Rich and noble, not adulterous, with Confucian temperament; indifferent to Mingzhi, as a god of the flat earth.
Author: Insight · No Rain or Xiao Xiao
In the long river of history, there are countless resourceful people, but the only one who can be called "seeking saints" by later generations is Zhang Liang.
Zhang Liang is not only a hero of joining the world with great planning, but also a born immortal who is indifferent and accessible, just as Wang Anshi said:
"In the midst of the survival of Han Ye, he stayed here and calmly."
When he was young, he could see far and calmly cope with the choices of the chaotic world; in middle age, he could see through and calmly deal with the people's hearts; when he was old, he could look down on it and calmly deal with fame and fortune.
Zhang Liang's calmness and transparency have made his extraordinary life, and also showed us the best way to live in life.
1
Look far away when you're young
Life is like chess, taking one step to see one step is a mediocre, taking one step and counting three steps is a capable person, and taking one step to determine ten steps is a wise person.
Zhang Liang is such a wise man.
In the last years of the Qin Dynasty, the world was in turmoil, and the descendants of the Six Kingdoms raised the banner of restoration.
At that time, Jing Ju, a descendant of the Chu state, established himself as king in Liudi, and the momentum was huge, and Zhang Liang wanted to go and defect.
However, on his way to Jingju, he met Liu Bang.
It was this yin and yang encounter that completely changed the fate of the two. Liu Bang is a person who is as good as a stream, and he always humbly listens to and actively implements Zhang Liang's suggestions.
As a strategist, it is important to be well versed in Tao Strategy, but the premise of performing strategy is to have a wise lord who is good at receiving advice, and it is obvious that Liu Bang fully meets Zhang Liang's conditions.
However, Liu Bang's origin was not as dazzling as other princes, and his strength was not as strong as others, and at that time, few people were optimistic about him.
However, Zhang Liang had a unique insight, he was not limited to Liu Bang's lowliness, and immediately gave up the idea of defecting to Jingju and turned to Liu Bang.
Even though Liu Bang was later suppressed by Xiang Yu everywhere, and many of his subordinates surrendered to Xiang Yu, he still did not abandon Liu Bang.
It can be said that Zhang Liang can be known as the "Three Masters of the Early Han Dynasty" and stay in the history of Qingqing, and the most fundamental reason is to choose Liu Bang as the boss.
If he had followed Jingju at that time, he might have been killed by Yingbu in Liangdi; if he had chosen Xiang Yu at that time, he might have been just a pawn in front of a horse for the rest of his life.
In the chaotic world, the king chooses the subject, and the subject also chooses the king.
Liu Bang gave Zhang Liang a broad stage, giving him the opportunity to show his talents, and also gave him the highest honor as a human subject, the Imperial Master.
A person can go as far as he can see, not as far as he can see.
Most of the world's successful people do not rely on talent, not luck, but on far-sighted vision.
If there is foresight in the heart, the world is naturally wide; there is no foresight in the heart, and the road ahead is full of hardships.
When you are young, you can see far, relying on the concentration of resisting temptation, the endurance to bear heavy burdens, and the perseverance to withstand loneliness.
2
See through in middle age
Liu Yuxi has a saying: Long hate people's hearts are not as good as water, waiting for idle waves.
When people reach middle age, if they want to make a difference, they must learn to read people's hearts and insight into people's feelings.
Zhang Liang is undoubtedly a master in this.
Liu Bang led his troops to Yaoguan, only one pass away from Xianyang, but he was worried that Xiang Yu would enter the pass by himself, so he asked Zhang Liang for advice.
Zhang Liang said:
The subject heard that he would slaughter the son, and Jia Shu was easy to move to benefit.
The butcher's son is also considered a merchant, and the merchant is very profitable, so he can be impressed with profits.
After Liu Bang heard this, he asked people to take gold and silver jewels to lure down the Qin army guards.
As Zhang Liang expected, the Qin army guard agreed and prepared to open the door and surrender.
Just as Liu Bang was preparing to enter the city without bloodshed, Zhang Liang said:
It's just that the general wants to surrender, and his soldiers may not listen, so we should take the opportunity to attack and take the city.
