Why do many people say that the demise of Chu in the Warring States period is the most regrettable?

The seven heroes of the Warring States have their own advantages and disadvantages. The decline of any country has its regrets. Speaking of who is "the most" pitiful, this is subjective, and not everyone can agree.

In any case, it is a pity that Chu, which once created an extremely glorious history in the Spring and Autumn Period, failed to survive to the end in the Warring States Period. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Chu was one of the earliest awakening vassal states in Zhou Wang. Chu's awakening is closely related to a person, who is famous. After Chu Wuwang killed his nephew and succeeded in usurping the throne in 74 1 BC, he first promoted a reform that was crucial to the future development of Chu: the establishment of the county system. After Chu Wuwang eliminated the state power, he changed the state power to county power and brought it under the rule of Chu. The establishment of the county system is a major reform made by Chu Wuwang in view of the disadvantages of the enfeoffment system. In 77 1 year BC, the Western Shenguo combined with the dog army to destroy the Western Zhou Dynasty, which proved that the long-term existence of the feudal system greatly shook the ruling foundation of the Zhou royal family. The reason why Chu Wuwang wants to establish the county system is to avoid the disadvantages of the enfeoffment system and strengthen the centralization of Chu. Since then, the basic strategy of Chu's external expansion is "destroying the country into a county": every time a country is occupied, it is downgraded to a county and directly under the jurisdiction of the Chu government. Under the long-term strategy of "destroying the country and turning it into a county", the strength of the public office of Chu State has been rapidly improved, and the centralization has been greatly enhanced.

Just after Chu Wuwang established the county system, he made another bold decision decisively. After asking for a title from the Zhou royal family, he publicly declared: "Since I refused to add a title, I might as well honor myself!" Then, he openly proclaimed himself king! Chu Wuwang's self-styled king seems to be the work of Chu people who think themselves barbaric and indulge in depravity, but in fact they have deep intentions. The king of Chu means that Chu people are completely out of the system of Zhou State and are no longer bound by the royal family of Zhou State. Therefore, when Chu State expanded to the outside world, it had no shackles at all, so it could be more emboldened and boldly "destroy the country as a county". In contrast, Jin and Qi, the powerful countries in the Central Plains, have many scruples in this respect, and their external expansion cannot be compared with Chu. Of course, because Jin and Qi stayed in Zhou's system, these two countries also gained more resources in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty when they competed for hegemony, and they occupied an overwhelming advantage over Chu in soft power.

Although the county system and the independent Zhou system have their own advantages and disadvantages, they became sharp tools for the rapid development of Chu in the early Spring and Autumn Period.

During the period of Chu Wuwang, the State of Chu crossed the natural barrier of Hanshui, conquered Suiguo, and basically controlled the whole Nanyang Basin. During the period of King Wen of Chu, Deng and other countries were annexed, and Cai surrendered, which made Chu go out of Nanyang Basin and extended its sphere of influence to the upper reaches of Huaihe River. During the reign of the king of Chu, he destroyed the countries of Er, Gu, Jiao, Xian, Huang, Ying, Jiang, Dao, Bai, Fang, Qi and Kui, which not only expanded the territory of Chu to the middle reaches of Huaihe River, but also competed with the three central plains hegemons for a long time, allowing Chu's forces to formally enter the central plains. During the reign of King Chu Mu, Jiang, Liu, Guo and other countries were eliminated successively, which further strengthened Chu's control over the Jianghuai area. Shortly after Chu Zhuangwang acceded to the throne, he joined hands with Qin people to destroy Yong State during the national famine, expanded westward to Hanzhong, and then moved to the Central Plains, defeating Jin State in one fell swoop in the Battle of Tai, becoming a new generation of Eastern Zhou hegemon; ……。

From Chu Wuwang to Chu Zhuangwang, Chu developed from a small country in Dangyang, Hubei Province to the largest country in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, with Zhaoling in the north, the Yangtze River in the south, Han Dong in the west and the middle and lower reaches of Huaihe River in the east. Throughout the Spring and Autumn Period, the countries in the Central Plains that are eligible to participate in hegemony have changed in different periods; But in the south, there is only one country that can participate in the hegemony of the Central Plains for a long time. This shows how powerful Chu is in the early and middle Spring and Autumn Period!

In 529 BC, when King Chu Ling was overthrown by several younger brothers, and Chu was plunged into civil strife, the State of Jin organized a high-profile alliance of governors in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. In order to deter the princes of the world, this time, the three armies of Jin people joined forces, with a total strength of up to 4,000 times! Counting the domestic left-behind forces, the total strength of Jin, the most powerful state in the Central Plains, is only five or six thousand times.

