King Wu of Zhou
01
King Wu of Zhou had nine concubines, one of whom was named Yi Jiang, the daughter of Jiang Taigong (commonly known as Jiang Ziya).
Although King Wu of Zhou had many concubines, he never had a son, and soon after Jiang Ziya offered his daughter Yi Jiang to be favored by King Wu of Zhou, Yi Jiang became pregnant.
Yi Jiang very much hoped to give birth to a son to King Wu of Zhou, so he began the work of prenatal education with tenacious perseverance and strong restraint.
During these ten months, Yi Jiang never cocked his feet when he stood, he must be straight when he sat, he did not turn around when he was alone, and he did not curse even when he was angry.
Perhaps because of his own cultivation and blessings, Yi Jiang gave birth to the first son of King Wu of Zhou, named Ji Shu.
It is said that at that time, King Wu of Zhou was planning a plan with his father-in-law, Jiang Taigong, to destroy Shang, and after he had a son, he was very happy and became the son of the world.
It is said that King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang and became king, and established the Great Zhou Dynasty.
One day in the year of the Extinction of Shang, King Wu of Zhou and Yi Jiang were sleeping, and the two of them had the same dream at the same time.
They dreamed that the Emperor of Heaven said to them:
"I will let you have another son, and in the future I will name him Yu, and I will seal the Tang Kingdom to him in the future."
Sure enough, soon after, Yi Jiang became pregnant again and gave birth to a son for King Wu of Zhou.
King Wu of Zhou picked up the child and found that the child's palm had a pattern, like a "Yu" character.
King Wu of Zhou remembered his dream and named the child Ji Yu.
However, what the Zhou Wu wang and his wife did not expect was that this was their last child, and the next year the King of Zhou Wu fell ill and died suddenly.
Since the Zhou Dynasty had just been established, and many princely kingdoms around it still sympathized with and supported the Shang, the political situation was very unstable.
Before his death, King Wu of Zhou took his brother Zhou Gongdan's hand and entrusted it to him, instructing him to govern the world.
The "Chronicle of History" records: "In the beginning, when King Wu and Shu Yu's mother met, Mengtian said to King Wu: 'Yu Feng's daughter is a son, named Yu, and Yu is with Tang. And the birth of a son, the text in his hand is called '虞', so it is because of the fate of the Yu. ”
02
Shizi Ji ji succeeded to the throne, that is, King Cheng of Zhou, assisted by Zhou Gongdan as the regent.
King Wu of Zhou's younger brothers Guan Shu and Uncle Cai were jealous of Zhou Gongdan and joined forces with King Shang's son Wu Geng to launch a rebellion.
Zhou Gongdan decisively sent troops to suppress the rebellion, killing Wu Geng and exiled two of King Wu of Zhou's younger brothers.
King Zhou Cheng grew up in the greenhouse and spent seven years, and Zhou Gongdan taught King Zhou Cheng to handle government affairs at night.
In the seventh year of his reign, King Cheng of Zhou learned to handle government affairs and began to pro-government, and Zhou Gongdan gave up his position as regent and returned to his home, and from then on he kept his duties as a courtier.
King Cheng of Zhou moved the capital to Luoyi and held a grand pilgrimage to the princes.
However, just when King Cheng of Zhou was just enjoying the supreme authority of the Son of Heaven, a rebellion broke out in the Tang kingdom near the capital of the King of Zhou, threatening the Zhou Dynasty's rule east of the Yellow River.
King Cheng of Zhou panicked and ordered Zhou Gongdan to lead an army to quell the rebellion.
In October 1035 BC, Zhou Gongdan led an army into the Tang Kingdom, exiled all the Tang soldiers and civilians to other places, and relocated the Zhou royal clan to the Tang Kingdom to strengthen the Zhou Dynasty's dominance east of the Yellow River.
The Bamboo Book Chronicle records: "In the winter of October, Wang Shi destroyed the Tang Dynasty and moved his people to Du. ”
Zhou Gong
03
It is said that King Zhou Cheng's residence in the new capital Luoyi saw that Zhou Gongdan's war report was in a good mood, so he invited his brother Ji Yu into the palace to celebrate.
Because the brothers are two brothers and one mother, the two have a very good relationship since childhood, and King Zhou Cheng is much closer to Ji Yu than other clan members.
King Zhou Cheng arranged the banquet under a plane tree, and the two brothers drank and talked freely, and unconsciously King Zhou Cheng drank a little higher.
In late autumn, a gust of wind blows, bringing a little coolness.
King Zhou Chengwang was just excited, and he looked up just in time to see the leaves on the plane tree slowly drifting down.
King Zhou Cheng grabbed a sycamore leaf that had fallen down with a wave of his hand, and took a knife and cut it into the gui held by the chancellor Shangchao.
He handed it to his brother and said:
"You take this first, and I'm going to give you a fiefdom as proof."
Ji Yu happily handed down and carefully put it in his pocket to keep it.
