Chapter 13 not every prodigal son turns back

As mentioned earlier, in June 548 BC, Duke Ping of Jin convened a meeting of princes in Yiyi, preparing to crusade against Qi.Later, because Cui Zhu killed Duke Zhuang of Qi and bribed the monarchs and ministers of Jin State with a lot of money, Duke Ping of Jin agreed to Qi State's request for peace talks, and the meeting of barbarians changed from a "meeting of soldiers and chariots" to a "meeting of clothes". . It was at this Yiyi meeting that the envoy of Qi State, 隰鉏, made a request to Jin Pinggong: Eleven years ago, Weihou Jijin (that is, Wei Xiangong) was sentenced to death for offending ministers Sun Linfu and Ning Zhi. Sun Lin's father was expelled to Qi State.Now that time has passed, no matter how deep the hatred is, it should be forgotten, and it is not a problem to let people wander around like this all the time.Taking advantage of the opportunity of this meeting, please ask Jin Pinggong to mediate this matter as the overlord, and let Ji Jin go back to live in Weiguo.

This request was reasonable, and Duke Ping of Jin agreed. The so-called overlord is like the head of a village.In any family, some parents are short-tempered, father and son are not close, brothers are not at peace, and the village head must take care of it, so as to reflect the authority of the village head.Before the meeting of Yiyi came to an end, Duke Ping of Jin sent officials Wei Shu and Wan Mei to the state of Qi to meet Duke Wei Xian. It needs to be explained that this Yiyi is not the Yiyi of the Yiyi Association.The Yiyi of the Yiyi Meeting was in today's Xingtai, Hebei Province, which was the territory of the Jin State at that time; the Yiyi that was going to be given over to Wei Xiangong was in the territory of Liaocheng, Shandong Province, which was the territory of the Wei State at that time.

Of course Duke Wei Shang was not happy, but there was no other way. Duke Ping Jin had already spoken, so he could only express his obedience.In this way, two months later, Wei Xiangong set off from Qi State and returned to Wei State after a long absence. Before returning to the country, Cui Zhu, the powerful minister of Qi State, had a talk with Wei Xiangong.Of course the purpose of the conversation was to say farewell, but also to remind Wei Xiangong: You were driven to Qi State for refuge eleven years ago. Qi State not only took you in, but also gave you the land of Qi to live in, so that you can continue to live a decent life.Now because of Qi Guo's proposal, you are going back to Wei Guo soon, shouldn't it be time to express your gratitude to Qi Guo?

Wei Xiangong knew very well that the so-called gratitude cannot be expressed in a word or a thank you letter.He was very embarrassed and said to Cui Zhu: "I really want to repay the kindness of Qi State, but when I return to Wei State, I will only be an apartment in the small city of Yiyi. I really don't know how to repay you, even if I dedicate Yi Yi to the Qi State, the Qi State might not like it, right?" Cui Zhu laughed.He patted Wei Xiangong on the shoulder: "Yiyi, you should keep it to yourself. I won't beat around the bush. If you really want to repay Qi, after you go back, find a way to regain the throne, and then dedicate the Wulu area Give it to the State of Qi. Don’t tell me that you just want to be a Yugong, not a king!”

Cui Zhu's words gave Wei Xiangong a clear signal - if he wanted to regain the throne, the state of Qi would definitely support him.And Cui Zhu's other move was not just simply encouraging Wei Xiangong to go back and seize power. He left Wei Xiangong's wife and children in Qi. "Whenever the five deer are presented, I will take them back." Cui Zhu said kindly, "You just need to rest assured that I will take good care of them during this period." It is difficult for future generations to speculate whether Wei Xiangong's restoration was due to the promotion and coercion of Qi State, or because he had such an idea long ago, or a combination of both.In short, shortly after he moved to Yiyi, he wrote a letter to Ning Xi, the Minister of Wei, asking Ning Xi to help him regain the throne.

