My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 16 Only Hands Holding the Sky

The Chinese have loved recording history since ancient times, but the ancients were not good at interpreting history.

The reasons why the ancients recorded history were very complicated, but one of the main reasons was to record the gains and losses of governments throughout the ages and provide reference for later monarchs.

Their way of interpreting history is also superficial, only looking at the causes, processes and results of a certain person, an event or a certain policy.

Learn some lessons from it.

Few people can string together a certain type of events, systematically sort them out and interpret them, and then solve a whole series of problems.

But in Ma Yu's previous life, connecting similar historical events was already one of the most basic methods of studying history.

Anyone who has a little knowledge of history likes to start with a certain type of event and interpret it through the course of five thousand years.

Otherwise, it will be difficult for your research results to be recognized by everyone.

Even history enthusiasts and those who brag about history do this habitually.

If you don't know how to connect similar historical events, you will be disliked by everyone in online forums.

This is Ma Yu’s biggest advantage as a time traveler.

For the ancients, this was simply a dimensionality reduction attack.

All his previous calculations and plans actually had only one purpose.

This discussion shifted from a debate on the thoughts of Guan and Xun to an analysis of historical events.

Then use more advanced historical interpretation methods to defeat Song Lian.

Song Lian was led by him into the position he had set.

It’s not that Song Lian is stupid, it’s a complete cognitive crush. He has no idea where the other party will launch the attack.

And he also has enough confidence in his knowledge.

He knew that Ma Yu might have a unique inheritance, but he was too young, so how deep could he master it?
He didn't believe he couldn't handle it.

So when he realized that Ma Yu was well prepared, he did not fight back directly, but followed the other party's guidance.

He wanted to see what unique insights Ma Yu could come up with.

Ma Yu didn't know this, but it didn't affect his plan.

When he said "Guan Zi can stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhao Gong", Zhu Biao, Zhu Chong and even Empress Ma were all bewildered.

Who is Zhao Gong?

It’s not their fault that they are ignorant. Even in the era of information explosion in the previous life, not many people knew about Zhao Gong.

People are more accustomed to focusing their attention on Duke Zhou.

In fact, it is still unknown whether Duke Zhou could have achieved such great achievements without Duke Zhao.

King Wu of Zhou died shortly after the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and even the most basic system of etiquette and laws had not been established.

He left the young King Cheng of Zhou to succeed him and appointed Duke Zhou as regent.

One can imagine what kind of mess Zhou Gong was facing.

As the saying goes, when the ruler is young, the country is in doubt. Some people immediately suspected that Duke Zhou wanted to become the emperor himself and used this as an excuse to launch a rebellion.

The leaders were none other than Duke Zhou's three brothers, Guan Shu, Cai Shu, and Huo Shu.

This incident is known in history as the Rebellion of the Three Guards, and some people also call it the second time that Duke Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty.

In fact, it was not only the three forces that started the Rebellion of the Three Guards, but also King Zhou of Shang's son Wu Geng.

The fiefdoms of Guan Shu, Cai Shu and Huo Shu were right next to Wu Geng's fiefdom.

King Wu of Zhou sealed them here to monitor Wu Geng and prevent him from causing trouble.

This is why the three of them are called the Three Guards.

It’s a pity that these three people were in turn bewitched by Wu Geng and launched a coup to seize power.

Wu Geng also called on the vassal states loyal to the Shang Dynasty to rise up and rebel together.

So the Rebellion of the Three Guards was superficially an internal conflict within the Zhou royal family, but in reality it was also a counterattack by the remnants of the Shang Dynasty.

This is why this event is called the second time Duke Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty.

The Rebellion of the Three Guards made the newly established Western Zhou Dynasty shaky.

Duke Zhou alone could not handle this situation.

He needs allies.

The military ally was Jiang Ziya, who led the Qi army and joined Duke Zhou in attacking the three rebellious supervisors and the remnants of the Shang Dynasty.

There is no need to mention how high Jiang Ziya's status in the army is.

With his support, Duke Zhou easily took control of the military power and ultimately achieved military victory.

But when Duke Zhou went out to fight, someone needed to stay in the capital to look after the family.

This person is Duke Zhao of Zhou.

He can be said to be the most important ally of Duke Zhou in domestic affairs, without a doubt.

He stayed in the capital to assist King Cheng of Zhou in stabilizing the political situation and to raise military supplies for the army.

This allowed Duke Zhou to have no worries and focus on suppressing the rebellion.

After the second successful destruction of the Shang Dynasty, Duke Zhou redivided the vassal states and moved the descendants of the Shang king to the states of Qi and Lu.

That is the State of Song.

