With the help of the joint strategy, Qi became stronger and stronger. Although Qi State suffered a lot during the invasion of Yan State, it also made it famous. The conquest of Yan State made the princes see the power of Qi State, and began to fear Qi State.
After withdrawing from Yan, King Xuan of Qi felt ashamed because he did not follow Mencius's advice. He felt that he had no face to see Mencius again. After Chen Jia, the minister, heard about this incident, he went to Mencius to discuss it.
Chen Jia asked Mencius, what kind of person is Duke Zhou? Mencius said that Duke Zhou was a sage.
After destroying the Shang Dynasty, Zhou Gong sent Uncle Guan to manage the land of the Shang Dynasty. However, Guan Shu didn't know what was wrong and took advantage of this to rebel. Chen Jia used this small incident to say that saints like Duke Zhou also made mistakes, and others were more likely to make mistakes. The other people here are naturally referring to King Qi Xuan.
After Mencius heard this, he was disappointed with King Qi Xuan. He said that people's hearts are becoming more and more deceitful. The mistakes made by the ancients were nakedly exposed to the eyes of the people just like solar and lunar eclipses in the sky. They know that if they correct it in time, they will win double the respect of the people. People today, after making mistakes, not only do not repent, but they also try their best to cover themselves up.
Although King Xuan of Qi did not reuse Mencius, he made a significant contribution to the development of culture during the Warring States Period. During the Warring States Period, Qi was not only a powerful country in the East, but also a cultural power. The Jixia Academy (near Jimen in Linzi City) under the management of King Xuan of Qi cultivated a large number of people with both ability and political integrity, and Qi became famous for it.
"Historical Records" records that King Xuan of Qi liked literary people very much, so he recruited a large number of talented people into Jixia Academy. The number of people in Jixia Academy once reached more than 1,000. Attracted by the superior treatment, the Yin-Yang family Zou Yan, Taoist figures Tian Pian, Jie Yu, Shen Dao and Huan Yuan rushed to Qi State one after another.
This group of talented people received courtesy from the State of Qi. They did not have to manage political affairs, and their only task was to talk about academics. This made the later Sima Qian very envious. In "Historical Records: Tian Jingzhong Wanshi Family", Sima Qian praised the achievements of King Xuan of Qi, especially the grand occasion of Jixia Academy.
Jixia Academy gathered representatives of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Legalism, Military Studies, Punishment, Yin Yang, Agriculture and Miscellaneous Schools. They wrote books and theories one after another, forming an unprecedented flourishing period of contention among a hundred schools of thought. Mencius lived in Jixia Academy for more than 30 years, and Xunzi came to Qi State at the age of 15 and never left.
Of course, the fact that Qi State was able to become the overlord in the east and stand side by side with Qin State in the west did not only rely on King Xuan of Qi's Jixia Academy. Lord Mengchang and his diners also made outstanding contributions. Although Lord Mengchang and his father had conflicts with King Xuan of Qi, before the conflicts became public and intensified, Lord Mengchang played an important role in achieving Qi's hegemony.
Mengchangjun's international strategic thinking originated from Gongsun Yan's strategy of co-vertical strategy, and made Gongsun Yan's co-vertical thought concrete and clear, targeting the Qin State in the West. Any country that Qin wanted to invade, Qi tried its best to win over. When King Hui of Qin attacked Chu, Qi would win over Chu; when King Wu of Qin threatened Han and Wei, Qi would win over Han and Wei.
Among the three kingdoms, Chu had the least credibility because King Huai of Chu was always erratic. Although he agreed to the alliance with Qi, he secretly attacked Yue to the east of it. At that time, King Wu of Qin had just died unexpectedly, and the Qin State was facing internal strife and foreign aggression, so it had no time to take into account the rampant behavior of the Chu State.
