Jinguo hegemony
The most mainstream view of the "Spring and Autumn Five Powers" refers to the five monarchs: The Duke of Qi Huan, the Duke of Song Xiang, the Duke wen of Jin, the Duke of Qin Mu and the King of Chu Zhuang. But if you really understand the Spring and Autumn Period, you will find that most of the time, the Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony is the main theme of the Spring and Autumn Period. In addition to the early leadership of the Duke of Qi Huan to dominate the State of Qi, the true hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period should emerge from the Jin and Chu states. For example: Jin XianGong, Jin Wengong, Jin Jinggong of the Jin Kingdom, chu wu wang, chu cheng wang, chu zhuang wang of the chu state, they played the central plains kingdoms in the palm of their hands.
Jin-Chu contended for supremacy
Perhaps because a country chooses only one representative, historians have chosen only the typical examples. In fact, there was a magical teenager in the Jin Kingdom, who brought the Jin Kingdom from the undercurrent of surging and dangerous predicament to a new situation of harmony, unity of heart and blood, and prosperity of the country.
He was the legendary monarch of the Jin Dynasty, the Duke of Jin. He was like a meteor breaking through the sky, he was like a savior who had crossed over, he was late in coming, but he had just caught up. Without the Jin Mourning Gong, the Jin State would not have persisted for so long!
Duke Huan of Jin, whose name was Ji Zhou, was the great-grandson of Duke Xiang of Jin, and his grandfather Huan Shujie was the younger son of Duke Xiang of Jin, and he was the second son of his father Hui Bo Tan. It is reasonable to say that a birth like his is not noble, and in a few generations he may become a "national" (commoner).
Shin-meded-in
However, Ji Zhou had such good luck that he, like another grandfather of Tang Gao, Jin Chenggong, was originally a hostage in the Zhou Dynasty and had no quarrel with the world. However, the turmoil within the Jin Dynasty gave them the opportunity to soar.
In the first contest between the Jinguo Gongfu and the Qing Dafu, the Gongfu suffered a crushing defeat, so the Jincheng Gong, who had nothing to do with the domestic political struggle, was welcomed back to the throne.
However, when the monarch sat on the throne of Jin Chenggong's grandson Jin Ligong, Jin Ligong was again involved in a second political struggle. This time, the government suffered another fiasco, and the clans of the Jin Ligong were wiped out. So Ji Zhou, who was also a hostage in the Zhou royal family, ushered in a new beginning in his life. The victorious Qing Dafus welcomed Ji Zhou as the 28th monarch of the Jin Dynasty, the Duke of Jin, who was only 14 years old at the time.
For a 14-year-old, all he faces is a complex situation that even a battle-hardened adult cannot face. To the secretaries, he was just a big kid who didn't understand things. However, the first words of the Jin Mourning Gong surprised the people who underestimated him. Jin Mourning Gong said: If you want me to be the monarch, you must listen to me, if you let me be a puppet, please be wise! This sentence caught the Qing doctors present by surprise and overwhelmed, and later they were forced by the Jin Mourning Gong to swear an oath in person, and they could not regret it in the future.
In this way, the Duke of Jin mourned a lesson to the Qing doctors, and after he took office, he even had a clear understanding of the situation in the Jin State and the details of the Qing family. Then the right medicine was prescribed, and in a short period of time, the various factions of the Jin State were evenly balanced, and each other was contained, so as not to make one family dominant. Then the dominant power is firmly in his own hands, who disobeys and unites other forces to destroy him, this move is a typical imperial balance technique, as a teenager in his 10s, I really don't know how jin mourning gong did it.
Secretaries of State of Jin
In order to confront Qing Dafu, the Duke of Jin began to train members of the office, such as Han Yue, who was one of the objects that the Duke of Jin mourned focused on cultivating, as well as Zhao Wu and Wei Dai. However, this also laid hidden dangers for the later division of the Han, Zhao, and Wei families.
In foreign relations. The Duke of Jin adhered to the foreign policy of a great power that the Jin Dynasty had always been honest and responsible, so that the Central Plains states that had once been discouraged fell to the Jin State. This laid a good foundation for the Jin state and the Chu state and the State of Qi to compete for hegemony.
The Duke of Jin also established a perfect hegemonic system, stipulating the rank and etiquette between the allies and the dominant countries. He also forcefully abolished the tribute obligations of the princes to Zhou Tianzi, and became the actual co-lord in everyone's mind.
Unfortunately, the Duke of Jin mourned the year, only did 15 years of Jin Jun, died of illness at the age of 29, and there was a strange eclipse phenomenon before death, was it that the heavens found this BUG too big and wanted to take him?
(Continues tomorrow)