Establishing the three palaces, inheriting the past and opening up the future, forging new swords and governing the army with dignity.
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 of Chu was a tall man, standing at 1.78 meters, who had been fond of dancing with swords and spears since childhood. He had impressive arm strength and a robust physique. In his youth, he received good education from the royal school of Chu State, where he learned to read and write. He possessed both a heroic aura and elegant demeanor.
At the age of twenty, he married Qu Yuan's cousin, Qu Ying (daughter of Qu Wu), as ordered by his father. At the age of twenty-eight, which was also the seventh year of King Wei of Chu, Chu State formed an alliance with Qin State through marriage. King Hui of Chu married the younger sister of Duke Huiwen of Qin, Ying Yi, while Duke Huiwen of Qin married King Hui's cousin, Ai Xiu.
At the age of thirty-one, which was also the tenth year of King Wei of Chu, Chu State formed an alliance with Qi State. King Hui of Chu then married the daughter of King Wei of Qi, Tian Hui.
During his time as the crown prince, he often went horseback riding and practiced archery with four close friends: Zhao Ou (from Fan City), Zhao Yang (from Jingmen), Tang Mi (from Xiangyang). The four men got along very well.
Shortly after the death of King Wu of Chu, when the entire country was in mourning, King Hui of Wei disregarded morality and sent General Xi to lead an army of 100,000 to attack the Chu army, retaking the lands of Xianyang (thirty miles southwest of Xinzheng County, 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 also preparing his army. He ordered the creation of new swords and guns for the king, appointed Shao Yu as prime minister, Jing Chang as senior grandmaster, Qu Wu as senior 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 emerge victorious between King Hui of Chu and King Hui of Wei.
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 an army of 200,000 to garrison Xuzhou, Huai Bei, Linyi, and Zaozhuang; Jing Cui led an army of 100,000 to garrison Xu Chang, Fangxian, Ye County, Zhoukou, and Miao Zhou. Qu Xi led an army of 100,000 to garrison Shangnan, Xixia, and Zhechuan; Zhao Ying led an army of 200,000 to garrison Nanyang, guarding the southern part of Nanyang, including NanZhao, Xinyang, Xiangfan, and Jingmen. Tang Mi led an army of 100,000 to garrison Jiangling and Hankou; Liu Xiang led an army of 100,000 to garrison Yongjun's Fangxian, Ankang, Xunyang, and Yunxi; Qu Zhuang led an army of 100,000 to garrison Jiangnan Jun, with 50,000 Chu soldiers guarding each of the two counties of Changsha and Qianzhong. 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, the northern part of Jiangxi's Jiujiang, Jingdezhen, Nanchang and Hubei's Huangshi, Huanggang, Xianning.
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. Changing Yuanwu to Nanyang County, which governs Dengzhou, Nanzhao, Shangnan, Xinyang, Fangxian, Ye County, Luhe, Zhoukou, Xuchang, Yuzhou, Ruzhou.
7. Changing Dongting to Changsha County, which governs the northern and central parts of Hunan, Changde from Qianzhong to Changsha County. One capital is Jingzhou, which governs Jiangling, Zigui, Ezhou, Hankou, Suizhou. At the same time, set up three palaces: Beigong (North Palace) Qiuying, Xigong (West Palace) Yingying and Donggong (East Palace) Tianhui. Among the three palaces, Beigong Qiuying is the largest. Unfortunately, none of the three palace ladies gave birth to a prince for King Hui of Chu, only princesses were born.
