Chapter 11 Can't afford to hurt Jin's internal friction

In 528 BC, a land dispute occurred in the state of Jin: the doctor Xinghou and Yongzi competed for the property of Chu (chu) (place name, in today's Henan Province) and filed a lawsuit. Marquis Xing is the son of Shen Gong Wuchen, a descendant of Chu State. Yong Zi is also a native of Chu State. He fled to Jin State many years ago because of being framed by others.The presiding judge, Shi Jingbo, was on a business trip in the state of Chu at that time, and the lawsuit between the two people from the state of Chu was handed over to Shu Xiang's younger brother, the sheep tongue fish, for trial.

Uncle Xiang has five brothers, the sheep tongue fish is the youngest.The characters of the two brothers are quite different: Uncle Xiang is smart, wise, dedicated and patriotic, and is known as the "legacy of the ancients" in history, which is as famous as Zi Chan of the "love of the ancients"; For gourmets. Naturally, the gluttons will not let go of such a good opportunity to make money. Before the case went to trial, Yongzi, the party concerned, sent Yang Tongue a sum of tea fee, which he readily accepted. Xing Hou went straight to Han Qi, Marshal of the Chinese Army.We don’t know whether Han Qi took money, but we do know that he passed a note to the sheep tongue fish, which clearly instructed him to rule Xinghou in favor of the lawsuit.

According to common sense, the marshal of the Chinese army has spoken, and the outcome of this case has been decided. Even if it is reported to the Marquis of Jin, Marquis Xing will win.But sheep tongue fish is obviously not a person who plays cards according to common sense. As long as it is profitable, he will dare to do it even if he offends Han Qi. He called Yongzi over and said, "It's not easy to handle. There are very powerful people supporting Xinghou. I won't say who it is, but they are very powerful anyway." Yongzi said, "Then, what do you mean, you can't win this lawsuit?"

"Not really. It's just that it's really difficult." The sheep tongue fish kept rubbing its hands, walked up and down the room, glanced at Yongzi from time to time, and hesitated to speak. Yongzi said bluntly: "I know that things are difficult to handle, but I believe in the wisdom of the chief judge. There is nothing impossible. How about this? I have a daughter who is twenty-eight years old and looks like a flower. The heart of our old couple has always been reluctant to concede. If the judge doesn’t mind, I’ll discuss with the old woman when I go back and marry my daughter to you as a concubine, and you don’t need to pay a betrothal gift. How about a dowry from our family instead?”

Sheep tongue fish said: "I'm afraid this is not very good?" Yongzi said: "What's wrong? The Yangtong family is a famous family in the state of Jin. It is a great honor for me, a native of Chu, to marry my daughter into the Yangton family. I said to the presiding judge, ah, no...Young Master, you Just don't say no." Sheep tongue fish said: "Then, I'd rather be respectful than obedient." When the day came to decide the case, the sheep-tongued fish flicked a pen, and Xinghou was sentenced to lose the lawsuit! Xing Hou originally thought that he had the chance to win, but when he heard the result, he immediately lost control of his emotions and did something very irrational.He pulled out his saber from his waist, rushed in front of the sheep-tongued fish, and stabbed the sheep-tongued fish to the bone.Seeing that the situation was not going well, Yongzi picked up his clothes and wanted to run away, but Xinghou chased after him with another sword strike, killing Yongzi as well.

The land dispute escalated into a homicide case, which shocked the ruling and opposition parties in the state of Jin. Han Qi had no choice but to try the case himself. Out of respect for Shu Xiang, he consulted Shu Xiang in advance. Shu Xiang's answer was very clear: "The three parties involved are all guilty. The murderer should be put to death, and the corpses of the two murdered should be exposed to the public as an example to others." Han Qi didn't expect Shu Xiang to say that.Sheep tongue fish is Uncle Xiang's younger brother, if the corpse is exposed to the public, what is the face of the Sheep Tongue family?

Uncle Xiang said calmly: "Yongzi bribed the judge, sheep tongue fish corrupted the law, and Xinghou openly committed murder. They are all crimes. One of them bribes the authorities to steal and plunder, which is called fainting; the other corrupts the law by coveting bribes, which is called ink; the other commits murder." Killing people without any scruples is called a thief. The "Book of Xia" says that those who are faint, black, and thief should be executed. This punishment has existed since ancient times, please follow the rules of your ancestors!" Han Qi finally killed Xing Hou according to Shu Xiang's intention, and hung the three corpses at the gate of the city for public display.

