Is King Wu's cutting unreasonable? Whether Zhou Wang is cruel is questioned.

As for Shang Zhouwang, everyone knows that he is a tyrant, so widespread indignation and discontent. However, why do many people in history accuse Zhou Wuwang of just behavior? Let's just say that history is complicated. Zhou Wang is cruel, but is there any exaggeration? Zi Gong has doubts about this.

When he entered Yin, he heard that Yin had elders. I went to see it and asked Yin why she died. Elder Yin said to him, if you want to know, please take Japan and China as a period. At that time, King Wu will blame it. Duke Zhou said: I know. This gentleman is also, righteousness is not his master. If you don't do it properly and you don't believe it, the Yin will die. This matter has been reported to the king.

Feng Ming Menglong's "Knowledge Micro Volume 5"

It is said that Zhou Wuwang led an army to wipe out the Shang Dynasty, that is, the Yin Dynasty. In order to appease the local people, he specially met with some wise men and elders to listen to different opinions, so as to learn the lessons from the demise of the Shang Dynasty. In fact, after the demise of Shang Dynasty and its occupation of Shang territory, Zhou Wuwang was still somewhat weak.

Besides, when Zhou's army entered the territory of Shang Dynasty, it was tantamount to one Guo Bang invading another. So, Boyi and Shu Qi robbed Jiang Ziya's horse and complained to each other in the righteousness of the monarch and his subjects. It's not that these two old people are pedantic, but that they don't agree with the military occupation of Shang Dynasty by Zhou Dynasty at all. Moreover, people in the Shang dynasty were not convinced: the reason why the Zhou dynasty successfully destroyed the business was because the main fighting force of the Shang dynasty went to Dongyi and had no time to return to the capital.

The demise of the Shang Dynasty in the Zhou Dynasty was not justified as described in some books. Zhou Wuwang was in vain, so he visited the local elders and asked the reasons for the demise of Shang Dynasty. An ordinary folk elder said, Your Majesty, if you really want to know, let's make an appointment at noon tomorrow. King Wu believed him.

As a result, the ordinary old man didn't dare to confront Zhou Wuwang. At noon the next day, he disappeared. Zhou Wuwang thought: How dare this old man miss my appointment with Zhou Wang? Just when the safety of the old man became a problem, the virtuous and generous Duke of Zhou began to explain: I see, this old man really can't bear to betray his old master Zhou Wang, and certainly won't speak ill of Zhou Wang. Moreover, his old man stood me up on purpose, actually implying that your majesty, your words are the cause of Zhou Wang's demise, and you should not learn from him.

Whether the old man meant this is unknown, but Duke Zhou's explanation is meaningful. He is reminding his brother Zhou Wuwang that the heart of Shang Dynasty never turned to Zhou Dynasty, so we should not treat them lightly, and at the same time, we should be loyal to the people of Shang Dynasty and not regard them as winners.