Three Families Perish the Wisdom

To maintain their power, the great officials of each country made some concessions to the common people at home so that they could live better, and they shared the same atmosphere with the great officials of other countries abroad. The Tian family of Qi and the three families of Lu, on the contrary, leaked the plans of the Duke of Jin to the Zhi family of Jin. When the Ji family got the news, they joined the three families to deal with the Duke of Jin in 458 B.C. (the 11th year of King Jing of Zhou). The Duke of Jin asked for trouble and fled to another country. When he died on the way, the four families dragged the great-grandson of Duke Zhao of Jin to be the titular king, Duke Ai of Jin.

Among the four families of Jin - Zhi Bo Yao, Zhao Xiang Zi Wu Yan , Wei Huan Zi Ju, and Han Kang Zi Hu - Zhi Bo Yao was the most powerful. He said to Zhao, Wei, and Han, "Jin was the hegemon of the Central Plains, but I didn't expect that Zhao Yang had let Wu take the lead at the Huangchi Conference, and Yue had taken the lead at the þzhou Conference. This is a shame for us. Now if we can defeat Yue, Jin can still be the hegemon. I advocate that each family's governor should give 100 miles of land and households to the public. In this way, the public family can have strength with increased income." The three drafts had already known that Zhi Bo had bad intentions and that he wanted to take over the state of Jin alone. The "public family" he referred to as the "Zhi family". However, the three families were not united and could not make trouble with Zhi Bo. Zhi Bo sent someone to ask Han Kang Zi Hu for 100 miles of land and households, and Han Kang Zi Hu delivered the money. Ji Bo sent someone to ask Wei Huan Zi Ju for one hundred miles of land and households, and Wei Huan Zi Ju also delivered the amount. Zhi Bo thus added two hundred li of land and households. Then he sent Zhao Xiangzi Wujuan to ask for 100 li of land and households. Zhao Xiangzi Wujian did not agree. He said, "Land is the property of my ancestors, how can I just give it away? The Han family and the Wei family were willing to give it away, but it was none of my business; I could not comply. The man went back and told Zhi Bo what Zhao Xiangzi had said. Zhi Bo was so angry that his nose blared. He sent the Han and Wei families together to fight against the Zhao family and promised them that after they destroyed the Zhao family, the land of the Zhao family would be equally divided among the three families.Zhi Bo himself led the middle army, Han's army was on the right, Wei's army was on the left, and three groups of men went straight to Zhao's house. Knowing that he was outnumbered, Zhao Xiangzi retreated to the city of Jingyang [in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province] with his troops, intending to defend there to the death. This city of Jingyang was the most solid city of the Zhao family. The walls of the palace were made of reeds, bamboo, and wooden planks, and the outside was covered with bricks and stones. All the pillars of the palace were made of good copper. All the buildings were sturdy and beautiful. After Dong An Yu, there was a minister Yin Duo who ruled Jin Yang City. This Yin Duo always thought of ways to pacify the people and won their hearts of the people. This time, when the people of Jingyang heard that Zhao Xiangzi had come, they all went to greet him. Zhao Xiangzi was relieved to see that Jingyang was a solid city with enough food and grass, and the people were happy to stay with him.