Is “He played the beacon fire trick to win a smile from Bao Si, losing the trust of the feudal lords, which led to no rescue when Quanrong attacked.” true?

novel invention

The Records of the Grand Historian, 'Basic Annals of Zhou', indeed records King You's 'beacon fire trick'; but the excavated 'Tsinghua Bamboo Slips, 'Annals' records that King You actively attacked Shen, and the Marquis of Shen contacted Quanrong to defeat King You, with no beacon fire trick. Scholars such as Qian Mu also consider this to be later fictional talk. The novel follows the folk legend color of the Records of the Grand Historian.

King You of Zhou

The reason for King You's downfall: beacon fire trick or active attack on Shen?

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