Lead:
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the royal family declined, the princes rose together, and China's history entered the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the warlords of the princely states divided and competed, and the great war continued. In order to better solve the fortune of survival of the fittest, the Jin State actively carried out reforms, stepped into the road of a strong country, and ruled in Autumn and Spring for more than 150 years, becoming the best of the five hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period.
The reform of the Jin Dynasty promoted the development trend of the country, but it also had difficulties. The deficiencies in the reform of the Jin State over the years were difficult to change, and the bitter consequences caused by them became more and more serious, and finally caused the country's subjugation.
From the establishment of the three armies by The Duke Wen of Jin, Liu Qing began to truly enter the political stage of the Jin State. During the Jin Dynasty, the relationship between the monarch and the Six Secretaries can be summarized as follows: reasonable control, for my use. In this period, the six secretaries did not have as much power as the later period, basically obeyed the orders of the monarch, and existed as an auxiliary force for the monarch to preside over the affairs of the country, and the six secretaries did their own work in their respective positions, advised the monarch, led the army in wartime, and helped the monarch to handle government affairs in peacetime.
At this time, the six secretaries system had not yet been formed, and the appointment and promotion of the six secretaries were decided by the monarch. It can be seen that it is the monarchy that rules the secretary of state. The relationship between the monarch and the six secretaries was very harmonious during this period, although the monarch held the power of appointment, but the appointment of the six secretaries can be described as knowing people and making good use of them, selecting talents and abilities, so that people can make the best of their talents, and the six secretaries are also conscientious, scrupulously fulfill their duties, advise the monarch, pool their wisdom and efforts, and even promote the meritocracy, forming a good atmosphere.
It can be said that during the period of The Duke wen of Jin, the monarch and the six secretaries collectively worked hard for the development of the Jin state and the cause of hegemony, and achieved brilliant achievements.
After The Duke of Jin Xiang took the throne, the situation he faced was how to continue the hegemony of the Jin state and maintain the hegemonic position of the Jin state without wavering. At that time, the situation between the princely states was actually very clear, the situation in the Central Plains was relatively stable, and the hegemonic position of the Jin state had been determined. After the Battle of Chengpu, the State of Chu was seriously injured, and the momentum of its northward advance was contained, and it could no longer compete with the State of Jin for a short period of time, when the princely states from Chu fell to the State of Jin. As the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qi began to decline after experiencing the glorious era of the Duke of Qi Huan.
After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the State of Qi fell into the chaos of the five sons vying for the throne. The so-called "internal favor flourishes and qi hegemony declines." "Zheng Guo, once a small hegemon in the Spring and Autumn Period, but because of its special geographical location, it is located at a strategic point and has always been the focus of contention for hegemons and powerful countries. And zheng guo can survive in the cracks of the great power struggle for hegemony, it is indeed not easy. At this time, Zheng Guo was in a situation in the middle of the cracks, either from obedience or violation, just out of his own advantage, and he no longer had the ambition and strength to covet the hegemonic position.
The states of Lu, Song, Wei, Cai, Cao, and Chen were also weak during this period, and could only listen to the opinions of the overlords, participate in various alliances, and did not threaten the hegemony of the Jin state. The rest of the Chu state and the Jin state gradually strengthened and fell to the Jin state. Looking at the various princely states, the only one who could really compete with the Jin at this time was the Qin state.
Therefore, the situation faced by the Duke of Jin Xiang after he ascended the throne was to make the Qin state obey the Jin state. However, the State of Qin has a special significance to the State of Jin, and several monarchs of the State of Jin have been able to return to China with the help of Qin.
Before the Jin Dynasty, the Jin state implemented the Shiqing Shilu system like the Western Zhou royal family. Under this system, the secretaries and doctors of the Jin state, relying on patriarchal and blood relations, controlled the high-ranking officials and prominent positions of the Jin state for generations and enjoyed the generous Feng Lu. The Shiqing Shilu system organizationally ensured that the power of the Jin state was monopolized by the aristocratic clan clique. After the Jin Dynasty came to power, the system of no public clan was implemented, and the gong clan suffered a heavy blow in the Jin state, and its status and power plummeted.
The feudal titles, powers, and titles that should have belonged to the Kinji clan were ceded, and the traditional Shiqing Shilu system could not be continued. How to fill the power vacuum that appeared in the upper echelons of the Jin ruling group caused by the absence of a state and a duke was a problem that Wen Gong had to consider. After the dedication of the Duke, after nearly 20 years of turmoil in the Jin State, the jin state's election system, the central official system, and the local official system urgently needed to be readjusted. After Wen Gong returned to China, he carried out a series of important reforms in the political, economic, and military fields.
Among them, political reform mainly revolves around the official system. The contents of the reform of the Jinwen official system are three: first, reform the system of electing officials; second, reform of the central official system; and third, reform of the local official system.
