Chapter 3 Chapter Three

After Zheng Zhuanggong's "one short-lived dominance", the Zhou royal family of the Ninth Five-Years began to rest. Not only did they rest, but no princes took him as a dish.In the years that followed, it was an era when princes from all walks of life competed with each other.Everyone wants to be the overlord, and everyone finds troubles from each other. No one takes Zhou Tianzi as a dish, which is probably the main feature of this period.But the first one to become the overlord was Zheng Zhuanggong's "little brother" - Qi State.The person who becomes the overlord is Duke Huan of Qi, the head of the Five Overlords in the Spring and Autumn Period.His hegemony policy is a policy of taking the Zhou royal family as a dish on the surface-respecting the king and rejecting the barbarians.

It is easy to understand the literal meaning of respecting the king and throwing away the barbarians.Respecting the king means respecting the authority of the Zhou royal family, and using the Zhou royal family's title of "a thin camel is bigger than a horse" to exercise its dominance over the princes of all walks of life.The so-called "rejection of the barbarians" means to unite the forces of the vassal states to jointly deal with the barbarian forces invading the Central Plains at this time, and in the process, to establish their leading position over the vassal states.This is the understanding of most descendants, but the fact that descendants do not know is that at that time, only Qi State could implement this policy.The impact of this policy on China's future is not only to create an overlord like Duke Huan of Qi, but also to create several other overlords who follow the example and order the princes. More importantly, it establishes An important consensus reached by the Chinese nation over the past two thousand years: No matter how serious the internal differences are, how tragic the internal friction is, when foreign enemies invade, our nation will regain its tenacity and unity, and unite with the outside world.

The reason for this effect is simple.China in the 6th and 7th centuries BC was not only a country where feudal lords fought and civil wars broke out frequently, but also a country where foreign enemies invaded one after another and the national crisis was serious.Regarding this point, Confucius, the master of Confucianism, expressed his heartfelt emotion: Wei Guanzhong, I have been sent to the left.Translating this sentence into the vernacular is: Without Guan Zhong assisting Duke Huan of Qi's dominance of the "Nine Heroes", we descendants would probably be ruled by barbarians from outside, lose our culture and heritage, and be massacred and assimilated.The so-called Chinese nation may no longer exist.

The words of Confucius have two meanings: first, the barbarian invasions of that era were very aggressive and serious; second, the person who put forward the slogan "respect the king and reject the barbarians" and led the princes of the Central Plains to fulfill this slogan was not only for his vassal states , is a great figure who has made outstanding contributions to the princes of the Central Plains covered by the entire Zhou royal family.This great figure with outstanding contributions is naturally Qi Huangong and Guan Zhongjun who initiated the hegemony. To understand how great they are, I am afraid we have to take a look at the "China's international situation" back then.Regarding this article, Western archaeologists and astronomers have also joined in the fun in recent years. They believe that the sixth and seventh centuries BC were the "century of extreme natural disasters" in the Mongolian grasslands. Snowstorms and droughts caused a large number of barbarian nomadic tribes to move southward and plundered the agricultural areas of the Central Plains.This statement is still to be discussed scientifically, but historical facts can prove it: the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty was directly caused by the large-scale invasion of the Shanrong barbarians.The direct reason for the relocation of the capital in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was also because the west side of the Western Zhou Dynasty was brutally invaded and destroyed by the barbarians.However, after the Zhou royal family moved their capital to Luoyi, the barbarian invasions, on the contrary, showed a trend of intensification.These barbarians who invaded the Central Plains are the "barbarians and barbarians" recorded in Chinese history books.Among them, "Rong" and "Di" invaded the Central Plains most violently.

The Rong people were mainly nomadic in the northwest of the Central Plains at that time, which is the grasslands of Inner Mongolia today. The main targets of their invasion were the Qin and Jin states in the northwest and the northern part of Henan.Di, on the other hand, is mainly nomadic in today's Northeast China, and the main targets of the invasion include Qi, Yan, and even Zheng and Wei in the hinterland of the Central Plains.Wei Yigong, who likes to raise cranes, lost his country at the hands of Di Ren.The Di tribe also invaded the Luoyi area many times, forcing the nominal Zhou Tianzi to flee for refuge several times.At that time, the range of intrusion by these nomadic peoples had spread all over the vassal states of the Central Plains, and even penetrated deep into the hinterland of the Yellow River Basin.They make a living as nomads. Although the tribes are scattered, they have clear orders and fierce battles. They implement the guerrilla policy of "shoot and run". .In the Central Plains area, where there were frequent internal conquests and fighting in the nest, they had tasted enough sweetness and took advantage of it.Later, Qin State unified the six kingdoms. In the early days, seven monarchs died in the battlefield against barbarians. Qi State, a big country in the east, had to move its capital three times due to barbarian invasion.The big countries are hard to protect themselves, and the small countries are even more miserable. Not only are they brutally looted during the autumn harvest every year, some countries are even destroyed because of this.It is not difficult to imagine that in this situation where the civil war and the foreign war have become a mess, the fighting in the nest is lively, and the countries of the Central Plains are scattered among each other. If there is no strong figure to come forward to integrate their forces and fight against foreign enemies, they will eventually be defeated by the barbarians one by one. Carving up the Central Plains seems to be only a matter of time.

