The history of the Spring and Autumn period is often portrayed as a golden age of heroes and fierce political wrangling. However, if we carefully peel back the fog of history, we will find that the conspiracy of this period is actually more complex and dark than we think. One of the most typical examples is the incident of "Zheng Boke Duan Yuyan" recorded in "Zuo Biography".
The events of 506 BC seem straightforward: Zheng Guo's Zhuang Duke was determined to get rid of his mother Wu Jiang and his younger brother Gongshu Duan in order to seize the throne. However, if we consider the cause and effect of this event in its entirety, we will find that behind this story lies a more complex historical picture.
Shen Guo: A hidden power in the Western Weekend period
To understand the ins and outs of "Zheng Boke Duan Yuyan", we must first review the historical background at that time.
In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a country that sprung up and left many traces in the history books, that is, the Shen State. As a feudal state of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Shen State, although nominally subordinate to the Zhou royal family, still retained a strong nomadic tradition, often antagonistic to the Zhou royal family.
The key to the rise of the Shen State lies in its geographical advantage. The state of Shen was located in the hinterland of the dog Rong, bordering the Western Zhou Dynasty. As the "beam between the dog Rong and the Zhou", Shen Guo could move back and forth between the two at will, constantly expanding his sphere of influence.
In order to win over the Shen Kingdom, King Zhou Li married Shen Nu and gave birth to King Zhou Xuan. After King Xuan of Zhou ascended the throne, he was faced with a problematic situation: Huaiyi in the east continued to expand, the Chu state in the south was eyeing the tiger, the dog Rong in the north frequently raided south, and the Shen state in the west often invaded the territory of the Zhou royal family.
In order to cope with these challenges, King Xuan of Zhou took a series of measures: the north sealed his younger brother to the present-day Xi'an region and established the Zheng state; Dongfang married the Jiang daughter of Qi as his wife; In the name of suppressing the Chu State, the southwest divided his uncle of the Shen State to today's Nanyang and established the Southern Shen State.
Although this series of layouts temporarily alleviated the crisis of the Zhou royal family, it intensified the confrontation of the Shen state. In the Battle of Thousand Mu, Shen and Dog Rong defeated the Southern Eighth Division army of the Zhou royal family, and King Xuan of Zhou had to give in and let his son marry the princess of Shen again, and Shen once again deepened its control over the Zhou royal family.
Zheng Guo's strategy rises
At this time, although Zheng Guo only had ten cities, there was an extremely wise monarch - Zheng Huan Gong. In order to avoid the attack of Shen and Inurong, Zheng Huan Gong first moved the capital to Jiaxian, and then purchased ten cities in the Xingyang area to expand his sphere of influence.
It was only after the death of King Xuan of Zhou that the situation changed dramatically. As soon as King Zhou You came to power, he wanted to get rid of the control of Shen Guo, first deposed Shen Hou and the crown prince, and then worshiped Zheng Huan Gong as Situ. This sparked a retaliation from the Shen state, who united with the state of Yan and the dog Rong to attack Haojing and kill the king of Zhou You, the queen, and the crown prince along with them.
After King Zhou Ping ascended the throne, he was faced with a situation where the princes did not recognize him. In order to gain support, he had to loosen his grip on the vassal states, even allowing them to conquer and occupy other weak vassals. In this context, Zheng Wugong escorted King Zhou Ping to the east through the exchange of interests with Shen State, and had to marry Wu Jiang of Shen State as his wife.
This creates an interesting situation: King Zhou Ping was deeply influenced by Shen, and Shen also controlled Zheng's internal affairs through Wu Jiang. This laid the groundwork for the future Zheng Boke Duan Yuyan incident.
Zheng Zhuanggong's conspiracy
After the death of Zheng Wugong, his eldest son Kou Sheng (i.e., Zheng Zhuang Gong) officially inherited the throne of Zheng Guo. As a 13-year-old, Zheng Zhuanggong quickly showed political wisdom beyond his years.
First of all, he skillfully resolved Wu Jiang's conspiracy to abolish the eldest son Kou Sheng and make the youngest son Duan the crown prince. Zheng Zhuanggong ignored this on the surface, but in fact, he secretly arranged and planted many spies. At the same time, he also thwarted the forces of Shen and King Ping of Zhou by supporting the famous "Quwo Daiyi" incident in the history of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and bought himself a breathing time.
