China has a long history, five thousand years is not enough to summarize. Today, I want to talk about the monarch in the history of China, who is second only to the emperor.
The early history of China, that is, the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, was a feudal era. At that time, the supreme leader of the country was Wang, commonly known as Wang. (The word "Da" is pronounced homonym Dai) After Shang Tang destroyed the Xia Dynasty and the King of Wu conquered it, the country was still divided into several vassal states, and the supreme ruler of the vassal state became a "monarch", that is, a vassal.
After the establishment of the Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Wuwang continued this historical practice and enfeoffed vassal states. Every three or five years, the vassal States came to Beijing to appear before the king and paid tribute to him every year. After Zhou Youwang began to compete for vassal states, after the demise of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Pingwang succeeded to the throne in Luoyang, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty began. At the same time, due to the decline of the Zhou Dynasty, the vassal states began to become stronger and stronger. Although they still respect the king, they don't have as much as before. China began to enter the Spring and Autumn Period. Since the Zhou Dynasty, the monarchs of various vassal states have given Marquis a higher title, that is, "Gong", and the monarchs of various vassal states have become "Gong". Four dukes in the "Five Overlords in the Spring and Autumn Period" are very famous-Qi Huangong, Jin Wengong, Qin Mugong and Song Xianggong. The ancestors of these four people are King Wu and Duke Zhou.
Chu Zhuangwang, a small country among the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period, is a self-reliant king in the south of China. It also pays tribute to Zhou every year. By the time King Chu Mu died in 6 13-59 1 BC, several young Zhuang kings under the age of 20 made great efforts to appoint Sun Shuai as Lingyin (equivalent to Guo Xiang) to quell civil strife and dominate the Central Plains. Late spring and autumn. Such as wuyue in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. At this time, not only the Emperor of Zhou became a decoration, but also the traditional countries such as Qilu, Jin and Zheng gradually weakened due to internal friction, which led to the destruction of Qi by Tian and the division of Jin by the three tribes, thus gradually entering the Warring States period of a big country and a small country. It was not until 2 1 year BC that the Qin Dynasty destroyed six countries and unified China that feudalism began to disappear in the history of China.
Ying Zheng claimed to be the emperor, who was the highest position above the king, and from then on, the king became a subordinate of the emperor. Liu Bangli Han, although Liu Bang had ordered people with different surnames not to be knighted in the early Han Dynasty, Liu Bang asked some generals who had made meritorious military service in the King of War to give them fiefs, but the difference between their knighthood and Liu's knighthood was two to three. This is basically the case after history. At the same time, the fiefs of princes with different surnames are also different from those of their peers, and the surnames are smaller than the surnames. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, some ministers advocated the continuation of the Zhou Dynasty system and the enfeoffment of princes. However, due to the rebellion of later princes, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty gradually banned the king with different surnames, which reduced the fief of the same surname. At the same time, the kings only protected a small number of foot soldiers to guard the fief.
During the Jin dynasty, the prince gave it to people with the same surname. I think this will ensure that this country will be stable forever. After all, they are of the same surname. However, a rebellion of eight kings disturbed the smoke of the newly unified Western Jin Dynasty. The Western Jin Dynasty, which was unified for 36 years, also perished. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in order to maintain the ruling class, the royal family with the same surname was also strictly controlled. Princes and fiefs were still enfeoffed, but at first, kings were not allowed to be officials.
In the Tang Dynasty, the imperial clan, like a constantly chauffeured man, enjoyed all the splendor, but each generation was demoted from prince to king, and each generation was demoted to civilian. Of course, among them, apart from being hereditary substitutes or making meritorious deeds, it is indeed the practice of people with different surnames not sealing imperial clan. The highest titles given to heroes are Duke and Marquis. The same is true in the Song Dynasty, when the children of the imperial clan basically did not participate in politics.
The same is true in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with the rank of prince and county king. Even the hereditary titles of the past dynasties have gradually decreased. As we all know, the eight "iron hat kings" in the Qing Dynasty were Daishan, Prince of Ritual, Giralang, Prince Rui, Duoduo, Prince Yu, Prince Su, Prince Heshuo Chengze, King Keqin and King Heshun. Every generation of other princes was demoted, and finally they fell into poverty. Although it is a matter of royalty, I ate several tons and didn't eat the next meal.