But this "time" did not appear in the end, and this powerful figure finally appeared-Qi Huangong. Duke Huan of Qi’s hegemony, what modern people talk about is his brilliance and martial arts and the assistance of his good minister Guan Zhong. Another important reason for his hegemony is that in the Central Plains at that time, there was no country that had the ability to undertake this "great power" like Qi. mission" conditions. At the beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Qi State was once the "little brother" of Zheng State, but its development potential was destined to be greater than that of Zheng State.One is geographical reasons. Qi's territory, including today's northern Hebei and northeast Shandong, and the Taishan Mountains in the south, happened to be the barrier for them to defend the country.Looking at the most powerful among the princes of the Central Plains at that time, the power of Chu State in the south had not yet crossed the Yangtze River, Jin State was busy quelling civil strife, and Qin State suffered from the intrusion of barbarians in the northwest.The second is the economic conditions, also thanks to this good location. Qi State is very rich. Shandong area was already a developed agricultural area at that time, with fertile land and abundant products. The eastern coastal area has a monopoly resource-salt.The salt industry of Qi State is the most developed among the Spring and Autumn States. Yan State in the north, Zheng State, Song State, and Wei State in the Central Plains all rely on the supply of Qi State for their salt consumption.Such a rich and safe country is naturally favored by history.

In addition to economic conditions, Qi's political conditions are also very good.The Qi State in the Spring and Autumn Period was known as "Jiang Qi".Jiang Shang in history, although he did not have the supernatural power to call wind and rain in mythology, he had the unique status of commanding the princes of the East.In the early days of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, suffering from wars in the east, Qi was granted the power to control the eastern princes, which also gave Qi a chance to grow stronger.Afterwards, successive monarchs of the Qi State established their special blood relationship with the Zhou Tianzi family through marriages with the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty.For a long time, Qi State has also been regarded as the leader of the Eastern princes, just like a powerful party.But in the early Spring and Autumn Period, this tyrant could only be Zheng Guo's younger brother.In Zheng Zhuanggong's many major military operations, Qi State played the role of follower and thug. One is because Zheng State was equally powerful at that time, and it was close to the emperor of Zhou. To the east, to go west to the Central Plains to fight for hegemony, but to face a powerful neighbor for generations—the State of Lu.As a descendant of the Duke of Zhou, the State of Lu was also extremely powerful in the early Spring and Autumn Period. The long-term struggle between Qi and Lu in the Shandong area has formed a local strategic balance, and no one can dominate.After the barbarians invaded the Central Plains, Qi, which was originally in the interior, became an important victim.During Zheng Zhuanggong's time, the State of Qi was unable to resist the invasion of the Shan Rong, and had to seek help from the State of Zheng, and thus became the younger brother of the State of Zheng for a time.

Qi's road to hegemony was completed by Duke Huan of Qi, but it started with Duke Huan of Qi's elder brother, Duke Xiang of Qi.During the reign of Duke Xiang of Qi, after the death of Duke Zhuang of Zheng, the state of Zheng was rapidly weakening after the "one-time hegemony".Duke Xiang of Qi did two important things during his reign: First, through successive years of war against Lu, he defeated Lu many times in a row, which widened the gap between Lu and Qi. "Strategic balance", quickly fell to Qi's side; another thing, through Zheng's internal strife, adopted methods such as supporting the new king and launching a coup, causing Zheng's internal forces to split.Zheng Guo, who was the big brother of Qi State back then, has now been reduced to the point where Qi State plays with him.But even so, Qi Xianggong's own talents are far from those of Zheng Zhuanggong back then.Although this person is straightforward and decisive in dealing with things, he has a cruel temperament and is strict and suspicious. He treats his subordinates and even relatives very harshly and brutally.

