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The feudal states of the Zhou Dynasty were the barriers to defend the royal family, and they were also the military and political governors who governed the localities on behalf of the Zhou Kings, each of which had a certain military strength and constituted local troops distributed throughout the dynasty. This army was responsible for defending the territory and maintaining local tranquility in peacetime, and was therefore an indispensable military force for the dynasty. How to control this part of the army of the King of Zhou, as early as the implementation of the Great Division, a set of leadership system for the King of Zhou to command the armies of the princely states was established, and it was constantly improved with the changes of the times, so that this system always served the strengthening of the royal power.
At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, due to the needs of the extraordinary period, the princely states formed the three divisions, the second division of the sub-kingdoms, and the first division of the small kingdoms, and the "Fang Bo Second Division, the First Division of the Princes" of the princely states after King Zhao became the general system of the Western Zhou army quota.
In the era of "Li Le conquest from the Son of Heaven", the princes could not dispatch them at will, because at that time, the ceremonial system of "all military generals are ordered to be qing" was no exception from the royal family to the princes, and the armies of each princely state must be led by the secretaries appointed by the king of Zhou, that is, the three divisions of the big country had three orders, the second division of the second country had two orders, the small country had one order, or the second division of Fang Bo had two orders, and the first division of the princes had one. In other words, the generals sent by the King of Zhou to command the country's army were under the command of the King of Zhou, which made the local troops formed in the princely states firmly under the control of the King of Zhou.
After the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states that were divided into various places developed and grew in the local area; at the same time, the Huaiyi states that were originally subordinate gradually united and constantly launched rebellious activities.
In the face of this new situation, in order to strengthen the control of the princely states and to have sufficient military strength to suppress the Huaiyi states that are moving toward a coalition and rebellion against the Zhou, it is necessary to strengthen the management and command of the national army, so it is necessary to have a special organization to control the military and political affairs of the whole country.
Sima , a rare figure in the Jin dynasty at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, who at this time became a major vassal of the King of Zhou, was often found in the Jin Dynasty texts, appearing as a "right" (傧相) person on the occasion of the Zhou King's edict or receiving ministers, and sometimes holding a ceremony of canonization or reward at the "Sima Palace of the Zhou Master" (i.e., Sima Fu).
He was qualified to set up a mansion in Zong Zhou, and the King of Zhou personally came to the mansion to order or receive courtiers to deal with state affairs, which showed that the position of Sima in the middle and late Western Zhou was quite prominent. The role of this position in the dynasty can be glimpsed in the literature handed down from the Western Zhou Dynasty.
The Shang Shu Jiu Shu has: "But if you are in the domain, the father is thin and disobedient, the farmer father is protected, and the father is determined." The Book of Verses, Xiaoya, Praying for the Father has: "Pray to the Father, to the King's Claws"; "Pray to the Father, give the King's claws." Zheng Kangcheng said: "Father, it is said that the Lord has sealed the matter." "Praying" is a false loan of "圻", so the "Poetry Biography" Yun: "Father Qi, Sima Ye, the commander of the Seal of the Armor Soldier." In jin wen, there are only "minions", such as the "minions" of "dry harm (扦扦) king body as a minion", which is a military general defending the king of Zhou. Sima is also known as SiWu, which shows that it is related to "holding the military affairs".
Xun Zi said that the state's "Sima Zhi division brigade, armored soldiers, multiplied by the number of white." This summary is consistent with the fact that Sima was responsible for "the number of horses, chariot soldiers, apprentice soldiers, and armor shields" contained in the Zuo Chuan, indicating that Sima was indeed an official in charge of military and political affairs. Jin Wenli's "West Sixth Division" has Sima in it, the "Chengzhou Eighth Division" has a Tsuka Situ, and the other two divisions are Sima and Sigong (空), so the "Chengzhou Eighth Division" should also have Sima ( ) .
In this way, both armies had officials in charge of military affairs. In the Jin text, it is also seen that the King of Zhou appointed Sima of the State of State and the Family Sima of Wang Qi Neiqing, such as Ling Dou closed "Si □ Yu BangJun Sima and Bow Ya", and Ling □ "sima of the master of the fengshi family". Since the King of Zhou was able to send officials to be the Sima of friendly states, there was no doubt that it was reasonable to appoint Sima of the princely states.
These materials can outline the vertical system of military affairs management in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, from the royal family to the local troops, there are Sima appointed by the King of Zhou to be in charge of military and political affairs, and on the basis of strengthening the royal family's management of the two major group armies, further strengthen the system of Zhou Tianzi commanding the national army, greatly facilitate the dynasty to deal with the deteriorating political situation, especially to create an effective mechanism for cracking down on the constant rebellion against the Zhou Dynasty, and to mobilize troops or supplement troops quickly and rush to the site of the accident.
For example, the shi □ inscription on Huaiyi, which stated that Chennagong, launched a rebellion that spread to the tranquility of the eastern kingdom, so King Xuan immediately sent shi □ to quickly suppress the rebellion and capture several Huaiyi chieftains.
The wars were mainly used by the Dongyi army, and the victory in a relatively short period of time was probably related to the positive effect of the Sima function in the royal and princely states (or monarchical) troops.
This change in the management of troops in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty is clearly reflected in the book "Zhou Li", as long as the duties of Sima at all levels in the book are compared with the relevant Sima functions in Jin Wen, Shang Shu, Shi Jing, and Zuo Chuan. For example, Sima Da is equivalent to Sima the "Right" in Jin Wen and Shu Father in his book; Military Sima is similar to Sima in the "Sixth Western Division" and "Chengzhou Eighth Division"; Guo Sima (or Company Horse) and Bangjun Sima have the same function; and Jia Sima also has corresponding titles in Jin Wen.
The correspondence between the literature and the Jin text shows the consolidation and strengthening of the vertical military leadership system centered on Zhou Tianzi in the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, with organizational guarantees, and through the control of the royal family, the armies of the princely states and the private armed forces of qing dafu at all levels, the military system of the Zhou Dynasty became more complete.
Some people have analyzed the main role played by Sima at all levels in the process of improving the military leadership system of the Western Zhou Dynasty:
The first is to manage the country's military endowments; the second is to organize service personnel to conduct military training and military exercises; and the third is to enforce military laws.
These three tasks included the formation of the army, military exercises, logistics supply, and the implementation of military regulations, and firmly grasped the leadership of the army, becoming an effective organizational system for the Zhou King to unify and command the army throughout the country. That is to say, the performance of the functions of Sima at all levels is the basis for the further strengthening of the vertical military leadership system.
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