The Battle of Wu and Yue: Suffering hardships and finally recovering the country

The Battle of Wu and Yue was the last war for hegemony between Wu and Yue, two vassal states located on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the late Spring and Autumn Period. It started in 510 B.C. and lasted until 475 B.C., lasting for 35 years, including the Battle of Jiali when Wu conquered Yue, the Battle of Fujiao when Yue conquered Wu, the Battle of Lize and the siege of Gusu. , and finally ended with the death of Wu and the victory of Yue.

In 514 BC, Helu ascended the throne of the King of Wu, and appointed Wu Yuan (Wu Zixu), a former aristocrat of the Chu Kingdom who had fled to Wu, and Sun Wu of Qi to reform the internal affairs, "erect the city walls, and set up "Garrison, strengthen the warehouses, manage the arsenal", expand the army, strengthen combat readiness, and formulated the strategic policy of "defeating the strong Chu in the west, Wei Qi and Jin in the north, and subduing the Yue in the south". At that time, it was settled in Duduji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). The Yue State, which occupied present-day northern Zhejiang, had a small territory, sparse population, and relatively backward economic and cultural development. In order to unite with Yue to control Wu, Chu actively supported Yue Wang Yunchang, thus making Yue's power grow rapidly. In 510 BC, the State of Wu attacked the State of Yue, and the battle between the two countries began. The two sides came and went, and a long-term tug-of-war began.

In 496 BC, King Helu of Wu was angry because the neighboring country of Yue often attacked and harassed him when he was attacking Chu, so he ordered an attack on Yue. King Gou Jian of Yue attacked, and a famous decisive battle broke out between the two sides at Jiuli (now southwest of Jiaxing, Zhejiang). Gou Jian first attacked the Wu army with men who dared to die, and then used the "sinner's walk" to "kill himself" in front of the battle to boost morale and take advantage of the situation to defeat the Wu army. The Yue general Ling Gufu struck King Wu's house with a spear, injuring his big toe. Helu retreated and died in Xingdi, seven miles away from Li. His son Fucha succeeded him as king and appointed his minister Bo Pi as an important minister.

In order to avenge his father, Fu Cha vigorously organized the army and actively prepared for war. Sun Wu and Wu Zixu reorganized their armaments to assist Fu Chai in completing the great cause of revenge and avenging humiliation. Fu Chai sent people to stand at the courtyard gate day and night. Whenever Fu Chai came in and out, they would ask him: "Fu Chai! Have you forgotten the King of Yue's revenge for killing his father?" Fu Chai replied loudly: "Humph, how dare I forget!"

Gou Jian saw that Fu Chai was working hard and actively training his troops to prepare for war for revenge. He was very anxious and wanted to take a preemptive strike. In the spring of 494 BC, he mobilized his army to attack Wu from the water. Seeing that the time was ripe, King Wu Fu Chai led 100,000 elite troops, with Zixu as the general and Bo Pi as the deputy general, to attack the Vietnamese army. The two sides fought fiercely at Fujiao. The Wu army humiliated their late king and swore to die in retribution. Under the planning of Sun Wu and Wu Zixu, the Wu army deployed many deceitful troops at night, divided into two wings, holding torches high. In the dark night, the flames were connected and they quickly moved towards the Vietnamese army's position. As they moved, the sound of killing was so loud that the Vietnamese army was frightened and their morale was shaken. Fucha even stood on the bow of the boat, holding his robe and beating drums, which doubled the courage of the whole army. It happened that the north wind was blowing hard and the waves were turbulent. The Wu army's ships sailed down the river, using strong bows and powerful crossbows, and their arrows were like locusts. The Vietnamese soldiers faced the wind and were unable to resist the enemy, so they fled in defeat. The King of Yue, Gou Jian, was forced to defend Kuaiji Mountain (today's Shaoxing, Zhejiang) with only 5,000 armored soldiers. Yue's danger has already depended on one shot.

Being surrounded by Wu troops, Gou Jian had no choice but to humiliate Wu for peace. Wu Zixu firmly disagreed, believing that "if Vietnam is not destroyed now, it will be regretted later." Fu Chai was awakened by Wu Zixu's words, and the peace negotiations fell into a trap. An irreversible deadlock. When Gou Jian of Yue Yu learned that peace was unsuccessful, he told his ministers to kill his wife and children first, then burn the palace treasures, and then fight Wu Shi desperately to "fight to death"!

Here At the juncture, minister Wen Zhong offered advice to Gou Jian: "Minister Bo Pi of the State of Wu was greedy for money and lust, jealous of merit and ability. He was in the same dynasty as Wu Zixu but had different interests. The king of Wu respected Zixu and trusted Bo Pi. If he could use wealth and sex in private to gain favor, He was pleased and asked him to put in a good word with the King of Wu, and the peace negotiation would definitely be successful." Gou Jian followed Wen Zhong's suggestion and sent him to bribe Bo Pu with the beauty Xi Shi and the treasures, and Bo Pu agreed to bring Xi Shi and Wen Zhong to see him. King Wu.

