The elimination of troops from Xiangxu brought about a rare period of peace in the Central Plains. There was no war between Jin and Chu for more than 40 years. Under the bipolar pattern in which Jin and Chu two countries jointly dominated and dominated, other vassal states circled between the two countries.
Although Jin and Chu were constantly at war with each other over the alliance, vying to be the leader of the alliance, they were able to live in peace and exchange each other's courtesy after the war. After the death of Chu Ling Yin Qu Jian, Zhao Wu once went to express his condolences in person. When the alliance was held in Guo, Zhao Wu once again gave up his position as leader of the alliance to Chu. With the decline of Jin's power, the relationship between Jin and Chu became more relaxed, and later it came to the point where they only obeyed Chu's orders. Although the State of Chu had the upper hand over the State of Jin, domestic crises frequently broke out, and externally it faced pressing pressure from the State of Wu. Therefore, the two countries were able to maintain peace.
However, this is not the case for other princely states. Except for Qi and Qin, almost all other vassal states felt the new pressure brought by the Army-Annihilation Alliance. The establishment of the Army-Annihilation Alliance turned what was originally a naked war and plunder into a levy and expropriation that was in line with etiquette and law. Take the State of Lu as an example. As a slave state of Jin, it had frequently presented large amounts of tribute to Jin before the Annihilation Conference. Whether a new king of Jin ascends the throne, moves the capital, or even completes a palace, envoys need to be sent to congratulate him and give him expensive gifts. In addition to these regular tributes, Jin often made temporary tribute requests. Just as "Zuo Zhuan" records that Sima Shuhou of Jin State said: "Lu is in Jin, and there is no shortage of tributes. When the time comes, the ministers and officials come to the dynasty one after another. The history is endless, and there is no empty month in the government." After that, the State of Lu needed to pay tribute to Jin and Chu at the same time. The heavy pressure once reached the point where the state of Lu could not bear it, so much so that it made a request to re-stipulate the amount of tribute in the alliance.
The state of Lu was in such a sorry state that other countries were not much better off. When Zheng was in power, he kept cattle, sheep, livestock, leather coins, jade and silk on the borders with Jin and Chu, always ready to give them to the incoming Jin or Chu armies. After the Annihilation Conference, Zheng was also very courteous to Jin, a big country that had been hostile to Jin on and off for several years. When Duke Ping of Jin's wife passed away, married again, or even started major construction projects, Zheng Guodu sent congratulatory gifts again and again. Zichan, who was in power in Zheng State, could not help but complain: "In the past, the emperor Bangong, the lighter and the heavier were ranked according to the rank, and the rank was respected and the tribute was weighed, which was the system of Zhou. Those who were humble and paid heavy tribute were obeyed by Dian. Uncle Zheng was a male, and the envoys were subordinates. The princes' tribute is fearful of not being paid, so they dare to ask for it. The princes calm down the troops, so that they can do things. The orders of the princes are not sent out every month, and the tribute is unskilled. There are gaps in the small country, so it offends. The princes make alliances and keep them. It’s a small country. If you don’t contribute enough, you will die.”
However, after all, Zheng Guo could still bargain with Jin Guo to a certain extent under Zi Chan's arguments. Countries like Weiguo suffered even worse, and were even reduced to the point where they had to pay tribute to Jin. In the 13th year of Duke Dinggong of Lu (497 BC), Zhao Yang, the chief minister of the Jin state, settled 500 families who paid tribute from the Wei state in Jinyang, which led to mutual attacks between the Zhao family, the Fan family, and the Zhongxing family.
The Jin State invaded small countries in this way, and the Chu State did not give in too much. The next year after the Annihilation Conference, Zheng Guo took the initiative to send doctor You Ji to see Chu State. Unexpectedly, the State of Chu thought that You Ji was not qualified enough, so it refused to allow him to enter the country and asked Zheng Jiangong to come to see him in person. You Ji failed to get what he wanted despite all his good words, so he had to return to Zheng angrily. Zheng Jiangong had no choice but to send You Ji to Jin to pay homage, and he went to Chu accompanied by Zichan.
