The battle between the "Rule of Cheng Kang" and the King of Zhou Kang's Ghost Fang

During the period of Zhou Chengwang Ji recitation, with the assistance of zhou gong, feudal system, patriarchal system, well field system, Zhou gong ritual system, etc. laid the foundation for the Chinese nation's political, military, economic, social forms, customs and habits (conventional) and other systems and living norms, which directly affected and ran through the entire feudal society in China.

After Succeeding to the throne, Ji Zhao, the King of Zhou Kang, with the assistance of Zhao Gongyi[1] and Bi Gonggao [2], continued to implement the policy of becoming a king, and the society became more progressive and developed.

During the Chengkang period, the expansion of the "granting of territory to the people" made the rule of Zhou Tianxia more solid, and the expansion of the "Zhaoche Zhou State" and "勔 (miǎn) Yin Yijiang" made the Xia culture widely spread, and the zhou gong system of ritual music greatly improved the level of civilization, and Confucius still regretted in his later years that "I no longer dream of seeing the Zhou Gong". The "Chronicle of History" said: "At the time of Chengkang, the world was peaceful, and the punishment measures were not used for more than forty years", the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, the country was relatively unified, the national strength was strong, the social stability, the economy was prosperous, and the culture was prosperous, which was the crystallization of the cooperation and collective leadership wisdom of the Zhou Gong, Cheng Wang, Zhao Gong, Bi Gong, Kang Wang, etc., and this historical period was praised by posterity as "the rule of Cheng Kang" (or "the world of Cheng Kang").

Ghost Fang is a very ancient ethnic group that has long been active in the northwest region, and is a fierce enemy of the northwest during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and the land is roughly divided into three major areas: one is the Luoshui River Basin and Yan'an, Yulin, and extends north to Shilou and Baode in northern Jinbei; the other is the southern part of Shanxi and the north side of Zhongtiao Mountain; and the third is the area from Taiyuan in central Jinzhong to northern Shaanxi. When Emperor Gaozong of Shang had a large-scale conquest of ghost fangs, Zhou Yi Ji Ji said: "Emperor Gaozong cut down ghost fangs, three years of Kezhi"; when King Wu Yi of Shang, he sent Ji Li (the father of King Wen of Zhou) to cut down ghost fangs, and the ancient book "Bamboo Book Chronicle" records: "Wu Yi thirty-five years, Zhou Wang Ji (Ji Li) cut down ghost fangs and Rong, captured twenty zhai kings", after two lethal conquests by Wu Ding and Wu Yi, the power of ghost fangs weakened and temporarily surrendered; during the time of King Shang, he made the chief of ghost fangs a ghost marquis (also known as the ninth marquis), and married the ghost marquis as his wife. King Ranyu eventually killed the Ghost Princess, Zhulian Ghost Hou, and chopped her into meat sauce; after King Wu of Zhou destroyed Shang, he exiled Ghost Fang to the north of Jing[3] and Luo [4], and ordered him to pay tribute on time.

At the time of Chengkang, because Zhou's main tasks were to suppress the "Rebellion of the Three Prisons", conquer Dongyi, and build the eastern capital Luoyi, thus loosening its control over the northwest, the Ghost Fang tribe took advantage of this opportunity to invade the northwestern border of Zhou from the west of Qi Zhou [5] and Long[6], threatening the Zhou capital Ho Jing.[7] In order to eliminate the border troubles, King Kang of Zhou ordered a general surnamed Lu [8] to lead an army to attack the ghost side, and the ghost side also dispatched troops to organize a battle, after two large-scale battles, the ghost side was defeated, according to the inscription of "Xiao Lu Ding", the first capture of the ghost chief 2 people, beheading 4812 people, capturing 13081 people, capturing 38 chariots, and a number of war horses, cattle and sheep; the second capture of 1 chief of the ghost side, beheading 237 people, taking several prisoners, capturing 108 warhorses and more than 100 chariots. The Zhou army won a great victory, and once again expelled the ghost fang to the area west of Qilong and Qizhou, far from the Zhou capital, and the northwest border of Zhou was temporarily secured.

[1] Zhao Gongyi: Brother of King Wu of Zhou.

[2] Bi Gonggao: Brother of King Wu of Zhou.

[3] Jing: Jinghe, Shaanxi.

[4] Luo: Luohe, Shaanxi.

[5] Qizhou: Present-day Qishan, Shaanxi.

[6] Long: Present-day Qianyang County and Long County, Shaanxi.

[7] Hojing: Present-day Xi'an West, Shaanxi.

[8] Probably from the State of Lu (盂国), also known as the State of Qi (邘国), also known as the State of Yu (虞国), located in the village of Taitai in Xiwan Town, fifteen kilometers northwest of present-day Qinyang, Henan.