The first person who said this sentence, many people don't know, was Huan Wen, a famous power minister in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
If you don't know the historical truth, check this sentence with the person who said it, and it will be easy to conclude that this person is a bad person, at least a traitor. In the official records, as a rare lean figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, later historians have different opinions about Huan Wen, some say that he assisted the country, and some say that he was a national hero, but mainstream historians, especially the great Confucians who held the concept of loyalty to the monarch, gave him a unanimous evaluation: traitors and traitors. However, among the famous cultural figures in China's history, many people admire him, especially Wang Fuzhi and Huang Zongxi, who are famous for their research on history in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, all gave him supreme evaluation. Wang Fuzhi said that he ignored others in English, and Huang Zongxi said that he helped the first person in China and was highly respected by the two most outstanding thinkers in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. This man is undoubtedly a first-class outstanding figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
If you really study this person's life, I'm afraid you have to change your name. Whether he is loyal or treacherous, it is wrong to say that he is first-class. He should be the first outstanding figure in the southern regime of China in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Before the appearance of Liu Song Wudi, the founding emperor of Liu and Song Dynasties, almost no one could match.
His loyalty, faithfulness and treachery were inseparable all his life, and later generations had different opinions. In the final analysis, it is because of his Excellence.
Huan Wen, born in 3 12, was originally from Huaiyuan, Anhui. Compared with many outstanding figures in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Huan Wen's family background is quite complicated. Long before the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, his Huan family was one of the four families in the south of the Yangtze River: Wang, Huan, Yu and Xie. These four families are the most famous and noble families in the south of the Yangtze River, and they were absolute leaders throughout the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty. Born in such an excellent family, Huan Wen naturally had a high starting point in life.
Huan Wen was not only born well, but also gifted. He first became famous when he was just one year old. He cried in a special way. That year, Wen Qiao, a famous person at that time, went to Huan Wen's house and was shocked when he heard that Huan Wen was crying. Without further ado, he begged Huan Wen's father, Huan Yi, to touch Huan Wen. After touching it, he praised that your son cried loudly, which made him a hero and even weirder in his bones. He will be a great man in the future. Huan's family was naturally happy to hear this evaluation, because it was said by Mr. Wen. In order to make this prediction come true, he was given a warm name: Huan Wen.
Although Mr. Wen agreed at that time, judging from the achievements of Huan Wen's parents, it was quite difficult for Huan Wen Jr. to surpass his family, especially his father. Huan Wen's father, Huan Yi, was a famous star at that time. He used to be the prefect of Xuancheng, and he was a government official guarding this place. Moreover, his official position and reputation are not only based on his distinguished family background, but also spelled out by himself. During his military career, he repelled the attack of the northern regime, put down the rebellion in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and made great achievements for many years. When Huan Wen 16 years old, a famous Soviet rebellion took place in the history of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Huan Yi, who was ordered to suppress the rebellion, died in the battle with General Huang Han. The fighting was fierce. Huan Yi's troops were less than one third of the enemy's, but he fought tragically to the end and died tragically. His generosity and loyalty touched the celebrities of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The death of a teenager's father is a tragedy for Huan Wen, but it is also the first step in his life. Afterwards, in order to appease Huan Wen who lost his father, the royal family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty married his daughter Princess Ankang and married Huan Wen, who was 16 years old. As the son of a loyal minister and master Xu's special position, young Huan Wen has ushered in a broad road. Of course, this story of Huan Wen's father's heroic death became an excuse for many people to criticize Huan Wen later, because he later did a traitor, and also because after he became a general, he always lacked his father's courage to fight to the death on the battlefield.
Huan Wen's road to prosperity seems strange to us today, but it was normal at that time. The main evaluation criteria for selecting an official in the Eastern Jin Dynasty are his family background and official position, which are reserved for those noble families, such as the Huan family in Huan Wen. This hereditary system was a unique political phenomenon in China during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, which caused a large number of straw bags to become the rulers of the country and had an important impact on the weakness of various regimes in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Huan Wen was still in the early stage of the hereditary system of the gentry, and at this time, the gentry class still belonged to the elite stage, and Huan Wen was one of the most shining ones. His political talents began to show up. At the age of 23, he was appointed as Langya Wenshi, a local official whose main task was to resettle refugees who fled from the north to the south. The main way for ordinary young people to prove themselves is to bury their heads in work and keep a low profile. At this time, Huan Wen did the opposite. He doesn't keep a low profile or work. Instead, he swaggered to say no to the Eastern Jin government and refused to take office. That's awesome. Such a little boy, in modern times, will certainly be criticized, but at that time, who let people be gentry? So, the same noble family who was born in the cremation and was friendly with Huan Wen family for generations put in a good word for Huan Wen. He recommended to the Eastern Jin Emperor that Huan Wen is a talented person, and you can't treat him with ordinary eyes, not to mention that he is your son-in-law. If the country is in trouble, he will certainly become a person who can help the disaster.
