The tributary system, also known as the 'suzerain-vassal system', was an expression of local subordination to central rule and vassal subordination to the suzerainty. It is often referred to as one of the world's major international relations models, along with the treaty system and the colonial system

"Yu Gong? It is recorded in Shu:

"The tribute, from below, is called the valley that comes out, the foreign objects born in the land of the city, and the sacrifice of all its own, which is called tribute."

Local or vassal states, for the purpose of obedience or alliance, in this way give their wealth to the suzerain, or in the form of gifts to the suzerain's monarch, in exchange for their own right to exist, or the security of the country.

During the period of Zhou Tianzi, through the continuous division of feudal princes, a hierarchical network political order system was formed with Zhou Tianzi of the Central Plains as the main core.

The proposal of "the whole world is not the king's land" clarified Zhou Tianzi's status as the 'co-lord of the world'.

Zhou Tianzi continued to divide the princes, and the princes divided the princes, and then the commoners, and then the slaves. After a series of separations, the lower class of laborers had to give the fruits of their labor to the upper level of rulers free of charge.

After the Zhou Dynasty won the world, most of the people who divided the feuds were their own cronies, or the thugs who worked hard for themselves at the beginning, of course, people called them meritorious generals. Out of their own status, including the constraints of the etiquette system, these people had to give their favorite specialties and treasures to Zhou Tianzi.

Of course, all this was many years ago, from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, Zhou Tianzi had lost, the strength to lead the world, the princes of various countries competed to launch wars for hegemony, annexation wars, and the political pattern of the entire country has undergone earth-shaking changes.

The reason why Zhou Tianzi's territory has not been annexed for a long time is only because no one is willing to tear off this fig leaf, which makes humanity the most greedy. The violent side continues to be wrapped in the cloak of liturgical civilization.

Today, someone suddenly came to pay tribute, and there were so many carriages and horses, it can be seen that there are a lot of gifts in number, and naturally they are not ordinary valuable, since people are here to pay tribute, these things are naturally ours, and there is no need to use force to intimidate, or beg for nothing.

"Old man, aren't you holding on tightly, what are you doing slowly." The young officer who led the way behind him urged impatiently, and the duck's voice coupled with this sharp speech had a demonic penetrating power.

It's not that the old soldiers don't want to leave quickly, it's just that since people are here to pay tribute, this minimum etiquette still needs to be there. As the messenger of the Son of Heaven, even if he is hungry and can't walk, the number of courtesies he should have is not less. If it is like a person who asks for food called Hanako, when he sees someone else's reward, he rushes forward desperately, where is the majesty of the Son of Heaven? Where is the face of the Son of Heaven?

Step by step, the old soldiers, recalling their youth, every spring and autumn, the princes pay tribute to the carriages and horses in an endless stream, Zhou Tianzi's palace, the bell rings and eats, the chime, the chime, the drum, the ser, the sheng, the pan flute played the notes, the melody stays in the mind for a long time.

I saw the majesty of the Son of Heaven and the humility of the princes. Now all this has disappeared like a yellow crane, and there is no return. Today's sudden tribute seems to bring itself back to the glory days of the past. Tears oozed from the corners of his eyes unconsciously.

A curse in the duck's throat brought him back to reality.

The old soldier lifted his shirt, covered his face, quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes with his hands, slowly came to the front of the convoy, bowed, Qu Ling hurriedly returned the salute, only to hear the old soldier speak:

"The messenger came from afar, and he worked hard all the way! I don't know if it's ordered by the princes, or is it a private trust? ”

Qu Ling hurriedly stepped forward and said:

"Angel hard work, my master, I heard that the Son of Heaven is not a minister, so I specially ordered us to give these dozens of truckloads of grain and salt for the use of front-line soldiers."

If you just look at these few words, you can't see at all that the little girl who is flying and domineering is like a concubine who is old in court tricks, and her words are decent and very measured.

When the old sergeant heard this, he hurriedly said:

"The Son of Heaven is in trouble, the world is angry, I don't know what your family name is? I'm so good for tomorrow."

When Qu Ling heard this, he still didn't report his home, so as not to cause unnecessary incidents, and when he heard someone say this, he made up his mind to prevaricate and forget about it.

"Before leaving, my master commanded, 'The Lord is grieved and dishonored. The lord humiliated the ministers and died' and today the son is in trouble, he can't hold the halberd above the royal court, he is already ashamed of the Son of Heaven, and he is ashamed of his ancestors, how dare he spread his humble surname to the ears of the Son of Heaven. With a few words, Qu Ling prevaricated the old sergeant.

The old sergeant bowed his head in acquiescence, thinking to himself, 'It's already quite good to have someone come to deliver something this year, what's the need, know where people are coming from, since people don't want to say it, naturally there are people's troubles, why do you have to ask.' ’

"Old man, what are you ****** doing, quite a corpse? Didn't it give you a look at the goods? The duck cursed impatiently in his throat behind him.

"Hey! The state of the Son of Heaven, the first good district, the etiquette collapses, and the people's hearts are not ancient! The old man sighed, and the tears that had been wiped out from the corners of his eyes couldn't stop flowing out again.

