A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 40 Li Ji’s Rebellion, Chong’er is in a state of despair

The thirty-ninth year of Jin Gong and the ninety-fourth year of Bai Kingdom (677 BC)
Jin Cheng, who was promoted to Jin Wu Gong from Quwo Wugong, died, and his son Jin Gui succeeded to the throne as Jin Xiangong.

The fifth year of Duke Jin and the ninety-ninth year of Bai Kingdom

Duke Xian of Jin conquered Li Rong and obtained Li Ji and Li Ji's sister. Duke Xian loved these sisters very much.

The eighth year of Duke Jin, the one hundred and second year of Bai Kingdom
The official Wei (wěi) advised Duke Xian of Jin: "Your Majesty! It turns out that there are too many young men in the Jin Dynasty's official office. If we don't kill them, we will definitely have trouble in Jin." Duke Xiang of Jin accepted it. With this suggestion, he sent people to kill all the princes, and at the same time built a city in the gathering place as the capital of the Jin State, called Jiang, and began to establish the capital in Jiang.

In the ninth year of Jin Gong, in the 103rd year of Bai Kingdom
The princes of Jin fled to Guo, so Guo Gong once again launched an army to attack Jin, but failed to defeat Jin.

In the 12th year of Jin Gong, in the 106th year of Bai Kingdom
Li Ji gave birth to Xi Qi. Because of his love for Li Ji, Duke Xian once wanted to depose the original crown prince, so he held a court meeting and said to the officials: "Quwo is where our ancestors' ancestral temple is located, and Pucheng is close to Qin, and Quyi is close to Zhai." , if I don’t send my sons to guard those places, I will have trouble sleeping and eating!”

Therefore, Duke Xian asked his eldest son Shensheng to live in Quwo, his eldest son Chong'er to live in Puyi, his eldest son Yiwu to live in Quyi, and his eldest son Xiqi and his eldest son Zhuozi to live in Jiang, the capital of the country. From this, the people of Jin knew that the crown prince Shen Sheng could not succeed to the throne.

The eldest son Shen Sheng, his mother was the daughter of Duke Huan of Qi, named Qi Jiang, but she died early. In addition, Shen Sheng's half-sister married Duke Mu of Qin as his wife. Chong'er's mother was a woman from the Hu family in the Bai Kingdom, Yiwu's mother was the sister of Chong'er's mother, and Zhuozi's mother was the sister of Li Ji. Duke Xiang of Jin had eight sons in total, among whom the eldest son Shen Sheng, the eldest son Chong'er and the eldest son Yi Wu were all capable and virtuous. But after Xian Gong married Li Ji, he gradually alienated his three sons.

Prince Chong'er liked to make friends with scholars since he was a child. By the time he was seventeen, he had five friends with high moral character and outstanding talents: Zhao Shuai, Hu Yan (Chong'er's uncle), Jia Tuo, Xian Zhen, and Wei Ji.

Among them, Hu Yan is Chong'er's uncle. He grew up in the Bai Kingdom and attended the Bai Academy of the Bai Kingdom. He was influenced by the customs of the Bai Kingdom. Therefore, he not only has outstanding talents, but also has a wide range of contacts. People who have interacted with him say: "Hu Yan! This is a gentleman like the Bai family!"

Under the influence of Hu Yan, Prince Chong'er always regarded himself as a gentleman, so he treated people and things very appropriately, and many people were willing to associate with him. This is why people in Jin said that Prince Chong'er was good at raising scholars.

But these words reached Li Ji's ears, and Li Ji also knew the prestige of the three young masters in the hearts of Jin people, so in order to prevent the prince Shen Sheng, the prince Chong'er and the prince Yi Wu from threatening the status of her sons, Li Ji prepared Strike first to gain the upper hand.

In the 21st year of Jin Gong, in the 115th year of Bai Kingdom

With everything ready, Li Ji was ready to take action. That day Duke Xian went out hunting. Taking this opportunity, Li Ji summoned Shen Sheng and said:

"Shen Sheng! The king dreamed of Qi Jiang last night. This is because he misses your mother! As the closest people to the king, we should share the king's worries, so your prince, please go to Quwo to worship your mother. Mother, when you come back, give the meat to the king. I think the king will be very happy!"

