The change of cockfighting took place this summer. Ji, who holds the power of the state of Lu, and another noble in the state of Lu cheated on each other in cockfighting gambling, and the other party found out that they cheated, which triggered a dispute. Lu had long been dissatisfied with Ji's control of Lu's power, so he took this opportunity to send troops to besiege Ji in the autumn of the same year together with another nobleman, Zang and Zhai. The contrast of strength depends on the attitude of Lu's other two uncles and Wang. My uncle's retainer was very clever and said to my uncle, "If Ji's family is destroyed, my uncle will be in danger." Therefore, my uncle did not support the monarch, but sent troops to rescue Ji. Seeing a genial smile, Shi, who was watching, immediately killed Zhai, who came to contact him, and fought back. Zhao Gong was defeated and forced to flee to Qi.
Even during the civil strife in Lu, 35-year-old Confucius went to Qi. Of course, Confucius was forced by the civil strife in Shandong, but the deep reason was that Confucius wanted to make a difference with the help of the great powers in order to truly realize his political ideal of loyalty to the monarch, benevolent governance and world stability. In addition, before Yong, he had contacts with Lu, leaving a good memory. Five years ago, when Confucius was in his prime, he reported to Qi Jinggong his dream of showing it to the world. At that time, Qi Jinggong and Yan Ying came to Shandong together. Qi Jinggong once asked Confucius, "Although the Qin State in Qin Mugong is small and remote, it can dominate. What is the reason? " At that time, Confucius gave a clear answer without hesitation: "Qin was small, but he had great ambitions;" Although the place is remote, the administration is fair and reasonable. Qin Mugong personally promoted Prissy, who was redeemed with five black sheepskins, and awarded her the rank of doctor. After liberating him from detention, I talked to him for three days in a row, and then handed over the ruling power to him. Governing the country with this spirit may also rule the world, and his overlord is still small (in this way, although Kelly is also small-Historical Records Confucius Family). "
Qi was the fief of Jiang Shang, the military commander of the royal family in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. It has fertile soil, developed agriculture and benefited from fishing and salt industry. He used to be one of the hegemons in the early Spring and Autumn Period, and often had disputes with Lu. This time, we should not only accept Lu's protection, but also be able to treat Confucius with courtesy.
This time, Confucius lived in Qi for nearly two years, had many contacts with him and had two famous conversations with him. In this regard, both Historical Records and The Analects of Confucius have detailed accounts. On one occasion, I told the words "Jun Jun, Minister, Father, Son" to Qi Jinggong who asked about politics. On another occasion, I suggested to Qi Jinggong that "politics is to save money".
For Confucius, Qi Jinggong was really tempted. He was going to take Nixitian as a fief of Confucius, and he would give it a little lower treatment than Shangqing. However, the arrival of Confucius and his readiness to reuse Confucius were opposed by the doctors of Qi State headed by Yan Ying, and even to the point where someone wanted to kill Confucius. Qi Jinggong, who lost his official career and was already demoralized, changed his antagonistic attitude towards Confucius and said to Confucius, "I am old and don't need you anymore." .
As the prime minister of Qi, Yan Ying was an important figure in the Spring and Autumn Period and a famous figure in history. Although there are many viewpoints and practices that conflict with Confucius, it is still a big country with flesh and blood and great personality charm. To understand his original intention of opposing Confucius' political views, we must first know what kind of person Yan Ying is.
Interestingly, my interest in Stefanie started with Stefanie's driver wife. Originally a loving couple, she divorced her husband just because her wife once peeked at him driving in the door. Listen to what she said about her husband. More than 2,000 years later, she returned to the floor-Yan Zi was less than six feet tall (less than one meter six) and became the prime minister of Qi, famous all over the world, but far-reaching, and polite to the people; What about you? An eight-foot man, grown up in vain, is still cocky and doesn't even know his last name when driving. I can't live with people like you! Of course, not only did the couple not break up, but the "driver" also listened to his daughter-in-law's teaching and made great progress. He was recommended by Yan Zi as a doctor of Qi State. From daughter-in-law, coachman to Yan Zi, this is a comedy full of human feelings. But in our ancient and long-standing China, it is difficult for people with human feelings to enter the officialdom. Once they enter the officialdom, it is more difficult to keep the human touch. China officialdom is full of blood, philistinism and rancid taste, but it is not human. A man full of thieves and prostitutes is determined to be full of benevolence and morality, which is what China bureaucrats are best at. Qi was a great eastern country during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Yan Zi has been the prime minister for more than 50 years (for more than 40 years) and the prime minister of Qi, but it is really rare that he can maintain a true and simple human atmosphere all his life.
