In September 630 BC, the two kingdoms of Jin and Qin jointly sent troops against Zheng under the name of Zheng's rudeness to Duke Wen of Jin. Unexpectedly, Zheng Guo sent The Candle Zhiwu to alienate the combined forces of Qin and Jin, and privately reached a reconciliation with Qin Mugong. After leaving an army to help Zheng Guo defend, the Qin people withdrew without authorization.
As soon as the Qin army retreated, the Jin army's situation was suddenly embarrassing. Although it had successfully dominated eastern Zhou, the hard power of the Jin state was still slightly insufficient at this time. If the Jin people wanted to single-handedly attack the capital of the former Eastern Zhou "little bully" Zheng Guo, they still had more than enough heart and insufficient strength. In desperation, Jin Wengong could only order a retreat.
However, although the Jin were forced to withdraw from the siege, this attack on Zheng Guo was not for nothing.
Because the crown prince tried to collude with the State of Qi to rebel, it aroused the suspicion of Zheng Wengong, and not only drove the remaining sons out of zheng guo, but also killed two sons. Among them, Ji Lan, the son of Zheng Wengong's concubine Yan Jiao, fled to the Jin State and was deeply loved by Jin Wengong. At the time of this attack on Zheng, Gongzilan was reluctant to participate in the siege of his homeland, so he took the initiative to ask for recusal, which won the general praise of the Jin people. Seeing that Gongzilan had won the trust of the Jin people, Zheng Ren took the initiative to request Gongwen of Jin to make Gongzilan crown prince in exchange for the understanding of the Jin state.
Seeing that Zheng Guo's clothes were soft, Jin Wengong did not have too much embarrassment, so he agreed to Zheng Ren's request and sent Gongzi Lan back to Zheng Guo. In 628 BC, Zheng Wengong died, and Gongzi Lan successfully became the monarch of the State of Zheng, for Zheng Mugong. During the reign of Zheng Mugong, the situation in Eastern Zhou changed again: the hegemony of the Jin state gradually declined, and the Chu state slowly rose. In the face of this situation, Zheng Mugong could only judge the hour and size up the situation, and turned between Jin and Chu in a timely manner in a low-key manner to ensure the safety of Zheng Guo's external environment. Therefore, during the death of Zheng Mugong, his low-key ruling style made Zheng Guo rarely suffer from the "Twilight Chu of the Jin Dynasty" during the Zheng Wengong and Zheng Ligong periods.
Compared with Zheng Mugong's low profile, many of his children can be said to be different.
Zheng Mugong had one of the most outrageous daughters, Xia Ji. Xia Ji's life, known as "killing three husbands, one king and one son, and killing one country and two secretaries", is full of legends. Later, after marrying the Chu people Shen Gong wuchen and eloping to the Jin dynasty, she was able to die well.
Although many of Zheng Mugong's sons were not as famous as Xia Ji, their influence on Zheng Guo was more profound. In later generations, the descendants of Zheng Mugong gradually developed into a huge gong clan force, which was called "Seven Mu" by posterity. From the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period to the demise of the Zheng Kingdom, the influence of the "Seven Mus" was enormous, affecting the rise and fall of the Zheng State.
In 606 BC, Zheng Mugong died and was succeeded by his son Zheng Linggong.
At this time, Jin Chenggong had just returned to China, and his foundation was still shallow; King Zhuang of Chu had just led the Chu state out of the influence of domestic famine and rebellion, and began to turn to the Central Plains for hegemony.
Zheng guo was located on the dividing line between the north and the south, guarding the Zhou royal family around the Nanyang Basin, and was another big country. Under the general pattern of the Spring and Autumn Struggle for Hegemony, Zheng Guo became the object that the great powers had to contend for hegemony.
