Speaking of Jiang Ziya, the founding hero of the Western Zhou Dynasty, I believe everyone is no stranger. He made an indelible contribution to the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and although it did not have the legendary story in the "Romance of the Gods", Jiang Ziya did make an indispensable contribution in the process of King Wu's felling. After the establishment of Western Zhou, King Wu made Jiang Ziya the Marquis of Qi, with the capital Yingqiu, and he also became the founder of the Jiang state of Qi at that time. However, despite his meritorious service, his descendants were persecuted by the cruel methods of the King of Zhou. Why is that? Today I will tell you about the causes and consequences of this event.
Jiang Ziya's murdered descendant was the fifth monarch of the State of Qi, the Duke of Qi, and the perpetrator was King Yi of Zhou, the ninth monarch of Western Zhou. Why did King Yi of Zhou want to harm the Duke of Qi? There are many reasons for this. First of all, the political stance of the Duke of Qi was inconsistent with that of King Yi of Zhou. King Yi of Zhou's father was Ji Yi the Prince of Zhou, the seventh monarch of Western Zhou, and according to the system of primogeniture established by Western Zhou, Ji Yi's eldest son Ji Xie should succeed to the throne after his death, that is, King Yi of Zhou. However, King Yi of Zhou's uncle Ji Bifang attempted to usurp the throne after Ji Yi's death and became the monarch of the Zhou Dynasty, King Xiao of Zhou. In the face of this improper behavior of King Xiao of Zhou, the State of Qi, as a pro-domain, did not obstruct or even raise objections, which made the reinstated King Yi of Zhou full of resentment against the Duke of Qi.
Second, Qi Weigong was too arrogant. As the saying goes, "the first bird is beaten", and Qi Mourning Justice is the first bird. Although in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou royal family's control over the princes had been greatly weakened, and many princes no longer traveled to the state capital to meet the Prince of Zhou. However, they remained formally loyal to King Zhou, at least maintaining some respect in face. However, the Duke of Qi not only did not pay tribute to King Yi of Zhou for two consecutive years, but also spoke arrogantly, claiming: "I am the fifth king of the State of Qi, and the King of Zhou is already the ninth son of heaven of Western Zhou, and I am his uncle in terms of generation." Could it be that the uncle took the initiative to visit his nephew? This made King Zhou Yi even more intolerable.
Finally, there is the framing of traitors. According to the record of the "Shiji Qi Taigong Family": "The mourning of the duke is desolate and adulterous, and the national history is also pricked." The word "absurd" here refers to the fact that the Duke of Qi Wei liked to play in the fields rather than deal with national affairs, and the national historian wrote poems to satirize him. However, this is not the case. During the reign of the Zhou Dynasty, the imperial court decreed that the wasteland reclaimed by the princes be recognized as its fields, but it was required to pay taxes to the royal family. The Duke of Qi went to the wilderness not for fun, but to reclaim the land. However, in the process of reclaiming his land, he offended neighboring Jihou. Ji Guo and Qi State are neighbors, and originally Ji Guo was stronger. However, with the active development of several generations of monarchs of the State of Qi, by the time of the Duke of Qi, the strength of the State of Qi had far surpassed that of the State of Ji. Ji Hou saw Qi Weigong stretching his hand to his land, both anxious and angry. But he did not dare to directly confront the Duke of Qi Wei, so he chose to sue. Ji Hou denounced to King Yi of Zhou, saying, "Look at the old guy Lu Buzhen (the name of the Duke of Qi), who is ambitious, completely disrespectful to the King of Zhou, not only does not give you allegiance, but also spreads dissatisfied remarks everywhere. If you continue like this for a long time, your prestige will be lost among the princes! So, King Zhou recorded the crimes of the Duke of Qi in his small book.
In the end, King Yi of Zhou took the means of killing chickens and monkeys. This was a common tactic in which emperors would kill several people to warn others to obedience. King Zhou Yi's long-accumulated anger at Qi Weigong finally found an outlet to vent. In 868 BC, after a 12-year reign, the Duke of Qi was killed by King Yi of Zhou. His younger brother Lü Jing succeeded to the throne and became the Duke of Hu of Qi. However, King Yi of Zhou did not seem to achieve the purpose of killing chickens and monkeys through this action, but instead the princes used this as an excuse to attack the Kingdom of Ji, which opened the prelude to the Spring and Autumn Period.