Chapter 8 7 Shang Tang and Yi Yin

There is a tribe named Shang in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.It is said that Qi (sound xie), the ancestor of Shang, was a man of meritorious service in controlling the flood with Yu during the Yao and Shun period.Later, due to the rapid development of animal husbandry, the Shang tribe had become a powerful tribe by the time Tang became the leader at the end of the Xia Dynasty. The Xia Dynasty ruled for more than 400 years. In the 16th century BC, Xia Jie (sound jie), the last king of the Xia Dynasty, reigned.Xia Jie was a well-known tyrant. He and the slave-owner nobles brutally oppressed the people, especially the slaves.Xia Jie also carried out large-scale construction projects, built palaces, and lived a licentious and luxurious life.

Minister Guan Longpang (sound pang) persuaded Xia Jie, thinking that going on like this would lose people's hearts.Xia Jie was furious and killed Guan Longpang.The people hated Xia Jie to the core, and cursed: "When will this sun perish, we would rather perish with you." Seeing that Xia Jie was very corrupt, Shang Tang was determined to destroy Xia Dynasty.On the surface, he obeyed Jie, but secretly expanded his power. At that time, the nobles of the tribe were all superstitious about ghosts and gods, and regarded offering sacrifices to the ancestors of heaven and earth as the most important thing.There is a tribe called Ge near the Shang tribe, and the leader Gebo there does not offer sacrifices on time.Tang sent someone to question Gerber.Gerber replied, "We're poor here, and we don't have any animals to sacrifice."

Tang sent a batch of cattle and sheep as sacrifices to Gerber.Gerber killed the cattle and sheep and ate them without offering sacrifices.Tang sent someone to question again, and Gerber said, "I have no food, so what should I sacrifice?" Tang sent people to help Gerber plow the fields, and sent some old and weak people to bring wine and food to the plowmen. Unexpectedly, on the way, Gerber snatched all the wine and rice, and killed a child who brought food. In doing so, Gerber aroused public outrage.Tang seized this matter and sent troops to wipe out Ge Xian.Then, they successively captured several nearby tribes.Shang Tang's power gradually developed, but it did not attract the attention of the fatuous Xia Jie.Among the dowry slaves brought by Shangtang's wife, there was one named Shi Yiyin (yin).It is said that when Yi Yin first came to Shang Tang's house, he worked as a cook and served Shang Tang.Later, Shang Tang gradually discovered that Yi Yin was different from ordinary slaves. After talking with him, Shang Tang realized that he deliberately came to Tang by pretending to be a dowry slave.Yi Yin talked to Tang about the principles of governing the country, and Tang immediately promoted Yi Yin to be his assistant.

Shang Tang and Yi Yin discussed the crusade against Xia Jie.Yi Yin said: "Now Xia Jie still has strength, let's not go to pay tribute, let's test it out and see how he is." According to Yi Yin's strategy, Shang Tang stopped paying tribute to Xia Jie.Xia Jie was really furious and ordered Jiuyi to send troops to attack Shang Tang. Yiyin saw that the Yi people still obeyed Xia Jie's command, so he quickly pleaded guilty to Xia Jie and resumed paying tribute. After a year, some tribes in Jiuyi couldn't stand the oppression and blackmail of the Xia Dynasty, and gradually rebelled against the Xia Dynasty. Tang and Yiyin decided to attack on a large scale.

Since Xia Qi, the same surname has been passed down for more than 400 years. It is not an easy task to overthrow the Xia Dynasty.After discussing with Yi Yin, Tang and Yi Yin decided to summon the generals of the Shang army, and Tang would personally swear to everyone. Tang said: "It's not that I dare to rebel, Xia Jie has committed many evils, God's will wants me to destroy him, I dare not disobey the destiny!" He then announced the discipline of rewards and punishments. Shang Tang used God's will to mobilize the soldiers, and the soldiers wished that Xia Jie would perish early, so the battle was very brave.The Xia and Shang armies fought a battle in Mingtiao (now north of Anyi Town, Yuncheng, Shanxi), and Xia Jie's army was defeated.

Finally, Xia Jie fled to Nanchao (now southwest of Chao County, Anhui). Tang chased him there and exiled Jie in Nanchao until his death. In this way, the Xia Dynasty was replaced by the newly established Shang Dynasty.In history, Shang Tang's defeat of Xia was called the Shang Tang Revolution, because the ancient ruling class described the change of dynasty as a change of destiny, so it was called a "revolution".This is completely different from the revolution we are talking about now.