Chapter 41: The State of Chu Never Recovered from This Blow

To recount the downfall of King Ling of Chu, one must first discuss the circumstances of his successor, King Ping of Chu. King Ping was none other than Prince Qiji, mentioned earlier—the youngest son of King Gong of Chu and the younger brother of King Ling.

Unlike his elder brother, Prince Qiji possessed both virtue and a poised, magnanimous demeanor. When Qiji traveled on a diplomatic mission to the state of Jin, passing through the state of Zheng, the ruler of Zheng led three senior ministers—Zipi, Zichan, and Zi Taishu—to welcome him. Strictly observing protocol, Qiji initially avoided meeting the ruler of Zheng. Only after repeated exhortations from the Zheng people did he consent, and he paid homage to the ruler with the ceremony due to King Ling. He met Zipi, Zichan, and Zi Taishu with the etiquette reserved for senior ministers of his own state and respectfully presented them with gifts. The people of Zheng were not only astonished by his words and actions but also grew increasingly respectful.

What was even more commendable was that Qiji established three strict rules for his entourage: forbidding random horse-riding that might damage the fields of Zheng; prohibiting the unauthorized cutting of trees for firewood; and forbidding anyone from demanding water or grain from the people of Zheng, with severe punishments for violators. Observing Qiji's character, the people of Zheng vaguely sensed that he possessed the aura of an emperor and that he would undoubtedly be the one to eventually supplant King Ling. Consequently, they treated him with immense warmth and meticulous care.

Another individual who must be mentioned is the senior minister Shen Wuyu, a rare example of a loyal and upright official in the court of King Ling. When King Ling was still the Lingyin, he frequently went hunting using the ruler's banners. Deeply outraged by this, Shen Wuyu brandished his sword and cut the banners down. After King Ling completed the construction of the Zhanghua Pavilion, he favored housing escaped criminals within it. Shen Wuyu, however, forcefully broke in, intending to recapture his own runaway servant, and was consequently brought before King Ling. Citing the *Classic of Poetry* in his defense, Shen Wuyu argued that under the vast canopy of heaven, every inch of land belonged to the sovereign, and subordination of the lower to the upper was an established institution. King Wen of Zhou had decreed that fugitive servants must be recaptured. Thus, King Ling pardoned Shen Wuyu for his transgression of forcefully entering the monarch's temporary palace and allowed him to take his servant away.

The predicament in which King Ling found himself was not the result of a single day, but rather the cumulative effect of deeply rooted evils. In the tenth year of King Ling's reign, the king wished to enfeoff Prince Qiji in the newly annexed territory of Cai and sought Shen Wuyu's counsel. Shen Wuyu disagreed, citing how Duke Zhuang of Wei had enfeoffed Prince Yuan in the territory of Yue, which ultimately led to his own deposition. Wise and capable ministers should not be enfeoffed in external territories, just as incompetent villains should not be kept within the palace. King Ling, however, dismissed this advice, believing that the capital was heavily fortified and secured, leaving no room for anyone to harbor malicious designs. Shen Wuyu then invoked the precedents of regicide committed by enfeoffed ministers in the states of Zheng and Song to warn King Ling of the threat that powerful ministers posed to the sovereign.

Having annexed the states of Chen and Cai, King Ling finally gathered enough confidence to launch another campaign against the state of Wu, which had previously gotten the better of him. He led a massive army to besiege the state of Xu as a form of intimidation. By this time, King Ling's self-importance had reached its peak. He asked the Youyin Zige, "Our former kings have always served the Zhou dynasty, yet we have never received corresponding honors. If I now request the Zhou Son of Heaven to bestow the royal cauldrons upon Chu, will he grant it?" Zige replied that because Chu had once been located in remote regions, it was repeatedly looked down upon, but now that the state was militarily strong and populous, the Son of Heaven would not turn a blind eye. The king further inquired what would happen if he demanded from Zheng the ancestral lands they had seized. Zige answered that Zheng would return them without hesitation.

The senior minister Xifu harbored subtle criticisms of Zige, believing that holding a high position while blindly flattering the monarch endangered the state's destiny. Zige, however, merely sneered, saying that he had already whetted his blade and was simply waiting to bring it down upon King Ling. This showed that King Ling had already reached the dangerous precipice of being abandoned by all, while remaining completely oblivious to it.

