Chapter 24 The prestige of the office fell to the bottom

In the spring of 540 BC, because of the death of Zhao Wu, the state of Jin made high-level personnel adjustments.The new chief and deputy commanders-in-chief of the three armies are Han Qi, Zhao Cheng (son of Zhao Wu), Xun Wu, Wei Shu, Shi Yang and Xun Ying.Among them, Han Qi took over Zhao Wu's position and became the Marshal of the Chinese Army, that is, the chief executive officer of Jin. The ancestor of Han Qi is said to be of the same clan as the ancestor of the Zhou royal family, and also had the surname of Ji. His descendants were granted the title of Han Yuan in the state of Jin, so they took Han as their surname.

During the reign of Duke Xiangong of Jin Dynasty, a man named Han Jian emerged and became an important minister in the court. During Jin Linggong's reign, Han Jian's grandson Han Jue was promoted to Sima in the army by Zhao Dun. He was praised by Zhao Dun for his poor law enforcement in the Battle of Hequ in 615 BC. He was appointed by Zhao Dun, Que Que, Xun Linfu, Shihui, and Que Ke as Marshals of the Chinese Army.Until Jin Jinggong, Han Jue was appointed as the Marshal of the New Chinese Army, and he was among the ranks of the ministers.In the case of "Zhao's Orphan", Han Jue fought hard on the basis of reason, saved Zhao Wu's family business, and repaid the Zhao family's kindness with practical actions.After that, Han Jue's official career went smoothly, and his ranking among the ministers continued to rise, and he finally became the marshal of the Chinese army under one man and above ten thousand in the reign of Duke Dao of Jin Dynasty.

In 566 BC, Han Jue retired and was supposed to be succeeded by his eldest son Han Wuji.Han Wuji used his illness as an excuse to let Xianyu his younger brother Han Qi, which was a good story at the time.Han Qi also lived up to his brother's good intentions. He worked diligently in the position of the deputy commander of the Shangjun, and was a down-to-earth person, which was well received by the leaders and colleagues.After Zhao Wu's death, Han Qi took over as Marshal of the Chinese Army as a matter of course. At the same time, he reciprocated and promoted Zhao Wu's son Zhao to be the Deputy Marshal of the Chinese Army.

The new leadership has inherited Zhao Wu's policy of softness.The first thing Han Qi did after taking office was to visit the State of Lu. On the one hand, he congratulated Lu Zhaogong who had ascended the throne two years ago, and on the other hand, he announced that he had served as the Marshal of the Chinese Army of the State of Jin.This kind of low-key and courteous behavior naturally aroused the goodwill of Lu people, and even Zuo Qiuming, who was always serious, praised him fiercely: "Li Ye!" Han Qi visited the National Library in the State of Lu, and was fortunate to see the legendary "Book of Changes", "Xiang" and "Spring and Autumn".It is worth mentioning that this "Spring and Autumn" is very different from the "Spring and Autumn" that is often mentioned in this book.Strictly speaking, the latter is "this Spring and Autumn Period", which records the history from Duke Yin of Lu to Duke Ai of Lu; while the former is "Ancient Spring and Autumn Period", which records the history from the time of Zhou Gongdan.We can imagine that in a room full of ancient books in an era when information was not developed, Han Qi held the heavy bamboo slips and stroked the words engraved and written for hundreds of years. On that thin and expressionless face, his heart must be as calm as his appearance.Chinese people often say that they should take history as a mirror and value the function of history in this world, but I often think that history itself has a unique charm that travels through time and space, making people feel that the world is ethereal and silent.

"The rites of Zhou have all been returned to the State of Lu. Only now do I know the virtues of the Duke of Zhou and the reason why the Zhou Dynasty was able to achieve the king's career." After coming out, Han Qi simply said to the Taishi of the State of Lu who accompanied him on the tour. Lu Zhaogong held a grand reception banquet for Han Qi, during which he wrote poems to express his will as usual.Ji Sunsu, as a powerful minister of Lu State, took the lead in showing off, and wrote the last chapter of "Mian": I have virtuous ministers who lead me to kiss me, wise men to advise me, talented people to make announcements, and generals to fight—this is to compare Duke Ping of Jin to King Wen of Zhou, and compare Han Qi to the virtuous men of King Wen of Zhou. It was Han Qi's flattery, and by the way, Jin Pinggong.

