#古代生活日常 #
Sometimes, cattle people and ordinary people live very similarly.
In the matter of job hunting, Guan Zhong in the Spring and Autumn Period repeatedly encountered a wall.
Guan Zhong was a failed entrepreneur who cooperated with his good friend Bao Shuya in the early years, and the business was yellow.
After the failure of entrepreneurship, Guan Zhong went to become a soldier, went to the battlefield to do nothing, and ran away from the first place. His friend Bao Shuya also helped him defend himself, telling others that Guan Zhong's family had an old mother to support, and that escaping from the battlefield was not because of greed for life and fear of death, but out of filial piety.
After many years, Guan Zhong finally found a good job, but it was an offer from qi Huangong, a former nemesis.
When Duke Xiaobai of Qi Huan was still a prince, Guan Zhong assisted Gongzi Gui, another contender for the throne of the State of Qi, and in order to help Gongzi seize the throne, he almost shot Xiao Bai with an arrow. Gongzi Xiaobai escaped death and returned to the State of Qi to succeed to the throne, he was supposed to kill Guan Zhong to vent his anger, but was dissuaded by his confidant Bao Shuya.
Bao Shuya said that Guan Zhong has great talent and is the best candidate for the prime minister of the State of Qi.
Therefore, Guan Zhong, after being displaced for most of his life, became the prime minister of the State of Qi and embarked on the peak of his life.
Finding a job has been a difficult task since ancient times.
Some people rush to the science field at night, some people go to the end of the world, some people bear hardships and stand hard work, and some people are opportunistic, but they are all for the sake of warm clothing and food, placing their own body and soul, and even self-cultivation, family unity, governance, and peace in the world.
▲ Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong as his chancellor, exerted great efforts to govern, and became the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period. Source: Film and television stills
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="01" data-track="23" > Interview is the first level</h1>
Running recruitment and accepting interviews with your favorite boss is a way for ancient celebrities to find a job.
During the Warring States period, the Yan state in the north was once weakened and was bullied by the State of Qi all day.
During the reign of King Yan Zhao, he was bent on revitalizing the Yan kingdom, but suffered from lack of talent.
At this time, a wise man named Guo Kui gave him advice in the allusion of "dead bones and thousands of gold", saying that if the king wanted to get the assistance of the sages, he could start by recruiting me Guo Kui, and people like me who were only sparse and shallow could be reused, and the world's talents would surely hear the wind.
Therefore, King Yan Zhao built a golden platform, honored Guo Kui as a teacher, expressed the courtesy of corporal Xian, and issued a heavy gold and sought merit, and held a large "job fair".
The Yin and Yang family zou yan of the State of Qi, the general of the State of Zhao, Ju Xin and other celebrities of the world heard that the State of Yan had good treatment and high welfare, and they came to defect one after another, including Le Yi.
After being a shogun who was proficient in the art of war, Le Yi was depressed in the Wei kingdom, and he heard that the King of Yan was thirsty for talent, so he came to the interview to try his luck. After Le Yi came, he saw that King Yan Zhao was embarrassed and repeatedly asked him to stay as an official, so he resigned from the wei state and served as yaqing in the yan state, equivalent to the prime minister.
Le Yi chose the right employer, and later, it was he who led the Yan coalition army to defeat its powerful enemy qi state, and captured more than seventy cities in the state of Qi within five years, leaving only ju and Jimo cities without capturing.
Although he failed to defeat the State of Qi, the recruitment fair of King Zhao of Yan eventually enabled the State of Yan to rise from decay and gain a firm foothold in the Seven Heroes of the Warring States.
▲ King Yan Zhao's quest for merit. Source: Film and television stills
In the workplace, "riding a donkey to find a horse" is a long-established job search strategy.
Han Xin, one of the three masters of the Han Dynasty, is a typical example, and after he left his former boss Xiang Yu, he was also reused through the interview of his new boss Liu Bang.
