Chapter 3 Zhibo's Achilles' heel: greed and arrogance

After Zhao Yang's death, Xun Yao became the Shangqing of the Jin Kingdom, and the three Yaqings were Zhao Wuxie, Han Hu (the grandson of Han Buxin) and Wei Ju (the son of Wei Manduo). As soon as Xun Yao came to power, she did several major things vigorously and resolutely. In 458 BC, Xun Yao planned to attack Qiuyou.Qiuyou is a country in the mountains established by the Di people. The transportation is extremely inconvenient, and chariots cannot pass through.Xun Yao ordered someone to cast a big bell as a gift, and put it on an ox cart to King Qiu You.Qiu Youren rejoiced and opened a road in the mountains to meet him.After the road was opened, the Jin army rushed in following the big bell and wiped out Qiu You.

In 457 BC, Xun Yao's sword pointed at Zhongshan.Zhongshan is located in the central and western part of today's Hebei Province. It is a country founded by the Xianyu people, a branch of Baidi.According to the "Lushi Chunqiu", there is a kind of "heroes" in the Zhongshan army, wearing iron armor and holding iron rods, "everything that hits is broken, and everything that hits is trapped", and its combat effectiveness is extremely strong.However, Xun Yao was obviously not afraid of Zhongshan warriors, so he captured Qiongyu Hill (now Yi County, Hebei Province) in one fell swoop, and later sent people to capture Zuoren and Zhongren (now Tang County, Hebei Province), causing Zhongshan to suffer heavy losses.

In 456 BC, Xun Yao ordered Han Hu and Wei Ju to lead an army to crusade against the Rong tribes living between Yishui and Luoshui, captured Lushi City (now west of Henan Province), and sent the Rong tribes between Yishui and Luoshui. All the large and small regimes established during the period were destroyed.This action is of great significance. "Naturally, there are no military bandits in China", which solved the military troubles that had plagued the Central Plains since the Spring and Autumn Period. It should be said that the three fires of Xun Yao's new official appointment were very prosperous and won applause from all the halls.Some people even think that if Xun Yao follows this path, he will surely become a famous minister of the Jin Kingdom.

But it is clear that Xun Yao's ambition is not to rejuvenate the Jin Kingdom. He called the three Yaqings together for a meeting to discuss the ownership of the original Fan and Zhongxing lands. These lands have been managed by the public office since the Er Clan's demise.Xun Yao suggested that it is difficult to manage such a large area of ​​land because of the shortage of talents in the public office, so it is better to distribute it to the four major families for management. None of the three Yaqings objected—who would object?Of course, there is one person who has a strong opinion, and that is Jin Chugong, the nominal ruler of Jin (Jin Dinggong died in 475 BC, and Jin Chugong was his son).

In a fit of anger, Duke Chu of Jin sent secret letters to Qi and Lu, asking them to send troops "on the side of the Qing emperor" to crusade against the four major families.This time the hornet's nest was stabbed, and the four major families joined forces to drive Jin Chugong out of the state of Jin. A country cannot live without a king for a day.After Jin Chugong fled, a son of the public family named Ji Jiao was established as the king. Ji Jiao is the great-grandson of Jin Zhaogong, his grandfather Gongzi Yong is the youngest son of Jin Zhaogong, and his father Gongsun Ji has a good relationship with Xun Yao.Because of this relationship, he was selected by Xun Yao.Ji Jiao is so unimportant in history that in the records of "Historical Records", he was sometimes called Duke Ai of Jin and Duke Yi of Jin at other times.In other historical materials, he is also called Jin Jinggong.Which one is his real posthumous title, no one bothers to research.

Xun Yao has now become the number one person in the state of Jin, and the Zhi family has also become the largest family in the state of Jin, far above the other three in strength.The Zhi family obtained the most land from the public office, more than the sum of the other three families.He couldn't hold back his excitement, and built a palace for himself. On the day the palace was completed, all the retainers came to congratulate him.There was a man named Shi Zhuo who waited until evening to come.Half drunk, Xun Yao asked Shi Zhuo ostentatiously: "Is this house spectacular?" Shi Zhuo replied: "A grand is a grand, but my ministers always feel a little worried."

Xun Yao said, "What are you worried about?" Shi Zhuo said: "My minister is in charge of the documents for the Zhi family. I read in the book that there are no vegetation in the high mountains; the soil is not rich in the land of pines and cypresses. Your house is too magnificent. I'm afraid it's not suitable for it." live." These words of Shi Zhuo are recorded in Guoyu.The book also said in a serious manner that three years after the completion of Xun Yao's palace, the Zhi family really perished, as if there was an inevitable connection between the two.

Of course this is not the case. Xun Yao's fatal injury is definitely not his love of mansions.What's wrong with loving mansions?If the family is big and the business is big, shouldn't we build a big house? Xun Yao's biggest problem is that he is arrogant. Once when Xun Yao came back from a business trip in Weiguo, Han Hu and Wei Ju hosted a banquet to welcome him.It was a good banquet, but because Xun Yao teased Han Hu and insulted Duan Gui, the minister of his family (the head of the retainer), they broke up unhappy. According to Feng Menglong, a man of the Ming Dynasty, Xun Yao was drunk and said to Han Hu: "I have checked the history books, and the only people with the same name as you in the world are Gao Hu of Qi State and Han Hu of Zheng State. Just three people."

