Volume 3 of "Long Wen Whip Shadow" Volume 1: Yu Rang swallows charcoal

Yu Rang Tuntan Su Wu Dining Mat

yù ràng tūn tàn sū wǔ cān zhān

Notes

(1) Yu Rang: A native of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period, his birth and death dates are unknown. As a famous assassin.

(2) Su Wu: Ziqing, a native of Duling (now southeast of Xi'an, Shaanxi) in the Western Han Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was ordered to send an envoy to the Xiongnu in a disciplined manner. However, Shan Yu tried to persuade him to surrender but refused to surrender and was detained for nineteen years. He was released during the reign of Emperor Zhao.

(3) Felt: a wool fabric pressed with glue from animal hair.

Language translation

In order to avenge Zhibo, Yu Rang swallowed charcoal and hurt his throat, making his voice hoarse; Su Wu chewed snow and swallowed felt, keeping his integrity.

Character Stories

According to the twenty-sixth chapter of "Historical Records: Biography of Assassins", Yurang once served two nobles, the Fan family and the Zhonghang family, but was never reused and had little fame. Later Yurang left them and joined Zhibo, who respected and favored him very much. Later, Zhibo attacked Zhao Xiangzi, but Zhao Xiangzi, together with Han Kangzi and Wei Huanzi, destroyed him and divided Zhibo's land. Zhao Xiangzi hated Zhibo so much that he cut off Zhibo's head and painted it into a wine vessel. Yu Rang fled into the mountains and said: "A gentleman should die for his confidant, and a woman should dress up for the person she loves. Uncle Zhi is the person who understands and trusts me the most. I must avenge Uncle Zhi. If I can die for this , my soul will not feel ashamed." So he changed his name, disguised himself as a criminal who was sentenced to serve, and went to Zhao Xiangzi's palace to smear the toilet wall with a dagger hidden on his body, hoping to find an opportunity to assassinate Zhao Xiangzi. One day, when Zhao Xiangzi was going to the toilet, he suddenly felt something in his heart. He sent someone to catch the person who was smearing the toilet for interrogation. They found that the person was Yu Rang, who was hiding a short knife and threatened to avenge Zhibo. The guards around Zhao Xiangzi wanted to kill him. Zhao Xiangzi said: "This man is a righteous man. We should be careful in the future. Besides, Zhibo has no descendants after his death. His subjects will avenge him. He is a rare sage in the world." Finally, he released Yurang.

After a while, Yurang painted his whole body again, causing leprosy to form on his skin and changing his body shape; he also deliberately burned his throat by swallowing charcoal fire, making his voice hoarse, and his appearance became helpless. identify. He was begging in the market and not even his wife recognized him. On the way, a close friend recognized Yu Rang. He shed tears when he saw his appearance and said to him: "With your talent, if you join Zhao Xiangzi and work for him, Zhao Xiangzi will definitely trust you. Wait until When he trusted you, wouldn't it be easy for you to kill him? Why would you want to take revenge on Zhao Xiangzi in this way? , serve him, and want to kill him, this is to serve him with a double heart. I know that what I do is extremely difficult, but the reason for doing this is to let those in the future generations who serve the monarch with a double heart feel. Shameful."

Soon, Yurang learned that Zhao Xiangzi was going out, so he hid under the bridge that Zhao Xiangzi must pass by, waiting for the opportunity. When Zhao Xiangzi came to the bridge, his horse suddenly started and neighed. Zhao Xiangzi said: "It must be Yurang under the bridge." He sent people down the bridge to arrest and question him, and it turned out to be Yurang. So Zhao Xiangzi asked Yu Rang: "Didn't you serve the Fan family and the Zhongxing family in the beginning? When Zhibo destroyed them all, instead of avenging them, you took refuge with Zhibo. Now Zhibo is dead. "Why did you try so hard to avenge him?" Yurang replied, "When I served the Fan family and the Zhongxing family, they treated me like a normal person, so I will repay them like a normal person. As for Zhibo, treat me favorably." He is an outstanding person, so I will treat him like an outstanding person." After hearing this, Zhao Xiangzi was moved to tears and said, "Yu Rang! What you have done for Zhibo has made you famous; and I have achieved fame. I have forgiven you once, and that's enough. Now you have to decide what to do, and I can't let you go anymore." So he ordered the soldiers to surround Yurang.