In 605 BC, in order to congratulate Zheng Linggong on his official succession, King Zhuang of Chu ordered someone to send a Specialty of ChuDi, the Weasel. The shrew, also known as the turtle, is commonly known in the south as the tuanyu, which is abundant in the Yangtze River Basin and the area south. To this day, shrew is still a precious dish that rarely appears on the daily dinner table of ordinary people. Zheng Guo is around the Luoyang Basin, far from the Yangtze River Basin, and of course, it is rarer to see shrews.
After receiving the congratulatory gift from the Chu people, Zheng Linggong was also very happy, and ordered his father to quickly kill the shrew and prepare to share it with the courtiers. Just at this time, Gongzi Song and Zijia went to the court and saw this scene, and the two couldn't help but look at each other and smile. Zheng Linggong looked at it, felt a little strange, and asked why.
It turns out that Gongzi Song is a senior "foodie" with a skill that ordinary people cannot match: whenever there is a peculiar smell, his index finger will issue an early warning and shake involuntarily. Before the upper dynasty, Gongzi Song once again "moved his index finger", and he showed off to his peers, saying that he would taste the peculiar smell today. Now the two saw that Zai Father was killing the shrew, and indeed answered the prophecy of Gongzi Song.
Hearing this, Zheng Linggong was also a little surprised. But suddenly he was uplifted again, determined to make a joke to Gongzi Song. Therefore, at the banquet, Zheng Linggong deliberately ordered people not to give Gongzi Song a parting, hoping to tease him. The publicly ugly prince Song was furious, and immediately put his index finger into the big ding containing the shrew meat, tasted it, and then walked out without hesitation!
Because of this incident, the contradiction between Zheng Ling's monarch and subjects completely broke out. In the summer of that year, because he was afraid that Zheng Linggong would not be good for him, Gongzi Song joined forces with his family to kill Zheng Linggong!
After that, Zheng Ren wanted to make Zheng Mu Gong shu zi a prince, but he firmly refused: "If we talk about virtue, then I am not virtuous enough; if we talk about longevity and childhood, then Gongzi Jian is older." Stubbornly resigning, the Zheng people had no choice but to change Gongzi Jian to the monarch.
Gongzi Jian was the later Duke Xiang of Zheng.
With the lessons of Zheng Linggong's predecessors, after Zheng Xianggong succeeded to the throne, he wanted to drive all his brothers out of Zheng Guo—except for taking the initiative to let Xian's son abandon his illness. However, Gongzi abandoned his illness and vigorously opposed this matter: "The Mu clan should stay, this is my heart." If you want to drive them away, just drive them all away, what does it mean to just leave me? ”
Unable to hinder gongzi's abandonment of illness, Zheng Xianggong had to take back his life and leave his brothers behind.
For Zheng Xianggong, this is just a trivial matter related to his brother's stay. No one expected that just because Zheng Xianggong did not persist to the end, this became a major event that affected zheng Guo's future and was of great importance.
The State of Zheng was a countate state that was only divided in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, and the first monarch was The Duke Jiyou of Zheng Huan, the son of King Li of Zhou. Decades after the division of the State of Zheng, the Zhou royal family fell into a riot: in 771 BC, King You of Zhou was killed by Xi Rong, and Western Zhou was overthrown. The situation in the world was turbulent, and in order to save his family's life, Zheng Huangong had to play a conspiracy to destroy the State of Hao, and moved the State of Zheng from the Weihe Plain east to the old land of the State of Hao (present-day Xinmi, Henan). After that, Zheng Wugong inherited his father's will and devoted his life to expanding his territory, and finally realized the development blueprint planned by Taishi Boyang for Zheng Guo before his death.
From Zheng Huangong to Zheng Wugong, the Zheng people have been fighting for survival, and the country has not been able to cultivate a strong gong clan force.
After Zheng Zhuanggong succeeded to the throne, in order to prevent his brother from seizing the throne, he did not hesitate to attack and kill Gongshu Duan. After the death of Duke Zheng Zhuang, Zheng Guo fell into a long period of civil strife, and his four sons Zheng Zhaogong, Zheng Ligong, Gongzi Qi (wěi), and Gongzi Yi took turns in ruling. During this period, the powerful minister Ji Zhong always controlled the Zheng Kingdom. After the death of Zheng Ligong, his son Zheng Wengong succeeded to the throne. In order to prevent his son from rebelling, Zheng Wengong killed two concubines and drove all his sons out of Zheng Guo.
