Chapter 13 Chapter 12

The battle of Ge in 707 BC made everyone in the world see the strength of Zheng Zhuanggong and the incompetence of the royal family.Although it doesn't sound good to say it against Master Wang, quite a few people think that King Huan of Zhou deserved his own fault and that his defeat was unjust.What's going on here? In that era, nobles with a certain status followed a principle, which was "propriety". "Etiquette" does not talk about equality, but it must talk about equality.The so-called "junjun, ministers, father, son, son" literally means that the monarch should be like a monarch, the ministers should be like ministers, the father should be like a father, and the son should be like a son.It sounds like a tongue twister, but the subtext is, if you don’t look like a monarch, don’t blame your ministers for not listening to you, that is, "the emperor is not the emperor, and the ministers are not the ministers".For example, this time the emperor was defeated, you just blame Zheng Zhuanggong for not knowing the etiquette to fight against the king?Why didn't you talk about the fact that you exchanged Su Waisheng's land for Zheng Guo's fertile land?Fundamentally speaking, your two generations of emperors deliberately wanted to abolish the position of Duke Zheng Zhuang, completely disregarding the merits of Duke Zheng Huan who helped you to block guns, and Duke Wu of Zheng who helped you settle down in Luoyi. Isn’t this a very good thing? right?

Therefore, the point of view of our ancient Chinese is that you can't just think about other people's faults in everything, but also reflect on yourself.So what if you are the Son of Heaven?The emperor, the princes, and the high officials must fulfill their responsibilities, otherwise they will be negligent.But after the Qin Dynasty, the autocratic thought became stronger and stronger, and it became that there was no emperor, only the ministers were at fault.If you dare to say that the Son of Heaven is wrong, it is a crime of beheading.The reasons are of course more complicated, but this is indeed an interesting phenomenon in the history of Chinese culture.We always criticize the imperial autocracy in ancient times. In fact, this issue should be combined with the historical development process, and one size fits all.

Because of this, although the public opinion at that time expressed sympathy for the emperor's failure, they did not criticize Zheng Zhuanggong too much.Zheng Guo can no longer use the banner of Emperor Zhou, but Qilu and other countries are still Zheng Guo's allies, and everyone should still gather and drink. In 706 BC, Bei Rong's army attacked Qi.The ethnic minority troops with strong combat effectiveness quickly entered the territory of Qi State.Duke Xi of Qi immediately asked his allies for help, and the most important ally of Qi State was Zheng State.Zheng Zhuanggong sent his eldest son Prince Hu to lead troops to rescue.

In June, the prince suddenly led his troops to fight with the Rong army.The prince suddenly inherited his father's heroic spirit very well, led the troops to fight fiercely, beat the army into pieces, and captured the army's commanders Daliang and Shaoliang (note that these two are not names of people, but ethnic minorities. Unique official title, Qin State, which is located in the land of Xirong, has the official position of "Da Liang Zao"), beheaded more than 300 people, and dedicated them to Qi State.These more than three hundred people are said to be armored soldiers (armored soldiers have a higher status than unarmored soldiers, of course, if you only look at the head, you can't tell whether they are wearing armor or not).

After Prince Hu's battle was over, the rescue troops from other countries arrived.In order to prevent the army from invading again in the future, the troops of the princes were temporarily stationed at the border of Qi State for defense. Qi Xigong saw that the prince of Zheng Guo suddenly looked very talented, and he was so capable, and he would succeed to be the king of Zheng Guo in the future.What a good condition, Qi Xigong wanted to marry his daughter to him.In this way, on the one hand, he can find a good husband's family for his daughter, and on the other hand, it can also consolidate the friendly relationship between Qi and Zheng.

Unexpectedly, the prince suddenly rejected the marriage.Speaking of which, Prince Hu is also an ambitious young man. People from the Qi State asked him why he refused such a good marriage. How can I marry the daughter of Marquis Qi? If I take advantage of the war and marry a daughter-in-law and return home, what will the people in the country think of me?" In fact, as early as when Qi Zheng Shimen met, Qi Hou had the intention of marrying his daughter to Prince Hu, but Prince Hu refused at that time.The reason at the time was that I didn't want to fall into the trap of flattering a big country.This is the second rejection of marriage.But Qihou is also a sensible person, not only does not blame the prince suddenly, but also thinks that this young man is ambitious and understands etiquette, on the contrary, he respects the prince even more because of this.

