In the late Warring States period, King Chu Kaolie was a relatively famous monarch. King Chu Kaolie (290 BC – 238 BC), surnamed Xiong ( Xiong ) , courtesy name ( " Records of history " As Yuan ) , monarch of the State of Chu during the Warring States period , son of King Xiang of Chu , reigned from 262 BC to 238 BC , a total of 25 years. The Warring States Policy and the Chronicle of History record that King Chu Kaolie had no sons, and Chun Shenjun was very worried about this. Later, Chun Shenjun adopted the advice of Li Yuan, a native of Zhao, and married Li Yan, the sister of Li Yuan. After Li Yuanmei became pregnant, Chun Shenjun dedicated her to King Kao Lie, and the son was made crown prince, that is, King You of Chu.
After the death of King Chu Kaolie, King Chu You succeeded to the throne, and his biological father Chun Shenjun was killed by Li Yuan. However, the King of Chu'ai was the half-brother of King Chu You, and the King of Chu was the brother-in-law of King Chu'ai, and the so-called "King chu kaolie was childless" should be the rumors spread by king Chu as he competed for the throne. Before king Chu Kaolie returned to China, he had already had a son named Qi in the Qin state, who was named Changping Jun by the Qin state, and served as the minister of the Qin state, and later rebelled against Qin and returned to Chu, becoming the last king of Chu. Thus, for King Chu Kaolie, there were four sons. After his death, these four successively became kings of Chu. And this is undoubtedly a relatively rare situation in the Warring States and even in the entire ancient history.
1. King Chu You
Li Yuan was a guest of Chunshen Jun in his early years. He dedicated his sister Li Yan to Chunshen Jun Huang Xie, who, after Li Yan became pregnant, then dedicated her to King Chu Kao Lie. Li Yan soon gained the favor of King Kaolie. In 268 BC, Li Yan gave birth to a son in the palace, Xiong Hun , the later King of Chu You. In the twenty-fifth year of King Chu Kaolie (238 BC), King Chu Kaolie was seriously ill, and Chun Shenjun heard that Li Yuan was harmful to his heart, but he did not believe it. Half a month later, King Chu Kao Lie died, and Li Yuan entered the palace first, secretly arranging assassins inside the Thorn Gate. When Chun Shenjun passed the Thorn Gate, Li Yuan's Assassins jumped out from both sides of the door to kill him, then cut off his head and threw him outside the Thorn Gate. At the same time, Li Yuan sent someone to kill all of Chun Shenjun's family. Therefore, for Chun Shenjun, the minister of the Chu State, he suffered the scourge of destruction in this way. In this context, The Crown Prince Xiong Huan officially ascended the throne, which was the King of Chu You. During the reign of King You of Chu, Li Yuan replaced Chunshen Jun Huang Xie and was appointed Ling Yin of the Chu State.
For the State of Chu, Ling Yin was relative to the position of prime minister, that is, it could be said that he was under one person and above ten thousand people. In the third year of the reign of King You of Chu (235 BC), after the State of Qin attacked the State of Zhao, he ordered the general Xin Wu to lead four counties and horses to unite with the State of Wei and launch an attack on the State of Chu, but retreated in vain. In March of the tenth year of the reign of King Chu You (228 BC), King Chu You died, and his half-brother Xiong Youdai li was the King of Chu. From this, it is very obvious that for the Chu Youwang who reigned for about ten years, he basically did nothing, that is, there was no merit, but there was no big mistake. However, at the time of the death of King Chu You, the State of Qin had already begun the Battle of the Six Kingdoms of Qin, and had eliminated the princely states of Korea and zhao. Therefore, in the face of the Qin state that was preparing to unify the world, the King of Chu You obviously failed to bring any help to the Chu state.
2. King of Chu Lai
King Ai of Chu (266 BC – 228 BC), courtesy name Xiong (芈氏), courtesy name You, was a prince of the State of Chu during the Warring States period, the son of King Chu Kaolie, and the half-brother of King You of Chu. In 228 BC, King You of Chu died and Xiong Yu succeeded to the throne as King of Chu. However, for the monarch of Chu Ai, who reigned for only two months, he was killed by his half-brother's disciples, his mother Empress Dowager Li Yan was also killed, and his uncle Li Yuan's family was beheaded. Therefore, for Li Yuan, who did not leave roots in the grass of Chunshen Junhuang Xie, now he himself has suffered a similar ending. After the King of Chu was killed, he established himself as the King of Chu and was the King of Chu. Because he reigned for only two months, the monarch of Chu Ai was naturally useless.
