It means: Lian Po spreads bad words, but you are afraid to avoid him. You are too timid. Most people would feel ashamed, let alone a general.

From "The Biography of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru", selected from Volume 81 of "Historical Records" written by Sima Qian of the Western Han Dynasty.

Excerpt from the original text:

So he gave up his words and remonstrated: "The reason why I leave my relatives to serve the king is because I admire the king's high righteousness. Now the king is on the same level as Lian Po. When an honest ruler speaks evil words, he is afraid to hide them. He is extremely frightened, and a mediocre person is ashamed of him. How much more so than a general! I am unworthy of you, so please resign." Lin Xiangru stopped and said, "Who do you regard as an honest general? "With the King of Qin?" He said: "No." General? Gu Wu thought that the reason why Qin Dynasty did not dare to send troops to Zhao was because of the two tigers fighting each other. The reason why I did this was to take the lead. The national emergency is followed by personal enmity." When Lian Po heard this, he was naked and carried the bushes, so he went to Lin Xiangru's door to apologize. Said: "Despicable people, don't know how lenient the general is." The soldiers were happy with each other and became friends who cut their necks.

Translation:

So Lin Xiangru’s disciples came together to persuade Lin Xiangru: “The reason why we left our relatives to serve you is because we admire your noble integrity. Now you and Lian Po has the same official position, but Lian Po spreads bad words, but you are afraid to avoid him. You are too timid. Most people are ashamed, let alone those who are generals and ministers. We have no future, please let go! Let's resign!" Lin Xiangru firmly persuaded them to stay and said, "Who do you think is more powerful than General Lian and the King of Qin?" Everyone said, "General Lian is not as good as the King of Qin."

Lin Xiangru said: "With the power of the King of Qin, I still dare to scold him in the court and humiliate his ministers. Although I, Lin Xiangru, are incompetent, how can I be afraid of General Lian? But I thought that the reason why the powerful Qin State did not dare to use troops against Zhao State is that Because there are two of us here. Now we are fighting like two tigers fighting, and we will definitely not be able to survive at the same time. The reason why I am tolerant is to put the national crisis first and put my personal grudges behind! "

When Lian Po heard these words, he took off his shirt, exposed his upper body, carried a thorn whip, and was led by the guests to Lin Xiangru's door to apologize. He said: "I am a rough and lowly person. "I never thought the general would be so generous!" The two finally made peace with each other and became good friends in life and death.

Extended information

"Historical Records" initially had no fixed title, and was called "Tai Shi Gong Shu", or "Tai Shi Gong Ji", also known as "Tai Shi Gong" in provincial terms. According to the research of existing materials, the first person to call Sima Qian's historical work "Historical Records" was "Donghai Temple Stele" written by Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Previously, "Shiji" was the general name for ancient historical books. Starting from the Three Kingdoms, "Historical Records" gradually became the proper name of "Tai Shi Gong Shu" from the general name.

"Historical Records" draws on a wide range of materials. The "Shiben", "Guoyu", "Qin Ji", "Chu Han Chun Qiu", works of various schools of thought and national documents and archives circulated in the society at that time, as well as materials obtained from field investigations, were all written by Sima Qian in "Historical Records" 》an important source of material.

What is particularly valuable is that Sima Qian carefully analyzed and selected the collected materials and eliminated some nonsense. For example, he did not list the three emperors without solid evidence, started the book with the five emperors, and made some incomprehensible remarks. To clarify the problem, either adopt a skeptical attitude, or record various different opinions. Due to the wide range of materials and the serious attitude of compiling history, "Historical Records" has detailed records and rich content.

Sima Qian's son inherited his father's legacy. Before his death, his father Sima Tan entrusted Sima Qian with the family's mission and his own last wishes, hoping that Sima Qian could continue to write his own treatises. Sima Qian also lived up to his father's high expectations. In his early years, he traveled around the mountains and rivers, learned about the local customs, and collected ancient events and news. Sima Qian accumulated a large amount of material for the compilation of "Historical Records". In 104 BC, Sima Qian began to compile "Historical Records".

But unfortunately, in 98 BC, Li Ling was defeated and surrendered to the Huns. He was captured by the Huns and made a prisoner of war. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was very angry about this. However, Sima Qian had no intention of flattering Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Sima Qian explained and interceded for Li Ling, thinking that Li Ling was a filial and patriotic man, and he had no choice but to surrender to the Huns. He must have been thinking about being able to return to the court one day.

But Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty arrested Sima Qian and imprisoned him. Sima Qian was tortured after being arrested and imprisoned. After Li Ling's crime of surrendering to the Huns was "confirmed", Sima Qian was also implicated and was punished by castration.

After suffering severe physical and mental trauma, Sima Qian endured the humiliation and spent all his energy on writing "Historical Records". Completing "Historical Records" also became the spiritual pillar for Sima Qian to survive. Fourteen years later, Sima Qian finally completed this masterpiece that has been handed down from generation to generation. The story of Sima Qian writing "Historical Records" has also been recited by people.

There are countless poems praising Sima Qian, and even more praising his magnificent masterpiece "Historical Records". Later generations also praised his style of conduct and the rigor of recording historical materials.

Among them, Lu Xun once said that "Historical Records" is the swan song of historians, a rhymeless Li Sao. This is not only a poem praising historical records, but also a poem praising Sima Qian. Besides Sima Qian, who else would go through all kinds of hardships, eat and sleep all the way, and finally only get a few true historical materials. Later masterpieces of history include "Three Kingdoms" and "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", etc., but Lu Xun only commented on "Historical Records" as the swan song of historians, and equated it with "Li Sao", the highest achievement of poetry in literature. This shows the position of "Historical Records" in the hearts of future generations.

As a historian in recording history, Sima Qian set a good example for future generations. Ban Gu praised Sima Qian: he did not pretend to be beautiful and did not hide evil, so he recorded it in detail. Sima Qian recorded many ancient kings, including Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu who later failed to compete with Liu Bang for the world. At the same time, he also praised Chen Sheng, Wu Guang and other peasant uprising leaders, which Emperor Wu did not like as an emperor. However, Sima Qian took historical facts and achievements as the main criterion, was not afraid of Emperor Wu's preferences, and achieved the objectivity of the actual records.

Ban Biao also praised Sima Qian: his literary quality is commensurate and he is a good historian. The "Historical Records" written by Sima Qian is not only a historical masterpiece, but also has profound literary attainments. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a literary masterpiece. Sima Qian left countless famous sayings and aphorisms in historical records, which also left people with the motivation to fight.

Baidu Encyclopedia--Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru