In the process of Duke Dao of Jin reorganizing his internal affairs, strengthening his strength, and preparing for the fight for hegemony, one person played a very important role. This person was Wei Jiang of the Wei family.
Wei Jiang, whose surname is Ji and whose surname is Wei, is the grandson of Wei Zhun and the son of Wei Wuzi. He comes from a noble family. In the first year of the Duke's accession to the throne, in order to win over the powerful clans, he widely awarded rewards to the children of the aristocratic families. At this time, Wei Jiang himself was appointed as the Sima of the Central Army, responsible for taking charge of the military law. His status was already equivalent to that of Han Jue in the Zhao Dun era.
Although Wei Jiang was ranked among the Eight Ministers due to her family connections, when she was assisting Duke Dao of Jin, she truly put the interests of the country first, worked hard, and actively made suggestions for the king. Wei Jiang's achievements that are most praised by later generations mainly include the following four points:
1. Enforce the law strictly and not fear the powerful.
Wei Jiang was an upright person and enforced the law very strictly. He treated nobles and powerful families equally and would never tolerate compromise. In order to achieve fair and impartial law enforcement, Wei Jiang even put his own life and death at risk.
In the fourth year after Jin Duke took the throne, he called the princes for an alliance, firstly to show off Jin's military power and status, and secondly to test the princes' attitude towards Jin and prepare for hegemony in the Central Plains. However, Yang Qian, the younger brother of Duke Dao, ignored the law and wantonly disrupted the honor guard accompanying Duke Dao. As a Sima of the Chinese Army, Wei Jiang risked his life to execute Yang Gan's chariot servant in public in order to strictly enforce military laws and not to lose the prestige of the Jin State in front of the princes. Although this move made Wei Jiang famous far and wide and won him the reputation of being honest and upright, it made Duke Ai of Jin very angry. The duke believed that Wei Jiang was insulting himself by insulting Yang Qian, and his behavior was "great disrespect" to the monarch, so he insisted on executing Wei Jiang despite everyone's dissuasion.
Wei Jiang was already prepared to die. After enforcing the law, he wrote a letter to Duke Mourning stating the reasons for the execution, saying, "The military advisor is not martial and the deacon is disrespectful, which is the greatest crime." This shows that as a Sima, he is not strict in his daily management. As a result of Yang Qian's behavior of disrupting military discipline, he should be responsible for this matter. However, when the princes gather to form an alliance, if they do not put the interests of the country first and indulge Yang Qian's servants in vain, they will only attract the ridicule of the princes, which will not be conducive to Jin's future hegemony. . Wei Jiang also stated that he failed to fulfill his duty to rectify military discipline in the past and humiliated the nobles in the public affairs later. He was willing to die to apologize. After reading Wei Jiang's love letter, Duke Ao of Jin felt deeply guilty and hurriedly ran barefoot to the court to pardon Wei Jiang. Afterwards, he held a special banquet to apologize to Wei Jiang.
2. Be far-sighted and advocate peace.
The killing of Yang Qian's servant made Duke Dao of Jin fully realize Wei Jiang's virtue and ability, and soon promoted him to the rank of general of the new army. It was also when he was appointed as the general of the new army that Wei Jiang proposed the strategy of "harmonizing the Rong" to Duke Ai, which can be regarded as the greatest contribution in his political career.
Rongdi was adjacent to the Jin State and had repeatedly invaded its northern counties. It became one of the major scourges of the Jin State and an important obstacle to the Jin Dynasty's southward struggle for hegemony. Before Wei Jiang, the Jin State's method of dealing with the Rong and Di was always to engage in war with them, and there was never any talk of "harmony with the Rong".
Therefore, when Wei Jiang initially proposed the strategy of "harmonizing the Rong" to Duke Du, Duke Du failed to understand the positive significance of the plan. Instead, he refused and said: "The Rong and Di are greedy and have no relatives, so it is better to defeat them." Wei Jiang was not discouraged. , starting from the overall situation of the country, moving with emotion, understanding with reason, and explaining the five benefits of "Harmony to the Rong" to the Duke in a well-reasoned and well-founded manner:
First, "Rong and Di recommended residence, exchanged goods and soil, and the land could be purchased." Rong and Di were a horse-riding people, mainly nomadic, so they despised land and valued property. The Jin State could use this characteristic of Rong Di to exchange property for land, thus expanding the northern border of the Jin State.
Second, "the frontier is not towering, the people are in the wilderness, and the people are successful." Years of war with the Rong and Di have led to the desolation of farming in the northern part of Jin and the people are also very exhausted. And if we make peace with Rong and Di, the people can live and work in peace and contentment, return to the land, and agricultural production can be guaranteed.
