Chapter 136: Changes in Yan State
Yan State.
This is one of the oldest states in the Xia Dynasty. It was granted by King Su more than 800 years ago. The current capital of Yan State, Jicheng, was formerly the capital of Ji State, which was also an ancient state more than 800 years ago.
The old scars on the city and the moss growing in the dark corners of the walls are all witnesses of this vast history. If you look closely, you can see many small holes on the walls, which are traces of blunt and sharp weapons. This city protected the Yan people from the swords of the Hu warriors in ancient times.
Among the various states in China, Yan had always been an outsider.
Almost all major events among the various countries in the Xia Dynasty had nothing to do with the State of Yan. Even in the Ji-Jiang alliance, the State of Yan was just a bonus.
For more than 800 years, the most glorious achievement of Yan State was its conquest of the Rong and Hu in the north and its expansion of territory by a thousand miles, but those thousand miles were given to it directly by Qi State.
As the land was not fertile enough and the population was sparse, other countries had already wiped out the surrounding barbarians and started competing for world domination, while Yan was still in the process of wiping out the Ronghu.
In order to repel the Ronghu, the nobles of Yan State chose to kill the king who insisted on going to war with Qi State. The reason was naturally not the so-called friendly diplomatic relations, but because the Hu people were a serious threat.
Over the years, with the help of the gradually increasing population and continuous natural disasters.
The State of Yan finally temporarily wiped out the northern nomadic tribes such as Shanrong, Donghu, and Linhu, which posed a huge threat to the security of the northern border.
The State of Yan finally had the energy to look at the other states and participate in the game of dominance over the world.
In the palace, the current Marquis of Yan is nearly forty years old, with the rugged appearance typical of the northerners. After defeating the Donghu, the Marquis of Yan made his ambitious statements to the entire Yan State.
"My Lords.
More than five hundred years have passed since Duke Huan of Qi became the first hegemon. The State of Yan has been clearing out the Rong and Hu for the Xia people and living like savages in the northern border.
Look at our clothes, the skins of wild beasts; look at our crowns, the bones of animals taken from the hands of barbarians.
Let’s look southward at the various countries in the world: Qi, Jin, Qin, Chu, and Luo. They are all wearing gorgeous clothes and wearing crowns with tassels bestowed by the emperor.
Even if Jin was divided into three parts, Zhao, Wei and Han were still the powerful countries in the Central Plains. This was a naked discrimination against Yan.
Even though the State of Wu, located in the barbarian land south of the Yangtze River, had once defeated the capital of the State of Chu and overthrown the other states, the State of Yan was ignored for five hundred years.
My Lords, can the State of Yan tolerate such neglect?
Is the State of Yan going to live forever in the icy and snowy northern border, watching the Central Plains countries take turns to come on stage?
The Yan State is a noble clan with the surname Ji!"
With such righteous words spoken, the officials of Yan State naturally shouted in unison, "No!"
The Marquis of Yan had a happy smile on his face, “Now all the countries in Xia are becoming stronger because of the reform.
The State of Yan was located in a remote area with a small population. If it wanted to become strong, it also needed to recruit talents and carry out reforms.
Issue a decree to recruit talented scholars from all over the world. If they can come up with a plan to strengthen the country, I will reward them generously. "
The Marquis of Yan wanted to reform the law in order to strengthen the State of Yan and to enhance the power of the monarch.
Among all the countries, Qi's political system was already weird, and the Qi Legalists were an oddity among the Legalists, so it had no reference value.
Zhao, Wei, Han, Qin and Chu all used the approach of the Three Jin Legalists. Without exception, the power of the monarchs was greatly enhanced, which was the result that the Marquis of Yan most wanted to achieve.
However, many nobles had cold eyes. The conservative nobles certainly knew that the reform would profoundly affect their interests.
When the Wei Kingdom just started its reform, everything was still in the exploratory stage, and the Wei nobles eventually lost their power step by step.
But now all countries are undergoing reforms. Although each country has its own emphasis, they all end up in the same place: the system of hereditary aristocracy has been abolished in all countries except the State of Chu.
For the old aristocracy, this was simply digging up their roots, and the most important thing was that they felt aggrieved.
The old aristocracy did not agree with the Legalist idea of the supremacy of the monarch. For thousands of years, all countries were ruled by aristocrats. But suddenly a group of people said that the country only needed a monarch, not incompetent aristocrats.
If the purpose is really to allow talented people at the bottom to have a path to upward mobility, then why can't the position of monarch be chosen from among talented people at the bottom?
Why is it that the bloodline inheritance of the throne of a monarch is reasonable, while the bloodline inheritance of the throne of a minister is a parasite that hinders the prosperity of the country?
God bestows orders on the emperor, the emperor then bestows orders on the princes, the princes bestow orders on the ministers. Now the princes want to take back their own orders. This is the answer given by the Legalists.
King Su said that the emperor received the mandate, which is indeed true.
But the princes receive orders from the emperor, and they have no regard for their dignity at all. Even when you slap the emperor in the face, you show no mercy.
On a dark and windy night, the Marquis of Yan was sleeping soundly in the palace. In his dream, he imagined that the State of Yan was rapidly becoming strong after its reforms, and that the Yan army was marching south.