Therefore, from the founding of the state until Zheng Xianggong succeeded to the throne, the Gong clan has never been able to develop and grow in the Zheng kingdom.
However, this time, Zheng Xianggong failed to drive the brothers away, but laid the foundation for the emergence of the "Seven Mu". The so-called "Seven Mus" refer to the seven sons of Zheng Mugong: Gongzi Xi (字子驷), Gongzi Xi (字子汉), Gongzi Ping (Zi Zi Feng), Gongzi Yan (Zi Zi You), Gongzi Shu (Zi Zi Yin), Gongzi Fa (Zi Zi Guo), and Gongzi Zhi (Zi Zi Liang). The descendants of these seven princes all took their father's zigzag as their clans, and were called Si Shi, Han Shi, Feng Shi, You Shi, Yin Shi, Guo Shi, and Liang Shi, and were historically known as "Seven Mu".
From the time of Zheng Xianggong, Mu Shi began to take turns as secretaries of state and participated in the governance of Zheng Guo. It was also from this time that the Mu clan grew rapidly and slowly marginalized the office.
In 566 BC, because Zheng Gong was rude to Zhongqing, Gongzi Lu killed him and replaced him with the five-year-old Duke Zheng Jian as king; in April of the following year, Zheng Guoqun wanted to avenge Zheng Gong, but was attacked by Gongzi Qi, killed Gongzi Qun and drove out The Gongsuns, further consolidating the status of the "Seven Mu". After that, Jun Youchen was strong, and Zheng Guoguo was completely monopolized by the Mu clan.
Mu's monopoly of state affairs was not necessarily a good thing from the beginning: the Mu clan had many brothers, and the interests of all ethnic groups were not completely aligned; coupled with the endless struggle between Jin and Chu for hegemony, zheng's internal strife suddenly increased.
In 563 BC, because Gongzi Jia initiated the "Zuotian Hun" reform, it offended many clans, triggering the rebellion of the "Five Clans" of the Zheng Kingdom, resulting in the death of Gongzi Yi, Gongzi Fa, and Gongsun Yuan (gongzi abandoned disease), and in 554 BC, because Gongzi Jia (Zikong, another son of Zheng Mugong) tried to rule and pass through foreign countries, the Han clan and the Si clan joined forces to attack and kill Gongzi Jia; in July 543 BC, the contradictions between the Liang clan's Bo you and the Si clan intensified, and the Si clan attacked and killed Bo You;
Since the Mu clan came to power, zheng has not stopped in the country.
Fortunately, however, after the great war between the Liang clan and the Si clan, Shangqing Zipi (Han Shi, grandson of Gongzi Xi) believed that Zheng Guo had reached a critical moment of death, and he strongly supported the Xianren Zi to preside over the state affairs in order to eliminate civil unrest.
Zi Zhi, a famous overseas Chinese, is the son of Gongzi Fa and belongs to the Guo clan. In the past M Moser civil strife, the son has always remained neutral, which has won him the trust of the people. With the strong support of the Han clan, the son took the center of zhengguo's political stage. After the sub-property took power, Zheng Guo vigorously promoted the reform of "the field has a seal, and the Lujing has a wu", and reformed the labor rent under the field system into a rent in kind, which greatly promoted the economic development of Zheng Guo.