Instead of showing empathy toward his ministers, King Ling frequently executed them, confiscated their wealth and lands, and subjected them to capital punishments, ultimately igniting the fuse of a massive explosion of grievances. A group of scholar-officials, stripped of their wealth and status, banded together to stage a military coup, capturing the cities of Gu and Xi in Chu.

The state of Cai, which had been conquered and annexed by King Ling, was also seething with unrest, and several former officials seized the opportunity to restore their state. The Cai minister Zhao Wu devised a strategy to instigate King Ling's three younger brothers to overthrow him. Under the pretext of Prince Qiji's name, he summoned back Ziguan and Zixi, who had been forced into exile abroad due to King Ling's persecution, and compelled them to ally with Qiji. Utilizing Qiji's identity as the "Duke of Chen and Cai," they gathered a formidable army. This force marched straight toward the capital of Chu. Along the way, encountering countless individuals who had suffered persecution under King Ling, the rebel army faced virtually no resistance and swelled steadily. Cai You, the garrison commander of Yingdu, harbored a blood feud against King Ling for the murder of his father; following the fall of Cai, he had reluctantly served in King Ling's court merely to preserve his life. When the rebel army arrived, he predictably surrendered the city.

Prince Qiji dispatched men into the palace to assassinate King Ling's two sons, Crown Prince Lu and Prince Badi. King Ling's three younger brothers proclaimed themselves titles in order of seniority: Ziguan, the eldest, was elevated as king; Zixi, the second, advanced to the position of Lingyin; and Qiji, the youngest, took the post of Sima. With internal interests successfully coordinated, they set out to disintegrate King Ling's remaining forces. Ziguan dispatched Guan Cong to infiltrate King Ling's military camp at Qianxi to spread word that those who returned to the capital to pledge allegiance to the new king would retain their original status and stipends, whereas those who remained obstinate would face execution. Consequently, the morale in the camp collapsed, and soldiers desertively fled back to the capital in droves.

Upon hearing the dire news, King Ling was struck with terror and fell from his chariot. With morale completely shattered and the army continuously dwindling, only a handful of men, including Youyin Zige, remained by his side. King Ling asked Zige for counsel. Zige advised the king to return to the capital and await disposition; King Ling refused, believing that popular wrath was untouchable. Zige then suggested appealing to the feudal lords for rescue; King Ling replied that he had been abandoned by all and could no longer count on outside help. Finally, Zige proposed fleeing to a foreign state; King Ling lamented that his blessings were exhausted and he could no longer enjoy the treatment due to a sovereign. Left with no alternative, Zige departed to seek his own survival.

Reduced to utter isolation, King Ling wandered in the mountains until Shen Hai, the son of the former minister Shen Wuyu, took him in, mindful of the kindness King Ling had shown his father. Shortly thereafter, overwhelmed by despair, King Ling hanged himself from a tree, bringing his absurd and sinful life to an end.

***

In that era, a considerable number of rulers ended their own lives, mostly driven by state upheavals and domestic catastrophes.

Prince Qiji assumed office in the new court, yet he was far from happy, for he had contributed the most to the coup. It was his prestige as the "Duke of Chen and Cai" that had rallied the people together, and the armies of Chen and Cai—the main pillar of the rebel forces—were fundamentally his private militia. Under such circumstances, both by reason and sentiment, the throne rightfully belonged to Qiji. Yet, as it turned out, his two elder brothers usurped all the benefits while he was forced to remain subordinate and take orders.

Guan Cong was well aware of Prince Qiji's resentment and advised Zixi and Ziguan to strike first while Qiji had yet to rise, eliminating him to prevent future trouble. Zixi could not bear to do it. Helpless, Guan Cong sighed that Qiji certainly would not hesitate to move against them. Thereupon, Guan Cong packed his belongings and left Chu.

Prince Qiji acted swiftly. Capitalizing on the lingering ghost of King Ling's shadow, he exploited the legitimacy of the new regime to his advantage. No matter how dim-witted and tyrannical King Ling had been, and no matter how richly he deserved his fate, the new King of Chu, Ziguan, was ultimately a usurper. Even with popular support, deep down he could not escape the shadow cast by his dubious status, which provided Qiji with an opening. On one hand, before people realized that King Ling was dead, Qiji widely spread rumors that King Ling was returning with a massive army; on the other hand, he dispatched trusted confidants in the dead of night to shout loudly that King Ling had come back. This threw the populace into a panic, leaving King of Chu Ziguan and Lingyin Zixi, secluded deep within the palace, unable to sleep in peace.

