Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Painful Choice
When Liu Bowen returned to Qingtian in 1359, Jiangnan was completely in chaos.Liu Bowen said at the desk: "I want to write a book." This book written by Liu Bowen is a milestone work known as the development of Chinese fable history - "Yu Ion". "Zi" means collection, and "Yuli" means civilization, and together they are: A Collection of Civilization Guides in the Prosperous Age.That is to say, in the future, if some leaders read my book, if they can understand it and practice it, they can lead the country to a state like heaven.In fact, this is the title of the book planned by Liu Bowen later, and his original intention of writing the book is not so lofty.It was just because he spent most of his life in the human world that he met countless dirty villains. These people were shameless, ridiculous, treacherous, and greedy.After thinking about it, I said: "I should write down all the things about these bird people, but I can't sit on the seat, or use a fable." This is the same idea as Pu Songling wrote "Liao Zhai" hundreds of years later.
However, Liu Bowen's planning is very solid. Although there are many guides on how to behave in the world and some interesting stories whose purpose is unclear, there are several articles that are aimed at leaders and the country.We know that when planning the title of a book, it is very important to find out its selling point, and the selling point is the most touching content in the book.Therefore, Liu Bowen used the slogan "Guide to Prosperous Civilization".This book can also be regarded as Liu Bowen's analysis and summary of the motherland's infiltration into this field, as well as warnings, appeals, and suggestions to turn things around.
When analyzing why the Yuan Dynasty came to this point, Liu Bowen used the story of the tiger and the elk.A tiger that had nothing to do all day long saw an elk and chased it desperately.The elk turned back and said to the tiger: "You beast, you just bit off a piece of my meat yesterday, and you came again today." The tiger said: "Don't talk nonsense, I will eat your whole body today." The elk ran all the way to a cliff On the other side, seeing the tiger rushing over with full confidence, the elk plunged down the cliff.The tiger only had eyes for the elk, not for the cliff, so he plunged down.As a result, the elk did not survive, and the tiger also jumped down to die.
The tiger is the leadership of the Yuan Dynasty, or the bureaucratic class.As we all know, the Yuan Dynasty implemented a policy of ethnic discrimination. In addition to the policy of ethnic discrimination, of course it was the dictatorship of the Yuan Dynasty. Under this kind of regime, corruption was bound to occur, and corruption followed the dictatorship like a shadow.Because any official knows that power does not come from the people, but from the superiors. As long as the superiors are served well, they can sit back and relax.As for those common people, the lackeys of the Yuan Dynasty dictator had already given their location, that is the elk, which is officially called "sheep".When it is slightly clearer, the herdsmen are polite to the common people in order to make the sheep produce more milk and hair, and to make the mutton more delicious when cooking hot pot.But once the shepherd is confused, the sheep will be unlucky.
The people of the Yuan Dynasty were the most miserable and tenacious people in the universe. The gap between the rich and the poor was vastly different from that of the power class, and it didn't matter.It doesn't matter that the power class treats them like nothing.Until one day when they suddenly think that the existing system will do them no good, they weakly take up arms, but the power of despair is thunderous.
Back in Liu Bowen's class, Liu Bowen pointed out that the elk jumped off the cliff because it had no choice but to: there is a cliff in front and a tiger behind, and no matter whether you advance or retreat, you will die.If you retreat, you will definitely die; if you jump down, you will be close to death, but in case you come back from a desperate situation, it is better than waiting to be eaten by a tiger.The tiger is an idiot. Its forward and backward are in its own hands, but it followed the elk and jumped down.
Finally, Liu Bowen pointed out the theme: If the rulers force the people too much, the common people will revolutionize and die together with the rulers.As the revolutionary patriarch Chen Sheng said back then, revolution means death, and non-revolution means death.But the revolution, if you are lucky, may survive.
Lu Xun said that no woman has the nature of a wife before she gets married, and the nature of a wife is forced.Laozi also said that when the nerves of the people are oppressed by the ruler, they will go to the opposite extreme, and they will not be afraid of the power of the ruler, and then ominous things will happen.Therefore, when the people's happiness index plummets, it is the day when the revolution index soars.
"Because the people can finally wake up," Liu Bowen said, "this is proved by facts." Please see the following story: Many years ago, there was a man who raised macaques in Chu State for a living. "Monkey King".Every morning, he would assign work to the macaques in the garden, and let the old monkey lead other monkeys to the mountains to pick the fruits of the plants and take one tenth of the fruits to support himself.Some monkeys refused to give, so the monkey master beat them hard with a whip.The old monkeys all think that this kind of life is very bitter, but they dare not go against it, because they think it is predestined.
One day, a clever little monkey asked many old monkeys, "Do the fruits on the mountain come from the trees planted by the monkey?" The old monkeys said, "Nonsense, the fruit is born." The little monkey asked again. "Can't we pick without Mr. Monkey's consent?" The old monkeys said, "How is this possible? Even without his order, we can still pick." If you obey him, you still have to be sent by him?" The old monkeys slapped their heads and said, "Wow, why didn't we think of that?"
That night, after the monkey fell asleep, the monkeys broke through the fence and destroyed the barn, took away the food stored by the monkey, held hands with each other, jumped into the forest, and never came back.The ending of Monkey King is: because there is no monkey to supply him with food, he has to starve to death.
Liu Bowen commented at the end of the story: "The kind of person in the world who enslaves the people by means of power and tricks but does not follow the righteous way to regulate things is not like Monkey King? He can only succeed because the people have not yet awakened. Once someone enlightens the wisdom of the people, then His powers are exhausted."
Monkey Lord certainly didn't know such a truth, because he was about to starve to death.It is estimated that before he starved to death, he would definitely hate those monkeys and think that the usual punishment is not enough!
