Chapter 471: Uncle Sun Leopard Envoy Jin

In the spring of the twenty-fourth year of Lu Xianggong (BC549), his uncle Sun Bao went to visit the Jin Kingdom, and Shilu personally went outside the city to meet him.

Shi Kuo first expressed his gratitude to his uncle Sun Bao for leading his division to help the Handan army fight last year, and then changed the conversation and asked: "The ancients have a saying: 'Dead and immortal', what does it mean?" ”

Uncle Sun Leopard was pondering the intention of his question, and Shi Kuo hurriedly replied to himself: "My ancestors, since Yu Shun and above, were Tao Tang clan, in the Xia Dynasty they were Yulong clans, in the Shang Dynasty they were Feng Wei clans, in Zhou they were Tang and Du clans, and when the Jin State was in charge of the alliance, they were Fan clans. That's what the ancients said, right? ”

Only then did Uncle Sun Leopard understand that he was going to "borrow ancient words and boast of himself." "Obviously, I still want to get my own welcome. However, Uncle Sun Leopard and Yang Yu belong to the same kind of person, he has no emotional intelligence, and always likes to tell the truth: "As far as I have heard, this kind of is not called 'dead and immortal', but can only be called 'Shilu'."

Lu Guoxian's doctor Zang Wenzhong has long since died, but his famous saying has been handed down, 'dead and immortal' refers to this situation. I heard that 'the Taishang meritorious service, the second meritorious service, and the subordinate words', although the time is long, the deeds of the ancestors have not been forgotten, this is immortal. What country does not have a clan that has been sacrificing for generations like the Master? If, as the Master said, the whole world is 'dead and immortal.' Even though the world is great, it cannot be called 'immortal'. ”

The words of Uncle Sun Leopard have also been handed down as immortal sayings, and the reason for this is precisely because of the arrogance and arrogance of Shi Kuo.

Shi Kuo looked very unhappy, and Uncle Sun Leopard didn't care what he thought; He deplored the internal strife and invasion of the Jin Kingdom, and conveyed Lu Xianggong's condolences to the Jin Pinggong, and sent a huge amount of property. In fact, if the people of Lu do not take the initiative to pay tribute, the burden on the people will be heavier in the future.

From the time the Duke of Jin Wen convened the Alliance of Practicing the Land to the present, it has been eighty-five years since the Jin State dominated the country. During this period, the Jin state's policy of collecting tribute to the Chinese princes underwent several changes.

During the period of Duke Wen of the Jin Dynasty, the Jin people pursued a foreign policy of attaching equal importance to grace and power, and the Jin people were light on worship and Zhou etiquette, and only asked the princes to symbolically send some property, but they must meet the alliance leader according to the provisions of the covenant. The princes of that era lived a very nourishing life, and this policy continued until the late Jin Linggong.

During the last two years of his reign, the Duke of Jin Ling greatly burdened the princes. After Jin Chenggong ascended the throne, he abolished the edict of Jin Linggong and restored the policies of the Wen Gong period. But Jin Li Gong once again embarked on the old path of Jin Ling Gong, and he demanded much more than Jin Li Gong; And Jin Mourning Gong canceled Jin Ligong's edict.

After Jin Pinggong ascended the throne, he wanted to increase the number, but the imperial decree of the Bank of China was not implemented; The successor, Shilu, once again broke the rules; He set the weight of the offering according to the number of each ** team, and set up many reasons for paying tribute, such as "the disaster of the Jin Kingdom" is one of them. The Chinese princes were miserable, and the countries not only had to bear heavy sacrifices, but also suffered from the exploitation of powerful ministers such as Shilu, and everyone hoped that he would die soon.

Shi Kuo accepted the goods and asked the Lu State to continue to maintain the offensive against the Qi State. After his uncle and grandson leopard left the Jin Kingdom, Shi Kuo saw that Zheng Guo had no reaction, and he was dismissed by Gongsun Qiao two years ago, so he offered Zheng Guoren a huge price. Zheng Guoren was very annoyed and scolded Shi for being greedy and shameless.

The so-called "refuge face" is that in the summer of two years ago, Shilu summoned Zheng Jiangong to worship in Jin. Zheng Guoren was very angry, because this behavior was equivalent to treating Zheng Bo as a vassal of the Jin State.