Since the surrender of King Gou Jian of Yue, the country of Yue has been declining day by day and dare not interfere in the war in the Central Plains. In 307 BC, Zhao Hua, the envoy of Chu State, went to Yue State under the guise of realizing and maintaining good relations between Chu and Yue. At this time, the leader of Yue State was Wu Xian. He has no ambitions and no ambitions. Under the indoctrination of Zhao Hua's hedonistic thoughts, he becomes sluggish day by day.
Yue is a small country, and the monarch's malaise will soon spread throughout the country. Within a year, civil strife broke out in Yue due to the monarch's indifference to political affairs. The State of Chu believed that this was a good opportunity to annex the State of Yue, so it quickly sent troops. This year was 306 BC.
What excites Chu State even more is that after the death of King Qin Wu, the actual person in power of Qin State was Empress Dowager Xuan, who was a member of the royal family of Chu State. Empress Dowager Xuan remembered the old love of her mother's family, so she first returned it to Hanzhong of Chu State, and then married the beauty of Qin State to the king of Chu State. Since Qin, the most powerful state, sincerely accepted it, Chu State naturally accepted it happily, so it severed its alliance with Qi, Wei, and Han and fell headlong to Qin's alliance.
In 301 BC, Lord Mengchang launched the armies of the Three Kingdoms, with General Kuang Zhang as general, and invaded the Chu State on a large scale. The coalition forces and the Chu army camped along the Xian River. The coalition forces could see each other, but they did not dare to attack easily because they did not know the depth of the river.
Whenever the coalition forces wanted to cross the river or test the depth of the river, the Chu army would mobilize archers to shoot back the coalition forces with flying arrows as dense as locusts. The Chu army defended Pinghe, and the coalition forces were unable to advance. The war lasted for more than six months. Because both sides camped on the beach by the river, this battle was called the Battle of Chuisha.
The war went on for more than half a year, but no good news came from the brave and invincible general Kuang Zhang. King Qi Xuan was afraid that Mengchang would use this opportunity to develop his personal power. He couldn't wait any longer, so he sent the eloquent Zhou Zui to the front line to supervise.
Zhou is the most eloquent and good at talking, but has no practical skills, let alone war. As soon as he arrived at the front line, he found Kuang Zhang, yelled at him, and pointed fingers at everything.
Kuang Zhang had nothing to say about his sufferings, but had nowhere to complain. He could only stick to one truth: the eight immortals crossing the sea each have their own magical powers. Civil servants have the strengths of civil servants, and military commanders have the skills of military commanders. Since he is commanding the battle, as long as he feels that he cannot attack rashly, he will not order an attack even if he is threatened with death.
The monarch sent envoys to supervise the war. No matter how bad the situation was, Kuang Zhang had only one way: bite the bullet and rush forward at the risk of death. Several agile soldiers were found and specially trained to form a small team. Kuang Zhang ordered that no matter what, the depth of Xianshui must be found out.
The small group had just entered the water and before they reached the center, they were attacked by flying arrows from the Chu army. The results can be imagined: those who escaped slowly were shot to death, those who escaped quickly were shot, and the river water was dyed with blood.
At this time, it is said that the singing voice of a woodcutter came from the mountain. What the old woodcutter meant was that the rice cooker would not know the depth of the Xianshui River. The war lasted for more than six months. The old woodcutter went to the mountain to cut firewood every day. He saw it every day and could naturally see the problem.
After understanding the meaning of the chant, someone from the coalition army asked for advice. The old woodcutter was very happy and told the coalition forces that wherever there were no Chu troops guarding, the water would be very deep; as long as there were Chu troops garrisoned, the water would be very shallow.
When the coalition forces took a look, they saw that the Chu army was encamped in an irregular formation. There were many people in some places, few people in some places, and even no one in some places. They immediately understood how to deal with the Chu army.
Waiting until night, Kuang Zhang mobilized his main force, concentrated his main advantages, and attacked the most densely defended areas of the Chu army. The reason why the Chu army defended the most intensively in these places was because these were Chuisha areas and it was easy to land.
The coalition forces suddenly came out in force and launched a massive attack. It was also at night. The Chu army never dreamed that they could not even escape. Most of them became victims of the coalition forces. After the victory in the Battle of Chuisha, Han and Wei took the opportunity to seize the area north of Wan and Ye, and the Chu State suffered heavy losses.
