History of Ethnic Expansion in China series
Fourteen, Xiang Xiaoba
| Cold mountains reminisce about snow
While Zheng Guo struggled hard in the Central Plains and pursued his hegemony with difficulty, Qi Guo was making a fortune in his life.
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In 731 BC, Duke Zhuang of Qi, who had reigned for 64 years, died, and was succeeded by his son, Duke Qi.
Qi Gong is one of the Three Little Bullies of the Spring and Autumn Period with the same name as Zheng Zhuang Gong, so many people will still be confused and do not know who he is. But when it comes to his son, many people know it.
His son was the first great overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Duke of Qi Huan.
As the father of Duke Huan of Qi, when Duke Huan of Qi ascended the throne, the State of Jin had already begun a civil strife between Emperor Dazong and Emperor Xiaozong, and Qu Wohuan's uncle died in the same year. Zheng Guo was in the stage of tense confrontation between the young Zheng Zhuanggong and his younger brother Duan, and civil unrest was about to erupt. The newly enthroned Duke Huan of Wei had also just expelled his younger brother Zhou Wu, who held military power, and was ready to fight with Zheng Guo.
Duke Qi reigned for 33 years and the political situation was stable. The country continues the consistent governance strategy of the State of Qi, because of the simple etiquette, the convenience of the people's trade, the reproduction of the population, and the prosperity of the country. Foreign countries chose to ally with Zheng Guo and Lu Guo to balance the Wei and Song states.
In the end, the State of Qi basically did not participate too much in the struggle between the countries of the Central Plains. On the surface, the State of Qi was to help Zheng Guo become the hegemon of the Central Plains, but in essence, in the eyes of the Qi people, Zheng Guo was used as a gun and successfully played the role of the Central Plains stirring up.
When the momentum of the Zheng state was fierce, as if it had the tendency to dominate the Central Plains, the Duke of Qi would join forces with the State of Lu to contain the State of Zheng and force the State of Zheng to make peace with Song Wei and other states. When Zheng Guo wanted to annex Xu Guo to expand its territory, the State of Qi intervened to prevent Zheng Zhuang from annexing Xu Guo.
The images are familiar. Friends who know European history should know that Britain has played a similar role to the State of Qi in modern European history, and Prussia, which played the role of Britain's thugs in Europe, is similar to the role of Zheng Zhuanggong.
Britain's foreign policy towards the European continent is called the "mainland balance policy", and in the same way, the "foreign policy" of the State of Qi in dealing with the Central Plains can also be called the "Central Plains Balance Policy".
Similar to the Napoleonic Wars and World Wars in Europe that Britain personally sent troops to participate in, during the 33 years of the reign of Duke Qi, he also sent troops to participate in the wars in the Central Plains. Once, in 713 BC, the decisive battle of Zheng and Song, the combined forces of Zheng and Qi jointly attacked the state of Qi, north of the State of Lu. Once, in 712 BC, after the decisive battle between Song and Zheng, Zheng Qilu's combined forces jointly attacked the State of Xu.
Subsequently, the "Qilu Interference And Re-Promise" occurred to prevent Zheng Zhuang from annexing zheng guo. But to tell the truth, the Duke of Qi already had the feeling that he could not grasp Zheng Guo, and interfering in Fu Xu could only nominally retain Xu Guo, and could not stop Zheng Guo from annexing Xu Guo's land.
Qi Gonggong more deeply realized that Zheng Guo's wings had hardened, 6 years later.
This year was the 25th year of the Duke of Qi and the 38th year of the Duke of Zhengzhuang, and the Beirong of the Shangdang Plateau in the southeast of Jin passed eastward through the two states of Xingwei and the two countries, directly into the territory of the State of Qi. Qi Gonggong was defeated and sent someone to zheng guo for help. Zheng Zhuang sent the crown prince Tou to lead an army to rescue him.
In the end, Prince Zheng defeated Beirong, as in the war eight years earlier, and captured two Beirong commanders, Daliang and Shaoliang, and beheaded more than 300 people, offering them to duke Qi.
