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Chapter 210 Jiang Ziya and Su Daji

[Su Daji actually took the blame for thousands of years of history, Su Daji of the Shang and Zhou dynasties]

How beautiful was Daji to be hated by people of all generations? And how unfortunate was she to have the blame for the demise of the Shang Dynasty pinned on her for thousands of years?

From the daughter of the Yousu tribe to a gift for defeat, and then to the despised enchantress of the fallen nation, how did Daji achieve these three "career changes"? Today, let's take a look at Daji. Was she the cause of the fall of the nation or the scapegoat?

The evil concubine Daji in the story did not enter the palace voluntarily. The reason for her "one-year tour of the Shang palace" was actually a war. Around 1047 BC, King Zhou of Shang targeted the Yousu tribe.

Facing the powerful Shang Dynasty, the Yousu tribe was no match for it and surrendered soon after. The three essential elements of surrender were treasure, horses, and beauties.

Naturally, they were "expressed" to King Zhou of Shang soon after. Among them was the beauty of the Su tribe, the famous Su Daji.

Because the location of the Su tribe was Jizhou at the time, and it was rumored that Su Daji was the daughter of a small leader in the tribe, the authors of later historical novels promoted Su Daji's father to a higher position and made him into Su Hu, Marquis of Jizhou.

In this way, Su Daji sounds like her surname is Su. But if you think so, you are wrong, after all, Su Daji's surname is not Su, her surname should be Li.

At that time, people often put the surname at the end when addressing women. For example, Bao Si's surname was Si, not Bao, and Qi Wenjiang's surname was Jiang, not Qi. Therefore, Daji was Su's favorite name, Da.

The "Su" in the name "Su Daji" actually comes from the Su tribe, so she was given the word "Su".

As a gift from a defeated nation, it can be inferred that Daji's status would not be very high when she first entered the Shang palace. So, how did she turn around in just one year, from a "breathing gift" to a "witch" who made King Zhou obey her orders?

This brings us to Daji's ultimate weapon - her beauty. To be able to seduce King Zhou of Shang, who had seen countless beauties, Daji's appearance must have been extraordinary.

Both Shuowen and Zitong record that Daji had "black on white, night on black", so it is speculated that Daji probably had freckles on her face. But even with freckles on her face, Daji's appearance is still beautiful. It is no surprise that King Zhou fell in love with such a beautiful Daji in seconds.

In addition to her beauty, Daji also had the ability to invent. It is said that she invented chopsticks. Once, King Zhou and Daji were having a meal, and there was some overheated food on the table.

But King Zhou had very high requirements for the temperature of food. Once the food was too hot, the people serving around him would probably be buried. Seeing that her life was about to enter the countdown, Daji hurriedly used a big move to remedy the situation.

She used a jade hairpin to pick up the food, blew it cool, and then fed it to King Zhou. This feeding gave King Zhou a new way of thinking and also made Daji's appetite increase dramatically. From then on, when eating, King Zhou was responsible for opening his mouth, and Daji was responsible for reaching out and picking up the food.

Therefore, the craftsman made a pair of extended jade hairpins for Daji to pick up food, which was the prototype of chopsticks.

However, in later novels, Daji invented not only chopsticks, but also the "pao lai" punishment, which was to light a charcoal fire under a copper pillar and let the prisoner pass over it.

Prisoners could not bear the hot copper pillar and often "failed to pass" and fell into the charcoal fire. Although this extremely cruel punishment was indeed invented during the Shang Dynasty, the person who invented it was not Daji, but King Zhou of Shang.

After all, it is recorded in the book Han Feizi that "Zhou made meat jerky and instituted the punishment of burning people with fire", and it is also written in the Records of the Grand Historian: The Annals of Yin that "Zhu had severe punishments including the punishment of burning people with fire". These two historical books both indicate that King Zhou of Shang was actually the founder of the "punishment of burning people with fire".

The blame that Daji took for King Zhou of Shang was not just the "burning punishment".

In fact, the tragedy of Bigan's heart being dug out should not be blamed on her. When King Zhou was behaving recklessly, Bigan advised King Zhou for three consecutive days under the Zhaixing Tower, and said that the reason why he dared to speak out was because he relied on benevolence, righteousness and morality.

King Zhou was so angry that he wanted to cut open Bigan's heart on the spot to see whether the saint's heart really had "seven orifices".

It can be seen from this that Bigan was sent to the "hell" because he offended King Zhou. Daji used the excuse of using Bigan's heart as medicine to treat illness, so killing Bigan should be a literary creation in "The Investiture of the Gods".

In addition, some of Daji's other crimes, such as seeing someone walking barefoot on the ice and having his feet cut off to study why his feet were not afraid of the cold; and making a bet with King Zhou to cut open a pregnant woman's belly to guess the gender of the fetus, are also artistic creations in "The Investiture of the Gods".