Wen Zhong met the King of Wu, presented the famous beauty Xi Shi, and said: "The King of Yue is willing to surrender and serve you as your servant. Please forgive him." Bo Pu also spoke for Wen Zhong. . Wu Zixu stood up and objected loudly: "People often say that 'to cure a disease, we must eradicate the root cause.' Gou Jian is far-sighted, Wen Zhong and Fan Li are smart and capable. If we let them go this time, they will find a way to take revenge when they go back!" At this time, Fu Chai thought that he was overjoyed! The country was no longer in danger, and he fell in love with Xi Shi's beauty, so he ignored Wu Zixu's advice, agreed to the surrender of Yue, and withdrew his army to Wu.

Wu Zixu was far-sighted and had already understood the dangers of letting go of King Gou Jian of Yue this time.

So afterwards, he angrily told his officials: "The King of Yue will definitely make a comeback if he gets this opportunity to rest. In 20 years, our country of Wu will probably turn into a swamp!" This is also an astonishing prophecy.

After the Kingdom of Wu withdrew its troops, Gou Jian took his wife and minister Fan Li to the Kingdom of Wu to serve the King of Wu. The couple lived in a stone house next to the tomb of Fu Chai's father, guarding the tomb and raising horses. Whenever Fu Chai went on a trip, Gou Jian would always follow him respectfully with a riding whip. Gou Jian also sighed and said, "Do I really want to end my life here?" Seeing that Gou Jian was so depressed, Wen Zhong encouraged him and said, "Your Majesty, Shang Tang was imprisoned in Xiatai, and King Wen of Zhou was besieged in Youli, Jin's Chong'er fled to Zhai, and Qi's Xiaobai fled to Ju, but they all eventually dominated the world. From this point of view, who can guarantee that our current situation is not a blessing to some extent? Your Majesty. Don't be discouraged, I believe you will dominate the world one day." This is true. Three years later, Gou Jian and his wife finally won the favor and trust of King Wu, and they were released and returned to their country.

After Gou Jian returned to Yue, he vowed to avoid the humiliation of Kuaiji being besieged. For this reason, he made up his mind to work hard and work hard to make his country prosperous and strong as soon as possible. In order to always motivate himself, he slept on a straw mat at night and hung gall above his seat so that he could taste the gall at all times. He even raised his head to taste the gall when eating.

He often reminded himself: "Goujian, have you forgotten the shame of Kuaiji?" In order to save the treasury, he farmed the fields himself, and his wife also weaved with her own hands. She never ate meat, and she also From *** Wear fancy clothes. Gou Jian was polite to wise men and warm and sincere to his guests, so the people of Yue State respected him.

One day, Gou Jian asked Fan Li to come out to manage the government affairs. Fan Li replied: "Wen Zhong is not as good as me when it comes to things like using troops to fight; but when it comes to pacifying the country and developing production, I am not as good as Wen Zhong." ." So Gou Jian entrusted the state affairs to Wen Zhong and asked ministers Fan Li and Zhe Ji to serve as hostages in the state of Wu.

In the years after Gou Jian returned from Kuaiji, he always comforted his soldiers and people, preparing day and night to avenge his previous humiliation. Minister Feng Tong remonstrated and said: "The country has just recovered from the trauma of the war and has just become a little richer today. If we rectify our armaments, Wu will be afraid. If Wu is afraid, he will definitely send troops to attack us." Legend has it that when a ferocious bird attacks its target, it must hide first. Now the Wu army is invading Qi and Jin, and Wu has a deep hatred for Chu and Yue. It is better for us to make friends with Qi, get close to Chu, and submit to Jin, and treat them favorably. Wu State.

Wu State is determined to dominate and will treat us with contempt. We can then contact the forces of the three countries to attack Wu State and take advantage of its exhaustion to destroy it." Gou Jian finished listening. Later, he felt that Feng Tong's words made sense, so he formed an alliance with Qi, Chu and Jin to prepare for future battles.

At this time, all the elders and brothers in the country also petitioned King Gou Jian of Yue: "In the past, King Wu Fucha made our king suffer humiliation among the princes. Now our country of Yue has also been on the right track. Please Allow us to take revenge!" Gou Jian declined and said, "It was not the people's fault that we were defeated by Wu in the past, it was my fault. Please don't fight against Wu for the time being!" After a few years, fathers and brothers. He also requested Gou Jian, King of Yue: "Everyone in the four borders of Yue should be close to our King of Yue, just like they are close to their parents. Sons want to avenge their parents, and ministers want to avenge the king. How can anyone dare not not do their best? Please. Allow another war with Wu!" King Gou Jian of Yue finally agreed to everyone's request and prepared to send troops to attack Wu at a favorable opportunity. The country of Yue acted decisively, and the whole country encouraged each other. A father encourages his son, a brother encourages his younger brother, and a wife encourages her husband. They said: "How can there be a king like us? How can we not want to die on the battlefield?"

