"Eat, sleep and fight against Zheng". Why is there always such a joke when it comes to the struggle between Jin and Chu for hegemony?

In fact, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China, when Jin and Chu were fighting for hegemony, the Zheng State at that time was a country that was easily beaten by other countries, because the Zheng State at that time was caught between two countries. Among the big countries, if the country is not strong, it can only be beaten, so later generations have the joke of "beating Zheng while eating and sleeping".

When Duke Wen of Jin, Chong'er, was exiled to the Kingdom of Jin, Duke Wen of Zheng not only did not treat him with courtesy, but instead asked Chong'er to leave quickly. Later, the Battle of Chengpu broke out between Jin and Chu. In the end, Jin won the victory. But unfortunately, Zheng sent troops to help Chu. Jin couldn't bear it anymore, so it called Qin to fight together. Zheng Guo. Fortunately, Youzhuzhiwu retreated the Qin army and the country was not destroyed.

Later, after King Chuzhuang of Chu State came to the throne, Chu State also began to slowly become stronger. The helpless Zheng State slowly fell to Chu State, and then Chu and Jin went to war. In order to understand the difficulties of their allies, Jin State went to attack Zheng State. Fortunately, Chu State and Zheng State joined forces to defend it.

Not long after, the State of Jin saw that the State of Zheng was a vassal state of the State of Chu. In order to prevent the State of Chu from developing northward, it sent troops to attack the State of Zheng.

In 607 BC, the state of Chu asked Zheng to attack the state of Song. The state of Song was defeated. In order to avenge the state of Song, the state of Jin sent troops to attack the state of Jin.

In 606 BC, the Jin State sent troops to attack the Zheng State again. At this time, the Chu State was unable to send troops to help the Zheng State due to civil strife. The Zheng State had no choice but to surrender and accept an alliance with the Jin State.

In 599 BC, when the Chu State went north, it was the Zheng State that was attacked first. The State of Jin also sent troops in time to help the State of Zheng.

In 597 BC, Chu State attacked Zheng State again and besieged Zheng State for 17 days. Finally, Zheng Xianggong asked the King of Chu for forgiveness.

In just twenty or thirty years, Chu attacked Zheng twice and Jin attacked Zheng five times. So much so that Duke Mu of Zheng couldn't bear the blow and died. Duke Xiang of Zheng made the national policy of "only the strong must be followed, those who come from Jin must follow Jin, and those who come from Chu must follow Chu".