The State of Lu also suffered similar treatment to the State of Zheng in the State of Chu. When Duke Xiang of Lu went to the state of Chu to pay homage, King Kang of Chu passed away. The state of Chu actually asked Duke Xiang of Lu to dress the body of King Kang of Chu. Faced with such an insult, Lu Xianggong did not dare to disobey, so he could only order a wizard to do something to expel the "evil energy" from the coffin and corpse on the advice of Shusun Bao, so as to comfort himself. When King Kang of Chu went to funeral, the kings of Lu, Chen and Xu all attended his funeral. In the seventh year of Duke Zhao of Lu (535 B.C.), King Ling of Chu carried out a large-scale construction project and built Zhanghua Terrace. He publicly summoned the princes to participate in the inauguration ceremony. Among them, the king of Lu even asked Duke Zhao of Lu to go there in person, which was extremely arrogant.
Although the small princely states were overwhelmed, the peace brought by the Annihilation Conference allowed the princes to shift from the past conflicts between countries to concentrate on solving new domestic problems. In order to adapt to the development of productive forces and the political changes it brought about, various countries successively implemented some new policies and measures that conformed to historical trends, which in turn led to great changes in the political economy during the Spring and Autumn Period.
The Jin State was deeply affected by the Annihilation Conference. The "Jin and Chu subordinates meet each other" stipulated in the alliance was actually quite unfavorable to the Jin State. Because in the political situation before the Annihilation of the Army, Lu, Song, Wei, and even Zheng all expressed their obedience to Jin, while Chu's subordinate states only had three smaller states: Chen, Cai, and Xu. After the Annihilation Conference, these countries moved closer to Chu. Together with Zhu, Tan, Ju and other countries as vassals, Jin's influence in the Central Plains actually decreased. However, the reason why the Jin State agreed to this condition was precisely because the Qing clan in the country was in power, and the hidden dangers of many political parties were about to erupt.
Unlike other vassal states where the public clan is in power, the power of Jin has always been in the hands of the Qing clan. The so-called "gong clan" refers to the descendants of previous kings, while the "qing clan" refers to nobles with different surnames. Due to the previous annexation wars between Dazong and Xiaozong, as well as the Liji Rebellion during the Jin Xiangong period, the Jin Kingdom no longer existed, and the Qing clan was in charge. The power of the Qing clan became more and more powerful, and the power of the monarch was gradually eclipsed. This trend had already appeared before the Annihilation Conference. Later, the struggle for power between the Qing clan repeatedly led to civil strife. As a result, the power of the Jin State declined, but the power of the Qing officials became stronger. By the late Spring and Autumn Period, the The situation when the "Six Ministers" are in power.
The situation of Qi State is quite similar to that of Jin State. After the Annihilation Conference, the old aristocrats of Qi, the Gao family and the Guo family, had already declined due to civil strife, but the emerging Cui family and Qing family were also very unpopular due to their repeated regicides. At this time, the Chen family (i.e. Tian family), who was exiled from the Chen State to the Qi State, took the opportunity to win over people's hearts and became stronger. They united with the Bao family and other Qing clans to suppress the Luan and Gao families who initiated civil strife in the Gong clan, and gained control of the Gong clan. With his support, he gradually became the dominant noble family in Qi, laying the foundation for the Chen family to succeed Qi during the Warring States Period.
The situation in the State of Lu was quite special: Jisun, Mengsun and Shusun, the descendants of Duke Huan of Lu, inherited the state affairs and gradually took over the monarch of the State of Lu. However, later on, retainers from each duke's clan gradually emerged, forming the "accompanying ministers and ministers". national destiny” situation.
