From self-recommendation to self-murder, what did Mao Sui experience?

What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo

According to the Chronicle of History. Volume VIIVI. Plain Junyu Qing Column Biography. The Pingyuan Jun records that during the Warring States period, the State of Qin sent troops to attack the State of Zhao and besieged the Zhao capital Handan, and the situation was very critical, so the King of Zhao sent Pingyuan Jun to the State of Chu to request help. Pingyuan Jun intended to select twenty civilian and martial talents from his disciples to go with him, but only nineteen were selected, and the rest did not meet the conditions.

At this time, a man named Mao Sui took the initiative to recommend himself to Pingyuan Jun and asked to join the ranks of the Chu State.

Pingyuan Jun asked, "How long have you been under my door?"

Mao Sui replied, "It's been three years." "

Pingyuan Jun said: "A truly talented person, like an awl in a bag, will immediately reveal a sharp cone tip. And you've been under my door for three years, and I haven't heard of any performance from you, so you better stay!"

Mao Sui said: "I now recommend myself, that is, to ask you to put me in the bag, if there is such an opportunity earlier, then I will not just show the tip of the cone, but I will already show my talent, and I will show my sharp edge!"

PingYuanjun felt that Mao Sui had a point and agreed to let him go with him. When they arrived in the Chu Kingdom, the talks between Pingyuan Jun and the King of Chu, from morning to noon, had not yet yielded results. Mao Sui then walked up to the King of Chu with his sword and tried to explain the stakes of Zhao and Chu in jointly resisting Qin. The King of Chu was finally persuaded to promise Zhao Guo that he would send troops to rescue him. Therefore, the two countries made an alliance on the spot and vowed to defend the covenant of joint resistance against Qin.

Mao Sui not only helped Pingyuan Jun complete his task this time, but also made a contribution to the country, so that everyone looked at him with admiration, and Ping Yuanjun treated him as a guest. Later, this story was condensed into the idiom of "self-recommendation", which is a metaphor for volunteering and recommending oneself.

Life is to be "like a cone in the bag", but not in the dark for a long time. Mao Sui in the Warring States period is such an example. With this self-confidence and courage, Mao Sui promoted Chu and Zhao Hezhong in one fell swoop, and also gained the reputation of "three inches of tongue, stronger than a million masters".

However, no one would have thought that this feat of shaking the ancients and the present would actually lead to the disaster of killing.

It is said that in 256 BC, the year after Mao Sui volunteered to make the Chu state establish a meritorious service, the Yan army suddenly sent the great general Li Belly to lead an army to attack the Zhao state, so who led the army to resist? At this time, Pingyuan Jun turned a blind eye to all the generals who could fight in battle, and only Mao Sui was in his heart, and he strongly recommended Mao Sui as the commander-in-chief of the former enemy. However, Mao Sui was a well-spoken diplomat, but he was not a general who could command the three armies against the enemy. As a result, in the Battle of Qamdo, the Zhao army was killed by the Yan army. Mao Sui was so ashamed and indignant that he drew his sword, and the cold light flashed around his neck.

From the glory of "Mao Sui self-recommendation" to the misery of "Mao Sui self-sacrifice", only one year has made people feel very emotional.

Many people will have an inertial thinking that if someone is excellent on the one hand, he is a generalist and a perfect person. This unrealistic blind elevation, ostensibly to regard it as a treasure, is actually to treat it as a straw. For the parties, self-nomination is of course a good thing, if there is no comprehensive understanding of the self, after achieving certain achievements, they will insist on doing some things that "obey the leadership" but are not enough, and "self-recommendation" and "grass" themselves are just a paper gap.