This is like, the knowledge you go to school is accumulated over the course of one class and one academic year, but the degree certificate and graduation certificate are not issued to you until you graduate. The decline of
Zhou did not happen overnight, but went through a long process and several stages. Even after moving the capital, Zhou Tianzi still had the power to deter princes.
Zhou Ping Wang’s move to the capital is only a superficial phenomenon, behind which is the sharp decline of military and economic strength. This is the reason why the Zhou royal family’s inability to deter the princes and then be beaten by them.
1. The Western Zhou Dynasty Decline Trilogy
During the two generations of King Wu and Chengwang founded by the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty completed its political construction of royal power and enfeoffment.
was in the center. The Zhou Dynasty had the land of Fenghao and Luoyi as the east and west weeks, with a large population and developed agriculture; there were also the Saturday Division and the Eighth Division of Chengzhou as the dynasty's military support. These two provide a guarantee for the supreme authority of the emperor.
On the enemy side, the Zhou dynasty entrusted more than 140 vassals, spreading all over the land of Hedong, Shandong, Jianghan, and even Wuyue except for the second week of Wangji. They ruled the barbarians outside and arched the royal family inside, making the Zhou dynasty the co-lord of the world. . Based on this, Zhou Gong created the "Zhou Li", which is a complete set of codes of conduct that established the system guarantee for the Zhou Dynasty. Facts have proved that this set of Zhou rituals is very useful. It established the fact that Zhou Tianzi was the co-master of the world and provided a huge price for the princes to violate this agreement.
and the decline of the Zhou royal family, roughly experienced three times in the Western Zhou Dynasty. After
went through Wenwu Chengkang, the surrounding barbarous intrusion has already annoyed the Zhou royal family. King Zhou Zhao decided to personally conquer Jingchu in the south, and such personal conquests occurred about three times.
In various materials, the third battle is very obscure, but the fact is that King Zhou Zhao died in this battle and the Sixth Division of the Son of Heaven no longer exists. Without the deterrence of military power, the princes have begun to refuse.
The second great decline of the Zhou royal family was from Zhou Yi to Zhou Li. At the time of King Zhou Yi, the princes were already dissatisfied, and the method of killing Qi Ai Gong by cooking by the Yi king was barely surrendered by the princes.
Li Wangshi, the son of King Zhou Yi, initiated economic reforms in spite of popular opposition, which shows that Zhou's economy has collapsed. However, Wang Li's reform was strongly opposed, so that Wang Zhou Li himself was exiled. Since then, the authority of the Zhou royal family has been greatly reduced.
The third time for the Zhou royal family occurred in the late Zhou Xuan period. Although King Zhou Xuan regained the imperial family for a short time, it has been accumulated and hard to return. The failure of the Southern Expedition once again destroyed the achievements of ZTE.
In order to save the decline, King Xuan "feeds the people in Taiyuan", but was opposed by the minister in power, and King Zhou Xuan died with hatred. At the time of King Zhou You, the decline of the Zhou royal family was an irretrievable fact.
Second, King Ping rebuilt the Zhou royal family
The declining Zhou royal family only left an empty shelf, which was difficult to deter the princes, but the surrounding barbarians who were conquered by Zhou ushered in a big outbreak again after years of rest and rest.
The fuse of all this is Shen Hou Yin's invasion. King Zhou You, the queen Bao Si, and his aunt died, and the Dangshe clan, Lishan clan and other tribes slowly eroded the Qifeng land centered on Gaojing, and Zhou Tianzi’s military power had been wiped out.
The newly enthroned Zhou Ping Wang Ji Yijiu did not regain the military power of Zhou Wang Ji, and was able to reach the former Dongwang Ji-Luoyi area under the escort of Qin Zheng Jinwei and other vassals.
King Zhou Ping rewarded the escorted Jinzheng and Weiguo in Luoyi, and promoted Qin to a vassal, promising them to legally occupy the land of the former Zhouwangji.
In other words, King Zhou Ping is equivalent to rebuilding the Zhou royal family in Luoyi area. The two bases of Qifeng and Chengzhou originally owned by the Zhou royal family, now there is only one Chengzhou left. The Qifeng land has been occupied by Xirong, and even if it is taken back, it has been given to Qin. .
Now with Zhou Tianzi, there is no direct line of troops, but the direct line of territory is reduced by half. This is the first reason why Ping Wangdong adapts to force to deter princes.
At the beginning, the Zhou royal family run by King Zhou Cheng and Zhou Gong, centered on Haojing and Luoyi, built Qifeng and Chengzhou respectively. Luoyi was originally equivalent to the companion capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty and had huge potential.
Now the Wangji area has been devastated, but the Chengzhou area has not been invaded by barbarians. Therefore, if the Zhou royal family can save moneyPower can still revive the royal family and rejuvenate the Zhou family.
3. The fallen crown
However, history has not given the Zhou royal family such a chance.
When Zhou Ping Wang moved east, Zhou Wang suffered frequent internal and external troubles.
First, Zhou took the king to split the royal family, and the king of Ping was unable to eradicate it; above the court, the two generations of Zheng Wugong and Zhuanggong were like a blood-sucking worm lying on the royal family;
externally, the barbarian power was growing, and the land of Qifeng was recovered. Qi is far away and hopeless, even the Zhou royal family is unable to protect the original people of Zhou Wangji, leaving many Zhou people to stay out.
The little bit of national strength accumulated by King Ping and King Huan, under the provocation of Zheng Guo, was exhausted in the battle of Xiangge.
From then on, the Zhou royal family declined day by day, and its people declined day by day, and its military and economic strength was even inferior to that of a middle-ranked state.
The Zhou royal family without military deterrence, nor the strength to receive tribute from the princes, is increasingly embarrassed in economic strength. Under the system of enfeoffment, it has to divide the meritorious princes with land, and is even more unable to support more troops.
thus formed a vicious circle, resulting in the Zhou royal family no longer having a chance to rise and decline further, and can only be beaten by the princes without the strength to resist.
In other words, the eastward move of King Ping is just a superficial and a last resort, and the truth behind it is the decline of the Zhou royal family's strength.
The power of the Zhou royal family was weakened and defeated by the dog Rong. King Zhou Ping had to move east to Luoyi.
text/子彧
