bookrandom Chapter 194 The Rise and Fall of Chu
Chapter 194 The Rise and Fall of Chu
Li Heng was so angry that he could not see his seriously ill father and his own illness became more and more serious. At this time, Empress Zhang and Li Fuguo also turned from teammates to opponents for their own interests.
Empress Zhang wanted to appoint Prince of Yue Li Xi as the crown prince so that she could further control the government. Upon hearing the news, Li Fuguo led his troops into the palace, beat the empress to death on the spot, and then successfully helped crown prince Li Yu ascend the throne.
With the merit of supporting the emperor, Li Fuguo began to act recklessly. He even said nonsense that the emperor should not care about anything and leave the government to him.
In response to this, Tang Daizong Li Yu chose to endure and lie dormant. On the surface, he called Li Fuguo "Shangfu" and conferred him a title of nobility and appointed him as prime minister. However, he secretly sent people to sideline Li Fuguo and take back his military power.
After everything was ready, Li Fuguo was assassinated by Li Yu, Emperor Daizong of Tang, late one night in 762 AD. Even his head was chopped off and thrown into the toilet, and he ended up with his body mutilated.
Fourth, Wei Zhongxian. Compared with Li Fuguo in the Tang Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian in the Ming Dynasty is better known for his power and evil deeds. He not only controlled the government and eliminated dissidents, but also caused the emperor to have no descendants.
Wei Zhongxian was originally a street thug. In 1589, he decided to enter the palace after losing a large sum of money in gambling. After entering the palace, he became a couple with Keshi, the wet nurse of the eldest grandson of the emperor, Zhu Youxiao. From then on, he rose step by step and gradually gained Zhu Youxiao's trust.
In 1621, Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne as Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty. He was not interested in government affairs, but was more interested in carpentry, so he appointed Wei Zhongxian as the eunuch in charge of writing in the Imperial Household Department and outsourced government affairs to him.
In 1623, in order to contain the Donglin Party in the court, Zhu Youxiao put Wei Zhongxian in charge of the East Factory. Wei Zhongxian used the power of the East Factory to crack down on dissidents, especially the Donglin Party.
He fabricated evidence and framed charges, implicating the Six Gentlemen of Donglin in the case of Xiong Tingbi, tortured them to death, and demoted more than 50 officials who opposed him, allowing his relatives to be promoted.
When Wei Zhongxian's power reached its peak, he had the final say in the imperial court. In order to please Wei Zhongxian, officials from all over the country vied to build a shrine for him. However, Wei Zhongxian was not satisfied and attempted to have his own candidate ascend the throne after Zhu Youxiao's death.
He conspired with Keshi to send his adopted daughters to the palace as concubines, but because they were all infertile, Wei Zhongxian and Keshi even killed the pregnant concubines to ensure that the next emperor would be their own. These actions eventually led to the extinction of the Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao's descendants.
In 1627, Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty died, and Wei Zhongxian's protective umbrella fell. After Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian ascended the throne, the court ministers listed the ten major crimes of Wei Zhongxian. Emperor Chongzhen was furious. Wei Zhongxian knew that he could not escape death, so he finally hanged himself.
[Understand the rise and fall of studying abroad in one go - Trivia about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period]
It was a descendant of the God of Fire, and led a million-strong army to conquer the Central Plains. The Chu State lasted for more than 820 years, even longer than the Zhou Dynasty.
So, why did the Chu State, which had the advantage of time and place, eventually fall to the Qin State? In this video, let us understand the rise and fall of the Chu State in one go.
From 1042 BC, when King Cheng of Zhou appointed the Chu leader Xiong Yi as Viscount and established the State of Chu, to 223 BC, when the Qin army conquered the Chu capital Shouchun and the State of Chu was officially destroyed, the State of Chu had a total of 43 monarchs and a history of about 820 years.
The story of Chu State begins with its first monarch, Xiong Yi. Xiong Yi’s surname was Xiong, and his ancestor was Yuxiong, whose female ancestor was a descendant of the fire god Zhurong. Xiong Yi’s great-grandfather Yuxiong was already the fire master of King Wen of Zhou in the late Shang Dynasty.