However, there was only one period when the title of monarch was flying all over the sky, and that was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.1On September 2, 856 (July 27, six years of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom), the Tianjing incident suddenly occurred, and more than 20,000 officials of East Wang Yang died by the swords of Wei Changhui, Qin Rigang and others. It turned out that there was a legend that the heavenly king killed Yang with a secret imperial edict, but Hong Xiuquan always denied it. Up to now, there is no definite evidence about Yang's forced seal and heavenly king's secret edict, which is generally considered to be Wei Changhui's imperial edict. In any case, this is the inevitable result of the political struggle between power and profit caused by corruption. The Tianjing incident dealt a fatal blow to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, * * * created five foreign surnames Wang who contributed to the uprising and the establishment of the dynasty. The five kings were Feng Yunshan, king of the south, and Xiao Chaogui, king of the west, who died on the way from Guangxi to Nanjing. East Wang Yang who was killed by Wei Changhui, the northern king, and later by Hong Xiuquan, the northern king; And Shi Dakai, the only wing king left after Tianjing Incident.
After the Tianjing Incident, Shi Dakai returned to the North Korean auxiliary government, which was supported by the Manchu military and civilians. However, at this time, the Hong brothers and sons were eager to seal the king after the death of the East King. First, the King of Heaven made their eldest brother Hong Renfa an Wang and their second brother Hong Renda an Wang to contain Shi Dakai. Shi Dakai angrily led the troops away and vowed never to come back.
After Shi Dakai left, Hong Xiuquan had to withdraw the titles of his two second brothers to thank the world, but he still failed to recall Shi Dakai and his hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers to Tianjing, thus losing an opportunity to revitalize the kingdom of heaven.
After the Tianjing Incident, the Taiping Army lost tens of thousands of elite cadres, and Shi Dakai, the wing king, split out and took away hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, which greatly weakened the military strength of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and put the situation in jeopardy. At this point, Zeng Guofan's Xiang army besieged Anqing on the fourth road, threatening to break Beijing this year and capture Hong Xiuquan alive. Fortunately, Chen Yucheng, a new young soldier, revived his military power in Anhui and joined forces with Li Xiucheng and Nian Army to fight back against the enemy. 1858+0 15 June 65438+ 10/5 The Three Rivers War wiped out more than 6,000 Li, the main force of Xiang Army. Later, in pursuit of victory, the siege of Anqing was solved without fighting, and the upper reaches of Tianjing were held. Chen Yucheng returned to northern Anhui, defeated the Qing army in Luzhou, and captured Li, the governor of Anhui in the Qing Dynasty, which reversed and stabilized the critical situation in the past two years after the Tianjing Incident.
Hong Xiuquan, in view of the storm caused by his younger brother's sealing the king, announced that China would never seal the king again. On top of the original Marquis, Yu, Yan, Fu, An, Yi and * * * were added, which made Chen Yucheng perfect all day long. At the same time, the previous system of commanders of five armies was restored, with Chen Yucheng as the former commander, Li Xiuwei as the later commander, Yang Fuqing as the commander of Zhongjun, Wei Jun as the commander of the right army, Li Shixian as the commander, Chen Yucheng as the "chief commander" and Li Xiuwei as the deputy commander, commanding the whole army. The formulation and appellation of these new titles generally reflect the affiliation of Taiping Army after Tianjing Incident and the command system formed according to its military capabilities. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom once again witnessed the resurgence of reconstruction after the chaos.
However, only five months after Sanhe Victory and only 1 month after Luzhou Victory, Hong Xiuquan took a fancy to and reused his brother Hong Ren who had just returned from Hong Kong. This practice was denounced by the whole army, and people were especially indignant at the repression suffered by Chen Yucheng. This incident of cronyism and passive seal of marquis greatly hurt the hearts of soldiers, which not only lost the opportunity for the kingdom of heaven to prosper again after its victory in northern Anhui, but also directly shook the already unstable military foundation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Wang Di reds who have no credit have resigned again and again. Unexpectedly, after losing Yang's restraint, Hong Xiuquan insisted on maintaining the authority of the family and the world, and vowed not to seal the king, and even sealed Hong Ren. In order to quell discontent, Chen Yucheng and others were crowned king.
