Why did the Empress Dowager Qin give birth to a son for King Yiqu? Where is Qin Yi's grievances?
In 272 BC, the Empress Dowager Xuan of Qin used Ganquan Palace as bait to lure the king of Yiqu into the palace, and then killed him.
After the death of King Yiqu, the Qin State had been preparing for a long time and immediately sent troops to attack Yiqu. In the face of the powerful Qin army, Yiqu was caught off guard and could not resist. After a great war, the Yiqu State was destroyed by the Qin State, and the entire Yiqu State was also annexed by the Qin State.
However, for this battle of Qin's annihilation of the Yiqu, later historians have some evasions, because from the perspective of later generations, Qin's methods of destroying the Yiqu are somewhat disgraceful. Before the annexation of Yiqu, the Qin State had already adopted a policy of gentleness and befriended Yiqu, and Yiqu also expressed its submission.
Therefore, when the Qin state sent troops, it was tantamount to an undeclared war, which was difficult to accept in ancient Chinese culture.
Before the war of annihilation between Qin and Yiqu, Qin gained the trust of Yiqu in a unique way. Qin Xuan's Empress Dowager Mi Yue directly promised to marry the king of Yiqu and gave birth to two children with him.
This deep friendship made King Yiqu unguarded against Qin, so much so that Empress Dowager Xuan could easily invite him into the palace. This unique strategy has never been seen again in later history.
From a strategic point of view, Qin's war of annihilation was a complete victory, and after the hidden danger in the west was eliminated, Qin was able to expand eastward with all its might. However, from the perspective of Confucian culture in later generations, the empress dowager took the initiative to dedicate herself to the enemy country and give birth to children for her, but she killed her husband with her own hands, which is far from the three outlines and five constants advocated by Confucianism.
Perhaps because of this, there are very few records of the war by later historians, and only a few scholars who have studied this period of history are aware of it.
Although this historical event is little known, its impact is far-reaching. From the perspective of the overall situation of Chinese history, this war and the demise of the Yiqu State had far-reaching implications.
In particular, the demise of the Yiqu Kingdom, which marked the complete assimilation of the powerful Xirong into the Central Plains culture. The significance of Xirong's assimilation far exceeded the impact of the destruction of the Yiqu Kingdom.
Why, then, did the fall of the Yiqu Kingdom mark the assimilation of Xijon? Why is the identity of the Empress Dowager Qin involved with the monarch of the enemy country? What kind of grievances and entanglements are there between the Yiqu State and the Qin State?
In order to understand these issues in depth, we must start with the history of Yiqu Kingdom. As early as the Xia and Shang periods, the Central Plains civilization took the lead in ending the tribal era because the geographical environment was more suitable for agricultural civilization, establishing cities, and countries and dynasties appeared.
At the same time, the western part of Shaanxi and the more western regions were inhabited by many people, but they have maintained their nomadic tribal form as the local environment is more suitable for grazing.
During the Xia and Shang periods, there were actually many singing and crying stories in the western region, and many nomadic tribes and ethnic groups continued to wage wars and annexations in order to improve their lives.
In the middle of the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou or Zhou tribes migrated and finally took root in the area west of Qishan. Here, they completed the transformation of nomadic culture into an agrarian culture and continued to grow.
In the later Shang Dynasty, this tribe developed into a powerful state, becoming the overlord of the western part of the Central Plains. In the end, in the last years of the Shang Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou, with his extensive support, united with the vassal states and successfully overthrew the Shang Dynasty royal family, leaving a famous name in history"King Wu is defeated"chapters.
The Zhou Dynasty became the lord of the opening dynasty after King Wu fell. After the opening of the Zhou dynasty, they made the Luoyang region their new center of rule, and the Xi'an region became their main expansion area.
In order to consolidate their rule, the Zhou royal family divided family members into various places through blood ties and established vassal states. With the full support of the Zhou royal family, these princes and heroes surnamed Ji quickly gained a firm foothold in the local area and established a sound state organization.