In 1040 BC, King Cheng of Zhou granted Yuxiong's great-grandson Xiong Yi a fiefdom in the wild land in the south, making him the first monarch of the State of Chu, and granted him the title of viscount with a land area of only 50 miles.
Later, at the Qiyang Conference where King Cheng held a meeting with the princes, Xiong Yi was stopped outside the hall. The Zhou emperor ordered him to guard the fire together with the leader of the Xianbei tribe.
It was not until then that the Chu people realized that they were barbarians like the Xianbei in the eyes of the Zhou emperor. After Xiong Yi returned, he began to work hard to develop production and expand the territory.
By the time Xiong Yi's son Xiong Ai succeeded to the throne, Chu was already able to compete with the Zhou Dynasty's army. After defeating King Zhao of Zhou's army twice, Chu dominated the south.
After Xiong Ai, the Chu State experienced two generations of monarchs, Xiong Da and Xiong Yang, who worked hard to govern the country. The economy of the Chu State was far ahead of the surrounding barbarians. Therefore, various tribes came to submit to the Chu State, and the Chu State grew rapidly.
In 887 BC, Xiong Qu succeeded to the throne. As soon as he came to power, he began to expand the territory and incorporated the entire Jianghan Plain and the Jiangnan region into the territory of Chu.
By then, the Chu State had grown from a small country with a radius of only 50 li to a great country. Xiong Qu's greatest achievement was the occupation of the E area with rich copper resources, which directly laid the foundation for the prosperous development of the Chu State for hundreds of years.
Therefore, Xiong Qu also began to become unscrupulous. He imitated the Zhou emperor and made his three sons kings respectively, becoming the first monarch among the Zhou vassal states to usurp the title of king.
After Xiong Qu died, his third son Xiong Zhici killed his elder brother Xiong Yan and took his place as king. In 847 BC, Xiong Yi (should be Xiong Kan) died, and the next few kings who followed him were all short-lived.
In 791 BC, the State of Chu welcomed its 14th monarch, Xiong Yi. Xiong Yi was an entrepreneurial monarch. According to historical records, he "opened up the mountains and forests with great difficulty", further reclaiming the mountains and forests and developing the economy of the State of Chu.
After Xiong Kan died, his son Xiong E succeeded him. He buried Xiong Yi in Ruo'ao and honored him as Chu Ruo'ao after his tomb, making him the first monarch of Chu to have a posthumous title. After Xiong Yi died, he was buried in Yingdu, so later generations also called him Chu Xiao'ao.
In 758 BC, Xiong Ao, the son of Chu Xiaoao, succeeded to the throne. Like his grandfather Chu Ruao, he also rode a wood cart and wore tattered clothes to open up the mountains and forests, and later he conquered Xing State, further expanding the territory of Chu. Because of his brutal rule, he was regarded as King Li of Chu by later generations.
In 741 BC, King Li of Chu died, and his younger brother Xiong Tong killed King Li's son and established himself as king. After Xiong Tong ascended the throne, he pursued an iron-fisted policy. After annexing various countries, he set up each country as a county, thus making Chu the first in Chinese history.
From then on, every time Chu conquered a country, it would move that country's royal family to the rear of Chu and supervise them strictly, thus increasingly strengthening its rule over that country.
As Xiong Tong became increasingly powerful, he began to become dissatisfied with his low-level title.
In 704 BC, he forced the monarch of Sui State to ask the Zhou emperor for a higher title for him. After being flatly rejected by the Zhou emperor, Xiong Tong proclaimed himself king and called himself King Wu of Chu, thus setting a precedent for princes to usurp the title of king.
During his reign, King Wu of Chu conquered many places and his power had penetrated deep into the hinterland of the Jianghan region. All the surrounding small countries were afraid of Chu, and Chu began to grow stronger and became one of the three hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In 690 BC, King Wu of Chu died on the way to attack the State of Sui, and his son Xiong Fu succeeded him as King Wen of Chu. In order to weaken the states east of Handong, King Wen of Chu moved the capital from Danyang to Yingdu.
However, King Wen of Chu died on the way to attack Shen. After that, his son Xiong Jian (should be Xiong Jian) succeeded to the throne and became King Cheng of Chu. After King Cheng of Chu succeeded to the throne, he began to repeatedly use military force against Zheng.
