Section 1 Fishing in Shifan Creek, the prince is hooked
Jiang Ziya's surname is Jiang, the name Shang, the word tooth, the honorific title of Ziya, the number Taigongwang. According to historical records, Jiang Taigong was a distant descendant of the Yandi Shennong clan and a descendant of Boyi. His genius and strategy, admired by later generations of soldiers and strategists, was revered as an ancestor and martial saint, and could be called the first person of the Qianqiu Army Division.
When Jiang Shang was young, he was strong and strong, intelligent and studious, especially good at martial arts. At that time, it was the end of the Shang Dynasty, and the King of Shang at this time was even more brutal, making the people unhappy. The clever Jiang Ziya felt that the corrupt Shang Dynasty was not far from extinction. He felt that it was no longer interesting to live in Chaoge, so he came to the creek with his daughter Yi Jiang to live fishing.
One day, while fishing by the stream, Jiang Ziya became acquainted with the woodcutter Bukit. Bukit laughed at the fact that he couldn't make a fishing hook. Jiang Ziya replied with a smile: "I would rather take it in the straight, not in the song; Not for silver scales, only for the king and the prince. The woodcutter Bukit laughed a lot. After going home and pondering Jiang Ziya's words for one night, he asked Jiang Ziya to calculate for him the next day. As a result, Jiang Ziya's auspicious and fierce trigrams for him were fulfilled.
After fulfilling the fierce trifle, Bukit, who mistakenly injured people's lives in order to avoid king Wen's car, rushed to the creek overnight and begged Jiang Ziya to rescue him. Jiang Ziya has long liked this honest and honest young man. He not only taught Bukit the method of keeping things safe, but also took him on as his apprentice.
Since then, Bukit has been collecting firewood to raise his mother to live a day, while learning the art of war with Jiang Ziya. Three years have passed, and Jiang Ziya is more than 80 years old. About the time when Jiang Ziya thought he was out of the woods, he ordered Bukit to pick firewood and go to Xiqi City to sell it. Bukit was worried about being recognized by the civil servants, and Jiang Ziya said, "Don't be afraid to recognize it, you can tell him the truth, not only will he not harm your life, but he will also make you a general!"
Bukit obeyed his master's instructions and went into Xiqi City to sell firewood. As soon as he arrived at the city gate, he was recognized by the soldiers guarding the city and arrested to see King Wen of Zhou. King Wen of Zhou was greatly surprised at the sight, and after asking ming the original committee, he praised: "Jiang Ziya can break my gossip, he must be a very remarkable talent." So he asked Bukit to lead the way and personally went to the creek to visit Xian.
After King Wen of Zhou invited Jiang Ziya to Xiqi after many twists and turns, he worshipped him as a taishi and took charge of the military power of the Zhou Dynasty.
One day, King Wen of Zhou saw a meteor instantly break through the night sky and was greatly touched. So he took Prince Jifa to visit Jiang Ziya at night. This made Jiang Taigong stunned. After asking for clarification and pondering, he said: "Although the shang area is vast and has been passed down for many generations, the things it has accumulated will eventually disappear; And the Zhou Kingdom, which is secretly prepared, its brilliance will surely shine in all directions. The virtue of the saint lies in the original and subtle collection of people's hearts. The common concern of the saints is to establish ways to win people's hearts. King Wen listened and nodded repeatedly.
Taigong then said, "The monarch must first cultivate his own virtues, be a virtuous corporal, give favors to the people, and win the hearts and minds of the people." Look again at the change of humanity in the Heavenly Dao. When there is no sign of the Tao, it is not allowed to advocate expropriation; When there is no disaster in humanity, we must not first plan to revitalize the teacher. We must see that there are both natural disasters and man-made disasters before we can plan conquests. At present, although Shang Yi is tyrannical and faint, it has not yet reached the level of a hair-trigger. On our side, we have not yet reached the strength to destroy the Shang Dynasty in one fell swoop. Therefore, we must not be in a hurry and act rashly. ”
King Wen nodded and said yes, and then asked, "Would you like to ask Master Tai to explain how to push the executive order?"
