China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 7

Zhou Gong was not only handy in handling state affairs, but also worked very hard.In order to govern the country well, he tried every means to recruit talents to help him with affairs.In order to receive virtuous people, he was very busy: once, Zhou Gong was washing his hair (the ancients did not cut their hair, they kept their hair very long, and it was very troublesome to wash it), and just soaked it, someone came outside. Urgent to report.Duke Zhou hurriedly held his wet hair, went out to receive the reception, and then washed after finishing his work; in the middle of washing, someone came to report again, so he hurriedly held his wet hair and went out again.I went out several times in a row before I washed my hair.Another time, when Zhou Gong was eating, he just picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth, when a visitor came outside.He immediately spit out the meat and got up to meet the guests.During one meal, guests came three times, and Duke Zhou vomited food three times.The family saw them and couldn't help but said, "Can't you go to meet the guests after dinner?" Duke Zhou shook his head and said, "These distinguished guests have good ideas to say when they come to visit. I wish I could go and listen right away. Have you neglected others?" This is the origin of the allusion "Duke Zhou vomits his chest, and the world returns to its heart".

Duke Zhou conquered the rebellion
After King Wu eliminated the tyrannical King Zhou, in order to appease the Yin people, he adopted a strategy of both soft and hard.After occupying Chaoge, King Wu immediately released all the people detained by King Zhou, distributed the food accumulated by King Feng to the poor and weak people, and commended the sages persecuted by King Zhou in time to show the new regime It is different from the tyranny of King Zhou.More importantly, on the one hand, he enshrined Wu Geng, the son of King Zhou, in the land of Yin, so that the old people of the Shang Dynasty felt that the Zhou Dynasty had no intention of destroying the blood of Yin and Shang; Guan Shuxian, Cai Shudu and Huo Shu punished Guan (now Zheng County, Henan), Cai (now Shangcai, Henan) and Huo (now Huo County, Shanxi) who were enfeoffed around Yin to monitor Wu Geng in Yin. Three supervisors".

King Wu of Zhou died, and King Wu's son Ji Song succeeded him as King Cheng.King Cheng was young, and the younger brother of King Wu, Duke Zhou Jidan, was regent and acted on behalf of King Cheng.This was the correct choice to maintain the stability and development of the Zhou Dynasty, but unexpectedly it caused an uproar.Guan Shu, the second younger brother of King Wu, was ambitious and wanted to inherit the throne. He was very dissatisfied with Duke Zhou's regent, so he spread rumors everywhere, claiming that Duke Zhou "will not be good for children (referring to becoming king)"; etc.) openly opposed the Duke of Zhou, and encouraged Wu Geng and the eastern princes to rebel against the Zhou family, in an attempt to subvert the Zhou Dynasty regime by cooperating with the outside world.

The actions of Guan, Cai and others opened the green light for the armed rebellion by the old Yin and Shang forces represented by Wu Geng.Wu Geng and others had deep-seated hatred for the demise of the Yin and Shang Dynasties, and they never forgot to wait for an opportunity to restore it. At this time, they saw an opportunity to take advantage of it, and they were stunned by the convenience. States (Xu, Yan and Xiong Ying's Seventeen States) openly raised the banner of rebellion.At this critical moment of life and death, Zhou Gongdan shouldered the historical task of consolidating the regime of the Zhou Dynasty.Facing the situation of internal and external difficulties, he was calm, wise and courageous, and decided to take decisive measures to launch an expedition to completely put down the rebellion.

At that time, some princes did not take the rebellion seriously, thinking that it was just a trivial matter within the royal family, and they were unwilling to participate in the Eastern Expedition to suppress the rebellion.Zhao Gong, who is also an important minister of the royal family, also has doubts about Zhou Gong's actions and has a negative attitude.In order to unify internal thinking and carry out the Eastern Expedition smoothly, Duke Zhou issued a special proclamation "Da Hao", explaining the necessity and significance of countering the rebellion.In the proclamation, the Duke of Zhou analyzed the situation at that time and believed that after the death of King Wu of Zhou, the country was not peaceful. , to get the will of God: it is auspicious to use force to suppress rebellion; he warned the people of Zhou and the princes who supported the Zhou family that the great cause established by King Wen and King Wu must continue, and the rebellion must be put down by force; For the Eastern Expedition, I hope that all the princes and their subjects will follow their own leadership and join in the great cause of the Eastern Expedition to suppress the rebellion.

