The story of Gongzi Lian's return home, Gongzi Lian is the famous Qin Xiangong.
Just when the various vassal states in the east were scrambling to reform their laws and become stronger and stronger. History seems to have forgotten the Qin State. This nation living in the bitter cold land of the northwest has been under double pressure from the Wei State and the Xiongnu tribe. Especially during the period of Wei Wenhou, when Li Kui reformed the law, Wu Qi trained troops, and Ximen Bao ruled the country, the Wei State The centralization of power has been greatly strengthened, and the Qin army continued to lose troops and territory under Wu Qi's attacks. The Qin State only had the Weihe Plain east of Longshan, west of Luohe, and north of Qinling, which was a small land. The Wei State on the other side has been showing an aggressive momentum, and the Qin State is in danger of being destroyed.
Where is the way out for Qin? Young Master Lian asked.
Faced with the vigorous development of the Wei State and the difficulties and downturn of the Qin State, Gongzi Lian did not abandon his position and pursue his own affairs, but was greatly stimulated.
Looking to the northwest, it was still the paradise of Gongzi Company many years ago. When he was a child, his father Qin Linggong named Gong Zilian Shi Xi and loved him very much. It's a pity that God didn't fulfill his wishes. Just when Gongzilian thought that he was about to inherit the throne of the country justifiably, Qin Linggong died suddenly. The year was 424 BC.
Before Gongzilian had time to react, his uncle Qin Jiangong snatched the throne of monarch. At this time, Gongzilian was only ten years old, but he was the enemy in the heart of Qin Jiangong. In order to avoid unexpected events, Gongzilian fled to Wei State with the help of a group of loyal ministers. This trip was a 29-year journey to the end of the world. The hardships during this period cannot be explained by outsiders.
The reason why he was able to survive the double oppression of Wei and Qin Duke Jian was because Gongzilian had always been determined to regain the throne of the monarch.
On the other hand, as far as the Wei State is concerned, Gongzi Lian was the former crown prince of the Qin State, but he was deposed because his uncle usurped the throne. Therefore, he has high political use value. Therefore, the Wei State gave Gongzi Lian generous material conditions. treatment.
Gongzilian took advantage of the trapped time to work hard to learn Wei's way of strengthening a country. At the same time, he also paid close attention to the changes in the situation in Qin and the world, waiting for the day when the time was right to take back everything that originally belonged to him.
In 385 BC, Duke Jiang of Qin passed away, leaving a piece of the country to his son Duke Hui of Qin. Soon after, Duke Hui of Qin also died, and Duke Jiang's two-year-old grandson Qin Chuzi took the throne of Qin. At this time, in the Qin State, the person controlling the government was none other than Qin Chuzi's mother. It's just that this person was not good at governing the country. When she was in power, she made great use of eunuchs and relatives. The old nobles of Qin State had a fierce conflict with them, which made the internal affairs of the entire Qin State extremely tense. In order to ease this tense situation, Qin Chuzi's mother could only use rewards to paralyze them. In this way, although the conflict was eased, Qin's treasury was left destitute.
The mother of Qin Chuzi also came up with a way to maintain treasury expenditures by increasing taxes on landlords and farmers. She did not expect that as a result, the contradictions in Qin State would be further expanded, and her rule would be in a precarious situation.
As mentioned in the previous article, Wei Wenhou passed away and his son Wei Wuhou came to the throne. Under Wei Wuhou's talents and strategies, the development of Wei State reached another level. Even Qi Guo Tianhe relied on Wei Wuhou to gain the nominal recognition of Emperor Zhou. As a result, the relationship between Wei and Qi was greatly eased, but a series of conflicts broke out within the three Jin lands. The State of Zhao moved its capital to Handan, because Zhongmu was previously particularly vulnerable to attacks by the State of Wei. After arriving in Handan, the State of Zhao's defense reached a higher level.
Some people can't help but wonder, didn't the three Jins unite in the past to conquer everywhere, and even once made all the heroes in the world restrain their hands? Why are we on guard against each other and fighting against each other now? It turns out that when the three Jin coalition forces defeated Qi, Chu, Zheng, Song and other countries many times, because Zhao was in the north and surrounded by Qin, South Korea and Wei, all the benefits were taken by South Korea and Wei. However, Zhao Guo only made wedding clothes for others, which caused a great psychological imbalance in Zhao Guo.