After the prince returned home suddenly, he told Jizu about it.Prince Hu's mother was married by Jizu for Duke Zheng Zhuang, so Jizu has been assisting Prince Hu all along.Jizu didn't agree with Prince Hu's approach. He said: "You should agree. Now the monarch's sons are very talented. If you want to inherit the throne in the future, don't let go of this opportunity to make friends with a big country as foreign aid." ’” But the prince suddenly said: “I rely on myself, what’s the point of relying on the help of a big country?” In the blink of an eye, in the summer of 701 BC, Zheng Zhuanggong, the first hero in the early Spring and Autumn Period, finally came to the end of his life.He has done many great things in his life, and he has lived without any regrets.There is no record in the history books of the reaction of the emperor who was far away in Luoyi after knowing this incident, but his mood must have been complicated.

As soon as Zheng Zhuanggong died, according to the principle of Zhou Li, the crown prince was suddenly established as the king after offering sacrifices. This is Zheng Zhaogong.Mr. Zhao had just succeeded to the throne, and he was very ambitious. He really wanted to build on his father's career.If Zheng Zhaogong can work hard for a few years, with the strength of Zheng Guo, maybe he can really become the first overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period. However, the good days of Zheng Guo, with the death of Zheng Zhuanggong, are gone forever.God will never favor Zheng Guo again, but will continue to give it all kinds of chaos and disasters.Zheng Zhuanggong's second son, Gongzi Tu, was born to a daughter of the Yong family, an aristocrat in the Song Dynasty.As soon as Zheng Zhuanggong died, the son suddenly fled to Song State.

The Song State was the country that fought the most wars when Zheng Zhuanggong was alive.Later, because of Song Shanggong's death, Song State finally surrendered.Song Zhuanggong stayed in Zheng Guo for many years, so he was naturally close to Zheng.But being close to Zheng does not prevent him from interfering in Zheng's internal affairs.If a person who is pro-Song is also put on the throne of Zheng Guojun, wouldn't the relationship between the two countries be strengthened? Therefore, the Yong family of the Song State pretended to invite the ruling minister of the Zheng State Ji Zu to go to the Song State for talks to discuss the development direction of the relationship between the two countries in the new era.Talks between the ruling ministers of the two countries were not new at the time.Jizu didn't think much about it, so he went.When he arrived in Song State, he was detained by others.Ordinarily, with Jizu's ingenuity, how could he fail to think of danger?I'm afraid it's also because these years have been too smooth and the vigilance has been relaxed.The Yong family also simply detained the son Tu who came to visit his mother's relatives in the Song Dynasty, and promised him that he could be sent back to China to succeed him, but the condition was that he would pay a lot of property every year.In order to save his life, and also to become the king, Young Master suddenly had no choice but to agree.

These things are recorded in the history books as being done by the Yong family.But we should understand that without the support of the monarch, it is impossible for the Yong family alone to do such a big thing as kidnapping the ruling ministers of other countries and trying to install another monarch for other countries. The Yong family kidnapped Sazu, and the ransom they demanded was simple: Send the young master back to the state of Zheng to become the king, or you will be killed.With such a clear multiple-choice question, Jizu certainly can't make a mistake. In September of this year, under the escort of Song State's bayonet, the young master suddenly returned to the country to grab his seat.At this time, Zheng Zhaogong's disadvantage of not having foreign aid emerged.When the priests no longer supported him, he could only run away.Before the chair was warmed up, Duke Zhao ran to his former rival Weiguo.

