Guoxue idiom story (56) Does not distinguish between wheat and great sins: the legend of an underage monarch

Traditional Chinese idioms, condensing the essence of history; winding paths, meet a different "China".

The two idioms spoken today are related to a legendary monarch. He is the aforementioned Jin mourning Gongsun Zhou.

(Part 1) The brother who does not recognize the wheat has become the most intelligent younger brother

As mentioned above, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, under the patriarchal system, a system of primogeniture was formed, and the rules were: li concubines are not long, and lizi is expensive but not long.

Simply put, rule one is that when choosing an heir, the eldest son born to the wife has the highest priority right to inherit, regardless of whether he is virtuous or not.

If there is no eldest son, then according to rule two: the son born of the most honorable concubine enjoys the highest priority of inheritance, and it is no longer necessary to see whether he is the eldest son. The son is precious to the mother, and the mother is precious to the child.

Jin Ligong was childless, and Luan Shu and Zhongxing Yan thought of Sun Zhou when they chose a successor to the Jin state. Therefore, he sent the doctor Xun Yan and Shi Que to the Zhou Jing Division to meet him.

According to the Zhou Dynasty calendar, this day is the fifth day of the first lunar month in 573 BC, when Sun Zhou was only 14 years old, still a child, and the second line.

"Etiquette" Yun: "Husband ceremony, starting from the crown" "Man twenty, crown and word" (holding the coming-of-age ceremony, you can marry and have children).

Since the monarch was to be chosen among the brothers of Sun Zhou, according to the rules, the first person should be Sun Zhou's brother, but unfortunately or coincidentally, this person was a fool, and he could not even distinguish which was the bean and which was the wheat, so he could not be the monarch (Zhou Zi had a brother and had no wisdom, and could not distinguish the wheat, so he could not stand).

Luan Shu and Zhonghang Yan originally thought that Sun Zhou's hairy child was just a marionette, and even if they knew that when they met, Sun Zhou's words came down, and everyone was surprised. The originally confident Luan clan and the Zhongxing clan were even more secretly frightened.

It is said that on this day, the doctors, under the leadership of Luan Shu and Zhongxing Yan, came to Qingyuan early to greet Sun Zhou.

After the simple meeting ceremony, Sun Zhou said: "I grew up in Beijing, and I never thought of returning to China in my life, let alone becoming a monarch. Isn't it providence to come this far now? A country needs a monarch because it needs him to issue orders, but if a monarch is established and does not obey his orders, it is better not to stand. The doctors obey my orders today, and they do not listen to me today, and it is up to you to decide now. But I would like to say one more thing, respectfully and obediently to the king, which is blessed by the gods. ”

After saying this, all the doctors trembled and bowed, unanimously agreed, and said one after another: "This is the wish of our courtiers, how dare we not only listen to orders." (The crowd of courtiers also wish, dare not only obey the order is to listen)

Subsequently, Sun Zhou and the doctors swore an oath, and after coming to the capital 10 days later, they stayed at the home of a certain official of the same sect, then worshipped the Taimiao Temple, met with the ministers, and expelled seven treacherous ministers and their families from yiyang on the spot.

On the first day of February, Sun Zhou succeeded to the throne and quickly implemented a series of effective reforms:

In terms of people's livelihood: giving away money and goods and relieving people of debts to the state, pensions and relief for the poor. Rescue disasters, reduce taxes, try not to occupy farm time, and let farmers work with peace of mind.

In terms of employment: reform the national policy of "not having a prince" under the Jin Dynasty, and promote the Gong clan as the foundation of the country. Reappoint hundreds of officials, employ good officials who have long been suppressed at the bottom... The heads of all departments are placed in the most suitable posts according to their talents and endowments, and they are all highly praised by the people.

In terms of the army: grand military parades have been held twice, and the generals of the upper, middle, lower and new armies have been adjusted. At the beginning of his reign, he only pursued the death penalty of Punishing Yiyang Wuhe and Cheng Shui to set an example. Only half a year later, the highest-ranking Chinese general Luan Shu died of fear, completely out of the game, and was replaced by Han Yue.

Diplomatic aspects: courtesy to the princes, warm meeting and courtesy to the Lu monarch. Rescue the Song State and fight against the Chu State. As a result, the Jin State, as a "responsible" great power, was trusted and dependent by various princely states.