After decades of unremitting efforts, the Zhou dynasty finally reached its heyday in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty. Then, the Zhou dynasty began to vigorously expand its foreign sphere and further expand its own sphere of rule.
Prior to the expansion, the Zhou dynasty's de facto control area, including the princely states surnamed Ji, was limited to the present-day provinces of Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Anhui, and Zhejiang.
However, there are many other ethnic groups living outside of this area. Of course, the degree of civilization of these ethnic groups is lower than that of the Zhou Dynasty, and most of them still live in tribal forms, and there are even those who have not entered the primary slave society and are in a primitive social state.
In order to expand its territory, the Zhou Dynasty began to conquer the surrounding backward ethnic groups. This process was like a dimensionality reduction blow, which made the power of the Zhou Dynasty grow rapidly. In the following decades, the Western Zhou began to expand massively, conquering the surrounding backward peoples.
In the process of external expansion, the expansion of the Zhou dynasty to the west was particularly eye-catching, because the west was the land of the Zhou royal family, from which the Zhou royal family arose.
Although the Zhou dynasty continued to expand eastward, the nomads in the west have always lived a good life. At that time, there were many nomadic people living in the west of the Zhou Dynasty, and they were all known as Xirong.
Since the middle of the Zhou Dynasty, the grievances between the Central Plains civilization and the Western nomadic civilization have been buried deep in the heart. In the first encounter, the Zhou Dynasty took the initiative and successfully crushed the western nomads with its strong national strength, forcing them to submit to the Zhou royal family.
Legend has it that King Mu of Zhou also went to Kunlun Mountain to meet with the Queen Mother of the West in Yaochi, this story is recorded in the "Biography of Mu Tianzi", written in the Warring States Period. According to the book, King Mu of Zhou walked through Baotou, Helan Mountain, Qilian Mountain, and finally through the Tianshan North Road, and arrived at the kingdom of the Queen Mother of the West.
Later historians have debated the identity of the Queen Mother of the West, believing that this mysterious female leader may have been the leader of a larger Rongdi tribe.
It is undeniable that the Western Zhou Dynasty once succeeded in suppressing these nomadic tribes, which is an indisputable fact. However, by the late Western Zhou Dynasty, everything began to change.
The decline of the Zhou royal family caused the major vassal states to become independent and no longer under their control. At this time, the declining trend of the Western Zhou Dynasty was unstoppable. The Xirong tribe, which had been conquered by the Western Zhou, also began to rise and gradually launched attacks on the areas ruled by the Zhou dynasty.
In the second round of the showdown, Xijon re-emerged, and the Zhou royal family began to decline. When the round ended, Shen Guo, a vassal state under the Western Zhou Dynasty, allied with the Dog Rong tribe in Xirong to attack the Zhou capital, Haojing.
In the end, under the combined attack of Shen Guo and Inu Rong, Hojing was breached, and King You of Zhou, the last emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty, was killed. Later, the princes from all over the country arrived, and although they repelled the Inuyong, Hokyo had been completely destroyed.
As a result, everyone could only escort the Zhou royal family to move eastward and move the capital to the Luoyang area. Since then, the Zhou Dynasty has been renamed the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
In the second round of the confrontation, Inu Rong killed King Zhou You, sacked Ho Jing, and won the victory. Prior to this, the Zhou Dynasty's westward expedition made many Xirong tribes bow down, and the Central Plains culture began to be introduced to the West.
Thus, from this period, the nomads of the west also had the concept of a state. Around the time of the Western Weekend and the Spring and Autumn Period, the organization of the state began to appear among the nomads in the west.
Subsequently, with the eastward migration of the Zhou royal family, the Shaanxi region basically fell under the control of Xirong. Of course, at this time, there were still some vassal states canonized by the Zhou royal family still west of Hangu Pass.
Therefore, in the third round, the main forces that confronted Xirong were these vassal states, especially the Qin state.
In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family decided to expand the horse breeding industry in order to fight against Xirong. They selected an excellent horse breeder named Ying Feizi from the royal groom family and sent him to the Tianshui area of Gansu Province to be responsible for horse breeding.
