Since king Ping of Zhou moved east to Luoyi in 770 BC, the Zhou royal family has become even more weakened. In the past, it was the Zhou Tianzi commander and the princes who ordered the princes to "Li Le conquest from the Son of Heaven"; now, these powers have gradually transferred to the hands of the princes - "Li Le conquest from the princes". Therefore, throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, overlords such as qi huan gong and jin wengong naturally became the protagonists of the world. In particular, the Jin state, where The Duke wen of Jin was located, became the most powerful princely state in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In this regard, in the view of many historians, throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, it was basically the State of Jin surnamed Ji exercising the royal way for Zhou Tianzi, and the State of Jin maintained a hegemony for a hundred years throughout the history of spring and autumn (632 BC - 597 BC, 589 BC - 506 BC), during which time the Jin State basically replaced Zhou Tianzi and was able to lead the princes to the south to fight in the northern war. Among them, as far as the Jin Ping Duke is concerned about in this article, he defeated the State of Qi and the State of Chu during his reign, and it can be said that he consolidated the hegemony of the Jin State. Before the Duke of Jinping, the Jin state suffered a loss of national strength due to years of conquest. However, although it made an important contribution to the hegemony of the Jin Dynasty. However, in the later period of the reign of Duke Ping of Jin, he ignored the government, resulting in the power of the Jin state being controlled by Liu Qing and other qing masters, which to a certain extent laid the groundwork for the three families to divide the Jin.
One
First of all, Jin Pinggong (?) –532 BC), courtesy name Biao, son of duke Of Jin, monarch of the State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period, reigned from 557 BC to 532 BC. In the fifteenth year of the Reign of Duke Xiang of Jin (15th year of Duke Xiang of Lu, 558 BC), on the day of the Death of the Duke of Jin, Duke Biao of Jin died, and Gongzi Biao succeeded to the throne as duke of Jinping. In the first month of the first year of the Jin Ping Dynasty (the sixteenth year of the Duke of Luxiang, 557 BC), the Jinping Public Security buried his father, the Duke of Jin. In the same year, The Duke of Jinping sent troops to attack the State of Qi. Qi Linggong, the ruler of the State of Qi, and the Jin army fought under Jing, and the Qi army was defeated and retreated.
The Jin army chased after the Qi army, besieged Linzi, the capital of the State of Qi, and burned down the houses in the outer city. Attacking to the east to glue and south to Yishui, the State of Qi was defended by the city and did not fight with the Jin army, so the Jin army retreated and returned. Therefore, it is very obvious that when the Duke of Jinping had just ascended the throne, he defeated the great power of the State of Qi, which undoubtedly consolidated the hegemony of the Central Plains of the State of Jin. During the Spring and Autumn Period, although the State of Qi declined after the death of Duke Huan of Qi. However, the overall strength of the State of Qi was still relatively strong, that is, second only to the Jin and Chu states at that time. Therefore, when the Duke of Jin mourned just died, the State of Qi actually wanted to take the opportunity to restore its hegemony. However, this is clearly in conflict with the interests of the Jin state. Therefore, for the Duke of Jinping, he chose to send troops to attack the State of Qi, and let the State of Qi suffer heavy losses in this battle.
In the year of the Jin Dynasty (the sixteenth year of the Duke of Luxiang, 557 BC), Xu Linggong, the ruler of the State of Xu, requested the State of Jin to move the capital. The State of Jin allowed Xu Guo to move, but Xu Guo's doctor did not agree to move the capital, xu was in civil unrest, and the State of Jin sent troops alone to attack Xu Guo. Because the State of Jin was the hegemon of the Central Plains, for a small country like the State of Xu, even the matter of moving the capital needed the consent of the State of Jin.
Two
When Zheng Guo's sons heard that the State of Jin was about to attack the State of Xu, they assisted Duke Zheng Jian in following the Army of the State of Jin. Qi Linggong led an army to meet xun yan of the Jin state. In June of the same year, the Jin army was stationed in Tanglin. On the ninth day of June, the Jin army was stationed at Hanshi and attacked the state of Xu. At this time, Xun Yan and Luan Of the Jin State led troops to attack the Chu State in retaliation for the battle of Yang Liang in the Song State. Gongzi Ge of the Chu State led the troops and fought with the Jin army at Zhanshan. The Chu army was defeated. The Jin army invaded the outside of Fangcheng Mountain, attacked Xu Guo again, and returned to China. From this, it is very obvious that the Battle of Zhanshan broke out around the princely states of Xu, the Jin and Chu states.
