The Zhao clan belongs to the surname of Ying, and comes from the same ancestor as the monarch of the Qin State. The origins of the Zhao family originated from Zhao Wan, who followed the Jin Wengong into exile.
Their ancestors can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty. At the beginning, there was a fierce general named Shu Lian under the King of Sui, who fought bravely and fiercely. He was later captured by the Zhou Dynasty and killed shortly after.
He had two sons, one was Xie Lai (soon killed) and the other was Ji Sheng, and their descendants both served the Zhou Dynasty, but their status was not high.
By the time of King Mu of Zhou, Ji Sheng had a great-grandson named Zuo father. The founding father was good at soma and driving, and was the groom of King Mu, and many of the horses he raised were thousand-mile horses, which were very popular with King Mu. Once, a domestic rebellion, thanks to the excellent driving skills of the father-maker, with a thousand-mile horse, quickly rushed back to the country with King Mu from thousands of miles away and put down the rebellion.
Because of his merits this time, King Mu sealed him in Zhao Cheng. Since then, their entire family has been wiped out, including the descendants of Evil Lai and Ji Sheng, all of whom have zhao as their surname, and they are surnamed Zhao, zhao.
The Father-Maker is the ancestor of the Zhao clan.
And the descendants of the evil ones soon after also produced a talent, called Feizi. Because he raised horses well, he was famous in the world, and he was also rewarded by Zhou Tianzi, and was sealed in Qin and established the Qin state.
The descendants of the Zhao clan saw the chaos of the government in the Western Zhou Dynasty, so they left the Zhou Dynasty and went to the Jin State to become an official, becoming one of the Qing clans of the Jin State, which was passed down to Zhao Wan's generation.
Zhao Wan was one of the five heroes who followed Duke Wen of Jin into exile.
He was slightly younger than Jin Wengong, the two had known each other since they were young, and their personal friendship was very good, and they had married Shu Kui and Ji Kui, two sisters. Then Duke Wen married his daughter to Zhao Wan—so the two of them were both brothers-in-law and son-in-law.
From such a close marital relationship, it can be seen that Zhao Wan's trust was deeply trusted by Jin Wengong. During the nineteen years of Jin Wengong's exile, Zhao Wan was always the mainstay of the team, and all major matters of Wengong would be discussed with him.
At the most difficult time, he gave up the food he brought to Jin Wengong and refused to eat it himself.
Duke Wen was greedy for pleasure in the State of Qi and refused to leave, and it was Zhao Wan and several of them who plotted to get Wen Gong drunk and forcibly take him away.
After Duke Wen of Jin ascended the throne, Zhao Wan entered the core leadership of the imperial court without suspense.
In Wen Gong's team, Zhao Wan's talent was not the most prominent. But he is low-key and not greedy, and he has another talent that no one can match - he is particularly good at "being a person". And this talent allowed his family to gain good connections and stand out in the later political struggles.
This "being a man" does not mean that he is flattered by all sides, but that he can comfortably coordinate the relationship between all parties and let everyone feel his kindness. Therefore, no matter what faction of people, they all praise him as a warm-hearted and good person.
He is low-key and calm, showing a humble demeanor at every turn. Chinese has always had a good feeling for people who love to be humble, so Zhao Wan's image in the imperial court is very good.
For example, once The Duke Wen of Jin sent troops to attack the State of Yi, and with Zhao Wan's strategy, the war went smoothly. Afterwards, Wen Gong rewarded the courtiers, but Zhao Wei retorted: "Does the great king want to reward the direct executor or the one who plays a fundamental role?" If it is the former, then the soldiers who ride on horseback can be rewarded; if it is the latter, then my plan is heard from Hao Zihu. Duke Wen really rewarded Hao Zihu.
Zhao Wan's similar humble deeds are many more, the most famous of which is his experience of "letting go of the sage" several times, giving up the position appointed to him by Jin Wengong to others.
When the "Three Armies" were first established, Duke Wen of Jin appointed Marshal Zhao Wanzhong, but he insisted on resigning, saying: "Hao Xuan is virtuous and noble, and it is more appropriate for him to hold this position." Duke Wen made Hao a lieutenant general.
Duke Wen then made Zhao Wan a general in the army, saying: "Luan Zhi is careful and cautious, and he has planned well before, and should appoint them." Duke Wen then let Luan Zhi and XianXun command the army.
Later, when Fox Mao passed away, Duke Wen asked Zhao Wan to replace him as a general, and Zhao Wan's resignation was said: "Xianheju (Xian's son) had great merits in the Battle of Chengpu, and he should be appointed." ”
Wen Gong was very touched and said to the people: "Zhao Wan's three concessions, all he let are the ministers of the society, and the three concessions are not righteous, and they are really virtuous ministers." ”
In the end, Wen Gong felt sorry for Zhao Wan, so he had to build a new shangjun and a new subordinate army, so that Zhao Wan would be the leader of the new shangjun, and Zhao Wan would accept it.
On the other hand, because Zhao Wan's high trust was highly trusted by Wen Gong, the people he recommended could basically be reused immediately, and these people would of course be grateful to him, so they also accumulated extensive connections for him and his family.
In addition, he also recommended Fox Yan, Xu Chen, Ji Zheng and others, and Yang's father also had a close personal relationship with him, and even Bo Yan, who had assassinated Duke Wen, admired him very much, and even suggested that Duke Wen reward him with the title of Yuanyi.
In short, the people of the remaining big families in Liuqing had basically received the favor of Zhao Wan. Everyone was grateful to him, saying that he was like the sun in winter, making everyone feel warm.
It can be said that in the court of Duke Wen, Zhao Wan was the glue among all people, it was he who smoothed the complicated factional strife in the Jin Huigong era and glued the entire Jin political arena together; because of his existence, the Jin state in the Wengong era had such a strong cohesion, and could gather the strength of all factions to deal with foreign enemies.
These merits of Zhao Wan's are all seen in people's eyes and remembered in their hearts. Although he was low-key and stoic, he won the unanimous admiration of everyone, so the Zhao family came to the fore and accumulated a strong influence beyond other families in the political arena of the Jin Dynasty.
Not only that, but Zhao Wan is also an expert in governing the family, he is very good at coordinating the internal relations of the family, and even his wife is particularly virtuous.
After Duke Wen of Jin ascended the throne, he married his daughter Zhao Ji to Zhao Wan. At that time, Zhao Wan's ex-wife Shu Kui and his son Zhao Dun were still in the Zhai Kingdom, and Zhao Ji said to Zhao Wan: "When you have a new love, you forget the old people, so how can you serve the people?" They should be picked up as soon as possible. Zhao Wei took Shu Kui and Zhao Dun back to the Jin Dynasty.
Although Zhao Ji is the identity of a princess, she thinks that Shu Kui is the original match and the credit is greater, so she takes the initiative to let Shu Kui be the main room, demote herself to a partial room, and also let Zhao Dun inherit the family business as a concubine, and several of the sons born to her are made concubines.
Under the careful teaching of Shu Kui and Zhao Ji, Zhao Dun also grew into a very talented figure, and after Zhao Wan's death, he inherited Zhao Wan's career as the eldest son of Zhao Wan.
In 622 BC, a generation of giants Zhao Dun officially ascended to the political arena of the Jin State, and the Jin State entered the era of Zhao's dictatorship.