【The Punishment of a Gentleman】
Facing Li Yan's mysterious, solemn and solemn edict, Meng Zhixiang looked relaxed, smiled, and spoke in a kind tone, but what he said made Li Yan extremely uncomfortable:
"You are known to the world for your eloquence, and I think you are often proud of this in private. I wonder if you have ever heard of the saying 'A sharp tongue can destroy a country, and a sharp tongue can disrupt the government'?"
Of course Li Yan has heard of it. This is what Confucius once said.
"Then do you remember the story about Confucius killing Shao Zhengmao?"
Shaozhengmao, named Mao, "Shaozheng" is an official position. This person and Confucius were colleagues. They both opened private schools and gathered people to give lectures. At that time, Shao Zhengmao's training courses were more popular than Confucius's classes, and even Confucius' students skipped class to eavesdrop on Shao Zhengmao's classes. As the saying goes, fellow travelers are enemies. Confucius was later appointed as Da Sikou (in charge of prisons) by the State of Lu. Just seven days after taking office, he executed Shaozheng Mao and exposed his body for three days. Conquer people with virtue.
Confucius's students were puzzled by this, thinking that Confucius was a naked hatred among his peers, avenging public and private revenge, and being shameless and dirty. But no one dared to question the teacher. Finally, Zigong couldn't bear it anymore and went to question Confucius. Didn't he say that he would convince others with virtue? You are too cruel.
Confucius explained: "I call this the 'Execution of a Gentleman'. His heart is open but dangerous, his actions are bold and firm, his words are false and arguable, he remembers the ugly but is wise, and he is obedient and honest. These are the five worst qualities. One As long as a person has any one of these, he can be "killed by a gentleman", and Shaozheng Mao, he has all five of these five types by himself. This guy is the hero of villains! He confuses people's hearts and leaves a lot of poison. , must be killed!"
After Shaozhengmao's death, his theory was successfully lost due to Confucius' unremitting efforts.
"This..." Li Yan felt that the atmosphere was wrong. It didn't look like a seminar on "The Analects of Confucius". Could it be that Meng Zhixiang also wanted to convince people with his virtue?
Meng Zhixiang's attitude was still kind and his tone was still lukewarm. He continued:
"Sir, you are also eloquent, and your character is also questionable. There are five evils in Shaozhengmao, and you also have five sins. Do you know it yourself? Well, let me help you -" Meng Zhixiang said as he spoke , while counting with his fingers:
“I made an oath by breaking arrows to the Lord of Shu, Wang Zongyan, but after they surrendered, they betrayed their trust and massacred their entire family. The laws of nature are clear and the cycle of retribution resulted in the successive defeats of both countries. This is the first crime;
During the period of peace in Shu, he first entered the palace, stole the gold and silver treasures in the palace, and abducted the concubines and maids. This was the second crime;
To deceive the people of Shu, by agreeing to reduce taxes before surrendering, but then doubling the taxes after the people surrendered, this is the third crime;
Spreading rumors, alienating the monarch and his ministers, saying that we, Xichuan, intend to rebel, specially set up two new vassal towns for this purpose, occupying favorable terrain, strangling our throat in Xichuan, and coveting our land in Xichuan, are punishable by death;
You only said that the imperial edict ordered the eunuchs to be killed, but didn’t you know that the imperial edict said that the eunuchs should be deposed? Nowadays, all the armies and towns in the world have no supervisors, but only Xichuan sent me supervisors. I ask you, what does this mean? What kind of peace of mind do you have? This is your fifth deadly sin! "
After counting the five deadly sins, Meng Zhixiang suddenly slapped the table with his big palm with outstretched fingers. The cups and chopsticks were shaken so hard that they bounced high, like an earthquake.
Meng Zhixiang's pleasant appearance had disappeared, replaced by a terrifying murderous aura.
Li Yan was so frightened that he lost all his dignity, fell to his knees with a thud, and begged Meng Zhixiang to spare his life.
Meng Zhixiang stood up slowly, walked to Li Yan, and said four words in a soft voice, "Public anger is hard to offend."
The voice was very low, but to Li Yan's ears, it sounded like the sky was falling apart. He was so frightened that he fell to the ground limply, like a puddle of mud.
The people of Xichuan are afraid of you and hate you even more. I, surnamed Meng, will kill you today on behalf of the people of Xichuan.
The sage Confucius "killed the gentleman" and killed Shaozhengmao; the descendants of the inferior sage will also follow the example of the sage.
