The wisdom of I Ching

Chapter 112 To be enterprising, you must be aboveboard——Jin Shuo is like a mouse, Zhen Li
【Original Code】

Ninety-four, the Jin Dynasty was like a rat, chaste and strong.

"Xiang" said: "The big rat is chaste and strong, and its position is not right."

—— "Book of Changes Jin"

【Interpretation】

"Jin" Hexagram Nine and Four Lines says that one has no skills and only relies on playing tricks to seek progress, just like a mouse, who can get benefits for a while, but the situation is very dangerous.

"Xiang Zhuan" said: like a mouse without special skills, sneaking around and playing tricks to seek advancement, it is inappropriate and dangerous to occupy a position.

"Jin" means aggressiveness, and the sun moves forward to rise above the ground and shine. "Xiang" said: "Ming comes out of the ground, Jin. A gentleman shows his own virtue." It means that a gentleman should carry forward his own virtues and give full play to society in the same way that the sun rises from the horizon in the morning and shines brightly on the world. Come forth as the sun shines.In the era of social advancement, a person should give full play to his ingenuity, serve the society, and benefit mankind.

The hexagram of "Jin" encourages people to be enterprising, but to be enterprising must act in an aboveboard manner.Seeking progress with the right attitude and the right method must be "no blame".If you can't make progress openly and stealthily like a field mouse stealing food, the result will be dangerous.In ancient times, there was a kind of rat that knew five skills: it could fly but not as high as a house; it could climb rocks but not as high as a tree; it could swim but not swim in a river; Nobody walks fast.Although it has many skills, none of them are perfect, so it always goes out quietly to carry out activities.

If a person does not have certain skills and wants to make progress, he will often only use his brain on "wrong ideas".Behavior is not aboveboard, even if you seek a certain position, you will not sit too firmly.It shouldn't be his in the first place, if you try to force it, you will be in danger sooner or later.

【Category】

Story [-]: Deng Tong's flattery "skills"

Deng Tong was mentioned twice in "Historical Records Ning Xing Biography", saying that he has no skills, neither singing nor dancing, his mind is even more empty, and he has no ability to govern the world.

In normal times, Emperor Wenwen of Han gave him time off, and he didn't want to go out, but just served Emperor Wen wholeheartedly.Day and night, even when he was awake, and even in his dreams, the emperor of course loved him even more.Therefore, Emperor Wen bestowed hundreds of millions of wealth on Deng Tong.

Emperor Wen had a carbuncle (abscess), and Deng Tong immediately sucked it for him.Deng Tong sucked pus and blood for Emperor Wen, and Prince Liu Qi had no choice but to suck pus and blood for Emperor Wen.When Liu Qin sucked pus and blood with a sad expression, how could he not resent Deng Tong in his heart?The good times didn't last long. Deng Tong's repeated flattery to the emperor had already caused the prince's resentment.After Liu Qi came to the throne (Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty), he found an opportunity to remove Deng Tong from his official position and confiscated all the money of Deng Tong's family. In the end, Deng Tong died of poverty.

Story [-]: Zhao Gao and Li Si are the minions of a tiger

In the winter of 210 BC, Qin Shihuang went on his last tour, contracted wind evil, and died when he walked to the sand dunes.

Zhao Gao was afraid that after Fusu ascended the throne, he would die without a place to bury him.Therefore, Fusu must not be allowed to inherit the throne.So he tampered with the contents of the sealed book and sent his cronies to kill Fusu and Mengtian.Prime Minister Li Si did not dare to disclose the news of Qin Shihuang's death rashly, fearing that the world would be in turmoil after knowing the truth, and even more worried that Qin Shihuang's many sons would compete for the throne.However, it was these worries and considerations that provided Zhao Gao with sufficient time to carry out his schemes.

