GBP Chapter 192 The Rise and Fall of Qi
Chapter 192 The Rise and Fall of Qi
In 247 BC, King Zhuangxiang of Qin died and the 13-year-old Ying Zheng succeeded to the throne. After suppressing the rebellion of Lao Ai and dismissing his father-in-law Lu Buwei, he swept across the six kingdoms, and Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, and Yan were successively destroyed.
In 221 BC, King Tian Jian of Qi surrendered to King Zheng of Qin, and the last of the Seven Kingdoms of the Warring States Period, Qi, was destroyed. Ying Zheng believed that he had the virtues of the Three Sovereigns and the merits of the Five Emperors, and he used the "Huang" of the Three Sovereigns and the "Di" of the Five Emperors to form the title of Emperor, becoming the first monarch in Chinese history to use the title of Emperor, and was Qin Shi Huang.
At this point, the Warring States Period of warring statesmen came to an end, and China entered its first great unified era - the Qin Dynasty.
【Understand the history of the rise and fall of Qi in one go: The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of Qi. 】
Qi was the first country to dominate the world during the Spring and Autumn Period. As a descendant of Jiang Ziya, why did Qi fail to unify the world? What was the difference in strength between Qi and Qin?
This video will help you understand the rise and fall of Qi. From 1046 BC, when Jiang Ziya established the state, to 221 BC, when King Jian of Qi surrendered to King Zheng of Qin, Qi had 40 monarchs and a history of about 825 years.
In this video, let us start with the story of Jiang Ziya, the first monarch of Qi State.
Jiang Ziya, translated as Jiang Shang, was named after his ancestor who had assisted Dayu in managing water and soil and made great contributions. During the Shun and Yu periods, he was granted the title of Lu. Because he took the name of his fief as his surname, he was also called Lu Shang.
After Zhou conquered Shang in 1046 BC, King Wu of Zhou adopted the policy of enfeoffment of his relatives in order to firmly control the vast territory in the east. He enfeoffed his relatives with the same surname and meritorious officials and advisers in various places to establish vassal states.
As the chief think tank of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the teacher and father of King Wu, Lu Shang was first granted the title of Duke of Yingqiu in Qi to establish the State of Qi in order to stabilize the east.
After the establishment of Qi State, Lu Shang spent most of his time in Haojing assisting King Cheng of Zhou and King Kang of Zhou. His eldest son Lu Ji also served as a Huben in Haojing, commanding the royal palace garrison.
During the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, the three supervisors Guan Shu, Cai Shu, and Huo Shu rebelled. They suspected that Xuyi had rebelled against Zhou because of Marquis Dong Wu. Lü Ji and his son Lü Ji assisted Duke Zhou Dan in quickly suppressing the rebellion, and for the second time made great contributions to the stability of the Zhou Dynasty.
Therefore, King Cheng of Zhou ordered the five marquises and nine earls to conquer the country from the east to the sea, from the west to Henan, from the south to Muling, and from the north to Wudi. The five marquises and nine earls were actually given the right to conquer. As a result, Qi obtained the right to conquer and became a great country among the princes.
In 1015 BC, Jiang Ziya died and his son succeeded him as Duke Ding of Qi. Duke Ding of Qi continued to assist King Kang of Zhou, becoming one of the four assistants after Duke Zhou, and was in charge of the elite troops of the Zhou Dynasty, 3000 Tiger Guards, to defend Fenghao.
Duke Ding of Qi was an important official during the reigns of King Cheng, King Kang and King Zhao. Like his father, he made great contributions to the Zhou royal family and was highly appreciated by the emperor.
After Duke Ding of Qi died, his son Lü Ji should have inherited the throne, but Lü Ji gave the throne to his half-brother Lü De. He and his brother Lü Ji continued to stay in the Zhou royal family to assist King Mu of Zhou. King Mu of Zhou appointed him as Taifu, ranking among the Three Dukes.
In 975 BC, Duke Huan of Qi, Lü De, succeeded to the throne. He and Lü Ji assisted the royal family, making Qi's status among the princes even higher. After Lü De's death, his son Lü Lu became the fourth king of Qi, and was known as Duke Ai of Qi.
By this time, after three generations of monarchs, Qi had already established a firm foothold in the land. However, Qi's development was envied by the local natives.