When Han Xin first entered the workplace, he was nameless, probably like a graduate of the double non-college now, and he had no house, no car, and no savings at home.
This young man, who suffered from the white eyes of his friends and received food from his drifting mother, carried a three-foot sword in the chaotic world at the end of Qin and threw it under the account of Xiang Yu's uncle Xiang Liang, that is, as recorded in the history books, "and Xiang Liang crossed the Huai, believed in the sword from it, lived under his command, and was not well-known."
The rebel army fought all the way to the Qin capital Xianyang City, and Han Xin was still an unknown pawn.
At this time, Xiang Liang was dead, and Han Xin became Xiang Yu's subordinate.
Xiang Yu saw that Han Xin was the face of his uncle's old department, and gave him a position of "Lang Zhong" and let him stand guard as a guard.
Han Xin originally wanted to take this opportunity to give Advice to Xiang Yu and get a promotion opportunity, but in his actual work, he found that this invincible King of Chu was full of pride and could not listen to the opinions at all, so he had to quickly jump ship and run.
▲ Han Xin fell down in his early years. Source: Film and television stills
As we all know, after Han Xin left Xiang Yu, he came to Liu Bang's command.
At that time, Xiang Yu's power was thriving, and Liu Bang had just been forced by Xiang Yu not long ago to abandon Guanzhong, be named the "King of Han", and retreat to bashu and Hanzhong.
After going through ups and downs and getting Xiao He's recommendation, Han Xin was finally able to talk face-to-face with his favorite boss, Liu Bang, to discuss salary and treatment.
In this interview, Liu Bang listened to the poor boy in front of him talking and thinking about the strategy he proposed to unify the world, and he couldn't help but shine with admiration.
Liu Bang realized that this was the general he was painstakingly pursuing, so he disregarded the opposition of the generals of the whole army, set up an altar to worship the general, and made Han Xin a great general.
After that, Han Xin led Liu Bang's army stationed in Hanzhong to repair the zhan road and secretly cross Chen Cang, opening the prelude to the unification of the world by the Han Dynasty.
▲ After Liu Bang saw Han Xin, he worshipped him as a general. Source: Film and television stills
From Han Xin's experience, we can see that a good interview is half the battle.
However, to give the boss a good first impression, you also need to practice excellent skills, just like an IT elite, without one or two amazing graduation design and project experience, and you are not embarrassed to show your hand.
At the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhuge Liang in Gao Wolong was an interview master.
Liu Bei, who lived in Jingzhou, visited Zhuge Liang many times in order to recruit talents, and did not meet him until the last time.
At this meeting, Liu Liu came with a sincere attitude and asked Kong Ming to give him advice on how to save the decadent Han Dynasty. Zhuge Liang was confident and specially prepared a speech manuscript, that is, the famous "Longzhong Pair".
In "Longzhong Pair", Zhuge Liang proposed a complete blueprint for Liu Bei's entrepreneurship: first avoid Cao Cao's sharp edge, take Sun Quan of Jiangdong as an alliance, take Jing and Yi Erzhou, internally repair political theory, and wait for the times to move, so as to achieve hegemony.
After hearing this, Liu Bei repeatedly said good, and sincerely invited Zhuge Liang to come out of the mountain to assist and serve as the "manager" of his team. Zhuge Liang thus began to emerge from the fledgling and began the second half of his life after bowing down and dying.
At that time, Jingzhou was a place for scholars to take refuge in the south, and there was no shortage of outstanding strategists, so why did Liu Bei look at Zhuge Liang, who was farming at home?
This is another factor that has to be mentioned in the packaging that Zhuge Liang's relatives and friends made for him, as well as finding a job - networking.
▲ Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Pair" established a founding strategy for Liu Bei. Source: Film and television stills
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="02" data-track="218" > connections are important</h1>
The reason why Liu Bei looked at Maolu three times was because someone helped Zhuge Liang to "push inside" and publicize and create momentum in front of Liu Bei for a long time.