Of course, Jizu is inclined towards Zheng Zhaogong in his heart, but when a pistol is pointed at his head, it is normal for people's position to be affected.For Zheng Zhaogong who escaped, Jizu could only apologize.No way, let's take care of each other. In this way, the son was suddenly established as the king of the state of Zheng, and his posthumous title was Duke Zheng Li.We talked about the knowledge about posthumous titles earlier. From the posthumous title of "Duke Li", we can guess that this monarch must have done nothing good. For Zheng Guo, this was just the beginning of the disaster. After Zheng Ligong came to the throne, the Song Dynasty began to ask for their rewards.Of course, Duke Zheng Li supplied the food on time and did not dare to neglect it.But there must be a limit to everything. Less than two years after Duke Li ascended the throne, Song Guo sent people to ask for property more than a dozen times, and he regarded Zheng Guo as his family's treasury.The level of productivity at that time was low, and after the Song State asked for property several times, the Zheng State changed from a strong country to a poor one. Even if Zheng Ligong relied on the power of the Song Dynasty to ascend to the throne of the monarch, he couldn't bear it.In 699 BC, Duke Zheng Li called his former ally Lu State and Ji State, a small country to the east, to form a coalition to attack Song State, which meant to tell Song State that I can no longer serve you! But in the winter of the new year, Song's army came to retaliate.Zheng Guo, who has gone through domestic chaos and been plundered by Song State many times, is no longer as strong as it used to be.The army of Song State drove straight in and burned the gate of the capital of Zheng State.Then the Song army attacked the city, and they all broke into Zheng Guo's Taimiao. The people of Song Dynasty retaliated quite severely this time. According to historical records, they tore down all the rafters of Zheng Guotai Temple and pulled them back to make the rafters of their city gate.From this, we speculate that the Taimiao of Zheng State must have been tossed by the Song army to a disastrous state, and it would be worthy of Zheng State if it was not demolished into ruins. The Taimiao is the ancestral temple of the king of the state of Zheng. This practice in the state of Song is similar to digging up other people's ancestral graves.Thinking about how powerful Zheng Guo was in the era of Duke Zhuang, and now it is so humiliated, I am afraid that Duke Zhuang of Zheng knows it secretly, and he will feel the changes of fortune. The state of Zheng was controlled by the state of Song externally, and it was not stable internally.Zheng Ligong was able to ascend the throne, relying on the help of the Song Dynasty and the defection of the ruling minister Jizu.But Jizu is Zheng Zhaogong's direct descendant after all, and Zheng Ligong is not at ease with such a person.However, Jizu has been in power for a long time in the state of Zheng and has a deep foundation. It is difficult to weaken his power. In 697 BC, Duke Zheng Li finally decided to directly assassinate Jizu by taking drastic measures.One of his favorite doctors, Yongjiu, is Jizu's son-in-law.So Zheng Ligong discussed with Yongjiao: "Your father-in-law has been in charge of the government for a long time, and his power is too great. I want to send you to get rid of him. After his death, the position of ruling will be yours." History has proved time and time again that many people, not to mention fathers-in-law, even their own fathers, can betray in front of power.Yongjiao readily agreed, and decided on the spot that Yongjiao would come forward to hold a banquet outside the capital, and then kill him with poisoned wine. It is said that when Yongjiao returned home, he felt elated when he thought that he was about to become the ruler of Zheng State.Humming a ditty, he called his wife: "Daughter-in-law, go, cook two good dishes for me, and boil a pot of wine. I have to drink two cups." His wife felt something was wrong when she saw it. If this guy hadn't taken a stimulant, then There must be something going on.So she waited carefully while following her husband's words. Yongjiu's wife is Jizu's daughter, surnamed Ji, and we call her Yongji when she marries Yongjiu.It is impossible to verify what its name is.While drinking wine, Yongjiao chatted with Yongji.Yongji kept asking Yongjiao what he was happy about, Yongjiao was forced to ask urgently, so he had to say: "The king wants your father to go to the eastern suburbs to appease the people, and I plan to welcome him when he comes back, that's all. " Of course Yongji didn't believe it, but she was not in a hurry, so she poured Yongjiao cup by cup.When Yongjiu was very drunk, she suddenly asked: "The king asked you to kill the sacrificial foot, have you forgotten?" Yongjiu replied in a daze, "How dare you forget such a big thing." The next day, when Yong Jiao woke up, Yong Ji said to him: "The king is going to kill my father, I already know." Seeing that the plot was revealed, Yong Jiu shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, how can you kill me?" There