Zheng Guoren thought that the rude demands of the Jin people should be rejected, so he sent Gongsun Qiao, who was in charge of foreign affairs, to reply to the envoy. Gongsun Qiao said: "The widow ascended the throne in the ninth year of the Jin Dynasty's mourning. In August of the year of his accession to the throne, the widow and the first master went to the Jin Dynasty to meet the deacon (minister), but the deacon was quite rude to the widow (referring to the incident where Zhongxingyan threatened Gongzi). The widow did not know what had been done and was very frightened, so he went to the state of Chu in June of the following year to seek protection. That's why the battle of the drama took place later.

At that time, Chu Guo was particularly strong, and he treated Zheng Guo with courtesy. The doctors in the office who were close to the Jin Kingdom were worried, but they also had to admit that the Jin Kingdom did not respect the country that adhered to the Zhou rites. Therefore, the entire office fell to the state of Chu and no longer had a grudge against Chu. In March of the fourth year of the widow, the widow and the first master?? went to Chu again, and then the Battle of Xiaoyu (the eleventh year of Lu Xianggong) took place. Later, the doctors said: 'Zheng Guo is close to the Jin Kingdom, and the Jin Kingdom is like grass and trees, and Zheng Guo is like the smell of grass and trees; We must serve the Jin Kingdom, and there can be no more chapo. ’

"The state of Chu fell, and the widow used land and heavy weapons to ask the Jin state for an alliance, and the widow led his ministers to follow the deacon to attend the alliance meeting. After the widow returned to China, he crusaded against the ministers of the secret state of Chu. Later?? Farewell to the old man (the sixteenth year of Lu Xianggong), the widow and the grandson Xia Dynasty met the alliance leader. Two years later, the Jin state wanted to use force against the Qi state; In April, the widow returned to Jin to accept the order. During the intervals of several pilgrimages, there is no year without tribute, and no servant is not served.

"But the decrees of the great powers are impermanent, the Zheng country is exhausted, disasters are coming, and the Zheng people are constantly on the move, how dare they forget their duties? If a big country makes a small country stable, and the widow is in the court of the big country day and night, why should the envoy deign to come to Zheng State? If the Jin Kingdom does not sympathize with Zheng Guo, and takes the non-court as the truth, it is to abandon Zheng Guo and regard me as an enemy, and the widow is deeply afraid of this. The widow did not dare to forget the king's order, so he asked the deacons of the great powers to consider it deeply and not to give orders lightly. These words made the Jin people speechless, so Shi Kuo stopped mentioning the matter.

Zheng Jiangong took the list of bribes issued by Shi Kuo, and hurriedly took Gongsun Xia to the Jin Kingdom to intercede. Gongsun Xia brought a letter written by Gongsun Qiao to Shilu, which read: "The master is in charge of the Jin Kingdom, and the neighboring princes have not heard of the master's good name, but only feel that the exploitation is getting heavier and heavier. I was also puzzled by this, and I had heard that the gentleman in charge of the country was not worried about not having an offering, but about misfortune if he did not get a good name. The property of the princes is gathered in the treasury of the alliance lord, and the princes will have a second heart; The master and son amassed wealth, and the Jin kingdom would be divided. If the alliance is divided, the dominant position of the Jin League will not be guaranteed; If the Jin Kingdom is divided, the master's family will not be protected, and no matter how much wealth he has, he will not be able to enjoy it. You're so confused!

"A good name carries virtue, and virtue is the foundation of a nation; If there is virtue, the country is stable and strong, so why not pursue virtue? "Poetry" says: "Happy only gentleman, the foundation of the state." It means to be virtuous; And he said, "God is in you, and there is no other mind." It means that there should be a name. Why doesn't the Master want the people of the world to say, 'The Master has made me survive,' but would rather let them say, 'That person survives by exploiting me.'" Elephants are killed because they have valuable tusks. ”

Shi Kuo nodded while watching, and had to admit that Gongsun Qiao was too right. But he did not think that he was at fault, but put the blame on the Duke of Jin Ping, so he said to Gongsun Xia: "I will ask the widow to reduce the offerings of the princes." ”