Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

A new sky screen appears.

A map that everyone is very familiar with appeared on the screen.

At first glance, it is a map of China.

Look carefully, it's simply a picture of hell!

There were hundreds of vassal states, large and small.

That’s right, it’s the diagram of feudal division in the early Spring and Autumn Period.

It can be seen from this map that the territories directly under the jurisdiction of the Zhou emperor are not too many.

A large amount of land was almost entirely divided among the vassal states.

Especially the Qin, Qi, Jin and Chu states that appear to be the largest on the map, these great powers in the east, west, south and north.

Its area appears to be ten times, or even dozens of times, larger than the territory directly under the jurisdiction of the Zhou Dynasty itself!
Even the small vassal states such as Zheng, Yu, Mao, Ying, Wen, and Liu near the Zhou emperor.

Each of them was either about the same size as the Zhou emperor, or about one-third of the Zhou emperor.

In comparison, the Zhou emperor's territory was really small.

People who are not familiar with it cannot even find the Zhou Dynasty on the map!
After the map close-up lasted for more than ten seconds, Tianmu asked a question:
[Why did the Zhou royal family give such large tracts of land to the feudal states when enfeoffment was being carried out, but only had such a small piece for themselves? ]

[Wouldn't it be good for the Zhou emperor to expand the territory he directly controls? ]

[Why should we give away so much of our territory to others? ]

Qin Dynasty.

Ying Zheng saw the question raised by Tianmu and combined it with the vast territory of Qin State on the west side of the map on the sky curtain.

He couldn't help but sneer and said:

"Heh, does this Tianmu really think that the Zhou emperor was kind enough to give such a large piece of fertile land to our ancestors of the Great Qin?"

“This map is very misleading to future generations who are not informed.”

"I really thought that the King of Zhou was so generous."

As an expert, Ying Zheng naturally knew the answer to this question.

But in the Western Jin Dynasty, Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong, couldn't understand it.

Following Tianmu's question, he asked doubtfully:
"Yes, why?"

"Although my Great Jin has also granted many titles to princes, all my brothers and uncles have obtained their own lands and loyally protected the local areas across the country, safeguarding my Great Jin."

"Although everyone in our Dajin is very friendly and loyal."

"But in our Great Jin, the area governed by the emperor is the largest."

"But the Zhou Dynasty founded by this saint was so small, but the lands divided among the princes were so large."

"Is this the difference between an ordinary emperor like me and the saints and sages of ancient times?"

"I really don't understand." Sima Zhong was very confused.

"Why did the Zhou emperor give most of the country's land to others?"

And the sky curtain continued to tell the story.

[When it comes to the feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty, many people will think of a picture of "the Zhou emperor distributing land on a large scale." ]

[Royal relatives and founding heroes sat in a row. ]

[Waiting for the Zhou emperor to divide the fertile land one by one, just like Yang Jian divided the six roots.]

[The princes took the land deeds and happily took up their posts, becoming feudal parasites who plundered the people's wealth, and from then on lived a life of luxury and debauchery.]

【But the truth may subvert your cognition. 】

[When the Zhou emperor enfeoffed the princes, it was not to let you become ready-made landlords. ]

【Instead, we give you an "entrepreneurship KPI." 】

[To put it bluntly, this feudal system is a blank check that the Zhou emperor wrote to the princes.]

[It says: "Dear, this piece of land belongs to you, but you have to take it yourself!"]

【Take your team and conquer the lands that do not belong to the Zhou Dynasty yet! 】

[This is like a modern company sending you to develop a remote market, ostensibly giving you the title of regional general manager, but in reality letting you build your business from scratch.]

[Can you counterattack and become a business giant? 】

【It all depends on your own ability! 】

[It is said that in 1046 BC, King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty became the common ruler of the world. 】

【This battle was fought beautifully.】

[This newly conquered territory is countless times larger than the Zhou people’s homeland! ]

[But taking over the country is only the first step. How to defend this vast land is the real challenge. ]

【The land of China at that time was not the vast and interconnected land it is today. 】

[Outside the Yellow River Basin, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the land of the Jingman. ]

[The Shandong Peninsula is inhabited by the Dongyi tribe, and the Hebei and Shanxi areas are dotted with the Rongdi tribe.]

