Chapter 8 Chapter 2 The Rise of the Kingdom of Wei

In 445 BC, Wei Ju, the suzerain of the Wei family in Jin State, died, and his son Wei Si came to the throne.The young suzerain looked around and soon realized that he was having a hard time. Life is hard, not because of poverty.The Zhao, Wei, and Han families were divided into Jin. The Zhao family obtained the most territory, and the Wei family came in second, which is not a small number anyway.Moreover, the land owned by the Wei family, including Hedong (to the east of the Yellow River in Shanxi today), Hanoi (to the north of the Yellow River in Henan today) and Henan (to the south of the Yellow River in Henan today), was collectively called "Three Rivers" at that time. Dense, is an extremely rich area.

The problem is that the area of ​​these rich lands is not too large, and they are not connected to each other. They are also intertwined with Qi, Qin, Zhao, Han, Zheng, Wei and other forces. . Weiss is like a land rich man with a lot of wealth but no walls. He must always keep an eye on his boxes full of jewels, for fear that they will be taken away by others.Unfortunately, some of his neighbors have been eyeing his jewels for a long time, breaking in and stealing whenever they can, and stealing is not enough-you think he can live a life like this happy? The most troublesome thing for Weiss is the Qin State in the west.

Since the time of Duke Mu of Qin, the State of Qin has coveted the land of Sanhe, but fearing the strength of the State of Jin, it has never dared to do it easily.After the demise of the Zhi family, the state of Jin had actually split, and the state of Qin took the opportunity to expand its power eastward and sent troops to invade Sanhe many times.On the one hand, the Wei family strengthened their defenses, and on the other hand, they also sent troops across the border to counterattack. Qin and Wei both attacked and defended each other, but in general, the Qin people had the upper hand. Article 5 of the fourth chapter of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" records: "The degree of the land, the degree of the quantity, the quantity of the number, the number of the name, and the victory of the name." That is to say-the depth of the land determines the strength of the country, and the strength of the country Determine the number of people who can be put into battle, the number of troops determines the strength of combat power, and the strength of combat power is the key to victory or defeat.

The reason why the Wei family could not defeat the Qin State is that the most fundamental problem is that there is no strategic depth.The Wei army's conquest of one city and two places in Qin State was only a superficial injury to Qin State; the Qin army's conquest of one city and two places in Wei's family was a traumatic injury, and even life-threatening. How can we survive in this world of the jungle? A man named Bu Shang appeared in Weiss' vision, and he would become the most important person in Weiss' life.If some readers say "I haven't heard of it, I really haven't heard of it" to this name-it doesn't matter, Confucius has heard of it, right?He is the proud disciple of Confucius. His surname is Bu, his name is Shang, and his style name is Zixia. He is revered as Buzi by the world.

Still not impressed?Well, please read the following sentences: "Within the four seas, we are all brothers!" "If you are good at learning, you will be an official, and if you are good at being an official, you will learn." "Xianxian changes color." "You are Confucianism for a gentleman, and Confucianism for a small man." The first three sentences are from the mouth of the Bu Shang; the latter sentence is Confucius' warning to the Bu Shang.Among the disciples of Confucianism, Bu Shang's status can be listed at least in the top ten, and most importantly, he is considered as the main editor of the book.

There is such a story, one day a fortune-teller asked Confucius: "You are charming with a beautiful smile, you are looking forward to your beautiful eyes, and you always think that you are gorgeous. What does this mean?" Kong Qiu looked at a peach tree in the yard, and said casually, "Isn't it the last thing to sketch when it comes to painting?" I thought that Bu Shang would be puzzled, but I didn't expect Bu Shang to say immediately: "You mean, people must first have the quality of loyalty and trust, and then use etiquette to restrain their behavior, right?"

Surprised and delighted, Confucius said repeatedly: "Bu Shang, I can talk about poetry with him now!" This story is recorded in.Confucius was good at persuasion, and he was able to understand divination merchants with one point, which is a good story in history.Of course, considering that Bu Shang himself is the editor of the editor, we can also doubt the authenticity of this story. After the death of Confucius, the oracle merchants traveled all over the world, and finally settled down in the Xihe area of ​​the state of Jin, set up a hall to accept disciples, and imparted knowledge.

This place is exactly Wei's sphere of influence.When Weiss heard that Bu Shang was coming, he took the initiative to visit him. When Weiss met Bu Shang for the first time, he asked a question about music: If you want me to dress neatly to listen to the ancient music of the Zhou Dynasty, I always feel drowsy; but when I listen to the sounds of Zheng and Wei, I feel full of energy , never tired of it, why? Confucianism pays attention to the education of rites and music. The ancient music of the Zhou Dynasty recorded many teachings of sages, which are regarded as a model of music. Confucius also spent a lot of time sorting out them.The music of Zheng Guo and Wei Guo mostly wrote about the personal love between men and women, and it was a folk tune that was circulated among the market.

