After king Zhou Ping moved east to Luoyi, the history of the Spring and Autumn Warring States officially began. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the wars of the princes for hegemony formed the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemonies. However, there are still many theories about which five princely states the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons are monarchs. Among them, there are two versions that are the most widely circulated and recognized. According to the introduction, one is the view given by Sima Qian in the "Records of History": Qi Huan Gong, Song Xiang Gong, Jin Wen Gong, Qin Mu Gong, Chu Zhuang Wang; corresponding to this, the other version of the Xunzi Wang Ba, respectively: Qi Huan Gong, Jin Wen Gong, Chu Zhuang Wang, Wu Wang Lu and Yue Wang Gou Jian.
On this basis, according to the view in the "Records of History", Qin Mugong was the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period on a par with the Duke of Qi Huan and the Duke wen of Jin. During the reign of Duke Mu of Qin, Yu Zhao, who had defected from the Jin dynasty to the Rong people, was recruited as a strategist. According to Yu Yu's plan, the State of Qin gradually destroyed 12 vassal states (20 according to one) established by Xi Rong. The Zhou royal family congratulated The Zhou royal family on the victory of The Duke of Qin on The victory of Xi Rong, and gave him a golden drum, hoping that he would beat the drum to continue to attack Xi Rong; When King Mu of Qin sent troops to attack the State of Shu and other countries west of Hangu Pass, opening up more than a thousand miles of land, the King of Zhou Xiang appointed him as the uncle of the princes of the West, and The Duke of Qin Mu then claimed to dominate Xi Rong, laying the foundation for the future unification of the Qin State. So, the question is, Qin Mugong claimed to dominate Xirong, why didn't Qin Guo dominate the Central Plains, was there any difficulty?
One
First of all, during the Spring and Autumn Period, dominating the Central Plains was undoubtedly the unanimous goal of all major powers. For example, the Duke huan of Qi, the head of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, adopted Guan Zhong's opinion, played the banner of "Zun Wang Zhiyi", united other princes, attacked Shanrong in the north, and attacked the Chu state in the south, establishing prestige among the princely states. Later, the Duke of Qi Huan summoned the princely states to meet the alliance at Kuiqiu, "Nine Princes, One Kuang World". The Zhou royal family also sent people to participate, officially recognizing the hegemonic status of the Duke of Qi Huan and becoming the first hegemon in the Spring and Autumn Period. After duke Huan of Qi, Duke Wen of Jin and later the monarchs of the Jin state also often held many alliances as allies of the central plains princely states. As for many monarchs of the Chu State, they also have the ambition to conquer the Central Plains. On this basis, as far as Qin Mugong was concerned, dominating the Central Plains should also be the ultimate goal.
However, Qin Mugong has not been able to conquer the Central Plains, because the Qin State was stubbornly blocked by the Jin State on the way to the Central Plains. In other words, it was precisely because of the obstruction of the Jin state that the Qin state could not dominate the central plains in the east during the Spring and Autumn Period, and then could only change the direction and dominate the Western Rong. That is, a powerful Jin state is the biggest difficulty of the Qin state. Qin Mugong, (?) –620 BC) was the Duke of Qin Miao, surnamed Zhao (赵氏), courtesy name Renhao, and was the 9th monarch of the Qin state during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Two
After Duke Mu of Qin ascended the throne, in order to dominate the Central Plains, he co-opted the powerful State of Jin at that time, and he personally proposed to the Duke of Jin, and the Duke of Jin married his eldest daughter to him, thus making the State of Qin and the State of Jin form a "good relationship between Qin and Jin". After the death of Duke Xian of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin also helped Gongzi to ascend the throne, which was the Duke wen of Jin. In the process of Jin Wen's hegemony over the Central Plains, the State of Qin became a staunch ally of the State of Jin, that is, to send troops to help the State of Jin dominate the Central Plains. However, for Duke Wen of Jin, he was unwilling to share the throne of the Central Plains overlord fairly with Qin Mu, which led to the gradual rupture of the relationship between the Qin and Jin states. After the death of Duke Wen of Jin, Duke Mu of Qin decided to send an army to dominate the Central Plains, which led to the Outbreak of the Battle of Kun.
