Since ancient times, Shanxi has been known for its rugged terrain, which strangles the North China Plain in the east, the Heshuo Grassland in the north, the Guanzhong Plain in the west, and the Fertile Land of the Central Plains in the south. In the "History of Liu Jingshu Sun Tonglie", there is a commentary on the terrain of Shanxi: husbands fight with people, do not strangle their excesses, pull their backs, and fail to win all of them. Now That His Majesty has entered the capital of the Customs, the place where Qin is located, this is also the place where the world is suffocated and his back is also shaken.
If there were only many Xiongguan and dangerous plugs in Shanxi, and there was no developed economic strength, I am afraid that it would not have become one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization. The Jin state in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Wei Zhao Han Sanxiong in the Warring States Period, the Tang Empire, and the Later Tang State established by the Shatuo people were able to finally establish hegemony by virtue of Shanxi's geographical advantages and relatively developed economic level.
Shanxi is referred to as Jin, and this Jin refers to the Jin state during the Spring and Autumn Period. Tang Shuyu, the founding prince of the Jin Dynasty, was the third son of Ji Fa, the King of Zhou Wu, and the name of the country at the beginning of the founding of the country was not Called Jin, but Tang. It was not until Tang Shuyu's son Ji Xie ascended the throne that it was changed to Jin, because the Jin Dynasty was in the same line as the King of Zhou, so all the monarchs of the Jin State took it as their duty to protect the King of Zhou, and repeatedly helped the Zhou royal family to successfully survive the disasters, especially during the reign of Marquis Wen of Jin, he joined forces with the princes of Zheng Wu, Qin Xiang, and Wei Wu to jointly escort the King of Zhou Ping to move east to Luoyi, stabilizing the chaotic situation of the Zhou royal family after the Beacon Drama Princes.
As we all know, the Zhou Dynasty implemented a strict patriarchal system, and after the death of the King of Zhou and the princes, their thrones could only be inherited by the eldest son. However, when he arrived at Marquis Wen of Jin, because his father Marquis Mu of Jin was born before him, he did not take the necessary measures to curb the power of his brother Uncle Jin, so that soon after the death of Marquis Mu of Jin, Uncle Jin mu sought to usurp the throne and became the Marquis of Jin. Although in the end, Marquis Wen of Jin succeeded in regaining the throne of Marquis of Jin after several years in exile, the actions of Uncle Jin had a bad impact on the State of Jin, breaking the long tradition of succession of the eldest son of the State of Jin, and making the sons of the Emperor of the State of Jin understand that as long as they were strong, they could establish themselves as Marquis of Jin on behalf of the king. It is precisely because there are precedents to follow, which eventually led to a series of major events that changed the fate of the Jin state, such as Qu Wo Daiyi and Li Ji chaojin, and laid the groundwork for the demise of the Jin state.
After the death of Marquis Wen of Jin, his son Ji Bo took the throne as the Marquis of Jin, known in history as the Marquis of Jin Zhao. In the first year of the reign of Marquis Zhao, there was turmoil in the Jin state, and in order to stabilize the situation, the Marquis of Jin Zhao decided to seal the city of Quwo to his uncle, known in history as Uncle Huan of Quwo. Because Uncle Qu WoHuan was older than Marquis Zhaohou of Jin, he had a lot of experience in political struggle, and because Uncle Qu Wo Huan was known for his virtue and elegance and outstanding talent, he had a high prestige in the hearts of the scholars at that time, and many well-educated people threw themselves into the hands of Duke Qu Wo Huan. Because Quwo City was originally richer than the Jindu Wing City, and the conditions of Quwo City were stronger than that of Yicheng in all aspects, Quwo City had surpassed the Jindu Wing City at that time after several years of careful governance by Quwo Huangong.
With the gradual strengthening of the power of The Duke of Quwo Huan, coupled with the example of Uncle Jin, the Duke of Quwo Huan gradually germinated the idea of usurping the throne. In fact, Marquis Zhaohou of Jin also knew that the power of The Duke of Quwo Huan was strong enough to threaten him. Like The Marquis of Jin, the Marquis of Jin, as Emperor Daizong, did not take any measures to stop the unbridled expansion of Xiaozong's power.
In fact, marquis Zhaohou of Jin still had a lot of scholars, such as the doctor who had witnessed the usurpation of the throne by Uncle Yan and the recapture of the throne by Wen hou. After shifu heard that Marquis Zhaohou of Jin was determined to give the city of Quwo to Uncle Huan, he immediately visited the Marquis of Jinzhao and said that giving Quwo to Uncle Huan was undoubtedly a way to take advantage of chaos, and it was bound to raise tigers as a large office in crisis. Unfortunately, in the face of such a kind word, Marquis Zhaohou of Jin did not accept it at all. However, Marquis Zhaohou of Jin did not have enough time to verify the correctness of what Shifu said, because Marquis Zhaohou of Jin reigned for only seven years before he was killed by Father Pan, the chancellor of the Jin Dynasty.
After Father Pan killed the king, he was ready to welcome Uncle Quwo Huan into Yicheng and become a king, and What Father Pan did was right in the arms of Uncle Quwo Huan, so Uncle Quwo Huan immediately went to Yicheng, but the people of the Jin state at that time did not support QuWo Huan's ascension to the throne, but instead sent troops to attack QuWo Huan And supported Ji Ping, the son of Marquis Zhaohou of Jin, as the Prince of Jin, that is, the Marquis of Jin. After the failure of Quwo Huangong, he had no choice but to return to Quwo City, and finally Quwo Huangong died in regret.