Another important reason why Qi State cannot become a hegemony for a long time is that its political system is backward. Compared with Zheng State, which carried out a series of reforms in the early Spring and Autumn Period, which improved the national administrative authority and integrated the national economy, Qi State is far behind. .Its biggest problem is that the national power is scattered, there are many clans in the country, the prosperous national economy cannot be converted into national wealth, and the seemingly prosperous political and economic situation is even more difficult to integrate into a strong national power.For a long time, Qi State has long been an economic power among the vassals, but it is not a military power.Qi State is rich in economy and rich in products. It is neither a border area nor a place where the Fourth World War was fought. The pressure of survival of the people is relatively light. Except for Jiang Shang's restraint in the early days to quell the rebellion in the East, and the later battle with Dongyi, in most cases, The Qi State, which has been in peace for a long time, is far inferior to other vassal states in terms of military combat effectiveness and military mobilization ability.During the period of Duke Xiang of Qi, through his personal high-handed ruling policy, Qi's military equipment was invigorated and began to rise, but the political system did not change, and hegemony was impossible to talk about.Qi Xianggong's consistent way of treating his ministers is to find useful people and use them desperately, letting the horses run and not letting the horses graze until they are useless.

In 686 BC, Duke Xiang of Qi did as usual. He sent two senior officials, Lian Cheng and Guan Zhifu, to guard Kuiqiu, a border area bordering the State of Lu. When the deadline came, Qi Xianggong seemed to have forgotten about it.The two homesick officials repeatedly sent reports to ask for transfer. Qi Xianggong not only pretended to be confused, but also joked about it, and still wanted to use him up.During this period of Qi State, due to successive years of participation in wars, the country's finances were stretched. Qi Xianggong demolished the east wall to make up for the west wall, reducing the salaries of various clans, including his cousin Gongsun Wuzhi.This cousin's name was "Wuzhi", and his behavior was even more ignorant. He wanted to rebel against his brother in a fit of anger, and hit it off with the two officials stationed in Kuiqiu.As a result, the three of them staged a coup, killed Qi Xianggong in one fell swoop, and took revenge fiercely, but the revenge came quickly, but troubles came. The country cannot live without a king. Who will succeed after killing Qi Xianggong?First, the young master was ignorant and made himself the king, but was soon killed by his subordinates. However, in the Qi state during this period, no one was qualified to inherit the position of the king.The hegemony that Duke Xiang of Qi pursued so hard, not only failed to achieve "hegemony", but instead made people "stop".

After "stop", the situation in Qi State could not be more chaotic. Those who are qualified to inherit the throne are all out of the country. In the capital of Linzi, there are only a group of ministers without a leader waiting on the sidelines.The "rabbit" to be treated is very simple: a person who can inherit the throne.There are two main candidates, one is Qi Xianggong's younger brother, Gongzi Jiu, who is currently in Lu State, and the other is Qi Xianggong's other younger brother, Gongzi Xiaobai, who is currently in Ju State.The qualifications of the two are similar, the distance from the capital Linzi is also similar, and the ministers who support them are even more similar.The key to succession is: Whoever grabs it first counts. So the two started to rob. The way to rob was to run a race. Whoever returned to Linzi first would inherit the throne.At that time, the conditions of Gong Zijiu were more convenient. The state of Lu where he lived had been beaten by Duke Xiang of Qi for many years.The state of Ju, where the son Xiaobai lives, has similar calculations, but the strength of the state of Lu is far stronger than that of Ju.Fortunately, the ministers of Qi State are still very patriotic, and no one wants to see that the new monarch is a puppet of Lu State, so the two major families of Qi State, the Gao family and the Guo family, rushed to Ju State, expressing their respect for the young master. White support.Then, the two sides started a "race", racing against time and heading towards Linzi City.Guan Zhong, the counselor of Gongzijiu, not only knew how to run races, but also cheated. He had ambushed early on the border between Qi and Ju.Young master Xiaobai was shot by Guan Zhong with an arrow before he entered the border, and fell to the ground screaming.Young Master Jiu, who thought he had succeeded in cheating, was not in a hurry, and leisurely honed his skills on the road.Who knew that he hadn't left for a few days, but he found that Qi soldiers were full of soldiers in front of him, and even the Lu army who escorted