Chapter 29 Can talk, get twice the result with half the effort

In 537 B.C., that is, the year when the State of Lu "sheltered the army", the 24-year-old Lord Lu Zhao came to Xintian, the capital of the State of Jin, to pay homage to Duke Ping of Jin.This is also the second time he has traveled to the state of Jin since he ascended the throne five years ago. The people of the country felt that this flattery was too much, so they sent people to persuade him to go back by the Yellow River. This time Lu Zhaogong's performance in the state of Jin can be described by the word "knowledge".In various occasions, bowing and turning around, they are all done neither arrogant nor humble, which is in line with etiquette.Even Jin Pinggong couldn't help saying to the doctor and daughter Qi: "Marquis Lu is really polite!"

Unexpectedly, Nu Qi said disdainfully: "What kind of courtesy is he?" Duke Ping of Jin was very surprised: "Why do you say that? I don't think he violated the etiquette in any link, from working in the suburbs to presenting gifts. This is not considered to be a courtesy, how can it be considered a courtesy?" Nv Qi said: "You are mistaken. He knows 'yi', not li. For the princes, the so-called li means protecting his country, exercising his government orders, and not losing the support of the people. The current state of Lu, Government orders come from the family of doctors, and those who Lu Hou wants to use cannot be appointed without the consent of the "San Huan"; Among the great powers, they are always in favor of others, and they bully the neighboring small countries whenever they have the opportunity, and take advantage of the disasters of small countries to gain benefits. The country has become like this, and Lu Hou didn't know that the disaster was coming. He didn't expect that even his current position was in jeopardy, and it was already precarious .He didn’t grasp the essence of etiquette, but was eager to learn the external etiquette trivially. No matter how well he behaved, he was just an embroidered pillow with a superficial appearance. Isn’t it too wrong to say that he knows etiquette?”

Jin Pinggong was speechless. I can only say that even today, Nuqi is very intelligent.Isn't it funny that a country that is incomprehensible in internal affairs and lax in people's hearts is desperately trying to show the demeanor of a great power to the outside world? Nv Qi said that Lu Guoyang violated Yin and bullied the weak, which is well-founded.Not to mention the Guo League, when the State of Lu participated in the alliance, it sent troops to invade the State of Ju and occupied Yuncheng; just before Lu Zhaogong visited Jin and returned to China, another thing that blatantly trampled on international law happened.

In the summer of this year, Mou Yi, a senior official of the State of Ju, defected to the State of Lu, and dedicated the three lands of Mulou, Fang, and Zi under his name to the State of Lu as a meeting gift.The Lu people did their part, and Xinxin accepted the land. "Spring and Autumn" records this matter: "Ju Muyi came here with Mulou and Fang." "Zuo Zhuan" explained that Mou Yi was not Qing, but he still wrote his name because he valued the things he brought. land. Of course, the people of Ju State were not angry, so they went to Jin State to complain.Jin Pinggong was furious and wanted to put Lu Zhaogong under house arrest, in order to threaten Lu to return the land of Ju.Shi Yang stopped him and said: "You must not do this. He is here to pay tribute to you, but you arrest him, which is suspected of entrapment. You want to ask him about his crimes, but don't send troops to punish him dignifiedly. This is a sign of laziness. As the leader of the alliance, how can you give someone such an excuse? Let him go back, and it will not be too late to attack him when he is free." Jin Pinggong thought for a while, accepted Shi Yang's suggestion, and let Lu Zhaogong go back to the country went.

This incident shows from one aspect that Nvqi is correct.How about being knowledgeable and reasonable, and what about being neither arrogant nor humble?Lu Zhaogong was visiting abroad, but "Sanhuan" caused him a big trouble at home. If Shi Yang didn't come forward, he might have become a prisoner of the Jin people. Jin Ping opened his eyes, and the Lu people were naturally grateful.In the summer of 536 BC, Ji Sunsu came to the State of Jin to thank Jin Pinggong for not pursuing the land of Ju State.There is a reason not to hit the smiling person, Jin Pinggong's heart softened, and he personally hosted a banquet for Ji Sunsu, and added special dishes for him.Ji Sunsu is a smart guy. Seeing that the dishes on the table were obviously beyond the standard, he immediately withdrew and said to Han Qi: "For the sake of the Ju country, the Lu country is already very grateful for being exempted from punishment. How dare you ask for it?" Reward? Now the Marquis of Jin is not only giving me a banquet, but also adding special dishes for me. I dare not accept it. Only by withdrawing will I be free from guilt!"