Zheng Guo, who was once regarded as a younger brother by the Qi people, now qi guo wants to ask him for help. The State of Qi could not win the Battle of Beijong, and Zheng Guo could win the war. It's embarrassing.
Duke Qi, in gratitude, planned to marry his daughter to Prince Zheng.
Prince Kuo's response was that the State of Qi is a big country, and our State of Zheng is a small country, and we are not worthy of you.
It's embarrassing in capital letters.
After being punched in the face, in the last few years of the reign of Duke Qi, he changed his previous foreign policy and personally went into battle to participate in the Central Plains hegemony.
In the 26th year of the Reign of Emperor Huan, Qi Zheng joined forces to attack Xiangyi.
In the 29th year of the Duke of Qi, Qi Zhengwei joined forces to attack the State of Lu.
In the 30th year of the reign of Duke Zheng, Qi Zhengwei and song allies, and subsequently, Zheng Zhuanggong died, and Zheng Civil Unrest began.
In the 32nd year of the Duke of Qi, Zheng, Wei, and Song attacked the State of Lu and was defeated by the State of Lu.
In the 33rd year of the Duke of Qi, the State of Qi joined forces with The Song Wei Chen Cai to attack the State of Zheng, and the Zheng army was defeated and never recovered.
After solving the position of Zheng Guo's little bully and the shame of hitting his face with a snow, Qi Gonggong also came to the end of his life. In December of that winter, Duke Qi died.
After the death of Duke Qi, his son took the throne as Duke Xiang of Qi.
Wait, didn't I say earlier that the son of Duke Qi Huan was the Duke of Qi Huan, and how did he become the Duke of Qi Xiang at this time?
Quite simply, Duke Xiang of Qi was the eldest son of Duke Xiang of Qi, Duke Huan of Qi was the third son of Duke Xiang of Qi, and Duke Xiang of Qi also had a second son, called Gongzi Gui.
Qi Xianggong's reputation in history can be said to be very bad. He is famous for having incest with his half-sister and killing his own brother-in-law. What's going on?
It turned out that the sister who was incested with Qi Xianggong was called The Composition Jiang. Earlier, Wen Jiang's father, Duke Qi, planned to marry her to Prince Ku of Zhengguo. It is estimated that the prince suddenly heard the gossip of Wen Jiang's incest from there, and thus refused the marriage. As a last resort, Duke Qi could only marry Wen Jiang to the monarch of the State of Lu, the Duke of Lu Huan.
In the fourth year after Xianggong ascended the throne, Wen Jiang and Duke Lu Huan returned to Qi Province, and Qi Xianggong and Wen Jiang had the opportunity to have an adulterous affair. And this fornication was learned by Lu Huan, and Wen Jiang was naturally reprimanded by Lu Huan.
This reprimand caused Lu Huangong to kill himself. Wen Jiang announced to Qi Xiang that Qi Xianggong had a grudge in his heart and set up a banquet to entertain Lu Huangong, and when he sent Lu Huangong to board the car at the end of the banquet, he let the prince Peng Sheng strangle Lu Huangong to death.
Xianggong's reputation for incest and killing the monarch of the State of Lu soon spread throughout the princes, but he did more than that. In the same year, after killing duke Huan of Lu, Duke Xiang of Qi summoned Zheng Huimeng and killed the monarch of the State of Zheng, Zheng Ziwei, at the meeting.
The reason for killing Zheng Jun was actually because Zheng Ziqi had fought with Qi Xianggong when he was young and formed a vendetta, and in the alliance, Qi Xianggong did not get an apology from the other side.
By killing two monarchs in a row, was Duke Xiang of Qi really so promiscuous and brutal?
Not really.
Qi Xianggong killed the monarchs of Lu and Zheng, and after the Wei Song and Chen Cai were weakened by the Zheng state, Zheng Lu became the only remaining powerful country in the Central Plains. In the last years of the reign of Duke Xiang before he ascended the throne, the State of Qi continued to wage war with Lu Zheng, and the results were victories and defeats. After Xianggong ascended the throne, of course, his father's strategy of suppressing Zheng Lu continued.