What is the right way of power?In other words, what principles should those who govern the country abide by?Liu Bowen has a very profound exposition.
He said: "People who govern the country are like doctors. Only after feeling the pulse can they understand the symptoms, and only when the symptoms are clear can they prescribe prescriptions. Doctors must prescribe according to the cause of the patient. If the prescription is correct, the patient's disease can be cured. If it is not prescribed properly The patient may die. Therefore, a person who knows the symptoms and pulse but cannot prescribe is not a good doctor. Even today, some Chinese medicine doctors can use their knowledge to know the symptoms of patients, but the competition between doctors The difference is that some doctors can come up with good prescriptions, while some doctors know what the patient's disease is, but they can't come up with good prescriptions."
Liu Bowen said: "People who don't know the symptoms and the pulse, and prescribe medicines based on hearsay, but tell people that I can cure diseases, are thieves who endanger the people. In the same way, for a country, peace and turmoil are the two things. Symptoms, systems and management are the pulse, morality and law are prescriptions and treatment methods, and talents are medicinal materials. As long as the prescriptions are prescribed in accordance with the symptoms, there will be no mistakes in medication, and there will be fewer diseases in the world that cannot be cured.”
Of course, Liu Bowen did not forget to remind the rulers that "virtue" is the only means of governing the country. Although "strength" works temporarily, it will inevitably lose its effectiveness if it goes on for a long time.
We all know that the rule of the Yuan Dynasty was based on "force", not "virtue".To put it a bit too far, the Yuan Dynasty treated the Chinese as slaves from the very beginning of its founding in China, and it itself was the master slave.The Yuan Dynasty was a dynasty that only valued military affairs but not agriculture.Liu Bowen couldn't laugh or cry at such a shallow understanding.He illustrates this with the following parable:
A man named Hu Lizi came to Ai and said to the doctor there: "In the past, the king's left-handed horse fell ill. People said that drinking the blood of a live horse would cure him. So the king sent someone to kill me. I refused, but I didn’t give it.” The doctor said, “It’s not humane to save a horse by killing it.” Hu Lizi said, “Yes, this really puzzles me. But now I have Now that I understand the heart of the king, let me tell you. People in charge of state affairs must rely on farming and military warfare. Which one is not the people of the king, farmers or soldiers? Because of insufficient military strength, farmers have no security; insufficient farming, Then the soldiers will have no food to eat. Compared with the farmers, the soldiers are like feet and hands. They are indispensable. Now the soldiers of the king are violent against the farmers, but the king does not stop them. A lawsuit between the farmers and the soldiers will happen, but the farmers will definitely fail. , the people plowing the fields are embarrassed. This is because they only see their hands but not their feet. Now the lords of the king only see that the king must have a left-handed horse, but they don’t see me. , So the local people pulled up the mulberry trees there and planted willows, I was worried in my heart, I was afraid that the king would do the same."
What Liu Bowen meant was that the way to govern a country lies in balance, but the Yuan Dynasty was far from achieving this. His original intention to develop Jiangnan into a pasture is an example.A person who has established himself in an agricultural country but does not pay attention to agriculture is really the most ridiculous thing in the world.
Now, we can talk about Liu Bowen's political thought based on "Yu Ion".
Confucianism believes that God is born to raise all the people, so a king should be established to rule the people.But Liu Bowen explained that the people who were born and raised by God did not know how to govern themselves, so they wanted to establish a king.The main job of this king is to suppress the stubborn and help the weak and good.However, sometimes God will have a convulsion and suddenly let a lunatic sit in the position of the king, such as Jie Zhou.This requires a sage to come out and drive him out. For example, Shang Tang drove away Xia Jie, and King Wu of Zhou drove away Shang Zhou.However, people like Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou are not good doctors, but famous arresters.The world is actually a prison, where there are many bad people and many evil deeds.The sages in this place should not learn how to be a good doctor and focus on saving people, but learn how to catch fast and focus on catching traitors and punishing evil. As long as the evil is eliminated, the world will be peaceful.
There is a particularly paradoxical argument in ancient Chinese political thought, that is, the interaction between man and nature.The ancient intellectuals said to the emperor, be careful not to do bad things, or God will punish you.Not only does God have feelings for the emperor, but also for ordinary people.Anyone who does something bad will be struck by lightning.For example, it is said that a farmer was plowing in the field and was struck to death by lightning.This is offending God by doing immoral things, and God punished him.Liu Bowen commented that this is nonsense.God gave birth to the people, established a king, and established many parents and officials. These people have power in their hands, and they can punish those who do bad things. Why should God take action?If God really wanted to do this, wouldn't it be a dog taking a mouse?
As mentioned above, there are two most valuable political thoughts of Liu Bowen, one is people-oriented thought.
Liu Bowen believes that the only purpose of politics is to establish a monarch to support the people, and the important task of nourishing the people is to "gather desires and get rid of evil". If the monarch is worshiped at the expense of the people, then the monarch will surely fail.
Wei Zheng of the Tang Dynasty said to his boss Tang Taizong that the people are like water, and the ruler is like a boat. A boat can be carried, but it can also be overturned", so the rulers of all dynasties have paid attention to protecting, reassuring and nourishing the people.The Yuan Dynasty completely violated this point of view, extorting violently, occupying women if they want to occupy women, and robbing food if they want to grab food.
Liu Bowen said that there was an old man in Lingqiu who was very good at beekeeping. He often had a good harvest of honey and beeswax, and soon he became very rich.After the old man died, his son inherited his beekeeping business. Within a month, the bees flew away in swarms, but he didn’t feel worried about this phenomenon. After more than a year, the bees who escaped Bees nearly half.After another year or so, all the remaining bees flew away, and his family began to decline.Tao Zhugong asked the reason, and the old man next door said: "In the past, when the old man in Lingqiu raised bees, there was a house in the garden, and there were people guarding the house. The trees were hollowed out to make the bees' dwellings, airtight and rain-proof. Place beehives. At that time, it was very orderly. Now his son is not like this. The reed houses in the bee garden are not repaired, and they are not cleaned up when they are dirty. The danger is uneasy, and it is difficult to get in and out of the hive, so the bees don't like the place they live in." After hearing this, Tao Zhugong sighed and said: "Alas! Disciples must remember this lesson. Those who govern the country and the people People should take this as a warning.”