Ning Xi is the son of Ning Zhi. Eleven years ago, although Wei Xiangong was expelled from Weiguo by Sun Lin's father, the original cause of the incident was that Wei Xiangong offended Sun Lin's father and Ning Zhi.Because of this relationship, the international public opinion at the time generally believed that it was Sun Lin's father and Ning Zhi who conspired to drive Wei Xiangong away. Five years ago, in the winter of 553 BC, Ning Zhu died.When he was dying, he called Ning Xi to his side and said: "I offended the monarch (referring to Wei Xiangong), and I regretted it too much. Now the history books of all countries record like this, saying that 'Sun Linfu and Ning Zhi exiled their monarch '. I can't argue. If the king can restore the country in the future, you must atone for your sins, rewrite this history, and prove my innocence, so that you are worthy of being my son. If you can't do it, you will die. Ghosts and gods, I don't accept your sacrifice either!"

The ancients had their own values.In Ning Zhi's view, although Wei Xiangong is absurd and rude, as a subject, he has no right to expel the monarch. Modern people may laugh at Ning Zhi's pedantry, but if you compare what happened around you, it is not difficult to find that the values ​​​​of the ancients are still working in a different way.Just like Zhou Libo said: "What is an organization? An organization is: when you encounter difficulties, he says there is nothing you can do; when you encounter injustice, he says you must treat it correctly; Take the overall situation into consideration; when you are framed, he says you have to trust the organization; when someone needs to make a sacrifice, he says it’s time for the organization to test you; when someone needs to charge forward, he says it’s your strong backing; When it succeeds, he said it is the result of organizational training.” In short, an organization is something that it can apologize to you, but you cannot.As long as "monarch" is replaced with "organization", the values ​​of ancient people and modern people will find striking similarities.Stop there.

Ning Zhi's last words laid the groundwork for Wei Xiangong's restoration. Five years later, when Ning Xi met Wei Xiangong's envoy, the first thing Ning Xi thought of was his father's last words.He agreed to Wei Xiangong's request, but put forward a condition: "Zixian must participate in this matter. If Zixian does not participate, nothing will happen." Zixian is the younger brother of Duke Wei Xian, who has been in exile with Duke Wei Xian.Completely different from Wei Xiangong, the young master Qi is courteous and courteous, and he is well-received by people.As early as when Wei Xiangong had just been exiled to Qi, Lu Xianggong sent Zang Sunhe to condolences Wei Xiangong.After talking with the son Chi, Zang Sunhe asserted that although Wei Xiangong was a fool, as long as he had the help of the son Chi, it would be a matter of time before he returned to the country.

"If Zixian is involved in this matter, then there is nothing to worry about!" Ning Xi comforted herself.However, when Uncle Yi heard about this, she felt very unreasonable about Ning Xi's decision, and said, "This is the so-called 'I don't talk about it, let me show you my empress'!" "If I don't say anything, let me pity my descendants", found in "Gu Feng" in "The Book of Songs·Bei Feng", it means: I am not tolerated in the world, how can I care about my descendants?This is not only to criticize Ning Zhi for assigning a difficult task to Ning Xi when he was dying, but also to criticize Ning Xi for disregarding the well-being of future generations and agreeing to help Wei Xiangong, an unjust and stupid king, regain the throne.

Uncle Yi also said: "When a gentleman acts, he must consider the consequences and the long-term. He must be prudent at the beginning and respect the end, so as not to get into trouble. Now Ning Xi treats the king less seriously than playing chess. If you are indecisive in chess, you will definitely fail. , not to mention being half-hearted towards the monarch? It's a pity that the Ning family has been Qing for nine generations, and it will perish in one dynasty, isn't it very sad?" It's not just Uncle Yi who is not optimistic about this matter, Young Master Qi also doesn't want to be involved in Wei Xiangong's restoration activities.When Wei Xiangong sent him as a plenipotentiary representative to negotiate with Ning Xi, he ran to his mother Jing Si to complain: "My brother is a person who does not keep his word, and I am afraid that doing so will lead to disaster." The answer was: "For my sake, just agree to him!" Young Master Qi reluctantly agreed.