For example, although he occupies an important position, he doesn't sing praises in high profile, flaunt "ism" or call himself a "public servant". When he was sent to Lu, Lu Zhaogong asked him: Why should a man of fame and virtue like Mr. Wang serve the evil monarch? Although Yan Zi was quite embarrassed, he bluntly said that he was originally an idiot to support his family, and his family was not as good as him. Just on the three lines of father, mother and wife, there are more than 500 people waiting for his "salary". How dare he choose the monarch he serves?
Although Yan Zi received the highest salary (annual salary of one million) among Qi officials in front of the biggest officials, he still lived a simple life. Wearing black cloth and coarse hair, living in a narrow and humid house near the market, eating coarse grains and lichens, sitting in a car made of bamboo and wood, driven by a rotten horse (even ordinary Santana is not enough). After all, Qi Jinggong is still a monarch who values talents. He really can't stand it. He must change cars and rooms for Yan Zi. Yan Zi just doesn't agree. Gong Jing discussed with Yan Zi that he wanted to build a house for him in the palace, so that he could meet him sooner or later. Yan Zi still refused to accept his words. How can a lower level be higher than a higher level? Duke Jing of Jin took advantage of Yan Zi's mission to the State of Jin. After moving the people around Yanzi's old house, he demolished Yanzi's old house and built a spacious and beautiful mansion for him.
Who knew Yan Zi was more uneasy than the monarch? When he came back to thank humbly, he not only demolished the new house to restore its original appearance, but also restored the houses of the people around him with the demolished materials and invited these old neighbors back one by one. I don't appreciate your feelings, but I also do your work plausibly: "As the saying goes,' If you don't live, you will be divined by your neighbors', and the second and third sons will be divined first, which is an ominous sign." Choose a neighbor instead of a house. It is unlucky to violate this choice.
If you can't change rooms, change cars, so Gong Jing sent a luxury carriage and four good horses to Yan Zi's house (equivalent to the current Mercedes-Benz). Who knows that if you send Yan Zi once, you will return it once, and you will even return it three times. Now Qi Huangong is annoyed and says, "If your master doesn't accept it, I won't accept it!" "I think there must be a lot of trouble at that time. Gong Jing was very embarrassed, and Yan Zi was also very embarrassed. Finally, Yan Zi was in a hurry, and the monarch was blocked back with a word: You let me manage, how can I not be a good example for state officials and people? The incorruptible Yanzi has a famous saying: "It's hard to fill one's needs, and it deserves to die. "It means that the greed of officials makes the desire endless, which is a road to its demise.
At first, I had doubts about Yan Zi. Do you think he's a little in a hurry? I began to believe him when I saw him return to the food city when he retired and became an official in his hometown. When I saw the historical fact that he has been supporting hundreds of poor scholars, I kind of believed in his kindness, and I was reborn with a lot of love.
And attitudes towards women. This is the touchstone to measure an official's character and whether he is a man or not. Treating women as human beings is an ancient tradition in China, and it is also one of the symbols of autocratic rule, and Yan Zi's era is no exception. In order to indulge in pleasure, Qi can dedicate eighty singers and dancers like animals. In order to get through the joints, Vietnamese bribed Bo Xi, a powerful minister of Soochow, with 20 pairs of white jade, 1200 gold and 8 beautiful women. Even Ping Yuanjun, a saint who is famous for his love talent and has adopted thousands of public servants, can draw his sword and kill his beloved woman at will in order to make them happy. ...
Where is Yan Zi? How does he treat women? Let's take a look at these two stories-one day, a young rural woman outside the east gate of Linzi eloped with Yan Zi's house and wanted to commit herself to Yan Zi voluntarily. Yan Zi realized that this woman must be in trouble, so she asked her family to help her and sent her home safely, but she was not there. After helping this rural woman, I blamed myself: "I was entrusted by the state to manage the people, but a woman wanted to elope with me." This must be my lewd and shameless behavior. " Another story is about King Gong Jing visiting Yan Zi's home. He said to Yan Zi, "Hi! Look at your old and ugly wife. Marry my beloved daughter to you. She is young and beautiful. " According to general "common sense", it is a "gift" of the monarch to marry a beautiful wife, which is morally justified, as if it were not a bad thing. Yan Zi has his own way. At this time, Yan Zi left the table and said goodbye: "My wife entrusted her life to me, and I accepted her entrustment. Even if the king gives me a life, I can't break my word. Besides, my wife was young and beautiful. In the past, people were old and beautiful when they were young, and ugly when they were beautiful! "
No matter how long you have been an official, you are not bad at learning, not corrupt, not bossy, always easy-going and modest, courteous to people, and maintaining an ordinary person's simplicity and sense of humor. This is Yan Zi.
As far as I know, in the history of China, Yan Zi was the first person who explicitly put forward "people-oriented" (see "Yan Zi Chun Qiu", Volume 4, "Uncle Xiang asks about his troubled times"). Yan Zi, a commoner, also categorically explained: "The significance is not higher than loving the people, and the behavior is not thicker than pleasing the people." "The significance is not lower than carving the people, and the behavior is not inferior to harming the people." This Yan Zi is really serious, because he set an unavoidable principle for the future system and officials-the noblest virtue is to care for the people, and the greatest behavior is to make the people happy; The lowest moral character is to be mean to the people, and the most despicable behavior is to harm the people.
