The state of Qin was a fiefdom of Qin Feizi after the son of the shang general Fei Lian.
In 905 BC, Qin Feizi was made a vassal state by King Xiao of Zhou for his meritorious horse breeding, and his capital was set in Qinyi (秦邑, northeast of Qingshui County, Tianshui City, Gansu Province), known as "Qin Ying". In 821 BC, duke Zhuang of Qin defeated Xi Rong and was made the Grand Master of Xi'an by King Xuan of Zhou. In 770 BC, Duke Xiang of Qin sent troops to escort King Zhou Ping to move east, and was made a count, and King Zhou Ping also gave the qin state the area west of Qishan Mountain, which was invaded by Inuyasha. After several generations of kings, the State of Qin recaptured the Qishan and Fengshui regions from inuyasha, and in 677 BC Qin moved the capital to Yong (present-day Baoji Fengxiang). When the Zhou State established the Zhou Dynasty with the Qishan and Fengshui regions, how could the Qin State occupy the Qishan and Fengshui areas without ambition to establish the Qin Dynasty?
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During the reign of Qin Mugong, the State of Qin developed rapidly and formed a "Good Of Qin and Jin" with the State of Jin through marriage relations. Duke Xian of Jin married his daughter Mu Ji to Duke Mu of Qin, who married his daughter Huai Wei to Duke Huai of Jin, who later remarried to Duke Wen of Jin. The "Good of Qin and Jin" ended with the expansion of the Qin state into the Central Plains, and in 627 BC the Jin army ambushed and destroyed the Qin army in the Battle of Yin. The battle led to the enmity between qin and Jin, and the State of Qin instead allied itself with the enemy of the State of Chu.
In 546 BC, the Jin and Chu states and several other countries held a "meeting of soldiers" (弭兵) in the Song dynasty (弭兵) to stop the war). At this meeting, the doctors of the Jin state and the doctors of the chu state made peace on behalf of the two groups of the north and the south, and made a covenant. It was stipulated that in addition to the two major foreign countries of Qi and Qin, all small countries should pay tribute to the jin and Chu countries. The Jin and Chu countries divided hegemony equally, and for more than fifty years, there was no major war. At this meeting of the soldiers, the State of Qin became one of the "Four Great Powers", although its status was not as good as that of the "superpowers" such as the State of Jin and the State of Chu, but it was on an equal footing with the old powers such as the State of Qi, and also suppressed other princely states.
In 527 BC, duke Ai of Qin married his daughter Meng Wei to Prince Jian of the State of Chu, who was later taken for himself by King Ping of Chu and gave birth to Xiong Ren, the King of Chu Zhao, indicating that the good of Qin and Chu had replaced the good of Qin and Jin. In 505 BC, the Duke of Qin also sent troops to rescue the State of Chu and expelled the Wu army that had attacked the capital of the State of Chu. The State of Qin had been in a state of hostility with the State of Jin for a long time, and after the "Three Qing Divisions of the Jin Dynasty", the State of Qin was in a state of hostility with the "Three Jins", especially the State of Wei.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Jin State, the State of Chu, the State of Qi, and the State of Qin were known as the "Four Great Powers", and the State of Qin was slightly inferior to the "superpowers" such as the State of Jin and the State of Chu, but its national strength was also second only to that of the State of Jin, the State of Chu, and the State of Qi. After the "Three Qing Divisions and Jin Dynasties", the State of Qin was in a state of long-term war with the "Three Jins", especially the State of Wei. However, the national strength of the State of Qin was not as good as that of the State of Jin, nor that of the State of Wei, so it was also more defeated and less victorious in the war with the State of Jin and the State of Wei.
In 550 BC, the land of Hexi (a narrow area west of the Yellow River and east of Beiluoshui) seized by the Qin state from the Baidi tribe was also invaded and occupied by the Wei general Wu Qi from 419 BC to 408 BC, and the Wei state even set up Xihe County, with Wu Qi as the county guard. In 389 BC, the State of Qin took advantage of the political instability after the death of Marquis Wen of Wei and the ascension of Marquis Wu of Wei to the throne, and tried to seize the land of Hexi, only to be violently beaten by the Wei State Wu pawns commanded by Wu Qi, and the 500,000 troops sent by the State of Qin were also defeated by Wu Qi's 50,000 troops, and Wu Qi was also "a god in one battle". In 387 BC, Wu Qi's army had already invaded the Weihe Plain and was preparing to directly attack the capital of the Qin state, Yong, but Wei Wuhou did not know which tendon was so strong that he actually sent Wu Qi to lead an army to conquer the State of Qi in the east, and even forced Wu Qi away, which avoided the "game over".