Emperor Jincheng also agreed with Yu Yi's remarks. So, 23-year-old Huan Wen was appointed as the senior secretariat of Xuzhou at that time. At that time, Xuzhou was facing the attack of the northern regime, and the military pressure was particularly great. Before the arrival of Huan Wen, the main defense methods of local border guards were closing the city gates, passive defense, and even barren farmland. When Huan Wen arrived, thinking that this would only make him poorer and poorer, he took the method of fighting violence with violence. He recruited a large number of local farmers plundered by the enemy and organized elite troops. Whenever the enemy harassed him, he organized troops to go deep behind enemy lines and take revenge on the enemy. Over time, Xuzhou, where wars are frequent, has never been disturbed again.
I recommend Yu Yi from Huan Wen, who has been good friends with Huan Wen since childhood. As a teenager, Huan Wen was ambitious and made many friends. He was good friends with many celebrities at that time. When they chat together, they often talk about the land in the north. At this time, Huan Wen will be particularly excited. On one occasion, when talking about the humiliation of the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty, Huan Wen burst into tears, and his grief was unavoidable. When he was young, Huan Wen was a patriotic cynic with a human nature. However, the performance of Xuzhou secretariat proves that Huan Wen is not only an angry youth, but also a young man full of vigor and vitality.
Speaking of this Yu Yi, who once recommended Huan Wen, is an important figure in Huan Wen's early life. For example, Huan Wen married Princess Ankang in his early years, and Yu Yi was a matchmaker. On the one hand, Yu Yi's recommendation to Huan Wen came from his personal relationship with Huan Wen, on the other hand, the gentry politics was still on the rise. Today, when we think of the gentry who held power by heredity, we often think of words such as decay and decline, but at that time, the gentry in the Eastern Jin Dynasty still maintained vigorous vitality. Most of the gentry and nobles of that generation were sages who took the world as their responsibility, and their moral cultivation and tolerance were very high. The Wei and Jin demeanor that later generations yearned for was a peak of this period. In terms of national plans, the gentry are more proud of recommending talents and respecting sages. This relatively clear gentry political environment made Huan Wen restless soon. When Huan Wen made great achievements in Xuzhou, Yu Yi passed away. Supposedly, it is not good for Huan Wen that someone who appreciates himself dies, but the death of this person gives Huan Wen another chance. Yu Yi was the secretariat of Jingzhou before his death, and he held a high position at that time. He not only occupied Jingzhou area with rich products, but also shouldered the heavy responsibility of resisting the invasion of the northern regime and defending the country. It can be said that it was the most awesome secretariat of the Eastern Jin Dynasty at that time. It is natural to find the best officials. According to the rules of the gentry in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when the previous generation of officials died, the next heir directly chose his immediate family, mainly his son. At that time, Emperor Jin 'an intended to let Yu Yi's son Ai Yu succeed him, but many noble ministers strongly opposed it. For example, He Chong, who served as the supervisor of the Chinese Book at that time, played Emperor Jin 'an for seven times in a row, and thought that it was not only irresponsible to give a young man such a great responsibility just to follow the law of family inheritance, but also joking about the future and destiny of the country. Finally, with the insistence of many gentry and nobles, Huan Wen, who has made great achievements in Xuzhou, was officially appointed as the secretariat of Jingzhou. This position is no small matter. General Anxi, commander-in-chief of military affairs in Jingyang six states, commander-in-chief of Nanman and secretariat of Jingzhou. That is to say, at this time, Huan Wen is no longer a simple local official, but has been in charge of all the civil, judicial and military powers of Jingzhou, the most important border town in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Such an important position was obtained in such a simple way. In the political atmosphere, the gentry of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in this period can indeed be regarded as upright and upright.