The State of Zheng was later ruled exclusively by the descendants of Duke Mu of Zheng, collectively known as Qimu. But Qimuzhong's Zichan was an enlightened politician. As for the Song and Wei countries, although the monarchy was relatively strong, the power of the officials also continued to cause civil strife. In general, with the holding of the Annihilation Conference, the internal political situation of each country changed, aristocracy gradually became centralized, and statutory laws were promulgated successively. These two points in turn led to changes in the relations between countries, pushing history into the late Spring and Autumn Period.
The growing power of the Qing Dynasty has been a problem that the Jin Kingdom has been facing since its establishment. The Zhao family, the Que family, the Luan family, and the Zhongxing family successively took charge of the state affairs, posing a great danger to the monarchy. This problem not only affected Jin's decision-making in foreign policy, causing Jin to accept unfavorable conditions for annihilation of troops, but also had a very adverse impact on domestic politics.
On September 26, the second year of Duke Xuangong of Lu (607 BC), Zhao Dun "murdered" the emperor, making Zhao's ministers arrogant in the court. At the time of Jinggong, Zhao Tong and Zhao Kuo were executed, and the power of the Zhao family was greatly weakened. However, after Zhao Wu was reestablished, the power of the Zhao family gradually recovered.
As for the period of Duke Li, the most powerful among the ministers of the Gong family was the Que family, including Que Qi, Que Zhun, and Que Zhi. The three uncles and nephews ranked among the eight ministers in total. The family's power reached its peak, and all the ministers in the court were frightened. After the Battle of Yanling, Sanke thought he had achieved extraordinary feats in the Jin army's defeat of the Chu army, and was even more arrogant. The power of the Que family directly threatened the rule of Duke Li of Jin. After the Battle of Yanling, Duke Li of Jin had been trying to get rid of these tyrannical scholar-bureaucrats and replace them with his trusted subordinates, especially the brothers of his many beloved concubines. .
The elder brother of one of Duke Li's favorite concubines was named Xu Tong. This man deeply hated the Que family because his father, Xu Ke, was deposed by the Que family, and wanted to get rid of "Three Ques". Luan Shu, another minister of Duke Li, was also resentful because he failed to adopt his own strategy and defeated the Chu army in the Battle of Yanling, so he bribed the Chu State with a large sum of money to trick Duke Li into saying that the Battle of Yanling was However, in order to welcome the prince Zhou, he conspired with the Chu State to launch an attack, but it failed because other allies were not ready yet. Luan Shu also designed to have Que Zhi go to Zhou Jing to meet the young master Zhou, which made Li Gong, who was already suspicious of the Que family, more determined to get rid of the family.
Since the Que family was usually very arrogant, there were many people in the Jin Dynasty who were resentful of them. Duke Li of Jin ordered Xu Tong, Yi Yangwu, and Chang Yujiao to lead 800 soldiers to annihilate Sanque. Xu Tong also took the opportunity. He arrested the Chinese army marshals Luan Shu, Zhongxing Yan and others, and asked Li Gong to kill these officials who had been in power for a long time. However, Duke Li favored women's benevolence and expressed his unwillingness to kill more people for his own selfishness, so he released Luan Shu and Zhongxing Yan and sent people to express condolences.
Although the two of them were ostensibly grateful for the monarch's virtue of not killing, in their hearts they were very suspicious of Duke Li of Jin. In addition, Duke Li of Jin had always been very cruel, and most ministers in the court regarded him as a tyrant like Xia Jie or Shang Zhou. The year after Jin Ligong destroyed Sanque, Luan Shu colluded with Zhongxing Yan to arrest Ligong and imprison him, and sent Cheng Hua to kill him in prison. After his death, he was only buried in a thin car at Yidongmen. However, Ligong's cronies The long fish rushed to Di, and Xu Tong was killed and almost wiped out.
The murder of Duke Li was another great turmoil in Jin since Duke Lin. After Luan Shu killed Duke Li, he sent Xun Feng, Shi Li and others to Luoyi to greet Duke Zhou on the pretext that the country could not live without a king for a day. It was in this situation of internal and external troubles that Duke Zhou ascended the throne. took the throne of Jinhou.
