In the Spring and Autumn Period of ancient China, five hegemons were produced, which were called the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons" by later generations, representing the five most powerful countries in this era. As the head of the "Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons", the Duke of Qi Huan should logically be the most powerful country, but it was not the State of Qi that finally unified China, but the State of Qin?
Originally, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qin once became a generation of powerful countries under the leadership of Qin Mugong, and qin Mugong, who was also one of the "Five Hegemons of Spring and Autumn", worked diligently and collected benevolent people from all over the world.
The State of Qin, under the leadership of Qin Mugong, laid the cornerstone for the future unification of China. Today, let's take a look at how Qin Mugong's life led the Qin state to become stronger.
01 The relationship between The Duke of Qin and the State of Jin
Like Qin Shi Huang, Duke Mugong of Qin was surnamed Ying, and his name was Ren Hao. The succession of Duke Mu of Qin was somewhat strange, because he was the son of Duke Degong of Qin, or the youngest of the three sons. His eldest brother Qin Xuangong took the throne after his father's death, and after Qin Xuangong's death, he did not pass the throne to one of his nine sons, but to his younger brother, Qin Chenggong, the second brother of Qin Mugong.
Duke Cheng of Qin also had seven sons, but after his death, he did not pass the throne to them, but gave it to his third brother, that is, Duke Mu of Qin.
After Duke Mu of Qin ascended the throne, he hoped to become a hegemon in the future, so he decided to win over the most powerful Jin state at that time. He took the initiative to propose to the Jin emperor Of Jin, so the Duke of Jin married his eldest daughter to the Duke of Qin Mu, and the two countries became relatives.
But later, Duke Xian of Jin was old and faint, and he was very fond of a concubine named Li Ji. Li Ji hoped that Duke Xian of Jin would make his son crown prince, depose Crown Prince Shensheng, and then drive the prince, who was known for his sages, out of the Jin state. Although Jin Xiangong agreed to her request, he did not depose the crown prince Shen Sheng, so Li Ji sent someone to say bad things about Shen Sheng behind his back, and finally forced him to die.
At this time, Gongzi Zhong'er and Yiwu both fled in order to survive. Later, Duke Xiangong of Jin died, and Li Ji's young children took the throne, but because they had no support in the country, they were soon killed by Li Ji and other strategists such as Prince Shensheng, and wanted to support Zhong'er as the monarch.
At that time, Qin Mugong also wanted to do this, but the qin advisers thought that the heavy ear was too wise, and they were worried that after he took the throne, the jin state would be strong and would be unfavorable to the qin state, so Qin Mugong had to give up this idea.
Later, Yiwu became the king of the Jin state for the sake of the Duke Hui of Jin, but the Duke hui of Jin was not friendly to the State of Qin, and also killed Rick and other old ministers, and sent people to hunt down and kill Zhong'er, and also sent troops to attack the State of Qin. However, the State of Jin did not win the battle against the State of Qin, and in the end it still made peace by cutting off the land, and the son of Duke Hui of Jin, Gongzi Yuan, was also sent to the State of Qin as a hostage.
On the side of Qin Mugong, in order to be able to control Gongzi Yuan, he married his daughter Huai Ying to him, but he did not expect that later Gongzi Yuan was ungrateful, heard that his father was ill, abandoned his wife, and immediately ran back to China to inherit the throne, for the sake of Jin Huaigong. Qin Mugong was naturally very angry, so he decided to help Zhong'er seize the throne, and also remarried Huaiying to Zhong'er.
Later, Zhong'er returned to china with the help of the Qin state and ascended the throne as the Duke of Jin. With the Qin state xiu as the good of Qin and Jin, later the Duke wen of Jin also dominated, becoming another Spring and Autumn overlord after the Duke of Qi Huan.
02 Qin Mugong's kindness to others
Qin Mugong's later ability to become the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period was inseparable from his wide collection of sages in the world, and among the most famous stories of Qin Mugong's collection of sages, the story of him and Baili Xi was counted.
Legend has it that Bai Lixi was a very talented person, but he ran into walls everywhere in various countries, could not be reused, and finally fed cattle in the Chu kingdom in frustration.
After Qin Mugong knew this person, he wanted him to be able to use it for himself, but he was worried about being discovered by the king of the Chu state, so he exchanged five sheepskins for baili xi at the price of a normal slave, so later baili xi was also known as "wuxi doctor".
Once, the State of Qin and the State of Jin went to war, when the monarch of the State of Jin was still the Duke hui of Jin, and the Duke of Qin Mu personally led the troops to fight, but the war horses rushed too fast, and soon they were surrounded by enemy troops. Seeing that the king of a country was about to fall into a desperate situation, at this time, a group of people and horses suddenly killed, scattered the encirclement of the Jin army, and finally covered the Qin Mu public security and retreated unharmed.
Afterwards, Qin Mugong asked them where the army came from, and they said, We are the peasants who ate your famous horse, and you did not kill us all because we ate your horse, but also tolerated and pardoned us, so we are here to repay the favor today. At this time, Qin Mugong recalled that these peasants, whom he had pardoned a few years ago, could not help but feel grateful in his heart.
03 Qin Mu was known as the hegemon of Xi Rong
As can be seen from the territory of the Qin state at that time, it is basically our Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia region today, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, there were many border tribes and small countries here, often invading the border of the Qin state, robbing grain, and causing the people to be bored.
Later, with the help of the counselor Yu Yu, Qin Mugong successfully destroyed the twelve countries established by the Rong people, opened up nearly a thousand miles of land, was congratulated and appreciated by the Zhou royal family, and gave Qin Mugong a golden drum, which meant to encourage him to continue to attack, and from then on Qin Mugong dominated Xi Rong and became another overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period.
04 The mistake of Qin Mugong in his later years
In 621 BC, the overlord Of Qin Mugong died. Originally, the State of Qin could continue to be strong under his foundation, but Qin Mugong somehow took all the benevolent people of the State of Qin with him for burial, and the number was staggering, enough to have one hundred and seventy-seven.
Although it may be that these people voluntarily followed Qin Mugong, or it may be that Qin Mugong was worried that these people would endanger the regime of the Qin state in the future, so he dragged them together to be buried.
However, due to the fact that Duke Mu of Qin took away many able men and women of the Qin State at that time, it led to the situation that there was no successor to the later courtiers of the Qin State, so the later monarchs of the Qin State also did nothing, so that the Qin State did not have any major achievements throughout the Spring and Autumn Period.
epilogue:
Looking back at the life of Qin Mugong, the merits are different, but perhaps the merits are greater than the excesses, he led the Qin state to become stronger, not only laid the foundation of hegemony, but even laid the foundation for the later Qin King's government to unify China.