1. In Confucius' view, Guan Zhong's way of governing the country is too small.

Confucius believes that the two cores of the way of governing the country are benevolence and courtesy, while Guan Zhong is different. Guan Zhong's original intention is more from a personal point of view. From his initial service to the palace for a long time when he failed to win the throne, to "not ashamed of small details, and his fame is not obvious to the world", it can be seen that his starting point in politics is more to make the world famous than people's livelihood.

2. Confucius advocated the "kingly way" to govern the country, not the "overbearing" advocated by Guan Zhong.

Confucius ruled the country as a gentleman, and asked the monarch to practice "kingship" from the perspectives of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith. It is precisely because Confucius strictly measured the outline of governing the country with "Tao" as the criterion that it was "too pedantic and inflexible" in the troubled times where the heroes stood side by side, so it was often not appreciated by the rulers.

However, Guan Zhong is not. Guan Zhong also talks about benevolence, righteousness and morality, which is manifested in his proposal to save Wei and persuade him not to cooperate with Prince Hua.

3. "Not frugal", "not polite" and "stingy" are another reason why Confucius looked down on Guan Zhong.

As the prime minister of Qi Huangong, Guan Zhong became a vassal and conquered the world. At that time, people thought that he had made great contributions. However, his original intention is out of the selfish desire for power and utility, which is not in line with the way of saints.

Guan Zhong's achievements:

Guan Zhong rectified the administrative system and "combined with other countries but ignored them". The so-called "Three Kingdoms" is to divide the whole country into 2 1 townships, 15 townships for scholars, 3 townships for industry, 3 townships for business, and set up three officials to manage.

The so-called "Five Flags" is to divide the countryside (the vast area outside the capital) into five genera and five medical senses. It belongs to four levels: county, township, pawn and city, and is managed by county, township, pawn and company officials respectively.

The purpose of rectifying the administrative system is to "settle down the houses", so that scholars, peasants, industry and commerce can go their own ways, thus completely eliminating the residual influence of tribes, making the organizational structure of administrative areas more detailed and effectively maintaining social stability.