Duke Jinggong of Qi has always had a dream in his heart to regain Duke Huan of Qi's hegemony. It is with this ambition that Duke Jinggong of Qi is diligent in government affairs, loves his subjects, appoints people on their merits, and the strength of Qi State increases day by day. In foreign exchanges, Qi Jinggong was neither humble nor overbearing. Facing the overlord Jin at the time, Qi Jinggong effectively maintained Qi's image as a great power.
Once, Duke Jin of Qi went to the east city of Jin to congratulate Duke Zhao of Jin who had just ascended the throne. During the banquet, the two monarchs played a game of tossing pots. Duke Zhao of Jin started tossing the pots first. Wu Praise, a minister of Jin, said: "In our place there is abundant meat and as much wine as the water of the Huaihe River. If our monarch If we can hit the mark, then our Jin state can become the commander-in-chief of all the princes." Originally this was just a simple game, but after what Zhongxing Wu said, it turned into an image competition between the two countries.
Duke Zhao of Jin took the shot and hit the target. The civil and military officials cheered. This time it was Qi Jinggong's turn. Qi Jinggong took the arrow and said, "We have as much meat as the mountains and as much wine as Mianshui. If I do this One hit will replace Jin Jun's dominance." After saying that, Qi Jinggong also hit the target with one arrow. This secret contest between Qi and Jin at the banquet showed Qi Jinggong's attitude of not yielding to the strong and his ambition to enrich the country and strengthen the army.
The reason why Qi Jinggong dared to challenge Jin Zhaogong in the pot throwing game was because Qi was becoming increasingly powerful, and this strength would be more obvious in the future civil strife of Jin.
Just when Jin Zhaogong thought that the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Qi was becoming more and more obvious, trouble broke out in Chu State. King Chu Ling was killed and King Chu Ping took the throne. Jin Zhaogong believed that this was the best opportunity to consolidate Jin's hegemony, so he led the troops of five of the six ministers to the Wei State and notified other vassal states to prepare to form a coalition again.
After obtaining the consent of King Zhou Jing, Jin Zhaogong sent someone to ask Qi Jinggong for his opinion. Jinggong believed that Qi was not a match for Jin at this time and could only act according to its requirements, so he said to the envoy: " It is up to you as a great country to decide whether to join the alliance or not. We in Qi can only obey. You go back and report to Duke Zhao of Jin, and I will definitely go to join the alliance." The envoy replied to Duke Zhao of Jin, who then met with other princes in Pingqiu. The kings of the state visited Jin's military chariots and reviewed the troops. Seeing the great strength of Jin, all the princely states were shocked.
During this process, Duke Zhao of Jin discovered that some of the vassal states had second thoughts about Jin and joined the alliance just because they were afraid of Jin's strength. Through this Pingqiu meeting, Qi Jinggong deeply felt that there was still a big gap in military strength between Qi and Jin. If they turned against Jin at this time and became hostile, the six ministers of Jin would be particularly united. The united Jin State is invincible to anyone.
It was at this time that an opportunity to revive Qi State appeared in front of Qi Jinggong. At this time, the power of the Six Ministers in the Kingdom of Jin was very powerful. Six clans, including Han, Zhao, Wei, Zhi, Fan, and Zhongxing, controlled the court, and the king no longer had real power. However, these six clans are not united, and power struggles occur from time to time. There was a conflict between Zhao Yang, a descendant of Zhao Shui of the Jin State, and Handan Wu, a descendant of Zhao Su. Zhao Yang killed Handan Wu, and Handan Wu's descendants led their troops to launch a rebellion. Zhao Yang, who controlled the government, led his troops to attack Handan.
Later, the Fan family and the Zhongxing family, who were related to Handanwu among the Six Ministers, helped Handanwu's descendants to stop Zhao Yang. This aroused dissatisfaction from other clans among the Six Ministers, so the Han family and the Wei family helped Zhao Yang defeat Fan family and Zhongxing family. News of the civil strife in Jin reached Qi State. The Tian family of Qi State, based on its own interests, instigated Qi Jinggong to help the Fan family and Zhonghang family who had no way out. "Historical Records: Qi Taigong's Family" says: "Tian Qi wanted to cause chaos and established a party among the princes, so he said that Jinggong said: 'Fan and Zhongxing are several virtuous people in Qi, and Qi must be rescued.' So he begged for help and lost. millet."
Qi Jinggong went around to win over other vassal states that were hostile to Jin, and re-formed an alliance himself, calling himself the overlord, giving Qi a nominal advantage in regaining its hegemony.
The first people Qi Jinggong attracted were Zheng Guo and Wei Guo. "Zuo Zhuan: The Seventh Year of Dinggong" says: "In the autumn, the Marquis of Qi and Zheng Bo allied in Xian and gathered with the Wei. The Marquis of Wei wanted to rebel against the Jin, but the officials could not. He made the Beigong unite like Qi, but privately said to the Marquis of Qi: 'Take the tie to invade me.' The Marquis of Qi followed him and formed an alliance with Suo."
