Before reading this article, I sincerely invite you to click "Follow", which is convenient for you to discuss and share, and brings you a different sense of participation, thank you for your support.
introduction
In 338 BC, Shang Martin, the prime minister of the Qin state, was killed.
According to the law of the time, King Qin Huiwen personally ordered his corpse to be sentenced to death - five horses to divide the corpse. This law was actually formulated by Shang Martingale himself.
Isn't that ridiculous?
Shang Martingale, that is a well-known name in Chinese history. He can mix with the prime minister, which is really the dragon and phoenix among people. Why did such a clever figure, who laid the foundation for the annexation of the Six Kingdoms by the Qin State, end up being divided by five horses?
(Martingale Sentence)
In fact, Shang Martingale is dead, and the punishment of car cracking is just an act of anger on others. Who the hell hates him for doing this?
What would Shang Martingale think if he knew after his death? Will he regret what he did when he was alive?
First, the small border country, King Tuzhi of Qin
Before Shang Martin arrived in the Qin State, the Qin State at that time was only a small role.
When the ancestors of the Qin people were given the title of Qin Yi, they were only attached to the Zhou royal family and existed. Because of his merits in escorting King Ping of Zhou to the east to Luoyi, Duke Xiang of Qin was made a prince. The Qin family leapt into the State of Qin, and the State of Qin was established. With the fiefdoms "west of Qi and Feng" obtained from King Ping of Zhou, the Qin state began to rise gradually.
But compared to the countries around it, the Qin State is still quite backward.
At that time, the great powers were competing to change the law, and they achieved good results. In 422 BC, the Wei state, which was a neighbor of the Qin state, took the lead in establishing the private ownership of land and the individual small-scale peasant economy in the Wei state, which brought the national strength of the Wei state to a peak. The state of Chu also developed land under the Wu Rebellion Law, and its national strength gradually became stronger.
(Changes in laws by country)
At that time, the Qin state adopted the land state ownership and slavery system, the state power was controlled by several clans, and the overall political and economic system was not conducive to the development of productive forces.
Duke Mu of Qin worked hard to govern, and the operation was as fierce as a tiger, and finally strengthened the national strength of the State of Qin.
However, after the death of Duke Mu of Qin, the nobles competed for the power of the state, and even the monarch of the State of Qin was unable to resist, and the State of Qin fell into political turmoil, which lasted for nearly sixty years.
During this period, the national strength of the Qin State has been constantly declining.
It was not until Qin Xiangong succeeded to the throne that the situation was reversed. Qin Xiangong was very clever, and during his twenty years of reign, he constantly started wars and often won battles. The old nobles, who benefited from these victories, supported him very much. After a series of operations, the real power of the state finally returned to the hands of the monarch.
(Qin Xiangong)
In this way, when Qin Xiangong died, the military power of the entire Qin State easily fell into the hands of Qin Xiaogong.
At this time, Qin Xiaogong looked around, good guy, these surrounding countries are all strong, people are busy with alliances, gangs and factions to compete for the world, but they don't play with Qin Guo at all! This disparity in national strength is too great, and the Qin State is simply a small transparent in the eyes of other countries.
(After the death of Duke Mu of Qin to the state of Qin before the martingale of Duke Xiao Shang)
As a king, this king of the Qin Kingdom is really too boring. Qin Xiaogong thought about making the Qin Kingdom strong and restoring hegemony.
Two or five meetings, the change of law began
In order to make the Qin state rise again, Qin Xiaogong issued a decree for seeking talents, widely seeking talents, and promising rich rewards to those who can enter the rich country and strengthen the army. As soon as the order for merit came out, talented talents from various countries came to the Qin State to become officials.
Among them is Martingale.
Shang Martingale, born in Weiguo, was originally surnamed Wei but not Shang. He studied Legalism from an early age. Later, by chance, he was able to become a doorman in the mansion of the uncle of the prime minister of Wei State.
Before his death, Gong Shu recommended Shang Martingale to King Wei, but King Wei did not reuse Shang Martingale. So Shang Martingale came to the Qin Kingdom and wanted to show what he had learned.
(Martingale)
Of course, Shang Martingale was not immediately reused as soon as he arrived in the Qin Kingdom, but met with Qin Xiaogong five times before he finally got Qin Xiaogong's approval.
Legend has it that these five meetings were quite interesting.
The first time they met, Shang Martin gave Qin Xiaogong a sprinkling of the legendary emperor's statecraft, and said that Qin Xiaogong was not in pain or itching, and he was going to fall asleep.
