Chapter 2 First

Zheng Wugong The Spring and Autumn Period in Chinese history began in 770 BC. From this year, ancient Chinese society entered a war-torn era that lasted for three hundred years. This era is also known as the era of feudal hegemony. Orthodoxly, the emperor at that time was the heir of the Zhou Dynasty. However, because the Zhou Dynasty had entered a period of decline at that time, the emperor had completely lost his prestige and was coerced by various princes. Those who are capable can obtain their own fiefs from the king of Zhou and dominate one side.On the whole, this is an era of disputes between princes.

When history entered the Spring and Autumn Period, Zheng Wugong ascended the throne and became the monarch of the vassal state Zheng, but what is surprising is that when he ascended the throne, there was not even a place to stand.However, under Zheng Wugong's unremitting efforts, what he left to his descendants when he died was a vast and fertile Zheng State. It can be said that what Zheng Wugong accomplished is relatively rare even in Chinese history. Looking back, the reason why Zheng Wugong had the idea of ​​​​founding the country was due to the collapse of the Zhou Dynasty (Western Zhou Dynasty). To put it more extreme, it was caused by a beautiful woman who led to the demise of the Zhou Dynasty.This beautiful woman is Baosi who is called Princess Buxiao by later generations.In order to win a smile from the beauty, King Zhou You tried his best to please Bao Si, and finally he deliberately lit a beacon fire (due to the inconvenient transportation and communication in ancient times, the capital and various cities relied on beacon fires to convey the news of the enemy's invasion.) to please Baosi. When the princes from all walks of life hurriedly led their troops to the imperial city to rescue him, they realized that this was just a joke made by the emperor.And Bao Si saw the panicked looks of all the princes, and really laughed. Although this kind of joke is wasteful and costly, King Zhou You thought it was worthwhile to win a smile from a beautiful woman, so after that, he lit the beacon fire several times in a row To win the favor of the beauty, the princes were bored after several visits, and they stopped going when they saw the beacon fire in the capital.In the end, when the real foreign enemy came and King Zhou You hurriedly lit the beacon and waited for the princes to come to rescue him, he realized what a stupid mistake he had made in teasing his subordinates.Because no one came to rescue him, the Zhou Dynasty perished.

Of course, the above is just a folk legend. The facts are not that simple. The demise of the Zhou Dynasty can be said to be the result of the combined effect of internal and external troubles. The competition for the succession of the throne among Si's son Bo Fu became increasingly fierce, and the Zhou Dynasty at that time had come to an end. Not long after, the once magnificent dynasty perished. At that time, it was Zheng Huangong, the minister of the Western Zhou Dynasty, who was the father of Zheng Wugong, who first predicted the imminent demise of the Zhou Dynasty.At that time, Zheng State was just a small vassal state in the Zhou Dynasty, located in the Wei River Basin 120 kilometers east of the king's capital Zongzhou (west of today's Xi'an City).The far-sighted Duke Huan of Zheng thought that once the Zhou Dynasty collapsed, the state of Zheng would be affected, and the lives and property of the people would be in great danger. But where should he move his people and property?Duke Huan of Zheng decided to discuss with Tai Shibo, a knowledgeable historian. After careful consideration, Tai Shibo analyzed the situation in the Central Plains for Duke Huan Zheng at that time, and suggested to Duke Huan Zheng:

The best place to be safe is between Jishui, Luoshui, Heshui (Yellow River) and Yingshui! At that time, there were a total of ten vassal states in the plain area between Jishui, Luoshui, Heshui (Yellow River), and Yingshui River. Among them, Guo State and Qi State were the most powerful. He entrusted his family members and properties to these two countries, and dispersed his people among the other eight small countries. After the Zhou Dynasty collapsed, the Guo State and the Qi State would definitely take the opportunity to take the property of the Zheng State as their own. At that time, Zheng Guo can lead the people of Cheng Zhou (Luoyang City), the vice capital of the Zhou Dynasty, to attack Guo Guo and Qi Guo. own.After hearing Tai Shibo's detailed analysis, Duke Huan of Zheng suddenly felt enlightened, and immediately called his son Duke Wu of Zheng to his face:

Do as Tai Shibo says!I am too old to start a career in Chengzhou, but you are different, you must establish your own country in the Four Rivers Basin! In this way, Duke Huan of Zheng stayed in the State of Zheng, while Duke Wu of Zheng led most of the people of the State of Zheng to Chengzhou.As expected, one day outside the king's city, a beacon of foreign enemies was ignited, but because the princes believed that it was King Zhou You who lit it to please the beauty, so except for Zheng Huangong who led a very small number of soldiers to rescue him, no princes came forward. Come.Although Duke Huan of Zheng desperately wanted to rescue King You, he was weak after all, and they were all old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers.On the way to protect King You and retreat eastward, they were flanked by foreign tribes and the army of Queen Shen's father, Marquis Shen. Zheng Huan fought hard against the enemy and finally died on the battlefield.

After learning the news of his father's death, Duke Wu of Zheng did not panic. Although according to the practice at that time, he inherited his father's throne and became the king of Zheng, he boldly went alone to the residence of his father's enemy, Shenhou, and Swear allegiance to Shenhou's grandson Yijiu, and act as his vanguard, welcome Yijiu back to Cheng Zhou, let him ascend the throne, and revive the Western Zhou Dynasty. Yijiu is also the Zhou Ping King in history. At that time, although Zheng Wugong was the monarch of Zheng State in name, in fact he was a monarch with neither land nor people. Restoring the country made great contributions, so he gradually gained the trust of King Ping of Zhou. Finally, King Ping agreed with him to lead his troops to attack Guo and Qi. Soon Zheng Wugong defeated the two countries and regained his own property.Intimidated by Duke Wu's force, the other eight countries in the Four Rivers Basin surrendered to Duke Wu one after another. In a short period of time, Duke Wu ordered the Four Rivers Basin. around the monarch.

This will be the new royal city of our country The place Zheng Wugong refers to is now Xinzheng, which was regarded as the center of the Central Plains in history.Due to Zheng Wugong's outstanding talents, the four river basins that were originally divided up by ten countries became the territory of Zheng State.Zheng Wugong is not only a fierce general on the battlefield, but also has unique insights in governing the country. In order to dispel the suspicion of Shen Hou, who was very powerful at the time, he married Shen Hou's daughter as his wife.In the twenty-seventh year of King Ping of Zhou (744 BC), Duke Wu of Zheng died of illness.Twenty-seven years in office.