"Zuo Zhuan·Dingong Ninth Year": "In autumn, the Marquis of Qi attacked Jin Yiyi... Thousands of Jin chariots were in Zhongmou, and the Marquis of Wei was like the fifth clan. After divination, the tortoise was burnt. Marquis Wei said: 'Yes.' The guard's chariot should be half of it, and the few men should be half of it, and they are the enemy.' But they passed Zhongmou. The people of Zhongmou wanted to attack it, but Chu Shipu of Wei died in Zhongmou, saying: 'Although the guard is small, its king is here, so it cannot be defeated. Qi Shi's army He conquers the city and is arrogant, and his commander is cheap. If he encounters it, he will be defeated. It is better to defeat Qi. 'Then attack the Qi army and defeat it. The Marquis of Qi will send Chu, Mei, and Xing to the Wei."
In the Battle of Yiyi, Wei State helped Qi State attack Zheng State. As a result, the two countries combined were no match for Jin State. However, in order to thank Wei Guo for its help, Qi State gave Wei Guo the three cities of Mei, Xing and Yu. After the defeat, Qi Jinggong personally pushed the funeral carts for those who died in the war.
Later, Duke Jinggong of Qi and the Marquis of Wei once again formed an alliance to attack Jin together with other vassal states. "The Marquis of Qi and the Marquis of Wei met with the Marquis of Qian to save the Fan family. The divisions, Qi Shi, Wei Kongyu, and Xianyu attacked Jin and captured Jipu." During this period, in addition to Wei and Zheng, they joined Qi In the alliance organized, even the State of Lu, which had always had a good relationship with the State of Jin, also joined the alliance. However, the joining of the Lu State was out of necessity. At this time, they regarded the Jin State as the biggest threat to the Lu State, so they had to rely on the Qi State to deal with the Jin State. The two sides later met at Jiagu to form an alliance, and the Jiagu meeting also established Qi's hegemony over Lu.
"Zuo Zhuan: The Tenth Year of Dinggong" says: "In the summer, the Duke of Qi came to Zhu Qi, and he was really pinching the valley. Confucius was the Prime Minister. Li Mi said to the Marquis of Qi: "Confucius knows etiquette but has no courage. If the Lai people are robbed by soldiers, The Marquis of Lu must have his ambition." The Marquis of Qi followed him. Confucius retreated with his father, saying: "Soldiers! The two monarchs are in harmony, but Yi Yi's captives use the army to rebel. This is not why Qi Jun ordered the princes. Yi has no plans. In Xia, barbarians do not invade China, prisoners do not make alliances, and soldiers do not force them to do well - it is unlucky for gods, unjust for virtue, and disrespectful for people, and you will not do this.' When the Marquis of Qi heard this, he suddenly refuted it."
The four kingdoms of Qi, Zheng, Wei, and Lu formed an alliance to jointly plan the strategy of destroying Jin. It can be said that Qi had an advantage in terms of the number of support from the princes. However, the three countries that formed an alliance with Qi State have limited territory and weak strength, and can only play a supporting role in the offensive. Moreover, a large part of the reason why the three countries joined the alliance was because they were afraid of Qi State's power and did not really want to Help Qi Jinggong. In addition, Qi State chose to launch an attack when Jin was in civil strife, which was suspected of taking advantage of the situation, so Qi State did not have a moral advantage. It is impossible to restore the hegemony of Duke Huan of Qi by relying solely on existing strength and alliances. The failure of the Yiyi War actually indicates that Duke Jinggong of Qi's revival will not succeed.
Qi Jinggong organized the "Anti-Jin Alliance" and attacked Jin several times. Although he failed to truly defeat Jin and replaced Jin as the recognized overlord of the princes, after several melees, Qi also captured a large area of land on the border of Jin. , greatly expanded Qi's territory and enhanced Qi's national power.
But just when Qi Jinggong was ambitiously planning to further develop his own hegemony, a civil strife completely destroyed Qi Jinggong's dream. The reason is that in the late Spring and Autumn Period, the vassal offices of various countries declined and the power of ministers and officials rose. The Tian family of Qi State's officials achieved great development from a series of reforms implemented by Qi Jinggong and Yan Ying to enrich the country and strengthen the army. They had the ability to expel the official offices. , the power to dominate Qi.
After the death of Qi Jinggong, Tian Qi of the Tian family launched a coup, excluding the Gao family and the Guo family, the other two major families of ministers and officials in Qi, and took sole control of the power of Qi. In the following decades, the power of the Tian family gradually increased, and finally finally Completed "Tian's Generation of Qi".
