In the "Battle of Baiju", the Chu state was defeated. As soon as King Zhao of Chu heard the news that the Wu army was about to invade the capital, he fled with his sister and his cronies. They packed their bags and prepared to wade across the river to escape from Yingdu. In order to force back the Wu army, King Chu Zhao even released the domesticated elephants in the palace, sent people to burn the tails of the elephants, and forced them to run to the Wu army, which is the famous "flint elephant array" in history.
There is also an example of the use of a similar tactic in the Chronicle of Tian Danlie- attacking the enemy with a fire bull. We all know that elephants are huge in size, and they are accustomed to moving in groups, and the scene of a group of elephants running wild should be quite spectacular.
Such a strong fright naturally forced Wu Jun to retreat. Wu Jun and other elephants rushed away, but still did not give up, reorganized the army for the final attack, and successfully attacked the capital. It can be seen that King Chu Zhao's behavior was a strategy to slow down the army, and he was only fighting for the opportunity to escape for himself.
"Eastern Zhou Kingdoms, Spring and Autumn Chapter" Wu Wang Lu stills
After the Wu army invaded the capital of the Chu state of Yingdu, it began to burn and plunder on a large scale. The younger brother of King Wu and the son of King Wu of Wu rushed into the palace of Ling Yin of the Chu state, and it can be seen that Fu Kuo had a strong intention to seize the throne, and he not only did not take the prince in his eyes, but also intimidated him, and eventually the prince fled in fear.
The "Records of History" records that after Wu Zixu arrived at the capital of Yingdu, he immediately found the tomb of King Chuping and whipped the corpse to vent his anger. We all know that wu zixu's purpose in attacking the capital was to take revenge -- to avenge the chu state for killing his father and brother, and to avenge the humiliation that the chu state inflicted on the Wu family. At this time, Wu Zixu finally achieved his goal.
Stills of Wu Zixu in "Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Chapter"
So, what happened to the monarchs of the Chu Kingdom?
The Chu state's Ling Yin Nangwa had already collapsed, and he fled to the Zheng state in a panic. As mentioned before, King Chu Zhao also fled the capital in a daze. The other army, led by Shen Yinshu, arrived at the rest area. They had already planned to sneak attack the Wu army, but when someone came to inform them, Shen Yinshu learned that Ling Yin Nangwa did not act according to the agreement, but privately marched to cross the water. Now, although it was too late, Shen Yinshu still led his army back to prepare to rescue Yingdu, but was defeated by the Wu army on the way.
Shen Yinshu did not want to become a prisoner of Wu Wanglu, and his status was more special. We all know that Shen Yinshu was the great-grandson of King Zhuang of Chu, but the literature records that he was once a vassal under King Wu.
Why is this? The author believes that although the language in the literature is not clear, it is speculated that Shen Yinshu has most likely been a "pedestrian" or "hostage" in the State of Wu. The "pedestrians" were diplomats during the Spring and Autumn Period, while the "hostages", as the name suggests, were voluntarily or forced to go to the State of Wu as hostages.
This explains why Shen Yin was ashamed to be captured by the State of Wu. When Shen Yinshu was in the Chu State, he was often worried about the situation and safety of the Chu State, and when he saw the corruption in the Chu State, he would often make a fierce voice. Unfortunately, in the end, he was defeated by the greed and stupidity of the Chu state Ling Yin Nangwa.
Shen Yinshu decided to die fighting for the country. In order not to let Wu Guo get his own head, he also entrusted the soldiers to cut off his head and take him away before he died, although he saved his reputation, but the sadness of death was unbearable.
On the other side, king Chu Zhao, who was in distress, his situation was not good. He was also attacked by bandits on the road, and had no choice but to flee back and forth between Jiangnan and Jiangbei. It wasn't until he reached Yundi that things changed.
When Duke Yun's younger brother saw that King Chu Zhao had fled to his territory, he gritted his teeth and asked jun, "King Ping killed my father, and I killed his son. Yun Gong said, "Jun, who dares to ask for it?" King's destiny, heaven also. If it is destined to die, who will it be? ”
We all know that the Yun family is a descendant of the Chu State Xianchen, Ling Yin Douziwen. At the beginning of the "Dou Clan Rebellion" in the Chu State, king Chu Ping did not exterminate his family, but looked at the face of Ling Yin Douziwen, so he let the descendants of their family live in Yundi. After thinking about it, Duke Yun still decided to escort King Chu Zhao to flee, and they ran to Suiguo together.
The Wu army did not give up, and they followed closely behind them and arrived at Suiguo. Wu Guo wanted to persuade the Suiguo people, and they moved out of Zhou Tianzi and then moved out of the land to lure the Suiguo people. We all know that the relationship between Suiguo and Chu is still good. Geographically, Chu and Sui were also "lips and teeth dependent", and they once fought side by side in the "Battle of Zhoushi" - the Suiguo people also participated in the war against the State of Wu.
So, what was the purpose of the Wu people in demanding that the people of the country hand over King Chu Zhao? Who on earth had such a deep hatred for King Chu Zhao? Moreover, we all know that at this time, most of the Wu army was indulging in happiness in the capital of the Chu Kingdom, where did they have the kung fu to take care of King Chu Zhao's escape? The answer to these questions is only - Wu Zixu.
How did King Chu Zhao finally escape? King Chu Zhao had an older brother with a similar appearance, called Zi Period - "The Son Period is like a king, fleeing the king, and he is already a king." Zi Qi made an agreement with the Suiguo people that they would not hand over the King of Chu. It is precisely because of the protection of the country that King Chu Zhao has a career to revitalize in the future. At this time, the State of Wu did not attack Suiguo, presumably because they did not have the extra troops to start another dispute.
King Zhao, with the assistance of Duke Yun and the people who accompanied the country, and with the loyal support of other courtiers, finally returned to the Chu state with hardship. He saw that the Chu state was devastated, and he made up his mind to reorganize the state, and eventually he did the same.
Confucius commented on King Chu Zhao: "King Chu Zhao knows the Great Path. It does not lose the country also, Yi Ya! It seems that if you want to become the "lord of ZTE", you are bound to go through a lot of tribulations.