In the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, King Zhao of Zhou died on the banks of the Han River during his southern expedition. From then on, the authority of the Zhou royal family was challenged, and its sphere of influence gradually declined.
During the period of King Li of Zhou Dynasty, although he expanded greatly externally, he exploited people internally. For example, he appointed Rongyi Gong to implement the "patent" policy. The entire mountain forest that was originally public was reserved for the emperor, and the public was prohibited from cutting down trees. In order to suppress the dissatisfaction of the people, King Zhou Li also implemented a high-pressure policy of punishing people for their words, so three years later, the people who could not bear the tyranny launched a uprising A series of riots overthrew King Zhou Li's rule. After this, known as the "national riot" in history, princes from all walks of life gathered in Haojing. The temporary regency was held in the form of a meeting, which was called "republican administration" in history. At this time, the rule of the Zhou royal family was truly shaken.
The succession of King Zhou Xuan 14 years later brought signs of resurgence to the Western Zhou Dynasty. Under the command of King Zhou Xuan, the Zhou Dynasty expanded its territory in the northwest, southeast, south and other places. However, the difficult economic situation made the center of the Western Zhou Dynasty nothing more than a virtual reality. talk. The increasingly disintegrating well-field system in the Western Zhou Dynasty put the Zhou Dynasty's economy in crisis. King Xuan of Zhou's irrationality in handling internal affairs and the reckless killing of ministers also frightened the ministers and alienated the princes. In the later years of King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty, the Yi, Di, Man, and Rong tribes around the Western Zhou Dynasty made a comeback. They once invaded the Central Plains and threatened the rule of the Zhou Dynasty.
After King Xuan of Zhou, the last king of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King You of Zhou, succeeded to the throne. It's a pity that God gave him a big stick right away. When he succeeded to the throne, the Western Zhou Dynasty suffered a serious earthquake disaster. "Hundreds of rivers are boiling, mountains and tombs are crumbling, the offshore banks are valleys, and the deep valleys are mausoleums." This is the description of this earthquake in the Book of Songs. It can be seen that this earthquake caused serious damage to people's lives, but King You of Zhou not only did not work hard to cure it, but was obsessed with the stunning beauty Bao Si. Therefore "from now on the king will not come to court early"
King Zhou You ignored the general trend of the government and racked his brains all day long to make the beauty smile. However, although Bao Si was as beautiful as a flower, her personality was as cold as ice and she never smiled at King Zhou You. Then Guo Shifu came up with a very absurd idea for King Zhou You, which is the famous beacon fire play on the princes. Bao Si actually smiled.
A few years later, Bao Si gave birth to a son, Bo Fu. King Zhou You, who loved the house and the crow, actually abolished the original queen Shen and the prince Yijiu, hoping that Bo Fu would succeed him. And Queen Shen's father was a prince of the State of Shen. When the news of the abolition reached Queen Shen. Queen Shen was furious and ran back to her father crying to complain about her misfortune. At this time, the king of Zhou had very little authority left, and Hou Shen was eager to protect his daughter. In anger, he united Shan Kingdom and Quan Rong to launch an attack on King Zhou You. attack.
When the soldiers pressed on, King Zhou You, who was unable to resist, lit a beacon tower again and asked for help from the princes, but the princes all thought it was another joke made by King Zhou You to make the beauty laugh. So I ignored it at all. So that scene of chaos occurred, Quanrong captured Haojing, and the Western Zhou Dynasty was declared destroyed. A few days later, the princes and kingdoms who got the news came one after another, but it was too late. King Zhou You and Bo Fu were killed in the rebellion, and the whereabouts of the beautiful girl Bao Si were also unknown. Many people once speculated that he was captured. As a slave, with the support of Shen Hou and other princes, Prince Yijiu succeeded to the throne in Shen and called the emperor King Ping of Zhou. Later, with the support of Jin and Zheng, King Zhou Ping decided to move the capital eastward, which is where it is now. Luoyang, Henan, was called Chengzhou in ancient times. Known in history as "Ping Wang moved eastward", the Zhou Dynasty went from prosperity to decline, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty began, and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period also began. Although King Ping Dong preserved the Zhou family's status as emperor in form, in fact it was far from the case. Due to successive years of natural disasters and wars, as well as the policy of deposing soldiers since King Li, the Zhou royal family inevitably fell into Reaching the point of internal and external difficulties, the territory gradually shrank, financial revenue was not paid, etiquette was completely destroyed, and authority also plummeted.