Confucius spoke highly of this matter, saying: "Whether Shu Xiang governs state affairs or handles cases, he does not show favoritism to his relatives. He is upright!" In fact, Shu Xiang and Xing Hou are not in a normal relationship.Shu Xiang's wife is the daughter of Shen Gong and Wu Chen, also the sister of Xing Hou. According to "Zuo Zhuan", Shu Xiang's marriage to Shen Gong Wuchen's daughter was opposed by his mother Shu Ji.My uncle thinks that Shen Gong Wuchen's wife Xia Ji is not a good person, "married three husbands, and killed a monarch (Chen Linggong), a son (Xia Zhengshu), and two ministers (Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu) , and led to the demise of Chen Guo." How could a daughter born to such a woman be a good one?

Uncle Xiang is a dutiful son, he listened to his mother very much, so he decided not to marry at that time.But at that time, the monarch Jin Pinggong was a meddlesome person. When he heard about this incident, he said: "A man with talent and a woman with good looks, what's so bad about it?" Uncle Xiang and this woman gave birth to a son, named Shiwo, styled Boshi.After Shu Xiang passed away, Shi Wo inherited the family business and became the patriarch of the Yang Tong clan. In 514 BC, a romantic incident happened in the state of Jin.Doctor Qi Ying's retainers Qi Sheng and Wu Zang "communicated", that is, exchanged husband and wife (really trendy!).After Qi Ying found out, they were going to be arrested and punished.Qi Sheng hurriedly bribed Xun Li, the deputy commander of the lower army, and asked him to speak for him.

The atmosphere of Jin State at that time was about the same as it is now.After accepting the gift, Xun Li said to Jin Zhaogong, "Qi Ying was arrested without even reporting to you. This is wrong." Where does Jin Zhaogong have any opinions?Political affairs have long been controlled by Liu Qing, and he is not even a puppet, at most a shadow.Xun Li said that Qi Ying did not do the right thing, so he did it wrong.Duke Zhao of Jin immediately delivered a decree: Arrest Qi Ying and question him! When Qi Ying's retainers got the news, they were furious and advised Qi Ying, "Anyway, it's a death, why don't you kill those two thieves, at least to have a good time!" What kind of trick is this!Things hadn't reached the worst point, so killing those two thieves, wouldn't that be an open confrontation with the monarch?

