As the absolute lord of the Warring States period, King Wuling of Zhao has always been known to women and children for the reform of Hufu riding and shooting. During his reign, he constantly expanded his military strength and expanded his territory, which greatly increased the strength of the Zhao state, and then became the mainstay of resistance to the eastern invasion of the Qin army.
However, the male lord was trapped in the palace in his later years, and was eventually starved to death by the rebels. Many future viewers often attribute the cause of this tragedy to the dispute over heirs. However, when we put aside the traditional prejudice of becoming a king and defeating Kou and the bizarre interpretation of the palace fighting drama, we will find that the Dune Palace change is far from a simple coup d'état, but contains the rise and fall path of the Zhao State itself
<h1>The dualistic political system left over from the Jin Dynasty</h1>
The State of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period is the direct origin of the later State of Zhao
To understand the Zhao state, it is necessary to trace back to the Jin state as its predecessor. As early as the 11th century BC, Zhou Tianzi, in order to defend the core control area of the Central Plains, divided the prince Tang Shuyu to establish the Tang State in the Fenshui Valley. This prince, who is almost unknown to today, is the origin of the later Jin Dynasty.
Since then, the Jin forces have continued to develop northwards, deep into the Shanxi Plateau, which was still full of Rong Di forces at that time. In the process of territorial expansion, the barbarian groups were continuously absorbed into their own feudal system, and gradually formed a very distinctive Yixia dualistic system. Duke Xian of Jin had married the other party, and produced the Duke of Jin Wen and the Duke yiwu of Jin Hui, and allowed Rong Di to gradually infiltrate into the Jin Dynasty. The hereditary system of three armies and six secretaries established later can also be called the Spring and Autumn version of the Council of Ministers. Among them, the fox clan is born of the Di people, making this dualistic system seem more and more mature.
The origin of the Zhao clan began as the sixth secretary of the Jin Dynasty
At the same time, Zhao Wan, the first head of the Zhao family, was also a core member of the Six Qings of the Jin Dynasty. They also married the Di clan for a long time, so that leaders such as Zhao Xuanzi and Zhao Xiangzi had their own Di mothers. When Zhao Xiangzi defeated the powerful Zhibo, he would also dispose of the corpse according to the nomadic custom, and make the opponent's skull into a drinking vessel. Later, he became an agent of the Rong Di forces within the Jin state, playing an important role for the Jin state in the united front barbarian tribes.
In 403 BC, the pattern of the three branches of the Jin Dynasty was formally established. Compared with the Han and Wei families in the south, the Zhao clan in the north was mainly divided into the border area of the Rong Di tribe located in the northern border of the Jin state, and naturally became the orthodox successor of the Dual system of Yixia in the Jin State. At the time of their initial establishment, their main territories also encompassed Jinyang, Daidi and Xingwei's homeland in the plain east of the Taihang Mountains on the plateau. Relying on the barrier effect of the Taihang Mountains, the western plateau livestock belt with strong Rongdi customs was formed, and the eastern agricultural belt with customs closer to the Central Plains was formed. Differences in customs and governance traditions between the two places also ensure the long-term continuation of the dualistic system.
Map of the Zhao State in the early Warring States period
<h1>Feudal vs. county disputes</h1>
Zhao Jianzi presided over the reform of county counties for the Jin Dynasty
In fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhao Jianzi had led the county reform of the Jin State, but the degree was far less than that of the later Warring States states. Due to the great increase in the intensity of the war, the external living environment of the princes of the Central Plains was deteriorating day by day, and they wanted to use the Fa as the ideological guide to complete the transformation of the law and seek to become stronger in a hurry. This inevitably led to county reforms and restrictions imposed by the monarch on clans and meritorious nobles. Although many nobles were able to retain the title of "fiefdom", they were basically weakened to only exercise economic privileges and had no governance substance.
In the early years of the Warring States period, the Wei people, who were also the Three Jin Dynasties, successively engaged in the transformation of Li Wu and Wu Qi, and temporarily rose to become the premier regional power. The neighboring State of Zhao was naturally not exempt from the vulgarity, and not only did Zhonglian, the Minister of State, lead similar changes, but also the ideological circles successively gave birth to scholars who were inclined to the Dharma, such as Shen Zhi, Xun Quan, and Gongsun Long. This tendency eventually led to the relocation of the capital of the Zhao state, moving the core area from Jinyang in the western plateau to Zhongmu in the east, and eventually to Handan, which is known to most people. But the inhabitants of the west remained accustomed to barbarian traditions and resisted the formative shift initiated by the county reforms.
The ruins of The City of Zhao in Handan, Hebei Province
Since then, it is also these barbaric customs on the western plateau that have successfully protected the feudal founding tradition of the Zhao people. In particular, the Daidi located in Hetao and Yinshan have always been regarded as a subsidiary of the Zhao State. It was ruled by a royal vassal, enjoyed a great deal of autonomy, and the laws imposed were very different from those of the counties and counties in the interior.