Han Qi gave back a piece of "Horned Bow", in which there is a sentence like "骍骍古别, just like its opposite. Brothers marry, no Xu is far away", which means that a family does not speak two languages, Jin and Lu The country is originally a country of brothers and should live in harmony. Ji Sunsu bowed down and said: "Thank you for taking care of Lu State so much, the widow has hope!" Then he wrote the last chapter of "Jie": The implication is that the leaders of the state of Jin are Qunlun, whose virtues can tolerate all countries in the world. After the banquet, Ji Sunsu invited Han Qi to his home as a guest, and Han Qi happily went.In the courtyard of Ji Sun's house, Han Qi saw a towering ancient tree, out of respect for the owner, he casually said: "Good tree!"

When Ji Sunsu heard it, he immediately said: "How dare I not treat this tree well, and I will think of the beauty of "Horned Bow" when I see it!" He wrote a poem "Gan Tang" on the spot.This poem has been introduced earlier, and Ji Sunsu took advantage of the topic to compare Han Qi to Zhao Bo, and he flattered him very well.Han Qi naturally understood, and said humbly: "Your evaluation is too high, how can I catch up with Uncle Zhao?" After finishing his visit to the state of Lu, Han Qi continued eastward and came to the state of Qi.The main purpose of his visit to Qi State was to give the dowry gift for Duke Ping of Jin to marry Princess Shao Jiang of Qi State, which was called "Nabi" at that time.At that time, the powerful officials Ziya and Ziwei of Qi State met Han Qi, and called their eldest sons Luan Shi and Gao Qiang out to meet him.

As mentioned earlier, both Ziya and Ziwei were the grandsons of Duke Hui of Qi, and they contributed a lot to the event of eliminating Qingfeng, so they were rewarded heavily by Duke Jing of Qi.Han Qi looked at the children of these two people, but his evaluation was very low: "They are not the masters of the family, and their words and deeds have already hidden the heart of disobedience." Hearing such an evaluation, most of the officials in Qi State did not take it seriously, but Yan Ying believed it, saying: "This old gentleman is a gentleman, and what a gentleman says is based on evidence, and he will not draw conclusions at will."

In April of the same year, Duke Ping of Jin sent Han Xu, a public official, to the state of Qi to marry Shao Jiang.According to Zhou etiquette, when princes marry their wives, they don't greet them in person, but send ministers to do it for them.Since Shao Jiang was not his main wife but only a concubine, he didn't even need to send Qing, but only sent a doctor there; Qi State also sent a doctor Chen Wuyu to see off his relatives, and sent Shao Jiang from Linzi to Xintian.This was in line with etiquette at the time. However, after Jin Pinggong and Shaojiang got married, an accident happened.Shaojiang is not only naturally beautiful, but also smart, and is deeply loved by Jin Pinggong.According to Zhou etiquette, after a woman gets married, she should be called by her natal family's surname, Qi Guojiang's surname, so this woman is called Shaojiang.But Jin Pinggong liked her so much that he even changed her name and replaced it with the name of the country, calling it "Shaoqi" to show his extra favor.Originally, this was also a good thing, but Jin Pinggong's head was suddenly flooded, and he asked Chen Wuyu to lose his temper: "The widow loves Shaoqi so much, and the Qi State only sent you as a doctor to see off the relatives. Why didn't they send you?" Qinglai, do you look down on Shaoqi, or on Jin?"

Chen Wuyu felt very wronged: Back then you married a concubine, so we followed the rules of sending her to the concubine; now that you like this woman, you blame us for not paying enough attention to it, and take it out on me?When you buy a piece of jewelry in the market, and you feel that it is worth the money, you will go back and scold the merchant, saying that the box is not high-end enough?But he didn't have the opportunity to fight for his reasons. Duke Jin Ping didn't give him a chance to speak at all. After scolding him, he waved his hand and asked someone to arrest him and send him directly to the prison.