In 385 BC, Marquis Wu of Wei attempted to prop up a pro-Wei State of Qin and help His Son Lian, who had been in exile for 29 years in the State of Wei, return to the State of Qin. Gongzi Lian stated that if he returned to China and seized the throne, the State of Qin would guarantee that he would not be an enemy of the State of Wei while Marquis Wu of Wei was still alive. When Gongzi Chong'er was in exile in the Chu Kingdom, he was treated favorably by the princes of Chu Cheng, and King Chu Cheng asked Gongzi Zhong'er how he would repay the Chu State if he returned to the Jin Kingdom. Gongzi Zhong'er said that if the Jin army and the Chu army met in the plains and lakes and swamps, the Jin army would retreat to sanshe (one house is thirty miles). The Chu general ZiYu thought that Gongzi Zhong'er had suggested killing Zhong'er, but King Cheng of Chu did not accept it. Later, Gongzi Zhong'er returned to China to succeed him as Duke Wen of Jin, and commanded the Jin army to defeat the Chu army and force the Chu general Ziyu to die at the Battle of Chengpu. In the face of Gongzilian's arrogant and rude answer, Wei Wuhou was only dissatisfied and did not take the opportunity to kill or imprison Gongzilian, which was also a tiger breeding problem. King Cheng of Chu and Marquis Wen of Wei were too "talking about martial virtue", and later suffered repercussions from these exiled princes after they succeeded to the throne. After Gongzi Lian returned to China, he was soon proclaimed the monarch of the State of Qin, and was known as the Duke of Qin.
During the reign of Marquis Wu of Wei, Qin Xiangong kept his promise not to use troops against the State of Wei and seized the time to carry out a series of reforms.
In 384 BC, Duke Xian of Qin abolished the system of burial of living people that had been practiced in the Qin State for more than three hundred years since Zhao Wugong of Qin, and in the same year destroyed the Xirong Di clan and established Didao County. In 383 BC, Duke Xian of Qin built a city in Liyang (栎陽, in present-day Wutun Town, Yanliang District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) and moved his capital east to Liyang. In 379 BC, Qin Xiangong transformed the border areas of Pu, Lantian, Shan, and Ming into counties, which were directly controlled by the administration of the monarch. In 378 BC, the Qin state began to standardize the management of industry and commerce and extract business taxes. The initial market and the first rent brought a large amount of income to the treasury of the Qin state, and the country's economic strength doubled. In 375 BC, Qin Xiangong implemented the household registration system, organizing five households into one family, helping each other when the farmers were busy, and conducting military training when the farmers were idle. If someone breaks the law, the five households sit consecutively.
Qin Xiangong lived in the State of Wei for 19 years and was too familiar with the political system and social life of the State of Wei. To a large extent, the Qin Xiangong transformation method drew on the successful experience of Li Wu's transformation method, which also laid the foundation for the later Shang martingale transformation method. After a series of reforms, the Qin state gradually developed, and Qin Xiangong set his sights on the land of Hexi that the Qin monarch had long long desired to recover. In 370 BC, Marquis Wu of Wei, who was kind to Qin Xiangong, died of illness, and Qin Xiangong was finally able to free his hands and feet to attack the State of Wei.
From 366 BC when Duke Xian of Qin attacked the Combined Wei-Han army that invaded the Zhou Dynasty king's city of Luoyang under the slogan of King Qin, to 364 BC when the Qin army destroyed 60,000 Wei troops at the Battle of Shimen (present-day southwest of Yuncheng, Shanxi), to the Qin army defeating the Wei army at the Battle of Shaoliang (south of Chengcheng, Shaanxi) in 362 BC, the Qin army changed its previous decline from being crushed by the Wei army. However, after all, the State of Wei had a strong foundation and strength after the Transformation Of Li Method, and although the Qin army had won many battle victories, it could not shake the huge State of Wei, and it had never been able to recover the land of Hexi.