After stabilizing the situation, it is time to formulate etiquette and laws.

Everyone knows that Duke Zhou established the Zhou Rituals, which established a system of etiquette and law that has influenced China for thousands of years.

However, few people know that Duke Zhao was also an important participant.

Later, when Duke Zhou died, Duke Zhao continued to implement the ritual and legal system he established.

As we all know, it is not easy to formulate a system of etiquette and laws, and it is even more difficult to implement it.

If it is enforced by force, even a unified dynasty may be counterattacked and destroyed, let alone a feudal system like the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The best way is to subtly influence the vassal states and make them align with the Zhou royal family, which will take a long time to implement.

Another characteristic of Duke Zhao was his longevity.

Historical records show that he lived to be eighty, ninety, or even a hundred years old, but Ma Yu could not remember clearly.

This age is considered a long life even in the 21st century, let alone in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

You can imagine how high his status is.

After Duke Zhou passed away, he continued to assist King Cheng of Zhou and King Kang of Zhou, and unswervingly promoted the Zhou rituals.

By the time Duke Zhao died several decades later, the Zhou rituals had been accepted by people all over the world and had become the ritual and legal system practiced by all nations.

This is also the reason why he and Duke Zhou are called the Two Saints.

Therefore, when Song Lian heard Ma Yu say that Guan Zhong could be compared with Zhao Gong, he frowned and said:
"Duke Zhao assisted Duke Zhou in formulating rites and laws, building Luoyi, suppressing the rebellion of the Three Guards, and assisting four generations of monarchs."

"He devoted his entire life to promoting the rituals and laws established by the Duke of Zhou, and to exercising benevolence and virtue throughout the world."

"The fact that the Western Zhou Dynasty was able to successfully weather several upheavals in the early years of the Zhou Dynasty was a great achievement."

"People call him and the Duke of Zhou the two saints. How could Guan Zhong dare to be compared with him?"

Zhu Biao and Zhu Chong were very surprised. They didn't expect that in addition to Duke Zhou, there was also Duke Zhao in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Queen Ma also suddenly realized and remembered that she had seen this name before.

However, she did not study that period of history in detail, but only had a general understanding of it.

I didn't know much about the achievements of Duke Zhao. I only knew that he was the younger brother of Duke Zhou. I didn't expect that he was also a sage-level ancestor.

Then, she couldn't help but feel curious, why did Ma Yu think that Guan Zhong's contribution could be compared with Zhao Gong?

Ma Yu was not surprised by Song Lian's reaction and said:

"This requires mentioning what happened during the first hundred years after the establishment of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty."

Zhu Biao saw that this was a posture of telling a history story.

Listen to stories? Who doesn’t like it? They immediately pricked up their ears.

Song Lian also raised his eyebrows. Are you going to tell me history? But he did not interrupt.

Now he wanted to see what this young man was up to.

Ma Yu had been talking for so long that his mouth felt dry. He took a few sips of tea from the tea bowl to moisten his throat before continuing:

"When people talk about the history of the late Western Zhou Dynasty and the early Eastern Zhou Dynasty, they only think of King You of Zhou's debauchery and immorality, which led to the rebellion of the Quanrong."

"King Ping of Zhou had no choice but to move the capital to Luoyi. The Zhou royal family's power declined to the point where it was even weaker than that of a second- or third-rate state, and it was no longer able to command the princes."

"The Zhou emperor's authority was gone, and the nations began to fight for supremacy."

"However, few people noticed that not only did the other nations disrespect the Zhou royal family, they also challenged the Zhou rituals."

"Duke Yin of Lu served as regent for his younger brother, Duke Huan of Lu. When Duke Huan of Lu came of age and could rule, he planned to leave the capital to retire."

"But Duke Huan of Lu still killed him."

"Duke Huan of Lu also had a miserable end; he married Duke Xiang of Qi's sister, Wen Jiang."

"But Wen Jiang committed adultery with Duke Xiang of Qi, and when the affair was exposed, Duke Xiang of Qi killed Duke Huan of Lu."

There is a poem in the Book of Songs that satirizes Duke Xiang of Qi and Wen Jiang:

The mountains of the South are thick with trees, and the foxes are swaying. The roads of Lu are turbulent, and Ziyou of Qi has returned. He has said he will return, so why is he still worried about returning?

"Duke Xiang of Qi's other sister, Xuan Jiang, was originally going to marry the crown prince of Wei."

"When Duke Xuan of Wei heard of Xuan Jiang's beauty, he built a high platform and married his daughter-in-law to her."

"This action led to the fratricide of the legitimate and illegitimate children of the Wei State, and civil strife for five generations."