Qi Ying followed the advice of his retainers and killed Qi Sheng and Wu Zang.Perhaps in his view, dealing with retainers is his own housework, and even the monarch has no right to intervene.But he didn't expect that what Xun Li wanted was such an excuse. In June of the same year, the Six Ministers of the State of Jin held a meeting to discuss the Qi family's problems, and unanimously decided to sentence Qi Ying to death, confiscate all the assets of the Qi family, and confiscate them into the treasury.Not only that, I have always been friends with Qi Ying, and "Qi Ying's party" is also sentenced to death and confiscated property!Such a judgment, in the current popular saying, might as well grab it. It is said that when Yang Tong Shi I was born, my uncle went to visit, but before she arrived in the delivery room, she heard Shi I's cry, and walked back, saying: "This is the voice of a jackal. This child is ambitious. Yang Tong Shi is afraid." It's going to be ruined in his hands!" There is no historical record of Shi Wo's wolfish ambition, but it records how Liu Qing nakedly plundered other people's family property and divided up the property of Jin. How big is the family business of the Qi family and the Yang Tong family? In the autumn of this year, Han Qi, who had been in power for many years, passed away, and Wei Shu succeeded him. The work of dividing up the land of the Qi and Yangtong clans naturally fell on Wei Shu. Wei Shu divided Qi's land into seven counties, and Yang Tong's land into three counties, and appointed Sima Mimu, Jia Xin, Sima Du, Wei Wu, Zhixuwu, Han Gu, Meng Bing, Le Xiao, Zhao Chao, and Liao'an are county officials.The reason for this arrangement: Jia Xin and Sima Du once served the royal family and made great contributions; Zhi Xuwu, Zhao Chao, Han Gu, and Wei Wunaiqing's concubine sons were able to keep their careers, so they were rewarded; the other four were The talented person recommended by everyone had never met Wei Shu before he was appointed. There is a view that Wei Shu did not distribute the land to the six ministers, but directly appointed county officials to manage it. This was an attempt by the Jin State to reform from the feudal fief system to the prefecture and county system, aiming to strengthen the power of the country.I think the hat is buttoned up too much.Strictly speaking, this is an apparently just distribution that actually has a political purpose. Let us first understand the situation of the Six Ministers of the State of Jin at that time. Wei Shu: The Wei family, whose ancestor Bi Wan, came to prominence in the reign of Duke Xiangong of the Jin Dynasty and was granted the title of Weidi.After that came Wei Ji, who was famous for his bravery.Wei Jiang, the grandson of Wei Ji, made many achievements during the reigns of Jin Gonggong and Jin Pinggong.Wei Shu is the son of Wei Jiang. Zhao Yang: The Zhao family, its ancestor Zhao Su, was a famous minister in the reign of Duke Xiangong of Jin Dynasty.Later, Zhao Shuan assisted Jin Wengong to dominate the world, Zhao Dun became powerful in the era of Jin Linggong, and Zhao Wu became the marshal of the Chinese army in the Jin Pinggong era, presiding over the military alliance.Zhao Yang is the grandson of Zhao Wu. Han Buxin: The Han family, its ancestor Han Jian, once served Jin Huigong and contributed a lot in the battle of Hanyuan.During Jin Linggong's reign, Han Jue was promoted by Zhao Dun, and his official career rose all the way until he became the marshal of the Chinese army.Han Qi, the son of Han Jue, was also a famous man of the moment, and became the marshal of the Chinese army after Zhao Wu.Han Qi gave birth to Han Xu, Han Xu died early, and Han Buxin inherited the Han family business.Zhao and Han supported each other for generations and formed a firm political alliance. Xun Yin: The Xun family, whose ancestor Xun Linfu served as the "Yong Rong" (chariot driver) of Jin Wengong, and gradually grew into an important general of the Jin army.In 632 BC, the Jin State expanded its army and added the "Three Lines" to the three armies. Xun Linfu was appointed as the chief general of the Bank of China.Xun Lin's father served as the Marshal of the Chinese Army. Later, Xun Geng served as the Marshal of the Upper Army, Xun Yan served as the Marshal of the Chinese Army, and Xun Wu served as the Deputy Marshal of the Chinese Army.Xun Yin is the son of Xun Wu. Shi Yang: Shi Shi, also known as the Fan family because of his ancestors who were granted the title of Fan.Since the time of Jin Wengong, the Shi family has produced a large number of talents.The veterans of the five dynasties of the Shihui are highly respected and enjoy a high reputation; Shi Xie and Shi Gai also have outstanding performances.Shi Yang is the son of Shi Gai.Historically, since the beginning of Shigai, the family style of the Shi family has declined.Especially Shi Yang, who was a little scheming when he was young, and liked to fan the flames (he was responsible for the Luan Ying Rebellion in 559 BC).After becoming a minister, he was famous among the princes for being greedy for money and good goods, and formed a party for