When Shao Jiang heard the news, he immediately went to Jin Pinggong to intercede for Chen Wuyu: "The level of seeing off relatives is determined by the level of welcoming relatives, which has been a rule since ancient times. In order to respect Jin, Qi State made some changes on its own initiative. The officials of the public family came to greet the relatives, but the Qi State was promoted to a higher level and sent a senior official to send the relatives, so there was chaos." This is a very clever act of stupidity.Jin Pinggong made trouble for no reason, thinking that the envoys sent by Qi State were of low rank; she did the opposite, saying that Qi State had already sent off relatives beyond the standard, so there was a misunderstanding.Reluctantly, when a scholar met a soldier, he couldn't explain why, and Jin Ping was just struggling, and couldn't listen to Shao Jiang's words at all. Chen Wuyu was innocently imprisoned like this for several months. Later, even the officials of the state of Jin couldn't stand it any longer. The uncle pushed him to find Duke Ping of Jin and said, "What's wrong with this man? The country sent a senior official to send relatives, and you said it was not respectful enough, and your request is too much. If you say it is not respectful, you were disrespectful when you sent the official family doctor, and now you have arrested their envoy. How can you be the leader of the alliance if you continue like this? "Jin Pinggong released Chen Wuyu and returned to the country. It is said that God is jealous of beauty.Shao Jiang lived in Jin State for half a year, but suddenly died of no illness.Because of the previous rumors that Jin Pinggong had a special liking for this woman, Lu Zhaogong felt that this was a good opportunity to flatter him, so he went to the state of Jin to attend the funeral regardless of shame.As I said before, even if a prince passes away, other princes don't need to come to express condolences in person, let alone a woman who died?Even the Jin people felt that this flattery was too much, so they sent people to stop Lu Zhaogong by the Yellow River, saying: "The one who died was not the widow's wife, so I dare not trouble you." For Lu Zhaogong, the most important thing is to express his stance, as long as the people of Jin see that he has this kind of filial piety, they will achieve their goal.He put on a look of resignation, and asked Ji Sunsu to continue to Xintian on his behalf, while he stepped back on the road back home. The death of Jin Pinggong's concubine touched the hearts of people all over the world.Compared with the humbleness of the Lu people, the Zheng Guoren's hospitality is not far behind.In November of the same year, Zheng Jiangong sent Yinduan to Xintian to mourn Shaojiang.In the second year, that is, the first month of 539 BC, Zheng Jiangong sent Uncle Zi to Xintian to funeral Shaojiang.Liang Bing and Zhang Chen, the doctors of Jin State, were ordered to receive Uncle Zi.Liang Bing said: "This is too much. You actually want someone of your status to come here for this matter!" Liang Bing's words were not polite, and Uncle Zi's answer was also very straightforward: "Do you think I want to come here?" ?In the past, Jin Wengong and Jin Xianggong ruled the world and did not dare to bother the princes easily. Now the princes have to visit once every three years and once every five years. Too much. According to the Zhou ritual, when the monarch dies, the neighboring country sends a doctor to mourn, and the minister goes to the funeral; when the wife dies, the neighboring country sends officials to mourn, and the doctor goes to the funeral. This is enough to promote the spirit of the ceremony, and there should be no additional Now that the concubine of the Marquis of Jin has passed away, we vassal states dare not send suitable people to the funeral according to the etiquette, but keep improving the etiquette, even exceeding the wife’s specification. We are afraid of being criticized for doing so, how dare we What trouble are you afraid of? Besides, Shao Jiang is dead, and Qi State will definitely send a princess to continue the relationship. At that time, I have to come to express my congratulations, don't mind the trouble!" What Uncle Zi said made the people of Jin feel ashamed.Zhang Chen was half laughing at himself, and half was justifying: "Okay, this is the first time I've heard such funeral rituals at the court meeting. I'm taught! But from now on, you should have nothing to do. This is like a big spark in the sky. , when it comes to the sky, it means that the cold and heat subside, and the seasons have changed. This time is the pinnacle of the destiny of the Jin Kingdom, and then it will decline, and the Jin Kingdom will lose the support of the princes. You want to ask for trouble I can't ask for it!" The big Mars is Antares, which is the alpha star of Scorpio.At dusk at the end of summer, the star appears at the zenith, indicating that the heat is waning; in the early morning of the end of winter, the star appears at the zenith, indicating that