Pan Geng, the ninth generation descendant of Shang Tang, was the son of Zu Ding, the King of Shang. Pan Geng's older brother Yang Jia served as king of Shang for 7 years, and after his death, Pan Geng succeeded his brother to the throne and became the 20th king of the Shang Dynasty. Pan Geng has been in power for a total of 28 years and has made great achievements. The Shang Dynasty began with Emperor Zhongding, abolishing the system of succession by the eldest son. The sons of the Shang King, the brothers of the Shang King, and the sons of the Shang King's brothers fought fiercely to seize the throne, resulting in nine consecutive generations of chaos, which led to the decline of the Shang Dynasty's national strength, so that the princes did not come to worship.
Due to the continuous occurrence of civil unrest and years of floods, in order to consolidate the regime, from the beginning of the Shang King Zhongding to the Pan Geng era, the capital of the Shang Dynasty moved many times. Among them, Zhongding moved the capital to Gan kui (present-day Xingyang, Henan), Hezhijia to Yuxiang (present-day Neihuang, Henan), Zu Yi moved to Xing (present-day Dingtao, Shandong), and Nan Geng moved the capital to Xiang (present-day Qufu, Shandong). When Pan Geng ascended the throne, the capital of the Shang Dynasty was north of the Yellow River. Repeatedly moving the capital has caused the people to suffer the hardships of relocation, and the people have complained one by one.
In order to get rid of the political predicament and alleviate various contradictions, Pan Geng decided to move the capital to the place where the Yellow River Shangtang once lived.
Pan Geng first sent someone to find the address of the new capital, and after several screenings, it was finally determined to be in Yin. Yin this place is flat and wide, the soil is fertile and beautiful, the mountains and forests have tigers, bears and beasts, there are fish and shrimp in the water, and it is far from the Yellow River, which is often flooded, and there is foam water that can be used to irrigate farmland.
Moving the capital was a very hard and troublesome thing, and after Pan Geng announced the decision to move the capital, it was immediately opposed by the whole country. In the face of this heavy resistance, Pan Geng patiently explained to people again and again, and promised that after moving the capital, everyone would get a new share of the land. The commoners had plundered all the lands in the old capital by the nobles, and in order to get the new land, they reluctantly agreed. As soon as the nobles heard that the majority of the people were in favor of moving the capital, they talked to each other and fanned the flames everywhere and spread rumors to confuse the people. Pan Geng gathered them together and patiently enlightened, saying, "Once upon a time, my wise ancestor Cheng Tang and your ancestors jointly created the Taiping World, and this good relationship between kings and subjects has set a good precedent for us and is worth learning from." The first kings appointed your clans and issued orders to them, and none of them dared to disobey them, so the first kings had special respect for them. They also never spread gossip casually, and the people were very docile. How can we accomplish great merit if we discard such precedents? From today onwards, you must all scrupulously do your duty and do your part!" Pan Geng's words made the noble ministers restrain a lot.
Finally, under the coercion and persuasion of Pan Geng, all the people no longer objected. So Pan Geng led the people across the Yellow River, and in the fourteenth year of his reign, he moved the capital to Yin, which is the famous "Pan Geng Qian Yin" in history.
After the completion of the relocation of the capital, Pan Geng implemented benevolent government, reduced taxes, advocated frugality, reversed the bad social atmosphere, and stabilized the political situation. He exhorted his ministers to show compassion for the people and to use those who could help the masses to become rich and make them live and work in peace and contentment. Under the leadership of Pan Geng, the Shang Dynasty flourished again.
After Pan Geng's death, his younger brother Xiao Xin took the throne. During Xiao Xin's reign, because of the lack of governance, Yin declined again. People began to miss Pan Geng, so they made three articles called "Pan Geng" to express their remembrance. After Xiao Xin's death, his younger brother Xiao Yi took the throne. Emperor Xiaoyi died and his son Wu Ding took the throne.