Zhuge Liang lost his father at a young age and followed his uncle south to Jingzhou and settled in Longzhong.
In order to give the Zhuge family a place in the Jingzhou scholar group, Zhuge Liang's sister, one promised to the Jingzhou great household Ofo, the other married to Pang Shanmin, the son of the famous Jingzhou scholar Pang Degong, and Zhuge Liang himself married the daughter of another famous scholar, Huang Chengyan. Huang Chengyan was still a brother-in-law with Liu Biao of Jingzhou, and his wife was a sister to Liu Biao's step-wife.
Zhuge Liang cultivated Longmu in Longzhong, but his identity was closely related to the high society of Jingzhou. He is very confident in his talents, often comparing himself to the aforementioned famous ministers Guan Zhong and Le Yi, and has aspired to be a first-class celebrity and famous general since childhood.
After Liu Bei, who sent people under the fence everywhere, went to Jingzhou to join Liu Biao, he was not willing to settle down, and he wanted to do a career, so he often humbly sought merit.
The local celebrity Sima Hui was known for his ability to recognize people and talents, and was known as the "water mirror". When Liu Beitun was stationed in Xinye, he specially visited him and asked him to recommend talents.
Sima Hui's name of "water mirror" was actually hyped up by Pang Degong, a relative of the Zhuge family, and he was also familiar with Zhuge Liang.
As soon as Liu Bei came, Sima Hui said to Liu Bei: "Ordinary readers have shallow knowledge, how can they clearly recognize the general trend of the world?" Only those who can recognize the general trend of the world can be called Junjie. According to my observation, in this Jingzhou territory, only Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong (Pang Degong's nephew) are the elite of the elite, the talents of the talents. ”
Since then, Liu Bei has remembered Zhuge Liang's name.
Zhuge Liang's good friend Xu Shu also did not forget to call Kong Ming.
Xu Shu applied to Liu Bei and was reused for his outstanding talents. Liu Bei asked him, do you have any other friends to recommend?
Xu Shu said, "I have a good brother named Zhuge Liang, general, would you like to see him?" ”
Liu Bei was overjoyed and said, "Then let him come with you!" ”
Xu Shu warmed up for Zhuge Liang's appearance again, saying: "This person is talented, you can meet each other, but you must not be sloppy, I think it is better for the general to condescend to visit in person." ”
Liu Beiyi was more anxious when he heard this, and quickly inquired about Zhuge Liang's residence and personally went to visit, which led to the later "Three Gu Maolu".
▲ Liu Beisan Gu Maolu asked Zhuge Liang to come out of the mountain. Source: Film and television stills
In the Jin Dynasty, the Nine Pins Zhongzheng system monopolized the road to progress, and the children of the family clan were rated as superior products, and the importance of personal connections was even more immeasurable.
When the Eastern Jin Dynasty minister Tao Kan was young, his family was poor, and he worked as a small official in the county, relying on his mother for his life.
Because Tao Kan is incorruptible and has a low salary, the family lives a very poor life.
On this day, Fan Kui, a famous scholar from Poyang County, came to Tao Kan's house as a guest. Tao Kan's mother saw that there was nothing to entertain guests at home, so she cut off her long hair and went to the street to change some wine and come back.
The ancients believed that "the body has skin, and the parents do not dare to destroy it", Fan Kui felt guilty after knowing tao Kan's mother's haircut and changed the wine.
But Tao Kan's mother told him not to care, saying: "The hair can be cut and can be longer, but the loss of friends can not be regained." I'm glad my son can make friends like you. ”
After eating, Tao Kan sent Fan Kui away, and the delivery was more than a hundred miles. Tao Kan and his mother's sincere intentions deeply touched Fan Kui, and also accumulated contacts for the originally poor family.