At the time of these achievements, Jin Mourning Gong was only 15 years old.

Talented, talented, simply talented!!

Unfortunately, in November 558 BC, only 29 years old, Sun Zhou died young, and his nickname was "mourning".

Throughout his life, Zhen Qi, Qin, Tired Chu, the Princes of jiuhe, and the harmony of Rong Di, the world could not compete with it.

However, with his departure, some bureaucrats in the Jin state quickly became corrupt and degenerate, and the country once again slid to the brink of poverty and weakness, until the "three families were divided into Jin" and the great power fell.

The sky is not fake, how sad!!

"Rule by man" is like a tall building on the beach, sincerely speaking.

(Part 2) Know people and do good deeds, and if you smell them, you are happy

I. Launching "guerrilla warfare" to drag down the Chu state

The so-called "one mountain does not allow two tigers". After the Duke of Jin ascended the throne, he once again dominated the Central Plains in just a few years, which naturally caused strong dissatisfaction in the Chu state.

As a result, the State of Chu frequently sent troops to attack the States of Zheng, Chen, and Wu. In order to survive, Chen Guo and Zheng Guo had to become "wall grass" and go to the Jin Dynasty.

In order to make Zheng Guo, whose strategic position was extremely important, stubbornly submit to the Chu state, Xun Yan proposed to the Jin Dynasty that he would adopt the strategy of "waiting for work with leisure", specifically by changing the original fourth army to the third army and assigning the allies to match. The three armies took turns to move, the enemy retreated and we advanced, the enemy advanced and we retreated, with our first army, leading the three armies. There is another one, absolutely can not fight with the Chu soldiers.

Isn't this what was once called "guerrilla warfare"? Therefore, it is still very beneficial to read more history.

Second, do not favor favoritism, and can correct mistakes when they know them

In 570 BC (the fourth year of the Duke of Jin), dukes of mourning met with princes at Jiqiu (一說吉泽), and Wei Dai served as sima of the Chinese army.

Yang Gan, the brother of Gong Mo, did not obey the command and arbitrarily formed his own team of pawns in the headquarters, ranking them after fan zhao, the deputy general of the Chinese army. According to military regulations, when military law is engaged.

But after all, it was the monarch's brother, Wei Dai, in order to rectify military discipline, beheaded Yang Gan's "driver" in front of the army.

Yang Gan was ashamed and afraid, and ran to his brother Jin to mourn the evil man to complain first, saying that Wei Dai had deliberately insulted himself.

The Duke of Jin was furious and said to Yang Zhichi, "I am meeting with the princes, but Wei Dai is insulting my brother, creating negative news to destroy the harmonious situation of the talks, smearing the Jin state, quickly arrest me, don't let him run." ”

Yang Zhichi said, "I don't need to catch it, Wei Dai will come by herself." ”

As soon as the words stopped, Wei Dai arrived, handed chen qingshu to the servant (official name, in charge of passing orders), and was about to commit suicide with a sword. Fortunately, Shi Qu and Zhang Lao's eyes were fast and stopped him.

The servant handed the letter to the mourner, which read: "I rebuke Yang Gan, knowing that this is a capital offense. I also know that you are meeting with the princes. However, soldiers are forced to obey military orders, and the army is honored by not violating military discipline. Kings and princes, do I dare not strictly enforce military discipline? The king's army is not armed, and the people who do things are disrespectful, and there is no greater sin than this. If you are not happy, I ask for the death penalty. ”

After reading the letter, Gong Gong ran out without shoes (stepping out), took Wei Chen's hand and said, "My words are a gift from brotherhood." Your reproach is a major military matter. I have a brother, but it is my sin to fail to discipline him and let him violate military discipline. ”

After returning to China, the Duke of Jin specially invited Wei Dai at the Taimiao Temple with the ceremony of a palace food doctor, and promoted him to the rank of deputy general of the New Army. At the same time, he severely reprimanded Yang Gan and ordered him to be sent to the Gong clan doctor Han Wuji to learn the ceremony for three months, and Fang Xu met.