Third, "Rong and Di are involved in Jin, and the surrounding countries are shaken." If Rong and Di return to Jin, the princes will inevitably be shaken, and the national prestige of Jin will be greatly shaken.
Fourth, "If the master and the apprentice are not diligent, the army will not stand still." Eliminating war can not only recuperate the army, but also save war materials.
Fifth, "In view of Hou Yi, we should use virtue to save people as far away as An'an." Wei Jiang started from history and used history as a mirror. He believed that only by persuading people with virtue can real long-term peace and stability be achieved.
Duke Ao of Jin was finally persuaded by Wei Jiang and ordered Wei Jiang to serve as an envoy to the army. Eight years later, Jin and Rong and Di were living in harmony, and there were almost no wars on the border. The Duke of Jin went south to fight for hegemony and his worries were relieved.
3. Leading troops in battle, taking credit but not being proud of it.
In addition to being upright in law enforcement and foresight, Wei Jiang was also a rare general who made many contributions in leading armies in battles: "Zuo Zhuan" records that in the ninth year of Lu Xianggong (564 BC), Wei Jiang and Zhao Wu led their troops to attack the enemy. ; In the tenth year (563 B.C.), he and Shi Li garrisoned Wu and made the system; in the thirteenth year (560 B.C.), General Zuo Luanxuan sent his army to rescue the temple; in the eighteenth year (555 B.C.), he and Luan Ying Below is Junke Temple. Although it is currently impossible to know the details of his marching formation due to lack of historical data, we can imagine his illustrious military exploits from the comments of "Wei Jiang has many merits".
But what is rare is that although Wei Jiang made great achievements in Jin's foreign campaigns, he was not arrogant and was willing to help others and gave up his military achievements to others many times. Although this was due to Wei Jiang's humble and courteous style, objectively it was also conducive to maintaining harmony among the generals of Jin Daogong and minimizing the decline in national power caused by internal strife.
4. Be prepared for danger in times of peace, like walking on thin ice.
In the eleventh year of Lu Xianggong (562 BC), twelve countries including Song, Qi, Jin, and Wei jointly attacked Zheng. The king of Zheng was panicked and ordered his people to seek peace from Jin, the most powerful of the twelve kingdoms. Under the instruction of Duke Dao of Jin, the other eleven countries also stopped the siege of Zheng. In order to express his gratitude to the Jin State, the King of Zheng sent people to present a large number of gifts to the mourner, including sixteen singers, three musicians, and a hundred military chariots equipped with soldiers and armor.
The Duke of Jin was very happy and gave Wei Jiang "half of the music" and said: "You taught me and the Rongdi to rectify all the splendors. In eight years, the nine princes were in harmony, just like the harmony of music, and everything was in harmony." , please enjoy it with me." Jin Mourning Duke was under thirty years old at the time, and in eight years, he had made alliances with the princes nine times, and his level of scenery was unparalleled, so it was inevitable that he would become arrogant.
Wei Jiang was keenly aware of the signs of the Duke's arrogance and complacency. Although he had to accept the gift after saying goodbye repeatedly, he sternly admonished the Duke and said: "If you are happy, you should be kind, you should be righteous, and you should be courteous." , keep it by trusting it, and practice it with benevolence and severity, and then you can be in the kingdom, share the blessings and fortunes, and have people from far away, which is called happiness. "Book" says: 'Be prepared for danger when you are in peace.' Thinking means being prepared, and being prepared is not in danger. Dare to make a rule once." ( "Zuo Zhuan: The Eleventh Year of Duke Xiang") Wei Jiang's words are meant to warn Duke Ao of Jin that although Jin is now powerful, it must always think about dangers. Only in this way can we always be prepared to avoid disasters.
After listening to Wei Jiang's warning, Duke Ao of Jin felt deeply ashamed. He also understood that Wei Jiang was always concerned about the comfort of the king and the people of Jin, so he respected him even more from then on.
Looking at Wei Jiang's life, he has been conscientious, cautious and loyal to the Duke since he was a minister of his family background, and made great contributions in the process of Jin's restoration of hegemony. He was eventually transferred to Anyi (today's Yuncheng, Shanxi Province) due to his meritorious service, and his posthumous title was "Zhuang" after his death. Therefore, later generations often called him "Wei Zhuangzi".
Duke Ao of Jin was only fourteen years old when he returned from Luoyi to inherit the title of Marquis of Jin. However, every step he took from the border to the capital, and from the capital to the court was leisurely. He had no urgent desire for the throne. There is no flattery to a powerful family. It can be said that the fourteen-year-old son Zhou's debut in the Jin court was very exciting and powerfully frightened the officials.