Zhao Gao went to persuade Hu Hai, saying that Fusu had a seal book to be the emperor, and the princes would become the common people.Now, the princes and the Meng brothers are not around, the power is in the hands of Li Si and himself, I hope Hu Hai will not be controlled by others.He also threatened Hu Hai, saying: "Anyone who does a big business can't stick to the small details; those who care about the small and forget the big will inevitably have disasters in the future; those who hesitate will surely regret it in the future; those who are decisive and dare to do it will be seen by ghosts and gods." I have to avoid it, and I will definitely succeed. I am loyally thinking of the young master.

Zhao Gao's bewitchment really touched Hu Hai's heart.Although he didn't agree directly, he sighed half-push and said: "Now that the news of the father's death has not been announced, and the funeral has not been done, how can we use this matter to bother the prime minister?" Zhao Gao understood Hu Hai's intentions, Then he further said: "Timing is very important to do a good job. Since you don't object to my suggestion, I will discuss it with the prime minister."

Zhao Gao, who is good at using sweet words and scaremongering, warned Li Si: If Fu Su ascends the throne and Meng Tian acts as a prime minister, he will have nowhere to settle down; and Corporal Hu Hai is the most qualified to inherit the throne.Although Li Si was worried about his fate, he still didn't dare to act rashly. Zhao Gao said to him arrogantly: "Threats and safety can be transformed into each other. If you still can't see through it, don't understand it, what's the point of being smart and wise?" He also advised Li Si to observe the situation and be aware of current affairs, and not to offend the top and the court with the wild.Under Zhao Gao's soft and hard tactics, coercion and temptation, Li Si finally succumbed.

Later, both Zhao Gao and Li Si failed to end well. Zhao Gao conspired to kill Li Si, and Ziying plotted to get rid of Zhao Gao.This is "goodness has good results, evil is rewarded with evil", and things obtained by improper means cannot be maintained for a long time.

Story Three: Pang Juan was vicious and died unexpectedly

After the three families were divided into Jin, Han, Zhao, and Wei were the most powerful in Wei.King Wei Hui was also ambitious and wanted to learn from Qin in recruiting talents.Soon there came a man named Pang Juan, who claimed to be a student of Guiguzi, and was also a classmate of Su Qin, Zhang Yi, and Sun Bin. He boasted in front of King Wei, saying that as long as he could become a general, other countries would not be afraid of him. Just trusted him.After Pang Juan became a general, he trained soldiers and horses and launched attacks on Wei, Song, Lu and other countries.After winning battles in succession, the three kingdoms of Wei, Song and Lu all came to pay homage to him.Even the Qi State in the east sent troops to attack, but Pang Juan beat them back.From then on, the king of Wei trusted him even more.

Pang Juan's classmate Sun Bin is a descendant of the military strategist Sun Wu.He has both ability and political integrity, and is a rare talent, especially when he learned the [-] Art of War from his ancestors from his teacher Gui Guzi, he is even more resourceful.When Sun Bin heard that Pang Juan was a high official in the state of Wei, he came to the state of Wei. He first met Pang Juan and then the king of Wei.After the interview, the king of Wei knew that Sun Bin was very talented, and wanted to ask him to be his deputy military adviser to assist military adviser Pang Juan in acting together.

After hearing this, Pang Juan said to the King of Wei: "Sun Bin is my elder brother, and his talents are stronger than mine. How can he work under my subordinates. It is better to let him be a guest minister first, and I will give way to him after he has made great achievements." At that time, Ke Qing had no real power, but his status was higher than that of his courtiers. Sun Bin thought that Pang Juan was sincere and was very grateful to him.

Half a year later, someone from Qi State brought Sun Bin's family letter, to the effect that his brother asked him to go back, Qi State also wanted to restore the country's prestige, and hoped that the Sun family members could be reunited in Qi State.Sun Bin said to the visitor: "I have been a guest minister in the state of Wei, and I cannot leave casually." He also wrote a letter and asked him to take it back to his brother.

