Like many emperors in history, Hu Ji, the king of Zhou Li, also had a vision at birth. The "Chronicle of History" records: "In the seventh year, Li Wangsheng, winter rain and hail, cattle and horses died." "Legend has it that when King Li of Zhou was born, there were big hailstones in the winter, cattle and horses died, and Jianghan Hongbo was full of waves. It was a bad omen that his arrival would cause trouble for others.
Sure enough, after King Li of Zhou succeeded to the throne, "King Li abused the king, and the people slandered the king" (recorded in the Chinese), so that he was exiled to a place called "Yan", and finally died in Yandi.
Later generations used the word "Li" as a nickname for him, and "Li" means to kill innocents indiscriminately and be cruel. From the nickname of "King Li of Zhou", it can be seen that posterity thinks that he is very cruel.
In fact, he was an aspiring monarch who implemented a series of reforms, but unfortunately he was in a hurry to revive the former prestige of the Zhou royal family, touching the rights and interests of too many people. When King Li of Zhou ascended the throne, the Zhou royal family had already embarked on a path of decline: foreign invasions, civil strife among the princes, and an empty treasury. For a king with internal and external troubles and no rice in his hands, it is so difficult to regain his might.
Let's take a look at his reforms.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > politics</h1>
Since King Wu, successive rulers have been the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Zhao, who broke the hereditary tradition, changed the "world as a secretary of state" of the second duke of Zhou and Zhao, and no longer selected the secretary from the two major political families of Zhou and Zhao, but was a meritocracy, and used the Rongyi Gong and the Duke of Yu, who had expertise in economy and military. Obviously, such a talent selection infringed on the interests of the aristocratic class, making it difficult to reconcile the contradictions between Li Wang and the nobles.
Moreover, King Li of Zhou also strengthened the rule of law and diluted the etiquette system, which was a thunderbolt on a sunny day for the nobles at that time.
The capital of Western Zhou thus set off a wave of protests, and King Li of Zhou came to this point, and made a faint move, forbidding public criticism of the government, and the people could only look at the road. Zhao Gong sighed, "The mouth of the people is better than the defense of the river!" Eventually, a joint counterattack was brought in by the nobility and the agents of the princely states.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, economic</h1>
When King Li succeeded to the throne, the Zhou Dynasty was already accumulating heavy burdens and was difficult to return, and the princes everywhere sat on the throne. The Western Zhou Dynasty's feudal system had already distributed land throughout the country to the nobles of the time. Now, he adopted Rong Yigong's suggestion to implement the "Patent Law" and monopolize the mountains, rivers, and forests, which were directly owned by the state, and the people all paid taxes on firewood, medicine, hunting, fishing, etc., in order to increase fiscal revenue.
This ban objectively nationalizes natural resources, helps to uniformly allocate resources, and improves production efficiency. However, Shan Chuan Linze was originally a noble landlord at all levels, and now that you have taken their property and moved their cake, can they not object? Rather than saying that King Li gathered the wealth of the world into one family, it is better to say that King Li wanted to weaken the strength of the nobles and princes of the Zhou Dynasty and strengthen the Zhou royal family. This is why it offends the aristocratic class.
Attaching importance to agriculture is a major measure of King Zhou Li's reform. King Li of Zhou took charge of agriculture and regarded "harvesting" as a national treasure so that agriculture could develop.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, military</h1>
King Li of Zhou tried to change the situation in which the surrounding ethnic minorities repeatedly invaded and the princely states did not come to pay tribute, solved the disadvantages of weakness, sent troops to conquest many times, and successively won victories in the Battle of Attack and the Battle of Huaiyi. At this moment, all four princes were stunned, and one by one they were honest.
For example, the pretentious Chu ruler Xiong Qu directly imitated Zhou Tianzi and made his three sons kings, the eldest son Xiong Kang (Xiong Wukang) as the King of Jurchen (in present-day Jingzhou, Hubei), the second son Xiong Hong (Xiong Zhihong) as the King of E, and the younger son Xiong Zhi as the King of Yuezhang (between present-day Jingzhou and Ezhou, Hubei), which was the first of the Zhou Dynasty princely states to encroach on the title of king. Later, XiongQu was worried about being attacked by the Zhou Dynasty, so he cancelled their title and did not dare to speak out again.
Strengthening military power threatens the princely states themselves. Once the Zhou royal family became strong, it was not necessarily a good thing for the princes, and many princes might be picked up or eliminated by the princes. Therefore, the princes would oppose the Zhou royal family. Moreover, the so-called rebellion of the chinese people was led by these princes, and the rioters were not ordinary people, but also nobles. Because King Li of Zhou's reforms seriously threatened their interests.