Eastern Zhou States - Yan Zi envoy Chu

Text/Little Sage Fish

Yan Zi was named Baby, the character Ping Zhong, the Spring and Autumn Qi Guo Shang Dafu, known in history as "Yan Ping Zhong", after Guan Zhong, another Xiang. He successively served as the secretary of state of qiling, qizhuang and qijing, and was a famous politician and diplomat in the Spring and Autumn period.

In 556 BC, in the last year of the Duke of Qiling, Yan Bao took over the post of Shangqing.

In 548 BC, Qi Jinggong took the throne, and Yan Bao continued to assist Qi Jinggong to save Qi Jinggong from internal and external troubles.

In 531 BC, Yan Bao sent an envoy to the Chu state. When the King of Chu learned that Baby Yan was short in stature, he opened a small door next to the gate and let Baby Yan enter through the small door, and Baby Yan said, "Only enter through the dog door until the dog country." The King of Chu then let Baby Yan enter through the gate. When Yan Bao met the King of Chu, the King of Chu asked, "Why did the State of Qi send you here, is there no one in the State of Qi?" Yan Nian said: "The population of the Qi state is large, the residents of the capital city of Linzi can spread their sleeves to cover the sky, everyone sweats like heavy rain, people come and go on the street, and when they walk, they all rub shoulders, how can there be no one?" King Chu asked, "Then why did you send someone like you?" Yan Bao said, "The State of Qi is particular about sending envoys, and people of virtue send envoys to good countries, and stupid people send envoys to bad countries, and talentless people like me are sent to the Chu state."

The following year, Yan Bao once again sent an envoy to the Chu Kingdom, and the King of Chu ordered people to put on a banquet and personally entertain them. During this period, the messenger tied up a person and passed by his highness, and the king of Chu asked, "Who is the person who is tied?" The servant said, "It is a Qi person who has committed the crime of stealing," and the King of Chu asked Yan Bao, "Are the Qi people good at stealing things?" Yan Nian said, "Tangerine is born in Huainan is orange, born in Huaibei is orange, qi people can live and work in peace and contentment in the country of Qi, and when they arrive in the country of Chu, they become thieves, is it that the water and soil of the country of Chu are easy for people to steal?" King Chu laughed and said, "You can't joke with the saints, it's the widows who have humiliated themselves."

-20211031 taken from "Five Thousand Years of China"