Chapter 42: The "Sub-Healthy" State of Chu

During the reign of King Ping of Chu, the state of Chu was plagued by troubles both internal and external. All of this stemmed from the king’s inability to judge character. Loyal and capable figures throughout the land of Chu were marginalized, squeezed out, and forced to flee their homeland, while flatterers and scoundrels filled the royal court, lingering constantly by the king’s side. With the court enveloped in a foul atmosphere, the nation naturally grew restless, volatile, and fractured in spirit.

Yet, looking across the history of Chu’s existence and development, King Ping was not the only ruler incapable of distinguishing between the loyal and the treacherous. There is a famous historical allusion from the Spring and Autumn period: a debate by the renowned diplomat Cai Shengzi regarding the phenomenon of "the talents of Chu being employed by Jin." This accurately and comprehensively reflected the reality that the rulers of Chu did not value capable individuals, allowing them to flow away to foreign lands, and to a certain extent, it revealed why Chu repeatedly fell behind in the shifting balance of power during its hegemony struggles with other states.

In 574 BC, Cai Shengzi traveled between the major powers of Jin and Chu to mediate their conflicts. In a conversation with the Prime Minister (Yin) of Chu, Zimu, he was asked whose scholars and officials were wiser, those of Jin or those of Chu. Cai Shengzi answered with resonant conviction: "The ministers of Jin are inferior to those of Chu," yet "though Chu possesses the talents, Jin puts them to practical use."

Cai Shengzi frankly admitted that while Jin also relied on members of its royal clan, it made extensive use of Chu's talent. The ruler of Chu was harsh and fond of punishments, driving Chu scholars to repeatedly flee the state and take office in other countries, where they displayed their talents and, conversely, devised strategies that harmed Chu's interests for the benefit of their adopted lands. Cai Shengzi cited the rebellion of the Chu noble Prince Yishen as an example. In the chaos, the Chu grandee Xi Gong was implicated and forced to defect to Jin, where he was treated as an honored guest. Consequently, during the wars between Jin and Chu, it was he who pointed out the Chu army's volatile and reckless temperament and its weakness for easily exhausted morale, helping the Jin army achieve a resounding victory.

There was also the Chu grandee Yongzi, who, falsely accused by his father and brothers and given no chance to defend himself, was forced to flee to Jin. During the warfare between Jin and Chu, he saved the Jin army from the brink of collapse, rousing their morale to fight to the death and ultimately turning defeat into victory. Furthermore, there was Wu Ju. Because he married the daughter of Prince Mou of Shen, he was implicated in Prince Mou's crimes and forced into a wrongful exile in Zheng, hoping day and night to clear his name and return home. Recently, he had gone to Jin, where he was deeply valued and ranked among the renowned ministers. If he were to plot against Chu, the defense would be impossible to guard against.

Hearing Cai Shengzi’s series of arguments, Prime Minister Zimu was chilled to the bone and hastily advised King Kang of Chu to clear Wu Ju’s name and welcome him back to Chu.

However, Wu Ju’s good fortune was merely a rare exception among Chu's ministers. Within the royal court of Chu, wise ministers and loyal generals were repeatedly suspected and cast aside, leaving them with no choice but to be employed by other states and, in turn, bite back at Chu. As time went on, how could Chu avoid defeat?

Wu Zixu was arguably the most tragic among them. After his father and brothers were murdered, he fled alone to Song, seeking refuge with the Crown Prince Jian of Chu, who had also been driven into exile by slanderous accusations. However, Song at that time was likewise plagued by frequent internal strife and an extremely unstable political environment. Since Crown Prince Jian and Wu Zixu were themselves displaced guests, they could not remain there long and were forced to set out for the state of Zheng.

The ruler of Zheng took them in and treated them with courtesy. Alas, Crown Prince Jian was insatiably greedy and blinded by the lure of profit; he actually promised Jin that he would act as an internal agent for an attack on Zheng. When the plot was exposed, it brought down capital punishment upon him. Given Crown Prince Jian’s disgraceful conduct, Wu Zixu’s position in Zheng naturally became perilous, and he risked his life to smuggle the crown prince’s young son, Sheng, out of the state.