the cold is over.The ancients, by observing the celestial phenomena, came up with the simple dialectics that everything prospers and declines.From Zhang Chen's point of view, the death of a concubine in Jin is earth-shattering, which indicates that it has reached the peak of its power and is bound to go downhill. After the people of Jin withdrew, Uncle Zi said to others, "This Zhang Qiao understands the truth and is considered a gentleman." Sure enough, as Uncle Zi said, Duke Jing of Qi sent Yan Ying to the state of Jin to funeral Shao Jiang, and by the way offered to send another princess to be a concubine for Duke Ping of Jin.The "marriage proposal" letter written by Qi Jinggong to Jin Pinggong is a masterpiece: "The widow is willing to serve you, the lord, and will not be tired sooner or later. You must give the full amount of money, and you dare not postpone it. It's just that the country is in trouble, so I can't come in person, so I have to send my servants to confess to you: the first lord is not beautiful. The unvirtuous concubine daughter (Shao Jiang is the daughter of Qi Zhuanggong's concubine wife), chatted in your inner palace to make up for it, illuminating the hope of the widow. It is a pity that her blessing is too thin and she died prematurely, which made the widow fall into disappointment again If you have not forgotten the traditional friendship between the two countries, if you have cared for Qi, cared for the widows, and prayed to your ancestors Tai Gong and Ding Gong, so that your brilliance will shine on Qi and appease our community, then we still have the descendants of our ancestors Several women and non-concubine daughters can be used as alternates at any time. If you have not abandoned Qi, and sent envoys to carefully select the number of wives and concubines, this is the greatest wish of the widow!" The answer from the Jin people was also very polite: "This is exactly the wish of the widow! The widow is just short of an official spouse. Since it is still in mourning, I dare not make a request to your country. Now that the king said this, it is really incomparable. This is an even greater favor. If you care about Jin and give it to the master of the inner palace, it will not only be the widow, but everyone in Jin will feel your favor, even the ancestor Tang Shu will be grateful to you!" From the answers of the Jin people, it is not difficult to see that Jin Pinggong originally had no wife.After Shao Jiang's death, the people of Qi State spared no effort to promote the "daughter of the first emperor", and Shao Jiang left a very good memory for Jin Pinggong, which made him determined to marry a Qi State woman as his wife. If you like me, the engagement will be settled soon.Yan Ying accepted Jin's marriage proposal on behalf of Qi, and Shu Xiang hosted Yan Ying on behalf of Jin.During the meeting, Uncle Xiang asked about the current situation of the Qi State, and Yan Ying replied: "I am afraid that it is the end of the world. I can't guarantee that the Qi State will not fall into the hands of the Chen family, because the king does not love his people and allows them to submit to you." The Chen family has become a climate. Did you know that Qi State originally had four kinds of measuring vessels, which were beans, districts, kettles, and bells. Four liters were beans, four beans were districts, four districts were kettles, and ten kettles were bells. Chen The Shi family is unconventional, and uses five liters as beans, five beans as a district, and five districts as a cauldron. Think about it, how big is their clock? They use their own large containers to lend grain, but they use the public's small ones for recycling. Measuring equipment. The wood from the mountain is transported to the market and sold at the same price as in the mountain; the same is true for sea fish and sea salt, the market price is not higher than that of the sea. The common people of Qi State have been bought by the Chen family for almost the same amount!" Uncle Xiang was silent after hearing this.The power of the Duke of Qi fell to the side, so why not the Duke of Jin.Moreover, the reason why the Chen family in Qi State is supported by people is because they are indeed giving benefits to the people, while the major families in Jin State are nothing more than relying on their power to rob the monarch's rights, and the common people may not have gained much benefit. Yan Ying went on to say: "If the power of the common people is divided into three parts, two parts serve the king, and only one part is used to maintain food and clothing. The savings of the king are rotten and full of insects, but the old people of ordinary people are starving. Even so, the cruel officials still didn’t let them go. In Linzi’s market, shoes are worthless, but artificial legs are very expensive. Why? That’s because too many people had their legs cut off during torture! Fortunately, there are still Chen At home, when the people suffer from pain and disease, the Chen family will comfort them. He loves the people like parents, and the people