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Chapter 244: The Spring and Autumn Era

Unexpectedly, the six states did not listen to his orders at all. In desperation, King Zhou Nan's plan could only be declared a failure. Just when the Zhou army returned without success, the creditors in the city came to King Zhou Nan to collect debts.

In desperation, King Nan of Zhou could only hide on a high platform and wait for the debt collectors to leave. This is how the idiom "debts are high and piled up" came into being. Although King Nan of Zhou failed to attack the State of Qin, the State of Qin did not intend to let him go.

In 256 BC, King Zhaoxiang of Qin sent troops to attack the Western Zhou Principality, and Duke of Western Zhou persuaded King Nan of Zhou to surrender.

It was also in this year that the Eastern Zhou Dynasty fell. After the death of King Nan of Zhou, the people of the Western Zhou Principality fled to the east. The Qin State took this opportunity to seize the Nine Cauldrons, and the Western Zhou Principality fell.

King Zhuangxiang of Qin did not let go of the Eastern Zhou Principality either, and in 249 BC, the Eastern Zhou was also destroyed by him.

【Learn a little bit of history about Fu Hao in one go】

This was the largest war during the reign of King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty. The Shang commander held an 8-kilogram axe in his hand, which was like a demon in the world. Wherever he went, there were corpses everywhere, and the Guifang soldiers were scared out of their wits.

This person holding an axe and being extremely brave is Fu Hao, the queen of the Shang Dynasty. Today, let's take a look at Fu Hao, the first female commander in China with a historical record.

Around 1250 BC, King Wu Ding of the Shang Dynasty ascended the throne. During his reign, he married a queen who was good at fighting and conquering, and this queen was Fu Hao.

Unlike later generations, women had a very high status during the Shang Dynasty. Not only did they own their own land, they could also serve as officials and preside over sacrifices.

Fu Hao was such a queen who had the power of sacrifice. According to records, she was often ordered to preside over activities such as sacrifice to heaven and ancestors. In addition to sacrifice, Fu Hao was also very good at leading troops to fight, but when they just got married, King Wu Ding of Shang did not know that his wife had this hidden skill.

Until one summer, the northern border of the Shang Dynasty was invaded by foreign enemies, and the generals sent were unable to quell the foreign threat. Seeing this, Fu Hao took the initiative to volunteer to lead the troops to fight.

In order to get her husband to agree to her request, Fu Hao took advantage of her profession to cheat. She performed a divination, and the result showed that only Fu Hao could win the battle.

Wu Ding had no choice but to agree. After arriving at the front line, Fu Hao commanded the troops well and led them personally. They quickly defeated the enemy and restored peace to the northern border. This battle made Wu Ding see Fu Hao's talent, and she frequently appeared on the battlefield thereafter.

The reign of Wu Ding coincided with the migration of Indo-Europeans to the south. During the migration, they destroyed one ancient civilization after another. The Indian civilization and the ancient Babylonian civilization were both ended by them.

In particular, after the Indo-Europeans destroyed civilization in India, they also reduced the indigenous people of India to slaves of the lowest caste. However, Chinese civilization has not been interrupted, and Fu Hao has contributed to this.

Historical records show that Fu Hao once led more than 1 people to fight against Tufang and Guifang. Tufang and Guifang were the ancestors of the Huns and the migrating Indo-Europeans. Fu Hao won this war that involved the whole country's strength, which allowed Chinese civilization to continue and made China the only country among the four ancient civilizations whose civilization has not been interrupted.

In addition, Fu Hao also fought the 11th ambush in history. In the war against Ba Fang, she set up an ambush on the west side of the battlefield, and Wu Ding attacked the Ba Fang army from the east. In the end, the Ba Fang army fell into the ambush and was defeated.

Throughout her life, Fu Hao went on more than 90 expeditions and conquered more than 20 vassal states, making great contributions to the Shang Dynasty.

