There are thousands of worlds, there are no wonders. There is a person in China who has been prime minister for three years, does not do one thing, drinks and eats meat with friends all day, and typical inaction.
However, after his death, he received a wave of applause, and both the kings and the famous ministers and the small people praised him as a sage for eternity.
Why?
This person's name is Cao Shan. He was the founding hero of the early Han Dynasty, able to write and martial arts, and was a very powerful figure himself.
In terms of martial arts, he conquered one hundred and twenty-two counties in the two kingdoms in his lifetime, and his merit was second only to Han Xin.
In terms of literature, before he became the chancellor of the Han Dynasty, he was the xiangguo of Liu Bang's eldest son Liu Feifengguo Qiguo, and under his administration, the four realms of Qi were peaceful and praised by Uchi.
02
In the second year of Emperor Hui of Han (193 BC), The Chancellor Xiao He was critically ill. Emperor Hui of Han asked Xiao He to recommend a successor.
Xiao He said, "Cao San! ”
Emperor Hui of Han also felt that cao was very capable, and he really couldn't find a more suitable candidate besides him. So xuan cao joined the capital.
After Cao San's entry into The Capital as prime minister, after a while, Emperor Hui of Han felt that something was wrong.
The so-called new official took office with three fires, and Cao San, who had been the prime minister for many months, did not light a single fire. Not only is there no new program of measures, but there is also inaction, and the whole day is either drinking tea and chatting, or drinking wine and eating meat.
Emperor Hui of Han couldn't bear to look at it and rebuked Cao Gan.
This brings us to a famous dialogue in history.
Cao Shan asked, "Your Majesty, which do you think is more holy, between you and Gaozu?" ”
Emperor Hui of Han no longer felt that he could, nor did he dare to entrust himself in front of his father, so he replied, "Where do I dare to compare myself with the former emperor?" ”
Cao Shan asked again, "Then Your Majesty, do you think that I and Xiao He are more capable?" ”
Emperor Hui of Han was dissatisfied with Cao San, of course, it was impossible to think that he was strong, so he said politely: "You seem to be a little worse than Xiao He." ”
So Cao San said, "Your Majesty, since you are not as good as Gao Zu and I am not as good as Xiao He, then we just need to do things according to the rules they have set, so why do we have to toss it?" ”
This sentence wrapped Emperor Huidi of Han around, and Emperor Huidi of Han thought about it for half a day, but he couldn't find a reason to refute it, and finally had to reply: "You are very right, let's do it like this..."
So Cao San, then drank his tea, set up his Xuanlongmen Array, and comfortably became his prime minister.
03
The question is, does Cao San really think that his ability is inferior to Xiao He's, so he does everything according to the laws established by Xiao He? Poke? What interesting things would ancient scholars do to understand boredom?
My answer is no. Why?
First of all, Cao Gan is not an incompetent person, but a person with outstanding ability and extreme intelligence.
Why? The aspect of wu is not to be said, but only to say the text.
When he first became a prime minister in the State of Qi, the State of Qi was poor and white, and it was he who corrected the chaos and formulated various regulations to turn the State of Qi into a place of wealth and tranquility of the first rank among the princely states.
Otherwise, Xiao He would not have recommended him to take over his class.
And you know, Xiao He only recommended him at that time.
It was not that there was no one in the DPRK, Chen Ping, Wang Ling, and Zhou Bo were all capable and capable, but Xiao He did not recommend anything, only recommended him!
Also, when Xiao He was seriously ill, Cao Gan asked his family to hurry up and prepare to enter Beijing.
The family was very strange and asked him what he was doing in Beijing.
He said to be the prime minister, and after Xiao He's death, the prime minister must be me!
Can someone who is so confident not have a very high IQ?
Secondly, Cao Shan and Xiao He were almost brothers who grew up from childhood, and the two of them fought with Liu Bang to fight in the jiangshan, and both made great achievements.
However, among the three people that Liu Bang believed were the most important, only Zhang Liang, Han Xin, and Xiao He, and there was no Cao Shan.
Later, Xiao He became the "Premier of the State Council", and he was only a "secretary general of the provincial party committee", and it is absolutely impossible for you to say that he has no jealousy at all.
Even if he had a little jealousy and utilitarianism, when Emperor Hui of Han asked him, he would never admit that Xiao He was better than him. Since he confessed, that was definitely something else.
04
If this is the case, why doesn't Cao Shan do anything?
Because he deliberately did nothing. Why?
Because after he became the prime minister, he immediately selected a group of simple and unspeakable people from the counties and princely states, and let them come to the chancellor's mansion to serve as his assistants.
And those who pursue perfection in detail and prestige will all shake them away.
The only purpose of this is that not only does he not do things, but he also wants his subordinates not to look for trouble.
Then the question arises again, since Cao Gan is such a capable and intelligent person, why does he pretend to be stupid and not do things?
First of all, this has to do with the philosophy that Cao Shan believes in. What philosophy does Cao Shan believe in? Yellow old. Huang Lao's spirit is to be quiet and do nothing, the quieter the better.
Of course, the clever Cao Shen naturally did not stop doing things because he wanted to believe in his own philosophy. But he knew that at that time, there really should be no more incidents.
After the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty and the repeated wars at the end of the Qin Dynasty, China's country has been destroyed and its economy has reached the brink of collapse.
Even Han Gaozu's ancestor Liu Bang could not afford to sit in a carriage, and could only sit in an ox cart.
Even if you take an ox cart, it is difficult to find a few cattle with poor coat color, which can be imagined to the extent of economic hardship at that time.
The revitalization of the economy of the feudal agrarian society and the revitalization of the economy now are completely two concepts.
Now to revitalize the economy, the country needs to formulate better economic policies, use investment promotion to pull, and use financial leverage to balance. whereas
To revitalize the economy of an agrarian society, there is only one point, don't disturb the people! Don't look for something to do all day, don't charge too much tax!
Give the peasants ten or twenty years of freedom, let them free their hands and feet to produce, needless to say, the economy will naturally go up, the people will naturally become rich, and the country will naturally become strong.
It can be said that the wise and wise Cao Ginseng, as an economist in an agrarian society, naturally understands this truth.
It's just that he didn't say it. He didn't say it because he said it and no one else understood.
For example, Emperor Hui of Han. Emperor Hui of Han did not understand, and perhaps even thought that he was talking about crooked reasoning.
In order to get a hundred, Cao Gan had to use Emperor Huidi's father to scare him, so that Emperor Hui of Han would not dare to make trouble again!
Emperor Hui of Han did not understand, but the later Emperor Wen of Han, Emperor Jing of Han, certainly understood, so they would continue to recuperate, lightly give up their gifts, and create the "rule of Wenjing".
It can be said that it is precisely because of Cao Gan's initiative and the relay of the two emperors of Wenjing that the rich and powerful Han Empire was eventually created.