In the capital of Wei, Wei Gang summoned a sage who was famous in the world. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

King Wei is already an old man in his sixties this year, but his delicate and elegant life makes him look like a middle-aged man in his forties. The person he summoned was in his thirties, with a square face, and his body seemed to have a natural sense of righteousness. This person is the leader of the new generation of Confucianism - Meng Ke, a native of Zou State.

The king of Wei asked, "Sir has come thousands of miles away, and there will be Eli my country?" ”

Meng Ke replied: "Why should the king talk about profit? Listen to me and tell me about righteousness. The king will say, "What is good for my country?" The doctor will say, "How can I make my fiefdom profitable?" The scholars and the people will say, "How can I do it good for myself?" If everyone is like this, the result will inevitably be that everyone from top to bottom will compete for profit, and in this way, the country will be in danger. In the country of ten thousand vehicles, the one who kills the king must be the family of the thousand vehicles; In the country of a thousand vehicles, the one who kills his king must be the family of the hundred vehicles. There are 1,000 multipliers in the country of 10,000 multipliers, and there are 100 multipliers in the land of 1,000 multipliers, and they have not too many. If righteousness is put behind profit, they will never be satisfied if they do not take the position of king. On the other hand, he who has never spoken of "benevolence" has abandoned his parents, and he who has never spoken of "righteousness" has abandoned his monarch. Therefore, the king only needs to speak of righteousness, but why should he speak of profit? ”

The king of Wei walked to the edge of the pond, and while looking forward to the wild geese and elk, waiting for the birds and beasts, he said to Mencius and asked: "I have heard that the Emperor Yaotai, the Emperor Yutai, the Emperor Danzhu Terrace, and the Emperor Shun Terrace are each two platforms, and the shape of the platform is boxy, which is on the northeast side of the Kunlun Mountain. (Zhou Wen) the king has a spirit of restraint, and the eagle and deer are ambushed. The deer is irrigated, and the white bird is penny. The king is in the spirit swamp, and the brick cuts and the fish jumps. Did these sages also take pleasure in it? ”

Mencius replied, "It is because they are virtuous that they are able to take pleasure in it, and even if the unvirtuous have these things, they will not be happy." In the "Book of Songs", it is praised: After the beginning of the Lingtai, the camp of the scriptures, and the common people attack it, it will not be completed in the future. Don't be anxious at the beginning, the common people come. The king is in the spirit, the deer are in wait, the deer are wet, and the white birds and cranes are in the mountains. The king is in the spirit swamp, and the fish jumps in the mot. Although King Wen of Zhou used the people's power to build a high platform and a deep pond, the common people were very happy to call that platform Lingtai and that pond Lingmarsh, and they were happy that there were rare birds and beasts such as elk, fish and turtles. Ancient kings were able to rejoice with their people, so they were truly happy. On the contrary, the "Tang Oath" says: When will you destroy, you sun? I am willing to die with you! The common people are eager to die with you, even if you have a high platform and a deep pool, what happiness can you have? ”

When the King of Wei heard this, Gu Pan's expression stopped, and he invited Mencius to sit at the upper table. Then he respectfully bowed to Mencius: "The widow is willing to listen to the advice of the master." ”

Mencius asked, "Dare you ask the king, what is the difference between beating someone to death with a wooden stick and killing someone with a knife?" ”

King Wei replied, "Of course, it is no different. ”

Mencius asked, "What is the difference between killing people with a knife and killing people for political purposes?" ”

King Wei thought about it carefully, in his life as a king, he was very tolerant of his subordinates among the princes of other countries, and he did not kill many courtiers. At that time, the old prime minister of Wei died, and he strongly persuaded him to use his concubine Shang Ying as the prime minister, and said that if he could not use it, he would kill him, and the king of Wei did not pay attention to the opinion of the uncle. The king of Wei had a clear conscience about killing people for the sake of politics. So he replied, "It's no different. ”

Mencius then said, "O king, you have fat meat in your kitchen and fat horses in your stables, but your people are hungry in their faces, and they are hungry in the wilderness. You are the king of Wei and the parents of the people. Isn't this kind of administration leading the beasts to eat the common people? How embarrassed are you to call yourself the parent of the people? Confucius once said: The initiator, there is no aftermath? It's just that the terracotta figurines are like people and they are buried with them, and he says so. So how can you starve your people to death? ”

The king of Wei immediately called Qu to him, and he said to Mencius: "Mr. Dare to teach you to know that the widow is really dedicated to the governance of the country. When there was a famine in Hanoi, we moved the people to the east of the river and collected food from other places to Hanoi. There was a famine on the east side of the river, and I did the same. I have carefully observed the administration of the monarchs of the neighbouring countries, and none of them have been as attentive as the widows. However, even so, the people of the neighboring countries have not decreased, and the people of my Wei country have not increased. ”

Mencius replied, "To this question, since the king likes to fight, let us use war as a metaphor." The drums of war were beating, the battle was fierce, and the defeated soldiers threw away their armor and dragged their weapons to escape, some ran hundreds of steps before stopping, and some ran fifty steps before stopping. The person who has run 50 steps will laugh at the person who has run 100 steps, do you think it will work? ”

King Wei replied: "Of course this is not possible, he just didn't run a hundred steps, this is also an escape." ”

Mencius replied, "Since you understand this, you need not expect your country to have more people than your neighbors. ”

