Eastern Zhou - Part VI - Qin's Reformation and Ascension

-Of the "Three Jins", it was the state of Wei that was the most powerful.
   -Wei took it upon itself to kind of act as an "older brother" to the other two.
      -Surprisingly, this worked out well in terms of having a balance of power in the former territory of Jin (for once).
   -The first ruler of Wei was Marquess Wen (AKA Wei Si).
      -Born in 475 BC, Wei Si unofficially became Marquess Wen in 424 BC, and then was finally granted the title officially (c. 405 BC) by King Weilie of the Zhou dynasty when the Partition of Jin was officially recognized by the crown.
         -Marquess Wen was officially granted this title alongside Marquess Jing of Han and Marquess Xian of Zhao).
      -Marquess Wen was alleged to have been an eager learner and intellectual, consulting in various Confucian scholars, including Li Kui, a scholar and adviser who would go on to greatly influence the development of the philosophy of Legalism (AKA "Fajia").
         -This is surprising because Confucianism and Legalism are both wildly different from each other.
         -Famously decreed that in order to receive food one must work, and to get paid you have to work well; if you don't work you must suffer the consequences!
      -Marquess Wen transformed the state into the dominant power of the Three Jins.
      -By 408 BC the state began to expand, starting with the successful invasion of the small state of Zhongshan (located to the northeast of Wei and east of Zhao), although they needed Zhao's permision to move their troops through the territory to get to Zhongshan.
      -During this time Wei became increasingly hostile towards the state of Qin to the west.  They even annexed some of their eastern territory.
      -Unfortunately for Wei, the state would only decline after the death of Marquess Wen in 396 BC.
   -So, after Marquess Wen died he was replaced by his son, Marquess Wu.
      -Marquess Wu wasn't a bad ruler, but shit happened during his reign that wasn't good.
         -First of all, Zhongshan declared itself independent of Wei in 377 BC, stating that it was its own sovereign kingdom.
   -Marquess Wu died in 370 BC, replaced by his son Marquess Hui (although in 344 BC he would declare that he was no longer a marquess, but was in fact a sovereign king!).
      -c. 364 BC- forged an alliance with Han to invade parts of eastern Qin and divide up the lands for themselves.
         -One problem with this invasion plan, however, was that Qin was no longer some backwater- it had actually grown quite powerful!
            -This had been achieved in large part by reforms issued by Qin's ruler, Duke Xian, who revolutionized the military, government, and society, essentially "modernizing" the state in order to make it a legit player in the region.
            -So, Qin clashes with the forces of Han and Wei at the Battle of Shimen, and Qin kicks their ass!
-c. 362 BC- Duke Xian dies, replaced by his son, Duke Xiao.
   -Duke Xiao wanted to continue his father's legacy of improving the state, so he requested intellectuals, politicians, and philosophers from across the region to visit him.  If they could convince him that their ideas had merit, then they would be given an office in his administration (in addition to land).
      -Many of these thinkers espoused Confucian, Taoist, and other philosophies, but Duke Xiao wasn't impressed until a dude named Shang Yang convinced the duke to follow his Legalist-esque doctrine (after an intense three day-long discussion).  Shang Yang (AKA Gongsun Yang; Kung-sun Yang; Wei Yang; etc.) was a statesman who had a vision of unwavering rule of law, strict social order, and enforced absolute authority of the state over everything else- this would eventually be the precursor to Legalism.
-356 BC- Shang Yang convinces Duke Xiao to pass two reforms (heavily influenced by Li Kiu's "Book of Law" ("Fa Jing") that proved to be revolutionary:
   -A new law code which informed the public about the laws of the state and the punishment for disobeying these laws.  What was revolutionary was that these punishments could be given out to ANYONE, regardless of their status, if they broke the law (even Duke Xiao's own son wasn't exempt when he committed a minor crime!).
      -Laws were divided into four categories: theft/robbery, treason, possession, and "miscellaneous".  Also contained two chapters on arrest procedures and the treatment of prisoners.
      -Punishments were incredibly harsh.
      -Also stripped the nobility of their lands.  These lands were then redistributed so that common soldiers received titles and their own properties and shit, and were promoted based on their performances and successes on the battlefield.
