The influence of the Zhou Dynasty on Chinese history is beyond many people's imagination, and our real history of faith began with the Zhou Dynasty, the Xia Dynasty is still suspected to exist today, and the Shang Dynasty was only confirmed after the discovery of the Yin Ruins.
The historical legacy of the Zhou Dynasty was so great that it affected all aspects of Chinese society, and it was not until the late Qing Dynasty that it was broken by foreign cultures. Carefully combing through the bits and pieces of the Zhou Dynasty, you may be able to find a world first, such as the debt restructuring plan of Ji Yan, the king of Zhou Zhao.
When Ji Yan succeeded to the throne as the King of Zhou, the Zhou Dynasty had long since lost its former strength, leaving only a nominal co-lord of the world, and the Seven Kingdoms such as Qin Qi, Zhao Chu, Wei, Han Yan, and so on did not take Zhou Tianzi seriously at all, and did not even have superficial cold noise and respect.
Of course, what Ji Yan hated most was the State of Qin, which not only occupied the old capital of the Zhou Dynasty, but also showed the intention of becoming a leader and wanting to take the Zhou Room and replace it. In 256 BC, Ji Yan gathered 5,000 men and horses and gathered the six kingdoms to jointly attack the Qin state.
Why is it said that it is "put together" 5,000 people? Because king Zhou alone could not afford to raise these soldiers in his fiefdoms around Luoyi, Ji Yan had to borrow money from the wealthy merchants in Luoyi and promised to repay the debts with war booty after defeating the Qin state.
The rich merchants of Luoyi thought that Ji Yan was the king of Zhou, even if he lost, the Zhou royal family could not pay the debt, as long as there was a country, it was a big deal to pay back slowly. Therefore, the rich merchants generously donated money, so that the King of Zhou Zhao gathered a large army.
However, in addition to the King of Chu still had some thoughts, Han Wei Zhao and other countries were pregnant with ghost fetuses, and the act of cutting down Qin naturally failed, and the King of Zhou Zhao owed a fart debt, so that he had to hide on a high platform, so that the creditors could not catch themselves, which is the origin of the idiom of "high debt".
The really wonderful story has finally begun, the King of Zhou Zhao can't hide on the high platform for a lifetime, he always has to come down to meet people. The creditors chased after him for money, and King Zhou Zhao really couldn't hide, and finally came up with a way.
If you forgive three-quarters of your debts, I will pay back the remaining quarter, otherwise there will be no children. Where the creditors are willing to agree, quarreling, quarreling, the King of Zhou Zhao is biting this condition.
Finally tired, the creditors are a total, after all, people are Zhou Tianzi, can not rob the ancestral temple of the old Ji family, forget it, a quarter of it, better than a penny is not good. Unfortunately, before they could reach a final debt relief agreement with king Zhou Zhao, the Qin army came to retaliate.
The Qin army effortlessly ousted King Zhou Zhao from the throne, announcing that Luoyi belonged to Great Qin from now on, and the Zhou Dynasty, which had been in power for 800 years, was officially destroyed. Fortunately, the King of Zhou Zhao at least did not have to worry about debt anymore, and the grief-stricken Ji Yan died of illness that year.
Two millennia later, Greece had too much debt to repay, and in 2012 it was declared that either all its debts would be written down in half or would not be repaid. In the end, Greece succeeded, reducing its debt by more than half and surviving the crisis. Three years later, the Greek trick was repeated, once again successfully relieving most of its debts.
In addition to Greece, there are many countries that have used this trick and have repeatedly worked, and the creditor's biggest fear is that the debtor will go bankrupt and lose everything. Tracing back to the source, the patent right for debt restructuring or debt write-down should belong to Ji Yan, the king of Zhou Zhao, but this invention is not rare for us Chinese.