves, But he didn't find another praying mantis behind him, and he lowered his head and wanted to catch it for a big meal; The praying mantis just wanted to eat the cicada, but he didn't know that there was a yellow finch behind it, and he tilted his head and wanted to peck it as an afternoon dessert; The yellow finch just wanted to eat the praying mantis, but unexpectedly, a child under the tree was holding a slingshot to hit it; The boy was about to fight the yellow finch, but he didn't know that there was a big hole in front of his feet and thorns behind him. This is the danger of being greedy for the past and ignoring the future! (From "Han Poems Biography", the idiom "Praying mantis catches cicadas, and the yellow finch is behind" is also allusioned to this.) ）
When King Chuzhuang heard this, he immediately withdrew his troops.
Considering adversity in good times, not forgetting to guard against fear when being proud, and being at the peak and being able to perceive distant crises is probably the reason why King Chuzhuang was able to succeed. It's a pity that the descendants of King Chu Zhuang, King Chu Gong, King Chu Ping and others did not understand this truth, and as a result, the good situation was ruined in one fell swoop, and they were left behind by King Wu and Huang Que. And with so many lessons from the past, Wu Wangfucha will actually be Goujian by King Yue and given to Huang Que behind; It seems that this is easy to say, but the people in it often can't see through it.
Of course, that's another story, and we'll get to that in a later chapter.
After the death of King Chuzhuang, his ten-year-old son Xiong Shen succeeded to the throne as the king of Chu. Two years later, in 589 B.C., the king of Chu presided over the 12 kingdoms of Chu, Qin, Song, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Qi, Lu, Cao, Di, Xue, and Yan in Shu (now Tai'anxi, Shandong Province), in addition to the sworn enemy of Chu, Jin, all the important princes of the Spring and Autumn Period were present, which can be said to be the largest alliance in the Spring and Autumn Period, although the king of Zhuang had died, but the king of Chu was only 12 years old, so this alliance can be regarded as the continuation of the cause of King Zhuang. Although, due to the identity of the barbarian, it is impossible for the Chu State to be canonized by the official uncle of Zhou Tianzi like the Duke of Qi Huan, the Duke of Wen of Jin, and the Duke of Qin Mu, nor can it have legal honors such as the Son of Heaven's gift of gizzards and royal chariots and horses, but almost no one in history denies the identity of the King of Chu Zhuang as the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period.
Yi Zhoushu "Explanation of the Law" said: "The armor is urgent to make a village, to overcome the village, to defeat the enemy, to defeat the enemy, to repeatedly conquer and kill the village", indeed, the life of the king of Chuzhuang, is the life of the sword and sword, the life of burning passion, the life of Rong Ma and the horse, and the life of the southern and northern wars. "Han Feizi Youdu" said that he "annexed twenty-six countries and opened three thousand miles", south of the Yellow River, almost all in his mastery, and his martial arts were flourishing, before the empty Chu State, after the Chu State. It's a pity that God is either stingy with a person's talent, or stingy with a person's youth, the untimely death of King Chu Zhuang left the Chu people with the biggest regret, if he was given twenty more years, maybe the situation of Chu in the Warring States would be completely different. Whether Wu Yue can rise or not is probably unknown.
Of course, in terms of martial arts, although King Chuzhuang won the Central Plains and drank the Yellow River, after all, it was only a local regime, and it was still not comparable with the Qin Emperor, Han Wu, Tang Sect and Song Zu, this is a historical limitation, and there is no way to do it, but in terms of personality charm, King Chuzhuang is not inferior to any ancient emperor.
First, King Zhuang is humble and loves his subordinates. Once, King Zhuang went hunting in Yunmengze and shot a pheasant, but Shen Gongzibei couldn't help but rush up and grab it. You dare to grab the king's prey, you don't want to live! Everyone thought that King Zhuang would be furious and punished Zidou heavily, but they didn't expect King Zhuang to smile generously and not pursue it. Three months later, Zibei suddenly fell ill and died. At this time, King Zhuang was returning from the battle of Yi and wanted to reward the meritorious ministers, and Zibei's younger brother came to see King Zhuang and asked for a reward for Zibei. He said that it was recorded in the book that the person who shot the pheasant did not live for more than three months, so Zibei grabbed the pheasant and died in place of the king. King Zhuang immediately ordered to go to the palace to find out the ancient book, and there was indeed this record on it, so he rewarded their family heavily. Of course, this incident is just a coincidence, but it just shows how loyal King Zhuang's courtiers are to him, and how much King Zhuang loves them, so much so that they are willing to bring their own doom for the sake of the king, regardless of life and death.