The second time they met, Shang Martin was still carrying it, full of benevolence, righteousness, morality and so on, and only told Qin Xiaogong about some clichéd royal ways. Qin Xiaogong listened, and he was really bored.
In this way, driven by the thirst for talent, Qin Xiaogong still met with Shang Martin for the third time.
(Shang Martingale Sanmi Qin Xiaogong)
It is estimated that this time Shang Martingale will not put forward some practical words, and he can say goodbye to Qin Xiaogong.
Shang Martingale also told the truth, in fact, the first two sets of theories are just talking about playing, try Qin Xiaogong's real thoughts, what he really wants to do is the set of legalists, put forward all kinds of ways to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and all fall under the law, everyone is equal before the law, there is no ambiguity at all.
This time, Shang Martingale's statement was exactly Qin Xiaogong's appetite.
Qin Xiaogong insisted on hearing now, and finally heard Shang Martingale's heart, and Shang Martingale was impressed all of a sudden. They had a long talk, discussing how to rule the country and change the law to strengthen the country, and one meeting was not enough, until they met five times, and finally outlined the entire blueprint for changing the law.
Qin Xiaogong was overjoyed in his heart, and identified Shang Martin as the core figure of the law change, opening a vigorous road to law change.
Third, Hexi Dajie was granted the title of Shang Jun
Qin Xiaogong and Shang Martingale, one in the dark and the other in the light, dominated the famous Shang Martingale transformation method in Chinese history.
(Martingale transformation method)
Why is it so famous? At the same time, it can be regarded as turning the entire system of the Qin State at that time. To take a few examples:
First, it stipulated that the nobles no longer had the right to dispose of slaves and commoners in their jurisdictions at will, but instead severely punished the nobles for their lives. In terms of land ownership, it directly privatized land.
Originally, the land of the Qin State was owned by the public and owned by the state and the princes. Now, by law, ordinary people can also acquire land through legal channels. For example, civilians can clear land, and land can be freely bought and sold. The law also introduced a number of methods of reclamation and farming.
(Farmers can buy and sell land at will)
These practices destroyed the original slave production relations and promoted the development of the feudal production relations in the Qin state.
Agricultural production suddenly became a promising industry, everyone competed to open up land for agriculture, greatly improved land utilization and productivity, Qin agriculture entered the fast lane of development, and the country's economy naturally increased rapidly.
Second, the state has redivided its jurisdictional areas, and managers are no longer cronyism or hereditary, but are appointed and dismissed by the central government. And managers are subject to corresponding assessments.
Those who do a good job can be rewarded and promoted; Those who do not do a good job will be dismissed and removed. Although the localities could store food and weapons, they did not have the right to mint coins and weapons on their own.
These practices have made the power of the state tightly concentrated in the monarchy, greatly weakened the local aristocratic forces, placed the state under the unified and centralized leadership of the central government, and the state apparatus naturally operated at high speed in the direction of strengthening the overall national strength.
Third, change the law to reward military merit. It has introduced a series of incentive policies to encourage soldiers to bravely kill the enemy on the battlefield and compete for merit and reward, rather than dare to fight fiercely in private. The change of law broke the hereditary system, the vast number of people at the bottom were given the opportunity to move upward, military talents suddenly emerged, and the country's military strength became stronger and stronger.
(Qin Jun is brave)
For example, Bai Qi, the general who later helped the Qin State unify the six countries and break the enemy army, was born at the grassroots, and if there was no Shang Martingale transformation method, it is likely that he would not have appeared as a general in history.
The ordinary people of the Qin State have gained a lot of tangible benefits in the process of changing the law. Slowly, the people became supporters of the law change, consciously abiding by the law and protecting the law.
Although the nobles were unwilling, Qin Xiaogong's military power was pressed there, and the nobles could only obediently abide by the law.
The Shang Martingale reform method was a great success, and the national strength of the Qin state steadily increased.
When the national strength became strong, Qin Xiaogong began to launch foreign wars. Under the leadership of Shang Martin, the Qin state quickly took over the once mighty Wei state and occupied the entire Hexi region.
Hexi Dajie, Qin Xiaogong couldn't help but be overjoyed, and gave the commercial land near the front line to Shang Martingale, who was named "Shang Jun" and became the person with the highest title in the Qin state.