The "Chronicle of History" records: "ChengWang and Shu Yu played, cut the tong leaf for Gui and Shu Yu, and said: "Seal ruo with this." ””
King Cheng of Zhou
04
Zhou Gongdan returned to the dynasty in victory, and Ji Yu immediately took out the sycamore leaf and told Zhou Gongdan.
When Zhou Gongdan learned of this, he immediately entered the palace to congratulate King Zhou Cheng:
"The Great King has sealed the little brother Ji Yu, this is a great joy, and the courtiers have come to congratulate him!"
King Zhou Chengwang had long forgotten all about the drunken jokes of that day, so he asked in a confused manner:
"When did I divide the seal?!"
Zhou Gongdan took out the sycamore leaf and explained the events of that day to King Zhou Cheng.
King Zhou Cheng blushed and said with a grin:
"I'm kidding my brother!" He's still so young, how can he divide it?! ”
After Zhou Gongdan listened to King Zhou Cheng's explanation, his face suddenly became solemn.
Zhou Gongdan sorted out his clothes and prostrated his head and said:
"As a person, you must be trustworthy, and what you have said must be honored." Not to mention that you are the son of heaven, and you can't make a mistake, so the monarch must not joke. If you disregard your faith and take your words as a joke, then who will obey you as the king of the country in the future?! ”
King Zhou Cheng, hearing Zhou Gongdan's earnest teachings, bowed his head in shame.
King Zhou Cheng pondered for a moment and muttered:
"The Tang Dynasty has just rebelled, and there are many people who have migrated to the Ji clan, and the location of the neighboring capital is very important, and it is related to the stability of the east bank of the Yellow River, and it is necessary for a close relative to go to sit in the town."
King Cheng of Zhou immediately issued a decree: To seal his younger brother Ji Yu in the Tang Kingdom. Ji Yu was also known as tang shu yu.
Zhou Gongdan prostrated himself and praised the Son of Heaven.
However, from then on, King Zhou Cheng no longer dared to joke casually, but seriously governed the country.
The "Records of History" records: "Zhou Gong heard about it, and entered the book: 'The Heavenly King is a brother, and he is very good. Cheng Wang said: "I am straight and playing with the ears." Zhou Gong said: "The lord of man has no fault, and he should not make jokes, but he must do what he says." So Naifeng's younger brother was Ying County. ”
05
Tang Shuyu worked diligently in the Tang Kingdom, did not dare to slacken off in the slightest, and promoted national autonomy in the multi-ethnic Tang Kingdom according to local conditions, and soon presented a thriving scene.
In the eleventh year of King Cheng of Zhou, Tang Shuyu received Jiahe (Jiahe with different stems and same spikes in the Tang Kingdom, implying that although the two brothers were not together, they were both consolidating the Great Zhou Dynasty).
Ji Yu thought that this was the auspicious rui that had descended from heaven, so he personally brought people into the zhou cheng king.
King Cheng of Zhou, remembering Zhou Gongdan's teaching and help to the brothers, ordered Ji Yu to go to the State of Lu to give Zhou Gongdan.
Zhou Gongdan saw Xiangrui and was moved to write "Feeding He" on the spot, offering it to King Cheng of Zhou and praising the virtues of King Zhou.
The "Chronicle of History" records: "Heaven sent blessings, Tang Uncle Dehe, half-mother Tongying, dedicated to becoming a king, the king ordered Tang Uncle to feed the Zhou Duke in the Eastern Soil, as a feast." ”
06
It is worth mentioning that due to tang shuyu's proper governance, the tang state soon developed and grew, and his son changed the name of the country to Jin, which was the Jin state that later dominated the Central Plains for hundreds of years.
And King Cheng of Zhou also firmly remembered the lesson, and in his later years, worried that the crown prince would not be qualified for the position of the son of heaven, he personally selected the summoning prince and bigong to assist the prince.
The first thing the two did after the crown prince succeeded to the throne was to produce the Gu Ming, which encouraged the ministers to teach the new king by recording the past of King Zhou Cheng.
In the end, King Cheng of Zhou and King Kang of Zhou did not use punishment for forty years, creating a rare taiping and prosperous era in Chinese history, that is, the "rule of Cheng Kang" that was praised by later generations.
800 years later, Emperor Jing of Han drunkenly said to his younger brother Liu Wu the Prince of Liang:
"I'm dead to the emperor's place for you."
Liang Wangxin thought that he was really shouting long live. When the Han Jing Emperor woke up drunk, he did not recognize the account:
"We really shouldn't drink that much!"
In the end, Liu Wuyi killed more than a dozen ministers loyal to Emperor Jing of Han in anger.
It caused a bloody massacre.
Integrity-based.
This is not only a very good lesson for King Zhou Chengwang, but also a lesson for each of us.
King Zhou Cheng did not lose a single piece of land, but won brotherly harmony, a thousand years of reputation and decades of peace and prosperity.