Jiang Taigong said: "The implementation of government decrees should be imperceptible unconsciously, and the best politics is to govern the people in accordance with the will of the people, and to propagate politics and religion to impress the people." In this way, the people will be subtly obeyed by government decrees, and the world will be at peace. This is the virtue of the saints. "Good!" King Wen cried.
Then King Wen asked, "How can we make the country long-term peace and stability?"
Jiang Taigong said: "Whether the country can survive for a long time depends on whether it can think of danger in times of peace; Whether the monarch can enjoy it for a long time depends on whether he can be happy and not forget his worries. You have considered many fundamental issues that concern the survival of nations, what else can be done?"
King Wen was deeply enlightened when he heard this, and pulled the crown prince Ji Fa to kneel down in front of Jiang Taigong and asked Jiang Ziya to accept Ji Fa as an apprentice. After several resignations, Taigong accepted the father and son's kneeling, and said with tears: "The subject is a wandering and wilderness villager, the lord and the prince love the old man so much, Ziya should serve the zhou room to serve the dog and horse, bow down, and die later!"
Section 2 Unite the princes and destroy the merchants by chance
Compared with the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou Kingdom had a certain gap in strength. On the one hand, Jiang Taigong adopted a strategy of gradual encroachment and gradually expanded the territory of the Zhou Kingdom; On the other hand, it united many tribes dissatisfied with the Shang Dynasty to form a coalition army, fully relying on the strength of allies, and preparing to fight a decisive battle with the Shang Dynasty.
King Wen of Zhou adopted Taigong Jiang's strategy of "despicing Yin And cutting his wings", first surrendering the State of Mishu in the Jingshui Valley, eliminating Zhou's worries. He also attacked chongguo in the Fengshui River Valley, moved the capital of Zhou from Xiqi to Chongcheng and renamed Ituda, opening up a road for eastward development. In this way, the Guanzhong Plain was completely controlled. On this basis, Jiang Taigong personally led an expedition to attack the State of Li in the Lüliang Mountains and the State of Han in Henan, gradually encroaching on the territory of the Shang Dynasty.
King Wen's great cause was gradually realized. He knew that this credit went to Taishi Jiang Ziya. He knew that he was old, and his ambition to destroy the merchant could only be fulfilled by his son Ji Fa. But without Jiang Taigong, Ji Fa really had a hard time picking up this burden. Therefore, he took Yi Jiang as the prince's wife, and the relationship between the prince and Jiang Ziya was close.
After the death of King Wen of Zhou, King Wu of Zhou (i.e., Crown Prince Ji Fa) stepped up preparations to destroy the merchants. One day, he consulted with taigong on the matter of exterminating the silk.
Jiang Taigong said to King Wu, "The old minister is always preparing for the destruction of the shang. However, the time is not yet ripe. You also know that although the Shang Dynasty was very corrupt, it was a big country after all, with hundreds of thousands of troops; If we rely only on force to conquer, the price will be too great. Therefore, we have to wait for chaos within the Shang Dynasty and then take advantage of the void, so that we can win the strong with the weak and achieve great success at less cost. ”
After listening to Taigong's analysis of the current situation, King Wu decided to watch the army in Mengjin, and as soon as he could test the attitude of the various princely states, he would have a good idea; Second, we can see how the King of Shang reacted to this action, and test the false reality of Shang. The three could use this observation to conduct a pre-war exercise on the army and spread this decision to the princes of the four directions.
At the end of October, King Wu, together with the leaders of the 800 princely states, entered Mengjin and drank blood and wine together and swore an oath: "Hang the people to cut down crimes, bow down to heaven, and work together to destroy the evils, and share misfortunes and blessings!"
After the oath was completed, the 800 princes and the civil and military officials of Qi Zhou were agitated and asked to strike iron while it was hot, and kill Xiang Chaoge. King Wu asked Taigong Jiang to explain it to everyone.