Wu Zixu’s destination was the state of Wu. Upon reaching the Zhaoguan Pass, the garrison guards had already received orders to apprehend him. At this critical juncture, Wu Zixu found a ferryman who took the two of them across the river. Wu Zixu promptly unbuckled his jade-mounted sword to present as a gift, but the boatman refused it and departed. Upon arriving in Wu, Wu Zixu found a state in a period of rapid ascent, with continuously growing economic and military strength, a broad acceptance of foreign talent, and ambitious external goals. Naturally, Wu Zixu was valued by King Liao of Wu. Through the introduction of Prince Guang, he met King Liao and became a trusted retainer under his command.

At that time, Wu’s emergence as a rising power naturally aroused Chu’s vigilance, and given their shared border, conflicts were ceaseless. After Prince Guang led an army to conquer the Chu territories of Zhongli and Juchao, Wu Zixu seized the opportunity to advise King Liao to continue reinforcing the troops and capture Chu in one fell swoop. Prince Guang, however, maintained a cool head, believing the time was not yet ripe to destroy Chu and that Wu Zixu’s advice was inevitably intertwined with personal emotional vendettas, making it unfeasible. King Liao consequently ordered a halt to the military campaign.

Prince Guang and King Liao were not of one mind. The three sons of King Liao’s grandfather, King Shoumeng of Wu—Zhufan, Yuji, and Yumai—had successively reigned as king. After Yumai died, their younger brother Jili was unwilling to succeed to the throne, and thus Yumai’s son, King Liao, was made the ruler. Prince Guang was the son of Shoumeng’s eldest son, Zhufan. Facing such a situation, his heart was naturally restless, and dark intentions to assassinate King Liao began to stir within him. Reading the expressions, Wu Zixu naturally understood Prince Guang’s hidden thoughts perfectly. For Wu Zixu himself, trying to make a living as an exile in King Liao’s court was certainly not as advantageous as supporting a new ruler to secure the status of a founding hero, which would also help him mobilize Wu’s resources to fulfill his vow of vengeance.

Therefore, Wu Zixu secretly searched and made the acquaintance of Zhuan Zhu, who would later become a famous assassin in history. He bound him with grace and righteousness and recommended him to Prince Guang. As for himself, Wu Zixu withdrew from King Liao’s court, retired to the countryside, and quietly awaited developments.

Prince Guang did not make Wu Zixu wait too long. After King Ping of Chu died, King Zhao of Chu ascended the throne. Seizing the opportunity of the new ruler's initial ascension and Chu's unstable political situation, King Liao of Wu launched a massive invasion, only to encounter setbacks and hastily retreat. Taking advantage of King Liao’s unsettled state of mind, Prince Guang hosted a banquet to calm his nerves. During the feast, Zhuan Zhu struck, King Liao was killed, and Prince Guang successfully ascended to power.

Prince Guang was none other than King Helü of Wu. Naturally, he did not forget Wu Zixu’s contribution; he immediately invited Wu Zixu back, treated him as his innermost confidant, and together they deliberated on affairs of state. At that time, Chu had once again initiated a purge of meritorious officials and their families, prompting a batch of loyal generals, wise ministers, and their descendants to flee abroad. Wu has thus acquired Bo Pi, the grandson of the famous Chu minister Bo Zhouli, though no one at the time could have foreseen that this man would later become the calamity that caused Wu’s destruction.

King Helü of Wu harbored grand ambitions, and before him, Chu was both the touchstone and the stumbling block for Wu’s path to dominance under heaven. In the third year of Helü (512 BC), Wu Zixu, Bo Pi, and Sun Wu were ordered to lead an army to attack Chu. They achieved a minor victory, capturing a border town and taking two princes captive who had defected from Wu to Chu. At this moment, King Helü lost the cool composure he had possessed back when he was Prince Guang, and strongly advocated pressing the victory to march on the capital of Chu. Sun Wu advised that with Wu’s current national strength, destroying Chu was still beyond reach; there were still many domestic citizens who had not escaped poverty, and destroying Chu would inevitably require organizing large-scale battles and consuming vast physical resources, posing a great risk to Wu. It would be better to temporarily withdraw and plan for subsequent offensives. Helü agreed.

