During the Spring and Autumn Period, it began with "Pingdong Shift". His name comes from Lu Chunqiu. It is a period of rapid social and economic changes, complicated political situation, endless military struggles and colorful academic culture in the history of China, and it is also a transitional period in which China's ancient civilization gradually evolved into medieval civilization.
770 years ago, he was forced to give up "Haojiang" and rely on the strength of princes such as Jin and Zheng to move the capital to "Luoyi". From then on, the royal family began to weaken, and the era when Zhou ordered the world was gone forever. Feudal hegemony, annexation by foreign powers, doctor dictatorship, and foreign struggle came to power.
In the early years of the Spring and Autumn Period, there were more than 170 vassal states, but their deeds of alliance and conquest were obvious, including Qi, Jin, Chu, Qin, Lu, Song, Wei, Yan, Chen, Cao, Cai, Zheng, Wu and Yue.
After Wang Ping moved the capital to Israel, some vassal states developed after a long period of rest, but the power of the royal family gradually declined and gradually lost its ability to control the vassal states. The powerful princes no longer obey the Zhou royal family. Some of them invaded Zhou's land, while others attacked other vassal States. In the 12th year of King Huan of Zhou (708 BC), King Huan of Zhou led troops to fight against the unruly State of Zheng. Zheng Bo not only dared to lead the troops to resist, but also defeated Julian Waghann and hit Zhou Wang on the shoulder with an arrow. This shows that the status of the king of Zhou at this time has been seriously reduced, but he still retains the name of the Lord of the world. Confucius compiled the history from Lu Yinnian (722 BC) to the fourteenth year of Lu Aigong (4865438 BC+0 BC) into a historical book, Spring and Autumn Annals, which was later called Spring and Autumn Annals.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were 128 princes' names in the history books, but there were more than a dozen important ones. There are Qi and Lu in Shandong today, Wei, Song, Zheng, Chen and Cai in Henan today, Jin in Shanxi today, Yan in Beijing and surrounding areas today, Qin in Shaanxi today, Chu in Henan and southern Anhui today, Wu in central and southern Jiangsu today, and Yue in Zhejiang today. With their strength, these relatively large vassal States used war to expand their territory, forcing the weak countries to obey his orders and compete with each other, thus forming a situation in which the vassals competed for hegemony. Ba, also written as Bo, means the oldest in Wang Zizhong.
Qi Huangong was the first master. Qi was a vassal state of Lu Shang and Tai Gong. Later emperors devoted themselves to rectifying politics, giving full play to the advantages of coastal fish and salt, advocating home textile industry, developing commerce and handicrafts, and gradually developing their national strength. After Qi Huangong (reigned from 685 to 643) succeeded to the throne, he took Guan Zhong as the prime minister, reorganized the state administration, abolished the public land system, determined taxes according to the fertility of the land, set up salt, iron officials and coins, increased fiscal revenue, incorporated soldiers into agriculture, and merged grass-roots administrative organizations with military organizations into one, thus increasing the source of soldiers and fighting capacity, and quickly became the most prosperous country in China. Then the slogan of "respecting the king and rejecting foreign countries" was played. Many times, the governors were called to help or interfere in other countries and fight against the invasion of the righteous emperor. Finally, they became the overlord in the third year of King Zhou Nuo (679 BC). In the twenty-first year of King Hui of Zhou (656 BC), Qi Huangong led the allied forces of eight vassal states, forcing Chu to submit to him with superior forces, and concluded the alliance of Zhaoling (now Yancheng, Henan), which reached its peak.
After Qi Huangong's death, there was a civil strife in Qi State for monarchical power, which weakened the strength of Qi State. Chu took the opportunity to develop its power, destroyed several small countries in the north of it, and pointed the finger at the Central Plains. Song Xianggong (reigned 650-637 years ago) tried to become the overlord of the Central Plains with the call of resisting the Chu people's invasion to the north. However, in terms of national strength and performance, Song Xianggong is not enough to occupy a dominant position. In the fifteenth year of King Xiang of Zhou (638 BC), the armies of Chu and Song met in the flood and suffered a heavy defeat. Even Song Xianggong was shot in the leg and died soon.