Fu Hao was not only successful in her career, but also had a happy love life. Her husband Wu Ding loved her deeply, and whenever Fu Hao returned from a campaign, Wu Ding would personally go out of the city to greet her, and once he even went out for more than 80 kilometers to greet her.

Moreover, Wu Ding always mentioned Fu Hao in his divinations. The oracle bones unearthed from the Shang Dynasty had inscriptions such as: "Will Fu Hao have a child?" and "If you offer five sacrifices to ward off disasters for Fu Hao, will her teeth get better?"

There are countless examples like this. Among the more than 1 pieces of oracle bones unearthed from the Yin Ruins in Anyang alone, Fu Hao was mentioned more than 200 times.

When she was about 33 years old, Fu Hao passed away. Her death made Wu Ding very sad. In order to prevent Fu Hao from having no one to take care of her soul after her death, Wu Ding held three ghost marriages for her, betrothing her to the 6th and 11th ancestors of the Shang Dynasty, Taijia, and the 13th ancestor, Cheng Tang.

In addition, the queen of the Shang Dynasty was to be buried in the royal tomb complex after her death, but Wu Ding, perhaps reluctant to be too far away from Fu Hao, made an exception and buried her next to the palace where state affairs were handled.

Buried with Fu Hao were two bronze axes, which were a symbol of military power at the time. The burial of the axes was sufficient to prove that Fu Hao had held military power. This also provided strong evidence that women in the Shang Dynasty could lead troops to fight.

In addition, there are more than 400 funerary objects in her tomb, including more than 700 bronze wares, more than 1900 jade wares, etc. The famous Fu Hao Owl Zun and China's earliest bronze mirror were also unearthed in Fu Hao's tomb.

The Fu Hao Owl Zun is the earliest bird-shaped zun from the Shang Dynasty. Although it had been submerged in water for thousands of years, it is still dazzling after being unearthed. Its excavation not only shows us the exquisite craftsmanship of Shang Dynasty bronze ware, but also indirectly proves the extremely high social status of women in the Shang Dynasty.

[Understand the history of the Spring and Autumn Period in one breath Historical knowledge Spring and Autumn Period]

This was an era of war. In just 294 years, nearly 100 countries were destroyed.

This was an era when fighting was a matter of etiquette. One could not fight without forming a battle formation or exchanging letters of challenge. Even after the battle, one had to reward the enemy in the enemy camp. This era was the Spring and Autumn Period.

In 770 BC, King Ping of Zhou moved eastward, marking the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period. After 295 years, the end of slavery marked the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. Today we will look at the stories of the Spring and Autumn Period in the order of the Five Hegemons who came to power.

When talking about the Spring and Autumn Period, we have to mention the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. There are two versions of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. The "Records of the Grand Historian" believes that they are Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin, Duke Xiang of Song and King Zhuang of Chu.

However, "Xunzi" says that the Five Hegemons should be Duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin, King Zhuang of Chu, King Helü of Wu, and King Goujian of Yue.

In 770 BC, due to the invasion of the Quanrong, the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Haojing, was in ruins. King Ping of Zhou moved the capital to Luoyi under the protection of the vassal states of Zheng, Qin, and Jin, which is known in history as "King Ping's Eastward Migration".

At this point, the Western Zhou Dynasty ended and the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty officially began. After the eastward migration, the area of ​​land directly controlled by the Zhou emperor was greatly reduced, and he could no longer intimidate the princes, so the princes took the opportunity to expand.

Duke Zhuang of Zheng was one of them. He actively expanded his army, expanded territory, and regarded himself as a hegemon.

In 720 BC, King Huan of Zhou ascended the throne. Out of distrust for Duke Zhuang of Zheng, he decided to replace Duke Zhuang of Zheng with Duke Guo, a move that angered Duke Zhuang of Zheng.

Duke Zhuang of Zheng sent people to cut off the wheat of the Zhou royal family and began to refuse to meet the emperor. Seeing this, King Huan of Zhou was furious. In 707 BC, he personally led the royal army to attack Zheng State and also mobilized the troops of Chen State, Cai State and Wei State to join the battlefield. The "Battle of Juge" broke out.