Wu’s footsteps did not halt. The state of Chu to the west and the state of Yue to the south repeatedly served as objects for military drills. Wu also grew its national strength, accumulated experience, and enhanced its self-confidence through repeated victories. Finally, in the ninth year of Helü (506 BC), the King of Wu made up his mind to wage a decisive battle against Chu, and Wu Zixu finally awaited the opportunity to avenge his deep hatred. By this time, more than sixteen years had passed since Wu Zixu fled Chu.

After Wu Zixu helped King Helü ascend the throne, Wu pointed its spearhead straight at Chu. Chu was undergoing a transition of power at the time; King Zhao had just ascended the throne and his position was unstable. Fei Wuji seized the opportunity to stir up trouble, causing continuous internal turmoil within the state.

Fei Wuji chose Zuo Yin (Left Minister) Xi Wan as his target. This man possessed a loyal and good character and enjoyed deep popularity among the people. Fei Wuji slandered Xi Wan incessantly before Prime Minister Zichang. Time and time again, Prime Minister Zichang ultimately failed to perceive the wickedness, ordering the confiscation of the Xi family's assets and the extermination of their clan, while also implicating the families of other grandees who maintained friendly ties with Xi Wan on ordinary days. The state of Chu was instantly thrown into chaos.

Fei Wuji’s actions provoked public outrage. The clans of Jin and Chen could not sit idly by as such tyranny ran rampant against the families of high ministers, so they successively voiced their stances, questioning Prime Minister Zichang by saying that Fei Wuji and his factional cohort Yan Jiangshi were acting with unbridled recklessness, practically setting themselves up as kings, wreaking havoc on the nation, and weakening the royal house. All of this was happening under the Prime Minister’s protection; if this continued, what would become of the country? Shen Yinshu even confronted Prime Minister Zichang face-to-face, stating that the families of princes, dukes, and grandees were the wealth of the nation—how could they be destroyed in such a manner? The state of Wu was currently brandishing its might, and if Chu continued its internal turmoil, it would fall into crisis, at which point Prime Minister Zichang himself would not escape unscathed. Wise men always eradicated slander to ensure their own safety, yet you, Zichang, took pleasure in creating such slanderers—how profoundly unwise! Pressured by public opinion, Prime Minister Zichang had no choice but to execute Fei Wuji and Yan Jiangshi.

Prime Minister Zichang of Chu was a man who loved accepting bribes and listening to slander, muddle-headed and dissolute by nature. When Marquis Zhao of Cai and Marquis Cheng of Tang visited Chu, both were detained simply because they failed to properly grease Zichang’s palms. The experiences of the rulers of Cai and Tang in Chu spread throughout the world, completely destroying Chu’s credibility. Consequently, various minor states successively defected to Jin, forming alliances that created a formidable deterrent against Chu. All of this was bestowed by the greed of Prime Minister Zichang.

In the fourth year of King Zhao of Chu, which was also the third year of King Helü of Wu, Wu troops invaded Chu, capturing the two princes Yanyu and Zhuyong, who had betrayed Wu due to Helü’s usurpation. King Helü heeded Wu Zixu’s proposal, dividing his forces into three routes and employing tactics of surprise attack and mobile maneuvering to throw Chu’s borders into ceaseless turmoil. Four years later, taking advantage of the state of Tong’s rebellion against Chu, Wu dispatched troops, repeatedly disrupting Chu’s suppression campaigns, defeating the Chu army led by Prime Minister Zichang, casually capturing cities, and taking garrison officials prisoner. It could be said that the memory of Wu invasions along the borders accompanied the entire reign of King Zhao of Chu, without a single year of cessation.

In 506 BC, King Helü of Wu finally made up his mind to assemble his army for a decisive battle against Chu. Wu Zixu and Sun Wu shared the same opinion that they should ally with the states of Tang and Cai, both of which had previously suffered deep humiliation from Prime Minister Zichang, to serve as assisting forces. Marquis Cheng of Tang and Marquis Zhao of Cai gladly led troops to assist, and the allied forces of the three states marched menacingly toward Chu.

