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The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang

author:Luoyang Suoyi

Luoyang, a historical and cultural city with a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization, more than 4,000 years of city history and more than 1,500 years of capital construction history, has created countless legends of Chinese civilization. "Shannanshui north is yang", Luoyang is named because it is located in the sun of Luoshui, and the Heluo area centered on Luoyang is the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization. The ruins of the five major capitals of Xia Du, Shang Du Xi Bo, Eastern Zhou Wangcheng, Han Wei Luoyang City, and Sui and Tang Luoyang City are lined up along the Luo River, which is rare in the world. More than a hundred emperors ruled here. Today, let's talk about Xia Zhongkang.

The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang
The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang
The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang
The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang
The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang
The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang
The reigning emperor of Luoyang, Xia Zhongkang

Zhongkang (born and died unknown), courtesy name Zhongkang or Zhonglu, was a native of Yang Zhai (present-day Yuzhou, Henan), son of Xia Qi, brother of Taikang, and the fourth monarch of the Xia Dynasty. After Hou Yi deposed Taikang, after eight years of the Dynasty, due to the disobedience of all the states of the Xia Dynasty, he had to establish Zhongkang, the son of Xia Qi, as king. Hou Yi controlled Xia Shi power. After Zhongkang succeeded to the throne, the capital was still established in Yuzhuo. Zhongkang was not willing to act as a puppet, and sent Sima Yinhou to conquer Houyi's henchmen Xihe and regain power. Eventually, due to his weak strength, he was defeated by Houyi and retreated to the Xihe area. After seven years of reign, he became depressed and died of illness.

In the fourth year of Taikang, after years of preparation, the king of the poor country Yi received military information, and the Xia king Taikang went to hunt near the birthplace of the current Dukang wine south of Luoshui and drank heavily. The emperor of a poor country, Yi Qin, led an army to attack the Xia capital in a lightning-fast manner and established himself as king. Some of the poor country kings and emperors were opposed by all the countries, and some poor countries had to cede the throne to the descendants of the Xia royal family. At this time, Ji Qi's six sons were still alive, the old fourth Zhongkang was physically strong and ambitious, and he had always been worried about the throne, and the rest of Ji Qi's sons were all wine bags and rice bags, and they were not worthy of great responsibilities. Zhongkang was secretly active, and several old courtiers came forward to elect him as the new king. Hou Yi, the ruler of a poor country, agreed to abdicate the throne, but he had to agree to the conditions for his loss of power and humiliation of the country. This condition is that the Xia Dynasty is not only exempt from the tribute of poor countries, but also provides double the tribute to poor countries, that is, the Xia Dynasty will submit to poor countries. In order to sit on the throne of God, Ji Zhongkang agreed without even thinking about it. Hou Yi, the ruler of a poor country, naturally relinquished the throne and led a poor army back to the poor country with a large amount of property looted in Xiadu. After Hou Yi abdicated the throne, a separate imperial court was established in a poor country, controlling the Xia Dynasty, which was dominated by Zhongkang. After Ji Zhongkang ascended the throne, he quickly sent people to Yangxia (陽夏, in present-day Taikang County, Henan) to falsely welcome his brother Taikang back to the capital city and restore the throne. Taikang, who had no intention of taking the throne and only caring about playing and enjoying himself, resolutely refused to return to China. Zhongkang sent an army to escort The Taikang concubines and children of Xia Du to Taikang to reunite with him. In the first year of Zhongkang's reign, Ji Zhongkang appointed Marquis Yin as the Grand Sima and was in charge of the army and in charge of the Sixth Division. In the sixth year of Zhongkang, Ji Zhongkang appointed Fan as a prince and was enfeoffed with Kunwu and called Xia Bo. In the seventh year of Zhongkang, Ji Zhongkang no longer paid tribute to the poor countries, and also ordered the poor countries to continue to pay tribute to the Xia Dynasty. Hou Yi, the ruler of a poor country, was enraged and led an army to invade the territory of the Xia Dynasty. The vulnerable Xia Dynasty's Zhongkang army was discouraged. Poor armies quickly occupied Xiadu. Zhongkang fled and retreated to the Xihe area. Zhongkang died seven years ago.

It is worth mentioning that during the reign of Zhongkang, there was a total solar eclipse, and the record of this total solar eclipse is the earliest record of solar eclipse in the world. At this time, people did not know that this was a natural phenomenon that human beings could not change; they only knew that panic, believing that there would be disasters in the country, and even thinking that the world was about to perish, and killing the Xi clan in charge of astronomy and the He clan in charge of the calendar to sacrifice to the heavens. In the fifth year of Zhongkang, during the autumn harvest, the sky is clear, and the farmers are harvesting the fruits of a year's labor in the fields. At noon, the sun hanging high in the sky shone brightly, and then a black monster approached the sun little by little, swallowing the sun little by little, and the night shrouded the earth. The people were terrified and hurriedly gathered together to beat pots and gongs, trying to scare the black monster away. The most nervous was The King of Xia, Zhongkang, who was afraid of disaster in the country and endangering the throne or his life. Hurriedly ordered the priests to hold a "day-saving" ceremony, and then Zhongkang immediately led the courtiers to set up an altar in front of the temple, burned incense and prayed, killed three animals, and contributed shell coins to the heavens, and other forms of sacrifice, Zhongkang led the officials to fall to their knees, begging for forgiveness from heaven over and over again, begging for the return of the sun. Just when people were completely desperate, the edge of the sun revealed a little light, the earth gradually brightened, the sun disk revealed more and more, the sun's light slowly appeared, and the black monster completely disappeared. Now we know that this is "Tengu eating the sun", that is, a total solar eclipse.

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