Jin, which bordered Qi, was an old state of the Shang Dynasty. It was located east of Qi and north of Lai. Its territory was no less than that of Qi, and the capitals of the two countries were only a hundred miles apart. As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers in one mountain. When Duke Xiang of Qi, the son of Duke Ai of Qi, succeeded to the throne, the long-accumulated contradictions between the two countries finally broke out.
In 878 BC, the State of Jin slandered Duke Ai of Qi to the Emperor of Zhou, saying that Duke Ai of Qi was plotting a rebellion by offering sacrifices to heaven privately. Then the Emperor of Zhou, who shocked the world, threw Duke Ai of Qi into a cauldron and boiled him alive in front of all the princes.
After this incident, Qi not only forged a feud with Jin and Lai, but also fell into decades of internal power struggles. After Duke Huan, Duke Xian, and Duke Wu, the capital of Qi changed again and again, causing its national strength to decline greatly until Duke Xi of Qi, Lü Lu, succeeded to the throne in 731 BC.
Lu Lu was a ruthless man. He was a diplomatic genius in the Spring and Autumn Period. During his reign, he presided over many multilateral alliances, often personally sought alliances with some countries, and liked to join forces with other countries to send troops, which made Qi State more and more influential. He eventually became one of the three earliest overlords in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was known as the Three Little Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period together with Duke Zhuang of Zheng and King Wu of Chu.
In 698 BC, Duke Xiang of Qi, son of Duke Xi of Qi, succeeded to the throne, and Qi became even stronger. Lü Zhuer was a talented, loyal but ruthless man who believed in power and force all his life.
Not only did he have an affair with his sister who was married to Duke Huan of Lu, he even openly killed Duke Huan of Lu when he accused him. He then killed the king of Zheng at a meeting of princes, and sent troops to attack Wei, helping Duke Hui of Wei to restore the Military Commission. He was extremely famous at the time.
Under the strong pressure from Qi, Jin began to experience internal strife. In 690 BC, Qi sent troops to attack the capital of Jin and annexed Jin, finally avenging the nine generations of Qi Xianggong. Two years later, Qi and Lu attacked Chen, and Chen surrendered to Qi.
In the same year, the ministers Lian Cheng and Guan Zhifu colluded with Duke Xiang of Qi's nephew Gongsun Wuzhi to launch a rebellion, murdering the king and usurping the throne. Duke Xiang of Qi, who believed in weapons, died in the war. However, only a year later, Gongsun Wuzhi, who had come to power illegitimately, was killed by the doctor Yong Lin.
Prince Xiaobai, who had fled to Ju State, and Prince Jiu, who was in Lu State, heard the news and hurried back to compete for the throne. Prince Jiu sent Guan Zhong to kill Prince Xiaobai on the way, but Xiaobai fell to the ground and pretended to be dead to get away with it. In the end, Prince Xiaobai arrived first under the escort of Bao Shuya.
In 685 BC, Prince Xiaobai succeeded to the throne and became Duke Huan of Qi. Duke Huan of Qi was a man of great talent and strategy. He put aside past grudges, appointed Guan Zhong as prime minister and respected him as "Zhongfu", letting him manage internal affairs and carry out political reforms. He also implemented a system of military-political integration and military-civilian integration, which made Qi gradually strong.
In 681 BC, Duke Huan of Qi was the first to preside over a world alliance as a vassal state. He convened the vassal states of Song, Chen, Cai and Zhu for a meeting in Juandi, which is known in history as the Juandi Meeting.
At that time, the Zhou royal family was weak, and the princes were suffering from attacks from the Rongdi and other tribes. So Duke Huan of Qi raised the banner of respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, united the nine princes, attacked the Shanrong in the north and the State of Chu in the south, and after the death of King Hui of Zhou, he supported King Xiang of Zhou to ascend the throne. From then on, Duke Huan of Qi commanded the princes on behalf of the Zhou emperor.
The hegemony of Qi State reached its peak, and Duke Huan of Qi became the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period.
However, Duke Huan of Qi became incompetent in his later years and relied heavily on sycophants such as Yi Ya and Shu Diao. After the deaths of virtuous ministers such as Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya, Qi began to decline.
In 643 BC, Duke Huan of Qi died of illness and his sons fought for the throne, causing chaos in Qi. It was not until 608 BC when Duke Hui of Qi ascended the throne that a series of battles for the throne ended. The hegemony of Qi also came to an end and the state could only rely on the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu.