In 361 BC, Duke Xiangong of Qin died of his wounds in a battle for the land of Hexi, and was succeeded by Duke Xiao of Qin's son, Duke Xiao of Qin, Andi Liang. Qin Xiaogong deeply felt that "the Three Jins attacked and seized the western land of our ancestors, he was humble and ugly", and knew that with the current strength of the Qin state alone, he was not yet an opponent of the Wei state. Qin Xiaogong needed to change the law and become stronger to complete the unfinished business of the previous monarch of the Qin State. In 359 BC, Duke Xiao of Qin issued an edict to seek meritocracy, soliciting talents from all over the world on the condition of the high-ranking official Houlu and the feudal state ("The guests and ministers have those who can surprise the Qin, and I respect the officials and divide the land with them"). Qin Xiaogong knew very well that if the Qin State wanted to develop, he could not stick to using only the talents of the Qin State, but should use the talents of the world. For these first-class talents, it is necessary to receive them on a super scale, and do their best in official positions and feudal titles.
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Shang Martingale, whose original name was Gongsun Martingale, was born in the Weiguo Gong clan, also known as Wei Martingale. After the success of gongsun martingale transformation, he was divided into Shang jun by Qin Xiaogong, which was called Shang martingale by the world. When Shang Martin was still a young man of Gongsun Martingale, he liked the study of criminal name magic and was greatly influenced by Li Wu and Wu Qi. He learned the miscellaneous doctrine from the corpse leader, and later served the Wei state minister Uncle Zhongshuzi. When his uncle was seriously ill with acne, he recommended Gongsun Martingale to Wei Houjun, saying that Gongsun Martingale was young and talented and could entrust the entire country to him to govern. Gongsun Hao told Wei Houjun that if gongsun martingale was not used, he must be killed and not let him defect to other countries.
Wei Houjun thought that Gong Uncle Acne was already terminally ill, and was talking stupidly, and neither took Gongsun Acne's advice to reuse Gongsun Martingale, nor did he listen to Gongsun Acne's advice to kill Gongsun Martingale. Uncle Gongxuan turned to Gongsun Martingale to leave the State of Wei quickly, but Gongsun Martin thought that if Wei Houjun did not adopt GongGong's words and reuse him, he would certainly not adopt Gongsun Gong's words and kill him. It was also strange that Wei Houjun did not "interview" Gongsun Martingale, and gave up the super-first-class talents comparable to Wu Qi to the hostile Qin State. Looking at Wei Houjun's attitude towards super-first-class talents, we know that the long-term prosperity of the Wei state has been "spoiled".
Gongsun Martingale heard Qin Xiaogong's order to seek merit, especially the reward of "I respect the officials and divide the land with them", so he took Li Wu's "Book of Law" and rushed from the State of Wei to the State of Qin to "apply for employment". Gongsun Martingale was given an "interview" opportunity through Jingjian, The Favourite Of Qin Xiaogong. When Duke Xiao of Qin heard that the young Gongsun Martingale had come from the State of Wei, he was even recommended to Marquis Of Wei by Gongsun Zhen as a prime minister, and immediately summoned Gongsun Martingale.
Gongsun Martingale talked to Qin Xiaogong for the first time about the rise of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and the second time he talked about the rise of King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou to Qin Xiaogong, and Qin Xiaogong listened to it sleepily. After Gongsun Martingale finished speaking, Qin Xiaogong opened his eyes, had no interest in what Gongsun Martingale had said, and blamed Jing Jian for not recommending such a flashy and pedantic and arrogant person as Gongsun Martingale to himself. Qin Xiaogong wanted auxiliary talents for the rich country and strong soldiers, and at that time, the State of Qin was only a prince second to the State of Wei, the State of Chu, and even the State of Qi, where did he have the strength to implement the Imperial Dao and the Royal Dao?
Gongsun Martin asked to see Duke Xiaogong of Qin for the third time, and although Jing Jian had concerns, for the sake of the future of the country, he arranged for Qin Xiaogong to meet with Gongsun Martingale. Qin Xiaogong was also thirsty for merit, and Gongsun Martin had disappointed him twice, and he was willing to see Gongsun Martingale for the third time. If Wei Houjun had the same humility as The Duke of Qin, how could Gongsun Martin be willing to leave the Wei state where he had lived for many years and defect to the barbaric and backward Qin state?
