Chapter 45 The Story of King Xuan of Qi and the Girl Without Salt

Meng Ke returned to Qi State in about 319 BC.At the same time, Chunyu Kun, Zou Yan and others also returned to Qi State, and together with Meng Ke, they continued to give lectures at Jixia Academy.From that period on, Jixia Academy entered its heyday, with thousands of scholars at its peak.They sat down and talked about it, wrote books and made a statement, and wrote a brilliant stroke in the history of Chinese culture. All this is due to King Qi Xuan's policy of building nests to attract phoenixes. According to the records of "Historical Records", King Xuan of Qi "loves literary lobbyists", seventy-six people including Zou Yan, Chun Yukun, Tian Pian, and Shen Dao were all given mansions and enjoyed the treatment of senior officials.

Although the housing prices in Linzi at that time were not high, the large courtyard with one family and one family was quite attractive.If the doctor is left until today, he is at least at the hall level.Sima Qian wrote enviously that these people can get such a high salary by doing nothing but complaining all day long. It's a good time to catch up. Such a story is recorded in "Warring States Policy". A scholar named Yan Chu (chu) came to see King Xuan of Qi.King Qi Xuan sat in the hall and said affectionately: "Come here quickly." It means, come closer, so we can talk.

If some scholars today heard such a call from government officials, they would definitely smile and bow their bodies and walk forward quickly.Yan Chu didn't move at all, and only said three words: "Come here." It was you who wanted to talk to me, not I who wanted to talk to you, of course you came over. King Qi Xuan originally had a kind smile on his face, but suddenly froze.Seeing something wrong from left to right, he hurriedly scolded Yan Chen in a low voice: "The king is a king, and you are a minister. He can ask you to come over, how can you ask him to come over?"

Yan Cheng said loudly: "If I go over, people will say that I am a stalker; if the king comes down, people will say that he is a virtuous and corporal. Rather than giving me the bad reputation of being a stalker, it is better for the king to be known as a virtuous and corporal." King Xuan of Qi said angrily: "Then tell me, is the king or the scholar more noble?" Yan Chu said without hesitation, "Scholars are of course honorable." It was the first time King Xuan of Qi had heard of such an argument.The people in the court hall were all sweating for Yan Chu.King Xuan of Qi was stunned for a while before asking: "Is there any basis for what you say?"

"Yes." Yan Cheng said, "That year when the Qin army attacked the state of Qi, the king of Qin ordered that anyone who dares to cut firewood within fifty paces of Liu Xiahui's tomb should be killed! If he is the head of a king, he will be named Marquis of Ten Thousand Households and rewarded with a thousand yi. This shows that the head of a king is not as good as the grave of a scholar!" King Xuan of Qi was speechless.The left and right ministers were eager to protect the lord, and jumped out to accuse Yan Cheng: "Our king owns a country of thousands of chariots. The country is peaceful and the people live and work in peace and contentment. This is the best era since ancient times. No matter how capable the scholars are, they are just ordinary people who walk on foot and farm for a living; those who are incapable can only live in the backcountry and work as gatekeepers. Therefore Said that scholars are very lowly."

Yan Cheng sneered and said, "Then let me ask you a question, why does Your Majesty call himself a widow?" Everyone was stunned. They didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Yan Cheng's gourd, so they didn't dare to take it lightly.Yan Chu glanced at them contemptuously, and said, "Your Majesty's virtuousness is well known in the world, so you don't need to remind me. But even Yao has nine assistants; Shun has seven teachers and friends; Yu has five confidants; , there are three auxiliary ministers. The reason why Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang became Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang is because they knew how to use the power of scholars. From ancient times to the present, there has been no one who can achieve great things by relying on a false name People. Therefore, the king should not be ashamed to ask others for advice, let alone learn from lowly people. Lao Tzu said well, "Although expensive, it must be based on low; although high, it must be based on low status." This That’s why kings always call themselves orphans and widows. Orphan and widow refer to people who live in poverty and have a low status, but the princes use it to call themselves, that is, to subjugate themselves and promote the virtuous, don’t you understand?”

King Xuan of Qi heard this in the hall, sighed, and said: "How can a gentleman be insulted? Today's incident is completely self-inflicted. I will ask Mr. Yan to stay by my side, and I must share the same car when I go out, and I must share the same table when I eat. The widow If you have any questions, please ask Mr. Yan directly." Then Yan Chu made a bow to King Xuan of Qi and said: "Eating is not important to me at all. I enjoy simple tea and light food as much as I eat meat; I don't want to take a car when I go out. I like to walk slowly and take it easy. What I want to say has just been finished. Whether you accept it or not is up to the king. Let me take my leave!" After finishing speaking, he cupped his hands and drifted away.