The Guanzhong area was originally the birthplace of the Zhou royal family, but after the Qin State defeated the Xirong, the land in Qishan and the east of Guanzhong was returned to the Zhou family. However, due to the threat of the Xirong to the Central Plains, the Zhou king was completely unable to move eastward. Taking this into consideration, soon after this land that nominally belonged to the Zhou royal family was naturally taken over by the Qin State, which was also in the northwest.
In order to reward the Jin, Zheng, and Zhou kings who supported the Zhou royal family for their merits, they successively gave some surrounding land to them. In 673 BC, the King of Zhou gave the land east of Hulao Pass to the State of Zheng and Jiuquan in eastern Shaanxi to the State of Guo. In the 17th year of King Xiang of Zhou, that is, in 635 BC, he gave the Wen land north of the Yellow River to Jin. This behavior led to the continuous shrinking of the territory of the Zhou royal family.
In the 14th year of King Xiang of Zhou Dynasty, in 638 BC, as the Qin and Jin Dynasties conquered Luhun and moved their people to the Central Plains and Yichuan area, the territory of the Zhou royal family was further compressed, and they only owned a part of the land through the northwest of Henan Province. . Its area cannot even be compared with the vassal state of a country of ten thousand chariots.
The problem caused by the shrinking land was financial constraints. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, handicrafts and commerce were not developed. The country's economic source almost entirely relied on agricultural production. It was very difficult for the Zhou royal family to even operate the state machinery normally with their small land. Not to mention the huge daily expenses of the royal family. It is said that after the death of King Zhou Ping, the royal family was so poor that they could not afford to hold a decent funeral for King Ping. Since King Huan of Zhou had no choice but to send people to the State of Lu, hoping that they would sponsor some Funeral expenses and grave goods.
It was ridiculous that the person who was the boss actually went to borrow money from the person who used to work for him.
In the face of the deteriorating economic situation, the Zhou royal family could not maintain its aloof image. After King Zhou Xiang succeeded to the throne, he tried his best to find a carriage for Emperor Gong to ride on, so he had to send people from the right to the state of Lu to get it. As a result, Duke Huan of Lu used high-sounding reasons to drive back "the princes regardless of their carriages and clothes".
The reduction of territory and lack of finances caused the political and economic capital that Emperor Zhou had to dominate other princes to disappear. As the saying goes, "the economic base determines the superstructure", this is a classic phrase in political textbooks. The comprehensive and systematic etiquette system originally established based on the old political and economic situation in the Western Zhou Dynasty also "collapsed." According to the regulations of the Zhou rites, during sacrifices, the emperor ranks with nine cauldrons, the princes with seven cauldrons, the ministers with five cauldrons, and the scholars with three cauldrons. They are also buried with the same number after death.
However, by the Spring and Autumn Period, this system had long been completely destroyed by the princes who did not regard the authority of the Emperor of Zhou. In the 9th year of King Zhouzhuang, that is, 688 BC, the Chu State in the south destroyed the Shen State. From then on, the territory was directly adjacent to the Zhou royal family. Later, King Chuzhuang fought for hegemony in the Central Plains. He stationed tens of thousands of troops on the border of the Zhou royal family and sent officials to the Zhou royal family. Wang Sunman inquired about the importance of the nine tripods of Emperor Zhou, which is the origin of the idiom "Aspiring to the Central Plains". King Chuzhuang nakedly exposed his ambition to replace the Zhou royal family. This is true on the surface, not to mention that the princes sleeping underground are even more unscrupulous. It doesn't matter if you put a few tripods in your tomb. In the Spring and Autumn Period, although the etiquette of receiving orders from the Emperor was still there, the solemnity and sanctity of this form were far less than before. When the princes succeeded to the throne, they only had to send an envoy to ask for the order from the Emperor of Zhou, and the Emperor of Zhou I had no choice but to deceive myself and others and call it a "given life". As for some of the more powerful princes, Emperor Zhou even took the initiative without asking. Even if his life span was so long, it was impossible to report on his duties. Not only did the princes not go to Zhou to report their duties, but the Emperor of Zhou sent officials several times to "invite" the princes.