Although Duke Qi was married to the State of Lu, Duke Huan of Lu obviously did not heed his father-in-law's call.
Unlike his father's conformist alliances and wars, Qi Xianggong may prefer not to play his cards according to the routine. So in the end, he used the provincial affinity and alliance to deceive and kill the monarchs of Lu zheng and Zheng.
Killing the monarch of the State of Zheng can continue the civil strife among the princes of the State of Zheng and deplete the national strength of the State of Zheng. As for the killing of Duke Huan of Lu, it is clear that he wanted to hand over the throne of the State of Lu to Duke Huan's son and nephew of Duke Xiang of Qi, Duke Zhuang of Qi, and to let his sister Wen Jiang, the mother of Duke Qi Zhuang, control the political situation of the State of Lu and turn the State of Lu from his rival to his hegemonic assistant.
As for the incest between Qi Xianggong and Wen Jiang, it is likely that it is a dirty water poured on the bad reputation of killing the monarchs of the two countries. The meeting between Qi Xianggong and Wen Jiang was likely to be a political meeting to hand over and discuss the political situation of the Lu state.
In addition to killing Zheng Jun to continue Zheng's internal strife and killing Lu Jun to control the political situation of the State of Lu, Qi Xianggong also did other serious things.
The first thing is to annex the Kingdom of Ji.
The State of Ji was located in the southeast of the State of Qi, between the State of Qi and the State of Lai, and was an obstacle to the expansion of the State of Qi into the Jiaolai Basin, the Jiaodong Peninsula, and the Yishu River Valley.
In addition, Ji Guo was also a feud of the State of Qi. As early as 180 years ago, during the reign of King Yi of Zhou, the monarch of the State of Ji complained to king of Zhou, resulting in the Duke of Qi being killed by king Zhou, and the state of Qi fell into a period of civil strife.
Civil strife returns to civil strife, but the hatred of cooking and killing ancestors is passed down from generation to generation. By the time Qi Xianggong arrived, there were already nine monarchs. Therefore, the hatred of the State of Qi towards the State of Ji is also known as the "Vengeance of the Ninth Dynasty".
During the time of his father, Duke Qi, the State of Qi was contemplating revenge on Ji Guo. However, Ji Guo turned to the State of Lu and used the power of the State of Lu to contain the State of Qi and save himself. In his later years, Duke Qi married his daughter Yu Lu, presumably because he wanted to win over the State of Lu and ask the State of Lu not to interfere with the State of Qi.' Later, Duke Qi constantly attacked the State of Lu, probably because Duke Huan of Lu did not listen to his father-in-law and still tried to protect the State of Ji.
In 695 BC, the third year after Xianggong ascended the throne, Duke Huan of Lu was still in the alliance of the three states of Qilu Ji, trying to make Qi Jiyan peace and prevent the State of Qi from annexing the State of Ji. The following year, Duke Huan of Lu was tricked into killing the State of Qi.
After the political situation of the State of Lu was controlled by Wen Jiang and Duke Zhuang, it was natural that Ji Guo would no longer be saved. The following year, in 693 BC, the State of Qi attacked the State of Ji and occupied the three cities of jiguo, Name, And Qi.
In the fourth year, in 692 BC, Ji Hou's younger brother surrendered to the State of Qi.
In the sixth year, in 690 BC, the Qi army attacked the capital of the State of Ji, Ji Hou fled, and the State of Qi completely annexed the State of Ji.
At the same time that the State of Qi threw away its arms and destroyed the State of Ji, civil unrest broke out in the Wei State.
30 years ago, Zheng Wei fought for hegemony, and the Weiguo Rebellion occurred, Wei Huangong was killed, and Chen Hou and Wei Qing Shi Jie killed Zhou Wu again. After Zhou Wu's death, Duke Huan's younger brother took the throne as Duke Xuan of Wei.
With the lesson of the failure of the two brothers to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains, Wei Xuangong was relatively low-key, and rarely took the initiative to mix with external struggles. Therefore, Wei Xuangong did not have any famous merits in the history of spring and autumn.