[Even in the core area of ​​the Central Plains, there are remnants of the Shang Dynasty and various local tribes. ]

[The King of Zhou stood on the high platform of Haojing and looked into the distance, looking at the large area of ​​"unconquered areas" marked with question marks on the map. I guess he was also stubborn and ended up in a dilemma. ]

[It would have been harder than climbing to the sky for the central government to directly manage such a large territory under the transportation and communication conditions at the time.]

[The King of Zhou was worried: How can I manage such a large territory with tens of thousands of soldiers? ]

【We borrowed from the Shang Dynasty's system of internal and external service, but found that it was not feasible at all: the external service princes were too independent and would split at any time. 】

【After much deliberation, King Wu of Zhou decided to carry out an unprecedented institutional innovation - the feudal system. 】

[But the core logic of this system is not to "divide the ready-made land", but to "give you status and resources, and then expand the territory yourself." ]

[What the enfeoffed princes received were not ready-made five-star resorts, but blank checks with the words "here is the land" written on them.]

[You have to lead your own people to open up new land. ]

[When the Zhou emperor granted fiefs to the princes, he did not just draw a circle and say "this piece of land belongs to you." ]

[Take Jiang Ziya's enfeoffment as the State of Qi as an example. The "Qi" at that time was not the prosperous Linzi later, but the northern part of Shandong Peninsula, a wilderness occupied by the Dongyi tribe. ]

[The "starting gift package" given by King Wu of Zhou to Jiang Ziya includes:]

[A title of "Marquis of Qi" is equivalent to a business license. ]

[A small Zhou army, this is the early core entrepreneurial team. ]

[Some bronze ritual vessels are office supplies that symbolize power.]

[And a message full of expectation: "From the sea in the east to the river in the west, from Muling in the south to Wudi in the north, the five marquises and nine earls can be conquered." ]

[Translation means: From the east to the sea, from the west to the Yellow River, from the south to Muling Pass, from the north to Wudi River, you can conquer all the tribes in this area! ] [Isn't this like the boss telling the employees "the company will give you a branch", but then it turns out that the branch doesn't even have an office decorated? ]

【Jiang Taigong could only roll up his sleeves and fight the Dongyi people while building infrastructure.】

[He built Qi into a powerful country in the East. 】

[The Zhou emperor was very good at using "borrowing chickens to lay eggs"; he didn't even have to send out a single soldier, and people helped him expand his territory.]

【And the Zhou emperor was very skillful in dividing the fiefs. 】

[Similarly, Duke Zhou was granted the state of Lu, which was located in Qufu, Shandong Province today. At that time, it was the territory of the state of Yan and belonged to the old sphere of influence of the Shang Dynasty.]

[Zhao Gongshi was granted the state of Yan, and his fiefdom was in Fangshan, Beijing today, where the powerful Shanrong tribe lived.]

[Even King Wu of Zhou's younger brother, Kang Shu, was granted the title of Wei State, with land around Chaoge, and his mission was to monitor the remnants of the Shang Dynasty.]

[These fiefs have one thing in common. ]

[Either it is the old land of the Shang Dynasty or the barbarian settlement area, none of them is "cooked land". 】

[The Zhou emperor issued a "regional development license" to the princes. ]

[Whether or not one can build a city-state on the wasteland, cultivate farmland, and conquer local tribes depends entirely on the ability of the princes themselves.]

【And this is definitely not easy! 】

……

Shang Dynasty.

Emperor Xin naturally knew long ago that the later Zhou Dynasty would replace his own Shang Dynasty.

Ever since the sky curtain appeared.

The main defense task of the Shang Dynasty in recent times was to guard against the expansion of Zhou people's power.

Emperor Xin was also planning to organize a large army to march into Xiqi and destroy the Zhou people.

