First of all, for a period of time after Zhou Pingwang moved eastward, Zheng Guo's diplomatic strategy remained overbearing. At that time, Zheng Zhuanggong was called? Three tyrants in the early Spring and Autumn Period? The first one. With the rise of Qin, Jin and Qi in the north, Zheng gradually declined and became a small country. Zheng's strength can't compete with big countries, so he can only use diplomatic strategies to survive in the cracks.
In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin and Chu fought for hegemony, and Chu launched eight wars against Zheng in twelve years. Zheng is an ally of Jin, located in the Central Plains, and is a military and transportation hub. Zheng is the first step for Chu to develop northward. Zheng was undoubtedly the first victim of Jin Chu's hegemony.
In the seventeenth year of Chu Zhuangwang (597 BC), dissatisfied with Zheng Youchu's entry into Jin, he led three armies to besiege Zheng Ducheng. This is the largest war in Chu in recent years, and Zheng stubbornly resisted. At the same time, he asked Jin for help, but Jin did not send troops because of internal contradictions. Zheng is a small country, and its strength is far from that of Chu. In March, the Chu army besieged Zheng. Zheng Xianggong took off his clothes and knelt on the ground and said, I have sinned against you. It is my sin to let the king come to our country in a rage. You exiled us or divided our country into princes, and we obeyed. If you don't tear down our ancestral temple, let us serve you, even if it is a great kindness, for the sake of four generations of kings before Zheng, we dare not expect it. ? Zheng Xianggong speaks both hard and soft with great skill. He rightfully took out the trump card of the former king, which implied that Zheng had his own ancestral temple country and was protected by the former king.
Hearing this, Chu Zhuangwang felt that Zheng Xianggong was resilient and would gain the trust and support of the people. If Zheng is destroyed, it will be a moral failure. So Chu made peace with Zheng and let Zheng play for Chu. After Zheng surrendered, Jin led a great army to cross the Yellow River and was stationed between Ao and Mao to save Zheng. Zheng is very embarrassed. Going to Chu will offend Jin, and going to Jin will offend Chu. In order to survive, Zheng sent messengers to urge the Jin army to fight against the Chu army, and explained to the State of Jin that Zheng was about to fall and had to surrender. In fact, Zheng has no second thoughts about the state of Jin.
Zheng provoked the Jin-Chu War and said in Sun Tzu's Art of War:? Watching the fire from the other side, waiting for the opportunity to move? Zheng is a small country, and only through the decisive battle between Jin and Chu can he win. It is better to serve one mother-in-law than two. Zheng is located between Jin and Chu, and Jin and Chu want to win Zheng over. In order to survive, only choose to be the mainstay, choose the strong, Chu is stronger than Chu, Jin is stronger than Jin, and strive for survival in the swing. As a weak country, Zheng attached great importance to diplomacy and used diplomatic strategies to deal with big countries, which enabled Zheng to survive in a sinister environment. Those weak countries that despise diplomacy, such as Chen Guo and Cai Guo, Chen Guo died twice and was revived twice. Finally, Chen and Cai were destroyed by Chu, giving full play to the wisdom of the survivors.
Second, the people are United. Zheng was not only oppressed by Jin and Chu, but also by Qin. In 627 AD, Zheng Mu, the most promising monarch of Jin State, died. When Qin Mugong held a funeral in the state of Jin, he attacked Zheng from a distance, and Qin Jun marched eastward. Zheng is a traffic hub with developed business. There are many merchants coming and going to Luoyang every day. When Gao Xian, a cattle dealer, passed by hua county, he suddenly found that hua county was full of troops, so he inquired about the army of Qin. Wit decided to sneak attack on Zheng, so he disguised himself as a special envoy of Zheng, led twelve cows to meet with three coaches, told them that Zheng Mugong specially sent him to treat Qin Jun, and at the same time sent someone to inform Zheng that Zheng's official envoy arrived soon with credentials. The news of the attack on Zheng has leaked out. It was expensive to March thousands of miles in the attack, so we had to move troops back to Korea.
Although Zheng is weak and has no strength to compete with Qin, both nobles and ordinary people have a spirit of defending the country. When they heard that the country was in trouble, they stepped forward. Zheng handled the matter properly. On the one hand, he immediately sent a formal envoy to delay Qin Jun's action. At the same time, it informed Qi and Song to form an alliance, which reflected the survival of the small country Zheng. Although Zheng Guo is small, its civilian spirit of protecting the country and defending the country is commendable. Of course, the spiritual outlook of a country cannot be separated from its leaders. Zheng Xianggong is noble and supported by the people.
Third, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period when sages ruled the country, Zheng had two very talented people, Zi Pi and Zi Chan, who came up with a series of ways to survive for the precarious country.
Zi chan was a famous politician in the late Spring and Autumn Period. He is the grandson of Zheng Mugong, and he has been able to govern the country since he was a child. In (565 BC), Zi Chan's father led an army to crusade against Cai and won a great victory. He captured Sima Cai alive, and the people of Zheng were intoxicated with the joy of victory. Zi chan said:? Isn't it self-destructive for a small country to succumb to other countries by force? Cai is an ally of Chu. If Chu sends troops and we submit to Chu, and Chu and Jin are enemies, and Jin takes this opportunity to attack Zheng, then it will still be peaceful. After hearing this, the father was furious and described his outstanding achievements as a disaster for the country and the people, so the son scolded his son. Zi chan is far-sighted. He sees through the situation. As expected, Chu used this as an excuse to crusade against Zheng. Zheng Jiangchu, Jin dissatisfied. Therefore, Zheng was disturbed by Jin and Chu.
