Behind the land cession during the reign of King Xiang of Zhou, the political examination of power and Jin transactions
King Xiang of Zhou was the fifth son of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and he had very little land when he ascended the throne. Coupled with the fact that Zhou's rule over the vassal states was already very weak at that time, it can be said that the Zhou royal family at this time had been reduced to a third-rate small country. Despite this, King Xiang of Zhou still gave half of the territory of Luoyi to the Jin Kingdom, why is this?
During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Tianzi lost power and was forced to reward the princes who deserved them with land.
As the supreme ruler of the Zhou Dynasty, the Son of Heaven had the authority to maintain his rule with the Son of Zhou, mainly because of deterrence, patriarchal constraints, and divine power, but by the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, due to the loss of power, the decline of ritual music, and the loss of divine power, the Son of Heaven lost his authority.
1.Losing ground. It is clearly stipulated at the beginning of the week"The Sixth Army of the Son of Heaven, the Third Army of a large country, the Second Army of the Central Plains, and the First Army of a small country"(about 12,500 men per army), vassal states are not allowed to expand their armies at will. ""The Rebellion of the Three Divisions"Later, Emperor Xuan was originally stationed in Hojing"Sixth Division of the Western Regions"On the basis of the establishment of Cheng Zhou"Octatonic Master", thus establishing absolute supremacy over the vassal states. This power.
However, from the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the power of the Zhou royal family began to decline rapidly. King Zhao of Zhou made three expeditions to the southern state of Chu and lost six"Han (platoon) division"；During the reign of King Mu of Zhou, the Zhou royal family conquered the dog Rong twice, Kunlun in the west and Xu in the east, which greatly weakened the combat effectiveness of the army. Therefore, during the period of King Zhou Li, Zhou Tianzi though"The sixth division is in the west"、"Eight divisions in Yin", but failed to defeat the rebellious E. King Xuan of Zhou called himself Zhongxing, but he was defeated repeatedly"Mourned in the south"。
During the reign of King You of Zhou, he was killed because of an agreement between Shenhou and Inu Rong. King Ping of Zhou moved eastward, not only losing the six divisions in the west, but also the capital of the Zhou Dynasty in Hojing, which was 800 miles to the east. At the same time that Zhou Tianzi lost his military power, the military power of the vassal states grew, and Zhou Tianzi had to rely on powerful vassal states to defend the royal family during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
2.Lile is corrupt. In the Zhou Dynasty, the most important system used to maintain the relationship between the Zhou royal family and the vassal states was:"Patriarchy"The patriarchal ritual system (i.e., the ritual system) is the basis. In"Patriarchy"The elders have absolute authority over the juniors, and the juniors must fulfill their obligations to the elders. When King Wu of Zhou first sealed the world,"The founding of the country is seventy-one, and the surname Ji is fifty-three", Zhou Tianzi had absolute authority over these princes surnamed Ji, and so many princes surnamed Ji became an obstacle to maintaining the rule of Zhou Tianzi.
However, with the usurpation of King Xiao of Zhou and there were"Patricide"The rise of the suspected King Zhou Ping, these two things can be said to be seriously weakened"Patriarchal system", and the assassination of King Zhou Ping, who helped King Wen of Jin to usurp the orthodox throne, is"Lile collapsed"of the beginning. Marquis Wen of Jin assisted King Zhou Ping to usurp the throne, yes"Lile collapsed"of the beginning. Thereafter, the descendants were decentralized"Patriarchal system"Gradually declining, the concept of power worshipped"Quwo righteousness", exclusive"The three families of Jin""。Tian Dai Qi"It was a typical event, which undoubtedly dealt a serious blow to the authority of Zhou Tianzi to control the princes.
The overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, in addition to Song Xianggong's respect for the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Duke of Qi Huan, the Duke of Jin Wen, the King of Chuzhuang, the Duke of Qin Mu, the King of Wu, and the King of Yue Goujian, which one does not respect the righteousness of power?
3.Heavenly reason has fallen. Since people in ancient times could not understand many natural phenomena, the concept of gods and spirits was very strong. From the Shang Dynasty onwards, theocratic concepts began to emerge, such as Shang kings"Commanded by Heaven"This concept was very strong in the Zhou Dynasty. When Zhou destroyed Shang, the king of Zhou announced"Destiny returns to Zhou"。Destiny returns to Zhou"。
According to this understanding, the king of the Heavens was the first son of Heaven and was therefore called"Son of Heaven"。Zhou Tianzi"Obey the heavens"to rule the world in the name of heaven. Therefore, in order to maintain the mysterious and noble position of heavenly power, Zhou Tianzi often had to sacrifice heaven and earth and ancestors, which was born"Under the whole world, it is not the king's land"universal values; universal values; "。This came into play again'Under the whole world, it is not the king's landOn the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister'The universal value further consolidated Zhou Teng's authority.