him back to the "race" was also wiped out.It turns out that the young master Xiaobai was just planning to feign death at that time, and instead took a small road to return to China, and the "race" was successful.In a blink of an eye, the political situation of the Qi State had changed from "an old hen to a duck", and the son Xiaobai cooked rice with raw rice and swaggered to the throne. This was the famous Duke Huan of Qi in history. Duke Huan of Qi, who ascended the throne, of course did not forget to settle old scores. He first sent troops to intimidate the State of Lu, forcing the State of Lu to kill Prince Jiu, and took Guan Zhong into custody and sent him back to the State of Qi.Everyone thought that Guan Zhong must die now, but under Bao Shuya's persuasion, Duke Huan of Qi abandoned his previous suspicions and appointed Guan Zhong as his prime minister instead.In 686 BC, the monarchs and ministers who created hegemony together began their journey.History chose Duke Huan of Qi not only because of his victory in the "race", but also because of his decisiveness, tenacity to bend and stretch, and a mind that ignores past suspicions. The reason why Duke Huan of Qi chose Guan Zhong is because of the persuasion of his important minister Bao Shuya according to historical records, and among Bao Shuya's persuasion, the one that moved Duke Huan of Qi the most was only one sentence: "If the king only wants to govern Qi well, use my It is enough, if you want to dominate the world, you must have Guan Zhong.” For Duke Huan of Qi, who wanted to use the world, Guan Zhong, who did not want to use at first, became a must. Duke Huan of Qi had to use Guan Zhong for the simple reason that if Qi wanted to dominate, the geographical and economic conditions of the country were sufficient, but he faced three fatal problems. It is on these three issues that he died. The three issues, in one word, are "scattering", to be precise, the dispersion of internal affairs, the dispersion of the economy, and the dispersion of military power.At that time, only Guan Zhong could solve this problem. Let me talk about internal affairs first.At that time, within the Qi State, the power of the country seemed to belong to the monarch, but in fact it was based on the patriarchal system and scattered in the hands of the big clans, clans, and nobles in various places. The power of the monarch was really limited, especially when foreign wars were launched. To rely on their support, often the monarch is very enthusiastic about foreign expansion, but he is resisted by the following, and the result is useless.In addition to employing personnel, the monarch's authority in administration is far from enough.When the monarch employs people to do things, he is often haggled by the nobles and ministers below. A 100% thing is greatly reduced if it is carried out.The reason why Qi Xianggong was violent and adopted a policy of suppression against his subordinates was entirely caused by this decentralized administrative system. The result was even more unfortunate. A small problem of official job transfer turned into a coup that almost overthrew the Qi regime.As for Duke Huan of Qi himself, he was able to successfully ascend the throne only with the support of the two major families of the Qi State. Under such conditions, being a monarch seems to be superior on the surface, but in fact he is walking on thin ice. The second is economic decentralization.Qi's economy is prosperous, but the main beneficiaries of economic prosperity are not the monarch and the country, but also the clan and nobles.Before Duke Huan of Qi, it was difficult for the Qi State to obtain generous taxes in pillar industries such as fishing, salt, and mining. The clans below made a lot of money, but the government could not collect a penny.The country's finances are stretched, and sometimes it has to rely on reducing the salaries of officials and nobles to subsidize state expenditures, which often causes troubles. The dispersion of the military is even more serious.Qidi itself is not a region with strong folk customs. Although the country has a large population, there are serious shortages of troops that can be used for combat and resources that can be used for recruitment.The perennial peace has also caused the limited troops to lack training and live in peace.And when there is a war in the country, the gap in the combat effectiveness of Qi's army is quickly highlighted.However, the foreign aggression of Qi State is quite serious. Although Lu State has been weakened, it is still a threat to Qi State.With such a loose political, economic, and military system, facing a situation surrounded by powerful enemies, Duke Huan of Qi's ambition to contend for world hegemony seemed far away. Bao Shuya recommended Guan Zhong to Duke Huan of Qi because he had a clear understanding of himself and the major events of Qi State.If Duke Huan of Qi just wanted to be a king of peace and live a stable life behind closed doors, then Bao Shuya was competent. question.The only person who can help him solve the problem is Guan Zhong. Guan Zhong, who had to use it, became