Master Kong Zhongni

Chapter 155 Zai Zi Sees Duke Jing of Qi (4K4)

The night was getting darker and the sky was full of stars, but Qi Guogong Palace was still brightly lit.

In the Wu palace, silk bamboo and orchestral music floated softly, and a group of young dancers in light silk clothes danced to accompany the songs.

Qi Hou leaned comfortably on the cushion of the sleeping platform, watching the song and dance performance while laughing silly.

From time to time, he would reach out his hand and pull out an apricot from the lacquered plate next to it with various fruits and put it into his mouth.

As for why he only picks apricots to eat, it's not because he likes apricots so much.

But in this cold winter, Xing'er has already passed the season.

In the huge state of Qi, only in the underground ice cellar of his Marquis Qi, there are these pre-stored off-season fruits.

The apricots themselves are not very delicious, but the apricots in winter have a special flavor.

Taking a bite of the sweet and sour apricot, enjoying the refreshing feeling of the juice bursting in his mouth, Qi Hou couldn't help sighing in his heart.

"It's great to be a king!"

Qi Hou is stealing beauty in his heart.

Suddenly, a minister wearing a black hat walked quickly to Qihou's side and whispered something beside him.

"Huh? We found someone so quickly? Are you asking the widow if you want to remove the vocal music?"

Qihou was in high spirits, so he was not willing to remove the advocates and dancers.

He replied: "There is no need to withdraw, let them come to see me directly."

After hearing this, Xiao Chen hesitated for a long time, and finally persuaded him tactfully: "Would it be disrespectful if you do this..."

"Um?!"

In a blink of an eye, Qi Hou frowned and looked at him.

The little official was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head and shut his mouth. He kept scolding himself in his heart, why talk too much when he has nothing to do, isn't this looking for scolding?

Unexpectedly, instead of scolding him, Qihou said calmly.

"Although the widow is very unhappy, your words are not wrong.

Later, after you bring the two gentlemen from the Lu Kingdom, you can go to the inner palace to receive a reward of [-] coins. "

After finishing speaking, Qi Hou continued to watch the performance with great interest, as if he didn't take this matter to heart at all.

The little minister also breathed a sigh of relief, and hastily received Qihou's order to leave the palace gate, muttering as he walked.

"Hey... Although your majesty is greedy for pleasure, there is still one good thing, that is, he will listen to advice and not take his anger out on others!"

Not long after he left, Zaiyu and Zigong were led outside the palace gate.

Before he stepped into the hall, Zigong couldn't help but change a few times when he heard the melancholy voice coming from the hall.

He muttered softly: "Isn't Marquis Qi planning to summon us? Why is Guan Sheng making such a fuss in the hall? Doesn't this mean we are not taking us seriously?"

Zaiyu thought for a while, then suddenly lowered his voice and said.

"If this is the case, then Qihou is just asking for shame. You have to be patient for a while, and I will deal with it."

Zigong was skeptical, but he thought about Zaiyu's miraculous performance over the past year, and he still planned to believe him for the time being.

The two took a deep breath, quickly adjusted their mood, and stepped into Wu Palace.

As soon as the two of them entered the door, they saw a shirtless, tattooed and disheveled Chanyou jumping in front of them with a torch in hand.

He spit out a mouthful of wine mist, the torch was instantly ignited, and a ball of fire exploded in the air.

When Qihou saw him, he clapped his hands happily.

"Good! Good!"

Zigong's face was livid, and the annoyance in his heart could not be increased. He couldn't help but want to turn his head and leave, but Zaiyu spoke at this moment.

Zai Yu asked with a smile: "You seem to like girl music, singing and dancing, and juggling performances very much!"

When Marquis Qi heard this, he couldn't help being interested: "I heard from Yan Zi that you are a gentleman from the state of Lu. I can understand that you know music, but I didn't expect you to study singing, dancing and juggling. "

Zaiyu replied with a smile: "I dare not call myself a gentleman, but I have practiced the six arts of a gentleman. Now that I know the six arts of a gentleman, I naturally understand the principles of singing, dancing and juggling."

Qihou asked in confusion, "Why is that?"

Zaiyu saw that he was falling into the trap, so he smiled and took out the speech he had prepared earlier, and replied.

"When my teacher commented on "Yi", he once said: If you draw and extend it, touch it and grow it, the ability of the world will be completed.

When studying "Yi", as long as you master the eight trigrams, you can extend it outward to deduce the sixty hexagrams, 380 and four lines, so that you can master the "Yi" and understand all the affairs of the world.

Therefore, all things in the world are common. As long as you master one of them and deduce it outward, you can understand the principles of other things.

Those dancers who are stepping on the drumbeat, their figures are as graceful and light as turning rings, their bodies are as slender as leaves falling in the wind, their black hair curls and stretches in the wind, and their dancing steps are as fast as cranes flying in shock.

