Duke Yin, Year 6

In the sixth year, in spring, the state of Zheng sent an envoy to Lu to discuss peace.

In summer, in the fifth month, on the day Xinyou, Duke Yin of Lu and Duke Xi of Qi formed an alliance at Ai.

In autumn, in the seventh month.

In winter, the state of Song captured Changge.

In the sixth year, in spring, the state of Zheng sent an envoy to Lu to discuss peace, which was to renew friendly relations.

The Nine Lineages and Five Chiefs of Yi, along with Jiafu, the son of Qingfu, welcomed the Marquis of Jin at Sui, settled him in E, and the people of Jin called him the Marquis of E.

In summer, the alliance was formed at Ai, marking the beginning of peace with Qi.

In the fifth month, on the day Gengshen, the Earl of Zheng invaded Chen and achieved a great victory. In previous years, the Earl of Zheng had requested peace from Chen, but the Marquis of Chen did not agree. Wufu admonished, saying, “Cultivating benevolence and being friendly to neighboring states are treasures of the state. You should agree to Zheng’s request.” The Marquis of Chen replied, “Song and Wei are the real threats. What can Zheng do?” So he did not agree. The gentleman said: “Good deeds must not be lost, and evil deeds must not be allowed to grow. This applies to Duke Huan of Chen! If evil is allowed to grow without repentance, disaster will be self-inflicted. Even if one wishes to save the situation, how can it be done? The Book of Shang says: ‘The spread of evil is like a wildfire on the plain, impossible to approach. Can it even be extinguished?’ Zhou Ren once said: ‘One who governs a state, upon seeing evil, must act like a farmer weeding—uproot it and pile it up, cut off its roots, and prevent it from growing again, so that good deeds may flourish.’”

In autumn, the state of Song captured Changge.

In winter, the royal house of Zhou sent an envoy to report a famine. Duke Yin of Lu, on this account, requested the purchase of grain from Song, Wei, Qi, and Zheng. This was in accordance with ritual.

The Earl of Zheng went to the Zhou court. This was his first audience with King Huan of Zhou, but King Huan did not treat him with proper courtesy. The Duke of Zhou Huan said to King Huan: “Our Zhou house moved eastward relying on Jin and Zheng. If we treat Zheng well to encourage other lords to come, we might still fear they would not come. How can we fail to treat Zheng with courtesy? Zheng will not come again.”