Ji Zheng
King Xiang of Zhou
King Ji Zheng of Zhou (?) –619 BC), courtesy name Zheng, son of King Hui of Zhou, monarch of Eastern Zhou, reigned from 651 BC to 619 BC. During the reign of King Xiang of Zhou, the struggle for hegemony among the princes became increasingly fierce, and the princes used various means to seize all opportunities to expand their strength in order to seize hegemony. In the era of great powers competing for hegemony and small countries, the dukes of Qi Huan and Jin Wen, who were known as the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, were already above the Kings of Zhou and the princely states during the time of King Xiang of Zhou. After the death of King Xiang of Zhou, his son Ji Renchen succeeded to the throne as King of Zhou.
real name
Nickname
The era in which it was located
Eastern Zhou
Ethnic groups
Huaxia ethnic group
Time of death
620 BC
Biography
In the twenty-fifth year of King Hui of Zhou (652 BC), Ji Zheng's father, King Hui of Zhou, died, and Ji Zheng succeeded to the throne as King Xiang of Zhou.
Image of King Xiang of Zhou - painted by the painter Wang Shanjia
Ji Zheng held a celebration banquet for Duke Wen of Jin. Duke Wen of Jin even asked Ji Zheng for a tunnel (asking for a funeral of tianzi after his death), but Ji Zheng refused, and instead gave Jin Yangfan, Wen, Yuan, and The Four Yis of Caomao (in present-day Jiyuan County, Wen County, and Xiuwu County, Henan Province) as a reward. Three years earlier, the Qin and Jin dynasties had moved a rong clan surnamed Yun to the Area around Yichuan (present-day Nanyi River in Luoyang) in the Zhou Dynasty and occupied it. In this way, the territory of the Zhou Dynasty was only a projectile land with a radius of more than 100 miles.
In the first year of the reign of King Xiang of Zhou (651 BC), the Duke of Qi Huan convened the Duke of Lu, the Duke of Song Xiang, the Duke of Wei Wen, the Duke of Zheng Wen, the Duke of Xu, and the Duke of Cao gong at the Song Dynasty (in present-day northeastern Lankao County, Henan Province), with the Duke of Qi Huan as the main alliance. In order to thank the Duke of Qi Huan for his support, Ji Zheng specially sent the Duke of Zhou Zaikong to attend the conference, and gave the sacrificial meat of the ancestors of the Zhou Tianzi to the Duke of Qi Huan, and also stated that the Duke of Qi Huan did not have to perform the next prayer of Xie En, in order to show recognition of the hegemonic status of the Duke of Qi Huan. This meeting was called the "Alliance of The Fallen Hills", which brought the prestige of the Duke of Qi Huan to the highest peak. After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, his five sons competed for the throne of the state, and civil strife and weakened the national strength, thus depriving the state of Qi of its hegemonic position.
Then the hegemon was Song Xianggong, a prince who talked about benevolence and morality. In 638 BC, when the State of Chu attacked the Song Dynasty, Song Xianggong led a large army to meet Yu Hong (河; pinyin: 河; pinyin: 河; pinyin: rଟ河, northwest of present-day Zhaocheng, Henan Province). He believed that the gentleman could not take advantage of the fact that the enemy army was crossing the river to launch an attack, could not take advantage of the enemy's advance before the enemy line, and could not capture some white-haired enemy soldiers on his head, so he ignored the repeated requests of his subordinates for battle, lost the fighter plane, and finally was defeated by the Chu army after the calm line, and he himself was wounded and killed. History is the representative of the figure who has called him a very stupid person.
In 632 BC, Duke Wen of Jin led a large army to defeat the Chu army at the Battle of Chengpu (城濮, in present-day Pu County, Henan Province). Duke Wen of Jin presented 1,000 Chu captives and 100 captured chariots to Ji Zheng, who gave him 100 red bows and 1,000 black bows in return, and promised that Duke Wen of Jin could conquer other princes. In the winter of the same year, Duke Wen of Jin held a meeting of princes at Zheng Guo's Jiantu (present-day southwest of Yuanyang County, Henan Province), and in order to increase his prestige, he sent people to suggest that Ji Zheng should go to the meeting. Ji Zheng felt that The Tangtang Zhou Tianzi had fallen to the point where only the orders of the princes were obeyed, and he was very embarrassed, and he was afraid of the power of the Jin State and had to go. Later, when Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Period, he wrote about this matter as "Tianzi hunting in Heyang" to maintain the face of Zhou Tianzi. At this time, Jin Wengong became the overlord of the Weizhen Central Plains.
Succeeding Duke Wen of Jin was the Duke of Qin. He appointed the sage Baili Xi and others to enhance the national strength, and in 624 BC, he conquered the Jin Dynasty, achieved great victories, and his prestige was greatly enhanced, and even more than 20 small states and tribes in Xirong were annexed, and The Duke of Qin Mugong was revered as the overlord of Xirong. Qin also vigorously developed to the east, expanding its land by more than 1,000 miles. Ji Zheng sent emissaries to send 12 bronze drums to express congratulations, that is, to officially recognize the hegemony of Qin Mugong.
In the thirty-second year of King Xiang of Zhou (620 BC), Ji Zheng died, and he was given the title of King of Xiang. After Ji Zheng's death, his son Ji Renchen succeeded to the throne as King of Zhou.
Sub-belt chaos
The prince was not willing to accept defeat, and from 649 BC onwards, he led the Xi rong troops to attack Zhou several times, but they were defeated successively. In 636 BC, Ji Zheng discovered that the queen Kui clan was secretly colluding with the prince and immediately deposed Kui Hou. The prince received the news and once again led the Xi rong army to attack Zhou and capture the capital. Emperor Ji Zhengcang escaped and took refuge in Zheng Guo's Feng (汜, in present-day Xiangcheng County, Henan Province), asking for help from various princes. In 635 BC, the newly reigned Duke Wen of Jin, under the banner of King Qin, sent an army to conquer Wen, where the prince belt was at the time, captured the prince belt, and then welcomed Ji Zheng back to the capital, took the prince to the capital to be executed, and quelled the civil unrest. This civil unrest is known in history as the "Sub-Belt Rebellion".