From the first year of king Ping of Zhou (770 BC), Zhou Tianzi moved the capital to Luoyi, beginning with Eastern Zhou. However, the Zhou royal family no longer has the strength to suppress the various princes,
"At the time of King Ping, the Zhou Dynasty was weak, the princes were strong and weak, Qi, Chu, Qin, and Jin were great, and the government was governed by Fang Bo"
Zhou Tianzi was still the co-lord of the world on the surface, but the princes rose up and fought and annexed each other. First there were the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons, then the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, and until Qin Shi Huang destroyed the Six Kingdoms and established the Great Qin, it can be said that the idea of unification is becoming clearer and clearer, why is this?
1. Zhou Tianzi is no longer what he used to be, and the princes want to take his place
"King Keshang of Xiwu, the light has the world." Of the kingdom of his brothers, there are five out of ten, and forty of them are in the kingdom of Ji."
In order to ensure the rule of the Zhou Dynasty, when King Wu of Zhou divided the princes, he was nepotistic, and at the beginning of the family, he respected Zhou Tianzi as the co-lord, after the death of King Wu, the king of Zhou Cheng, who succeeded to the throne, was young, and King Wu's brother Zhou Gongdan was regent for six years, and when King Cheng grew up, he also ruled in the king of Cheng, did not covet the throne, with this ancestor example, the Tianzi of the Western Zhou Dynasty were also the mostly wise, and most of the other princes were tianzi tongzong, so the rebellion was few and the Zhou Dynasty was stable.
During the Zhaomu period, the Zhou Dynasty went east to conquer the west, and the territory of the dynasty continued to expand, effectively consolidating the rule of the Zhou Dynasty, but there were too many troops, the Zhou Dynasty began to turn from prosperity to decline, and the northwest Rong Di gradually rose, and after several generations of war, the people suffered unspeakable. When king You of Zhou, the government was corrupt, the logging battles were defeated, and natural disasters were frequent, he laughed for the Bomei people, lit a beacon and played with the princes, but he did not expect that the third Inuyasha really came, the King of You was killed, and the Western Zhou was destroyed. Although the King of Zhou Ping moved the capital, but the previous Zhou Dynasty that called the wind and rain and the strength of the country was no longer there, and the reputation of the Zhou royal family was discredited by the destruction of the country by the Dog Rong, and there were fewer constraints, and the princes of all walks of life opened a "copy" of the struggle for hegemony, and the small countries no longer looked for each other, plotting to strengthen themselves, and the big countries were eager to try, in a vain attempt to take the Zhou and replace themselves.
Second, from hegemony and kingship to emperor, reunification has become inevitable
Western Zhou perished, zhou tianzi lost its majesty, the king of Zhou Ping even had to rely on other armies to escort him, even if he established Eastern Zhou, he would no longer be able to manage the princely states, although the princes had different intentions, but who dared to show it? It is estimated that as soon as the words were spoken, they were destroyed by a hundred countries, so the small countries accumulated strength, only for self-preservation, although the big countries were strong, they also had the heart to replace the Zhou Dynasty, but for the time being, no country could win the battle against all the countries under the heavens, and at the time when the countries were fiercely fighting, Guan Zhong helped Qi Huangong to think of a method: "Honoring the King", uniting other princes, attacking Shanrong in the north and the Chu state in the south, establishing prestige, and holding a princely alliance
"Nine princes, one world"
The Duke of Qi Huan became the first overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, after which the powerful kings followed suit, named the chief of the princes, representing the princes to see the Son of Heaven, but in fact, it was "holding the Son of Heaven to make the princes", and his status had already surpassed that of the Son of Heaven.
In the twenty-third year of King Weilie of Zhou (403 BC), the three families were divided into Jin, and Zhou Tianzi, hindered by insufficient force, pushed the boat along the water, and ordered the Jin grand masters Wei Si, Zhao Yuan, and Han Qian to be princes, and the situation of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States was determined. Among the seven xiongs, any one of the countries is stronger than the Zhou, plus the feudal princely states of the Western Zhou are all competing to be annexed, so it enters an era of competing for the first king, after the reshuffling of the Warring States period, the Zhou Tianzi has existed in name only, there is no role, the task of unification is handed over to the hands of the seven xiongs, and the replacement of the new Tianzi has become inevitable.
Third, the people of the world have been fighting hard for a long time
Agriculture is the foundation of the rejuvenation of the country, Qin Xiao used the martingale transformation method to encourage farming, and the name of the Qin people "Tiger wolf" was famous in the Six Kingdoms of Shandong. What is Farming Warfare? That is, the common people only did two things -- ploughing the fields and fighting, and even in order to ensure that the Qin people did not participate in business, which at that time seemed to be "speculative and backward", Shang Martin vigorously cracked down on commerce and handicrafts, and implemented heavy agriculture and suppression of commerce. The reason why the Qin state can withstand so many wars and destroy one country after another is not only because the military merit system stimulates morale, but also because the food supply can be obtained.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, as agricultural tools were improved and productivity was greatly enhanced, the economies of various countries were also greatly enhanced, and a special system emerged: the county system appeared, and the agricultural production and political systems kept up, but in the face of the ever-expanding war of annexation, countries had to expropriate a large amount of grain, and in the most serious case, they forcibly took away the peasants' rations, resulting in the people eating only for the last meal and not the next meal every day, and even having to eat for a long time.
"And to the First Emperor, Yu Lie of the Sixth Emperor, Zhen Chang Ce and Yu Yu Nei, swallowing the princes of the second week and dying, performing the supreme and making the Liuhe, beating and whipping the world, and the mighty zhen all over the world." The unification of the Qin state is a historical necessity, in fact, not only the Qin state, the early Warring States Of The State of Wei, the State of Qi of the great seaside country, and the longitudinal and longitudinal State of Chu all have the opportunity to unify the world, but the monarchs of these countries are too short-sighted, the Ming Emperor has only one generation, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States, the unification ideology has gradually risen to certainty, although the Qin State is a rising star, it can unify the world, lies in the thoroughness of the country's change of law, and several monarchs can understand the suffering of the people, carry on from top to bottom, and implement the idea of unification.