It was reasonable to say that Duke Zhuang of Zheng should have surrendered, but things took a shocking turn. Duke Zhuang of Zheng announced the "Yu Li Formation", and the Zhou army, which used traditional tactics, was defeated. Even King Huan of Zhou was shot in the shoulder by an arrow, losing face.

This battle established the title of overlord for Duke Zhuang of Zheng. However, he did not stay on the throne for long, as he passed away in 701 BC.

After Duke Zhuang of Zheng died, his sons began to fight for the throne. The "Rebellion of the Four Princes" broke out and the State of Zheng began to decline.

In 685 BC, Duke Huan of Qi ascended the throne. He had been assassinated by Guan Zhong before, but after becoming the king, Duke Huan of Qi did not hold Guan Zhong responsible. Instead, he put aside the past grudges and appointed Guan Zhong to initiate reforms.

Under Guan Zhong's suggestion, the State of Qi implemented a policy of integrating military and politics, and integrating soldiers and civilians. In order to increase treasury revenue, Guan Zhong opened a brothel, which set a precedent for the establishment of brothels in a country.

The brothel opened by Guan Zhong was about 50 years earlier than the state brothel in Athens, so he was hailed as the "ancestor of brothels."

In addition, Duke Huan of Qi also raised the banner of "respecting the king and expelling the barbarians", which means respecting the Zhou emperor as the ruler of the world, and then conquering the princes under the banner of the Zhou emperor and resisting the Rong and Di. It is equivalent to the Eastern Zhou version of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes".

With the joint efforts of Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong, the State of Qi became increasingly powerful.

In 681 BC, Duke Huan of Qi held a meeting with the kings of Song, Chen, Cai, Zhu and Lu, which was known in history as the "Beixing Meeting". The Beixing Meeting marked the beginning of Duke Huan of Qi's dominance.

Afterwards, Qi first defeated Lu, and then attacked Song on behalf of the emperor, and rescued Yan which was harassed by Shanrong, thus completely consolidating its position as overlord.

However, after Duke Huan of Qi died in 643 BC, Qi also fell into civil strife. In order to become the king, five princes of Qi rebelled and no one cared even if they shot at the corpse of Duke Huan of Qi. After Duke Huan of Qi died, the position of the overlord of the princes became vacant.

At this time, Duke Xiang of Song decided to follow the example of Duke Huan of Qi and convene a meeting of the princes to become the hegemon. However, Song was just a small country and had no ability to dominate.

The two most powerful countries at that time were Qi and Chu, so Zheng believed that supporting King Cheng of Chu as the hegemon was more likely than supporting Duke Xiang of Song. However, Zheng's support for King Cheng of Chu angered Duke Xiang of Song.

In 638 BC, Duke Xiang of Song sent troops to attack the State of Zheng. Zheng was defeated and had to ask for help from the State of Chu.

The Battle of Hongshui between Song and Chu broke out. In the Battle of Hongshui, Song could have sent troops when Chu was crossing the river to catch Chu off guard, but Duke Xiang of Song thought that this was not very righteous and insisted on waiting for the Chu army to cross the river and form a battle formation before attacking.

Unexpectedly, when the Chu army was ready, the State of Song was no match for them. The Song army was defeated, and Duke Xiang of Song was shot in the thigh. He died four years later.

When Song and Chu were plotting to dominate, Chong'er returned to Jin with the help of Duke Mu of Qin. In 636 BC, he killed Duke Huai of Jin and became the king himself, Duke Wen of Jin.

When he came to power, the "Prince Dai Rebellion" broke out in the Zhou Dynasty. Prince Dai, the younger brother of King Xiang of Zhou, joined forces with the enemy army to attack the capital of the Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou army was defeated and even King Xiang of Zhou was driven out of the capital.

Seeing this, Duke Wen of Jin seized the opportunity, he sent troops to quell the rebellion of Prince Dai, and sent King Xiang of Zhou back to the capital. To thank Duke Wen of Jin, King Xiang of Zhou gave him four fiefs: Yangfan, Wen, Yuan, and Hurang.

