Chapter 5 Zichan's Wisdom in Governance (Part 2): Maintaining Stability Is Not Easy

In the autumn of 526 BC, a drought swept across the Central Plains.This year's "Spring and Autumn" records: "September, big yu (yu)." Yu is a sacrifice to pray for rain. Generally, eight boys and girls dance together to pray for rain from the sky.The big fish is the highest standard fish, if the drought is not severe, the Lu country would not use the big fish to pray for rain. The disaster in Zheng State was also very serious.Zheng Bo sent his senior officials Tu Chi, Zhu Qian and Shu Ji (fu) to Mt. Sang to pray for rain.When the three brothers arrived at Mt. Sang, they used local materials and cut down dozens of big trees to build a platform for sacrifice.As a result, Yu didn't ask for it, and all three of them were dismissed by Zichan and their land was confiscated.The crime is: "I sent you to the mountains to sacrifice, to cultivate the forests and store water, but you cut down the trees. Is there a greater crime than this?"

Until the second year, the drought did not ease, but various ominous signs appeared.In summer, "there is an eclipse", that is, a solar eclipse; in winter, "there is a star on the big day", that is, a comet sweeps past Antares (also known as the big fire), and the long tail of the comet and the Milky Way are spectacular. When a solar eclipse occurred, Zhu Shi (the sacrificial officer) of the State of Lu asked Shusun Luo what sacrifices to use to sacrifice to the God of the Earth. , beat the drums in the earth temple; the princes worship in the earth temple and beat the drums in the court hall. These things have written regulations, so is there any need to ask?"

When the comet passed by, Shen Xu, a doctor of the State of Lu, looked at the sky at night and sighed: "What a big broom star! This is used by God to remove the old and bring out the new, right? Look, it completely covers the big Mars now. Wait until the big Mars reappears." When it appears, it will definitely spread disasters, and the world may inevitably have fires!" "Indeed." Doctor Zishen said, "I paid attention to it last year, and now it is brighter, how can it not cause trouble? If there is a fire, I am afraid that it will mainly be in the four kingdoms of Song, Wei, Chen, and Zheng."

Almost at the same time, Zheng Guo's master of astrology and the famous Crow's Mouth Pizao also predicted the fire. Great fire. This fire happens once in five hundred years, and wherever it goes, jade and stone will be burned, and no one will be spared. However, if you give me the jade ladle in the ancestral temple to hold a sacrifice, you can ensure that Zheng Guo escapes this disaster." Zichan smiled and rejected Pizao's suggestion. Li Xi, the doctor, is over seventy years old, well-informed and popular.He also ran to Zichan and said, "The celestial phenomena are abnormal. I'm afraid something big will happen, the people will be frightened, and the country will face destruction."

Zichan said, "Do you think so too?" Zichan always maintained a particularly respectful attitude towards the aged Li Analysis. Li Xie said: "I've lived for so many years, so I shouldn't be wrong. The disaster is coming, but when it comes, I, the old man, may no longer be in this world." Quickly reaching out to support him, he grabbed Zichan's hand and said, "It's about the survival of the state of Zheng. Please think about it carefully. If it doesn't work, how about moving the capital?" "This...moving the capital is a big deal, and it's not something I can decide on my own." Zichan slapped a sloppy eye and brushed off the matter.

On May 7, 524 BC, the big Mars just appeared in the summer night sky, and a strong wind suddenly blew up that evening.Zishen warned again: "This is the so-called fusion wind, which is the precursor of the fire. After seven days, the fire will come!" Two days later, the wind picked up.On the evening of the 14th, the wind was even stronger.Zi Shen climbed up and looked far away, and a wave of heat rushed towards him.He closed his eyes and muttered to himself: "The sky fire has come, as I expected, it is Song, Wei, Chen, Zheng Siguo." People around him are skeptical.Sure enough, a few days later, the four countries sent people to Qufu to report: a rare fire broke out on the 14th, the city was burned by flames, and the lives were devastated!