The Battle of Qin and Jin was an important battle in the Spring and Autumn Period during the Jin-Qin Struggle for Hegemony. In the twenty-fifth year of King Xiang of Zhou (627 BC), Duke Mu of Qin took advantage of the fact that Duke Wen of Jin had just died, so he sent troops to secretly attack the state of Zheng, but later retreated because of Zheng Youbei. Jin Xianggong led an army to ambush the Qin army of the Hui division at the pass of Mount Kunshan (崤山, in present-day Wangling Village, Dongsong Township, Luoning County, Henan Province) and captured the three marshals of the Qin army. Immediately after the Battle of Kun, the State of Qin released Dou Ke, the Chu captured in the Battle of Tan, and allied with the State of Chu to jointly resist the Jin. After that, Qin adopted the strategy of uniting chu to control Jin, which became a major problem for the Jin state in the west. In order to maintain its hegemonic position, the Jin state also had to deal with the challenges of the two great powers of Qin and Chu in the west and south at the same time.
Three
In 624 BC, the Qin and Jin dynasties fought a battle of kings and officials. In this battle, Qin Mugong concentrated his forces and personally led his army to attack Jin, crossed the Yellow River, and captured Wang Guan (王官, in modern Wenxinan, Shanxi) and Yi (in present-day southwest linyi, Shanxi). In order to avoid a decisive battle, the Jin army held the city and refused to fight. In the Battle of Wang guan, although the Qin army won and penetrated deep into the hinterland of Jin, it did not fight a decisive battle with the main force of Jin. Qin's lone army was deep, and it was difficult to gain a foothold for a long time, so it had to return to China through Taolin. In view of this, in order to further expand the territory and enrich the national strength, Qin Mugong temporarily shifted the main strategic direction to Xi rong. Therefore, it is very obvious that it is precisely because of the obstruction of the Jin state in the east that it is difficult for the Duke mu of Qin and the subsequent monarchs of the Qin state to plot against the Central Plains.
At that time, the overall national strength of the Jin state was undoubtedly above that of the Qin state. At the height of the Jin Dynasty, its territory included all of present-day Shanxi Province, eastern and northern Shaanxi Province, central and southern Hebei Province, western and northern Henan Province, and northern Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Because of its strong national strength, the Jin state often suppressed the three great powers of Qi, Qin, and Chu, and for most of the Spring and Autumn period, the Jin state could be described as a single Central Plain, and even historian Quan Zuwang commented on the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons that "Qi Yi and Jin Si Ye", the Jin State occupied four seats, namely Jin WenGong, Jin XiangGong, Jin JingGong, and Jin Mourning Gong.
Four
Finally, in addition to its strength, the Jin state also controlled the Kunshan And Hangu Pass, so that the Qin state could not make it strong. During the Warring States period, the State of Qin relied on Hangu Pass to resist the Combined Attack of the Six Kingdoms of Shandong against Qin. However, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Passes such as Kunshan and Hangu Pass were not in the hands of the Qin State. In this regard, the "Qin and Jin Military Exchange Table" counted the exchange of troops between Qin and Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period: "In the world of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Qin and Jin dynasties fought in the seventy years of war to fight for the letter. And the reason why Qin could not succeed in the end was that he could not be defeated. "The Xunhan here refers to Kunshan and Hangu Pass, and as soon as these two place names come out, some readers will understand that these two places are extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack. Whether it is Kunshan or Hangu Pass, since ancient times, it has been known for its steep terrain and strong passes, especially in the Spring and Autumn Period, when the Qin State was blocked here for hundreds of years by the Jin State.
Based on this, since Qin Mugong could not plot against the Central Plains, he could only turn around and move towards Xi Rong. At that time, in the area of present-day Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ning, there lived many Rongdi tribes and small states, such as Kunrong, Mianzhu, and Zhai in the west of Longshan, Yiqu, Wushi, and Shuyan in northern Jing, Dalizhirong in Luochuan, and Luhun in Weinan. During the reign of Duke Mu of Qin, he gradually destroyed 12 states (some say 20) established by Xi Rong, and opened up more than a thousand miles of land. The victory of Qin Mugong over the Rong people made the Zhou royal family send people to congratulate and give him a golden drum, hoping that he would beat the drum to continue to attack the Rong people, which is what the history books say qin Mugong "dominated the Western Rong". It was precisely because of his hegemony over Xi Rong that Qin Mugong became one of the five hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the State of Qin was also known as the Four Powers of the Spring and Autumn Period along with the State of Qi, the State of Chu, and the State of Jin. In the Warring States period, with the three branches of the Jin Dynasty and the Shang Martingale Transformation Law, the Qin State finally gained the opportunity to dominate the Central Plains. What do you think about that?