Jibei, according to the records of Liu Bang, the emperor of the early Han Dynasty, once divided Jibei and other counties into the territory of Liu Fei, the king of Qi. Therefore, at least in the early Han Dynasty, Jibei County was already established.
So is Jibei County here also established during the Qin Shi Huang period? In fact, this is not the case, because there is no clear record of Jibei County in the counties set up by Qin Shi Huang, which is currently recorded in the "Records of History". At the same time, there is no record of Jibei County in the "Book of Han and Geographical Records". Therefore, Jibei County was established during the Qin Shi Huang period, at least for now, there are not enough records as a basis.
In this way, Jibei County can only appear in the late Qin and Chu Han dynasties.
According to the records of Jibei County in the Chu and Han Dynasties:
Han Xin, who was under the right hand, attacked Qi Li's army and took Linling. Also Dingjibei County. History of Cao Xiangguo's Family
Here is the record of Cao Shan, as the right minister, following Han Xin to attack the State of Qi, and then leading an army to pacify Jibei County. Obviously, at least it shows that Jibei County has appeared at this time, and this time has reached the fourth year of Han.
So let's go ahead and look at the historical records, that is, the records of the founding of the Jibei Kingdom:
Therefore, Qin destroyed the Qi king Jiansun Tian'an, Xiang Yufang crossed the river to save Zhao, Tian An went down to Jibei several cities, and led his troops to surrender Xiang Yu, so Li'an became the king of Jibei and Du Boyang. "History of Xiang Yu Benji"
Tian An, as the grandson of Qi Wangjian, the last monarch of the State of Qi, can be described as the bloodline of the Qi royal family. By the time of julu at the end of qin, Tian An led his troops to several cities in northern Ji and led an army to surrender to Xiang Yu, so when he was divided, Xiang Yu made Tian An the king of Jibei and established the capital Boyang.
Looking at the content recorded here again, Tian An lian went down to Jibei Several Cities, and asked if Jibei here is not a county-level unit, where did Jibei Several Cities come from? It can't be said that it is Jibei County.
So now I can barely draw a conclusion: Jibei was an important region of the State of Qi for a long time. As for whether it is called Jibei County, we are still inconclusive.
If we look at the merits of Tian An, as well as the division of Xiang Yu, as well as the Jibei County clearly recorded in the Chu and Han Dynasties, at least in the late Qin Period, the Jibei region as a county-level unit has been initially formed. With the eventual establishment of the State of Jibei, Jibei County became an important county in the Chu and Han dynasties, and was later officially recognized by the Han Empire.
And look at the counties of the State of Qi that Liu Bang sealed at the beginning of the Han Dynasty:
With Jiaodong, Jiaoxi, Linzi, Jibei, Boyang, and Chengyang Counties, Lizifei was the king of Qi. Book of Han and The Chronicle of Emperor Gao
The State of Qi here has six counties, and according to the inheritance relationship, it should be the entire territory of the Kingdom of Sanqi that Xiang Yu has sealed. Of course, according to the later records of the State of Qi cutting off Langya County and establishing the State of Langya, then the State of Qi here should have seven counties, and it is suspected that the Book of Han omitted Langya County.
Of course, whether it is six or seven, and then according to the basic strategy of Xiang Yu's division, it is most appropriate for the three kingdoms to receive an average of two or three counties each. Therefore, according to the geographical division at that time, the control of the State of Jibei should be the two counties of Jibei and Boyang, after all, the name of the State of Jibei was Jibei, and the capital of Boyang was established.
In this way, the basic territory map of the Jibei Kingdom can be drawn:
As above, the state of Jibei is backed by the sea, bordering the changshan state in the northwest, the southwest bordering the western Chu, and the southeast bordering the state of Qi.
In fact, in general, the location of Jibei is not too bad. Changshan was constantly worried about foreign troubles at home and abroad, and he was simply unable to invade other countries. Western Chu was too powerful, if it really wanted to annex Jibei, it was actually very easy, and Tian An, the king of Jibei, was once a general under Xiang Yu, so Western Chu had no reason to attack Jibei at all. As for the last neighboring country, the State of Qi, in fact, the biggest problem is still this, after all, there is still a former overlord of the State of Qi, Tian Rong. Therefore, for the State of Jibei at that time, the focus was still on the State of Qi in the southeast.
However, the State of Jibei also had an innate advantage, that is, the grandfather of Tian An, the king of Jibei, was Tian Jian, the last monarch of Xianqi, so Tian An was a descendant of the true Qi royal family. Therefore, from a legal point of view, Tian An, the king of Jibei, is the true master of Sanqi. The reason why Xiang Yu made Tian An the King of Jibei among the three Qi may also have taken this into account, hoping that Tian An could use his unique identity background to stabilize the situation in the State of Qi.
It's just a pity, maybe it was Qi Wangjian's reputation that year was too bad, or maybe Tian An's ability was not enough, in short, Tian An eventually failed.
As for the population of the Northern Kingdom of Jibei, because the geographical population recorded in the Book of Han and Geography is the geographical population of the late Western Han Dynasty, and by the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the State of Qi has been dismantled and scattered, so it is difficult to use counties to directly correspond, so it is not used here to refer to it. But there is one thing we need to know, that is, the population of the State of Qi is really large, whether it is in the pre-Qin or Chu and Han Dynasties, or in the Western Han Dynasty, it is the same. Therefore, both Qin Shi Huang and Han Gao Emperor Liu Bang migrated their population from the State of Qi to Guanzhong on a large scale during their reign. Therefore, for the population of Jibei, a conservative estimate should also be more than 800,000, or more is also possible.
The following is the specific composition of the Jibei Kingdom:
King of Jibei:
Tayasu (-July 2006)
Basic deeds: Originally a descendant of the xianqi royal family, he escaped the qin arrest because of his family's protection. In July of the second year of Qin II, because the Qi king Tian Dan died in battle in Linji, the Qi people supported Tian Fei, the younger brother of Qi Wang Jian, the last monarch of The First Qi, as the new King of Qi, during which Tian An should have also participated. Later, when Tian Rong returned, he drove away Tian Fei and embraced Tian Dan's son Tian Shi as the King of Qi, during which time Tian An should have defected to Tian Rong again. During the Battle of Julu in the third year of Qin II, Tian Rong refused to send troops, so Tian An forcibly sent troops to assist Xiang Yu in breaking the Qin army, and then connected the cities of Jibei County, and then surrendered to Xiang Yu, and Tian An became a general under Xiang Yu. In February of the first year of the Han Dynasty, Tian An was enfeoffed as the King of The Northern Province, with the capital Boyang. In July of the same year, he killed Tian Rong and died.
Is flush.
One part of Qinjibei County (roughly equivalent to one part of today's Hebei Province and one part of Shandong Province)
According to the population of 800,000, it should be at least more than 100,000. (Pure speculation here)
Founded in February of the First Year of the Han Dynasty. Time of destruction: Around July of the First Year of the Han Dynasty.
(End)