The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period are an important period in China's history, which is not only a period of collapse and happiness, but also a period of high cultural development and competition for supremacy. The Zhou Dynasty declined, and the struggle between countries continued, from the Spring and Autumn Five Hegemons to the Warring States Seven Heroes, for a time a hundred flowers bloomed in thought, and a hundred schools of thought competed. The counselor began to play an important role, and the king could be unscrupulous, but not without a soldier. In history, the most capable monarchs were able to employ people, such as the Duke of Qi Huan and the Duke of Jin Wen. However, while each monarch employs people, his management style will be greatly different due to the influence of his personality. Some people are not suspicious of people, and some people are suspicious of life.
There is an article in the Warring States Policy called "Zou Ji Satirizes the King of Qi", which literally shows a man named Zou Ji, who uses to persuade his monarch to be good at listening to the opinions of others. What kind of history is behind this story, what kind of personality is the Qi king whom Zou Ji is loyal to, and how far-reaching the character of this character has on the historical status of the later State of Qi.
1. The beginning of the story
There is a very interesting article in the Warring States Policy, which is included in the middle school Chinese textbook, called "Zou Ji Satirizes the Qi Wang Na Zhi". The story begins with the saying: Zou Ji has more than eight feet to repair, and the shape is beautiful. Dressed in a crown, the peephole said to his wife: "Why should I be with Xu Gongmei in the north of the city?" The simple translation of this passage is that there is a person named Zou Ji in Qi Guo, who is more narcissistic, of course, narcissistic people are also OK based on their own length. Like the daffodil prince of ancient Greece, it is not impossible to be obsessed with yourself. Zou Ji got up in the morning and got dressed and put on the official hat, when he suddenly saw himself in the mirror and felt that he was beautiful, and then he asked his wife: "Am I beautiful?" Who am I more beautiful than Xu Gong in the north of the city? At this time, many people must have wanted to ask who is Xu Gong in the north of the city? Is it the same as the old king next door? Of course not. Here, let's first spoil the fact that Xu Gong, north of the city, is a beautiful man famous in the country of Qi. The fame is very big, the wind is also very loud, according to the current standards, it should be a superstar, after all, it represents the word beauty. Seeing this, many people will laugh at Zou Ji, a tall man asked himself in the morning whether he was beautiful or not, and he did not know what it was. After he asked, his wife said you are beautiful, you are beautiful, how can Xu Gong compare with you? The wife is estimated to be speechless in her heart, and this sentence does not know whether it is ironic or true, anyway, Zou Ji temporarily took it as the wife's heart. If you think zou ji just asked his wife, then you are wrong. Obviously, he likes to dig to the bottom of the matter, I just want to know who I am with Xu Gong (I don't know how Xu Gong stimulated him), so he went to ask his concubines and his own disciples, and they all said that they were Zou Jimei (I don't dare to think about it and say that Xu Gong is more beautiful). Zou Ji listened to what everyone said, a little drifting, he thought that he was very beautiful anyway, then find Xu Gong, we are compared to each other. So the next day he sent someone to invite Xu Gong to come, and after he came, he looked left and right, and suddenly felt ashamed of himself, and looked in the mirror again, and his heart was confused. It turned out that he was shocked by Xu Gong's beauty. At this time, my mind was full of frying pans, and there was only one sentence in my heart, I did not have Xu Gongmei, I thought about it over and over again all night, and I felt that everyone around me was deceiving myself. But why did they lie to themselves?
Zou Ji with his wife
2. Follow-up to the story
After thinking about it for a night, Zou Ji suddenly had an epiphany, and early in the morning, regardless of what image, he hurried up to the court, and when he saw the King of Qi, he began to say, Great King, you have been deceived! King Qi quickly asked why, Zou Ji told his own story, and then said that my wife, because she liked me in her heart, had hallucinations that she thought I was beautiful; My concubine was afraid that I would not spoil her, so she flattered me and said that I was beautiful; My protégés want to be valued, so they say I'm beautiful. They all lied to me, making me feel drifting, and actually dared to compare beauty with Xu Gong. If you think about it, the land of the State of Qi is so big, your harem, your ministers, and your people, aren't they the same, they will lie to you and tell you that you have done enough, so you will also flutter and let yourself stop moving. When King Qi heard this, he felt that Zou Ji was still very reasonable in addition to narcissism, so he quickly asked me what to do? Zou Ji told him that you have to do this.
Zou was jealous of seeing the King of Qi
3. The end of the story
After Zou Ji left, the King of Qi issued an edict, saying that whoever dares to talk about my shortcomings will reward whomever I want, come on! Everyone did not dare at first, but there was always someone who ate crab first, and they found that this person was not killed, so they came to pick faults, and King Qi also corrected them one by one. Because I know that spitting will not only not die but also make money, so at first the court was as lively as a downtown, and everyone lined up to pick faults. Gradually, there are fewer and fewer faults that can be picked out, and after a year, I have nothing to say. King Qi became a better version of himself. The state of Qi also became more powerful under the better Qi kings. Countries revere it as a great power.
It's a very inspirational story and a true story. It can be seen that the monarch that everyone hopes for is the monarch who can listen to suggestions, and it is the King of Qi in the story. So what kind of person is the King of Qi in history, and how did he lead the Country of Qi to prosperity and strength?