Although Yu Rang was surrounded, he still said calmly: "I heard that a wise king will not bury the merits of others, and loyal ministers should sacrifice for morality. You pardoned me last time, and everyone in the world Everyone praises your wisdom. I deserve to die for what happened today, but I ask you to give me a piece of your clothes and let me stab the clothes with a few swords. This can be regarded as revenge, so I will die without regrets! I dare not expect you to agree, but I boldly express my heart's request." Zhao Xiangzi admired Yu Rang's kindness very much, so he was handed a piece of clothing to him. Yu Rang drew his sword and stabbed it several times. Xiang Yi said, "I can finally repay Uncle Zhi for his kindness." After saying this, he committed suicide.

The "Book of Han Su Wu Biography" records that in the first year of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Su Wu as an envoy to the Huns as a Zhonglang general to escort the Huns envoys detained in the Han back to their country. Su Wu, deputy lieutenant general Zhang Sheng, envoy Chang Hui, and more than a hundred guards went there to complete the mission. The Chanyu was preparing to send someone to escort Su Wu and others back to the Han Dynasty. It happened that King Feng and Yu Chang and others secretly planned to kidnap the Chanyu's mother, the Yan family, and defect to the Han Dynasty. Yu Chang was an old acquaintance of Zhang Sheng when he was in the Han Dynasty. He visited Zhang Sheng privately and asked for support, and Zhang Sheng agreed. More than a month later, the plot failed, King Gu and others were killed in battle, and Yu Chang was captured alive. When Zhang Sheng heard the news, he was worried that what he had said to Yu Chang before would be exposed, so he told Su Wu the whole situation. Su Wu said: "When things get to this point, I will definitely be implicated. If I were violated and died, I would be very sorry to the country."

"Su Wu wanted to commit suicide to thank the country, but Zhang Sheng and Chang Hui stopped him. Yu Chang indeed confessed to Zhang Sheng. Shan Yu was furious and wanted to kill all the Han envoys. Zuo Yi Zhizi objected and believed that they should all surrender.

Chan Yu sent Wei Lu, a subordinate of the Han Dynasty, to interrogate Su Wu. Su Wu refused to humiliate his orders and stabbed himself. Wei Lu was shocked, hugged Su Wu, and sent someone to quickly find a witch doctor to dig a hole in the ground. , lit a fire in the pit, placed Su Wu on the pit, and gently stepped on his back to let the blood flow out. Su Wu's breath was lost, but it took half a day for him to regain his breath. Chang Hui and others cried and carried Su Wu back to the camp. Shanyu respected Su Wu's integrity and sent people to greet Su Wu morning and evening, but imprisoned Zhang Sheng.

Su Wu gradually recovered, and Shanyu sent envoys to persuade Yu Chang to surrender. At the same time, he tried Yu Chang, hoping to make Su Wu surrender. Wei Lu killed Yu Chang in front of Su Wu and Zhang Sheng, and then raised his sword to stab Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng asked to surrender, but Su Wu was unmoved by the threat and used it instead. Wei Lu used the wealth and title he gained after surrendering to the Huns to persuade Su Wu. "As a minister, you ignored your kindness, betrayed your monarch and your relatives, surrendered to the barbarians and became a prisoner. Why should I see you? Moreover, Shanyu trusts you and lets you decide people's life and death. You cannot enforce the law fairly. Instead, you want two monarchs to fight and watch the success or failure of the disaster. " Wei Lu then reported to Chanyu that Su Wu could not be coerced after all. The Chanyu wanted Su Wu to surrender more and more, so he imprisoned Su Wu in a large cellar and deprived him of food and drink. It was raining and snowing, and Su Wu lay down chewing snow and felt. After swallowing it to quench hunger and thirst, the Xiongnu believed him to be a god. They moved Su Wu to Beihai and asked him to herd rams, saying that he could not return to the Han Dynasty until the rams gave birth to lambs. After Su Wu arrived in Beihai, he was in a bad situation. It was very difficult, and Shanyu had no food supply. When he was hungry, he would dig out the fruits collected by wild rats to satisfy his hunger. Whether he was living or tending sheep, Su Wu held Han Jie until all the hair on it fell off.