What made Zhao Guo even more angry was that Wei Guo set up obstacles at every turn to Zhao Guo's southward march into the Central Plains. In desperation, Zhao Jinghou decided to move the capital. After the State of Zhao moved its capital to Handan, the State of Wei began to worry. Because at this time, the first target Zhao Jinghou wanted to attack was Wei Guo, who was close to Wei Guo.
At this time, Wu Qi had fled to Chu State because of his uncle's frame-up, and became the prime minister of Chu State.
Zhao State seized this opportunity, strengthened its contact with Wu Qi, and realized the alliance between Zhao State and Chu State, forming a north-south pincer attack on the beams occupied by Wei State. In order to completely put Wei into a passive state, Zhao and Chu also strengthened their ties with Qin in the west. In an instant, Wei fell into a situation where it was surrounded by enemies on three sides. This situation was almost the most unfavorable since Wei Wenhou.
In order to break this passive situation of being beaten, Wei Wuhou of Wei State decided to overthrow the Qin State regime. Marquis Wu of Wei understood that it was not impossible to overthrow the Qin regime by relying on the trump card in his hand and Wei's national power. But it is not easy to completely destroy Qin.
Therefore, Wei Wuhou decided to use the trump card in his hand-Gongzi Company. In fact, the method of use is very simple, that is, to send the young master back to Qin and provide him with necessary protection along the way. According to Wei Wuhou's plan, as long as Gongzilian can seize the power of the Qin government with the help of Wei, a government that is friendly to Wei will be established. To put it bluntly, even if the seizure of power fails, Qin will definitely be in chaos and lose the energy to advance eastward. For the Wei State, it can be said that it has a hundred benefits and no harm.
Before that, Wei Wuhou also communicated with Gongzi Lian. He asked Gongzi Lian to go back willingly and be grateful to him; he also wanted to make a plan with Gongzi Lian so that he could successfully seize the throne of Qin. It's just that the Gongzi Company was not as simple as Wei Wuhou imagined. He didn't get too excited and agreed. Because he knew very well that the reason why Wei Wuhou asked him to go back was definitely not to fight against any injustice, but entirely for the benefit of Wei.
At this moment, if Gongzilian agrees to return to the country without hesitation, he will be used by Wei. If he returns to China with the power of Wei, and Qin and Wei continue to fight, he will definitely be squeezed out by the people of Qin. Even if he can successfully obtain the position of king with the support of Wei State, he will inevitably be restricted by Wei State at every turn in his future governance, and he will lose the freedom and dignity that a king should have. Once the Qin State is controlled by the Wei State, it will inevitably face many difficulties.
Gongzilian needs to think seriously about things that are detrimental to both himself and the country.
After thinking about it, Gongzilian finally decided to give Wei Wuhou a delaying strategy. He first thanked Marquis Wu of Wei and the previous monarch of Wei for their careful care, and then explained that because the international situation in Wei was relatively tense and Marquis Wu of Wei was overwhelmed, he was unwilling to let Wei work hard. This means that he will use his independent power to return to his own country. When Marquis Wei Wu saw that Young Master Lian was unwilling to accept his help, he didn't think much about it. As long as he achieved his goal of letting Young Master Lian return to his country, his vision would most likely come true, and nothing else mattered. Of course, in order to show his sincerity, Wei Wuhou sent a large amount of gold, silver, jewelry, chariots and horses to Gongzilian. At the same time, he also asked him when he could set off to return to his country, so that he could prepare things for him to practice.
Of course, Gongzilian would not agree to leave immediately, but said he would leave in a year. Gongzilian actually wants to use this year to carefully observe the situation of all parties, and at the same time, he is also preparing to actively manage the forces of all parties. Thanks to Wei Wuhou's conspiracy, the plan for Gongzilian to return to the country to seize power was advanced.
