Two years after the establishment of the Western Zhou royal power, King Wu of Zhou died. At the turn of Shang and Zhou, the Zhou rites had not yet taken shape, the prince was young and the world was undecided, and the fame of the Duke of Zhou was already in full swing. In view of this, King Wu had planned to pass the throne to the Duke of Zhou during his lifetime, but the latter resolutely refused.

The new king ascended the throne as King Cheng of Zhou. King Cheng was only a teenager at the time, and he faced highly decorated ministers, powerful uncles, an undecided situation in the world, and anti-Zhou forces that were eyeing him; Obviously, the heavy responsibility of the king of Huaxia is not something that a teenager can bear. After weighing the pros and cons and gaining the support of important figures such as Lü Shang, Zhaogong, and Su Xinsheng, the Duke of Zhou declared the regent king.

Everyone reacted differently to Zhou Gong's actions according to the understanding of good or bad intentions, and his high-ranking brothers were not without doubts.

Uncle Guan complained: "When King Wu was alive, he wanted to pass the throne to Dan, but he refused to accept it hypocritically. If he is regent before the new king ascends the throne, he can at least explain that he obeyed the orders of the martial king. Now that the king has been established, he took advantage of the young young king to control the royal power, creating a situation of one country and two masters, and completely ignored the heavens, the ancestors, the patriarch and the people. What a cunning and tyrannical man he was! God knows what he's going to do in the future! ”

In fact, the reason why Uncle Guan was jealous of Duke Zhou was because he was the eldest brother of King Wu and the elder brother of Duke Zhou. He thought that even if he wanted to make a regent, he should also appoint the elder, and it would not be his brother's turn. Every time Uncle Guan imagined Zhou Gong sitting solemnly on the seat of the regent, he felt tightness in his chest and shortness of breath - he couldn't tolerate a brother suddenly climbing on his head and giving orders to him.

Uncle Guan said a lot of similar things on different occasions, and these words resonated with many people. As a result, he pulled Uncle Cai, Uncle Huo and other people who were also dissatisfied with Zhou Gong to his side.

The conspirators conspired and decided to rebel under the banner of "rebellion". However, it was clear that the armies of the three eunuchs alone could not confront the great army of the dynasty, and they needed strong support from the old Shang and Dongyi forces. The third eunuch then threw flattering glances at the enemies of the past and the anti-Zhou forces of today.

The envoys of the three eunuchs were sent to Wu Geng first. Judging from the tone of the envoys, the three eunuchs were not so much making a request as giving an order. The people of Shao knew in their hearts: if they did not meet the requirements of the three eunuchs, they would be the first to be destroyed; If satisfied and successful, Yin Shang has the possibility of revival. Wu Geng immediately agreed to all the requests. Then the three eunuchs and the envoys of the Shao Kingdom went together to visit the Dongyi countries.

At the beginning, after conquering Dongyi, the king left many troops in the east, and the commander of the army was Fei Lian, the father of the evil one. After the fall of the Shang Dynasty, the position of the old Shang army became precarious. The monarchs of Dongyi had begun secret contacts in preparation for the elimination of the isolated occupying forces. But Fei Lian was a brilliant general, and he gathered his scattered army, ready to inflict no small casualties on the attackers.

Fei Lian was a very incendiary fellow, he vigorously advocated the ferocity and evil of the Zhou people to the Dongyi people, and he asked the small monarchs of the Dongyi countries if they were willing to die with the well-preserved merchant army, and then accept a new master from the West to rule and start a new kind of slavery? Or are you willing to join forces with yourself to fight against the Western Zhou regime in order to keep your freedom and land?

The Dongyi people were said to have moved, and the merchant army was transformed from conquerors to allies of the Dongyi, thus avoiding the danger of being wiped out. At this moment, the messenger of the three eunuchs arrived; The Dongyi people were excited, and they expressed their willingness to help the three eunuchs carry out the rebellion to the end.

The plans of the three eunuchs were implemented smoothly so far, but the envoys encountered unexpected difficulties in the Song Kingdom. Wezi refused to join the rebellion, and no amount of coercion or inducement could make him change his mind. Weizi believes: first, the Mandate of Heaven has been decided, and it is impossible for the Shang Dynasty to be restored; Secondly, the three eunuchs retrograde the way of heaven will inevitably lead to failure; In the end, he was tired of all the struggles for power, and no amount of profit was tempting to him.

