In the previous articles, I have successively pointed out some information about Shantao, such as Ji Kangtuoguo, recommending Ruan Xian and Liu Ling, etc. As the boss of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest", he is very righteous, and he always thinks of taking care of the little brothers, who is wise and fair, and is admirable.
In the turbulent and chaotic period of the Western Jin Dynasty, he stood firm on his heels, won the trust of the emperor, and did not forget the brothers at the bottom, and had the heart to pull them strongly. Shan Tao not only did it, but also played with ease, so what is his recipe for settling down?
People who know some of the inside story say that he is an imperial relative, who is both Sima Zhao's cousin and the cousin of Sima Yan, the emperor of Jinwu, and of course has gained power. But the emperor himself has been in the past, and the royal cousins are also uncountable, how many can get the very honor of "sage"?
A closer look at the "Book of Jin" and "The New Language of the World", as well as some related records of Shantao, are also more interesting, from which it can be summarized that Shantao's way of being an official and the way of being a man, even after more than 1,700 years, you can still mirror the candle and solve the puzzle.
01 Magic Weapon One:
In the fifth year of Jing Yuan (264), Zhong Hui and the Shu general Jiang Wei reached an intention to cooperate, intending to establish themselves according to Shu, and he also ordered a large army to attack Sima Zhao. Zhao was furious and personally marched west to quell the chaos. At that time, Cao Wei's clan was in Yecheng, and before leaving, Sima Zhao found Shantao and whispered to him: "Elder brother, I will personally settle the matter in the west, and the matter in the rear can be entrusted to you." "Immediately dispatched five hundred of his own soldiers to help his town defend the city of Ye." In fact, Shantao's main task was to monitor the movements of the clan room so as not to catch fire in the backyard. At that time, Shantao's position was that of a subordinate officer of the great general, named Zhonglang, with a monthly salary of six hundred stones, but Sima Zhao gave him the privilege of "marching with his own position", "Military Sima " was completely different, the position of general, in charge of the military of the province, equivalent to the later chief of staff.
Why did Sima Zhao dare to give his back to Shantao? His evaluation of Shantao is "when things are clear and elegant", but Shantao's caution and moderation are the things he values most.
A small thing about drinking can be seen in Shantao's disposition.
According to the Book of Jin, Vol. 43, Liechuan 13: "Tao drank until the eight buckets were drunk, and the emperor wanted to try it, but he drank Tao with eight buckets of wine, and secretly benefited his wine, and Tao ji was extremely essential." ”
As one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest", he does not drink alcohol, it seems a bit unreasonable, Shantao is a big brother, drinking is also massive, it is said that you have to drink more than eight buckets to get drunk. Sima Yan, the Emperor of Jinwu, expressed disbelief and wanted to try the amount of wine his cousin had, so he summoned him into the palace and prepared eight buckets of good wine for Shantao to drink.
Shantao waved happily, and the good wine slowly reached the bottom between the conversations and laughter, and Emperor Wu of Jinwu ordered people to quietly add some, but when Shantao drank eight buckets, he respectfully put down the wine glass, indicating that the subject could not drink any more.
Emperor Wu thought that he still had a lot, so he might as well drink some more. Shan Tao returned to the courtesy, the subject drank eight buckets and was drunk, easy to miscalculate, so he made a rule, no matter what the occasion, to the eight buckets as the limit, never overstep.
Emperor Wu was convinced and had great feelings: Such a moderate person, there is absolutely no reason to do things recklessly, and it is most reassuring to let such a person become an official.
Shantao drinking is a small matter, to see the big is that he has his own standards, eight buckets is eight buckets, in front of the emperor is the same standard, this is not ordinary people can do.
Summarize one of the secret techniques of Shantao's self-preservation: be careful and disciplined.
02 Magic Weapon No. 2:
According to the "World Speaking New Language • Political Affairs No. 3": "The mountain situ has been elected to hundreds of officials before and after, and there is no loss of talent, and all the topics are as they say." The use of Lu Liang alone is the use of the edict, which is different from the public will and cannot be followed. Liang also sought to be a bribe. ”
In the early years of Xianning, Shantao was already more than seventy years old, he knew the truth of the rapids and retreated, and he did not covet the throne, and several times he expressed his feelings and asked the emperor to let him retire from this old bone, but Sima Yan, the emperor of Jinwu, still relied heavily on him, "Kuang Zuo Zhixun, who was relied on by Shu", indicating that he could not leave him, so he added officials to the knighthood, let him be the prince of the young fu, jiashan riding changshi, and was also awarded the title of Shangshu servant, jia shizhong, and leading the affairs of the ministry.
Shan Tao did a very good job in the bureaucracy, and indeed had the insight to see people. Whenever there was a shortage of official positions, he would always carefully select a few suitable people to spare, of course, there were people that the emperor wanted to use, and there were also people he thought were available. Some officials did not know the details, believing that Shantao used people at will according to his own wishes and preferences, and even some people orchestrated his mistakes in front of the emperor, and Sima Yan personally wrote an edict to warn him: "The standard for employing people is talent, and we should not leave out people who are alienated and lonely, and only by indoctrination can be spread throughout the world." ”
But Shan Tao had a number in mind, and he still had to do whatever he wanted. After a year, the opinions of the people naturally subsided. why? Shan Tao listed the characters he recommended to play in a book, which was called "Shan Gong Notice" at that time. It is clear from this that the officials he recommended and used were competent. The most interesting thing is that one of them, Lu Liang, was deposed shortly after taking office because of corruption and bribery, but this person was chosen by the emperor himself, and at that time, Shantao thought that it could not be reused, and he argued according to reason, but Sima Yan did not listen, and indeed smashed his foot.