In the Qin State at that time, many people were already at odds with the mother of Qin's son, and the most powerful among them was undoubtedly the minister of the court. The first thing Gongzi Lian wants to win over are these figures who control the political power of Qin. Secondly, it is to contact the emerging landlord class and peasants. Although their strength is not enough to overthrow the Qin regime, they are the group with the greatest conflict of interests with Qin Chuzi. Thirdly, Gongzilian sent a large number of eloquent people to Qin to announce the new policy in the streets and alleys, which mainly involved attacking the relatives and eunuchs that Qin Chuzi valued, and protecting the palace personnel, landlord class and other resisters. Qin Chuzi's mother was in the interests of the ruling class.
At that time, the most reliable thing was not money or fame, but strength. The army is the most important manifestation of strength. Without the support of the military, everything is just talk. Therefore, Gongzilian focused its efforts on the military generals of the Qin army. At the same time, it also gave preferential treatment to those heroes and righteous men, and tried its best to use money to make them serve themselves. Facts have proved that Gongzilian's approach was correct. With his efforts, he won the support of most people in Qin.
So many people are on the side of Gongzi Lian. On the one hand, it is naturally because Gongzi Lian is the legitimate monarch of the Qin State; on the other hand, it is because, for many years since Qin Jiangong, the Qin State has not only failed to achieve The great ambition to dominate the world, but under the rule of darkness, the government became increasingly corrupt and the national power weakened. The entire land west of Hexi was occupied by the Wei State, and the Qin State was full of complaints.
During the period when Qin gave birth to his son, the politics of Qin State became even darker. If this continues, Qin State is likely to be annexed by Wei State. Amid internal and external troubles, everyone in the Qin State hopes that a talented and ambitious monarch will emerge to change the political darkness, economic backwardness and military passivity of the Qin State, and lead the Qin State to glory again. Qin's ministers, landlords, and farmers all understood that the only way out for Qin was to overthrow the rule of Qin Chuzi, welcome the early return of Gongzilian, and implement the New Deal in Qin.
A year later, everything is ready and all that is left is the east wind. Gongzilian only needs to return to Qin to regain the power he lost. So, the young master walked to the palace of Wei State and bid farewell to Marquis Wu of Wei. In the past 30 years, the Wei State has treated Gongzilian pretty well, although it was for political purposes. In any case, Gongzilian needs to thank Wei Guo for his hospitality. In order to express his gratitude, Gongzilian swore to Wei Wuhou that if he could successfully regain the lost power, in his lifetime, as long as Wei did not take the initiative to attack, Qin would definitely not become an enemy of Wei.
This statement seems to be sincere, but in fact it shows Gongzilian's pride and domineering attitude towards the world. This shocked the heart of Wei Wuhou, who had always had his eyes set on the highest level. Perhaps letting Young Master Lian return home was equivalent to letting the tiger return to the mountain. He just fired his bow without turning back, so Wei Wuhou could only watch helplessly as a dragon stranded on the shoal slowly returned to the sea that belonged to him.
Just as Mr. Lian expected, everything went smoothly. In 385 BC, Gongzilian finally returned to his homeland of Qin after nearly 30 years of absence. In the Hexi area, Qin Shu Changji Gai had been waiting there for a long time, and Gongzi Lian returned home with great fanfare. In this way, more people can be called on to go back and seize power in a legitimate manner.
However, the news of Gongzi Lian's return was soon known to Qin Chuzi's mother, so Qin Chuzi's mother urgently dispatched a large number of troops to Hexi, preparing to destroy Gongzi Lian before they returned. But Gongzilian had long expected that the mother of Qin Chuzi would make such a move, so before that, he bribed the generals of this army. The entire army had actually surrendered to Gongzi Lian. In addition, many people in the Qin State came to greet Gongzi Lian after hearing the news of Gongzi Lian's return. In this way, Gongzi Company returned to Yongcheng, the capital of Qin State, without any bloodshed. Surrounded by the army and people, Gongzi Company quickly killed the few people loyal to Qin Chuzi, mother and son. Gongzi Lian officially sat on the throne of the Qin State for Duke Xian of Qin.
