Harboring evil intentions means that there are harmful thoughts hidden in the heart. The idiom comes from "Zuo Chuan: The First Year of Zhao Gong", "A small country is not guilty, but it is guilty of its crimes; ”
Since the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, the struggle for hegemony between Jin and Chu has become the main theme of the world, and Zheng State, which is sandwiched between the Jin State and the Chu State, can only survive in the cracks due to the decline of the country, sometimes attached to the Jin State, and sometimes dependent on the Chu State.
In the second year of the reign of Emperor Jian of Jin (564 BC), the Jin State crusaded against Zheng State, and Zheng State was forced to form an alliance with Jin State, and after the Jin army withdrew, Zheng State formed an alliance with Chu State in the winter of the same year.
In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Jian of Jin (562 BC), the Jin State sent troops to attack Zheng again because of the alliance between Zheng and Chu, and Zheng formed an alliance with the Jin State again. The king of Chu sent troops to rescue Zheng and defeated the Jin army, and when he learned that Zheng Jiangong had made peace with the Jin state, the Chu state was furious and seized the envoy of the Jin state. At that time, Zheng Guo was so humble in diplomacy.
In the twenty-third year of Zheng Jiangong (543 BC), Zheng Mugong's grandson (Ji surname, Gongsun family, famous overseas Chinese) began to take charge of Zheng Guozheng. After Zichan came to power, although he established the diplomatic policy of "following Jin and Chu", he did not blindly follow the trend, but was able to be neither humble nor arrogant in his exchanges with the two countries, and tried his best to safeguard the interests and dignity of his country.
For example, when accompanying Zheng Jiangong to envoy to the Jin State, Zichan was too laxity in etiquette in the Jin State, so he directly ordered someone to tear down the wall of the Jin State Hotel, and after the Jin State Doctor Shi Wenbo learned about it, he blamed the Zichan, and the Zichan calmly responded, pointing out that the Jin State did not respect the Zheng State delegation enough, and the fault was on the side of the Jin State, and finally won the apology and grand reception of the Jin State.
While forming an alliance with the Jin State, Zheng Guo was also actively building good relations with the Chu State, so Zheng Guo decided to marry the daughter of Gongsun Duan, the grandson of Zheng Mugong, to the prince of Chu.
Gongziwei is the younger brother of King Chu Kang, and after King Chu Kang ascended the throne, he was very fond of Gongziwei. After the death of King Chu Kang, his son Chu Jiao Ao ascended the throne, and Gongziwei was appointed as Ling Yin, in charge of the military affairs of Chu State, and was a well-deserved important minister of Chu State.
In the first year of Lu Zhao (the twenty-fifth year of Zheng Jiangong, 541 BC), Gongzi brought a large number of soldiers and horses to Zheng Guo to pick up his relatives. In order to resolve the crisis, Zi Yu, a pedestrian who was good at handling foreign affairs, went to negotiate with the Chu people.
Zi Yu believes that the Chu State has many soldiers and horses, and it must not be allowed to enter the capital easily, but at the same time, it must not offend the Chu State, otherwise the goal of befriending it will not be achieved. So, after Ziyu saw the officials of Chu State, he said to them, "The capital of our Zheng State is too small to accommodate so many of you, please allow us to repair an area outside the city and hold a welcoming ceremony on the outskirts of the city." ”
After listening to the report of his subordinates, Gongziwei was very dissatisfied, so he sent Dazai Bozhou plough to negotiate with Ziyu. Bozhou Li said to Ziyu, "Thanks to the reward of the king of your country, marry the daughter of Gongsun Duan to Gongzi Wai of the mainland." Therefore, Gongziwei set up a sacrificial feast, and only came to greet his relatives after the temple of King Zhuang and King Gong. ”
Bozhou Li first showed Ziyu that Gongziwei attached great importance to this marriage, and then said, "If the wedding ceremony is held outside the city, wouldn't it be tantamount to throwing the king's reward in the grass and neglecting Gongziwei too much? Not only that, but it will also make Gongziwei bear the charge of deceiving the first king? So how can he continue to serve as the minister? How can he return to the king of the mainland? Please also ask the doctor to think carefully." ”
Ziyu sighed and replied, "The small country is not guilty, but it is guilty." They will rely on the peace of the great powers to calm themselves, and they will not harbor evil intentions in order to try to do so. This means that it is not a sin for a country to be weak, but it is a real sin to be dependent on a big country and be defenseless. Small countries rely on big countries to stabilize themselves, but they have to worry that big countries are harboring evil intentions to plot against themselves.
Ziyu continued, "We originally wanted that after Zheng Chu's marriage, when our Zheng Kingdom was in danger, we would be able to get the protection of your country, but now that you have brought so many troops to welcome our relatives, how can we not be vigilant?"
Gongzi did not have any good intentions during this trip, but planned to take the opportunity to attack Zheng Guo. However, after listening to Ziyu's words, Gongziwei realized that Zheng Guo had already been on guard against himself, so he had to let go of other thoughts and promised not to bring soldiers and armor into the city to welcome his relatives, and Zichan agreed to let them enter the city.