Sun Bin's reply letter was searched out and handed over to King Wei, who then called Pang Juan and said, "Sun Bin misses Qi, what should we do?" Seeing the opportunity, Pang Juan said to King Wei, "Sun Bin is a worthy man. If a talented person returns to the state of Qi, it will be very detrimental to the state of Wei. I will go and persuade him first, and if he does not want to stay in the state of Wei, leave it to me to deal with it.” King Wei agreed to Pang Juan’s request.

Of course Pang Juan did not try to persuade Sun Bin, but suggested that he go back to Qi to "visit relatives".Sun Bin asked the king of Wei for leave. When the king of Wei heard that he was going back, he convicted him of having an affair with the state of Qi and took him to Pang Juan for interrogation.Pang Juan pretended to be surprised, first released Sun Bin, and then ran to plead with the king of Wei.After a long time, he ran back in a panic and said, "Your Majesty is angry and must kill you. After my repeated entreaties, I finally saved your life, but you must be punished with tattoo and bed." Sun Bin listened, although very However, he felt that Pang Juan had done his best for himself, and he was still very grateful to him.

Sun Bin's kneecap was removed, and he could only crawl and walk from then on, becoming permanently disabled.Pang Juan said: "Can you write down the thirteen Art of War handed down by your ancestors? We can study them together so that they can be passed on to future generations."

Since Sun Bin could only lie there and carve words on the bamboo slips with a knife, he could only carve a dozen characters a day.Pang Juan lost his composure, so he asked his subordinates to urge Sun Bin to write quickly.Sun Bin asked the man who served him, "Why did Master Pang urge me to quickly write the art of war?" The man said, "You don't understand this? Master Pang left your life just to let you write the art of war." Once you finish writing, your life will be gone.”

When Sun Bin heard this, he suddenly realized that he pretended to be crazy, beat his chest and pulled out his hair, his eyes were dull, and he pushed things down for a while, and threw the written art of war into the fire for a while.Congren hurriedly told Pang Juan, "Mr. Sun is crazy!" This was actually Sun Bin's trick of "fake insanity" and tricked Pang Juan.From then on, he just sent someone to monitor Sun Bin and stopped asking about others.Later, after some careful planning, Sun Bin finally escaped from the state of Wei.After Sun Bin arrived in Qi State, King Wei Wei of Qi immediately worshiped him as a military adviser as if he had found a treasure.

Soon, Pang Juan led his troops to defeat Song, Lu, Wei, Zhao and other countries in a row, and Yue State asked Qi State for help.The king of Qi appointed Tian Ji as a general and Sun Bin as a military adviser, causing Pang Juan's army to be defeated one after another.Sun Bin lures Pang Juan to chase him by "reducing the stove", sets up an ambush, and shoots Pang Juan to death on Maling Road.

It can be said that Pang Juan's untimely death was caused by himself.If he can humbly ask Sun Bin for advice, learn from each other, and make progress together, maybe he will achieve success in his career and spread his reputation like "Generals and Prime Ministers".It's a pity that Pang Juan was jealous of the virtuous and capable, played tricks, and adopted despicable means of attack. As a result, he harmed others, and even himself.

Story [-]: Yang Xiuqing's wishful thinking
Yang Xiuqing wanted to replace Hong Xiuquan and monopolize power.So I came up with a plan.One day, just as Hong Xiuquan got up, an official ran in and said, "The Heavenly Father has descended to earth, please go to the East Mansion to serve him." Hong Xiuquan hurriedly changed his clothes and trotted to the East Mansion.The East Mansion was solemn and solemn, the bells were loud, and all civil and military officials knelt on the ground.

Yang Xiuqing was lying on the throne, her eyes were closed, her face was pale, and she was unconscious.Hu Yihuang, Hou Qianfang and others were all waiting on the side.Hong Xiuquan knelt in front of Yang Xiuqing and shouted: "Xiuquan welcomes Heavenly Father."

