Chapter 7 Chapter Seven Feng Dao's Death

In 954 A.D., under the leadership of 33-year-old Chai Rong, the 28-year-old Zhao Kuangyin was busy like an engine. The people of the Later Zhou Dynasty glowed with entrepreneurial enthusiasm that had never been seen in the period of the Five Dynasties and Eleven Kingdoms. They were positive, enlightened, and powerful. These long-lost things on the bright side have returned to the world again. But under such a good social situation, Chai Rong, who cherishes every inch of time, suddenly announced that he would quit court for three days. Passed away from the world and returned west with a crane.

The thing is like this, since the last time Liu Chong came to attack and Chai Rong was about to meet the enemy in person, Feng Dao embarrassed Chai Rong in public, and his good days were over.Not only because of Chai Rong's victory, he lost face because of his wrong judgment, but more importantly, people didn't know him anymore.Is this still Feng Dao?He served five dynasties (Later Tang, Later Jin, Khitan, Later Han, and Later Zhou) and served eleven emperors (Later Tang Zhuangzong, Mingzong, Mindi, Modi, Later Jin Gaozu, Chudi, Liao Taizong Yelu Deguang, Later Han Gaozu, Yindi, Later Zhou Taizu, Sejong) have never done such a thing.He is really promising to push the new emperor so that he can't step down in public.

But Chai Rong didn't do anything to him, and according to the ancient practice, he gave him the special power that only the prime minister had—sent him to repair Guo Wei's grave.This is also telling him and all the subjects in the world in a disguised form that Chai Rong did not care about him because of this, and wanted to do something to him.But Feng Dao, who had made a foolish move before his old age, felt so uncomfortable no matter what he thought, and finally decided not to forgive himself.In this way, his life ended in this year. Unfortunately, he only lived to be seventy-three years old.

Now, it is very necessary for us to look back at his life of flowing, unrestrained, free and easy, with both sides, and leisurely enjoyment.I believe that from him, we can see too many shadows of people who are living around us. First of all, we have to admit that Feng Dao is an enterprising and constantly improving person.He wasn't what he was later in his teenage years.At that time he was talented and very angry. In other words, Feng Dao's characters can be said, he was born in Yingzhou, and he called himself "Changle Lao".He was born at the end of the Tang Dynasty. He was extremely knowledgeable, so he became an official if he was good at learning. Without exception, he chose the only career for scholars—being an official.

At first, he chose Liu Shouguang (King Jieyan) who ruled Youzhou separately and proclaimed himself Emperor Yan.At this time, Feng Dao was full of passion and ambition. He probably admired Tian Khan Li Shimin very much, so he really wanted to be Wei Zheng himself, so he gave Liu Shouguang various opinions from time to time, and his attitude was quite unsatisfactory. gentle. Under his constant provocation, Liu Shouguang finally determined that Feng Dao had a fever, and his brain was so feverish.So he decided to defeat him, and threw him into the classroom very directly.And tell everyone that in a few days, Feng Dao will be sent on the road to experience life in the underworld, and by the way, to fulfill his ambition, to serve the great dead Tian Khan.

Feng Dao, who was in prison, was silent. He couldn't figure it out. Was he wrong?Isn't it the highest guiding spirit and task advocated by Confucianism to give advice to the leaders, to discover the mistakes of the leaders anytime and anywhere, and to actively help the leaders to correct their mistakes?Didn’t Confucius, Mencius, and many others emphasize the need to do this? Am I doing something wrong? ! It is said that when Feng Dao was very young, he carried out profound soul reflection and transformation in death row, the most suitable place for reflection on life.After his friends managed to rescue him, he changed, and from then on, he became the Changle Elder known to the world.

But please note that only a part has changed, he has started to follow the trend, and he will never stand out rashly.But everyone has to think clearly, how can a person who really has no opinion and only knows how to be submissive to his superiors, kind and easy-going to his peers, and amiable to his subordinates, so quickly rise to the top, become a prime minister in a troubled world very quickly, and just stand there? If it doesn't fall, how about decades? The knowledge here is great. First of all, regardless of whether it is true or not, whether it is out of nature or not, Feng Dao is 100% a gentleman in terms of personal cultivation and behavior.Please see, it is said in history that Feng Daoneng was "hardworking and thrifty". When he followed Emperor Zhuangzong Li Cunxu of the later Tang Dynasty to attack Houliang, he lived in a thatched house. As a minister, he didn't even need a bed or bedding, but slept on straw.One's own salary can be spent with followers and servants, eat and drink together every day, and use common tableware.The soldiers snatched the beauties, and gave some to the ministers first as usual, but Feng Dao was determined not to, if he couldn't refuse, he would find another house to raise them, and then find their family members for them, all of them dedicated.When he returned home as a filial piety for his father, there was a great famine in the farmland, and there was no harvest. Feng Dao devoted all his wealth to the villagers, and he personally plowed the fields. When someone was sick and unable to farm, he would quietly replace them in the middle of the night Sow well.The owner of the field came to thank him, but he thought it was not worth mentioning.Therefore, the magistrate sent him "Dou Su and Pi Silk", but he refused to accept them.