When the fire broke out, Zichan was as calm as ever.He summoned all the ministers and officials, and issued several orders in an orderly manner: First, he personally sent the Minister of the State of Jin out from the east gate and returned to the country in a safe place. Second, send diplomats to the border and refuse all visiting guests. Third, blockade the embassy areas of various countries and send heavy guards to prevent anyone from entering or leaving to ensure the safety of the envoys. Fourth, send Uncle Zi’s son Youji to inspect the places of sacrifices until the ancestral temple, send the doctor Gongsun Deng to move the big tortoise used for divination to a safe place, and send Zhu Shi (sacrifice officer) to place the stone box for the god in the ancestral temple Moved to the relatively safe Zhou Temple.

Fifth, strictly order officials at all levels to abide by their posts, send the doctor Shang Chenggong to guard the palace, and place the older maids left behind by the previous emperor in a safe area, while the young ones stick to the palace.Sima, Si Kou and others rushed to the front line to direct fire fighting and disaster relief, and the garrison outside the city also lined up to maintain order in the city to prevent people from taking advantage of the fire and looting. Sixth, order the major families to issue weapons, arm the clan soldiers, mount the city walls, and strengthen defense.

Seventh, the doctor Li Xi had just passed away and had not yet been buried. Thirty people were sent to carry his coffin and move it to a safe place. Uncle Zi was a little worried: "You just sent away the guests from the Jin State, and now you are putting on a posture of preparing for the battle. Aren't you afraid of the Jin State's misunderstanding?" Zichan said: "The reason for sending away the Jin guests is that if they make a mistake, it will become an excuse for the Jin State to blame us. The reason for strengthening our guard is that other countries will take advantage of the chaos. Is there anything wrong with this?"

The next morning, the fire in Xinzheng was basically under control.Zichan also ordered the magistrates in various places to strengthen management, restrain the conscripts enlisted in various places, and ensure social stability.He sent Zhu Shi to build an altar in the north of the city, and prayed for peace to Xuanming (the god of water) and Huilu (the god of fire).Officials were sent to register the burned houses, tax relief for these families, and materials for rebuilding their homes were distributed.All citizens of Xinzheng City mourned for three days and stopped all trading activities.After the situation stabilized, diplomats were sent to brief the countries on the situation.

