In the Spring and Autumn Period, when the State of Wu collapsed, many people blamed the overlord Wu Wang Fuchai, saying that it was precisely because of his mistakes such as poor soldiers and good military achievements that the Wu Kingdom withdrew from the stage of history.
These analyses are certainly very correct, but if we trace the history of the Wu kingdom a little, we will find that the demise of the Wu kingdom has a lot to do with the world's recognized sage Ji Zha, and it can also be said that he seems to be a virtuous person, but he actually plays the role of a terminator of the Wu kingdom. And all this has to start from a very good tradition of the State of Wu- the Kingdom of Ren.
Figure 丨 Wu Wang Fu Cha
One
The ancestor of the State of Wu, the State of Jean, first occurred in the Shang Dynasty.
At that time, Zhou was still a small princely state. King Taiwang of Zhou had three sons, the eldest Uncle, the second Zhongyong, and the third season. According to the ancient system, the heir to the throne should be the eldest uncle, but the King of Zhou wanted to pass the throne to the old three seasons calendar. The reason why King Tai of Zhou did this was not only because the three sons were more capable than the old three season calendars, but also because the season calendar had a son with holy virtue, Ji Chang.
King Tai of Zhou wanted to pass the throne to his third son, but it was difficult to explain it because of the ancient system. The eldest uncle and the second elder Zhongyong knew their father's thoughts, and discussed, for the sake of our Zhou's Jiangshan Sheji, but also to fulfill our father, we brothers and sisters simply left the feudal country to let the country go! So they ran to the land of Jingbaran in the name of collecting medicine for their father, cutting their hair like local barbarians and tattooing their bodies with patterns, in order to show their determination to their father and brothers that we are now barbarians and will not return to china to inherit the throne.
The two older brothers ran away, Ji Li naturally became the monarch of Zhou, and his son Ji Chang naturally took over and became the famous King Wen of Zhou in history.
Taibo and Zhongyong let the state, while giving way to the Zhou Dynasty that ruled the Central Plains for hundreds of years, also touched those Jing barbarians with their righteousness. These Jing barbarians voluntarily followed Taibo and Zhongyong, especially the eldest brother was also enshrined as Wu Taibo and became a prince of the party.
Two
After Taibo, the State of Wu continued for generations, but when Wu Taibo's nineteenth grandson Shoumeng came to power, he also faced the problems faced by his ancestor King Zhou. It turned out that Shou Meng had four sons, the eldest Zhu Fan, the second Yu Sacrifice, the third Yu Yu, and the old four seasons. In Shou Meng's view, among the four children, the oldest four are the most virtuous, and if the throne is passed to him, it will definitely be conducive to the development of the country.
Figure 丨 Jizha
Shou Meng gave Ji Zha his thoughts. Ji Zha said that this is absolutely impossible, how can the ancient system passed to the eldest son be destroyed?
Ji Zha's statement strengthened Shou Meng's view that the younger son was really a virtuous person, with the ancient style of his ancestors, and being in power must be beneficial to the country. Since Ji Zha was reluctant to destroy the ancient system, Shou Meng let his eldest son Zhu Fan inherit the throne.
Zhu Fan also knew that his father wanted to pass the throne to the younger brother, and also recognized that the younger brother was stronger than himself, so at the beginning of the succession, he had to give up the throne to Ji Zha. The people of Wu also thought that it was most appropriate for Ji Zha to come out as their leader, and they all asked Ji Zha to bravely stand up and pick up this burden.
To say that at this time, Wu Guo's thoughts were all on Ji Zha, and there was nothing wrong with Ji Zha not letting go, but Ji Zha said that he would not do anything. His reasoning was that the more the eldest brother gave way to the country, the more he could not take over the throne, otherwise he would be suspected of coveting the throne.
Everyone was so persecuted that he simply abandoned his family and business, and did not become a nobleman to go to the peasants to farm. When everyone saw that Ji Zha was really a righteous man who guarded his body like a jade, while praising his virtues, they had no choice but to give up.
Figure 丨 Zhu Fan
Zhu Fan served as king of Wu for thirteen years, and before he died, he left his last will, and his brother and brother passed the throne to his younger brother Yu Sacrifice as an example, hoping that the throne would eventually fall to the virtuous Ji Zha.
Three
Many people here will be very confused, according to common sense, the king's throne is everyone is eager to fight, beaten head to head and blood and afraid of not being able to fight, what virtue can this season be, let everyone break the convention and let him be the king? In fact, Ji Zha is indeed a man of knowledge, ability, and virtue.
Let's start with Jiza's knowledge. Ji Zha sent an envoy to Lu Guo, and when he heard Lu Guo's musician sing "Zhou Nan" and "Zhao Nan", he explained the meaning in one sentence, and he sighed: "Beautiful, from the music, I heard that the foundation of the Zhou Dynasty's royal industry has been laid, but it has not yet achieved final success." The song is filled with hard work but no complaints. Next, he listened to Zhou music such as "Shao Feng", "Huang Feng", "Wei Feng" and so on, and he could accurately say the far-reaching meaning expressed behind these music, which impressed the Lu Monarch.
Figure 丨 Yan Pingzhong
Let's talk about Jiza's abilities. Ji Zha sent an envoy to the State of Qi, and as soon as he arrived in the State of Qi, he said to Yan Pingzhong of the State of Qi: "You should quickly hand over your fiefs and official positions, otherwise the regime of the State of Qi will soon be in turmoil, and you will also be implicated." As soon as Yan Zi heard about it, he escaped the civil unrest in the State of Qi.
