Chapter 3 The Beginning of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
In the late autumn of 771 BC, frost covered the ground. Outside the west gate of Haojing City, the crops had been harvested, the loess was exposed, the sparse farmhouses were silent in the cold wind, the grass and trees were dry, and the fallen leaves were rolling in the autumn wind.
Suddenly, the rumble of horse hooves sounded on the ground, and then, a burst of yellow dust rose in the wilderness to the west, and a group of galloping horse teams rolled in, getting closer and closer. The people on the horses had long messy hair and wore sheepskin jackets.
Waving a machete. There was no flag, only a howl like a wolf.
"Xirong is coming, Xirong is coming..."
Shouts came from all directions, with panic and accompanying figures running away. Not long after, the beacon tower on Haojing City lit up with smoke. Then, one beacon tower after another raised smoke pillars. Black smoke rolled into the distance.
, informed the nearby princes and garrisons about the enemy invasion of Xirong.
The suspension bridges at the east gate, north gate, and south gate of Haojing City were pulled up one after another. Only the west gate was wide open. A group of chariots came out of the west gate. This was the guard of Emperor Zhou, with only a hundred chariots. The leader was a general named Zheng Boyou.
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This group of chariots had just arrived at the open space outside the west gate, and before they could even form a formation, Xirong's cavalry surrounded them. Zheng Boyou took the lead in driving forward, and behind him, the Western Zhou chariots rumbled and launched towards Xirong.
They charged. The war drums were drumming, and the king's army fought bravely. In a blink of an eye, these chariots were strangled with Xirong's cavalry.
The chariots of the Western Zhou Dynasty are generally configured like this. There are four armored horses in the front, three people in the car, one person driving, one person holding the spear to attack, and one archer. They can attack and defend. Each chariot is equipped with ten infantrymen. This
This kind of chariot has huge impact and lethality against infantry formations, but it is inflexible against cavalry.
The Xirong were all cavalry, with 15,000 men. They were not only fast, but also very flexible. Zheng Boyou's men and horses were too few, only more than a thousand, and they could not withstand the siege of the Xirong cavalry from all sides. Not long after the battle, Zheng Boyou's men and horses were defeated by the Xirong
The cavalry was divided and surrounded. One of his chariots had to deal with cavalry several times more than his own. An hour later, Zheng Boyou died in battle. The rest of the people either died in battle or fled. The Xirong soldiers pursued and killed them all the way, and as the defeated troops
Entered Haojing City.
King Zhou You hurriedly took Bao Si, Bo Fu, Guo Shifu and others to flee to Lishan. The Western soldiers passed through the city and pursued them to Lishan. Guo Shifu led the few remaining soldiers and horses of the royal family to resist, and only fought
After a while, the whole army was wiped out. He also died in front of the battle. King Zhou You, Bo Fu, Bao Si, and some accompanying ministers were all taken prisoner.
The chief of Xirong ordered the execution of King You of Zhou, Bo Fu and other important figures. Seeing Bao Si's stunning beauty, he kept her for his own use.
The Western Zhou Dynasty began when King Wu of Zhou conquered Zhou and lasted for more than 270 years. It was destroyed in just a few days.
This disaster of national destruction was caused by Marquis Shen. In order to save his personal wealth and life, he borrowed troops from Xirong and attacked Haojing. In addition, King You of Zhou used beacon fire to trick the princes, which caused the princes around Haojing to see the beacon fire.
They all thought that King You of Zhou was playing around again, so they did not come to the rescue. Therefore, the Xirong sneak attack was successful.
After Xirong occupied Haojing, Marquis Shen sent someone to ask the chief of Xirong to retreat. But at this time, Xirong had no intention of retreating. No wonder, Xirong is a nomadic people in the west of the Western Zhou Dynasty. How had they ever seen the prosperity of Haojing? The chief of Xirong
Living in the palace of King You of Zhou, enjoying the fine wine and beauties of King You of Zhou, it felt like a life lived by gods. How could I be willing to leave? The soldiers of the Western Army burned, killed, and looted in the city of Haojing, committing all kinds of evil. They robbed everything they saw, including gold, silver, and jewelry.
, food, production tools, even bedding, pots and pans, etc. must be snatched, because they do not have these, and even if they do have them, they are better than theirs.
Marquis Shen originally wanted to use the help of Xirong to get rid of King You of Zhou, and then help Yijiu to come to power. Unexpectedly, he did something that led a wolf into the house, and brought disaster to the Western Zhou Dynasty. He deeply regretted it, so he secretly circulated a message and announced
The princes, ask them to send troops quickly to rescue Haojing.
