Dongfang Shuo was dissatisfied with his meager salary and the fact that he never saw the emperor. In order to make Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty summon him to see him as soon as possible, he intentionally scared some midgets who were keeping horses for the emperor: "The emperor said that you people are neither capable of farming nor fighting, and you have no talent in ruling the country, which is of no benefit to the country, so he intends to kill you. Why don't you go and beg the emperor for mercy!" The dwarfs were terrified and cried to Emperor Wu to beg for mercy. When Emperor Wu asked about the reason, he summoned Dongfang Shuo for questioning. Dongfang Shuo finally had a chance to face the emperor directly. He said wryly, "I had no choice but to do this. Zhu Ru is 3 feet tall, I am 9 feet tall, but I earn the same amount of Dai Lu, we can't support them and starve the little minister! If Your Majesty is not willing to reuse me, just let me go home, I don't want to spend the capital's rice for nothing." Dongfang Shuo's witty language, amusing Han Wu Di laughed, so he appointed him to serve the imperial edict of the Golden Horse Gate, and soon promoted to the minister, serving the left and right.
Han Wu Di loved games, and in his spare time, he often issued riddles for his attendants to guess. He was very pleased with his answers and was soon favored by the emperor. He soon gained favor with the emperor, while Dongfang Shuo used his proximity to the emperor as an opportunity to repeatedly criticize the state affairs of Han Wu Di.
In the third year of the reign of Jian Yuan (138 years ago), Emperor Wu of Han proposed to set aside a hundred miles of good land in Guanzhong to build a large-scale forest garden for the purpose of hunting and playing. Most of the ministers in the court catered to the emperor's wishes and expressed their approval, but Dongfang Shuo advised him on the basis of reason: "I heard that if you are modest and prudent, the sky will be blessed, and if you are proud and extravagant, the sky will be cursed. Now the emperor thinks that the palace is not tall, the garden is not wide, to build the upper forest garden. Imagine, Guanzhong area, the land is fertile, rich in produce, the country relies on peace, the people rely on the rich, the land for the court, will be a lack of the country, the bottom of the loss of the people; for the construction of the tiger and deer paradise, the destruction of graves, demolition of houses, will make the people homeless, sadness, tears, resentment of the court. In the past, King Zhou of Yin built nine cities and the lords rebelled, King Ling of Chu built Zhanghuatai and the people of Chu were centrifuged, and Emperor Qin Shi Huang built the A-fang Palace and the world was in great turmoil. The lessons of the past, can not not be detected." Han Wu Di is not willing to stop the repair of the Shanglin Yuan, but on the Dongfang Shuo showed courage and loyalty is very appreciated, the imperial decree to give 100 pounds of gold, and awarded the Taizhong Daifu to the official title of the Minister of the Chinese.
The sister of Emperor Wu of Han, Princess Longxi, had a son in her old age, and was named Zhaopingjun, who was y favored by Emperor Wu, but she was arrogant and unlawful, and killed a man while drunk, and the court officer did not dare to punish her according to the law, so she asked Emperor Wu for instructions. Emperor Wu could not pardon her because of the law. So he pretended to cry and tried to imply that the court officer would pardon him. The ministers on the right and left saw the emperor's intention and pleaded for Zhao Ping Jun's pardon, except Dong Fang Shuo who pretended to be confused and praised Han Wu Di, saying: "When a holy king is in power, he does not shun his enemies in crying for reward, and does not choose between flesh and blood in executing a man. The world is fortunate to have such a strict king." This made it difficult for Emperor Wu to show favoritism, and he had to punish Zhaoping Jun according to the law.
Han Wu Di was a man who liked to sing the praises of his subordinates, and once he asked Dongfang Shuo: "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. Once, Emperor Wu asked Dongfang Shuo: "What kind of ruler do you think Lian is?" Dongfang Shuo replied: "Your Majesty's merits, more than the three kings and five emperors, or not many wise men how to assist you, such as Zhou Gongdan, Shao Gongshi Suk to do the prime minister, Kong Qiu to do the imperial historian, Jiang Ziya to do the general ...... "Dongfang Shuo breath of the ancient 32 Dongfang Shuo described all 32 of the most capable ministers of ancient times as ministers of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. He was sarcastic, but also put on a funny face, so that Han Wu Di could not hate, broke down sobbing into laughter, laughter and hate and really feel that he is not as good as the saintly king.
