Why did Jin Xianggong succeed in continuing his hegemony?
After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, he was succeeded by his son Ji Huan, who was known as Duke Xiang of Jin. After the Jin Xianggong ascended the throne, during the mourning of his father Jin Wengong, many former allies sent emissaries to Daicheng to mourn the former overlords and see the weather of the new king of the Jin dynasty, so as to observe where the future Jin state would go. However, there were also some monarchs of the princely states, such as The Duke mu of Qin, who had long been married to the State of Jin, who was secretly excited after learning the news of the death of Duke Wen of Jin, and felt that the opportunity for the Qin State to dominate had come.
Occupying the Central Plains and achieving hegemony is the top-down political correctness of the Qin State, and all the monarchs and subjects of the Qin State have worked hard for this purpose. However, during the Jin Dynasty, the State of Jin destroyed the State of Yu and occupied the dangerous land of Kunhan, effectively curbing the eastward advance of the State of Qin. It was not until the time of the Li Ji Rebellion that Qin Mugong saw the hope of moving east to dominate the Central Plains, but due to the loss of the promise of Jin Huigong and the obstruction of Jin Wengong, Qin Mugong's hope of moving east was dashed.
After the news of Jin Wengong's illness and death reached the Qin State, Qin Mu gong felt that hegemony could be expected, and no one in the world could stop the Qin State from dominating. Confused by desire, Qin Mugong, despite the opposition of Uncle Jian and Bai Lixi, insisted on an expedition to the labor division, and the result can be imagined that the Qin army was ambushed by the Jin army and suffered heavy losses, if it were not for the fact that The Jin Xianggong was unwilling to form a mortal vendetta with the Qin state, the Qin state would absolutely not survive this battle.
While the smoke of the Battle of Kun was still gone, the Jin army, under the command of Xianxun and Yang Chufu, won the Battle of Ji and the Battle of Shuishui, which caused the Zhai state to be severely damaged, and let King Cheng of Chu feel the taste of failure in his attempt to dominate for the third time.
All three major wars took place in the first year after the Jin Xianggong ascended the throne, and all defeated strong enemies. The complete victory of the three battles enabled the Duke of Jin Xiang to successfully take over as the overlord and achieve more brilliant achievements than during the Jin Wengong period.
After the external troubles were lifted, the Duke of Jin Xiang began to rectify the internal affairs. At the beginning of the reign of Duke Xiang of Jin, he was not yet able to achieve complete subordination of the Jin dynasty and the opposition. Especially after the Battle of Kun, when the famous Jin general Xianxun, who had made great achievements in battle, learned that the Jin Xianggong had released Meng Mingshi and other Qin generals, he publicly rebuked the Jin Xianggong. The reason why Xianxun did this was to make a fuss about the achievements of the soldiers who fought hard to the death, and although it was out of public conscience, it also indirectly proved that the Jin Xianggong failed to fully serve the people in the early days of his reign.
And when Xianxun blamed himself for his death, the atmosphere of the Jin state changed. During the Jin Wengong period, the troika that made the Jin state hegemonic—Jin Wengong, Hu Yan, and Xianxun—all had a violent temper, and during his exile, Jin Wengong was greatly angered by the rude behavior of the villagers along the way, and Fox Yan was also annoyed and angry by the treacherous plan of the Chu general Ziyu in the Battle of Chengpu, and wanted to start a war with the Chu army in an area where the Chu army had absolute superiority, almost making the Chu state hegemonic. As for Xianxun, because he did not understand the monarch's policy, he disregarded it in public and angrily rebuked Xianggong. And the reason why Jin and Qin will break out the Battle of Kun, and eventually lead to the confrontation between Qin and Jin, there is also a certain relationship between the arbitrary actions of The Ancestors. If the Jin Wengong, fox yan, and Xianxun were Li Shu, it would be understandable, but they were all monarchs and important subjects who controlled the fate of the country?
The Jin Xianggong period was different, especially after the Jin Xianggong, Zhao Wan, and the first and second in the main government. Duke Xiang of Jin was generous in nature, and his personality was similar to that of Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Yiji, and he used both royal and domineering ways. After Duke Xiang of Jin ascended the throne, he reinstated the ministers and officials who had been heavily used by his father and continued to serve. At that time, the State of Jin was a sensitive period of doubts about the lord and the state, and the rule of the Duke of Xiang of Jin quickly stabilized the government and the opposition, so that the State of Jin could draw its hands to deal with Western Qin, Northern Zhai, and Southern Chu. Secondly, even if Xianxun punched Jin Xianggong in public, Jin Xianggong was not angry, but instead apologized to Xianxun, and had to say that Jinxianggong was a monarch of all kinds of rivers.
Zhao Wan was humble and low-key, and Duke Wen of Jin had wanted to reuse Zhao Wan many times, but Zhao Wan recommended other ministers to Jin Wengong, believing that their talents were more qualified for this position. As for Xianheju, unlike his father, he can do good deeds to the monarch and is a virtuous and handsome man who is loyal to the country.
