In 575 BC, the State of Jin prepared to send an army to attack Zheng and compete with the State of Chu for hegemony. In order to strengthen his own strength, the Duke of Jin li sent emissaries to the princely states to request help. To say "request" is to give an order. As a "loyal little brother" who had long followed the Jin state, Lu Guo also received orders to send troops.
After receiving the notice of the Jin Dynasty, Lu Chenggong did not dare to be sloppy at all and actively prepared to go out on the expedition. But at this moment, the backyard of Lu Cheng's family was on fire.
Lu Chenggong's mother Mu Jiang had an affair with the uncle of the "Sanhuan" family, Sun Qiao, and in order to help her old lover, she actually instigated Lu Chenggong to expel the Mengsun and Jisun clans of the "Sanhuan" family, so that the shusun clan could monopolize the state government power of the Lu state. Lu Chengzheng was very busy with the affairs of the Jin Dynasty, but his mother was out of trouble at this time, which made him very annoyed. Seeing that Lu Chenggong tried to make a perfunctory remark, Mu Jiang actually threatened to establish another monarch!
Lu Chenggong was suddenly frightened out of a cold sweat!
In desperation, he had to postpone the time of sending troops and stay in the country of Lu to deploy first to prevent his mother from rebelling. This delay was a mistake: the Battle of Yanling of the Jin Dynasty had been fought, and the Lu army had not yet arrived.
In July, after the Jin people defeated the Chu state, they held an alliance meeting at the Song state of Shasui (Ningling North, Henan) to prepare to attack Zheng again. Lu Chenggong did not dare to rub and rub, and hurried to the Song Kingdom to participate in the meeting. However, at this moment, Shusun Qiao bribed the commander of the Jin army, Hao Xi, and falsely accused Lu Chenggong of him: "During the Battle of Yanling, the reason why the Lu army was slow to set off was to see who could finally win! After Jin Ligong heard this rumor, he was so angry that he didn't even see Lu Chenggong at the time of the alliance meeting!
At the instigation of His uncle Sun Qiao, at the September meeting of the Jinqiu (JinDi, now unknown) League, the Jin people once detained Ji Wenzi, the ruling secretary of the State of Lu. In the end, it was Shi Xie who presided over justice for the Lu people, and only then did Ji Wenzi return to China.
This year, for Lu Chenggong, it is really unfavorable!
However, with the return of Ji Wenzi, the conspiracy between Shusun Qiao and Mu Jiang was completely bankrupt. In October, Lu Chenggong, together with the two major families of Jisun and Mengsun, joined forces to drive out Shusun Qiao and completely won the victory of this internal power struggle!
The victory over his mother and uncle Sun Qiao was only one of the happy events of Lu Chenggong's year.
When Lu Chenggong was attending the Sha Sui meeting, a happy news came from the family: his son Ji Wu was born. Duke Lu Cheng ruled for sixteen years, and there were not many heirs. Now that a son has been added, of course, it is a happy event.
Two years later, Lu Chenggong passed away. Ji Wu, who was born at the time of the Sha Huihui, was immediately made the monarch of the State of Lu and was made the Duke of Lu Xiang.
When Duke Lu Xiang officially succeeded to the throne, he was only three years old, and he was a completely ignorant child. Needless to say, at this time, the power of state affairs in the State of Lu fell into the hands of several secretaries of the State of Lu - especially the members of the "Three Huan" family. Lu Xianggong, who did not know the world, became a tool at the mercy of the "Three Huans" consciously or unconsciously.
In 570 BC, Meng Xianzi took the five-year-old Duke Lu Xianggong to visit the Jin state. When he saw the Jin Mourning Gong, Meng Xianzi actually asked Lu Xianggong to respectfully perform the first ceremony! Although the Jin state was powerful, the Jin and Lu were only princely states, and the two monarchs should be equal in political status. But Meng Xianzi asked Duke Lu Xiang to perform a courtesy service to the Duke of Jin —what was going on?
As the saying goes, "Nothing is offered, and nothing is adultery or theft!" ”
The secretaries of state of Lu made this trip in the hope that the State of Jin would agree to accept the State of Lu as a "little brother" so that some "protection fees" could be divided up from the State of Lu. Since there was a request for people, Meng Xianzi deliberately planned such a big drama: We in the state of Lu all think that we are the subjects of the State of Jin, and does the State of Jin also have to give some benefits to the State of Lu?
The Jin mourning gong who was praised by the Lu people could not be bothered, and had to agree to lu guo's request.
Unfortunately, although the Lu people's desire to become the "Master of the Shandong Branch Hall" is urgent, their strength is too weak. In the next two or three years, under the attack of Juguo and Yiguo on both sides, Juguo was actually destroyed!
The consequences of Lu Xianggong giving up the dignity of the country were only a bamboo basket to draw water - an empty one!
