During the exile of Chong’er, when he passed through the State of Zheng, Duke Wen of Zheng failed to receive him with due courtesy, thus sowing the seeds of personal resentment.
In the Battle of Chengpu in 632 BCE, Duke Wen of Jin (Chong’er) defeated the State of Chu, establishing his position as hegemon over the central states. In this conflict, Zheng had contributed troops to support Chu against the Jin-led coalition, further intensifying Duke Wen of Jin’s dissatisfaction with Zheng.
Duke Wen of Jin was angered by Zheng’s “fence-sitting” diplomatic tendencies during the power struggle between Jin and Chu. Zheng had ostensibly submitted to Jin while secretly maintaining ties with Chu, a stance that deeply frustrated the Jin ruler.
In 630 BCE, the Qin and Jin states besieged Zheng, for Zheng had shown disloyalty to Jin and relied on its proximity to Chu.
Jin’s army was stationed at Hanling, Qin’s at the south bank of the Si River.
Yi Zhihu, a senior official of Zheng, said to the Duke of Zheng:
“The state is in peril! If you can send Zhu Zhiwu to persuade the ruler of Qin, their army will surely withdraw.”
The Duke agreed. But Zhu Zhiwu declined, saying:
“In my prime, I was not as capable as others; now that I am old, I can do even less.”
The Duke said:
“I failed to employ you earlier, and now in our urgency I come to you – this is my fault. Yet if Zheng falls, it will bring you harm as well!”
Zhu Zhiwu then consented.
At night, Zhu Zhiwu was lowered from the city wall by rope. He went to see the Duke of Qin and said:
“Qin and Jin have besieged Zheng. Zheng knows it will perish. But if the fall of Zheng benefits you, sire, I dare trouble your men. Yet crossing a neighboring state to rule distant land – you know how difficult that is. How can you use Zheng’s demise to strengthen your neighbor? Your neighbor’s strength is your weakness. If you spare Zheng and treat it as your host for travels east, your envoys will have provisions, and no harm is done to you.”
Zhu Zhiwu continued:
“Moreover, you once granted favors to the Duke of Jin (Duke Hui), who promised you the cities of Jiao and Xia. Yet he entered Jin in the morning and fortified his borders by evening against you – as you well know. What satisfaction does Jin have? Once it conquers Zheng to its east, it will surely expand westwards. If it does not weaken Qin, where will it gain territory? Weakening Qin to benefit Jin – I leave this for your consideration.”
The Duke of Qin (Duke Mu of Qin) was pleased and made a pact with Zheng. He appointed generals including Qi Zishu, Feng Sun, and Yang Sun to guard Zheng, then withdrew his army.
Zi Fan, (Hu Yan, a Jin commander), requested an attack on Qin’s forces. Duke Wen of Jin said:
“Without the strength of that man (the Duke of Qin), I would not be where I am today. To harm someone after benefiting from their strength is unrighteous; to lose an ally is unwise; and to replace unity with chaos goes against martial honor. Let us also withdraw.”
So the Jin army, too, departed.
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