Finally, deeming the moment ripe, Qiji sent subordinates to create a grand commotion, spreading rumors that King Ling was leading an army back. He also had others run into the palace in feigned terror to report to Ziguan and Zixi, urging them to devise an immediate response. Plunged into panic and utterly at their wits' end, the two brothers both hanged themselves. Prince Qiji achieved a resounding victory and ascended the throne as King Ping of Chu.

By taking a dangerous gamble and reaping miraculous results, Prince Qiji ascended to power and promptly fulfilled his earlier promise by restoring the autonomy of Chen and Cai. He allowed the severely debilitated state to recuperate, restoring political order and economic production. To stabilize public sentiment, he displayed masterful political skill: dressing a prisoner in King Ling's attire, killing him, and casting the body into the water, thereby thoroughly erasing King Ling from the minds of the people and ushering in a new era.

Yet King Ping did not become the savior of Chu. Although he initially acted indeed like a wise monarch, as if under a nightmare curse flowing through the bloodline of this royal family, King Ping's brief period of enlightened rule was merely a fleeting flash of brilliance before death, powerless to halt the state's descent into an unfathomable abyss.

During the first few years of his reign, King Ping genuinely exhibited the demeanor he had shown back when he was Prince Qiji. He gradually rallied the scattered populace, summoning back refugees and displaced persons to settle them down and restore production. He promoted loyal and capable individuals, pardoned the guilty, and purified the political atmosphere within the realm.

In foreign affairs, King Ping maintained an extremely low profile, virtually relinquishing Chu's international standing. The state of Jin emerged as the greatest beneficiary, cementing its undisputed hegemony. Jin massed troops along the border to project its might and shortly thereafter convened multiple allied states to solidify its status, signaling its political dominance to Chu. To all these developments, King Ping remained entirely indifferent.

The increasingly powerful state of Wu was equally restless. Taking advantage of Chu's unsettled domestic order and preoccupation with internal affairs, Wu marched its armies outward to annex territory, capturing the city of Zhulai. Lingyin Ziqi requested military action in response, but King Ping resisted impulse, firmly prioritizing the cultivation of "internal strength." He declared that having just ascended the throne, the state was not yet stable and external expansion was inappropriate. The priority lay in pacifying the populace, diligently performing ancestral sacrifices, and consolidating national defense. To rashly dispatch troops only to suffer defeat would be like adding frost to snow, risking the complete overthrow of the state.

For five years, King Ping "rested the people," dispatching officials across the land to establish military colonies and farm the fields. He aided the weak and supported the impoverished, providing relief to the elderly, the young, and the orphaned, gradually correcting a state that had long deviated from the right path. Simultaneously, he trained troops, accumulated strength, bided his time, and awaited a shift in the political landscape.

Of course, King Ping was not perpetually lenient. When dealing with bureaucrats who grew arrogant and unrestrained by virtue of their past contributions, he displayed an unyielding and stern side. Lingyin Ziqi had rendered foundational service in helping King Ping ascend the throne, and using this as capital, he acted lawlessly everywhere, pursuing personal gain at the expense of the state. Heartbroken yet resolute, King Ping subjected him to capital punishment to serve as a warning to others.

***

It must be said that King Ping's choice was sober and wise. The state of Chu he inherited resembled a giant suffering from a terminal illness—possessing a towering exterior devoid of substantial flesh and blood. Under such conditions, blind reliance on force would prevent the already dying state from recovering; only through gradual recuperation, smoothing out the nation's meridians from the inside out, could further development be accelerated. It can be said that King Ping's early governance was a success: he spared Chu from plunging into irreversible decline and becoming a vassal to other states, preserving the possibility of Chu's resurgence and its return to contend for the Central Plains as a major power.

