After King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang, the great feudal heroes and sons became princes, Zhou Gongdan was sealed in Lu, Zhao Gongyi was sealed in Yan, Jiang Taigong was sealed in Qi, and guan, Cai, Chen, Wei, Cai, Song, Cao, Qi, Wu, Chu, Yu and other princely states, as well as later Jin, Zheng, Qin and other states, Guangjian princes, as a barrier to The Zhou King, Gongwei Tianzi. On the one hand, the sub-feudal system was to reward meritorious heroes, and on the other hand, the low social productivity and weak dominance at that time were also one of the reasons. With the development of time, the influence of the Zhou royal family became lower and lower, and the strength of the princely states became more and more powerful. After the King of Zhou Ping moved east, Zhou Tianzi was completely powerless to control the princes, and officially entered the Spring and Autumn Period when the princes were vying for hegemony, the big countries annexed small countries, the strong countries conquered the weak countries, and by the time of the Warring States, only The relatively large princely states were left with Qin, Chu, Yan, Qi, Zhao, Wei, and Han.
Spring and Autumn Nations
After more than two hundred years of chaotic warfare, in 221 BC, the Qin king Yingzheng completed the unification, in order to avoid entering the chaotic world again, and finally chose the county system between the sub-feudal system and the county system.
Qin Dynasty county system
In the last year of the Qin Dynasty, due to the tyrannical rule of the Qin Dynasty and the great chaos in the world, under the joint blows of the peasant rebel army and the remaining aristocratic forces of the Six Kingdoms, the rule of the Qin Dynasty collapsed, and Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, who was born of a commoner, defeated Xiang Yu and established a new unified dynasty. After Han Gaozu's ancestor Liu Bang successively cut off the princes with different surnames who were relatively powerful, he successively created Liu Fei the Prince of Qi, Liu Jia the King of Jing, Liu Heng the Dai Wang, Ruyi the King of Zhao, Liu Hui the King of Liang, Liu You the King of Huaiyang, and Liu Hao the King of Wu. The feudal vassal states were all in the Kwantung Region, where the capital Chang'an was located, and the Guanzhong region and the strategic places in the country still practiced the county system, which was directly managed by officials sent by the central government, and the ministers of the princely states were also directly appointed by the emperor, and the princes could not appoint themselves. Even with these precautions, the strength of the princely states was slowly expanding, especially several kingdoms rich in natural resources, and by the time of the Han Jing Emperor, the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms finally broke out. Due to the strength of the Central Dynasty, the rebellion soon failed, but the rulers of the Han Dynasty also recognized the huge impact of this harm, and the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the "Tui En Order", which further weakened the princes, and from then on, the princes no longer had the strength to challenge the Central Dynasty, but the local clan forces began to rise, and this situation continued until the Three Kingdoms.
The Western Han Dynasty is parallel
In the late Three Kingdoms period, Sima Yi, a powerful minister of the State of Wei, usurped the military power of the State of Wei through the Gaopingling Incident, and after three generations of continuous cutting off other forces loyal to Cao Wei, by the time of Sima Yan, he finally replaced the State of Wei and forced Cao Wei's last emperor, Cao Yi, to take the throne and establish the Jin Dynasty.
Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin
When Sima Yan was proclaimed empress, he believed that the reason why the State of Wei would fall to power was because the clan was too weak to compete with the clan forces, which caused the cao family's rule to be replaced by the Sima family. In order to consolidate the dominance of the Sima clan and balance the power of the family clan, he began to enfeoff the clan as king after he ascended the throne, giving them the power to appoint officials and have an army in their fiefdoms, and also appointed the princes to important central and local official positions. Although this strengthened the ruling power of the Sima family to a certain extent, it also caused the later "Rebellion of the Eight Kings".
Rebellion of the Eight Kings
Today we will count how many princes Sima Yan has enfeoffed:
In the first year of the Tai Dynasty (265), his uncle Sima Fu was made the King of Anping; his uncle Sima Gan was made the King of Pingyuan, Sima Liang was the Prince of Fufeng (renamed the King of Runan in 277), Sima Ling the Prince of Dongguan (renamed the King of Langya in 277), Sima Junruyin (renamed the Prince of Fufeng in 277, and the King of Shunyang in 289), Sima Tongliang the King, sima Lun the King of Langya (renamed king of Zhao in 277), the emperor's brother Sima Youqi, The King of Sima Jianle'an, and the King of Sima Jiyan; and his uncle Sima Wangyiyang From his uncle Sima Fu the Prince of Bohai (renamed King of Taiyuan in 277), Sima Huangxia the Prince of Pi, Sima Gui the Prince of Taiyuan (Sima Gui's son Sima Gui was renamed king of Hejian in 277), Sima Gui the Prince of Gaoyang, Sima Heng changshan King, Sima Wenpei The Prince, Sima Tai Longxi King, Sima Quan Pengcheng King, Sima Sui Fanyang King, Sima Sui Jinan King, (renamed Zhongshan King in 277), Sima Xunchen King, Sima Mu Zhongshan King (renamed Gaoyang King in 281), Sima Ling Beihai King (renamed King of The City in 277), Sima Bin was the Prince of Chen (renamed king of Xihe in 277), from his father Sima Hong as the king of Hejian (renamed King of Zhangwu in 277 and then the king of Yiyang in 288); from his father and brother Sima Shu as the prince of Dongping. There are a total of 27, known in history as "Tai Shi Feng Wang".
In the fifth year of the Tai Dynasty (269), Sima Jingdu was made the Prince of Chengyang (died early).
In the sixth year of the Tai Dynasty (270), Sima Cheng was made the King of Nangong, and Sima Kam the Prince of Runan (renamed the Prince of Nanyang in 277 and the King of Qin in 288).
In the seventh year of the Tai Dynasty (271), Sima Xian was made the Prince of Chengyang.
In the ninth year of the Tai Dynasty (273), Sima Qi(司馬祗), the crown prince, was made the King of the East Sea (who died early).
In the tenth year of the Tai Dynasty (274), Sima Ji was crowned king of Gaoyang (son of Sima Gui the Prince of Taiyuan).
In the third year of Xianning (277), Sima Yu was made the Prince of Shiping (died that year), Sima Wei the Prince of Shiping (renamed king of Chu in 289), Sima Yun the Prince of Puyang (renamed the King of Huainan in 289), the new gambling king of Sima Cai, the king of Qinghe; the prince of Sima Youzi, sima Zan, the king of Guanghan, and the king of Liaodong.
In the fourth year of Taikang (283), sima huan was made the king of Beihai.
In the fifth year of Taikang (284), Sima Jue was made the King of Changle (the son of king nangong).
In the tenth year of Taikang (289), sima qi was made the king of Changsha, the king of Chengdu, the king of Sima Yan, the king of Sima Yan, the king of Yuzhang, and the king of Sima Yan; Sun Sima Song was the king of Guangling, the king of Sima Dihan (son of Sima Yun the king of Huainan), and the prince of Sima Yibiling (son of Sima Wei the king of Chu).
In the first year of the reign of Emperor Yongxi of Jin (291), Sima Xuan was made the Prince of Dong'an (the third son of Sima Ling the Prince of Langya), the Prince of Xiyang (the third son of Sima Liang the Prince of Runan), and the Prince of Donghai of Sima Yue (the son of Sima Tai, the King of Gaomi County).
At this point, several sima protagonists in the Rebellion of the Eight Kings have all appeared. In the next part, I will talk to you about the story of Jia Nanfeng, the initiator of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings.
The situation after the Rebellion of the Eight Kings