This Ying Feizi is the ancestor of the Qin State. As his descendants continued to grow in the West and grew into large clans, they fought to rescue the Inujon during the Western Weekend Raid on Hokyo.
Therefore, when the Zhou royal family moved eastward, the Ying family was allowed to establish itself as a country in the west. This is the origin of the Qin State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
At the same time as the establishment of the Qin state, the Zhou royal family made a promise to the Qin state, that is, they would be allowed to fight Xirong in the west, and if they succeeded in seizing the land, these lands would be owned by the Qin state.
With this promise, the Qin state expanded westward from Gansu over the next hundred years, eventually occupying the entire Guanzhong region. In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, during the reign of Qin Mugong, the Qin state completely controlled the entire Guanzhong region and became the largest power in the West.
The history of the rise of the Qin State is an important thread for many historians in later generations to study this period. However, during the same period, many things also happened in Sijon, but due to the relatively small number of researchers, the history of Sijon did not receive enough attention.
Powerful Xirong branches, such as the Dog Rong, Mianzhu, Zhai, Yiqu, Dali and Wushi, mainly live in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and northwestern Gansu. Further north, there is the Mongolian Plateau, inhabited by nomadic peoples led by the Xiongnu, who are not numerous.
And through the Hexi Corridor, we can reach the Western Regions, where many nomadic peoples such as Yueshi, Daxia, and Wusun live, which are very lively.
Historically, if King Zhou Mu was really lucky enough to meet the Queen Mother of the West, then the country she lived in was likely to be located in the Western Regions. Due to the geographical environment, the population of the Western Regions at that time was far less than that of the Central Plains, and there were many kinds of ethnic groups, and they had always been in a state of nomadic civilization.
At that time, neither the Western Regions nor the Shaanxi and Gansu regions had very strong political powers, and at most there were only a few nomadic tribes. Moreover, the existence of the Hexi Corridor made it very difficult for nomads to enter the Central Plains.
If the nomads wanted to develop into the Central Plains, they could only pass through the Hexi Corridor, otherwise they would have to make a detour to the Tibetan Plateau or the Mongolian Plateau, which would be a more difficult journey.
In ancient times, the Hexi Corridor was the only channel for communication between the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Although the roads were rugged and difficult to navigate, even if the nomads reached the Shaanxi-Gansu region through the Hexi Corridor, they still had to face obstacles from the Inurong, Yiqu and other ethnic groups.
Therefore, in the pre-Qin period, it was difficult for the Western Regions to expand to the Central Plains, and the Hexi Corridor was also in a state of blockade. In contrast, the Shaanxi-Gansu region was a relatively closed battlefield during that period, with only two powerful forces: the Xirong forces, which were dominated by large tribes such as the Dog Rong and the Yiqu, and the Qin state.
The rise of the Qin State is actually a history of fierce battles with the Xirong tribe. When Qin Mugong took control of the entire Guanzhong region, the strength of the Qin State had far surpassed those Xirong tribes.
At that time, Xijon had not yet been unified, and there were constant disputes between the tribes. With the frenzied suppression of the Qin state, the Xirong tribe gradually lost the ability to resist, had to submit to the Qin state, and was completely expelled from its core area.
Qin Mugong was recognized by the Zhou royal family for his outstanding military exploits and became one of the five tyrants of the Spring and Autumn Period. At the same time, the Xijon tribe also began to gradually move towards unification.
According to the analysis of later historians, the unification of Xirong is very likely to follow a similar logic to the later unification of the Xiongnu. Xijon was originally a nomadic civilization, and there may have been some agricultural civilizations mixed with it.
In this state, it is difficult for Xijon to meet all their needs through internal production, and in the event of a natural disaster, they can only invade the east and rob those agricultural civilizations.
However, since the Qin state became stronger, the difficulty of Xirong's robbery has increased dramatically. Long before the time of Qin Mugong, in order to defend against the invasion of Xirong, the Qin state began to build cities on a large scale.
