The mystery of Fan Li's identity was revealed in the history of Jin State: Fan Li was also a senior secret agent of Chu State.

As a man of the hour in the history of China, Fan Li's life was full of legends, but he also left countless mysteries, one of which was the mystery of Fan Li's identity. Fan Li and Wen Zi, the well-educated Chu people, were not ordinary people in the era of knowledge representatives. With their knowledge and aristocratic status, they can seek high positions in countless vassal States. Why did they come to Yue? A period of history of the state of Jin was exposed. Fan Li and Wen Zi are also senior agents sent by Chu State, supporting Yue State against Wu State and serving Chu State!

Fan Li, a native of Chu and Wandi. Wenzhong, a native of Chu, was born in Ying (now Jiangling, Hubei). According to historical records, in 5 16 BC, Wandi county magistrate Wen Zi met Fan Li. After some conversation, the two went to appreciate each other. Five years later, Fan Li invited Wen Zi to Vietnam to look for opportunities to make contributions. For literary genres, this is to give up the bright future and invest in an uncertain future.

However, Fan Li and Wen Zi have taken refuge in Gou Jian for more than 20 years, but they have never been reused by him. Until 494 BC, in the battle of Fujiao, the prince of Wu Fucha was defeated by Gou Jian, and the state of Yue almost perished. Since then, Gou Jian began to pay attention to Fan Li and Wen Zi. According to historical records, "Gou Jian was defeated by Xihuiji Mountain, and Fan Li was reused." Later, with the help of Fan Li and others, the State of Yue slowly revived and destroyed the State of Wu.

Gou Jian destroyed Wu for five years, crossed Huaishui in the north, and forced Qi Jin to meet Qilu governors in Xuzhou and pay tribute to Zhou. Zhou Yuanwang let people eat meat for Gou Jian, and admitted that the more "Bo" (overlord) the princes of China, Gou Jian suddenly became one of the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period, while Fan Li was called the general and Wen Zi was the prime minister, and all three reached the peak of their lives.

After returning home, Fan Li tossed and turned, thinking that Gou Jian "can share joys and sorrows, but he is difficult to get along with", so he wrote to resign. Gou Jian said to Fan Li, "Stay and sit with me, or I will kill you." Finally, Fan Li slipped away. "He pretends to be a gem. Since he is a private disciple, he will never violate it."

Immediately, Fan Li went boating in the five lakes, but before leaving, he left a letter to his friend Wen Zi, which wrote: "Birds are exhausted, bows are hidden; A sly rabbit dies, but a running dog cooks. The King of Yue is a bird with a long neck. He can share joys and sorrows, but he can't share happiness. Why not go? " Fan Li thinks Gou Jian can't be trusted. He can only share weal and woe, but can't share wealth. Leave quickly, or he will be killed. After reading the letter, Wen Zi said that he was ill and would not go to court. Someone slandered Wen Zi or would make trouble, and Gou Jian killed himself by giving Wen Zi a sword.

The ending of literary genre confirmed the cruel reality for the first time.

However, there are at least two logical problems in Yue Zhuan:

Since Gou Jian didn't attach importance to Fan Li at first, why did Fan Li stay on the bench from 5 1 1 to 494?

Since Gou Jian's character is in doubt, he can share weal and woe, but he can't share wealth. Why did Fan Li help Gou Jian wholeheartedly for decades?

The social rule in the Spring and Autumn Period is that good birds choose wood to live in, rather than that future generations can only "sell goods to the emperor". There is always a monarch in dozens or hundreds of vassal States who can give full play to his talents and realize the sublimation of life value. Therefore, since Gou Jian is despicable and he doesn't pay attention to it, Fan Li can leave Gou Jian as soon as possible and choose other princes to be loyal to him. So why didn't Fan Li leave the country as soon as possible?

Generally speaking, Fan Li has worked for Gou Jian for several decades for four reasons.

1, Fan Li realized the value of life and the purpose of fame with the help of the stage of crossing the country. In other words, Fan Li is very vulgar about money. But for the same reason as above, Fan Li can achieve these two goals in other vassal states.

2. Gou Jian deceived Fan Li. It was not until Gou Jian dominated that Fan Li suddenly woke up and realized that Gou Jian "can share weal and woe" and left in a hurry. However, with Fan Li's talent, he should have known Gou Jian for decades.

3. Gou Jian is very kind to Fan Li. Out of the idea of repaying a debt of gratitude, he knew that Gou Jian had a personality problem, but he helped him without hesitation. However, "Gou Jian defeated the West in Huiji Mountain and began to reuse Fan Li and style of writing." This shows that Gou Jian was not grateful to Fan Li at first.

4. Fan Li and Wen Zi were patriotic and couldn't bear to see the pressure from the State of Wu on Chu, so they volunteered to come to Yue to support them in fighting against the State of Wu and alleviating the strategic pressure from Chu. The historical background of this point will be detailed below.

Generally speaking, except for the fourth reason, the first three reasons are against common sense. In that case, why did Fan Li have to work for a person with suspicious conduct for decades? A history of the State of Jin has been uncovered, and Fan Li and Wen Zi are more likely to be senior agents of the State of Chu!

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the princes competed for hegemony, among which Chu Jin was the most intense and lasted the longest.

