Chapter 9 Chapter Nine: Qi Jinggong Struggles for Hegemony at Sunset West Mountain

After "removing soldiers from the army", the large-scale war for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period basically ceased temporarily.However, the flames of war did not disappear because of this. Although the large-scale hegemony wars involving the northern and southern vassal states were no longer there, local wars between countries were increasing day by day.Jin and Chu, which originally existed as "two poles", were soon involved in a new war with their neighbors. The opponent of Chu was the well-known state of Wu, but the opponent of Jin was replaced by The old overlord Qi.

If you want to use a common saying to describe the status of the Qi State in the Spring and Autumn Period, it can only be said to be "waking up early and catching up late".Among the Five Hegemonies in the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi State was the first vassal state to dominate. During the period of Duke Huan of Qi, the number of great powers who bowed their heads to Qi State was so large that none of the subsequent hegemons could catch up. The hegemony method of "respecting the king and fighting the barbarians" was also initiated by Qi State, but after the short-term glory of Duke Huan of Qi, it was the long-term decline of the entire Qi State.First, Qi State fell into civil strife after the death of Duke Huan of Qi, and with the help of Song State, it was able to appoint a new monarch. The current Spring and Autumn struggle for hegemony has become a north-south hegemony between Jin and Chu. Qi is either a follower or a spectator, but he can't always be the protagonist.

Qi State will not be reconciled to such a situation, not to mention that Qi State is different from Qin State. Qin State is located in the west and is blocked by related mountains. As long as Jin State blocks the pass, Qin State people will not be able to enter the Central Plains.Qi State was different. The east where Qi State was located was the most affluent area in the Spring and Autumn Period at that time, and it was a place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack.The reason why it has been sluggish for a long time is that Qi State is "paying the bill" for Duke Huan of Qi. During Duke Huan of Qi's period, although he vigorously strengthened the centralization of power, he adopted the method of elevating the clan to suppress his subordinates. The result of this is Internal friction between clans continued to occur.Therefore, in the more than 100 years after Duke Huan of Qi passed away, the most common thing that happened in Qi State was civil strife. Duke Zhao's younger brother followed suit and staged a coup, killing Prince Jiang She and proclaiming himself Duke Yi of Qi.This Qi Yigong's fate was even worse, because he had an affair with the wife of his coachman Yan Zhi, and Yan Zhi colluded with the doctor Bingshe to launch a coup. Not to mention his own death, his whole family was also killed.Afterwards, Jiang She's son Qi Huigong came to the throne, vigorously elevating the status of the scholar-bureaucrats and weakening the power of the clan. event.Afterwards, the power of the clan grew stronger, the Cui family, the Qing family and other big families became more and more invincible.During the reign of Duke Qi Zhuang, in 548 BC, Duke Qi Zhuang was murdered by the Cui family and the Qing family in a coup because of an affair with the wife of the scholar-bureaucrat Cui. The so-called monarch has become a puppet in the hands of the scholar-bureaucrat.

The civil war was a mess, and hegemony was naturally impossible to talk about. Most of the successive monarchs of Qi after Duke Huan of Qi were not troublesome and would not take the initiative to participate in the war for hegemony. The so-called goal of recreating the great achievements of Duke Huan of Qi was often Have.Of course, there are exceptions, such as Duke Qing of Qi who ascended the throne after Duke Yi of Qi. At that time, the national strength of Qi State was restored, and the power of the King of Jin State was weakened, and the civil strife in Chu continued. Jinan fought a battle, and before the war, he was full of confidence, saying "destroy the state of Jin and then come back to eat", the so-called allusion of "destroy this dynasty food" comes from this.But the slogan is loud and useless. Although the state of Jin is in decline, the camels are bigger than horses after all. They fought with the real swords and guns of the state of Qi, and beat Qi Qinggong to annihilation. He was almost captured and was captured by the Jin people After chasing around Huabuzhu Mountain three times, and relying on changing clothes with the minister Feng Chou's father, he finally saved his life. The allusion of "Three Zhou Huabuzhu" also came from this way.This tragic failure, apart from making some contributions to the cultural cause of Chinese idioms, is of no benefit to Qi itself.