The main force of the Wu army confronted the Chu army across the Han River at Yuzhang. On the Wu side, the troops were naturally led by Wu Zixu and Sun Wu; on the Chu side, command was primarily held by Prime Minister Zichang and Left Sima (Military Commander) Shu. Based on the situation, Left Sima Shu suggested that the Chu army divide into two routes: he would lead one army to outflank the enemy's rear, while Prime Minister Zichang launched a frontal charge, striking from both directions so the enemy could not attend to both head and tail.

Zichang did not follow the plan. The deeply rooted flaws of his personality flared up once more; out of a petty-minded fear that Left Sima Shu would steal his glory, Prime Minister Zichang ordered a reckless assault before Left Sima Shu had penetrated deep into the enemy's rear. He suffered three consecutive defeats and, in a panic, wanted to flee. However, his subordinates reminded him that only by fighting desperately to the death could he escape the crime of causing the enemy invasion through his greed for bribes. Zichang had no choice but to fight repeatedly despite his defeats.

In November of that year, the two armies met again at Boju. Helü’s younger brother, Fugai, requested permission to lead the vanguard and charge the enemy lines. He believed that Prime Minister Zichang had already lost the will of his army and that a bold advance would cause the enemy to completely collapse. Out of cautious consideration, the King of Wu did not grant his request. Fugai thereupon led his personal guards and charged forward without notifying the King of Wu. Seeing this, the King of Wu had no choice but to wave his forces forward in pursuit, destroying the main strength of the Chu army. Prime Minister Zichang fled from the chaotic melee and defected to the state of Zheng. Subsequently, the Wu army surrounded and slaughtered the remnants of the Chu army at Qingfa, winning battle after battle. The Chu army was exhausted, starving, and running for their lives in fatigue. Left Sima Shu led his troops in a desperate, stubborn resistance, but his forces gradually withered and stood alone without support. Left Sima Shu himself was severely wounded; unwilling to suffer the humiliation of capture, he ended his unyielding life by suicide.

The Wu army finally breached Ying, the capital of Chu. King Zhao of Chu had no choice but to embark on a journey of exile, wandering in misery and threading his way through the encirclements of the Wu army. He was attacked once more at the Yunmeng Marsh and finally arrived at the territory of Yun. However, King Ping of Chu had a blood feud involving the murder of his father with the Lord of Yun; this time, King Zhao of Chu could be said to have walked right into a trap. The younger brother of the Lord of Yun was desperately eager to kill King Zhao to comfort the spirit of his father in heaven. Fearing that it would needlessly spawn complications, the Lord of Yun stopped his brother and sent King Zhao to the territory of Sui. The Wu army followed closely behind, reminding the people of Sui of the tyranny with which Chu had previously exterminated various minor states around the Han River, prompting the people of Sui to also want to kill King Zhao.

King Zhao’s elder brother, Ziqi, looked very much like King Zhao; he stepped forward, disguised himself as the king, and demanded that the people of Sui hand him over to the Wu army in exchange for King Zhao’s safety. The people of Sui hesitated over this as well, because although Chu had annexed them in the past, it had actually not completely exterminated them; instead, Chu had shown them considerable grace, allowing them to govern themselves to this day. Thus, the people of Sui bore no deep-seated hatred toward Chu. After a round of divination and inquiry, the people of Sui concluded that handing over King Zhao of Chu in this manner would bring bad luck, so they rejected the demands of the Wu people and sheltered King Zhao instead.

Wu Zixu finally realized his long-cherished wish, standing once more upon the high walls of the city of Ying. There were two things that caused him profound regret: first, King Ping was already dead, so he could not enjoy the thrill of personally slaying his enemy; second, King Zhao had escaped, leaving him unable to vent his overflowing hatred upon Ping’s descendants. Yet for Wu Zixu, this was no longer important. What mattered was that after enduring humiliation and bearing heavy burdens for many years, he had finally awaited this day of breakthrough and emerged as the ultimate victor. He dug King Ping’s corpse out of its ancestral tomb and whipped it three hundred times viciously, which could be considered comforting the spirits of his father and brothers in heaven.