Ji Zha sent an envoy to Jinguo, and just as he was about to stay in Qiyi, he heard the sound of drums and bells, and asked the people around him, saying that Sun Wenzi was enjoying music. At this time, Ji Zha said a famous saying with emotion: "Strange! I have heard of it, and if I argue but are not virtuous, I will add it to the slaughter. The Master was guilty of being here, fearing that he was not enough, but could he be at ease? The Master's Nest is here, and the Nest of Juyan is in The Curtain. Jun is in the funeral and can be happy? ”
The gist is that if there is talent and no virtue, it will cause fire to burn himself, and when the monarch dies and is not buried, Sun Wenzi will begin to play, is this not as dangerous as a swallow nesting on the curtain? Sun Wenzi listened to Ji Zha's words, took this as a warning from time to time, and never listened to music again for the rest of his life. This story also left us with the idiom of "swallow nest in the curtain".
Map of the Spring and Autumn Period
In the Jin Dynasty, Ji Zha also told Shu Xiang that the Jin State would eventually fall into the hands of Zhao Wenzi, Han Xuanzi, and Wei Xianzi. Later historical developments did fulfill Ji Zha's speculations, and the Jin state was eventually divided among these three families. This example of this incident all shows that Ji Zhadong is familiar with world affairs, has a strong ability to analyze and judge, and is in the country of Wu and has the world in mind.
Let's look again at the virtues of Jiza. When Ji Zha passed by Xu Guo on his way to the mission, he went to visit Xu Guojun. Xu Jun liked Ji Zha's sword, although he didn't say it explicitly in his mouth, but Ji Zha already knew it in his heart, just because he still had to go to the Central Plains countries to go on an envoy, so he secretly wanted to wait until he returned from the mission before offering the sword to Xu Jun. Who knew that when he returned from the mission to Xu Guo, Xu Jun was already dead. While lamenting the shortness of his life, Ji Zha personally went to worship Xu Jun, and unsheathed his sword and hung it on the tree of Xu Jun's tomb, which was a fulfillment of the promise made to Xu Jun in his heart. When his entourage dissuaded him, he said, "I had promised him in my heart, how could I disobey my own wishes because Xu Jun died!" ”
From these examples, we can indeed see that Ji Zha is a person who has the ability, character, and popular support of the people, and such a person will indeed be the blessing of the country and the people as a monarch.
Four
Zhu Fan's two brothers, after successively becoming the Queen of Wu, also achieved the succession of the throne like their brothers. However, when Yu Xiao wanted to pass the throne to his brother Ji Zha before his death, Ji Zha played the "High Wind and Bright Festival" to make the country. In his view, if he did not accept the succession at this time, he would be more able to show that he was a moral person. But this time he was wrong, and it was his seemingly correct "High Wind and Bright Festival" wrong decision that opened the prelude to the turmoil and destruction of the Wu Kingdom.
Ji Zha did not want to succeed to the throne, and the people of the State of Wu talked about it, saying that when the former king Zhu Fan said that "brothers die and brothers succeed to the throne", the purpose was to pass the throne to his younger brother Ji Zha, and now Ji Zha said that he would not succeed to the throne, we must have a monarch, right? Since Yu Xiao was the last of the four brothers to become the monarch, and now that he is dead, let his son be the monarch! As a result, Yu Xiao's son Became the King of Wu.
King Wu caused resentment among Zhu Fan's son Gongzi Guang. In Gongzi Guang's view, the four brothers of his father and brothers passed on the country to each other, and finally they should pass on the country to their uncle Ji Zha. Now uncle Ji Zha does not want to be the monarch, and his father is the first to become the king, since he does not pass on the country to Ji Zha, he should pass on the country to himself is the right way, rather than passing on the country to the king. Gongzi just had such an idea, and decided to kill wang yi, so there was a famous story in history of "specializing in the assassination of wang staff".
Tu Shu specializes in the assassination of the king
When Gongzi Guang killed Wang Guan and became the king of the State of Wu himself, Ji Zha did not return on the way to the mission. When he returned to china, he was helpless in the face of the fact that civil unrest had risen and the blood of flesh and blood, and he only got a cry from the tomb of the king's staff, and then comforted himself: "As long as the sacrifice to the ancestors is not abolished, the people will not be without the monarch, and the god of the society will be enshrined, no matter who is the monarch, it is my monarch, I must obey him." ”
Ji Zha was at ease to be his courtier, but Gongzi Guang, that is, the famous Wu Wang Lu and his son Wu Wang Fuchai, were not the ideal monarchs in the hearts of the ordinary people of the Wu Kingdom, who were poor in military force, good at great achievements, insatiable greed, conquests everywhere, and distant sages and relatives, and finally buried the State of Wu in just a few decades.
Five
Shi Chuan Jizha died in 484 BC, and the State of Wu fell in 473 BC, that is, only 11 years after Ji Zha's death, the State of Wu completely withdrew from the stage of history.
We can say that Wu Guo is the next step in Ji Zha's attention to the abyss of eternal disaster. In the face of the calamity of the country and the people, we do not know whether Ji Zha regretted his original decision to let the country go, and whether he fantasized about how brilliant the State of Wu would go if he were under his leadership... Indeed, if Ji Zha had followed the rules of "brother to brother and brother" to become a monarch, the history of the State of Wu should be rewritten. However, history cannot assume that while Ji Zha ceded the throne, it also laid the foundation for the demise of the State of Wu, so it is better to say that the State of Wu perished at the hands of Ji Zha than to say that the State of Wu died at the hands of Lu Lu and Fu Cha.
It is often said that when good people don't get in office, bad people do. From the historical event of the Jizha Rangguo, can we draw the conclusion that when the day will be demoted to oneself, if we have the ability, we must bear the courage of "sacrificing ourselves to others". If you evade, you may let the bad guys take power and miss the future of the country and the happiness of the people.
Author: Zhao Xianwen, a special guest author of our team