However, when Qi's foreign wars were in disarray and the civil war was in disarray, a person who regained Qi's hegemony finally appeared. Speaking of Qi Jinggong, he is somewhat famous in history, but his fame is mainly due to his virtuous prime minister Yan Ying.Today's various historical books are full of allusions about Yan Ying admonishing Qi Jinggong. Under Yan Ying's glorious image, Qi Jinggong seems to be a person who often makes mistakes. The real Qi Jinggong in history was a miserable puppet before he "often made mistakes".In 548 BC, Cui Zhu, a senior official of the State of Qi, staged a coup with Qingfeng and other families because of an affair between Duke Zhuang of Qi and his wife. After that, he made Chujiu, the younger brother of Duke Zhuang of Qi, ascend the throne, that is, Duke Jing of Qi in history.At this time, Cui Zhu was actually the ruler of Qi State, covering the sky with one hand in the country.It is worth mentioning that Cui Zhu's killing of the monarch was of great significance throughout the Spring and Autumn Period. The decline of the monarch's power in the Spring and Autumn Period has also become more and more severe since then.

But Qi Jinggong was not reconciled to the decline of power. At the beginning of his ascension to the throne, on the surface he had a lot of trust in Cui Zhu and attached himself to everything, but in fact he had already moved to get rid of Cui Zhu.But at this time, he only has the status of a monarch, but in fact he wants no one, no soldiers, a perfect commander, if he wants to seize power, he must first have a helper, and the first helper he found was later praised Yan Ying, the "Eternal Worthy Prime Minister". Yan Ying is very famous today, but at that time, he was also one of the aristocratic clans of Qi State.Yan Ying's father, Yan Ruo, was the senior official of the Qi State. Yan Ruo died of illness during Qi Linggong's time. Yan Ying inherited his father's position as the senior official. After that, he went through Qi Linggong and Qi Zhuanggong. The elders of the three dynasties of the country.Before Qi Jinggong, Yan Ying did not have many political achievements. He was famous at that time mainly because of the word "virtuous".He is a well-known sage in the state of Qi. He has always been known for his honesty and integrity. Not only does he have a clean hand, but he also often gives out his salary to help others. Therefore, he is very highly regarded in the hearts of the "country people" in the state of Qi. prestige.But more importantly, he is the "glue" between scholar-bureaucrats.At this time, the most important conflict among the top officials of the Qi State was the conflict between the rising scholar-bureaucrats of the Tian clan and the old clan. Over the years, with his presence, he has always been able to mediate the differences between the literati and bureaucrats, so that everyone can serve the country wholeheartedly.And he himself is quite a stubborn person. After Qi Zhuanggong was murdered, all the ministers took advantage of Cui Zhu's power, and they were afraid to avoid it. Only Yan Ying was not afraid, and came to Cui Zhu's house ostentatiously (Qi Zhuanggong's The corpse has been placed in the courtyard of Cui Zhu's family), and he took the initiative to mourn for Duke Zhuang of Qi. Cui Zhu was so angry that he pointed his sword at him, but he was not afraid at all, and he argued with Cui Zhu generously. Don't be afraid of three points.At that time, after Cui Zhu killed Duke Zhuang of Qi, under the instigation of his disciples, he had the idea of ​​becoming a king by himself, but because of the existence of Yan Ying and other veterans, Cui Zhu had to be scruples, and finally chose him. He thought that he could control the pestle and mortar as the king, that is, Qi Jinggong.Yan Ying should be said to have "indirect credit" for Qi Jinggong's successor.