With the protection of the city, it became more difficult for Sijon to rob in the form of small tribes. As a result, this pressure began to force a scuffle within Xijon and then move towards reunification.
During the time of Qin Mugong, Yiqu gradually came to prominence, unified the various Rongdi tribes in the north, and then began to expand east, west and south. However, at this time, Yiqu found a powerful opponent, and that was the Qin State.
Since then, the grievances between Qin Yi have begun. Yiqu also has a long history, which is said to date back to the Xia and Shang periods. In the last years of the Shang Dynasty, Yiqu was already a large nomadic tribe in the northwest region.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Yiqu gradually moved and occupied the Longdong region.
During the Zhou Dynasty's westward expedition, Yiqu took the initiative to surrender and accept pacification, obtained land and production technology in the west, and gradually transitioned to agricultural civilization. After the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty, as the influence of the Zhou royal family in the West disappeared, Yiqu declared independence and continued to expand in the West to annex nomadic tribes.
In the process, the Qin state expanded from the Tianshui region of Gansu to the Guanzhong region.
During the period of Qin Mugong, the strength of the Qin State was indisputable, but the Yiqu at that time was not an idle person. According to historians' estimates, Yiqu's sphere of influence reached a staggering 100,000 square kilometers, while the entire Guanzhong region combined was less than 60,000 square kilometers.
Although the quality of the land in the Guanzhong area is higher, the strength of Yiqu should not be underestimated. From the time of Qin Mugong, the war between Yiqu and Qin continued, and one of the key figures played a key role, he was Ji Youyu, the sixteenth grandson of King Wu of Zhou.
Initially, he was a minister of the Jin Kingdom, but fled to Yiqu due to the civil strife in the Jin Kingdom.
Ji Youyu, a wise man from the Central Plains, was selected by the King of Yiqu for his deep understanding of the Central Plains culture and sent to the Qin State to investigate. However, he always cherished the longing for his hometown, and not only did not provide information for Yiqu, but instead passed on Qin Mugong's information back.
With the help of Ji Youyu, Qin Mugong defeated Yiqu, expanded the land for thousands of miles, and increased the territory of Qin. Although this victory did not fundamentally defeat Yiqu, it deepened the hatred between the two countries.
In the process, Yiqu also began to absorb the culture of the Central Plains, learned advanced production technology, and even learned to build a city. This confrontation has made Yiqu a nation with advanced production technology and military strength.
Today, the Yiqu civilization is no longer purely nomadic or agrarian, but both. And unconsciously, the Central Plains civilization has gradually infiltrated and assimilated Yiqu. Whether it is writing or production technology, Yiqu almost copied the Central Plains, which laid the groundwork for the complete assimilation later.
Due to the strength of both sides, throughout the mid-to-late Spring and Autumn period, Qin and Yiqu were almost evenly matched, and wars continued. However, due to the lack of relevant historical data, we are unable to know the specific circumstances of the war.
After two hundred years of fighting, by the end of the Spring and Autumn period, the Qin state gradually declined, while the Yiqu state began to expand. During this period, probably when the three families of the Jin Kingdom were divided, the Yiqu Kingdom reached its peak.
The power of Yiqu is amazing! It controls an area of about 200,000 square kilometers and includes the northern Shaanxi, Hetao, Longxi and Weishui basins. Such a territorial area was equivalent to a quarter of the modern Henan and Shandong provinces, and even exceeded the three kingdoms of Qin, Jin, and Qi, which were the most powerful in the Central Plains at that time.
Only the southern state of Chu can be compared in terms of territorial area. However, the strength of Yiqu also meant the decline of the Qin state.
After the death of Qin Mugong, the Qin State fell into a long-term period of decline, especially in the period of the alternation of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the high-level of the Qin State was in a state of chaos for a long time, which is the famous "Three Generations of Chaotic Government" in history.
After this chaotic high-level management was added to the Jin state**, the Wei state** that came out of the Jin state became stronger after reform, and took away the Hexi region, which originally belonged to the Qin state.
