Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 164 Dialogue with Duke Wen of Jin in the Spring and Autumn Period

Chinese civilization depends on the Spring and Autumn Period, and the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period depends on the State of Jin!
What is righteousness?

To put it bluntly, it is rigid.

Many people don't know that in the Spring and Autumn Period, when the princes fought wars, they had to pay attention to Zhou etiquette and follow a specific set of order laws.

If you want to fight.

The traditional method of warfare must be followed—the central army against the central army, the left army against the upper army, and the right army against the lower army.

Whoever dares to play tricks will be despised by the princes and find isolation.

He would even be despised by Zhou Tianzi and become the object of ridicule by the people of the world.

The so-called "gentlemen and gentlemen", we in China, started as early as 3000 years ago.

Later, in the Western Continent, it was just drawing a gourd according to the gourd. When it comes to the war of gentlemen, we are the ancestors.

This is also when it comes to famous generals in the Warring States Period, we can count them like Jiazhen, Sun Bin, Wu Qi, Bai Qi, Li Mu and so on.

But who are the famous generals in Spring and Autumn?
Except for Guan Zhong of Qi State, Sun Wu of Wu State and Wu Zixu, Meng Mingshi of Qin State, etc., it seems that it is difficult to have any famous generals that impress us.

The reason is "rigidity".

From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period, the war at that time "advocated the military etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty", which was relatively rigid. There is a lot of room for development, Song Xianggong is the monarch who advocates the military etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, so in most of the Spring and Autumn Period, there is no soil for the survival of famous generals under the standards of later generations.

Who broke it all?
Who broke the spring and autumn routine?Start using deceitful tricks on the battlefield?

It is the famous "Battle of Chengpu" in history.

In this battle, the state of Jin paid homage to the state of Chu in the south, which established the prelude to Jin Wengong's becoming the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period.

It is said that after Duke Huan of Qi died.

The position of "overlord" is vacant. Although the princes are ready to move, none of them can take the top spot.

The most ambitious of them is the state of Chu in the south.

In order to dominate the Central Plains, Chu State sent troops to attack Song State, and Song State asked Jin State for help.

When the war machine of the Jin State was activated, Duke Wen of Jin took advantage of the situation to avoid his sharp edge on the grounds of repaying the kindness of the Chu State. In the end, the two sides launched a decisive battle in Chengpu.

Xian Zhen, the general of the Jin State, changed his tactics and began to plan a lot of tricks in order to defeat the Chu State.

First of all, he squeezed the persimmon first, and attacked the weakest Chen Cai servant army of Chu State first, which led to the defeat of the right army of Chu State.

Secondly, after the state of Chu stepped up its offensive against the upper and middle armies of the Jin state, Xian Zhen let the upper army of the Jin state retreat slowly, and ordered the central army to retreat quickly by dragging branches to cover the battlefield and block the advance of the central army of the Chu state. , Lured the left army of Chu to go deep.

Third, when the Chu Zuo Army attacked the Jin Shang Army, it was suddenly attacked by the Jin Zhong Army and the Shang Army and was defeated.

So far, both the left and right armies of Chu State were defeated and had to retreat.

In the Battle of Chengpu, Xian Zhen broke the conventions of the Spring and Autumn Wars, created a precedent of maneuvering troops on the battlefield, concentrating troops to attack the enemy, and created a deceitful war of avoiding the strong and attacking the weak, avoiding the real and attacking the weak, pretending to retreat to lure the enemy, and defeating each one. Law.

Therefore, Sun Tzu's not tire of deception is not the first, but his summary of a series of wars in the middle and late Spring and Autumn period.

To some extent, the Battle of Chengpu is one of the sources of Sun Wu's thoughts.

Xian Zhen was one of Sun Wu's art of war teachers.

However, as the first military genius who truly practiced the idea of ​​"soldiers never tire of deceit" and whose actual record far surpassed that of Sun Tzu, the turning point and revolutionary representative of Huaxia's military art, who can be called the ancestor of the holy ancestor of Chinese military strategists, has not received the due history. status.

There is no separate biography for him in "Historical Records".

There are very few descriptions of him in "Zuo Zhuan", and literati in ancient and modern times rarely mentioned him when discussing "Sun Wu's Art of War".

History is sometimes just, but history is sometimes unjust.

……

Time: 633 BC (the eighth year of Jin Wengong)
Location: Xintian, Jindu.

Dialogue character: Duke Wen of Jin.

Historical events: Two years ago, Jin and Chu fought, defeated Chu, and defended the interests of the Central Plains. Jin Wengong invited Zhou Xiangwang, and called Qi, Song and other countries to join the alliance with the princes.It is called in history: "Jiantu Huimeng".Zhou Tianzi CE granted Duke Wen of Jin the title of "Hou Bo", that is, the leader of the princes, and rewarded him with black and red bows and arrows, expressing that he was allowed the right to conquer freely.Jin Wengong officially became the second overlord, creating a century-long hegemony of Jin.

An ancient architectural shrine.

