The monarch of the Qin state in the Spring and Autumn Period should be the most famous Qin Mugong, who ranked among the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. And Qin Mugong's ability to achieve hegemony is also inseparable from the efforts of previous generations of Qin Jun. Among them, including the powerful role of Qin Wugong.
[Qin Wugong Zhao said]
Duke Wu of Qin, known as Zhao, was the uncle of Duke Mu of Qin.
The year before Duke Wu of Qin's death, that is, the year in which Duke Huan of Qi succeeded to the throne. Therefore, it can also be said that Qin Wugong was the previous generation of monarchs such as the Duke of Qi Huan, the Duke of Jin wen, the Duke of Song Xiang, the King of Chucheng and the Duke of Qin Mu.
Zhao Wugong of Qin played a very important role in the rise of the Qin state and also had a very profound impact on the history of the Qin state and even the whole of China.
However, because the Spring and Autumn Warring States were an era of great turmoil and great change, Zhao Zhao, the Duke of Qin Wu, said that among the many famous figures, it was not so conspicuous.
【The Lord is less suspicious of the country】
Zhao said that his life was quite bumpy, and when he succeeded to the throne, there were great twists and turns
Zhao Said's father, Qin Xiangong, was only 9 years old when he succeeded to the throne, reigned for 12 years, and was only 21 years old all year old. At this time, the crown prince's Zhao said that he was only 6 years old and had no say in the inheritance issue at all.
Since Zhao Shuo's mother was from the State of Lu, and Zhao Shuo's younger brother Zhao Man was from the Zhou royal family, some ministers were more supportive of Zhao Man's succession.
At this time, two powerful ministers appeared in the Qin State, and they left Zhao Shuo and embraced Zhao Man.
【Qin Chuzi】
These two courtiers were the Great Patriarch Fu Ji and the Third Father of Wei Lei. Both Dashu Chang and Wei Lei are official names, and Da Shu Chang is equivalent to the future Chancellor, and Wei Lei is equivalent to the great general of the later generation.
Fu Ji and the third father were in charge of the administrative and military affairs of the Qin State respectively, and after the death of Qin Xiangong, it can be said that they had monopolized power. They deposed the elder Zhao Shu and established Zhao Man, who was only 5 years old, and was known as Qin Chuzi.
Zhao Man, the son of Qin, reigned for a total of 6 years, during which time it goes without saying that the government was controlled by Fu Ji and the third father. When Zhao Man was 11 years old, Fu Ji colluded with the third father to kill Zhao Man and revived Zhao Man.
【Killing the Thief of the Nation】
As for why Zhao Man was killed, it is not clearly recorded in the history books. It is likely that Zhao Man grew up, or his mother took the lead, and Zhao Man began to contact the Qin Gong clan to seize power.
And Zhao said that as an abandoned prince, he had no chance to participate. Therefore, after Zhao Man was killed, Fu Ji and the third father could only support Zhao Shu, who did not participate in the seizure of power, and reinstated him.
With the lessons of the past, Zhao said that after succeeding to the throne, he naturally had to guard against Fu Ji and the Third Father, and find a way to get rid of these two powerful ministers who dared to kill the king.
Zhao said that he had been preparing for three years to complete the reversal of power over Fu Ji and the Three Fathers. In the third year of the Duke of Qin, Zhao said that on the pretext of assassinating Zhao Man, Qin's son, he killed Fu Ji and the third father and destroyed the three tribes.
【Seizure of military power】
When Zhao Said had just succeeded to the throne, he began to lay out plans to kill Fu Ji and his third father. The Qin people started by force, and Zhao said that if he wanted to seize power, of course, he also had to start with the army.
Just at that time, Rong Di Peng was in rebellion, and Zhao said that he took this opportunity to personally lead the army to the expedition. This is also the tradition of the early Qin people, after all, the founding of the Qin state has always been fighting against Rong Di, and the monarchs are all pioneers.
Zhao said that at this time, he showed his talent, and when he was fighting for Peng Xishi, he commanded Ruoding and personally went to the battlefield. In the end, it won a big victory and pursued it all the way to the foot of Mount Hua.
This battle also gave Zhao Shuo great prestige, and he had the capital to confront the three fathers of Fu Ji.
【Preliminary County System】
After eliminating the powerful minister Fu Ji and the third father, Zhao said that he firmly held the military power of the Qin state in his hands, continued to conquer the Rong Di in the Guanzhong region, and strengthened the strength of the Qin state.