Seeing that Zheng was about to collapse, Duke Huan of Qi led the coalition forces of Qi, Lu, Song, Chen, and Wei to attack Chu in the south under the banner of respecting the king and expelling the barbarians. Although King Cheng of Chu was not afraid at all, he did not want to be an enemy of Qi.
So they formed an alliance with the eight countries through negotiations, which was known as the Zhaoling Alliance in history. After that, although the Chu State continued to move north and east, it always avoided direct conflict with the Qi State.
After Duke Huan of Qi died, Qi had no successor and began to decline. Zheng and Song began to submit to Chu, and Duke Xiang of Song was defeated and killed in the Battle of Hongshui with Chu. Chu became the dominant power in the Central Plains from then on.
In 626 BC, King Cheng of Chu was forced to abdicate and hanged himself by the army of Crown Prince Shangchen because his plan to depose the crown prince was leaked. Shangchen succeeded him as King Mu of Chu.
After King Mu of Chu ascended the throne, he successively destroyed the Jiang, Liu, Liao and other countries, captured the Chen and Hu countries, captured the king of Song, and the king of Zong attacked the Chao, thus expanding the influence of Chu to the Jianghuai region.
In 614 BC, King Mu of Chu died and his son Xiong Lu succeeded him as King Zhuang of Chu. King Zhuang did not issue orders for three years after he took the throne, and spent his days and nights enjoying himself. Three years later, he reformed the government, conquered the Yong State in one fell swoop, and began to fight for hegemony in the Central Plains.
In 606 BC, King Zhuang of Chu crossed the Luo River in the name of King Qin and deployed his troops on the border of the Zhou royal family. King Ding of Zhou was terrified and sent Wang Sunman, a Zhou official, to inquire about the truth.
Then came the story of King Zhuang of Chu's attempt to conquer the Central Plains. In 597 BC, the Chu State defeated the Jin army in the Battle of Bi. From then on, the states of Chen, Cai, Zheng and others all submitted to the Chu State. In addition to Jin, Qi and Lu in the Central Plains, the Jin State also recognized King Zhuang of Chu as the overlord, and the Chu State thus became one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period.
In 591 BC, King Zhuang of Chu died. His younger brother Zizhong followed his will and enthroned the 10-year-old Shen as King Gong of Chu. During the reign of King Gong of Chu, the power of Chu State plummeted and was soon surpassed by Jin State.
In order to ease the situation in Chu, Zizhong signed a non-aggression pact with Jin in 579 BC, which was known as the Huayuan Alliance. However, only four years later, the Battle of Yanling took place between the two sides.
In this last battle between the main armies of Jin and Chu, Chu was defeated by Jin and its hegemony began to shake.
In 560 BC, King Gong of Chu died and his son Xiong Zhao ascended the throne as King Kang of Chu. As soon as he ascended the throne, King Kang of Chu was faced with the situation of competing with Jin State in the north and dealing with the constant harassment from Wu State. At this time, Jin State was also in trouble both internally and externally, so the two countries established an alliance again to share hegemony equally.
After this alliance, Jin and Chu lived in peace for more than 40 years, and the struggle for hegemony between Wu and Chu officially began. During his reign, King Kang of Chu sent troops to attack Wu many times, and in 549 BC, he set up an empty city plan in Chaoyi and shot King Zhufan of Wu to death with one arrow.
The King of Wu, who ascended the throne in the same year as King Kang of Chu, became the first monarch in Chinese history to die on the battlefield.
Four years later, King Kang of Chu died, and his second son Xiong Wei killed his eldest brother Xiong Yuan and established himself as King Ling of Chu. King Ling of Chu was a famous tyrant in the Spring and Autumn Period. There was a saying that "the King of Chu liked thin waists, and many people in the palace starved to death."
However, in order to suppress the State of Wu, he was often on military campaigns abroad, so that he was eventually usurped by his younger brother and eventually died in a foreign land.
In 528 BC, Xiong Qiji, the younger brother of King Ling of Chu, ascended the throne. He was the King Ping of Chu who had abducted his daughter-in-law, killed loyal ministers indiscriminately, and forced Wu Zixu to rebel. Under his leadership, the Chu State continued to decline.
