One man took Qi to the position of overlord in one fell swoop. Why did the sage Confucius say: He is just a nobody?

The man mentioned by Confucius is Guan Zhong. We are all familiar with Guan Zhong. He is really an excellent counselor who assisted Qi for many years and finally helped Qi become one of the overlords. But Confucius didn't like Guan Zhong very much. He thinks Guan Zhong is too artificial and likes to arrange noodles too much. He looks down on such people.

Guan Zhong is indeed a very capable person. He has made great contributions to Qi, and the people of Qi also respect and worship him very much. When Guan Zhong reached a high position, he began to pay attention to ostentation and extravagance. Moreover, he was extravagant and didn't like saving, so Confucius didn't like such people. But Confucius just didn't like Guan Zhong's behavior and style, nor did he deny his talent and ability.

Among them, we can also see some clues from Sima Qian's Historical Records:

Guan is a so-called virtuous minister, but Confucius is a villain. Do you think that the decline of Zhou Dao, constant public virtue, and not being king, is bullying? As the saying goes, it will make it beautiful and keep its evils, so that you can date from top to bottom. What does Guan Zhong mean?

Therefore, Confucius' "small" Guan Zhong is not a total denial of Guan Zhong, but a criticism of his attitude towards life. In addition, Confucius once praised Guan Zhong for his ability to help Qi Huangong win hegemony. Therefore, the word "small" deserves our scrutiny, and Confucius did not fully control it.

And the historical materials are not complete. We can find that Confucius has different attitudes towards Guan Zhong in different ancient books. He sometimes criticized Guan Zhong and sometimes criticized him, which made us feel a little contradictory. In fact, although Confucius is "smaller" than Guan Zhong, Guan Zhong still has some bright spots and is worth learning. Confucius is not a one-sided person. Moreover, Confucius' evaluation of Guan Zhong is also lost in historical documents.