What about Shang Yang?
It is reported that Shang Yang knew little about the name of punishment, and had studied under Li Kui. Li Kui is a scholar. Like every law school professor, he studies for the sake of learning. Now people who know Li Kui are far less than those who know Shang Yang, which shows that Li Kui was mainly engaged in academics at that time-scholars were so obscure and willing to be lonely. But Li Kui was more than just a scholar. Historians tell us that his style is also very popular in Wei. In fact, he is also the prime minister of Wei. But Shang Yang is different. He learned a set of theories from his teacher, which urgently needs to be applied to practice. So, he became a guest of Gongsun. A doorman is a servant, that is, a rich man raises a wise man or an idle man. As we all know, during the Warring States period, rich and powerful people raised some idle people, including aides and dead people. Shang Yang is a highly educated person, and his teacher is very famous. Naturally, he doesn't have to be a hard worker. Sun Zuo was the prime minister of Wei, which was the most powerful country at that time. From this, we can see that Shang Yang has made a good start, and its significance is no less than that we entered a big company like IBM at a young age. No matter how well we do, this in itself shows a bright future. And Shang Yang did not do badly. First of all, he is a smart man. A smart man is the kind of person who can see it at a glance in a crowd. And he is still young, which means he is willing to show his cleverness. As a result, he was highly praised by the leaders. But unfortunately, this leader will soon fail. On his deathbed, Mr. Zuo recommended Shang Yang to Wang Wei, saying that he was knowledgeable and could take his seat. There is a wonderful line about this recommendation, which is clearly recorded in Historical Records. Sun Zuo has played a beautiful political skill here, which makes us have to admire his leadership. On the one hand, he suggested that Wang Wei reuse Shang Yang, and if not, he must kill Shang Yang to avoid future trouble. On the other hand, he told Shang Yang that Gong Wei refused to use you, and I have advised him to kill you, so you'd better run away. In Jacky's own words, this is called putting the monarch before the minister. I can live up to either side and be patient to the extreme. As for who will live or die in the future, it's all in the past, so I don't care. Shang Yang is in no hurry to run. He said to Sun Zuo, "If Wang Wei uses me instead of listening to you, will he listen to you and kill me?" This is a wonderful sentence, only a wise man can say it. This statement not only shows a person's IQ, but also contains a kind of relative arrogance. At that time, Shang Yang, like a college student who had just joined the work, was very shrewd, passionate and domineering. In the face of such people, most people will not be too comfortable. If there happens to be such a person in your office, you will know exactly what that feeling is. Of course, it's no big deal to make an out-of-date leader feel uncomfortable, but why show your IQ in front of an out-of-date leader? Having said that, Shang Yang still ran away. He knew that Wang Wei wouldn't kill him, but he wouldn't use him. For him, living without a future is better than dying. Otherwise, Shang Yang wouldn't have gone from Wei to Qin ── now it means that you got a diploma from Yale Law School, but you went to Eastern European countries to find a job. Your ancestors were neither Russian nor Ukrainian. Shang Yang's teacher is very famous, and his teacher Li Kui is a great man. With Shang Yang's IQ, nine times out of ten, he has learned it, even if he is not a proud pupil. What exactly did the high flier learn? This was originally a question that historians studied and had little to do with this story. But considering that he will talk about some of his work in Qin, it is closely related to his major. So I have to explain it a little bit. Li Kui was an early legalist thinker. We all know that the cultural situation at that time was called a hundred schools of thought contend, and legalism was one of them. Later, Han Feizi summed up the ideas of his predecessors and became the representative of Legalists written in our textbooks. Among these "predecessors" is Li Kui No.1, who advocated the rule of law, a clear distinction between rewards and punishments, and a set of related economic and military theories. That's basically what Shang Yang learned. Shang Yang later wrote a book, so now we can know from the book that he advocated "supporting wars with wars". In the present words, this is called providing a theoretical basis for Qin to destroy the six countries. According to Biography of Shang Jun, when Shang Yang first met Qin Xiaogong, he said that he was filial to the emperor and was in a fog. See you again, saying that being king is filial and sleepy. Goodbye, said to be overbearing, filial piety immediately came to the spirit, nodded and said yes, as a guest. Shang Yang is a flexible pragmatist. For Shang Yang, political reform is an investment. The so-called investment refers to the activity of putting money or resources into a cause to obtain income. The focus of investment is to obtain income. Benefits can be the success of Wenda or the realization of personal value. Shang Yang has capital, famous teachers and outstanding talents, and can grasp the key point: gaining benefits. As for the way of investment, this is only an intermediate link, not important. At this point, he is much better than Kong Qiu. Mr Zhong Ni has ideals, so he is stubborn. He couldn't figure it out and left As a result, he traveled around the world, and his disciples got a lot of help, but no one appreciated him. Of course, thanks to a patient and good leader like Qin Xiaogong. In fact, such leaders are rare, and Shang Yang has this luck. Therefore, it is very necessary to assess the situation and do what you like. Is to "grasp the leadership intention". In a word, Qin Xiaogong took a fancy to Shang Yang and left him behind. After that, of course, there will be some dramas that argue with Confucianism, but these are already some technical