The first target of Duke Zhou's eastern expedition was the original Yin Shang Wangji area, the source of the rebellion.After the Duke of Zhou led the Eastern Expeditionary Army to dispatch, he marched according to the route that King Wu used to defeat Zhou, and the soldiers pointed directly at Yedi (Chaoge North).Due to the unpopularity of the rebellion and the strength of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, as soon as the Zhou division arrived, Wu Geng's rebel forces were completely defeated, and Wu Geng himself also ended up in a disgraceful end.At the same time, Zhou divides his troops all the way to Du (Chaoge East), where Uncle Guan is stationed. Uncle Guan resists stubbornly and drives people to resist the king's division.The royal army quickly broke Guan Shu's armed forces, occupied Piandi, and killed Guan Shu, the leader of the rebellion.Then, Master Zhou captured Yin (Chaogexi), where Uncle Cai was stationed, captured Uncle Cai alive, and imprisoned him in Guoling (one called Guo Lin).So far, the rebellion launched by Wu Geng and the third uncle was quickly quelled.

When Wu Geng and Sanshu launched a rebellion, Huaiyi, located in today's northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui, also responded from afar, "helping the tyrant to abuse".Therefore, after conquering the former land of Yin and Shang, Duke Zhou decided to attack Shanggai and Huaiyi in the east.At this time, Xin Gongjia suggested: "The big is difficult to attack, but the small is easy to conquer; it is better to conquer the small and rob the big" ("Han Feizi·Shuo Linshang").The Duke of Zhou followed the advice of Xin Gongjia and decided to attack Huaiyi (also known as Jiuyi) first.These small countries have few soldiers and few generals, and their force is not strong. Naturally, they are not opponents of the powerful Zhou division.However, Huaiyi has also exercised its combat effectiveness in the long-term resistance to the attack of the merchant army. Moreover, it is located in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River, with low-lying terrain and criss-cross rivers and lakes. People and horses are also unaccustomed to the environment.Therefore, the battle against Huaiyi was not as quick as expected.However, in the face of difficulties, Duke Zhou was unshakable in his determination to march eastward. After continuous battles, he finally conquered Huaiyi. "), and won the second phase of the Eastern Expedition.

The third stage is the crusade against "Jianyan" to advance the rule of the Zhou royal family to the east.After conquering the small countries of Huaiyi and Yi, Zhou Gong continued his efforts and sent his troops northward to "Jianyan" to crusade against the last rebel stronghold in the east.Yan, also known as Shangyan, lived in the area of ​​Qufu, Shandong Province today. During the Shang Dynasty, it was a relatively powerful country in the East.After Zhou destroyed Shang, the power of the Yan Kingdom was not weakened, and Yan also actively participated in the outbreak of Wu Geng and Sanshu's rebellion, becoming a strong enemy of Zhou in the east, so it was naturally an important target of Duke Zhou's eastern expedition.At this time, the Zhou division had already occupied the neighboring countries on the west and south sides of Yan State, forming a strategic encirclement of it, and Yan was already in a disadvantageous situation of complete isolation.Therefore, when Zhou Shi took advantage of the remaining prestige of the victory and entered Yancheng, Yanjun was helpless and had to surrender.After the fall of the Yan Kingdom, Feng, Pugu and other states in the north of Shandong also surrendered one after another, and the ruling power of the Zhou Dynasty expanded to the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.So far, Zhou Gong's Eastern Expedition, which lasted three years, finally came to an end with victory.

