Although Zheng State was under the governance of Zheng Zhuanggong. The country was very prosperous and dominated the competition among the princes in the early Spring and Autumn Period. However, as the saying goes, "the greatest prosperity must inevitably decline." So after the death of Duke Zhuang of Zheng, several princes competed for the position of king. They were fighting to the death, and the officials were adding fuel to the flames but could not worsen the situation. Song, Wei and other countries did not really support Zheng Guo in the first place. Seeing Zheng Guo's situation, they all went to war against Zheng Guo. In the 22-year period, In the turbulent situation, the hegemony that Zheng Guo had finally established evaporated in an instant like a flash in the pan.
To be honest, the reason for the civil strife in Zheng State has already been recorded during the period of Duke Zheng Zhuang. Duke Zhuang of Zheng took many wives, concubines, and sons, and Duke Zheng Zhuang doted on his children very much, so the sons were all legal heirs. In the face of the reality of the collapse of rituals and music in the Spring and Autumn Period, there was not much reliable guarantee. When the young master suddenly received the order of Zheng Zhuanggong to assist Qi State in repelling Beirong. Duke Xi of Qi planned to betroth his daughter to the young master Hu, but he was rejected by the young master. At that time, Ji Zhong disapproved of this move. He once persuaded the young master to agree to the marriage so that he could obtain the throne when he competed for the throne in the future. The support of Qi State. However, Young Master Hu did not follow his advice after all, and this decision indeed had a negative impact on him in the future.
After the death of Duke Zhuang of Zheng, under the auspices of Ji Zhong, the young master suddenly succeeded him as the king of Zheng, and was known as Duke Zhao of Zheng in history. But the position has not been done for too long. Another one is Zheng Zhuanggong. His son Gongzi Tu, his mother was the daughter of the Yong family of the Song Dynasty. The Yong family was deeply favored by Duke Zhuang of Song Dynasty and had great influence in the Song Dynasty. The Yong family originally expected that Gongzi Tu would ascend the throne and expand the sphere of influence of the dominant family. But the sudden succession of the prince made their wishful thinking come to nothing.
So they encouraged the Song State to try to deceive Ji Zhong and Gongzi Tu into the Song State and imprison them. While threatening Ji Zhong with death, they formed an alliance with Song and supported Gongzi Tu to succeed the king of Zheng. At the same time, they also required Zheng to pay a large amount of money. At this critical moment, Ji Zhong was greedy for life and feared death, so he did not disturb Yao, so he could only agree to Song Zhuanggong's request. Under the escort of the Song army, Ji Zhong suddenly brought the young master back to the state of Zheng, and established him as the king of Zheng Ligong. Ji Zhong's words were very important in the state of Zheng, and he had the state of Song as his backer, so naturally no one publicly opposed this decision. Zheng Zhaogong had no choice but to flee to the state of Wei.
After Zheng Ligong succeeded to the throne, Song State Yan Ran regarded himself as a benefactor and frequently asked for property from Zheng State. Naturally, Zheng Ligong couldn't bear it. The relationship between Zheng State and Song State gradually deteriorated. At this time, Lu State wanted to mediate. So he made an alliance with the Song Dynasty at Judu Hill and persuaded Duke Zhuang of Song to make peace with the state of Zheng. Unexpectedly, the state of Song refused to comply.
After that, the state of Lu met Song again in Xudi and Guidi respectively. Unexpectedly, Song Zhuanggong still refused to change his attitude. Feeling that they had lost face, the State of Lu became angry and formed an alliance with the State of Zheng in Wufu to join forces to attack the State of Song. The next year, the states of Zheng and Lu united with the state of Ji and sent troops to attack the Song Dynasty. The state of Song united with the states of Qi, Wei and Nanyan to resist.
