Zheng Guo, Song Guo, Lu Guo
As a close relative of the Zhou Dynasty and the last vassal state of the Shang Dynasty, in the early Spring and Autumn Period, it was necessary to be close to the Zhou Tianzi, with high titles and large territory, so the State of Lu has always been an old princely state, the State of Zheng was a small hegemon during the Zhuang Gong period, and the Song State in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period song Xianggong also almost became the hegemon. But they are different, and there are gaps in the reasons for their decline, so I will talk about the specific reasons.
Zheng Guo
The founding monarch was the younger brother of King Xuan of Zhou, a friend of Zheng Huan. After King Ping moved east to establish a state in Xinzheng (present-day Zhengzhou), in the early Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Zhuanggong, with his great talent, waited for the opportunity to annex the surrounding small countries and challenge the authority of the royal family, and even zhou tianzi exchanged hostages, known in history as Zhou Zheng's exchange of hostages. Therefore, Zhuang Gong is known as one of the three small masters of spring and autumn.
However, Zheng Zhuanggong did not become a mother's favorite since he was a child, and developed his extreme personality, doting on his children and grandchildren, causing his sons to fight for power after his death. Looking at the map above, it can also be seen that Zheng Guo is actually the land of four wars, and geography also restricts his further development, coupled with the rise of great powers such as Jin Qi and Chu, so that zheng Guoxun declined in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, and fell to the fate of Jin from Jin and Chu from Chu.
Song
The State of Song was also an old princely state, with the highest title, but its strength had not been strong, and in the early days of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, the outbreak of the Rebellion of the Three Prisons was in the Song Dynasty, and was later quelled by the Zhou Gong's troops; after the death of the Duke huan of the State of Qi, the Song XiangGong wanted to be the overlord, and was defeated by King Cheng of Chu at Hongshui, and the strength of the Song State was further weakened. But in the middle of the Warring States period, the Song State rose up again, don't look at it in the land of four wars, the Song King Yan defeated Wei in the west, invaded Chu in the south, and fought in the east, almost defeating all the great powers in the east at that time, so that he was inflated beyond repetition, but in the context of his exhaustion of military force, he was destined to flourish and decline, known as the Song Dynasty, and the tragedy after that was taken for granted, and the three great powers began to reach a tacit understanding, attacking the Song Kingdom and dividing the Song Land equally
Lu Guo
After that, there is the State of Lu. We often call Shandong the land of Qilu today, because from the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the State of Qi and the State of Lu were respectively sealed in Shandong, but the State of Qi, after several generations of Ming jun's governance, completely dominated the princes after the Duke of Huan, and the gap with the State of Lu was thousands of miles. It just so happens that the two countries are so close together that the State of Lu is often suppressed and beaten by the State of Qi, how to develop its strength? Moreover, Lu Guo zhouli was the most serious, had always been relatively conservative, and had also experienced the Three Huan Rebellion. However, being able to persist until the end of the Warring States period was entirely the result of the balance of interests of the major powers, coupled with the fact that they were not as rich as the Song State, and were eventually destroyed by the Chu State during the period of king Kaolie of the Chu State.
The three countries were all big countries in the early Spring and Autumn Period, and they were also strong for a while, but they gradually declined because the three countries were all in the land of four wars, and a big country like Han Wei could not develop, let alone them. Coupled with the national conditions of various countries, it is very good to be able to persist until the Warring States.