Soon after, the border officials of Jin State sent a letter of reprimand to Zheng State.The letter said: "When Zheng Guo encountered a major disaster, the Marquis of Jin and the doctor were deeply disturbed. They used divination and prayer, and inquired about news. They did not hesitate to spend a lot of money for this. Your worry! But I heard that your country is pretending to be fighting a war and sending people to the wall to stand guard. Who are you going to question? We are worried about this, and we dare not not ask clearly." Zichan wrote back: "As you said, the fire in the state of Zheng is the worry of the Marquis of Jin. Zichan is incapable and ineffective in governing, so God condemned the state of Zheng, so the fire broke out. I am afraid that bad people will take advantage of the fire to rob and aggravate the state of Zheng. It is for the sake of the Marquis of Jin that he sent people to strengthen his guard. Fortunately, the problem has been resolved, and the state of Zheng is still standing. There are some small misunderstandings that can be explained. .If the State of Zheng is unfortunately destroyed, even if the Marquis of Jin is worried about us, it will not help. Since the State of Zheng is serving the State of Jin, how dare he have two hearts? Please be careful." The Jin people accepted this explanation and did not make a fuss about it.Instead, Pi Zao once again proposed to use the jade ladle to worship and pray, and warned: "If you don't listen to me, there will be fires in Zheng Guo!" Zichan still rejected his proposal. When Uncle Zi learned of this, he persuaded: "The treasures in the ancestral temple are used to protect the safety of the people. If there is another fire, the country will perish. Why do you cherish a mere jade dipper and don't care about the safety of the country? " Zichan said: "If things are really like what Pi Zao said, for the safety of the country, even if it takes my life, it doesn't matter. How can I be stingy with treasures? It's just that the way of heaven is remote and difficult, but the way of humanity is close and easy to understand (the way of heaven is far, the way of humanity You), how can ordinary people see through the way of heaven? Do you think that Pizao understands the way of heaven? I think he just talks a lot, and occasionally he hits the mark once or twice!" Having said that, in July of the same year, Zichan still carried out large-scale construction projects, built a temple of the earth, and held sacrifices to pray to the gods of the four directions for peace and a good harvest.At the same time, in order to boost the morale of the people, elite troops were also selected to hold a grand military parade in Xinzheng. Parades need venues.Unfortunately, the entrance road marked by Zichan happened to pass through Uncle Zi's house.Specifically, the ancestral hall of Uncle Zi's family, You's Ancestral Temple, is on the south side of the road, and the house is on the north side of the road. The courtyard between the two is too small to clear a road.Uncle Zi suddenly faced the nightmare experienced by many modern people-demolition!And in order to keep the road straight, the Jongmyo had to be demolished instead of the houses. In retrospect, this is the second time You's Ancestral Temple has encountered demolition problems. The previous time was when Zheng Jiangong died in 530 BC.At that time, in order to bury Zheng Jiangong and clear road obstacles, You's Ancestral Temple was listed as the object of demolition (it can be seen that there are indeed some problems in the site selection of this Ancestral Temple).Of course, Uncle Zi didn’t want to, so he ordered his family members to stand next to the ancestral temple with shovels, picks and other demolition tools. We can’t bear to demolish this place, but we cannot disobey our orders, so we have to do it if we don’t want to.” This trick really worked, Zichan heard what Uncle Zi’s family said, so he ordered the construction team to avoid the You’s Ancestral Temple. At that time, the houses of several Simu (cemetery caretakers) were listed as demolition targets.If it is dismantled, the hearse can go directly to the cemetery and can be buried early in the morning; if it is not dismantled, the hearse must be detoured into the cemetery, and the burial must be delayed until noon.Uncle Zi was unkind and kept his own ancestral temple, so he ignored other people's residences and suggested to Zichan, "Destroy it! Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't like asking the envoys of the princes to wait until noon." Zichan said: "Since the princes sent people to the burial, why would they care about waiting until noon? If they don't demolish it, it will have no effect, and it will not cause trouble to the people, so why do they have to be demolished?" Because of this, his hearse traveled a long way and could only be "buried at noon". "Zuo Zhuan" has a high opinion of this, thinking that Zichan knows propriety, "the so-called propriety is not to harm others for the sake of self-fulfillment" (Zichan thus knows propriety, and self-improvement is achieved without destroying others). Six years later, the You's Ancestral Temple was facing demolition for the second time. Uncle Zi was familiar with it, and the old trick was repeated. He sent dozens of family members to stand outside the Ancestral Temple with demolition tools and said: "If Zichan comes to inspect, order Dismantle it quickly, and