Liu Bang followed Zhang Liang's advice, smashed the Qin army with a single blow, and finally took the lead in entering Xianyang.
Zhang Liang's seemingly understated few words actually hide his profound insight into people's hearts.
Liu Bang claimed to be empress dowager, and rewarded more than 20 great meritorious men, including Zhang Liang, while the rest of those who were not enthroned were talking and arguing endlessly.
Once, Liu Bang asked Zhang Liang, "What are those people discussing?" ”
Zhang Liang was well aware of the thoughts of the Qunchen and deliberately said, "Doesn't Your Majesty know?" They are preparing to rebel. ”
Liu Bang was horrified and hurriedly asked Zhang Liang for advice.
Zhang Liang smiled, "Among your subordinates, who do you hate the most?" ”
Liu Bang said, "Of course it is Yongya, he has insulted me repeatedly, and I have long wanted to kill him." However, his credit is too great, I am not good at it. ”
Zhang Liang then said, "Then you should first seal the Yongya, and when the courtiers see that the Yongya have all been rewarded, they will naturally be relieved." ”
Listening to Zhang Liang's suggestion, Liu Bang immediately sealed Yongya as the Marquis of Shifang. When the courtiers saw that Yongya had been rewarded, everyone was no longer in danger of themselves, and they all said with great joy: "Yongya is still a hou, and I am in no trouble." ”
In this world, people are easy to write, but people's hearts are difficult to understand.
As the saying goes, everything is learned, and human emotions are articles.
Understanding people's hearts and feelings, you can take advantage of the situation, you can also take precautions, and grasp the scale of life in this advance and retreat.
3
Look down on old age
Bitter people, the sky is not the limit.
Although Jang Liang failed to realize his dream of reviving Korea, he participated in the creation of a greater empire.
The world is decided, the hearts of the people are floating, and the ministers are vying for power and profit.
Han Xin, Peng Yue, and Yingbu, these great generals who once decided the direction of the world, but because they valued fame and fortune too much, they eventually fell under the wheel of power.
Compared with the dismal end of Han Xin and others, Zhang Liang's curtain is full of wisdom.
When the ministers were vying for merit and reward, Zhang Liang chose to live in simplicity, and once said that he was ill.
However, Liu Bang naturally would not forget Zhang Liang, and he directly ordered Zhang Liang to choose 30,000 households in the state of Qi as his own food, which was much more than the 8,000 households of Xiao He, one of the "Three Masters of the Early Han Dynasty".
However, for the double reward of "material reward" and "spiritual honor", Zhang Liang chose to refuse.
He only asked for a small place to stay, and he also found a good reason:
This place is the place where he and Liu Bang met.
Under the persuasion of Zhang Liang's "moving with affection and understanding with reason", Liu Bang finally agreed to Zhang Liang's choice.
When the achievement is completed, it feels good to return to the mountain, and it is not waiting for the bow to hide the bird when it is finished.
For his life, Zhang Liang once summed it up like this:
The family is han, does not love wanjin, assassinates Qiang Qin, and the world shakes.
Now with three inches of tongue as the emperor's teacher, sealing ten thousand households, ranking the marquis, this cloth is the extreme, Yu Liang is enough.
May you forsake human affairs and want to swim from the red pine nuts.
When Zhang Liang became famous, he chose to retire from his achievements, faded out of the world's vision with an elegant turn, and achieved his perfect ending.
Just when others were fighting and killing for fame and fortune, Zhang Liangchao heard birdsong, enjoyed the sunset in the evening, lived with the cangsheng day and night, and accompanied the piano book at night.
Isn't it fast to live like this?
Zhang Liang was able to retire thanks to his mastery of looking down on the world.
In his later years, he kept an indifferent heart, looked down on the vicissitudes of the coming, and returned naturally unharmed.
Prosperous three thousand, at the snap of a finger, has become a piece of yellow sand.
Life is a practice, and we have gone through vicissitudes as we set out toward the goal of looking forward when we were young. In middle age, he has understood the world, and in his old age, he has disappeared, and indifference is the destination.
Zhang Liang used his life to interpret Lao Tzu's words: born without being, for the sake of not being ashamed, and achieving success without dwelling.
May my generation be like Zhang Liang:
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