When Prince Zhou came to the throne, he was only fourteen years old and served as the Duke of Jin. Duke Xianggong's grandfather Jie was the son of Duke Xianggang of Jin. Although he was not allowed to ascend the throne as king due to his young age, he was favored by Duke Xianggang of Jin and was known as "Uncle Huan". Huan Shu gave birth to Hui Bo Tan, who was the father of the young master Zhou. Because of the Jin State's national policy of "not accumulating young sons", Huan Shu's Miao descendants from the Jin State were settled in Luoyi. When Prince Zhou was in Luoyi, although he was young, he was already well-known as a virtuous man, proficient in poetry and calligraphy, noble in virtue, and well aware of the general trend of the world.
In view of the fierce internal struggles in the Jin Kingdom that lasted for twenty or thirty years and the repeated regicides committed by his ministers, although Prince Zhou was invited to return to the country, he always maintained a high degree of alertness. Ten days after Duke Li died, Prince Zhou came to Jin with the support of Luan Shu and others. When they arrived in Jiangdi, Prince Zhou made an alliance with the officials by killing chickens, and warned the ministers: "I am traveling in another country with no hope of returning home, how can I hope to be a king? But those who are valued as kings should obey orders." Come out. If you use your name to serve someone and don't obey their orders, it is worse than having no king. You are willing to use my orders, only today. If not, listen to your orders and do things to others. You can't have an empty name. The continuation of Zhoupu!"
The words of Jin Aogong seemed to be a greeting to the ministers, but in fact they were a severe accusation against Luan Shu and others for their sinful behavior of bullying the emperor due to their overwhelming power, and they also forced the ministers to swear to him to be loyal to the new emperor. The 14-year-old Duke of Jin also took on the important task of reviving the Jin Kingdom.
After Duke Mourning came to the throne, he indeed worked hard to govern. He first devoted himself to rectifying the internal affairs. He first dealt with the remaining evils of Li Gong's dynasty. He beheaded Yi Yangwu, Qing Feiji and other five people for "the crime of flattering the emperor and doing evil". He also killed Cheng Hua for killing Li Gong. As for Luan Shu, who had committed rebellion but was supportive of him, he reprimanded him for raising his old age, and promoted his eldest son Luan Xuan to an official position in the court.
Afterwards, the duke began to work on the national economy and people's livelihood, reducing taxes, relaxing penalties, exempting the people from debts to the government and nobles, taking care of the widowed and lonely, assisting in famines, prohibiting evil and extravagant things, and strictly stipulating that the farming season was not allowed to be violated. There are also restrictions on the construction of civil engineering projects by the state, officials and ministers.
In terms of foreign relations, Jin Aogong also had his own set of ideas. In the second year after he ascended the throne, Duke Ao of Jin summoned Lu, Song, Wei, Cao, and Zhu to meet in Qidi (today's north of Puyang, Henan), and adopted Lu Zhongsunmi's suggestion of "building a city with a tiger to force Zheng", which ultimately made Zheng The state broke away from the Chu State and moved closer to the Jin State, and the Chen State later came to submit. At the same time, Duke Mourning adopted the advice of the doctor Wei Jiang and reconciled with Rong Di, thus eliminating worries about the southern expedition to the Chu Kingdom.
After this series of vigorous and resolute actions, Jin finally had the strength to go south to compete with Chu for supremacy. Duke Ao of Jin also gradually implemented the tactics of protecting the Song Dynasty, harming the Rong, uniting with Wu, and exhausting the enemy, and a prosperous and powerful situation emerged where "the country has no stagnation, no trapped people, no prohibitions for the public, and no corruption of the people", and gradually recovered. The hegemony of the Jin State was established, and the hegemony of the princes in the world was formed, with Jin as the largest.