Shan Tao was a meritocratic person, highly respected in the DPRK, more than a rare year, and several times he asked for retirement, but the emperor was not allowed. That year, his sister-in-law died, and he took this opportunity to run back to his hometown and refused to go to the court. Sima Yan then issued an edict saying: Uncle, this side is still empty, if you are not feeling well, I will send a palanquin to carry you back!
ShanTao had no choice but to return to his post. At that time, some noble children, such as He Yu, Pei Kai, Wang Ji and others, admired him. Someone inscribed on the pillar of the Pavilion Road: "There are big cattle in the east of the pavilion, and there is a martingale, Pei Kai-yong, and Wang Ji cannot rest." "Big bull" refers to Shantao, (I always thought that "big bull" is a network word, where can I think that people used the rest of it seventeen hundred years ago?) "Martingale": a holster that is worn around the cow's neck while driving, "hammer": a belt tied to the back of the cow's butt, "niǎo": a gag, entangled, meaning that these young talents are willing to follow behind his saddle.
In addition to taking justice, Shantao was more admired for his decency and frugality, although he was highly powerful, he was in love with the wife of the chaff and never raised concubines, and the rewards of Feng Lu were distributed to relatives and deceased.
Summarizing the second secret of Shantao's self-preservation: righteousness and selflessness.
03 Magic Weapon No. 3:
The so-called clear-eyed people, the eyes can not rub a little sand, but in the position of the mountain, if so, it is estimated that they will have been imprisoned a long time ago, and even have a different head.
Zhong Hui was a sinister and treacherous villain, and it was he who persuaded Sima Zhao to kill Ji Kang, a good friend of Shantao and the leader of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest.
But Shantao can coexist peacefully with such a person, which is also a point that some people in later generations have been criticizing him, but Shantao has his own way of doing things. It is not difficult to take five steps of blood in anger and blood spatter; but it is not easy to save oneself, to save the orphans of friends, and to do more valuable things with limited lives.
For a while, Zhong Hui and Pei Xiu competed for power, and they could not be separated, and Shantao was self-defensive in the middle, treated fairly, impartial, and let both people "have no hatred".
The principle of Shantao is: with the light and dust, but never with the flow of pollution. This, according to the Book of Jin, he also has an allusion to the "Hanging Silk Book".
He presided over the bureaucracy for many years, and the promotion power of officials was in his hands, and it was conceivable how many people wanted to pay him bribes, but Shantao basically politely refused.
But there is an exception, this person's name is Yuan Yi, who served as a county commander in The County, was sexually greedy and dirty, and ran to the capital with a lot of money to pay bribes. The official residences he thought were useful were all visited, and Shantao was of course the focus.
The gift shantao received was "raw silk hundred pounds", and the officials should not underestimate these silks, which were worth as much as gold in ancient times.
Shantao did not want it, but the other officials accepted it, and if he refused, it would become a potential danger in the eyes of others, attracting hostility and confrontation. So ShanTao decided to accept it anyway and hid it in the attic.
Later, Yuan Yi's affairs were revealed, and he was sent to the Jingshi Tingwei by the sill truck for trial, and the list of bribe-taking people was listed, and the stolen goods were recovered one by one. Shan Tao took the silk and handed it over, the silk was full of dust, and the seal seal had never been moved.
It is precisely because he can "enjoy the same thing in the crowd" that he can "play the right world", which is the evaluation of the Eastern Jin Dynasty historian Yuan Hong.
Summarizing the third secret art of Mountain Tao's self-preservation: harmony and difference.
In 282 AD, the imperial court entered Shantao as a situ and was ranked as the third duke. He was already in the best official position, but he still "begged for the skeleton to return to his hometown", and the emperor was still not allowed.
But this time, the old man, who was nearly eighty years old, knew that time was short, insisted on resigning, and finally dragged the sick body back to his hometown.
The following year, Shan Tao died at the age of seventy-nine, which should have been a high life expectancy in the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest". Sima Yan had many rewards and was buried generously. Someone said: "There are only ten houses in Shantao's hometown, but there are many descendants and cannot be accommodated." Sima Yan then issued another edict to fund the construction of a new courtyard.
Wang Rong's evaluation of Shantao is: "Like hun gold and jade, everyone admires its treasure, and it is not famous for its instrument."
He was talking about ordinary people, and Ji Kang of course knew the amount of Shantao's instruments, so after writing a letter of renunciation and scolding him, he entrusted his children to him before he died, achieving a thousand-year-old good story of a gentleman's friendship.
References: "Book of Jin", "The New Language of the World", "Art and Literature Cluster", "History of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Two Jin Dynasties"