Chapter 8 Chapter Eight Spring and Autumn "International Peace Conference"

The most important feature of the Spring and Autumn Period is wars. The purpose of wars is of course to fight for hegemony. The main theme of the fight for hegemony is the north-south confrontation between Jin and Chu. In addition, Qin and Qi are one east and one west, and they often wander in it to join in the fun. As for the other small countries, their fate is at stake. But by the middle of the 6th century BC, it was really impossible to fight.The vassal states from all walks of life have their own difficulties. For such and other difficulties, after nearly 200 years of struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period, a "peace conference" finally appeared in China-the meeting of Xiang Rong to eliminate soldiers.

To understand this peace conference, you might as well take a look at why the princes of the Spring and Autumn Period at that time could not continue to fight. The main theme of the struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period is actually the Chu and Jin countries in the north and the south. However, after several generations of monarchs, the ability of these two countries to support the war has become more and more inadequate. In the decades when Jin and Chu fought for hegemony, there were four large-scale wars between the two countries, namely the Battle of Chengpu in 623 BC, the Battle of Bi in 597 BC, and the Battle of Bi in 597 BC. The Battle of Yanling in 575 and the Battle of Zhanban in 557 BC. Except for the victory of Chu in the Battle of Bi, the other three wars all ended in the victory of Jin.Judging from the "score" on the surface, it seems that Jin has an absolute advantage.

But the actual situation is not like this. In the entire Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, in most cases, Jin is on the defensive and Chu is on the offensive.The common scenario of these four wars is that Chu State attacked the countries in the Central Plains from the north, and Jin State sent troops to fight, thus launching a big war.Even after the defeat of three wars, the state of Chu has become stronger and stronger, and its power has not been weakened because of this. On the contrary, once the state of Jin is defeated, it will be devastated for many years.In terms of war potential, Chu State is far superior to Jin State. They have land and population advantages, and their economic capacity is not weaker than Jin State. Even if they are severely injured in a single battle, their recovery ability is amazing. , will soon be able to recover from defeat.But Jin also has its own advantages, and its advantages are its own status as a royal family and its connections among the vassal states of the Central Plains.Every time Jin and Chu confronted each other, Jin was able to gain the support of most of the countries in the Central Plains, and formed a coalition posture to deal with Chu. Chu, which was hard to beat with two fists and four hands, often fell short in key battles.In this way, Chu State has soldiers, land, and potential for war. Jin State has allies, status, and connections. The economic strength of the two sides is even more similar.The two countries of Jin and Chu are like two giants in the north and south of the Yangtze River. For decades, each may have a little advantage, but neither can completely shake the other.

But by the middle of the 6th century BC, neither giant could hold back. The reason why the state of Jin could not continue was mainly because of its internal affairs. From the early Spring and Autumn Period, the state of Jin was in a period of decline in the strength of the monarch. Later, after two generations of reforms by Duke Xian of Jin and Duke Wen of Jin, the power and status of the scholar-bureaucrats were raised to consolidate The status of the monarch, but the untimely death of Duke Xiang of Jin led the Jin Kingdom to enter the period of the power minister Zhao Dun's monopoly. Although Zhao Dun died after that, the weakening of the power of the Jin Kingdom's monarch was inevitable.As a result of the continuous wars against foreign countries, the scholar-bureaucrat families who held great power hereditary in the Jin State could continue to expand their authority by means of wars, and finally formed a trend that could not be lost.The process is very simple. If the monarch wants to dominate, he must fight. If he wins the battle, he must reward his subordinates. It cannot be controlled by itself, and the rule of the entire country has resulted in a situation where "supreme power is emptied".Therefore, stopping the war is not a peace issue for Jin, but a political issue of whoever decides in a country.In the Jin State in the 6th century BC, its state power had been transferred to the hands of scholar-bureaucrats such as Zhi, Han, Zhao, and Wei. The country was no longer able to integrate into a unified force and carry out an all-out war like the Chonger period.

Another reason why Jin couldn't hold back was that his own "connection" advantage over Chu had already been shaken.For many years, the wars between Jin State and Chu State have always drawn other vassal states of the Central Plains as allies. The most important allies are Qi State in the east and Qin State in the west. Won with the help of two countries.But by the 6th century BC, the traditional friendly relationship between Jin and these two allies had long since ceased to exist. As early as the period of Duke Xiang of Jin, the friendship between Qin and Jin had become a dead letter. The road to advance pinned the state of Qin firmly on the Guanzhong Plain, but the multi-line battle also greatly reduced the national strength of the state of Jin. There was a war in the country, and although Jin was victorious, the neighboring countries on the left and right were no longer friends who advanced and retreated together, but enemies who did not share the sky.Under such a situation, it is obviously powerless to rely on the strength of the Jin State to wrestle with the Chu State.

