Controlling mountains and rivers since the Warring States Period

Chapter 96: Restoration of Zhongshan
Another half year passed, and in the early summer of the twenty-second year of Tian Zi Jiao,
While He Bo was still in the Taihang Mountains, fighting with monkeys, watching deer and sheep grazing, and calling back the soul of Marquis Wei, news suddenly came from the north.

Zhongshan has restored its country!
Because of the previous Three Kingdoms War, Wei was badly hurt, Zhao was even more empty, and the neighboring Qi was busy maintaining internal stability and had no time to expand because Tian had only been the king for a few years.
So King Huan of Zhongshan, who had been hiding in Taihang Mountains for many years, finally seized the opportunity with tears in his eyes, ran out to recover the lost territory, proclaimed himself king in Gucheng, and announced the second revival of Zhongshan.

He Bo was still a little confused, so he asked Ximen Bao, who had witnessed the Wei Kingdom's conquest of Zhongshan and captured a group of Baidi, "It's been so many years, and the Baidi haven't died yet?"

The vitality of these two times of national destruction and two times of revival has created waves all over the land of China.

It's quite a commotion.

It is also particularly eye-catching.

But since He Bo went deep into Taihang Mountains, he has not seen the Baidi living as savages there.

Ximen Bao said helplessly, "Zhongshan State has learned Zhou rituals and knows how to farm. Even if they were exiled to the mountains, how could they go too deep and far away from human habitation?"

Duke Wu of Zhongshan's "Xia-ization" reforms were very effective.

The Zhongshan Kingdom held out for three years under the attack of the Wei State, which shows its considerable strength.

After the fall of the country, only a small number of people fled southward, while many others followed the young master Huan of the fallen country and insisted on fighting guerrilla warfare against the forces of Zhao and Wei in the mountainous area north of Taihang Mountain.

Jun Huan of Zhongshan, who had succeeded to the throne at a young age and was addicted to wine and sex and ignored state affairs, grew up rapidly under the huge stimulation of the loss of his country. He vowed to emulate his father and revive Zhongshan Kingdom again.

Last year, Zhongshan took advantage of the fact that the Marquis of Wei was busy fighting against Chu and Zhao and had no time to take care of Zhongshan County, which was not part of Wei's native land but was separated by Zhao State, and successfully expelled Wei Zhi, the youngest son of the Marquis of Wei, who was granted the title of "Lord of Zhongshan", and recovered a large amount of land that once belonged to Zhongshan.

When He Bo gradually extended his authority towards the central part of the Taihang Mountains, the remnants of Zhongshan had already gained control of a certain amount of land and power and were preparing to restore their country!

How is it possible to still stay in the mountains and live a hard life?

"No wonder I didn't see the Baidi group in Taihang Mountains."

He Bo thought of something else and said to Ximen Bao, "It seems that Zhongshan Kingdom should be able to survive for quite a while this time!"

He said with emotion, "Wei, Zhao, and Qi all have their own things to do. Yan is remote and weak. By the time they come back to attack Zhongshan, I think they will have already established themselves!"

The world today is in the midst of warring states.
The silent warmth that remained from the Spring and Autumn Period became increasingly rare and almost non-existent due to the impact of war.

In such an era, Zhou Li is just an excuse for doing things.

If Zhou Li is beneficial to the princes, then the princes will become the absolute defenders of Zhou Li.

If it is useless to the princes, they will trample the Zhou rituals to the ground and let them fall into the dust.

Such flexible handling methods actually exist when facing barbarians.

Just like when Duke Li of Jin wanted Bai Di to work like a slave for him, he wrote a letter directly to the King of Qin, praising him as "my perfect match".

Then Bai Di believed it.
He happily ran from Qin to Jin, but when he looked back a few years later, he found himself surrounded by gentlemen from all over China.

Moreover, after the State of Jin had utilized the labor force of Baidi and strengthened its own power, it took back the human rights that had been given to them and planned to sacrifice them to Zhou Gongdan.

Does this practice conform to Zhou Li?
Ximen Bao, who had once dealt a heavy blow to the barbarians, once again showed his pragmatic instinct at this time, "In fact, it is in line with it."

"If the barbarians are willing to integrate into the Chinese world and become one of them, the Chinese world will not reject them too much."

"Just like when I captured many Rongdi people, betrothed their women to men from Zhuxia, and made Rongdi men join the army to serve the State of Wei."

As long as the Zhuxia occupy an absolute dominant position in the integration process, and the appearance of the Rongdi themselves is not much different from that of the Zhuxia, then what's wrong with absorbing them and recognizing their nationality?