< p>A few years after Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty came to the throne, the Xiongnu made peace with the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty sought Su Wu and others, but the Xiongnu falsely claimed that Su Wu was dead. Later, Han envoys came to the Xiongnu again and learned that Su Wu was not dead, so they falsely claimed that Shanyu was the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. A wild goose was shot in Shanglin Garden. There was a silk book tied to the goose's foot. The silk book said that Su Wu and others were in a certain lake. The Chanyu was very surprised and released Su Wu to the Xiongnu for nineteen years. In the spring of the sixth year of Emperor Zhao's reign. Returning to Chang'an. In the second year of the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, Su Wu died of illness at the age of eighty. Emperor Xuan painted his portrait in Qilin Pavilion to commend his integrity. Sima Qian shaped Yu Rang into a national scholar and praised him as a righteous man who "does not deceive his ambitions and will be famous for future generations." However, Fang Xiaoru's "On Yu Rang" criticized Yu Rang's behavior, believing that although he was loyal, he showed off his courage and acted rashly. It is unwise to sacrifice one's life for Uncle Zhi.

Confucius said: "A man with lofty ideals and benevolence will sacrifice his life to fulfill his benevolence, and will not harm his benevolence by seeking life." "He also said: "If you send troops to all directions, you will not disgrace your orders. "When Su Wu returned to the Han Dynasty, Li Ling held a banquet to congratulate him and said: "Now that I have returned, I will be famous among the Xiongnu, and my achievements will be shown in the Han Dynasty. Although it is recorded in ancient bamboos and silks and painted in paintings, how can I surpass Ziqing! "Su Wu sacrificed his prime years, adhered to his integrity, and achieved a reputation of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism.

金台 recruiting talents and jade offices to store talents

jīn tái zhāo shì yù shǔ zhù xián< /p>

Notes

(1) Jintai: Golden Platform, built by King Yan Zhao for Guo Wei during the Warring States Period

(2) Jade Office: the office of Yutang. Official signature. In the Song Dynasty, Hanlin Academy was called Yutang.

Zang. Magi hidden in the Hanlin Academy of the Song Dynasty

Character Stories

"Warring States Policy: Yan Ce" records that in 314 BC, King Xuan of Qi took advantage of the chaos in the Yan country to send troops and occupied the country. The territory of Yan State was almost destroyed by Qi State. King Zhao cleaned up the ruined Yan State and ascended the throne. He lowered his status and paid a lot of money to recruit talents from all over the world to revitalize Yan State in order to avenge Qi State's invasion. Seeing Mr. Guo Wei, King Zhao said: "The State of Qi took advantage of the chaos in our country to attack the State of Yan. I understand very well that Yan State is currently weak and weak, and its strength is not enough to take revenge. But it is my wish to have wise men to rule the country together and wash away the shame suffered by the late kings. May I ask, sir, what should we do to take revenge with the power of a country? Guo Wei replied: "Those who become emperors get along with teachers, those who become kings get along with friends, those who become hegemons get along with ministers, and those who become subjugated kings get along with servants." Subdue your own thoughts to serve the wise, face north and accept the teachings with an open mind, and then people with abilities a hundred times greater than yourself will come. If you run before others, rest after others, ask for advice before others, and remain silent without asking questions before others, then there will be people who are ten times more capable than yourself. When meeting each other, if others rush to meet you, and you rush to meet them, then someone with the same ability as yourself will come. Leaning on the table, holding a cane, and squinting with your fingers to make others do things, then the servant will come. If you are arrogant and violent towards others, shouting and beating at will, then the criminals and slaves serving their sentences will come. This is the ancient method of seeking talents by following the right path. If the king can extensively recruit wise men in the country and visit them personally, and people in the world hear that the king has visited those wise ministers, the wise men in the world will surely come to Yan State quickly.

