Wei Huiwang After being the top leader of the Wei Kingdom for so many years, I fully realized that I was not as talented and strategic as his grandfather Wei Wenhou , so I could only settle for the second best and wanted to find a reliable talent to assist me.
King Hui of Wei humbly asked for a visit to talented people. At this time, the Song people Huishi came to King Hui in a timely manner.
Hui Shi is the founder of the school of masters and a famous keyboard warrior (politician) in the world. The most profound thing he left for future generations is the debate with Zhuangzi : "How can you know the joy of fish if you don't have a fish?" .
When he communicates with various schools, he especially likes to show his sophistry skills . He is a first-class kung fu in talking. Nowadays, he is also an old keyboard warrior and sophistry expert.
is a good talker , which was just the precondition for most scholars at that time. After all, only loud voice can attract the attention of others and have the opportunity to display their own ability to govern the country.
Wei Huiwang is the one who attracted attention. He admired Hui Shi's talent very much, so as soon as the Prime Minister of Wei, Bai Gui [guī] passed away, King Hui couldn't wait to invite Huishi (it's good that both are from the Hui generation), and asked him to come to Wei to take over as Prime Minister .
Hui Shi, like all scholars who are in the world, has been waiting to appreciate his king. When he heard that King Hui of Wei wanted to serve as prime minister, he immediately felt happy.
immediately rushed to Wei State. Because he was too fast, he even fell into the water when crossing the river. Thanks to the nearby boat owners, he saved his life.
Of course, he did not forget to argue with the boatman and left another classic remark: "Hui Shi and the boatman" .
Hui Shi was so eager to join King Hui of Wei to "be an official", of course, it was not entirely because of fame and fortune, but more because at that time, the various schools of thought were in a fierce stage of fighting for the right to speak.
Scholars are eager to be accepted by the king and promote their school's governance philosophy.
Wei Huiwang As the star king in the center of the international stage, of course, it has become the main target of competition among various schools and sects. Huishi is only one of them. At the same time, another famous scholar was also trying his best to contact Wei Huiwang.
This person is the top scholar of the Warring States Period era - Confucian school sub-sage Mencius .
Confucianism has developed very well by the generation of Mencius. From teaching and educating people to governing the country and managing the family, there are a complete set of theories. There are also thousands of disciples of Confucianism , spread all over the country.
During the Warring States period, in addition to the attacks and attacks between countries, it was also an era when hundred schools of thought contend . Every school is trying its best to expand its influence.
If you want to do this, you need to promote your doctrine to the kings of various countries. As long as your doctrine is accepted by them, it will be easier to expand the school.
And the kings of various countries are also facing huge survival pressure. What they are most concerned about is: "What is your theory of doing to me? Can it make my country stronger? "
In order to convince the kings of various countries, Confucian scholars represented by Mencius have improved the theory of Confucius , downplayed the aspect of etiquette, and emphasized the practical issues of governing the country.
In the Warring States Period, rituals and music further collapsed, Zhou Emperor has completely become a mascot, all the princes and the power under their command do their own things, benevolence, righteousness and morality are thrown behind, and everyone uses all means to fight for power and profit.
On the one hand, these rulers exploit the people and make them struggle on the line of hunger, and on the other hand, they drive these hungry people to fight each other on the battlefield.
The result of the war was that people were killed or injured, and large areas of land were deserted and no one cultivated .
But these rulers also have their own pain . They are surrounded by various forces and are involuntarily involved in endless conspiracy, internal strife, murder, and war.
They can't rest for a moment. As long as they relax their vigilance a little, they may become competitors' on-the-trade food and die.
As stated in " Preface to Taishi Gong ": "In , there are thirty-six monarchs and fifty-two destructions of the country. There are countless princes who run around and cannot protect their country."
Mencius realized that this was a ridiculous society. Therefore, in order to change this extremely unreasonable situation, he proposed the concept of "benevolent government" .
In Mencius's philosophy, benevolent loves people , rulers should treat the people well, does not exploit the people internally, and does not launch annex wars externally.
Specifically, it is necessary to establish a clean and efficient government, reduce taxes from the people, and at the same time reduce punishments, crack down on corruption, and maintain social harmony and stability.
On this basis, we should vigorously develop the economy and pay special attention to agricultural production. The rulers should actively persuade the people to engage in agriculture, sericulture, build water conservancy, and arrange manpower allocation. provides the most favorable guarantee for agricultural production.
