Tracing China: Through history, dialogue between ancient and modern

Chapter 172
Tracing back to China, talking about ancient and modern times.

At this moment, the hosts Lin Feng and Bailu are talking to Qin Mugong, the overlord of a generation.

Sending the First Emperor back through time and space, and back to his era, this conversation is about to come to an end. At this time, Qin Mugong suddenly asked:
"Young man, I have a question, why would later generations name this period of history as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period?"

Lin Feng was taken aback, and said, "Two names, isn't it good?"

Qin Mugong said, "Historians from all over the world, they said that the recorded texts and the famous ones used are all Zhou Wang's year names, and there is no allusion or information about "Spring and Autumn" and "Warring States"."

spring and autumn...

Warring States...

How did the names of these two eras come about?

In fact, many modern audiences don't know.

Lin Feng replied, "During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the official historians of the State of Lu recorded the major events reported by other countries in terms of year, season, month, and day. This chronicle is called "Spring and Autumn Annals."

"The sage Confucius also edited it and made it one of the Confucian classics. It records the history of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty 242 years ago. This period is called the Spring and Autumn Period."

"In the second half, the wars between the princes became more and more fierce. The war rose from attack to annihilation, and tens of thousands of tens of thousands were wiped out at every turn. Most of them were in the second half. The Zhou royal family actually existed in name only until Qin Shihuang established the Qin Dynasty. This period of ancient people It is called the Warring States Period. Therefore, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period combined are essentially a period of history after the Zhou Dynasty moved its capital.”

……

The time of the dialogue at this moment is 632 BC, and saints such as Laozi, Confucius, and Mencius were not born yet!

The shadow of the "Spring and Autumn" classics is even more difficult to mention.

It is normal for Qin Mugong to be confused by this!
However, Qin Mugong asked again, "Why is the book written by the official historian of Lu Kingdom called "Spring and Autumn Annals"?"

Lin Feng was stunned, it was just the name of an ancient classic.

Is it necessary to be so serious?

Qin Mugong is definitely a serious and serious monarch, and he said, "In my opinion, for the sake of historical truth and for thousands of years later, people in the future can still accurately read this dusty history. Dai Chunqiu is even better!"

Lin Feng said, "But after the capital was moved, the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty is like a puppet, and it has lost its former glory!"

Qin Mugong said, "Even if it exists in name only, it is still the ruler of the world, and still has the title of "King"."

Lin Feng said, "Isn't it the wish of all your princes to get rid of the Zhou royal family?"

Qin Mugong persisted, "In this period, in all the nine states of China, there is only one king, and that is the King of Zhou."

Unspoken.

Since there is only one king and one Son of Heaven in the whole world, history should be recorded accurately.

For Qin Mugong, who has always been unsmiling and dignified, the audience has learned a lot.

To confuse the ancients.

Lin Feng explained that the Spring and Autumn and Warring States refers to the period from the first year of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the period before Qin unified the six kingdoms, that is, from the time when King Ping of Zhou moved the capital from Haojingdong to Luoyi, until Qin Shihuang unified the six kingdoms and established the Great Qin Empire. Counting, about 770 BC - about 221 BC, a total of 550 years.

Therefore, 770 BC-476 BC is the Spring and Autumn Period, with a total of 295 years.

475 BC - 221 BC is the Warring States Period, a total of 255 years.

So, why are they called "Spring and Autumn" and "Warring States"?
Because of the influence of seasons, in ancient society, the conquests between countries were carried out in spring and autumn.

Attacking the enemy country in spring can interfere with the progress of the enemy's grain planting; attacking the enemy country in autumn is just the season for robbing grain.

Therefore, in spring and autumn, there are more wars between countries; as for winter and summer, it is either too cold or too hot, and both sides suffer. fighting.

In ancient my country, when the ancients "wrote history", they used to use the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter as time nodes to record events.

For example, in "Zuo Zhuan Cao GUI Debate": "In the spring of ten years, the Qi division attacked me."

Spring and autumn are eventful autumns.

Therefore.

Later generations called the historical period from 770 BC to 476 BC the Spring and Autumn Period.

In the Warring States period, it was relatively easy to understand. In the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the emperor of Zhou had no actual control, and the vassal states no longer listened to the command of the emperor of Zhou. There were frequent wars between the seven powerful countries, and they dominated the world of the Zhou Dynasty in the form of war.

And during this period.

The rulers of various countries, under the collapse of rites and music, have established themselves as kings one after another, and it is obviously no longer appropriate to use the name of King Zhou to record.

Therefore.

The historical period from 475 BC to 221 BC is known as the Warring States Period.

This time, Qin Mugong finally agreed.

He stared with cold eyes, and the two looked at each other from ancient to modern times. Qin Mugong asked, "Young man, where are you going next? Return to that later life, or continue to move forward in the Spring and Autumn Era, and talk to others?"

Lin Feng replied, "I'm going to talk to King Zhuang of Chu."

Qin Mugong frowned and asked, "Chuzhuang...king?"

Lin Feng replied, "The younger generation wants to go to the capital of Chu in 600 BC. King Zhuang of Chu is the king of Chu."

600 BC.

Qin Mugong has passed away, and he is not in the same time dimension as King Chuzhuang.

Qin Mugong said, "Since he is also a prince, how dare this Chu king call himself king?"