So, what was the relationship between the demise of the Shang Dynasty and Daji? Why did she become the scapegoat for the demise of the Shang Dynasty? To clarify these two questions, we have to mention Daji's immediate superior, King Zhou of Shang.

As the last monarch of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou of Shang was not only a "financial expert", he also exploited the people, built terraces, and even maintained a forest of meat for a long time, with people walking naked in it.

These actions made him lose some favorability among the people, and also made the people point their fingers at Daji who accompanied King Zhou for fun. After all, in the eyes of the people at that time, King Zhou collected rare treasures, which must be to please Daji; King Zhou neglected state affairs, which was naturally to accompany Daji for fun.

In addition, in order to please Daji, King Zhou also asked the musicians to create the music of decadence and the dance of Beili. This helped Daji to get into trouble.

"Records of the Grand Historian" and King Wu's manifesto to attack King Zhou also wrote that "King Zhou followed Daji's words", which pushed Daji to the forefront and made her bear the crime of "confusing the emperor and disrupting the government" in the ancient times with strict hierarchy.

With all these accusations thrown at her one after another, Daji was naturally nailed to the pillar of shame as a "devil concubine". Even Li Bai once wrote a poem "Daji destroyed King Zhou, the precious girl brought disaster to the state", adding bricks and tiles to her "devil concubine life". Therefore, after King Wu defeated King Zhou, Daji was also beheaded to appease the people.

However, it was only one year from the time Daji entered the palace to the fall of the Shang Dynasty. It is incredible that a weak woman could destroy a country in just one year. So, do you think the fall of the Shang Dynasty was really Daji's fault? You are welcome to leave a message in the comment section.

[The offer caught by Jiang Ziya when fishing, the history of Jiang Ziya becoming a god]

Jiang Ziya rose from poverty to become a great lord by fishing, not by painting tortoise shells or fortune-telling. He left behind the legend that "King Wen pulled his chariot 800 steps and ruled the country for 800 years."

Some say that he is the emperor's father-in-law, the emperor's grandfather, or the emperor's great-grandfather. So, how capable is Jiang Ziya? How did he turn the tide by fishing and jump from a commoner to the killer of the Zhou Dynasty to destroy the Shang Dynasty?

To understand this, we must start with an encounter by the Wei River.

Jiang Ziya's ancestor was originally a hero who helped Dayu control floods. However, as time went by, his family gradually went bankrupt. By the time Jiang Ziya was born, his family conditions were no different from those of ordinary people.

In order to make a living, Jiang Ziya worked many jobs. He was a butcher who could not butcher cattle; he opened a hotel and sold wine. However, his most successful "investment" was when he was 72 years old.

That year, before going out hunting, King Wen of Zhou, Ji Chang, had a fortune-teller tell him his fortune. He originally just wanted to ask about the harvest from hunting, but he didn't expect the fortune-teller to show that he would definitely get "five-star equipment" this time.

It is said that the "Flying Dragon", "Flying Chi", "Flying Tiger" and "Flying Hero" that King Wen obtained this time are the best aids to achieve his goal of becoming a hegemon. Seeing this, King Wen went out happily.

Jiang Ziya also sat down by the Wei River with his "No. 1" fishing rod, ready to catch a big fish. The story that followed is familiar to everyone: King Wen of Zhou met Jiang Ziya, who was fishing with a straight hook without bait, and he voluntarily took Jiang Ziya's hook and became the "willing person to take the bait."

Not only that, King Wen also told Jiang Ziya that the money of Zhou State and his Taigong Wugong rushed to Zhou State, and he had been looking forward to the arrival of a saint to lead Zhou State to turn the tide.

Now he finally got this person. Because he had always been expected by Taigong, Jiang Ziya had another title, "Taigong Wang".

However, after being transferred to King Wen, Jiang Ziya asked another "out-of-scope question". He asked King Wen to help him pull the cart, and King Wen did not hesitate and immediately started to act as a charioteer.

Later legends added mystery to this story. It is said that King Wen of Zhou took 301 steps to the west in one go, then made a mistake and fell accidentally.

When he stood up again, he had gone in the wrong direction and started moving eastward. After walking another 507 steps, King Wen's physical strength was exhausted and he stopped.

At this time, Jiang Ziya dropped a "blockbuster bomb", saying that King Wen pulled the cart for 808 steps, while he would protect the Zhou Dynasty for 808 years - 301 years for the Western Zhou Dynasty and 507 years for the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. Hearing this, King Wen wanted to continue pulling the cart, but it was too late.

After joining the Zhou Dynasty, Jiang Ziya also made plans for the Zhou Dynasty with professional ethics. In order to defeat the big boss Shang Dynasty, he proposed two strategies: one is to pull teammates, and pull all the vassal states with zero favorability towards the Shang Dynasty into his own camp; the second is to improve his own rank, implement benevolent policies, encourage production, and train soldiers. King Wen of Zhou and Jiang Ziya did everything they could to improve their combat effectiveness.

