What does it mean that King Zhao s southern expedition and the southern expedition of King Zhao did

After Cheng and Kang, the state of Chu in the south became stronger and stronger, and the conflict with the Zhou royal family became increasingly fierce. In the sixteenth year of King Zhao, King Zhao personally led his troops to the south, defeated the state of Chu, and returned triumphantly. In the nineteenth year of King Zhao, King Zhao led his troops to the south for the second time, because of the pride of the enemy, when crossing the Han River in the south, he took the boat of the Chu people with glue, and the ship disintegrated when it reached the middle stream, King Zhao fell into the water and drowned, and the Zhou army was defeated, with heavy casualties.

This is the allusion of Guan Zhong in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period who asked King Chu Cheng that "King Zhao conquered the south and did not return". After this defeat, the power of the Zhou royal family to control the south was weakened, and the state of Chu continued to develop in the Jianghan region.

King Zhao's Southern Expedition. King Zhao of Zhou, the fourth monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

After the reign of Chengkang, the Western Zhou Dynasty began to go downhill. In the time of King Zhao of Zhou, something happened that made everyone feel unbelievable at that time.

So what exactly did King Zhou Zhao do? The result?

I need to expand my knowledge a little before I talk about this:

When King Cheng of Zhou was in power, he once held a meeting alliance, which was known as the "Qishan Alliance" in history. The king of Zhou summoned the princes of the world, but not all the princes could participate in the banquet, for example, the viscount could not, more precisely, was not eligible to participate in the banquet set up by the king of Zhou. Among them, Xiong Yi, the monarch of Chu, and Xianmu, were sent to guard the torch.

Xiong Yi always thought that he was a member of the big family of the Zhou Dynasty, but after this alliance, he told his son not to pay tribute to the Zhou royal family anymore.

When Xiong Sheng, the fourth monarch of Chu State, had a conflict with King Zhou Zhao, who was also the fourth monarch.

Because of the previous neglect, the people of Chu worked hard, and when Xiong Sheng, the national strength of Chu was not so strong, but it was not weak, and Chu annexed many small countries surnamed Ji, and the result was known by King Zhou Zhao. So King Zhao of Zhou was angry and went south to crusade against Chu, but the people of Chu were not easy to provoke, they took advantage of the local geographical advantages, and Wang Shi conducted a street battle, and finally King Zhao of Zhou Zhao went south three times without getting the slightest bargain, and finally became a "water ghost" in the river because the boat he sat on when crossing the river was a "tofu scum project".

Subsequently, the core members of the Zhou royal family said that King Zhou Zhao suddenly fell ill and died.

Xiong Sheng also lost because of this, and the Liang clan was the first prince among the princes to dare to fight against the king of Zhou.

King Zhou Zhao did not return from his southern tour, so I came to inquire about this matter.

1. Original text. Guan Zhong said: "The clan is rotten Liang Xi summoned the Duke of Kang to order my ancestor Taigong to say:

After the five marquis and nine uncles, the female real enlistment was used to supplement the Zhou room. 'Give me the first king's shoes: the east is as far as the sea, the west is as far as the river, the south is as far as Muling, and the north is as far as Wudi.

Ergong Bao Mao is not entered, the king sacrifice is not shared, there is no way to shrink the wine, and the widow is a sign; King Zhao conquered the south and did not return, and the widow asked. ”

2. Translation. Guan Zhong said: "In the past, Zhao Kanggong ordered our ancestor Jiang Taigong to say:

The fifth-class princes and the governors of Kyushu, you have the right to levy them, so as to jointly assist the Zhou royal family. 'Zhaokang Gong also gave us the territory that our ancestors had conquered: east to the sea, west to the Yellow River, south to Muling, and north to Wuli.

The Bao Mao that you should pay tribute has not been paid, the sacrifices of the Zhou royal family cannot be offered, and there is nothing to leach the wine residue, so I have come to collect tribute; King Zhou Zhao did not return from his southern tour, so I came to inquire about this matter. ”

3. Source. Pre-Qin Zuoqiu Ming's "Qi Huan Gong Conquers Chu League".

Appreciation

As a historical prose that recounts the diplomatic struggle, this essay has also reached a perfect artistic realm in the use of language. Although the characters on both sides use diplomatic rhetoric with their own feelings, they do not feel contrived and blunt. Moreover, even if it is-for-tat, it is not angry; Even if he is aggressive, he is not too harsh.

Especially in the language of the two envoys of the Chu State, Zhaoyun is even softer and softer, and softer in rigidity.

After the death of King Kang, the son Zhao Wang Fang ascended the throne, Zhao Wang 16 years, he wanted to inherit the cause of Chengkang, continue to expand the territory of Zhou, personally led a large army to the south to conquer Chu Jing, through Tang (now northwest of Suizhou, Hubei), Li (now Suizhou, Hubei), Zeng (now Suizhou, Hubei), Kui (now Ziguidong, Hubei), until the Jianghan region. After three years of southern expedition, when King Zhao crossed the Han River, it is said that the boat used by the local people to glue to carry King Zhao to the middle of the hull decomposed, King Zhao drowned, and the army was also destroyed, which caused the Zhou Dynasty to suffer an unprecedented setback.