However, throughout history, monarchs have frequently succumbed to foolishness, and King Ping was no exception. His judgment in recognizing talent was indeed poor. He lavished favor on the sycophantic minister Fei Wuji, appointing him as the tutor to the crown prince. Crown Prince Jian, King Ping's son, had been born when King Ping had not yet ascended the throne and was still ruling the territories of Chen and Cai as Prince Qiji, cohabiting with a local woman. Crown Prince Jian disliked this "tutor" because he perceived Fei Wuji's crooked character. In the second year of King Ping's reign (527 BCE), the minister Zhao Wu achieved meritorious service and was enfeoffed in Cai. Fearing that Zhao Wu would secure favor and threaten his own position, Fei Wuji sowed discord between Zhao Wu and the people of Cai, making it impossible for Zhao Wu to remain, thus forcing him into exile. When King Ping reprimarded Fei Wuji, the latter cunningly argued that Zhao Wu harbored malicious intentions and had therefore fled his fiefdom.

Crown Prince Jian recognized Fei Wuji's despicable nature and gradually distanced himself from him, growing closer instead to his other tutor, Wu She. Observing this, Fei Wuji harbored deep resentment and hatched a vicious scheme. He suggested to King Ping that since Crown Prince Jian had reached adulthood, preparations should be made for his marriage. King Ping agreed and commissioned Fei Wuji to oversee the arrangement. Fei Wuji traveled to the state of Qin to seek a bride; upon completing the mission, he reported back to King Ping, exaggerating the extraordinary beauty of the Qin princess. Prompted by his instigation, King Ping took the Qin princess into his own bedchamber. This act laid the fateful groundwork for the bitter enmity between King Ping and his son, ultimately triggering internal chaos within Chu.

In the same year, Fei Wuji once again offered counsel to King Ping, arguing that Jin dominated the Central Plains and commanded the feudal lords by virtue of its geographical advantage, whereas Chu was relegated to a remote location, hindering its hegemony. He proposed fortifying the city of Chengfu and stationing Crown Prince Jian there to guard it, while the sovereign further expanded territories southward to sustain the growth of Chu's national strength. King Ping followed his advice.

With Crown Prince Jian transferred away from the capital, Fei Wuji grew increasingly unbridled. He bombarded King Ping with endless slander, claiming that Crown Prince Jian was deeply resentful that King Ping had forcefully taken the Qin princess originally betrothed to him. Now stationed unguarded on the frontier, the prince was allegedly plotting rebellion, collaborating internally with his tutor Wu She and secretly colluding externally with the states of Jin and Qi. Shocked and enraged, King Ping summoned Wu She for questioning. Being blunt and outspoken, Wu She rebuked the king for listening to a sycophantic minister and wrongfully accusing Crown Prince Jian, compounding one error upon another. Enraged, King Ping cast Wu She into prison and dispatched assassins to kill Crown Prince Jian.

The royal envoy dispatched for the task, Sima Fenyang, was unwilling to watch Crown Prince Jian suffer an unjust death and warned him in advance, allowing the prince to successfully flee to the state of Song. Upon returning to court, when questioned by King Ping, Sima Fenyang straightforwardly confessed that he had leaked the warning, pointing out that King Ping had originally commanded him to serve Crown Prince Jian just as he served the king himself—he had merely executed the sovereign's initial command. Unable to punish him, King Ping had no choice but to send him back to the frontier city to continue his duties.

Still relentless, Fei Wuji advised King King once more: Wu She's two sons were stationed far away on the frontier, and detaining their father might prove disadvantageous to the state; if summoned back, they could all be eliminated at once. Receiving the command, Wu She's two sons hesitated. The elder brother, Wu Shang, urged his younger brother, Wu Zixu, to flee immediately, noting that Wu Zixu's resourcefulness would suffice to exact vengeance in the future, whereas he himself must return to the capital to afford their father a final glimmer of survival. Consequently, Wu Zixu fled to the state of Wu, while Wu Shang returned to the capital and was executed alongside his father.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Jian's mother communicated covertly with the state of Wu, inviting its forces to capture the city where she resided, and fled to Wu with her jewelry and valuables.

Having endured this series of upheavals, the state of Chu suffered a severe blow to its vitality. Public resentment over King Ping's foolishness steadily mounted, and the people murmured in discontent. When Lingyin Zichang was ordered to rebuild the capital's walls, he overheard the populace whispering that building walls was useless when the state was already mired in internal turmoil and external threats; when popular trust was lost within and enemies loomed without, piling the walls ever higher would accomplish nothing.

In the ninth year of King Ping's reign (520 BCE), Chu launched a military campaign against Wu, only to be counter-attacked. Far from achieving any success, Chu forces were ambushed by Wu and lost two commanderies, marking Chu's irreversible decline.