Lu Xianggong could not pro-government for a long time, and was randomly led by the nose by the minister of the State of Lu, and finally people could not look at it. This person was none other than the King of jin and the Duke of Jin.
In October 564 BC, the Duke of Jin mourned the organization of the princes to cut down Zheng. This time, the princes' armies put up a strong momentum of siege on three sides, forcing the Zheng people to sign an alliance under the city. In November, the Jin dynasty held an alliance ceremony with Zheng Guo at the opera (north of The Song Mountains in Dengfeng, Henan). However, in the process of the alliance meeting, the reluctant Zheng Ren shouted out the oath of "only courtesy and strong obedience", which was obviously an open provocation to the hegemonic ideology of the Jin State.
To this end, in December, the Jin state once again organized the princely states to attack the Zheng state.
After the return of Fa Zheng this time, out of courtesy, Lu Xianggong sent the Duke of Jin to the Yellow River. Seeing that the Lu people were so attentive, in order to show their gratitude, the Duke of Jin set up a table on the ship to feast on Lu Xianggong. During the banquet, the Duke of Jin suddenly asked how old Lu Xianggong was. Before Lu Xianggong could reply, Ji Wuzi, who was accompanying him, preemptively said, "When Sha Suimeng was meeting, the monarch of our country was just born!" When Jin Mourning Gong heard this, he said meaningfully: "Twelve years old!" A monarch can have children at the age of fifteen, and it is a common ritual to crown them before giving birth. You can hold a crowning ceremony! Why didn't the doctor prepare the utensils for the crowning ceremony? The so-called "crowning ceremony" is the coming-of-age ceremony of men of the ancients. After the crown, it means that the man has grown up and can officially participate in political affairs.
When jin mourned the duke returned to China, he was only fourteen years old, so he was well aware of the difficulties of the young monarch's rule.
Now that Lu Xianggong was twelve years old (imaginary age), he could not even interject when meeting with the Duke of Jin, and even such a simple question as his age had to be answered by the minister, which showed how much he was controlled by the minister of Lu Guo! Therefore, for this Lu monarch who had been used as a tool of governance by the ministers since childhood, the Duke of Jin mourned a faint sympathy. As a "leading big brother", he is certainly not good at directly interfering in the state affairs of luguo. The Duke of Jin mourned the ceremony of holding a crowning ceremony for Lu Xianggong, as if it was unintentional, but in fact secretly helping Lu Xianggong, asking him to pro-government as soon as possible and not to become a puppet at the mercy of others.
As soon as the overlord spoke, Ji Wuzi naturally did not dare to slacken off. When passing through the Weiguo, he borrowed the utensils for the crowning ceremony from the Wei people and held a crowning ceremony for Lu Xianggong.
Although the Duke of Jin was kind, not everyone like himself could be a young hero. Although Lu Xianggong had already held a crowning ceremony, he had no choice but to have a huge influence on the "Three Huans" and had deep roots in luguo. Those adult monarchs of the State of Lu had to rely on the "Three Huans" family to govern, let alone a young monarch like Lu Xianggong?
In 562 BC, Ji Wuzi suddenly proposed to expand the Lu army to three armies.
According to the "Shang Shu Fei Oath", at the beginning of the founding of the State of Lu, there were "three suburbs and three sui". The so-called "suburbs" are equivalent to the "townships" of the Zhou royal family. Under the township tunnel system, "township" people have the obligation to perform military service. Each "township" produced one person, a total of 12,500 people, forming an army. There are three "suburbs" in the country of Lu, so as early as the beginning of the founding of the country, the state of Lu should have three armies.
Why did Ji Wuzi now expand the Lu army to the three armies?
At the beginning of the founding of the State of Lu, it was the time of the Second Crusade of the Zhou People. At that time, the area around Shandong was still the land of Dongyi, and the forces of the Yin Shang remnants, Dongyi, and Huaiyi were extremely large. In order to recruit the rebels, the State of Lu had to maintain a strong army before it could gain a foothold on the edge of the Shandong Peninsula. However, after hundreds of years of peace, it was no longer necessary to maintain so many troops, so later the Army of the Lu State was slowly reduced.
The Book of Poetry, Lu Song and Gong Gong is a poem in praise of Lu Gong, which contains the sentence "Thirty Thousand Public Disciples, Bei Ji Zhu Ling (Yin Qin)". It can be seen that at the time of the Duke of Lu, the army of the State of Lu was only 30,000. If the State of Lu was three armies at this time, then the total number of lu troops should be close to 40,000; only 30,000, indicating that at this time, the State of Lu only had two armies, plus other armies, the total was about 30,000 people. Therefore, it can be learned that the State of Lu has maintained the size of the two armies since the beginning and middle of the Spring and Autumn Period.
