King Zhou You inherited a mess

The Zhou Dynasty was founded by King Wu and passed on the throne to King You of Zhou for eleven generations. The Zhou Dynasty passed into the hands of King You of Zhou, and it was no longer the invincible Zhou Dynasty during the period of King Wu. At this time, it was still the Western Zhou Dynasty, but the royal power had declined.

King Zhou You's father was the lord of Zhongxing

King Xuan of Zhou, that is, the father of King You of Zhou, is known as the Lord of Zhongxing in history. During the reign of King Xuan, he launched many wars and pacified the vassal states that did not submit to the Zhou royal power, such as the conquest of Xirong, the eastern crusade, the invasion of Chu and so on. King Xuan of Zhou relied on the means of war to build palaces and summon princes, etc., so that the Zhou Dynasty appeared in a prosperous era of "the four sides are peaceful and the kingdom is stable". For the Zhou Dynasty, whose royal power was in decline, there were indeed signs of revival.

However, behind the Zhongxing of King Xuan of Zhou, there is a huge hidden danger, which is enough to bring about the fall of the Zhou Dynasty. Some people often think that King Zhou You is mediocre and brutal and easy to kill, so it led to the complete decline of the Zhou Dynasty. Reading all over the history books, there is always such a thought: "A general view of the rise and fall of the ages, all in the court and the middle of the use of Yu Xian". This is both true and incorrect. It is correct because a dynasty can indeed affect the rise and fall of a dynasty to some extent. It is not right because the monarch and the minister are only one of the many factors that determine the rise and fall of the dynasty, but it is definitely not the only factor. Let me give you an example. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Huizong and Qinzong have always been synonymous with mediocrity, not only put themselves in, but also lost half of the country, but it was this mess, Gaozong took a group of people to the south, and then set up stalls, and then worked, and it was more than 100 years. Moreover, Gojong was not a wise monarch with great talents!

Why is that? This shows that there are more fundamental factors behind the monarch and the virtuous who determine the direction of history. These factors are "Wende", "civil", "military", etc., in today's terms, political, economic, and military. If these factors are still sound, then the dynasty must be saved, and even if it is temporarily frustrated, it will eventually be revived, just like the Western Han Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty. If a dynasty has all these factors decayed, once it encounters a generation of mediocre monarchs, it will immediately collapse, just like Qin II.

Therefore, King Xuan is the lord of Zhongxing, but what about the "Wende", "civil" and "military" behind the master of Zhongxing?

The Sanchuan earthquake made matters worse

After King Youwang succeeded to the throne, he basically didn't care about things, and there were no decrees, and the ministers Yin Jifu and Zhaohu, who could manage things, also died one after another. These two people were the main ministers of King Xuan's Zhongxing. After the death of the two, only Shenhou and Uncle Zhao were left in the Youwang Dynasty with two people who could take care of things. Shenhou admonished several times, asking King You to inherit his father's business and govern the country well, but King You did not listen. In a fit of rage, Shenhou returned to his kingdom (to return to his vassal state). The rest is brought by Uncle Zhao, how much can an Uncle Zhao take even if he is tired to death?

And at this time, a major event happened, which can better reflect the attitude of King You's governance.

One day, the Qishan Shouchen reported that "Jing, He, and Luosanchuan, there was an earthquake on the same day".

Today, the earthquake is also a major event related to the fate of the vassal states. What magnitude is an earthquake? How many people were killed? How many houses were destroyed? How much manpower needs to be mobilized for rescue? How much financial aid is needed? And so on a series of things need to be considered, and the aftermath needs to be dealt with.

And in the Zhou Dynasty, it was even more remarkable. The earthquake means that God is angry. This is God's dissatisfaction with the rulers, and it is related to the survival of the society. Those in power must immediately examine themselves, issue an edict against themselves, or kill a minister, put the blame on them, and divert the public eye. What's more, Sanchuan starts from Qishan, and Qishan is the place where the Zhou Dynasty was prosperous.

Therefore, the Qishan Shouchen said in a matter-of-fact manner, Your Majesty, there is an earthquake in Sanchuan.

The ministers cheered in their hearts, and focused their eyes on the Youwang, waiting for this master to give a solution.

Youwang understated it, and the earthquake was shocked, which is a common thing.

