21. Zhou Gong's "Three Immortals"

After the destruction of the Shang Dynasty, King Wu of Zhou moved the capital from Feng to Hojing (镐京, in modern Fengshui, Shaanxi) and granted land to his relatives and heroes. Jiang Shang was supreme in merit and was enfeoffed to the State of Qi; his brothers Zhou Gongdan and Zhao Gongyi were the monarchs of the State of Lu and the State of Yan, respectively, and because King Wu still needed their assistance, he sent his son to the fiefdom. This was the largest fief in history, and when King Cheng came to power, he sealed more than seventy princely states. Although the Shang Dynasty died, the remaining forces were still very strong, and in order to appease them, King Wu made Wu Geng, the son of Shang, the Marquis of Yin, stayed in the Yin capital Chaoge, and let his brothers Guan Uncle, Uncle Cai, and Uncle Huo serve as assistants to Wu Geng, and in fact gave him as overseers, so they were called "Three Supervisors". Shortly after the founding of the Zhou Dynasty, Ji Fa, the King of Wu, fell ill and died, and his thirteen-year-old son Ji Shu succeeded to the throne, that is, King Cheng of Zhou, who could not govern the country because of his lack of trouble, coupled with the initial establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, the political situation was unstable, and everything was in ruins, so he had to be taken over by his uncle Zhou Gongdan to take over the royal power for him.

Zhou Gongdan (周公丹), surnamed Ji (姬名丹), was the fourth son of Ji Chang the King of Zhou Wen and the younger brother of Ji Fa the King of Zhou Wu, who was known as the Duke of Zhou because Caiyi was in Zhou and was known as the Duke of Shang, also known as the Duke of Zhou. After the death of King Wu of Zhou, he took on the heavy responsibility of entrusting the orphan and acting as the head of the dynasty, and was the first veritable regent in Chinese history. Although he held the royal power, he never took pride in his achievements and treated himself with dignity, but was busy with state affairs day and night, and devoted himself to the prosperity of the Zhou Dynasty. However, Zhou Gongdan's brothers Guan Shu, Uncle Cai, and Uncle Huo were harboring ghost fetuses and colluding to plot to depose King Cheng and replace him, but they were afraid that Zhou Gongdan would not be easy to deal with, so they spread rumors everywhere, framing him for bullying and insulting the young lord in an attempt to usurp the throne and seize power. Over time, King Cheng believed these untrue words to be true, and began to be wary of Zhou Gongdan, and the relationship between his uncle and nephew was no longer harmonious, until one day, when the Taishi official reported the truth to him, he woke up like a dream. It turned out that he was seriously ill that year, and Zhou Gongdan prayed to the river god sincerely, preferring to lose his life and bless him with an early recovery, and then sealed the prayer and handed it over to the Taishi official for preservation, and repeatedly told him to keep his mouth shut, completely unlike what the rumor-mongers said, praying for his early return to heaven. King Cheng, feeling deceived, blamed the loyal regent and immediately took Zhou Gongdan, who had gone out to avoid suspicion, back to the capital.

Uncle Guan, Uncle Cai, and Uncle Huo saw that the divisive plan was discovered, and they actually committed adultery with Wu Geng, the son of Shang, and left the entrustment of the King of Wu behind. Wu Geng, eager to take revenge as soon as possible, unexpectedly got the help of the "Three Prisons", and became more and more impatient, and soon gathered the old forces to rebel against the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou Gongdan's three brothers nominally served as assistants to Wu Geng, but in fact they were princes with their own fiefs, with many soldiers and horses, and then joined hands with Wu Geng, posing a great threat to the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou Gongdan was ordered to mobilize Jiang Shang, Zhao Gongyi, and other multinational soldiers and horses to march east, kill Xiang Chaoge in a mighty way, quell the rebellion with lightning speed, kill Wu Geng and Guan Shu, exile Uncle Cai, and degrade Uncle Huo as a commoner. After the great victory, Zhou Gongdan did not collect his troops, but took a short break to continue the Eastern Crusade, known in history as the "Second Eastern Crusade", after three years of bloody struggle, annihilated or surrendered many large states and small states that were opposed to the Zhou Dynasty, broadened the territory, promoted integration, and laid a solid foundation for the consolidation of the Zhou Dynasty's rule. When King Cheng turned twenty years old, the Duke of Zhou returned power to him, no longer commanding the world, and willingly serving as an assistant minister who offered advice and advice.

In the seven years of the regency, Zhou Gongdan not only created favorable conditions for King Cheng's rule, but also formulated a set of laws and discipline rules and ritual music systems, which provided institutional guarantees for the long-term peace and stability of the Zhou Dynasty, and also left an immortal cultural heritage to future generations, which can be called the pioneer of Confucian culture. The ancients regarded the "three immortals" as the highest realm of entering the world; or the words of immortality, or the virtue of immortality, or the merit of immortality. In other words, to be able to establish one of the immortals is to be a saint. Zhou Gongdan is the first "three immortals" in Chinese history to be the first to be a master. In terms of speech, many of his most reasonable quotes were included in the "Book of Shang", the first of the "Four Books", which became the cornerstone of Confucian culture, and the "Zhou Li" he formulated had a deep influence on later generations, and was thus revered as "Yuan Sheng". In terms of Lide, he first did his best to assist King Wu of Zhou in destroying Shang Lizhou; and then he did not live up to King Wu's dying instructions, endured humiliation and burdens, exerted great efforts to govern, and handed over a political and harmonious Zhou Dynasty to King Cheng, and Completed the regency mission, Great Benevolence, Great Virtue, and High Mountain. In terms of meritorious service, he first assisted King Wu of Zhou in his conquest of Shanglu and made a meritorious contribution to the destruction of the Shang Dynasty; later, he led an army to the east twice, and made great merits for the initial Zhou Dynasty to relieve its crisis and worries. Jia Yi, a famous scholar of the Han Dynasty, said: "King Wen has great merit and has not yet achieved success, King Wu has great merit and has not succeeded, and Zhou Gongdan has set great virtue and great merit and great rule in one." A generation of tyrants Cao Cao also chanted poems and praised: "Zhou Gong spits and feeds, and the world returns to the heart!" ＂