The king of Wei asked Mencius again: "My Wei kingdom once dominated the world, and my lord knows it." However, since the accession of the widow, there was the defeat of Guiling and Maling in the east, and even my eldest son was captured by the Qi State; In the west, the Qin State Shang Ying seized 700 miles of land west of the river after changing the law; And the southern widow was also defeated by the Chu State. The widow is ashamed of this and wants to avenge all the victims, so what should the widow do? ”

Mencius replied, "Zhou seized the whole world and became king with only a hundred miles of land. If the king exercises benevolence to the common people, reduces the punishment, collects less taxes, cultivates deeply, and weeds in a timely manner; Let the able-bodied take time to cultivate the virtues of filial piety, respect, loyalty, and trustworthiness, serve their parents and brothers at home, and respect their elders and superiors when they go out. In this way, they can make wooden sticks, which can also fight those Qin and Chu troops with solid armor and sharp knives and guns. Because the rulers of Qin and Chu deprived their common people of productive time, so that they could not work hard to support their parents. His parents were cold and starving, and his brothers and wives were separated. They have plunged the people into the abyss, and the king has gone against them, and who will resist you? There is a good saying: the benevolent are invincible. Don't be suspicious, O King! ”

King Wei said: "Sir, the benevolent man is invincible, and few people agree with it, dare to ask Mr. How to govern if he wants to do this?" ”

So Mencius began to put forward his famous set of administrative programs: "If you do not violate the agricultural time, the grain cannot be eaten; The number of dogs does not enter the pond, and the fish and turtles cannot be eaten; The axe catty enters the mountains and forests at the right time, and the timber is not usable. Grain and fish and turtles can not be eaten, timber and wood can not be used, it is to make the people live and die without regrets. There is no regret in health and death, and the beginning of the royal road is also. A house of five acres, a mulberry tree, and fifty people can be clothed; Chickens, guineas, dogs, and animals, if they don't lose their time, the seventy can eat meat; A hundred acres of land, don't take it away, a family of a few people, you can be hungry; The teaching of the order, the righteousness of filial piety, and the person who gives the confession does not live up to the road. Seventy people eat meat, and the people are not hungry or cold, but those who are not kings are not not. Dogs eat people without knowing how to check them, and they are painted with hunger but do not know how to do it; When a person dies, he says, 'It's not me, it's not me.' How is it different from stabbing someone and killing him, saying, 'If it is not me, the soldier is also.'" 'The king is innocent, and the people of the world are the best. ”

Hearing these specific policies, King Wei made an evaluation of Meng Ke in his heart: far-reaching and broader than things. That is, people who like to talk about big things, but actually have no ability to do things, such people cannot be used for politics.

However, the King of Wei also knew that the current Wei State was beginning to show signs of decline, and he urgently needed to continue to assist the Wei State. Therefore, over the years, he also began to pay attention to those wise men who traveled around the world, and in the face of these famous wise men, King Wei also began to learn from his father and ancestors, and began to "Corporal Lixian".

Therefore, the king of Wei suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and said to Mencius: "It is good that Mr. said that such a policy is good, but Mr. does not understand the situation of my Wei State. Our Wei country is surrounded by enemies on all sides, and now we really have no conditions to implement the policy of my husband. Then he ordered someone to give Mencius a hundred gold, and then he went back to the palace.

When he returned to Wei Palace, he found that Wei Xianghuishi had been waiting at the door for a long time. When King Wei saw Hui Shi, his heart immediately became happy. Compared with the wise man Meng Ke who met today, this Hui Shi can be regarded as a real talent in his mind.

Hui Shi is a native of the Song Dynasty and has the unique faithful character of the Song people. Hui Shi was very fond of reading since he was a child, so he was extremely knowledgeable. The people of the time praised Hui Shi Dao: Hui Shi is multi-faceted, and his book is five cars. That is to say, Hui Shi's books need five cars to pull, and later generations described a person as a person who is rich in learning and rich five cars from this. Considering the poverty of knowledge and the scarcity of books in this era, Xuefu Wuche can indeed be called one of the most knowledgeable people in the world. What's even more rare is that Hui Shi is extremely loyal to the King of Wei. When the prime minister of Wei died suddenly, the Wei country was in chaos, so the king of Wei urgently recruited Hui Shi as the prime minister. When Hui Shi heard the news, he immediately rushed to Daliang non-stop, and was almost drowned in the water on the way.

Seeing that it was Hui Shi waiting for him, King Wei hurriedly called him into the inner palace and had a long talk with him.

The King of Wei asked Hui Shi, "What is the urgency of the gentleman, waiting for the widow at the palace gate?" ”

Hui Shi asked the King of Wei: "Does the king know that the Qi people are discussing whether Qi Hou should be king?" ”

Qi is waiting to be king? As soon as he heard the news, King Wei's good aristocratic cultivation immediately disappeared, and he scolded loudly: "Tian Yinqi, this bastard, actually wants to be the king!" Where did he take the widow? ”

When Hui Shi saw King Wei's reaction, a wry smile appeared on his face, and he thought in his heart that this was indeed the case.

However, as the prime minister of Wei, he must do things that are beneficial to Wei. He stood up and bowed, "The king is angry." However, if Qi Hou really becomes the king, it will definitely be of great benefit to my Wei country, please ask the king to see clearly. ”