Gongzilian finally realized his wish to sit on the throne of the king, but his ultimate political ideal of enriching the country, strengthening the people, and dominating the world was far from being realized. After possessing sufficient strength, Qin Xiangong began a series of reforms. The first step in reform is to abolish the system of human sacrifice. The Qin State's human sacrifice system first appeared in the Qin Wugong period 300 years ago. At that time, people used the number of victims to show the identity and status of the deceased. For this reason, a large number of young and middle-aged slaves in Qin were killed every year. This system was very cruel. Many laborers were killed, which seriously hindered the increase of Qin's population and was very detrimental to Qin's agricultural production.
It is precisely based on these shortcomings of the human sacrifice system that the first step of Qin Xiangong's reform was to abolish this system. Since then, a large number of Qin's labor force has survived and invested in Qin's great undertakings that were waiting to be developed. Qin's industry, commerce and agriculture have achieved great development, especially the influx of foreigners, which has left a large number of barren mountains in Qin. It was able to be cultivated and the area of acreage was greatly increased. The abolition of the Qin State's system of human sacrifice and its replacement with pottery figurines for burials marked a critical step in the construction of the Qin State's feudal system.
Reform will inevitably harm the interests of some people, especially the slave-owning class gathered in Yongcheng, the capital of Qin. In order to protect their own interests, they hindered Qin Xiangong's reforms at every turn. Duke Xian of Qin had just established his position and had not yet made any significant achievements. If a direct conflict broke out with the slave-owning class, it would be tantamount to seeking death. The reason why Duke Xiang of Qin was able to ascend to the throne of the monarch was entirely due to the support of the slave-owning nobles. If he rashly turned against them, he would definitely be convinced that he was repaying kindness with hatred. After thinking about it, Qin Xiangong decided to move the capital to the eastern part of Qin State, which is close to Hexi Province in Yueyang (now Wutun Township, Yanliang District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province). On the one hand, Qin Xiaogong's move could get rid of the shackles of the slave-owning class, and on the other hand, it was also to show his determination to take back the land west of Hexi.
Qin Xiangong did not choose to directly weaken the power of the slave-owning aristocracy, but strengthened the strength of the landlords and peasants. The method is the famous method of renting out crops in history. Under the rule of Duke Xiang of Qin, the standard for the government to levy taxes was no longer the population, but the actual cultivated land area of the land occupier. This not only increased the country's tax revenue and promoted Qin's production, but also legally recognized the land ownership rights of the landlord class and self-cultivators. This measure met with great resistance in the western region of Qin State. At this time, the political center of Qin State was no longer Yongcheng in the west, but Yueyang in the east. The emerging landlord class in Yueyang strongly supported the reform.
Soon, many slaves under the slave-owning nobles of the Qin State continued to flee to the landlord class due to unbearable economic oppression and exploitation. Inevitably, the contradiction between the slave-owning class and the landowning class will inevitably become more and more serious. However, compared with the slave owners who occupied national power and high-ranking officials, the strength of the landlord class was obviously weak. Therefore, in the conflict and struggle, the landlord class was often at a disadvantage. If this situation continues, the landlord class will definitely take extreme measures to maintain its rights and interests.
In order to alleviate this situation, Qin Xiangong thought hard and finally decided to appoint talented representatives of the landlord class to important national positions to improve their political status. At the same time, Qin Xiangong also issued a decree allowing the peasants and landlords to obtain military honors in wars in order to obtain titles. Many people with high economic status but low political status can truly move to the upper class of society through this method. Suddenly, the entire Qin State was full of vitality, and the Qin Army continued to grow stronger in this way.
While improving the status of landlords and peasant farmers, Qin Xiangong also took a series of measures to stabilize the slave-owning class. The most effective one is to form a marriage relationship with the most powerful family among the aristocratic forces. The resistance to Qin's reform gradually decreased, and the Qin people also saw the hope of enriching the country and strengthening the army.
While completing the two major tasks of stabilizing the landlord class and the aristocratic class, Qin Xiangong also embarked on a series of measures to strengthen centralization, develop Qin's economy, and control Qin's population. Although most of these measures were almost copied from Wei, But its role in Qin is unquestionable.