In 633 BC, Chu State joined forces with Zheng, Cai, Xu and other states to besiege Shangqiu, the capital of Song State, in an attempt to defeat Song State and dominate the Central Plains. Seeing this, Song State could only seek help from the rising Jin State.

In 632 BC, Duke Wen of Jin led his troops to confront the Chu army, and the Battle of Chengpu broke out. Because the Chu general Zi Yu led his troops to advance rashly, the Chu army was defeated. After winning the Battle of Chengpu, Jin held the Jiantu League, and Duke Wen of Jin became the overlord of this period.

In 628 BC, Duke Wen of Zheng passed away, and Duke Wen of Jin also passed away. Duke Mu of Qin thought this was a good opportunity to attack Zheng, so he sent his troops on a long journey, hoping to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Zheng.

Unexpectedly, the traces of the Qin army were discovered by Zheng Guo merchant Xian Gao. Upon seeing this, Xian Gao sent someone back to report to the country, and at the same time gave the Qin army 12 cows in the name of the king of Zheng, and said to the Qin army: "Zheng Guo has already known that the Qin army is coming, and specially asked me to send supplies to entertain the army."

Seeing this, the Qin generals had no choice but to give up the sneak attack and withdraw their troops. Unexpectedly, they were ambushed by the Jin army in the Yaohan area during the withdrawal and the whole army was annihilated. This battle was called the Battle of Yao, which made Qin Mugong realize that if he wanted to dominate the Central Plains with the strength of Qin, he still had a long way to go.

After thinking for a while, he decided to turn around and develop westward. He recruited the counselor You Yu, and with the help of You Yu, he destroyed 12 states of the Western Rong. From then on, he dominated the Western Rong and was named the Lord of the Western Princes by the then emperor, King Xiang of Zhou. In 621 BC, Duke Mu of Qin passed away.

At this time, only Jin and Chu had the power to dominate the Central Plains. In 613 BC, Chu welcomed a wise ruler, King Zhuang of Chu. He appointed Sun Shuao and other capable officials to build water conservancy projects, quell rebellions, and put Chu on the road to prosperity.

Afterwards, King Zhuang of Chu had the idea of ​​going north to fight for hegemony. In 606 BC, King Zhuang of Chu attacked the Luhun Rong in the name of the emperor. During the march, the Chu army arrived near Luoyi, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty.

The then emperor, King Xiang of Zhou, sent an envoy to comfort King Zhuang of Chu, but after meeting the envoy, King Zhuang of Chu actually asked directly about the size and weight of the Nine Cauldrons. The Nine Cauldrons have always been a symbol of the emperor's power, and asking about the size and weight of the Nine Cauldrons undoubtedly exposed King Zhuang of Chu's ambition to replace the emperor.

After defeating the Luhun Rong, Chu set its sights on Zheng. Zheng's geographical location was extremely important, as it was on the route of Jin's march southward to the Central Plains. Therefore, in order to prevent Jin from marching southward, Chu had to take Zheng first.

In 597 BC, King Zhuang of Chu personally led his troops to besiege Zheng State, and Jin State also sent troops to rescue Zheng State. The two armies fought in Bi, which is known in history as the Battle of Bi.

As King Zhuang of Chu was in charge, and the Jin army was at odds with its generals, the Chu army won easily. The victory in the Battle of Bi made King Zhuang of Chu the overlord. In 591 BC, King Zhuang of Chu passed away.

At the same time, the Wu and Yue states in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions gradually developed. In 496 BC, King Helu of Wu led his troops to attack the Yue state, but was hit by a spear from the Yue doctor Linggu Fu and died of his injuries.

His son, King Fuchai of Wu, took over the task of attacking Yue. In 494 BC, King Fuchai of Wu defeated King Goujian of Yue, who was forced to sue for peace. Afterwards, King Wu went north to compete with Qi and Jin for the position of hegemony.