In 599 BC, after Duke Qing of Qi, the son of Duke Hui of Qi, ascended the throne, he offended the State of Jin. He almost caused the destruction of his state because he mocked Xike, a minister of Jin.
Finally, Qi was defeated by Jin State, and Jin State did not stop until Qi handed over his son to Jin State as a hostage. When Duke Jing of Qi came to power, Jin State led 12 vassal states including Lu, Song and Wei to attack Qi State.
In 555 BC, Duke Ling of Qi betrayed the alliance and invaded Lu five times. Upon seeing this, Jin decided to join forces with Lu, Song and other twelve vassal states to attack Qi. Duke Ling of Qi personally led his troops to resist the enemy, but was defeated by the coalition forces in Pingyin. From then on, he was unable to dominate the world.
In the second year after the defeat at Pingyin, Duke Ling of Qi died, and the minister Cui Zhu supported the crown prince Guang to ascend the throne, becoming Duke Zhuang of Qi. However, Duke Zhuang of Qi repaid Cui Zhu with hatred, not only openly touching his wife, but also often insultingly rewarding others with Cui Zhu's hat.
Cui Zhu held a grudge against him and killed Duke Zhuang of Qi when he was having an affair with Dongguo Jiang.
In 547 BC, Cui Zhu supported Duke Zhuang of Qi's younger brother Chujiu as the king, who was Duke Jing of Qi. Duke Jing of Qi was a monarch who was good at governing the country but also greedy for pleasure.
He reigned for 58 years, one of the longest reigning monarchs in the history of Qi. He appointed wise ministers such as Yan Ying and Xian Zhang to govern the country, thus bringing Qi from chaos to order in just a few years.
Not only did Lu become Jin's younger brother, but it also formed an anti-Jin alliance with Zheng and Wei, and even captured Jin's strategic locations. Qi, which had been suppressed for many years, finally got its revenge. But before his death, he abolished the eldest son and enthroned the youngest son, leaving a huge hidden danger for Lu's Qi.
In 490 BC, Duke Jing of Qi died. Prime Ministers Gao Zhaozi and Guo Huizi supported An Ruzi to succeed him according to his will, but Tian Qi made Prince Yangsheng, who had a better relationship with him, the king, who became Duke Dao of Qi. Tian Qi launched a palace coup, attacked and killed Gao Zhaozi, Guo Huizi, An Ruzi, and made Prince Yangsheng the king, who became Duke Dao of Qi.
After Duke Dao of Qi ascended the throne, Tian Qi served as prime minister and ruled Qi. After Tian Qi's death, his son Tian Chang succeeded him as prime minister and inherited his style. He killed the disobedient Duke Dao and Duke Jian and supported Duke Jian's younger brother Gongzi as the king, who was Duke Ping of Qi. The fiefdom that Tian Chang gave himself was even larger than the area directly governed by Duke Ping of Qi.
Since then, the Tian family has monopolized power in Qi and entered the ranks of the various states of the state. The Tian family dominated power during the reigns of Duke Ping, Duke Xuan and Duke Kang of Qi, which is known in history as the Tian family replacing Qi. Zhuangzi once called Tian Heng a great thief among the princes, which is also the origin of the idiom "He who steals a hook shall be executed, and he who steals a country shall be made a marquis".
In 391 BC, Tian Chang's great-grandson Tian He exiled the last monarch of Qi State, Duke Kang of Qi, to the sea and proclaimed himself the King of Qi. Soon after, King An of Zhou appointed Tian He as the Marquis of Qi.
The Lü family of Qi was replaced by the Tian family, which is known in history as the Tian family replacing Qi. In 379 BC, Duke Kang of Qi, who had become so poor that he dug a hole to forge a forgery, died, and the worship of Jiang Taigong ended. By this time, when Chinese history entered the Warring States Period, Qi had become the Qi of the Tian family.
In 357 BC, the fourth king of Tian Qi, King Wei of Qi, came to power. Not only did he have many talented people under him, but he also contributed many historical allusions to them.
With the help of Prime Minister Zou Ji who encouraged people to speak out for him in political reform, General Tian Ji who was good at horse racing, and Sun Bin who was disabled but strong-willed, Qi State gradually began to recover its former glory.
