Unify Dongyi and the Central Plains.
During his reign, Shang Zhou actively opened up new territories, which had a far-reaching impact. The conquest of Dongyi not only brought war, but also had a great positive effect on the spread of culture. Let’s take a look at Guo Moruo’s evaluation:
“The contribution of King Zhou of Yin to the development of our nation cannot be overshadowed. There was a very grand historical event at the end of the Yin Dynasty, which was the management of the southeast. This almost It was completely obliterated by historians since the Zhou Dynasty. "After the Battle of Muye, "the Yin people were oppressed by the Zhou people, and the road went to the southeast that was planned by Emperor Yi and Emperor Xin." "To put it more clearly, China. The reason why the south has been civilized early is that we should commemorate King Zhou of Yin." Therefore, "in the minds of the Yin people, King Zhou of Yin will not be regarded as the same as the Zhou people. They will call him '. King Wu', it is actually a thing of the past to commemorate him. "
It promoted the interests of the aristocratic group.
During the Shang Dynasty, he changed the employment standards under the aristocratic system and began to use ordinary people. Under the social background of the time, this must have been puzzled by most aristocratic groups, so among the ruling class Cracks and even antagonisms began to appear internally. Once a country has internal problems, it will inevitably lead to decline and destruction.
The general trend of the Shang Dynasty was over, and it was impossible to buck the trend.
The Shang Dynasty was established since the Shang and Tang Dynasties. After that, the capital moved several times, and finally it stabilized after Pan Geng moved to Yin. Therefore, it is called "Yin Shang". It lasted more than 600 years before and after the death of Shang Dynasty. The Shang Dynasty was a slave society, but by the Zhou Dynasty it had begun to enter a feudal society. It can be said that the fall of the Shang Dynasty was also a major trend in the development of history. The wheel of history is rolling forward and no one can stop it.
Gu Yanwu said: The demise of the Shang Dynasty is inevitable. Emperor Xin just happened to meet him at the right time. No one else could have saved the fate of the Shang Dynasty. At this point, Emperor Xin is strikingly similar to Emperor Chongzhen: they were both more diligent and wiser than the previous emperors, but they both "happened just in time" and became kings of subjugation. No wonder Emperor Chongzhen looked up to the sky before his death and exclaimed: "The king is not the king of the subjugation of the country, but the minister is the minister of the subjugation of the country." The building is about to collapse, the single tree cannot support it, the family and the country are lost, and everyone is betrayed and separated from their relatives. This is extremely hateful! Therefore, Emperor Xin burned himself and Chongzhen hanged himself. It was the end of the hero and infinite sadness.
History is often written by the winners.
In fact, in the historical materials of the Shang Dynasty, the records of King Zhou of Shang are relatively pertinent. But after being processed by the Zhou Dynasty, Shang Zhou became a heinous person. In the pre-Qin period, in order to prove their own views, many scholars poured dirty water on Shang Zhou, and even fabricated events to change Shang Zhou's image into what it is in movies and TV shows today.
Shang Zhou's obscurity was largely due to his destruction of the country. This is the main basis for those "righteous" historians and those who slander him. It can be seen that a person's merits and demerits are not necessarily what everyone is familiar with. We should be objective when dealing with history. Maybe what we thought was incredible was correct at the time.