Later, Jin Aogong relied on his extraordinary political talent and keen political observation to open up a path for Jin's hegemony in the face of internal and external troubles, and became the resurgence of Jin's hegemony. After Duke Lin came to the throne, the first thing he started to deal with was to rectify the internal affairs of Jin and change the chaotic situation in Jin that had lasted for twenty or thirty years since Duke Linggong.
The internal affairs reforms of Duke Ao of Jin mainly focused on the following aspects:
1. Appoint hundreds of officials, appoint the virtuous, and remove the unworthy.
As soon as Duke Mourning ascended the throne, he carried out drastic personnel reforms. First of all, Duke Li "expelled seven people who were not ministers", including Yi Yangwu, Chang Yujiao and other rebellious ministers and traitors who flattered and led the emperor into chaos, as well as Qing Fu, a powerful man who assisted Chang Yujiao in the campaign of Li Gong's crusade against Sanque. Xin (Xu Zhimei in "Historical Records") and others were either expelled from other countries or beheaded in the street. On the one hand, they showed their political leanings and their determination to govern the country. On the other hand, they also showed their loyalty to the old ministers such as Zhongxing Yan and Luan Shu. Good, to find external support to further consolidate the monarch's position.
After deposing the unfaithful and clearing the imperial court, Duke Mourning also paid attention to selecting virtuous people and encouraged his ministers to select virtuous and capable people so that they could be used for his own benefit. Although Duke Yu was only in office for a short period of fifteen years, he truly achieved the goal of "not avoiding relatives when doing internal affairs, and not avoiding enemies when doing external affairs", so that officials could do their best and fulfill their duties: he appointed Wei Xiang and Shi Li , Wei Jie, and Zhao Wu were appointed ministers; Xun Jia, Xun Hui, Luan Xu, and Han Wuji were promoted to the rank of official officials, so that they could teach the ministers' children the virtues of respect, frugality, filial piety, and brotherhood; It was made to follow the regulations determined by the Shihui Association; Youxingxin was awarded the post of Sikong, based on the regulations originally established by Shifang; the military and political aspects were taken care of by Bianjiu, Qi Xi, Xunbin and others.
2. Restore the status of the aristocratic family and consolidate the ruling foundation of the Jin Dynasty.
The social problems in Jin Dynasty were already very prominent during the reign of Duke Li of Jin Dynasty, and they were on the verge of collapse by the early stage of Duke Dao's accession to the throne. At that time, the royal power of the Jin Kingdom was in decline. If Duke Yu wanted to solve this series of social problems, he had to rely on the power of ministers and scholar-bureaucrats to expand the ruling base of the palace.
In the long-term struggles within the Jin ruling group, many powerful families declined. For this reason, Duke Du abolished Jin's policy of cracking down on powerful families since Linggong, and selected talents from the descendants of aristocratic families to be among the ministers, thus ensuring the absolute loyalty of these families to Duke Duke.
As far as the Wei family is concerned, although Wei Qi complained a lot because he failed to get a minister from the Marquis of Jin, he made many contributions in Jin's foreign wars: In the Battle of Tan, he followed Xun Shou to serve in the lower army and captured Chu Gongzi Gu Chen was defeated and captured by the Chu army. Zhifeng, an important minister of the Jin State, was exchanged for Chu Gongzi Gu Chen. In the battle of Yanling, he won the first battle and shot the king of the Communist Party of China in the eye with his own hands, causing the Chu army to lose an inch. In the chaos, the Jin army took the opportunity to defeat the Chu army; in the Battle of Ma Tunnel, although Wei Qi did not personally participate, his son Wei Xiang (Lv Xiang) made great contributions to defeating the Qin Dynasty. In 594 BC, the Qin State took advantage of Jin Jinggong's destruction of Sui and the country's emptiness to invade Jin. It was Wei Jie who led the army to resist the enemy and ensured the success of the annihilation of Sui.
Therefore, after Duke Dao of Jin came to the throne, he granted rewards to the Wei family. Wei Xiang and Wei Jie were made ministers. Wei Jiang, the son of Wei Daozi, was promoted to Sima of the Central Army. The Wei family's reputation was once again restored. prominent.
The Zhao family has been reduced to sinners since the disaster in the palace. At Han Jue's request, Duke Jing agreed to appoint Zhao Wu (Zhao Wenzi), who was only more than ten years old at the time, as the heir of the Zhao family in preparation for sacrifices in the ancestral temple. thing. During the mourning period, Zhao Wu was getting older and his talents gradually emerged. The Duke then appointed Zhao Wu as his minister and ordered him to assist the new army. This was the beginning of the resurgence of the Zhao family. Later, Zhao Wu gradually took charge of state affairs from the end of the Eight Qing Dynasty, and made significant contributions to the Jin-Chu alliance to eliminate troops.