Many of the vassal states that were granted fiefdoms in the early Western Zhou Dynasty were structured according to the "Xia Jun Yi Min" principle.

When Taigong arrived in Qi, he realized that it would take some time to change the customs and habits before promoting the Zhou rituals!

There were two reasons why Zhongshan was severely attacked back then:
One is that Baidi looks really different from the other Xia people, and it makes people feel sick just looking at them!
The second is that when Zhongshan was founded, its power was indeed strong, and the surrounding areas were at a critical juncture of the Three Families Dividing Jin and Tian Family Replacing Qi. If they wanted to integrate, the women of the various Xia states might have to marry the Rongdi!
This kind of marriage,

It is totally inconsistent with Zhou Li!
So we must definitely strike hard!
"But at present, Zhuxia is indeed empty and powerless. I don't know what Zhongshan will do."

Ximen Bao firmly believed that the Chinese people would follow the teachings of the sages and allow all the barbarians to return to nature.

But when things are done, both timing and means are important.

Thinking of the current situation, Ximen Bao couldn't help but worry about the people of Xia on the border between Zhao and Qi, near Zhongshan.

but,

He didn't worry for long, as news came from the north again -

King Huan of Zhongshan announced that he would marry into the Zhou royal family!

From then on, he was "Ji Huan" instead of "Xian Yu Huan" of Zhongshan Kingdom who was born in Baidi!

The reason,

It was when Ji Huan was in Taihang Mountain and summed up the experience of the country's demise that he came to an important conclusion:
Zhongshan was destroyed several times.

Because Zhongshan is weak!
Why is Zhongshan weak?
It’s because Zhongshan was born into a barbarian family!
Why was Duke Wu still destroyed after his reforms?
It’s because Zhongshan has not been sufficiently “Chineseized”!
After his country was destroyed when he was young, Zhongshan Huan once vowed to learn from his father Wu Gong to save Zhongshan. Now that he has successfully restored his country, he has emulated his father and walked his own path!
In front of the rebuilt ancestral temple, he announced that he would make a sacred separation with his ancestors.

All my ancestors, except my father and grandfather,
I want to tell you today!

I won't be a barbarian anymore!

After the restoration of the country, Zhongshan Kingdom quickly formed two teams and went to Lu and Luoyi respectively with a large amount of treasures.

The former went to learn the true meaning of Zhou rituals from the King of Lu, who was a direct descendant of Zhou Gong, and cast exquisite bronze ware to serve as a gift.

The latter went to pay homage to the Zhou emperor, hoping to gain the emperor's recognition, have Zhongshan officially listed as a vassal, and proposed to marry the emperor's daughter Jiao as queen.

The King of Lu and the Emperor were both dazzled by the treasures sent by Zhongshan Kingdom, but they were still a little hesitant.

Lu Junxian received the envoys from Zhongshan, wanting to learn more about the current Zhongshan Kingdom.

At the banquet, the King of Lu thought that the other party was of Rongdi origin and had been a savage in Taihang Mountains for more than ten years, so he should be rude and uncultured.

As it turned out, the other party behaved in a gentlemanly and refined manner, and his every move was in line with the Zhou rituals. He was also proficient in various Chinese classics such as "The Book of Songs" and "The Book of Changes".

"Do the barbarians also know these things?" the King of Lu exclaimed.

The messenger prostrated himself on the ground and said with deep emotion, "The barbarians will also be enlightened by the saints and get rid of their beastly ways!"

"The people of Zhongshan love Zhou rituals and are willing to implement them, so they sent me here to show their determination and sincerity!" The ministers of Lu congratulated the king, "Let the barbarians be naturalized as Chinese, which is a symbol that the virtues of your ancestor Zhou Gongdan are still passed down in the world!"

King Xian of Lu was overjoyed. After drinking several cups of wine and getting drunk, he hugged the envoy from Zhongshan and cried, lamenting, "How did the Zhou Dynasty become like this?"

immediately,

In order to show his importance to this matter, Lu Junxian went to the ancestral temple to do divination and ask for the opinion of his ancestor Zhou Gongdan.

Before entering the ancestral temple, the envoy pulled the sleeve of the King of Lu and said to him, "If this is successful, Zhongshan will send more gifts to Lu!"

Lu Junxian nodded with a smile, then entered the ancestral temple.

Not long after, he came out and told the messenger, "Duke Zhou said he approves of this marriage!"

So the envoy clapped his hands and began to praise the greatness of Zhou Gongdan.