Qi Wang Na admonition
1. Who is the King of Qi?
The most famous King of Qi in history should be the Duke of Qi Huan, the Five Lords of Spring and Autumn, and the Duke of Qi Huan is famous. And the King of Qi in Zou Ji's mouth, his father is also the Duke of Qi Huan, but this Duke of Qi Huan is different from the Duke of Qi Huan, the surname of the Duke of Qi Huan at that time is Jiang, who is a descendant of the Jiang Taigong who fished in the "List of Fengshen Gods", and the father of this King of Qi was surnamed Tian. Because Tian Shi replaced Jiang in the back and became Tian Qi. This King of Qi was the fourth monarch of Tian Qi, the King of Qiwei.
King Qi Wei was originally a waiter, but later became a king due to his relatively strong comprehensive strength and good luck. King Hui of Wei and him were kind to each other in Xuzhou and called each other kings together, which may be more of a political trade-off than fate and formed an alliance.
The King of Qi Wei in the story has a very good personality and is very good at talking, but in fact, he was also young and crazy, and he had a period of arrogance and lasciviousness, and did not want to make progress. But it is precisely because of his good personality that he later achieved a blockbuster and soared.
King Qiwei
2. The relationship between King Qi and Zou Ji
Zou Ji got up in the morning to look in the mirror, then asked everyone, then went to the palace to compare beauty with Xu Gong, and finally ran to the palace to lobby the King of Qiwei, which was enough to see that he attached great importance to state affairs and had his own set of methods for treating the monarch. Who is Zou Ji? He is actually a commoner, but with his superb storytelling methods, he has become the face of the State of Qi. His first performance to King Qi was playing the piano. Yes, Zou Ji is not only good-looking, but also versatile. It was with his superb piano playing skills that he met king Qi Wei. Then, through the skill of the king of the piano, he euphemistically expressed his ability to assist the lord and advised the king not to indulge in wine. Zou Ji knew King Qi Wei very well, so he knew how to use storytelling to tell a truth.
And King Qi Wei himself is also a smart person, he admires the versatile Zou Ji, although he has a youthful and confused age, but he still quickly woke up, and finally achieved a career, and left a lot of reputation in history. For other monarchs, a minister said early in the morning that it was not beautiful, let alone listening to this story, and may have just listened to the beginning and let people drag it down. However, King Qi Wei listened to the whole story, and followed Zou Ji's advice and opened up his speech.
This is not only a story, but also a manifestation of mutual trust between kings and subjects. Zou Ji believed in the wisdom and open-mindedness of King Qi, and King Qi believed that There was a reason for Zou Ji's affairs and there were words in his words.
King Qi Wei and his counselors
Iii. The character of king Qi and his influence on the state of Qi
1. Qi Wei Wang's personality
King Qi Wei reigned for thirty-six years, but he left many stories. In addition to the frivolous past of his youth, he has a good reputation for courtesy and appointment. This has a lot to do with his character.
First of all, Qi Wei Wang's ears are soft. The softness of the ear root is good or bad. The bad thing is to trust the courtiers and adulterous concubines, and there are not a few such stories in history, such as the King of Shang. Fortunately, King Qi Wei was surrounded by such talents as Yu Ji and Zou Ji, so his ear roots were soft, but it became a good thing.
A blockbuster Qi Wei Wang
Secondly, King Qi Wei had an opinion. Opinion is the same as taste, not something you can have if you want to have it. From admiring Zou Ji's piano skills to hearing the words of others, although his ears are soft, he will not be at the mercy of others, such a hegemon, in addition to using people, his own mind will not be bad.
Third, King Qi Wei knew how to trust. In history, King Qi Wei was known for his ability to employ people, and his famous courtiers, in addition to Zou Ji, also had tian ji, a general who could race horses, and Sun Ji, who used soldiers like gods. Good eyesight allowed King Qi Wei to have more strength. Trusting talents makes Qi Wei Wang more able to use talents.
Finally, King Qi Wei was anxious. Zou Ji had just advised him, and he issued an edict, which showed that he was a very decisive monarch. For example, yuan shao, a problem that is repeatedly verified may not be solved. But King Qi Wei is not, since he listens to it, he must do it immediately, such leadership is definitely a practical school in modern times, after all, practice is the only way to test the truth.
Horse racing
2. The State of Qi under the rule of King Qi Wei
Tian Qi was originally a generation of Qi, and the princely states were passed down from generation to generation, so there was still something missing in the name. Therefore, since the Tian dynasty, the State of Qi has not received much admiration, on the contrary, there are many criticisms. During the reign of King Qiwei, he appointed meritocrats, was good at receiving advice, and opened up the way of speech, which made the country develop in a better direction. In the end, the hegemony of the State of Qi was achieved.
King Qi Wei appointed meritocracy
epilogue:
In ancient times, emperors were actually supreme leaders, and their kingdom was the industry they needed to run all their lives. Everyone is born different, and the emperor is not a character, although they have learned the art of emperor from childhood, but there are people who are good and some who are bad when they really do it. An enlightened monarch must be a monarch who can establish good relations with his subjects. In addition to ability and responsibility, they also need to have good character, including stoicism and fickleness. Therefore, the tyrant cannot lead the prosperity of a country, and the character of the emperor has a profound significance for the prosperity of the country.
bibliography:
Liu Xiang's Warring States Policy
Sima Qian's "Records of History"