personal gain, and had a heated fight with Xun Yin. Xun Li: The Xun family, whose ancestor Xun Shou, was the younger brother of Xun Lin's father, was named Zhidi (place name, in today's Shanxi Province) because of his military exploits, so he was also called the Zhi family.Later, Xun Yu served as deputy commander of the lower army, marshal of the upper army and marshal of the middle army, and Xun Ying served as deputy commander of the lower army.After Xun Ying's death, Duke Ping of Jin wanted to take the opportunity to weaken the Zhi family, and planned to arrange for his cronies to take over Xun Ying's position. Later, because of the persuasion of Tu Kuai and others, he had to appoint Xun Ying's son Xun Bi as the deputy commander of the army.At that time, the relative decline of the Zhi family depended on the support of the Zhongxing family, who were of the same ancestry and common ancestor. Wei Shu presided over the division of the land. Zhi, Zhao, Han, and Wei all got the spoils, while Fan and Zhonghang got nothing. His intention was obvious: he hoped to attack Fan and Zhonghang by drawing over Zhi, Zhao, and Han. At the same time, he recruited some non-qing families to strengthen his own strength.But Confucius didn't seem to see this clearly. He praised Wei Shu for "being close without losing relatives, and being far without losing honor, which can be called righteousness." There is one small thing that can show that Wei Shu is actually somewhat guilty.He asked the doctor Cheng Ji (tuan): "If I entrust Jiangyang County to Wei Wu, will people think that I am seeking personal gain?" Wei Wu is the youngest son of Wei Shu.Cheng Qi replied: "How is it possible? Wei Wu has a good moral character, respects the leader, unites with colleagues, sees benefits and thinks justice, and is cautious. What is it to give him a county? When King Wu of Zhou won the world, their brothers were named princes Fifteen of them, and forty of them surnamed Ji Jianguo, all of them promoted their own relatives, but no one dared to object. Why? Because he stood on a just standpoint, and he chose the good to seal him. The difference. What you are doing now is to choose the good and seal it up, even those who are not very familiar with it, who would say that you are seeking personal gain?" What Cheng Xi said was exactly what Wei Shu wanted to hear. Another story shows that Wei Shu is not as noble as he claims to be. After Wei Wu went to Jiangyang County, someone filed a lawsuit. Wei Wu couldn't make up his mind, so he reported the case to Wei Shu.One party immediately sent Wei Shu a team of singers.When old Mr. Wei saw a dozen or so delicate girls, he couldn't even close his mouth with a smile, and he didn't say no to refuse or accept, and left them in the house. But Wei Wu was very anxious, so he called the doctor Yan Mei and Nv Kuan and said: "The old man is famous among the princes for not liking bribes. If you accept these actresses from Gengyang, there is no greater bribe than this! Please two You must tell him." Yan Mei and Nv Kuan agreed.The next day they retreated, and the two ran to Wei Shu's yard to wait.Wei Shu came back to see them and greeted them to have dinner together.When the food was served, the two of them sighed three times and stopped talking.Wei Shu couldn't stand it anymore, and said: "The ancients said it well, only eating can forget sorrow, you eat with me, so sighing, what is the reason?" The two said to Wei Shu: "Last night someone gave me Two bottles of wine, we both drank too much, so we didn't eat dinner, and we fainted from hunger early today. Just now when the food was served, we were afraid that it would not be enough, so we sighed. Halfway through the meal, we blamed ourselves and said, could it be that the marshal invited us to dinner? Still not enough to eat? So I sighed again. When all the dishes were served and the table was full, we hadn’t eaten yet. Just looking at it felt very satisfying from the bottom of my heart, so I sighed again. I only hope that the heart of a gentleman is like that of a villain. The stomach is the same (the belly of a villain is the heart of a gentleman), and it is easy to be satisfied." Wei Shu blushed and said, "I understand." He ordered all the singing girls to be returned. Later generations often say "measure the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain", but few people know that "taking the belly of a villain as the heart of a gentleman" has a completely different meaning. In October of the same year, Jia Xin will go to his fief to take office, and bid farewell to Wei Shu before leaving.Wei Shu was very happy and told Jia Xin a story: When Shu Xiang visited Zheng Guo, the doctor of Zheng Guo obviously wanted to see Shu Xiang, but he was afraid that he would frighten the guests because of his ugliness, so he pretended to be a servant who cleaned up the utensils, stood in the hall, and said a word.At that time, Shu Xiang was about to drink, and when he heard that, he put down the wine and said, "That must be Ranming!" He came down to hold Ranming's hand, invited him to the hall, and said, "In ancient times, there was Jia Jia. The