Along the way, Fan Kui asked Tao Kan, "Do you want to go to the county to become an official?" ”
Tao Kan said truthfully, "Of course I want to, but I don't have anything to do with the county." ”
Fan Kui said, "You can rest assured, I am here." You Lujiang Taishou Zhang Kui is my old friend, and he will give me my face. After that, Fan Kui did recommend Tao Kan to Lujiang Taishou Zhang Kui and praised Tao Kan's virtues. After Zhang Kui learned of this, he sent someone to ask Tao Kan to take up a post in the county.
Under the recommendation of Fan Kui and Zhang Kui and other Bole, Tao Kan gradually emerged in the official field, and later made contributions to the Eastern Jin Dynasty court in Nandu, once serving as the assassin of Jing and Jiang'er Prefectures, and supervising the military forces of the Eight Prefectures, which shocked the world.
▲ Portrait of Tao Kan. Image source: Network
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="03" data-track="219" > the resume</h1>
From ancient times to the present, the word "relationship" has always been intriguing in China.
But for young talents who don't have connections, a beautiful cover letter can also help them stand out from the crowd.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was a process called "Seeking Lifting", in which the disciples who took the exam rushed to the door of the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government to ask for their support.
In this process, the lifter should prepare a "cover letter" to show his talents.
The early Tang Dynasty poet Chen Ziang was a frequent visitor to the imperial examination when he was young, and he traveled thousands of miles from his hometown in Sichuan to Chang'an to find a job, and in order to seek the recommendation of the powerful people in Beijing, he went around to give poetry and submit resumes, but he was repeatedly turned away.
Chen Ziang felt that his talent could not be displayed, and after falling in the first place, he wrote a poem that "the turn is uncertain, and the feathers are shocked by the strings".
According to legend, a chance made Chen Ziang famous in the capital.
One day, Chen Ziang saw someone holding a Yaoqin on the street asking for it, the price was expensive, and the dignitaries and nobles watched from the sidelines, but no one bought it.
At this time, Chen Zianghao threw thousands of dollars to buy the piano, and said to everyone present, I am the best at drumming and piano in my life, and if you listen to the next performance, please come to the cold house tomorrow.
The next day, the guests gathered, but chen Ziang was seen holding the newly purchased piano and said:
Although Chen Mou did not have the talents of Xie Xie (Xie Xian, Xie Lingyun) and Yuanming, he also had the aspirations of Qu (Yuan) and Jia (Yi), from Shu to Beijing, carrying a hundred axes of poetry, running to Chang'an, presenting everywhere, and even unknown. Although I am good at playing the piano, I am afraid of staining my ears.
After saying that, Chen Ziang held aloft the Yaoqin, smashed it, and instead gave the poems he had written to the guests.
The dignitaries and dignitaries present saw Chen Ziang's heroic deeds and read the strange poems and beautiful texts he wrote, only to realize that he was talented and have been reciting them ever since. Soon after, Chen Ziang's fame filled the capital, and the road to seeking fame gradually smoothed out.
In contrast, Du Fu in the prosperous Tang Dynasty was not so lucky.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Du Fu lived in Chang'an for ten years and tried his best to seek shi.
He was suppressed by the powerful minister Li Linfu, and when he failed to enter the army, he used poetry to persuade the princes and ministers, wrote N cover letters, and also went to the streets to sell medicine and send food to relatives and friends, but he could not get rid of poverty, and finally only got a barely subsistence post - the right guard led the soldier Cao to join the army, that is, to guard the armor staff and manage the access control lock key.
Under the prosperous world, the powerful people in the DPRK and China were drunk and dreaming of death, but the poets who were worried about the country and the people were trapped in the capital for ten years, living a life of "starving to death with Confucian sorrow, and reporting to Pingjin sooner or later", complaining bitterly about the reality that "Zhumen wine smells of meat, and the road has frozen bones".
When Du Fu returned home to visit his relatives after finding a job, he found that there was a crying sound from home, and it turned out that his younger son had starved to death.
▲The hometown of Du Fu in Gongyi, Henan. Image source: Figureworm creative
In order to find jobs, Datang poets have written many famous cover letters.