"Also, has this King Zhuang of Chu ever been recognized by Emperor Zhou?"

Lin Feng shook his head and said, "No, according to historical records, King Zhuang of Chu tried to go to Luoyi to "ask for the crown", but he was sent back by the representative Wang Sunman sent by Emperor Zhou. Since the official certification of Emperor Zhou is useless, King Zhuang of Chu can only Hold a meeting of princes, and then be elected as the overlord by the participating princes at the meeting."

"However, in the 22nd year of King Zhuang of Chu, he died of illness suddenly and did not hold a meeting of princes."

Hear this.

Duke Mu of Qin sneered, and said, "Without the approval of Zhou Tianzi, and without the alliance of princes, how can a mere Chu king dare to call himself the king and become the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period?"

According to historical records, in order to maintain the supremacy of Chu State, the son of King Zhuang of Chu, King Gonggong of Chu, sent troops northward to Lu State in the 18th year of King Zhou Ding, that is, in 589 BC, and held a meeting of princes in Shu.

Because the hegemony of King Zhuang of Chu had not yet declined at this time, there were as many as [-] princes participating in the Shu League, including the two big countries of Qin and Qi and the middle powers of Song, Zheng, Lu, and Wei.

The alliance of the Shu region marked that the hegemony of the Chu State was recognized and officially announced by the princes of the world.

Although it was the King of the Communist Party of Chu who held the League of Shu, anyone with a discerning eye knew that the thirteen princes all joined the alliance because of King Zhuang of Chu's hegemony.

Because of this, the Shu League is a ratification of the title of overlord that King Zhuang of Chu deserved but did not get during his lifetime.

"The overlord of Spring and Autumn recognized by his descendants?"

Qin Mugong smiled and said, "It's a shame for such an arrogant and conceited person to be side by side with him."

These words are completely contemptuous by Chi Luoluo.

Saying.

The state of Chu was called half of the Southern barbarians in the Central Plains.

Your old Qin family is also regarded as a teacher of barbarism by the Central Plains!
Half a catty to eight taels.

It's nothing more than laughing at a hundred steps at fifty steps.

Moreover, the King of Chu Zhuang is really not weak!

It is said that Zheng Guo, the younger brother of his subordinate country, rebelled for the sake of profit, and took refuge in the Jin country in the north.

King Zhuang of Chu couldn't bear it. In line with the idea of ​​cleaning up the door, King Zhuang of Chu personally led the army, and in the name of "King Qin" and attacking "Luhun Zhirong" pushed the Chu army to the vicinity of the capital of Zhou Tianzi for the first time.

"Watch soldiers in Zhoujiang".

"Drinking horses in the Yellow River."

"Aspire to the Central Plains."

Wait for a few idioms and allusions, which are about this battle of the northward advance.

Afterwards, the state of Chu was even more publicized to the extreme, defeating Shu State and Chen State, every battle was fought like a rainbow, even though there were many defeats against Jin State during the period, it did not shake King Zhuang of Chu's dominance of the Central Plains ambition.

Because the geographical position of Zheng State is too superior, it is "in the middle of the world", basically adjacent to most of the strongest old princes and powers, that is to say, as long as this Zheng State is conquered, it is one foot into In the Central Plains, King Zhuang of Chu would certainly not miss this opportunity.

In the spring of the 17th year of King Zhuang of Chu, King Zhuang of Chu once again personally led elite soldiers and strong generals, vowing to completely break through the capital of Zheng State.The people of Chu State besieged the capital of Zheng State for more than three months, and even Zheng Xianggong gradually lost his determination to fight and left his fate to God. After receiving unfavorable divination, the people of Zheng State cried out.The people were crying under the city wall, the soldiers were crying on the city wall, and the princes and nobles were crying in the deep palace compound. The whole country of Zheng was filled with sadness, and there was no such thing as the majesty of an emperor enforcing the country.

The cries in the capital city of Zheng State may have made Zheng Xianggong completely blame himself for his wrong decision. In order to preserve the people of Zheng State and the capital built by their ancestors through hardships, Zheng Xianggong took off his clothes and tied He bound his body, led the lamb, and led the officials to open the gate of the capital, and surrendered to King Chuzhuang in person.

At this time, King Zhuang of Chu didn't take Zheng Guo seriously at all, so even though the courtiers urged King Zhuang to destroy Zheng Guo completely, King Chu Zhuang thought that Zheng Guo was nothing to fear, so he easily agreed to Zheng Guo's letter of surrender, allowing Zheng Guo to surrender. Zheng Guo once again became a vassal state of Chu State.

In the following years, the state of Jin attacked the state of Zheng many times, but they were all counterattacked by the state of Chu. The establishment of the Chu-Zheng alliance made the people of Chu really have a loud voice in the Central Plains for the first time.

King Zhuang of Chu reigned.

The country is rich and the people are strong, and the strength is fierce.

Time and time again, no one pays attention to the princes of the Central Plains, and has achieved the ultimate "crazy"!
It can be said that it exists like the sky against the air.

Even Bingfeng once went to the gate of the Zhou royal family.

Almost.

So he killed Emperor Zhou.

In order for future generations to understand the deeds of the Spring and Autumn Overlord who dared to be the first to be called "King".

Lin Feng travels through time.

I chose the time and space when King Zhuang of Chu was 23 years old.

It is said that at this time, King Zhuang of Chu was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

(End of this chapter)