Duke Zhou's Eastern Expedition War was a continuation of King Wu's war against Zhou Dynasty, which was of decisive significance for the consolidation and development of the Zhou Dynasty.After the victory of the Eastern Expedition, Zhou Gong believed that the main reason for the rebellion was that the location of Haojing was too far to the west, far away from the land acquired by Shang Yin, which was not conducive to the management there, so he decided to build a new one in the east. capital.After divination, Zhou Gong believed that Luoyi (now Luoyang, Henan Province) was a good place, so he decided to build a new capital in Luoyi - "Eastern Capital".

The Duke of Zhou strictly abided by the legacy of King Wen and King Wu, handled affairs frugally and did not engage in extravagance.The scale of the Eastern Capital is very grand. Its inner city is nine miles square, and the outer city is 27 miles square. It took more than nine years to complete, but there is absolutely no place built for the pursuit of pleasure.From then on, the Zhou Dynasty had two capitals, the east and the west. The original capital, Haojing, was called Zongzhou, indicating that it was the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty; the newly built eastern capital was named Chengzhou, indicating that it was built after the completion of the Zhou Dynasty.King Cheng still lived in Haojing, and Dongdu, an important political and military town that controlled the East, was ruled by Duke Zhou.From then on, a long-term stable situation in the Zhou Dynasty began to take shape.

For the cause of the Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Zhou really devoted himself to the cause and died.He wrote his experience into articles and made many laws and regulations. The etiquette law is to maintain the ruler's internal hierarchy, while the criminal law is mainly used to suppress the people and slaves.The Zhou Dynasty implemented these decrees and became more stable than before.

●Zhou Gong system etiquette, words and deeds

In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the regent Zhou Gong Jidan, who actually held the power of the Zhou Dynasty, formulated a complete Zhou ritual system, which became another means of ruling the people in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty for hundreds of years.It determines people's way of life, plays a role in regulating social contradictions and stabilizing social order.The ideological basis and core of Zhouli is the concept of destiny.The essence of the concept of destiny is virtue.Virtue is human behavior, and "matching virtue with heaven" is the way of intercourse between heaven and man, which is different from the monistic determinism of the Yin and Shang peoples seeking, offering sacrifices to, and questioning heaven.The Duke of Zhou attributed the Zhou people's replacement of the Yin and Shang as the ruling nation to virtue. King Wen was "virtuous and careful in punishment". He was virtuous, hardworking and cautious. However, the theoretical demonstration of Zhou people's kingship is also Zhou Gong's regulations on the composition of the Zhou Dynasty's rule. "Pairing virtue with heaven" affirms people's subjective efforts and regards it as the way heaven and God act on people, thus forming the active ethics in Zhou Rites.The rulers under the Zhou rites, like the people, can no longer rely on the grace and enlightenment of the heavens and ancestors like the Yin and Shang peoples, but must actively rely on a virtuous way of life to obtain the supervision, rewards and punishments of the heavens.

Starting from this dual basis of heaven and morality, Zhouli formed a series of ethical and moral concepts, which became the spirit and core of Zhouli.In terms of governance, Duke Zhou started from "respect for virtue" and expounded the propositions of "protecting the people" and "cautious punishment" as "virtue".This point was not only the central idea of ​​Zhou's rule, but also became the fundamental norm of the entire Chinese feudal regime after the Confucianism of the Warring States Period was expanded.From the various connotations of "virtue", "gentleman", the concept of a virtuous person, regards "filial piety and virtue" as the norm of "gentleman", and takes "gentleman" as the "rule of the four directions". "Filial piety" and "virtue" go hand in hand. "Filial piety" is the ethicization of the traditional patriarchal concept of the clan. It is the ethical category of "filial piety".

●Chinese-Western Exchange No.1

The great-grandson of King Cheng of Zhou, King Mu of Zhou, surnamed Ji, was named Man. He fought against the Quartet many times in his life, and he won every battle with outstanding martial arts.King Mu of Zhou was not only diligent in government affairs, but also liked to travel very much.