With the rise of the hundred schools of thought and their values, the hundred schools of thought are right"The right of the king is divinely granted"It had a profound impact and shook Zhou Tianzi"Commanded by Heaven"of authority. with"Ida system"The collapse and"Shiqing Shilu system"gradually collapsed, and Zhou Tianzi gradually lost the right to occupy the land under heaven.
Under this influence, the vassal states only superficially obeyed Zhou Tianzi. For example, Zheng Zhuang Gong openly clashed with the Zhou royal family, defeated the royal army, and almost killed King Huan of Zhou, directly damaging the reputation of the Son of Heaven Zhou Tianzi.
As mentioned earlier, the loss of power, the weakening of the state, the patriarchal system, and the loss of related theocracy led to the decline of Zhou Tianzi's authority from the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and he had to rely on powerful vassal states to defend the royal family, but Zhou Tianzi was unable to reward them (after all, the princes at this time valued more practical interests than prestige), so the only reward Zhou Tianzi could give was a small amount of land. The only reward that Zhou Tianzi could offer was a small amount of land.
Duke Wen of Jin helped King Xiang of Zhou put down the Zishui rebellion, and King Xiang of Zhou gave him land in return.
Therefore, before King Xiang of Zhou, Zhou Tianzi had the custom of rewarding princes and kings with land. For example, King Ping of Zhou, in order to reward Duke Zheng Wu for his help to the royal family, gave him a large tract of land east of Huling; King Hui of Zhou thanked Zheng and Yu for suppression"The Prince's Rebellion"to return the land east of Huling to the state of Zheng to the state of Qiu. In addition, King Zhou Hui thanked Zheng and Yu for suppression"The Prince's Rebellion", rewarded Jiuquanyu, and gave Zheng Guo the land east of Huling that Zheng Guo had returned. During the reign of King Xiang of Zhou, the Zhou royal family once again fell into civil strife.
Ji Zheng, the king of Zhou Xiang, was the son of King Hui of Zhou. Due to the early death of his mother, King Hui of Zhou appointed Concubine Chen (i.e., Queen Hui) as his queen, and Queen Hui was kind to Ji Zheng at first, but after the birth of Ji Belt (i.e., Prince Belt), she gradually distanced herself from Ji Zheng. Because of his relationship with Empress Hui, King Zhou Hui also likes Ji Dai, which makes Ji Zheng, who is already the crown prince, very worried.
In the twenty-fifth year of King Hui of Zhou (652 BC), King Hui of Zhou died. The crown prince Ji Zheng was worried that his younger brother would usurp the throne, so he concealed the funeral and asked Qi Huan Gong for help. Duke Huan of Qi then summoned Song, Wei, Xu, Lu, Cao, Chen and other countries to meet in Tao, and helped Ji Zheng become the king of Wei, known as the king of Zhou Xiang in history.
In the third year of King Xiang of Zhou (649 BC), the unwilling prince led the persuasion of the neighboring Rong people to attack the city of King Zhou and burned the east gate; King Xiang of Zhou tried his best to defeat the enemy, and the prince fled to Chi after the defeat.
In the fourteenth year of King Xiang of Zhou (638 BC), King Xiang of Zhou, persuaded by his great physician Fu Chen, pardoned the sins of Prince Banda.
After Di Renjie learned that King Xiang of Zhou had been killed, he angrily returned to China to attack Zheng Guo. At the same time, the ministers who followed Di Renjie to attack Zheng began to respect the crown prince and instructed Di Renjie to survive. As a result, King Xiang of Zhou was defeated and was forced to flee to Zheng State, where he begged for help from the kings of Lu, Jin, and Qin, and the crown prince ascended the throne as king.
In the seventeenth year of King Xiang of Zhou (635 BC), Duke Wen of Jin led an army to besiege Prince Banda at Wenda, and met King Xiang of Zhou on his way back to Zhou. Prince Banda was defeated and captured, and was finally killed in Xicheng.
Later, King Xiang of Zhou celebrated his achievements and asked Duke Wen of Jin to celebrate, and Duke Wen of Jin directly invited King Xiang of Zhou"Tunneling"(ie.)"Tunneling"King Xiang of Zhou didn't want the Zhou royal family to lose its last prestige, so he politely declined, but gave the four counties of Fan, Wen, Yuan, and Changmao to Duke Wen of Jin. As a result, the Zhou royal family lost territory again and became a small country with a radius of no more than 100 miles.