Liu Bowen concluded that the people in the world are like a plate of fine sand, whoever can gather them can take over the world, and the best glue for gathering fine sand is to care about their pain and meet their reasonable needs.This is what we call focusing on people's livelihood today.
The other is the distinction between Hua and Barbarians.Liu Bowen did not have the concept of defending against the barbarians. Although he believed that the people would definitely revolutionize after awakening, he never advocated the expulsion of the Mongols and the restoration of China.Although Liu Bowen repeatedly hated the corruption of the Mongolian government, he only hated this government as a lawless government, and never pointed out that it is a government of a foreign race.This kind of thinking made him a true prophet, hundreds of years ahead of many politicians.
The reason why the people are awakened is because of the cruel rule of the Yuan Dynasty.But after the people awakened, the Yuan Dynasty still had room for salvation. Unfortunately, because of a series of mistakes made by the Yuan Dynasty, it finally fell apart and waited to die.
When Liu Bowen was in Qingtian, he made a summary of why the Yuan Dynasty came to where it is today.
The first is infighting.In the early Yuan Dynasty, there were constant internal strife, but because there was no external force involved, it was just their own house that closed the door to fight.When they close the door to fight, they concentrate on fighting, because there are no looters outside the door, and it is still absolutely safe to open the door after the fight.But later, they still bit each other with wars everywhere, and the result was completely different.The biggest internal strife occurred in the second year (1360) when Liu Bowen wrote "Yu Ion" in Qingtian.This year, I don't know who came up with the bad idea to ask Emperor Yuanshun to transfer the commander of the northern military region, Aluhui Timur, to the south to suppress the rebellion.So this is a bad idea, because Aluhui Timur has always been ambitious and is the champion, so he looks down on Emperor Yuanshun from the bottom of his heart, but for many years, he has no chance to enter the capital, so he has been forbearing.After receiving the order to go to the south, Aluhui Timur was elated, and immediately recruited troops in the name of the emperor. When he confirmed that he was capable, he wrote a letter to Emperor Yuan Shun, who was stunned: Deliver it to you, look at what you are doing now, a pot of porridge. You give me the national seal, and I will show you how to be an emperor."
Emperor Yuan Shun had always had a good temper, but after reading this letter, he exploded with anger like a firecracker.Because everyone has a reason to rebel, but you, Aluhui Timur, have no reason.Aluhui Timur, you are not only the royal family, but also the number one scholar. In other words, you are the pride of the Mongolian people. It is really unreasonable that even you would rebel.
The Minister of National Defense, Tujian Timur, strongly demanded to personally attack the prince who wanted the imperial seal. Emperor Yuanshun expressed his greatest support and gave money, soldiers and food.But Bald Jian Timur is a person whose sense of justice far exceeds his ability, and he was quickly defeated by Aluhui Timur.Tujian Timur fled back to Dadu, followed by only a cook. In 1361, Emperor Yuan Shun was so angry that he mobilized 100,000 people from various places to attack Aluhui Timur in two ways. This time, the 100,000 troops were as powerful as a bamboo, and successfully captured Aluhui Timur alive and sent him to the capital for execution. .
Emperor Yuan Shun had been excited about this victory for a long time, thinking that his Yuan Dynasty had been revived and the Mongol sun was rising from the horizon again.But reality quickly gave him a mouthful and woke him up.As we all know, there were two main forces of the Yuan Dynasty's counter-insurgency Red Turban Army in North China, one was the Polo Timur Corps and the other was the Chahan Timur Corps.Polo Timur was born in a family of generals, so he did not have the legendary rise of Chahan Timur, but he is an outstanding military strategist. In the military operations against the Red Scarf Army, he repeatedly created miracles. The Army Corps was wiped out by him.After Chahan Timur's death, his adopted son Wang Baobao (Kao Kuo Timur) inherited his huge legacy - a brave and capable army and super powerful influence.
Emperor Yuan Shun had been reminded that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.But Emperor Yuan Shun occasionally burst out with the sparks of a politician. He said: "This is called balance, and one person cannot dominate." However, if a person who knows the art of balance does not have strong strength, he will not be able to control the balance at all.
Polo Timur and Wang Baobao exerted their strength almost at the same time, and they also wanted to break the balance and make themselves dominant. In 1363, Polo Timur sent elite troops into Wang Baobao's area of influence.This was a tentative attack, but Wang Baobao was not polite, and assembled a large number of troops to carry out an extermination blow to the Polo Timur Corps.Polo Timur saw that Wang Baobao was not a persimmon that was easy to pinch, so he personally led troops south from his old home Datong. This time it was not a tentative attack, but a real fight, so his corps quickly controlled Wang Baobao's real road.
To Polo Timur's surprise, Wang Baobao did not meet him on the battlefield this time, but went to Dadu to complain to Emperor Yuanshun. In 1364, Emperor Yuan Shun saw that the balance had been broken, and after finding out more reliable information about Wang Baobao than Polo Timur from his poor wisdom library, he decreed to strip Polo Timur of all official positions .In fact, he no longer has such ability. As expected, Polo Timur disobeyed, and Wang Baobao took the opportunity to recommend himself to attack Polo Timur.
