During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the most important of the changes promoted by the princely states was the implementation of army reform. For example, in the Shang Martingale Transformation Law, the implementation of the twentieth class knighthood system, there is a so-called "those who have military merit, each at the rate of the superior, for private struggle, each with a serious punishment", that is, to reward military merit and prohibit private fighting. The super army of the Qin Empire was gradually standardized at this time.
Since the Qin Dynasty, even slaves have been able to become nobles by military merit. Throughout the dynasties, many courtiers have relied on their outstanding military feats to become powerful courtiers in the court. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, although there was a system of examinations, the children of the Han Dynasty had the opportunity to participate in the management of the state, but the system of examinations was more for the literati, and the military generals were more from the battlefield. This tradition has a long history.
In the Yin Shang era, in order to conquer the world, Yin merchants often led large armies to conquer the east and west. So there are many people who say that Yin merchants are belligerent? But is belligerence the fault of the merchants? Of course not. There is a saying that Yin Shang builds a country based on commerce, and it is the foundation of the country to keep the trade routes open and maintain the normal market system. When the Fang states did not agree with the Yin merchants and wanted to destroy the trading system of the Yin merchants, the Yin merchants would lead the troops to attack. This is similar to a trade war thousands of years later.
Even today's Americans, when the world trading system they dominate meets competitors, will adopt strong policies to force the other side to comply. In recent decades, because of trade, Americans have not used soldiers to fight wars, a small fight in a few years, a big fight in ten years. The Merchant Empire was founded on commerce, and it is obvious that this understanding is deeper.
Interestingly, according to some experts, the indigenous peoples of the United States, that is, indians, may have come from the East, and their ancestors migrated to the North American continent through the Bering Strait not far after the Zhou Dynasty. Although the Indians have become a minority in the United States today, the cultural roots that reproduce in this region are still implanted in the bone marrow of today's Americans. Even the root culture of the Americans comes from our era of merchants, and if the Americans want to fight a trade war, how can they fight with us?
The Yin Shang era had years of continuous wars, and even in the era of the Yin Shang King, the Yin Shang Empire was at war with many Fang states for many years. It is not excluded that even King Yin is constantly implementing military reforms, because the more contradictory the times, the greater the possibility of war, and the reversal will lead to the strengthening of state control over the army.
In the era of King Yin, not only was there a huge crisis around him, but there were also potential dangers around the court, and there were many powerful ministers around the Shang King. At a great level, these courtiers had extended their influence beyond the court and into the Fang kingdom, such as the Shang King's uncle Jizi and Bigan, and the Shang King's eldest brother Weizi, who were all on the opposite side of the Yin King.
After King Yin took the throne, most of the countries launched certain changes, including, first, the release of the slaves who were completely sacrificed in those years, and they could be used as troops. The second is to change the past system of the supremacy of theocracy and promote more of the strategy of human rule. The third is to wage more wars against the prosperous regions of the East, which is itself to plunder resources.
The first type of change, which was originally a war in which only the children of the nobility and the common people participated, appeared with new supplies. And the supply of these soldiers has to some extent relieved them of the danger of being killed as sacrifices. The gradual decline of the system of human martyrdom arose because of war and fell because of war. This was undoubtedly a kind of innovation of King Yin. The Book of Poetry and Daming says: "The journey of Yin Shang will be like a forest", in the face of such an urgent matter as the combined army of eight hundred princes, King Yin Was able to quickly organize hundreds of thousands of slaves, which shows that these slaves are not temporarily formed, but have a plan.
The second kind of change, whether it is a history book or a later novel interpretation, has said that King Yin did not respect the ancestors of the gods. The Yin Shang Empire itself was a dynasty with religion as its ultimate belief, with a history of hundreds of years. This kind of behavior of King Yin Yi obviously infringed on the interests of the old nobles, including Mizi and Weizi. Whether King Yin Has Disrespect or Not is difficult to define, but In his heart, He definitely hopes to change the traditional religious belief system. If because of this, it seems unreasonable to say that King Yin is cruel and faint.
The third kind of change, the west, the north and the south, even in the later Zhou dynasty, were often considered barbaric places. And the Yin Shang Empire promoted commercial activities, how to trade activities in the wild land? This was obviously impossible, and because the East had more abundant resources due to its early development, the wars launched by King Yin For many years were not only to conquer the East, but also to open up the trade road. Wang Hai, the ancestor of the merchant at that time, used to run on the roads of the East all year round. Therefore, after the King of Shangyi attacked the Eastern Yi Fang Kingdom, he wanted to sacrifice Zu Yi in the old ancestral land, which may be to restore the glory of his ancestors.
More than two thousand years after the fall of the Shang Dynasty, there was such a country in West Asia, originally a small tribe on the steppe, which later relied on armed warfare and military mining to establish a state, and more interestingly, the country later freed a large number of slaves and formed a powerful civilian system and a forbidden army system. Unlike King Yin's strategy of weakening his clan, this empire adopted a bloodier system of killing relatives than That of King Yin, that is, after the new king ascended the throne, all other brothers and even sisters with inheritance rights were killed. This empire lasted for more than six hundred years and was called Ottoman Turkey.