follow him like flowing water. Even if he does not want the support of the people, how can he hide? Since Boxi, the descendants of Duke Hu and Taiji have taken root in Qi State.” As mentioned earlier, the Chen family in Qi State is the descendant of Duke Chen, and Duke Chen is the descendant of Shun. Bo, Zhibing, Yu Sui, and Bo Xi are all their ancestors. Hu Gong is the ancestor of the Chen Kingdom, which was granted in the early years of the Zhou Dynasty. Taiji is the daughter of the Zhou royal family and married Hu Gong as his wife. Uncle Xiang sighed: "It's like this. Even the government of our Jin State is now in the end of the world. The military equipment of the government is completely abolished, the horses do not drive the chariots, the high officials do not manage the government's army, and the king's chariots have no drivers. He Rong right guards, the ranks of the infantry have no officers. The life of the people is poor, but the life of the nobles is becoming more and more extravagant. The dead on the road are one after another, and the wealth of the concubine's family is too rich. People only need to hear the king's words Orders are like seeing reminders, and you are afraid to avoid them. The descendants of the eight families of Luan, Que, Xu, Yuan, Hu, Xu, Qing, and Bo have been reduced to lowly petty officials, and the political power has been completely taken over by Han and Zhao. The common people have nothing to rely on. But you see, our monarch has no intention of repenting at all, and only uses day and night to pass his worries. If things go on like this, the government will be in danger!" Yan Ying asked, "Then what are you going to do?" "What else can I do?" Uncle Xiang said, "The Jin family's public clan is about to end, and the public office will also wither. My family has long since declined, and I don't have a good son. If I can die well, I will be lucky. Dare to hope that there will be descendants offering sacrifices to me?" The two sighed and drank a lot of wine unknowingly. Speaking of Yan Ying's mission to the state of Jin this time, there is another tidbit. According to "Zuo Zhuan", the house Yan Ying lived in was very dilapidated. Qi Jinggong wanted to reward him with a new house, so he said to him: "Your house is close to the market. It is small and humid, noisy and dusty, which is not conducive to To live, please move to a higher place." Yan Ying said: "Our family has lived here for generations. My talents have insulted the ancestors. I am very satisfied to continue to stay here. And I live next to the market, and it is easy to buy things. For me, This is a prime location, how dare I bother you to build a new house for me?" Qi Jinggong smiled and said: "You are close to the market, so you must know the prices like the back of your hand, so tell me, what is expensive and what is cheap in the market?" Yan Ying replied without hesitation: "Prosthetic legs are expensive, but shoes are cheap." After Qi Jinggong heard this, his face turned red and white for a while, and then the punishment of beheading his legs was abolished.Zuo Qiuming spoke highly of this matter: "How much benefit can a benevolent man bring to this world! With a word from Yanzi, the Marquis of Qi will commute his sentence. The poem says, 'If a gentleman is happy, the troubles will soon stop. I'm talking about Yan Zi." When Yan Ying came back from the state of Jin, Duke Jing of Qi took advantage of his absence and forcibly demolished his old house and a large area of ​​private houses around it, and built a big house for him.Yan Ying thanked Qi Jinggong for his kindness, and when he returned home, he tore down the new house and asked the original neighbors to move back in. He said to them: "As the saying goes, you don't need to look at Feng Shui for a house, but you need to do a good job of divination when choosing a neighbor. Being neighbors for generations, it is inauspicious to drive you away. A gentleman does not touch unreasonable things, and a villain does not touch unlucky things, how dare I defy the law?" Duke Jing of Qi did not allow Yan Ying to do this, so Yan Ying entrusted Chen Wuyu was asked to intercede.Facing the patriarch of the Chen family, Qi Jinggong did not dare to insist on his opinion, and quickly agreed to Yan Ying's request. In June of the same year, Jin Pinggong sent Han Qi as an envoy to Qi to marry his wife.Because of Shaojiang, Ziwei knew that Jin Pinggong was very good at women in Qiguo, and this time he married not a concubine, but a dignified wife. The eager father of the girl is like the magician in "Swan Lake", who secretly replaced the princess with his own daughter, married his daughter to Jin Pinggong, and married the real princess to someone else.Someone told Han Qi about this, and Han Qi smiled slightly: "My ambition is to gain the state of Qi, how could I offend its important officials for a woman?" The black swan of the family was brought back to the state of Jin. Judging from this matter, even a gentleman like Han Qi has lost the most basic respect for the monarchs of Jin and Qi.