After settling external affairs and initially stabilizing the domestic political situation, Jin Xianggong did not immediately expand, but set his sights on rectifying internal affairs. With the death of Xianxun, the three leading figures of the Jin Wengong era have become ancient, and the Jin Xianggong began to form his own administrative team, that is, he sat in the imperial government to replace his father Jin Wengong, replaced Hu Yan by Zhao Wan, replaced Xianxun with Xianheju, and then let the ministers assist him. The above three people are all sages and courtiers, and the ruling style and temperament are more suitable and moderate than in the Jin Wengong era, which is more conducive to consolidating the hegemonic position, which is also the key to the Jin state not following in the footsteps of the overlord Qi State. In the middle and late Jin Dynasty, the most important official position was the General of the Six Secretaries, and the Duke of Jin Xiang also took care of the interests of the old nobles while supporting a group of people loyal to him.
With the stabilization of the situation at home and abroad, the Duke of JinXiang began to consolidate hegemony abroad. The first target chosen by the Duke of JinXiang was Wei Guo, who was at the heart of the Central Plains, on the grounds that Wei Chenggong did not come to see the Duke of Jin xiang and despised the hegemony of the Jin state. The Battle of Qi broke out between the two sides, and after Wei Cheng's army was defeated by the Jin army that was under the command of the first and most important people, he actually tried to win the vassal state of the Chu state, the State of Chen, into the battle. And Chen Gonggong was not deceived, but proposed to Wei Chenggong that the Wei army should fight back against the Jin army, this outrageous suggestion Wei Chenggong actually agreed, the result can be imagined that the Wei army naturally lost, if it were not for the fact that at this time, Qin Mugong sent Meng Ming to take revenge on the Jin state, and first had to return to the rescue, otherwise the Wei state would probably suffer more serious losses.
However, this time, Qin Mugong was still disappointed, and the Jin army once again defeated the Qin army and won the victory in the Battle of Pengya, and the Jin state also threatened the princes.
Due to the successive defeats of the State of Qin to the Jin, The Duke of Qin Mugong was somewhat slack and felt that he could no longer die in the State of Jin, but in order to maintain his prestige, The Duke of Qin still felt that he could not let the State of Jin be too arrogant. Therefore, Qin Mugong mobilized the strength of the whole country and launched a fierce attack on the Jin state. The purpose of the Qin army's eastward march was also deeply understood by the Jin monarchs, and they were unwilling to fight with the Qin state to the death to damage the country. Therefore, at the suggestion of Zhao Wan, the Duke of Jin Xiang decided to firmly wall and clear the wilderness, close the guard, and give face to The Duke of Qin Mu. After Qin Mugong had been in power for more than a month in the Jin Dynasty, he also led the army back to China with great understanding.
Qin Mugong's revenge made the Duke of Jinxiang soberly aware of the dangers of blindly being strong, so the Jin state changed its previous domineering diplomatic style, became friendly and gentle, consolidated its hegemony with the princes, took the initiative to express goodwill to Lu Wengong, and released Kong Da, the defender who was captured in the Battle of Qi. The Duke of Lu Wen and the Duke of Wei cheng were naturally flattered and rushed to pay tribute to the Jin Dynasty, and the Duke of Jin Xiang also received them solemnly. After that, the princes of the Central Plains were more subordinate to the leadership of the Jin state, and the hegemony of the Jin state became sustainable.
Just after the stabilization of the Jinxiang gong hegemony, a new problem has emerged, that is, balancing the interests of the old and new Qing clans. This problem persisted after the Jin Dynasty ascended the throne by Duke Wen of Jin. The main reason why Jin Wengong expanded the three armies and six secretaries to five armies and ten secretaries was to take care of the interests of the old Qing clan. Later, this contradiction was temporarily hidden by the strong and capable political skills of Duke Wen of Jin and the management of Dao Zuoba, the prince of Jinxiang. Although the contradiction was hidden, it only took one opportunity, and this contradiction would erupt again, and this opportunity was that the first four important ministers of the sixth year of the Jin Xianggong died almost at the same time.
Due to the large vacancy of the six secretaries, the new and old Qing clans began to secretly compete and oppose each other. After comprehensive consideration, the Duke of Xiang of Jin decided to appease the old Qing clan during the Jin Xian Gong and Jin Hui Gong periods, and planned to reuse them.
Since the new and old Qing clans were all staring at this matter at that time, the Jin Xianggong had not yet announced it, and the Qing clan knew about it. When the old Qing clan learned about it, they were overjoyed and felt that the era that belonged to them was coming. Unfortunately, the old Qing clan did not enjoy it for long. At the same time that the old Qing clan received the news, the new generation also knew about it, and they were immediately indignant, and under the leadership of Xianke, the new generation expressed their political demands to the Jin Xianggong.
After listening to the political demands of the new generation, the Duke of Jin Xiang decided to distribute power according to the merits of the ancestors of the Qing clan and reorganize the six secretaries. Therefore, the Duke of Jin Xiang decided to send Fox Shootgu, Zhao Dun, and Xianke into the Six Qings, and at the same time, in order to stabilize the situation, gave the remaining three Secretaries to the Old Qing Clan. This seemingly balanced job arrangement is actually beneficial to the Xinqing clan, because the top three positions in the six qings are given to the xinqing clan, and Zhao Dun also holds the important position of ruling doctor.
Duke Xiang of Jin was a virtuous prince who ruled the country and appointed Zhao Wan, unified the army to attack and choose three generations of ancestors and grandchildren, and roughly balanced the interests of various factions, so that all the Qing clans were united around the Duke of Jin Xiang. During the reign of Duke Xiang of Jin, he defeated Qin several times, repelled the State of Chu, destroyed the State of Zhai, subdued the princes with virtue, and used both the king to rule his country, and finally was able to succeed in continuing his hegemony.