In the feudal dynasty of China, the king was the supreme ruler of the country and enjoyed supreme power, but if the king treated the state power as a child's play and did whatever he wanted, it would only lead to his own demise.
Zhou Youwang was the last king of the Zhou Dynasty in the 8th century BC. When he was in power, he was ignorant and did not manage the country well. He plays with beautiful women in the harem all day. Zhou Youwang especially dotes on a concubine named Cong Si. She is satisfied with everything, but Cong Si is always unhappy and seldom laughs. Zhou Youwang tried many ways to tease the compliment and try to make her smile. However, the more he tried to make the compliment smile, the more calm it was, and he deliberately stopped laughing. In order to win the beauty's smile, Zhou Youwang really had a hard time.
One day, Zhou Youwang took his aunt to play outside, and they came to the beacon tower of Lishan Mountain. Zhou Youwang explained the purpose of the beacon tower to Bao Si and told her that it was a building used to report war news. At that time, from the frontier to the capital, a high earth platform was built at regular intervals, and soldiers were stationed day and night. When the enemy invaded the border, the soldiers stationed on the beacon immediately lit the beacon and alerted the neighboring beacon. If this matter is passed down all the way, what happened at the border will soon spread to the capital. Once the capital was threatened, the beacon tower on Mount Li also lit a beacon fire and sent a message to the vassal state to which the Zhou Dynasty belonged, and the vassal state immediately sent troops to help.
Hearing Zhou Youwang's words, he didn't believe that building a fire on such a high mound could summon reinforcements thousands of miles away. In order to win praise, Zhou Youwang immediately ordered the soldiers to light a bonfire. Beacon was lit on one beacon tower after another, and local governors soon got the news that the capital was attacked and led troops to come to the rescue.
However, when the governors from all walks of life arrived at the foot of Mount Li, they saw Zhou Youwang and his concubine drinking and having fun on the high platform. There were no enemies at all. They realized that they had been fooled by the king. The warlord dared not lose his temper, so he could only lead the army back angrily. Seeing the princes who are usually very noble, they are all in a mess after being played. I thought it was funny and couldn't help laughing. Zhou Youwang finally saw his beloved princess smile and felt very happy.
After all the Zhuangke retired, Zhou Youwang told the soldiers to rekindle the bonfire, and all the Zhuangke came in a hurry with the army. Zhou Youwang and Congsi laughed together when they saw the governors cheating again on the beacon tower. In this way, Zhou Youwang repeatedly lit bonfires and teased the governors. Finally, when the bonfire was rekindled, no warlord was fooled again.
Soon, Zhou Youwang wanted Kang Ru to be the queen and Kang Ru's son to be the prince. In order to achieve his goal, he abolished the queen and the prince. The queen's father, King Shen, was very angry when he heard that his daughter had been abolished. He immediately contacted other countries and sent troops to attack the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou Youwang hurriedly lit a bonfire and called Zhuangke.
However, the governors no longer trusted Zhou Youwang, and despite the constant fire, none of them came to the rescue. Soon, the capital of the Zhou Dynasty was breached, Zhou Youwang was killed, praise was deprived, and the Zhou Dynasty perished.
Extended data:
The background of the prince in the bonfire play
After Zhou Xuanwang's death, his mother Zhou Youwang succeeded to the throne. At that time, there was a major earthquake in Guanzhong area where wáng jī was located, followed by years of drought, people were hungry and cold, exiled everywhere, social unrest and exhausted national strength. Zhou Youwang is a dissolute and heartless bad king. He didn't want to save the Zhou Dynasty from peril and made great efforts. But reuse courtiers and uncles, exploit the people and intensify class contradictions. Also attacked Xirong, and suffered a crushing defeat. ? At this time, a minister praised you and exhorted your king. Zhou Youwang didn't listen, but he imprisoned you.
Yang was imprisoned for three years. Baozu people tried their best to save Baojun. They heard that Zhou Youwang is very beautiful. They ordered all the beautiful women to enter the palace, so they took this opportunity to look for beautiful women. I found a woman named Alice in Baocheng, taught her to sing and dance, dressed her up, named her Bao, and gave her to the king of seclusion. Make amends for praise.
When he saw the compliment, You Wang was very surprised and liked it very much. He immediately named her a princess and issued a compliment. After boasting, the king loved her very much and lived a dissolute and luxurious life. Although praise is as gorgeous as peaches and plums, it is as cold as ice. You Wang has never laughed once since he entered the palace. In order to win the happy smile of the admirer, he will do his best, but the admirer will not smile all day. To this end, you Wang offered a reward for his plan to capture him. Who can attract compliments and smiles from others? Reward 1200. At this time, a courtier named Guo (guó) Shi Fu came up with an idea and suggested using beacon towers to give it a try.
The bonfire was originally an emergency military warning signal when the ancient enemy invaded. From the capital to the border fortress, there are beacon towers along the way. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, in order to guard against the intrusion of dogs, more than 20 beacon towers were built around Lishan Mountain near Haojing (southeast of Lintong, Shaanxi), and there was one every few miles. Once the dogs attacked, the first sentry found immediately lit the beacon tower on the stage, and the neighboring beacon towers were also lit one after another to warn the nearby princes. As soon as the princes saw the bonfire, they all knew that the capital was in an emergency and the son of heaven was in trouble. They must get up and try to save. Shi Guo's father put forward a plan to let the beacon tower light a bonfire for no reason, so as to attract governors to make people laugh in vain.
Reference: bonfire drama princes-Baidu Encyclopedia