Qi Huangong's honored guest in this way.As soon as Lu's prison cart entered Qi, Duke Huan of Qi sent Bao Shuya to meet him.After entering Linzi, Guan Zhong, who didn't even change his prison uniform, was appointed as the prime minister of Qi on the spot.This seemed outrageous at the time.Not to mention that Guan Zhong had committed the crime of "attempted regicide", his own identity was also despised at the time.He came from a lowly background. When he was young, he was expelled three times when he applied for an official position. He did small business and also served as an ordinary soldier.In the Spring and Autumn Period of the patriarchal system, such a person could reach the sky in one step, which naturally attracted criticism.But Duke Huan of Qi didn't care, he insisted on reusing Guan Zhong. After Xiangguo's position was stabilized, Guan Zhong started to work.The purpose of the work is to solve the aforementioned three problems.The process of solving the problem is the famous "Guan Zhong Reform" in history.Speaking of the content of the reform, it is natural to develop production, reward farming and warfare, and restore the economy, but the key is that Guan Zhong did three things. The first thing Guan Zhonggan did, according to the current parlance, was to "nationalize the economy."The main content is to nationalize all industries, such as smelting and table salt, which were originally operated by private businessmen and nobles, and monopolize their huge profits.During this period, Qi State creatively set up "Tieguan", that is, the government office specially responsible for the smelting industry.The government paid for artisans to mine iron ore to make agricultural tools and weapons.This move kills two birds with one stone. First, the country gained huge profits from the smelting industry, and second, ironware began to be popularized and used, which not only promoted the development of agriculture, but also improved military technology.In the Spring and Autumn Period of this period, the main combat weapons were still bronzes, and the army was armed with irons, which started from Qi State.Guan Zhong certainly would not let go of another hugely profitable industry—the salt industry.The state of Qi set up a salt official, who was responsible for recruiting people to cook salt, manufacturing boats and leasing them to the people, and encouraging the people to go fishing in the deep sea.In this way, the control of the two major industries of salt and iron has since been firmly grasped in the hands of the monarch of Qi State, which is equivalent to grasping the economic lifeline of Qi State.At the same time, in the traditional taxation reform, Guan Zhong also used his brains. In terms of agricultural tax collection, he creatively proposed the policy of "declining according to the land", that is, paying taxes according to the barrenness of the land. Those with low output should pay less.In the Qi State at that time, the fertile land was mainly concentrated in the hands of the rich, especially the nobles. The implementation of the "Land and Decline Levy" not only reduced the burden on ordinary people, but also received a lot of wealth from the rich. hands of the country.Only then did Duke Huan of Qi's pocket really bulge up. Guan Zhong's "economic nationalization" policy all touched the fundamental interests of the traditional aristocrats of the Qi State, and it was impossible not to provoke resistance. The reason is that before nationalizing the economy, Guan Zhong also carried out another reform: military reform. Guan Zhong knew the truth that power grows out of the barrel of a gun. If you want to establish absolute control of the country's economy, you must first establish absolute control over the army. Duke Huan will become the next Duke Xiang of Qi, so if you want to deprive the nobles of their money, you must first deprive them of their soldiers.Guan Zhong's method is to "combine soldiers in agriculture". He stipulates that five families in the country are one rail, ten rails are one li, four li are one company, ten companies are one township, and five townships are one army. Every five townships can recruit a total of 10,000 soldiers.At that time, Qi State had a total of 15 townships, and there were 30,000 standing troops. According to the population conditions at that time, this was a very huge number.Qi's army is divided into fifteen townships. The "three armies" are directly ruled by Duke Huan of Qi, and the Gao and Guo clans who assisted Duke Huan of Qi to ascend the throne back then assisted in the command. In this way, the country's military command power is firmly grasped. In the hands of Duke Huan of Qi.The nobles who were originally at the grassroots level will no longer be able to pose a threat to the monarch.Another impact of this policy on later generations is the creation of many "historical buzzwords".For example, "Ordering the Three Armies" originated from the "Three Armies System" created by Guan Zhong, and the social composition of the grassroots in rural China in ancient feudal society also took shape during this period. While carrying out