3. The King of Chu is in charge
In the eyes of most historians, the Chu king is regarded as the king of the Chu state. In the second year of the chu dynasty (己海, 226 BC), the Qin army cut down Chu and destroyed the Chu army, occupying more than ten cities. He proposed to the State of Qin that he intended to offer land west of Qingyang (present-day Changsha, Hunan) in order to seek peace. Of course, for Qin Shi Huang, who aspires to unify the world, it is obvious that he will not let go of the Chu State. Soon after, Qin Shi Huang convened his ministers to discuss a plan to eliminate the Chu state. In this regard, Li Xin, a general, said that with 200,000 troops, he could destroy the Chu state. However, in this battle, Li Xin, who was lightly attacked by the enemy, was eventually defeated by the Chu army. At the end of the Warring States period, this should be a rare failure of the Qin state.
In 224 BC, after the vassal states of Korea, Wei, and Zhao were wiped out, Qin Shi Huang sent an army of 600,000 to attack Chu. In the face of the 600,000-strong army led by Wang Qi, the King of Chu did not give up and continued to let Xiang Yu's grandfather Xiang Yan lead the army to resist the Qin army. Of course, Xiang Yan was not Wang Qi's opponent in the end. In the fifth year of the reign of king Chu (223 BC), the Qin generals Wang Qi and Meng Wu led an army to attack the Chu capital Shouchun (present-day Shou County, Anhui), captured the Chu king Negative Jiao, and the Chu state was destroyed. As far as the Chu king was concerned, there was no clear historical record of his final outcome, that is, it was not known whether he was directly killed by the Qin state or exiled. In the Battle of the Six Kingdoms of Qin, the monarchs of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong were either killed or exiled, and did not end up with the same generous treatment as the kings of the Fallen Kingdoms in the Three Kingdoms period.
4. Changping Jun Xiong Qi
Xiong Qi (271 BC – 223 BC), courtesy name Xiong Qi (芈氏), courtesy name Xiong Qi (熊氏), was the son of King Chu Kaolie, and his mother was the daughter of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. At the end of the Warring States period, he was the cousin of Qin Shi Huang and the last King of Chu. King Chu Kaolie, who was xiong qi of Changping, had been a hostage in the qin state and married the daughter of king Zhaoxiang of Qin, so he gave birth to Xiong Qi. After King Chu Kaolie returned to the Chu state to inherit the throne, Xiong Qi continued to stay in the Qin state and assisted the monarchs such as King Xiang of Qin Zhuang and Qin Shi Huang, and was given the title of Changping Jun. In 238 BC, Xiong Qi, the Prince of Changping, together with Lü Buwei and Chang Wenjun, was ordered to quell the rebellion of Yan Yi.
In the fifth year of the Chu Dynasty (223 BC), the Qin army captured the capital of the Chu state, Shouchun, and the chu army was captured. Xiong Qi, the king of Changping, was also in Chu at that time, and was supported by the Chu generals as the king of Chu, thus continuing to rebel against the Qin state. However, at this time, the Qin army was already unstoppable, and although Xiong Qi, the King of Changping, was proclaimed the King of Chu, he was still a mantis arm. Wang Qi and Meng Wu led the Qin army to attack, Xiong Qi was defeated and killed, and the Chu state was completely destroyed. Compared with his three brothers, Xiong Qi, the Prince of Changping, could continue to enjoy the glory and wealth of the Qin Kingdom. However, as the son of King Chu Kaolie, Xiong Qi, the King of Changping, obviously did not want the Chu state to bid farewell to the great stage of history. Therefore, he voluntarily became the king of Chu, hoping to restore the chu state. Although the final result was still a failure, his courage was really commendable, and he paid the price of his life. What do you think of the four sons of King Chu Kao Lie?