During the negotiation process, the young master Qi conveyed to Ning Xi the conditions that Wei Xiangong offered: "The government is up to the Ning family, and the sacrifices are for the widows." It means that political affairs are up to you, Ning Xi, and I only take care of the sacrifices, as a name The head of state on the Internet will do. However, even with such a promise, and with the young master Qi as the negotiating representative, Ning Xi still felt uneasy in his heart, so he ran to ask Qu Yuan for advice. As mentioned earlier, when Sun Lin's father rebelled, Qu Yuan once stepped forward, hoping to persuade Sun Lin's father to rein in the precipice.When the persuasion failed, Qu Yuan voluntarily left the state of Wei, unable to bear to see the monarch and his subjects kill each other.Later, the political situation in Wei State gradually stabilized, and Yuan Yuan returned to Wei State. As soon as Ning Xi finished speaking, Yun Yuan's face changed, and he sighed: "I didn't see the king being kicked out with my own eyes back then, how dare I ask about his return today!" So he took his family and left Weiguo again . It may be easy for modern people to accuse Qu Yuan of being irresponsible, but in the eyes of Confucius, Qu Yuan's escape from the state of Wei twice is a manifestation of benevolence, wisdom and courage: ! If the state has the way, you will be an official; if the state does not have the way, you can embrace it.” In many cases, voting with your feet is the closest realistic choice to conscience. With Uncle Yi's criticism first, and Ning Yuan's vote with his feet after him, Ning Xi became less and less confident about helping Wei Xiangong restore the throne, so he went to ask the doctor You Zaigu again.When Youzaigu heard this, he shook his head like a rattle and said, "No, no, if you do this, your old Ning family will offend two monarchs (offend Wei Xiangong first, Wei Shanggong second) ), there is no place for you in the world!" Ning Xi said helplessly, "This is a great trust from my late father before he died. How can I go against his will?" You Zaigu said: "Then let me find out the situation for you." You Zaigu came to Yiyi in the name of Ning Xi's envoy and met Wei Xiangong.When he came back, he said to Ning Xi: "The monarch has been wandering for twelve years, but there is no trace of worry on his face, his words are still so harsh, and he is still the same person! If you don't stop this plan immediately, we are not far from death. .” Ning Xi said: "Then Zixian is still there!" "What role can Zixian play there?" You Zaigu said, "Once something goes wrong, he can at most escape by himself. How can he help us?" "Despite this," Ning Xi was silent for a long while, "The matter is already on the verge of death, so we have to do it." In February 547 BC, Ning Xi and You Zaigu suddenly launched a coup and led troops to attack Sun Linfu's mansion in the capital Diqiu.At that time, Sun Lin's father happened to be in Qidi, his territory. His son Sun Jia was ordered to visit Qi State, while the other son Sun Xiang stayed at home.Ning Xi and You Zaigu attacked without breaking through the gate of the Sun family. Because he was worried that Sun Lin's father would launch a counterattack from Qi's land, Ning Xi led his troops out of Diqiu and stationed in the outskirts of the city, while You Zaigu remained in the city to monitor the movement of Sun's family.In the middle of the night, bursts of crying suddenly came from the Sun family.You Zaigu sent someone to inquire, and it turned out that Sun Xiang had been wounded by an arrow during the day and was seriously injured, and died that night. Ning Xi rushed back to Diqiu overnight and attacked the Sun family again.This time he succeeded.Early the next morning, he and You Zaigu led troops to the palace again and killed Duke Weishang and Da Zijiao (the eldest son of Duke Weishang). When Sun Lin's father got the news, he immediately went to the state of Jin to meet Jin Pinggong and asked for political protection.Of course, protection comes at a price. Sun Lin's father set the condition for the Jin State: From now on, the Qi land owned by the Sun family for generations no longer belongs to the Wei State, but becomes the territory of the Jin State. "Spring and Autumn" recorded this matter, saying that Sun Lin's father "entered Qi Yiyi to rebel".According to "Zuo Zhuan", the territory of the ministers is actually owned by the monarch.If