is such a thing." Yong Ji said: "Yesterday you told me when you were drunk, what are you hiding from me? Let's have a husband and wife, I marry you, I will be yours, of course I will support you Career." Yongjiu was very moved, so he told Yongji about his plan with the monarch.Yong Ji said: "I'll go back to my mother's house and find out my father's itinerary for you, so that you can be safe." Yong Jiao shook his wife's hand and said emotionally: "If the matter is successful, the military merit Zhang has half of me and half of you." When Yong Ji returned home, she was also very conflicted.Seeing that her daughter was preoccupied, her mother asked, "Girl, what's wrong with you?" Yong Ji asked her mother, "Do you think the husband is closer or the father is closer?" Her mother was also confused. Why do you ask this?Just perfunctory her and said: "That's needless to say, dear." Yong Ji quit and asked, "Then which one is closer?" His mother had no choice but to say: "That means father is closer." Yongji: "Why?" Mother: "Everyone can be a husband, but there is only one father." This means that before you get married, anyone can be your husband, but there is only one father who gave birth to you and raised you.So Yongji cried and said, "Then I can't take care of my husband because of my father." She told Jizu all about Yongjiu and Zheng Ligong's conspiracy.Jizu was taken aback, and hurriedly prepared secretly.On the day of Yongjiu's banquet, Jizu came to the banquet.Yong Jiao was about to toast Ji Zu, when dozens of warriors rushed out from Ji Zu, restrained him and killed him on the spot. When Zheng Ligong learned that Yongjiao had failed, and that the conspiracy had been revealed, he could not defeat Jizu himself, so he left the capital and fled.On the way, he heard the reason for the leak of the plot, and he scolded Yong Jiao bitterly: "It's such a big thing to let my wife know, it's not wrong to die at all!" When Duke Li of Zheng went to the State of Cai, he sacrificed his feet and welcomed Duke Zhao of Zheng, who had fled, back to his country, and re-enthroned him as the king.Zheng Guo seems to have returned to the original track. The turmoil in these years may be just a small episode.However, the facts tell us that the civil strife in Zheng State has not ended. Not long after Zheng Zhaogong returned to the country, Song, Lu, Wei, and Chen formed a coalition army to escort Li Gong back to the country and launched a war against Zheng.Although the goal was not achieved, the successive years of war had exhausted the state of Zheng. In 695 BC, Gao Qumi, a doctor of the state of Zheng, killed Zheng Zhaogong and made Zheng Zhuanggong's other son, Gongzi Dan, the king.When Zheng Zhaogong was the prince, he had a disagreement with Gao Qumi.When Duke Zhao became the king, Gao Qumi was afraid that his life would be lost, so he murdered Duke Zhao first. In the new year, Prince Quan and Gao Qumi met with Marquis Qi in Shouqiu (in the territory of Weiguo). At this time, Duke Xi of Qi was dead, and Duke Qi Xiang, the son of Duke Xi of Qi, was in power.Qi Xianggong was a very powerful and cruel character. Taking the opportunity of calming the civil strife for Zheng Guo, he killed his son Dan and executed Gao Qumi with the torture of "car cracking".Carriage is to divide the corpse by five horses, but there were no cavalry at that time, so five chariots were used, and an ox cart was used to divide the corpse. Jizu was very foresighted. He knew that Marquis Qi was going to take action against Zheng Guo, so he didn't go to Shouqiu with Prince Dan, avoiding the disaster of killing himself.The country cannot be without a king for a day, and Jizu made Zheng Zhaogong's other younger brother, Gong Ziyi, the king of the country. Gong Ziyi has been the monarch for 14 years, and in the 12th year, Zheng Guo's important minister Jizu also walked towards the end of his life according to the natural law.In the fourteenth year of Ziyi, that is, in 680 BC, Duke Zheng Li, who had been away for a long time, regrouped, returned to China, killed Ziyi and continued to rule.Poor Ziyi has been a monarch for more than ten years, and he didn't even have a posthumous title. In the history books, he can only be called "Zheng Zi". In this way, after Zheng Zhuanggong's death, for more than 20 years, his four unlucky sons competed for the throne of the monarch, and made Zheng Guo ruined.The turbulent political situation and continuous foreign interference finally wiped out the career of Spring and Autumn's first bully.Although Zheng Guo's political situation has stabilized in the future, the time that has passed will not come again.The era that belonged to a small but powerful country like Zheng Guo is gone forever.The era of the real great power game has stepped on the bones of Zheng Zhuanggong's hegemony and is slowly approaching. The four great states of Qi, Jin, Qin, and Chu did not emerge from cracks in the rocks.With the efforts of several generations, they surpassed other vassal states step by step, and finally became the main force controlling the situation in the Central Plains.Let's take a look at how these four great powers have risen.