Talking about Qin State’s strength many people will think of Shang Yang’s reforms . After the Later Qin State defeated the six eastern countries through the six generations, and Qin Shihuang unified the world and established Qin Dynasty . TV series filmed around the Great Qin Empire made people excited.
However, there is another emperor's contribution in the history of Qin State. He made the weak Qin State rise in the western frontier through a reform and became one of the overlords of the Spring and Autumn Period.
This person is Qin Mugong . His reforms with Baili Xi are also called Qin Mugong Reform. So what innovations did Duke Mu make? It can allow Qin to expand its territory for thousands of miles and dominate the western border.
1. The background of Qin Mugong's reform
Qin Mugong was the ninth monarch of Qin. During his reign, he was ambitious to achieve great things. Unfortunately, the six Eastern countries have always regarded Qin as barbarians, so he always wanted to make Qin stronger.
How powerful Jin State has been on the road to Qin State going east. Jin State has been adopting the "weak Qin" strategy, making it difficult for Qin State to develop, and even more difficult to become king among the vassal states of the Central Plains.
Qin also had many problems in its domestic situation. The rules and regulations of the old vassal states have always restricted the development of the country. The enthusiasm of the court and the people is very low. Therefore, Qin Mu Gong believed that if Qin wanted to be strong, he must carry out drastic reforms.
In 655 BC, Qin Mugong unexpectedly got Youyu who fled to Xirong , and Baili Xi, who was traded as a commodity in the street market. With the support of these two great talents, Qin began a reform that lasted for many years.
2. The content and influence of Mu Gong’s reform
1. The first time the guest official system was created
0 The official selection system in the pre-Qin period was the "Shiqin nobles and tribe system". The wealthy and nobles had serious constraints on the development of the country. They ceded land and developed their own power, which was very unfavorable to the rule of the king and the stability of society. How to solve this problem has become an urgent matter. At that time, Duke Mu of Qin was influenced by "get the essence and forget the roughness, and forget the outside in it" (reducing talents without any restrictions), and actively and boldly selected talents from abroad for his own use.
This system has an official name called "Gui Jun". The "Gui Jun" system has been highly valued since Duke Mu of Qin to the Qin Shihuang period, providing a steady stream of talents for the development and strength of Qin.
Baili Xi and in the period of Duke Mu of Qin and are all from Yu , in the period of Duke Xiao of Qin and in the period of Duke Xiao of Qin and Shang Yang , in the period of King Huiwen Zhang Yi , in the period of King Zhao of Qin and in the period of Duke Shihuang Li Si , etc. are all from Qin, but they have made significant contributions to the development of Qin.
2. The establishment of new types of troops
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the armies of various vassal states mostly relied on "chariots". Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin dominated the Central Plains because of the large number of chariots, and infantry and chariots complement each other and played a good role.
However, although Qin State is located in the western frontier, there are very few iron ore in the ruling area, and it is difficult to support the consumption of huge chariots. At the same time, the Qinchuan is mountainous, and the mobility of the cavalry has greater advantages.
Under this circumstance, Duke Mu of Qin gave up the chariots and military service in the Central Plains and established a Qin army dominated by cavalry. He also continuously introduced excellent horse breeds from the Western Rong land, learned the Western Rong people's ability to shoot, and built a pioneering cavalry unit.
cavalry is flexible compared to combat vehicles and has a strong impact power compared to infantry phalanxes. It can completely cross the chariot troops and rush to the cavalry, allowing the later Qin Mugong to become the overlord of the Western Rong and expand the territory for thousands of miles.
3. Flexible foreign policy
How to describe the foreign policy of Duke Mu of Qin? The four fonts of "taking advantage of the situation" are fully reflected!
Duke Mu of Qin has always had the idea of dominating the Central Plains. In order to develop eastward, he continues to marry Jin State. This is the source of "the good things of Qin and Jin".However, Duke Wen of Jin has always advocated "weak Qin", which made it difficult to implement the idea of Duke Mu of Qin's expansion eastward.
As time goes by, the alliance between the two countries broke down. When Duke Wen of Jin passed away, Duke Mu was ready to attack but suffered a crushing defeat. Only then did he realize that Qin's foreign policy had obvious drawbacks.
Later, Duke Mu of Qin listened to Yu Yu's suggestion to give up the idea of advancing eastward to dominate the Central Plains, and turned his troops directly to the Western Rong land west of Hangu Pass. Although the Rong people owned vast land, their population and military power were very weak.
The grassland area west of Hangu Pass is also very suitable for the Qin cavalry. After deciding to develop westward, Duke Mu vigorously prepared for the western expedition. He personally took charge of the Rong tribes in the west, which not only solved the crisis in the western Qin State, but also annexed the twenty Western Rong countries.
3. The influence and significance of the reform of Qin Mugong
There are multiple versions of who was the Five Hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period. One of them includes Qin Mugong. But in fact, the area where Qin dominated the Central Plains at that time was not the Central Plains, but for the Xirong region.
As the only monarchical country west of Hangu Pass, Qin had a natural suppression of the split nomadic peoples. After the reform, Duke Mu further intensified the gap between the development of the Western Rong and Qin, and Duke Mu also became one of the powerful kings in the history of Qin.
Of course, the influence of the Mu Gong reform was not limited to the present, but also played a positive role in the Qin State in later generations. The guest official system set a precedent for talent selection, and recruiting talents in an irregular manner provided talent support for the continuation and strength of Qin.
Many people think that Zhao Wuling King 's Hu clothing cavalry shooting is the node where cavalry appears. In fact, Qin Mu Gong is the pioneer of the cavalry unit. It is precisely because of the huge advantages of cavalry combat that Qin can dominate the Western Rong.
Warring States mid- and late stages, facing Zhao State border army cavalry Qi, Chu, Yan, Wei, Han and other countries were all at a disadvantage, but the cavalry of Qin State had already developed to mature, so that they had the strength and foundation to unify the world.
Compared with the above two points, it was a major choice for Duke Mu of Qin to turn the end of Qin's development from "east out" to "expanding west". The land of the Western Rong thousands of miles became the horse farm and food source for Qin's country, laying the foundation for becoming stronger in the later period.
In the history of Qin, many people believe that Qin Xiaogong was the king of "turning nature". In fact, from a certain perspective, Qin Mugong's role was not inferior to him at all. If he had not spread the land for thousands of miles, he would not have been as powerful as he would have been.
In 624 BC, the territory of Qin State reached Qinling , west to Didao, north to Quyanrong, east to Yellow River . Zhou Xiangwang sent envoys to give twelve sides Jingu , officially recognizing the overlord status of Qin Mugong in the western frontier, and Qin State also transformed from a vassal to an existence comparable to the Central Plains.
Unfortunately, the reform of Duke Mu did not last long. After his death, Qin State fell into war and it was not until the Qin Xiaogong period that it ushered in the next turning point.
References: "Records of the Grand Historian", "The Strategies of the Warring States"
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