Third, know people well, talent is abundant

In 570 BC, the Lieutenant Qi Xi of the Chinese Army told the old man to return to his hometown, and the Mourning Gong asked who could replace him, and Qi Xi recommended his enemy Xie Hu. Jin Mourning Gong was surprised and said, "Isn't Xie Fox your enemy?" Qi Xi said, "You are asking who can replace me, not who is my enemy." ”

Unfortunately, Xie Fox fell ill and died before he could take office. Duke Mo asked Qi Xi to recommend the candidate again, and Qi Xi recommended his son Qi Wu. Qi Xi said, "Knowing the son is like a father, my son is a good boy, better than me."

The Duke of Jin then appointed Qi Wu as a lieutenant. After the death of Duke Mo, his son Duke Jinping succeeded to the throne until the death of Duke Jinping, and the military discipline of the Jin army was solemn and there was no corrupt government.

This is the famous story in history of "external lifting does not avoid revenge, and internal lifting does not avoid relatives".

It is precisely because the Jin mourning public knows that people are good at their duties and loves the people, so the officials of the Jin state did not sue each other or even stab each other when they were promoted, but they humbled each other, and felt that they were not capable enough, although the mourning duke repeatedly appointed, he still resolutely refused, willing to be a deputy, so that those who could live in it.

In addition, after the position of the mourner was consolidated, instead of "saying what Yao Shun said and doing the truth", or even being extremely poor and extravagant, and boasting about himself, he continued to care about the people's suffering, and the ministers of the gongqing represented by Wei Dai lent all their property to the people for production and life.

The "Left Biography" records that one year after the implementation of this recuperation policy:

The "commodity economy" has developed rapidly. The Jin Dynasty had no property that did not circulate, nor did it have poor people. The state does not prohibit the people from getting rich, and the people have no worries, so there are very few greedy people.

In contrast, in some countries, after experiencing long-term poverty and moral failure, the people have formed a "hungry personality", and when they are profitable, they appear shameless and greedy, whether they need it or not, they desperately eat more and occupy more, and even deliberately destroy it, and do not keep it for others.

Advocating frugality has become the norm. In prayer, the sacrifice was replaced by money, and only one kind of livestock meat was used to entertain the guests, no new utensils were added, and the carriage and horse costumes were sufficient.

National decrees are flowing, and international prestige is rising. The various princely states did not have to spend money to buy and then surrendered one after another, and the powerful Chu state sent troops three times without success.

Writing this, the author can not be calm for a long time. This is the Jin Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, which is also a vast country with a large population.

From this I think that a country can only be truly strong if it truly loves and respects its people. Only when the people live with their eyebrows raised, can they swear to defend their "way of life" in a moment of crisis. A nation accustomed to kneeling and licking, mentally depressed, in times of crisis, it is absolutely impossible to stand up and charge like a "human", but only a selfish, indifferent, tame spectator.

Yes there is this article!

Appreciation of Sinology Classics:

Marquis Jin's brother Yang Gan marched in a disorderly manner in Quliang, and Wei Dai killed his servants. The Marquis of Jin was furious, saying, "The princes of He thought they were proud of themselves, and they were killed, so why should they be humiliated?" Wei Chen will be killed, no loss also! "If you have no ambitions, if you don't overcome difficulties, if you are guilty, you will not escape from prison, and if you resign in the future, why should you insult your life?" "At the end of the speech, Wei Daizhi gave the servant a book and put the sword on the ground. Shi Que and Zhang Laozhi.

...... The public stepped out and said, "The words of the widow, dear also." My son's plea, military salute also. The widow has a brother, and the one who can teach the lessons will make the work great, and the widow will also do the faults. The Son has no weight and no one's fault, dare to think please. ”

The Marquis of Jin took Wei Dai as a way to punish the people, rebelled against the people, and ate with them, so that zuo xinjun. Elder Zhang was sima of the Chinese army, and Shifu was waiting for the throne.

- "The Three-Year Biography of Zuo Chuan Xianggong"

The Marquis of Jin returned, and the people were sought. Wei Dai asked for alms, and accumulated to lend. From the public below, those who have accumulated, do their best. There is no stagnation in the country, and there is no trapped person. There is no prohibition on profit, and there is no greed. Pray for more money, guests with characteristics, instruments are not used, and cars obey to give. In the year of the journey, the kingdom has festivals. Three drivers and Chu can not compete with each other.

- "The Nine-Year Biography of Zuo Chuan Xianggong"