Home Categories Chinese history Yi Zhongtian History of China 05·From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period
At the same time as Zichan's political reform, the state of Lu was undergoing a coup. The exchange of fire between the two sides of the coup took place five years after Zichan's death.As a result, the regime was not overthrown on the surface, but the monarch was actually driven out.From then on until the new king came to the throne seven years later, there was no king in the state of Lu.In fact, even if Lu Zhaogong, who failed in the mutiny and went into exile abroad, returned home, or did not escape, it was just a face.This turmoil is nothing more than tearing up face. Yes, Mr. Lu has long been emptied, and is useless.

This is not something a coup can accomplish.In fact, Lu Jun's loss of authority, like Zhou Wang's loss of authority, has gone through a long process.If this is also a coup d'état, then the coup d'état was carried out slowly and could even be called a peaceful evolution.It is a pity that although "Spring and Autumn" and "Zuo Zhuan" are the history books of Lu State, they are not detailed about the changes in their own country. We can only know a little bit from a few words. So, in whose hands did Lu Jun's great power fall? San Huan. The so-called "Sanhuan" refers to the three families of officials, or the three clans and clans.The first ancestors were the three younger brothers of Duke Zhuang of Lu: Qingfu the second, Uncle Ya the third, and Sijiyou the oldest.Because their descendants are all Gongsun, they are called Mengsun, Shusun and Jisun according to the ranking.And because they are all descendants of Duke Huan, they are collectively called "Three Huans".

The strength of Sanhuan is related to the system.We said in the third volume of the history of China, "Founders", that Zhou Tianxia is similar to a company, and states are also a bit like companies.Tianxia is the head office, the general manager is the emperor, and the chairman is the emperor.Bangguo is a subsidiary company, the general manager is a prince, and the chairman is the emperor.But this analogy is only about the authorization relationship.In fact, in the governance of the state, the princes are more like the chairman of the board, and most of them listen to the government rather than govern.As the kings of a country, their most important tasks are sacrifices, alliances, declaration of war, and conferring titles, with emphasis on etiquette and etiquette.The specific military and state affairs are handed over to the Qing and the doctor.

Obviously, the monarch is the head of state, and the minister is the head of government.Therefore, if the Qing doctor is powerful enough to take care of everything, then the only job of the monarch is to sacrifice ancestors and gods.This was the case in the Wei state under the dictatorship of the doctor Qing, and it was also the case in the Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period.Liu Chan's statement is that "Government is governed by the Ge family (Zhuge Liang), and sacrifices are for widows." However, there are two practices when Doctor Qing is in power. The first is to hand over the power to the public.The Gong family includes Gongzi and Gongsun, that is, the son and grandson of the old monarch.Both the son and the grandson are members of the public office, so they are called the public clan.One of the princes of the public clan succeeds to the throne, and the others serve as high officials and govern together. This is called the "public clan system", and Lu and Chu are.

The other is to hand over the power to non-public clans, such as Qi and Jin.The state of Qi has the highest status and the greatest power. The sons and Gaozi who have been Qing for generations are not from the public family, and their surnames are not Jiang, but Ji.The state of Jin killed all the princes when they offered their princes.After Wengong, none of the rulers were from the public family.If these nobles with different surnames become hereditary in power for a long time, they will form the Qing clan.The ruling system of the Qing clan may well be called the "Qing clan system".

The state of Lu implemented the public clan system.Some scholars believe that this is because the state of Lu followed the Duke of Zhou, followed Zhou etiquette, and paid attention to "kissing" (emphasizing blood relationship) and "respecting" (maintaining the hierarchy).In fact, this matter has nothing to do with China or barbarians.For example, in the state of Chu, those who hold important positions such as Lingyin and Sima have always been sons, but they themselves are called princes. Sanhuan is the public family who has long controlled the regime of Lu State.Until this mutiny, they had been in power for a century and a half, and had gone through six dynasties: Xi, Wen, Xuan, Cheng, Xiang, and Zhao.During this long process, the state-owned assets of the State of Lu were gradually transferred to their names, and the political power of the State of Lu was gradually in their hands.It is strange that the monarch is not emptied.

So what did Sanhuan do? At the beginning, the tax mu was used as Qiujia, the three armies, and the office.The first three items are before Zichan, and the latter one is after Zichan. These four things cover many aspects of economy, military affairs and politics.The initial tax mu is the initial realization of the tax mu system; the establishment of a mound is the general implementation of the mound system.The tax-mu system means that taxes are collected on a per-mu basis, and the Qiujia system means that soldiers (including soldiers and weapons) are recruited on a hill-by-hill basis.The specific method is not clear, but the tax mu system is regarded as competing for the interests of the people, and the establishment of the Qiujia system is said to be to prevent Qi from aggression.Therefore, it is certain that the result will be a rich country and a strong army.