Just as Chu dominated the Central Plains, the Western State of Jin developed. Jin Wengong Zhong Er (reigned from 636 to 628) was exiled for "rebellion against Li Ji" 19 years. That is, after he acceded to the throne, he reformed politics, developed economy, reorganized the army, gained the trust of the people, stabilized the royal family, and was friendly to Qin, and gained high prestige among the princes. In the twentieth year of King Xiang of Zhou (633 BC), the Chu army surrounded Shangqiu, the capital of the Song State. At the beginning of the following year, Jin Wengong led his army to save the Song Dynasty, defeated the Chu army in Chengpu and became the overlord.
After his death, he sought to develop eastward and was blocked by Jin. In World War I, Qin Jun was completely annihilated and turned westward, annexing some Rongdi tribes and dominating Xirong.
After the Chengpu War, Chu developed eastward, destroying many small countries, reaching Yunnan in the south and the Yellow River in the north, and its economy and culture developed. Chu Zhuangwang (before 6 13 -59 1 in office) reformed internal affairs, put down riots, built water conservancy projects, and gradually gained national strength. He even asked King Zhou Ding's special envoy about the size of Zhou Ding. In the tenth year of Zhou Ding (597 BC), Chu and Jin fought in Zhai (now southeast of Wuzhi, Henan) and won a great victory. Before long, Jin people were afraid to save the Song Dynasty, so small countries in the Central Plains took refuge in Chu, and Chu people dominated the Central Plains.
The continuous war has brought great disasters to the people and caused the boredom of small and medium-sized countries. In addition, the two big countries in Chu Jin are evenly matched, and neither can eat the other. So initiated by the Song Dynasty, two appeasement alliances were held in the seventh year (579 BC) and the twenty-sixth year (546 BC) of Zhou Jianwang. Since then, wars have been greatly reduced.
The hegemony of the former governors came to an end, and wuyue, located in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, began to develop. In the 14th year of the Zhou Dynasty (506 BC), He Lv, the king of Wu, took Wu Yuan (Wu Zixu) as the general and attacked Chu and the capital of Chu. Twenty-four years ago (496 BC), Zhou led a expedition to the south. Gou Jian, the king of Yue, led troops to fight. The doctor of Yue hit He Lv, and He Lv died of serious injuries. In the 26th year of the week (494 BC), Fu Cha, the king of Wu, avenged his father and defeated Yue. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, made peace and gave it to the precious beauty stone of the King of Wu, who personally led the horse as Fu Cha. Wu Wang's Northern Expedition defeated the Qi army and became a bully. Gou Jian, the King of Yue, lived together for ten years and finally destroyed Wu for three years (473 BC). Focha committed suicide in shame. Gou Jian went north and joined forces with Qi Jin in Xu, becoming the last overlord.
According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period of 242 years, 36 monarchs were killed, 52 vassal states were destroyed, more than 480 wars were fought, and princes were invited to form alliances for more than 450 times.
There were five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period, which was called "Five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period" in history.
Zheng Zhuanggong, Qi Huangong, Song Xianggong, Qin Mugong, Jin Wengong, Chu Zhuangwang, King Wu and King Yue.
