Chapter 59 Chapter 59: Why Bai Juyi Doesn't Talk

Li Shen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, is famous for his two poems, one of which is the well-known "Hoe Wo" (the title was changed to suit children's reading), and the other is the one I admire more, Among them, the warning meaning of the two sentences "there is no idle land in the world, and the peasants are starved to death" is absolutely no less than that of Du Fu's "the wine and meat of the rich men stink, and the road is full of frozen bones". Comrade Li Shen, who knows well that "who knows that every piece of Chinese food is painstaking", should be a person who lives a frugal life, but the fact is that it surprises future generations.Maybe Li Shen used to be very frugal and simple, but after he became an official and lord, especially Huainan Jiedushi (later promoted to prime minister), he became extravagant and lustful.According to historical records, after Li Shen became an official, he gradually became so extravagant that he spent thousands of dollars on a meal.He especially likes to eat chicken tongues. He consumes more than 300 live chickens on a plate for each meal, and the piles of chickens slaughtered in the backyard are like mountains.His contemporary poets Han Yu, Jia Dao, Liu Yuxi and Li He all sneered at and booed him.

The author thinks that the records in history books may be a bit exaggerated, but Li Shen’s extravagance is undoubted. Otherwise, Han Yu, Liu Yuxi and other great poets would not criticize him for this. Why didn't Bai Juyi, who was more familiar with him, say nothing about this matter? Both Bai Juyi and Li Shen are the backbone of the New Yuefu School of Poetry. They and Yuan Zhen, another representative of this school of poetry, are good friends with each other.But Bai Juyi doesn't seem to be a conscientious and true good friend.If Bai Juyi fulfilled his duty as a friend and persuaded Li Shen to change from extravagance to frugality and give up the extravagant chicken tongue banquet, then, in terms of being a man and an official, what Li Shen left in history is that he knows his mistakes and can correct them A positive image, instead of becoming a negative teaching material for duplicity as it is now.Unfortunately, in the face of Li Shen's extravagance, Bai Juyi finally kept silent because of taking care of his friend Li Shen's face or other reasons.

The reason why Bai Juyi was criticized for not being a true friend is also because he still chose the attitude of "silence is golden" when Yuan Zhen made a bigger mistake than Li Shen. Yuan Zhen's status in the history of literature is half higher than that of Li Shen. The mourning poem he wrote for his wife Wei Huicong is very famous. From his pen.But two stains in his life have seriously affected his image in the hearts of readers, even though he was a graceful and handsome guy in his youth. The first stain is his irresponsible abandonment of his first love (the life prototype of Cui Yingying in the novel); the second stain is the transformation from a warrior who impeached the eunuch who wronged the country to a eunuch for promotion Xiao's generation.

In the first year of Yuanhe (806), Yuan Zhen ascended to the subject of physical and practical skills, and was awarded Zuo Shiyi. Later, Prime Minister Pei Ji was promoted to supervisory censor and sent to Dongchuan, Jiannan.At this time, Yuan Zhen was young and full of vigor, and impeached the illegal towns, officials and eunuchs hidden behind them with a fearless spirit. For this, he offended the powerful and was demoted to Cao Canjun, a Jiangling official. In the sixth year of Yuanhe, Pei Ji passed away, and Yuan Zhen, who had suffered a lot just now, lost his support again. After weighing the gains and losses, he turned around 180 degrees and decided to sell himself to the military governor Yan Shou and the eunuch who supervised the army Cui Tanjun, and really did it with a dark heart and a cheeky face.

Yuan Zhen's shameful behavior of attaching to eunuchs aroused the contempt of the courtiers, and he was "underestimated by the times". As a good friend, Bai Juyi did not offer "harsh advice" to make him rein in the precipice, but talked with Yuan Zhen as if nothing had happened. Sending poems to each other, singing a harmony, and singing more frequently than before, even the famous ones are the products of the harmony with Yuan Zhen's "Lianchang Palace Ci". What needs to be explained is that although Bai Juyi did not criticize Yuan Zhen before his death because of his affection, he actually did not approve of Yuan Zhen's treachery. It can be proved by words such as changing and understanding, but also being discordant and restless".

Li Shen lives extravagantly, and Yuan Zhen commits adultery so that they are notorious in history. Of course, they themselves have unshirkable responsibilities, but Bai Juyi, as a close friend of the two of them, has always remained aphasic about their injustice. It should be hard to escape the blame, at least he is not an awe-inspiring friend who dares to speak out and persuade.