doctor is very ugly, married a wife, she is very beautiful, but she is serious-he hasn't said a word or smiled once for three years. Until one time, Doctor Jia took his wife to go hunting, After shooting a pheasant, his wife started laughing and talking. Dr. Jia was deeply touched and said, "It seems that a man still has to be a little bit skilled. If I don't know how to shoot an arrow, you will never talk or laugh for the rest of your life!" Ming, you are not outstanding in appearance, if you don't speak, I will miss you, can you say that you will kill someone!" After Wei Shu finished telling the story, he said to Jia Xin: "Do you understand what I mean? I recommend you because you have made great contributions to the royal family. Now that you are going to take office, go quickly and keep a sincere and respectful heart." , do the job well, don't ruin your original credit!" Confucius commented: "It is said in the poem, 'Yongyan deserves fate, and seeks happiness'. What Mr. Wei said is from the bottom of his heart. His descendants will surely prosper." I thought Wei Shu's words were to the point, but this kind of fatherly teaching is undoubtedly a means to win people's hearts. In the winter of 513 BC, Wei Shu sent Zhao Yang and Xun Yin to build Rucheng (in today's Henan Province), and confiscated the local folk ironware and obtained 480 catties of iron.Xun Yin used these irons to cast a punishment tripod, and the tripod was engraved with the criminal law revised by Shi Gai at that time. Since Zheng Guo's Zichan cast Xing Ding, casting Xing Ding is nothing new.But this incident caused quite a stir at the time. The first is the dispute between the rule of man and the rule of law.Conservatives believe that since ancient times, the state of Jin has strictly abided by the laws and regulations established by its ancestor Tang Shu, and the seniority and the young are orderly, and there is no difference between the superior and the inferior.Now abandoning the ancient method and casting the punishment tripod, the common people will only look at the punishment tripod in the future, how can they respect the leadership?If things go on like this, why do nobles become nobles?The noble and the humble are out of order, how can the country still look like a country? Secondly, the criminal law revised by Shigai was originally abandoned.Some important principles in the criminal law were determined when Duke Xiang of Jin held the "Yizhisou" in 621 BC.As we all know, "Yi's search" was the beginning of the chaos of Jin's ministers. "One search and three changes of the Chinese military commander", the monarch was completely at the mercy of the ministers, and there was no way to control the situation, which led to the later dispute between Zhao and Hu. and a series of chaos.Such a criminal law itself has been criticized by others, how can it be engraved on the punishment tripod? Finally, and most importantly, Xun Yin cast the punishment tripod without asking Wei Shu for instructions. It is said that Wei Shu was shocked when he heard that Xun Yin was casting a punishment tripod, and quickly sent someone to order Xun Yin to stop working.But Xun Yin turned a deaf ear to it, instead speeding up the construction progress, and at the same time recruited Zhao Yang to take responsibility with him.After the project was completed, Wei Shu called a meeting of Liu Qing to pursue responsibility, but found out that the real mastermind behind the incident was Shi Yang! Among the six ministers, Xun Yin and Shi Yang worked hand in hand, Zhao Yang was used by Xun Yin, Xun Yi and Xun Yin had the same ancestors, Han Buxin and Zhao Yang were good friends for generations, Wei Shu had no choice but to put down his banners and drums, and the matter of casting the Xun Ding finally failed. Let it go. At that time, the doctor Shi Mo commented on this matter: "The Fan family and the Zhongxing family are about to perish! Xun Yin is just a deputy commander of the army, but he disobeyed the order and cast the punishment tripod without authorization. He is too courageous. Fan's family is also difficult Letting go of the blame, the criminal law revised by Fan Xuanzi (Shi Gai) had already been abolished, and now it is implemented again. can avoid disaster.” The struggle between the six ministers directly led to the decline of Jin's international status.In June 512 BC, Duke Qing of Jin passed away and Duke Ding of Jin ascended the throne.In August, the state of Jin held a funeral for Duke Qing of Jin.Zheng Guo sent Uncle Zi to Xintian to mourn and attend the funeral. In the etiquette at that time, the funeral and mourning were separated. The funeral was more important than the mourning. The status of the mourner must be higher than that of the mourner in order to show respect.Taking the diplomatic history of Jin and Zheng as an example, Duke Jin died, Gongsun Xia mourned, and Zichan went to the funeral; Duke Ping of Jin died, Uncle Zi mourned, and Hanhu mourned.Now that Duke Qing of Jin is dead, Zheng Guo only sent one Uncle Zi, who holds two positions, which undoubtedly lowered the standard. Wei Shu was very uncomfortable, and Jing