For example, Du Fu's idol Li Bai wrote proudly in the "Book with Han Jingzhou": "I don't need to be a marquis of ten thousand households in life, but I hope to know Han Jingzhou." ”
This is a self-recommendation letter written by Li Bai when he first met the chancellor Han Chaozong, in which he praised Han Chaozong for his ability to promote talents, and then introduced himself to introduce his talents, hoping to be promoted.
Another famous cover letter from the Tang Dynasty came from Bai Juyi's pen.
The young Bai Juyi went to Beijing to seek a meritorious name, and when he was "looking for a move", he took the poem to the gurudwara gu situation, hoping that the other party could point out his own works and write a few words of recommendation. These poems are actually Bai Juyi's cover letters.
After Gu Quan received Bai Juyi's poem, he read the name on the book, then glanced at Bai Juyi, who had a haggard face, and said with a slight sarcasm: "Chang'an Migui, it is not easy to live in a big place." "This means that Chang'an is expensive, and it is not easy to stay."
But when he opened the poetry scroll brought by Bai Juyi, Gu Quan was shocked at once. The first article that came into his eyes was Bai Juyi's masterpiece "Farewell to the Ancient Grass": "Away from the grass on the plain, one year old and one withered, wildfires burned endlessly, and the spring wind blew and grew again..."
Only then did Gu retract what he had just said, saying that you have this talent, and it is easy to settle in Chang'an.
Under the appreciation of Gu Guan, Bai Juyi had some fame in the capital, and after studying hard through the cold window, he finally entered the high school and stepped onto the political arena of the Tang Dynasty.
▲Portrait of Bai Juyi. Image source: Network
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="04" data-track="347" > workers, the soul of migrant workers</h1>
In addition to the famous talents who are tired of running for fame, the ancient folk job search methods are also various.
Some scholars believe that employment relationships have emerged in China as early as 2,000 years ago.
In the pre-Qin literature, the common records of "maids", "rogue maids", "maids" and so on are all laborers who are hired in exchange for wages, which can be called the most ancient workers in China.
One of them is a small type of skilled craftsmen, called "scattered craftsmen", who often prepare their own simple tools of production, but have no capital to open workshops, and can only carry tools around the world to recruit, find an employer and work for them, get paid.
There is also a category of workers who have no technology and production tools, and simply sell their labor, such as Tian Fazhang, the prince of the State of Qi, who has served as a servant.
After the aforementioned Le Yi crushed the State of Qi, Tian Fazhang, the crown prince of the State of Qi, fled and went into exile, and went to the home of Taishi Sui of Jucheng to apply as a domestic servant. The daughter of the Taishi family saw that Tian Fazhang was handsome and had good character, and she couldn't help but secretly agree, often dating him, secretly taking clothes and food for him.
Later, when the State of Qi planned to restore the country, the ministers found this part-time prince in the people and established him as a king, for the King of Qi Xiang.
King Qi Xiang did not forget this adventure of part-time work, and made the daughter of the Taishi clan who had had an affair with him queen.
In the chaotic world at the end of the Qin Dynasty, many Haojie worked for people.
Sun Xiongxin, the king of Chuhuai, who was elected as the leader of the rebel army, used to "shepherd sheep for people"; Liu Bang's good brother Zhou Bo usually lived by weaving silkworm-raising utensils, and when someone did a funeral, he would play a flute and play an elegy; Liu Bang's personal driver, Xiahou Bao, lived by raising horses in his early years.
In Daze Township, Chen Sheng, who set off an anti-Qin wave, also worked. He was hired to harvest grain for others, and after work, he lay down in the countryside to rest, and for a long time, he sighed with his co-workers: "Rich and noble, there is no forgetting." ”
This sentence is still the voice of countless workers to this day.