To avoid future troubles.

However, by comparing strength, Emperor Xin has also discovered it.

The Zhou tribe had already risen to an incredible level.

If the current Da Shang really wants to go head to head with Xiqi, their strength will be almost the same!

It is hard to say who will win or lose.

They went out in full force to fight the Zhou people to the death, but were also worried about the loss of their homeland.

Therefore, Emperor Xin was not sure about going to war right away and could only be on guard.

And now.

Emperor Xin saw the sky curtain and explained the feudal system of the later Zhou Dynasty.

Suddenly I felt inspired.

"You said, if I promise, whoever destroys Xiqi will become the new ruler of Xiqi."

"Give them all the land of the Zhou people."

"If this is the case, will the other princes divide Xiqi?"

……

The sky curtain also continues.

【Imagine that the Zhou Emperor conferred upon you the title of Marquis of Xinxiang. 】

[You thought you were going to Xinxiang, Henan, but unexpectedly, your fiefdom is in Xinxiang, North America. ]

[The King of Zhou gives you 100 soldiers, 200 craftsmen and farmers, and 1000 slaves.]

[Add some basic food supplies, and you can defeat the United States and conquer North America. ]

【Then, you become the monarch of North America. 】

[But you still have to obey the Zhou emperor's rule and pay tribute on time.]

[During the process of starting your own business, the local indigenous people will definitely not give it away for free. ]

【Many of the princes at that time were actually armed pioneer groups. 】

[After arriving at the place, he used the name of the Zhou Emperor to fight the local indigenous people.]

[Like the Qin State, which owned the fertile land of Guanzhong, it took two generations of talent to gain a firm foothold. ]

【The kings of Qin all died during the expansion process.】

[The Chu State was relocated to the wild land in the south. It was small, weak, and poor. It didn’t even have offerings for sacrifices. It had to steal cattle from neighboring countries to complete the sacrificial rituals.]

[As for the State of Lu, the tombs of their previous kings were all placed to the west of the capital. ]

【why? 】

[Because the east is the territory of the local barbarians, you have to fight if you go out! ]

[Also, after the State of Yan was sealed off, it lost contact with the Zhou Dynasty for hundreds of years! ]

[Everyone thought that the Yan State's pioneering group was wiped out. ]

[It was not until the Eastern Zhou Dynasty hundreds of years later that the State of Yan reconnected with the Zhou Dynasty.]

【Everyone then realized that the State of Yan had actually established a firm foothold in the northeast and had developed.】

[It can be said that the conditions for the princes of the branch companies to start a business for the head office Zhou Dynasty were extremely difficult. ]

The barrage of comments also started to complain.

"To put it simply, it is about expanding the territory on the map, dividing the territory among different nobles according to their closeness, especially the bad land and the territories of the barbarians, so as to achieve the effect of actual expansion and control."

《It is colonial expansion.》

"The Chu State had a miserable start. The former king, Xiong Yi, established his kingdom in Jingshan and built a new country from scratch..."

"The Qin State is not much better."

"There is no trace of the history of the first few hundred years of the Yan State, and everyone thought that the Yan State was dead."

"The country was established 400 years ago, but lost contact for years. I am dying of laughter."

"Yan State went to Qi and Lu for help. Qi and Lu were confused. Who are you? Then they checked with the Zhou Emperor and confirmed that Yan State existed within the Great Zhou system."

"The history books of the State of Yan are all gone, the name may be wrong, it may be the State of Yan."

"The barbarians were the majority at that time, and the population of the princes in the Zhou system was probably not more than that of the barbarians."

"At first, Jiang Taigong didn't dare to build a temple or a tomb in Qi. As soon as you finished building it, the Dongyi would dig up your ancestral tomb."

《Quan Hou: Back then, I followed the orders of the Shang Dynasty and helped to attack the Zhou Rong. Now that the Zhou Dynasty has taken over the world, I have become a "Quan Rong barbarian"?》

"Jizi was really awesome. He pioneered all the way to North Korea." (End of this chapter)