Shen Sheng had no doubts after hearing this, so he rushed to Quwo to sacrifice his mother Qi Jiang. When he came back, he prepared to offer the gizzard meat used in the sacrifice to Xian Gong. But because Xian Gong did not return from hunting, Shen Sheng had to put the meat in the palace and wait for Xian Gong to come back before others offered it to him.

Seeing that Shen Sheng was unprepared, Li Ji immediately sent someone to poison the meat.

Two days later, when Duke Xiang returned from hunting, the cook presented the meat to Xiangong, saying that it was the meat from when the prince went to Quwo to sacrifice his mother Qi Jiang, and it was specially presented to the monarch. Xiangong was not suspicious and was about to eat it.

At this time, Li Ji dissuaded her from the side: "Your Majesty, this pork belly is sent from a far away place, and as a monarch, you must test whether it is poisonous before eating. This is not only a courtesy. , but also for the sake of the monarch’s safety!”

After hearing this, Duke Xian had no choice but to let someone test the poison because of his love for Li Ji. So he cut off part of the gizzard meat and gave it to the dog, but the dog died immediately after eating it. He also gave it to the eunuch, who also died on the spot.

Li Ji suddenly cried and cried: "How can the prince be so cruel! In order to succeed to the throne, he even wanted to kill his own father, let alone others? Even beasts know how to honor their parents, let alone humans?
Your Majesty, you are already old, how long can you live? But the prince still can't wait to kill you. What a vicious person he is! Can such a person still inherit your throne? If such a cruel person can inherit the throne, then I should die earlier to avoid suffering in the future! "

After crying, Li Ji said to Duke Xian: "The prince would do this probably because of my relationship with Xi Qi. Now that the matter has come to this, I am willing to take Xi Qi and escape to other countries together, or commit suicide as soon as possible. In order to prevent our mother and son from being killed by the crown prince. At the beginning, the king planned to depose the crown prince, and I felt regretful; only today do I realize that I was wrong."

Duke Xian was already very angry, but after what Li Ji said, he became even more angry, so he ordered the prince Shen Sheng to be arrested in the palace, and he wanted to interrogate him personally. He wanted to see what the rebellious son was thinking.

Before Xian Gong sent people to arrest Shen Sheng, Li Ji asked someone to tell Shen Sheng quietly about the incident, and said with added jealousy: "Your Majesty! Now the king is angry. Even if you didn't do this, he wouldn't believe it." , why don’t we leave the capital first, wait for the monarch’s anger to subside, and then get the evidence of Li Ji’s poisoning. With the evidence, I think the monarch will not blame you.”

After hearing this, Shen Sheng thought it was reasonable, so he fled to the new city overnight before Xian Gong sent someone. When Duke Xian heard that Shen Sheng dared to escape, he was very angry and killed Du Yuanqian, the prince's teacher.

When Shen Sheng heard that his teacher had been killed in Xincheng, he was very sad. At this time, someone said: "The king is very angry now. He will definitely not spare you. It is better for us to flee to other countries and save our lives." ." At this time, Shen Sheng was not only caught up in the death of his teacher, but also grieved and angry about the misunderstanding with his father. He suddenly had thoughts of committing suicide. In desperation, he said to the people around him: "As a son, I can't eliminate my father's suspicion, even to the point of The father and the son are fighting each other. Do I want the father to die and the son to live? As a disciple, because I have taught me knowledge and my life is in danger, do I still have the dignity to live in the world? Even if I am running away, carrying such a Who will tolerate me when I run away with notoriety? So suicide is my best destination."

After saying this, he drew his sword and killed himself.

On Wushen Day in December, Prince Shensheng committed suicide in Xincheng.

At this time, Chong'er and Yiwu came to see Duke Xian, wanting to plead for Shen Sheng and even prove his innocence. Li Ji heard that the two young masters were about to enter the palace, so she immediately said to Duke Xian: "I heard that Shen Sheng poisoned the meat of the body. The two young masters knew it in advance. This has to make people doubt the two young masters." Such behavior!”

After returning home, Chong'er's spy in the palace told him Li Jijin's slanderous words. At this time, he happened to hear about Shen Sheng's suicide in the new city. He was very frightened, so he immediately fled the capital with Yi Wu.