Emperor Yuan Shun was deeply moved by Wang Baobao's initiative to invite Ying. Before Wang Baobao could make a move, Polo Timur had joined forces with the bald Timur who went out to suppress the rebellion but came back with only a cook and sent troops to Dadu to break through Juyong Pass and demand Emperor Yuan Shun handed over the eunuch Pu Buhua who had been bewitching the army.According to Wang Baobao, he was not ready yet, so he could not send troops.Emperor Yuan Shun had no choice but to hold back tears and hand Pu Buhua to Polo Timur, who killed the innocent eunuch before the battle, but refused to withdraw his troops.Emperor Yuan Shun had no choice but to add officials to Polo Timur.
Regarding the eunuch Pu Buhua, there is one thing that needs to be added.Pu Buhua is actually a loyal supporter of Aiyou Shili Dala, the prince of Yuanshun Emperor. Aiyou Shili Dala and his father are two kinds of people. He is resolute and resolute, and he seems to be a wise man.Emperor Yuan Shun never dealt with political affairs, so many government affairs were handed over to Aiyou Shili Dala, which gathered many people around him, and Pu Buhua was one of them.However, Aiyu Shili Dala had a very bad impression of Polo Timur, and had conspired many times to eradicate Polo Timur.Therefore, Polo Timur's execution of Pu Buhua in front of the battle seemed to be on the side of the Qing emperor, but in fact he was killing chickens to make an example of monkeys.
Polo Timur killed Pu Buhua, and after getting what he deserved, he withdrew to his lair.Emperor Yuan Shun once again invited Wang Baobao to pacify Polo Timur.Wang Baobao was troubled by the guerrilla warfare of the remnants of the Red Turban Army at the time, so he could not immediately accept orders.After Polo Timur learned of this incident, he led the army to break through Juyongguan for the second time. Aiyou Shili Dala was furious this time and led the army to fight.But his army was far inferior to Polo Timur's army, so he was defeated.In desperation, Emperor Yuanshun gave Polo Timur an official promotion again, and made him the Grand Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses.Of course, this is a false position, at least he cannot manage the Wang Baobao Corps.
In 1365, Wang Baobao finally freed his hands and raised the banner of crusade against Polo Timur.Polo Timur thought good luck would follow him forever, and led his army to Juyongguan.This time, he swore secretly in his heart that he would capture Dadu by the way.
However, good luck cannot follow him forever, and what's more, what he encountered was Wang Baobao's corps, and the two sides launched a brutal charge and counter-charge on the plain.As a result, Polo Timur's men became fewer and fewer. Finally, his subordinates came up with a bad idea, asking him to meet Emperor Yuanshun in person to explain his loyalty and the importance of preserving his strength.Polo Timur was very bad at telling lies, so when he went to see Emperor Yuan Shun, even he himself didn't believe what he said.The ending was that Emperor Yuan Shun didn't believe him at all, so he took the opportunity to take him down and execute him.
Of the two most powerful armies of the Yuan Dynasty, only Wang Baobao is left.Wang Baobao had only been prime minister in Dadu for two months, and he was about to go south to continue to suppress the rebellion.The Yuan Dynasty is now in a situation where there is no leader and no general. Liu Bowen has long seen how long it can last.
But Infighting has a sequel.
There have long been conflicts within the Wang Baobao Corps, and that is the conflict between him and Li Siqi.It was only because everyone dealt with Polo Timur unanimously at that time, so the contradiction was cornered.Now that Polo Timur has returned to the west, the conflict between Wang Baobao and Li Siqi is immediately exposed in broad daylight.Of course, Li Siqi had good reasons to fall out with Wang Baobao. Back then, he and Wang Baobao's father, Chahan Timur, fought side by side, and they were equals.But after Chahan Timur's death, Wang Baobao inherited his father's position and regarded Li Siqi as a subordinate.Li Siqi knew that his strength was not enough to compete with Wang Baobao, so he joined forces with another Han general, Zhang Liangbi, to fight Wang Baobao arm in arm.
The result of the struggle between the two sides is that you hit me and I hit you, but you don't hit those revolutionaries.Wang Baobao originally concentrated on going to the southeast to suppress the rebellion, but he was always constrained by his own people, so he turned around and returned to the Central Plains, and devoted himself to "safety inside first and then fight outside".
The last elite troops of the Yuan Dynasty were all consumed in internal struggles, and the demise of the Yuan Dynasty was naturally only a matter of time.
Liu Bowen said that there is a bird in Nieyao Mountain with one body and nine heads.Usually the nine heads are as close as sisters.But as soon as they got the food, the nine heads fought desperately until the blood dripped and the feathers flew around.A bird with one head saw it and said, "You idiots, you have nine mouths to eat, and they all go into the same stomach, what are you grabbing for?"
Everyone hopes to have an opponent like the nine-headed bird, because when they are dizzy from fighting, they can step forward and step on their necks, and then eat their flesh.The best opponents in the world are those opponents who mess up before you do anything.
This reminds us of an idiom story called Bianzhuang stabbing the tiger.Bian Zhuang is a master of kung fu. Once he saw two tigers, he immediately drew his sword and prepared to eat the tiger meat.His follower said: "Don't do it yet. Did you see that the two tigers are eating lunch steak? They will definitely fight because of the delicious meat. When two tigers fight, the big one will be injured and the small one will die. Go there At that time, killing the wounded tiger can kill two birds with one stone." Bian Zhuang thought it made sense, so he watched from the sidelines.Sure enough, as his followers said, the two tigers fought with each other. The weaker one was finally killed, but the one who was alive was also scarred. Bian Zhuang went up and killed the tiger without any effort, and carried the two tigers back to the village. home.
Now, Liu Bowen said that the internal strife in the Yuan Dynasty was two tigers fighting for meat, and they were waiting for a Bian Zhuang-style figure to deal with them.In fact, this fable is not about Bian Zhuang, but Bian Zhuang's servant.Does Liu Bowen think he is that follower?
