Wang Xuanling's "Zizhi Tongjian" Commentary Part 2, Coordinates: Volume 6 ▪ Qin Ji I
Sima Qian's "Records of History" will pass on Cai Ze and Fan Sui together, and posterity will also call Fan and Cai together, Fan Sui we said earlier, that is a great hero. However, when we look through Cai Ze's resume, there is no credit that can be taken.
The first was to fool a chancellor from Fan Sui's hand, and the second was to send an envoy to the State of Yan to let Prince Dan go to the State of Qin as a hostage, which was originally an alliance under the city, and it was not a big deal.
However, since the Han Dynasty, scholars have rated Cai Ze very highly, even higher than Fan Sui. What is even more exaggerated is that some people compare him with Confucius and think that Confucius is inferior to him in terms of lobbying.
Cai Ze has many similarities with Fan Sui.
Fan Sui almost let Wei Qi die in the State of Wei, while Cai Ze was despised in the State of Yan and expelled from the State of Zhao; Fan Sui used his tongue to gain the trust of King Qin Zhao, and Cai Ze also persuaded Fan Sui with three inches of incorruptible tongue to let him give up his position to himself; Fan Sui bravely retreated in the Xiang Dynasty to save himself, and Cai Ze resigned after being a minister for several months and became an old minister of the Four Dynasties of the Qin Dynasty.
The difference is that the reason why Fan Sui was able to give up the phase was taught to him by Cai Ze.
I think that at the beginning, this "Shandong Pifu [1]" Cai Ze, after experiencing various humiliations, came to the Qin Kingdom and explained a big truth to Fan Sui in the way of "striking grass and frightening snakes".
"Do you know Shang Martingale, Wu Qi, and Wen Zhong?" These three guys are more than your cattle b, and as a result, none of them are going to die. ”
"Do you know Bigan, Wu Zixu, and Shen Sheng?" These three guys are much more loyal than you, and as a result, none of them will die. ”
"Do you know Hong Yao and Zhou Gong?" These two guys let go when they should let go, and people's lives are long. ”
After a flurry, Fan Sui no longer wanted to be a minister, and his head was porphyry: "You come to be, you come to be." In this way, Cai Ze became the prime minister of the world's largest power as he wished.
The Tang Dynasty poet Luo Yin wrote a "Ju Song", which is very vivid:
"Jun is not seen, Cai Ze is embedded in the shape of a dead ghost, and he speaks loudly and takes Qin Cheng Xiang directly" [2]
Happiness came too suddenly, a tramp suddenly became a minister, there must be many people with red eyes, I don't know how many people hold neng to death him!
But Cai Ze was much more dashing, and after a few months of being a minister, he directly patted his ass and left, becoming an old minister of the Four Dynasties of the Qin State, and was still active in the political arena until the time when Qin Shi Huang was in power.
Therefore, although he is not as good as Fan Sui in terms of merit, there are countless "gong dogs" in history, "cunning rabbits die, running dogs cook". As far as the debaters are concerned, Cai Ze is not inferior to Fan Sui, and as far as the rapids retreat and Mingzhe are concerned, it is obvious that Cai Ze is better, because he knows better the truth of "the dragon has regrets".
Resources:
[Note 1] Yangzi Fa Yan ▪ Qi Shen Vol. 5 [Han] Yang Xiong [Jin] Li Rail (Note)
[Note 2] The Collected Works of Luo Zhao[ Tang] Luo Yin