When Wu Ding was young, his father did not allow him to play in the royal family all day, but sent him to the people to experience the life of the poor people, contact with society, and increase his knowledge. Wu Ding concealed his identity, learned all kinds of labor, and deeply felt the suffering of the people, so he secretly resolved to change the status quo and restore the prosperity of the Great Shang Kingdom.
Later, Wu Ding came to the throne, and during the first 3 years of his reign, everything in the country was handled and decided by the ministers, and Wu Ding never expressed his opinion. In fact, he was observing the words and colors from the sidelines, examining the ability of the ministers to do things, and looking for loyal ministers who could assist him. One night he had a dream that he had received a sage named "Speaking." When he woke up, he was very strange, so he gathered a group of ministers and officials, and carefully checked whether there was such a person according to the appearance of the person in the dream. He looked left and right, always shaking his head, the hundred officials were very strange, what is wrong with the king today? After reading the ministers of culture and military affairs from beginning to end, Wu Ding still frowned, shook his head, and said to the ministers, "Go quickly, call me the painter!" When the painter came, Wu Ding asked the painter to draw the head according to the way he described it, and then ordered someone to take the portrait to various places to look for it. At a road construction site called Fu Wei, he found a person who looked exactly like a portrait, named "Say". Bringing the talk to Wu Ding, Wu Ding nodded his head and said, "Yes, it is him!" After some understanding, Wu Ding found that he was indeed a very talented person, so Wu Ding appointed him as an assistant to the imperial court, and took Fu Jian's place as his surname, called Fu Shuo.
Bo Said lived up to the expectations of the people and vigorously brought into play the talents of Wen Tao's martial strategy to make the imperial court orderly. He asked Wu Ding to rectify corruption within the royal family, rectify the imperial program, vigorously promote the new policy, and reduce the tribute used for sacrifices, so that not only the burden of the broad masses of the people was reduced, but also set an example for the noble ministers, and the people of the world rejoiced.
Once, Wu Ding sacrificed into soup, and the next day, a pheasant flew to the ear of the sacrifice of the big ding, and Wu Ding listened to it and was very frightened (the rulers of the Shang Dynasty were very superstitious about gods and ghosts). Zu Ji persuaded, "The Great King need not worry, first handle the affairs of the country well." Wu Ding listened, still not at ease. Zu Ji enlightened him: "Whether the heavens bless or absolve sins depends on whether the people below obey morality." People's life span is long and short, and people with short life expectancy are not deliberately caused by Heaven to let him lose his life. Whoever does not do evil, who has no morality and who does not confess his sins, will certainly send orders from heaven to warn him. That's when he remembered to say, 'What to do, what to do!' Since you ascended the throne, you have done your duty and worked hard to do things for the people, and everything has not violated the will of God and the will of the people. Please ask the king to continue to sacrifice according to the old rules, not to change it at will, and not to hold all kinds of cult rituals!" Wu Ding listened, felt very reasonable, and was no longer frightened, but concentrated on practicing moral governance. The people of the whole country were very happy, and the Shang Dynasty prospered again.
The shang dynasty ruled the region, centered on present-day Henan
After Wu Ding's death, his son Zu Geng ascended the throne, and Zu Geng ordered people to write the "Gaozong Zhi Ri" and "Gaozong's Teachings", praising and praising Wu Ding's pursuit of moral government and reviving the merits and virtues of the Shang Dynasty.
Read history wisely:
The capitals of the Xia Dynasty and the early Shang Dynasty were uncertain, Pan Geng qianyin established the long-term capital for the first time, and Wu Ding established a set of formed bureaucracies and a stable army, and his southern conquest and northern war initially laid the territory for China, and on this basis improved the system of sub-feudalism, and Wu Ding's stable rule for 59 years was the political foundation of this prosperous era. Everything seems to indicate that the Wuding era was a crucial period in Chinese history and the source of many characteristics of Chinese civilization.