the monarch has the right way, he will serve the monarch. If the monarch has no way, he will save his life and retreat. If he uses the land as his private property and makes transactions with others, he should be punished. Three days later, Wei Xiangong returned to Diqiu where he had been away for many years. As You Zaigu said, more than ten years of exile has not changed his character.Some of the courtiers ran to Yiyi to meet him, and he held their hands and spoke; some met him on the road, and he bowed to them in the car; and those who greeted him at the gate of the city, he just A nod is a greeting. When Wei Xiangong was in exile in Qi State, Lu State sent Uncle Houcheng to condolences to Wei State. Uncle Yi responded well and left a deep impression on Uncle Houcheng.After Hou Chengshu returned to the country, he said to Zang Sunhe: "Wei Jun must be able to return to the country! There are officials like Uncle Yi who live in the country and comfort the people for him; Planning, can you not go back?" Now that Wei Xiangong returned to Diqiu, the first thing he did was to send someone to reprimand Uncle Yi: "I am in exile, and many doctors have secretly reported the news of Wei to the widow. Only you don't care about the widow. , not a single word. The ancients said, don't complain if you don't complain. I have a lot of complaints against you!" Uncle Yi replied: "I'm guilty. I don't have the ability to take refuge abroad with you. This is the first crime. You live abroad and there is a king in the country. I can't half-heartedly pass on information to you. It is the second crime. With these two crimes, can I still live?" So he packed his luggage and prepared to leave Weiguo.Knowing that he was in the wrong, Wei Xiangong quickly sent someone to stop him. As mentioned earlier, Cui Zhu murdered Duke Zhuang of Qi, and among the "Eight Masters of the Qi Palace", only Zhichuo escaped.Hearing the news of Wei Xiangong's return to the country, Zhichuo defected to Wei Xiangong.Duke Xian of Wei sent Zhi Chuo to lead an army to attack Qi and attack Sun Lin's father. Sun Lin's father sent someone to ask Jin Pinggong for help. Duke Ping of Jin sent a symbolic force to Maoshi (place name, east of Qidi).The so-called symbolic troops consisted of only 300 people, and their purpose was not to fight, but to declare to the Wei State on behalf of the Jin State: Qi is already the territory of the Jin State, and attacking the Qi area is an attack on the Jin State.Unexpectedly, Wei Xiangong would not buy Jin Pinggong's account after eating the bear's heart and leopard's courage.At the order of Zhichuo, the guards launched a full-scale attack and killed all 300 Jin troops. For Sun Lin's father, the move of Colonizing Chuo was tantamount to saving his life - in this way, the state of Jin would inevitably be involved in the affairs of the state of Wei, and it was impossible to ignore it.He immediately sent his son Sun Kuai to lead troops to attack Colonial Chuo. Perhaps because Zhichao was so famous, Sun Kuai came to the Mao family, and when he saw the banner of Zhichao, he dared not advance any further, and stationed his troops far away from Zhichao.That posture is not so much for fighting, as it is for sightseeing.Sun Lin's father was very annoyed, so he ran to the Mao family and said to Sun Kuai, "You are still a human being, and you are not even as good as those three hundred evil spirits of Jin!" Under Sun Lin's father's personal supervision, Sun Kuai launched an attack on Zhichao, and defeated and captured Zhichao in Yudi (a place name in Weiguo). Sun Lin's father brought Zhichuo to the state of Jin and filed a complaint with Jinping again. Jin Pinggong lost his temper.In June of the same year, he convened a meeting of princes from all walks of life in Chanyuan, preparing to crusade against Wei State, redefining the border between Jin and Wei, formally dividing the land of Qi into Jin State, and at the same time announcing that 60% of the western border of Wei State would be divided. A township was rewarded to Sun Lin's father. Wei Xiangong knew that he had caused a catastrophe.Facing the pressure of the Jin army, he did not have any illusions, and took the initiative to go to Chanyuan to attend the meeting.It is conceivable that Jin Pinggong let him sit on the bench, and arrested Ning Xi and Bei Gongyi who accompanied him to the meeting. After the meeting was dissolved, Duke Xian of Wei went to the state of