The symbolic significance of the Battle of Zhansaka can never be underestimated: the Jin army invaded the Chu territory, which was something that had never happened during the Jin Wengong period, and this was also the third time that the Jin army invaded the Chu state mainland after the Battle of Jiaoyi in 572 BC, which shows how far the Chu state's strategy at this time retreated. Therefore, for some time after that, the Jin state basically rarely considered the threat from the Chu state, and the main task changed to how to stabilize the situation in the Central Plains and maintain the hegemony of the Jin state. In this regard, in the author's opinion, after the Duke of Jinping took the throne, he defeated the State of Qi and the State of Chu in succession, which naturally consolidated the hegemony of the State of Jin, which also prompted the Duke of Jinping to become a more effective monarch in the history of the State of Jin.
Three
In the sixth year of the Duke of Jinping (21st year of duke Luxiang, 552 BC), the prince of the state of Qi Zhuang to Liaoyuan (澶元, in present-day northwest puyang, Henan) allied with the Duke of Jinping and the states of Song, Wei, Zheng, Cao, Ju, Yi, Teng, Xue, Qi, and XiaoYi, recognizing the Jin state's ally and consolidating and maintaining the Jin state's hegemony. In the same year, Duke LuXiang worshipped the Jin Dynasty. The Jin chancellor Luan Kui fled to the State of Qi because of his crimes.
In the eighth year of the Duke of Jinping (23rd year of the Duke of Luxiang, 550 BC), the Duke of Qi Zhuang secretly sent Luan Tou to Quwo, and followed him with soldiers. In this battle, the Qi army came to the Taihang Mountains, and Luan Qi rebelled in Quwo Nei and attacked the city. Daicheng was defenseless, and Duke Ping of Jin was forced to commit suicide, but Fan Xianzi stopped him and led his men to fight back against Luan, who was defeated and returned to Quwo. The Quwo people attacked Luan Qi, Luan Qi was killed in battle, and the Quwo people destroyed the Luan family. Duke Zhuang of Qi heard of Luan's defeat and left to take The Song of Jin when he returned to the State of Qi, in revenge for the Battle of Linzi. Thus, it is very obvious that in this battle of internal and external cooperation, the Duke of Qi Zhuang successfully retaliated against the State of Jin, which made the Duke of Jinping furious and prepared to counterattack the State of Qi.
In the tenth year of the Duke of Jinping (25th year of the Duke of Luxiang, 548 BC), the Duke of Qi zhuang was killed by the chancellor of the State of Qi, Cui Zhu, and the State of Jin took advantage of the civil unrest in Qi to defeat the Qi army at Gao Tang in revenge for the Battle of Taihang Mountain. For the monarch of Jinping, although he achieved good results in foreign wars. However, in the later period of jin pinggong's reign, he was proud and complacent and ignored the government, which naturally made the Qing dafu family of the Jin state further grow.
Four
Finally, in the fourteenth year of the Duke of Jinping (the twenty-ninth year of the Duke of Luxiang, 544 BC), The Yanling Jizi of the Wu State sent an envoy to the Jin State to meet with Zhao Wenzi, Han Xuanzi, and Wei Xianzi, saying: "Sooner or later, the great power of the Jin State will belong to the three families of Zhao, Wei, and Han. In the nineteenth year of the Duke of Jinping (the third year of Duke Lu Zhao, 539 BC), the State of Qi sent Yan Infant to the State of Jin to meet with Shu Xiang. Shu Xiang said, "The Jin Kingdom is in the last days. The Duke of Jinping increased taxes and built chitai pavilions, but ignored the government, could the Jin dynasty last? Yan Zi felt that this was very correct. From this, it is very obvious that the Duke of Jinping not only did not solve the problem of the Qing Family taking power, but made this situation worse.
In the eighth year of the Duke of Jinping (550 BC), the Luan rebellion, the Luan clan was exterminated, and the eleven Six Qing families of the Jin State were only left with the Han, Zhao, Wei, Zhi, Fan, and Zhongxing clans, after which each of these six families occupied a qing position and held the power of the Jin state for a long time, so later the six secretaries of the Jin state were used to specifically refer to the six Qing dafu families. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, in the process of fighting each other, the six secretaries of the Jin State were left with only the Wei, Han, and Zhao families. Therefore, in the end, the three kingdoms of Wei, Korea, and Zhao divided the Jin state, which is the famous "three families divided the Jin".
Although the three branches of the Jin Dynasty were completed, the Duke of Jinping had been dead for many years. However, it is undeniable that the Duke of Jinping allowed the Qing Dafu family to further grow, which undoubtedly laid the groundwork for the three families to divide the Jin. In addition, in the twenty-sixth year of the Duke of Jinping (10th year of the Duke of Luzhao, 532 BC), the Duke of Jinping died, and his son Yi succeeded to the throne as the Duke of Jinzhao. After the death of Duke Ping of Jin, most of the monarchs of the Jin state did nothing, that is, they were no longer the opponents of the Jin state secretary.