Warring States period (476 BC ~ 22 BC1year)
In the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, with the development of productive forces, the construction of water conservancy, the use of ironware and the popularization of Niu Geng, the economies of various vassal States developed to varying degrees, and the political situation changed accordingly. Most importantly, the influence of high officials in vassal states has gradually developed, such as Sanhuan in Lu, Shi Tian in Qi and Liu Qing in Jin. They use their own economic strength to control and carve up public offices and fight with each other to expand their territory. In the end, the six Qing countries of Jin fought, leaving only Han, Wei and Zhao. In the twenty-third year of Zhou Weilie (403 BC), the King of Zhou officially recognized the three clans as princes. In the 11th year of King Zhou An (before 39 1), Tian Min abolished Qi Kanggong and became a king on his own, which was also recognized by King Zhou An. The victory of Sanjin Hotan declared the political law of "the strong survive and the weak are eliminated". Therefore, from the beginning of political reform, countries rushed to carry out the political reform movement with the goal of enriching the people. The core of the reform is to fix workers on the land to increase the state's tax revenue. With the deepening of social civilization, the rulers' greed for material enjoyment has expanded rapidly. The most direct way to increase exploitation is to plunder more land, and the most convenient way to plunder land is war. So during this period, there were more and more wars, which became bigger and bigger. According to statistics, there were 230 wars in the 255 years from the first year of Zhou Yuanwang (475 BC) to the twenty-sixth year of Qin (2265438 BC+0 BC). When the war broke out, both sides dispatched tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people at every turn. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang compiled all kinds of historical materials into a book called The Warring States Policy. Since then, people have called this historical stage the Warring States Period.
During the Warring States period, Qi, Chu, Yan, Qin, Han, Zhao and Wei were the most powerful, and they were called the "Seven Heroes of the Warring States". Wei Wenhou (reigned from 445 to 369 years ago) appointed Li Kui to carry out reforms, made full use of his education, established army soldiers, reused Wuqi and Ximen Bao to govern places, developed the economy, and became the first powerful country in the early Warring States period. Wei Wuhou was born in Wuqi, from Wei Xianggong uncle, from Wei to Chu. In the twentieth year of Zhou 'an (382 BC), King Mourning of Chu appointed Wuqi to carry out political reform, cut down redundant staff, abolish Shi Qingdishi, an aristocrat, clearly examine the law and prohibit private invitation, which became increasingly powerful. However, the old forces of Chu were too powerful. When Wang Gang of Chu died, Wuqi was shot dead by random arrows. Wei Huiwang moved its capital to Daliang, recruited talents, built water conservancy projects, and used troops abroad in an attempt to annex the Weiguo with Puyang as its capital, causing dissatisfaction among neighboring countries. At this time, Zou Ji and others were appointed to carry out reforms, vigorously rectify politics, encourage people to remonstrate, formulate laws and call for exile, and the economy developed rapidly, becoming a big country with strength second only to Wei. In the Battle of Guiling in the 16th year (353 BC) and the Battle of Maling in the 28th year (3465438 BC+0 BC), the State of Qi took Tian Ji as the general and Sun Bin as the strategist, and defeated Wei Jun with ingenuity. Since then, Qi has become the strongest country in the Central Plains. In order to meet the demand for talents, Qi Xuanwang has expanded the Jixia Academy, which is located in Linzi, the capital of Qi. Scholars who came to Xia Ji were given generous salaries and comfortable living conditions, which enabled them to concentrate on their studies, cultivate their disciples and promote academic progress and prosperity.
In the 13th year (356 BC) and 19th year (350 BC) of Zhou Xianwang, Qin Xiaogong appointed Shang Yang to carry out the most thorough political reform. Shang Yang's political reform encouraged population proliferation, emphasized agriculture and restrained commerce, abolished the system of "Shi Qing Shi Lu", rewarded military service, compiled household registration and implemented the law of sitting in a row, making Qin the most powerful country after the mid-Warring States period. Although Shang Yang was later killed by a car crack, the new law was not abolished. Chyi Chin confronted the east and west, and launched a struggle to win over other vassal States and isolate each other, while countries such as Korea, Wei, Zhao, Chu and Yan wavered between United Qin and United Qin. At this time, two famous politicians appeared-Yi Chang and Gongsun Yan. They directed a vivid and tragic live drama by Lian Heng (splitting the six countries) and Zonghe (uniting against Qin) respectively.