details and don't need to be entangled here. Shang Yang spent ten years in the State of Qin. During this period, I moved once, changed the law twice and fought several wars. These two reforms are the "Shang Yang Reform" mentioned in our history textbooks. For example, Shang Yang unified the weights and measures, and the words "Liang Da Zao Yang" were printed on these rice containers. Later, these containers were slightly modified by Qin Shihuang and distributed all over the country. Moreover, he registered all the people in the country and established a household registration management similar to today. According to this manual, no one can escape. He also invented the "Left-wing Writers", with five households as "Wu" and ten households as "Shi". If one person breaks the law, several families will suffer-this is probably the origin of the word "martial" and "scholar" today. The history books also recorded Shang Yang's war process: Shang Yang took advantage of the opportunity to attack Wei and also set out to attack Wei-he was very clever, and smart people never missed any opportunity. But even that doesn't necessarily take advantage. Wei is too powerful. So Shang Yang wrote a letter to Wei Gongzi, who led the troops, saying that everyone had a good relationship before, and they came out to catch up with each other and turn an enemy into an enemy. It is strange that Wei Gongzi agreed. Now we can't imagine that the generals of the two armies can get together to drink and catch up. If someone told me that Saddam Hussein was going to Brussels for coffee at the invitation of George W. Bush, I would first check my calendar to see if it was April Fool's Day. However, it must be noted that there was something called Spring and Autumn Justice. So, Wei Gongzi went to "confront" Shang Yang. We don't know if he left with the same demeanor as our party: the harder you fight in front, the safer I will be there. But whatever he said or thought, he was arrested as soon as he arrived. Shang Yang is unambiguous on this issue. He is a master of legalism, and he was not captured and defeated with the general of Kong's teacher's father. At this time, the opportunity for Shang Yang to be promoted and rich came. He is already a good man. He is the prime minister of Qin. In other words, he has achieved great success in his career. On the one hand, his political reform was really effective, and Qin's national strength was already different. In addition, he himself became a businessman in fifteen cities. To describe it with a well-known saying is: one person and one minister, high achievements cover the Lord. It is said that Xiao Gong even offered to give him the throne, but later he refused. It can also be seen from here that Shang Yang began to "dig a grave" for himself. Anyone who knows history knows that Shang Yang's political reform offended some people and made some enemies. As the bitterness deepened, those people put Shang Yang to death. Shang Yang's new law is quite strict, which runs through the concept of "heavy punishment for minor offences". In other words, the function of punishment is not to make violators bear corresponding responsibilities for their actions, but to form a deterrent effect, so that people dare not violate the rules. This is also the typical thinking of early legalists. It is said that at that time, everyone who dumped ashes on the ground would be hanged-tattooed on his face. There is also a sitting system, which makes it possible for disasters to fall from the sky behind closed doors at home. This kind of law is really unreasonable, but Shang Yang didn't die unreasonable. Because if that's the case, ordinary people will get up first and make trouble, and they are the biggest victims. In fact, the situation is that "everyone in Qin is happy, and the road is not picked up." This shows that it is acceptable for ordinary people to be fair and strict. Sima Qian said that Shang Yang was too mean and "punishment is close to being a teacher". This is not Shang Yang's fault. A legislator knows the importance of equality before the law, otherwise he won't play the trick of the South Post once. But Sima Qian's statement reflects an ancient oriental philosophy. This philosophy affirms the existence of karma, that is to say, some seemingly trivial things in life will become bitter fruits after accumulation. Therefore, when dealing with people and things, we must put "benevolence" and "righteousness" in the first place, forgive others, don't try to be brave for a while, don't be eager for quick success and instant benefit, and leave a backward path everywhere, so as to be smooth and safe. We all know this truth, and so does Shang Yang. But he is so involved that it is difficult for people to take care of other things once they are involved. Shang Yang could have been flexible. He is very clever. But people are not always so smart. I repeatedly mentioned the word smart in this article. Actually, it is a taboo word for me. Because when I was a child, my teacher always told me: This child is very clever, just likes to play tricks, and finally he is mistaken for smart. So, being smart is not a good word. If you are smart enough, don't let people think you are smart. The leader's best compliment to us is hard work, and cleverness is definitely a dangerous compliment. Later, Qin Xiaogong died, and the prince succeeded to the throne. He remembered the old grudge (King Hui of Qin was punished by his father Qin Xiaogong for traveling around the State of Qin, and he was only 15 years old at that time, and he didn't get him back until Qin Xiaogong was dying in his thirties) and began to punish Shang Yang. Shang Yang ran away. When I ran to the inn, people were afraid to take it in, saying that according to the laws of Shang Jun, people without documents could not stay. He went to Wei again, and people remembered the account he was cheated in that year and drove him out. He had no way out, so he rose up and resisted. He was arrested by the king of Qin, cracked his car with the criminal law he designed, and all his family members were executed-this was also stipulated by him. So, to some extent, Shang Yang died of his own laws.