Once in Qi Jinggong, you met an 85-year-old seal man who wished him and his descendants a long life. Gong Jing was very happy, and the SEALs hoped that he would not offend the people. When Gong Jing was in public, he was very angry and asked with an expression, "If you have a contemptuous person who offends you, you can. If a gentleman offends the people? " Gong Jing is telling the truth. When it comes to the history of China, it is totally permissible for the rulers to offend the people, while the people are absolutely not allowed to offend the rulers slightly. Yan Zi, who was present, objected almost immediately and said, "The king is wrong! Will the monarch not offend the people? Can't we punish people for offending them? Didn't Xia Jie and Shang Zhou let the people be wiped out because they offended them? "
Throughout the history of China, all impersonal bureaucrats have a common fault, that is, they only know how to wait on their superiors comfortably by every means, regardless of the lives of ordinary people, and their hearts should be filled with affection and let snakes, scorpions and maggots occupy them. A dictatorial system can only be a hotbed of crazy and inhuman bureaucrats. In this way, how can the people of China not be in dire straits for more than two thousand years? Who hasn't experienced the reality that human kindness makes big or small official positions (sometimes as small as sesame seeds) ugly?
Yan Zi, who has been a great official all his life, can actually do the opposite, and he has a string of "people-oriented" in his heart, which is really rare. Two hundred years later, Mencius' people-oriented thought of "valuing the people but neglecting the monarch" found its source.
Looking back now, we can even see the shortcomings of Confucianism from such a person's opposition to Confucius. In this way, he advised Qi Jinggong not to reuse Confucius: "Confucianism is eloquent and unconstrained by habits. They are arrogant, willful and self-righteous and cannot be used by ministers; They pay attention to the funeral, devote themselves to it, and lose everything for a grand funeral. This practice cannot be allowed to form an atmosphere; They lobby everywhere and beg for office, which cannot be used to govern the country. Since the death of those sages, the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty has also declined, and it has been a long time since the ceremony collapsed. Now, Confucius pays attention to appearance and clothes, stipulates complicated etiquette from top to bottom, and deliberately walks at a brisk pace. These red tape, generations can't learn, a lifetime don't understand. If you want to use this set of things to change the customs of Qi, I am afraid this is not a good way to guide the people. " (Historical Records Confucius Family) Yan Zi's opinions may represent the opinions of many nobles in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. From the fact that Confucius has not been used for two years, we can see what will happen to him in the future.
There are deeper reasons, which determine that Confucius can only do but not do it in Qi State. That is, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi and Lu respectively represented two different vassal states, with different ideals and pursuits, so they had different circumstances. Lu was the fief of the Duke of Zhou, which continued Zhou's ritual and music system and literature, and its strategy of governing the country also made ritual and music account for a large proportion. On the other hand, Qi is the fief of Jiang Shang. Starting from Jiang Shang, he advocated developing the industrial and commercial economy, rewarding the army, and taking Qiang Bing, a rich country, as a general plan for governing the country. Mencius really hit the nail on the head. In a world where there is no just war, of course, we advocate cheating. We want big fish eat small fish and small fish eat shrimp. In this way, it is inevitable that Confucius, who always said "Zhou Li" and taught governors to practice benevolent policies everywhere, will hit a wall in Qi.
But Confucius has another realm after all. He said, people don't understand me but I don't dislike it. That's a gentleman. Even for Yan Zi, who is his enemy, he is still fair: "Yan (a famous baby) is good at making friends with others and respects them for a long time" (The Analects of Confucius, Gongye Chang). Kua Yanzi is good at making friends with people. The longer he meets, the more people respect him.
It is a very embarrassing thing for 37-year-old Confucius to leave Qi State. "Confucius went to Qi and followed it to the west" (Mencius Zhang Wan)-Confucius left Qi, lifted the rice being washed, drained it and washed it away. (Li Musheng)
About the author:
Li Musheng is a famous writer, essayist, poet and senior editor. 1952 was born in Jining, Shandong province, and began to engage in literary creation in the 1970s. He has published a collection of poems, Cuigu, Biography of Confucius in Cloth, and a collection of essays, such as Trees and Sensen. The collection of essays "Midnight Sunshine" won the first Taishan Literature and Art Award, the collection of essays "Quiet on Weishan Lake" won the first Guo Moruo Prose Essay Award of Chinese Writers Association, and the collection of essays "Tang Dynasty, That Free Flower" won the Bingxin Prose Award of China Prose Association, and its works were selected into various selected journals, selected books, primary and secondary school readers, and junior and senior high school papers.