Jin Wengong, who was born in 697 BC, was already 64 years old at this time, absolutely ancient.

To know.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the average life expectancy was only 25 years old.

Living for a long time, in this ancient times, is also a daunting skill!

soon.

The host Lin Feng and Bai Lu met Jin Wengong, the second overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period, in the deep palace building.

The empty hall is simple and primitive.

No extra utensil items in sight.

The surrounding torches were burning, illuminating the hall.

The white-haired Duke Wen of Jin, wearing the long robes of noble princes, was studying the map for marching and fighting alone.

The temple is quiet.

Only the faint sound of fire fluttering.

"map?"

"No, during the Spring and Autumn Period, paper hadn't been invented yet, so where did you get the marching map?"

"Yeah, it should be deduced with a sand table, right?"

"Host, I don't read much, so don't lie to me."

"Brother, you really don't read much. The invention of sand table deduction was not born until the Eastern Han Dynasty; as for the map of the territory of the princes, the map of counties, or the map of marching and fighting, it was as early as the more distant Xia Dynasty. "

"Indeed, it existed in the Xia and Shang Dynasties, and it was called Yutu at that time. Yutu is a kind of map. Yu means the base of a cart, which is used to carry objects. Because the map contains mountains, rivers, towns, and other features, the ancients Let’s call the map Yutu, geography Yugeology, and geomantic omen surveying.”

"Uh, the map was invented earlier than the sand table?"

"Silly, without paper, can't you draw the pattern on the cloth?"

"I'm going, I forgot. The ancients wore clothes. Of course, maps can be accurately depicted on the cloth."

"Good guy, if I were your history teacher, I'd be so pissed off."

……

In the lens.

Accompanied by a gust of cold wind and ripples in the air, the two of them appeared out of nowhere, standing opposite the long table, opposite Jin Wengong across the table.

"you……"

"From the mountains..."

"Absorb the Sun, Moon and Mountain Qi..."

"Take human form..."

Jin Wengong, who was in his rare years, did not have any fear, but seemed extremely excited. He walked around and looked at Lin Feng and Bailu for a while. His eyes seemed to be looking at two mountains of gold and silver.

This is the first time.

After Lin Feng appeared out of thin air, the ancients didn't have any fear.

To know.

At that time, he talked to Chi You, the God of War, the First Emperor, Emperor Taizong of Tang, etc., and they all turned pale with shock and showed uneasiness on their faces.

Looking at Jin Wengong's eyes, he obviously treated Lin Feng and Lin Feng as "mountain monsters" who came out of the mountains.

Lin Feng was speechless, thinking to himself, where did you come up with so many ideas?
Could it be that you have seen some supernatural "mountain monster" before?
"Junior Lin Feng."

"This is a white deer."

"We come from 2800 years later, traveling through time and space, just to talk to the ancient Chinese sages."

……

Lin Feng made his intentions clear, but Duke Wen of Jin turned a deaf ear to it and kept nagging, as if bewitched.

Modern audiences are laughing and laughing, the host who has always been a god in the show, also has times when he is deflated, can he not be happy?

"Host, since Duke Wen of Jin said that you are from the mountains, why don't you do a trick."

"Host, I think you can use the trick of breaking a big stone in your chest."

"I'll go, you can't do this, I think the host will come up with the trick of swallowing a long sword."

"Let's play a set of Eighteen Chapters of Shenlong."

"Let's have the voice of Gang Leader Qiao again. If you are sad, it will definitely blow your mind."

……

When bullet screens are flying all over the modern Internet, in the camera, after repeated explanations, Jin Wengong finally understood.

"Jin Wengong?"

"Is this the title of this Marquis when he died in 2800?" Jin Wengong was more concerned about his title.

He is not an emperor, nor a king. After being canonized by the Zhou royal family, he is now the biggest prince in the Spring and Autumn Period.

To put it bluntly, it is equivalent to the later Duke and Marquis.

What is "Jin Wengong"?
He ruled the land of Jin and was granted the title of Duke. After his death, his posthumous title was "Wen", so the term Jin Wengong came into being.

The same is true for others such as Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Mu of Qin, and Duke Xiang of Song.

Only King Zhuang of Chu was different. Before King Zhuang of Chu, Chu State had been excluded from Chinese culture.

Since King Zhuang of Chu made the state of Chu strong, King Zhuang of Chu was so ambitious at that time that he didn't even respect the emperor of Zhou.

of course.

Looking at the history of the Spring and Autumn Period, King Zhuang of Chu is definitely more arrogant. Although the four overlords are powerful, they lack a bit of ambition and arrogance.

Hearing the explanation, Jin Wengong had a thoughtful expression, and then asked, "Young man, in the nearly 3000 years later, everything has changed, and everything has changed. Why do people at that time still remember my Jin Wengong?" ?”

Lin Feng replied: "Because you are a generation of powerful princes, glorious in the spring and Autumn period, ranked among the five tyrants, and led Jin to an absolute period of prosperity. The historical materials about you have been passed down to future generations."

(End of this chapter)