In Zhaoling, Shang Fu stood on the alliance platform. In 656 BC, the vassal states of the Central Plains led by Qi allied with the Chu State, achieving Qi's hegemony. The battle between Qi and Chu also took place in Zhaoling. Zhaoling was originally the territory of the Chu State. After the Wei State captured Zhaoling, they established Zhaoling City here. Since it was in the territory of the Wei State, they did not bring many large armies, only accompanying troops. Ten thousand and some close ministers. The King of Chu and the King of Qi stood under the alliance platform, and Shang Fu stood on the platform. Facing the King of Chu and the King of Qi who stood under the platform, he bowed and saluted, then stood up and said: "King Chu, King Qi, please come to the alliance platform." The two kings stood up, facing each other. King Chu said: "King Qi, please go up to the alliance platform." King Qi also became respectful and said: "King Chu should invite you first." The two kings walked hand in hand up the steps and onto the alliance platform. They stood on the high platform and said: "From now on, Qi and Chu will form an alliance forever."
Qi and Chu became a brotherly state, and Shang Fu's mission was completed. He drove away and rushed to Handan, the capital of Zhao State. King Wen welcomed Shang Fu's return outside the city of Handan. Looking from a distance, he saw Shang Fu driving towards him, got off and stood in front of King Wen. King Wen bowed deeply to Shang Fu and said: "Shang Fu, you traveled between Qi and Chu to persuade Qi and Chu to cease the war. It's hard work!" Shang Fu immediately knelt in front of King Wen. , said: "Your Majesty." The surrounding civil servants and generals knelt down together and shouted: "Your Majesty's kindness can shine on the world." King Wen first helped Shang Fu up and said: "Shang Fu, you get up first." Then he looked at The civil servants and generals kneeling on the left and right said: "My lords, please stand down." Together they entered the city and entered the palace of King Zhao.
At that time, Qi and Chu suffered from severe drought at the same time. Since the war between the two countries, they have to face a large-scale drought. The red land is thousands of miles away, and the sun is scorching. It hasn't rained for three years, and the earth is dry and cracked under the scorching sun. The seedlings all withered in the fields. Due to the long period of no rainfall, rivers, lakes, wells and springs have dried up. The severe drought that has not been seen in nearly a hundred years has left no crops for thousands of miles. The people have harvested nothing and corpses litter the fields. In more places, insects cannibalize each other and the insects die of thirst. The roots and bark of grass and trees have been exhausted, and refugees are walking along the road. The fields are full of hungry people, and the dead are lying on their pillows. The sky is filled with yellow sand and dust, and the ground is covered with bones. These are all hungry people who have died of hunger. The disaster affected Qi and Chu, and also affected Zhao and Wei. This drought was unprecedented in scale, protracted, and followed by food shortages.
Zhao and Wei were not so serious, and they quickly passed through the years of famine. Since the beginning of the disaster year, King Wen has been saving money in the palace. On weekdays, King Wen only had two meals a day, and each meal was just one dish and one soup. Some officials spent all day drinking and entertaining ministers. The level of extravagance is beyond description in words. One day, Shang Fu entered the library of King Wen. At this time, King Wen was having a meal. A temple insect brought food to King Wen. He happened to meet Shang Fu outside the library. When he opened the food box, he saw food floating in the soup. He picked up a few vegetable leaves and scolded: "Your Majesty eats these every day." Temple Chong immediately knelt down and said in a very embarrassed tone: "Your Majesty has not eaten meat for three months. Mr. Chong, go and persuade your Majesty. Well, how can the king's body bear the food like this?" Shang Fu thought of a way for Temple Chong and said: "If the king doesn't eat meat, you can go and make some broth for the king. The king is reading or reviewing memorials. At this time, the king It won’t be noticed.”
Si Chong went down again and made a bowl of broth for King Wen according to Shang Fu's method. He brought it in and said, "Your Majesty, it's time to eat." King Wen said while reading the book, "Put it aside." Chong placed a dish and a soup beside several tables. King Wen put down the letter in his hand and began to eat. After taking a spoonful of soup and drinking it, I felt something was wrong. Then I looked into the soup bowl and saw that it was broth. He raised his eyes and looked at Temple Chong and said, "Changde, what's going on?" Temple Chong was really frightened, and immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, you haven't eaten meat for three months." Afterwards, Shang Shang Fu walked out and said: "Your Majesty, it is also thinking about your body. Your Majesty, please don't blame it." King Wen walked up to help the temple insect and said: "Changde! I know you are thinking about me, like this Don't make the same mistake again in the future." Si Chong stood in front of King Wen, looked at him and said, "Your Majesty, but, it's your body." King Wen said kindly: "I know my own body. Just now It's my fault that I lost my temper with you, and I apologize to you." Si Chong immediately knelt down and said, "I don't dare. It's because I didn't serve the good king. This is a capital crime for me." King Wen helped Si Chong up again. He said: "What crime are you guilty of? You are not guilty. Get up quickly." Then he said: "Changde, please retreat first." The temple insect then exited King Wen's library.
King Wen looked at Shang Fu who was standing in the audience and said, "Shang Fu, I know this is your method again." Shang Fu bowed and said, "You are Shang Fu's husband and the king of Zhao. Zhao is the lord of the world. If you fall ill, my subjects of Zhao will be heartbroken." King Wen walked down and said: "Shang Fu, I know you are very smart and eloquent. Your intelligence is not based on this. , but above the people's livelihood. The people of Zhao State are still suffering, how can I eat?" Shang Fu stood in front of King Wen and felt a little distressed when he saw that King Wen's body was getting thinner day by day. Said: "Your Majesty." King Wen stood in front of Shang Fu and said: "Shang Fu, I know your intention, please step aside first." Shang Fu then exited King Wen's library.