Those who perform juggling, their movements are as agile as apes, and they can leap from one bamboo pole to another.Sometimes it bends and stretches freely like a dragon, and sometimes it flies down the branches like a flying swallow.

These dancers are not born with soft bodies, and these dancers are not born with lightness and vigor, but they have gradually become proficient through long-term training and accumulation to reach this superb level.

This is like the growth of a tree. You can't see it growing taller every day, but you will find that it grows taller and thicker after a long time.

This is like a whetstone for grinding hard metals. In the short term, the wear of the whetstone itself cannot be seen, but over time, the whetstone becomes thinner.

Thistles grow rapidly, and every day you can see it wriggling like a worm and growing taller, but thistles that grow so fast cannot be used as pillars.

As for the nanmu, sleepers and camphor, it takes seven years to find that they grow into usefulness, but it is these slow-growing trees that can be used to make coffins and boats.

So, although some things are easy to do, they may not be good things.

And some things are difficult to succeed, but they can make great achievements.

This is also true for humans.

A gentleman's cultivation of virtue and talent, although not immediately effective, will naturally reap rewards over time.

If a gentleman indulges in singing and female sex, although he can obtain temporary happiness, how can he shoulder the responsibility of a pillar after a long time?

It is said in "Poetry": The sun will follow the moon, and learning will lead to prosperity in the light.When the Buddha is on his shoulders, he shows me his virtues.

There is progress every day and every month, and only by accumulating knowledge can we grow.There is great responsibility on your shoulders, and only by remembering can you show virtue.

This is exactly what happened! "

After hearing this, Marquis Qi hurriedly stood up and apologized to Zai Yu.

"The widow has no virtue and does not know etiquette, so I treated you slowly.

Fortunately, I got your advice in time, otherwise I would have made a big mistake! "

Afterwards, Qi Hou winked at the little ministers beside him again, and urged: "Hurry up! Get rid of these quickly."

After hearing these words, Zai Yu just replied with a smile: "How can you be virtuous? Before I came to Qi, my teacher said that you are a virtuous king!"

"Oh? I am virtuous?" Qi Hou was flattered and said, "Who is your teacher?"

"My teacher is none other than Confucius of the State of Lu!"

"Oh! So you are students of Confucius!"

When Qi Hou heard that they were students of Confucius, his attitude became a lot more intimate.

When Confucius accompanied Lu Zhaogong in exile in Qi State, he admired Confucius very much, and even wanted to appoint him as a doctor.

But when Yan Zi learned about it, he came to see him and said: "Since the death of the sages and ministers, the Zhou royal family has gradually declined, and the system of ritual and music has been difficult to restore to its former appearance.

Nowadays, Confucius pays attention to appearance and clothing, performs cumbersome court etiquette, and even has prescribed movements for raising hands and feet.

If the monarch wants to use his etiquette to change the old customs of Qi, I am afraid that it will not work with the people first. "

Qihou thought for a while, and it seemed to be so reasonable, so he treated Confucius with the treatment of a senior official and gave him a generous salary, but he never mentioned the matter of appointing him again.

Thinking of this, Qi Hou suddenly understood why Yan Zi stopped recommending the two young people in front of him.

He remembered that there seemed to be some rift between Yanzi and Confucius.

When Confucius came to visit him for the first time, the Marquis of Qi asked Confucius.

"Sir, when you came to Qi, haven't you visited Yanzi of our country?"

Confucius replied: "I heard that Yanzi served three monarchs and obeyed them all.

It can be seen that Yanzi is a person with three thoughts, so I didn't go to see him. "

After Confucius left, Marquis Qi didn't think too much, and told Yan Zi what he said casually.

Yan Zi immediately became unhappy after hearing this, he replied.

"I don't have three kinds of thoughts. I only have the idea of ​​assisting the monarch and helping the country to stabilize and prosper.

Because of this, I obey the three monarchs and assist them.

As far as assisting the monarch is concerned, it is wrong to say that what is right is wrong, or what is wrong is right.

Confucius must occupy one of the two, so he said this to me. "

Confucius lived in Qi for a long time, and gradually understood Yan Zi's actions, so he went to the door to apologize to him.

But judging from Yanzi's attitude, it should be that he hasn't forgiven him until now.

Thinking about it this way, Qihou felt that his thoughts became much smoother.

No wonder Master Yan was full of praise for these two young people at first, but later his tone became difficult to use.

It seems that Confucius' evaluation of "Three officials are the same as the king, all can obey him" has caused more harm to Yan Fuzi than everyone imagined!
But here, Qi Hou became a little tangled up again.

Since these two young men are students of Confucius, should he use them or not?
When it came to how to use Confucius, Qi Hou was very troubled.