Han Qi said: "You worry too much, this is the widow's wish to win your favor!" Ji Sunsu said: "Even a widow would not dare to be treated like this, let alone a subordinate me?" He insisted on withdrawing the extra food before he dared to return to the banquet. What Jin people like most is the submissive and trembling attitude of other countries.When Jin Pinggong was happy, he ordered a large number of gifts to be rewarded to Ji Sunsu. However, I am happy, and when Lu Zhaogong was invited to Chu State to attend the inauguration ceremony of Zhanghua Palace in 535 BC, Jin Pinggong was tired of the two-sided tricks of Lu people.He sent envoys to Qufu, and proposed to redefine Qi's borders.

As mentioned earlier, Jin Pinggong's mother was originally the princess of Qi State.In the summer of 544 BC, the state of Jin mobilized the princes to build a city wall for the state of Qi, and sent the female Qi to negotiate with the state of Lu, demanding that the state of Lu return the land of the state of Qi that it had previously occupied. Send Nvqi back.Jin Pinggong had no objection at that time, but now the old matter is brought up again. The so-called re-drawing of the border means that Lu State should return all the occupied land to Qi State. Although the state of Jin declined, it was still a huge monster that could not be blamed for the state of Lu.Duke Zhao of Lu was in the state of Chu at that time, and Ji Sunsu made his own claim and wanted to hand over Cheng (place name) to the people of Jin.Originally, it was the territory of the Qi State, which was enfeoffed to the Meng family after being invaded by the Lu State, and was guarded by Xie Xi, the retainer of the Meng family.When Ji Sun's senior general Xie Xi came to discuss it, Xie Xi shook his head repeatedly and said: "As the saying goes, even if you are only a little clever, it is a courtesy to keep the utensils and prevent them from being taken away! Now my master (referring to Zhong Sun) Jie) is accompanying the king to be a guest in the state of Chu, if I, the lord of the land, lose his city, even you will doubt my character?"

"Well, I know all the truth." Ji Sunsu said, "The problem is that the monarch went to Chu and offended Jin. If you don't obey Jin's order and return Qi's land to others, then you will be punished." It is a double offence. When Jin Guoxing asks the crime, what can we do to resist? Why not agree to their request." Xie Xi protested with silence. "Well, I will give you Taocheng (place name) to compensate for the loss of Chengdi. In the future, when Jin has an opportunity to take advantage of it, we will find a way to take Chengcheng back from Qi. At that time, except The Meng family, who would dare to occupy it? Think about it, you lost one land, but got two lands, and Lu Guo thanked your family for this. This is a win-win situation, so why do you have to worry about it?"

Xie Xi still didn't speak.Ji Sunsu's forehead was sweating, and he said, "You man, just ask for anything!" "There are mountains in Chengdi, but Taocheng doesn't even have a mountain." Xie Xi finally said so falteringly. "You should have said it earlier!" Ji Sunsu cursed inwardly, he is such a cunning fellow, he took the opportunity to bargain with me all over the place.But there is no way, the envoy of the Jin State is waiting for an answer, so he has to compensate the Laishan and Zhashan to the Meng family. Xie Xi then agreed to move to Taocheng.When the Jin people got the land, they stopped their flags and drums, and let the Lu country go for the time being.