Bu Shang replied: "The ancient music of the Zhou Dynasty was used to cultivate one's morality, regulate one's family, rule the country and the world; the minor tunes of Zheng and Wei are profligate sounds without restraint. You are asking about music, and what you love is music. In my opinion, you are confusing music and sound!" Following this topic, Bu Shang persuaded Weiss to be close to good ministers, stay away from villains, pay attention to his hobbies, and control his behavior. Inspired by this, Wei Si made a gift to Bu Shang as a disciple on the spot, and invited Bu Shang to give lectures in Anyi and act as his advisor.

Bu Shang readily agreed. In the matter of becoming an official, Bu Shang, like his teacher, has no twitches.As he himself said, "Scholarly excellence leads to officialdom".If you have a lot of knowledge, if you don't implement it through being an official, wouldn't it be empty talk? However, there are still differences between him and Kong Qiu.Throughout his life, Confucius aspired to self-restraint and restore the rituals, fantasized about restoring the traditional order, and regarded the revival of Zhou rituals as his highest ideal; Bu Shang did not stick to Zhou rituals, and only hoped to use his knowledge to solve practical problems.

In other words, Confucius was an idealist, concerned with "how the world should be"; Bu Shang was an empiricist, concerned with "how to improve the world".Some scholars in later generations believed that Bu Shang's academic ideas gave birth to Legalism in the Warring States period in a sense. The arrival of Bu Shang brought a fresh and pragmatic style of study to Anyi, and at the same time brought Weiss a group of capable people with lofty ideals.These people are either Bu Shang's students, or Bu Shang's friends, or Bu Shang's admirers.They heard that Bu Shang was highly valued by Weiss, and they all came to Anyi to find their own future.All of a sudden, Weiss' disciples were full of talents, forming the first talent gathering center in the Warring States Period. Once Weiss invited Tian Zifang, a student of Bu Shang, to a banquet, and some people played music during the banquet.Weiss is proficient in rhythm, so it is inevitable to show off a little, and said: "The bells are a little out of tune, and the one on the left is a little higher." Tian Zifang smiled and said nothing.Weiss asked: "Why are you laughing, sir?" Tian Zifang said: "A gentleman should not put his mind on entertainment. Music, as long as you can understand it, as you are good at appreciating music, I am worried that you will be negligent. Manage the government." Weiss nodded and accepted the opinion humbly. One day Wei Si's eldest son, Wei Jian, was traveling and met Tian Zifang.Wei Jian got out of the car and saluted, but Tian Zifang grinned and smiled.Wei Jian was very angry, so he stopped Tian Zifang and said, "Is it the rich and the rich who are arrogant, or the poor and the humble?" If a doctor is domineering, he will lose his fiefdom. A poor and lowly scholar like me, who doesn’t talk speculatively and behaves badly, just pats his ass and leaves, so what is there to worry about!” Wei Jian immediately apologized to Tian Zifang. After Weiss heard about this incident, he said with emotion: "If I hadn't been around a sage, how could I have heard such insights!" Duan Ganmu was also a student of Bu Shang. He devoted himself to studying and did not want to become an official.Weiss personally visited the door, but he actually climbed over the wall and left.Weiss didn't get angry because of this, but respected Duan Ganmu even more. Every time he passed Duan's house, he always got up in the car to show his respect.Someone asked: "Duan Ganmu is just a grassroots man, why do you have to be so polite?" Weiss replied: "Duan Ganmu does not change his integrity in the face of power, and he is a gentleman. Although he lives in a thatched house, How dare I not pay respect to him who is famous far and wide?" Later, Duan Ganmu finally agreed to meet with Weiss, and Weiss listened to him talk about the principles of governing the country, and stood there for several hours, not daring to sit down and rest.After this incident spread, the reputation of Corporal Weiss Lixian became even louder. Even the State of Qin, Wei's old enemy, felt the changes in Anyi.It is said that once Qin Li Gonggong wanted to crusade against the Wei family, someone persuaded him: "The Wei family is full of talents now, and even celebrities like Tian Zifang and Duan Ganmu are serving him. I am afraid that it cannot be conquered by force." The idea of ​​sending troops.Of course, it is a bit exaggerated to say this. Judging from the historical records since then, Qin State did not give up its attack on Wei State. What really made the people of Qin fearful was a man named Li Kui.