Duke Xiang of Qi himself suffered a miserable death. He sent Lian Cheng and Guan Zhifu to guard Kuiqiu, promising them a year's stay and their return. However, he indulged himself in pleasure and forgot about the matter.

Lian Cheng and Guan Zhifu joined forces with Gongsun Wuzhi to kill Duke Xiang of Qi.

After that, Prince Xiaobai and Prince Jiu competed for the throne.

In the end, Prince Xiaobai won, who was known as Duke Huan of Qi in history.

"Without the constraints of the Zhou royal family, the royal families of various states began to fight among themselves, and their private lives became chaotic..."

"The ritual and legal system established by the Zhou Dynasty is on the verge of collapse."

This is what Confucius meant when he said that rituals and music were collapsing and declining.

"Moreover, the nations have suffered heavy losses due to internal strife."

"As the saying goes, when wood rots, worms take hold and cracks in walls allow ants to enter. The Central Plains nations have exposed their weaknesses, and the surrounding barbarian tribes have begun to harbor evil intentions."

"The Gongyang Commentary records: The Southern Barbarians and the Northern Barbarians invaded each other, and China was on the verge of collapse."

The Southern Yi refers to the State of Chu, which was granted a title during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou, but has always been regarded as a barbarian by the Central Plains countries.

King Xiang of Zhou once said: The tribute of the Chu people, baomao, is not accepted, the king's sacrifice is not shared, and there is no way to make wine, so I am going to fight.

Guan Zhong also said something similar.

The general idea is to accuse the Chu people of failing to pay tribute to the Zhou emperor in time, and failing to deliver the gifts for offering sacrifices to the sky on time.

The great affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs.

The fact that they didn't even offer sacrifices to the Zhou emperor to worship heaven shows Chu's attitude towards Zhou rituals.

In fact, the State of Chu never adopted the Zhou rituals, but implemented its own local culture.

Therefore, the Zhou royal family and the Central Plains states all regarded them as barbarians.

The people of Chu themselves also said, "We are barbarians."

Beidi refers to ethnic minorities such as the Quanrong.

They took advantage of the weakness of the Central Plains and launched a fierce attack on the various countries.

China (all the countries in the Central Plains) were connected like a thread, which is why it was not conquered by the Chu State and the Northern Di.

Having said that, Ma Yu paused to catch his breath and continued:
"The thread that connects all nations is the Zhou rituals. Do you agree with what I say, Mr. Qianxi?"

Song Lian nodded, he really agreed.

The only thing that could connect the various countries in the Central Plains was the Zhou Dynasty's ritual and legal system.

What Confucianism respected was the Zhou rituals, so this was equivalent to promoting Confucianism.

Ma Yu then asked, "As we said before, the Zhou royal family is in decline, and the other states no longer follow the Zhou rituals."

"So who made the nations return to the Zhou rituals? Or, in other words, who was the needle that threaded the thread?"

In the past, the Zhou royal family was the needle that threaded the thread, but now it can no longer command the heroes.

So who took over this important task?

The answer is actually on paper, Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong.

"Under Guan Zhong's assistance, Duke Huan of Qi became the hegemon among the princes."

"First, we attacked the Rong and Di peoples in the north and rescued the Xing and Wei states."

"We also relocated them to relatively safe places and built cities for them."

There were two great rulers in the history of the Chu State. One was King Cheng of Chu, and the other was the remarkable King Zhuang of Chu.

The King of Chu at that time was King Cheng of Chu.

After King Cheng of Chu ascended the throne, he pacified the surrounding areas in a short period of time, defeated the Yi and Yue tribes, and expanded the territory by thousands of miles.

This enabled the State of Chu to leap from a remote and barbaric small country to one of the most powerful vassal states.

King Cheng of Chu was naturally not satisfied with this and turned his attention to the Central Plains.

If your Zhou royal family can rule the world, why can't my Chu State?

At that time, the weak Central Plains countries were no match for the Chu State. It was Duke Huan of Qi who led the coalition forces of various countries and firmly blocked the Chu State's way to the north.

The State of Chu had no way to destroy the Central Plains, and was afraid that Duke Huan of Qi would lead his troops to attack it.

After all, the banner raised by Duke Huan of Qi was to respect the king and expel the barbarians. If you do not implement the Zhou rituals, then you are a barbarian and we will fight you.

The State of Chu did not want to be beaten, so it had no choice but to align itself with the Central Plains in terms of etiquette and laws.

This also means that the Chu State officially began to become sinicized.

A few decades later, when King Zhuang of Chu ascended the throne, Chu had become culturally similar to the other countries in the Central Plains.