However, the process of offspring reform has not been very smooth. If it were not for Han's full support, perhaps his reform would have died halfway through. In the first year of the reform, the Chinese people hated the children to the bone, and cursed him one after another: "Whoever kills the children, I will go with them!" But three years later, Zheng Ren completely changed his attitude: "I have children, and the children produce and teach them; I have fields, and the children produce and govern." After the birth of a child, who can replace him? ”
With the backing of the Han clan and the vigorous efforts of the children, the political situation of Zheng Guo finally gradually stabilized. At the same time, the diplomatic sub-industry adopted the strategy of "from Jin and Chu" to maintain long-term peace with the two hegemonic countries. Under the hard work of the sub-production, Zheng Guo once again went to the peak, and the "Seven Mu" also ushered in the most brilliant moment.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long.
In 522 BC, the child died tragically, and the child's age ended.
After this, the situation in Eastern Zhou also underwent major changes: in 505 BC, the State of Chu was invaded by the State of Wu, and almost destroyed the country and fell into a trough; in 493 BC, the State of Jin broke out in the State of Liuqing, and the princes betrayed each other, and the hegemony was difficult to sustain. The two traditional hegemonic powers of Jin and Chu have declined successively, but the southeastern Wu and Yue countries have risen to dominate one after another, bringing the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to a new era.
In this context, at the time of the six qings of the Jin Dynasty, Zheng Guo also betrayed the Jin people and actively supported the rebellious Fan and Zhongxing clans. In August 493 BC, Zi Yao and Zi Ban led the han and Si clan soldiers to the State of Qi, preparing to transport grain and grass to Chaoge (present-day Qi County, Henan) occupied by the Fan and Zhongxing clans. However, when marching to Weiguo Qiyi (present-day Puyang, Henan), he happened to encounter the army of Zhao Martin, the Jin Dynasty, who had come to intercept it, and suffered a major defeat!
Not only did relations with the Jin dynasty deteriorate, but there were also conflicts between Zheng and Song.
In 499 BC, because the Song Jing Duke protected his favored vassal Xiang Tuí, Gongzi Di and Gongzi Chen occupied the Song state of Xiaoyi (present-day northwest of Xiao County, Anhui) and rebelled. A few years later, the two princes were defeated, and Gongzidi fled to the State of Zheng. In order to support Gongzidi, The zheng ruling secretary Han da (i.e. Zi Yao) led an army to invade the Song state in 495 BC, kicking off the sixteen-year conflict between Zheng and Song. It was not until 480 BC, when the Song state was once again in civil strife due to the rebellion against XiangLu (tuí), that the State of Zheng barely managed to gain the upper hand in this conflict.
The northern break with the Jin state, the eastern conflict with the Song state, and the gradually recovering Chu state in the south made the security situation around the Zheng state deteriorate again in the late Spring and Autumn Period. In 465 BC, Zhi Yao, the governor of the Jin Dynasty, led an army to attack Zheng, and although he failed to break through the capital of the State of Zheng, he took nine cities; in 423 BC, Han Wuzi attacked the State of Zheng and killed zheng Yougong, who had just succeeded to the throne; in 408 BC, Han Jinghou again attacked Zheng and captured Yongqiu (雍丘, in modern Qi County, Henan). Zheng Guo frequently suffered targeted attacks from the Jin state, which was closely related to the position of the Zheng people during the internal turmoil in jin.
At the time of the decline of Jin and Chu, the ruling "Seven Mu" betrayed the Jin state, but did not expect that "the skinny camel was bigger than the horse", which brought greater hidden dangers to the Zheng state.
Just when the pressure of Zheng Ren was great, a good news came unexpectedly. In 404 BC, Marquis Wen of Wei, Marquis Jinghou of Han, and Marquis Liehou of Zhao were officially listed as princes by the royal family. This incident shows that the division of the Jin state is inevitable.
The mighty Jin state was divided into three, which was of course a great benefit for Zheng Guo, who had been oppressed by the Jin people. While the three families were busy dividing the Jin Dynasty, the Zheng people launched a favorable counterattack: in 407 BC, the Zheng people attacked Korea and captured The Negative Yan (黍黍, thirty-five miles southwest of present-day Yangcheng, Shanxi); in 400 BC, taking advantage of the death of Han Jinghou, Zheng Guo once again besieged Yang Zhai (present-day Yuzhou, Henan).
