Reading history: Wei Wenhou did not abandon the Period of Yu Ren

Marquis Wen of Wei (魏文侯), courtesy name Wei (魏氏), was a descendant of Wei Huanzi (魏桓子), the founding monarch of the State of Wei during the Warring States period, and in 403 BC, the three families of Zhao Wei and Han were divided into Jin, and were officially recognized as princes by the then Tianzi King Zhou Weilie. Wei Wenhou did many, many things after he ascended the throne, but there was a small story that looked inconspicuous that was passed down to future generations for a long time and was talked about by posterity.

The story goes like this, one day, Wei Wenhou told Yu Ren (a petty official in charge of the mountains and forests) that he would come here to hunt in ten days. Ten days later, the sky was not beautiful, and a fierce storm began to fall. Obviously, it was impossible to go hunting, so he invited several ministers into the palace to drink and talk, and the monarch was very interested. Suddenly, Wei Wenhou remembered that he had a hunting appointment with Yu Ren (the manager of the mountain forest), so he "ordered the right people to ride the wilderness". The ministers on the left and right were astonished: "Everyone is drinking vigorously, and it is raining heavily, where is the prince going to go?" Wei Wenhou said, "I made an appointment with the Yu people to hunt today, and although it rains and I can't hunt, why don't you talk to people because you are happy to drink?" So he went in person.

On the other hand, because the Yu people had made an agreement with Wei Wenhou before, they were waiting in line in the mountain forest to rain, because of the rain, they also knew that this hunt could not be fought, but they did not receive the order from their superiors, so they could only wait here in the rain. At this time, Wei Wenhou came, and he told the waiting people that it was raining today and they would not hunt, so let's go back and rest! Originally, everyone also knew that it was impossible to hunt on a rainy day, but what they never expected was that the monarch personally braved the rain to tell them, and they were very touched, saying that the monarch was a very trustworthy person. So this good story was soon rumored to be a beautiful talk among the nations and princes.

Han Feizi once recorded this story of Wei Wenhou in his book "The Sayings of the Outer Reserve", and recorded him as a typical example of keeping promises. When Sima Guang compiled the Zizhi Tongjian, he also recorded the story of Wei Wenhou's period of not losing his life, and made a very high evaluation: Wei was then Hu Shiqiang. Sima Guang believed that under the rule of Marquis Wen of Wei, the reason why the State of Wei could become the first powerful princely state in the Warring States began with the period of stressing honesty and not abandoning people. Wei Wenhou's period of not abandoning yu people was a very small thing, but why did such a small thing get such a high evaluation and admiration from the people of later generations? Compare the quotient martingale transformation method to the migration of wood Lixin to get the answer. Similarly, The Migration of Wood Is also to win the trust of others, but the essence of the two is somewhat different. The migration of Mu Lixin is to convince the people of the promise of the government and the credibility of the monarch. Wei Wenhou was different, personally braved the rain to inform the Yu people, and used his own actions to win the trust of the people. Although Shang Martin's Migration Wood Lixin made a good start for changing the law and strengthening the country, the evaluation of Shang Martingale Andu Lixin in later generations was not as high as Wei Wenhou's period of not abandoning Yu Ren, and the ending was completely different, Shang Martingale changed the law and died, of course, the end of Shang Martingale was related to its own cruelty and violence.

During his reign, Wei Wenhou recruited talents and recruited people of insight from the people, so that they could play a role in politics and military affairs. It was precisely because of Wei Wenhou's honesty and virtuousness that Zixia, Tian Zifang, Le Yangzi, Wu Qi, Ximen Leopard and other great figures at that time defected to him, and eventually assisted him in creating the legend of the first powerful princely state in the Warring States period.

Believers, the knot of the world. Man has no faith, and he does not know what he can do. Be honest with people, and people will not deceive me; with good faith in things, everything will not be accomplished. The allusions of stressing honesty and not stressing honesty in ancient China deserve to be studied and warned by future generations.