Chapter 9 Duke Mu of Qin

Located in the western part of the Central Plains, Qin State is a rather ancient small country. Judging from the ancient oracle bone inscriptions unearthed now, Qin State existed as early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties. The Zhou Dynasty (known as the Western Zhou Dynasty in history) that overthrew the tyranny of the Yin and Shang Dynasties also rose in a country in the West, but the Zhou Dynasty did not pay much attention to the Qin State at the beginning of its establishment. This may be because the big family surnamed Jiang was in charge of the Zhou Dynasty at that time. From a very early time, Qin State and the Jiang family have formed an incompatible relationship.

Although the Zhou Dynasty overthrew Yin Shang and established its own country, it soon declined.There were also constant disputes in the country, and it was attacked by alien soldiers who also came from the west, and soon perished.King Zhou died on the battlefield. Fortunately, the prince survived. The prince led the remnants of the defeated generals to Luoyi, where he re-established the Zhou Dynasty (known as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in history). In order to consolidate the newly established regime, the Qin State sent troops to help Zhou Dynasty.With such a credit, the monarch of Qin finally became a member of the big family of Zhou Dynasty.After understanding such a period of history, it seems difficult for us to imagine that such a small country finally gave birth to the first emperor Qin Shihuang in Chinese history, and Qin was also the first to unify China.

Duke Mu of Qin was the ninth monarch of the state of Qin after entering the Zhou Dynasty. On the surface, it should have been a long time from the first monarch to him. In fact, this is not the case. Duke Mu of Qin ascended the throne in 659 BC (actually The year of the year will be pushed forward by one year, but it is generally recorded as the first year from the second year), and the first Qin monarch who was first accepted into the Zhou Dynasty ascended the throne in 770 BC Years, only a short one hundred and eleven years.It can be seen from this that during the reign of the monarch of Qin State, many died of battles and illnesses. After exploring the reasons, the surroundings of Qin State are basically strong and warlike peoples, and there are constant wars every year. is one of the reasons.

By the way, the king of Qin has a completely different habit from other vassal states in terms of inheritance rights. It stands to reason that in ancient China, no matter what kind of title, the son inherited the father's title, but the king of Qin practiced But it is a method passed down from brother to brother. Take Qin Mugong as an example, he is only the youngest of Qin Degong's three sons. Although his eldest brother Qin Xuangong had nine sons, he passed the throne to his second brother Qin Chenggong. Although Qin Chenggong also had seven sons, after his death He also passed on the throne to his younger brother Qin Mugong.

What is even more puzzling is that in such a small country, its successive monarchs have the ambition to rule the world, and the ancestral precepts passed down from generation to generation are to rule the world.From the perspective of people at that time, it was a dream come true for a Western barbarian country to achieve the goal of unifying the world.But such a dream has been carried on all the time, including Qin Mugong, the extravagant hope of dominating the world has flowed in his blood since childhood. As soon as he ascended the throne, he began to pursue his dream and frequently used force to expand his territory outward. Unfortunately, the neighboring Jin State quickly became stronger. This situation directly prevented Qin Mugong's plan to unify the world. However, it also reminded Qin Mugong that it is impossible to expand one's own territory in a short period of time by force alone, and sometimes diplomatic means must be used.

Qin Mugong took action, and the opportunity was at hand. Due to the dispute over the inheritance rights, the country of Jin was in chaos. In order to escape the war, Jin’s son Yiwu came to Qin to seek asylum. Qin Mugong seized this opportunity and tried his best to help Yiwu He returned to the state of Jin and sat on the throne of the monarch.According to Mu Gong's idea, he helped Yiwu ascend the throne of the monarch, and then let him be a puppet monarch, and he controlled it behind the scenes.This will inevitably plunge the Jin State into chaos again, and then lead troops into Jin on the grounds of helping the Jin State suppress the rebellion. Isn't the land of the Jin State at your fingertips?But the development of things was not as Qin Mugong thought. After receiving the help of Qin State, Yiwu did successfully return to Jin State and ascended the throne of the monarch, but he regained the prosperity and wealth of Yiwu, and soon He forgot the kindness of Duke Mu, and announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qin.

