The "rule of Chengkang" brought the world into a period of peace, but like all dynasties, there will be crises over time. From the beginning of King Mu of Zhou, the rule of the Zhou Dynasty began to go downhill.
By the time King Li of Zhou came to power, the greedy King Li promulgated a series of cumbersome tax policies in order to amass huge profits. King Li of Zhou's policy was pervasive in society, increasing the burden on the middle and lower-class nobles and the common people of Li, so as soon as the policy was introduced, it caused dissatisfaction in the country from top to bottom.
The dictatorial Li Wang simply ignored the advice of his ministers and continued to pursue unfair policies. He also sent his men to visit the people, and once they found that someone had violated the law, they would be arrested and severely punished. For a time, the whole society complained, and the small nobles and the people talked about it, and they were secretly cursing King Li. In order to improve the situation, the minister summoned the prince and said, "Great king, the people can no longer tolerate these policies. “
An angry King Zhou Li recruited a wizard from Weiguo and asked the wizard to go all over the country under the guise of a fortune teller to secretly investigate the people's remarks and expose those who were secretly talking about themselves. Those who were arrested involuntarily were sentenced to severe punishment, and many people with poor health died as a result. Under the obscenity of King Li, the people no longer dared to talk about it. People walk on the road, if they meet someone they know, they just exchange glances with each other or nod their heads and hurry past each other, for fear of being put on the hat of the monarch.
After some time, those who spied on the information reported that no one was talking about state policy. When King Zhou Li heard this, he said to Zhao Gong very proudly, "I have successfully eliminated people's discussion about me, and they don't even dare to say hello when they meet now." “
Zhao Gong shook his head and said, "This is blocking their mouths." The mouth of the defense is better than the defense of the river. Breaking the river will only cause greater disasters, and the people of the world will be like the river. Therefore, in ancient times, Dayu used the method of dredging the river channel to make the river flow smoothly when controlling the water. The people of Li should be treated like a river, so that they can speak at any time. The mouth is used to make speech, and the quality of the country's political affairs is based on this. Practicing what is good and eliminating what is bad is the foundation for making the country rich and the people strong. What the people think in their hearts is spoken through words, and when the monarch hears them, he will fulfill them and fulfill their wishes. If the opinions of the people are ignored, the country will not be in peace and stability for a long time. “
King Li, who was originally very proud, was left behind in the number of summonses, and his heart was very dissatisfied, so he ignored the summons. Zhao Gong shook his head helplessly and withdrew from King Li's palace.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, a city usually had two layers of inner and outer walls, and the farmers who lived outside the city were called "wild people", and the commoners living in the city were called "nationals". With the internal division of the nobility, many of the old nobles who had lost their power and the class of scholars who lived in a depressed life gradually declined, and they mixed with the ordinary people in the lower strata of society, and they were no different from the "nationals". Instead of alleviating the crisis, This policy of terror by King Zhou Li further intensified the contradictions between classes. Because although the people at the bottom of the society were silent on the surface, they were even more resentful of King Li's atrocities in their hearts.
In 841 BC, the oppressed "people" finally launched a rebellion against the tyranny of King Li of Zhou. The "people of the country" gathered together, armed with sticks and agricultural tools, and besieged the palace to kill King Li of Zhou. The panicked King Li of Zhou hurriedly dispatched his troops. A minister replied tremblingly, "Our soldiers are from our countrymen, the people are soldiers, and the soldiers are the people." The people of the country are rioting, who else can they mobilize?" In desperation, King Li of Zhou fled from the city with his cronies and fled along the banks of the Weishui River to Win, where he finally fell ill and died.
After the rioters rushed into the palace, they found that King Zhou Li was not in the palace, and then turned their spearhead to King Li's crown prince Ji Jing. Zhao Gong saw that the situation was not good, and hid Ji Jing in his home before the countrymen acted. When the chinese people heard the news, they rushed to the outside of the summoning gate, surrounded his house, and wanted to summon the bus out of the prince. In order to preserve the bloodline of King Li of Zhou, Zhao Gong replaced Ji Jing with his own son. Zhao Gong's righteous deeds saved Crown Prince Ji Jing from being killed in the end.
The kingdom cannot be left without a master for a day. Zhou Dinggong and Zhao Gong seized the time to gather the nobles together for a meeting. After some difficult discussion, everyone finally decided that the state affairs would be jointly managed by Zhao Gong and Zhou Dinggong for the time being, and other important state affairs would be collectively decided by the six secretaries. This event has historically been called the "Zhou Summons Republic" or "Republican Administration". This form of government is called a "republic."
The root cause of the rebellion of the Chinese people was the tyranny of King Li of Zhou. Because the rulers neglect to rule by virtue and are too cruel to the people, they will cause the people to resist violence with violence. Western Zhou declined from then on, and after experiencing King Xuan of Zhou and Queen You of Zhou, the powerful Western Zhou embarked on the old path of Xia Shang.