The state of Jin is about to stop cooking, but the situation in the state of Chu is not much better.For many years, compared with Jin, the biggest advantage and disadvantage of Chu State is that it is not an early feudal state of the Zhou royal family, let alone a lofty status.The disadvantage of this situation is that Chu State is unable to establish his personal connections in the Central Plains. The so-called Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, more often than not, is that Chu State uses the power of one country to fight against the coalition forces of the entire Central Plains vassal states.The advantage is that Chu State is not the early state of Zhou State, and its national system is less influenced by the traditional Western Zhou patriarchal system, and the power of domestic ministers is relatively weak. The incident of dictatorship was quickly quelled by King Zhuang of Chu.Therefore, the state power of Chu State was concentrated in the hands of the monarch most of the time, but in the 6th century BC, the decline of royal power was inevitable.The rise of the aristocrats in the Chu state, which constrained the royal power, also highlighted internal affairs.At the same time, the backyard of Chu State was also on fire, and the rise of Wu State in the south of the Yangtze River became the enemy of Chu State day by day. Under such a situation, it is obviously very unwise to go north to fight for hegemony.

Neither of the two big countries wants to fight, but it is impossible not to fight if they don’t want to. The cruelty of war is that once it starts, it is difficult to stop. There is no step for both sides to go down. It is impossible to stop the war easily. Coincidentally, this step came soon: Xiang Rong, the doctor of Song Dynasty. There are not many records of Xiang Rong in history.What I know now is that the generation of meritorious ministers of the Song State has a noble status in the Song State. He is also a eloquent speaker with excellent eloquence, but more importantly, he is a scholar-bureaucrat of the Song State.

In the long war for hegemony between Jin and Chu, Song State suffered the most.The Song State was very unfortunate. It happened to be sandwiched between the Jin State and the Chu State. One south and one north, both were "superpowers" that could not be offended. So for many years, the Song State had pursued a policy of not offending both sides. When the state of Chu came, it turned to the state of Chu; when the state of Jin came, it turned to the state of Jin again.This policy is well thought out, but in execution it offends both sides.As a battleground between Jin and Chu, Song State has been threatened by war for many years. In the 100 years from the 7th century BC to the 6th century BC, Song State was attacked by Jin State at least 7 times. Besieged, he was besieged by Chu State 8 times, and the country almost became ruins many times in previous wars.For example, during the 9-month siege of King Zhuang of Chu, 90% of the young and middle-aged people in Song died in the flames of war. The domestic food was exhausted, and the common people even exchanged their children for food. This is how the idiom "changing children and eating" came from.From the perspective of later generations, the War of Hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period "promoted the unification of the country", but at that time, it was an out-and-out disaster.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was not uncommon for a small country with such a fate as the Song State. From a certain point of view, the Song State was not bad.The worst thing in the Spring and Autumn Period is to be a small country, especially a small country sandwiched between big countries.It is not enough for a small country to bow down to a big country, but it also has a lot of obligations. For example, when a big country launches a war, the small country has to send troops to help the big country fight, and when the big country needs money and food, the small country needs to provide the big country with what it needs Money and food are sometimes even plundered, and once a small country is wiped out by a big country, it will cause a huge loss of population and food, and even the country will die.For example, Zheng Guo, once a "little bully" in Zheng Zhuanggong's era, has always been famous for its developed industry and commerce and rich economy. However, in the repeated tug-of-war between Jin and Chu, Zheng Guo's economy suffered extremely heavy damage.For many years, a large amount of money has been provided to Jin and Chu, and the originally prosperous industry and commerce have long since ceased to exist.The people are suffering like this, and the life of the monarch of a small country is not easy. In order to maintain peace in peacetime, they have to send their children to the big country as hostages, and they have to send money and food to tie the knot. Every time a big country launches a war, the issue of "standing in line" must be more cautious. Wrong team, what greets them is a catastrophe, how can one be so worried.Of course, these days of walking on thin ice are becoming more and more unbearable.

The big country can't survive, the small country can't survive, the emperor of Zhou can't protect himself, and the common people are full of complaints. Under such a situation, peace has become a logical choice. The key is who will take the lead. As early as 579 BC, Hua Yuan, a doctor of the Song Dynasty, had launched a meeting to eliminate soldiers. At that time, he had a good relationship with Luan Wuzi, a power official in the Jin State, and Yin Zizhong, the order of the Chu State.With his efforts, Jin and Chu met outside the west gate of Jin and reached a peace agreement, but the good times didn't last long. A year later, the two sides tore up the agreement, and the famous Battle of Yanling broke out.The failure of this peace conference was inevitable. Both Jin and Chu at that time regarded the so-called peace as a way to slow down the army. Once the situation improved, they immediately turned their faces and refused to recognize anyone.By around 547 BC, everyone was exhausted, and it was not easy to turn their faces. This time, the peace should be genuine.

