One morning, he put on his court clothes, looked in the mirror, and asked his wife: "Compared with Mr. Xu from the north of the city, who is more handsome?"
The wife replied: "Of course you are more handsome. How can Mr. Xu catch up with you?" Mr. Xu in the north of the city was a famous handsome man in the Qi Kingdom. Zou Ji heard his wife say that he was more handsome than Mr. Xu, but he didn't believe it, so he asked his concubine: "I Who is more handsome, Mr. Xu?" The concubine said, "How can Mr. Xu compare with you?"
The next day, a guest came to the house. When Zou Ji was chatting with him, he asked, "Which one is me or Mr. Xu?" More handsome?" The guest replied, "Of course Mr. Xu is not as handsome as you."
The next day, Mr. Xu came to Zou Ji's house. Zou Ji looked at him carefully. He thought he was not as handsome as Mr. Xu, so he looked at himself in the mirror. I feel that he is far less handsome than Mr. Xu. That night, Zou Ji lay in bed and thought carefully, and said to himself: "My wife says I am handsome because she prefers me; my concubine says I am handsome because she is afraid of me; my guests praise me for my beauty, because Because you have something to ask for from me!"
So Zou Ji said to King Wei when he went to court: "I really know that I am not as handsome as Xu Gong, but my wife prefers me, my concubines are afraid of me, and my guests have requests. Yu Chen, so they all praised him for being more handsome than Duke Xu. Now the land of Qi stretches thousands of miles, with a total of 120 cities. The concubines in the palace will be partial to the king; the ministers in the court will also be afraid of the king; the Qi State will also be afraid of the king. Everyone in the territory is asking for help from the king. It can be seen that the king is really deceived!"
King Qi Wei praised: "Your words are reasonable."
King Qi Wei immediately issued an edict: " From now on, all ministers and common people who can accuse me of my faults face to face will receive a reward; those who can write a letter directly admonishing me for my faults will receive a medium reward; and who can criticize me for my mistakes in the streets and alleys, as long as they can hear me. Accept the reward. "
When the edict was just issued, ministers rushed to come to give advice, and the court was full of people. A few months later, there were still frequent remonstrances. After a year, those who wanted to make suggestions had nothing to say, because all their opinions had been dedicated to the court. After hearing the news, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei and other countries sent envoys to Qi to pay homage. This is what is called "defeating the motherland within the imperial court."
When faced with praise, Zou Ji stayed calm, thought quietly, and understood the truth, which shows that meditation can produce wisdom. He used this as a comparison to advise King Wei of Qi not to be deceived by good words, but to open up channels of speech in order to enrich the country and strengthen the army.