In the 23rd year of AD (543 BC), Zi Pi, a doctor of the Qing Dynasty, presided over Zheng's political affairs. Zi Pi's concept of governing the country and broad mind were appreciated by Zi Pi, so Zi Pi took the initiative to give way to Zi Chan, and Zi Chan resolutely refused to accept it, because he took into account Zheng's two current situations.
First, the country is small and forced. Zheng is a small country, adjacent to a big country. The situation is dangerous and it is difficult to survive. Secondly, there are many family pets, many domestic aristocrats, small territory, shortage of resources and unfair distribution, and aristocrats quarrel endlessly for their own interests. There are strong enemies outside and hidden worries inside, which is a hot potato. Zipi is determined to give in, and promises to be the backing of Zichan, and all the responsibilities will be borne together. With the support of Zipi, Zichan will accept abdication. After Zichan took charge, he began to implement the New Deal. The property reform is another political reform after Guan Zhong. So what new policies have been implemented by Zichan?
Everyone has rules and regulations, and governing the country, whether it is urban or rural, needs rules and regulations and establishes a sound management system. There are clothes from top to bottom, and a hierarchy of seniority is established. Modern people feel sad about the ancient hierarchy. However, in ancient times, whether in the West or China, the hierarchy was an important means to maintain social stability. It can only be said that the situation was different at that time, there was no perfect system, only the most suitable system. The land was sealed, and the state publicly recognized the ownership and use right of the nobles and civilians to the land in law. This reform is the most important policy in all the New Deal, which recognizes the legitimacy of private land. It is a household registration system based on the establishment of people in five units. Sub-product reform, on the basis of Guanzhong reform, makes full use of each other's strengths and makes up for each other's shortcomings, and formulates a set of management system that is most suitable for one's own country. Sub-product reform keeps pace with the times, mainly in two aspects:
Implement a reasonable reward and punishment system to reward those who are meritorious or frugal. Crack down on those who live in luxury. This policy is different from that of some big countries. For example, the state of Qi does not prohibit extravagant life because it is rich and powerful. Zheng is different, not only a small country but also not rich, so we should advocate thrift. This policy publicly acknowledged the right to use and ownership of land by nobles and civilians in law, which initiated the private ownership of land in China. Of course, private ownership of land is produced under certain conditions, and it is necessary to increase land tax. The reform measures of increasing taxes on Zi chan met with strong opposition from nobles, especially the more land the nobles owned, the more fierce the opposition, so Zi chan had to flee to the State of Jin for refuge. At this time, Zipi, who had promised to be an umbrella for housing reform, contacted some nobles who took care of the overall situation to suppress the opposition and expel the ignorant nobles from Zheng. Zi chan returned to Zheng under the protection of Zi Pi and continued to carry out the New Deal. Zi chan was severely reprimanded by the nobles after just one year in politics, and people's dissatisfaction with Zi chan was written into songs and sung everywhere:
Zi chan has been in politics for three years, and the reform has achieved results, and the people have lived a rich life. People put the achievements of Zichan into songs and sang them everywhere:
The above is a sharp contrast between the evaluation before and after the sub-product reform. Before and after the reform, people's evaluation of this sub-product was quite different. The success of sub-product reform is mainly attributed to two factors:
First, most of the nobles in Zheng are rational and take care of the overall situation, and the people in Zheng also support property rights reform. In addition, the purpose of the property reform is to make the country strong and the people live a rich life, and his family has not benefited much from it. What the common people see is the benefits brought by the reform to the nobility and the common people.
Second, Zi Chan is broad-minded. Although the nobles who strongly opposed his reform were expelled from the state of Zheng, Zichan still kept their property without dividing it up, and they were allowed to enter and leave the state of Zheng freely. Zi chan's mind is admirable. Under the reform of property ownership, people's lives are rich and the country is prosperous. Since then, Zheng's viability has become stronger and stronger.
Confucius spoke highly of the property reform, and he used respect and justice to evaluate the success of the reform. As a national leader, he can lead by example, be honest, care about people's sufferings, improve people's lives, make people rich, and let people see and feel the dividends of the New Deal. Such a leader is bound to be supported and loved by the people. Confucius used just four words to evaluate Zi chan's achievements, which should also be the four-word motto of politicians in any era.
To sum up, during the Spring and Autumn Period, wars continued, big countries annexed small countries to dominate, and small countries fought for their own interests all the year round. Big countries have their own hegemony, and small countries have their own way of survival. In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin and Chu began to compete for hegemony, and small countries faced the thorny problem of taking sides. At that time, Lu chose to take refuge in the vassal state of Jin, because Chu and Lu were separated by Song, Chen and Cai, and it was still difficult to cut Lu, and Lu's partial strategy also produced good results.
However, Zheng's geographical position is rather awkward. It borders the State of Jin in the north and Chu in the south. It is not appropriate to stand on either side, so we can only choose the strong to follow and survive in the cracks. By the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the relationship between Zheng and the great powers had changed because the son of the sage came to power. Because of Zi Chan's personality and prestige, Jin and Chu paid more and more attention to Augustus Zheng, and Zi Chan made outstanding achievements during his twenty years in power. He knew well how to win the respect of the great powers, and formulated a series of survival methods for Zheng at home and abroad, which made Zheng's survival ability stronger.