However, while making such a big move, they also had to dispel the suspicion of King Zhou of Shang. King Zhou of Shang had previously become suspicious of Ji Chang and had summoned Ji Chang to Youli Prison, where he was made to eat the "state meal" of the Shang Dynasty for a period of time.

So this time Jiang Ziya came up with another trick. He asked the vassal states that had conflicts with the Shang Dynasty to pay tribute and protection fees to the Shang Dynasty. In this way, King Zhou of Shang would naturally think that these vassal states had been convinced by him.

He would never have imagined that the princes would secretly band together and plot to overthrow the "crystal" of the Shang Dynasty.

In this way, under the planning of Jiang Ziya, Ji Chang finally achieved "success" and controlled two-thirds of the world. However, just when the Zhou Dynasty was gathering its strength to launch an attack on the Shang Dynasty, King Wen of Zhou Ji Chang suddenly "died due to low health".

The heavy responsibility could only fall on the head of King Wu of Zhou. In order to make clear the determination of the princes to attack the Shang Dynasty, Jiang Ziya also discussed with King Wu of Zhou and made a "fake move" to attack the Shang Dynasty.

Around 1048 BC, King Wu of Zhou held a large-scale military exercise in Mengjin, which was known as the "Mengjin Military Review". In this exercise, 800 princes were present, waiting for King Wu's order to march directly to the Shang Dynasty. However, they still lacked a suitable opportunity.

Soon, the time came. King Zhou of Shang killed his uncle Bigan and imprisoned Jizi, which caused his popularity to plummet and he lost the support of the people.

The Zhou Dynasty seized this "God-given opportunity". But before sending out troops, King Wu of Zhou consulted the divination as usual. The result of the divination gave them a blow, as the hexagram showed that sending out troops at this time would be "very bad".

Yes, the long-awaited period was about to be missed. Jiang Ziya stepped in again. He crushed the tortoise shell used for divination and said to King Wu of Zhou: "How can a tortoise shell predict good or bad luck?"

As expected, in 1046 BC, King Wu led his army to attack King Zhou, and the Zhou Dynasty replaced the Shang Dynasty. Jiang Ziya also made a first-class contribution to the destruction of the Shang Dynasty.

Jiang Ziya had made great military achievements, so King Wu of Zhou naturally prepared a generous "year-end bonus" for him. This "year-end bonus" was the famous Qi State.

Jiang Ziya also transformed himself into the Duke of Qi. After landing in the new battlefield of Qi, Jiang Ziya turned on the "fencing mode". At that time, the world was just beginning to settle down and the people were unstable. The first thing he did was to remove corrupt officials.

Yingqiu was the chief judge of Qi at that time, but he did not follow the law and was corrupt. Jiang Ziya saw this and killed Yingqiu to scare him away.

In addition, the two brothers Huang Hua, wise men in the Qi region, did not support, submit to, or cooperate with the new regime, which undoubtedly touched on Jiang Ziya's "thunder point".

Soon they were on the "train" to the underworld.

In addition, because there were quite a lot of Dongyi people in the Qi area, Jiang Ziya promulgated a policy of "following their customs and simplifying their rituals" in the local area. In other words, the Dongyi people did not have to follow the Zhou rituals completely and could maintain their own customs and etiquette systems.

This Qi version of "one country, two systems" quickly won the hearts of the local people, and the chaotic situation in Qi became a thing of the past.

Jiang Ziya's contribution was not only to stabilizing Qi, but also to the stability of the Zhou royal family. In about 1043 BC, King Wu of Zhou died and the young King Cheng of Zhou succeeded to the throne.

At this time, Duke Zhou was assisting the government, but this arrangement made King Wu of Zhou's brothers Guan Shu, Cai Shu and Huo Shu dissatisfied. They decided to take a chance and turn the princes into kings, so the three of them united to rebel, which was known in history as the "Rebellion of the Three Supervisors".

However, they did not expect that King Cheng of Zhou still had two big tricks up his sleeve. One was the well-known Zhou Gongdan, and the other was the famous Jiang Ziya.

You should know that King Cheng of Zhou has another hidden identity - the grandson of Jiang Ziya.

His mother, the queen of King Wu of Zhou, was Jiang Ziya's daughter Yi Jiang. Therefore, under the powerful cooperation of Jiang Ziya and Duke Zhou, the "Rebellion of the Three Supervisors" was quickly quelled before it caused much trouble. Jiang Ziya also became famous.

Perhaps because Jiang Ziya won every battle and made great contributions to quelling rebellions, later legends attributed Jiang Ziya a special ability.

It is said that before his death, Jiang Ziya asked the King of Zhou to hang his coffin on the beam of the house after his death. If there was a rebellion, the head of the coffin should be turned to that direction, and the rebellion would naturally be quelled.

However, a hundred years later, King Ping of Zhou removed the coffin from the beam, and since then the Zhou Dynasty has been plagued by rebellions.