Later, King Zhuang of Chu defeated the State of Jin and became the new generation of overlord, and he still implemented the Zhou rituals.

"All this is due to the efforts of Duke Huan of Qi and Guan Zhong."

"They reaffirmed the Zhou rituals and set the standards for hegemony, forcing those who came after them to follow the path they left behind."

"It is for this reason that the Zhou rituals were not abandoned after the decline of the Zhou royal family."

In addition to respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, Duke Huan of Qi also established several basic rules for the various countries at the Kuiqiu Conference.

Do not hold back the flow of water, do not buy up all the grain, do not change your son, do not take a concubine as your wife, and do not let women get involved in state affairs.

What does that mean?

We cannot block water sources or interrupt food supply because of war.

The system of primogeniture cannot be abolished, concubines cannot be taken as wives, and women cannot interfere in government affairs.

I won’t talk about the last three points, but there is no need to say how important the first two are to the people and their livelihood.

It can be said that it was Guan Zhong and Duke Huan of Qi who held up the collapsing sky.

It's just like this that I can hold the sky with one hand.

"Teacher, you said before that Guan Zhong's emphasis on industry and commerce led to the corruption of Qi's morals."

"Have you ever wondered whether Qi's land is suitable for farming?"

"Even now, there are still large areas of saline-alkali land in Shandong where no grass can grow, let alone crops."

"Under such circumstances, does he have any other options besides developing industry and commerce according to local conditions?"

"If you were in that position, how could you solve the people's livelihood problems and lead Qi to prosperity?"

Song Lian remained silent.

Queen Ma looked thoughtful.

Ma Yu continued, "You said Guan Zhong assisted Duke Huan and united the nine states. However, honoring the king and repelling the barbarians was all based on manipulation, not on benevolence and righteousness."

"I have only one thing to say about this: a gentleman judges by deeds, not by heart."

The eyes of Empress Ma and Zhu Biao both lit up. Judging from the deeds rather than the heart, this was a very good idea.

Song Lian couldn't help but be moved by these words, but he still didn't say anything.

Seeing that the situation was almost right, Ma Yu delivered the final blow:
"If it weren't for Guan Zhong and Duke Huan of Qi, the Chu State would have destroyed the Central Plains and started four generations later, and the Northern Di would have swallowed up the Xia and established a new tribe."

"Can the Zhou rituals survive?"

"Without the patriarchal system, can Confucianism survive on its own?"

China has always talked about the Three Dynasties, and the Three Dynasties here refer to the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Why three dynasties? Because each of these three dynasties had its own unique characteristics in terms of ritual and legal systems.

Although after the change of dynasties, the new dynasty improved and inherited the systems of the previous dynasty.

But overall, they all show their unique characteristics.

Later, from the Qin, Han, Sui, Tang dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, no one was able to break away from the shackles of the ritual and legal systems of the Three Dynasties.

Therefore, from the perspective of the patriarchal system, there are still three generations.

Both the Chu State and the Rongdi had unique local cultures and adopted local ritual and legal systems.

If they destroyed the Central Plains and established their own rule, they would adopt a ritual system different from that of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties.

So culturally, they are equivalent to the fourth generation.

The history of China will become Xia, Shang, Zhou, Chu/Di.

Once they have reached the fourth generation, the Zhou rituals will be abolished. Without the Zhou rituals, there will be no Confucianism.

Therefore, Guan Zhong and Duke Huan of Qi not only saved the country from collapse, but also indirectly saved Confucianism.

Confucius said: If it were not for Guan Zhong, I would have had my hair loose and my clothes worn on the left side.

In fact, he still underestimated the achievements of Guan Zhong and Duke Huan of Qi, and also underestimated their influence on Chinese civilization.

In other words, Confucius only saw that they resisted the attacks of Chu and Rongdi.

But their contribution to Zhou Li is not seen.

Otherwise, he would not have said something like, "Guan Zhong is small and does not know etiquette."

Ma Yu said so much, but it was not to explain Confucius' words "If it were not for Guan Zhong, I would have had my hair loose and my clothes on the left."

But it was to refute the idea that "Guan Zhong was small and ignorant of etiquette."

This sentence is the basis for Confucian disciples to criticize Guan Zhong.

As long as this point is refuted, all criticisms of Guan Zhong will be invalid.

A person who saved Zhou Li and indirectly saved Confucianism.

You say he lacks virtue? Or that he doesn't know etiquette?
Ma Yu sighed deeply and said, "So, why do you say Guan Zhong is small-minded and doesn't know etiquette?"

Faced with this ironclad historical fact, Song Lian remained silent.

(End of this chapter)