《资治通鉴·周纪》57丨古代发毒誓还有这作用？

Summary

This 芮淇讲透资治通鉴 episode continues the Zhouji 56 discussion of 扬雄 and 子贡 / 端木赐 by narrating Zigong’s rescue of 鲁国 through a multi-state diplomatic chain among 齐国, 吴国, 越国, and 晋国. It then returns to 周赧王’s early reign: 秦武王 suppresses the Shu rebellion, meets 魏襄王, marries 赵武灵王 into a dangerous succession setup, creates Qin’s first formal left/right chancellors, and sends 甘茂 toward 宜阳. The episode’s core synthesis is that oaths can be practical political technology: Gan Mao uses rumor erosion of trust stories to make Qin Wuwang bind himself publicly through oath-bound command trust before a long campaign.

Key Claims

• 孔子 sends 子贡 / 端木赐 to prevent 齐国 from attacking 鲁国, showing why 扬雄 can treat Zigong’s diplomacy as public rescue rather than private wealth-seeking.
• Zigong persuades 田常 not to attack weak Lu and instead redirect pressure toward 吴国, then persuades 吴王夫差 and 越王勾践 in ways that draw Wu, Qi, Yue, and Jin into a larger chain.
• The episode says Wu defeats Qi, then loses to Jin; Yue exploits Wu’s exhaustion, attacks Wu near its capital, and eventually drives Fuchai to suicide.
• The 越王勾践 sequel turns victory into a ministerial danger case: 范蠡 leaves after Wu’s destruction, warns 文种, and Wen Zhong later dies after Goujian gives him a sword.
• In 周赧王’s fifth year, 秦武王 sends forces to kill the rebel 陈庄 in Shu, continuing the Zhouji 52 Ba-Shu branch.
• Qin Wuwang and 魏襄王 meet at Linjin, while 赵武灵王 marries 吴娃, later mother of 赵何, creating a future conflict with the earlier legitimate son 赵章.
• In 309 BCE, Qin first formally sets left and right chancellors: 樗里疾 / 樗里子 becomes right chancellor and 甘茂 becomes left chancellor.
• In 308 BCE, Qin and Wei meet at Ying, and Qin Wuwang sends Gan Mao to persuade Wei to join an attack on 韩国.
• Gan Mao returns with Wei’s agreement but tells Qin Wuwang that he personally does not advise attacking Han, because 宜阳 is a large, hard target reached only after a long and difficult march.
• Gan Mao uses 曾参’s “Zeng Shen killed someone” story to argue that repeated accusation can shake even intimate trust.
• Gan Mao uses 乐羊’s Zhongshan campaign to argue that a general’s success can depend less on ability than on whether the ruler can withstand slander during a long campaign.
• Gan Mao predicts that 樗里疾 / 樗里子 and the Gongsun faction will accuse him of prolonging the war or colluding with Han if Yiyang does not fall quickly.
• Qin Wuwang and Gan Mao swear before Heaven at Xirang; the source treats the oath as a public commitment device that makes later retreat politically harder.
• The next year, after Gan Mao has besieged Yiyang for five months without taking it, Chulizi and the Gongsun faction indeed begin attacking the campaign, confirming Gan Mao’s earlier risk model.

Key Quotes

“君子强学而力行” - opening moral frame carried over from the Yang Xiong discussion.

“飞鸟尽，良弓藏；狡兔死，走狗烹” - Fan Li’s warning to Wen Zhong after Yue’s victory.

“曾参杀人” - Gan Mao’s parable for repeated rumor overcoming trust.

Connections

• 子贡 / 端木赐, 孔子, 鲁国, 齐国, 田常, 吴国, 吴王夫差, 越国, 越王勾践, and 多国连锁外交 - the public-rescue prelude.
• 范蠡, 文种, 越王勾践, and 权力退场困境 - post-victory danger around a ruler’s humiliating past and exposed ministers.
• 周赧王, 秦武王, 秦国, 陈庄, 巴蜀, and 受任地方长官割据风险 - follow-up to Qin’s southwestern rebellion problem.
• 赵武灵王, 吴娃, 赵何, 赵章, and 宠爱驱动的立储风险 - Zhao succession foreshadowing.
• 樗里疾 / 樗里子, 甘茂, 宰相中心治理, 秦武王, and 秦国 - Qin’s left/right chancellor setup.
• 甘茂, 韩国, 宜阳, 曾参, 乐羊, 谣言侵蚀信任, 盟誓约束下的统帅信任, and 秦国东进压力 - Yiyang campaign risk and oath politics.

Contradictions

• Potential direct contradiction or source-layer tension: Zhouji 27 and 宜阳 currently describe Qin as taking Yiyang in 335 BCE, while this source treats Yiyang as a major Han target still requiring Gan Mao’s 308 BCE campaign. The wiki should preserve both claims until a later source clarifies whether the earlier notice was partial, temporary, differently scoped, or erroneous.