In the spring of 534 BC, a strange thing happened in the state of Jin.In Weiyu (place name, in present-day Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province), a stone suddenly spoke.What was specifically said is not recorded in historical materials, and it is inconvenient for the author to fabricate it. In short, it is not something like "long live so and so", because people in that era were very materialistic, and it was impossible to know long live.When Duke Ping of Jin heard the news, he called Shi Kuang, the blind man, and asked, "Why can the stone talk?" Shi Kuang said: "How can a stone talk? It must be that there are some ghosts and spirits attached to it to make a sound. Otherwise, the common people have misheard it and passed it on to your ears. But then again, I heard that , doing things out of season, resentment will spread among the people, and it may also cause things that cannot speak to speak. Now the palaces of the public are tall and extravagant, and the financial resources of the people are exhausted, and the people live a hard life, resentment and slander One after another. Isn’t it understandable for stones to speak?”

At that time, Jin Pinggong was building a large-scale construction project to build the Xi (si) Qi Palace, and vowed to compare with the Zhanghua Palace of King Ling of Chu.Jin's manpower, material and financial resources were all concentrated in this extravagant competition. There were a lot of complaints from the people, and the high officials also had opinions, but no one asked him for advice.Hearing what Shi Kuang said, Shu Xiang sighed: "Ziye (Shi Kuang's word Ziye) is really a gentleman! A gentleman speaks honestly and with grounds, so resentment stays away from him; a villain speaks hypocrisy without grounds, so he invites disaster. The day when this palace is completed is the day when the feudal princes betray the state of Jin, and the king will be punished for this, Shi Kuang, a blind man, knows this very well!" In the summer of the same year, the Qiqi Palace was completed, and all countries sent envoys to congratulate him. In Zheng Guo, Zheng Jiangong personally came forward, accompanied by Uncle Zi, to Xintian to express his congratulations.Shi Zhao, a senior official of the state of Jin, saw Uncle Zi, and said in private, "You guys are too much! It is obviously something that should be mourned, but instead of mourning, you came to congratulate. What kind of heart is this?" Uncle Zi pretended to be crazy. : "Why can't I understand what you said? People all over the world come to congratulate, and it's not just our country Zheng doing this." It can be seen from this that in an age when everyone pretends to be ignorant, it is rare for someone like Shi Kuang to speak the truth! Speaking of Jin Pinggong and Shi Kuang, there are still some memorable legends circulating in the world. According to the "Shuo Yuan" written by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, one day, Duke Ping of Jin was reading a book in the hall and asked Shi Kuang while reading: "I am already seventy years old this year. I am afraid it is too late to learn something, sir. what do you say?" Shi Kuang said, "Then you should light the candles!" Duke Ping of Jin was furious and said, "You blind man, how dare you make fun of the widow!" "Where is it?" Shi Kuang said, "I heard that a young man who is eager to learn is like the sun at sunrise, full of vigor; a young man who is eager to learn is like the sun at noon, strong and dazzling; an old man who is eager to learn is like Although the light brought by lighting candles is faint, it is better than walking in the dark!" The implication is that it is never too late to live and learn, and I learn so I am here. After hearing this, Duke Ping of Jin turned his anger into joy, and even said "goodness".Of course, most of this story is fabricated, let's just listen to it.There is another story that is even more unbelievable, it was told by Han Feizi: Duke Ping of Jin drank with his courtiers.When the wine was in full swing, he proudly said: "There is no one happier than the monarch! Only his words and no one dares to disobey!" After hearing this, Shi Kuang picked up the qin and threw it at him.Fortunately, Jin Pinggong hid quickly, and Qin smashed against the wall.Jin Pinggong said: "Master, who are you hitting?" Shi Kuang said: "Who else is there? A villain was talking nonsense just now. I was so angry that I wanted to hit him." Well." Shi Kuang said, "This is not what a ruler should say!" Everyone on the left and right thought that Shi Kuang had committed a crime, and demanded that he be severely punished.But Jin Pinggong said: "Let him go, I will