The rulers should accumulate food to prevent famines, resettle unemployed vagrants, and maintain social order.
also needs to take care of vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the weak, improve social welfare, so that the people have a place to support the elderly, educate the children, and rely on the poor, and find it difficult to help. needs to allow everyone to get a proper place to .
In this way, everyone lives and works in peace and contentment, and jointly creates a prosperous and stable society of , and finally achieves the ultimate ideal of Datong .
So, how can such a society be implemented? In the eyes of Confucianism, this is the unshirkable responsibility of the disciples.
To achieve this goal, , on the one hand, is to try its best to lobby the rulers and persuade them to implement "benevolent government" ;
, on the other hand, is the so-called "learning and being good at being an official" . Confucian disciples should try their best to enter the ruling class - not for glory and wealth, but take the opportunity to personally implement their own governing strategies, maintain justice and justice, and transform the dark world into a world of harmony in the Confucian dream.
Mencius, who entered middle age, followed Confucius' traveling around the countries and recommended his "benevolent government" to the kings.
This time Mencius came to Wei State and promoted his ideas to King Hui of Wei.
Wei Huiwang was very surprised to see Mencius coming to Wei Kingdom and asked directly: "Mr.com traveled thousands of miles to Wei Kingdom. Do you want to teach me how to obtain benefits? "
Menci shook his head and said: "How can the king consider the gains and losses of interests first? The king should consider the most 'benevolence and righteousness' . The king should consider the benevolence and righteousness. The king will consider benevolence and righteousness. The whole country will inevitably pay attention to benevolence and righteousness. This is the fundamental development path of the country."
Wei Huiwang. When the king heard something, he asked, "How can it be called benevolence and righteousness?"
Mencius asked, "Is there any difference between killing people with sticks and killing people with knives?"
Mencius answered, "No difference."
Mencius asked, "Is there any difference between killing people with knives and killing people with government orders?"
Mencius answered, "No difference."
Mencius continued, ""There are fat meat in the kitchen, fat horses in the stables, people are hungry and hungry, and wild people are hungry" , which is equivalent to leading a wild beast to eat people! People think wild beasts kill each other and they are cruel. As the monarch, they lead beasts to eat people. Is this also worthy of being called the parents of the people?
Huiwang immediately retorted: "I have been managing the country with great sincerity. Look at the countries around me, no one can do better than me."
Mencius replied: "It's like there are two soldiers on the battlefield. When they heard the gongs and drums ringing, the war started in front, and they turned around and ran away. One of them ran fifty steps and stopped, and the other ran a hundred steps before stopping. The man who ran fifty steps mocked the person who ran a hundred steps and said he was timid. King, you are like this soldier."
Huiwang was scolded by Mencius.Mencius pointed out that compared with other countries, the people's living conditions are also miserable, so you should not , 50 steps, 100 steps, .
King Hui may feel his face lost and immediately changed the subject, "Mr. I also know how powerful Wei was at the beginning. As a result, it was defeated by Qi in the east; 700 miles were taken away by Qin in the west; and Chu in the south. I am deeply ashamed and want to avenge revenge, but I don't know what to do. Please teach me."
Mencius replied: "With such superior conditions, if the king implements 'benevolent government', then the people will fight the enemy's army wholeheartedly for you. On the contrary, Qin in the north. , On the Chu State, their people were hungry and cold and their wives were separated. How could they do their best to work for the country? Therefore, 'benevolent is invincible'. As long as the king implements 'benevolent government', he will be invincible in the world. "
Mencius's words sum up: " people are the most important, the country is the next, and the king is the least. "
These words made King Hui of Wei speechless and stunned. In the end, Wei State did not implement "benevolent government" and Mencius failed to realize his ideals in Wei State.
ending
Wei Huiwang The problem that urgently needs to be solved is: how to survive and how to avoid being merged by other countries.
Mencius's theory of "benevolent politics" can make the country long-term stability, but it cannot solve the survival crisis that King Hui of Wei is facing. What King Hui of Wei needs is the policy of a powerful country like Shang Yang's reform , rather than the "kingdom" that will be realized without knowing which year and month it will be realized.
Therefore, Mencius's "benevolent government" is destined to be the kingly way that cannot be realized.
