Confucius said: "Guan Zhong's utensils are small!" Or he said: "Is Guan Zhong thrifty?" He said: "The Guan family has three returns. If you don't take care of official affairs, how can you be thrifty?" "But Guan Zhong knows etiquette?" ? " said: "The king of the country is a tree of gates, and the family of Guan is also a gatekeeper. The king of the country is the best, and the Guan family is also a family. The Guan family knows the etiquette, but the Guan family does not know the etiquette."
Guan Zhong is a famous prime minister in history. His name is Yiwu and his courtesy name is Zhong. He is also called Guan Jingzhong. An outstanding statesman, military strategist, and reformer in the Spring and Autumn Period, he assisted Duke Huan of Qi to become the first overlord in the Spring and Autumn Period with his outstanding strategies. He wrote the book "Guan Zi" and passed down to the world, leaving a good story about "The Friendship between Guan and Bao". After Duke Huan of Qi paid homage to Guan Zhong as his prime minister, Guan Zhong proposed the strategy of governing the country and seeking hegemony by repairing close neighbors, prioritizing internal affairs before external affairs, and waiting for the right time to act. However, Duke Huan did not listen to his words and was defeated by the Lu army in the Battle of Changshao. After the war, Guan Zhong carried out a series of reforms in order to make Qi prosperous and strong as soon as possible so that the people would be prosperous, the country would be prosperous, and the military would be strong. In terms of economy, he emphasized that "the warehouses are solid and you know the etiquette, and the food and clothing are enough and you know the honor and disgrace." He believed that whether the country can be stable and whether the people can abide by the law is closely related to the economic development, so that Qi's economy can develop rapidly; in In terms of politics, he rectified administrative divisions and institutions and formed his rule over the whole country; in terms of military affairs, Guan Zhong believed that the number of soldiers should not be too many, but emphasized the deployment of soldiers in agriculture, and closely integrated the administrative Baojia system with the military organization. Hunting trains the army and improves its combat effectiveness. Because of Guan Zhong's reforms, the state of Qi quickly became strong and prosperous. Guan Zhong also proposed to Duke Huan of Qi a strategy to achieve hegemony in the Central Plains, which was to "respect the king and repel the barbarians". The so-called "respecting the king" means supporting the Zhou royal family. At that time, the royal family of the Western Zhou Dynasty declined, causing various countries to fight against each other. First of all, if you raise the banner of respecting the king, you can take advantage of the order of the Emperor of Zhou and legitimately obtain the status of alliance leader. The so-called "repelling the barbarians" refers to the fact that the Di and Rong people in the north of our country took advantage of the wars between various countries in the Central Plains to invade internally, posing a serious threat to all countries. If they took the lead in defeating the barbarians, they would gain the support of all countries. In the thirty-fourth year of Duke Huan of Qi (652 BC), King Hui of Zhou passed away. Duke Huan of Qi and other princely states supported Prince Zheng as the emperor, namely King Xiang of Zhou. After King Xiang of Zhou came to the throne, he sent people to deliver sacrificial meat to Duke Huan as a reward. Duke Huan convened the confederation of all the princes in Kuiqiu (near today's Kaocheng, Henan), held a ceremony to receive the gift, and concluded an alliance based on Guan Zhong's suggestion. After that, Duke Huan of Qi, with the assistance of Guan Zhong, presided over three armed alliances, six peace alliances, and assisted the royal family once. It was known in history as "nine alliances of princes, one can rule the world", and he became a recognized overlord. Guan Zhong made immortal contributions to the establishment of hegemony. Because of his outstanding achievements in Qi, he was honored as Zhongfu by Duke Huan. Confucius admired Guan Zhong very much. He once praised that if Guan Zhong had not assisted Duke Huan of Qi to dominate the world, he didn't know how long the world would be in chaos.
Confucius lived a little later than Guanzi. Confucius was born in 111 years after Guanzi's death. Confucius admired Guanzi's achievements, but he also criticized Guanzi, thinking that although he helped Duke Huan of Qi achieve hegemony, However, he failed to lead Duke Huan into the royal way. It really shows that the Guanzi Bureau is still a little small, he fails to have the world in mind, and he is not a generalist in governing the world. At this time, someone asked, how is Guanzi's frugality? Is he frugal? Is his political, economic and military thinking enough to be called "frugal"? To understand the virtue of frugality, carefully study Zhuge Liang's "Book of Commandments", "Quietness is used to cultivate one's character, frugality is used to cultivate virtue." It not only refers to frugality in life, but also refers to frugality in thoughts, work, style, etc., speaking concisely and comprehensively, and doing things cleanly. Clean and never sloppy. Confucius gave an example and asked, Guanzi built a Sangui Hall at home and lived a luxurious life; he could not achieve concise and coordinated planning in the government system, and often set up things and officials according to people, resulting in overlapping institutions. How can this be considered frugal? ? Some people say that Guanzi should be regarded as someone who knows etiquette and understands etiquette, right? Confucius believed that although Guanzi could be regarded as a great politician, he was still lacking in personal cultivation and could not shoulder the important task of leading history and culture. He gave an example: Duke Huan of Qi built a screen wall outside the gate, and a screen wall was also erected outside Guanzi's house. Duke Huan of Qi set up a platform for rebelling at home in order to receive the princes and kings, and Guanzi also set up a platform for rebelling at home. Can this be called Guanzi's understanding of etiquette?
In ancient Chinese etiquette, only the gates of the princes' homes can be blocked by trees, and only for the sake of diplomatic etiquette, countertops can be set up in the princes' homes. The gate is actually a screen wall. In ancient times, there was usually a screen wall in front of the government office. There are four sentences that have been passed down for thousands of years and are often engraved on the screen wall of the government office: "Your salary and salary are the people's blessings; the people are easy to abuse, but the gods are hard to bully." I remember that when I first started working, there was a screen wall outside the small street office, but it was later demolished. The original bungalow was also demolished for the construction of the expressway, and now a new office building has been built. It is used by princes to receive princes, kings, envoys, etc. in their homes for negotiation and reception. It is not allowed to set up in ministers' homes. Even if Guanzi has great merit and Duke Huan of Qi allows it, if Guanzi understands etiquette and etiquette, he should resign, how can he accept it?