Jiang Taigong said, "The King of Shangyi fainted and had no way out, and he should have been destroyed long ago." However, the Shang Dynasty had a 600-year rule base and an army of hundreds of thousands. Although there are many internal contradictions among Yin Shang, it has not yet reached the point of disintegration. Therefore, we must not act rashly. Moreover, with such a grand move as our Mengjin soldiers today, the Shang Dynasty must be vigilant and will certainly strengthen its defenses. So we have to wait for a favorable time. To fight, we must have a successful grasp of success in one fell swoop. ”
The princes of all walks of life listened to the words of the Prince of Taigong, thought it was reasonable, and agreed that once the time came, they would be willing to obey the dispatch of the King of Wu and work together to fight against Shang.
Section 3 In the Battle of Makino, Yin Shang fell to his death
The coalition forces led by the State of Zhou approached the city of Songcheng, and the King of Sui could only organize slaves and criminals into an army to meet the battle. However, due to the tyranny of the King of Lu and the rebellion of the people, this force turned against the enemy and completely buried the Shang Dynasty together with the coalition forces. With a lot of help, but a lack of help, Zhou's victory once again confirmed this indisputable truth.
In 1064 BC, King Wu of Zhou felt that the time was ripe for all aspects, so he invited Taishi, Zhou Gong and other ministers of culture and martial arts to discuss the matter of cutting. In the winter of that year, Prince Wu led a military vehicle and ordered Jiang Taigong to be the forward general, and set out to the east in a mighty wave. King Wu held an oath-taking meeting in Makino and encouraged the whole army to fight to the death here.
The forward general Jiang Taigong led more than 40,000 soldiers to kill the merchant army in a hurry. The King of Sui hastily mobilized 170,000 troops to meet the battle.
However, Jiang Taigong had already sent people to mix into the Yin Shang army and carry out the work of disintegration. The slave army of the King of Lu turned against him. The Shang and Zhou armies merged into one force, and the momentum was like a broken bamboo. Seeing that the tide was gone, the king set himself on fire and died. The merchants of Chaoge City welcomed King Wu into the city overnight. When Taigong Jiang saw that although the King of Lu had been burned to a dry corpse by the fire, his eyes were still wide open, so he pointed at the King of Lu and scolded: "Oh, countless beings have been destroyed because of you, I will personally cut off your head, avenge the people of the world, and avenge my parents and the Nine Tribes of Dongyi!" After saying this, he swung his sword and cut off the head of the King of Qiu.
On the 5th day after the decisive battle of Makino, King Wu of Zhou held the founding ceremony, built the capital HoJing, and officially established the Zhou Dynasty, known in history as Western Zhou. He invited a group of important ministers, including Jiang Taigong, Zhou Gong, and Nangong Shi, to discuss how to dispose of the remnants of yin merchants and how to control the vast number of newly acquired Xinjiang soldiers in order to consolidate the newly established political power. The result of the study was to divide the princes, seal the meritorious ministers and the uncles and nephews of the Zhou dynasty to all parts of the country, revitalize the state, let them govern their fiefdoms, pay regular tribute to the King of Zhou, provide troops, and assist the royal family.
However, during the reign of King Wu Geng, The Prince of Jiang disagreed with King Wu, Duke Zhou, and others. Jiang Taigong suggested that the descendants of the Shang Dynasty be killed to avoid future troubles. However, King Wu supported the advice of the Duke of Zhou, and after sealing Wu Geng as a shang, he stayed in Chaoge and managed the remnants of Yin Shang. Jiang Taigong saw that King Wu's idea had been decided, and it was not good to say anything more, but he was secretly worried in his heart.
King Wu went out of his way to seek his opinion on the matter of dividing up Jiang Taigong's place. Jiang Taigong said: "The old minister's hometown was in Yingqiu, Shandong (present-day Linzi, Shandong), and in that year, the King of Lu sent an army to the east, almost razed Yingqiu to the ground, and killed my parents and relatives. I had vowed to return to my homeland and restore my country after the overthrow of Shangxi. Therefore, the old minister pleaded with the Lord to seal me back to my homeland in Shandong. ”
King Wu was very happy, so he gave the former land of Bogu between Bohai and Taishan to Taigong, with the state name of Qi and Duyingqiu. Jiang Taigong Xie En returned to the palace and prepared to go to the country.
