Chapter 11 Safeguarding one's life wisely: Le Yi and Tian Dan

The defeat of Qi Jie is tantamount to the loss of King Yan Zhao's 30 years of keeping a low profile, Su Qin invading Qi State at the cost of his life, and Le Yi's five-year management of Qi State, all in vain. King Yanhui fell into deep remorse, with complaints and worries in his remorse.The complaint is that Le Yi went to Zhao State, and no one cleaned up the mess in front of him for him; the worry is that Le Yi went to Zhao State, "He will not take the opportunity to lead the Zhao army to attack Yan State?" With such a mood, he wrote a letter to Le Yi, saying: "When the former king entrusted the country of Yan to you, you defeated the country of Qi, avenged the country of Yan, and shocked the world. How dare you forget your meritorious deeds? After the unfortunate death of the late king, I just ascended the throne, and I was deceived by the left and right for a while, so I sent Qi Jie to replace you. In fact, I also considered that you have worked hard outside for so many years, and I would like to ask you to come back and take a rest , discuss the next step. It is a pity that you misunderstood what I meant, so you abandoned Yan State and defected to Zhao State. If it is out of your personal intention, there is nothing wrong with it, but you feel that doing so is worthy of the previous king’s treatment of you Is it your kindness?"

The letter was written very well-first praised Le Yi's achievements, then made a self-criticism, then defended himself, and finally condemned Le Yi for being irresponsible.If this letter was written by King Yanhui himself, he could at least be a very good newspaper commentator on current affairs. Le Yi received this letter, and quickly wrote a reply letter, which is the famous "Book of Baoyan Huiwang" in history, let's see how Le Yi answered. "I am a person of little prospect. At that time, I resisted your order and did not dare to return to the country of Yan. I had no other reason, but I was afraid of death. I was afraid that I would be killed in a daze, and the world would think I was a fool.

"Speaking of which, it doesn't matter to be regarded as a fool by the world. But in that case, people will say that the previous king reused a fool, which will damage the previous king's wisdom; and they will also say that you killed innocent people indiscriminately, which will have a bad influence on you. I think For the sake of the reputation of the former king and you, I had no choice but to flee to the State of Zhao. "Now you send someone to accuse me of my crimes and mention the great love that the late kings had for me. I think you don't quite understand why the late kings used me and how I repay the late kings, so I wrote this letter."

At the beginning of this letter, it is suppressed first and then raised, with needles hidden in the cotton, which is enough to attack King Yanhui's cleverness. "A truly wise king," Le Yi went on to write, "would not use the country's title to satisfy his own selfish desires. He must be rewarding based on merit. Whoever has more merit and ability will be rewarded. The higher the official rank. "Looking back to my Le Yi years ago, it was because I heard all kinds of rumors about the former king, which was not something ordinary kings could do, that I took the opportunity of being an envoy to the Kingdom of Yan to observe him in person. Thanks to his wrong love, I was transformed from an ordinary person. All of a sudden, he mentioned the head of the group of ministers. It was beyond my expectation that he made me Yaqing without consulting the clan ministers. But I was not surprised. I believed that I was fully qualified for this position. Something went wrong, so the appointment was accepted without hesitation.

"The former king told me about the deep hatred of Qi State. I told him that Qi State is a big country, and it is not easy to deal with it. If you must seek revenge from Qi State, you must find a way to borrow the power of the princes. After that, the late king is indeed I did it according to my way. After years of hard work, coupled with the blessings of my ancestors, I finally waited for the opportunity to take revenge. I led the army of the princes all the way to the east, first defeated the Qi army in Jishui, and then the Yan army Linzi was captured again. Qi State’s gold and silver treasures, ancestral temple sacrificial vessels, vehicles and military equipment, including the big tripod stolen from Yan State, were transported back to Yan State. Even on the outskirts of Jicheng, many Qi State Bamboo transplanted from the Kingdom of Chang. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, no king has been able to create such a great achievement. The previous king was very happy, so he made me the king of Chang and gave me a fief. , because my meritorious deeds deserve such a reward.

"I originally thought that with the wiseness of the former king, after his death, future generations would not easily change his policies. As long as he acts according to his laws and regulations, Yan State will continue to be strong, and Qi State's complete demise is only a matter of time It is a pity that a good start does not necessarily have a good end. In the past, Wu Zixu helped He Lu, the king of Wu, conquer Chu, but was given a sword by Fu Chai and died. Fu Chai did not end well in the end. This is because of He Lu and Fu Chai. Not on the same level at all! "It is my highest ideal to be able to do some work for Yan, and to prove that the former king knew people well. If I allow myself to be insulted like Wu Zixu and ruin the former king's knowledge of people, this is the thing I am most afraid of. At that time, if you could kill me at any time like Fu Chai killed Wu Zixu, I would never take the risk of returning to Yan. Regarding this point, please understand.

"In addition, I heard that even if a gentleman breaks off friendship, he will not speak ill of his old friend; even if a loyal minister leaves the motherland, he will not gossip about defending himself. Although I am not promising, I still consider myself a gentleman. If you still If you have any worries, just read this letter!" After reading the letter, King Yanhui didn't say anything.At that time, Le Yi's son, Le Xian, was still in the country of Yan, and King Yan Hui made Le Xian the king of Chang, inheriting Le Yi's fiefdom. From then on, Le Yi lived in Zhao State, and also traveled between Yan and Zhao as the envoy of King Zhao, and worked for the peace of the two countries until his death.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, also ordered people to find Le Yi's grandson, Uncle Le, and named him Hua Chengjun, which shows the status of Le Yi in people's minds at that time.In the long history since then, Le Yi has always been the object of heroes and heroes.When Cao Cao read the "Book of Reporting to Yan Huiwang", he "didn't fail to shed tears"; Zhuge Liang simply "compared himself to Guan Zhong and Le Yi".If you want to ask why Le Yi can be admired by future generations, it is natural that he is good at using soldiers. There is another important reason. The author of this book sums it up in eight words, that is: "Be loyal but not stupid, and then know how to retreat."