As the saying goes, "A hundred-footed insect is dead but not stiff." Although Zheng Zhuanggong passed away and civil strife broke out in Zheng State, the power of Xiaoba still remained. The two armies fought, and the coalition forces of Zheng and Luji actually won a complete victory. From then on, the alliance between Zheng and Lu became closer, and the two sides held two more alliance meetings. However, not long after, the Song State came back and gathered Qi State, Wei State, Chen State, and Cai State to attack Zheng. After all, two fists were no match for four hands. This time Zheng Guo was outnumbered and suffered heavy losses. The Allied Forces of the Five Kingdoms invaded Xinzheng, burned the city gates, and looted the city when they retreated. Even the wood from the Zheng Guo Temple was dismantled and used to build the Song Dynasty city gate. After this battle, Zheng Guo not only lost the land of the Cow Head, but more importantly, the national image was greatly humiliated. Even the ancestral temples of his ancestors were demolished by other countries. What a shame that era was, and Zheng Guo The days of being the overlord are gone forever.
However, Zheng Guo's bad luck was far from over. Before he could recover from the disastrous defeat, another civil strife broke out in Zheng. Dafu Ji Zhong was a veteran of the two dynasties. He had huge power and had the merit of supporting him, so he could not help but be dictatorial. This made Zheng Ligong very dissatisfied, and he came up with the idea of getting rid of Ji Zhong.
In the 23rd year of King Huan of the Zhou Dynasty (697 BC), Duke Li of Zheng won over Ji Zhong's son-in-law Yong Jiu. The two secretly discussed and planned to invite Ji Zhong into the palace in the name of a banquet and kill him at the banquet. The plan was decided, but Yong Jiu was not secretive and told his wife Yong Ji about the matter. Yong Ji was in a dilemma after learning about this, so she asked her mother: "Which is more important, father or husband?" In ancient times, filial piety was the most important thing, so her mother replied: "There are many men, but there is only one father. What do you think? What?" Yong Ji told Ji Zhong in detail about Zheng Li Gong's plan. Ji Zhong then killed Yong Jiu and threw his body outside the city. When Zheng Ligong saw that things were not going to work, he had no choice but to flee to the state of Cai. Ji Zhongze welcomed Duke Zhao of Zheng back to the state of Zheng for restoration.
However, Zheng Zhaogong's accession to the throne did not last long. When Zheng Zhaogong was still a prince, he disliked the official Gao Qumi and repeatedly suggested to Zheng Zhuanggong to distance himself from him. Although Zheng Zhuanggong did not listen to Gongzi Hu's opinion, Gao Qumi developed hatred towards Gongzi Hu. After Zheng Zhaogong was restored to power, Gao Qumi was worried that he might attack him, so he acted preemptively and pretended to invite Zheng Zhaogong to go hunting, killing the latter on the way.
Gao Qumi and Ji Zhong, who succeeded in regicide, supported another son of Zheng Zhuanggong, Gongzi Ao, to become the king. In the second year, Qi Xianggong held an alliance at the first meeting of Wei State and invited Zheng Guo to participate. Since the young prince Ao had a fight with the then-gongzi Xianggong during an alliance, and they were not on good terms with each other, Ji Zhong suggested that the young master Ao refuse. However, Gongzi Ao believed that this alliance could avoid giving the princes an excuse to support Zheng Ligong, who was still in exile, so he decided to go. Ji Zhong, who failed to dissuade him, said he was ill and Gao Qumi accompanied him as a gift. The resulting facts once again proved Ji Zhong's foresight: During the alliance meeting, Duke Xiang of Qi asked Gongzi Lao to apologize for the past, but the latter refused. In anger, Duke Xiang of Qi set up an ambush and killed Gongzi Lao, while Gao Qumi He was also torn apart by a car.
After the death of Gongzi Lao, Ji Zhong had no choice but to welcome Gongzi Yi who was in Weiguo back to Zhengguo and establish him as the king of the country. However, at this time, Zheng Ligong gradually gained the support of the princes and gradually became stronger. Duke Li of Zheng, who fled to the State of Cai, returned to the State of Zheng not long after, occupied Liyi, and gained the support of the State of Lu. The state of Lu met with the princes twice and organized coalition forces to attack Zheng several times, in an attempt to support Zheng Ligong and restore him to power. Although it was always fruitless, Zheng Guo was trapped in successive civil strife and was no longer a match for Zheng Ligong.