(Shang Martingale was named "Shang Jun")
Fourth, the dynasty of the king died, and the car cracked the martingale
The real leader of the law change is the monarch Qin Xiaogong, but the implementer of the law change on the bright side is the minister Shang Martin.
After changing the law, the country has become stronger, and the lives of ordinary people have become better, but the interests of the old aristocracy have been hurt a lot. They hated changing the law, hated it to the bone, and wanted to swallow it alive and strip the martingale.
"Changing the law" is always difficult.
The hardest thing is not the work itself, but the handling of interpersonal relationships.
In history, there have been many implementers of law changes, and those who first exhausted themselves to death or were killed by revenge halfway through. After death, they are always given a thick burial by their supporters, the monarch, and their families are also given excellent comfort.
If Shang Martin had died early and died in front of Qin Xiaogong, would he also have this glory?
It is a pity that history has no ifs, and history has finally come to that day. On that day, Qin Xiaogong, who was protecting Shang Martingale, died of illness, and Shang Martingale was still alive.
A monarch and a courtier, the new king King Qin Huiwen succeeded to the throne, and the old nobles were happy in their hearts, seemingly silent on the surface, but secretly, they all showed an evil smile. They laid traps and waited to see the good show of the martingale.
(King Huiwen of Qin and his old nobles)
Why were the old nobles sure that King Qin Huiwen would allow them to take revenge on Shang Martingale?
Shang Martingale himself is actually very power-hungry, and he has accumulated a lot of wealth when he changed the law.
As the second in command of the Qin State during the Qin Xiaogong period, many foreign new nobles supported Shang Martingale. According to historical records, because the effect of the law change was too good, in order to make the law change sustainable, Qin Xiaogong once thought of giving way to Shang Martingale before his death, but Shang Martingale refused.
By the time Qin Xiaogong was seriously ill, Shang Martin's power could already cover the sky with one hand. Such a merchant martingale is too terrifying for King Qin Huiwen. How could King Qin Huiwen keep him by his side and make himself threatened?
Shang Martin was falsely accused of rebellion, and he tried to flee the Qin state.
As a result, because the method change he promoted was too successful, he was trapped in the Qin State by the law change he promoted and could not escape. In desperation, he returned to his territory and commanded the guards and the Qin officials and soldiers who came to capture him to resist. The King of Qin was furious and sent elite soldiers to destroy Shang Martin. In the end, Shang Martin's body was brought back to Xianyang. According to the Qin law at that time, Shang Martin was sentenced to the punishment of car cracking, and his family was all executed.
King Qin Huiwen happened to have a personal feud with Shang Martin, and through the death of Shang Martin, King Qin Huiwen and those old nobles could vent their hatred together, and then they could become a harmonious family again.
The merchant martingale was cracked by the car, and the hatred of the old nobles for him finally subsided.
However, the change of the law of Shang Martingale was of great benefit to the country and the people, and was retained.
Why do you say that?
In the kingdom, the Shang Martingale Law strengthened the centralization of power, established an efficient administrative management system, and at the same time, created a lot of wealth for the Qin state. When Shang Martin died, the economic strength of the Qin State was already under heaven and earth compared to before the change of law.
The state power represented by King Qin Huiwen was the biggest beneficiary. King Qin Huiwen and his supporters knew this.
For the people, the Shang Martingale reform method has achieved remarkable results and is already the will of the people. The change of social relations has promoted the great development of productive forces and also led to the rapid development of the living standards of the people of the Qin State. The people of the Qin State were no longer willing to accept the way of life before the change of law. The will of the people cannot be violated, and if King Qin Huiwen wants to stabilize the state power, he must also conform to the will of the people.
(Shang Martingale Transformation Method Comics)
So the merchant martingale returned to the merchant martingale, and the change law returned to the change law. Shang Martingale deserves to die, and the change of law must be retained.
It's just that if Shang Martingale has a spirit after death, will he regret it? In fact, there is no need to have a spirit after death, Shang Martingale should have predicted his end long ago. As early as when he was studying the way of the Dharma, his master predicted the outcome of the changer. As smart as him, how can he not know that the clear gun is easy to file, and the dark arrow is difficult to prevent? And in order to change the law, he was willing to die.
Dying for ideals, this brave man's responsibility is also admirable.
The success of the Shang Martingale reform method provided an iron-fisted institutional guarantee for the growing prosperity and strength of the Qin state, laid the foundation for the Qin dynasty to dominate the world, and eventually helped the Qin state become the first feudal state in Chinese history.