Watching people loading the boxes into the car, Wang Xiao went to sit down under the big poplar tree and thumped his waist. He said to Cui Qing next to him: "Suddenly I realized that I haven't been as busy as I am today for many years. I haven't done much work, I just feel sore in my waist and back, and every part of my body feels uncomfortable."
Cui Qing said with a smile: "Xuanfu doesn't feel it himself. Whenever he goes home these two days, Xuanfu is busy inside and outside, without a moment's rest. What's the matter?"
Wang Xiaolie tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said: "That's right. No matter what, that's it for today. Let's take a rest. Later, you can invite Shao Ling, Xie Linong and Cao Zhiyan to drink tonight. By the way, if Yu Huan I've arrived in Luoyang with Yang Shen, so I'll invite you too."
Cui Qing said yes. Said: "It has been many years, and it is difficult for Xuanfu to be alone with these people."
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes. These are the old subordinates who followed me through life and death when we were a few hundred people ago. We haven't gotten together for a long time. My sister is getting married the day after tomorrow, and they will all come. This is a rare opportunity."
Cui Qing brought tea to Wang Xiaolian and went to invite them in person.
Before the sun set, except for Yu Huan who was out of town, several others arrived together. When I saw Wang Xiaolie, I hurriedly greeted him together.
Wang Xiaolie said: "I have been busy preparing the dowry for my sister these days, and I am so tired that I feel dizzy. I just remembered today that you are also coming to the wedding. It is a rare opportunity, so we can drink two glasses of wine together. Speaking of which, we have been together for a long time. There’s no getting together.”
Yang Shen said: "How many things does Xuanfu have to do every day? He wants to drink with us, but he can't spare the time."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It's just difficult to get together. No matter how busy I am, I can't be so busy that I can't spare time for drinking and eating. If I'm so busy, there will be a problem."
After that, he led a few people to the backyard. He said: "My sister is married, and I am alone in such a big house, which is a bit deserted."
Yang Shen said: "Xuanfu is getting married soon, and it won't be deserted for a few days."
Wang Xiaolie smiled and asked a few people to sit next to the sweet-scented osmanthus tree. Said: "I eat at the government office most of the time, and I don't have a dedicated cook at home. If I want to invite you today, I have to ask Yao Daizhao from the government office to bring a few people over, make some simple dishes, and drink two glasses of wine."
Shao Ling said hurriedly: "In this case, it would be troublesome to wait for an edict."
Wang Xiaolie looked at Shao Ling and smiled. Said: "It's nothing, this should be their business."
As a military envoy, according to the system, Wang Xiaolie should have had fifty people accompanying him. According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, these fifty people should be soldiers. According to the number of people, the court will give each person two stones of food per month. Divided into money, each stone is worth three hundred coins. In addition, there are also gifts of clothing and the like.
The number of people here at Wang Xiaolie remains the same, but the soldiers are replaced by Xiang troops, and the Xuanfu Division makes unified arrangements. These people include chefs, coachmen, etc., but do not include Cui Qing and his men. The salary and salary of these Xiang troops are distributed by the Xuanfu Division.
Basically, officials are no longer allowed to hire themselves, whether they are chefs or coachmen. Although the Xuanfu Department spent more money than the original system, it had tighter control over officials. For example, among all Wang Xiaolie's men now, there is not a single prostitute who supports his family. If you want to listen to music, go to a restaurant.
Everyone sat down and tea was served.
Wang Xiaolie invited tea and said to several people: "How have you been in the past few years? Today we meet old friends again, so we can talk more casually."
Shao Ling said: "I am now the commander of an army. If I say my life is not good, I would be lying. It's just that my days are getting busier and I have no free time."
Wang Xiaolie said: "You can live a good life only if you think it is good, not if you are promoted to an official position. Some people flock to the official position, while others avoid it. However, no matter how big the official position is, , and you shouldn’t be too busy. If you are too busy, you should add more people or delegate your power. Of course, if you build a new army this year, it’s okay to be a little busier.”
Shao Ling said: "That's what Xuan Fu said. I'm too busy this year, so maybe I haven't learned how to decentralize power and add people."
Wang Xiaolie said with a smile: "There are all kinds of people in this world. When you serve as an official under me, the most important thing is that you feel comfortable, and don't pay too much attention to what I say. Don't just treat me as your superior." What I say is treated as an imperial edict, and I don’t dare to disobey a word. That won’t work.”
Yang Shen said: "Xuanfu, since we are superiors and subordinates, we should naturally listen to you. Even if we don't regard what you say as an imperial edict, we don't dare to treat it casually."
Wang Xiaolie looked at Yang Shen. He said: "It's not because I am the superior that you have to listen to me. Every official has his own responsibilities and has rules for doing things. Things within the responsibilities should naturally be taken seriously. If they are outside the responsibilities, then it is casual."
I saw a few people with strange expressions. Wang Xiaolie said: "People are different, so it's normal for officials to do various things. To do their duties well, people should have their own way of living. In this world, there are always people who fail to do things because of their lack of ability. He does not do well. He does not feel that his ability is not enough, but that he has insufficient power. Subordinates are not allowed to object and must agree with him in everything. Going one step further, subordinates are not allowed to have their own ideas and must listen to him in everything. Going one step further , does not allow any objections to be heard, and thinks that everything should be listened to him. Don’t worry, I am not such a person. I don’t like to grasp power, nor do I like to control my subordinates. No matter what position you are in, Do things well and don’t worry too much about what I think.”