Tears are like beads with broken threads, crackling and falling on the loess on the ground, this road that has carried countless princes' tribute carriages and horses in the past, the loess in autumn, after a year of wind and sun and some fatigue and thirst, a drop of old tears sprinkled on the ground, and in a blink of an eye, the loess blown by the west wind covered.

The glory of the past will never come back, and the young people who were originally pinned on high hopes are not

I don't want to forge ahead, but today's virtue, I actually insulted my elders in front of foreign envoys, and I didn't know how to respect the elderly.

Qu Ling saw it in his eyes, and his heart was also full of mixed feelings, thinking of his homeland and his mother, he couldn't help but have different feelings for the old man, and felt the need to try to punish the male duck's throat.

Qu Ling glanced at Meng Shuo, Meng said that although he was a rough person, but he was a very filial person, think about his father who had been negligent for many years, if he was alive, he should be at this age, and then think about his mother, who was brutally killed, today I saw the male duck with such a voice that I don't know how to respect the old man, I was already angry, and I wanted to teach a lesson, but because of the etiquette, I couldn't do it for a long time, and now it's okay, Qu Ling's look makes him like a treasure.

Walked to the front of the male duck's throat, picked up his palm like a dustpan, raised it high, and grabbed the neck of the male duck's throat with one hand, and the male duck's throat did not understand what was going on

, this slap with the sound of the wind, whistling. Whoop, leaving two bloody fingerprints on his face.

Everyone was puzzled, usually slaps on the face, aren't they all five fingers? How are there two today, hey! This still needs to be asked, just because the palm of this Meng Shuo is too big, and the little face of the male duck's throat is not enough to slap it.

Let's go! Let's go! This palm is like a dustpan, and the palm of the palm carries the wind, hitting the face of the male duck's throat, and the male duck's throat is beaten to the point that the ghost cries and howls wolf, and he cries bitterly. The other soldiers looked at it, this Meng said that he was as brave as the god of war and the god of water, and he was as tall as the god of water, besides, this male duck should also be beaten, relying on his noble status, he never put these people in his eyes, and he was beaten today, and no one was willing to take a hand.

People are like this, 'the wise and the foolish are in the heart, not the noble and the low; Faith and deception are in sex, not in intimacy'. Even if you are a nobleman, you are not necessarily much better than those children born in the streets, and your ability is constantly learned and trained by yourself, not innate.

On weekdays, he doesn't know etiquette, and when it's critical, he can't even get a word of comfort from others.

Those young soldiers thought to themselves, 'You deserve to be killed, who told you to beat people on weekdays, except to scold people with a male duck's throat, that is, to beat people, and to ignore no one, and still take us here to do this 'house robbery' business, but if you don't save you, you deserve to be killed.'" ’

But the old sergeant, when he saw that he would fight again, he had to die, so he hurriedly came to Meng Shuo's side and begged:

"Stop it! If you continue to fight, you will die."

Meng said that when he saw that it was the old sergeant who came to plead, he was even more angry in his heart, thinking that it must be this male duck's voice, and he bullied this old man on weekdays, otherwise why did he come to intercede for him, he must be afraid that after we left, this male duck will wait for an opportunity to retaliate. Thinking so in my heart, the strength in my hand unconsciously added a few weights, and I played more energetically. casually said to the old sergeant:

"Uncle, you flash aside, for this kind of gentleman who doesn't understand and respects the elderly, killing him can be regarded as eliminating harm for the people."

When the old sergeant saw that Meng said that he had no intention of stopping, he was also afraid of causing trouble, and it was difficult to explain to the Son of Heaven. So he hurriedly saluted in front of Qu Ling and said:

"Son-in-law, don't fight anymore today, I will return to the Son of Heaven and arrange for Lile to welcome your envoy."

Qu Ling saw that the fight was almost over, the male duck couldn't stop begging for mercy, his voice had become weak, and he thought that if he continued to fight, it would be troublesome if he died, so he said to the male duck's throat:

"You bastard, do you dare to talk like this?"

"No...... Dare...... Finish...... Kill... I don't dare". The male duck replied in a gossamer voice.

"Good! In this case, let you go today, if I hear that you bully and abuse the old man again, it will not be so cheap next time. Meng said don't fight." Hearing the young lady's order, Meng Shuo naturally stopped.

I saw that half of the male duck's throat and face collapsed, in fact, Meng said that he didn't want his life, just out of a lesson, otherwise, if he slapped down, his life would have been gone. Throw it on the side of the road like a leaf.

The soldiers hurried over to inspect the wounds, and a few of the young and strong men carried the duck on his back.

"Your Excellency, please!" The old man took a kind of soldier and said in a loud voice.

Qu Ling looked at the old man and said:

"The old man is invited"

"It's good! The old man took the first step, so that he could report to the Son of Heaven." The old sergeant said.

"Good! The old man walks slowly, and I'll be there later."

The old man led the way, and the group followed behind, heading straight to the Eastern Zhou Palace.