Second, King Zhuang treated others with himself and loved the people. There is such a story recorded in the pre-Qin classic "Corpse": On a rainy and snowy night, King Zhuang was dressed in a fur coat, looked out the window, and saw that the world was bleak, and he sighed and said: "The widow wears warm underwear and mink coats and feels cold, and the common people and migrant workers from other places can't stand it even more." So he sent people to inspect all the places, and when he saw that there was no place to live and no food to eat, he hurried to provide relief, and the people of the country were very moved, and they all said: "The king is so concerned about the suffering of the people, thank the king, thank the court!" Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan" of the Han Dynasty also recorded a similar story: "The king of Chuzhuang cut down Chen, and gave up the Xiao family." The man in the road room said: 'The alley is not good, why is the ditch not dredging?' With the hegemony of King Zhuang and pay attention to the ditch of an alley, his love for the people can be seen.
Third, King Zhuang is wise and foolish, and observes talents. We have already said the historical events of "blockbuster" before, Chu State is different from Qin State, it has a vast territory, many talents, and does not need to introduce talents from foreign countries, but how to select talents has become a big problem, so King Zhuang pretended to be stupid at the beginning of his succession, secretly observed talents, and finally found a large number of loyal soldiers such as Su Cong, Wu Shen, Bao Jia, Qu Dang, etc. Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan" also recorded a unique "Three Methods of Asking for People" of King Chuzhuang: King Chuzhuang liked to hunt, and the doctors were very worried, so they persuaded him not to be satisfied with pleasure, but King Chuzhuang said: "I hunt to seek talents, and anyone who can assassinate tigers and leopards with hazelwood, I know that this person must be a warrior; Anyone who can fight a rhinoceros knows that this man must be a fierce general; If you come back from hunting and are willing to share your prey with others, I know that this person must be a benevolent person. ”
Fourth, King Zhuang is self-disciplined and self-reflective, and he is prepared for danger in times of peace. King Chuzhuang is a brilliant and extremely intelligent person, and such kings in history are often very proud and conceited, but King Chuzhuang is not like this. When he first ascended the throne, he was in trouble at home and abroad, and was born in adversity, so after he became a blockbuster, he was diligent in state affairs, conscientious, and the stronger the martial arts, the more prosperous the hegemony, and the more humble and cautious his heart was, according to the "Zhu Palace Old Things": The king of Chuzhuang saw that the sky did not appear demons (no flood and drought), and the earth did not come out of sin (no disaster of collapse), so he prayed to the mountains and rivers and said: "Heaven should not forget me, a person with few virtues, and should give a warning." ”
The worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world", King Chuzhuang is such a person who can review his own mistakes from the heavens, such a person will not refuse the advice of others, and will never be overjoyed and carried away. In the battle of Yi, although the king of Chuzhuang was defeating the Jin Kingdom, because his general Prince Yingqi "said three words and inappropriate" in this battle, which made him very worried, so that he returned from victory and passed through Shenyi, the sun was already in the middle of the sky, but he still refused to eat. Shenhou thought that he was not well entertained, so he hurriedly fell to the ground to plead guilty, and King Zhuang sighed and said: "It's none of your business, I heard that a certain leader is wise, and there is someone next to him to guide him, he can rule the world; A leader with ordinary intellect and someone next to him can rule the world; If a leader is a man of low intelligence, and the ministers are inferior to him, he will be self-righteous until the kingdom is ruined and he dies. I am a person of low intelligence, and the ministers are not as good as me, so the state of Chu is in danger of extinction. There are saints in any era, and there are virtuous people in every country; There are sages in the world, but I can't get them, how can I not worry? ”
King Chuzhuang subdued the great powers by force, made the princes obedient with benevolence and righteousness, and was worried that he did not have the talents of the sages, hated that he had no talents and no virtues, and wanted to get more talents to help him, and he was worried that he could not eat, such a person could not be called great?
King Chu Zhuang is such a person, a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, and a person who is free from low-level tastes.