On the occasion of parting, King Wu specially held a feast for Taigong. During the banquet, King Wu of Zhou moved his feelings and couldn't help but burst into tears. Jiang Ziya saw the situation, and the old tears could not help but burst out of his eyes, saying: "The lord does not have to worry, although the old minister is old, but he learned the way of health and longevity in his early years, he can live for decades." When he went to Shandong, lao chen must have done his best to govern the country of Qi and become the strong backing of the lord. ”
Who knows, Taigong's trip was actually the final farewell to the King of Wu. Two years later, King Wu died of illness.
Section 4: Assisting the Duke of Zhou in suppressing rebellion and establishing a foundation
After the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang, Taigong Jiang's fief was the State of Qi. Jiang Taigong implemented the policy of attaching equal importance to agriculture, industry and commerce in the State of Qi, which enabled the economy of Qi to develop rapidly, and the State of Qi gradually became a big country. Hundreds of years later, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the State of Qi continued to maintain its status as a great power, thanks to the solid foundation laid by Jiang Taigong.
After the death of King Wu of Zhou, King Wu's eldest son, King Cheng, succeeded to the throne. King Wu's younger brother Duke Zhou feared that King Cheng was inexperienced and regent himself as King Cheng. This move of the Duke of Zhou caused uneasiness among the ministers and the princely states. Wu Geng took the opportunity to unite 17 countries and launched a rebellion. Zhou Gong advocated quelling the rebellion by force, but there were disputes between the government and the opposition, and it was impossible to unify.
Zhou Gong then immediately wrote a secret letter to Jiang Taigong, who was far away in Shandong. In his letter, he profoundly analyzed the current grim situation, stated from the bottom of his heart why he wanted to be the regent, and sincerely hoped that Jiang Taigong would take into account the overall situation, help him turn the tide, and go all out to safeguard the jiangshan laid down by King Wen, King Cheng, and Taigong throughout their lives. In his letter, he also instructed Jiang Taigong: "East to the sea, west to the river, south to Muling, north to Wuli, the five marquises and nine uncles, can be conquered." ”
When Jiang Taigong read Zhou Gong's secret letter, he was deeply touched by Zhou Gong's spirit of righteousness, brightness, and loyalty to the country. He immediately realized that his previous suspicions of Zhou Gong were wrong. At the same time, his daughter Yi Jiang (the wife of King Wu) also advised her father to help Zhou pingchao.
At this critical juncture, Jiang Taigong immediately made a decision, sent out the people of the country, and quickly sent troops to quell the chaos. On the one hand, he sent the generals Lü Bao and Lü Hu to quell the rebellion of Xu and Yan and other states; On the other hand, it was decided to personally lead troops south to assist Zhou Ping in the rebellion of Wu Geng and the 17 southeastern countries. He suggested that Zhou Gong lead a large army to the east and take this opportunity to completely conquer the rebel states in the southeast and make the Western Zhou rivers and mountains forever solid.
After Zhou Gong received Jiang Taigong's letter, his expression was excited. He decided to personally lead a 50,000-strong army to the East. Zhou Gong and Jiang Taigong fought together from both flanks, causing further shocks to the military.
Although Taigong Jiang was old, he was still able to gallop across the battlefield, form a horn with Zhou Gong, and strive to suppress the rebels in the southeast.
After the rebellion was quelled, Jiang Taigong returned to the fiefdom of Qi to continue his large-scale economic construction and formulated a policy of "big farmers, big workers, and big businessmen".
Jiang Taigong himself called these three undertakings the "Three Treasures" of governing the country, and this "Three Treasures" could only be controlled by the monarch alone. In less than three years, the State of Qi was greatly ruled. When Zhou Gong heard this, he said with emotion: "Tai Gong is really old and strong, and he is unparalleled in the world!"
Jiang Shang laid a solid political, economic and military foundation for the development of the State of Qi. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the State of Qi was the most important pillar of the Zhou Dynasty in the East, and by the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou royal family declined, and the State of Qi rose first, becoming the first of the "Five Hegemons" that crisscrossed the Central Plains and dominated the situation under the world. Until the Warring States period, the State of Qi still ranked among the "Seven Heroes".