Bo asked Uncle Zi why he was like this. Uncle Zi replied: "The reason why the princes submit to the Marquis of Jin is because the state of Jin is polite. The so-called courtesy is very simple, that is, a small country serves a big country and obeys orders; a big country appeases a small country and is considerate. Participating in the defense of a great country, sharing the same fate, how could it be possible to forget the funeral ceremony? The former king stipulated that, for the funeral of the princes, sending officials to mourn the funeral, and the doctor to send the funeral, you do not need to come forward. However, for the funeral of Jin State, Zheng State sent It can be said that you don’t pay attention to Qing’s participation, but it is only done when conditions permit. If conditions do not permit, such as when the state is in war, let alone Qing, even scholar-bureaucrats can’t be sent. Back then, the royal family held the funeral of King Zhou Ling , my first monarch, Zheng Jianzheng, was fortunately in the state of Chu. He only sent Xiaqing Yinduan to go there, and the royal family did not express any opinions. This is because we are sympathetic to the difficulties of our small countries. Now you say, 'Why not follow the original specifications?' Dude, the original specifications are rich and frugal. Are we going to be rich or frugal? Congfeng, the widow has just been on the throne for two years (Zheng Dinggong passed away two years ago, and Zheng Xiangong came to the throne), and you are still young, you don’t know Why don't you ask him to go there himself? Congjian, then my country has already come, and the standard is not too low. If you really want to blame us, then just figure it out!" Shi Jingbo was speechless. In the autumn of 510 BC, King Jing of Zhou sent his senior officials Fu Xin and Shi Zhang to visit the state of Jin and made a request: Since the princely dynasty rebelled, Luoyi had become dilapidated, and the royal family had to move to Chengzhou.However, Chengzhou is small and the city walls are not high. I want to ask the state of Jin to call on the princes to help expand Chengzhou and raise the city walls. The so-called hegemony is nothing more than respecting the king and fighting against barbarians.Wei Shu believes that this is an opportunity to improve the prestige of Jin, and it is also an opportunity to improve his own prestige.After all, geese leave their voices and people leave their names. He doesn't want to leave a weak and incompetent reputation in history. So in November of the same year, Wei Shu and Han Buxin convened a meeting of princes and officials in Diquan to discuss the construction of Chengzhou.Shi Jingbo was appointed as the chief designer, responsible for calculating the length, width, height, and depth of the city, measuring the required earthwork, comparing and selecting building materials, arranging labor use plans, and determining the logistics support plan.Shi Jingbo arranged all this in an orderly manner, and the tasks assigned to each country were also very clear.Han Buxin is in charge of supervision to ensure that all tasks are implemented. It's a good thing, and the work is arranged well, but Wei Shu may be too eager to establish his prestige, and did a stupid thing at the Diquan meeting: he arranged his seat facing south. Everyone knows that sitting north and facing south is the position of the emperor, and even the Marquis of Jin dare not sit like this.At that time, the doctor of the state of Wei Biao (xi) said: "Mr. Wei may not last long." What's even more outrageous is that after Wei Shu handed over the full power of the project to Han Buxin, he took his men and horses to the mainland (place name, in today's Henan Province) to hunt.As a result, on the way back, he suddenly became ill and died in Ningcheng (now Huojia County, Henan Province). The influence of the Jin State had already declined. With the death of Wei Shu, the princes who participated in the construction of the city had an idea.Zhong Ji, a doctor of Song State, blatantly rejected the task assigned to him by Shi Jingbo, and pushed it to the small states of Teng, Xue, and Xiaolu to do it.Of course those small countries were not happy, and asked Shi Jingbo to give him justice.Shi Jingbo wanted to make peace with him, so he said to Zhongji: "Now everyone is working together to build a city for the emperor. Please take the overall situation into consideration and accept the task first. If there is any problem, we will talk about it later." Zhongji did not buy it and resolutely refused to accept the task.Uncle Shi Jing, although Jin has many problems, it is more than enough to deal with you, Song!Han Buxin was also very annoyed, and ordered Zhongji to be arrested and locked in the dungeon in Luoyi. In fact, it is Qi Guo's Gao Zhang who has gone too far than Zhongji.In March 509 BC, the construction work of Chengzhou was completed, and the princes and officials were all ready to return home, and Gao Zhang was late.But the Jin people were selectively blind to this matter, and didn't even give a word of face-to-face criticism. After all, Qi State is not Song State.