Yan Ying is not only very tough, but also very intelligent.When Cui Zhu was in power, he punished and killed the old officials of the former court. He even ordered all the officials to go to the Taimiao to make oaths to express their loyalty. Anyone who refused would be killed on the spot.Before Yan Ying that day, there were more than 80 ministers who were killed for refusing to be loyal to Cui Zhu. When it was Yan Ying's turn, he was not afraid at all and said, "I am only loyal to the king. They will all suffer a terrible death." In the presence of the public, this was tantamount to declaring war on Cui Zhu, and Cui Zhu was so angry that he held his sword against Yan Ying's chest, forcing him to submit, but Yan Ying calmly said, "Even if it is A sharp sword piercing my chest will not change my ambition, Yan Ying." After saying that, he walked away in a huff.At that time, Cui Zhu really had the idea of ​​killing Yan Ying. The reason why he didn't kill Yan Ying was mainly because Yan Ying was too popular in Qi people. Send someone to follow up to see how Yan Ying reacted. At that time, Yan Ying's coachman suggested that Yan Ying hurry up and leave the place of right and wrong. up".Sure enough, Cui Zhu, who saw Yan Ying not in a hurry all the way, didn't know what was going on, never dared to make a move.During the Cui Zhu Rebellion, more than 200 ministers of the Qi State were killed, but it was not easy for Yan Ying to survive alone.

Qi Jinggong knew Yan Ying's virtuous name before he ascended the throne, but under Cui Zhu's coercion, he naturally couldn't reuse it.What's more, although Yan Ying is famous, he has no soldiers or money in his hands, so he can't compete with Cui Zhu at all, but Yan Ying has one thing that Cui Zhu doesn't have in his hands-people's hearts.At the behest of Duke Jing of Qi, Yan Ying was apparently sent far away as a magistrate in Dong'adang, seemingly not in power, but actually escaped Cui Zhu's eyes and ears, and then took the initiative to contact various clans loyal to the King of Qi, Under Cui Zhu's eyes, an undercurrent of "anti-Cui united front" was formed.

But only one Yan Ying is obviously not enough. In order to seize power, the second thing Qi Jinggong did was to use his strength to fight. Cui Zhu's Rebellion was called "Cui Qing's Rebellion" in history, and the "Qing" here refers to Cui Zhu's ally and accomplice - Qingfeng. Qingfeng was only an accomplice in Cui Zhu's coup that killed Duke Zhuang of Qi. Like Cui Zhu, he was a scholar-bureaucrat of Qi. Because he was dissatisfied with Duke Zhuang of Qi's suppression of the Qing family, he joined Cui Zhu in the rebellion.But this man was as ambitious as Cui Zhu. After the rebellion was successful, Cui Zhu covered the sky with one hand and provoked public outrage, while Qingfeng hid in the dark, waiting for Cui Zhu to make a mistake. He was like a bird hiding in the dark. The oriole everywhere, in this power game, is waiting for the time to come.

Qi Jinggong also felt Qingfeng's ambition. This person and Cui Zhu were not monolithic, so after Yan Ying left, Qi Jinggong tried his best to win Qingfeng over, and he once promised Qingfeng that as long as you get rid of Cui Zhu, you will belong to Qi. important minister.However, Cui Zhu also had internal problems. Cui Zhu was able to gain power, and his right-hand men were his two sons, Cui Cheng and Cui Jiang. People, ended up fighting themselves.Seeing the fire in the backyard, Cui Zhu had no choice but to ask Qingfeng to help put down the rebellion. How could Qingfeng miss this great opportunity? Under the banner of fighting the rebellion for Cui Zhu, Qingfeng sent troops to attack Cui Zhu's house and killed Cui Zhu's family. However, Cui Zhu, who led the wolf into the house, had no choice but to commit suicide with regret after it was too late. In this way, the power of Qi State changed from "surname Cui" to "surname Qing".