For the next 22 years, Zheng Zhuanggong has been waiting for the opportunity. He gave support to the different family and clan forces who were dissatisfied with Wu Jiang and Gongshu Duan, and gradually built up his own power. At the same time, he also established alliances with local forces such as Qin and Deng through marriage.
It wasn't until he was 35 years old that Zheng Zhuanggong finally made up his mind, and at a specially arranged court meeting, he directly expelled his mother Wu Jiang and his younger brother Gongshu Duan in front of all the ministers, and announced that he would not meet his mother until Huangquan. This drama can be said to be the culmination of Zheng Zhuanggong's strategy over the years.
The turbulent era of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
After purging the internal Shen forces, Zheng Zhuanggong finally took control of Zheng Guo's power. But this did not bring peace, but caused dissatisfaction among the Zhou royal family. Zhou Tianzi promoted Duke Yu's father to be a secretary and tried to divide the power of Duke Zheng Zhuang.
However, this did not work. With his ability to fight bravely, Zheng Zhuang Gong successively defeated the Wei Guo who supported Gongshu Duan, and smashed the Five Kingdoms Alliance and the Wei Yan Alliance supported by the Zhou royal family. even injured Zhou Tianzi himself with an arrow. This series of victories made Zheng Zhuanggong famous and became the real "God of War of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty".
After intimidating the Zhou royal family and the Shen Kingdom, Zheng Zhuanggong no longer pretended to be loyal. He dismissed the royal secretaries who had been in power in the Gyeonggi region for many generations, and directly stopped worshipping Zhou Tianzi. Zhou Tianzi launched a crusade for this, but was eventually defeated by Zheng Zhuanggong's military talents.
Zheng Boke Duan Yu Yan
After Zheng Zhuanggong consolidated his power, he finally ushered in a major opportunity.
That is, when his younger brother Gongshu Duan attacked Jingren, Zheng Zhuanggong took the opportunity to order the killing of Wu Jiang and Gongshu Duan. This move marked that Zheng Zhuanggong finally took full control of Zheng Guo and became a real little bully.
But even so, Zheng Zhuanggong's situation was not all smooth sailing. After purging the internal threat, he soon faced challenges from the outside.
In order to punish Zheng Zhuanggong for his rebellion, Zhou Tianzi united a large number of vassal states to launch a crusade. In this so-called "Spring and Autumn Unrighteous War", Zheng Zhuanggong's military talent once again played a key role. He first defeated the combined forces of Wei and Jin by trickery, and then took advantage of the terrain to defeat the alliance of five nations mobilized by the Zhou royal family. In the end, he even relied on an elite long-range archer unit to injure Zhou Tianzi himself with an arrow.
Such successive victories not only made Zheng Zhuang Gong a real "god of war of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty", but also shocked the Zhou royal family and other vassal states. From then on, Zheng Guo became the overlord of the East during the Spring and Autumn Period, and Zheng Zhuanggong also became one of the most outstanding little overlords at that time.
Revelations of history
Looking at this period of past history, it is not difficult for us to find that the so-called "Zheng Boke Duan Yuyan" incident is actually just a story that has been beautified and deified by later generations. Behind this, there are complex political games, power struggles and family entanglements.
The state of Shen emerged in the late Western Zhou Dynasty and became a force to be reckoned with. In order to maintain their rule, the Zhou royal family had to intertwine with this powerful foreign state. This interweaving of power will inevitably affect the surrounding vassal states, forcing them to carefully find a balance between the Zhou royal family and the Shen state.
As one of the results of this game, Zheng Guo had to marry Wu Jiang, the princess of Xia Shenguo, as his wife. This led to a struggle within Zheng Guo over the right to inherit, which became the fuse for Zheng Zhuanggong's eventual murder of his mother and younger brother.
All this reflects the violent turmoil of the political situation in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The struggle for hegemony and the disputes between the gate lords eventually brought the rule of the Zhou royal family to the brink of collapse. In such a situation, even the most outstanding politician and military strategist will inevitably be involved in the whirlpool of struggle.
Therefore, when we look at this period of history, we should not oversimplify or add incidental plots. Rather, we should place it in a broader historical context to understand the complex dynamics of power games, family strife, and the intertwining of external forces. Only in this way can we truly understand the essence of this period of history and draw more historical wisdom from it.