In 635 B.C., King Qin of Jin Wen succeeded in helping King Xiang of Zhou Tianzi to quell the rebellion of the prince's belt, and King Xiang of Zhou gave the four cities of Yangfan, Wen, Yuan and Zhumao to the Jin Kingdom in order to be grateful to the Duke of Wen of Jin.
The four cities given by King Xiang were of great significance to the Jin Kingdom. It turned out that although the territory of the Jin Kingdom was large, it was secluded north of the Yellow River and west of the Taihang Mountain, and the transportation was inconvenient, making it difficult to intervene in the affairs of the Central Plains, let alone dominate the Central Plains. The area given by King Xiang of Zhou, known as Nanyang, is a narrow passage between Taihang Mountain and the Yellow River, which can go directly from the south of Jin to northern Henan and quickly advance into the Central Plains, which is the first step of the Jin State to lay a hundred years of hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period.
However, although there is Zhou Tianzi's golden mouth, but the Jin State still spent a lot of effort in order to receive Nanyang, the key is that these places have been at the feet of the Son of Heaven for many years, from top to bottom, many of them are the in-laws of the Zhou family, these princes and relatives are all rooted in the red, and they did not put the Jin Kingdom in their eyes at all, so they stuck to the city, did not let the Jin army enter the city, and attacked Yangfan (now southwest of Jiyuan City, Henan) The Jin general Wei Li was suddenly on fire, he led his troops to surround Yangfan, and said: "You birdmen hurry up and surrender to me." If I break through the city, I will demolish your temples and kill all your people! ”
Unexpectedly, Yang Fan Shou General Cang Ge didn't eat Lao Wei at all, he stood on the head of the city and delivered a heartfelt speech: "Virtue and Rou China, Xing Yiwei Siyi, you have to distinguish who is a friend and who is an enemy!" Look at it, who in this city is not Zhou Tianzi's in-laws, and you dare to treat them so harshly? ”
That Wei Li couldn't say that Cangge, so he had to send someone to report to Duke Wen, and when Duke Wen heard that it made sense, he said: "This gentleman's words are also." "Since these princes and relatives look down on us, let them pack their bags and walk, and don't embarrass them! So all the Yangfan people were moved, and the Jin army took over the empty city.
Picture: Spring and Autumn Jin Kingdom City Scenic Area
The city lord of Yuanyi (now north of Jiyuan City, Henan) is Zhou Tianzi's Qingtuyuan Boguan, who is also a dignified earl, only one level lower than the Marquis of Jin, so he is naturally even more unconvinced! Duke Wen knew that this hard bone must be difficult to gnaw, so he personally went to pacify, and ordered to bring only three days of food to besiege the city, and if the other party did not surrender for three days, the Jin army would break the siege and retreat. However, on the evening of the third day, news came out from the Jin army spies in the city, saying that the original people were preparing to open the city and surrender tomorrow, so that the Jin army would wait for another day. Gong Wen said: "I have ordered to wait only three days, and now that the three-day period has expired, I should leave tomorrow morning." ”
The officers of the Jin army were very unwilling, and they persuaded Duke Wen to wait one more day, but Duke Wen seriously criticized and educated these short-sighted officers: "The consciousness of you people is still too low, faith, the treasure of the country, the protection of the people, the loss of trust, how can you shelter it?" The losses are even greater. After saying that, early the next morning, he led the troops to retreat according to the agreement, and some people in the city saw this scene, and they all gave a thumbs up and said: "The Marquis of Jin would rather lose the city than lose his trust, this is a good boss who can be trusted!" So everyone ran down the city to chase after the Jin army and shouted: "Wait a minute, we will follow you together!" ”
Summing up the life of Duke Wen of Jin, it is nothing more than the four words "retreat as advance", whether it is the rejection of the position of Jin Jun in the past, or the retreat in the later battle of Chengpu, this political strategy is well practiced. When life encounters a dilemma, it is not the best way to untie the knot by making appropriate concessions and giving up a piece of sea and sky. From this point of view, Jin Wengong can be regarded as the most patient politician in Chinese history, he went into exile at the age of 43, and returned to China at the age of 62 to become the king, and the year when he began to dominate the cause was already 63 years old, the life span of the ancients was already short, how many years can he have in his life? Confucius said: "Forty or fifty is unheard, and there is no fear of it." "For ordinary people, forty or fifty years old have not yet achieved anything, and this life is like this. But Jin Wengong can still maintain such patience, calm and mature without being aggressive, thoughtful and steady, which is really admirable.
Besides, Yuan Boguan saw that he had lost the hearts of the people, so he had to open the city gate, and also chased after him, and the big guy chased for thirty miles in one go, and finally caught up with the Jin army, showing his willingness to surrender. Duke Wen was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered the brigade to be stationed on the spot. He only took Yuan Boguan and a few close ministers back to the original city, and along the way, fans welcomed him and vied with each other to see the shadow of their idol Jin Wengong. A group of lovely children also presented flowers to Jin Wengong: "Grandpa Chong'er, you are back!" You're finally back! At this point, the people of the original city surrendered to the Jin State, and the Duke of Jin Wen appointed Zhao Yuan, the most trustworthy under him, as the original doctor, and led Yang Fan; The son of the fox fur, Hu Qin, is the doctor of Wen and manages Wenyi; The original Boguan was changed to Jidi, and his later generations were Jin doctors.
It is worth noting that Yuanyi is located in the north of Jiyuan City, Henan Province, and covers the Mengjin Ferry of the Yellow River in the south, controlling an important passage for the Jin Kingdom to fight for hegemony in the south; Hebei is in the northeast of present-day Hejin County, Shaanxi, opposite to Qin across the Yellow River. In this move, Duke Wen of Jin used his cronies to rule this important place leading to the Central Plains, and placed Yuan Boguan and his people on the border threatened by Qin as a defensive shield. Jin Wengong is worthy of being an old politician, and his gestures are all strategies.
So far, it took nearly a year for Duke Wen to finally subdue Nanyang, an extremely important springboard for the Central Plains, to open the way for his eastward hegemony, and also to open the prelude to the Spring and Autumn Jin hegemony era. As Gu Donggao said in the "Spring and Autumn Schedule" volume 4 "On the Territory of the Jin Dynasty": "(Jin) self-destruction is based on the solidity of the Cuihan, the danger of the Mengmen and Taihang in the south of Yang, the tiger prison in the south, Handan in the north, the Yin ruins in Hanoi, the strength of the fat drum, the Qin domain in the west, the Qi realm in the east, and the areas of the world are all for the Jin Dynasty." Then he will be solid with rules, and victorious with attack, defend the Son of Heaven, and flog the nations. ”
And after completely taking Nanyang, Jin Wengong is already 64 years old, at such an age, ordinary people have long since retired, Liu Bei is so stubborn, at the age of 63, he can only break the White Emperor City and leave the unfinished business to Kong Ming, however, Jin Wengong's life, his radiant life, seems to have just begun.