Zhao also continued to use local trade routes, monopolizing most of the revenue from Kunshan's jade trade routes and constantly cultivating high-quality horse populations. The old nobles of the Zhao State, who were the targets of the Fa's revolution, also used daidi as a base to launch a counterattack against the royal family that insisted on changing the law of county and county. This special position in the governance system also made it play an important role in the later dune palace changes.
Unearthed in Shanxi, the Northern Grassland style bronzes of the Spring and Autumn Period
<h1>Hufu riding and shooting intensified internal antagonisms</h1>
After the three families were divided into Jin, the Zhao state inherited the inheritance of the former suzerain to the greatest extent
As we all know, civil wars over the succession to the throne by barbarian powers are commonplace. This was because their territories were often very vast, with many primitive and fertile tribes maintaining loose ties in loose alliances, and each tribe wanted to support its proxy ascension to power. Even if they entered the Central Plains and carried out bureaucratic reforms, the original tribal customary law would be reflected in it. The Zhao clan itself was also deeply contaminated by the culture of the Rongdi ethnic group, allowing the customary law that was different from the Zhou Li to have a long-term impact on it.
In the 4th century BC, the butterfly effect triggered by Alexander's crusade ushered in a far-reaching hellenistic era. The Eurasian steppes, which were the crossroads of land, also accelerated the transmission of military technological progress and trade dividends to the Eastern world. For example, Zhao Yong, who succeeded to the throne in 326 BC, was keenly aware of the increasing importance of trade routes on the northern border. At the same time, because he deeply understood the military organizational value of the border tribes, he immediately launched a series of military and political reforms marked by "Hufu Riding and Shooting".
The military reform of Hufu riding and shooting mainly occurred in the western part of the Zhao state
In fact, Hufu riding archery is also a vigorous cultural movement. King Wuling of Zhao blocked the criticism of the old nobles and began to promote Hufu from the upper class. He even discarded the long-standing arrogance of Huaxia-basedism and tried to make the Zhao state break away from the ceremonial order of the Zhou Dynasty and approach the barbarians in the north. As the State of Zhao annexed Lou Fu, Lin Hu, and Zhongshan in the north, the territories on both flanks of the Taihang Mountains expanded dramatically, and the ethnic composition under its rule was more complex. Regardless of the monarch's personal preferences, this cultural identification strategy is to carry out a united front against the tribes that were originally the majority of the population.
Another reform of Zhao Yong, which can also be called heresy, was to implement the Zen position during his lifetime. He pioneered the transformation of the Zhao state's political system into a "dual monarchy", with his youngest son Zhao He as the king presiding over internal affairs, and himself leading the army in the name of his father to expand the territory. Not only have they been pioneers in the war many times, but they even dared to enter the Qin State alone to spy on intelligence, and the martial virtue and courage they showed were very rare. The State of Zhao also continued to swell into the premier northern power, almost being able to seize the same ecological niche as the Violent Qin. Under the rule of the bold father, the people's customs, which were originally relatively indifferent to the concept of etiquette, became stronger and stronger.
Territorial expansion of the State of Zhao during the reign of King Wuling of Zhao
Continued territorial expansion and special geographical location further contributed to the continued prosperity of the trade routes in the clouds, making the Zhao state a transit point connecting the northern meadows and the central plains world. The whole country also became like the oasis state in the western region recorded in the history books, with developed trade and rich in cultural fields. The capital of the country, Handan, was also a famous international metropolis at that time.
However, like all the great powers in history, the Zhao people also began to brew internal crises in the midst of prosperity. Due to territorial expansion and the operation of the dual monarchy, Zhao gradually became an agent of the feudal old lands and tribal alliances in the west. Zhao He, the youngest son of king Zhao, played a hedging role in the eastern official's imperial court. In the context of the era of accelerated political centralization, one country and two masters not only aggravate regional and ethnic differentiation, but also make the confrontation between the two political traditions more and more intense. The subsequent tragic coup d'état broke out, and it was only a matter of time.
The descendants of Rong Di in the western part of the Zhao State were always at odds with the Officials of the Fa in the east
<h1>A terrible court tragedy</h1>
King Wuling of Zhao suffered an accident due to the arrangement of heirs in his later years
In the face of the continuous expansion of the Zhao state, Zhao's father proposed a widely criticized plan for dividing the country. That is, the State of Zhao was divided into two parts, Zhao and Dai, and the eldest son Zhao Zhang, who sat in the border area of Daidi, was promoted to The Acting King, and the younger son Zhao He continued to rule other parts as the King of Zhao. Zhao Dai is a country of brothers, and they advance and retreat together in complex and changeable dramas. Although this conception is obviously very ancient Zhou Li relic, it is incompatible with the values of the bureaucratic empire, and it is even more difficult to conform to the political aesthetics of later monarchs.