"Lord One" in Traditional Wisdom
What is "Oneness of the Lord"?In the words of Cheng Yi, a master of Neo-Confucianism, it means "main respect", that is, to concentrate on doing one thing, and it is the same for other things.This is called doing one line to drill one line, doing one line to love one line.Once you fall in love with an industry, you can become a leader in this industry, and you can find the truth from it.
However, Wang Yangming, a master of Xinxue, a branch of Neo-Confucianism, said that this is not the case at all.He said, if one's dedication is to do one's job, then is it okay to concentrate on lust, and is it okay to concentrate on chasing wealth?
Obviously, this is a rhetorical question and the answer is no.
Wang Yangming concluded that this kind of concentration is not concentration, but "chasing things".The real Lord is not absorbed in things, but in heaven. "The main one" means having a fixed opinion in the heart, but in fact it is to temper and refine the heart in doing things.Under the guidance of conscience, you can concentrate on everything you do, and this concentration will in turn verify the principles of heaven.That is to say, "the main one" is the mind that dominates the things, but "chasing things" is the mind that moves with the things, and it becomes the mind that the things slave to.It is clear at a glance who is right and who is wrong.
Wang Yangming once cited a Buddhist example to illustrate "Master One": a little stupid dog was played around by the owner because the owner threw things into the distance, and the little stupid dog only stared at things. No matter how far you throw it, although it can catch it back, it will be exhausted.In fact, the little stupid dog should stare at the master, and it doesn’t care what the master throws, if the master runs, it just follows.
Now it seems that there are very few people among all living beings who are not that little stupid dog.
There is an article in Liu Bowen's "Yu Ion" called "The Master One is Not Chaotic", and his views on "The Lord One" are quite different from those of Cheng Yi and Wang Yangming.However, Liu Bowen is better than Wang Yangming in that he likes to use stories to illustrate the main idea: Tu Longzi plays chess with Du Li, the latter keeps losing, and someone next to him comes to help him, which is also a loss.The onlookers were surprised, thinking that Tu Longzi had profound wisdom, so they all came to help Du Li.They believe in one thing, "Three cobblers are worth Zhuge Liang".Tu Longzi's entourage saw so many "talkative donkeys" helping his master's opponents, so he persuaded his master, "As the saying goes, 'outnumbered', he has gathered the wisdom of everyone, and I am worried that you will not win." Tu Longzi was unmoved and continued to play chess .Du Li lost even worse this time, and the helpers were blushing, but in the end they looked at each other, their faces turning from red to blue.After Tu Longzi set up his chess pieces, no one dared to come to help.
From the anecdote above, it can be seen that Liu Bowen's so-called "main oneness" has something to do with concentration, but not much.His so-called "master one" actually means that the problem of human intelligence is not a problem of mathematics. For example, if one person has an IQ of 70 and another person has an IQ of 100, then the IQ of two people working together is 170.It may be the opposite. After two people are together, the IQ will become 30.In fact, three cobblers can't stand up to one Zhuge Liang in terms of IQ.We often say, "gather the wisdom of all people", but in fact, when a large number of people are together, there is no wisdom at all, and some are just quarrels.No one compromises at first, and may eventually compromise under external pressure, but the part that compromises must be the most common wisdom.This is easy to understand. Some people have high intelligence, but their high intelligence is not understood by others, so they are abandoned; some people have low intelligence, and their low intelligence is not accepted by others, so they are also abandoned.What's left?Of course, it is the part that everyone can accept, and that part happens to be something that people with low IQs can't understand and people with high IQs don't bother to do it.
The story of playing chess told by Liu Bowen just illustrates this point.Du Li may be at the same level as Tu Longzi's chess skills, but suddenly someone who is not very good at chess appears, and he guides Du Li according to his IQ, which pulls Du Li's IQ from a high place, so everyone Li lost.Later, people with low IQs joined in. Everyone thought they were the best, but no one thought the other was smarter than themselves, so after arguing and arguing, the final result must be that Du Li adopted the "remove one The highest score, get rid of the lowest score" intellectual method, obviously, he will definitely lose.
Liu Bowen finally concluded that in a fight between tigers, three tigers would definitely kill one tiger, because everyone was on the same level.But if a thousand foxes and a tiger fight, the former will never be able to defeat the latter. The reason is very simple. There are too many foxes, too many people, and too many foxes will cause chaos.Once there is chaos, a unified positive energy cannot be formed, so there is no doubt that we will lose.
While walking in Qingtian Mountain, Liu Bowen once encountered a two-headed snake, one of which wanted to turn to the left, while the other insisted on turning to the right. As a result, the snake did not move half a step after a day.
In the end, Liu Bowen concluded that it is better to be single-minded than to be suspicious.
Every story in "Yu Ion" has something to say, so what does Liu Bowen want to explain through this story of playing chess?
Maybe he was talking about things in most courts.At that time, Emperor Yuanshun was in an extremely embarrassing situation. There were two forces around him, one was the power of the crown prince, and the other was the power of the queen.Every decision Yuan Shundi made—if he still had the wisdom to make a decision—would be bound by these two forces.
Maybe what he was talking about was what he saw and heard when he was an official in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces for many years. For example, Tai Buhua was killed by Fang Guozhen because he was always attacked by the chaotic noise from the court.Another example is Shi Mo Yisun. On the one hand, he has to deal with the traitors, and on the other hand, he has to devote more energy to deal with the "guidelines" of the superiors.If a person is surrounded by noise, he will be in a dilemma, just as if a person has two watches, but the time is different, then he will not know the correct time.
From this argument, Liu Bowen derived another argument: the power of unity.