Uncle Guan collected troops while continuing to launch a public opinion offensive against Zhou Gong. In response to Uncle Guan's accusation, Zhou Gong responded: "What I do is beneficial to the country, and what you do is harmful!" I refused to be the heir to the throne, saying that Yin I was qualified to be the king of Zhou; The order of the regent was issued by the king himself, so the position of the king was not shaken.

"The identity of a courtier is not determined by himself, but by the Son of Heaven, and you and I are no exception. The purpose of granting me regent status is precisely to prevent people like you from shaking the royal family, and it seems that the decision to become king is correct and very heroic. If you return to the royal court now, you will be pardoned for your sins, and if you form an alliance with the enemy to attack your own country, you will be considered an enemy as well, and you will be killed! ”

However, the power of the three eunuchs in the royal family is also very strong. Although the comrades of the three prisons did not dare to openly support Uncle Guan, they opposed the departure of the teacher, opposed the use of force to solve the problem, and demanded that the two sides hold peace talks; Some ministers have an ambiguous attitude and buy on both sides.

Duke Zhou did not dare to take tough measures against opponents, and he had to invite the big treasure turtle left by King Wen out for divination. The result of divination is "good luck". The revelation from heaven won over the centrists who were in a wait-and-see state, and Zhou Gong then wrote a "Great Message" threatening all the forces that opposed the Eastern Crusade, and the diehards felt tremendous pressure and had no courage to continue to obstruct them.

At this time, public opinion in the Western Zhou Dynasty was one-sided. People said, "Uncle Guan is really a great crime!" He even united the son of the tyrant, the remnants of the Shang dynasty, and the eastern barbarians to attack his own country! Not only that, but he also has to rule with Wu Geng!

"If the royal power is taken from the hands of the tyrant and returned to his son, then what is the point of this revolution? Countless soldiers died in battle, is it just to raise traitors to high positions? If we can't destroy the rebels in the East, the Western Zhou will also be enslaved by the tyrant (Uncle Guan), and it will be impossible for us to even go back to the days before the fall of the Shang Dynasty! ”

The three eunuchs were in full swing to implement the rebellion plan, and the Western Zhou regime was also stepping up preparations for war. Dongyu and Wencheng were the closest to the enemy, and the two countries had issued general mobilization orders to recruit soldiers, hoard grain, manufacture weapons, strengthen city walls, and dig trenches to fill wells.

The three eunuchs had already assembled their troops at the designated place and were waiting for news from Wu Geng and Dongyi. But they waited and waited to find that their army was getting smaller and smaller. It turned out that the soldiers themselves were war-weary, and there were many Western Zhou spies mixed in the barracks; The spies themselves were clansmen or in-laws of the rebel soldiers.

When the saboteurs found their relatives, they told them, "The regent has issued an order that all the soldiers under the command of the three eunuchs should return to the Western Zhou at once. Those who arrive first are rewarded, and those who arrive later are stabbed, and the whole family who dares to confront Wang Shi is reduced to slavery.

"Don't be killed by your compatriots and allies like your enemies! After you die, you will also be spurned by the people, you will not be able to enter the family cemetery, and even lose your memorials, and your parents, wives and children will be humiliated. Although a soldier values honor above all else, and no one wants to be treated as a deserter, think about it: are you fighting for good or evil this time? Is it to fight for honor or to fight for shame"

The soldiers heeded the persuasion of their compatriots, and they slipped away at night, taking advantage of all sorts of opportunities such as chopping wood, fetching water, and leveling roads. At first, defections were small and secret, but later they became large and public. Even many hundred-man detachments openly mutinied, killed the die-hard soldiers, tied up the commander and threw him to the Western Zhou side.

Before the march began, the army of the three eunuchs had already fled. At this time, there was depressing news from Wu Geng's side: Weizi's spies also used despicable means of persuading his army to escape, and the Shao army also lost the ability to attack.

Seeing that he could not continue the march, Uncle Guan ordered to retreat back to Guan Guo to defend himself. At this time, the Dongyi coalition army had just completed its assembly, and they got the news that the three eunuchs and the Shao army had been dispersed, so they had to dismiss the army again. However, the Western Zhou side did not stop preparing for war, but the strategic direction changed from defense to offense.