But the powerful Qingfeng didn't know that since he and Cui Zhu fought each other, he was doomed to fail.The reason why Cui Zhu is strong is because the Cui Qing family are united and united. Now that the alliance is broken, Qi Jinggong will not be willing to be a puppet. At this time, Yan Ying also found a new force for Qi Jinggong, and that was Tian Huanzi, the protagonist of "Tian Shi Dai Qi" later.Although they will be enemies in the future, facing Cui Qing's dictatorship at this time, the Tian family is a united front just like the monarch.The Tian family not only has its own independent armed force, but also has a rich economy, all of which are enough to change the balance of power between the two sides.In 545 BC, under Yan Ying's tandem, the Gongsun family and the Tian family, the big families of the Qi State, joined forces and took advantage of the opportunity of Qingfeng to go out to collect rent in their fief, and launched a sudden attack on the Qing family. The Qing family was defeated by surprise. .Qingfeng had to go into exile in another country.After that, because of the balanced power of the three major families, no one can be the dominant one. Duke Jing of Qi, who ruled from the top, has truly mastered the power of Qi State, and an era of Qi State's re-struggle for hegemony has begun. Although Qi Jinggong was a puppet in his early years, Qi's luck was very good.For many years, although Qi State has been in civil strife, it has not attracted "foreign interference", and has not been taken advantage of by other countries like after the death of Duke Huan of Qi. The main reason is the transformation of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In the third year after Qi Jinggong ascended the throne, that is, in 546 BC, the "Military Elimination Meeting" initiated by Xiang Rong, a doctor of the Song Dynasty, took place. Reached an agreement with Chu to share the hegemony equally. Although Qi was unable to fight for hegemony, the ingenious mediation of Liang Qiuju, who represented Qi at the meeting, made Qi's status as a big country recognized by other countries, and like Qin, it was exempted from Paying tribute to Jin State and Chu State, Qi State also got a rare opportunity to recuperate.After Qingfeng was exterminated in 545 BC, the first thing Qi Jinggong did was to recall Yan Ying who was in Dong'a, and he served as the prime minister of Qi, and started the road of hard work. The following story is like the "Yanzi governing Qi" that many historians talk about, that is, after Yan Ying served as the prime minister of Qi State, through various reforms to eliminate the old and introduce the new, Qi State embarked on the road of revitalization, but what exactly did he have? What about measures?The records of various historians often focus on "light corvee and thin Fu" and "rest and recuperation". In fact, Yan Zi's greatest contribution to Qi State was to promote the "feudalization" of Qi State.On Yanzi's first day as Prime Minister, Qi Jinggong asked Yanzi about the way of governing the country, but Yanzi answered irrelevantly, "Please come to visit me in private with me."As a result, Yan Zi led Qi Jinggong to the street and arrived at a shoe store. Qi Jinggong was surprised to find that no one cared about all kinds of exquisite shoes in the shoe store. On the contrary, there were many "prosthetic feet". He asked Yan Zi what it was The reason, Yan Zi replied: "The state of Qi has always used torture to govern the country. Many people have their feet cut off. How can they live if they don't buy fake feet?" This story of Yanzi has since been regarded as a model of "satire and remonstrance" by courtiers, that is, Yanzi used such a method to persuade the monarch to lighten the tax and cherish the power of the people, but there is another truth hidden in this story.The Qi State in this period faced the same problems that existed in all slavery countries in the late period: according to the laws of the Spring and Autumn Period, slaves who fled would be punished with the torture of cutting off their feet.That is to say, in Qi State during this period, slave escape has become a norm, and with it, the entire slavery economy is about to collapse.At the same time, the monarch of Qi State is also facing a strong competitor.Tian Huanzi, who made great contributions in eliminating Qingfeng.After the fall of Qingfeng, Tian Huanzi distributed all his money to the people, thanked guests behind closed doors, and only asked about political affairs.After Qi Jinggong heard the news, he praised "Tian Huanzi is really a sage", but Yan Ying sneered and said, "Tian Huanzi is more terrible than Qingfeng. Qingfeng collects money, and