Guan Zhong was a famous politician in the Spring and Autumn Period and a representative figure of Legalism. With the help of Guan Zhong, Qi Huangong became the first of the five tyrants, and Qi's national strength once reached its peak. Guan Zhong was a pioneer of legalism, and he was also known as the "teacher of saints". However, I am afraid this "sage" is incompatible with the meaning of sage advocated by Confucianism. Confucius once commented on Guan Zhong's "small tools". Although Guan Zhong had something that Confucius didn't approve of, Confucius also had a lot of admiration for Guan Zhong. After all, Guan Zhong's contribution not only blossomed in Qi, but also influenced the whole Chinese civilization.

First, the pattern in the early Spring and Autumn Period

In 771 BC, the dog Rong breached Haojing and Zhou Youwang was killed. The following year, Zhou Pingwang moved eastward to Luoyang, and the Spring and Autumn Period began. After moving eastward, the Zhou royal family lost the whole Wangji area in Guanzhong area, and with the land to reward the princes, the Wangji area of the Zhou royal family only left an island in Luoyang. The reduction of the Wangji area will inevitably lead to the reduction of population, taxes and troops, so that the decline of the Zhou royal family must also rely on governors such as Jin and Zheng. Zuo Zhuan contains: "I moved to the east of Zhou, and Jin and Zheng followed."

Without the restriction of the authority of the King of Zhou, the order of the Central Plains countries began to be chaotic. First of all, Zheng, Song, Wei, Lu and other countries were constantly fighting and did not listen to the orders of Zhou Wang. Secondly, the princes headed by Zheng began to challenge the authority of the Zhou royal family. In 77 BC, Zheng defeated Zhou Wang's army in the battle of Ge, which made Zhou Tianzi lose face. Third, civil strife occurred constantly in these vassal States, and kingslaying incidents occurred from time to time, so that the code was corrupted. Fourth, monarchs and great doctors of various countries have openly trampled on the system of rites and music since the Western Zhou Dynasty, so that the rites and music have collapsed.

When the Central Plains was in chaos, barbarians and other ethnic groups began to take the opportunity to invade the Central Plains. In the north, Beidi and Shanrong went south, and Chunqiu recorded many incidents of Beidi's invasion in the early Spring and Autumn Period, such as "Beirong invaded Zheng" in 714. In the first 76 years, "Northern Jungle cut Qi"; Before 662, "Winter, Devaxing". Yan, Qi, Jin, Wei, Zheng and other countries in the Yellow River valley were threatened by Beidi. The most serious year was in 661 BC, when Beidi conquered the capital of Wei. In the west, Xirong runs rampant in Guanzhong area and threatens Luoyang. "Since the east of Longshan Mountain, and Iraq and Luoyang, there are often Rongs."

The biggest threat is Chu in Jianghan area. Officially, Chu was a vassal state of Zhou Dynasty, but Chu did not recognize the status of this vassal. Xiong Qu, the king of Chu, began to be king in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and declared that "I'm a barbarian, and I don't share the title of China." Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the State of Chu has been a great threat to the Zhou Dynasty. King Zhao of Zhou, Zhou Muwang, Zhou Xuanwang, etc. all fought against the State of Chu successively. In order to curb Chu's northward movement, vassals with the surname of Sui, Shen, Tang, Cai, Ying, Xi and Xian were enfeoffed in Jianghan Valley in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, which was called "Hanyang Zhuji" in history. However, by the early Spring and Autumn Period, Hanyang ladies had been wiped out by Chu. Not only that, Chu continued to send troops to threaten the Central Plains. In 71 BC, "Cai Hou and Zheng Bo met in Deng, and they were afraid of Chu". In 678 BC, the State of Chu began to attack the strongest State of Zheng in the Central Plains. In 666 BC, Chu once captured the capital of Zheng. "Biography of the Ram" commented: "The friendship between Nanyi and Beidi, China is endless."

Second, Guan Zhong's Reform: The Road to Rich Qiang Bing of Qi

In 685 BC, Qi Huangong succeeded to the throne, and then he appointed Guan Zhong as the prime minister and started the road to rich Qiang Bing.

in terms of economy: first, recognize the private ownership of land, and tax it according to the quality of land, that is, the so-called "taking advantage of the land". Second, the implementation of recuperation, the implementation of the policy of enriching the people, advocating that "when people are not deprived, the people will be rich", "granaries actually know etiquette, and food and clothing will know honor and disgrace." Third, strengthen the control and management of national rival industries, and set up officials such as "Gongzheng", "Gongshi", "Tieguan" and "Sanfu" to manage handicrafts. Fourth, encourage the development of business, reduce taxes, and implement the principle of "one tax for fifty". And strengthen the management of business, set up the market to communicate with business, and implement the policy of Huai Ping to regulate prices.

administratively, it is mainly to re-divide the administrative management system. First, divide the districts according to the regions. The area outside Linzi was divided into five genera, and administrative units such as county, township, pawn and city were set up under it. The reform of administrative divisions is conducive to breaking the monopoly of nobles on local political power and strengthening centralization. Militarily, Guan Zhong carried out the system of military and political integration, closely organized the people of the whole country, and implemented the policy of military and agricultural integration. In order to manufacture weapons and equipment, Guan Zhong implemented the policy of atonement with weapons and ironware, which made the State of Qi "well armed".

