During the Warring States Period (475 BC-221 BC), Duke Mu of the State of Qin was tipped off that the duke of the State of Zheng had just passed away. He decided to make a surprise attack on the Zheng and called his ministers together to discuss the plan. Both Jian Shu and Bailixi were opposed to the idea. Jian Shu warned the duke, saying, “Your Majesty, it is such a long way to Zheng that our troops will surely be dead on their feet by the time we get there. If the Zheng are alerted to our attack, then we would only have a slim chance of success. I’m afraid we can’t conceal our attack from the Zheng because we have to march such a long way.” Duke Mu would not listen and dispatched his army to raid the Zheng as planned.
Xian Gao, a cattle dealer of the State of Zheng, was driving a herd of cattle to Luoyang to the market when he heard the Qin army marching towards zheng’s lands. He was quite worried. On the one hand, it was too late to go back and inform others about the danger. On the other hand, as Zheng was his home state, he couldn’t just do nothing.
Xian Gao was a man of intelligence. He thought for a while and came up with a good idea. Then he drove his cattle in the direction from which the Qin army was coming.
At the time, the Qin troops were marching quickly towards Zheng in order not to be discovered by its enemy. One day, a soldier came to the chief commander and reported the arrival of a messenger from the State of Zheng.
The commander was quite shocked, saying to himself, “Has someone let the secret out? Have the Zheng learned about our plan? If they were well prepared for our attack, our raid must fail.” He urged his men to bring the messenger in, and asked him hastily, “What do you come here for?” The messenger answered calmly, “I’m Xian Gao from the State of Zheng. Our duke has heard you’ re leading an army to attack our country. To feast your army and show his hospitality, he sent me to offer you some fat cattle and four pieces of hide. Our duke also mentioned that the Zheng are ready and waiting to meet your army head on. However, we will still provide you with food and guarantee your safety during your stay here.”
Hearing those words, the chief commander remained silent for a long while. He thought, “Oh, we are finished. Our plan has failed completely. The Zheng are really on guard against us.” With that, he smiled to the messenger and said, “Please send my gratitude to your duke. The Qin and Zheng have always maintained friendship with each other. We are not coming to fight the Zheng. Your duke may rest assured.” After the messenger left, the commander said to his men, “We must cancel our plan of attack. They’ve been alerted. But we can’t return empty-handed; otherwise the Zheng people will make a laughing stock of us. We might as well raid the State of Hua before we go back.” The Qin troops thus wiped the Hua out and returned home.
The messenger who saved the State of Zheng was none other than the cattle dealer Xian Gao. He drove back the Qin army with his wit, and his brave exploits became legendary in the lands of Zheng.