economic and military reforms, it was political reforms that played a key role in Qi's later struggle for hegemony.The direct disadvantage of the old system of Qi State is that government orders are ineffective and the efficiency of state administration is low.While completing absolute control over the national economy and the military, Guan Zhong also reorganized the administrative system.Locally, the country is divided into 21 townships. There are four classes of ordinary people, peasants, businessmen, and businessmen in the country. The living area is divided according to their different identities. Among them, businessmen live in six townships, scholars and peasants live in fifteen townships, and scholars are independent. Professional soldiers specialize in combat, and farmers specialize in farming.The country's administrative system has also been re-integrated. There are five genus at the local level, and each genus has a doctor. The doctor is directly responsible to the monarch, and the monarch directly manages his work.In this way, a strict administrative system was formed, and Qi's centralization system was established in this way. After several years of meticulous reforms, in 681 BC, Qi already had a prosperous economy, a powerful army, a strict administrative organization, and centralized absolute rule, whether it was economic conditions, military power, or the organization of the country. The system is far ahead of the Central Plains vassal states.Hegemony, no one but me.Therefore, starting from 681 BC, Qi State officially started the road to hegemony, and for the first time put forward the slogan of hegemony-respect the king and fight against the barbarians.The era of Duke Huan of Qi's hegemony has begun. The state of Qi, which has a strong power and an advanced system, is not on the road to hegemony. The reason is that the situation in the Central Plains at that time was so messy.Not to mention that the princes attacked each other, the northern barbarians also continued to invade, and civil wars and foreign wars were chaotic.To be a vassal is still a big country today, and the country may be ruined tomorrow.You say "respect the king and fight against the barbarians", who listens to you? But Duke Huan of Qi is indeed not an ordinary person. In the past, "little tyrants" like Duke Zheng Zhuang, although they also practiced division, disintegration, and wooing, they basically beat them when they refused to accept it, even the emperor Zhou.Duke Huan of Qi believed that this was wrong, and that violence could not solve all problems. Although the banner of Emperor Zhou was dilapidated inside, it could still be used as a tiger skin. Therefore, to dominate, you must use both soft and hard tactics, and you must stretch it big. The flag is made of tiger skin. The first opportunity that Duke Huan of Qi seized was the internal turmoil in Song Dynasty.In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Song State was also a big country, but since it was severely repaired by Zheng Zhuanggong, Song State's national strength has been declining, and civil strife has continued.In 681 BC, a civil strife broke out in Song State, and the monarch was killed. His son Yu said that he came to the throne, but his position was unstable.This matter had nothing to do with Duke Huan of Qi, but Duke Huan of Qi took advantage of this opportunity. He first sent someone to meet Zhou Tianzi and asked to recognize the legal status of Song Guoxin.This court meeting was extraordinary, Zhou Tianzi, who had not been seen by others for many years, was moved to tears immediately, and immediately authorized Duke Huan of Qi to handle the matter on behalf of the Zhou royal family.On the first day of March in 681 BC, Duke Huan of Qi joined forces with Song, Lu, Chen, Cai, Wei, Zheng, and Cao in Beixing to declare the legal status of the king of Song and conclude a covenant as the leader of the princes.The Northern Apricot Alliance became the first step on Duke Huan's path to hegemony. But this first step went awry.The princes are not fools, Qi Huangong's tricks can't be hidden from everyone's eyes, what will be an alliance with the princes, what will represent the emperor of Zhou, I went there stupidly, and I will follow your orders in the future, why?As a result, after the invitation to the alliance was issued, anyone with some strength ignored Duke Huan of Qi.Only the four countries of Song, Chen, Cai, and Zhu actually attended the meeting, and the frenzied alliance turned into a "dismal operation" in which only the four countries participated.This "dismal management" also went wrong. The Song State Monarch, who was originally a guise for the alliance, realized after a few days of meeting that he wanted me to be Qi State's younger brother!How did this happen? I ran away with oil on the soles of my feet.He worked with great fanfare for a long time, but in the end he was exposed by others. Duke Huan of Qi, who wanted to save face, lost a lot of face. But Qi Huangong, who lost face, still has a very good temper.The king of the Song Dynasty ran away as soon as he ran away. Not only did he not