Chapter 7: The Three Palaces Stand Firm, King Hua Contends for Hegemony, Forging New Swords and Rectifying the Army
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 by order of his father. 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 Yi (the younger sister of Duke Huiwen of Qin) as his wife. Duke Huiwen of Qin then married Xiu Yu (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 an army of 200,000 to garrison Xu State, Huai North, Lin Yi, and Zaozhuang; Jing Cui led an army of 100,000 to garrison Xuchang, Fangxian, Ye County, Zhoukou, and Haozhou; Qu Huan led an army of 100,000 to garrison Shangnan, Xixia, and Zhechuan. Zhaoying led an army of 200,000 to garrison Nanyang, guarding the southern part of Nanyang, including Nanxu, 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 Fang County, Ankang, Xunyang, and Yunxi; Qu Zhuang led an army of 100,000 to garrison Jiangnan Prefecture. In addition, there were also 50,000 elite palace 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 Baxi.
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 Gong 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 moved 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 Jian's daughter, 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.