However, the closure of Chen Yucheng triggered a new chain reaction. Because of his great contribution, Chen Yucheng was very popular with the second-class jade knight, and now he suddenly won the title of king by leaps and bounds. Naturally, there are other active warriors to keep up with the game. First, Li Xiucheng, the commander of the rear army stationed in Pukou to defend the north gate of Tianjing, secretly communicated with Li Zhaoshou who defected to the enemy, and reported it to China after being discovered. King Hong Xiuquan was shocked to hear the news. At the same time, he ordered the closure of the river to prevent changes, and wrote a letter to Li Xiucheng as a loyal gentleman. Then, Yang Fuqing, commander of China army, was appointed as assistant king, and Li Shixian, commander of Zuo Jun, was appointed as servant king. Wei Jun, the left-behind commander of the right army, was appointed late because he was the younger brother of Wei Changhui, and led tens of thousands of people to defect to the enemy in Chizhou, Anhui.
Especially the kings of the Hong family, big and small, were banned and became bullies in Tianjing. For example, the kings of the Hong family, headed by Hong Renfa, the loyal monarch who became the "main mirror in Beijing", and Hong Renda, the brave monarch of the "Imperial Forest", were in charge of state affairs and ran rampant in Tianjing. They were in charge of the entrance and exit of the city gate by selling "Redstone Tickets", and even loyal Li Xiucheng had to pay 654.38+ 2 million yuan to go out of the city for a transfer. For another example, before Tianjing fell into the final encirclement, some people in the DPRK suggested buying grain in advance and transporting it back to Beijing to prepare for the war. However, due to the high price of "flood tickets" entering and leaving the city gate, heavy taxes have to be paid when the grain is transported back, and the grain dealers refuse to buy grain again, resulting in a grain shortage after Tianjing was besieged. Hong Xiuquan called on the soldiers and civilians to eat grass, euphemistically called "manna". He himself died of eating grass and getting sick (it is recorded that he committed suicide by taking poison).
Because Hong Xiuquan lavished titles on reactive B-brother and B-brother, the wind of sealing Wang spread rapidly, and several B-brothers even sold officials and titles. Later, there was really no title to be conferred, so the word "oblique" was added to the word "king", resulting in a new word "king of the sixth rank". In the end, more than 2,700 kings were conferred.
Anyone who is crowned king, regardless of rank or position, once crowned, immediately repairs the palace, holds a beauty pageant, holds a ceremonial ceremony, and surrounds himself when he goes out, blocking the streets. According to the etiquette rules of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the second Sima, a 16-level junior official with the lowest jurisdiction over 25 people, can go out in a black sedan chair carried by four people, not to mention the princes and others who led the troops above. Today, it is circulating in Zhejiang that Li Shixian, a servant, goes out to sit in a dragon, phoenix and yellow sedan chair carried by 54 people, on which his subordinates can be called for a meeting. Wherever Wang Ye's sedan chair goes, small officials, soldiers and civilians should avoid it, and those who can't avoid it should bow their heads and kneel on the spot to meet it. If you accidentally bump into the etiquette ceremony, it will be a slap in the face and a beheading. Because there were too many princes at that time, the people couldn't meet them, so a folk song was circulated: "The princes walked everywhere and the people cried."
So many princes needed a lot of handyman to serve them, so they arrested Rafe to recruit and surrender. On the other hand, in order to raise soldiers and create a comfortable home, they used various pretexts to levy exorbitant taxes, such as shop donations, stock donations, monthly donations, Japanese donations, house donations, government donations, kitchen donations, worship donations, house number taxes, poll taxes, teacher fees and so on. At the beginning of China, the land tax was set at seven liters and five buckets per mu, and increased to seven buckets per mu two years later.