In the sixth year of Qin Xiangong's reign (379 BC), border areas such as Lantian, Shan, Pu, and Mingshi were transformed into counties by Qin Xiangong. County magistrates were directly appointed by the central government, which restored local power to the central government. Duke Xiang of Qin was able to control more land and population. In the second year, the State of Qin established a city to develop and manage industry and commerce. By collecting business taxes, the State of Qin obtained more sources of income, and the national treasury changed from the previous shortage and became more abundant. Three years later, Duke Xiang of Qin began to reform the household registration system. Five households constituted one unit. They had to help each other during busy farming periods to ensure agricultural harvests during droughts and floods. Military training was conducted during slack farming periods so that when war came, all the people could be soldiers. When one person breaks the law, five families commit the same crime. This greatly makes everyone feel at risk and greatly improves the social security situation in Qin.
Under Qin Xiangong's reforms, Qin's national power was greatly enhanced. But at the beginning, Qin Xiangong was not eager to compete with the six eastern countries for hegemony. Instead, they worked hard to govern and build their troops. No matter how fiercely the six eastern kingdoms fought, Qin remained unmoved. Under this situation, the people of Qin had an increasingly strong desire to regain the land west of Hexi and restore the glory of Qin Mugong. At the same time, with the deepening of reform, the contradiction between the slave-owning class and the landlord class continued to emerge.
In order to divert the attention of the domestic people and alleviate the increasingly intensified conflicts between the landlord class and the slave-owning class, Qin Xiangong finally broke his original covenant with Wei Wuhou in his later years and used war to demonstrate Qin's reform achievements.
In the 19th year of Qin Xiangong (366 BC), Han and Wei troops came to the territory of Emperor Zhou to threaten King Zhou Xian. Qin Xiangong seized the opportunity and found this excuse to raise troops to serve the king. The allied forces of Han and Wei fought with the Qin army on the Luoyang line. The Han and Wei armies were defeated, and the Qin army killed tens of thousands of horses. This has greatly improved Qin's international status. The Qin State successfully transferred conflicts from within the people to the international community. The Qin State, having tasted the sweetness, would certainly not stop there. They were eyeing the highlands in the northwest. Once they had the opportunity, they would go east to Hangu Pass to participate in the great cause of hegemony in the Central Plains.
Of course, Qin's first task is to seize Wei's land west of Hexi. The original move of the capital was to express this determination. As the king of Qin, Duke Xian of Qin will definitely fulfill his original promise. What he has been waiting for is the mature time. In the 21st year of Duke Xiang of Qin (364 BC), the Qin army launched a massive attack on Wei. After losing Wu Qi, Wei was completely defeated. All the land in Hexi captured by Wu Qi fell into the hands of Qin again. The Qin army even reached the Shimen of Wei (southwest of today's Yuncheng, Shanxi) and killed 60,000 Wei troops. After this battle, Qin returned to the stage of history as an unprecedented victor. Duke Xiang of Qin awarded all the territories gained in the war to the landlords and the old aristocratic forces, and the conflicts between the two sides were eased. But Qin Xiangong did not expect that a few years later, a man named Shang Yang would completely change this situation. The land enfeoffed today in order to ease conflicts has become one of the biggest obstacles to the reform movement many years later.
Of course, the benefits gained by Qin Xiangong at this time are obvious. After Qin Xiangong won the war against Wei, King Xian of Zhou gave Qin Xiangong the title of "Bo" (which means overlord), which can be described as both fame and fortune. Two years later, Qin and Wei fought again, this time the battlefield was in Shaoliang. In this war, the Wei State once again suffered a disastrous defeat, and even Wei's prime minister, Gong Shucuo, was captured. Soon, Duke Xiang of Qin passed away, and Duke Xiao of Qin took the throne. The vigorous reform of the Qin State was about to begin.
The Wei State far in the east seemed to sense the coming crisis. In the second year after Qin Xiangong's death, it moved its capital from Xia County in Shanxi to Daliang in Henan.
The victory in the Battle of Shaoliang won more than 20 years of stability for the Qin State. There is no doubt that Qin Xiaogong got enough time to develop and strengthen the Qin State. Therefore, some people commented: Qin Xiaogong occupied the land of Huohan and supported Yongzhou, and the monarchs and ministers stood firm to see the Zhou Dynasty. He had the intention to sweep the world, encompass the universe, encompass the four seas, and annex all directions.