After King Zhao of Chu, the son of King Ping of Chu, succeeded to the throne, the Chu State was almost destroyed by the State of Wu, and it completely fell from the altar of hegemony.
In 489 BC, Xiong Zhang, son of King Zhao of Chu, succeeded to the throne and became King Hui of Chu. King Hui of Chu appointed wise ministers and pursued a policy of resting the people, which enabled Chu to recover rapidly.
He put down the rebellion of Bai Gongsheng, destroyed the states of Chen and Cai, expanded the territory of Chu to the East China Sea and Huaihai, made Chu rich and strong again, and became one of the seven major powers in the Warring States Period.
In 432 BC, King Hui of Chu, who had reigned for 57 years, died and was succeeded by his son Xiong Yi, who became King Jian of Chu.
King Jian of Chu first destroyed the State of Ju in the northeast, and expanded the power of Chu to the Yishui River Basin. However, when it was advancing towards the Central Plains, it was obstructed by the Three Jins. Three battles broke out in succession, and Chu was defeated all three times.
In 408 BC, King Jian of Chu died and his wife, King Sheng of Chu, succeeded him. During his reign, the Chu State was in chaos and he was killed by bandits after only six years as King of Chu.
After his death, his two sons fought for the throne. In the end, Xiong Yi won with the support of the people and ascended the throne, becoming King Dao of Chu.
King Dao of Chu did not rule for 50 years. Wu Qi defected to Chu because of the suspicion of King Wu. He then carried out a series of reforms in Chu, which greatly increased the national strength of Chu. At one point, he pacified Baiyue in the south, annexed Chen and Cai in the north, repelled the Three Jins, attacked Qin in the west, and intimidated all the princes.
However, with the death of King Chu Mourning, Wu Qi was attacked by nobles and ministers, and he could not escape death even though he was holding the body of King Chu Mourning. After Wu Qi's death, the reform was also declared to be terminated.
In 381 BC, King Dao of Chu's son Xiong Zang succeeded to the throne and became King Su of Chu.
As soon as King Su of Chu ascended the throne, he immediately announced that according to the laws of Chu, anyone who rebelled against the king's teacher would have his entire family exterminated. He executed all the more than 70 families of noble ministers who rebelled and killed Wu Qi in front of King Dao's body, and took back their fiefs, which dealt a heavy blow to the old aristocratic forces.
However, although he implemented a policy of resting the people and stopped foreign attacks during his reign, he was still defeated by Shu and Wei successively and lost a large amount of Chu territory.
In 370 BC, King Su of Chu died. As he had no son, his younger brother Xiong Liangfu ascended the throne and became King Xuan of Chu. While continuing to pursue the policy of suspending the war and rejuvenating the people, King Xuan of Chu also assessed the situation.
In 343 BC, King Xuan of Chu suddenly sent troops to destroy the states of Chen and Cai, which intimidated the northern princes and made the State of Chu strong again.
Three years later, King Xuan of Chu died and King Wei of Chu succeeded him. During his reign, Chu's national power reached the peak of the Warring States Period, with a million armored soldiers, a thousand chariots, and tens of thousands of horses.
However, after nearly 60 years of recuperation since the reign of King Su of Chu, all the wealth accumulated by the State of Chu was lost in the hands of King Huai of Chu, the son of King Wei of Chu.
In 312 BC, Zhang Yi of Qin deceived King Huai of Chu by saying that if King Huai of Chu closed the border and broke off relations with Qi, Qin would offer 600 li of Shangyu land. King Huai of Chu believed it, but after Qi and Chu broke off relations, Zhang Yi only admitted to offering li of land.
King Huai of Chu was furious and led his army to attack Qin, but was defeated miserably. He was then tricked by King Zhaoxiang of Qin into going to Qin, where he eventually died in Xianyang.
After King Huai of Chu was trapped in Qin, the crown prince Xiong Heng, who was still a hostage in Qin at the time, fled back to Chu and ascended the throne as King Qingxiang of Chu. In 278 BC, Qin general Bai Qi conquered the capital of Chu, Ying, and Qu Yuan committed suicide by jumping into the river.