As for the Luan family and the Zhongxing family who had made great contributions to supporting the duke, the duke on the one hand deposed Luan Shu and returned home on the charge of "regicide", but on the other hand he promoted Luan Shu's eldest son Luan Xian to the duke clan. The doctor granted him the rank of general, and Luan Jiu (a Benjiu) was also appointed as a military officer. In the Zhongxing clan, Xun family and Xun Hui were appointed as public officials, while Xun Bin was appointed as Rong You.
As for the Fan and Han clans, they adopted a non-cooperative attitude when Luan Shu and Zhongxing Yan killed the emperor and replaced him: After Li Gong died in prison, Luan Shu "called the scholars to die, and the soldiers died; summoned Han Jue, Han Jueci". In order to obtain the cooperation of these two families, Duke Mourning first appointed Han Jue as the general of the central army, replacing Luan Shu, and then promoted his eldest son Han Wuji to the position of official of the clan. Shi Li (Shi Peng, Shi Huizi, Shi Gongzi) and Shi Wo Zhuo of the Fan family were also promoted to ministers and officials respectively.
3. Reform the tax system to reduce the burden on farmers.
Due to years of foreign wars and the extravagant and hedonistic style of the ruling class, the Jin State was in dire straits and the economy was in decline. Coupled with the very strict taxation system, the people were in dire straits. After Du Gong came to the throne, he vigorously promoted frugality and punished the extravagant behavior of the ruling class, which to a certain extent reduced the people's burden and eased social conflicts.
First, the duke ordered the abolition of public and private debts, and organized sales of grain, cloth, and silk from the government to relieve famines, and also provided subsidies to the widowed and lonely; second, he formulated new tax and corvee laws, reduced the tax ratio, and ordered the government not to We encroached on the agricultural season and were not allowed to recruit civilian laborers during the harvest period, thus ensuring agricultural production; thirdly, extravagance and waste were strictly prohibited, public and private expenditures were ordered to be reduced, and the construction of civil works by wealthy families was restricted; fourthly, the restrictions on woodworking, fishing, and hunting in the mountains, rivers, and swamps were relaxed. The prohibition allows the mountain people and farmers to get what they need according to the law, so that "the public has no prohibition on profit and no greed for the people." The measures taken to commemorate the public greatly improved the lives of the lower class people and gradually enriched the country's treasury.
4. Promote legal reform, rectify armaments, and improve Jin's military strength.
Before mourning the Duke, the monarchs of Jin had also implemented legal reforms. For example, in order to strengthen the status of the official office and weaken the status of the ministers, Jin Jinggong ordered the abolition of Zhao Xuanzi's law and ordered the Scholars Association to rewrite the code. However, because the policy was too He was too tough and reformed too much, and encountered stubborn resistance from the powerful clans, so he ended in failure, resulting in the official's status becoming even more humble. In order to reduce the resistance to reform, Jin Aogong adopted more moderate methods. He appointed Shi Wozhuo as the great master and ordered him to re-cultivate the method of Fan Wuzi. After the implementation of the code, the domestic political situation of Jin State was completely changed.
In terms of military system, Duke Dao of Jin merged the original upper, middle, lower and new armies into three armies. A large number of redundant officials and idle posts in the army were eliminated, while leadership in important departments was strengthened. For example, the minister's military service was abolished and replaced by lieutenants during wartime. The monarch's military service was changed from temporary appointments during wartime to permanent posts. In addition, Duke Gao also set up Sima, Lieutenant and other positions in each army to strengthen the management of military discipline. He also attached great importance to the domestication of war horses and specially established the post of horse rider.
After the reform, Duke Ao of Jin truly achieved the goal of "doing extensive promotion without neglecting his duties, not changing officials' positions, not overstepping the virtuous rank, not overlying his teachers, not forcing his troops when traveling, and not slandering the people" ("Zuo Zhuan: The Eighteenth Year of Chenggong") ). The Jin State also initially had the strength to go south to compete with the Chu State for hegemony, and always took the initiative in the later Jin-Chu struggle for hegemony, forming a situation where "the three of Jin are in control but Chu cannot compete".
At the age of twenty-six, he dominated the Central Plains and created the most glorious situation in Jin since Wenxiang's heyday. It is no wonder that later generations will regard Duke Mourning as the greatest monarch of Jin after Wenxiang!
