The Battle of Mingtiao was the decisive battle between Shang Tang and Xia Jun in Mingtiao (west of Xiaxian County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, near Luoyang City, Henan Province) around 1600 BC. The war led to the demise of Xia Dynasty and the establishment of Shang Dynasty in Shang Tang.

Xia ruled for more than 400 years, and when Xia Jie came to power, it was already in danger. He cherished the happiness of the queen, valued his courtiers, slaughtered loyal courtiers and imprisoned dragons, brutally oppressed and enslaved the people, their countries and tribes, and caused widespread hatred and opposition. According to the chronicle of bamboo slips, "a palace was built, a Yao platform was decorated, a room was built for Qiongteng, and a Yumen was built".

"Zi Zhi Tong Jian" records: "Be a Yao Tai, stop the power of the people and cherish the wealth of the people. It's a bad dike for the wine pool, and three thousand people drink it. " He often compares himself to the sun, and people angrily curse him for "mourning every day, and you will all die" (Sun, when you die, we are willing to die with you! )。

In the process of the gradual decline of Xia Dynasty, the Shang tribes in the lower reaches of the Yellow River gradually became stronger. After Shang Tang succeeded to the throne, he moved the tribal ruling center to Nanbo (now southeast of Shangqiu City, Henan Province), and actively put forward plans to attack Xia Guoli.

Pre-war deployment

Before the decisive battle with Xia Dynasty, Shang Tang, with the help of sage Yi Yin and Zhong, skillfully planned "to be in an invincible position first", removing his wings one by one and isolating himself.

Spy on military intelligence

First, Shang Tang sent Yi Yin to sneak into Xiadu Special (now southwest of gongyi city, Henan Province) as a spy for many times, and mastered the chaotic situation of "making bad friends up and down and the people holding grudges" in Xia Dynasty.

Remove the wings.

At that time, the overall strength of Xia Dynasty was still greater than that of Shang tribe, and Shang Tang adopted the method of weakening first and then strengthening, losing its wings to weaken the strength of Xia Dynasty. The first goal was the warlord Ge in Xia Dynasty (now north of Ningling County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province). In the name of revenge for the boy, he set out to destroy Ge, then concentrated his forces to gradually destroy Wei (now southeast of Slip County, Henan Province) and Gu (now southeast of Fan County, Henan Province), and finally defeated Kunwu (now Xuchang City, Henan Province) with strong strength.

Choose a soldier

When Shang Tang stopped paying tribute to Xia Jie to test its reaction, Xia Jie immediately mobilized the division of Jiuyi to prepare for cutting merchants, while Shang Tang immediately "apologized and paid tribute again". Soon, news came that Xia Jie had killed important officials and abandoned others, and Shang Tang stopped paying tribute to Xia Jie again. At this time, Xia Jie's command was completely out of order, and the September 1st Division could not stand it, so there was open resistance. Shang Tang thought the time was ripe for cutting Jie, and decisively ordered him to arise.

decisive battle

About BC 1600, Shang Tang started to attack the summer. Before the war, he held a solemn oath ceremony. According to the Preface to the History of History, Shang Tang "fought against Jie in the wild and made a soup oath". After the oath, Tang Jian selected 70 good cars and 6000 people will die. They joined forces with the armies of other countries and made a strategic detour to make a surprise attack on the west of Zhixia. In a hurry to go to war, Tang refused to go west. The armies of both sides fought a decisive battle in the whistle.

In the decisive battle, Tang Jun fought bravely and defeated Xia Jie's main force in one fell swoop. After Xia Jie retreated, he returned to the tributary country (now the east area of Dingtao County, Shandong Province), and Shang Tang attacked and destroyed the tributary country. Xia Jie led a few down archers to Nanchao (now Chaohu City, Anhui Province) and died soon. Shang Tang returned to Xibe (now west of yanshi city, Henan Province) and held a meeting of "The Life of Jingbo" attended by many governors, which won the support of 3,000 governors and made him the master of the world, and the Xia Dynasty was declared dead.

affect

The Battle of Mingtiao was the first time in the history of China to overthrow the declining dynasty by violence, which was later called "Tang Wu Revolution". "Yi Ge Hai Ci" records: "The Tang and Wu revolutions depend on heaven and people". The Battle of Mingtiao was also the earliest successful example of China's quick decision in ancient times through "breaking the product, breaking off diplomatic relations, breaking off troops and using air".