you will really do it." Three days later, Zichan went to court, passed Uncle Zi's house, and saw that the house was still in good condition, and the huge "demolition" characters were extremely eye-catching, so he felt furious and asked what was going on.When Uncle Zi's family met, they picked up the pickaxe and began to "ping, ping, pong, pong" towards the outer wall of the ancestral temple. Zichan watched as he walked, and within half a mile, he suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly ordered his followers: "Go back quickly, and order them to stop!" "what?" "Why are you still standing there? Tell them to demolish the rooms in the north, not the ancestral temple in the south, hurry up!" From this story, it can be seen that Zichan is lenient and fierce in government, and his principles are unwavering. However, he is considerate of human feelings in the subtleties and tries not to harm the interests of others. This is evident from this. In 523 BC, Si Yan, one of the six ministers of the Zheng State and the patriarch of the Si family, died. Siyan's first wife was from the state of Jin, and she gave birth to his first son, Sisi, who was underage at the time.Several prominent figures of the Si family gathered together to discuss and decided to make Si Yan's younger brother, Si Qi, the patriarch and inherit the throne. Of course, this matter needs the support of Zichan.But Zichan's attitude was very ambiguous, neither supporting nor opposing.The main reason is that firstly, Zichan hated Siyan's behavior and didn't bother to take care of his affairs; In this case, the Si family dare not act rashly. On the other hand, realizing that her son's inheritance rights were threatened, Sisi's first wife also wrote a letter to her natal family in Jin, hoping that her family would help her grandson at this critical moment.The natal family stabbed the matter to Jin Zhaogong.Therefore, in the winter of the same year, the state of Jin sent envoys to visit the state of Zheng and directly questioned the Si family. The envoys of the Jin State came in such a way that no one in the Zheng State's court dared to respond.Why?Sorry!Why can't the legitimate son of a family inherit the family business?Siqi couldn't bear the pressure and wanted to run away, but was stopped by Zichan; he wanted to ask Shi for a fortune-telling, but was stopped by Zichan.Doctors Qing were also very nervous, and held a special meeting to discuss the countermeasures. After discussing for a long time, there was no result.Zichan watched coldly from the sidelines, did not say a word during the discussion, and finally said: "Doctors stop here, there is no need to discuss this matter, let me deal with it with my old bones!" Zichan personally ran to the hotel to meet the envoy, and said: "God did not bless the state of Zheng. Unfortunately, several of the widow's officials died early. Now it is the turn of the Si family to suffer the funeral. What is more unfortunate is that the heirs of the Si family are still young. When he was young, several of his uncles and elder brothers were afraid of the decline of the clan, so they discussed privately and wanted to establish his uncle. This matter is very difficult, and even the widow is difficult to decide. They said to us in private, "Maybe God deliberately disturbed the order of the world. What can we do?' This is the arrangement of God! Who dares to ask why. Now you are asking this matter on behalf of the state of Jin. Let me tell you the truth, the widow does not support this matter at all, and dare not Of course, others dare not intervene." In a word, the turmoil in Si's family is their own business and has nothing to do with Zheng Bo. Zichan went on to say: "At the meeting in Pingqiu, the Marquis of Jin and the feudal lords revisited the oath of the past, emphasizing that 'don't neglect your duty!' If the widow's minister unfortunately died, the Jin State stretched out its hand to interfere with its succession. Isn’t this treating Zheng Guo as a county or even a township of Jin State? In that case, is Zheng Guo still like a country? Isn’t the widowed monarch negligent of his duty? Isn’t my administration negligent of his duty?” It means that the affairs of Si's family are the internal affairs of Zheng State after all, and it is not the turn of the people of Jin State to intervene. The envoy of the Jin State was speechless, and the matter was finally settled. In December of the same year, the weather in Zheng State was abnormal, and floods occurred in winter.Someone saw two dragons fighting in Weishui outside the south gate of Xinzheng, and naturally thought it was the cause of the flood, so they asked for a sacrifice to pray for safety.Zichan disagreed, saying: "When we fight, the dragon doesn't watch it; why should we join in the fun and watch the dragon fight? Even if we offer sacrifices and pray, the Weishui is their abode. How can we leave because of our sacrifice? There is no requirement for the dragon, and the dragon naturally has no requirement for us, so there is no need for sacrifice!" Maybe Zichan thinks so, all gods and ghosts, as long as you don't provoke him, he will have nothing to do with you, and if you have nothing to do to sacrifice to him, he will make trouble for you.This point coincides with Confucius' attitude of "respect ghosts and gods and keep them at a distance". It is strange to say that for many years since then, there has been no major fire and water