When the ancients traveled, horses were an important means of transportation.Although the emperor's status is noble, what he enjoys is only a carriage.It's just that most of the emperor's horses are fine breeds, and King Mu of Zhou has eight god horses.Speaking of these eight horses, they are really the darlings of King Mu of Zhou.Because these eight steeds are by no means comparable to ordinary good horses, they all have extraordinary origins.This has to start with Cepheus.

Zaofu was the most famous horse breeder and horse master during the reign of King Mu of Zhou.His surname is Ying, and it is said that he is a descendant of Emperor Zhuanxu.Zaofu's ancestors lived by herding and controlling horses for generations. Because of their excellent skills, they were recommended to raise horses for Zhou Tianzi, and they were sealed in Qin (now Xi'an).In order to breed good foals, Zaofu specially searched for wild horses from Kuafu Mountain, captured them and carefully domesticated them.Because these wild horses were originally descendants of the war horses scattered on Kuafu Mountain after King Mu's grandfather pacified the world, they not only have wild beauty, but also retain the heroic spirit of their ancestors as war horses, so they are excellent horses.

After a lot of hard work, Zaofu domesticated a total of four thousand-mile horses, namely Chengpi, Pioli, Hualiu, Luer, and four other good horses, and presented them to King Mu of Zhou.After King Mu saw it, he was overjoyed, so he appointed Zaofu as the imperial horse officer, who was in charge of the emperor's chariots and horses, and often asked Zaofu to drive him around in a fast horse and fragrant car.

These eight horses ran, some of them did not trample on the ground, some were faster than birds, some traveled thousands of miles day and night, and some had wings on their backs... It was amazing and enviable.On weekdays, King Mu kept these horses near Longchuan on Donghai Island.It is said that there is a kind of grass called "Dragon Chu", and it is said that "a plant of Dragon Chu turns into a dragon colt".In this way, after eating the dragon's cud, those steeds became even more powerful and miraculous.

The handsome King Mu wanted to travel around the world, so he ordered Zaofu to drive a chariot with eight horses and a team of people. From today's Zongzhou (Haojing) in Xi'an to the east along the Wei River; The Yellow River advances northward along the western foot of Taihang Mountain and reaches the foot of Yinshan Mountain; then turns westward for a long distance, goes around the Hetao, traces the source of the river, and climbs the majestic Kunlun Mountain; then travels thousands of miles westward to the State of the Queen Mother of the West.

In history, in the 17th year of King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Mu traveled westward to Kunlun on the basis of eight horses, and met with the leader of the tribal alliance of the State of the West Queen Mother, the Queen Mother of the West.This is an extremely grand visit by the supreme ruler of the Central Plains Dynasty after the State of the Queen Mother of the West presented a map to Emperor Shun more than a thousand years ago to express its submission to the unification of China.

The Queen Mother of the West hosted a feast in honor of King Mu and his party in the most beautiful Yaochi Lake, and played music with enthusiasm.King Mu presented a large number of special products of the Central Plains and brocade silk to Queen Mother Xi, and Queen Mother Xi rewarded them with rare and precious local treasures.The Queen Mother of the West invited King Mu to visit the mountains and rivers in her country. King Mu wrote "The Mountain of the Queen Mother of the West" and planted pagoda trees as a souvenir.When parting, King Mu lingered and forgot to return. The Queen Mother of the West persuaded him to drink again and again, and sang: "I wish you a long life, and I hope you will come again!" King Mu traveled [-] miles back and forth, bringing back the profound friendship of the people in Central Asia and the vast areas of the Western Regions.Some scholars even believe that Emperor Mu's westward journey may have left footprints in the Warsaw Plain in central Europe.

This story, which describes the economic and cultural exchanges between the prosperous Western Zhou Dynasty and the West, happened in the Warring States "Book of Jizhong" discovered in Jixian County, Henan Province in 297 AD.One of them recorded the story of King Mu (later called "Mu Tianzi Biography").Because of this story, King Mu of Zhou is known as the earliest famous traveler in China and the No.1 pioneer of cultural exchanges between China and the West.