Shang Fu walked out of King Wen's library, stood there for a long time, then turned around and ran towards the harem of King Zhao's palace to meet the eldest princess of the Zhou family, who was the queen of Zhao. Shang Fu entered the harem of King Zhao Palace, knelt down facing the queen and called out: "Queen." The queen stood up and walked up and said: "Shang Fu, please get up quickly." Shang Fu said aggrievedly: "Sir, you are over sixty years old. How can I rest assured that my disciple has seen his food?" The queen walked up and sat in front of the couch and said with some embarrassment: "You also know your husband's temper. As long as he decides something, no matter who tries to persuade him. It's useless. From now on, you should call me Mistress." Shang Fu looked at the queen and said, "Yes, Mistress, is there nothing we can do?" The queen looked at Shang Fu and said, "Shang Fu, your husband I often mention you around me. You are the smartest among all his disciples. Your husband governs the country with etiquette and promotes benevolence in Zhao State. Don’t you know your husband’s wish? Now our Zhao State is full of waste. When you are ready." After Shang Fu stood up, he bowed and said: "Master's wife, I know how to do it." Then he exited the harem of King Zhao's palace.
King Wen saved all expenses in the harem, and even the Zhao Palace was in disrepair and looked so old. When it rains, water drips everywhere in the palace, and only tile basins are used to catch the rainwater. However, its library has been renovated several times. The library is filled with books and must be fireproof, waterproof, and insect-proof. Only when King Wen was free could he see him packing the slips into large boxes one after another, and then moving them out, spreading the slips out, and displaying the books. King Wen was so thrifty that he moved the civil and military ministers in the court. They all imitated King Wen and donated their excess salary to help the victims of the Zhao State and tide over the difficulties together.
Once during the morning court, the civil and military ministers standing in the court saw that their King Zhao was getting thinner and thinner. They all knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, you must take care of yourself!" King Wen stood up and walked down and said: " The people of our State of Zhao are still suffering from disasters, how can I feel at ease? I have decided to visit the people and understand the sufferings of the people." These ministers rushed forward one after another and said, "Let me go with the king." King Wen looked at them and said: "You all stay in the court and perform your duties. This is a private visit incognito. Let Shang Fu and Wu Chong go together." Shang Fu stood up and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will go with you right now." Go down and prepare." King Wen looked at these ministers and said, "After I leave the court, the Prime Minister will act as the representative of the state." The Prime Minister stood up and said, "I obey the decree."
Shang Fu sat in the front and drove the car, King Wen sat in the back, and drove away from the Zhao palace. In the city of Handan, people walked along the road to see each other off. Because in Zhao State, King Wen was the only virtuous king who was loved by the people. The people all knelt down and hugged them, shouting: "Your Majesty." King Wen stood on the chariot. Facing the people, he bowed deeply and said, "You are all my subjects of Zhao. Get up." Come on." An old man stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty! You are the God of our people! It is the God that our people kneel to!" King Wen immediately got out of the car and helped the old man up, looked at him and said: "Elder, look Your hair is a little gray." The old man looked at King Wen and said, "Your Majesty, you are getting old too." Looking at its thin body, he said tearfully: "Your Majesty, you have to take care of yourself!" King Wen said: "Yes, I understand." Then he bowed deeply to these people and got into the carriage behind him. The onlookers made way for King Wen to go. King Wen's chariot passed slowly in front of them, and these people followed behind, escorting King Wen out of Handan City. King Wen stood on the chariot and looked at the people behind him. They all refused to leave. King Wen just got out of the car, looked at the people and bowed, and then called out: "You all go back." Shang Fu stood behind King Wen and said: "Your Majesty, they will not leave until you leave." King Wen took a few steps back, got into the carriage behind him, drove away, and quickly disappeared from their sight.
King Wen drove towards Zhangshui. There were many hungry people along the way. King Wen looked at these hungry people and said: "Shang Fu, you have seen it. These are the people of our Zhao country. Our people are still hungry. How can I eat?" Then he got out of the car. , looking at these people. They were walking on foot to see the suffering people of Zhao State. Thousands of miles of red land, corpses buried in yellow sand. Under the scorching sun, the earth cracked and the seedlings withered and died. King Wen asked: "Shang Fu! Which county are we in?" Shang Fu replied: "Back to the king, we have arrived in She County." The drought was most serious in She County. King Wen said: "Let's find a county first. In the village, let’s ask about the sentiments of the people.” Shang Fu stood aside and said, “Your Majesty, get in the car.” King Wen looked at the scorching sun in the sky and said, “No, just walk like this.” He stepped forward and asked : "Fellow fellows! Where are you going?" A villager said: "We don't know where we are going? Where are we going?" King Wen looked at these hungry people and said with some heartache: "Since you don't know where you are going. ? Come back to the village with me." The villager said: "Old Chong, we will only starve to death when we return to the village. Look at these bones, they all died of starvation. There has been a severe drought for three years. There is no harvest!" King Wen looked at the hungry people and said, "I know you have suffered a disaster, and your people have suffered." Then he stood on a high place, gathered all the hungry people and said, "The drought has been going on for three consecutive years, and the people have suffered. The king already knows about the disaster. I am an imperial envoy sent by the imperial court to observe the disaster. You have to believe me, we will definitely get through the year of famine." A villager stood at the feet of King Wen, looked up and said: "Old Chong's family , I can’t speak, are you really an imperial envoy?” Look at such a thin old man. An elder stood aside and said: "Our king is today's wise king, a wise king respected by all insects. He must know the sufferings of our people. I believe you." Looking at the villagers behind him Said: "Folks, we have to believe it and go back together."