Han Hu was speechless. Duan Gui listened to him, feeling very uncomfortable. He stood up and said, "Gentlemen treat each other with courtesy and don't call them by their names directly. Please don't make fun of my master's name." That Duangui was born with a short stature, standing beside Han Hu, the top of his head was not even below Han Hu's chest.Xun Yao was not angry either, she patted the top of Duan Gui's head and said, "Kids know what, this is not a place for you to play, be careful that the three tigers eat you!" After speaking, she burst out laughing.

Duan Gui trembled with anger, but he didn't dare to attack.Han Hu pretended to be drunk, closed his eyes and said, "Uncle Zhi is right!" Then he left. Xun Yao was called Zhibo, which was requested by him.According to the custom at that time, high-ranking officials were generally called "Zi", such as Han Hu was called Han Zi, Wei Ju was called Wei Zi, and San Huan of Lu State was also called San Zi.Xun Yao obviously thought that he was superior to others and disdained to be with them, so he made himself a "Bo" - Bo, the head of the princes.Xun Yao's arrogance can be seen from this.

After the banquet, the retainer Bo Guo said to Xun Yao: "You offended Han Hu and Duan Gui today, you have to guard against them in the future, otherwise, disaster will surely come." Xun Yao didn't take it seriously: "Whether there is a disaster or not depends on whether I am happy or not. If I don't make trouble, who would dare to make trouble for me?" Bo Guo said: "I'm afraid that's not the case. "Xia Shu" says that a person makes mistakes repeatedly and has grievances with others. Even if the contradiction is not revealed, he must guard against it. "Zhou Shu" says that resentment has no size. A gentleman pays attention to details , so there is no big problem. Today you teased someone at the banquet and insulted his retainers, thinking that they dare not make trouble. This is a big mistake. You know, even mosquitoes and ants can harm people, let alone Han Such powerful people as Hu and Duan Gui!" Xun Yao scoffed.Is Han Hu considered capable?Maybe there is, but compared with him, it is still far away.Among the four major families, the Han family has the smallest territory and the weakest army. Xun Yao can overthrow Han Hu with just one finger.Duan Gui is not worth mentioning, all the ministers are drinking, he is a retainer, fifth-class disabled, dare to stand up and speak out, isn't it self-inflicted humiliation? Thinking of Duan Gui's short stature and his face that dared not speak out, Xun Yao couldn't help laughing again.He never expected that a few years later, it was that unattractive Duan Gui who would push Zhi's family into a situation where there would be no redemption. In 455 BC, Xun Yao came up with a new strategy. Through Jin Ai Gong—or Jin Yi Gong, or Jin Jing Gong, who cares—suggested to the three major families: Jin has dominated the Central Plains for nearly two hundred years, and now Challenged by Qi and Yue, the hegemony will soon be lost.In order to rejuvenate the state of Jin and regain its glory, it is necessary to help the government.Now Zhi Bo is willing to take the lead in donating 10,000 households of land to the widow, please consider it carefully. When the three families received the notice, they all knew that if they donated to the public office, wouldn't they all fall into Xun Yao's bag? Han Hu didn't want to give it, but Duan persuaded him to give it to 10,000 households without discount.He said to Han Hu: "Xun Yao is cruel by nature and greedy. If you don't give it to him, he will definitely send troops to attack. Can we stop it? Why don't we give it to him, and he will ask others for it. If others don't agree, he will If you can attack others, the Han family can avoid disasters, and wait and see." Han Hu obediently handed over 10,000 households of land. Wei Ju didn't want to give it either, it would be strange if he wanted to!But his family chancellor Ren Zhang also advised him: "Xun Yao's ingenious plundering made everyone feel chilled. If we gave him land, he would be even more arrogant, and our families would unite out of fear. Once the war broke out, they would If two fists can't beat four hands, you will surely perish." So Wei Ju also agreed. Duan Gui and Ren Zhang's insights are nothing more than being wise and safe, directing the disaster to others, hoping that someone will come out ahead, so that the Han family and the Wei family can profit from it.But the question is, what if no one gets ahead?Wouldn't the 10,000 households be given away for nothing?And this kind of thing is one and two, next time Xun Yao wants 30,000, 50,000 or even 100,000 households, will you give it? Both Han Hu and Wei Ju cast their eyes on Zhao Wuxie, secretly praying that he would never be as unpromising as himself. Shirtless really lived up to expectations.The land Xun Yao asked him for included Lindi (now Luliang, Shanxi Province) and Gaolang (now Shouyang, Shanxi Province).That's all for Lin land, Gaolang is the place where the Zhao clan rose, and the Zhao clan's ancestral temple is there, how can it be given to others?Wuxie flatly rejected Xun Yao's request. This is also what Xun Yao expected.Because he hadn't thought of leaving a way out for Wu Shirt, otherwise he wouldn't have ordered Wu Shirt to hand over Gao Lang. Nine years ago, he had always regretted not being able to smash Wu Shirt to death with a jug, and now he finally had the chance to realize his long-cherished wish.He immediately ordered the Zhao family to be crusaded in the name of Duke Ai of Jin, and at the same time ordered the Han and Wei families to send troops. So there is the scene at the beginning of the book.