The scraped land went into the pockets of princes and local officials, so the extravagant wind of building in Tianjing and paying attention to ostentation and extravagance spread to the newly occupied areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and many official houses in Wang Fu were built one after another. The stone in Jinhua, Zhejiang, and the clock in Suzhou, Jiangsu, which are still well preserved, were built in two or three years of war. Especially the palaces, houses and gardens of Suzhou Zhongwangfu, even the new owner Li Hongzhang was amazed: "The Qionglou Yuyu and Qulan bridal chambers of Zhongwangfu are really like fairy caves." "There are three or four gardens and two or three stages, which is unprecedented in my life." (Quoted from Luo Ergang's History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Volume 38) This building started from/kloc-0 when the Taiping Army captured Suzhou in June, 860, and fell to Suzhou in February, 863. "Hundreds of craftsmen have been working all the year round, the work has not been completed, and the city has been broken." ("Robbery Remaining Ash Record")
Li Xiucheng claims to have millions of soldiers, so he has deep pockets. In addition to Suzhou's "Garden Pavilion, Flowers, Wonders and Wonders" Wang Fu, Tianjing has also built a more magnificent Wang Fu, consciously or unconsciously competing with the kings who were excluded by the powerful. He openly boasted about the magnificence of his new palace to forest, a British translator who visited Tianjin at 186 1. Forrest Gump said in the Travel Notes of Tianjing: "Zhongjun boasted that his new house is the best and most beautiful building in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom except the Tiangong."
Forrest Gump lived in an old mansion in Zhong Wang and was personally received by Zhong Wang's brother. In his book, he wrote down his experience in a mansion in Zhong Wang: "Chopsticks, forks and spoons are all made of silver, knives are made in England, and wine glasses are inlaid with gold.
"He" (referring to Wang Di) showed me many rare things hidden by Wang Zhong. Besides the heavenly king, only Zhongjun has a crown of real gold. From the rest, it's really beautiful and exquisite. The crown is a thin piece of gold, carved into the shape of a tiger, and the tiger body and tail can grow around the crown; There is a bird on each side, among which, there is a phoenix standing on the crown. The front and back of the crown are inlaid with precious stones, which I have put on my head and weigh about three pounds. Zhongjun and A Jin Ruyi are inlaid with many precious stones and pearls ... All vessels that can be made of silver are made of silver, scabbard and belt are made of silver, umbrella handle is made of silver, handles of fans, whips and mosquito swatter are made of silver, and Wang Di's hands are all made of gold bracelets and silver bracelets. "
So Li Xiucheng, with millions of soldiers, may have millions of wealth at the same time.
The new king paid tribute to the soldiers in order to collect money and make a fortune. When Chen Yucheng fought bloody battles to defend Anqing, the gateway to the upper reaches of Tianjing, Li Xiucheng and Li Shixian, brothers with millions of troops, wholeheartedly managed Jiangsu and Zhejiang sites. They never sent a single soldier to help in northern Anhui, and watched Anqing and Luzhou fall one after another, while Chen Yucheng sacrificed. It was not until the fall of Luzhou 17 that Tianjing fell into the encirclement of the Xiang army again, that Li Xiucheng saw the danger of shaking the overall situation and organized 13 Wang to lead 600,000 troops to rescue Tianjing. But because of the king's selfish desires, he was passive and afraid of war. After 46 days of fighting, the 20,000 Xiang army, which was hungry and cold, did not beat back. On the pretext of lack of warm clothes, they dispersed separately. Until the fall of Tianjing, there was no king to clear the way.
These princes returned to their comfort zone and enjoyed the splendor. Xiao Wang didn't listen to the middle king, and the middle king didn't listen to the king. Finally, they defected. Suzhou, painstakingly managed by Li Xiucheng, was also given to Li Hongzhang by his trusted four kings who defected to the enemy. It took Li Xiucheng only three and a half years from the occupation of Suzhou to the fall of Suzhou, and his million-strong army collapsed. Li Xiucheng's million-strong army was swallowed up by corrupt poisonous bacteria. After the fall of Suzhou Li Xiucheng, he fled back to Tianjing with hundreds of relatives and friends, and Tianjing also fell six months later. When Tianjing fell, Li Xiucheng protected the young king from breaking out of the city, broke away from the brigade and fled to Fangshan alone. He took off the treasure bag wrapped around his waist and was found resting. The treasure capsule was ransacked, and he was arrested and sent to the Qing camp, becoming a prisoner. After being robbed, his old and new palaces in Tianjing were razed to the ground by fire, leaving only the ruins like the Temple of the King, leaving wild pigeons flying around. The premature decline and death of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, regardless of the reasons of policy and military strategic mistakes, only after entering the city from the countryside, could not resist the temptation of greed and corruption, which intensified and eventually led to the demise of a million-strong army in a twinkling. This lesson is extremely painful and cannot but arouse the deep thought of future generations.
Limited knowledge of history, please advise people of insight!
Hope to adopt