The eastward migration of the Ping King was a historical event in the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty when the Zhou royal family moved the capital from Hojing to Luoyi. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, during the reign of King You of Zhou, he deposed Empress Shen and crown prince Yi usu, and made his beloved concubine Empress dowager and Bofu the crown prince. Regardless of whether the historical King of Zhou You had any beacon theater princes or not, just the act of abolishing Chang Liyou was obviously to bear the unshirkable responsibility for the demise of Western Zhou. In this context, in 771 BC, Shen Hou's father, Shen Hou, colluded with Inu Rong to attack Haojing. King Zhou You lit a beacon for help, and the princes ignored it because they had been played by the beacon before.
King Youwang of Zhou was finally killed at Mount Li, and Western Zhou perished. Later, the princes proclaimed Crown Prince Yiusu as king, as king of Zhou Ping. Because the capital was in ruins and threatened by external troubles such as Rong and Di, King Ping of Zhou chose to move the capital to Luoyi in the second year after his ascension to the throne (770 BC), which was in the area of present-day Luoyang, Henan Province, which undoubtedly opened the history of Eastern Zhou. The eastward migration of the Ping King is an important event for historians to divide the time period, and it is also a turning point in the national situation of the Zhou Dynasty. The Zhou Dynasty after King Ping moved his capital was called Eastern Zhou, while the period when King Wu of Zhou was founded and King You of Zhou was killed was called Western Zhou. After the King of Zhou Ping moved east, three princely states gained relatively large benefits and successively dominated during the Spring and Autumn Period. So, the question is, who are these three princely states?
1. The State of Qin
The State of Qin (770 BC – 207 BC) was a vassal state established in the northwestern region during the Zhou Dynasty. For the State of Qin, the ancestor Qin Feizi was the son of the famous general Fei Lian (蜚廉) under the King of Shang. The Qin ancestors of the Clan of the Qin People were the right-hand men of Zhen Shou Xi Rong as early as the Yin Shang Period, and were highly valued by the Shang Dynasty. In the sixth year of King Xiao of Zhou (905 BC), Qin Feizi was made a vassal state by Zhou Tianzi for his meritorious horse breeding, and the capital was set at Qinyi (秦邑, in present-day northeast of Qingshui County, Tianshui City, Gansu Province). In 821 BC, duke Zhuang of Qin defeated Xi Rong and was made the Grand Master of Xi'an by King Xuan of Zhou. However, even so, the State of Qin was not yet an official vassal state. Of course, this situation changed after king Zhou Ping moved east. In 770 BC, Duke Xiang of Qin sent troops to escort King Ping of Zhou to move east, and he was made a prince. Since then, the State of Qin has officially become a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty.
At the same time, after moving east, King Ping of Zhou gave the qin state the land west of qishan that the royal family could not control, and from then on the qin state began to become a princely state of western Zhou, laying the foundation for the future strength of the qin state. In 766 BC, Duke Xiang of Qin died on the way to the crusade against Xi Rong and was buried in his hometown of Xi'an (Dabaozi Mountain, Li County, Gansu Province), and was succeeded by his son Duke Wen of Qin. Although The Duke of Qin Xiang was unable to retake Qishan and other places occupied by Xi Rong. However, through the efforts of many Qin monarchs, the Qin state still repelled Rong Di and other forces, thus expanding its territory. Because it was sealed by the Zhou royal family, the State of Qin could legitimately occupy the Guanzhong region, which was the location of the original Western Zhou capital. Therefore, it is very obvious that the King of Zhou Ping moved east to Luoyi, and the harvest of the Qin State was really not small, not only gaining the title of princes, but also appropriating the territory of the original Western Zhou capital as his own, which laid the foundation for the strong foundation of the Qin State and prompted the Duke of Qin mu to dominate for a while in the Spring and Autumn Period.
2. Jinguo
After King You of Zhou was killed, the princes proclaimed Ji Yiusu as king, for king of Zhou Ping. At this time, the remnant of King Zhou You's power, Yu Shi's father, supported another son of King Zhou You, Ji Yuchen (said to be the brother of King Zhou You), who was known as King Zhou with him. King Ping of Zhou and King Of Zhou were each called kings, and the zhou dynasty saw two kings standing side by side. In this regard, in the twenty-first year of the Reign of Marquis Wen of Jin (760 BC), Marquis Wen of Jin killed King Wen of Zhou, ending the ten-year-long situation of the two kings of the Zhou royal family and stabilizing the situation in the early years of Eastern Zhou.