Meng Zhixiang walked down the steps slowly, then turned around and bowed slowly to Li Yan, who was limp in the hall, as if saying goodbye to an old friend.
Silence is better than sound in this life.
Wang Yanzhu, the general of Xichuan, rushed forward with tacit understanding, picked up Li Yan, and dragged him to the courtyard. He raised the knife in his hand and dropped his head on the ground.
The whole process seemed like a silence button had been pressed, clean and professional execution for thirty years.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence of fate or Meng Zhixiang’s ulterior motives, or I’m far-fetched. Wang Yanzhu, the Xichuan general who beheaded Li Yan, has a homophone of “Wang Yanzhu”. After Wang Zongyan came to the throne, he changed his name to “Wang Yan”, so in the history books Also recorded as "Wang Yan", this book retains his generational name "Zong" for the convenience of narrative.
Li Yan moved his lips and tongue, causing Wang Yan's death and the country's destruction, and finally died in the hands of "Wang Yanzhu".
After killing Li Yan, Meng Zhixiang summoned Ding Zhijun, the Marquis of Yu in the left wing of Mabu, and said to him: "When Li Yan led a delegation to Qianshu, you were his deputy and you can be regarded as an old friend. Now, Please help me collect the body of my old friend."
If letting Wang Yanzhu kill Li Yan was an unintentional move by Meng Zhixiang, then letting Ding Zhijun collect Li Yan's body was a deliberate arrangement by Meng Zhixiang. He was sending a signal to the outside world. He was really not settling old scores or avenging the Shu people. Li Yan did not die in Shu before his visit, but died in Xichuan, the supervising army.
After killing Li Yan, Meng Zhixiang went to court and said that Li Yan had falsely preached the imperial edict in Chengdu, claiming that he had been entrusted by the Holy Spirit to replace me as the governor of Xichuan. He also urged me to go to Beijing for pilgrimage, and promised rewards to the soldiers without authorization. Now I have killed him.
Yang Lingzhi, another official of the imperial court, was on a business trip to Chengdu. He had just arrived at Lutou Pass. When he heard the news that Li Yan had been killed, he immediately turned around and ran all the way back to Luoyang. He dared not enter Shu after being beaten to death.
When Li Siyuan received Meng Zhixiang's memorial, he just sighed helplessly. They were all experienced players and there was no need to speak code words. Regarding Li Yan's death, the court did not inquire, investigate, or investigate.
Not only did the imperial court fail to investigate the truth behind Li Yan's death, it also sent Li Renju to Xichuan to express condolences to Meng Zhixiang and the officials and people of Xichuan.
Zhu Hongzhao, the deputy envoy of Dongchuan Jiedu who was in the same batch as Li Yan, was restless after hearing what happened to Li Yan, but he did not dare to rashly propose returning to Luoyang for fear of irritating Dong Zhang, the envoy of Dongchuan Jiedu.
Zhu Hongzhao was a very smart man. He spoke a lot of truth to Dong Zhang "confidently" while drinking. Zhu Hongzhao was originally Li Siyuan's confidant and was deeply trusted, but he was envied, jealous, and hated by An Zhongjie. It was officially because of An Zhongjie's exclusion that he was placed in a local place for many years, unable to get even half a step closer to the center. No, He was sent to the land of Sichuan and Sichuan again by the guy named An!
It looks like complaining, but it actually sends an important signal to Dong Zhang: I am not An Chongjie's spy. Like you, I am a person who is jealous and excluded by him. We are comrades on the same bench.
As a result, Dong Zhang gradually changed his hostile attitude towards Zhu Hongzhao.
Not long after, Dong Zhang had something to do and needed to send someone to Luoyang, so he found Zhu Hongzhao and hoped that he could make a long trip.
This must be Dong Zhang's test!
Zhu Hongzhao pretended to be reluctant and tried his best to evade, "Let's change it to someone else. I don't want to see An Zhongjie's stinky face. He also hates seeing me. Maybe he will take this opportunity to kill me." If I'm in Luoyang, I won't be able to come back... let's find someone else."
After several rejections, Zhu Hongzhao's acting skills successfully deceived Dong Zhang. At the last moment, Zhu Hongzhao finally accepted this task "extremely reluctantly", "For the people of Dongchuan, for Marshal Dong... I will risk my life!"
After leaving Zizhou, Zhu Hongzhao flew into Luoyang like an arrow from a string, and finally left the land of right and wrong in Dongchuan!