In the second year of King Xi of Zhou Dynasty (680 BC), Duke Li of Zheng attacked Zheng State, fought with Gong Ziyi in Daling, and captured the official Fu Xia. In order to save his life, Fu Xia, under the coercion and inducement of Zheng Ligong, expressed his willingness to return to Zheng as an internal agent. Sure enough, after returning home, he took advantage of Gongzi Yi's unpreparedness and killed the latter and his two sons. The state of Zheng was in chaos again, and Duke Li of Zheng took the opportunity to return to the country and resume his position as king.
The turbulent situation in Zheng Guo finally came to an end. After decades of internal strife and foreign aggression, as well as the rise of Qi, Zheng had almost lost its status as a "little tyrant". However, Zheng Ligong was still a promising king. Under his leadership, Zheng Guo would leave its final glory on the political stage in the early Spring and Autumn Period.
Although the situation of Zheng Guo's Xiaoba was over, the Zhou royal family, which had been suppressed by Zheng Guo for a long time, did not get a chance to breathe. On the contrary, with the collapse of the patriarchal system, the conflicts within the Zhou royal family became extremely acute. The "Prince Decay Rebellion" that broke out in the early years of King Zhou Hui made the status of the Zhou emperor once again fall to an unprecedented low.
Prince Xuan was the concubine of King Zhouzhuang and was deeply favored by King Zhuang. However, since ancient dynasties had always implemented the eldest son inheritance system, he had no inheritance rights. After King Zhuang died, his eldest son, Prince Hu Qi, succeeded him as King Xi of Zhou. Unexpectedly, within a few years, King Zhou Xi also passed away. His son, Gongzi Lang, succeeded to the throne and became King Hui of Zhou. And Wang Ziwan became the uncle of Emperor Zhou. Although he was the king's uncle, he lost the position of emperor that might have belonged to him. Watching his nephew who was about the same age as himself become the common master of the world, Wang Zidan was obviously very upset about this.
After King Zhou Hui came to the throne, he was not only unaware of the prince's dissatisfaction. Instead, he was busy begging for land and buying palace property for himself. As soon as King Hui of Zhou came to the throne, he relied on the emperor's power to forcibly seize the garden of Dafu Haoguo as his own. Then he expropriated the residence of Dafu Bianbo and turned it into a palace. Not long after, Dafu Ziqinzhu King Zhou Hui also took over the property of Kneeling and Zhan's father, and withdrew the salary of Shi Su, the diner.
King Zhou Hui's actions will inevitably arouse dissatisfaction and complaints from the courtiers. What's worse is that Hao Guo is none other than Wang Ziwan's teacher. So under the contact of Hao Guo, these officials got together and discussed supporting Prince Xian as emperor. This plan was secretly supported by Dr. Su. During the reign of King Huan of Zhou, he used twelve cities of the Su family to exchange fields with Zheng. This approach not only angered Duke Zheng Zhuang, but also made the Su family quite angry. So he and the five officials plotted a rebellion.
In the second year of King Hui of Zhou (675 B.C.), Qin Guo, Bian Bo, Ziqin Zhuqiu, Zhan Fu, and Shanfu jointly launched an army to attack King Zhou Hui. Unexpectedly, the attack was unlucky. The five officials were defeated by King Hui of Zhou and had to flee. The Su family's fiefdom was Wen, while Hao State served the prince and fled to Wei State. Prince Bai probably persuaded Wei Guo to support him, so Wei Guo joined forces with Nan Yan to raise troops to attack the Zhou royal family. This time King Hui of Zhou suffered a defeat and had to run away. The prince then returned to Chengzhou and was proclaimed emperor by the five great officials.
The civil strife in the Zhou royal family gave Zheng Ligong, who had just been restored to power, an opportunity to increase his reputation and status again. After Zheng Ligong was restored to power, he spent a lot of effort to re-establish his authority in order to end the turmoil caused by long-term civil strife. He first killed Fu Xia, who once supported him, for the crime of regicide, and then forced the old minister Yuan Fan to death on the grounds that he did not support him. Later, he executed and punished Gongzi Yan, Qiang Ji and others, eliminating the influence of the deceased Ji Zhong in Zheng State. After the country was stabilized, Zheng Ligong turned his attention to King Zhou Hui, who was trapped by the Prince Decan Rebellion.