Cao Zhiyan smiled bitterly: "Xuan Fu said this, and we don't know what to do. How can subordinates not care about what their superiors think?"
Wang Xiaolie looked at Cao Zhiyan, and after a while he said: "Do you know why Shao Ling became the commander of an army, but you reconciled Li Nong and still unified the entire army?"
Cao Zhiyan shook his head: "How did I know? Shao Du is good at leading troops and fighting, so he will be promoted naturally."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Because Shao Ling understands my thoughts better than the two of you, and does things better. This kind of thing cannot be taught. As time goes by, you can slowly realize it. Why? , actually I can’t explain clearly, and Shao Ling himself may not be able to explain clearly either.”
Cao Zhiyan nodded, seeming to understand.
Wang Xiaolie leaned on his chair and said with some emotion: "I also realized not long ago that for every position we set up, there are actually not many people who are really suitable. The higher the position, the fewer the suitable people. The lower the position. For positions, there are more suitable people. Why is this? Because the world is like this, and it should be like this. If it were not like this, the entire social system would not be able to function. But many people do not realize this. Those with low status People, when they see people with high positions above them, think that I can do it too, or even think that I can do it better than him. People with high status, because their subordinates are disobedient, don’t agree with them, or even because they have nothing to do with them, they feel that it would be better to replace them with someone else. Okay. If the top and bottom work together, there will be more and more such things. If morality is not matched, there will be disaster. Over time, the entire social system will have problems until it can no longer function."
After saying that, Wang Xiaolie couldn't help but smile bitterly and shook his head when he saw that the other people looked confused.
As his official position became higher and higher, his territory became larger and larger, and his power became more important, Wang Xiaolie found that it became more and more difficult to talk to his subordinates. Unless business matters are not involved and they are just talking about eating, drinking and sleeping, it will be difficult for both parties to understand what the other party means.
If virtue is not matched, there will be disaster. The virtue is weak but the position is high, the wisdom is small but the plan is big, the strength is small but the responsibility is heavy, it is rare to be inferior to it. The meaning of this sentence is not difficult, but it is very complicated to explain what is virtue, what is weak virtue, what is small intelligence, and what is weak strength.
Because these words, these words, are highly generalized. To a certain extent, words like Dao and De are like axioms in later mathematics. Do axioms need proof? Can the axiom be proven?
It is incorrect to understand the word Tao as principles, rules, laws and other kinds of things. When you try to explain, it is already doomed that your explanation will be wrong. The same goes for virtue, whether it is interpreted as good deeds, favors, or whatever, it is definitely incorrect.
In life, it is very difficult to admit that you don’t understand, that you can’t, and that you are not good enough. It took Wang Xiaolie two lifetimes to realize what these words meant. Once you truly understand the meaning of the words, you will have different views on many ancient books.
Over time, a system will encounter various accidents and slowly decline. Civilization is like this, country is like this, nation is like this, family is like this. Why? Some people have summarized various rules and come up with various explanations. Can you explain it? Actually, neither can. Because this decline is the combined result of many factors. It’s not enough to just say one thing. If you say many things at the same time, it seems like you haven’t said them at all.
If this person does a good job in a position, is it okay to replace him with someone else? In most cases, it is possible and the impact is minimal. But these small impacts, when added up, lead to the collapse of society. Collapse is not caused by one person or one thing, most of it is caused by the superposition of many things.
This change, in social research, is called qualitative change. In the study of nature, it is called emergence.
This position is of high authority and has many benefits. I hold great power. Can I replace it with my third uncle? It's just a little bit worse. Many times, I don't even think it's that bad. It's almost the same. This position has a lot of power and a lot of things to do, but the people who hold it now always disagree with me, which makes me very annoying. Is it okay to replace it with someone who is obedient? In many cases, it works, but it's just a little bit worse.
For those in power, this happens all the time. You do it, I do it, everyone does it. The collapse of a system has already begun to occur. Just waiting for a point in time, or waiting for one thing, the whole system collapses in front of you.
When a dynasty collapses, such as in the late Northern Song Dynasty, people often blame a few treacherous officials, such as Cai Jing and others. Or people like Zhao Gou and others blamed Wang Anshi's new law. Is this really the case? Certainly not.
The dynasty was emerging, full of vitality, and everything looked good. Some people attribute it to the wise kings and wise ministers who founded the dynasty, and some people attribute it to the redistribution of land. There are many explanations. In the last years of the dynasty, he was plagued by all kinds of diseases and could not be saved. Some people attribute it to treacherous ministers being in power, some people attribute it to land annexation, and so on.
Does that make sense? Mostly make sense. Is this the reason for the collapse of the dynasty? If it is changed, will it not collapse? no.
From the time the dynasty was founded, it carried the seeds of its collapse. This seed, if left unattended, will grow slowly and unavoidably.
This explanation is consistent with objective laws.
Wang Xiaolie did not slowly understand this until before the Northern Expedition and worked hard to avoid it. Wang Xiaolie didn't know what would happen to people in the future, but Wang Xiaolie would not plant this seed by himself.
Therefore, Wang Xiaolie has always told his subordinates that officialdom is a worldly ashram and a stage. Regardless of whether you are doing it for your ideals or for dressing and eating, as long as you are an official, you must behave accordingly. Think of it as a worldly ashram, a spiritual practice. Thinking it was a stage, a good show was put on.