However, the state of Chu did not perish as a result. A man named Shen Baoxu became the savior of Chu. He was an ordinary Chu official who rushed to the state of Qin during the crisis, wept bitterly outside the palace gates of Qin for seven days and seven nights, and finally touched the heart of the ruler of Qin, successfully summoning reinforcements and rescuing the dying dynastic mandate of Chu.

On the other hand, Wu’s diplomatic efforts were actually not as effective as the people of Wu imagined. Ever since capturing the capital of Chu, the people of Wu discovered that they had become the side "lacking support due to losing the righteous path." Coupled with the genuinely tyrannical conduct of the Wu army in their actions, public opinion shifted Wu’s status from "punishers of the rebellious" to "invaders." The nature of the Wu-Chu war thus changed, and Wu’s position of legitimacy was utterly lost.

Just as Shen Baoxu was leading Qin’s reinforcements in a swift dash to aid the ancestral lands of Chu, the state of Yue, which had been watching the fire from across the river all along, had long been itching for action. Yue had never harbored any affection for Wu, and frequent friction had occurred between the two states. Precisely because of this shared enemy of Wu, Yue’s relations with Chu had always been quite good. Therefore, seizing the golden opportunity when the Wu army’s campaign in Chu had dragged on for a long time, its momentum was gradually fading, and it had fallen into the awkward dilemma of both having to pursue the remnants of the Wu army and pacify the newly occupied Chu territories, Yue decisively dispatched troops, tying a huge, inextricable knot into Wu’s already tangled military situation.

Wu fell into an awkward predicament: First, its military operations gradually grew ineffective, and it had no good methods to deal with Chu’s stubborn resistance; second, the reinforcements from Qin and Yue had arrived right before their eyes and were burning with high morale—clashing with them head-on would inevitably result in losses; third, international public opinion had already tilted toward Chu, and if Wu persisted in its error, the nation would lose all popular support, destroying the image accumulated through decades of hard work overnight and leaving it facing a dangerous external environment in the future. Just as King Helü of Wu found himself caught in a dilemma of whether to advance or retreat, he encountered another tricky matter: his younger brother Fugai seized the opportunity while Helü was deeply bogged down in the quagmire of Chu to attempt a usurpation of the throne back home. Helü finally made up his mind to extricate himself from Chu and return home to clean house. His brother’s usurpation objectively provided Helü with a face-saving step, giving him an excuse to avoid the embarrassment of admitting that his campaign against Chu had returned without achievements—this could not but be described as a form of irony.

Helü truly lived up to his reputation as a ruler with formidable drive. After rushing back home, he easily resolved the situation with his younger brother, driving Fugai into a flustered flight toward Chu—the very land he had once strode across with such high spirits. King Zhao of Chu, showing no regard for past ill will, actually granted him a fief. After all, this man’s treasonous act had objectively contributed to the survival of Chu.

Helü could not find peace. A beginning of such grand momentum had ended in such a farce, and his grand ambition to destroy Chu had been battered into fragments by reality. Fueled by a heart full of lingering unwillingness, Helü led an army back to the borders of Chu, wishing to fight a decisive battle for supremacy against the combined forces of Qin and Chu. As a result, the script of winning first and losing later played out once more: after scoring a minor victory over the Chu army, the Wu army was defeated in three consecutive battles by the Qin forces that immediately stepped into the fray, completely stripping away their arrogant demeanor.

King Zhao of Chu returned to court, offering rewards for merits while settling accounts afterwards. However, having escaped a catastrophic ordeal, King Zhao understood deeply the value of human hearts. He adopted a conciliatory posture, focusing primarily on bestowals and letting bygones be bygones even toward those who had wanted to kick him while he was down during his exile. Consequently, within a relatively short period of time, he preliminarily rallied the hearts of the people that had been scattered for so long.

Looking at this great calamity that befell Chu, it sounded an alarm for the state teetering on the brink of ruin. Although Chu managed to survive thanks to the stubborn resilience of its people, foreign assistance, and Wu’s own internal friction, the reality of its long-standing disorder and internal decay was indisputable. Chu was like a large tree infested with wood-boring worms; though it narrowly survived being burned by a mountain fire, these worms, quickly forgetting the pain once the scars healed, began to stir once more, plunging the nation back into a "sub-healthy" state of survival.