A long time ago, about two thousand six hundred years ago during the Zhou dynasty, the Jade Emperor, the highest god in Chinese mythology,decided to choose twelve animals to represent the years. He announced that there would be a river crossing race. The first twelve animals to reach the finish line would enter the zodiac team. They would be ranked by the order they arrived.

When Ji Zi heard that his mother had died, his heart broke He did not dare cry in front of his father, so he hid and wept in secret . Even then Gongzi Shuo and Xuan Jiang did not stop. They kept pouring poison into Duke Xuan’s ear . They said Ji Zi resented him for his mother’s death, that he had sworn to take their lives as payment . By now Duke Xuan completely believed them . Day and night he heard their whispers and their pushing . Mixed with his own twisted feelings toward Ji Zi, he finally made up his mind . Ji Zi had to die .

The content of that letter was very direct In plain terms it was just two points . The first was congratulations It said, congratulations on finally returning home and becoming ruler of Zheng . The second went straight to the real issue . It reminded him that back when he was living under another man’s roof in Song, it was Duke Zhuang of Song who sent troops to help him . At that time he had personally promised to give Song three walled cities, one hundred pairs of fine white jade, ten thousand yi of gold, and every year thirty thousand zhong of grain . Now that he was sitting on the throne, it was time to make good on his word .

This is a question I often had to answer and explain when I first met some foreign friends.

Many foreign friends would ask me very directly.Do Chinese people eat dog meat?

After Duke Huan of Chen died, his younger brother, Prince Tuo, killed the crown prince and grabbed the throne for himself . Everyone in Chen knew exactly what had happened, and no one in their hearts accepted him, but for the moment they had no way to resist .

The moment this man took the throne, he acted like a gambler who suddenly got hooked—his favorite thing in the world was starting wars

Especially wars against Zheng .

Duke Shang never felt safe about that. He was always afraid that one day, this cousin would come back and take the throne from him .

So he kept picking fights with Zheng, as if starting wars could soothe that sense of insecurity buried in his chest .

Whenever you say something like, I do not feel very well, or I feel tired, or I feel cold, or I am a bit thirsty, in most cases the response you get is the same, Someone will say, come on, drink some hot water, But for many foreign friends, this is exactly the part that feels the most confusing, Why hot water? Why not cold water? Why not juice, soda, coffee, or any other kind of drink?

After reading it, Zheng Zhuanggong immediately understood he could not keep pushing forward. If he continued attacking Song’s heartland while his own house was burning, even a glorious victory would mean nothing. So he ordered the entire army to withdraw at once.