The first time I heard this sentence was the evaluation of Cao Cao in the romance of the Three Kingdoms. Speaking of Cao Cao as cao thief, he established the Han Dynasty in name, but actually controlled the military and political power and put the descendants of the Han Dynasty as puppets in front of the stage. In fact, in the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei's practice is also to some extent "relying on the emperor to make the princes", but Liu Bei has no legal heir and can only conquer the world as an uncle and realize his hegemony in the name of the Han Dynasty.
"Holding the emperor to make the princes" should be used the most in the Spring and Autumn Period, and its earliest function should also be in the Spring and Autumn Period. After the decline of Zhou, Zhou Pingwang moved to Luoyi. Because of the need for the identity of the Qing doctor in the Zhou Dynasty, Zheng Zhuanggong treated Zhou with courtesy everywhere. When Zhou wanted to cancel his identity as a Zuoqingshi, he was even more furious. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Zhuanggong used Zhou Qing's position as a doctor to bully Heluo.
Qi Huangong and Guan Zhong, as partners, directly put forward the slogan of "respecting the king and rejecting foreign countries", saying that he did not pay tribute to the king of Zhou and sent his troops to attack (in fact, he did not pay tribute himself). So later, as long as he called a meeting, most governors would come to attend. Hegemony is over!
After the death of Qi Huangong and Guan Zhong, Qi was in chaos, and Jin Wengong began to dominate the world. The armament of the Sixth Army of the State of Jin can be said to be the strongest in the world (nominally only the Emperor can have the Sixth Army). After the battle of Chengpu defeated Chu in 632 BC, the prisoners of Chu were sent to Luoyi for a ceremony of offering prisoners. In fact, it is also through this incident that I hope that the vassal States will regard Chu as a barbarian and offer prisoners, that is, respect the king; In this way, the state of Jin stood on the side of justice for Chu.
Later, Chu Zhuangwang saw the disadvantage of its hegemony, that is, it was always regarded as a barbarian by the Central Plains countries. In order to gain the approval of the Zhou Emperor, in 606 BC, he sent troops to "King Qin" to attack the Lv Hunrong nationality, and later "watched the soldiers in Zhoujiang", and King Ding of Zhou sent Wang Anwei.
The Zhou royal family in the Spring and Autumn Period thought that force was only a small vassal state, but the overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period did not dare to attack him, not because he could not beat him, but because he needed to stand on the standpoint of justice to order the world.
Later, Zhao Dun mastered the military and political power of the State of Jin. He dared to send someone to kill Jin Linggong, but he dared not be the boss himself. When Zhao Dun was alive, the state of Jin was actually the state of Jin where he "held the emperor to make the princes". At that time, the monarch was just a decoration.
Summary: How profound is "relying on the emperor to make the princes"? In fact, it's just selling dog meat by hanging sheep's head, but it's just pasting a piece of paper and setting up a memorial arch. As we all know, we just don't want to bear the stigma of rebellion and give our false name to those lucky people sheltered by our ancestors.