▲ Song Zhang Zeduan's "Qingming River Map" (partial). Image source: Network
After the Tang and Song dynasties, the employment contract system matured, especially the impact of the commodity economy in the Song Dynasty, which accelerated the differentiation of the peasant class, and more and more ordinary people went to the cities to find jobs.
The capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Fenjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan), with a population of about 1.5 million at its peak, was the world's largest city at that time, with a free development of various trades, at least more than 160 lines, hotels, incense shops, brothels, snack shops, grocery stores, gold and silver shops and other colorful shops and pavilions, distributed on both sides of the Hongqiao Bridge, gathered cooks, craftsmen, weavers, servants, prostitutes and other workers from all walks of life.
For example, the "Tokyo Dream Record" records that The Beijing "raised its eyes to the Qinglou Painting Pavilion and embroidered bead curtains." The carved car races on the Sky Street, and the BMW competes on the Royal Road. Golden Cui dazzling, Luo Qi wafting incense. The new voice laughs skillfully at Liu Mo Hua qu and orchestrates it in the tea house liquor store."
In the Song Dynasty, folk craftsmen formed different organizations according to the industry, and each line had "line head", "line old" and so on.
All bosses who need to hire workers only need to contact the old man, and the boss recommends it to the employer according to the craftsman's status, and the employer and the worker sign an employment contract, stating the employment period and wages, similar to the current labor contract, the employee and the employer have no master and servant name, and the status is more equal.
With the further development of China's ancient commodity economy, the so-called "bud of capitalism" was born.
In the Ming Dynasty, the term "employed workers" appeared for the first time in the Great Ming Law, including wage laborers in urban and rural agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce, and the job market became more prosperous.
The Ming Dynasty literati's notebook "Xitai Manji" records the employment relationship between textile business owners and industrial workers in Jiangsu:
I, the citizens of Wu, rely on the field industry, the big households make a living by zhang machines, and the small households take advantage of the weaving to live. Every morning, hundreds of people from small households gather at the mouth of the Xuanmiao Temple to listen to the call of the large households, and take the daily gold for the feast. If the large household does not weave for a day, it will tie its hands, and if the small household does not weave for a day, it will be belly and orange, and the two will live together for a long time.
From this historical data, it can be seen that at that time, in the areas with developed commodity economy in the south, when the textile business owners of large households had a "labor shortage", they would also hire workers (mainly textile workers from small households) to adopt the daily wage system and solve the local employment problem by the way.
Hit the worker, work the soul. In order to support their families, countless people get up early and work hard, since ancient times.
▲ Suzhou, a large metropolis in Jiangnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Image source: Figureworm creative
<h1 class="pgc-h-decimal" data-index="05" data-track="348" > is the end of the universe compiled? </h1>
In ancient times, there was a saying of "four peoples", that is, "scholars, farmers, industrialists and merchants".
Initially, most of these four basic occupations were hereditary, but later with the development of society, the change of dynasties, and the flow of classes, the occupations passed down from generation to generation gradually became "independent choice of employment".
There is a saying in the "Liezi": "When the peasants go, the merchants seek profits, the work pursues the technique, and the trend is pursued. However, there are floods and droughts in agriculture, gains and losses in business, successes and failures in work, and fate in the face of fate. ”
The sages said that the peasants conformed to the seasons, the merchants sought profits, the craftsmen pursued technology, and the officials pursued power, but whether they could succeed or not depended on fate.
The imperial examination, as a way of employment for ancient literati, recorded the ups and downs and sorrows and joys of countless candidates.
The Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system for the selection of officials, which went through the development of the Tang and Song dynasties, and by the Time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become the obsession of students in the world, the eight strands of literature were popular, and the idea of "official standard" was rampant in society.
Readers have the dream of "having their own golden house in the book, and yan ruyu in the book", in order to obtain an official and a half-job, they plunged into the examination, and some people will be a lifetime.
In the late Tang Dynasty, the scholar Cao Song repeatedly participated in the imperial examination without passing the first, and his hair was gray and he was drooping old.
