Establishing the Three Palaces and Unifying the Army to Conquer Shu
In 329 BC (the eleventh year of King Wei of Chu), King Wei of Chu suddenly fell ill and died at the age of fifty-six. His son, King Hui of Chu, succeeded him at the age of thirty-two. King Hui was fond of dancing with spears and swords from a young age, had extraordinary arm strength, and was physically robust. He also received good education in the royal school of Chu State when he was young, knew books and characters, and had both heroic spirit and elegant demeanor. At the age of twenty, he married Qu Jiang (the sister of Qu Yuan) as his wife under his father's order. At the age of twenty-eight, which was also the seventh year of King Wei of Chu, Chu State and Qin State formed an alliance through marriage, and King Hui married Ying Yong (the younger sister of Duke Huiwen of Qin) as his wife. Duke Huiwen of Qin then married Xiu (the younger sister of King Hui) as his wife. At the age of thirty-one, which was also the tenth year of King Wei of Chu, Chu State and Qi State formed an alliance, and King Hui married Tian Hui (the daughter of King Wei of Qi) as his wife. When he was still a prince, he often rode horses, shot arrows, discussed military strategies, and practiced warfare with four people: Zhaoyi (from Fancheng), Zhaoyang (from Jingmen), Tang Mi (from Xiangyang). The four men got along very well.
Shortly after the death of King Wu of Chu, when the whole country was mourning, King Hui of Wei disregarded morality and sent General Xi Shou to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the Chu army, retaking the lands of Xianyang (thirty miles southwest of Xinzheng County in Zhengzhou), Yuzhou, and Gucheng that had been lost when King Wu of Chu defeated them. King Hui of Chu was furious but could not fight back as he was still in mourning, so he endured the humiliation and anger, completing the funeral rites first. After the funeral, King Hui of Chu familiarized himself with state affairs while preparing his army. He ordered the forging of new swords and guns, appointed Shao Yu as Prime Minister, Jing Chang as Grand Duke, Qu Wu as Supreme General (the highest military rank, second only to the king), Shao Ruo, Shao Yang, Qu Jue (Qu Wu's son and Qu Yuan's younger brother), Qu Zhuang (Qu Yuan's older cousin), Tang Mi, Jing Cui, Jing Kui, and Liu Xiang (originally named Liu Liu, later changed to Liu Xiang due to the same pronunciation) as generals. Day and night, they trained their troops, preparing to avenge themselves against the powerful Wei state, which was still considered the hegemon of the world at that time, and to determine who would be superior.
At that time, the Chu state had a territory of 5,000 miles and a population of over 30 million people with an army of one million. King Hui of Chu adjusted his military department and ordered Zhaoyang to lead 200,000 troops to garrison Xu State, Huai North, Lin Yi, and Zaozhuang; Jing Cui led 100,000 Chu soldiers to guard Xuchang, Fangxian, Ye County, Zhoukou, and Haozhou; Qu Xi led 100,000 Chu soldiers to guard Shangnan, Xixia, and Zhechuan. Zhao Ying led 200,000 troops to garrison Nanyang, guarding the southern part of Nanyang, including Nanxiang, Xinyang, Xiangfan, and Jingmen; Tang Mi led 100,000 Chu soldiers to guard Jiangling and Hankou; Liu Xiang led 100,000 Chu soldiers to guard Yongjun's Fangxian, Ankang, Xunyang, and Yunxi; Qu Zhuang led 100,000 Chu soldiers to guard Jiangnan Prefecture. In addition, there were also 50,000 elite imperial guards in Jingzhou.
This year, King Hui of Chu established one capital (Jingzhou) and seven counties with 40 counties. The seven counties are:
1. Xuzhou County, which governs the northern part of Anhui's Bengbu, Suzhou, Huainan, Lingbi, Si County, the northern part of Jiangsu's Gaoyou, Xuyi, Huaian, Suqian, Xuzhou, Xinxiang and Shandong's Zaozhuang, Linyi, Pingyi, Ju County, Pei County, Yutai, Feng County.
2. Jiangnan County, which governs the middle part of Anhui's Huainan, Hefei, Lu'an, Chuzhou, Chaohu, Tongcheng, Anqing, Hubei's Huangshi, Huanggang, Xianning and the northern part of Jiangxi's Jiujiang, Jingdezhen, Nanchang.
3. Qianzhong County, which governs the northern part of Guizhou's Tongren, Zunyi, Guiyang, Anshun, Liupanshui, Bijie to Bazhong.
4. Cangwu County, which governs the southwestern part of Hunan, the southeastern part of Guizhou and the northeastern part of Guangxi.
5. Yong County, which governs from Fangxian to Ankang for over 300 miles to Xunyang, Yunxi and Shanyang.
6. The name of Yongwan County was changed to Nanyang County, which governs Dengzhou, Nanzhao, Shangnan, Xinyang, Fangxian, Ye County, Luhe, Zhoukou, Xuchang, Yuzhou, Ruzhou.
7. The name of Dongting was changed to Changsha County, which governs the northern and central parts of Hunan, Changde was transferred from Qianzhong to Changsha County. One capital is Jingzhou, which governs Jiangling, Zigui, Ezhou, Hankou, Suizhou.