However, after Chen, Cai and Butang were destroyed, King Chu Ling boasted arrogantly: "In the past, the princes were far away from me and feared Jin. Now I am a big city, and Chen, Cai and Butang are ten thousand times blessed ... Are the princes afraid of me?" It serves to show that when King Chu Ling was in power, the power of Chu had far surpassed that of Jin. Although it is impossible to accurately know the exact number of Chu troops at that time, if Chen and Cai are all countries with thousands of riders, then there will be no less than ten vassal States destroyed by Chu, just like Chen and Cai. This also means that by the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, Chu has probably become a country of thousands of riders, enough to despise the Eastern Zhou Dynasty!

In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, the national strength of Chu had surpassed that of many vassal states, but it failed to come to an end during the Warring States Period. Is it a pity? However, Chu seems to have entered the most glorious period, but it has already encountered the bottleneck of development. After Chu Zhuangwang became the hero in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the brain drain in Chu became a common phenomenon. Miao Benhuang, Huang and others fled into the State of Jin, Wu Zixu and Taizai fled into the State of Wu, and Wen Zi and others fled into the State of Yue. What is even more worrying is that after the brain drain, many people openly turned against Chu and helped the enemies of Chu to deal with Chu. Among them, he helped Jin to be enemies with Wu and Chu, making Chu a deadly enemy in the southeast. Wu Zixu helped Wu fight against Chu, and He Lv attacked Nanyang Basin, almost destroying Chu!

"Chu Cai" is not only "Jin Yong", but also the most deadly enemy of Chu, which proves that the internal contradictions in Chu are extremely sharp and have seriously hindered the further development of Chu.

Not only that, although the Chu State claims that the soldiers are stronger than Ma Zhuang, all countries are very contemptuous of the combat effectiveness of the Chu army: "Although the Chu State claims to be strong, it is very empty inside; Although Chu soldiers are numerous, they are easy to flee! " From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period, although Chu annexed many countries, it never made the people of those conquered countries completely submit to Chu. Therefore, the Chu army composed of conquered peoples not only has low combat effectiveness, but also often revolts, which seriously shakes the ruling foundation of Chu.

The brain drain in the world is serious, and it is difficult for people in nearby places to get along with each other, which makes Chu fall to the bottom for the first time in the Spring and Autumn Period: in 506 BC, under the massive invasion of Wu people, Ying capital was destroyed and Chu almost perished!

The fundamental reason why Ying capital was captured was that the internal contradictions and conflicts in Chu reached a climax: the centralization of Chu government was too strong and lacked checks and balances, which not only seriously blocked the rising channel of middle and lower-level talents, but also aggravated the contradictions and conflicts of all classes in the government. Even if Chu was unfortunately destroyed by the country in the Spring and Autumn Period, "the disaster is in the blessing, and the blessing is in the disaster."

The fall of Ying capital in 506 BC suppressed some corrupt vested interest groups to a certain extent and prevented the further intensification of internal contradictions in Chu. After repelling the attack of the State of Wu, Ren Xian, king of Chu, made great efforts to restore the vitality of Chu. When they arrived in Chu Weiwang, the Chu people defeated the powerful Yue State in one fell swoop and annexed most of wuyue's hometown. Chu people also expanded westward to Guizhou and reached Yunnan as far as possible, and the national strength of Chu reached its peak!

At this time, Chu State once again became the most extensive country in China, and it was the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period.

However, after the death of Chu Weiwang, Chu Huaiwang succeeded to the throne, and Chu went downhill again: in 3 13 BC, he was deceived by Zhang Yi and took the initiative to sever contact with Qi; In 3 12 BC, Chu Huaiwang found himself cheated, defeated in Danshui poplar and lost Hanzhong. In 299 BC, Chu Huaiwang was forced to go to the State of Qin for peace, but was detained by Zhao Haoqi of the State of Qin and never returned to Chu.

Since then, Chu can never restore its former glory.

In 223 BC, under the attack of Wang Jianhe, the general of Qin State, Chu State completely perished and became a county under the Daqin Empire!

The first great development of Chu in history was from Chu Wuwang to Chu Zhuangwang, and * * * experienced eight kings of Chu and six generations of Chu people; The second great development was from King Zhao of Chu to Chu Weiwang, and * * experienced eight kings of Chu and seven generations of Chu people. After two great development periods, Chu entered the bottleneck period of development, and then quickly declined.

In fact, not only Chu, but also Qin took a similar path. After Shang Yang's political reform, Qin, like Chu, established a centralized governance model based on the county system. Since then, Qin entered a period of great development until Qin Shihuang destroyed the six countries and unified the world. * * * has experienced seven kings and six generations. However, after the death of Qin Shihuang, only the second Qin Dynasty declined rapidly and became one of the shortest-lived dynasties in China's history.

After six or seven generations of great development, Qin and Chu entered the bottleneck period of development and quickly declined. Is this accidental or inevitable? Perhaps, after six or seven generations, the disadvantages accumulated by Qin and Chu have completely offset the benefits of their development, which is the fundamental reason why these two countries finally went into decline.

Today, it is a pity that Chu failed to reach the end, and Qin Ershi, who annexed six countries and unified the world, died. Isn't that a pity?