Many people know the jackal, a wild animal shaped like a dog that is often compared to wolves.But unlike wolves, they rarely move alone, and they always place themselves in a team, especially when hunting.Jackals are very cunning animals. When a few jackals encountered tigers, they ran away crazily.But if dozens of jackals collide with the tiger, the tiger will be in bad luck.When they attack the tiger, the division of labor is clear, who will lure the tiger to attack, and who will attack the tiger's back, left and right, with a tacit understanding.They are one of the animals in nature that maximize the power of the team.
Liu Bowen sighed and said, some people are not as wise as jackals.For example, the 400,000 Zhao troops who were killed in the battle of Changping surrendered.
Regarding the Battle of Changping, there are the following additions:
In 262 BC, Qin State, then the world's most powerful state, surrounded Shangdang County (now Changzhi, Shanxi Province) in South Korea. Flat war.General Lian Po of the State of Zhao did not confront the Qin army head-on, but retreated to Changping Pass, built a camp, and could not hold out.The Qin army had nothing to do with Lianpo's defensive tactics, so begging for tricks, he sent people to Handan, the capital of Zhao, to spread rumors that what Qin feared most was the young general Zhao Kuo, and he was not afraid of Lianpo at all.Lian Po is old and will lose Changping Pass in a few days.
Zhao Wang made a plan and changed his commander just before the battle, so that Zhao Kuo, who had no actual combat experience, went to the battlefield to take over Lian Po's command.Zhao Kuo had no choice but to go.As soon as he arrived on the battlefield, he overturned Lian Po's defensive tactics and launched an attack on the Qin army.The commander-in-chief of the Qin army Bai Qi ordered the troops in the center to retreat, and the two wings extended forward, and then quickly closed the encirclement.Zhao Kuo was trapped in the encirclement, shot several arrows in his body, and died on the battlefield.
The Battle of Changping, the biggest battle in the Warring States Period, came to an end, and the remaining 400,000 Zhao troops surprisingly surrendered, so Bai Qi killed them all.Liu Bowen sighed and said that 400,000 people raised their hands to surrender. If they could unite like jackals and fight their enemy Qin army to death, the outcome would be hard to predict.However, this is an assumption after all.Human unity is the most difficult psychology to exercise.Because everyone has a heart, and thousands of people have thousands of hearts. It is easy to control the flesh, but it is the most difficult to control the hearts of others.When Liu Bowen talked about the issue of unity, he was actually referring to the inexplicable internal strife in the Yuan Dynasty. In Liu Bowen's view, although those internal strife did not directly destroy the Yuan Dynasty, they contributed to the destruction of the Yuan Dynasty by others.Now, looking