Therefore, Xiang Rong, the doctor of the Song Dynasty, took on this important task and began to run between the Jin State and the Chu State. During this period, the person in charge of the Jin State had become Zhao Wenzi. Zhao Wenzi was a new clan power in the Jin State, not the Jin State. For the nobles who started their fortunes by war in the early days of the country, the continuation of the war can only benefit those heroes of the Jin country who threatened him, and it will not benefit him at all. Therefore, the people in power in the Jin country at this time welcome peace 100% of.When the state of Jin was discussing this issue, Zhao Wenzi, who was in power at the time, and Han Xuanzi both expressed their strong support.Xiang Rong also used his personal relationship with Chu State Order Yin Zimu to lobby Chu State.During this period, the state of Chu was eager to end the war against the north as soon as possible, so that it could devote its main energy to guarding against the state of Wu in the east, and asked Rong for suggestions to eliminate troops, which naturally gave them the best step.However, the attitude of Qi State was somewhat repeated. During this period, Qi Jinggong was in power in Qi State. Under the Qi State, which is weaker than them, there is no reason to oppose it.Qi State's most positive attitude towards the elimination of soldiers is also their new domestic force-Tian Wenzi.Under Tian Wenzi's strong advocacy, the king of Qi finally agreed to participate in the meeting of eliminating soldiers.The state of Qin in the northwest, after many defeats in wars with the state of Jin, was very aggressive. At this time, Duke Jing of Qin, who was in power, was trying to repair the hostile relationship with the state of Jin so that they could consolidate their alliance in the northwest. power.In this way, after more than half a year of running around, Xiang Rong finally persuaded several big countries at this time. The big countries agreed, and the small countries naturally welcomed them with both hands. A truce is already the general trend. In 546 BC, the fourteen states of Jin, Chu, Qi, Qin, Wei, Cao, Song, Lu, Zhu, Zheng, Xu, Chen, Cai, and Teng, So in the summer of that year, the "International Peace Conference" that affected the history of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States was officially held in the Song Dynasty.According to relevant historical records, this was a successful meeting, a harmonious meeting, a warm meeting, and a smooth meeting. All parties present at the meeting deeply recalled the traditional friendship between us for many years, and expressed that they would put aside disputes and build harmony together. In a good international environment, after several months of bargaining, a peace agreement was finally reached: Jin and Chu will share the hegemony equally, and each country, except Qi and Qin, will pay tribute to Jin and Chu each year. The two countries formed alliances with Jin and Chu respectively, and did not have to pay tribute to Jin and Chu.Under this clause that reconciled the interests of the great powers, the Spring and Autumn States were finally in harmony for the time being. But even during the session, there were many discordant notes.First, at the beginning of the meeting, there was a dispute over who should be the leader of the alliance. In the past, the Central Plains lords' alliances were all led by the Jin State, but this time the Chu State quit. Since the hegemony is divided equally, everyone Everyone should be equal. You Jin State has presided over so many alliances, and it's time for us Chu State to have a good time.After several rounds of negotiations, Zhao Wenzi of the Jin State made a concession and agreed to let the Chu State come to lead the alliance.Second, when the state of Chu came to the meeting, they actually brought private goods with them. They brought an elite army and planned to launch a surprise attack if the content of the meeting was not conducive to the state of Chu, and use force to force the countries to submit.However, the State of Jin believed that since it was a peaceful meeting, it should treat people with sincerity. Therefore, even though it knew that the State of Chu had no good intentions, it still did not send troops to set up defenses. It angered the Central Plains countries, so they did not dare to act rashly.This peace conference 2,000 years ago achieved complete success without any risk. In 546 BC, the meeting of eliminating troops achieved immediate results.Jin and Chu, which reached "harmony" in the meeting, did not have large-scale wars in the following decades.The main battlefield of the spring and autumn hegemony has thus come to an end.However, the fate of the two great powers has also suffered disasters since then.The state of Jin continued the process of infighting in which the power of the monarch was weakened, and eventually it became the result of the division of the state of Jin by three families.As for the state of Chu, which had achieved the same hegemony status as the state of Jin, it capsized in the gutter and was defeated by the emerging state of Yue in the east. Even the state was defeated by others.The period after Xiang Rong's elimination of soldiers was also a period of rapid economic development in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the peaceful age, the economy developed and the strength of the new generation of landlords increased rapidly. The road to grabbing power.