take this as a warning." This story is undoubtedly a reprint of the section "I have no joy in being a king, and I can't disobey what I say", except that Han Feizi was grafted onto the head of Duke Ping of Jin.From this point of view, Jin Pinggong is more or less a sensible person.But in fact, when Jin Pinggong was old, he had become very confused. Even if a gentleman like Shi Kuang reminded him by his side, what he did was still unflattering. In the spring of 533 BC, Gan Xiang (Gandhi doctor, named Xiang) of the Zhou royal family had a dispute with Jin State doctor Yan Jia (Yan County doctor, named Jia) over the ownership of land.The people of Jin were tyrannical, regardless of whether the opponent was the emperor of Zhou, they sent the doctors Liang Bing and Zhang Chi as generals to launch the army of the Yinrong tribe to invade Yingdi (royal territory). The so-called Yinrong is actually a branch of Lu Hunrong, whose surname is mainly Yun, and they got their name because they lived in Yindi (place names).Jin's brazen invasion of the royal family's territory has already gone too far; using the Yin Rong tribe is even risking the world's displeasure, causing dissatisfaction among the countries in the Central Plains.King Jing of Zhou sent his minister Zhan Huanbo to Xintian to blame Duke Ping of Jin, and made a long speech: "Our Zhou people relied on the kindness of our ancestors. As early as the Xia Dynasty, we obtained Wei, Dai, Rui, Qi, Bi, etc., and became the leaders of the western countries. King Wu defeated the Shang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty. He expanded his territory eastward to Pugu and Shangyan; expanded to the south to Ba, Pu, Chu, Deng and other countries; expanded to the north to Sushen, Yan, Bo and other countries. In the era of King Wen, King Wu, King Cheng, and King Kang, the royal family sealed off princes and established brothers The purpose of the country is to protect the royal family, and at the same time to prevent the royal family from corruption. How can such a heavy responsibility be thrown away? The former king exiled the four fierce tribes of Chaos, Qiongqi, Zhuwu, and Taotie to wild places in all directions. Let them fight against the monsters in the mountains and forests, so they settled the Rong people with the surname Yun in Guazhou. The ancestor Huigong of Jin State returned from Qin State, and lured these Rong people to come, let them invade our country with the surname Ji, Entered our territory and occupied these places (here refers to the move of the Qin and Jin Dynasties to Lu Hunrong in 638 BC). Whose responsibility is this for the Rong people to wreak havoc on the Central Plains? Please think carefully. The royal family For the state of Jin, it’s like clothes have hats, trees have roots, flowing water has its source, and the people have their backbone. If even you crack the crown and destroy the crown, and pull out the source, those Yinrong people will not let the royal family go. In my eyes, the world of the Zhou Dynasty is about to perish." These words are both a condemnation and a petition.Uncle Xiang said to Han Qi: "The former emperor Wengong led Qunlun, and he did not dare to give up his responsibilities to the royal family. He not only assisted and supported the emperor, but also showed respect. From Wengong down, every generation of monarchs has a decline in virtue, and damages and contempt. The royal family is being arrogant and rude. Isn’t it understandable that the princes are half-hearted towards us? Besides, the matter this time is up to the Son of Heaven, please handle it properly.” Han Qi took it for granted.Soon after, the queen of King Jing of Zhou lost her father, and Han Qi sent Zhao Cheng to Luoyi to express condolences. He took the opportunity to assign the disputed lands in Yan County to the royal family, and returned the prisoners captured in Yingdi.The royal family reciprocated courtesy, and also arrested Gan Xiang and sent him to the state of Jin.Han Qi, a good man, did his best and sent Gan Xiang back. In the summer of the same year, Xun Ying, deputy commander of the Jin State Army, died of illness.Xun Ying is the grandson of Xun Yu. His father Xun Shuo died early, so he was raised by Xun Yu.After Xun Yu's death, Xun Ying lost power. Fortunately, his uncle Xun Yan took care of him, and his official career was smooth.Duke Ping of Jin had never been too fond of this gentle Xun Ying. When he heard the news of Xun Ying's death, his first thought was: This is an opportunity! For a long time, the positions of officials in the state of Jin have been occupied by families such as Xun, Han, Zhao, and Wei, and it is impossible for the monarch to