In the first year of Tang Zhaozong's reign (901), Cao Song, who was 71 years old at the time, finally made the list, and there were four other elderly people who were more than 10 years old in the examination at the same time as him, and the people of the time jokingly called this list the "Five Elders List".
Although Cao Song, who was already in a bad year, had the qualifications to be an official, he was only awarded a false position such as a school scribe, and he died of illness within two years, and in a few years, even the Tang Dynasty was gone.
It is said that during the Yuanfeng period of Emperor Shenzong of Song, there was also an old scholar who took the exam for N years and fell to the first place every year.
By the time he was over seventy years old, he was finally able to take the entrance examination, but because of his old age and physical weakness, he did not even have the strength to write a pen to answer the question, so he had to write a sentence on the examination paper: "The subject is old, can not be for Wen Ye, long live Your Majesty, long live, long live." ”
When the emperor learned that an old scholar had written this fleshy sentence, he could not help but lament the difficulties of the reader, and specially ordered that the old man be given the status of an official, so that he could eat for life and live in peace in his old age.
▲ Ming Qiuying's "Guan Bang Tu" (partial), depicting the grand situation of the examination and release of the list, and the children competing to watch the list. Image source: Network
Even those who entered the army in high school and entered the career had all kinds of troubles, such as zeng guofan, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, who had long been grumpy about his experience in the imperial examination, which was a lifelong regret.
Zeng Guofan was admitted to the jinshi at the age of 28, which can be said to be young and promising, and there is no need to inferiority, but he took the 42nd place in the third class that year, and the ranking was not dominant, if it were not for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement that gave him the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, he may have been just a mediocre court official throughout his life.
Zuo Zongtang, a Hunan man who also came to prominence during the Pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was truly the frustrated person of the imperial examination.
Zuo Zongtang can write eight strands of literature at the age of 9, Xiucai in the 15-year-old examination, ranking first, and 20 years old in the township examination, the future is bright, but when he goes to Beijing to participate in the examination three times later, he is named Sun Shan.
These setbacks caused Zuo Zongtang to abandon the imperial examination, "desperately try to advance", and henceforth retreated to the banks of the Xiang River, calling himself "Xiangshang Peasant" and living by teaching.
Later, the world was in turmoil, and Zuo Zongtang, who was not confused, went out of the mountains as an aide, showed his ambitions, and finally became a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, and also led troops to recover Xinjiang.
When making career plans for his children and grandchildren, Zuo Zongtang said: "Reading is clear and reasonable, paying attention to being a person and learning useful through the ages,...... Not in the section name also. ”
He used the imperial court's feng lu for disaster relief, prepared for the establishment of a ship administration, and settled the relatives of the ministry, leaving not the high-ranking official Houlu to his descendants, but the clean family style.
In his letter to his son, he said that I was very pleased that my children and grandchildren could be like me in the profession of farming and reading, and that I would take care of the book.
At the end of the day, Kaoko is just looking for a job.
▲ Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang. Image source: Network
What is good work?
Confucius famously said, "If you are rich, you can ask for it, and if you do the whip, I will do it." If you can't ask for it, take my favor. ”
Confucius said in a slightly humorous tone, if I can get rich, even if it is a job such as driving a car with a whip, I am willing to do it, and if I am not rich, then I will do what I like.
Born in the human world, running and suffering all day long, this has been the case since ancient times, but a good era should not be an era of lust for profit.
bibliography:
[Han] Sima Qian: Records of History, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2006
[Jin] Chen Shou: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2006
Zhao Erxun: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1998
Sun Liqun: The Life of Scholars in Ancient China, The Commercial Press, 2003
Xiong Qingnian: Ancient Imperial Examinations, Oriental Publishing Center, 2008
Luo Zhanglong: A History of China's National Economy, Hunan University Press, 2016
Yang Kuan: A Study on the Institutional History of Ancient Chinese Capitals, Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2016