In 353 BC, Qi State fought the Battle of Guiling with Wei State in order to rescue Zhao State. Sun Bin used the strategy of besieging Wei to rescue Zhao and defeated the Wei army. He also killed Wei general Pang Juan at Maling Road, completely crushing the arrogance of Wei State.
A few years later, King Hui of Wei led Han and some small countries to Xuzhou to pay homage to King Wei of Qi. King Wei of Qi was crowned king. King Wei of Qi did not dare to claim the title of king alone, so he also acknowledged the title of king of Wei, and was known in history as the King of Xuzhou.
After this, various countries took the opportunity to declare themselves kings, and the titles of their kings changed from "Duke" to "King", and the authority of the King of Zhou was completely gone.
In 314 BC, King Xuan of Qi, the son of King Wei of Qi, did a great thing. He took advantage of the civil strife in Yan State to attack Yan and captured Yan's capital Ji in just 50 days.
The ancestral temples were destroyed, the cavalry and heavy equipment were despised, and King Kuai of Yan hanged himself. Because the country was almost destroyed, Qin and Zhao later joined forces to attack Qi, and Qi was forced to withdraw its troops. However, this incident laid the groundwork for the decline of Qi.
After three generations of development under the reigns of King Xuan and King Min, the State of Qi became rich and gradually formed a trend of coexistence with the State of Qin.
In 286 BC, King Min of Qi annexed the State of Song, which was surrounded by enemies on all sides, posing a serious threat to the surrounding countries. King Zhao of Yan took the opportunity to contact the four states of Qin, Zhao, Wei, and Chu to form an alliance to attack Qi. Under the leadership of General Yue Yi, the coalition forces captured 73 cities of Qi in a row. The Yan State was avenged, and Qi was no longer able to compete with Qin.
In 284 BC, King Min of Qi died and King Xiang of Qi ascended the throne. With the help of General Tian Dan, he recovered all the territory that had been lost before. Although the country was restored, the severely damaged Qi State could only watch as Qin destroyed the five countries of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu and Yan one by one.
In 221 BC, King Jian of Qi followed the advice of Prime Minister Hou Sheng and surrendered to the State of Qin. He was starved to death by King Zheng of Qin, and the State of Qi was destroyed.
[Understand Marco Polo and An Lushan, foreigners serving as officials in China, in one breath]
The Han Dynasty attracted Xiongnu princes to serve as officials in the court. The ethnic tolerance of the prosperous Tang Dynasty created foreign generals who were good at fighting and even attracted foreign students to come from afar to take the imperial examinations.
The book "The Travels of Marco Polo" aroused the world's yearning for the East. In this video, let's take a look at the foreigners who served as officials in ancient China.
First: Jin Midi In 121 BC, General Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu King Hunye and King Xiutu decided to surrender to the Han Dynasty, but King Xiutu changed his mind halfway and was killed by King Hunye.
King Xiutu's 14-year-old son Jin Midi could only follow King Hunxie to surrender to the Han Dynasty. The 14-year-old prince was placed in the Huangmen to raise horses, but no one knew that he would step by step become a minister of state and even be granted a title of nobility. He was Jin Midi - an unshakable figure in the officialdom of the Western Han Dynasty and one of the most trusted ministers of Emperor Wu of Han.
Jin Midi's rise to fame began when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty suddenly had the urge to ride a horse to entertain the emperor. At that time, Emperor Wu was surrounded by concubines from the harem, and when the horsemen led the horses over, they could not help but peek, but Jin Midi was the only exception.
In addition, the horses raised by Jin Midi were all fat and strong. Emperor Wu of Han was very surprised to see this, and after learning about his life experience, he decided to promote him to a higher position. After being favored by Emperor Wu of Han, Jin Midi did not become complacent, but became more cautious.
After learning that his eldest son had molested a palace maid, he killed his own son for the sake of justice. After learning the whole story, Emperor Wu valued him even more.
In 91 BC, Emperor Wu of Han rehabilitated the crown prince who was wrongly accused in the witchcraft case and killed Jiang Chong, who persecuted the crown prince. The Ma Heluo brothers who participated in the witchcraft case were terrified and decided to rebel because they were afraid of being purged.
Unexpectedly, Jin Midi was very perceptive and ambushed in the bedroom of Emperor Wu of Han. After Ma Heluo entered the room with a knife, he not only failed to kill Emperor Wu, but was caught by Jin Midi's waiting.