Suddenly, a loud noise woke him up from his sleep. He sat up angrily and shouted, "Who is making a noise in the palace?"
“Bang!”
The door of the bedroom was kicked open heavily, and then a bloody corpse fell in. At this time, the Marquis of Yan finally heard clearly the noisy sounds, the sounds of swords clashing, and countless screams.
After several decades, the ministers of Yan State staged another coup!
The Marquis of Yan's face turned pale in an instant, his whole body went limp, he couldn't muster any strength, his teeth were chattering, fear filled his heart, and his ambitions had long been thrown out of the window.
He could only keep mumbling, "The guards in the palace shouldn't be so weak, how could it be..."
A large number of torches outside the bedroom lit up the entire palace like daylight. The mastermind behind the coup finally appeared before the Marquis of Yan. It was the Prime Minister of Yan!
When the Marquis of Yan saw the Prime Minister of Yan, he immediately shouted, "Prime Minister, are you going to kill me?
Aren't you worried that you'll be remembered as a regicide?"
There was no trace of joy of victory on Prime Minister Yan's face. After all, he really had to bear the crime of regicide.
He didn't dare to kill the historian, so he was naturally in a bad mood.
So he said in a cold voice: "Sir, the reason why we are fighting today is because you want to reform the law. Isn't this your fault?"
The Marquis of Yan was about to say something to delay time, but he did not expect that the Prime Minister was well aware of the rule that talking too much nonsense would lead to unexpected events, so he just waved his hand and left.
The Marquis of Yan's pupils opened wide as he watched two burly soldiers approaching him with swords dripping with blood. He wanted to ask for help, but was stabbed straight through by the two men.
Finally, he fell in a pool of blood with a look of resentment on his face. The dream of wanting to reform and prosper really became a dream, and dissipated in the bloody night wind.
A large number of old nobles who followed Yan Xiang cheered, "Prime Minister, I never thought that it would be so easy to kill the king. After establishing a new king, kill those nobles who support the reform. I'm sure no one will dare to propose reforms again."
Horrific killings are indeed effective under certain circumstances. The old nobles tried to intimidate those who wanted to reform in the State of Yan through killings.
But they think too simply. Reform is never a matter of wanting to change or not wanting to change, but rather the development of productivity driving the need for change!
If you don’t change, you will die. Even the Luo Kingdom is changing.
Although there were no large-scale reforms on the surface, that was because the Luo royal family had always been aware of the situation among the people of Luo in a timely manner.
Over the past eight hundred years, the country's policies have been adjusted bit by bit to adapt to new national conditions.
The reforms in Luo State lasted for eight hundred years before the country has the present stability.
It was really unrealistic for the conservative aristocrats of Yan State to think that they could stop the reform by killing people.
A noisy sound suddenly came from outside the palace, and Yan Xiang and others were startled. What was going on?
Then a clear voice came, "The thief is trying to kill the king. Follow me into the palace and rescue the king immediately."
Prince Ping!
Everyone was shocked. How could he appear here?
The conservative nobles were unwilling to give up their own interests, but Prince Ping, who had the desire to make the country strong, refused to agree.
Prince Ping had been waiting for the opportunity to wipe out the old nobles. When he learned of the unusual movements of the old nobles, he immediately began to mobilize troops and prepare to take advantage of the situation.
The crime of regicide!
This was enough for Prince Ping to uproot the entire old aristocratic system. In the past, the State of Chu only shot arrows at the emperor's corpse, and the new Duke of Chu used this as an opportunity to kill so many nobles.
The benefits that could be gained from catching the regicide red-handed were so great that Prince Ping's body was shaking with excitement.
"Father, it is your wish to make Yan strong. I will definitely make it happen for you. You must protect me from the nine heavens and bless Yan to prosper."
The emerging nobles who hoped to abolish the hereditary aristocracy system and thus gain more political power followed Prince Ping and launched a war against the conservative nobles of Yan.
This is a struggle for power. Students of the Legalists, Military Strategists, and Diplomats have already seized power in various countries, and now it is Yan's turn.
Prime Minister Yan soon realized that his people seemed to be used by the Crown Prince. His face turned pale and he felt a little uneasy.
Prince Ping came with the real elite of the royal family, and naturally he could not be stopped by the private soldiers of Marquis Yan and others. As the army pressed forward, the old nobles saw that the situation was hopeless and they all thought about escaping.
Prince Ping rushed into the bedroom and saw his father lying in a pool of blood. He rubbed his eyes and instantly burst into tears. He threw himself on the Marquis of Yan and cried, "Father!"
He cried several times until his voice became hoarse, and his ministers cried in unison, "Prince, the king has been murdered by thieves, and now we still need you to take charge of the situation.
If something unexpected happens to you, will Yan still have a future?"
The prince wiped his tears and said fiercely: "Kill all those rebellious villains, throw their flesh and blood on the wasteland, and let the wild beasts trample them!"
…
The success of the Yan State Reform benefited from the fact that a large number of old aristocrats were killed in the coup. This form of killing all opponents before the reform had a profound impact on later generations.
After the reform of Yan State, an unprecedented powerful country emerged to the north of Qi State, which brought immeasurable changes to the situation in the world. ——"Warring States Reform Collection"
(End of this chapter)
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