For serious crimes, a halberd of rhinoceros armour should be redeemed; for minor crimes, a halberd of shield should be redeemed; for minor crimes, gold points should be paid, which will be used for indirect crimes. The litigant is forbidden and can't go up and down, sitting in a beam. -"Mandarin Qi Yu"

In diplomacy, Guan Zhong advocates "pro-neighboring countries". In the early days, Qi Huangong refused to listen to Guan Zhong's advice, and "wanted to be a vassal". He launched a battle against Lu, and the result was a failure. In 681 BC, Qi Huangong and Lu Jun were kidnapped by Cao Mo, a doctor of Lu State, in Kehuimeng, and were forced to return the land occupied by Lu State. After Qi Huangong's diplomatic setbacks, he began to listen to Guan Zhong's suggestion that "it is important to pay more attention to the feudal lords, so as to make friends with them". In 679 BC, the five countries of Qi, Wei, Song, Chen and Zheng joined forces in Zan, and then Lu made friends with Qi, which provided a good diplomatic environment for Qi's hegemony.

Third, Guan Zhong's maintenance of the Chinese order

During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Chinese order was presided over by the Emperor of Zhou, and the so-called "ritual and music conquest came from the Emperor". In the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou royal family declined, and it was no longer possible to command the princes, and the Chinese order was in chaos. Under such circumstances, a powerful vassal state must be established to rebuild the order of China, that is, "rites and music are conquered by the vassal", and this vassal is the overlord. Although Zheng was strong in the early Spring and Autumn Period, its national strength was difficult to preside over the overall situation of China. Qi is different. First of all, Qi is a vassal state of Tai Gong Wang, and it has certain conquering power in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Secondly, Qi has a large area, a large population and strong economic strength. Thirdly, after Guan Zhong's reform, the national strength of Qi increased greatly and won the support of the surrounding governors. Therefore, Qi can have this kind of leadership.

First of all, the State of Qi must solve the contradictions among vassal states and make the vassals submit to themselves. After the alliance of Yancheng, Zheng did not want to submit to Qi, and refused to participate in the alliance of Qi, while Lu was resistant to Qi and always looked for opportunities to fight against Qi. In 679 BC, Qi led Song and Yong to attack Yong, but Zheng attacked Song in the rear. The following year, Qi, Song and Wei jointly attacked Zheng, and Chu also took the opportunity to attack Zheng. Zheng was forced to join forces with Qi and other countries in a secluded place. However, Zheng's attitude was always uncertain. In the second year, Zheng refused to make a pilgrimage to Qi. In 675 BC, there was civil strife in the Zhou royal family, and King Hui of Zhou went to Zheng for protection, and Zheng also tried to "hold the emperor to make the princes". However, after the restoration of King Hui of Zhou, the relationship between Zhou and Zheng deteriorated rapidly, and Zheng had to admit the reality and form an alliance with Qi. In the same year, Lu and Ju jointly fought against Qi, and Qi, Song and Chen attacked Lu. Lu was forced to submit to Qi and paid the dowry to Qi. In 672 BC, the State of Qi put down the civil strife in Chen.

In 667 BC, Qi, Song, Zheng and Chen joined forces in a secluded place, and the Emperor of Zhou named Qi Huangong Hou Bo, giving Qi Huangong the power to conquer. In the second year, Qi Huangong led the vassals to conquer the country that had a holiday with Zhou Tianzi, which marked the formal establishment of Qi's hegemony. After hegemony, Guan Zhong put forward the slogan of "respecting the king and resisting foreigners" and led the vassals to counter the barbarian attacks. In 666 BC, Shanrong attacked Yan State. Two years later, Qi Huangong and Guan Zhong led an army to attack Shanrong and Solitary Bamboo, which saved Yan from danger. In 662 BC, Di Ren attacked Xing Guo. At the suggestion of Guan Zhong, Qi Huangong saved Xing Guo. In the second year, Tijen attacked Weiguo, which was destroyed and the people were displaced. Qi rebuilt the country in Chuqiu, and at the same time moved Xing to Yi. This is the "rescue of Xing Cunwei" in history, which greatly improved the prestige of Qi.

After the threat of Di Ren and Shan Rong was temporarily lifted, the State of Qi began to concentrate on dealing with Chu. In 659 AD, the State of Chu attacked the State of Zheng again. Qi Huangong called the vassals to ally in Huaiyang, Huangyang and Yanggu, and * * * negotiated Chu affairs. In 656 BC, the State of Qi established the Division of the Eight Powers and officially began the crusade against Chu. The Eight-Power Army first attacked Cai, a vassal of Chu, and then continued to conquer Chu in the south. Seeing that the army of governors was menacing, Chu was forced to negotiate with Qi Huangong and Guan Zhong. After a round of contest, the two sides of Qi and Chu joined forces in calling the Mausoleum, and Chu promised not to attack the countries in the Central Plains again, and to resume the system of paying tribute to the Zhou Emperor. After the alliance of Zhaoling, the threat of Chinese countries was temporarily lifted.

However, after the League of Summoning Mausoleum, the order of all countries in the Central Plains has not been restored, and countries are still attacking each other. Guan Zhong proposed to Qi Huangong to serve the vassals with virtue, and Qi Huangong accepted his suggestion, thus reducing the military conquest. In 651 BC, the State of Qi called the Central Plains countries to join forces in Kwai Hill. At the Kuiqiu League, Qi Huangong and the vassal states reached an agreement:

The first "first life": no filial piety, no easy tree, no concubine as a wife.

article 2: respect the virtuous and educate the talented to show virtue. Article 3: respect the old and be kind to the young, and never forget the guests; Article 4: a scholar has no official, no official affairs are taken, a scholar must win, and no doctor is killed. Article 5: there is no defense, no suppression, and no seal without telling.

The Kwai-Qiuhui Alliance marks the re-establishment of the order in the Central Plains and maintains the inheritance of Chinese ritual and music civilization.