”

After hearing this, King Zhao asked: “Who should I visit more appropriately?” Guo Wei said: "I heard that there was a king who was willing to spend thousands of gold to buy a thousand-mile horse, but after three years he still couldn't buy it." A man who was cleaning the palace volunteered to help buy a horse. The king sent him to buy horses. Three months later, he bought a thousand-mile horse, but the horse was dead, so he bought the head of the dead horse for five hundred gold, and reported the matter to the king when he returned. The king was very angry and said: "I am asking for a live horse, why is it a dead horse?" And it cost five hundred gold? ’ The person who was cleaning the palace replied: ‘I would spend five hundred gold to buy a dead horse, let alone a live horse? The world must think that the king is willing to pay a high price for the horse, and the thousand-mile horse has arrived now. ’ So in less than a year, he bought several thousand-mile horses. Now, if the king really wants to recruit wise men, he should start with me. If I am respected, what about those who are more wise than me? How could they not come to Yan because they thought it was a thousand miles away? "So King Zhao built a golden platform for Guo Wei and respected him as his teacher. As soon as the news came out, Le Yi came from Wei, Zou Yan came from Qi, Ju Xin came from Zhao, and talented people rushed to Yan.

King Yan Zhao worked hard to mourn the dead, condolences to the living, and shared the joys and sorrows of the people. After twenty-eight years of hard work, the Yan country became strong and prosperous, and the soldiers were comfortable and not afraid of war. Yi became the general and united Qin, Chu, and Jin (Han, Zhao, and Wei were divided into Jin) to attack Qi. The Qi army was defeated, and King Min of Qi fled alone. The Yan army pursued the defeated Qi soldiers and penetrated deep into the capital of Qi. Linzi, plundered the treasures of Qi State and burned down the palaces and ancestral temples of Qi State. The only two cities of Qi State that were not captured were Ju and Jimo.

"Song History: A Brief Biography of Su Yi" and "Shilin". "Yan Yu" records that Su Yijian came to the Hanlin Academy to accept the imperial edict. One day, Taizong came to the Academy in person and wrote the four characters "Yutangzhi" in Feibai script on the red luo. He gave it to Su Yijian and said: "Meiqing lives in Tsinghua University." land. "Su Yijian made a plaque with these four characters and hung it in the hall. Su Yijian, Han Dong, Bi Shi'an, Li Zhi and others went to watch it. When Taizong knew about it, he sent envoys to give a banquet, and everyone present wrote poems praising the matter. Taizong said : “The monarch and his ministers have met for thousands of years. Yi Jian said to him, "Loyalty and filial piety are my heart." "Taizong was very happy when he heard this, and rewarded him with all the gold objects at the banquet.

Explanation

The country's political clarity requires not only wise rulers, but also good generals and wise men. Therefore, since ancient times, benevolent kings have always treated the virtuous and corporal, seeking talents at all costs, so that the world can be well managed and the people can live and work in peace and contentment. King Yan Zhao followed Guo Wei's suggestion of "buying bones for a thousand gold" and built a golden platform to recruit talents, which made the Yan country rich and powerful. After visiting the thatched cottage three times to invite Zhuge Liang, the world is divided into three parts. Good generals are enough to rejuvenate the country, but conversely, sycophants will defeat the country.

As a politician, how can we not pay attention to it?