In Jin Wengong, he defeated Chu and replaced Qi as the overlord through the battle of Chengpu, which also started the hegemony war of Chu Jin. In the following hundred years, the constant struggle for hegemony was mainly divided into two stages: the first stage was that Jin took the initiative to go into battle and confronted directly; The second stage is that the state of Jin seeks alliance to surround the state of Chu. Due to the monopoly of six ministers in the state of Jin, the national strength declined, so the strategy of "north-northeast-east" encircling Chu was formulated.

Zuo Zhuan records: "In January and October, Uncle will go to Shixie, Gao Qi Wuqi, Song Huayuan, Fu Lin, Zheng Gongzi and Zhu Renhui Wu Yuzhong." To put it simply, it was in 563 BC (the ninth year of Duke Jin's mourning) that the State of Jin and Wu met for the first time in history, and the two sides jointly besieged Chu and fought against the Qin Chu League. According to historical records, the whole family of Shen Gong and Chen Wu, the Chu people, were deeply resentful and determined to leave the State of Chu. After fleeing to the State of Jin, they offered a tactic of "uniting with Wu to destroy Chu" and went to the State of Wu to teach it to drive chariots in person, which became a prelude to the decline of Chu and the rise of Wu, laying the groundwork for the hegemony of Wu.

It should be pointed out that the State of Wu is after Taibo, who is the son of Gu's father, his uncle and his uncle. After Gu's father decided on the strategy of cutting merchants, he asked Taibo to go to Wu to build the strength of the Zhou people in the Jianghuai area, so as to give the Shang Dynasty a fatal blow from behind. Of course, this strategy was not adopted later, but it shows that the State of Wu and the State of Jin (founded by Zhou Wuwang's two sons) have a deep blood relationship. Jin and Wu can form an alliance, not only because of blood relationship, but also because of the common enemy Chu.

The alliance between Jin and Wu increased the pressure on Chu, so how should Chu deal with it? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Wuyue and China are in constant conflict. The best ally of Chu State should be Yue State, supporting Yue State against Wu State, that is, "uniting Yue to control Wu" and eliminating strategic pressure from the East.

In 5 19, the battle between the chicken and the father broke out in Wu Chu, and the State of Wu defeated the strategically defensive State of Chu. In the second year, in order to crusade against Chu, He Lu destroyed the nest and bell and controlled the middle reaches of Huaihe River. In the following years, Wu has been cutting off the peripheral affiliated forces of Chu, including the 5 10 defeat of Yue. In a word, Wu Jun, ready to give yue a fatal blow. "Zuo Zhuan Ding Gong Four Years" records: "Chu ascended the throne (5 16 years ago), and there is no teacher of martial arts." It can be seen that Wu Jun came out to harass almost year after year, and Chu was overwhelmed and exhausted.

In the first 506 years, after Jin led 19 invaded Chu, which consumed and attracted a large number of Chu troops, Wu launched an attack on Chu from the east, and its vassals, He Lv, Fu Cha, Sun Wu and Wu Zixu, all took part in the battle. Wu Jun was on a roll, and Chu was defeated. Later, the State of Chu joined forces with the State of Qin to fight back against Wu Jun. At the same time, the State of Yue, which has always been friendly with Chu, sent troops to attack the State of Wu, forcing the State of Wu to send another elite to attack the State of Yue.

With the help of the State of Jin, when the State of Wu was busy dealing with the State of Chu, Chu people Fan Li and Wen Zi came to the State of Yue very coincidentally. It is hard to believe that there is no certain connection between them. The author thinks that He is either a patriot who helped Vietnam control Wu privately, or the Chu people specially sent and went to Vietnam to strengthen Vietnam's national strength in order to suppress Wu better. Of course, they also have the identity of agents who collect information and undermine the reconciliation between the five mountains.

If Fan Li was a special agent of Chu, many secrets about Fan Li would be solved.

Gou Jian was cold to Fan Li in 17, but Fan Li had a special mission, so he never left the country. Fan Li didn't consider leaving until he helped Yue destroy the hegemony of Wu and achieved the strategic goal of Chu. However, the unique identities of Fan Li and Wen Zi must be made clear to Gou Jian. Therefore, you are not allowed to leave, saying otherwise, "this will be blamed on Zi", because there is a lot of information about Yue, and Gou Jian can't let him go back. There are still some stories about Fan Li's whereabouts in history. For example, people think that Fan Li was sunk by Gou Jian, and the so-called boating on the five lakes is just a beautiful legend.

As for the language, I may not want to go back to China in the future. Fan Li said: "Birds are exhausted, so it is good to hide with a bow; When Wen Zi hesitated to say that he was ill and would not go to North Korea, Gou Jian thought that he would not be sincerely loyal to him, and there was a lot of information about crossing the country, so he could not be allowed to go out and could only be given a death.

In a word, what exactly is Fan Li's identity can't be restored by 100% now, but in terms of the background of the times, Fan Li and Wen Zi's identity as Chu agents should be closer to the historical truth. On the other hand, Gou Jian may not be as cunning as recorded in history books, and there may be unavoidable difficulties in forcing Fan Li to kill Wen Zi by killing the donkey and kicking the bridge.

References:

Zuozhuan, Historical Records, etc.