Luoyang, a historical and cultural city with a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization, more than 4,000 years of city history and more than 1,500 years of capital construction history, has created countless legends of Chinese civilization. "Shannanshui north is yang", Luoyang is named because it is located in the sun of Luoshui, and the Heluo area centered on Luoyang is the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization. The ruins of the five major capitals of Xia Du, Shang Du Xi Bo, Eastern Zhou Wangcheng, Han Wei Luoyang City, and Sui and Tang Luoyang City are lined up along the Luo River, which is rare in the world. More than a hundred emperors ruled here. Today, I will talk about Ji Gui, the King of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
Ji Gui, King of Zhou Jing, (?—— 520 BC) reigned for 25 years from 544 BC to 521 BC. The surname Ji (姬), courtesy name Gui, was the son of King Ling of Zhou. The twelfth monarch of Eastern Zhou and the second son of King Ling of Zhou. The Spirit King succeeded to the throne after his death. He reigned for 25 years. In 524 BC, King Jing of Zhou minted large coins, which is the earliest record of minting money in Chinese literature. In April 520 BC, Ji Gui fell ill and died, and the crown prince Ji Meng succeeded to the throne. After Ji Gui's death, he was given the title king of Jing and was buried in Zhai Quan (翟泉; present-day Jiucheng, Luoyang, Henan).
During the reign of King Jing of Zhou, he was in financial difficulties and even begged for utensils from various countries. It coincided with the death of Queen Mu. The State of Jin sent Xun Shu and Ji Tan as envoys to Luoyi, the capital of Zhou Tianzi, to attend the funeral of Queen Mu. After the funeral, King Jing of Zhou took off his mourning clothes and set up a banquet to entertain the envoys of the various princely states. After three rounds of drinking, King Jing of Zhou was already a little drunk, and he began to give wine to the emissaries of the princes in turn. He walked up to Xun Yue, the envoy of the Jin Dynasty, and poured wine with the wine jug that Lu Guo had paid tribute to, and said, "All countries have utensils to give to the royal family, why didn't the Jin State have them?" Xun Shu could not answer, so he asked the deputy envoy to reply, saying that when the Jin state was first sealed, it was not given a ceremonial instrument, and now the Jin state was busy dealing with Rong Di, so naturally it was impossible to send gifts. King Jing of Zhou counted the drums and carts that the royal family had given to the Jin dynasty, Uncle Tang, who had received king Wen's drums and carts, king Wu's leather armor, as well as axes, incense, red bows, and many warriors, as well as the ancestors of The Ancestors who were in charge of the state's classics. He satirized his "counting classics and forgetting his ancestors", and his face was flushed with shame and he had nothing to say. After returning to the Jin Kingdom, he told Uncle Xiang of the Jin Dynasty about this. Shu Xiang believed that King Ji of Zhou Jing could not die well. Zhou Tianzi JiGui's family died, and he could take off his mourning clothes and drink and have fun with the guests, and he did not forget to ask for utensils from others, which was really too ignorant of Zhou's etiquette. This is the origin of "counting the classics and forgetting the ancestors".
During the reign of King JiGui of Zhou, Zheng Guo's ruling chancellor Zizhi (i.e., Gongsun Qiao, Zimei) carried out reforms, straightened out the aristocratic fields and peasant household establishment, recognized the private ownership of land, and levied taxes according to the fields and mu. In March 536 BC, the son cast a ding with more than 200 catties, cast the newly formulated criminal book to ensure the achievements of the reform on the ding, and placed it at the entrance of the palace, so that the people would know the new criminal law. This is the historical record of the punishment. The punishment is the earliest record of Chinese legal provisions. The penal ding is the ding that casts the provisions of the law. "Penalty" means the provisions of the law. "Ding" refers to the ancient three-legged or four-legged and two-eared cookware or ceremonial vessels, mostly made of bronze. The new penal code restricted the misdeeds of the old nobles and clansmen, touching the interests of the nobles, who hated their children to the bone. After 20 years of offspring reform, Zheng Guo's internal stability, production development, the people have enough food and clothing, live and work in peace and contentment, and the major princely states do not dare to despise Zheng Guo, a small country. In 522 BC, Zheng Guo was ruled by Uncle Zi, who brutally oppressed the people. A large number of civilians gathered in The Ze of Cangzhi (萑萑之泽, in present-day Zhongmu County, Henan Province) on the basis of danger, and waged an armed struggle against the slave owners and nobles. Under the suppression of Uncle Zi, the rebels were outnumbered and all died in battle.