●The people of the country rioted and the king fled

In 878 BC, after King Li of Zhou (the tenth king of the Zhou Dynasty) ascended the throne, droughts and floods were unpredictable, and agricultural production suffered great losses. There were hungry people everywhere, but no one from the government came out to help.In order to accumulate wealth for enjoyment, King Zhou Li ordered the eldest father of Duke Guo and Duke Rongyi to announce to the world that the mountains, forests, rivers and lakes should be owned by the royal family, and the people are not allowed to collect firewood, fish and hunt.King Zhou Li's actions not only caused great difficulties to the common people's life, but even some middle and lower nobles suffered losses.

After the king's order was sent to the whole country, King Li ordered Rong Yigong and Mao Gong's elder father to check the implementation situation everywhere, and found that those who refused to implement the light were punished with sticks, and the severe ones were beheaded.Thus, the discussion among the common people turned into murmurs and curses.In order to silence everyone, King Li sent someone to invite a wizard from Weiguo, and asked him to use witchcraft to find people who had privately discussed government affairs and cursed him in the crowd.Relying on the power of King Li, Wei Wu began to plant the blame at will, and many innocent people died unexpectedly.Due to the power of Wei Wu and Li Wang, people dare not speak in public, and dare not greet acquaintances on the road, they can only signal with their eyes.For a while, people were in a hurry, not daring to stop where there were people.

Li Wangman thought that he had suppressed the anger in people's hearts with this method, so he was more at ease.The minister summoned Mu Gong to persuade King Li, saying: "It is better to defend against the mouth of the people than to prevent Sichuan!" He reminded King Li that he should open up his voice, choose good words for political affairs, and abandon obscene words in the ditch, but King Li didn't listen to them at all and insisted on going his own way.Three years later, there was another disaster, and the people took advantage of this to stage a large-scale riot. King Zhou Li couldn't resist and was forced to flee.History called this riot a "nationalist riot."

●Fenghuo drama princes perish
King You of Zhou is the son of King Xuan of Zhou, the last emperor who was famous in the Western Zhou Dynasty.King Zhou You loved the beautiful concubine Baosi very much. After giving birth to his son Bofu, he abolished the former empress Shen and the prince Yijiu, and made Baosi the queen and Bofu the prince.But Bao Si didn't like to laugh by nature. In order to make her happy, You Wang did not hesitate to stage one big farce after another, until the country was paid for, and then the farce was ended.

In order to guard against the attack of the dog army, the Zhou Dynasty built more than 20 beacon towers in Lishan, one every not far away. This is the embryonic form of the Great Wall today.If the dog soldiers came, the soldiers who got the news first would light up the beacon fire; when the soldiers at the surrounding checkpoints saw the fireworks, they would also light up the beacon fire.Burn the zu during the day and light the fire at night.In this way, emergency information can be transmitted quickly, and the nearby princes can send troops to rescue in time when they see it.In order to please the King You and the Queen, the minister Guo Shifu suggested that the King You and the Queen go to Lishan Mountain and light the beacon fire at night.Queen Baosi might laugh when she saw so many soldiers rushing for nothing.

So King You took Baosi to Lishan to hold a grand banquet.In the middle of the night, King You really ordered the beacon to be lit.The alarm information was quickly transmitted to nearby dependent countries.The monarchs of the vassal states near Wangji all thought that there was an emergency military operation in Haojing, so they immediately assembled troops and rushed to help.In the morning, the teachers of the princes came to Mount Li.King You didn't care and sent someone to inform the princes: this is him using the beacon fire to amuse himself.The monarch of the vassal state was exhausted and desperate, so he had no choice but to put down his flags and go home with hatred.Queen Bao Si finally couldn't help smiling, King You rewarded Father Guo Shi for this.When the ministers and princes saw this situation, they were all disappointed with the monarch.

(End of this chapter)