The Story of Gan Luo
Gan Luo's grandfather, Gan Mao, was the prime minister of Qin, and he once offended King Wu of Qin over a matter. King Wu of Qin wanted to punish Gan Mao, but he felt that he was an old minister of the court, so it was not good for him to be publicly sentenced, so he thought of a way to fix him.
On this day, King Wu of Qin called Gan Mao in front of him, and said with a stern face:
"I order you to bring me three eggs within three days."
Gan Mao had just said "yes" when King Wu went on to say:
"I want male eggs! Do you hear me? A male egg."
Gan Mao was immediately dumbfounded. He stared at King Qin Wu with astonished eyes. King Wu of Qin didn't even look at him, waved his hand and said,
"Go away."
Gan Mao returned home, not thinking about tea or food, sad and sullen. Gan Luo saw that his grandfather did not look right, so he pestered his grandfather and had to ask the truth. Gan Mao had to tell the whole story, and finally sighed and said:
"My death is not far away."
I didn't expect Gan Luo to listen to this, but instead comforted Gan Mao, saying:
"Grandpa, don't worry, after three days, I will go to see the king for you."
The three-day deadline arrived. King Wu of Qin summoned Gan Mao, but to his surprise, a child came in.
"Whose child are you?" King Wu of Qin asked curiously."
Ganluo said, unperturbed:
"Honorable king, I am Ganluo, the grandson of Gan Mao."
King Wu of Qin said angrily:
"Why didn't your grandfather come to see me? Instead, he sent a child like you, how uncharacteristic!"
"Reporting to the king, my grandfather is having a baby at home and couldn't come, so he sent me to see the king."
When King Wu of Qin heard this, he couldn't help but rise in anger and slapped a couple of cases, saying,
"What nonsense, how can a man give birth to a child!"
Ganluo was not at all afraid and replied calmly:
"Your majesty has a point. Since men don't give birth to children, it's only natural that roosters don't lay eggs either!"
King Wu of Qin was speechless and could not answer correctly. He thought that the child in front of him was really smart and bold, and was just too cute. So he stopped mentioning the matter of the male eggs, and Gan Mao was spared a disaster.
Soon after, King Wu of Qin died, and his younger brother became King Zhao of Qin. After the death of King Wu of Qin, his brother became the king of Qin, and he was forced to flee to Wei. His fiefdom and family properties were also confiscated. Gan Mao had to wander around and later became the eater of a great official named Lu Buwei.
Wise Excitement of Zhang Tang
When King Wengzheng of Qin (who later became the First Emperor of Qin; for his story, please see Volume 1 of this complete book of statesmen) came to the throne, Lu Buwei held great power.
On one occasion, the king of Qin intended to send a minister to Yan as prime minister, so that Qin and Yan could unite and attack Zhao in the center. Lu Buwei then nominated Zhang Tang. But Zhang Tang said he did not want to go to Yan. He said to Lu Buwei with a bitter face:
"In the past, I once led an attack on Zhao. The people of Zhao hated me very much, and the king of Zhao even ordered that whoever could capture Zhang Tang would be rewarded with a hundred miles of land. Now, if I am sent to Yan, I must pass through Zhao, so can I still live?"
No matter how much Lu Buwei tried to persuade and scare him, Zhang Tang just refused to go to Yan, making Lu Buwei very unhappy.
Ganluo, who was only twelve years old, found out about this and went to see Lu Buwei. When he saw that Lu Bu Wei was sitting alone and sulking, he pretended to know nothing and asked:
"Marquis Wen Xin (Lu Bu Wei's title), why are you unhappy?"
Lv Buwei said:
"I wanted Zhang Tang to go out to Yan as a minister, but he refused to go, so I am not happy in my heart."
Ganluo said:
"Please leave this matter to me, I will be able to make Zhang Tang go to Yan."
Lu Buwei heard this and became angry and rebuked loudly,
"Go away! He refused to go even though I invited him myself, how can you, a child, persuade him? This is outrageous!"
Ganluo, however, did not panic and said:
"The seven-year-old Xiang Gu had been Confucius' teacher. I am twelve years old, can't you let me try? If I can't do the job, it's not too late for you to get angry."
Lv Buwei also knew that Gan Luo was smart and witty, articulate and eloquent, and this time, seeing that he was sincere and reasonable, he said:
"Then, go ahead and try!"
Gan Roman went up to visit Zhang Tang. Upon meeting him, he put on a sad face and said:
"Your death is approaching, so I have come here today to pay my respects to you."
On hearing this, Zhang Tang was furious and yelled with glaring eyes:
"How can you, a child, say such unpleasant words, you really don't know how to behave."