Some ministers who held opposing views secretly asked the priest in charge of the ancestral temple sacrifices:
"Duke Zhou was the sage who established rituals and music and divided the Chinese people into barbarians. Does He really agree with this?"

The priest shook his head.

The minister was surprised, "Duke Zhou didn't actually agree?"

The priest shook his head again.

The minister was puzzled. "If it's yes, he will shake his head. If it's no, he will shake his head too. What does the Duke of Zhou mean?"

The priest spread his hands and told him, "I don't know what Zhou Gong means."

"Because after the king entered the ancestral temple, there was no divination at all!"

"what?"

The minister was surprised and burst into tears, "The rituals and music are in chaos, it's really the rituals and music that are in chaos!"

The Zhou emperor specifically asked the envoy who came to Luoyi, "I heard that the Baidi are white because your skin is pale, which is different from the other Xia people."

"Why do you look no different from Zhu Xia?"

The envoy kowtowed and replied, "After Duke Wu imitated the reforms of the Xia people, he required the nobles in the country to marry noble women from the Xia people in order to change our originally ugly appearance."

"Now, several decades have passed, and the rulers and ministers of Zhongshan have become like the Xia people!"

"Our monarch, Huan, admires the culture of the various states. Every day he praises the kindness of the emperors of all dynasties, denounces the customs of the Rong and Di people in the country, and vows to change them."

It is very rare nowadays for Chinese women to marry barbarian men.

Most of them were powerful barbarians who took the initiative to marry women from the Xia Dynasty.

Because after hundreds of years of teaching by the Zhuxia people, the barbarians and the Rongdi people also believed that the blood of the Zhuxia people was indeed nobler than their own.

Therefore, in Zhongshan Kingdom, the common people still had some barbaric attitudes, but there was not much difference between the superiors and the other peoples.

After hearing the explanation, Tian Zijiao made up his mind and agreed to Zhongshan's request, marrying his daughter to him and allowing him to use the surname "Ji".

As for the rule of “no marriage between people with the same surname”?

Anyway, Zhongshan Huan took his wife and father-in-law's surname, so it doesn't count as violating Zhou li!
Even ghosts and gods couldn't help but marvel at such an operation.

He specifically asked the cattle and horses under his command, "Is this Zhouli?"

Ximen Bao thought, "This is very Zhouli."

Anyway, there is no way to suppress Zhongshan now, so it is better for everyone to be harmonious first and talk about the future later!
He Bo scratched his head and sighed, "I don't really understand Zhou Li!"

You still have to keep learning!

The ghost continued to go deeper into the mountains, and finally successfully reached Dunyu Mountain, the source of Huaishui River. He soaked himself in the water, wanting to take this new tributary into his possession.

at the same time,

Upon hearing that Zhongshan State had actually been recognized by the Zhou Emperor, the King of Qin, who was one of the most powerful vassal states, stamped his feet in anger in Yongdu.

"The princes of Shandong really don't follow Zhou rituals at all!"

"A beast like Bai Di can actually become a prince!"

"The Zhou Dynasty has completely lost control of this world!"

Previously, it was acknowledged that the Three Families had divided Jin and that the Tian family had replaced Qi.
After all, it is still a conflict among the various states of Xia.

Now even Rongdi has acknowledged it!
More importantly, the country in Shandong even had the nerve to contemptuously call the Qin State "barbarians"!
It’s so shameless!
But even if Qin Jun was angry, what could he do?
Hexi had not yet been recovered and the situation in Qin had not improved sufficiently, so he could only continue to endure.

Just as the King of Qin and his ministers were discussing the possibility of moving the capital to Liyang to seek a better development environment, a servant suddenly came to report happily:
"Born, born!"

"Madame gave birth!"

The eldest son of Qin Jun Ying Shixi was finally born safely!

Mr. Qin was overjoyed.

Although he already had a concubine's son, Qian, the Qin State had experienced several generations of turmoil in the throne, and he had already vowed in his heart to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Therefore, if there is a legitimate eldest son, he will make him the heir apparent!

"Let's call this child Qu Liang!"

Qin Jun held his newborn child in his arms and thought:
His name is "Shixi", which represents the expectation of a rich harvest from cultivating the land.

And "Quliang" is going a step further.
We must be like the flowing water that is used to irrigate the fields, nourishing the Qin State and making it stronger!

"I hope you will not disappoint your father's expectations!"

The King of Qin lifted the child up and announced to his courtiers, "This is the next King of Qin!"

The child was lifted high above his father's head and burst into tears amid the cheers and congratulations of the ministers.

(End of this chapter)