In a hurry, Qin Mugong, who was furious, immediately led his troops to attack Jin. He became a prisoner of the Jin army.At this moment, an army of more than 300 people came from nowhere. They were all brave and invincible. They protected Qin Mugong and retreated while fighting. In turn, Yiwu was caught. Only then did Qin Mugong, who was still in shock, understand the origin of the three hundred strange soldiers. It turned out that once when Qin Mugong was out in a carriage, the carriage broke and a horse pulling the cart ran away. You must know that Qin Mugong has a hobby of loving famous horses. There was a horse breeder named Bole. Since the lost horse was a famous horse, Duke Mu led his men to look for it.Finally, at the southern foot of Qishan Mountain, he saw a large group of people sitting around and eating horse meat.

Isn't that my horse? Qin Mugong immediately understood that his horse was killed and cooked by these people. Mugong suppressed his anger and said calmly to them: Eating only horse meat without drinking good wine is harmful to your health! After speaking, he took out his own wine and handed it over.The group of horse eaters found out later that they had both eaten Mu Gong's beloved horse and drank his good wine. That is to say, from then on, Duke Mu understood the status of benevolence and virtue in people's hearts. Although it is possible to conquer other countries by force, it is difficult to obtain the land of the whole world; Afraid of losing the world?After understanding this truth, Qin Mugong reused Bailixi, a sage who was originally a slave. Relying on Bailixi's benevolence, the surrounding aliens gradually surrendered to Qin State, and they all became the subjects of Qin State. Of course, the land of the Qin State is also included in the territory of the Qin State, and often a clan can bring thousands of miles of land to the Qin State.Duke Mu of Qin said with a smile:

You can win a thousand miles by promoting one person. In the end, Qin Mugong relied on his benevolence to make Qin State a powerful vassal state in the Zhou Dynasty. He reigned for thirty-nine years and died in the thirty-first year of King Xiang of Zhou (621 BC). . ︱ ︱ ︱ Note: A brief history of Qin In the pre-Qin Dynasty, the surname Ying was a vassal state, and it was one of the Five Hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period.Qin is a branch of the ancient tribe with the surname Ying, who enshrines Shaohao.Da Fei, the ancestor of the surname Ying, is said to be born as a female swallowing the eggs of a black bird, and Zuo Yu controlled the water.At the end of the Shang Dynasty, a branch named Zhongju among the Ying surnames lived in the land of Xirong. His son Feilian and Sun Elai were both kings of the Shang Dynasty.In the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Daluo, a descendant of Zhongju, lived in Xigouqiu (now southwest of Tianshui, Gansu, northeast of Lixian County), and had sons Cheng and Feizi.Become the first son, inherit Daluo, and live in Xiquanqiu.Feizi was honored to raise horses for King Xiao of Zhou, and was conferred by King Xiao in the Qin Dynasty (at the intersection of Sishui and Weishui) (one said it was in Qingshui area of ​​Gansu Province today, and the other said it was in Baoji County of Shaanxi Province). One branch took Qin as its surname.During the reign of King Li of Zhou, Xirong attacked and destroyed the Daluo family in Xiquanqiu.King Xuan of Zhou ascended the throne, and took Fei's great-grandson Qin Zhong as his doctor. He defeated the army and died in the army.Qin Zhongzi Qin Zhuanggong broke Xirong and took back Xiquanqiu to live there. Zhuang Gongzi Xianggong escorted King Ping of Zhou to move eastward, and was named a prince by King Ping. Qin Liguo began here.At that time, the capital of Qin State was in Xiquanqiu, and Duke Xiang was the first monarch.

Qin's territory was initially mainly in the southeast of Gansu and the Weishui River in the west of Shaanxi. Later, it gradually annexed and annihilated the Xirong tribes in Shaanxi and Gansu. Attack Chu; beyond the present Hanzhong area of ​​Shaanxi, enter Bashu, and attack Chu from Bashu. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, after the Zhou people withdrew from the territory of present-day Shaanxi, Qin devoted himself to conquering the army in the east and regaining the old land of Zhou.In 762 BC, Duke Wen of Qin regained Siwei and moved the capital to Qin.In 753 BC, there were historical records in the early Qin Dynasty.In 750 BC, Duke Wen of Qin expanded his territory to Qi (now Fufeng and Qishan, Shaanxi) and took over the remaining people of Zhou.In 677 BC, Qin Degong moved his capital to Yong (now southeast of Fengxiang, Shaanxi).