In this context, the Yiqu State did not want to miss this opportunity and sent a large number of troops to attack the Qin State. Under the fierce attack of the Yiqu State, the Qin State was defeated and retreated, and almost all the territory in the lower reaches of the Wei River was lost.
In historical research, people often look at this period of history from the perspective of the Qin or Wei states. Although Wei was not officially canonized by Zhou Tianzi, it was already a de facto vassal state.
At this time, the Wei State began to rapidly change the law and quickly became stronger. And the Qin State thought that there was a chance to go east after the Jin State**, so it clashed with the Wei State. However, next, the Qin state found that the Wei state was stronger than expected, and after several major battles, the Qin state not only did not gain anything, but instead lost the entire Hexi region.
In this big play, Yiqu's role is often overlooked, but in fact, Wei was able to defeat Qin quickly, largely because Qin not only needed to fight against Wei, but also to prevent Yiqu behind him.
Some people questioned online why Wei didn't continue to attack Qin after occupying the Hexi region, and then occupy the entire Guanzhong, establish a solid rear, and then go to war with other countries to finally unify the world.
The answer lies in the strength of the Yiqu Kingdom. From Wei's point of view, they wanted to weaken Qin, but they did not want Qin to collapse completely. Because after the collapse of the Qin State, the Wei State will need to directly face the powerful Yiqu, which is more troublesome than fighting the Qin State alone, because in the process of eliminating the Qin State, the Yiqu will also occupy a large amount of territory at the same time and gain more benefits.
In Wei's view, a half-dead Qin state was the best choice to resist the threat of Yiqu without posing a threat to Wei's security. However, who would have expected that just a few decades later, the Qin State would rise again and sweep the world.
During the period of three generations of chaotic government in the Qin state, the Yiqu state reached its most powerful period. However, due to its overpower, the peak of the Yiqu Kingdom did not last long, and civil strife soon began.
Due to the lack of historical data, we are unable to go into detail about the civil unrest in Yiqu. However, it is certain that this civil strife caused the power of the Yiqu Kingdom to plummet. In the Qin State, in 385 BC, after Qin Xiangong ascended the throne, he quickly ended three generations of chaotic government and began to strengthen the centralization of power and control of the army.
Through the efforts of Qin Xiangong, the Qin State temporarily stopped the trend of decline. After the death of Qin Xiangong, his son Qin Xiaogong succeeded to the throne and appointed Shang Ying to carry out reforms. After the Shang Dynasty reform, the system of the Qin State was completely renewed, and the gap between the system and the Yiqu State was quickly widened.
During the period when the Qin State changed the law, the Yiqu State was still in civil strife, and this gap in the system could not be bridged by territory or the army. Seizing this opportunity, the Qin State first began to find trouble with the Wei State, and after the Great War, the main force of the Wei State was severely damaged, and the Hexi region was recovered.
After the defeat of Wei, Qin was able to turn to Yiqu. Under the rule of Qin Xiaogong and King Huiwen of Qin, the Qin state continued to attack Yiqu, which was unable to resist the already revived Qin state in the civil strife.
In the middle of the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, Yiqu formally surrendered to Qin for the first time, and according to the Qin state's management system, Yiqu's territory was changed to a county administration. However, this surrender was more like an expedient measure of Yiqu, similar to the relationship between the Central Plains Dynasty and the steppe regime in later generations.
After the Central Plains Dynasty became strong, it defeated the grassland regime and forced it to submit, but in reality, the grassland regime was still self-governing, and the Central Plains Dynasty was unable to form an effective rule on the grassland.
The relationship between Qin and Yiqu was probably like this, although Yiqu was a vassal to Qin, it still remained independent.
After the surrender of Yiqu that year, the Qin State relaxed its vigilance and transferred the main force to the east to carry out a strategy of joint vertical and horizontal with the six countries of Kwantung. As a result, Yiqu took the opportunity to regain its strength, and ten years later, the rise of Qin was too fast, attracting a joint attack by the five Kwantung states, and the five kingdoms attacked Qin for the first time in history.