Although Zheng Guo's strength is far inferior to that of Jin Guo, he still has the strength to compete with one of the weakest South Koreas in the three Jins.
Just when Zheng Guo launched a powerful counterattack against foreign enemies, deadly civil unrest broke out again.
After the late Spring and Autumn Period, zheng guozheng seems to have fallen into the hands of the Si clan: whether it was The Si Huanzi who asked the State of Qi for help when Zhi Yao was cutting Zheng, or the State Minister Ziyang in the late Zheng Dynasty, both came from the Si clan. (Chronology of the Six Kingdoms)
Because Si Ziyang's ruling was too harsh, it caused high dissatisfaction among the people. In 397 BC, when the State of Chu was besieging the State of Zheng, ziyang men were instructed by zheng to kill ziyang with a mad dog. Ziyang's party was so enraged that two years later he attacked and killed Zheng Gong and replaced Zheng Yougong's brother as Jun, who was the Duke of Zheng Kang. In the chaotic world, the gongfu and the gong clan once again killed each other, which seriously injured Zheng Guoyuan.
In 394 BC, the Negative People launched a rebellion and returned to Korea; in 386 BC, The Koreans attacked Zheng and captured Yangcheng (near the town of Present-day Dengfeng, Henan); in 375 BC, the Marquis of Han once again attacked Zheng and completely destroyed the State of Zheng!
Zheng Guo was destroyed, and the once brilliant Zheng Guo", the "Seven Mu", completely ended from the historical stage!
If it were not for Gongzi abandoning his illness and insisting on leaving behind his brothers, perhaps Zheng Guo's "Seven Mu" would not have had the opportunity to appear on the stage of history at all.
However, history cannot be assumed.
Compared with the powerful gong clans of other countries, the formation time of the "Seven Mu" of the Zheng Kingdom is relatively late. However, because the Zheng people never changed the excessive feudal system and patriarchal system, sooner or later the Gong clan forces will take shape. There is a special blood relationship between the public clan and the office, and once they are close to the center of power, they are more likely than ordinary people to influence state affairs. This effect, of course, can be positive or negative. But in the long run, the negatives prevail. The existence of a powerful public family not only accelerates the solidification of social classes, hinders the emergence of talents of different races and surnames, but also has other hidden dangers.
Taking Zheng Guo as an example, the "Seven Mu" has made outstanding contributions to the development of the country, and even emerged capable people and sages like children, helping Zheng Guo to reach the peak again. But in any case, the public family and the office are not completely one. Therefore, when the "Seven Mu" control the state affairs for a long time, it will pose a potential threat to the office, and the two will inevitably erupt into contradictions and conflicts. The mutual killing between the Zheng Gong and the Si clan is the consequence of the intensification of the contradiction between the public office and the gong clan. When domestic contradictions broke out, foreign enemies took advantage of the void to enter, and Zheng Guo was thus doomed.
South Korea was able to annex the Zheng kingdom not because it had an absolute upper hand in strength; but because the infighting between the Zheng government and the Gong clan consumed too much national strength, making it lose the ability to resist foreign enemies. Before the fall of the country, Zheng Guo was able to win many victories against Korea, which is a clear proof.
Rising because of the "Seven Mu" and declining because of the "Seven Mu", it seems that what did the sub-feudal system and patriarchal system bring to Zheng Guo?
In that year, the establishment of the sub-feudal system and the patriarchal system, the original intention of the Duke of Zhou was "feudal relatives, to Fanping Zhou Room". However, in the long run, it was precisely the sub-feudal system and the patriarchal system that hindered the further development of the Zhou royal family and various princely states. The rise and fall of Zheng Guo and the "Seven Mus" is a living proof.
The "small hegemons" of the early Spring and Autumn Period have all fallen, and how long can those traditional princely states that are unwilling, dare not, and disdain reform survive in the Warring States Period?