disaster in Zheng State. The next year, 522 BC, Zichan passed away. Zichan has galloped in the political arena for more than forty years, and is famous for his "combination of leniency and fierceness". He has the benevolence of Confucianism, the strictness of Legalism, the flexibility of a diplomat, and the courage and wisdom of a reformer.When people didn't understand him and talked about him behind his back, he always dealt with it indifferently, advocating freedom of speech by "not destroying the township school", and his demeanor was really rare; Even later generations of Confucians criticized the move, but it was a landmark event from the rule of man to the rule of law, and it still has practical value; rights and interests have won widespread respect. "Historical Records" records: During Zichan's reign, children in Zheng State did not have to work in the fields, the young people had a decent style of work, and the elderly could spend the rest of their lives in peace; the market was fair and prices were stable; the society was harmonious, the doors were not closed at night, and the roads were not picked up.After Zichan died, the young and middle-aged men of Zheng State wept bitterly. The old man wept like a child, saying: "Zichan has left us, who will the people rely on in the future!" It seemed that the sky was about to fall.There are even more unofficial records: when Zichan passed away, the men of Zheng State did not wear jade, women did not wear jewelry, stopped all entertainment activities, and mourned bitterly for three full months. There was another person who was very sad to hear the news of Zichan's death, and that was Confucius.He burst into tears and called Zichan "an ancient legacy".Among the evaluations made by Confucius to his contemporaries, this evaluation is undoubtedly the highest. What Confucius admired most about Zichan was his "combination of leniency and fierceness".He said: "Zichan is really good at governing the country. If the policy is lenient, the people will easily develop contempt, and the contempt will be corrected with severe measures. But strictness will hurt the people, and they must be appeased with leniency. Only leniency If you are not in a hurry, not in a hurry, not in a hurry, not in a soft way, and in a calm and unhurried manner, then you will be in harmony with the government.” Confucius respected Zichan so much that later generations of scholars naturally followed suit and worshiped Zichan.Some people even said: "In the first half of the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong played the leading role; in the second half of the Spring and Autumn Period, Zichan played the leading role." Some people even said: "In the second half of the Spring and Autumn Period, it all depends on Zichan to produce color." , There is nothing to watch in the second half of the Spring and Autumn Period. Of course, there are also people who have criticisms about Zichan, and Mencius is one of them.According to legend, when Zheng Guo was flooded, Zichan ordered the coachman to drive his own carriage to help the people cross the river in Weishui.The people who took his car were all grateful to Dade, but Mencius didn't take it seriously, saying: "Zi Chan knows how to use small favors to win people's hearts, but he doesn't know how to govern the country. If the bridge is built two months earlier, the people will have no difficulty crossing the river. Where is the use of a carriage? Can a carriage allow everyone to cross the river? As long as a gentleman can govern the country well, there is nothing wrong with ordering the people to avoid him when he travels. If everyone wants to say good things about him , I'm afraid that ten thousand years will not be enough for him to live!" What Mencius said makes sense.For cadres at the level of the prime minister, the key is to do a good job in major issues and ensure that the country does not go into trouble, rather than showing the so-called love for the people in small matters.However, judging from Zichan's actual performance, Mencius' accusation was too harsh. After all, during Zichan's administration, the Zheng State had a stable society, well-organized government and harmonious people, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment. When Zichan was dying, Uncle Zi accompanied him.Zichan said to Uncle Zi: "After I die, you will be in power. I have a message to give to you - only a virtuous person in this world can use generosity to make the people obey, otherwise it is better to take strict measures. Severe Like a fierce fire, people are afraid at first glance, and if they hide far away, they will not be burned to death; generosity is like gentle water, people tend to despise it, and many people drown. Generosity, after all, is a It's a tricky skill to master!" When Uncle Zi heard this, he felt very uncomfortable: You can just say that I have no virtue?After Zichan's death, Uncle Zi came to power as expected, and he also followed Zichan's example, "be lenient without being violent", hoping to convince others with virtue.As a result, in less than half a year, there were many thieves in the state of Zheng, and some people even gathered in the mountains and forests in Huanfu (huanfu, place name), armed themselves, and openly confronted the court.Uncle Zi regretted it so much that he sent troops to attack the thieves in Qifu and exterminated them, and the law and order in Zheng State improved slightly.