         -Farmers who were given land were also given quotas to fill- those who met or exceeded their quotas were rewarded with additional land and slaves; those who failed were themselves enslaved!!
         -Lands were able to be given because Qin was quite big and had a bunch of unused land. 
            -However, to adequately populate this land they needed a lot more people, so the law forced everyone to get married young.  The government also created tax incentives to encourage people to have large families. 
               -Immigration was also highly encouraged as long as the people came from other states within the Zhou dynasty.  This was smart because it caused Qin's population to swell, while the other states/kingdoms experienced a reduction in their population numbers.
-Of course, the nobility absolutely hated Shang Yang and his reforms, which took away their lands and power, but Duke Xiao gave zero fucks because he saw that the state was doing quite well with these changes!
   -In 350 BC- Shang Yang drafted new reforms that expanded the power of the state and passed some other shit, such as allowing for prisoners to be released if they agreed to settle in remote areas (where they would receive land).  Other changes included forcing clans to be split into nuclear units so that if a clan had a lot of people, they would be taxed extra (by taxing per nuclear unit instead of by "family").
      -In general, primogeniture was also abolished.
      -The capital was also moved in order to break the concentration of power that the old-school nobility had over the city.
-By 344 BC (when Duke Xiao died), Qin had come from a backwater domain that no one cared about to a badass, powerful state!  Duke Xiao was replaced by his son, Hui Wen (when he came into power he declared that Qin was now a sovereign kingdom, and that he was its new king!).
   -With the death of Duke Xiao, the nobility immediately began to plot feverishly to kill Shang Yang and abolish all of his reforms.
      -This was bad for Shang Yang because (besides the obvious reasons) because the new king (Hui Wen) was the same son of Duke Xiao that had been punished because of Shang Yang's reforms, so of course he was no ally of Shang Yang.
         -Thus, Shang Yang was arrested on charges of treason (most-likely trump-up), and Shang Yang, along with his entire family (the "nine familiar exterminations" rule ("Zhu Lian Jiu Zu"), which basically meant that you were also guilty if you were related to the criminal), were executed.
            -Shang Yang himself was executed via "julie" (death by being fastened to five chariots (or horses) and being pulled apart)!
               -According to legend, before his execution Shang Yang escaped and tried to hide out in a countryside inn, but the innkeeper figured out who he was and refused him entry.  This was because the innkeeper had denied him entry due to recent law (that Shang Yang himself had passed) that made it illegal for for people without proper identification to stay in inns!  Doh!!  Of course, after this he was quickly caught and executed.
-Anyway, so King Hui Wen was now ruler of Qin!
   -He ruled for 27 years, and even though Shang Yang had been executed, his reforms had proven to really work well in getting the state to become more efficient and powerful!  Poor Shang Yang!
   -King Hui Wen spent much of his rule working tirelessly to expand his kingdom, especially against the neighboring Zhou states.
      -Of particular note are Qin's invasions of the states of Shu and Ba to the southwest in 316 BC.
         -Oddly enough, these two states were comprised of a people (the Ba-Shu culture) that we didn't know about until we found legit archaeological evidence of their existence in 1987! 
            -This evidence (based on their art, crafts, etc.) also suggests that this culture, which had been deemed "barbaric" by the Xia/Shang/Zhou dynasties, were actually quite developed and sophisticated (if not at the same level as the "civilized" dynasties themselves!) in terms of technology and stuff.
         -Qin invaded these states because they occupied the strategically-located Sichuan Basin (and also because they could- these states were quite weak). 
            -They had gone unconquered in the past just because they were so far away and there was no reason for any state/kingdom to spend the time or resources to invade.  However, as Qin grew in power, the kingdom realized that in the future this area could be important in terms of national security and interstate warfare.  After all, "Sichuan" literally means "Four Rivers" in Mandarin (presumably in reference to the Jialing, Jinsha, Min, and Tuo rivers)!
            -After Qin conquered these states, all of the records and buildings and shit of this culture were completely destroyed.  Essentially, their existence was all but erased from history.
-Meanwhile, the other Zhou states began to notice Qin's growing power, and began to talk of taking this upstart state down by banding together in an "anti-Qin" alliance...