When the news reached the State of Zheng, Zheng Boyou's son Jutu learned that his father had died in battle. He was filled with grief and anger. He put on mourning clothes, took two hundred military chariots, and took the lead in rushing towards Haojing. Other princes also took action. Dozens of other princes also took action.
During the day, flags were flying on the road east of Hangu Pass, smoke was billowing, and armies of princes from all walks of life rushed to rescue him.
At the same time, a group of soldiers and horses came from the west to fight towards the east. They were soldiers from a small country living in Tianshui, Gansu Province. The country's name was Qin. What's more special is that the monarch of this small country did not receive the invitation from Marquis Shen.
However, he took the initiative to lead his troops.
The first people to kill in Guanzhong were the soldiers and horses of the state of Zheng. The state of Zheng was a powerful country at that time, with strong soldiers and well-trained horses. They dug breakthroughs and were eager to take revenge. The Zheng army immediately fought when they encountered enemies along the way. Xirong was killed by them and fled.
A few days later, soldiers and horses from the princes arrived one after another, and Xirong was defeated in the battle. When the chief of Xirong saw how powerful the armies of the princes were, he was frightened and quickly ordered his troops to retreat. Before leaving, they looted the palace and looted the city.
, captured a group of young men and women, and then first set fire to the palace, and then set fires everywhere in the city. When the entire Haojing city fell into a sea of fire, Xirong took advantage of the night to escape to the west.
The fire burned for two days. When the princes entered Haojing, the scene before them was horrific: the palace was burned, leaving only ruins. Corpses lay on the streets, attracting countless jackdaws. A large number of houses were burned down, and more than half of the people in the city ran away.
The once prosperous capital city was left in ruins, with the smell of rotting corpses floating in the air.
The country cannot be left without an owner for a day. Marquis Shen proposed to support the former crown prince Ji Yijiu to succeed the emperor. Luhou, Zuohou and Xu Wengong were the first to support it. The other princes also agreed, so Ji Yijiu ascended the throne among the ruins.
The throne is King Ping of Zhou.
The armies of the princes were stationed in Haojing for several days. They could not see the return of Xirong and could not find food and grass to support them, so they withdrew one after another. King Zhou Ping left Jutu behind and asked him to be the minister of the imperial court. Jutu naturally agreed and left a part of it.
Zheng's soldiers and horses came to defend the capital.
Not long after the princes retreated, the Xirong came back again. Gotu led his troops to attack and drove away the Xirong. Haojing was temporarily safe.
King Zhou Ping was helpless in the face of the dilapidated royal city. The royal family's wealth was looted by the Xirong, the money was gone, and the palace could not be built. There was a lack of food in the city, the people were in dire straits, and people starved to death or fled every day. Some people suggested that King Zhou Ping move the capital.
This is a very bold proposal. Because the birthplace of the Zhou Dynasty is in the Qishan area, the vast land east of Hangu has been granted to various princes. Once the Zhou royal family leaves its territory, it means that it will become
A small court with a small town, very little income, and depleted soldiers. In the Central Plains where the heroes are divided, it can only be regarded as a small country at best. There is also a bigger problem. The royal court may never lose the authority to issue orders.
King Zhou Ping is obviously not strong enough, of course, or he may really have no choice. In short, whether he wants it or not, Luoyi far to the east is a temptation. There is a palace there, and there are six hundred miles of territory around it, but
To build a food town. Therefore, King Ping of Zhou made a decision that changed history - moving the capital to Luoyi.
In 770 BC, King Ping of Zhou officially ordered the capital to be moved to Luoyi (today's Luoyang area in Henan Province). From then on, Chinese history opened a new page, known as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The Spring and Autumn Period also began.
After King Ping of Zhou moved the capital, the remnant forces of the Western Zhou Dynasty that stayed in Guanzhong gathered together again. Duke Han of Guo proclaimed Yu Chen, the younger brother of King You of Zhou, as the emperor, and was known as King Zhou Xie in history. In the Zhou Dynasty, there were two kings standing side by side.
In the eleventh year of King Ping of Zhou, Jichou, Marquis of Jin Wen, attacked Haojing and killed King Xie of Zhou, ending the decade-long situation of two kings standing side by side in the Zhou Dynasty. The situation in the early years of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty was stabilized.