In 484 BC, Fu Chai heard that Qi Jinggong was dead, so he decided to go north to attack Qi and join forces. The Lu army defeated the Qi army. After the war, Fu Chai became even more arrogant, believing that he could gain hegemony in the Central Plains as long as he finally subdued the Jin State, so he agreed that Jin Dinggong and other princes would meet in Huangchi (today's southwest of Fengqiu, Henan Province) for an alliance on July 7, 482 BC. Before traveling, Fu Chai turned a deaf ear to his advice to the prince's friends to beware of Yue taking advantage of the situation. He believed that the hegemony of the Central Plains was within easy reach and he should not miss the opportunity.

Therefore, he led an expedition with 30,000 elite soldiers to the empty country and went north to Huangchi. Only Prince You and others were left to stay in Gusu with 10,000 old, weak, sick and disabled people. Gou Jian's dreamed opportunity finally came. On June 12, 482 BC, Gou Jian mobilized 49,000 Yue troops. They were divided into two groups. One group was led by Fan Li and entered the Huaihe River from the sea to cut off the Wu army's return route from Huangchi. The other group was led by Dafu Chou Wuyu and others. Gou Jian He led the main force to follow and went northward overland to attack Suzhou. Prince Wu led his troops to Hongshang (now a suburb of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province) to stop the Vietnamese army from attacking. He felt that all the elite troops had moved northward and their strength was insufficient, so he advocated holding on and waiting for reinforcements. However, Wu general Wang Sun Miyong despised the Vietnamese army and did not listen to the orders. He led 5,000 people to fight without permission and defeated the Vietnamese vanguard. He was even more proud and underestimated the enemy. On the 22nd, Gou Jian's main force arrived, launched a fierce attack, surrounded and annihilated the Wu army, and captured Prince You and others. Then he marched into Gusu.

At this time, Fu Chai was competing with Jin Dinggong for hegemony in Huangchi. He heard that the Vietnamese army had attacked Gusu, and fearing that it would affect the hegemony, he killed seven envoys who came to report the situation to block the bad news. , and used warriors to threaten Jin into concessions, finally reluctantly became the overlord, and then hurriedly returned to the country. However, because the news of the fall of Gusu had leaked, the morale of the army was shaken. Fucha felt that he was unsure of counterattacking the Yue army, so he sent people to ask for peace from Yue. Gou Jian was not strong enough to destroy Wu, so he agreed to the peace negotiation and withdrew his troops back to his country.

After Fu Chai sued for peace with Yue, due to continuous wars, production was greatly damaged and the country was empty. He was unable to fight back for a while, so he calmed down the people and scattered troops in an attempt to restore his strength and wait for another attack. However, the State of Yue used the captured assets to enrich itself and increase its confidence in defeating the State of Wu. In 478 BC, an unprecedented famine occurred in the Kingdom of Wu. Gou Jian believed that the time was ripe for a large-scale attack on Wu, so after full preparations, he led his army in March and marched to Lize (name of water, south of today's Suzhou). Fu Chai also led all the troops in Gusu to attack the Vietnamese army. The Wu army is in the north and the Vietnamese army is in the south. The two sides face each other across the water. At dusk, Gou Jian sent some troops on both wings of the main force to hide in the river. In the middle of the night, he sounded drums and shouted and conducted a feint attack to mobilize the enemy. Fu Cha mistakenly thought that the Vietnamese army was crossing the river to attack in two groups, so he quickly divided his troops to fight in two groups. Gou Jian took advantage of the opportunity and ordered the main force to stop its troops and sneak across the river. He unexpectedly launched an attack from the weak point in the middle of the Wu army and achieved a central breakthrough. The Wu army was defeated and retreated. The Yue army took advantage of their victory to expand their results and launched a fierce pursuit. The Wu army was defeated again and again, and retreated to Gusu. The more they adopted the tactic of long-term siege, in an attempt to trap the Wu army. The Wu army was besieged in Gusu for three years. Finally, exhausted, they broke out and fled to Zhansu Platform, but were immediately surrounded again. Fu Chai tried to imitate Gou Jian's old trick and sent people to sue Yue for peace, saying: "My army is not worthy of the Yue King's crusade. Please allow me to use my treasure and children to comfort the Yue King!" However, Gou Jian at this time was not the same as 20 years ago. In order to avoid indulging the enemy and causing trouble, Gou Jian flatly rejected Fu Cha's request. He replied: "Previously, God gave the State of Yue to the State of Wu, but the State of Wu did not accept the destiny. Now God has given the State of Wu to the State of Yue. How can the Yue State obey you instead of obeying the destiny?" When he failed to seek peace, he was humiliated. Fu Chai committed suicide in despair, and the Wu State was destroyed. Yue took the remaining power from Wu's destruction and crossed the Huaibei River to form an alliance with the princes, finally realizing the last dream of hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period.

The Wu-Yue War, after a long period of competition between the two sides, was full of drama and twists and turns. Gou Jian endured hardships while lying on the firewood, gathered together for ten years, and learned lessons for ten years, which inspired people; Fu Chai became arrogant because of victory, allowed the enemy to cause trouble, forgot about danger when he was in peace, and was ultimately defeated and the country perished.