Tian Huanzi spreads it. What he wants to buy is the whole state of Qi."When the Tian family was still in dormancy, Yan Zi had already seen the family's ambitions.Therefore, for the sake of the state of Qi, when Yan Zi was the prime minister, he first implemented reforms with feudal flavors in Qi. One of the core policies of Yan Ying is to redistribute land.Before Qi Jinggong, the Qi State experienced several clan wars, especially Cui Zhu and Qingfeng massacred ministers, resulting in the destruction of a large number of clans.Yanzi took advantage of the situation and allocated a large number of acres of land that had been destroyed by the clan to landless peasants, many of whom were slaves under the name of the clan back then.As a result, the country suddenly had a large number of self-cultivating farmers, which could be used to collect taxes, and the country's financial resources were greatly expanded.At the same time, Yan Zi also made bold revisions to the "salt and iron monopoly" established during the Guan Zhong period.At that time, the salt and iron industry in Qi State, because of the decay of the slave-owner class, had already become a tool to extort money from the common people. The salt business, which was originally monopolized by the state, was subcontracted to private individuals.In this way, as long as the common people pay a certain "contracting fee" to the government every year, they can trade salt, their own income increases, and the country's income also greatly increases, which can be described as the best of both worlds.Of course, this policy also brought about "side effects". Later, it was the emerging feudal lords represented by the Tian family who got involved in this kind of business more. They made a lot of profits from it, and their power expanded rapidly. . These policies of Yan Ying all have a strong feudal color, and he also pays attention to every step of the way, such as redistribution of land, the scope is limited to those families that have perished, and does not touch the interests of existing families, so the resistance he encountered is not uncommon. On the contrary, it has lost the reputation of "loving the people".In terms of being an official, Yan Ying's most important feature is "satire and remonstrance".His leader Qi Jinggong, although stronger than the previous Qi Zhuanggong and Qi Linggong, but in terms of ability, he is still far behind the early overlord Qi Huangong. Although he has scheming and means, he has many shortcomings. For example, he likes to have fun, often engages in large-scale construction projects, and is obsessed with women. For these "bad deeds", Yan Ying's method of dealing with these "bad deeds" is "not positive, but sideways".For example, once Qi Jinggong held a banquet, and after drinking for three rounds, he asked Yan Ying drunkenly, "How am I better than Qi Huan".Yan Ying replied, "Duke Huan of Qi is surrounded by Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya, and you are surrounded by jesters and women, so they are incomparable."Another example is that once Duke Jing of Qi started a large-scale construction project, and the people could not go home because of the corvee, so they complained, Yan Ying deliberately sang in front of Duke Jing of Qi, "It's getting cold, but I can't stop, what should I do?" The construction projects are so various that historians have written endlessly for thousands of years, and Yan Ying, who has worked hard, is difficult enough. Yan Ying's "difficulty" has finally paid off. During his decades in power, especially the first 30 years of Qi Jinggong's reign, Qi's internal affairs were stable, his income increased greatly, and his military strength increased. By 500 BC When Yan Ying died of illness, the strength of Qi State multiplied and became a strong enough country to challenge Jin State. After the strength increased, Qi Jinggong finally no longer reconciled to being a "big country", but wanted to replace Jin Chu's position and become a hegemony like Qi Huangong's era, and the main enemy of Qi State was Jin State. The first step of Qi State's struggle for hegemony is the "Yanzi envoy Chu" that is talked about in history.It was 544 BC. After Qi Jinggong took over the power, the first thing to do was to tie the southern state of Chu.At that time, the state of Chu was a major threat to the state of Qi in the south. The situation of "Qi is strong and Chu is weak" in the period of Duke Huan of Qi is a thing of the past. By the time of Duke Jing of Qi, the state of Chu had already moved north step by step, and even once bordered directly on the state of Qi. , the famous "Qi Great Wall" was built by Qi State to guard against Chu