King Wu- He Lv

He Lv (born in ? and died in 496 B.C.), with his given name of Guang, was the son of King Wu, Zhu Fan, and also the king of Kingdom Wu in the late Spring and Autumn period. On the fifth year of King Jing of Zhou’s reign (515 B.C.), Guang adopted the advice of “dagger in fish” offered by Wu Zixu, a fugitive of Kingdom Chu, to have Wang Liao stabbed to death by the assassin Zhuan Zhu, thus seizing power. He appointed Wu Zixu as the prime minister, and Su Wu, a strategist, as the commanding general. Over years of arm rectification and consolidation, the strength of the country increased day by day. Later, He Lv, together with Wu Zixu and Sun Wu, led 60,000 soldiers to send punitive expedition against Kingdom Chu. Having Chu’s 200,000 soldiers retreat in defeat, Wu’s army broke through Ying (capital of Kingdom Chu), and won the final victory. In the return from the battle, He Lv ordered Wu Zixu to build Helv City by Taihu Lake, so as to defend against the invasion of Kingdom Yue.

Discontenting with the small territory of “Kingdom Wu”, He Lv had always been bent on expanding the territory in the central plains area in order to become the leader of the vassals. He said to Wu Zixu, “Our country lies in the remote southeast region where we suffer from rugged terrain, humid climate and rive inundation. Besides, the king is not defended; the civilians have nothing to feed on; the granary is not provided; and the farmland is not farmed. What shall we do?” “If you want to have the country live in peace and prosper, to seek hegemony and to control the remote countries, you shall firstly build defensive walls, provide garrison, fill the granary with grains and rectify the arsenal. This is the very solution.”, replied Wu Zixu.

On the 24th year of King Jing of Zhou’s reign (496 B.C.), He Lv, regardless of the opposition of Wu Zixu, led the army by himself to launch an offensive on Kingdom Yue, and they fought with Gou Jian’s army at Zuili (currently southwest of Zhejiang’s Jiaxing City). It turned out that Wu’s army returned with a utter defeat, and He Lv himself was also badly hewed on the foot, with his shoes and big toe missed. He died on the way home. In spite of this, He Lv is also regarded as a powerful king due to the brilliant achievements he made for Kingdom Wu.