Weeping in Qinting

Wu Zixu was very unhappy when he could not find out the whereabouts of King Zhao of Chu. Later, he heard that Nangwa had gone to Zheng. He thought that the king of Chu might be with him. Besides, Zheng had killed Prince Jian, so he had to take revenge. So, he led his troops to attack Zheng. When Zheng got this news, it was panic. The whole country did not complain about Nangwa, forcing Nangwa to kill himself. The Duke of Zheng presented the body of Nangwa to Wu Zixu and said that the king of Chu had never come to Zheng. However, Wu Zixu did not relent and insisted on the destruction of Zheng. The ministers of the state of Zheng were all in favor of mobilizing the whole country to fight with Wu's army. The Duke of Zheng said, "How can Zheng's military strength compare with that of Chu? Even Chu was defeated by him, let alone our small country!" The Duke of Zheng gave an order, saying, "Whoever can make Wu Zixu retreat from the army will be rewarded heavily." But who could do that? For three days, there were many people reading the order, but none of them applied for it.

On the fourth day, a young man who was a fisherman came to see Duke Zheng. He said he had a way to make Wu Zixu quit the army. He asked him how many chariots he needed. He said, "I don't need a chariot, I don't need provisions, I can beat back tens of thousands of soldiers and horses with just this oar." Who believed his words? But the group had no choice but to let him try. The fisherman, with an oar in his armpit, went to Wu's camp to meet Wu Zixu. He sang a song while tapping the paddle to a beat. He sang.

People in the reeds, people in the reeds.

Crossing the river, whose grace?

On the precious sword, the seven-star inscription.

I give it back to you and carry it with me.

Today, you are proud of yourself.

Do you remember the fisherman's husband?

When Wu Zixu heard this, he was startled and ran down to ask him, "Who are you?" He said, "Don't you see the thing I'm holding? My father lived on this paddle, and it saved your life." Wu Zixu then remembered the situation at the Luhua crossing and the kindness of the old man who fished, so he shed tears and asked him, "Why did you come here?" He said, "We fishermen have never had a certain place. This time, we came here to fight in the war. The king gave an order, saying, 'Whoever can ask the general to retreat will be rewarded heavily. I wonder if the general can spare the state of Zheng for the sake of my dead father?" Wu Zixu said gratefully, "I owe this day to the kindness of your father. How can I forget him?" At that time he ordered the retreat of the troops. The fisherman went happily to report to Duke Ding of Zheng. At once, all the people of Zheng regarded him as a great savior. The Duke of Zheng granted him a lot of lands. Almost all the people of Zheng called him "Fisherman Dafu".Wu Zixu left Zheng and returned to Chu. He camped his army and sent his men everywhere to find out the whereabouts of King Zhao of Chu. One day, he received a letter from his old friend Shen Box, in which he wrote: "You are from the state of Chu. To avenge your father and brother's wrongdoing, you defeated your country and broke the king's body with a bronze whip. You have taken your revenge, and your anger is gone. What more do you want to do? Don't go too far. I advise you to take Wu's troops and go back early. You probably still remember what I said. If you destroy the state of Chu, I will give my life to restore it. Please think about it again." Wu Zixu read it twice and looked down and thought about it. He said to the messenger, "Because I am so busy, I don't have time to write a reply. Please take a message back and tell Dr. Shen that I said that loyalty and filial piety could not be satisfied. I have accumulated 18 years of hatred, and to this day perhaps a little unkind, this really can't be helped." To avenge himself, Wu Zixu was determined to fight against his own country to the end