The question is, who owns the prosperous Lu State? Sanhuan's. Therefore, nineteen years before Zichan came to power, the State of Lu was in charge of the three armies.The State of Lu originally had two armies.Now becoming the Three Armies does not mean adding another army, but breaking up the two armies originally owned by the public office and commanded by Lu Jun, and reorganizing them.In the newly formed three armies, Jisun, Shusun, and Mengsun each command an army.Insufficient soldiers, Sanhuan used his own private army to supplement.On the surface, it seems that they have made contributions to the state, but the establishment and command of the three armies are in the hands of the three.Therefore, they actually turned Lu's national army into their own family army, so "Zuo Zhuan" called it "three divisions and each has its own".

Twenty-five years later, that is, the year before Zichan cast the punishment tripod, Sanhuan divided up the office again.They divided Lu State's state-owned assets into four shares, Jisun's got two shares, Unclesun's and Mengsun's each got one share, and then each family made a commission to the monarch, which was actually nothing more than petty profits.The majestic king of a country has almost become a beggar. This can be described as deceiving too much, and Lu Jun finally couldn't bear it anymore.On September 11th in the twenty-fifth year of Duke Zhao of Lu (517 BC), Duke Zhao led his cronies and soldiers to attack the residence of Ji Pingzi, the ruler of Lu State.Unprepared, Ji Pingzi went up to the high platform in the mansion and shouted to Duke Zhao, asking him to open a court trial, but Duke Zhao did not agree; he asked to go to his fief to contemplate his mistakes behind closed doors, but Duke Zhao also refused; he asked to take a small number of soldiers to exile abroad, but Duke Zhao still did not agree.After three concessions but no results, the face was torn apart, and only swordsmen met.

The problem is that Sanhuan at this time has long been like a country within a country.Sima of the Shusun family said to his subordinates: I am a retainer, and I dare not think about whether the country is not the country.I just want to ask a question, which situation is beneficial to our family, whether there is a Jisun family or not?Everyone said that without the Jisun family, there would be no Shusun family.So the soldiers of Uncle Sun's family immediately went to rescue Ji Pingzi.When Mengsun's retainers saw the flags of Uncle Sun's army unfurling, they killed the envoys sent by Duke Zhao without hesitation, and also went to rescue them.The three join hands, how can Zhao Gong deal with it?Also can only run away.

A mutiny ended with Duke Zhao fleeing in embarrassment. Of course, this is a typical example of bad etiquette, but Sanhuan also suffered retribution.Just as they treated their own monarchs arrogantly, their retainers also treated their own monarchs with the same attitude and method.In the fifth year of Lu Dinggong (505 BC), that is, the second year after King Helu of Wu invaded Yingdu of Chu State, Ji Pingzi died.Ji Sun's retainer Yang Hu took the opportunity to put his successor Ji Huanzi under house arrest and forced him to sign an alliance under the city, allowing him to be in charge of the state affairs of Lu for three years.Three years later, Yang Hu's ambition swelled even more, and he conspired to kill the head of Sanhuan and replace him with himself and his accomplices. This time, it is Ji Huanzi's turn to become Lu Zhaogong, to experience what it means to change the position of a monarch and his ministers, and to make trouble. Yang Hu's plan was to invite Ji Huanzi to dinner first, and then murder him at the banquet.So Yang Hu drove in front, his cousin Yang Yue was in the back, and Ji Huanzi was in the middle.Huanzi felt that the situation was not good, so he said to his driver Lin Chu: Your family's ancestors have been good ministers of my Ji family for generations, and I hope you can inherit the tradition. Lin Chu said, it was too late.Yanghu has become a climate. Huanzi said, what's late?not late.Let me ask you, can you take me to Mengsun's house now? Lin Chu said that ministers dare not be greedy for life, because they are afraid that it will not help. Huanzi said, let's go! So Lin Chu patted the horse and drove to Mengsun's house.Relying on Mengsun's rescue, Ji Huanzi escaped death, and the power returned to Sanhuan's hands.After all, Sanhuan belongs to the public family, so Lu Jun's face is still covered with paper.Even so, Duke Ai, the last Duke of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period, fled to Yue and asked Gou Jian to be his protector. What's interesting is public opinion. After Lu Zhaogong died abroad, someone asked Shi Mo, the official historian of Jin State, what he thought.Shi Mo actually said, what's all the fuss about!The worshipers of Sheji do not necessarily have to be of a certain surname or clan, and the relationship between monarch and minister will not remain unchanged.It has been like this since ancient times! What a "the country is impermanent, and the monarch and ministers are impermanent"!According to this logic, it is also possible for ministers to change kings and kings to change people? That's right.Qi and Jin, that is.
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