The Qin State added insult to injury. In the next year after the Battle of Chuisha, the Qin State sent troops to attack Chu, captured Xincheng, and beheaded 30,000 people. Every time a war failed, Chu State not only lost its land, but also its generals. In the Battle of Chuisha, General Tang Juan died in battle; in the subsequent Battle of Xincheng, General Jing Que also died in battle.
There was also chaos in the defeated Chu State. Zhuang Qiao led a peasant uprising. The uprising army was so powerful that it attacked near the capital.
The State of Qi first annexed the State of Yan in the north, and then caused civil strife in the State of Chu, becoming a veritable overlord of the East!
The diners in front of the door are in chaos, and everyone in the world is better than Mr. Mengchang
Qi State was able to become the overlord of the East, and Lord Mengchang's contribution was not small. However, Lord Mengchang did not have a high status in Qi from the beginning. His rise also went through an arduous struggle.
Mengchangjun, surnamed Tian and given name Wen, was the son of Tianying, Jingguojun, the youngest son of King Wei of Qi.
After King Qi Wei succeeded to the throne, Tian Ying was in power. This man made a lot of contributions to Qi State. After Zou Ji died, King Wei of Qi made Tian Ying prime minister. Three years later, the king of Qi rewarded Tian Ying with Xue (now southeast of Tengzhou, Shandong).
Tian Ying gave birth to more than 40 sons, and Mengchangjun was just one of them. Moreover, Mengchangjun's mother was just a concubine of Tian Ying, so Mengchangjun did not occupy much place in Tian Ying's heart. Another point that is very unfavorable to Lord Mengchang is that he was born on May 5th. At that time, people believed that people born on May 5th would be as tall as their family members, which would hinder family development.
Wen Tianxiang once said: "On the fifth day after Meng Chang was born, Bai Shou lamented what happened to him." (Wen Tianxiang's "Uncle Wang Yuan") was intended to express the unfairness of fate through the experience of Meng Changjun who was born on the fifth day of May.
Tian Ying already had more than 40 sons, but Tian Ying didn't care if he had one missing, so he told Mengchangjun's mother that he was not allowed to support Mengchangjun. His mother couldn't bear to kill her son, so she secretly raised Lord Mengchang.
When Mengchangjun grew up, he was introduced to Tian Ying through his brother's relationship. After Tian Ying knew everything, he became furious and asked Mengchangjun's mother: "Why didn't you throw this child away?"
The clever Mengchangjun took the words and asked Tian Ying why he didn't raise the child born on the fifth day of May. Tian Ying said that any child born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month will grow as tall as a child and will kill his father and mother.
"Is a person's destiny arranged by God, or granted by the family?" Mengchang Jun asked again.
Tian Ying didn't react for a moment and was speechless.
After a moment of silence, Mengchangjun told Tian Ying. If destiny is given by God, no matter how much people worry or deal with it, the result will be the same; if destiny is arranged by the door, just increase the door of the Tian family as high as a city wall. Because, no matter what, people will never grow that tall.
This rhetoric completely angered Tian Ying. Tian Ying was furious and dismissed Lord Mengchang.
Some time later, Lord Mengchang took advantage of Tian Ying's good mood to visit him again and asked, "What is your son's name?"
Tian Ying thought this question was very interesting, so he happily said, "My grandson." Lord Mengchang asked again what the name of his grandson was, and Tian Ying replied that his grandson was called Great-great-grandson. When Lord Mengchang asked what the name of his great-great-grandson was, Tian Ying couldn't answer.
While having such a happy conversation with Tian Ying, Mengchang Jun told Tian Ying: Tian Ying serves as the Prime Minister and has assisted three generations of kings. During this period, the vassal states grew stronger day by day, and the Qi state weakened day by day. As the prime minister, Tian Ying should find ways to make Qi state stronger.
