Exposing the diplomacy of small countries in the Spring and Autumn Period: Guo Song sacrificed to save face.

Core Tip: The Chu army surrounded the State of Song, and the State of Song turned to the State of Jin for help. The State of Jin did not dare to confront the State of Chu, but only sent people to fool the State of Song to "resist and we will come". This time, Song was besieged for eight months. How bad is it? Anyway, this idiom was invented this time. In the end, the Song people surrendered, and the idiom "alliance under the city" was also invented this time. Under the strategy of Song State, they were so proud that they basically lost face. After the alliance at the gate was signed, other countries laughed at them. The point is that ordinary people can't live. At that time, the Song people were the poorest in all countries.

Layout data map of Spring and Autumn Period

Since human society has a country, there has been a distinction between a big country and a small country. Of course, big countries have the art of hegemony, and small countries also have the way to survive. The same is true in the world today. Except for a few big countries, most of them are small countries. How to survive and how to live with dignity are all learning.

As early as 2000 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn Period in China, there were many countries, and small countries struggled to survive between big countries, which showed different ways of survival for the world today, which was quite enlightening.

Below, we look at the experiences and lessons of small countries in the Spring and Autumn Period from the typical experiences of four countries.

Lu: Sacrificing dignity for survival. Since the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, the two superpowers, Jin and Chu, have been fighting for hegemony, and all countries are facing the problem of taking sides. For Lu, in addition to dealing with two superpowers, he has to face the oppression of his northern neighbor Qi.

Lu is a relative of the Zhou royal family and attaches great importance to blood relationship. After weighing the pros and cons and self-esteem, they made a decision: take refuge in the state of Jin, which is also a relative of the Zhou royal family, and "erase everything and sleep with you." Even if you despise me, I won't leave you.

It should be said that Lu's strategy is quite successful. Chu Yuan, you can't invade Lu. Qi was awed by the power of Xu Jin, and did not dare to bully Lu. Qi attacked Lu several times, but was beaten out of the water by gold reinforcements. With Boss Jin, the security of Lu was guaranteed.

Security was guaranteed, but the people of Lu lost their dignity. Their unprincipled obedience to the State of Jin not only led other countries to look down on them, but also led the State of Jin to look down on them.

The people of Lu suffered too much humiliation, so it can be said that the country's personality was completely lost.

Lu once occupied a piece of territory in Qi State, which had nothing to do with Jin. But suddenly one day, an order came from the State of Jin, saying that Lu would return the territory to Qi and the city would be repaired. It turns out that the mother of Jin Gong, the new monarch of the State of Jin, is Qi. Lu people have a big fire nest, but they still have to "erase everything and sleep with you."

That year, a concubine of the monarch of the State of Jin died, and it happened that Lu Chenggong, the monarch of the State of Lu, visited the State of Jin. Arguably, the monarch's concubine died, and the Allies sent a doctor to attend the funeral at most. However, the State of Jin detained Lv Chenggong for a month and only let him return home after attending the funeral. Lv Chenggong was depressed, so he called ministers to discuss and wanted to take refuge in Chu again. As a result, ministers opposed it one after another, and Ji Wenzi, the ruling minister, delivered a famous speech, "If it is not my family, its heart will be different."

Therefore, Lu continued to implement the diplomatic strategy of "wiping everything and sleeping with you" until he entered the Warring States period and the three countries were divided into Jin.

Survival at the expense of dignity is the way for a small country to survive.

Guo Song: Desperate to save face and endure pain. Guo Song is actually a modest country, bigger than a small country and smaller than a big one. Song State is a descendant of Shang Dynasty. When the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou gave them preferential treatment and made them dukes without paying tribute. Therefore, the people of the Song Dynasty have always declared that "we are guests of the Zhou Dynasty", and they feel super good about themselves and have super high self-esteem. Therefore, Song people never do such a thing as "erasing everything and sleeping with you".

The slogan of the Song people is: independence and never alliance.

Song people fought the most in the Spring and Autumn Period. Wars with neighboring Zheng He and neighboring Lu continued, but they almost never won.

To the south of Song State is Chu State. Song people looked down on Chu people and said that Chu people were barbarians. The Chu people were very angry, so they often came to fight the state of Song. However, Song people will defend the city, but they will not surrender.

Several famous siege wars in the Spring and Autumn Period revolved around Suiyang, the capital of the Song State.

The king of Chu once led an army to surround Song for several months, but Song couldn't hold on, so he asked Jin for help. When the State of Jin sent troops, a battle took place between Chu Jin and Chengpu, which started Chu Jin's hegemony.

Later, in the period, Chu was stronger than Jin and dared not confront Chu head-on, but Song dared. The thing is this: Chu Zhuangwang sent two doctors to the State of Jin and the State of Qi, passing through the State of Zheng and the State of Song respectively. According to the regulations at that time, a "letter of introduction" was required to borrow roads from these two countries, but Chu Zhuangwang was too troublesome to save this procedure. As a result, the doctor who passed by Zheng passed the customs smoothly, but the doctor who passed by Song was killed by the Song people on the grounds that "Chu could not open the letter of introduction from the unit, that is, he did not treat us as a country".

You can imagine the following story: the Chu army surrounded the State of Song, and the State of Song turned to the State of Jin for help. The State of Jin did not dare to confront the State of Chu, but only sent people to fool the State of Song to "resist, and we will come." This time, Song was besieged for eight months. How bad is it? Anyway, this idiom was invented this time. In the end, the Song people surrendered, and the idiom "alliance under the city" was also invented this time.

Under the strategy of Song State, they were so proud that they basically lost face. After the alliance at the gate was signed, other countries laughed at them. The point is that ordinary people can't live. At that time, the Song people were the poorest in all countries.

It is also the way for small countries to survive.

Cai Chen: Cai's capital belongs to the Zhou Dynasty, which was rooted in Miaohong, and both of them were close to Chu. The military strength of these two countries is basically negligible in front of big countries, and there is no choice but to stand in line.

Chu can destroy them at any time, but Chu is unwilling to do so. The reason is simple: Kim has so many allies that it is so exciting to become an international leader. If Chu destroyed all the neighboring countries, wouldn't it be an army of one person? It's not a good fortune teller. Therefore, it is good that Chu can keep Cai, and it is good to have a few followers. Besides, Cai Chen and his country are deeply rooted in Hong Miao. With such followers, they also have face.