Chong'er fled back to Pucheng, and Yiwu fled back to Quyi. Each guarded his own city and made all preparations for defense.

Duke Xian was very angry at Chong'er and Yiwu for leaving without saying goodbye. He believed that they had indeed had a premeditated plan with the prince, so he sent troops to attack Pu Yi and Qu Yi. At this time, there was an eunuch named Boluan in Puyi. He heard that Chong'er was being attacked by the king, so he excitedly led his troops to see Chong'er and arrogantly ordered Chong'er to commit suicide immediately.

At this time, Hu Yan, who was next to him, saw that something was wrong, immediately drew his sword and stepped forward, kidnapped Bo Di, and they fled Pucheng with Bo Di. At this time, Chong'er was a little discouraged and said, "Where can we go now?"

Hu Yan saw this and said, "Have you forgotten my identity, Master?"

Chong'er smiled and said: "Yes! You are from the Bai Kingdom! Then let's go to the Bai Kingdom!"

Then everyone immediately set off for the Bai Kingdom. Before leaving, Chong'er looked at Boluan and said "Humph!" and stabbed him to death with a sword. Only then did Chong'er relax some of the depression he had been feeling these days and began his escape journey comfortably. .

Later, Duke Xian sent troops to attack Qu Yi, but due to Qu Yi's vigorous defense, Qu Yi was not captured.

In this year, the Jin State borrowed a road from the State of Yu to attack the State of Guo. After destroying the State of Guo, the Jin army took the opportunity to attack and destroy the State of Yu on its way back, and captured the Duke of Yu, as well as the officials Jing Bo and Bai Bai. Li Xi and others were given to Duke Mu of Qin as dowries for his daughter Qin Muji.

In the 23rd year of Jin Gong, the 117th year of Bai Kingdom

Duke Xian of Jin sent Jia Hua and others to attack Qu Yi. This time Qu Yi failed to stop him and was defeated. Yi Wu, who escaped, wanted to flee to Bai Kingdom to find Chong'er. At this time Ji Rui next to Yi Wu said:

"Young Master, you can't do it. Young Master Chong'er is already in the Bai Kingdom. If you go there again, the Jin Kingdom will definitely send troops to attack the Bai Kingdom. Even if the Bai Kingdom wins, after a hundred years, will the Bai Kingdom support you? Or will it support you?" Where is Chong'er? This is an uncertain thing! It is better to flee to Liang State. Liang State is close to Qin State and Qin State is powerful. In addition, your sister Qin Boji is married to Qin Gong. After the king dies, you can ask Qin State for help. You return to the Kingdom of Jin."

After hearing this, Yi Wu agreed very much and fled to Liang State.

The twenty-fifth year of Duke Jin, the one hundred and nineteenth year of Bai Kingdom

The Jin army attacked the Bai Kingdom because of Prince Chong'er. In order to protect Chong'er, the Bai Kingdom resisted the Jin army at Xirong Pass. The battle lasted for half a year, but the Jin army had no results. In the end, the Jin army withdrew due to insufficient logistics.

"Thank you, Mr. Bai, for saving me. Chong'er is very grateful. If anything happens in the future, Chong'er will never neglect you!"

Bai Zhi smiled and said, "Young master, you don't need to be polite. You are Yu'er's friend, that is, the friend of the Bai Kingdom. People in the world call our Bai Kingdom a country of gentlemen. If a friend is in trouble, just sit back and do nothing to help. How will the world see it?" Where is my country, Bai?
The young master can live a good life in the Bai Kingdom. I don’t have many other people in the Bai Kingdom, just bachelors, and there are many books. If the young master wants to increase his knowledge, I can allow you to bring people into the Bai Family Library to read, and I can also let the young master enter the Bai Family Academy. , study well with others on how to help the world.

The Bai Kingdom may not have the strength to send the young master to the position of Duke of Jin, but it is more than enough to ensure the young master's life. "

Chong'er bowed to Bai Zhi and said, "Thank you so much, Mr. Bai!" Then he and his young master Bai Yu went to the library pavilion.

At this time, the Jin State had become very powerful, with Hexi in the west, bordering the Qin State, Zhai State in the north, and Hanoi in the east, bordering the Bai State.

(End of this chapter)