Chapter 54 3. The Legend of Heshibi

The Baopu Rock behind Qingyun Mountain Villa is a legendary scenic spot and historic site.According to legend, during the reign of King Li of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period, a pair of phoenixes perched on this rock and danced.Bian He, a stonemason nearby, followed the sound and found a piece of jade on the rock where the two phoenixes perched.The next story is as written in "Han Feizi·Heshi Pian": "Bian He, a man of Chu, got the jade in Jingshan Mountain, and offered it to King Li. King Li made the jade man meet him. The jade man said:' Shi Ye.' The king took Bian He as a lie, and cut off his left foot. After the death of King Li, King Wu ascended the throne. Bian He offered his raw materials to King Wu. King Wu sent a jade man to meet him. He said again: 'Shi Ye.' The king took Bian He as a lie, and cut off his right foot. King Wu died, and King Wen came to the throne. Bian He held his Pu and wept under Jingshan Mountain. For three days and three nights, his tears were exhausted, followed by blood. When the king heard about it, people asked him Therefore, he said: "There are many people in the world who are cutting off, and Zixi is crying?" Bian He said: "I am not sorry for cutting off, but I am sorry for my husband's precious jade. I named it as a stone, and named it as a lie. This is me. That's why it's sad.' The king asked the jade man to sort out the roughness and get the precious jade, so he ordered him to say: "Heshibi."

Sima Yi has long been familiar with this story. Hearing that Bian He's rock of pain in Baopu was located here, he asked Sima Zhi and Niu Heng to lead the way to pay his respects.But seeing that the towering Baopuyan seems to be quite different from the surrounding rolling peaks, it is as tall and straight as if rising from the ground, and it is like a huge iron gate that was split from the top by the mountain axe, thick and heavy. , bent down from mid-air, making people almost bend their backs. Standing on the Fengluo Terrace at Baopu Rock where it is said that Bian He found Yupu, Sima Yi looked at the clouds in the sky and listened to the singing of warblers and birds, but his thoughts had drifted away. open.Bian He discerns treasures with his intelligent eyes, presents the raw material to the Lord, and originally wanted to return the beauty to the Lord, but when a foolish king was in court and a slanderous husband was by his side, he couldn't distinguish between the loyal and the false, and it was difficult to distinguish the jade from the jade, which led to the disaster of cruel punishment. It's pathetic.

In fact, Chen Fan, Li Ying, Fan Pang, Liu Tao and other party rulers since the two emperors Huan and Ling took the throne are not living Bianhe scholars?However, Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, who were fatuous and incompetent like King Li and King Wu of Chu, and traitorous eunuchs and eunuchs who were as incompetent as the jade men of Chu State, regarded Chen Fan, Li Ying, Fan Pang, Liu Tao and other loyal officials directly Scholars are like enemies, they are imprisoned, oppressed, persecuted, and slaughtered. As a result, after killing these loyal people indiscriminately, the Han Dynasty itself sounded the death knell for itself.Alas, if any imperial court is corrupt to the point where there is no distinction between loyalty and villainy, right and wrong, and ignorance, its dying can be said to be a self-inflicted crime, and who can blame it?My father often said: "If there is no abuse in the court and no virtuous people in the country, the world will be peaceful." This is really a lesson that will never be easy.

He calmed down, turned around, looked straight at Sima Zhi, and asked slowly: "Brother Zhi, what do you gentlemen in Qingyun Villa think of this legend about Bian He presenting jade?" Sima Zhi giggled, and said casually: "Second brother Zhongda, I personally think that Bian He is really a pedantic teacher who is obsessed with loyalty but loses his understanding. He is ignorant of current affairs and has his feet cut off. eat." "Oh... so Brother Zhi thinks so!" Sima Yi's heart moved, but his face remained calm, and he said calmly, "Where are your other classmates?"