State.If Qi State wants to deal with Jin State, it must first eliminate the threat of Chu State.So Yan Ying was ordered to go to Chu State as an envoy in the face of danger. This was a mission that was enough to make Qi State proud.The state of Chu first bullied Yan Ying because he was short, and asked Yan Ying to enter the dog's hole. Yan Ying replied, "You can only enter the dog's hole when you are an envoy to the dog's country."Later, when meeting King Ling of Chu, King Ling of Chu intentionally asked, "Is there no one in Qi?" Yan Ying replied, "Our rules in Qi state are that when envoys to a big country use adults, and when envoys to Chu state, it is fine to use a villain like me." up".Later, during the banquet, Yan Ying's servant was accused of stealing. King Ling of Chu laughed at Yan Ying and said, "Why are there always thieves in Qi?" It is because the water and soil are different, and the water and soil of the Chu state seem to support thieves."In all three contests, the Chu State was overwhelmed, and Chu State respected Yan Ying greatly, so it changed course and realized the friendship with Qi State.This was of great significance to Qi Jinggong at that time. Since then, the main enemy of Qi State has become Jin State in the west. At this time, the state of Jin and the state of Qi have actually formed a strategic encirclement situation. The states of Lu, Wei, Chen, and Cai around Qi are all affiliated states of Jin. Xiong, it is necessary to break the encirclement, to break the encirclement, the core is to fight for Lu.After Yan Ying's successful envoy to Chu State, in 543 BC, Duke Jing of Qi invited Duke Zhao of Lu to the Qi National Assembly. For Qi State, this was an alliance of "killing two birds with one stone".During this period, Qi Jinggong, while trusting Yan Ying, also favored three favorite ministers, Tian Kaijiang, Gongsunjie, and Guyezi. Under the military exploits.Qi Jinggong used them at first to suppress Yan Ying's prestige and prevent Yan Ying from dominating power, but as time went by, these three people were domineering, and they often used the monarch as an improper cadre, which made Qi Jinggong complain endlessly.Taking advantage of the opportunity of meeting Lu Zhaogong, Yan Ying made a plan of "killing three warriors with two peaches".He deliberately said in the alliance that six golden peaches were grown in the peach orchard of Qi State, and the two monarchs were invited to eat them. As a result, the monarchs of Qi and Lu each ate one, and Yan Ying and Uncle Sun Nuo, Prime Minister of Lu, each ate one. The next two were distributed to the three favorites, and the two peaches, of course, could not be divided among the three favorites. As a result, the three favorites showed their merits to each other and asked to eat peaches, and in the end they committed suicide one after another.With a small plan, he not only got rid of his political opponents, but also showed his skills in front of the king of Lu. This situation naturally made Lu Zhaogong greatly admired, and as a result, Lu and Qi formed allies.The state of Qi returned the land previously occupied by the state of Lu, and the two families have won a win-win situation since then.It is worth mentioning that Confucius, the great master of Confucianism, also participated in this alliance as the chief official of the Lu State. After winning over the Lu State, the conflict between Qi State and Jin State became more and more intense.But in the early days, Qi State was still temporarily on the defensive, especially when Yan Ying was the prime minister, he repeatedly advocated "surrender the enemy without fighting", and did not easily start a war.Naturally, the state of Jin could not just sit back and watch the strength of the state of Qi. In the second year after the alliance between the state of Qi and the state of Lu, that is, in 542 BC, the state of Jin immediately joined forces with the state of Yan to launch an alignment campaign from both the western and northern lines. country's attack.When the battle report came, Qi Jinggong was very flustered at first, and even regretted that he should not have killed Tian Kaijiang and other three fierce generals, so that the country now has no generals available. At this time, Yan Ying recommended a capable general for him——Tian Rangju.But Qi Jinggong didn't want to use him at first, because this Tian Rangju was the younger brother of Tian Huanzi, and the Tian family was being feared by Qi Jinggong at this time.However, with the emergency of the war, Liaocheng, Dong'e and other places were lost, and the situation was stronger than others, so Tian Rangju was in command. Qi Jinggong was still worried, and he