Although Uncle QuWo Huan died, Qu Wo Huan's legacy was inherited by his descendants. The struggle between Qu Wo Xiaozong and Yicheng Dazong did not disappear because of the death of Qu Wo Huan's uncle, but due to the increasing estrangement of blood relations, the open and secret struggle between the two sides became more and more fierce.
After Qu Wo Huan's son Qu Wo Zhuang Bo succeeded to the throne, in order to fulfill his father's last wishes and considerations for his own interests, Qu Wo Zhuang Bo sent assassins to infiltrate Yicheng in the fifteenth year of Jin Xiao Hou and successfully assassinated Jin Xiao Hou, and by bribing King Huan of Zhou huan to get the support of the Zhou royal family, Qu Wo Zhuang Bo joined forces with the armies of Zheng Guo and Xing Guo to attack the Jin capital Yicheng. King Huan of Zhou, who accepted bribes, also sent Zhou Dafu Yin and Wu to send troops to help Qu Wo Zhuangbo. However, due to the opposition of Xun Guo and other princes to Quwo Zhuangbo's ascension to the throne, in the end Quwo Zhuangbo had to retreat to Quwo City again under the counterattack of the princes and the people of the Jin state.
After Quwo Zhuangbo returned to Quwo City, the people of the Jin state supported the younger brother of Marquis Xiao of Jin, marquis of Jin' E, as the Prince of Jin. In the lifetime of the Marquis of Jin, Quwo Zhuangbo did not plot a rebellion again, and it was not until after the death of Marquis Ehou of Jin that Quwo Zhuangbo took the opportunity to attack Yicheng. In this rebellion, due to quwo Zhuangbo's previous betrayal of King Huan of Zhou, when he heard that Quwo Zhuangbo had rebelled again, he immediately sent the highly respected Duke Of Yu to fight and defeat Quwo Zhuangbo, and Zhou Huan made the son of the Marquis of Jin, the Marquis of Jin. The soldiers fled back to Quwo City, and died in two years.
After the death of Qu wo Zhuang Bo, after his son Qu Wo Wu Duke took the throne, he attacked Yicheng three times, and finally captured Yicheng and destroyed Emperor Dazong. Duke Wu of Quwo, who held the real power of the Jin state, in order to gain the recognition of Zhou Tianzi, dedicated all the rare treasures of the Jin state to the king of Zhou. Through 67 years of hard work, Quwo Xiaozong completely defeated Emperor Yicheng and seized the orthodox status of the Jin state, and Quwo Wugong was also known as the Duke of Jinwu.
After the death of Duke Wu of Jin, his son Duke Xian of Jin took the throne. In order to avoid the recurrence of the "Pangzhi Seizure of the Sect", the Duke of Jin xian adopted Shi Bao's advice and killed all the sons of the Bianzhi Sect of the Jin Dynasty. Although The Duke of Jin avoided the recurrence of the Time of the Emperor by killing the sons of the Emperor of the Side Branch, due to the fact that the Duke of Jin was obsessed with the beauty of Li Ji, the State of Jin was once again plunged into civil strife.
It was precisely because of the three clan disturbances of "Uncle Wu usurping the throne", "Quwo Daiyi", and "Li Ji Rebellion" that caused the Jin Wengong and his subsequent Jin dukes to avoid the recurrence of the incident, as long as a new monarch took the throne, he must kill the sons of the clan. After a long period of disposal, the power of the Gong clan of the Jin State almost ceased to exist, and there were no more incidents of clan rebellion since then. The threat of the clan is gone, for the purpose of stabilizing the situation, there must be a common clan, but it cannot stop killing the clan. Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, the Jin monarch adopted the method of supporting his own secretaries as dukes to consolidate his rule. After taking this approach, the Jin state was strong and lasting, and suppressed the three great powers of Qi, Qin and Chu for a long time, except for a few periods, the Jin state could be said to dominate the Central Plains. Quan Zuwang, a representative figure of the Zhejiang Eastern School in the Qing Dynasty, believed that the Spring and Autumn Five Powers should be the Duke of Qi Huan, the Duke of Jin Wen, the Duke of Jin Xiang, the Duke of Jin Jing, and the Duke of Jin. Regardless of whether this statement is biased or not, it is beyond doubt that the Jin State occupied an absolutely dominant position for a long time in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Without the balance of power of the Jin dynasty, Zhuqing developed and grew like a monster, and eventually the Zhuqing seizure of power occurred, and the Jin state was divided between the Wei, Zhao, and Han families.
In fact, whether it is to suppress the power of the gong clan or to restrain the power of the secretaries of state, the ultimate goal is to maintain the absolute dominance of the monarch. However, throughout history, no dynasty has been able to maintain the absolute dominance of the monarch's power, and it is inevitable that there will be many power seizures by eunuchs, foreign relatives, heroes, and clans. Everyone knows that no one power can be allowed to grow too strongly, and it is best to maintain balance, but how many kings can do it consistently?
Author: Our special invited author Si Wu