In the tenth year of the Reign of Qin Wu, Zhao said to attack the Rong clans in Both Yi and Ji. After victory, according to the custom, the seized land should be divided among the meritorious ministers, which was also a consistent practice before the Spring and Autumn Period. But Zhao said that he had set a precedent.
Zhao said that he began to establish these two places as counties of the Qin State, and the county originally meant to be hanging, and the so-called hanging but not sealing was a county. That is to say, the land that has not been divided for the time being and is under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch is called a county.
Zhao said that he was the first monarch in history to set up the administrative unit of "county", and strictly speaking, the emergence of the county system in the Qin Dynasty began here in Zhao Shuo.
【Consolidation of monarchy】
The establishment of the county is of great significance to the development of history.
Because under the old system of sub-feudalism, courtiers had fiefs and vassals. The threat to the monarch himself is self-evident in the possession of population and material resources, so that a political entity that is completely free from the control of the monarch can be created.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the princes were out of the control of the Zhou royal family, and the problem of usurpation of power within the princes was inseparable from this system of subordination.
Zhao said that he himself had been coerced by powerful ministers such as Fu Ji and the third father, and he also knew that dividing the land to the ministers would pose a threat to himself, so he set up a county system, which was probably a means for Zhao to strengthen the power of the monarch and weaken the power of the ministers and nobles.
From this point of view, Zhao said that the establishment of the county system was not to establish a county system in later generations, but to use special means to solve specific problems, but this later became a formal institutional arrangement.
【Expanding the Territory】
Zhao said that the reason why he was called "Wu" was not without reason.
At the time of Zhao Shuo's reign, the State of Qin had gradually shaken off the difficult situation of fighting against Rong Di since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Zhao said that he had even begun a large-scale process of active territorial expansion.
In fact, the setting of counties is likely to be the product of the rapid expansion of the Qin state. In addition to this motive of weakening the power of the ministers and nobles, there may really be no suitable candidates for sub-fiefs, because the speed of territorial expansion of the Qin state is too fast.
With the eastward migration of the Zhou royal family, the entire Guanzhong region was once the king of Zhou, Caiyi, and the princes were lined up. After the death of King Zhou You, it became a Rongdi Paradise, and it was dilapidated.
In the whole of Guanzhong, there was only one Qin state left, which was filed with the King of Zhou, and after several generations of development of the Qin state, the local Rong Di was no longer a rival of the Qin people. At that time, the speed of this territorial expansion may have been comparable only to Jinchu.
【Creation of the funeral system】
During his reign, Zhao said that during his reign, he successively annexed the Rong clans of Mianzhu, Shaorong, Jirong, Yiqurong, Zhai, and Tapir, and established a county system on their land to promote the Qin forces to reach the Weishui River Valley in Guanzhong.
Zhao, who has been fighting for many years, said that he has not escaped the doom of a short life. He died at the age of 33, in his prime, a reign of 19 years.
Zhao Said's death also created a system that lasted for a thousand years, that is, the funeral system. The establishment of this system may be related to the customs of the Qin people who once approached Rong Di.
Zhao said that he was buried in Pingyang after his death, accompanied by as many as 66 people. It can be said that it has also left a very bad tradition for history.
【Post-Qin Wugong Era】
After Zhao said that after his death, he left behind two legacies of the county system and the funeral system, which influenced history for thousands of years.
Because Zhao Shuo's son was still young, he once had doubts about the lord and the country, and the power lords had learned from the past. Therefore, the position of the monarch of the Qin state passed to Zhao Shu's younger brother Qin Degong.
After the death of Duke Degong of Qin, the three sons of Duke Degong of Qin successively became the monarchs of the State of Qin, namely Duke Xuan of Qin, Duke Chenggong of Qin, and Duke Mu of Qin. Duke Mu of Qin was the younger son of Duke Degong of Qin.
From Duke Wu of Qin to Duke Mu of Qin, although there were only two generations, there were five monarchs in the middle. The rise of the Qin State, which began with Qin Wugong, also reached a peak when Qin Mugong was hegemonic.
【Summary】
Qin Wugong Zhao said that although it did not leave much fame in history. However, he was a relatively key figure in the rise of the Qin state.
He laid a lot of irreplaceable foundations for the later Qin state, mainly land expansion and institutional innovation. In the Qin state and even the entire history of China, Zhao Wugong of Qin can also be called a powerful role.