Who is Shang Yang’s son?

According to official historical records, Shang Yang did not have a son.

After the death of Qin Xiaogong, King Qin Huiwen became the new king of Qin. King Qin Huiwen realized that Shang Yang held great power and had endangered his ruling power.

In addition, Shang Yang's reforms harmed the interests of the aristocracy. King Qin Huiwen had just succeeded to the throne, and the ministers of the court told King Qin Huiwen that Shang Yang was planning to rebel again. King Qin Huiwen took this opportunity to eradicate Shang Yang and his followers, and killed Shang Yang's family. Therefore, Shang Yang has no descendants.

Extended information

Shang Yang was originally named Wei Yang and Gongsun Yang. He was born into the aristocracy of the Wei Kingdom and was the son of a concubine of the king of the Wei Kingdom. The first king of the Wei Kingdom was Kang Shufeng, the ninth son of King Wen of Zhou. Because he is a descendant of the king of Wei, his surname is Gongsun, so people also call him Wei Yang and Gongsun Yang. According to tradition, the main subjects of the title of monarch during the Warring States Period include the monarch's relatives, relatives, favored ministers, meritorious generals, ministers, etc.

With Gongsun Yang's background, he could have become a prince. However, in 254 BC, Wei State fell and its territory became a feudal land of Wei State. Gongsun Yang lost his status as a prince, but he still received a good education, and he especially liked to study the Legalist theory of criminal names. He lived under the family of Uncle Cuo, the Prime Minister of the State of Wei, and served as the concubine of the Prime Minister's Mansion (responsible for taking charge of family affairs).

Gongsun Yang was born in the royal family. Due to the annexation of vassal states during the Warring States Period, his actual social status was reduced from an aristocratic son to an ordinary scholar, relying on the position of a middle- and lower-class retainer to make a living. Later, he helped the Qin State completely defeat the Wei State. "Qin granted him fifteen cities of Shang and was named Lord Shang" ("Historical Records: Biography of Lord Shang"). Because of this fiefdom, later generations often call him "Shang Yang".

Shang Yang rose from the status of a scholar to the feudal lord of the Shang region again, but at this time he was no longer a noble based on blood, but rose to the ruling class by virtue of his talent and ability. Shang Yang was a typical representative of the great social mobility in the Warring States Period. His rise and fall highlighted the distinctive characteristics of the times.

Uncle Cuo, the Prime Minister of Wei, knew Gongsun Yang's talents very well, but before he had time to recommend him to the monarch, he fell seriously ill and could not afford it. King Hui of Wei personally came to visit the patient and asked who could be entrusted with the government if the Prime Minister died. Gongshu Cuo officially recommended Gongsun Yang to the King of Wei, saying: Although the concubine Gongsun Yang in my house is very young, But he was a wizard and suggested that the king entrust all the political affairs of the country to him.

After hearing this, King Wei disapproved and remained silent. When Gongshu Cuo saw this, he knew that the king of Wei could not use Gongsun Martingale, so he proposed: If the king cannot use Gongsun Martingale, he must be killed and he should not be allowed to leave Wei and be used by other countries. The King of Wei hastily agreed, but he did not take Gongshu Cuo's words to heart and did not comply.

After the death of Gongshu Cuo, Gongsun Yang continued to wait for the opportunity to rise. Later, he learned that Duke Xiao, the king of Qin, had issued an order seeking talents, determined to restore Duke Mu of Qin's hegemony, and wanted to regain the occupied territory in the east. So Gongsun Yang set out to the west and came to Qin. Later, he had three meetings with Qin Xiaogong, which was equivalent to three "interviews".

The method he adopted was to introduce the imperial way, the royal way, and the domineering way respectively, and show them to Qin Xiaogong one by one. After three interviews, Qin Xiaogong was obviously most interested in hegemony. He unconsciously moved his seat on the ground to the edge of Gongsun Yang's mat and talked with him about hegemony and how to govern the country for several days without getting tired of it.

After Qin Xiaogong heard about the emperor's way and the king's way, although he also felt that it was reasonable, he needed to be able to achieve the results of governing the country while he was in office, and could not wait for decades or hundreds of years to establish the achievements of the king's way. , so he finally chose the "tyranny" of eager for quick success. Gongsun Yang also understood that hegemony was a second-rate method compared with Zhou Wang's way of governing the country.

However, Qin Xiaogong chose to be domineering on behalf of this era. At this point, Gongsun Yang was not the leader. This also shows that the hegemony of Legalism has stronger social adaptability, or it can be said that Legalism was chosen during the Warring States Period. After that, with the strong support of Duke Xiao of Qin, Gongsun Yang launched a vigorous reform movement in Qin.

People often deeply remember the fighter who fought against all odds in front of the chariot of reform, but ignore the real promoter of this chariot. Gongsun Yang's reforms represented the monarch's will.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Shang Yang