The powerful state of Qin continued to expand its territory to the east. In the 40th year of Zhou Xian (329 BC), Ren Wei Yi Cheung came to the State of Qin to see Hui Wenjun, and asked Lian Heng for advice, suggesting that Wei and Chu should be close. Then, with the cooperation of Wei and Chu, they attacked South Korea's new town and Yiyang, drove the army to Luoyang, held the emperor to make the princes, and finally came back to capture the territory of Wei and Chu, forcing all the princes in the world to take care of Qin in the west and complete the great cause of being king. This strategy is exactly what Hui Wenjun wanted, so he took Zhang Yi as his guest. Zhang Yi repeatedly encouraged the attack on Wei State and returned the captured land to Wei State, forcing Wei State to take Qin as the first and enfeoffment fifteen counties, which posed a great threat to other eastern countries. Zhang Yi was appointed as the state minister of Qin. In the forty-sixth year of King Zhou Xian (323 BC), the Wei Dynasty adopted the strategy of uniting with the Communist Party, prompting Wei, Korea, Zhao, Yan and Zhongshan to recognize each other as kings and jointly resist Qin. But soon, Chu sent troops to attack Wei, and Gongsun Yan's strategy was frustrated. Wei Xiang Hui Shi's activities of uniting Qi and Chu also failed and he was deported. Wei Huiwang was hit by Qi and Chu, so he had to appoint Zhang Yi as Wei Xiang in the forty-seventh year of Zhou Xian (322 BC), hoping to unite the soldiers of Qin and Han Dynasties to attack Qi and Chu. However, Zhang Yi's real intention is to ask Wei to serve Qin first, so that other vassal states can follow suit. Wei Huiwang didn't listen to Zhang Yi's advice. With the support of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao and North Korea, in the second year of Wang Jing (365,438+09), Zhang Yi was expelled and Gongsun Yan was accepted as Wei Xiang. The following year, Gongsun Yan launched five countries, namely Wei, Chu, Yan, Zhao and Han, to attack the State of Qin for the first time, thinking that they were superior to each other and were defeated by the State of Qin.
Since then, Qin has been attacking Sanjin, taking advantage of the mutual attack between Bashu and Sichuan to send troops to occupy the whole territory of Bashu and gain rich rear base areas. In the fifth year of Liang (3 16), he gave the throne to Guo Xiang. My son has been king for three years, and the country is in chaos. General City was captured by Prince Ping, and the people fought back, killing Prince Ping, and the city was covered with tens of thousands of people. Qi Xuanwang took the opportunity to send troops to attack Yan, and captured the whole territory of Yan in more than 50 days. Because the Qi army killed a large number of civilians, the Yan people rebelled and the Qi army was forced to retreat. However, this incident proves that Qi's strength is still quite strong. At the same time, the League of Qi and Chu strengthened the strength of Chyi Chin.
In order to destroy the alliance between Chu and Qi, two years ago (3 13), Zhang Yi sent an envoy to Chu and broke with Qi. When Chu Huaiwang realized that he had been cheated, he sent his troops to attack Qin. Qin Jun defeated the Chu army in Danyang and occupied six hundred Li of Hanzhong. Yi Cheung also persuaded Han, Zhao, Yan and Qin Lian Heng. In the 14th year of Zhou Nanwang (the first 30 years1year), Qi, Han and Wei ruled the State of Chu and killed Tang Mei. In the sixteenth year of Zhou Nanwang (299 BC), Chu Huaiwang was deceived to the State of Qin, detained and finally died in the State of Qin. Since then, Chu has never recovered.