This is why later generations used "walking in peace as a car" as an idiom. After experiencing this incident, King Qi Xuan's attitude towards scholars became more humble, and his desire to seek talents became stronger. After Chunyu Kun heard about this incident, he took the initiative to recommend talents to King Xuan of Qi, and recommended seven talents to him at once.King Xuan of Qi was happy but suspicious at the same time, and said to Chunyu Kun: "I heard that if you can find a sage within a thousand miles, then all the sages in the world will stand side by side in front of you; if you can find a sage within a hundred generations." If you are a saint, then the saints in the world will come to you foot to foot. Today you recommended seven talents to me at once, isn’t it a bit too much?”

Chunyu Kun laughed and said, "Hasn't Your Majesty heard that things of a feather flock together and people form groups? If we go to the lowlands to look for bupleurum and orange stems, let alone a few days, we may not be able to find them in a few lifetimes; but if we go to the mountains Look for it, and you can find several cars in a short time. I am not talented, but I only associate with talented people. The people I associate with are all people of high moral character and extraordinary intelligence. I recommend talents to you, just like scooping water in a river Simple, how can you think too many? Seven are just the beginning, and I will recommend more outstanding talents to you in the future."

King Xuan of Qi quickly apologized to Chunyu Kun, and lamented that there is no shortage of talents in the world, what is lacking is discovery!So he ordered to speak out widely, allowing common people to enter the palace to give advice, and once the suggestion was adopted, he would be rewarded heavily. It was under such circumstances that Zhong Lichun, a girl without salt, entered the palace. According to records, Zhong Lichun was born in Wuyan (now Dongping, Shandong Province). He was born with "broad forehead and deep eyes, high nose and throat, hunchback and fat neck, long fingers and big feet, hair like autumn grass, and skin like lacquer". Over thirty years old, she is still a young girl.But this does not prevent her from caring about national affairs, that is, the big problem of King Qixuan's harem having no owner.

She lived and slept all the way from Wuyan to Linzi. Although she encountered some obstacles at the gate of the palace (not because she was a commoner or a woman, but because she was too scary), she still managed to enter the palace. To King Xuan of Qi. After introducing her background, she said: "Minnv would like to enter the harem to prepare for cleaning." The so-called preparation for sweeping is a modest term. On the surface, it is said to come to your house to wipe the table and sweep the floor, but in fact it means to marry you as a wife.King Xuan of Qi almost fainted when he heard this, and the civil and military officials on both sides and the court ladies in the palace all pursed their lips and snickered.People say that there are three thousand beauties in the harem, even if there are not three thousand beauties in the harem of Qi, there are at least three hundred beauties, all of them are as beautiful as flowers and jade, youthful and invincible.Not to mention the appearance of the woman in front of me. She claims to be thirty, but she looks like fifty. Even if she is really asked to sweep the floor and clean the table, neither the floor nor the table will be happy. She actually wants to enter the palace and become a queen. powerful! King Xuan of Qi put on a serious look at first, but after much deliberation, he couldn't use anything to distract himself. He looked left and right, and finally couldn't help laughing.With his smile, His Highness and His Highness laughed together, and the sound shook the roof tiles.Only Zhong Lichun's expression remained unchanged, and when everyone was exhausted from laughing, he sighed: "Dangerous, dangerous!" "Oh?" King Qi Wei waved his hand to make everyone stop laughing, "Tell me, what's the danger?" "Qin and Chu are staring at each other, but you don't care about it. This is the first danger; constructing large-scale construction projects, building pavilions and pavilions, making the Xue Palace (King Qixuan's palace) magnificent, wasting people's resources and material resources, this is the second. Dangerous; day and night, day and night, full of lewd pleasures in the harem, this is the third danger; wise ministers flee to the mountains and forests, and treacherous sycophants serve around, and do not hear the true knowledge, this is the fourth danger." Zhong Lichun talked eloquently, King Xuan of Qi's expression changed from sunny to cloudy, and the look in her eyes changed from joking to respectful.After she finished speaking, King Xuan of Qi said sincerely: "Your words are so good, like a drum at dusk and a bell in the morning, it wakes people up. If I can make some progress, I thank you." So he ordered to stop the construction of the high platform and remove the female music , Since then, he has concentrated on governing the country and made great efforts to govern the country. Qi's national situation has flourished day by day, even surpassing the period of King Qi Wei. As expected, Zhong Lichun also became the queen of Qi. The story of the girl without salt is an atypical Chinese fairy tale. It is neither the story of the ugly duckling nor the story of Cinderella, but the story of the ugly duckling and Cinderella.In Chinese history, this story has been widely circulated, especially among the people, and many people think it is a real thing.This book does not judge its authenticity here, because in many cases, the so-called real history is just what people think it is true.