At this point, I will incidentally explain the ending of another important person——Tian Dan. According to the "Warring States Policy" records, after the Yan people were driven away, Tian Dan came to Ju County in person, welcomed King Xiang of Qi back to Linzi, and presided over the community.Therefore, Tian Dan was worshiped as Xiangguo and named Anpingjun. However, King Qi Xiang was not at ease with Tian Dan.After all, Tian Dan was the hero who recovered the Qi State, and his meritorious deeds always made the ruler feel uneasy. Once, Tian Dan accompanied King Xiang of Qi on a tour, and saw an old man wading barefoot by the river, and collapsed on the river beach because he couldn't stand the cold.Tian Dan immediately got out of the car and put his own fox fur robe on the old man.

After returning to the palace, King Qi Xiang was very unhappy, but he didn't dare to complain in front of everyone. When there was no one around, he said to himself angrily: "Tian Dan is buying people's hearts, isn't he Do you want to usurp the widow's power? If you don't think of a way sooner, I'm afraid he will do it first." After finishing speaking, he was worried, looked around, and suddenly saw a person sitting in the corner of the hall.King Qi Xiang was so surprised that he broke out in a cold sweat. When he looked carefully, it turned out that the jeweler in the palace was there stringing jewelry with silk thread.

He quickly collected himself, called the jeweler to him, and asked, "Did you hear me?" "Understood." The jeweler answered truthfully. King Qi Xiang almost fainted, and asked again: "Then do you think what the widow said is right?" The jeweler said calmly, "Actually, you can deal with this matter in a different way." "What do you mean?" The jeweler said: "You can praise Tian Dan in front of everyone, saying that the widow was worried that the people would starve, and Xiangguo adopted them; the widow was worried that the people would be cold, so Xiangguo took off his clothes for them. In line with the wishes of the widow, you should also learn from Xiangguo, and never forget the sufferings of the people. In this case, no matter how many good deeds Xiangguo does, it is your credit, and even if he really wants to buy people's hearts, he will not be able to buy them." It is really a word that awakens the dreamer.As a king, the most important thing is to have a magnanimity and a structure. If you have a narrow magnanimity, you can only follow in the footsteps of King Yanhui.From then on, King Xiang of Qi put his mind on his mind and praised Tian Dan's good deeds in public many times.The common people of Qi State commented behind their backs: "Xiangguo loves the people like a son, so it turns out that the king taught him well!" Compared with the generosity of King Xiang of Qi, Tian Dan also has his own advantages.It is also recorded in "Warring States Policy" that there was a man named Diao Bo in Qi State who often spoke ill of Tian Dan.After Tian Dan heard about it, he specially prepared food and drinks, and invited Diao Bo to drink at home, and asked, "What have I offended sir, so that he often has trouble with me in court?" Diao Bo's answer was very funny: "If the robber meets Yao with a dog and the dog barks at Yao, it's not because Yao's morals are bad!" Tian Dan laughed and thought that Diao Bo was not a hypocrite at least, and recommended Diao Bo to King Xiang of Qi.Such generosity is also rare. Later King Xiang of Qi sent Diao Bo as an envoy to the state of Chu. Several ministers who were jealous of Tian Dan said in front of King Xiang of Qi, "I heard that Diao Bo was received with high standards by the king of Chu in the state of Chu. He was just an ordinary person." If he hadn't relied on Xiangguo to support him, why should he be so beautiful?" He fanned the flames, saying that Tian Dan had an evil intention to win over the people internally and tie up princes externally. King Qi Xiang felt uncomfortable after hearing this.One day, he suddenly ordered: "Call me Tian Dan." Tian Dan hurried into the palace without his hat, shoes, and disheveled clothes. He had an audience with King Qi Xiang in fear and fear, and waited for his instructions.Unexpectedly, King Qi Xiang held back for a long time, and really couldn't think of any reason to teach Tian Dan a lesson, so he just said: "It's okay, you do the courtesy of your courtier, and I will do the courtesy of my king, that's it! " After Diao Bo came back, King Xiang of Qi hosted a banquet in honor of him.The wine was in full swing, and King Qi Xiang said to the left and right: "Go and ask Tian Dan to come over for a drink." Diao Bo hurriedly stood up, saluted and paid homage, and said, "Why did your majesty call Xiangguo by his name? Back then, if Xiangguo hadn't led thousands of tired soldiers to defeat the Yan army and regained the lost ground for thousands of miles with the mere small city of Jimo, Where would the situation be like today? At that time, if he wanted to establish himself as king, even the princes could not stop him. But he started from righteousness, and he must welcome you back to the capital and invite you to govern the country. Now you call him by his name , even children know that this is a big disrespect. If you don’t wake up, the country will be in danger.” King Xiang of Qi is good because he is not confused about major issues.That night, he tossed and turned, thinking all night.Early the next morning, those ministers who spoke ill of Tian Dan were dismissed and investigated, and Tian Dan was granted a fief of 10,000 households. Tian Dan continued to die in his tenure as Xiangguo.It should be said that his luck is not bad.