This may also be suspected of gaining reputation and opportunism, but please pay attention, what is a gentleman?Is it true that one is born a gentleman and one is born a villain?That is to say, no matter what the born gentleman does, he is a gentleman, and no matter how upright and self-conscious the born villain is, he is just a hypocrite who pretends to be boring? No, absolutely not!We have to admit that no matter what your nature is, if you do what a gentleman does, you are a gentleman.Even if it's just for a moment when you're doing a gentleman's thing.That's only fair.

Therefore, regardless of whether Feng Dao is true or not, Feng Dao was once a gentleman, and he has been a gentleman for a long time. Then let’s look at his specific contributions in politics. Here we have to revisit Shi Jingtang and Yelu Deguang in the Later Jin Dynasty (Of course, Feng Dao’s first prime minister was in the Later Tang Dynasty, but although he has made achievements, he is not as good as he was in the Later Jin Dynasty. pivotal and controversial). In order to usurp the later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingtang recognized the Khitan Emperor Yelu Deguang who was ten years younger than himself as his father, but no matter what, he needed someone to go to Khitan to express his sincerity.Shi Jingtang looked at all the ministers, and found that Feng Dao was the only one to do this task, but after all, this was to find a godfather for the king, who would be willing to be ashamed?But Feng Dao agreed very happily, and he said without hesitation——Your Majesty accepts the favor of the Northern Dynasty, and the subject receives His Majesty's favor, why not?

This sentence left Feng Dao with a thousand years of infamy.Fan Wenlan, a scholar of later generations, was very disdainful of him, and couldn't help but spit out lotus flowers—what a slave of a slave! Not to mention, when Yelu Deguang occupied Kaifeng and trampled on the Central Plains, Feng Dao, who was then a foreign official, took the initiative to go to Beijing to make a pilgrimage.At this time, Yelude just underestimated all the people in the Central Plains, and was no longer polite to him.Ask directly - why did you come to see me? (At the beginning, Yelu Deguang wanted to keep Feng Dao in Khitan, but Feng Dao made a retreat and played tricks on the Khitan Emperor very cleverly. It is estimated that Yelu Deguang will come back to it at this time and want to let out a sigh of relief)

Feng Dao's face was full of embarrassment - no soldiers and no city, how dare you not come? Yelude just gained the upper hand and became even more arrogant, almost swearing at people directly - what kind of old man (old guy) are you? Feng Dao just smiled - no talent, no virtue, stupid old man. Yelu Deguang laughed out loud and let Feng Dao go.This has become the capital for the Confucian gentlemen of later generations to criticize Feng Dao verbally and pens. But they stopped reading the text at all.After Yelu Deguang let out a bad breath, he finally calmed down and came to ask Feng Dao some serious matters.He asked—how can the people of the world be saved? Please note that I believe everyone will understand that Yelude's question is not how to save the people, but how to govern these people. Feng Dao's answer was extremely ingenious - even if the Buddha came out at this time, he could not be saved, only the emperor could! One word tells the truth, if you want to be the emperor, you have to keep these people. Only in this way, the people will want you as the emperor! No matter how great historians like Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang attacked Feng Dao later, and how they belittled Feng Dao in their "New History of the Five Dynasties", at that time, justice was at ease in the hearts of the people, and Feng Dao could live in the Central Plains at this time. The people are countless.So when Feng Dao died and went to the funeral, the people spontaneously organized to line up along the road, paper money was flying all over the sky, and the leaves on the roadside turned gray. But this can't move saint disciples like Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang in the slightest. In their works, Feng Dao is "the great festival of building people without shame", "the root of the country's peril and chaos", and "the dynasty is the enemy". In the evening, when I was a monarch and a minister, I changed my face and changed my words. I have never been ashamed. If this is the case, even if there is a small kindness, it is not worth it!" A shameless person, especially a treacherous minister. In the Yuan Dynasty, a scholar Hu Sanxing was even more indignant towards Feng Dao. He said that Feng Dao was an extremely human minister. But it's really strange, the Han people were already subjugated in the Yuan Dynasty, why is this brother Hu still alive?Where is the shame?Just because he is not the ultimate minister like the prime minister, so he can live as an exception? In the Qing Dynasty, it was even more serious.The famous thinker Wang Fuzhi raised Feng Dao's crimes to an unprecedented level-Feng Dao's evil was higher than that of King Zhou of Shang, and his disaster was worse than that of Robber Zhi! I really don't know how Feng Dao hurt him, and I don't know what qualifications he has to comment on Feng Dao like this. Back in the Song Dynasty, the great writer Ouyang Xiu and the great historian Sima Guang, while scolding Feng Dao for having no protection from Huayi and no ministers, on the one hand, they called the "Later Tang" established by the Shatuo people, "Later Jin" and "Later Han" were established as Zhengshuo dynasties.In other words, while scolding Feng Dao for not working for the Yi people, while admitting that the Jiangshan dynasty founded by the Yi people is legal, I really don’t know what standards they used and what kind of stand they took. According to their theory, Feng Dao should have died a long time ago, he should have died at least eleven times, every time the emperor changes, he should be buried once, especially when facing Yelu Deguang, he should raise his eyebrows and curse It goes on and on, and then turns its neck to the sword, leaving a good story for the nation, and adding a number to the arrangement of their loyal ministers and filial sons. As for the people of the Central Plains at that time, they naturally had to learn from Feng Dao, and they were all buried for the emperor, which is a supreme honor! No matter what, Feng Dao is still dead.