Jin to apologize.Jin Pinggong still couldn't understand his hatred, so he simply arrested Wei Xiangong and imprisoned him in Shiruo's home. In July of the same year, Qi Jinggong and Zheng Jiangong came to the state of Jin to intercede for Wei Xiangong.Jin Pinggong hosted a banquet for them.During the banquet, Duke Ping of Jin recited a poem "Jiale", in which there are sentences like "A gentleman in Jiale, who shows his virtue, is suitable for the people and people, and receives salary from heaven", in order to praise the monarchs of Qi and Zheng. kind. At that time, Guo Ruo was present with Qi Jinggong, and he also paid tribute to Jin Pinggong's poem "Liao Xiao", in which there is a sentence like "Since seeing a gentleman, Kong Yan is not a brother, but a brother and a brother", which means that Jin and Wei are both brothers and sisters. The country is all surnamed Ji, and it is a country of brothers, so please let Weihou go! Gongsun Shezhi, who accompanied Zheng Jiangong, also recited a poem "Black Clothes": This is a poem written by the people of the state of Zheng to commemorate Zheng Wugong, praising Zheng Wugong for providing court clothes, buildings and food to the sages.Gongsun Shezhi used this to persuade Yu Jin Pinggong to agree to their request because of the face of the princes of Qi and Zheng who traveled thousands of miles to visit. Uncle Xiang, the doctor of the state of Jin, saw this situation, and asked Jin Pinggong to bow down to the two monarchs, saying: "I thank Marquis Qi for caring about the stability of our ancestral temple, and thank Bo Zheng for treating our country wholeheartedly without any second thoughts." This is pretty high-level feigning insanity.Qi and Zheng used poems to describe things and pleaded for Wei Xiangong; Shu Xiang deliberately pretended not to understand, and only thanked the two countries according to the original meaning of the poem.Perhaps in the eyes of Jin people, the death of 300 Jin soldiers of the Mao family has touched the bottom line of the big country, and Wei Xiangong cannot be easily let go anyway. After the banquet, the weak of the country sent Yan Ying to go to Shu Xiang privately and said: "The Marquis of Jin promotes his noble virtues among the princes, cares about the sufferings of the princes, and corrects their shortcomings, so the princes respect him as the leader of the alliance. Now for the sake of defending the country What should we do if we arrest Marquis Wei because of his ministers?" Uncle Xiang told Zhao Wu this.Zhao Wu told Jin Pinggong again.Jin Pinggong stopped showing off his elegance, and sent his uncle Xiang to Qi Jinggong and Zheng Jiangong to tell them what Wei Xiangong had done, and made it clear that the state of Jin could not stop here. The weak country still recites poems, this time it is "The Softness of the Bridle": "The horse is rigid, but the bridle is soft. The horse is not rigid, and the bridle is not soft. The ambition is strong, and there is no doubt about what you give." It means, Although the horse has a strong temperament, it must be tamed with a soft bridle, and the leader must be lenient and strict with the princes. Gongsun Shezhi recited "Jiang Zhongzi": This is a poem written by an unmarried woman who blames her lover for fear of others' gossip.What Gongsun Shezhi meant was that people's words are terrible. Although Marquis Wei committed a big mistake and his crime was unjustly pardoned, in the eyes of everyone, Jin State is still interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, and its international influence is very bad. After hearing such verses, Duke Ping of Jin finally agreed to allow Duke Xian of Wei to return home.However, the promise was promised, but the state of Jin never let him go.It was not until December of this year that the state of Wei gave the princess Wei Ji to Jin Pinggong as a concubine, and Wei Xiangong was able to return to the country. Jin Pinggong's move, on the one hand, was suspected of taking advantage of the fire, and on the other hand, he violated the rule of "no marriage with the same surname", which was criticized by international public opinion at the time. In the spring of 546 BC, Duke Xian of Wei returned to Wei from Jin.This is the thirty-first year of his first ascension to the throne, and the second year of his second ascension to the throne.When he entered Diqiu, he found that the attitude of the officials in the court towards him had changed