In the eighth year of Zhou Nanwang (the first 307 years), King Wuling of Zhao rode and shot with clothes, changed the traditional armored soldiers into cavalry, and changed the battle of chariots into mobile warfare, which greatly enhanced the military strength of Zhao State and became a new obstacle to the eastward development of Qin State. In order to attack Zhao, Qin Zhao sent Hou Wei to run here, and Ji Min and Qin Zhao proclaimed themselves at the same time, uniting the five countries to attack Zhao. Su Qin, a lobbyist, saw through Qin's plot and advised the king to give up the Emperor's number and launch an alliance to unite the armies of Yan, Han, Wei and Zhao. In the twenty-eighth year (287 years ago), Qin was forced to cede territory and make peace with Wei and Zhao. Since then, Zhao She, Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, the generals of the State of Zhao, have repeatedly crushed the military attacks and diplomatic pressures of the Qin people and defended the dignity and territory of the State of Zhao.
When the Qi army retreated from Yan State, Yan Zhaowang, who succeeded to the throne, tried hard and humbly sought revenge. Qin and Wei are both highly valued. Help carry out political reform, so that Yan can recover and develop quickly. As a spy, Su Qin sent a mission to the State of Qi to persuade Qi Min to attack the Song Dynasty and the State of Chu in order to weaken the power of the State of Qi. It also agreed with Zhao, Wei, Chu and other countries to jointly cut Qi. In the thirty-first year of Zhou Nanwang (284 BC), Yan and Yan, Zhao, Qin, Wei and Chu, who led the troops, jointly attacked Qi until they reached the capital of Qi and seized most of the territory. Although Tian Dan later recovered the lost land, Qi State no longer had the strength to compete with Qin State.
In the thirty-seventh year of Zhou Nanwang (the first 278 years), the Qin generals attacked the capital city of Chu, which opened the prelude to the Qin unification war. The forces that Chu avoided moved the capital to Chen. The patriotic poet Qu Yuan felt the decline of the country and threw himself into the Miluo River. In the forty-fourth year of Zhou Nanwang (27 1 year ago), Fan Ju, a guest star, presented the strategy of "making friends far away and attacking near" to King Qin Zhaowang, that is, forming an alliance with distant countries, concentrating on defeating neighboring countries first, and then gradually annexing other countries. The king accepted the plan and sent troops to attack North Korea in 50 years (the first 265 years), closing the connection between Shangdang County and Xinzheng, the capital of North Korea, and forcing South Korea to dedicate Shangdang to Qin. Shangdang soldiers and civilians asked Zhao for help, and Zhao sent veteran Lian Po to station troops and Changping to support Shangdang. In the fifty-fourth year of Zhou Nanwang (260 BC), General Wang Bi of Qin seized Shangdang and confronted Lian Po Army in Changping. Lian Po reinforced the barriers to defend the attack, breaking the plan of a quick victory. The two sides were deadlocked for four months. Qin used double agents to make Zhao replace Lian Po with Zhao Kuo, a youthful and armchair strategist, as the commander-in-chief of Changping Zhao. Meanwhile, Qin secretly exchanged generals. Zhao Kuo took the initiative as soon as he got to the front. He sent Indiana Jones to divide Zhao and surrounded Zhao Kuo. Zhao Jun was besieged for 46 days, killing people for food, and his morale was in chaos. Zhao Kuo ventured to break through, was killed on the spot, and the whole army was defeated. Buried all the 400,000 soldiers of Zhao alive. The battle of Changping was the decisive battle between Qin and his last strong player in the Central Plains, and it was also the last war in the Warring States period. At this point, the six eastern countries are no longer opponents of Qin.