It is only when we look at the history of the world that we find that Master Zhao's vision is very normal. In 395 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I handed over the empire to two sons, forming two Roman patterns whose influence lasted for a thousand years. In 843, Charlemagne's three descendants also relied on the Treaty of Verdun to completely divide the Frankish Empire equally, gradually evolving into today's three kingdoms of Germany, France and Italy. Even in the 13th century, the Mongol Empire rose to prominence, and Genghis Khan ordered his sons to establish four khanates around the world. Therefore, this tradition of fraternal separation based on tribal eras has a wide range of effects on the governance of the country. Zhao Wuling King, who was earlier than these cases, naturally would not be unfamiliar with similar methods of handling. However, the rise of legalist thought in the Warring States period has quietly destroyed the soil for the revival of the feudal system within the Zhao State. Lord Zhao's plan to divide the country was also abandoned amid the strong opposition of the Qunchen.
The feudal legacy of the early Zhou Li was something that the legal officials inevitably opposed
However, the princes' ambitions for power will not be extinguished by the proposal of division. The eldest son Zhao Zhang and the youngest son Zhao He have been accumulating political power contradictions for a long time due to the dispute between Li Chu and The youngest son Zhao He. The two sides have already been sword-fighting, and the impatience of either side will bring consequences.
In 295 BC, Zhao Zhang, the Emperor of Zhao, took advantage of the fact that his father and Zhao He were hunting in the sand dunes, and launched a mutiny with his confidant Tian Buli. They set up an ambush in advance and summoned Zhao He under false pretenses of the Lord's father's will. Fei Yi, the minister who assisted Zhao He, suspected that there was deception, so he went to answer the call in place of Zhao He, and the result was naturally killed by his opponent. Zhao He also urgently summoned his close ministers Gongzi Cheng and Li Dui to lead troops to quell the rebellion. Because the other party was unable to defeat the king's army, he fled to the main father's palace in the sand dunes, and was taken in by his father's licking. However, Gongzicheng and Li Dui immediately led an army into the palace to kill Zhao Zhang. Immediately, he was afraid that the main father would retaliate against them, and did not dare to bear the crime of killing the main father, so he besieged the palace and did not attack. The two drove out all the palace people, leaving only King Zhao Wuling alone to fend for himself inside. It was not until 3 months later that he re-entered and found that the male lord had been reduced to a dry corpse due to hunger, and even the bird's nest in the trees in the palace had been completely hollowed out.
The ending of King Zhao Wuling was extremely ugly
<h1>The foreshadowing of the decline of the Zhao state was buried</h1>
The residents of the border area of Daidi were also purged after the dune palace
The outcome of the change in the Dune Palace shows that the Zhao state officials, centered on Handan, eventually suppressed the alliance of lords and tribes with Daidi as the core. With the successive deaths of Gongzi Zhang and King Wuling of Zhao, the court of the State of Zhao also carried out a great purge of the northwestern border counties. They abolished the feudal status of Dai prefecture and changed it to Dai County, completely destroying the original tradition of local autonomy. This practice will naturally be met with collective opposition from the military and civilians in the border areas, and then form a regional confrontation that is difficult to bridge. In the Battle of Changping many years later, it was the descendants of these Hufu riding and shooting who chose not to move like a mountain, never appeared on the fiercely contested battlefield, and even rebelled later.
Ironically, the harsh geopolitical situation and pressure escalated after the defeat of Changping, which forced the Zhao court to compromise with the border areas. To a certain extent, they restored the tradition of tribal alliances in Daidi, in exchange for rejoining the other side, and successfully expelled the Yan army that wanted to take advantage of the fire. However, the Northwest Frontier Region has long been unable to rush to the glory of the zhao wuling king's era, and many border cities have been continuously encroached upon by the Qin state. Although the State of Zhao could compensate for its losses by starting a war against Wei, the plateau territory, which was an important military possession, was shrinking day by day. It was not until Li Mu, at the end of the Warring States period, who took charge of Dai County, that he once again won users by respecting folk customs, in exchange for the last victory over the early Xiongnu and Qin. But this move was also met with the instinctive vigilance of the Handan court. Therefore, in 229 BC, King Zhao, who was solidified by the thinking of the Dharma, moved out and listened to the rumors of his courtiers and plotted to kill him.
Li Mu's military achievements were already a return to the Zhao State
Li Mu's ending also announced that Zhao Guo had completely entered his final countdown. The year after his death, Handan was captured by the Qin army that had come back east. Prince Zhao Jia had nowhere else to go, but he could only choose to flee to Daidi, relying on the remnants of the military and civilians in the border areas to resist for several more years. This has to be said to be another irony of its consistent policy.
Many of the Zhao soldiers and civilians who have lived in the local area for a long time are no longer able to defend their homeland due to excessive internal friction. So they chose to retreat northward, scrambling to defect to the Nomadic Xiongnu clique that had only recently taken shape at that time. Their descendants will also continue to appear in a different guise, fighting on the front lines of the conflict between feudal alliances and anti-official monarchy. Of course, that's another story...