Home Categories Chinese history Yi Zhongtian History of China 05·From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period
King Huan of Zhou sent him to his door to be beaten. Logically speaking, this should not have happened, because the relationship between Zhou and Zheng was extraordinary.Zheng was the last feudal state in the Western Zhou Dynasty. The first king was the youngest son of King Li of Zhou, who was made a prince by King Xuan of Zhou, Duke Huan.Duke Huan was the king of Zheng and the minister of King Zhou. He served as Situ of Zhou in the time of King You.At that time, the royal family of the Western Zhou Dynasty had declined, but the Rongdi in the West were very powerful.Duke Huan wanted to work hard for the king's affairs, but he didn't want to ruin his country and family, so he followed the advice of Shi Bo, the royal historian, and moved from the original entrusted land to Xinzheng. The territory of the country was about the middle of the northern half of Henan Province.This is the state of Zheng in the Spring and Autumn Period.Xia Ji, mentioned in the fourth volume of the history of China, "Youth", grew up there.

In this way, Zheng should be loyal to Zhou. Similarly, Zhou should treat Zheng kindly.Because the survival of the Eastern Zhou royal family mainly depended on the two great powers, Jin and Zheng.Jin is on the north bank of the Yellow River, and Zheng is on the south bank.The state of Jin guarded the north of Zhou, and the state of Zheng guarded the east of Zhou.The barriers to the west are Yu and Guo (Yu is in present-day Pinglu County, Shanxi Province, and Guo is in present-day Shan County, Henan Province).To the south are Shen and Lu (both in Nanyang City, Henan Province). This was the situation in the early years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.Later, the state of Jin split up and couldn't take care of itself; the state of Chu rose, and the south could not be protected.The only barriers of the Zhou royal family were Zheng Heguo.

Contradictions arise from this. Guo is the feudal state of Guozhong, the younger brother of King Wen of Zhou, also known as Xiguo.In addition, there is Dongguo, which was the feudal state of Uncle Guo, the younger brother of King Wen of Zhou, and was later destroyed by Zheng Guo, so Xiguo is called Guoguo.In the early years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Lord Guo seemed to have been promoted to duke, while Lord Zheng was earl.However, the comprehensive national strength of Zheng State obviously surpassed that of Guo State.The first emperor, Duke Huan, was martyred when the Western Zhou Dynasty fell.Therefore, Zheng's second monarch, Duke Wu, and his third monarch, Duke Zhuang, have always served as courtiers of King Ping, holding great power as important officials of the royal family.At this time, it was Zhou and Zheng's honeymoon period.

However, at some point, Duke Zheng Zhuang discovered that King Zhou Ping did not trust him so much, and he might give half of the power to Duke Guo.This made Duke Zhuang very unhappy, and King Ping vowed that there was absolutely no such thing.To this end, Zhou and Zheng exchanged protons.Zhou's prince Hu was sent to Zheng, and Zheng's son suddenly went to Zhou. This is a very absurd thing.Because from a legal point of view, Zhou Wang and Zheng Bo are in the relationship of monarch and minister.The exchange of hostages can only happen between princes and princes.In doing so, King Zhou Ping actually reduced himself to a prince.The dignity and decency of the royal family were greatly damaged.

On March 12th in the third year of Duke Yin of Lu (720 BC), King Ping of Zhou died.The succeeding King Huan was the grandson of King Ping. He was young and vigorous, and really gave half of the power to Duke Guo.At this time, Zheng Zhuanggong, in terms of seniority, was the uncle of King Huan of Zhou, how could he swallow this breath?So he decided to give the kid some color.In the fourth month, Ji Zhong, the doctor of the State of Zheng, led his troops to harvest the wheat from the fields of the State of Zhou.In autumn, the millet of Zhou Kingdom was cut again.The previous time was in Wen (now Wen County, Henan Province), which was regarded as an invasion of Zhou's vassal state.The last time was in Chengzhou (in today's Luoyang City, Henan Province), which harassed Zhou Tianzi under the nose.So Zhou Zheng became grudges.

However, grudges come down to grudges, and face has to be maintained.Three years later, Duke Zheng Zhuang met with King Huan of Zhou, and the royal family also retained the position of Duke Zheng Zhuang. It took another two years before Duke Guo was formally appointed as a minister.In fact, Guo Gong and Zheng Bo were both Zhou Qingshi at this time.Specifically, Guo Gong is a scholar of the right, and Bo Zheng is a scholar of the left. But this by no means means that Zhou Zhenghe is as good as before, but both parties have political needs.Of course, the Zhou royal family cannot do without Zheng Guo's guards, and Zheng Zhuanggong also wants to use Zhou Wang.As an important minister of the royal family, at least he can borrow the king's order and even use the king's teacher when fighting. This is what Zheng Zhuanggong really wants.

However, since it is mutual use, it must cooperate with each other.However, King Huan didn't seem to understand.He was not polite at first when Zheng Zhuanggong met, then violated Zheng Guo's actual interests, and finally completely deprived Zheng Zhuanggong of all his powers.Heijian, the Duke of Zhou, succeeded Zheng Zhuanggong as Zuo Qingshi. Zheng Zhuanggong was not polite and refused to see King Zhou again. King Huan of Zhou was also unceremonious and led the coalition army to attack Zheng. This is the only case of the emperor's personal conquest during the Spring and Autumn Period. The time was in the autumn of 707 BC (the fifth year of Duke Huan of Lu), and the place was in Changge (now Changge County, Henan Province).On the Zhou army's side, King Huan personally commanded the Chinese army.The commander-in-chief of the right army is Gong Gong Linfu, followed by the troops of Cai Guo and Wei Guo; the commander of the left army is Hei Jian, Duke Zhou, followed by the troops of Chen Guo.Zheng Gongzi suddenly said that the country of Chen was in turmoil, and their army did not have the will to fight.If you attack Chen Jun first, the opponent will definitely be in a mess.

Zheng Zhuanggong adopted Gong Zitu's suggestion and ordered all the ministries to beat drums and march as soon as they saw the flag waved.As a result, not only Chen Jun, but also Cai Jun and Wei Jun fled together, while Zhou Jun was in chaos.Zheng Jun attacked from both sides, Zhou Jun was defeated, and King Huan himself was shot in the shoulder by an arrow. It only takes a little effort to capture King Huan alive. However, Zheng Zhuanggong showed a gentleman's demeanor.He rejected the suggestion of his subordinates to take advantage of the victory to pursue him. Not only did he let King Huan escape, but he also sent Ji Zhong to work in the army, asking for his health, caring and considerate.Zheng Zhuanggong said that a gentleman should not do too much, let alone bully the emperor?It's enough to keep the country and the country.

Zheng Zhuanggong is very wise, he knows enough is enough. However, the royal family of Zhou was disgraced and lost their dignity.Yes, if the so-called "co-lord of the world" is only a defeated country, what capital and qualifications do you have to command the world? Zhuang Gong's arrow opened the curtain of a new era.
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