Tribute to Baumao

The Duke of Qi Huan became the hegemon and his fame grew so much that all the lords of the Central Plains admired him and paid him tribute. But King Cheng of Chu in the south, not only did not obey him but opposed him and wanted to compete with him. The kingdom of Chu was in the south of China and did not have any relations with the lords of the Middle Kingdom. The lords of the Central Plains treated Chu as a barbarian, just as they treated Xiyong and Bei Di. Although Chu was a "southern barbarian", he was also a fourth-class vassal, the so-called "viscount". This small country had more room for outward expansion than the lords of the Middle Kingdom. The Chu people fought for territory with the Central Plains while extending their power to the south. They reclaimed the wasteland, subjugated the small tribes nearby, and slowly became a large state. In 704 B.C. (the fourth year after Duke Zheng Zhuang defeated King Huan of Zhou), the state of Chu did not care to accept the title of viscount vassal, and did not even bother to give it the title of duke vassal. The king of Chu simply called himself king and opposed the king of heaven of the Zhou dynasty. By the time King Cheng of Chu improved his politics and developed product, the state of Chu was already very strong. When King Cheng of Chu heard that Duke Huan of Qi had defeated Shan Rong and Northern Di, helped Xing and Wei, and became the leader of the vassals, he planned to compete with Duke Huan of Qi. Since Zheng was sandwiched between the north and the south, to attack the Central Plains, he had to capture Zheng first, so King Cheng of Chu sent his troops to fight Zheng (657 BC).

Guan Zhong said to Duke Huan of Qi, "Instead of going to save Zheng, we should go directly to fight Chu. But to fight Chu, we have to join the lords of the kingdoms." Duke Huan of Qi said, "The meeting of the lords is a big event, so it is necessary to make a public announcement. This is a big event, so it is necessary to make a public announcement. Isn't it asking Chu to prepare beforehand?" Guan Zhong said, "The state of Cai has offended you, my lord, and you have long wanted to conquer it. Cai is close to Chu, so let's just say that we are going to conquer Cai, and then we can win a battle if we go to Chu cold."It turned out that Cai Ji, the third wife of Duke Huan of Qi, was the sister of Hou Cai. One day, the two of them were playing in the lotus pond in a small boat. Cai Ji went to pick lotus flowers, the boat side is very distorted, and the Duke of Qi Huan up. When Cai Ji saw that he was afraid of water, she tried to play a joke with him and tease him with water. He panicked and told her not to tease him. Cai Ji was so happy that she simply stood on the boat, with her legs apart, swaying back and forth from side to side. For this matter, the Duke of Qi Huan was so angry that he immediately repudiated Cai Ji to her mother's house. Cai Hou also hung up the fire, and scolded the Duke of Qi Huan for not being humane, a gamble to his sister married to the state of Chu, as the wife of King Cheng of Chu. The Duke of Qi Huan wanted to take advantage of this reason to conquer Cai.

In 656 BC (21 years of King Hui of Zhou, 30 years of Duke Huan of Qi, 4 years of Duke Xi of Lu, 4 years of Duke Wen of Wei, 16 years of King Cheng of Chu), Duke Huan of Qi took the troops of Qi, Song, Lu, Chen, Wei, Zheng, Cao and Xu to attack Cai. The army of Cai could not withstand it, and the Marquis of Cai ran to Chu in the night and deliberately said to King Cheng of Chu, "I heard that they are going to fight you again." King Cheng of Chu immediately sent his men to inquire.