However, after the strength of the State of Qi grew, it frequently threatened the State of Lu. In order to strengthen military strength, lu Xuangong in the fifteenth year of the year, the implementation of the "initial tax acre" tax increase; Lu Cheng in the year of the common era, "as a hill" increased the endowment; in this year, the size of the army was expanded to the three armies.
In this sense, it is not surprising that the expansion of the three armed forces is a consistent continuation of the policy of the State of Lu in the field of national defense.
However, the reason why Ji Wuzi wanted to expand the Lu army to the three armies was that he still had other thoughts.
After determining the plan to expand the army, Ji Wuzi found his uncle Sun Bao and said to him: "After being added to the three armies, each of our three families will lead an army." Hearing this plan, Shusun Bao was astonished: "Sooner or later, the state affairs of the State of Lu will be in your charge, so your subsequent administration will be troublesome!" "Ever since Ji You put down the rebellion of Qing Father and put Duke Lu on the throne of the State of Lu, the Ji Sun clan has been ranked as Shangqing for generations. Ji Wuzi's father, Ji Wenzi, had just died, and the state politics of the State of Lu was now controlled by his uncle Sun Bao. However, in view of the status of the Jisun clan, uncle Sun Bao would sooner or later hand over the power of state affairs to Ji Wuzi. Therefore, hearing that Ji Wuzi wanted the three families to lead the Lu State Army separately, Shusun Bao would be so surprised.
However, Ji Wuzi insisted on implementing the expansion plan. Seeing that Ji Wuzi had an iron heart, Uncle Sun Leopard proposed: "Or let's make an oath!" Subsequently, the three families of the Meng Sun clan, the Shu Sun clan, and the Ji Sun clan held an oath of alliance at the gate of the Lu Gong Temple, and cursed those who did not keep the covenant oath at the Five Fathers' Qu. To be so cautious is that the three families are afraid that the other party will repent, so that the big thing will not be accomplished.
In January 562 BC, the state of Lu was officially expanded to three armies, and each of the "Three Huan" families led an army. Since it had taken over the Lu army, the "Sanhuan" family unceremoniously divided the land of the Lu State Gongfu into three parts, and each family received one! The three suburbs and three sui of the Lu state have since become the private territory of the "three huans" of the Lu state.
The "Three Huan" family's three-point office, such a big move, but never consulted with Lu Xianggong! Two years have passed since the crowning ceremony was held in Weiguo, and Lu Xianggong was already fourteen years old. However, on such a major issue, Lu Xianggong did not have the right to speak at all, which showed that the monarch of the State of Lu had been elevated by the "Three Huans" family and became a puppet!
However, although lu xianggong could not stop the private division of the Luguo gong, the "Three Huan" family still faced another major challenge.
The Sanfen office is an agreement reached privately by the "Sanhuan" family, and the people of luguo may not necessarily approve of it. In order to let the people of luguo recognize the "separation", the "Sanhuan" family also took a different approach.
The Jisun clan exempts those who belong to the territory from taxation for those who join the Ji family, and double the tax on those who do not join. The Jisun clan did not force the people to join the Ji family, but they used economic means to exert pressure: it is okay to be loyal to the Luguo Gongfu, but your family's taxes are doubled. In order to avoid taxes, the people naturally joined the Ji clan.
The Meng Sun clan requires half of the children of each family to join the office and the other half to join the Meng family. Meng Sun's practice left a little affection for the Luguo Gongfu, and did not completely cut off the luguo Gongfu's way of life.
The Uncles and Sons of the Clan require the sons and younger brothers of each family to join the Uncle Sun clan, while the fathers and brothers join the office. Shusun's approach was even more sinister, leaving the Luguo Gongfu with the old, weak, sick and disabled, and the young and middle-aged all of them entering their own doors.
Twenty-five years later, Ji Sun led the downsizing of the three armies of the State of Lu into the Second Army. To this end, the Sanhuan family once again divided the territory of the Luguo Gongfu into four, with the Jisun clan occupying the second, and the Mengsun clan and the Shusun clan each occupying one. This time, the three families unified their thinking, incorporated all the people of the territory into their own homes, and then handed over the tribute to the Luguo Gongfu.
The monarch of the State of Lu has since been completely hollowed out.
In 517 BC, Lu Zhaogong tried to attack the Jisun clan, but instead was defeated by the Jisun clan and the Shusun clan, forced to flee the lu state, and died in a humiliating foreign country!
Despite the secret assistance of the overlord Jin Mourning, Lu Xianggong still inevitably became a puppet; his son tried to launch a counterattack, but was driven out of the Lu state, and he still could not return to the country after all kinds of tosses. The encounter of Lu Xianggong's father and son is enough to witness the strength of the Luguo Gong clan - Zhou Gongdan's "pro-relative Shang'en", after nearly five hundred years, finally let his descendants successfully divide the Lu kingdom!