During the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, a series of horrific events broke out in the neighboring state of Lu, and within a year after the death of Duke Lu Zhuang, his brother-in-law Qingfu continued to create chaos in order to compete for the throne, and finally killed two monarchs successively.
After killing the first monarch, Duke Huan of Qi sent an emissary, Zhongsun Huan, to the state of Lu to mourn and investigate the situation in the state of Lu, and the Zuo Biography records that when Zhongsun Huan returned, he said: "If you don't go to Qing Father, Lu will not be able to do anything." This means that Qing Father is too evil, a rare big bad man in the ages, will bring great disasters to the State of Lu, he is ambitious and bent on becoming the king of the State of Lu, so Father Qing does not die for a day, the Country of Lu is not at peace for a day, and later Father Qing did kill a monarch. Later generations changed it to "Qing Father is not dead, and Lu is not dead."
Mencius commented on the Spring and Autumn Period: "Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Period, and the thieves were afraid of the thieves. The reason why "chaotic ministers and thieves are afraid" is because Confucius respects Zhou and Jun, and Confucius advocates severe treatment of all chaotic subjects who violate Zhou rites, which is also the reason why the Warring States Great Confucian Sect has a bunch of Legalists and disciples. Father Qing's two killings of the king should be a traitor and a thief, and it belongs to the object of Confucius's crusade. But in fact, Confucius opened a side to Qing father, what can be concealed is concealed, what can not be said is not said, try to use neutral words, not ugly Qing father, in short, "secretive"! This inevitably makes people wonder, Qingfu is the ancestor of Yasheng Mencius, but not the ancestor of Confucius, why did Confucius favor and protect Qingfu? "Qing Father is not dead, Lu Lu is not difficult" The next sentence explains the reason!
Duke Huan of Lu had four sons, namely Ji Tong, Ji Qing's father, Ji Shuya, and Ji Jiyou, and after his death, he was succeeded by his eldest son Ji Tong, who was known as the Duke of Luzhuang. Duke Lu zhuang had three sons, namely Ji Qi, Ji Ban, and Ji Shen, but all three of these sons were shu chu, and his wife Wai Jiang (the daughter of the Prince of Qi) was childless, of which Ji Qi was the son of his sister Jiang.
According to normal procedures, since there is no concubine, then Ji Qi can be passed on to Wai Jiang, so that Ji Qi can become a concubine. However, Duke Lu Zhuang did not like Ji Qi, but liked Ji Fang and wanted to pass the throne to Ji Ban. But the problem is that there is a rule in the Lu state, that is, if there is no concubine, then the throne is usually passed to the right of succession to the right of succession, that is, the father of Qing.
That is to say, whether Ji Ban succeeds to the throne or Qing Father succeeds to the throne, he cannot be regarded as a usurper, and as for who can succeed the two people, it depends on their respective means. Therefore, Confucius did not classify Qingfu as a "chaotic thief".
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the system of divided feudalism was implemented, with the kings of Zhou dividing the princes and the princes dividing the vassals, and the fiefdoms were like independent kingdoms, independently controlling the military and political power. Therefore, at that time, the monarch's power was not large, whether it was Ji Ban's succession or Qing's father's succession, he had to get the support of other forces, and the four largest forces in the State of Lu at that time were the Duke of Lu Zhuang and his three brothers.
Ji Jiyou and Duke Lu Zhuang supported Ji Ban's succession to the throne, and Ji Shuya supported Qing's father's succession to the throne, and the two sides were on an equal footing. However, Ji Jiyou and Lu Zhuanggong "fouled" first, and Ji Jiyou used his family as a threat to force Uncle Ji to commit suicide by drinking poisonous wine in the name of Zhuang Gong. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the nobles were generally protected and would not die easily unnatural, even when they went to the battlefield, ordinary creeps could not be captured, and they had to be equal in status, so the behavior of Lu Zhuanggong and Ji Jiyou forcing their brothers to kill was even more despicable and disgraceful.
After Ji Shuya's death, Qing's father had no choice but to let Ji Ban succeed to the throne. Due to the despicable behavior of Lu Zhuanggong and Ji Jiyou, which undermined fair competition, Qingfu failed to seize the throne, leaving him with a grudge. After the death of Duke Lu Zhuang, Father Qing first sent someone to kill Ji Ban, and then sent someone to kill Ji Qi, who succeeded to the throne, killing two monarchs in a row in just one year.
Yu Li, can not say that Qing Father is a good person; Yu Qing, and can not say that he is an evil person, the whole incident Qing Father, Lu Zhuang Gong, Ji JiYou are responsible, not only Qing Father alone is at fault, and this is an ugly affair in lu guo, the family ugliness can not be publicized, Confucius can not say too much, can only "keep it secret".
More importantly, the real reason for "Qing Father is not dead, Lu is not dead" is not Qing Father, but the manipulation behind Qi Guo, which is full of conspiracy elements.
Zhongsun Huan came back and said, "If you don't go to Qing Father, it will be difficult for you to do so." ”
Qi Huangong asked, "If what is going on?" ”
Zhongsun Huan: "It is difficult, it will kill itself, and the king will treat it." ”
Qi Huangong: "Lu Ke is preferable?" ”
Zhongsun Huan: "No, Yu Bing Zhou Li... Relatives are courteous, because of heavy solidity, inter-carrying, overshadowing, overlord instrument also. ”
This passage is from the "Zuo Chuan Min A.D. Year", which tells the reason behind it.
