Allusion 1
At the end of the Warring States Period, the great businessman Lu Buwei made the largest speculative business in Chinese and foreign history. He did not hesitate to spend all his money to make Qin's prince Yiren, who was a hostage in Zhao, the king of Qin. After Yiren became the king of Qin, in order to repay Lu Buwei's kindness, he made Lu Buwei the prime minister. From a businessman, he became a prominent figure below one person and above ten thousand people, and became the authority to advance and retreat hundreds of officials. The officials in the court did not say anything, but they were very unconvinced in their hearts. Lu Buwei also knew that his political qualifications were too low and people might talk about him privately. He felt that the best way to improve his reputation was to convince people. But how to improve quickly, he couldn't think of any good way for a while. Lu Buwei was troubled by this matter and summoned his disciples to discuss it.
Some disciples suggested that Lu Buwei lead an army to go out, destroy several countries, and achieve great military exploits to establish his prestige. Some people immediately objected and said: "This method is harmful and useless. Even if you win the war, you will not be promoted when you come back, because there is no higher position than the prime minister. The important thing is that the risk of war is great, and no one is guaranteed to win." Be sure, if the war fails, the result will be counterproductive."
Someone said: "We know that Confucius has a good reputation because he wrote a book called "Spring and Autumn" and Sun Wu was able to become Wu. The general of the country is because King Wu first read his "Art of War". Why can't we write a book that can not only become famous in the world, but also set an example for future generations?"
Lu Buwei thinks this method is very good. Order the retainers to organize staff to write immediately.
Lü Buwei had 3,000 followers at that time, and soon wrote 26 volumes and 160 articles. The title of the book was "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals". After the book was written, Lu Buwei ordered the full text to be copied and posted on the gate of Xianyang City, and issued a notice: "Whoever can add one word to the book, subtract one word, or even change one word, will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold."
After the notice was posted for a long time, people were afraid of Lu Buwei's power and no one asked for trouble. As a result, the legend of "a word of gold" has been passed down to this day.
Allusion 2
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a man named Zhong Jun in the Liang Dynasty. He wrote a review of poetry called Poetry. In the book, he wrote: "The text is gentle and beautiful, the meaning is sad but distant, and thrilling. It can be said that every word is worth a fortune." This means that a good article cannot have more or less words. The effect of each word is worth one thousand taels of gold. This is a story from the late Warring States Period.
Text translation
At that time, there was Chunshenjun in Chu State, Pingyuanjun in Zhao State, and Mengchangjun in Qi State. They all treated virtuous people, made friends with guests, and competed for superiority in this regard. up and down. Lu Buwei thought that the Qin State was so powerful that it was a shame to be inferior to them, so he also recruited literati and bachelors and gave them generous treatment. There were as many as 3,000 diners under his disciples. At that time, there were many talented debaters in various princely states, like Xunqing, who wrote books and established theories that were popular in the world. Lu Buwei ordered his diners to write down what they saw and heard, and combined them into the Eight Readings, Six Treatises, and Twelve Disciplines, totaling more than 200,000 words. I think it includes the history of heaven and earth and all things from ancient times to the present, so it is called "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals". He published it at the city gate of Xianyang, with a reward of one thousand gold hanging on it, and invited tourists and guests from all over the world. If anyone could add or delete a word, he would be rewarded with one thousand gold.
Allusion 3
In the Forest of Steles in Xi'an, there is a "Stele of Preface to the Holy Religion of the Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty". It is a strange thing that a stele was written jointly across generations: Wang Xizhi, the great calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, actually Wrote an article about the Tang Dynasty 200 years later! Many experts have checked every word on the stele, and it is indeed Wang Xizhi's handwriting; the content of the inscription recited is indeed the "Preface to the Holy Religion" written by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty for monk Xuanzang.
There are reasons for strange things. This "Preface to the Tripitaka of the Tang Dynasty" is a Buddhist scripture that monk Xuanzang brought back from India. After he carefully translated it, he asked Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to write a preface and add Prince Li Zhi wrote a narrative and a thank you note for Xuanzang, which is commonly known as the Preface to the Tripitaka Holy Religion. This stele was erected in the third year of Xianheng (AD 672) of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the imperial court wanted to engrave the stele in the font of Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty. When the eminent monk Huairen of Hongfu Temple in Chang'an learned about this incident, he felt that it was an honor for the Buddhist community, and therefore he was determined to take on this responsibility.
After Monk Huairen searched everywhere, he finally collected Wang Xizhi's characters one by one according to the preface, and became this "Holy Religion Preface Stele" in Wang Xizhi's script.
It is said that when Huairen was collecting calligraphy, he could not find several characters, so he had no choice but to ask the court to post a notice, offering a reward of one thousand gold to anyone who contributed a character that was urgently needed in the inscription. This is the origin of "a word of gold", and it is also a good saying in the literary world. Later generations called the rubbings of this stele "Qian Jin Tie".
Allusion 4
Wang Bo, a poet of the early Tang Dynasty, came to Nanchang from Kyoto in 667 AD. At that time, the poet's life was relatively poor and he was forced to have no choice but to make a living. On the Double Ninth Festival of this year, Yan Boyu, the governor of Nanchang, held a banquet in the Tengwang Pavilion and invited scholars from far and near to write poems and prefaces to the Tengwang Pavilion. Wang Bo was naturally one of the guests. During the banquet, Wang Bo wrote the famous "Preface to Prince Teng's Pavilion", and then wrote the preface poem:
The high pavilion of Prince Teng is near the Yangtze River, and he wears jade and sings the luan while singing and dancing. The painted building is flying toward Nanpu clouds, and the bead curtain rolls into the west mountain rain at dusk. The shadows in Xianyuntan Lake are long, and things change and the stars move several autumns. Where is the emperor's son in the pavilion now? Outside the threshold, the Yangtze River flows naturally.
In the poem, Wang Bo deliberately left a word blank, then presented the preface to the governor, Yan Boyu, and stood up to leave. Master Yan read Wang Bo's preface and was about to express his praise when he found that there was a missing word in the last line of the poem, which made him feel strange. The literati and bachelors who were watching expressed their opinions on this. One said it must be the word "water"; the other said it should be the word "independence". Master Yan felt that it was unsatisfactory after hearing this. He blamed them for making wild guesses and not the author's original intention. So he ordered people to chase Wang Bo quickly and asked him to make up the missing words. After the visitor caught up with Wang Bo, his entourage said: "My young master has something to say, and every word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. I hope Lord Yan will respect you."
The visitor returned and told Yan Boyu what he said. I thought to myself: "This is clearly blackmailing me, how annoying!" Another thought came to mind: "No matter how hard I say it, I can't leave a word empty. It's better to just follow his wishes, so that I can gain a good reputation as a courteous and virtuous corporal." So he ordered people to prepare a thousand taels of silver and personally led all the scholars to Wang Bo's residence. Wang Bo took the money and pretended to be surprised: "Lord He Lao asked, how dare you leave a blank word in late life?" After hearing this, everyone felt confused about its meaning. Someone asked: "What should be the meaning of the blank space?" Wang Bo laughed and said: " What is empty is empty. Where is the emperor's son in the pavilion now?
The Yangtze River flows freely outside the threshold." After hearing this, everyone unanimously praised it, and Master Yan also said meaningfully: "A word of gold is worthy of being a genius today. ”