specially ordered his favorite minister Zhuang Jia to be the supervisor of the army, supervising Tian Rangju's battle, but For Tian Rangju, this can be described as "sleep with a pillow". As a clan member of the Tian clan, his status is not high. , Tian Rangju will be late when he hits him, Tian Rangju will behead Zhuang Jia immediately in accordance with the military regulations without saying a word.This move had immediate results, the Qi army was strictly disciplined, and everyone fought bravely to be the first. Sure enough, they defeated Jin's attack in one fell swoop. This was the first defeat that Jin had suffered in front of Qi since Jin Wengong Chong'er. After the victory, Tian Rangju was appointed as the Great Sima and took control of the military power of Qi State. He was the military god who was later respected by military strategists of all dynasties-Sima Rangju. After defeating Jin in 542 BC, Qi ushered in the best situation in the country since Duke Huan of Qi.Wen has Yan Ying in power, Wu has Sima Rangju leading the army, and Liang Qiuju is such an eloquent diplomat.However, after Sima Rangju won the victory, Yan Ying opposed to take advantage of the victory to pursue, because at this time, the national strength of Qi State was not enough to support the long-term war with Jin State, and the best choice was to recharge your batteries.After that, Qi State and Jin State launched a "peaceful competition" to develop production and accumulate strength internally. At this time, Jin State happened to be a period when scholar-officials were in power and civil strife continued. The strength of the two sides was compared with each other. long.In 530 B.C., Duke Zhao of Jin ascended the throne and tried to re-establish the hegemony of the Jin State. Therefore, he invited Duke Jing of Qi to hold a meeting in Pingqiu. Pingqiu was on the border of the State of Wei at that time. He sent envoys to intimidate Qi Jinggong, demanding that Qi Jinggong must participate.Facing Jin's aggressive offensive, Qi Jinggong knew that Qi was still unable to compete with Jin at this time, so he chose to submit.However, at the meeting, Qi Jinggong keenly discovered that at this time the power of Jin was increasingly in the hands of the "six ministers" such as Han Zhaoweizhi Fan Gongsun.Afterwards, he sighed to Yan Ying, "A united state of Jin is the most terrifying."Therefore, the opportunity for Qi to fight for hegemony is to wait for the disunity of Jin. Of course, Qi Jinggong was not idle during the years of waiting for the "disunity" of the Jin State. Three years after the Pingqiu League, that is, in 526 BC, Qi Jinggong first launched the war in Xu State in the south of Qi State. As a result, large tracts of land in northern Jiangsu fell into the hands of Qi.In 522 BC, civil strife broke out in the Wei state. Qi Jinggong took the opportunity to intervene and accepted the exiled king of the Wei state, Wei Linggong, and received him with the etiquette of a king.This incident allowed Qi Jinggong to establish a good image among the princes, and he seemed to be a "copycat version" of Qi Huan.In 520 BC, the already powerful state of Wu began to attack the state of Song, the neighbor of Qi, and Duke Jing of Qi took action without hesitation to help the state of Song defeat Wu. These actions were of great significance.Song State and Wei State had always been important allies of Jin State. After these two incidents, they were all pulled to the side of Qi State.Of course, these actions of Qi Jinggong also failed. For example, in 517 BC, Lu Zhaogong was kicked out in a coup in Lu State. Qi Jinggong wanted to help Lu Zhaogong restore the country, but failed under the resistance of the Lu State army and people.But even so, the original allies of the Jin State were increasingly divided and disintegrated by the Qi State, and the power gap between the two sides was also narrowing day by day. Qi Jinggong’s opportunity came again after the Zhaoling League in 506 BC. The Zhaoling League was an important step for the Jin State to try to revive its hegemony. The agreement between Jin and Chu to "equally divide the hegemony" was invalidated.The state of Jin wanted to unite the princes of the Central Plains to attack Chu, but the clinker was thunderous and rainy, and the participating princes did not support it.In order to establish its prestige, the State of Jin destroyed the State of Shen who did not listen to its orders. This move greatly reduced the prestige of the State of Jin among the princes, while the State of Qi, which was flourishing day by day, was likely to replace it.Soon after, Zheng Guo, who had always been the staunch younger brother of Jin State, also