At this time, the Qin State was facing the joint opposition of other countries, and Yiqu also took the opportunity to declare independence and attack the Qin State in a big way. This war can be said to be the most dangerous battle faced by the Qin State since the Shang Dynasty reform.
Later generations studying this period of history would often mention the pressure on the Qin state from the Five Kwantung Kingdoms, but often overlooked the threat of Yiqu. In fact, compared to the threat of the Five Kingdoms of the Kwantung Kingdom, the threat of Yiqu may be greater, as it directly threatens the backyard of the Qin State.
Fortunately, King Qin Huiwen at that time was indeed very talented. In the following years, Qin made efforts to pacify Yiqu on the one hand, and thwarted the coalition forces of the Kwantung Five on the other.
When the five-nation alliance was repulsed, the Qin State immediately mobilized elite troops from all over the country to attack Yiqu from the east, south, and west at the same time. After this round of blows, Yiqu not only lost twenty-five cities, but also shrank the territory by half, and had to bow to the Qin State again.
After this battle, not long after, King Qin Huiwen died. Then, King Qin Zhaoxiang ascended the throne at a young age, because King Qin Zhaoxiang was still young at that time, so he could only be assisted by his mother, that is, Empress Dowager Xuan, Miyue, to help him govern the country.
After Empress Dowager Xuan came to power, the Qin State launched a decisive blow to Yiqu, and this blow became known as the Beauty Trick. However, how to deal with Yiqu, a powerful country located behind the Qin State, has always been a headache for the Qin State's top leaders.
Although the Qin State has defeated Yiqu many times in history, it has never been able to completely annex it. In many networks**, a simple solution may be given: kill all the people of Yiqu, isn't that okay?
However, this method is not historically feasible and may even have serious consequences.
With the national strength of the Qin State, it will be a huge price to be paid to eliminate the entire Yiqu State, including ** and the resistance of the people, which will not only lead to a significant decline in the national strength of the Qin State, but also the cost will be ten times that of the current one.
Therefore, the best strategy is to assimilate the Yiqu State and make the Yiqu people identify with their Qin identity through cultural and commercial means.
It is said that Empress Dowager Xuan Miyue took the initiative to invite King Yiqu to live in Ganquan Palace and gave birth to two children, which caused controversy in history. Some people think that they have known each other before the Xuantai ** Palace, and even had a personal relationship; It is also believed that King Yiqu took a fancy to the power of the Qin State and wanted to infiltrate the Qin State in this way and eventually become the King of Qin.
Whatever the reason, the result was that the king of Yiqu lived in Ganquan Palace for many years, and at the same time, the Qin state also continued to infiltrate Yiqu, delegating ** to the country and implementing the system and ideas of the Qin state.
After more than twenty years of assimilation, the Yiqu people began to accept themselves as Qin people, and considered the Qin system to be very superior. In this context, Empress Dowager Xuan succeeded in killing the last king of Yiqu.
The state of Qin, which had been prepared for a long time, quickly dispatched troops and occupied the entire Yiqu. Since the Yiqu people had been assimilated before, most of them were unwilling to resist, and only a few high-level people resolutely resisted.
This made the Qin state face less resistance in the battle to eliminate Yiqu. After this war, the top leaders of the Yiqu State were all wiped out, and the remaining Yiqu people identified themselves as Qin people.
From then on, Yiqu completely disappeared and was assimilated by the Qin state. The threat behind the Qin state was also resolved.
This Empress Dowager Xuan was the first empress dowager in Chinese history, and one of her greatest contributions to the Qin State was to successfully eliminate Xirong, which had plagued the Central Plains civilization for hundreds of years.
Without Empress Dowager Xuan's wisdom and means, the Qin State wanted to annex Yiqu, and the cost would be at least ten times more than the current one, and the result was not guaranteed to succeed. This event not only marked the victory of the Qin state, but also symbolized a major historical turning point in the civilization of the Central Plains.