"Don't be angry yet." Gan Luo said unhurriedly, "Who would you say has gotten the most credit for your work compared to the Wuanjun Bai back then?"
"How can that be compared?" Zhang Tang said, "Jun Wu'an was a famous general during the reign of the late king, defeating the state of Chu to the south and deterring Yan and Zhao to the north. In the battle of Changping, he annihilated more than 400,000 Zhao troops in one go and captured countless cities. I can't compare to him."
Gan Luo nodded, then asked:
"Let me ask you again, comparing the Prime Minister Fan Suo of that year to the present-day Marquis of Wen Xin, who is more powerful?"
"Do you still need to ask? Of course it is Marquis Wen Xin who is more powerful."
Ganluo said:
"You wouldn't know that when Fan Suo wanted to attack Zhao, Bai Qi didn't agree, what happened? Bai Qi was forced to flee and died! Now, Marquis Wenxin asked you to become the prime minister of Yan, but you refused to go even though you said so. At this rate, I really don't know where you will die!"
Listening to Gan Luo say this, Zhang Tang could not help but break out in a cold sweat and immediately said:
"I am so confused! You go back and tell the Prime Minister that I am moving to Yan."
Ganluo instructed Zhang Tang to hurry up and prepare his traveling clothes, and he himself went to see Lu Buwei again and told him about Zhang Tang's agreement to go to Yan, and added:
"Please tell the king to give me five carriages, and I'll go to Zhao to inform him first."
This time Lu Buwei did not dare to underestimate Gan Luo. He immediately went to the palace and told King Winzheng of Qin what had happened.
When Win Zheng heard this, he was pleasantly surprised and said:
"Hearing you say that, I would like to meet this child."
So Lu Buwei took Gan Luo to pay a visit to Win Zheng. Win Zheng asked many questions, none of which were difficult for Gan Luo. At last, Win Zheng said happily:
"After all, he is worthy of being a descendant of a famous family!"
Win Zheng sent ten carriages and more than a hundred attendants, led by Gan Luo, on a mission to the state of Zhao.
To the State of Zhao
When King Xiang of Zhao heard that Qin's envoy had arrived, he rushed out of the city to meet him, but who knew that the visitor was a child, and was a little displeased in his heart, and said,
"Have you not any men of age left in the State of Qin? Why did you send you a little child?"
Ganluo replied unhurriedly:
"Our King of Qin has always used people who are old enough to delegate major tasks and those who are young enough to delegate minor tasks, which is why I was sent on a mission to your country."
When King Xiang of Zhao heard this, he thought the boy was very wise, so he asked him what he had come to Zhao for. Ganluo asked:
"My lord, have you heard that Prince Dan of Yan is a hostage in Qin?"
"I have heard."
"And have you also heard that Zhang Tang will be going to Yan as prime minister?"
"I've heard that too!"
Ganluo deliberately made a mysterious appearance and whispered,
"Can't you see that Zhao is about to be finished?"
Seeing that King Xiang of Zhao looked surprised, Gan Luo then continued:
"The fact that Yan let Prince Dan go to Qin as a hostage shows that Yan trusts Qin; and the fact that Qin sent Zhang Tang to Yan to be the prime minister shows that Qin trusts Yan. If Qin and Yan unite to attack Zhao in the center, Zhao will be in danger!"
Listening to Gan Luo's words, King Xiang of Zhao no longer dared to underestimate Gan Luo, and hurriedly asked:
"Then what do you think should be done?"
"Qin and Yan are befriending each other in order to attack Zhao and expand the land around Hezhang (now central Hebei Province). If the Great King agrees to give the five cities in Hezha to Qin, I will certainly ask the King of Qin to send Crown Prince Dan back to Yan when I return, and then the relationship between Qin and Yan will be estranged. Then, Zhao can go forward to attack Yan and gain much more than these five cities."
When King Xiang of Zhao heard this, he immediately turned his worries into joy and decided to cede the five cities of Hezha to Qin. Gan Luo returned to Xianyang, the state capital, with a map of the king's cities. The king of Qin followed Ganluo's advice, and not only did he not let Zhang Tang go to Yan, but also sent Crown Prince Dan back to his country. Soon Zhao sent general Li Mu (for his story, please see this whole volume on militarists) to lead an attack on Yan, capturing thirty cities and giving eleven of them to Qin.
Qin got many cities and benefits for nothing without spending a single soldier. In order to reward Gan Luo, Winning Zheng made him superior minister (equivalent to the prime minister), and also gave Gan Luo the land of Gan Mao, which he had confiscated before