After the Gong clan was attacked in the Jin state, a power vacuum appeared in the Jin state. During the Jin Dynasty, the six secretaries system was mainly created in terms of the central official system. From the beginning of the WenGong to the division of the three families into jin, the six secretaries system became the main official system of the central government of the Jin dynasty. The establishment of the Six Secretaries system was not accidental, it was closely related to the international and domestic situation in which the Jin State was located at that time. From the domestic point of view, although the Jin State had exterminated the Gong clan during the Period of Dedication, the old aristocratic forces in the country were still relatively strong.
After the death of Gong Xian, Xi Qi, Qi Zi, Xun Xi, and Li Ji were all killed, and Rick held state power as a representative of the old aristocratic forces. Huigong was able to return to China to become a monarch and also relied on Rick. After Duke Wen returned to China, there was another rebellion in Lü Hao. Lü Province and Hao Rui plotted to burn Duke Wen's palace and kill him.
Although the rebellion was quelled, it also showed that although Wengong was on the throne, there were still opposition forces in the country, and the powerful old aristocratic forces in the country threatened the safety of the Jin regime. Although there were also systems such as four armies and eight secretaries, five armies and ten secretaries in the history of the Jin Dynasty, the military and political affairs of the Jin State were decided by the six secretaries.
In terms of the criteria for electing officials, Wen Gong used the old nobles who had been squeezed and attacked for many years, alleviated the terrible atmosphere caused by the great extermination of the Gong clan and the same party since the dedication of the Gong Gong to the Huihuai period, created a stable political environment, and won the recognition of the Wen Gong regime by the old nobles. While employing the old aristocracy, The Duke of Wen also appointed meritorious ministers, balancing the intricate variety of political forces. The regime of The Duke of Wen was a combined regime of hereditary old aristocrats and emerging military aristocrats.
In this regime, WenGong abandoned blood relations, relied on merit and merit to compete equally, reconciled the contradictions between the dead and the old nobles, and the jin political arena was full of vitality. The six-secretary system stabilized internal affairs and strengthened the monarchy in the political field. Under the six secretaries, because the positions of the secretaries are roughly replenished in turn, it is not easy for new forces other than the old forces to develop. Therefore, the Jin state formed a relatively stable power structure of Qing Dafu, making its internal political situation more stable.
According to rough statistics, the frequency of occurrence in the politics of the Jin Dynasty is relatively high, and the number of clans with a large number is at least sixty or more, but there are only 11 families that can rank among the six secretaries. The six-secretary system enabled the Jin state to get out of the disorderly state since the conferral of public power and social wealth, and the monarch-centered ruling system was stabilized.
The integration of the military and government of the Six Qings ensured the military victory of the Jin state and played an important role in the process of the achievement of the Jin state's hegemony. In the Battle of Chengpu, Liu Qing, with a keen political vision, realized that there must be a war with the Chu State, seized the favorable opportunity, and won the victory of the war by relying on wisdom and perseverance, as well as unity and cooperation. The Six Secretaries of the Jin Dynasty became the head of the Jin State Government and played a great role in the alliance between the Jin State and other princely states.
In the reform of the official system of The Duke of Wen, the emphasis was on supporting the old clan, but in the actual development process, the power of the qing doctor with a different surname gradually surpassed that of the gong clan. In terms of economy, the doctor with a different surname was awarded the title of Caiyi through the establishment of military merit. Caiyi became the basis for the survival of Dr. Qing and his family. Dr. Shi Qing could also continue to expand his fiefdom by establishing military merit. The remote areas are far from the center of public office rule, providing a good opportunity for the development of the Qing clan with different surnames.
Militarily, the foreign-surnamed Qing Dafu of the Jin State held more military and political power in the Jin State. Therefore, many political, economic, and military Caiyi power groups were formed in the Jin Dynasty. The reform of the official system, replacing nepotism with Shangxian Shanggong, broke the patriarchal blood relationship but did not eliminate the feudal system, thus laying the political, economic, and military foundation for the gradual formation of Shiqing.
Although the creation of the Six Secretaries system was conducive to the hegemony of the Jin State, due to the lack of an effective regulatory mechanism, the Chinese army would have the sole power. The Jin dynasty gradually showed a situation in which the qing power was strong and the monarchy was weak.
In the early Spring and Autumn Period, in order to win the war for hegemony, the Jin monarch and the Six Qings actively developed the productive forces of the Jin state, and adjusted and changed all the affairs of the Jin state, which can be said to have contributed to the strength of the Jin state.
In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, the monarchy moved downward, the Qing clan gradually grasped the power of the Jin state, and actively competed with the government and the rest of the Qing clan, in this case, the Six Qing focused on the development of their own Qing clan, did not have the heart to compete for hegemony, but in order not to be at a disadvantage in the Qing clan struggle, they also took various measures to actively adjust and change the production mode of the territory to which they belonged, and their reforms must involve the field system, the caiyi system, the county system, the tax system and other aspects at that time.
Objectively speaking, it has promoted the development of productive forces and promoted the development of social progress and history. However, once these systems change, they will inevitably cause changes at the political level, which will lead to the Jin state from the rule of the six secretaries to the rule of the four secretaries, and finally the three families will divide the Jin and establish new princely states, which will not only have a profound impact on the Jin state but also on the entire Spring and Autumn society.