Before the Battle of Changping, four famous sons of the Warring States appeared in the East, namely Meng Changjun Tian Wen of Qi, Ping Yuanjun Zhao Sheng of Zhao, Wu Wuji of Wei Xinling and Huang Xie of Chun Shen Jun of Chu. They are polite to the virtuous corporal, invite guests, care about state affairs, seek power, and take all kinds of open, secret, bright and despicable means to deal with the invasion of Qin and save the country from extinction. After the Battle of Changping, Qin Jun took advantage of the situation and surrounded Handan, the capital of Zhao. Qin Jun's death aroused the indignation of the people of Zhao and the fear of other countries. In the face of crisis, Chu Chun, Shen Jun and Wei Xin, Ling Jun led the army to attack Zhao, defeated Qin Jun, and Yan Taizi Dan even sent Jing Ke to assassinate Qin Wangzheng. However, the historical trend cannot be reversed, and the six countries failed to get rid of the fate of national subjugation.
During the Warring States period, the Zhou royal family lost its nominal dominance, but it still managed to maintain it in Luoyang. When Luoyi was built in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, * * * built two cities. The square 17 miles west is called Wangcheng, and the smaller one in the east is called Chengzhou. During the Warring States period, due to the power struggle and enfeoffment within the royal family, the Duke of the West Zhou who lived in the imperial city and the Duke of the East Zhou whose capital was Gongyi (now Gongxian County, Henan Province) appeared one after another. The real king of Zhou Xian lived under the rule of the Duke of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. In the fifty-ninth year of Zhou Nanwang (the first 256 years), Qin Jun captured Yangcheng (now southeast of Dengfeng, Henan) and Shu Min (now southwest of Dengfeng) and beheaded 40,000 people. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Cao Jun joined forces with the vassal army to attack Qin in Yi Que (now south of Luoyang, Henan), cutting off the passage between Qin and Yangcheng. King Zhao of Qin sent troops to attack the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the king of the Western Zhou Dynasty had to dedicate all his thirty-six cities to the State of Qin, and the Western Zhou Dynasty perished. In the same year, Zhou Nanwang died, and the Zhou Dynasty, as the country of the son of heaven, ceased to exist. In the first year of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang (249 BC), Lv Buwei, the prime minister of Qin Dynasty, led troops to destroy the Duke of Zhou in the East.
During Qin Zi's filial piety, Shang Yang's political reform passed through Qin Huiwang, Wu Wang and Zhao Haoqi. In 100 years, he established a relatively consolidated centralized rule, attached importance to water conservancy and agricultural production, rewarded military achievements, and the army was well equipped. He also made full use of Ke Qing to plan a battle for Qin. The Vietnam War became more and more powerful among the vassal states, and finally defeated the powerful rivals in the East and became the first power in the world. Emperor Xiaowen of Qin died in the first year (250 years ago), and King Xiang of Qin Zhuang succeeded to the throne, with businessman Lv Buwei as prime minister. In the second year, he led the troops to destroy the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, took Han Zhicheng and Xingyang, and built Sanchuan County. The following year, attack Zhao and Korea, and set up Taiyuan County in Shangdang. Three years ago (247), King Xiang of Zhuang died, and thirteen-year-old Wang Zheng of Qin succeeded to the throne. He was the later Qin Shihuang. In the fifth year of the Qin Dynasty (the first 242 years), Wei was attacked, and 20 cities, such as Zizyphus jujuba, were captured. In the sixth year of Qin's reign (24 1 year ago), the fourth and last military attack on Qin by Chu, Zhao, Wei, Han and other countries was crushed, and Wei Xinling, the most fierce monarch against Qin, was wiped out by double spies. At this point, in the face of Qin, which has a vast territory and is stronger than Mazhuang, the monarchs of the six eastern countries are similar to the chiefs of Qin.
In the ninth year of the King of Qin (the first 238 years), Ying Zheng personally took power and immediately dispatched troops to destroy the old forces of the six countries, which was called Qin's destruction of the six countries. In the seventeenth year (the first 230 years), Korea was destroyed; Twenty-two years (the first 225 years), Wei destroyed; Twenty-four years (first 223 years), Chu was destroyed; Twenty-five years (first 222 years), Yan and Zhao were destroyed; In the twenty-sixth year (the first 22 years1year), the first unified multi-ethnic centralized country in China history was finally established.