The King of Darkness has scientific common sense and knows that earthquakes are caused by the movement of the earth's crust, and it has nothing to do with God.

However, the ministers don't know, and the people don't know either, this mess is big. Uncle Zhao was very anxious, and repeatedly advised: Youwang must have a solution. Entangled a few times, King You was angry, and Uncle Zhao brought his political opponent Yu Gongshi's father to slander, and Uncle Zhao took the dismissed official home.

In this way, there is basically no one who can manage things in the You Dynasty, and the rest are a group of small people. Therefore, it is basically useless to count on the management team of Youwang.

The Zhou Dynasty was already in danger, and the Sanchuan earthquake was even worse, but at this time, King Youwang did an even more terrible thing: a beauty pageant to enrich the harem.

Wende collapsed

Confucius once said, "Therefore, if people are not satisfied, they will cultivate virtue and virtue." If it comes, it will be safe. "Wende is also Wenzhi, that is, the so-called politics. To say that King Xuan's Wende collapsed, we have to start with King Xuan's ancestors, King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou.

Why was King Wu of Zhou able to defeat King Shang. thought that Nezha and Yang Jian were ruthless and omnipotent, so they could temporarily stand aside. I think that the most important reason why King Wu of Zhou was able to defeat King Shang was that King Wu of Zhou established the Jingtian system. What is the well field system, to put it bluntly, is very simple, that is, the land is divided into public land and private land, and the peasants are responsible for cultivating together, but they must first cultivate the public before they can cultivate the private ones, and when they harvest, the public ones belong to the princes (or landowners), and the private ones belong to themselves. This system was far from the current agricultural system, but it was quite advanced at the time, and it not only won the hearts of the people, but also increased income. And the king of Shang is still engaged in slavery. On a political basis, King Wu of Zhou was far ahead of King Shang, and King Wu of Zhou had won the hearts of the people. The will of the people is terrible, and once there is an authoritative leadership, the will of the people will become an invincible weapon. Therefore, King Wu fell, and the princes of Sishang responded one after another. In the end, the king of Shang was burned to death in Lutai.

China has a history of more than 3,000 years, and to put it bluntly, it is a land issue. How to divide the land more effectively in the hands of the peasants will be able to win the hearts and minds of the people and gain political power. Therefore, the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was in turmoil for more than 400 years, and it was not until the Qin Dynasty established a feudal system with the Shang Dynasty Reform Law (the first article of the Shang Dynasty Reform Law was to recognize the private ownership of land) and completed unification. And our party also relied on the agrarian revolution to establish New China. If you don't understand, you can refer to the relevant materials, which abound.

The Jingtian system was the foundation of the rule of the Zhou Dynasty. However, by the time of King Xuan, the Ida system had been severely eroded. The landowners have wantonly annexed the private land of the peasants, and the private land of the peasants has been greatly reduced. King Zhou Xuan turned a blind eye to this and did not come up with any means, and the people's support was gradually lost. King Xuan is fighting in one heart.

2. Not a thousand acres

During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, unlike today, agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and sideline fisheries developed in an all-round way, as well as international trade. If there is not enough food, it can be imported; If there are more mineral deposits, they can be exported. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the economy was mainly agricultural unit, and it was mainly self-sufficient. When there is more grain production, the people will be able to recuperate and recuperate, and with more energy, they can fight wars and participate in some forced labor. When there is less food, everyone goes hungry. Fight? No kidding, it's good to live without starvation. At that time, agriculture was everything. Even so, King Xuan of Zhou still did not care about food production.

In ancient times, there was a ritual that encouraged the people to farm, called the Rite of Nationality. It is the time of spring planting, the monarch himself goes to the fields, takes off his clothes, and begins to plow the land (the specific work is somewhat similar to the modern oxen), so as to encourage the people to do good farming. However, King Zhou Xuan was always reluctant to participate in this ceremony. King Xuan's participation in the ceremony may not change anything, but at least it shows that King Xuan of Zhou did not attach importance to agricultural production.

3. Repeated defeats

In the early stage of King Xuan, he had waged wars against many countries, and the war was sure to be won, and it also brought King Xuan the title of the lord of Zhongxing. In the later period of King Xuan, he was defeated again and again, and he was defeated again and again. The attack on Taiyuan was unsuccessful; Conquer Tiaojung and Benrong, and be defeated; In the battle of a thousand acres, the army of the southern kingdom was annihilated, and with the help of his father, King Xuan was able to break through.