On this basis, Marquis Wen of Jin, like Zhou Gongdan at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, greatly displayed the majesty of the Zhou Dynasty and became a hero in recreating the Zhou Dynasty. King Ping of Zhou rewarded Marquis Wen of Jin for his exploits. Therefore, the "Chinese" has an evaluation that "Marquis Wen of Jin then determined the Son of Heaven", it was Marquis Wen of Jin who decided the fate of King Ping of Zhou, and he thus obtained the power to assist Tianzi and act on behalf of the king. Later, Marquis Wen of Jin expanded the territory of the Jin state in the Fenshui Valley and was recognized by King Ping of Zhou. As a result, for the Jin State, the benefits obtained were mainly reflected in two aspects, one was to obtain the power to replace Zhou Tianzi's conquest, and the other was to obtain the territory of the Fenshui River Basin, which became an important foundation for the rise and hegemony of the Jin State in the Spring and Autumn Period.
After Marquis Wen of Jin, the State of Jin also served as the monarch of the courtesy name, that is, the Duke of Jin Wen. Duke Wen of Jin (697 BC?) –628 BC), courtesy name Jin (金氏), courtesy name Zhong'er, was the twenty-second monarch of the Jin state during the Spring and Autumn period, reigning from 636 BC to 628 BC, son of Duke Xian of Jin, and his mother was Fox Ji. Jin Wen Gongwen zhi was outstanding in martial arts, and was the second overlord of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons, and was called "Qi Huan Jin Wen" along with qi huan gong. In 632 BC, Duke Wen of Jin defeated the Chu army with fewer victories and more victories at the Battle of Chengpu, and gathered the States of Qi and Song to join forces in jiantu, becoming the second hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons, and creating a century-long hegemony of the Jin state. Although the jin state was hegemonic, it had been some time since King Ping had moved east. However, without the king of Zhou Ping moving east, the Jin state could not have continued to expand in the early Spring and Autumn Period, and even provided a solid foundation for the jin dynasty to dominate. Therefore, like the State of Qin, the State of Jin was also a big winner in the eastward migration of the Ping King.
3. Zheng Guo
Finally, the State of Zheng (806 BC – 375 BC), a vassal state of the Zhou Dynasty with the surname Ji. In 806 BC, Ji You was enfeoffed near the capital city of HoJing, with the state name Zheng. In 769 BC, Zheng Wu moved the state of Zheng to Henan and established the capital at Zheng (present-day Xinzheng, Henan), with its main territory located in the area of present-day Zhengzhou, Henan. After King Ping of Zhou moved east to Luoyi, Zheng Guo, like the Qin and Jin states, sent troops to escort him. Moreover, Zheng Guo also served as a prince and a secretary of the royal family, that is, the monarch of the State of Zheng, and also held an official position in the capital of the Zhou royal family, which became an important reason why Zheng Zhuanggong could become a small hegemon in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In the early Spring and Autumn Period, after the death of Duke Wu of Zheng, Duke Zheng Zhuang made full use of his status as a royal minister, often using the name of the royal family for his own personal gain, annexing small surrounding states, invading the Xu state, interfering with the Song, Wei, Lu and other states, and also helping the State of Qi drive out the invading Northern Di. Zheng Guo, at the time of Zheng Zhuang's dukedom, was like the largest country in the early Spring and Autumn Period. In the view of many historians, Zheng Zhuanggong, with his great talent, made Zheng Guo the first to rise strong and dominate the princes in the Spring and Autumn Period.
However, in the author's opinion, Zheng Zhuanggong was able to take the lead in dominating in the early Spring and Autumn Period, mainly with the help of the prestige of the Zhou royal family, coupled with the fact that Zheng Guo's position was relatively close to the capital of Eastern Zhou, which made Zheng Zhuanggong play the drama of "holding the son of heaven to order the princes" in the morning. Of course, after the death of Zheng Zhuanggong, with the rise of great powers such as the State of Qi, the State of Jin, the State of Chu, and the State of Qin, the State of Zheng, located in the land of four wars, still went into decline. However, in any case, the beginning of the history of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty still provided the objective conditions for the rise of Zheng Guo. What do you think about that? Feel free to leave your views and let's discuss them together.