fell to the side of Qi State.At this time, the State of Qi still did not go to war rashly, because at this time the State of Jin had a commander-in-chief who was good at fighting—Shi Yang.Sima Rangju, the famous general of Qi State, died long ago because of Qi Jinggong's suspicion.In 502 BC, Marshal Shi Yang of the Jin State died of illness, and the power distribution of the "Six Ministers" of the Jin State was cracked. Qi Jinggong finally decided that the opportunity had come: go to war! For this action, Yan Ying, who has been in power for a long time, strongly opposes it.Yan Ying believes that the state of Jin was under the dictatorship of the ministers at the time, and if he allowed it to develop, he himself would be divided, and now he hastily started a war, which would instead unite the state of Jin.But Qi Jinggong, who was determined to fight for hegemony, would not listen. After all, he had been waiting for most of his life, and this is the best opportunity, so how could he give up?As a result, Duke Jing of Qi gathered his troops in Linzi, first fought against Liaocheng on the border of Jin State, and took Liaocheng in one fell swoop. Although the strategic plan of Qi State to go straight to Handan was not realized because of the resistance of Jin State, Qi Jinggong was full of confidence and believed that Qi State would restore its hegemony. The opportunity finally came. After Yan Ying's death, the balance of power between Qi and Jin changed a lot.In the past, Qi State strengthened its defense and guarded against Jin State's attack, but now it has been replaced by Jin State's vigorous defense against Qi State.In order to prevent the Qi State from capturing Handan, in 497 BC, Zhao Jianzi, a scholar-bureaucrat of the Jin State, forced the population of Handan to Jinyang, which aroused the opposition of other scholar-bureaucrats.In 496 BC, Duke Jing of Qi supported the Fan and Zhongxing clans in the state of Jin to fight against the Zhao clan in power, and took the opportunity to send troops again. However, Zhao Yang, the helm of the Zhao clan, was extremely capable. Still focused on offense, but the eastern anti-Jin coalition formed by Qi Jinggong, Lu Guo, and Wei Guo were overly planning for themselves. In the Battle of Puyang, Henan, he was defeated by Zhao Yang.The Qi State suffered heavy losses in this battle, and several thousand shi of military rations became Zhao Yang's spoils of war.In 491 BC, Zhao Yang attacked Handan, where the Zhonghang clan was entrenched. Qi Jinggong sent troops again in an attempt to contain Zhao Yang. Who would have thought that the Zhongxing clan was too disappointing and lost Handan City. defeated. Although Qi Jinggong's military operations against the Jin State did not achieve the expected results several times, he also took advantage of it.The large tracts of land bordering Qi State and Jin State, including Xing State (Xingtai, Hebei), which was originally attached to Jin State, and Hukou, Shanxi State, became the land of Qi State.In Qi Jinggong's later years, the Qi State already owned large tracts of land in Shandong, Hebei, and Shanxi, and it seemed to be the largest country in the north. Qi Jinggong, who was focused on restoring his hegemony, did not expect that when he devoted his life to the cause of hegemony, his own backyard caught fire——Qi State fell into civil strife, and the protagonist of the civil strife was the famous Tian family. The key to the recovery of Qi State during Qi Jinggong's period was that Qi State took the initiative to carry out feudal reforms, and in this reform, it was Tian who benefited the most.As early as the early days of Qi Jinggong's reign, that is, in 532 BC, the Tian family launched a war to expel the old nobles of the Qi state, the Gao family and the Luan family. attitude, but after the victory, the Tian family became increasingly insecure.When Yan Ying was prime minister, although he reminded Qi Jinggong many times to be vigilant against the Tian family, he didn't have many good ways. He could only strengthen Qi's strength through reforms, but at the same time, the Tian family also benefited greatly from the reforms, because the reforms, The power of a large number of slave owners and aristocrats has been weakened, but the power of the Tian family has been expanding day by day.Especially in Qi Jinggong's war against the state of Jin, Tian Qi, the head of the Tian family, made the most contributions.After the death of Qi Jinggong in 490 BC, Tian Qi staged a coup d'état and killed the two families of Gao and Guo.After the 40-year dominance of Qi Jinggong, Jiang's Qi State has become increasingly depressed and desolate as "Tian's replacing Qi".