at the Yuan Dynasty in Liu Bowen's eyes, the Yuan Dynasty is like this: Yu Ion went to the market, saw a collapsed house and cried, and cried very sadly.Someone asked him: "Can this house be repaired?" Yu Ion replied: "If there are skilled craftsmen like Lu Ban (Lu Ban) and Wang Er in ancient times, this house can be repaired, but there are no such craftsmen now." , Who can we discuss with to repair this house? I heard that if the house collapses, but the main beams of the house are not deformed, it can be repaired. Now all the beams of this house are decayed and broken, and it will be broken with a single touch. It fell down and can no longer be touched. It is better to keep it as it is for the time being, so that some rafters that have not yet decayed still have a place to lean on, waiting for skilled craftsmen like Lu Ban and Wang Er to clean them up. If you move it now, it will If the house is completely destroyed, the responsibility for not repairing the house will be shifted to the repairer, which is a heavy responsibility that ordinary craftsmen cannot afford. Besides, when repairing the house, new materials must be replaced, and those corroded by insects must be removed. The bad wood, the ones that are intact on the outside and festered in the middle should be removed. The wood that can only be used as rafters should not be used as the pillars in front of the hall, and the wood that can be used as pillars should not be used as rafters. When selecting materials, there is only one标准，那就是质地优良，而不管它出产自什么地方。枫木、楠木、松木、槠木、柞木、檀木，没有一种木材不在选用的范围之内。大的木料可做栋梁，小的木料做木条和斗栱，长得弯曲的木料做柱子上的横木，生得直的木料做堂前的柱子，长的木料做椽子，短的木料做梁上的短木，只要不是中空的木料和湿料，就没有不能用的木材。现在天下的大树已经用完了，建房的圆规方矩大小都不固定，工匠失去标准，斧锯刀凿都不知道按什么标准使用，桂木、樟木、楠木、栌木都被砍伐成烧火用的木柴。因此，即使有鲁般、王尔这样的能工巧匠也不能施展他们的才干，何况没有这样的能工巧匠，我怎么不悲痛伤心呢？”
在关于人生的问题上，刘伯温主张偶然论。也就是说，我们所遇到的一切事其实都是偶然因素所决定的。为了验证自己这一思想，刘伯温用了“鲁酒薄而邯郸围”这个故事。
这个故事有两个版本，不过都很有意思。先来看第一个版本：
春秋时期，霸主楚宣王召见诸侯，鲁恭公进献的酒太淡薄，宣王非常生气。鲁恭公听说楚宣王借酒的事情发飙，也火了，一甩手便带着人马回国了。
楚宣王更加愤怒，于是，跟齐国打声招呼，两国军队立刻压到了鲁国的边境上。
这时候的魏国很高兴，它已经觊觎赵国很久了，只是一直碍于楚国的压力，不敢贸然动手。眼看楚国现在无暇西顾，魏国果断出兵，攻打赵国，没过几天，便把赵国的都城邯郸包围了起来。
这个故事还有另一个版本：
还是宣王盟会诸侯，赵国和鲁国都向宣王献酒，但两个国家酿酒的标准估计不太一样，赵国酿酒的度数相对要高一些，而鲁国的酒比较淡薄。
主管进献饮食的官员被赵人进献的酒吸引住了，便向赵国索贿，让赵国人再送些酒过来。赵人却不理不睬，主管宣王饮食的官员气急败坏，于是，他把两个国家的酒调换了一下。这样，鲁酒薄就成了赵酒薄。当然，结果一样，赵酒没味道，宣王很生气，后果很严重。宣王没给赵国申辩的机会，召唤一声，就带兵围了赵国都城邯郸。
刘伯温说，我们生活的这个世界充满了危机，巨大的悲剧往往会因一件偶然的小事而产生，要躲避灾祸，不是不可能，但实在太艰难，跑进深山老林里是一个办法，可是，从人类出现以来，有几个人成功地跑进深山老林里躲避灾祸呢？况且，人生在世，价值的体现是在社会中，而不是在大自然。
有一种说法认为，我们现在每天早上吃什么、在卫生间待多久，都在宇宙大爆炸那一瞬间注定了。这就是宿命论，和刘伯温的偶然论有着本质区别。但其实仔细回味，偶然论就是宿命论，对一些无论如何都躲不开的偶然事件，你难道真的敢硬着头皮承认它是偶然才发生的？
中国人一向讲究“命中注定”，即使是理性的西方人也有这样的论述，比如拉罗什福科就说：“我们的各种行动布满了幸或不幸，人们对这些行动的大量褒贬就来自这些幸或不幸。”实际上，人不可能主宰自己的命运，人无论多么小心谨慎，都会有突然而来的灾祸。就如上面故事中倒霉的赵国一样，鲁国的酒度数低，使得赵国的都城邯郸被围。你说，赵国找谁说理去？
或许正是因为对命运的难以把握，所以刘伯温在《郁离子》中说：“盛衰无常，自然就世态炎凉。”所以大家千万不要因为自己落难时受到势利眼的攻击而难过，因为这是人之常情。
刘伯温曾在一首诗中举了“廉颇门客”的例子，说明了盛衰无常下的人情冷暖。
前面说过，秦赵相争时，赵王中计，临阵用赵括换下廉颇。廉颇被退休后回到家，从前那些天天围着廉颇转的门客马仔们，见主子失了势，便一个个都卷了铺盖走人。廉颇好不郁闷，但世态炎凉、人情冷暖本就如此，就算廉颇想发发牢骚，也没辙呀。
不久，赵括在长平前线中了秦军的圈套，全军覆没。四十万赵军士兵被坑杀，只剩了几个人跑回都城邯郸来报告消息。赵国上下一片悲伤和惊慌，赵王赶紧来找廉颇，把赵国的命运又重新交到这位老将手里。