a lot. The reason for the change was that when he was imprisoned in Shiruo's home, Ning Xi, who had returned to the country earlier, had already taken control of the government and became the actual ruler of the Wei country. This is no wonder Ning Xi.At the beginning when Wei Xiangong sent his son Qi to negotiate with Ning Xi, didn't he say that "government is up to the Ning family, sacrifices are for widows"?Now that Ning Xi really has all the power, Wei Xiangong feels very uncomfortable.The doctor Gongsun Fangyu saw what Wei Xiangong was thinking, and offered to assassinate Ning Xi to Wei Xiangong. Wei Xiangong said hypocritically: "Oh, if it wasn't for Ning Xi, I wouldn't be where I am today. Besides, letting him be in power was my promise at the time. If you kill him rashly now, you may not be able to succeed. I'm afraid it will be notorious, so I don't want it." .” Gongsun Fangyu heard his implication, and said: "Then I will kill him on my own initiative, and you just pretend you don't know." Wei Xiangong really didn't know about it.In the spring of the same year, Gongsun Wuyu conspired with the doctor Gongsun Wudi and Gongsun Chen to attack Ning Xi, but the matter was revealed, and both Gongsun Wudi and Gongsun Chen were killed by Ning Xi.When Wei Xiangong heard this, he just sighed: "What is the crime of being a courtier, it's a pity that both father and son died for me." The fathers of Gongsun Wudi and Gongsun Chen were killed in the coup of Sun Lin's father more than ten years ago, so Wei Xiangong sighed. In the summer of the same year, Gongsun Wuyu conspired to attack Ning Xi again, and while Ning Xi was in court, he sent someone to kill Ning Xi and You Zaigu in the court. After the bloody incident, the young master Qi immediately packed his luggage and prepared to flee to the state of Jin.Wei Xiangong sent someone to dissuade him, but the son said: "Sun Lin's father chased the king, and he deserved to die, but now he is enjoying the blessings in the state of Jin; Ning Xi accepted the merits of the king, but now you have sent people to kill him. Your reward and punishment have nothing to do with it." There are rules and regulations, so how can we promote good and eliminate evil? Isn't it difficult to get along as a prince without credit, and as a country without laws? Besides, I promised Ning Xi to be in power at that time!" So he refused to listen Dissuade, insist on leaving.Wei Xiangong was in a hurry, so he sent someone to the Yellow River to persuade him. Prince Qi did not see Wei Xiangong's emissary, but swore to the Yellow River that he would never return to Diqiu, and settled down at Mumen (the place name of Jin State) on the border between Jin and Wei.According to "Gongyang Biography" and "Guliang Biography", throughout his life, the young master Chi no longer sat facing the state of Wei, did not eat the food of the state of Wei, did not talk about the affairs of the state of Wei, and never set foot on the state of Wei again. land step.The magistrate at Mumen persuaded him to come out and serve the state of Jin, but he declined, saying, "It is a sin to abandon one's duties for the sake of an official. If one fulfills one's duty, it will be publicizing the reason for my escape, which is tantamount to speaking ill of Marquis Wei." .Do I have to tell anyone else?" It is worth mentioning that the departure of the young master Qi dealt a great mental blow to Duke Wei Xiangong.A year later, son Chi passed away at the wooden gate. Duke Wei Xiang, regardless of his elder brother and the dignity of the monarch, personally mourned son Chi, expressing his remorse to this fellow brother. As for Gongsun Fangyu, the direct planner who killed Ning Xi, Duke Xiang of Wei planned to reward him with sixty townships as his territory.Gongsun Fangyu declined and said: "Only Qing can own one hundred villages, but I already have sixty, so I dare not exceed the limit. Besides, Ning Xi got into trouble because of too many territories. If you give me more Sixty villages, I am afraid that I will not be blessed to enjoy them." Wei Xiangong insisted on rewarding him, but he refused and accepted half of it.Later, Wei Xiangong planned to appoint him as a minister, but he thanked him, "Uncle Yi is honest and honest, he is not half-hearted, you should appoint him!" Wei Xiangong followed Gongsun Wuyu's suggestion and appointed Uncle Yi as Qing.It was perhaps the only thing he did right in this coup plot.