Perhaps his courtesy to Confucius was too high, which aroused the jealousy of others.

Or maybe the theories he preached touched the interests of some people, so they were hated by them.

Before Confucius left Qi State, some rumors had spread in the city of Linzi——If Confucius did not leave, then he might as well not leave, and just bury him in Qi State.

However, due to the pressure of the situation at that time, Qi Hou did not come forward to protect Confucius, but could only tell him to run away.

For this matter, Qihou has always felt guilty in his heart.

Seeing Confucius' students at this time, he couldn't tell what it was like in his heart.

I could only ask in embarrassment: "Confucius... didn't blame the widow?"

"Blame you?" Zaiyu thought for a while, then asked Zigong beside him, "Is there?"

Zigong replied: "There are still some. The master said that building large-scale construction, expanding the palace, extravagance and waste, and not frugality are all things you did wrong."

When Qihou heard this, he seemed to think of something old.

He smiled and said: "He did mention these things to the widow back then, and the widow is slowly correcting it."

Zai Yu laughed and said, "But apart from these things, Master still praises you a lot."

"Oh?" Qihou said with some embarrassment: "I...do I have anything worthy of Confucius' praise?"

Zai Yu said: "At the beginning, our country's ancestor Zhao Gong went into exile in Qi State, you not only accepted him, but also promised Zhao Gong [-] households as food, and also planned to call the princes to escort Zhao Gong back to the country.

Although it was not possible to make the trip due to various reasons, it is enough to discern the righteousness in your heart from your behavior.

You treated our country's ancestors favorably and wanted to promote benevolence and righteousness among the Xia.

The people of the State of Lu miss your kindness to this day. How can there be nothing worthy of praise in you? "

Qihou blushed even more when he heard this.

The so-called failure to make the trip due to various reasons, in fact, his favorite minister Liang Qiuju took bribes from the Ji clan in private and slandered him in front of him, making him give up his plan to send Lu Zhaogong back to the country.

Although he found out about this later, firstly, Liang Qiuju had a very good relationship with him, and secondly, Liang Qiuju had already died of illness, so why did he want to trouble a dead person?
Having said that, Zaiyu took out the soy sauce he had prepared from his sleeve, and offered it with both hands.

"The people of the State of Lu have always cared about your kindness, and after I learned that I was summoned by you today, I have always wanted to offer something as a report of your past kindness.

However, your summoning was too sudden, so I can't offer you such a precious treasure, so let me express my heart with this bottle of soy sauce brewed by myself! "

When Qihou heard this, he was also a little moved.

"Oh, my widow...how can I be so virtuous and capable that I can be loved by the people of Lu country so much?!"

The little minister took the pottery bottle from Zai Yu's hand, and placed it squarely in front of Marquis Qi.

Qihou pulled off the bottle cap and saw that it was completely dark inside, he couldn't help asking: "What is this?"

Zai Yu replied: "You can use it as a meat sauce, as a side dish when eating, or when cooking."

Qihou was stunned when he heard this: "Sauce? Would a gentleman also do such a humble thing as making sauce?"

Zaiyu heard this, and just asked with a smile: "Although I am not a gentleman, making sauce is not a humble thing."

Qihou asked: "Isn't that so? It's a tiring and humble job, everyone says so!"

Zaiyu didn't answer directly, but asked rhetorically, "People like Shennong, Shun, and Yu can be called sages and gentlemen, right?"

Qihou nodded: "Of course."

Zai Yu said: "In ancient times, people ate wild vegetables, drank raw water, picked fruits from trees to satisfy their hunger, and ate raw meat to wrap their stomachs, so they were often attacked by diseases and poisonous food.

Under such circumstances, Shennong tasted the taste of herbs and the sweetness and bitterness of spring water, and was poisoned seventy times a day.He taught this knowledge to the people, so that the people knew how to avoid harmful things and choose beneficial things.

Shun built houses, built earthen walls, and covered roofs with thatch and reeds, so that the people no longer lived in caves in the wild, but had houses and families.

Yu braved the torrential rain and the strong wind to dredge the river, dig through the Dragon Gate, open up Yique, build the embankment of Pengli Lake, take four kinds of transportation, and rush around the river, plain, hill, and swamp, and cut down trees along the mountain to make a mark. Level the land and manage the waters.

The work of Shennong, Shun, and Yu, if viewed separately, is nothing more than tasting grass and trees, laying bricks and tiles, and carrying earth.

But although these affairs seem very small, they can benefit and eliminate harm for the people.

So, how can you feel that some things are humble because they are inconspicuous, and think that a gentleman should respect them and stay away from them? "

　Even your voting fingertips are glowing with beautiful colors.

　　——Excerpt from "Zaiyu's Diary"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)