The idiom "two peaches kill three soldiers" tells the story of Yan Bao, a famous minister of the State of Qi, who used a ruse to help the king get rid of the three meritorious masters. Now let's think about a question: when Yan Bao uses this strategy, why would he use two peaches instead of two pieces of gold, or something more valuable?
Let's start with a brief review of this story.
(Qi Guosan in the film and television)
Qi Jinggong had three generals: Gongsun Jie, Tian Kaijiang, and Gu Yezi. These three generals boasted of their merits, showed off their strength, and did not pay attention to Yan Bao and other courtiers, or even qi Jinggong.
Yan Bao saw Qi Jinggong's concern and prepared to help Qi Jinggong get rid of the three people, so he set up a bureau and notified the three generals to come and reward them. After the three of them came, Qi Jinggong let him take out the reward, which turned out to be only two peaches on the plate. Yan Bao pretended to be embarrassed and said that there are only two ripe peaches in the garden, and you can see for yourself who has the greatest credit, and who will eat the peaches.
Gongsun then said first, I have killed wild boars and tigers, and I am entitled to eat a peach. So I picked up the peach.
Tian Kaijiang continued. I have twice led my army to defeat the enemy who has come to attack, and I am entitled to eat a peach. So I picked up another peach.
The peaches on the plate disappeared in a blink of an eye, and Gu Yezi was very angry, saying, I once crossed the river with the monarch, a big turtle almost took the life of the monarch, it was I who risked my life to fight and kill the turtle, saving the life of the monarch. And I didn't eat peaches like this, which is too much. Saying that, he took out his sword and pointed it at Gongsun jie and Tian Kaijiang.
After Gongsun took over hetian Kaijiang's hearing, he was ashamed to say that it was true that Gu Yezi's merits were greater than ours, and we were really ashamed to take the peach first, so we committed suicide one after another. Gu Yezi saw the two commit suicide, regretted it, and said, the three of us were originally brothers and sisters, but in order to fight for merit, I forced the two to commit suicide, what face do I still have to live in the world? So he also raised his sword and committed suicide.
(Baby Yan)
In this way, Yan Bao killed three proud generals with two peaches.
Back to our question, when Yan Bao used this strategy, why did he use two peaches instead of two lumps of gold, or something more valuable?
According to archaeological research, peach cores have been excavated in the Hemudu site 6000 to 7000 years ago. In the pre-Qin classics, "Guan Zi", "Shang Shu", "Han Feizi", "Shan Hai Jing", "Lü Shi Chunqiu", etc., can be seen everywhere with records of peaches. It can be seen that peaches were a very common food at that time. Even if it is a reward from the monarch, because the monarch at that time did not have the authority of the later emperors, he did not feel very honorable.
Logically, two more valuable things should be chosen in order to cause a fight between the three people and achieve the purpose of the difference reward, why would Yan Bao choose an ordinary peach?
In fact, it is precisely the choice of ordinary food such as peaches that has achieved this goal. It can be said that Yan Baby's psychological changes to the three generals are clearly grasped.
When the three generals rushed to see that the monarch had rewarded them with just ordinary peaches, what was their psychology? The "Yanzi Spring and Autumn" is recorded as follows: Gongsun looked up at the heavens and sighed: "Not peach, is there no courage also ..."
(Two Peach Kill Three Soldiers)
That is to say, Gongsun's idea at that time was that the original reward was ordinary peaches, and if we did not eat them, it meant that we looked down on the monarch and meant that we did not have the guts. So he casually said his merits and picked up his peaches, showing that he was "brave" and did not despise the monarch.
After Gongsun took it, Tian Kaijiang's psychology changed, at that time he definitely did not think about Gu Yezi, he just compared the credit of Gongsun Receiving, and felt that his merit was more than That of Gongsun Jie. Since Gongsun can take it, he can certainly take it too.
What needs to be specially explained is that Yan Baby must know the personality of the three people very well, and knows that Gongsun Jie and Tian Kaijiang are acute, and will definitely take it first. After taking it, things have changed subtly, and now the peach is no longer an ordinary problem, it is no longer important. The important thing is that it becomes a symbol, a symbol of the size of the merit. Gu Yezi has the greatest credit, but because of his calm personality, he did not get a peach, that is to say, he was considered to have less credit than others, and his emotions were very excited, so he turned his face on the spot. Therefore, as three good brothers who are brothers and sisters, there is a tragedy behind.
If at that time, Yan Bao brought out valuable things such as gold, then the three of them would definitely weigh it in their hearts and think about the merits of the three people at the same time. After thinking about it, it is natural to know who has the greatest credit and who has the least credit. Coupled with the fact that all three are brothers and sisters, they will definitely be humble. In this way, Yan Bao's plan could not be realized under any circumstances.
(References: Yanzi Chunqiu, Shang Shu)