"My younger brother, a classmate once wrote a poem commenting on this matter: 'Why do you need to be so persistent with one jade? You forget your body after two times of cutting. With a smile, he said gracefully, "Students all praised him for writing this poem very open-minded and free, breaking the shackles of wishful thinking..." "Hehehe... This is also called broad-minded and free and easy? How can this kind of soft, boneless, mediocre and vain words be praised? Everyone is like him who sees through the world, knows how to protect oneself, and lives at ease. How can I be a Confucian gentleman? The purpose of benevolence and righteousness? Forget it, let’s not talk about them, how did Zhuge Liang comment on the matter of Bian and Xianyu?”

Sima Zhi just now heard that Sima Yi's words had a bit of fiery criticism, he smiled a little embarrassedly, and carefully said: "Zhuge Liang? Zhuge Liang only said that Bian He was too simple and blunt. After a while, he can carve out this rare piece of jade and present it to King Chuli! If so, he probably won't lose his two legs in vain." "There is an old saying: 'Water is popular, if it is hindered by rigidity, you will seek to understand it from softness; when a wise man is in trouble, if you are hindered by this, you will seek understanding from that. Not good.'—Zhuge Liang can be said to have a deep understanding of the essence of this phrase!" Sima Yi listened, smiled knowingly, and nodded slowly in praise.

"Then, second brother Zhongda, what is your opinion on the matter of Bian He offering jade?" Sima Zhi rolled his eyes and asked him rather curiously. "Brother Wei's views on Bian He offering jade are somewhat similar to those of Zhuge Liang. But brother Wei likes to ask the bottom line and seek truth from facts, and never makes empty comments. According to brother Wei's thinking, Zhuge Liang can think of 'cutting rough and then offering' Could it be that Bian He didn't think of the plan? If Bian He didn't think of it when he dedicated it to King Chu Li for the first time, then he must have thought of it after he lost his first leg.

"However, Bian He knows the value of this piece of jade he owns—it is a unique and rare jade! It is not a clever craftsman who can discern treasures and ingenious workmanship, but he is not smart, wise, virtuous and blessed. But King Li of Chu and King Wu of Chu are both foolish kings! Those jade craftsmen under him are also shams. If Bian He handed over such a precious piece of jade to them, they would have neither insight nor wisdom. If you have no ingenuity, and you don’t know how to cherish treasures and love treasures, what if you perfunctorily destroy that rare treasure? Without a skillful craftsman, he had no choice but to be tortured himself rather than damage the jade. Therefore, Bian He carried the rare jade in his arms, and he did not hesitate to have his feet cut off, suffered heavy punishment, endured humiliation, and supported him with all his strength. What he was waiting for was a skilled craftsman with insight and wise and wise lord.

"Alas... Bian He's unique insight, perseverance in choosing what is good, perseverance in waiting for the time, never turning back, is really a lesson for all of us to set ourselves up and practice the way. We must learn from it! If we can have his kind With such painstaking efforts and perseverance, Shen Yi is tenacious, and any cause must be unstoppable by man and unstoppable by heaven, and there will be a day when the clouds will be cleared!" When Sima Zhi heard Sima Yi's firm and powerful words, he couldn't help but feel his heart tremble, and he was in awe: "Second brother Zhongda's words are powerful, upright, vigorous and honest, my younger brother is here to learn!"

Sima Yi slowly turned his gaze back again, cast his eyes deeply on Sima Zhi's face, and his tone suddenly became very gentle and soft: "Actually, Uncle, Brother Zhi, Brother Niu Heng, you have always served me for the past twenty years. The great cause of the Sima family's sudden emergence and turning the world around has always been admirable to my brother. Now, we are finally able to work together side by side, and finally leave my Sima family to monopolize the world. The ambition of "One World, One Family" is getting closer." Sima Zhi's eyes slowly turned red, and his voice choked up: "Second brother Zhongda... why are you saying these kind words? Who in my Sima family doesn't do that? You are at Xudu's side. It's also a deep dive, a risky struggle! My father always said that Cao Cao's lord is ruthless and treacherous, far better than Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou. It's more difficult for you to circle around him than here in Jingzhou..."

When the two of them were sighing, the scene suddenly fell silent, the sky, the ground, and the mountain became silent—Sima Yi and Sima Zhi seemed to hear the undercurrent of the Shenbi Lake at the foot of the mountain. the rushing sound.