care about it, but he sent envoys to greet him, and he simply stuck his face to the end.But for some people, you can't show warm faces, such as Lu Guo who refused to come to the meeting, this is to show color.With a wave of his hand, Duke Huan of Qi immediately assembled a large number of troops on the border of Lu State. The king of Lu State was so frightened that he rushed to admit his mistake in a panic, and the two sides made a meeting in Ke.But during the alliance, Cao Gui, a strong man of Lu State, suddenly held Duke Huan of Qi hostage and demanded that Duke Huan of Qi return the occupied land of Lu State.Isn't it just returning the land?It's easy to say.With a wave of his hand, he generously returned the land to the State of Lu, earning the reputation of being a "big country", and forcing the State of Lu to apologize and admit his mistakes, and surrender to the State of Qi. Naturally, it is a very honorable thing.After the news came out, the king of the Song Dynasty turned his head quickly, and quickly sent an envoy to admit his mistake to Qi Huan, and sent a heavy gift.Duke Huan of Qi also followed suit and forgave Song Guo.In this way, the Beixinghuimeng, which was originally a "dismal operation", finally became a grand event for the seven princes to elect Duke Huan of Qi as the leader of the alliance.Duke Huan of Qi, who had suffered a big somersault, finally established his dominance for the first time with the mind of a great monarch and his tough and soft tactics. The content of the Beixing Huimeng mainly includes the following items: first, the vassal states must cooperate and help each other; second, they must respect the emperor; third, they must jointly deal with barbarian aggression.Of these three contents, the first two respect the king, and the last one exterminate barbarians. The inner core is the "benevolence" that Duke Huan of Qi showed to the princes.If you listen to me, you will be benevolent; if you don't listen to me, you will be beaten without discussion. Duke Huan of Qi after the Northern Apricot Alliance, under the banner of "Zunwang", has actually become the leader of a party, but at this time his sphere of influence is mainly limited to today's Henan and Shandong areas.The princes who obeyed his orders were only minor princes such as Song, Lu, Cai, and Chen.In order to command the world, the most important thing at that time was to subdue the various vassal states in the north, especially Yan State to the north of Qi State.This country of Yan also had a background. It was the "Princes Surnamed Ji" in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, the clan of Emperor Zhou, and had an orthodox status at that time.The capital of the Yan Kingdom is located in Jidi, which is today's Beijing area.The surrounding northern small tribes also obeyed its rule.It is very difficult to subdue such a big country.It just so happened that the opportunity came.The country of Yan was invaded by the northern mountain army, and seeing that the country was in danger, Duke Huan of Qi sent troops without saying a word!The well-trained Qi army gave a vivid military education lesson to the Yan people on the territory of Yan.Three attacks, five divisions and two defeat the invasion of Shanrong, and its powerful strength convinced the army and people of Yan State.The fighting process of this battle is simple, but the pursuit process is extremely difficult.As soon as Shan Rong, who had suffered a loss, came into contact with the state of Qi, he immediately fled northward with his horse. Knowing that he had done all he could to get rid of the evil, Duke Huan resolutely pursued them and chased them all the way to the grassland area, completely annihilating this barbarian tribe.It is worth mentioning that during the pursuit, the Qi army once lost its way, and it was only because of the guidance of a few old horses in the army that they escaped from danger. The allusion of "an old horse knows the way" comes from this. The salvation of Yan State played an important role in Qi State's achievement of hegemony. The tribes around the Bohai Sea that originally belonged to Yan State all fell to Duke Huan of Qi this time.The soldiers and civilians of Yan State who escaped were extremely grateful to Duke Huan of Qi.When Duke Huan of Qi was in class, Duke Yan Zhuang, the king of Yan State, saw him off all the way, and unexpectedly walked into the territory of Qi State without knowing it.This is terrible, according to Zhou Tianzi's ban, the princes cannot enter the borders of other countries without the authorization of Zhou Tianzi.But this was easy for Duke Huan, he waved his hand on the spot, and it was yours.This small piece of land was given up in exchange for Yan's determination to be the hegemon of Qi State. The Yan State incident was a "springboard" step in Qi Huangong's hegemony. Before the Yan State incident, Qi Huan Gong was at best the same as Zheng Zhuanggong, and he was regarded as a "little bully". However, after the Yan State Incident, Qi State's appeal has expanded to today In the Central Plains of northern China, including Jin and Yan in the north, as