廉颇重新做上了赵国国防军总司令，之前离开的那些门客，又三三两两地回来了。廉颇厌恶这群势利小人的嘴脸，就对他们说：“我老头子这么大年纪了，今天终于得出一个结论，从今后，我就是养狗也不会养你们。你们从哪里来的，就回哪里去吧！”
廉颇本以为自己这么一骂，那些门客们都会羞愧而走，想不到，门客们居然大言不惭，面不改色地批评起廉颇来。他们说：“您是从尧舜时代穿越来的吗？天下之人都是按市场交易的方法进行结交的。您有权势，我们就跟随着您；您没有权势了，我们就离开，这是小孩子都明白的道理。您看您现在，怨气满胸，头顶像是要着火一样。您的见解怎么这么落后啊！”
门客的这段话可能也是刘伯温要说的话，他只是想告诉那些失势的人，不要在乎别人的看法。因为如果你站在对方的角度来考虑一下，就会发现廉颇的门客都是彻头彻尾的哲学家。
既然盛衰无常，世态炎凉，我们该如何对待变幻莫测的命运呢？
刘伯温说，在好运的时候享受它，在厄运的时候忍受它，除非极端必要，不作大的改变。《郁离子》中有这样一个寓言，说的是有只老鹰受了魔法突然变成了一只山鸡，它在林中飞翔时，遇到一群鸟在叽叽喳喳很烦，所以它就如从前一样，发出老鹰的叫声，那些鸟都吓得躲了起来。但有几只胆大的鸟探出头来，竟然发现只是只山鸡在叫，于是就跑出来向它攻击。化成山鸡的老鹰本想大展神威，但它的爪子已不是鹰的爪子，所以很快落荒而逃。
刘伯温总结说，做老鹰时当然要傲视群鸟，可你成了山鸡后就不要耍从前的威风了，要懂得忍耐，如果不能忍耐，必将自取其辱。
中国历史上关于皇帝出身有三大疑案：第一疑案是嬴政（秦始皇）到底是吕不韦的儿子还是嬴楚（秦庄襄王）的儿子；第二疑案是司马睿（晋元帝）到底是琅琊王司马觐的儿子还是晋朝大将军牛金的儿子；第三疑案就是孛儿只斤·妥懽帖睦尔到底是姓孛儿只斤还是姓赵。
据说，南宋第七位皇帝赵隰（宋恭帝）被忽必烈俘虏后，受封为瀛国公。后来，忽必烈以蒙古公主嫁之，生一男孩。和世路过其家，见这个男孩很伶俐，就收为义子，这个小孩就是妥懽帖睦尔。评价元顺帝是个棘手的问题，因为从不同人的角度来看他，会得到不同的结论。
比如从科学家的角度来看元顺帝，元顺帝就是个非常优秀的人。元顺帝亲自设计的计时器“宫漏”，高六七尺，内有一玉女，左右列二金甲神人，能按时而鸣。他设计并建造的龙舟，长120尺，高20尺，上有帘棚、穿廊、暖阁、楼阁、殿宇等。龙舟行进时，龙的脑袋、眼睛、嘴巴、爪尾都能动起来，和活的一样。元顺帝还精通建筑艺术，曾亲自设计过宫殿的建筑图和模型，被人称为鲁班天子。
从灵异专家的角度来看元顺帝，元顺帝也是个合格的大仙，同时能从天象变化中得出人事的变迁。察罕帖木儿死之前，元顺帝就推算出东南将失去一员大将，结果真如他所预料的那样。
但从道德家的角度看出去，元顺帝身上的光环就没有那么亮了。元顺帝这人爱好淫乐，曾把一些番僧请到卧室中，指点他房中术，而且他本人对房中运气术不厌其烦。从番僧的眼中看去，元顺帝和他们一起在一个灯光暧昧的房间里，四面伴奏的是“天魔舞”——由十六个如花似玉的宫女，全裸着，头带佛冠，在小小的密室中，俯仰为舞，或行瑜伽之术。
他们先让他吃下壮阳药，然后开始和无数美女性交，一直到天亮。鸡鸣时，元顺帝哈欠连天，用蒙古文题了一块金字匾额“济济斋乌格依”，就是汉文中“事事无碍”的意思。他命左右把它挂在密室门上，表示这是高度愉快的“事事无碍室”。
从气象专家的角度来看元顺帝，元顺帝是个倒霉的皇帝。他登基不久，邓州就下大暴雨，三月不绝，导致白河泛滥，灾民无数。后来，又是黄州闹蝗灾，再后来就是黄河大决口。宰相脱脱治理黄河，导致刘福通起事。
也正是由于这些大灾害，才有了乱民四起。最早的、气候比较大的主要有四起，朱光卿在广东革命，棒胡在河南革命，李志甫在福建革命，周子旺在江西革命。再后来就是方国珍、刘福通、徐寿辉、张士诚等人的革命，渐渐地掏空了元王朝。
如果从刘伯温的眼中看元顺帝，元顺帝就是这样一个皇帝：
这首诗的名字叫《无愁果有愁曲》，说的是南朝陈的末代皇帝陈叔宝。陈叔宝自号“无忧天子”，每天以处理政事为不祥、以玩乐为大吉祥的一位酒肉皇帝。他的宫廷里几乎天天都要开诗歌音乐晚会。每次晚会，十几个被赠予荣誉职务的姑娘，以及陈后主的所有老婆，都得出来陪客。大家疯狂地喝酒，等灵感一来，就作诗，然后评选出当晚的“最佳诗歌”。而且马上让在场的著名作曲家谱上曲，皇家合唱团接着进行试唱，由陈后主的老婆张丽华女士领唱。大家都认为，陈后主是位无忧天子。
588年，北方新兴的隋朝五十一万大军兵临长江。陈朝守军听说隋军就要打过来了，都很紧张，急忙上报给朝廷。当时，恰好一股隋军乘船从长江上游而下进攻建康（今江苏南京），在途中遇到了点困难。一听这个消息，陈后主就底气十足地对身边的大臣说：“这帮人就是自己吓唬自己，隋军这不遇到困难了吗？我早就说过，建康这个地方是王气所在，你看以前北朝的军队来过多少次，哪次不是大败而归？”
一个马屁精说：“长江天堑，自古以来就是一道难以逾越的屏障。他们以为隋军能飞过来吗？这完全就是将军们为了贪功谎报军情嘛！”于是，陈叔宝恢复享乐，继续饮酒作诗，继续歌舞升平。
不过，“王气”也长了一对势利眼，当它发现陈后主丝毫不能打起精神时，就“投靠”了隋朝。公元589年，隋军成功突破陈军的长江封锁，一举攻下南京城，将陈后主活捉，陈朝灭亡。
刘伯温用这个典故其实就是在评价元顺帝是个和陈叔宝一样的人物，浑然不觉即将到来的危机，即使知道，也不想去勇敢面对。
据说，元顺帝在得知东南大乱后，对身边的番僧说：“这些人真是不自量力，他们就不会拿来历史书读一读吗？当年南宋几十万正规军都被我们消灭了，他们这群乌合之众能起什么风浪？”
番僧说：“您的见识是我们望尘莫及的。”元顺帝后来又说：“东南一小群强盗，没什么大不了的。以后东南方面的事情不要来烦我，谁敢来报告东南战事，我就宰了他。”刘伯温说，这就是掩耳盗铃。不过，这招的确很有效，后来，元顺帝听到的都是这样一些消息：东南那些小强盗们就快被捉了。
从史学家的角度来看元顺帝，其实有可圈可点的地方，特别是他初政时，做了很多政治上开明的举措。最值得称道的就是恢复了被权臣伯颜废除的科举制，还平反了诸多冤狱，开马禁、为农民减负，放宽政策。这些都值得肯定，但问题是，元顺帝是个半截皇帝，到后来就沉迷在他的事事无碍室中了。
从这一点来看，元顺帝又被“无忧天子”附体，为他的灭亡加了双保险。
元顺帝的“无忧”其实已到了“没心没肺”的境界，他的老爹元明宗被刺，他上台后，不但不想着为老爹报仇，反而还把老爹的牌位迁出了太庙。刘伯温特意写了首《走马引》来讽刺元顺帝这一至高境界：
我们能从这首诗歌中看出，刘伯温塑造了一个把敌人的头颅扔到草丛中喂狗的复仇侠客的形象，其实也就是在讥讽元顺帝不复仇的猥琐与卑陋。
现在，我们依稀能看到一个没心没肺的元王朝最高领导人的形象，从他的眼中看出去，世界一片和平，鸽子在空中飞舞，蒙汉百姓们手托着橄榄枝唱着和平之歌。但绕过他的眼睛，向他的后面看去就会发现，整个中国已沉浸在血泊之中。没有一处太平无事，元王朝的大厦在风雨飘摇中摇摇欲坠。站在太空中，你会发现，这座大厦正在受万有引力的作用，准备从地球上掉下来。
而给它引力的正是那个奇丑无比的朱元璋。