In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, Qin continued to expand eastward.Qin Mugong took advantage of the Liji Rebellion in Jin State to seize the land of Hexi in Jin State.But Jin Wengong came to the throne, and Jin gradually recovered.In 627 BC, the Jin army defeated the Qin army in Yuhuo, curbing Qin's eastward advance.Qin Sui used Yu Zhi's plan to conquer Rong, benefited the country twelve, opened up thousands of miles, and dominated Xirong.After Duke Mu, Qin and Jin competed for the land of Hexi for a long time. Qin won less and lost more, and was gradually at a disadvantage.During the reign of Duke Ai of Qin, the Duke of Jin declined and the Six Ministers became stronger, and the rivalry between the two countries eased for the time being. In the early days of the Warring States period, Qin was in the midst of civil strife for a long time due to the fierce struggle for power among the princes in the country. Wei took the opportunity to seize Qin's Hexi land and forced Qin to retreat to the west of Luoshui.In this case, Qin's internal contradictions eased and a series of reforms were carried out.In 409 B.C., the Duke of Qin Jian ordered officials to carry swords for the first time.The following year, I rented Wo for the first time. In the middle of the Warring States period, Qin Xiangong moved his capital to Liyang (now the north bank of the Weishui River in the north of Lintong, Shaanxi).In 384 B.C., Duke Xian ordered him to stop his death.In 378 BC, the early Qin Dynasty acted as a market.In 375 BC, Qin was the household registration minister.In 364 BC, Qin defeated the Wei army at Shimen.Qin Xiaogong ascended the throne and ordered to seek talents, and Shang Yang entered Qin from Wei.In 356 BC, Qin Xiaogong appointed Shang Yang to reform the law, implemented the law of five consecutive seats and the household division system, and established a 20th-class nobility system that awarded titles according to military merits, rewarded farming and weaving, and exempted those who produced a lot from corvee.As a result, Qin became stronger, defeated Wei successively, and moved its capital to Xianyang (now northeast of Xianyang, Shaanxi) in 350 BC. The small town was divided into 31 counties (one said 40 counties), and the fields were opened.In 348 BC, Duke Xiao of Qin died, Lord Hui Wen came to the throne, and executed Shang Yang.However, Qin's reform was not abolished, and the national power continued to increase.In 324 BC, King Hui Wen was called Wang Gaiyuan.Before and after breaking through the continuous horizontal attacks of the six eastern countries, without Ba and Shu, the territory was able to expand rapidly. In the late Warring States period, Qin further expanded eastward, continuously taking land from Han, Wei and Chu.In 288 B.C., Qi and Qin jointly proclaimed the Eastern and Western Emperors, but both gave up the title of Emperor.The next year, Su Qin, Li Mian and Zhao, Qi, Chu, Wei, and South Korea allied forces to attack Qin and stop at Chenggao. Qin returned some of Zhao and Wei's lost land for peace, and the eastward attempt was temporarily frustrated.However, conflicts among the six kingdoms continued, and both Qi and Yan fell into a slump. Qin took the opportunity to continue to expand eastward, and defeated the powerful enemy Zhao in Changping in 260 BC.The Eastern Zhou Dynasty was destroyed in 249 BC.In 247 B.C., Lord Wei Xinling joined forces with five kingdoms to attack Qin and defeated Qin in Hewai.In 241 BC, Zhao Pangnuan led the armies of Zhao, Chu, Wei, Yan, and Han to attack Qin, but it did not reverse the trend of Qin's prosperity and the decline of the six countries.Qin conquered Han in 230 BC.In 228 BC, Qin defeated Zhao and captured Zhao Wangqian. The son of Zhao, Jia Bendai, established himself as Daiwang.In 226 BC, Qin defeated Yan and pulled out thistles, and the king of Yan moved his capital to Liaodong.Qin destroyed Wei in 225 BC.Qin destroyed Chu in 223 BC.In 222 BC, Qin destroyed Yan and Dai.In 221 BC, Qin destroyed Qi and finally unified the world.All the countries were annexed, so Qin Wang Yingzheng proclaimed himself the first emperor.