Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen

During the Warring States period, the Qi State was rich and prosperous, and it was a powerful country among the vassal states.When King Xuan of Qi was in power, he appointed Tian Ji (Ji Ji) as his prime minister, with clear politics and clean officials.However, people attribute this credit to Tian's mother's good education, and there is a touching story circulating. One day, Tian Ji returned home by car.As usual, the first thing he did when he returned to the mansion was to bow down to his mother in the high hall and pay his respects to her lord.The old mother who is good at observing facial expressions can always tell from his son's expression and words how he is in politics for a day.After Tian Ji greeted his mother, a trace of joy appeared on his face, and he took out a hundred yi of gold from his sleeve, and held it in both hands: "The child honors the mother."

When Tian's mother saw such a heavy amount of gold, she suddenly became suspicious.He asked calmly, "You have been minister for three years, and your salary has never been so much. Is it rewarded by the king? Or bribed by the scholar-officials?" Tian Ji dared not make a sound.Seeing this, Mother Tian already knew about it, and asked seriously, "Why didn't you answer?" As Qi Xiang, Tian Ji, although he is majestic and inviolable in the court, he is always afraid of his mother's strict teaching at home.He didn't want to and never dared to deceive his mother, and honestly told his mother the origin of the hundred yi of gold.It turned out that because of dereliction of duty, a doctor begged Tian Ji to say something nice in front of King Xuan and ask for forgiveness, so he secretly gave him the gold.Tian Ji also insisted on not wanting it at the time, but the doctor clung to him, saying that he was filial to Mrs. Tian.Tian Ji was a dutiful son, so he finally accepted it.

After Tian's mother heard this, she said seriously: "Listen, son, you are dishonest, unrighteous, unfaithful, and unfilial by accepting bribes from your subordinates! , don’t do fraudulent things, don’t take unrighteous things into account, don’t take unkind money into your home, keep your words and deeds, and your appearance. If you accept bribes, you have to absolve others of their crimes, and you have also broken the laws of the country’s officials. This is dishonesty and mourning etiquette and righteousness! Now the king has made you a prime minister and enjoys a generous salary, but can your words and deeds repay the trust and kindness of the king? As an important minister of the country, you should set an example for the group of officials in everything, Serve the king like a father, do your best, be loyal and never lie, take loyalty and death as your duty, and implement the king's orders and the laws of the country. You should be honest and just, so that there will be no disasters. But you are too far away from loyalty Yes. Being unfaithful as a minister is tantamount to being unfilial as a son, accepting unjust wealth in the name of an old mother, and actually trapping relatives into unrighteousness. So you are neither a loyal minister nor a filial son! An unfilial son is not mine Son, please get out of this house immediately!" After speaking, Tian's mother went back to the room angrily, leaning on her crutches, without looking back.

Tian Ji prostrated himself on the ground, his face full of shame [nan 蝻], cold sweat dripping [cen Cen], wishing he could dive into the cracks in the ground.After his mother left the hall, he immediately asked his family to drive, returned the gold to his subordinates, and returned at night.The next day, Tian Ji went to court and met King Qi Xuan, begging him to be punished and dismissed from office. Xuan Wang sent people to understand the whole story, praised Tian Mu's mother's virtue and demeanor, and went to visit Tian Mu in the prime minister's mansion, and the entourage also sincerely admired Tian Mu.King Xuan said to his officials: "If there is a virtuous mother, there must be good ministers. If the virtuous mother is like this, why worry about the incompetence of our officials in Qi." Ji's crimes restored her phase, and personally rewarded Tian Mu with gold and cloth to show her respect.

From then on, Tian Ji paid more attention to self-cultivation and cleanliness, and became a famous figure in the Warring States Period.