I saw Yang Xiuqing trembling all over, turned over and sat up, eyes like electricity, voice like Hong Zhong, said: "Is Xiuquan kid here?" Waiting for the instruction of Heavenly Father." "Heavenly Father" said: "For father, you will not come if there is no matter, and you will not come if there is no major event. Let me ask you, is your fourth brother a great contribution?" Hong Xiuquan said: "The East King has contributed the most." "Heavenly Father" said: "Heavenly generals have great responsibilities, but Wei Xiuqing is the only one! To be subdued to the Eastern King is to be overqualified. You should give him the throne of Zen and let him rule the kingdom of heaven."

Hong Xiuquan hurriedly said: "Son, I would like to abide by the teachings of the heavenly father." "Heavenly father" said: "Remember, if we are both supporting the kingdom of heaven, those who are capable will take the lead if they work harder; matters in the world are determined by heaven, and we should abide by them without delay. For this reason, I have gone to heaven for my father!"

Yang Xiuqing trembled again, turned over and fell to the ground.Everyone hurriedly helped him up.After a short pause, he just "woke up".Yang Xiuqing rubbed his eyes, saw Hong Xiuquan at a glance, and hurriedly fell down and bowed down: "Second brother, please sit on top!" Hong Xiuquan stood up, and said with an apologetic smile: "Congratulations to the fourth brother, congratulations to the fourth brother, soon you will be the long live of the kingdom of heaven .”

Yang Xiuqing said: "When the heavenly father told me, my brother felt very sudden. He refused repeatedly, but the heavenly father refused." Hong Xiuquan said: "The heavenly father's arrangement is wise. As the saying goes: 'The virtuous live here, Those who have no virtue will lose it. 'My fourth brother's virtue is worthy of heaven and earth, and I can't match it. The command of the heavenly father is also in line with my wishes.' After saying that, he laughed.

Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan suppressed his anger, dragged his heavy legs back to the palace, and fell on the bed after retreating left and right, cursing in his heart: Yang Xiuqing, Yang Xiuqing, you are too arrogant.How dare you use the mouth of the heavenly father to falsely preach the imperial decree and force me to abdicate, how can I tolerate you!On the surface, Hong Xiuquan was actively preparing for the Zen throne ceremony, pretending to be real, and first stabilized Yang Xiuqing.He secretly dispatched troops and generals, transferred the two kings of Bei and Yan back to Tianjing, and eliminated Yang Xiu by surprise.Yang Xiuqing's dream was shattered, and she also ended up decapitated.

【The Heart of the Book of Changes】

If a person is insidious and treacherous, playing tricks, he will inevitably suffer retribution in the end.Playing tricks behind the scenes and engaging in small tricks, but anyone who dares not be aboveboard is a manifestation of hypocrisy.Hypocrisy is not only shameful, but also the most immoral.A person who has one point of hypocrisy will have three points of hypocrisy, and his words and deeds are also unbelievable.

If a person has hypocrisy, hypocrisy, and deceit in his heart, he will definitely have selfishness, hypocrisy, desire, and greed.In fact, they have all forgotten the truth that "people can be deceived but their hearts cannot be deceived, and their hearts can be deceived but heaven cannot be deceived".

Everything a person does in his life is seen by all eyes and pointed by all hands.Even if you can deceive one person, you cannot deceive ten or a hundred people, let alone all the people in the world; you cannot deceive one person for a while, and you cannot deceive a hundred or a thousand lives.Therefore, Confucianism takes "cautious independence" as its teaching, hoping that we will be less deceitful when we are human beings and doing things.Jealousy and slander have always been hated by people of insight.

Without the heart of jealousy or slander, one will naturally be open-minded, be upright, and be able to coexist peacefully and harmoniously with others.However, it is unavoidable to be jealous, which will not only cause harm to others, but also bring great disadvantages to oneself.For the world, this is the most important thing to get rid of.

In short, it is necessary to be open and above board when doing things for others.The way to advance is to grasp the principle of neutrality. First of all, you must understand that you should not pursue what you should not seek, and don't think wildly.In addition, you must not use improper means when you are aggressive, otherwise you will only be the one who suffers in the end.

(End of this chapter)