But he is still very famous, for reasons similar to the later Qi Xianggong, messing with the relationship between men and women.
Unlike Qi Xianggong,who was splashed with dirty water and incest with Wen Jiang, Wei Xuangong's rebellion really happened, and he robbed his son's daughter-in-law who had not passed through the door. And this daughter-in-law is the eldest daughter of Duke Qi, Wen Jiang and Qi Xianggong's sister, Xuan Jiang.
Years later, Wei Xuangong became more and more annoyed with his eldest son, Gongzi Ling, who Xuanjiang had originally wanted to marry. Therefore, Wei Xuangong pretended to send Gongzi to envoy the State of Qi and sent assassins to intercept and kill him in the middle of the road.
After Gongzi Ling's death, Gongzi Shuo, who was born to Xuanjiang, was made crown prince. In 700 BC, after the death of Duke Xuan of Wei, Gongzi Shuo took the throne as Duke Hui of Wei. In terms of blood, Wei Huigong was the nephew of Qi Xianggong and the nephew of the later Duke Huan of Qi.
After Duke Hui of Wei ascended the throne, the political forces to which the original crown prince belonged, resented Wei Huigong, drove him away, and made the prince's half-brother Qianmu (黔穆) a prince, known in history as Wei Junqianmu . Wei Huigong, on the other hand, fled to the State of Qi and defected to his uncle Duke Xiang of Qi.
This year was the second year of the Duke of Qi Xiang, and in 696 BC, Qi Xiang was busy dealing with the State of Lu and annexing the State of Ji. Duke Hui of Wei stayed in the State of Qi for eight years, and after his uncle annexed the State of Ji, he finally sent troops to help him return to China.
In 688 BC, 10 years after the Duke of QiXiang, the Duke of Qi Xiang was ordered by King Zhuang of Zhou to lead the army of the Four Kingdoms of Chen Cai of the Lu Song Dynasty to attack the State of Wei, killing the right and left sons of the State of Wei, and Duke Hui of Wei was restored. Wei Jun, on the other hand, fled to King Qi of Zhou and was protected by King Zhuang of Zhou.
After this battle, Wei Guo also became the loyal younger brother of the State of Qi.
Kill Zheng Jun to weaken Zheng, kill Lu Jun to subdue Lu, annex Ji Guo, protect Hui Gong to restore the throne, and be able to call on Lu Song Chen Cai and other states, at this time, Qi Xianggong is like the second overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period after Zheng ZhuangGong, but the historians did not give him this title.
After becoming the de facto overlord, Qi Xianggong began to flutter.
In the 11th year of The Duke of Xiang, in 687 BC, the second year after escorting Duke Hui of Wei back to the throne, Duke Xiang of Qi sent the ministers Lian Zhi and Guan Zhifu to garrison Kuiqiu. This KuiQiu was located in the area of present-day Minquan County, North of Shangqiu City, on the border of the four kingdoms of Zheng Song and Wei Cao, and was an enclave of the State of Qi.
Being stationed in an enclave, far from home, is a chore. XiangGong promised that when the melon was ripe in the coming year, he would change his defenses and return to China.
In the next year, the melon is ripe, looking through the autumn water, I don't see a soldier or a pawn to change defenses.
Lian Zhi and Guan Zhi led an army to rebel, contacted Gongsun Ignorance, and fought back to the State of Qi.
Gongsun Ignorance was the cousin of Xiang Gong and the son of Yi Zhongnian, the younger brother of Gong Gong, and was much loved by Gong Gong. Before Duke Xiang's death, Gongsun ignorantly enjoyed the treatment of a prince, and soon after Xianggong ascended the throne, he abolished his cousin's treatment as a prince. Gongsun was therefore very upset that he was ignorant.
With Lian Zhi and Guan Zhifu as foreign aid, Gongsun Ignorant soon grasped the whereabouts of Qi Xianggong and led his disciples to attack the palace and kill Qi Xianggong.
The hegemony of the State of Qi was not competitive, and qi Xianggong had no chance to continue.
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