This time, Gongsun Martingale told Qin Xiaogong the history of the rise of overlords such as Qi Huan, Jin Wengong, Chu Zhuang Wang, and Qin Mugong, preached the art of rich countries and strong soldiers, and explained the importance of changing the law and innovating. What Qin Xiaogong wanted to hear most was how to let the backward Qin state develop, and the way to rejuvenate the country that Gongsun Martin talked about this time was in line with the development needs of the Qin state. The more Qin Xiaogong listened, the more interested he became, and unconsciously knelt down next to Gongsun Martingale, who soon became Gongsun Martingale's "little fan brother". The two talked for a few days, and Qin Xiaogong tirelessly consulted Gongsun Martingale on the planning and design of the development of the Qin Kingdom.
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The martingale transformation method began with a "debate game".
Qin Xiaogong was worried that the change of the law would cause opposition from the people of the country, so he simply organized a "debate contest" at the court meeting and ordered his ministers to discuss whether it was necessary to change the law. It seems that Qin Xiaogong still understands the importance of public opinion, and if Gongsun Martin can negate all kinds of remarks opposing the change of law in the "debate competition", then the resistance to the implementation of the change of law will be greatly reduced.
The representatives of the old nobles, Gan Long and Du Zhi, rose up against the change of law. They believe that you can't change the law without a hundred times the benefit, and you can't change the apparatus without ten times the effect. It seems that what Gan Long and Du Zhi really oppose is not the change of law, but whether the change of law can bring ten times and a hundred times the benefits, indicating that the "old aristocracy" is actually also a "utilitarian". Gan Long and Du Zhi also proposed that there would be no mistake in following the practices of the previous kings, and that following the etiquette system would not deviate from the right path. This shows that Gan Long and Du Zhi are still "conservatives" and oppose drastic changes to undermine the stability of the social order.
Gongsun Martingale is also a master of debate, he proposed that the practices of the previous kings are different, which of the first kings do we follow? Ancient emperors are different, how to abide by the imperial etiquette? This is actually to expand the differences in the practices of the first kings, thereby denying the existence of the law of the first kings. Gongsun Martin went on to say that the same rules cannot be followed in governing the country, and as long as it is beneficial to the country, it should not stick to the practices of its predecessors. The Shang Tang and Zhou Wu kings did not follow the old system and created a new dynasty; the Shang Dynasty and the Xia Dynasty perished because they did not change the law in time to improve the etiquette system. Gongsun Martingale also pointed out that it is not necessarily wrong to oppose the practices of the ancients, and it is not necessarily correct to follow the practices of the ancients. Gongsun Martin also proposed that laws and regulations should be formulated in accordance with the trend of the times, because of specific problems to formulate a ceremonial system. Gongsun Martin used a set of pragmatic and evolutionary theories to refute the retro ideas of the old nobility and won the "debate competition".
After the dispute over the change of law, Gongsun Martingale knew that it was necessary to "win the trust of the people", and the common people believed that the decree issued by Gongsun Martingale was true, which could be effective. Although the decree of the Gongsun Martingale Transformation Law was ready, it was not promulgated. Fearing that the people would not believe him, he erected a three-foot-tall piece of wood outside the south gate of the national capital market. Immediately showing a notice, whoever could move this wooden strip to the north gate of the market would give him ten gold. The people were strange that no one dared to move. Gongsun Martin also showed a notice saying that he was given fifty-two gold (the ancient "gold" was actually brass). A man had the courage to move the wood to the north gate of the bazaar, and Gongsun Martingale immediately ordered him fifty-two pieces of gold (brass). Gongsun Martin's "standing wood for faith" this time is the same as Wu Qi's car for faith, that is, he wants the people to believe that his promise is "counted.".
Duke Xiao of Qin ordered Gongsun Martingale to promulgate the Order on The Reclamation of Grass in the Qin State as a prelude to a comprehensive change of law.
The main contents of the "Order on Reclamation of Grass" are to stimulate agricultural production, suppress commercial development, reshape social values, improve the social awareness of agriculture, weaken the privileges of nobles and officials, let domestic nobles join agricultural production, and implement a unified tax and rent system. The "Order of Reclamation of Grass" was successfully "tested" in the Qin Kingdom, and Qin Xiaogong was not only impressed by Gongsun Martin in the theory of changing the law but also in the practice of changing the law, which began the formal change of law.
