During the Spring and Autumn Period, Song was a tiny country. Why did Song Xianggong rise? Why is the small country so inflated?

The Spring and Autumn Period was an era of feudal lords fighting for hegemony. Among these feudal lords who competed for hegemony, the "five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period" was the most famous. In other words, this "five tyrants" is the best among all the hegemony princes. However, among the "five tyrants", Song Xianggong is a very exceptional case. His country is weak and weak, but he also has a hegemony addiction. But also included in the "five tyrants" in the history books. Then, why does Song Xianggong, which is weak, dare to seek hegemony? Who gave him confidence?

I think there are some reasons why Song Xianggong dares to seek hegemony.

I inherited the mantle of Qi Huangong. At the meeting of Kwai Chung, Qi Huangong entrusted Song Xianggong to help him take care of Prince Zhao. This was understood by Song Xianggong as the meaning of inheriting Qi Huangong's mantle. Therefore, after Qi Huangong's death, Song Xianggong naturally thought that he was Qi Huangong's chosen successor.

2. Settled Qi Huangong's family affairs. After Qi Huangong was seriously ill, several sons fought for the position of monarch and fought. As a result, Qi Huangong was starved to death. Even if he dies, no one can bury him and still fight. Later, Prince Zhao of Qi fled to Song State and asked Song Xianggong for help. Song Xianggong immediately issued a call for everyone to follow him to pacify the Qi rebellion.

Although in the end, only three small countries, namely Wei, Cao and Guo, actually sent some military forces. However, Song Xianggong somehow settled the civil strife in Qi State, and made Gongzi Zhao the monarch. Because the overlord Qi Huangong's family affairs are all settled by Song Xianggong, Song Xianggong certainly thinks that he should be the new overlord like Qi Huangong.

third, it has the quality of overlord. Song Xianggong thinks that he already has the quality of overlord, so he can dominate. What kind of hegemonic quality does he have? Two words: "benevolence and righteousness." Song Xianggong is the second son. However, when his father wanted to pass on the throne to him, he was self-effacing again and again, giving the position of monarch to the eldest son (that is, his elder brother). Mu Yi repeatedly refused and even fled to Weiguo to escape, and he reluctantly inherited the throne. However, after he succeeded to the throne, he immediately asked him to come back and let him be the prime minister.

This incident has made Song Xianggong's reputation of "benevolence and righteousness" very loud internationally. In addition, Song Xianggong took several small countries to settle Qi Huangong's family affairs, which also made his reputation of "benevolence and righteousness" spread again. When Qi Huangong was hegemonic in those days, the slogan was "Respect the king and resist foreigners". According to Song Xianggong's understanding, these four words can be reduced to "benevolence and righteousness". As long as there is "benevolence and righteousness", you can gain the recognition of the princes in the world and have the capital to dominate. So Song Xianggong started to seek hegemony.

fourth, it won the trust of the vassal States. About the beginning, Song Xianggong didn't think he could dominate. When he called on the governors of the world to go to Qi with him and put down the chaos of Qi Huangong's sons, Wei, Cao, and Guo finally got involved. Although these three countries are small countries, Song Xianggong thinks that this is his own appeal. In fact, I think Song Xianggong was a bit romantic at that time. Wei Guo, Cao Guo and Guo Guo came to attend, mainly because of Qi Huangong's face. They didn't come to help until something happened at Qi Huangong's house. If it wasn't Qi Huangong, it was Song Xianggong, and there might not be any countries to follow.

It is this series of illusions that led Song Xianggong to seek hegemony. Unfortunately, Song Xianggong's hegemony at the beginning was a joke. Big countries like Chu and Qi simply ignored him. When Song Xianggong saw that the big countries ignored him, he dared not do anything. He could only take advantage of the small countries. For example, Teng Guojun Teng Xuangong was detained; For example, the monarch of the country was arrested as a sacrifice and taken to the outskirts of Suishui for sacrifice; For example, send troops to attack Cao Guo. Wait a minute. Song Xianggong was so noisy that the great powers couldn't stand it, so Chu decided to teach him a good lesson. So I took advantage of an alliance opportunity and arrested him.

Later, he was released under the mediation of other countries. But he still didn't learn the lesson, and continued to do hegemony. Dispatch troops attacked disobedient Zheng again. Zheng was actually the first vassal state to dominate in the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, although it had declined, its influence was there. When Zheng asked Chu for help, King Chu became angry and felt that he had to give Song Xianggong some color to see. So he led an army to attack the state of Song. Later, the famous "Battle of the Flood" took place. In the "Battle of the Flood", Song Xianggong actually applied "benevolence and righteousness" to the battlefield, and didn't go to war with Chu until Chu crossed the river and formed a formation. As a result, he was originally a small country, and his fighting was so pedantic. He was defeated by King Chucheng once, and he himself ended up with a fate of injury and physical death. (

References: Historical Records and Zuo Zhuan)