In addition, in the later period of King Xuan, he also killed ministers and interfered in the internal affairs of Lu, causing the ministers to be dissatisfied.

Therefore, when King Xuan's achievements were great, the rule of the Zhou Dynasty was gradually declining

How to clean up the mess

When King Zhou You succeeded to the throne, it was such a mess. On the surface, the scenery is actually a dynasty that is about to collapse. In the face of such a mess, how should Youwang clean up?

If it was Mao Zedong, he would definitely first divide the land to the peasants, finish the distribution of the land, and then call on the peasants to defeat the disadvantages of the local tyrants. If it is Zhang Juzheng, he must remeasure the land, redistribute it, and then arrest a few corrupt officials, cut off their heads, establish authority, and then carry out innovation.

These two people are also mentioned to illustrate the general pattern of reform. Mao Zedong adopted a bottom-up approach, calling on all the people to reform together, and whoever dared to stand in the way would be hit. After all, reform is for the benefit of the people, and the people are the most active and enthusiastic, and the reform is also the fairest, most thorough, and most able to win the hearts of the people. However, throughout the ages, there is only one person who can have such a prestige as Mao Zedong. Zhang Juzheng adopted a top-down approach, first leveling the imperial power, and then instructing the vested interest class: You have exploited too hard, the people can't live happily, if you don't give up some of it, the people will revolt, and when the time comes, everyone will be finished together. If the vested interest class understands, they will go down and share some benefits among the common people; didn't understand, Zhang Juzheng didn't expect them to understand, kill a few, stand up for power, catch a few, spank, plus have the support of the imperial power, this matter will be done.

Judging from the situation in the Zhou Dynasty, Youwang can completely adopt Zhang Juzheng's reform model and let the vested interest class give up part of their interests, maybe it can be done. Because the royal power is still there, and the bureaucracy is obedient. If King Zhou You did this, there would be one more Xuanyou rule in Chinese history, Xuanwang Zhongxing, and Youwang Dazhi.

But how is the King of Darkness governed?

(3) The ghost king is a wild horse that has escaped

King Xuan came to have a son and gave birth to King You. Generally speaking, the old man is a treasure in the palm of his hand, and now, he is on the grandparents together, pampered and loved, and he is afraid of melting in his mouth. Youwang did not have this treatment, but was strictly disciplined. According to the statement of "husband and son", the education of King You should be the responsibility of Empress Jiang.

Jiang Hou is a person who can't rub sand in his eyes.

There are not many records about Empress Jiang, but there is an interesting story. Empress Jiang should be a beauty. After King Xuan married Jiang, he lived a little more as a couple, often going to bed early and getting up late, ignoring the government and politics. It stands to reason that the king rain and dew, the spirit of Ryoma, it is too late to be happy. Jiang Hou didn't think so, Jiang Hou thought it was his own fault, which caused King Xuan to be lustful, delayed the country's political affairs, and was not good for the country. So, Empress Jiang decided to go to the king of Xuan. Empress Jiang took off the ornaments on her body, knelt outside the palace of King Xuan, and said: "King Xuan, it's all my fault, if you are so lustful, you will be extravagant and wasteful, and after a long time, the world will definitely be in chaos." After hearing this, King Xuan recognized Empress Jiang's statement and began to work diligently.

Empress Jiang is such a person, even her husband (King Xuan) has a lot of life as a couple, and she will admonish her. It is impossible to ask her to lower her standards for her son. Therefore, the young Youwang must have been managed to death, in addition to eating, drinking, and sleeping, it is estimated that he was taught how to be diligent in government. If you manage too much, you are rebellious, and the greater the pressure, the greater the rebound. Therefore, after the death of King Xuan and Empress Jiang, King You completely lost his temperance. "Since Jiang Hou died, he was unscrupulous, lazy, and ignored the government."

Moreover, King Youwang was only thirteen years old when he succeeded to the throne. Although most of the records in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are more fantastical, this should be more reliable. This age is the age when he is playful and doesn't understand anything, expecting him to govern the country well? No kidding. It's good to be able to manage your own eating, drinking, and sleeping.