According to the records of the Bamboo Book Chronicle, King Zhao of Zhou attacked the state of Chu three times.

The first time was in the sixteenth year of King Zhao of Zhou, that is, in 985 BC. At that time, King Zhao of Zhou "cut down Chu, involved in Han, and met Daji". At that time, I usually feel that it was the same as the one recorded in the "Wall Plate" above.

After King Zhao of Zhou led his army across the Han River, he went deep into the area around Jingchu. Then when crossing the Han River, I also met the "Da Ji", an animal that resembles a rhinoceros.

The second time was in the nineteenth year of King Zhao of Zhou, that is, around 982 BC. At that time, King Zhao of Zhou ordered the priest Xin Bo to attack the state of Chu, "the day is big [one], the pheasants and rabbits are all shaken, and the six divisions are lost in Han". When crossing the Han River, a cloudy wind suddenly blew, and the weather became very bad, and the soldiers were very scared, and lost a lot of troops.

The main reason for the failure of this attack on Chu was that the weather was unfavorable, and in fact, the Zhou Dynasty army was also ambushed by a strong Chu army.

According to the estimation of Lu Jinian, the third time was almost in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of Zhou, that is, in 977 BC. This attack on Chu State, King Zhou Zhao's army ended up annihilated, and the Zhou people were reluctant to mention this matter, always, vaguely prevaricating in the past and saying "the southern tour will not return".

After the death of King Zhao of Zhou, the cause of his death was recorded in the "Historical Records of Justice", quoting the "Imperial Century" and saying: "King Zhao's virtue declined, and the southern expedition helped the Han Dynasty. The king's boat reached the middle stream, the glue ship was dissolved, and the king and the priest were both submerged in the water and collapsed.

The "boat man" mentioned in this passage refers to the Chu people who rose up against the Zhou Dynasty and held the boat designed to be glued together, and when they were in the water, the glue on it slowly melted when it encountered water, causing the ship to disintegrate. As a result, King Zhao of Zhou and his men all drowned.

King Zhao of Zhou's three southern expeditions were not for greed for anything, everything was for the rise and fall of the Chu State. This is also a major event in the history of our country. Later, the Zhou dynasty gradually declined, and the Chu state developed more and more powerful.

Because in history, King Zhao of Zhou was killed by the Chu people in Hanshui with a glued wooden plank boat, which is quite derogatory. Therefore, for the historical fact that King Zhao of Zhou "did not return to Chu", "History of Chu" denied it. The basis is that the "Historical Records of Zhou Benji" records that King Zhao of Zhou "lacked a slight lack of royal roads", went to the south to "patrol hunting", and "died on the river".

Therefore, the death of King Zhao of Zhou in Hanshui has nothing to do with Chu.

Even as mentioned in "The Century of Emperors" and "Lü's Spring and Autumn Period", the historical facts at that time were: King Zhao of Zhou made his first southern expedition, and the state of Chu was subdued without a fight, and the twenty-six countries of the Southern Barbarians all came to worship King Zhao. However, in order to plunder the copper ingots and bronze utensils located in Jingdi in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, King Zhao continued his southern expedition in the third year, but suffered a crushing defeat, and the six armies were almost completely annihilated, and when King Zhao returned to cross the river, he fell into the water and died because the "rubber boat" was broken or the pontoon bridge was broken.

Because in the past, it was customary to call Jing and Chu together, so it affected the Chu State. Therefore, in the "Zuo Chuan: The Fourth Year of Duke Xu", it is recorded that when King Chu Cheng answered Guan Zhong's question, he avoided the important and said lightly: When King Zhao of Zhou, Jingdi belonged to the Han Dynasty, so the Chu people did not accept such a crime.

In order to avoid the indisputable historical facts, the "Chronology of Chinese Wars" made a compromise account: in the sixteenth year of King Zhao of Zhou, the state of Gen (fúfu) in the Hanshui Valley attacked and harassed the Zhou territory, and King Zhao personally marched south. After reaching southern Xinjiang, the Gen Kingdom was annexed and sent envoys to welcome King Zhao.

At that time, the 26 states of Nanyi (the countries of the Han River Basin) and Dongyi (the countries of the Huai River Basin) all came to the court. King Zhao of Zhou won the victory of the Southern Expedition. King Zhao was proud of his victory, and the "Imperial Century" called it "moral decline", and in the nineteenth year he continued to attack Jingchu in the south.

After crossing the Han River, it was blocked by the tribes with 兕 (sīsi) as the totem, and the Zhou army was defeated, and the Western Sixth Army was completely lost. King Zhao returned to his master and died in the Han River.