In 356 BC, Duke Xiao of Qin appointed Gongsun Martingale as the commander of Zuo Shu and implemented the first change of law in the Qin state.
The main contents of this change of law are: reforming the household registration system and implementing the Shiwu Lian Sitting Law, explicitly ordering the military law to reward military merit, abolishing the Shiqing Shilu system, establishing a twentieth-class knighthood system, severely punishing private struggles, rewarding farming and weaving, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business, changing the law into a law to formulate the Qin law, and promoting the small family system. Shang Martin's move completely exceeded the depth and breadth of Li Wu's transformation method and Wu Qi's transformation method, and directly promoted the process of centralization of power in the Qin state, thus concentrating power in the hands of the monarch.
The new law was implemented in the people for a whole year, and thousands of people from the Qin state said that the new law was inconvenient. Just then, the prince violated the new law. Gongsun Martin believes that the new law cannot be implemented smoothly because the upper echelons have violated it. Gongsun Martin was supposed to punish the crown prince according to the new law. However, the crown prince was the heir of the monarch and could not be punished, so he punished the teacher Gongzi Qian, who supervised his behavior, with the punishment of the teacher Who taught him knowledge, Gongsun Jia. The next day, the Qin people all followed the new law.
In 350 BC, Duke Xiao of Qin listened to Gongsun Martingale's advice and established a new capital in Xianyang. Xianyang (northeast of present-day Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province) is located in the middle of the Guanzhong Plain, north of the plateau, south of the Wei River, down the Wei River can be directly into the Yellow River, between the South Mountain and the Wei River can be directly connected to Hangu Pass. Gongsun Martingale was ordered to recruit soldiers and soldiers, build the Jique court according to the scale of the capitals of the State of Lu and the State of Wei, and create a new capital.
In 349 BC, Duke Xiao of Qin ordered the capital to be moved to Xianyang and ordered Gongsun Martin to carry out a second change. The main contents of this reform law include: opening up the territory of the strange and sealing the territory, abolishing the well fields, making the land, allowing the private ownership and sale of land, implementing the county system, giving the initial endowment, unifying the weights and measures, burning poetry and writing and clarifying the decrees, the invitation to plug the private door, prohibiting the people from traveling to eunuchs, and enforcing the decree on dividing households to prohibit the people from living in the same room with fathers and sons and brothers. It seems that both Gongsun Martingale and Wu Qi did not have a good feeling for the "wandering eunuchs", believing that they could not create military merit and could not increase grain, fortunately, the later Qin monarchs did not have such a "short-sighted" as Gongsun Martingale.
In 340 BC, Gongsun Martin commanded the Qin army to take advantage of the wei state's disastrous defeat at the Battle of Maling to seize the land of Hexi, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of successive monarchs since duke Jian of Qin to recover the land of Hexi, and reaching the peak of his personal merits. Duke Xiao of Qin once said that "the guests have those who can make a surprising plan to strengthen Qin, and I respect the officials and divide the land with them", and this time, if shang (present-day Shangluo Town, Shang county, Shaanxi) was divided into Gongsun Martingale, Gongsun Martingale also transformed into Shang Jun, Shang Martingale, and entered the ranks of the new nobles of the Qin State.
Marquis Wenhou of Wei did not grant a fief to Li Wu, who laid the foundation for the prosperity and strength of the State of Wei, and the King of Chu gave a fief to Wu Qi, who had rapidly developed the State of Chu and established an immortal meritorious service, but the State of Qin did not hesitate to give the title, which led to successive grants of the titles of Wuxin Jun Zhang Yi, Wu'an Jun Baiqi, Ying Hou Fan Ju, Gangcheng Jun Cai Ze, and Wenxin Hou Lü Buwei, attracting the world's talents to serve the Qin State. These military aristocrats were the beneficiaries of the Martingale Transformation Law and the defenders of the Shang Martingale Transformation Law, and they jointly guaranteed that the Shang Martingale Transformation Law, once initiated, was irreversible.
![If Shang Martin stayed in the State of Wei and became the Minister of State, would it still be the State of Qin that would unify the world?[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)