arrange for individuals to enter the political bureau.Now that Xun Ying died suddenly, Jin Pinggong thought wishfully that he could arrange for his favorite minister Li Tiao to take over as the deputy commander of the next army.The more he thought about it, the happier he was, and ordered people to have fun with wine in the palace. When he was drunk, Tu Kuai, the head chef, walked in quickly and asked to pour wine for the monarch.Jin Pinggong said yes, the widow is very happy today, so you can pour it! Tu Kuai was a rough man, because he worked in the canteen for a long time and accumulated a lot of oil and water, his face was covered with flesh, which looked scary.He raised his sleeves and poured a full glass of wine, but instead of going to Jin Pinggong, he came to the musician and said, "As a musician, you are the ear of the king, and your duty is to make it hear more clearly. You should I know that the days of Jiazi and Yimao are the so-called dates of death. The king does not listen to music, and the musicians stop playing. This is for the sake of avoiding taboos." Jiazi day is the death day of Shang Zhou, and Yimao day is the death of Xia Jie. Therefore, since ancient times, these two days have been regarded as the anniversary of death to show vigilance. The musician said, "Yes." "The Minister of the country is the thigh of the monarch. When the thigh is injured, it is a day that is more sad than the death day. You don't remind the monarch, but you play an instrument on such a day. You are very capable!" Tu Kuai said, He forced the wine glass into the hands of the musician, "This glass of wine is toast to you, you must drink it!" The musicians were forced to drink the wine. Tu Kuai came to Li Tiao again: "You are the king's eyes, you must be bright. Now that the country's minister has passed away, the king's face is full of joy, but you turn a blind eye. This is because your eyes are not bright! This glass of wine punishes you !" Li Tiao was still hesitating, but Tu Kuai rolled his eyes, which made him tremble all over. He quickly took the wine and drank a full glass. Tu Kuai poured the wine again, and said to himself: "My job as a cook is to adjust the taste. Now the two people who serve the king have neglected their duties, and the king didn't order them to punish them. This is all my fault." Guilty." After speaking, he drank it in one gulp. Jin Pinggong was stunned for a long time in the hall, and said: "I know I'm wrong!" "Zuo Zhuan" records that Tu Kuai's big banquet this time achieved unexpected results, and Jin Pinggong "stopped it because it was right" (because he had some scruples about this matter, he gave up the idea of ​​arranging Li Tiao to be superior).In August of the same year, Xun Ying's son Xun Bi was appointed as the deputy commander of the lower army.The political wrestling between the Duke of Jin and Doctor Qing ended with Duke Ping of Jin's resignation. In July of the second year (532 BC), Duke Ping of Jin passed away. It is said that before Jin Pinggong died, there were signs.As early as the first month of this year, a new star appeared in the female constellation in the twenty-eight constellations.Pi Zao, a master of astrology in the state of Zheng, who once accurately predicted the deaths of King Ling of Zhou and King Kang of Chu, predicted again: "In July this year, the Marquis of Jin will die. Because this year the year star is in Xuanzang, and the Jiang family and the Ren family guard the place. The land. Nvsu is at the head of Xuanzang again, and there is a demon star, which indicates that there will be disasters to tell Yijiang." Brief explanation: 1. Xuanzang includes the three constellations of women, xu, and wei in the twenty-eight constellations. According to the ancient theory of "dividing fields", it corresponds to the land of Qi and Xue on the ground, that is, the land with the surnames Jiang and Ren. 2. The position of the female dormitory is at the top of Xuanzang.A demon star is a new star of unknown origin.The ancients used Nvsu to symbolize married daughters, and the appearance of demon stars in Nvsu symbolized disasters for married daughters. 3. Yijiang is the daughter of Qi Taigong and the biological mother of Tang Shu, the ancestor of the Jin Kingdom.The so-called calamity told Yijiang, of course, it means that the death of the Marquis of Jin is approaching. Perhaps it was Pi Zao's early prediction. After Jin Pinggong's death, Zheng Jiangong was the first to rush to Jin to express his condolences.But the Jin people persuaded him to go back on the bank of the Yellow River. The reason was: According to Zhou etiquette, the princes do not care about each other, so just send a doctor.