well as various vassals and small countries, they all bowed their heads to Duke Huan of Qi.During this period, Duke Huan of Qi did other things, such as rescuing Xing State, another vassal state in the north that was invaded by barbarians, helping them re-establish the state in Xingtai, Hebei, and helping the state of Wei, which had been destroyed, to re-establish the state in Huatai area of ​​Henan. Founding of the country.The name of Qi's Enwei has since spread throughout the country.It is beneficial to listen to the words of the state of Qi; if you don't listen to the state of Qi, you will be beaten, which almost became the consensus of the princes at that time. However, there is still unconvinced—Chu State. During the period of Duke Huan of Qi, if anyone can compete with Qi, the answer is probably only Chu.The period when Duke Huan of Qi ruled everywhere was also the period when the people of Chu crossed the Yangtze River and expanded aggressively.During the period of Duke Huan of Qi, the state of Chu had annexed all the Yue tribes in the south, and possessed a vast land and sufficient military resources.Different from the monarchs of the Central Plains, the monarchs of the Chu Kingdom call themselves "King of Chu", which is likely to be on an equal footing with the Emperor Zhou.During the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, the monarch of Chu State was King Chu Cheng, and his eyes had already crossed the Yangtze River and set his sights on the fertile land of the Central Plains.Taking advantage of the opportunity of Duke Huan of Qi to send troops to the north, the state of Chu also continued to advance northward, encroaching on the land of the Central Plains countries, especially the states of Song, Chen, and Cai, which were adjacent to Chu, suffered the most.After Shanrong was severely injured by Duke Huan of Qi, Chu State has become a public enemy of the survival and security of the Central Plains countries, and it is another powerful enemy of Duke Huan of Qi's hegemony. For such an enemy, Qi Huangong's method is the same-respect the king and fight against the barbarians.The king of Chu doesn't respect the emperor of Zhou, he is an enemy of the princes of the Central Plains and bullies the princes of the Central Plains, I am the overlord, of course I have to protect.After careful preparations, in 656 BC, Duke Huan of Qi joined forces with Chen, Song, Lu, Wei, Zheng, Cao, and Xu to launch a joint expedition against Chu. The border troops entered the territory of Chu State.During this period, King Cheng of Chu also sent envoys to seek peace, expressing his willingness to resume the tribute to the emperor of Zhou, and asking Duke Huan of Qi to withdraw his troops. However, how could Duke Huan of Qi let go of this great opportunity? On the one hand, they continued to advance, but when they entered Jing, an important town in Chu State, the coalition forces encountered trouble.The Chu State, which has assembled the main force, resists tenaciously by virtue of the natural danger of the river and the unique city defense.The coalition forces launched several small-scale attacks successively, but they always hit a wall. They didn't have the vigor that Duke Huan of Qi had when he fought in the Central Plains.Duke Huan of Qi knew that the state of Chu was not easy to deal with, so he had no choice but to accept it as soon as he saw it. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Qu Wan, the envoy of the state of Chu, to show off his military strength to Qu Wan in front of the Zhaoling Mausoleum, he then went down the donkey slope to fight against Chu. After the state apologized to the emperor of Zhou, he agreed to the request of the state of Chu to withdraw its troops.This conquest came to an end with a lot of thunder and a little rain, but it was a "win-win" for both parties.Duke Huan of Qi repelled the state of Chu and consolidated his position as the leader among the princes of the Central Plains, and his reputation was at the peak of his power.And Chu State also preserved its territorial integrity. Although it suspended its expansion to the Central Plains, it continued to recuperate. The next time he went north to the Central Plains, his prestige would be even more earth-shattering. Duke Huan of Qi, who was in full swing, became bigger and bigger.In the second year of subduing Chu, that is, in 655 BC, he intervened in the power struggle of Zhou Tianzi, joined the princes to preserve the status of the prince of the Zhou Dynasty, and sent troops to punish Zheng Guo who refused to join the alliance.四年后，当年得到齐桓公扶持的周太子郑登基，为报答齐桓公的帮助，他再次赐予齐桓公祭肉和车马，齐桓公趁机联合诸侯在葵丘会盟。葵丘会盟，是齐桓公一生里多次会盟里最大的一次，几乎所有的中原诸侯国都来参与，会议定下了各诸侯国相互遵守的盟约，并继续巩固了齐桓公的霸主地位。如此霸业，后来的春秋霸主们，几乎无人可望其项背。 霸业蒸蒸日上的齐桓公，却在顶点之后，很快跌入了深渊。 对于霸主齐桓公来说，他和管仲可谓一生的君臣，但管仲除了是一个辅助者之外，更重要的角色，却是一个制衡者。他以国相的身份，多次劝阻了齐桓公的不当行为，才使得齐桓公能够少犯错误，霸业持续勃兴。但公元前645年管仲去世以后，如日中天的齐桓公，却彻底失去了制衡。晚年的齐桓公已不复盛年时的锐意进取，相反开始志得意满，贪图享乐。特别是在管仲死后，他宠信易牙、竖刁等小人，这些人长于阿谀奉承，更善拉帮结派，而齐桓公的六个儿子，相互间也勾心斗角。这些都是沉迷于对外霸业的齐桓公所无视的。无视的后果，就是公元前643年，齐桓公病死后，他的宠臣易牙、竖刁等人发动政变，几个儿子相互争斗，超级大国齐国陷入了内战之中，最后还是靠了原先的小弟宋国辅助才得以平息。但齐国的霸业，也就因此而结束了。纵观整个过程，或许正应了后来宋朝开国皇帝赵匡胤的话——国家若无外患，必有内忧。