In the third year of King Hui of Zhou (674 BC), Duke Zheng Li expressed his intention to mediate the civil strife in the Zhou royal family, and hoped to ask King Hui of Zhou to be restored to the throne at the cost of pardoning Prince Decan's crimes. But the powerful prince declined the proposal. When Duke Li of Zheng saw that things were not going to work, he sent troops to attack the Zhou royal family and captured Zhongfu, the king of Nanyan. Then he welcomed the exiled King Hui of Zhou to his former base in Yueyi and settled down. Later, he attacked Wang Ziyi again, defeated the Zhou army, and snatched the utensils that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Zhou royal family and could only be used by the emperor and presented them to King Hui of Zhou.
Although the usurping prince was no match for Zheng Ligong, in order to completely eradicate the prince and support King Zhou Hui to return to the throne, the power of Zheng alone was far from enough. Both Wang Zidan and Zheng Ligong knew this deeply. In the winter of this year, feeling that the State of Zheng had nothing to do, the prince, who was firmly on the throne, threw a banquet to reward the five officials who supported him. The scene was extremely luxurious and grand. "Zuo Zhuan" records that the scene at that time was "enjoyed and danced everywhere", that is, the rituals and music of the Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun, Xia, Shang and Six Dynasties were used to add to the fun of the banquet.
In the Zhou rites, the rites and music of the Six Dynasties can only be enjoyed by the emperor, and they are extremely solemn and solemn matters. Informal sacrificial ceremonies cannot be done lightly. As the emperor who usurped the throne, the prince enjoyed it with the doctor, which was undoubtedly a serious act of rebellion. Duke Li of Zheng seized this opportunity and sent an invitation to Guo State to jointly attack Prince Decai. He personally met with the king of Guo State and said that the prince's incessant singing and dancing was a sign of disaster. It was better to take this opportunity to support King Zhou Hui's restoration. Guo Guo and Zheng Guo were originally ministers of the Zhou royal family and had very close relations with the Zhou royal family, so they agreed to Zheng Guo's request without hesitation.
In the spring of the next year, Zheng and Guo met at Mi Di, and then divided their troops into two groups to besiege Zhou. Duke Guo entered from the north gate, and Duke Zheng Li escorted King Hui of Zhou to enter from the south gate. Facing the superior force, the prince's party was attacked from both sides and unable to resist. The defeated army was unable to escape and all died. The three-year-old "Prince Decay Rebellion" has ended.
King Zhou Hui, who once again ascended the throne of emperor, was naturally grateful to Zheng and Guo. In order to reward Zheng Guo, King Hui of Zhou also entertained Duke Zheng Li and the king of Guo with six generations of rites and music, and gave them a large amount of treasures. He also gave all the land east of Hulao to Zheng Guo. However, as the saying goes, extreme joy brings sorrow. When King Zhou Hui rewarded the two of them, he gave the queen's mirror, the mirror, to Duke Zheng Li, and the jue he used, the wine cup, to the king of Guo. Jue is a more valuable thing than a sword. Duke Li of Zheng thought that his hard work was more valuable, but the artifacts he received were not as good as those of Guo, so he resented King Hui of Zhou. The relationship between Zhou and Zheng, which had just improved, was about to deteriorate again.
The life of the Zhou royal family did not get better because of the end of the Prince Decay Rebellion. The Zhou royal family, which was already suffering a political blow, lost a large area of land because of King Zhou Hui's behavior of making a fat man. Since then, its power has been declining. He can continue to be manipulated by powerful princes. However, Zheng Ligong did not have time to take revenge on the Zhou royal family. Not long after King Hui of Zhou was restored to the throne, Duke Zheng Li passed away, and the last glory of Zheng State completely disappeared with the death of Duke Zheng Li. From then on, Zheng gradually became a second-rate vassal state. On the stage of the Spring and Autumn Period after Zheng State, a vassal state from the east rose rapidly. From then on, the Spring and Autumn Period entered the era of the succession of the Five Hegemons.