At the same time, King Hui established three palaces: Bei Gong (North Palace) for his wife Qu Wan, Xi Gong (West Palace) for Qin Xiao Gong's daughter Yingying and Dong Gong (East Palace) for Qi Wei Wang's daughter Tianhui. Among the three palaces, Bei Gong was the largest. Unfortunately, none of the three palace ladies gave birth to a prince for King Hui, they all had princesses.
In 327 BC (the second year of King Hui of Chu), King Hui of Chu was about to lead his troops northward to attack the State of Wei and reclaim justice for Chu when an urgent report arrived from the western border: The army of Shu (in present-day Mianyang and Chengdu in Sichuan Province) with 150,000 soldiers had launched a large-scale invasion southward, capturing Bazhong and approaching Wushan and Qincheng. It turned out that Hou Hui, the Marquis of Shu, had taken advantage of the recent death of King Wei of Chu and the young age of King Hui, who was not yet familiar with state and military affairs, to launch a surprise attack on Chu. He led an army of 150,000 soldiers, including 30,000 cavalrymen and 120,000 infantrymen, to invade Wushan and Bazhong, intending to annex the Qincheng region of Chu as well. Upon receiving the report, King Hui immediately put aside his plan to attack Wei and ordered Zuo Li to lead a large army to defend against potential invasions by Wei and Han. He personally led an army of 200,000 soldiers (60,000 cavalrymen and 140,000 infantrymen) westward, accompanied by the great general Tang Ju. The 200,000-strong Chu army set out from Jingzhou, marched west through Yichang, Zigui, Badong, and entered Wushan to attack the Shu army. This battle was not only the first war fought by King Hui after his accession to the throne but also the first war in which he established his prestige throughout the country.
The Chu army marched from Ba Dong, entered Wu Gorge, and met the 100,000-strong army of the Marquis of Shu at Fengjie County. Both sides deployed their formations, and King Hui of Chu rode his horse forward and said: "Are you the Marquis of Shu?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "I am." King Hui asked: "Why have you raised an army to invade our territory?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "When did Wu Ba become a territory of Chu? I've never heard of it before." King Hui said: "Why do you invade my Qianzhong?" The Marquis of Shu replied: "Qianzhong was taken by your ancestors from others, and there is no clear boundary. How can you say that I invaded your Qianzhong?" King Hui became enraged, drew out the Chu king's sword, and felt a cold light radiating from it. This was not an ordinary sword but a heavy sword one meter long made of high-quality steel, extremely sharp. The Marquis of Shu saw that the Chu army was too strong, and as the battle began, he said to King Hui: "If you want to fight, let's have a one-on-one duel, don't use your numbers to bully me." King Hui listened and then put his precious sword back into its scabbard, saying: "Tang Mei, listen to my order! Lead the 3,000 cavalry and 2,000 infantry to retreat and do not come back to support us. Anyone who disobeys will be beheaded!" Tang Mei led the 5,000 Chu soldiers to retreat and formed an array to watch the battle. King Hui waved his hand, and the 30,000 Chu cavalry and 120,000 infantry divided into three routes: left, center, and right. The infantry formed three ten-layer square arrays, while the cavalry formed a horizontal line and two vertical lines.
King Huai of Chu held a long spear, 2.5 meters in length, much thicker and heavier than the spears of ordinary soldiers, made of high-quality steel, with a glossy black finish. As both sides formed their battle lines, King Huai of Chu shouted loudly: "Beat the drums!" The war drum of the Chu army boomed once, and King Huai of Chu rode his horse, wielding his spear, charging straight at Hou of Shu. This king was riding a fine black stallion that could travel 900 li in one day, galloping like the wind. When Hou of Shu saw this, he hastily urged his horse forward to meet King Huai of Chu. Hou of Shu wielded two steel spears, similar to those used by hunters, and was known for his bravery among the three armies; no one in the Shu army could match him, and at just 38 years old, he had a robust build and dark complexion. As soon as King Huai's spear arrived, Hou of Shu raised both spears to block it hastily, but all that could be heard was a loud clang! The steel spear in Hou of Shu's left hand was knocked to the ground, its handle shattered, and his right-hand spear almost flew out of his hand, with both hands numb from the shock. Hou of Shu never expected King Huai of Chu to have such divine strength, and he cried out loudly: "This is bad!" He quickly turned his horse around and fled back to his lines. King Huai of Chu shouted loudly: "Where are you going?" With a squeeze of his legs, he rode his horse in pursuit, with the black stallion galloping like the wind; in an instant, it reached the front of the Shu army's lines, catching up to Hou of Shu. King Huai of Chu thrust his spear forward, and just as it was about to reach Hou of Shu's back, Hou of Shu cried out loudly: "I'm done for!" He hastily leaned forward, pressing himself against the horse's back. As soon as King Huai saw this, he raised his spear to strike. Before he could finish speaking, two Shu generals, one holding a long spear and the other grasping a long pike, rode their horses over, with the two generals' spears and pikes hastily blocking King Huai's heavy blow. All that could be heard were two loud clangs! One of the steel pikes was broken, and the head of the other general's spear was shattered; Hou of Shu took advantage of this opportunity to escape back into his lines. As soon as King Huai saw this, he swept his spear horizontally, with the two generals hastily raising their spears and pikes to block it. With a loud clang! The spears and pikes in both generals' hands were knocked flying to the ground; King Huai of Chu raised his spear at an angle, and one of the Shu generals cried out loudly as he fell off his horse, dead. Another Shu general saw this and was so frightened that he hastily turned his horse around and fled in disarray.