First of all, "Qing Father is not dead, Lu is not dead" is not said by the Lu people, but by the Qi people, like a slogan that encourages civil unrest in Lu. The so-called one mountain does not tolerate two tigers, and the two countries themselves are full of contradictions, will the Qi people be worried about the internal turmoil in Luzhou? Obviously not, the more chaotic the country of Lu, the happier the country of Qi.
Secondly, if Qingfu is the root of "Lu Difficulty", then why did Qi Huangong ask "How to get rid of Qingfu"? Get rid of Qingfu and restore stability to the State of Lu, will the State of Qi and the Qi Huan Guild have a noble spirit of internationalism?
Third, Zhongsun Huan said that by sitting and watching the developments, Qing Father would kill himself if he did many unrighteous deeds. Next, Qi Huangong asked, "Can we take the opportunity to annex the State of Lu?" "If Qi Huangong really had a noble spirit of internationalism, he would not have thought of annexing the Lu state.
Confucius recorded in the Spring and Autumn Period that Qing Father had led soldiers and fought wars in his early years, had certain military ability, and also had high political prestige, and had little good relations with the State of Qi; moreover, Qing Father was older and far more mature in governing the country than Ji Ban and Ji Qi.
Combined with Qing Father's background, and then to understand this passage, Qi Huangong is worried that Qing Father's succession to the throne and the stabilization of the State of Lu will bring trouble to the State of Qi, so he wants to get rid of Father Qing. Of course, Zhongsun Xiang's suggestion was not to kill Qingfu, but to guide Lu civil unrest and let him kill each other, and at the right time, the State of Qi came forward, and the subsequent development was indeed so.
Ji Qi, the Duke of Lu Min, succeeded to the throne less than a year ago, and it is said that Father Qing instigated a man named YǏ to kill Duke Lu Min, and Ji You quickly fled to the kingdom with Ji Shen, and Father Qing established himself as king.
According to the history books, Qing's father was absurd and unscrupulous, which caused chaos in the government of the State of Lu and the people were miserable, and after Ji You issued a letter of rebellion in the State of Qi, the people of the State of Lu rose up and prepared to kill Father Qing, so that Gongzi Shen would return to China to inherit the throne. But Qing Father was older than Lu Zhuang Gong, Lu Zhuang Gong lived for 56 years, Qing Father was at least 60 years old at that time, how could he still be absurd, and could he not have a little way of governing the country? After Ji You's death, Ji You also fled abroad, and he did not see how much he could influence the people of Lu. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the monarchs were heavy on the people, and I had never heard of the peasant revolt or the people's revolt at that time. That is to say, it is difficult to shake the status of Qingfu by relying solely on the internal forces of the Lu State, and there must be external forces affecting it.
In fact, after Duke Lu Min was killed, Duke Huan of Qi was greatly shocked, and soon recalled Qing's father's old lover, Duke Lu Zhuang's wife, Wai Jiang, and sentenced her to capital punishment. At the same time, hype "Qing Father is not dead, Lu is not finished", and in the name of maintaining the order of the Lu State, he released a wind voice to attack the Lu State, in the face of the threat of the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period, the people of the Lu State were very afraid, Ji You's rebellion was even worse, under the joint pressure of internal and external forces, Qing Father could only flee abroad.
Later, Lu Guo put pressure on Ju Guo, Ji You bought Ju Guo again, escorted Qing Father back to China, when he arrived in Michi, Qing Father asked Gongzi Yu to ask Ji You for pardon, but Gongzi Yu cried and came back to see Qing Father, Qing Father said with emotion, "This is the cry of Gongzi Yu", and then hanged himself.
From the death of Duke Lu Zhuang to the death of Qing Father, there were only two or three short years, but the situation in lu state changed dramatically, and then the Ji You family benefited the most, in the Lu family, and gradually became a tumor in the state of Lu, followed by the Qing father's descendants family, the Shuya descendants family, known in history as "Three Huans" (all descendants of the Duke of Lu Huan), the King of Lu was hollowed out and had a false name. The de facto division of the State of Lu posed almost no threat to the State of Qi from then on, and was eventually annexed by the State of Qi.
In short, the responsibility of the Lu state for this civil strife, Qing Father has an unshirkable responsibility, but it can not be completely blamed on Qing Father, more importantly, there is the manipulation of the State of Qi behind it, playing the Lu State up and down between the palms of the fingers, and demonizing the Qing Father, and the Lu people also have suffering. Therefore, confucius fell into a dilemma when writing the history of Qingfu, and finally adopted the Spring and Autumn brushwork, trying to adopt a neutral writing method, leaving it for posterity to comment on.
But history is the declaration of the victors, but also the little girl dressed up, through the propaganda of Qi Huangong, Ji You, etc., Qing Father has become a famous traitor in history, his name has become synonymous with civil unrest, and Ji You is mythologized as a generation of sages.
References: Zuo Zhuan, Spring and Autumn, etc