Lord Mengchang told Tian Ying that the general should be the general and the prime minister should be the prime minister. The prime minister's office should treat "scholars" with courtesy and spend a lot of money to recruit talented people. At that time, Tian Ying did not pay much attention to raising scholars. The wives and concubines in his house wore silk and satin, and the scholars wore short clothes. The male and female servants in his house had good food and good food, but the scholars could not even eat enough. .
Since Tian Ying doesn't even know the names of his great-great-grandsons, it is useless to accumulate wealth for them. Besides, if Qi has no talents, the country will definitely become weaker day by day. The State of Qi is the root, and the Prime Minister's Office is the foundation. If the root is rotten, the foundation will not survive.
Sima Guang also held a similar view to Lord Mengchang. He said that "a gentleman's purpose of raising scholars is to care for the people" ("Zi Zhi Tong Jian"). After this conversation, Tian Ying completely changed his view on Mengchangjun.
In Qi State, Tian Ying's power was comparable to that of King Xuan of Qi, and he had amassed countless wealth. King Xuan of Qi was afraid that Tian Ying would endanger his throne, so he found an excuse to send Tian Ying's family to Xue County, his fiefdom. After arriving in Xue County, Tian Ying handed over all power to Lord Mengchang.
Taking advantage of this great opportunity, Mengchangjun did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to recruit talents. As long as you have a certain skill, even if you are good at killing and stealing, or even someone who has always divided the country, Lord Mengchang will definitely not treat you badly.
"Historical Records" records that after this strategy was implemented, "guests came to the palace of Lord Mengchang day by day, and his reputation became known among the princes. The princes all sent people to invite Mr. Xue Tianying to propose Wen as the prince, and he was promised."
By recruiting talents, Mengchangjun not only developed the family's power, but also obtained the right to inherit. It really killed two birds with one stone. In 310 BC, Tian Ying died. With the help of the guests in the palace, Lord Mengchang successfully succeeded to the throne. After succeeding to the throne, he was officially recognized and was called Lord Mengchang.
Mengchangjun is not tall, but he is very charming because he is generous and generous. In just a few years, there were three thousand diners in his house. Among these three thousand people, they come from all walks of life and from all walks of life. Everyone from big traitors to petty thieves can be found in Lord Mengchang's house.
Wang Anshi said, "Mengchangjun's special virile ears are as good as the crowing of chickens, dogs and thieves, which is not enough to win scholars!" (Wang Anshi's "Reading "The Biography of Mengchangjun"") means that Lord Mengchang is not a hero who wins talented people, but is at best a tycoon of his generation.
No matter how you evaluate it, it is true that Mengchangjun would rather give up his family fortune and treat scholars favorably. In order to record the guest's information, whenever he receives a guest, he always arranges a recorder behind the screen to write down the conversation and the residence of the guest's relatives. The guests had just left, and perhaps before they returned home, Lord Mengchang had already sent someone to deliver gifts to the guests' relatives' homes to greet them.
Once, Mengchangjun entertained guests for dinner, and his meal was covered. One of the guests saw Mr. Mengchang sitting in the shadows and thought that the food Mr. Mengchang ate was better. Feeling that he was being treated unequally, he became very angry, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and walked away.
Mengchangjun immediately stood up and brought his meal to the candlelight, proving that his meal was no different from everyone else's. The man felt guilty and his stubborn temper broke out. He drew his sword and killed himself on the spot as an apology.
After this incident, Lord Mengchang became even more famous, and more people came to seek refuge.
In Mengchangjun's house, as long as they are guests, they will be treated the same, and there will be no favoritism. "Everyone thinks that Mengchangjun is close to himself" (Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Biography of Mengchangjun").
No wonder Li Bai would say, "The diners in front of the door are in chaos, and everyone in the world is better than Mengchangjun" (Li Bai's "Send Chen Lang off to Hengyang with the Dukes"). In Chinese history, Lord Mengchang has become a typical figure of generosity and charity. Once Mengchangjun is mentioned, people's first reaction is that he is generous and charitable.
