1. Zhao Pu risked his life to recommend talents
It is said that once Zhao Pu discovered a talent. This person was very talented, but he was never discovered. So Zhao Pu wrote a report similar to a letter of recommendation to Song Taizu, and hoped that Song Taizu would recruit this person to the court as an official.
But Song Taizu didn't pay much attention to Zhao Pu's report after reading it, because he had never heard of this person, so he threw the report aside. Zhao Pu saw that the emperor had no reaction, so he wrote a new report the next day. The content was roughly the same as the one the previous day, but Song Taizu still did not agree with it.
So on the third day, Zhao Pu submitted the report again, which also made Song Taizu very angry. He felt that as an emperor, he couldn't even decide whether a person could be an official. If you don’t want to use it, why bother yourself again and again. So Song Taizu tore up the report in front of Zhao Pu, threw it back to Zhao Pu, and told Zhao Pu that he just didn't want to use this person, there was no reason, he just didn't like it.
On the fourth day, Zhao Pu submitted another report. Song Taizu originally thought it was about other things, but when he opened it, he found that it was the report he tore up yesterday. Song Taizu was very puzzled about this. What kind of ability did that person have that made Zhao Pu yearn for him so much? Could he be his relative.
So he ordered someone to investigate and asked Zhao Pu to introduce this person to him. Only then did he realize that the person was indeed a talent, so he agreed to Zhao Pu's recommendation. Later, that person did indeed serve the court and the country. A lot of things were accomplished. It was precisely because Zhao Pu risked his life to recommend virtuous people that Song Taizu valued Zhao Pu more and more.
2. Su Wu Muyang
In the first year of the Han Dynasty (100 BC), Su Wu sent General Zhonglang as an envoy to the Xiongnu. But unfortunately, just when Su Wu was about to complete his mission and prepare to return home, King Feng of the Xiongnu attempted to kidnap Shan Yu's mother and return her family to the Han Dynasty, and deputy envoy Zhang Sheng was involved in this activity. After the incident, Su Wu was implicated and detained in the Huns.
At that time, in order to induce Su Wu to surrender, the Xiongnu Chanyu first locked him up in a large cellar. Su Wu ate snow and chamois hair and refused to surrender. Chanyu decided to exile Su Wu to the North Sea (the area around Lake Baikal in Siberia) and let him herd sheep. "Since you don't surrender, I will let you herd sheep. When these sheep give birth to lambs, I will let you return to the Central Plains." But Shanyu only gave him a few rams.
Su Wu held the Han Jie and shepherded sheep in the windy and snowy Beihai. The only companions of Su Wu were the Han Jie representing the Han Dynasty and a few sheep. Year after year, the oxtail decorations hanging on the envoys fell off, and Su Wu's hair and beard turned gray, but the Han Festival never left his hand.
3. Hai Rui is not afraid of the powerful
Once, Yan Maoqing, the censor of the capital, went to inspect the grassroots. He was a popular man in the hands of the treacherous minister Yan Song. Naturally, the officials along the way could not miss this high-level promotion. Opportunities arise, and they are all treated with exceptions. As long as the leader is happy, he doesn't care how much money he spends. Yan Yushi has been engaged in discipline inspection work for many years, and he is naturally familiar with the officialdom.
In order to show his integrity, he issued a notice saying: "I am a simple official by nature and do not like to welcome guests. Food and beverages along the way should be frugal and frugal, and should not be extravagant and intrusive to the people." Having said that, wherever Yan Yushi's large fleet of chariots and horses went, they were like wind and rolling clouds. Seeing that they were about to arrive in Chun'an County, Hai Rui was very anxious.
Chun'an's finances are tight and it is impossible to spend so much money. If he only prepares four dishes and one soup for the reception, it will definitely be regarded as neglect. After thinking for a long time, Hai Rui came up with a plan. He wrote another letter and sent someone to deliver it to Yan Yushi. The letter said: You are the most honest official in the world. You travel from state to state, with ease and simplicity, and never increase the burden on the local government.
But now some people are specifically trying to ruin your reputation, saying that wherever you go, "there are banquets everywhere, each banquet costs three to four hundred taels of silver, and the tents are extremely gorgeous, and even the utensils are made of silver." tools”. This confuses me. Which one is true and which one is false? Please tell me clearly so that I can prepare for the reception.
The words were like a slap in the face to Yan Yushi. He couldn't say anything. He had to explain the rumors and praised Hai Rui a few words. But he just made excuses for the sake of Turgen's innocence. On business, take a detour, if you can't afford to offend, you can still afford to hide. With integrity and integrity, if there is no mellow wisdom, Hai Rui would not be able to kill even a few heads, let alone Wu Sha Mao.
4. Huang Tingjian: "Whenever you have questions, answer them directly."
After Wang Anshi's reform in the Song Dynasty, the scholar-bureaucrats formed two parties, the old and the new, because of their support or opposition to the reform, and gradually It turned into a partisan struggle, with one side singing and the other taking the stage. They were incompatible with each other and fought to the death. Huang Tingjian once participated in the compilation of "Records of Shenzong". Because he opposed the reform, he was assigned to the old party.
After Emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty came back to power, the New Party excerpted more than a thousand items from "Records of Shenzong" and accused him of slandering Song Shenzong. Shuanggui, confinement, and many other methods were used at the same time. However, no matter how he was coerced and lured, Huang Tingjian never admitted the slanderous remarks, "whenever asked, he answered directly". He did not bend down, was not afraid, and did not give in. His rugged pride and awe-inspiring righteousness impressed all the scholar-bureaucrats.
Huang Tingjian would not bow his head and admit his guilt, nor would he endure humiliation and survive. Therefore, he suffered a greater blow than other members of the old party, and his ending was more tragic. He was first demoted to Fuzhou, then to Qianzhou, and then to Rongzhou. Later, he was expelled from the cadres, was supervised by Yizhou, became a prisoner, and finally died tragically in a foreign country.
In the last years of Huang Tingjian's life, he burned incense and read facing the chopping board for slaughtering cattle, wrote postscripts for friends with a brush he bought for three cents, and regarded being caught in the rain on the city wall as a pleasure in his life. He would always stand there Smile proudly instead of crying on your knees, even if you have to live in exile and suffer a lifetime of hardship.
5. Wen Tianxiang: Keeping his loyalty to history
Wen Tianxiang called on all localities to raise troops to fight against the enemy at the critical moment of the nation and defend the country to the death. Later, he was defeated and captured, and served for three years. prison. During this period, the Yuan Dynasty tried every possible means to persuade, force, or induce Wen Tianxiang to surrender. The number of people involved in persuading him to surrender, the viciousness of the methods of coercion and inducement, the generous conditions promised, and the length of waiting time exceeded those of other Song ministers.
Kublai Khan planned to grant Wen Tianxiang a high-ranking official position. Wang Jiweng, a minister of the Song Dynasty who surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty, and others wrote to Wen Tianxiang. Wen Tianxiang replied: "If Guan Zhong does not die, his fame will be known to the world; if Tianxiang does not die, his stink will last for ten thousand years." Wang Jiweng saw that he was so decisive and did not dare to persuade him again.
Soon, Kublai Khan ordered to treat Wen Tianxiang preferentially and give him high-quality meals. Wen Tianxiang asked someone to tell him: "I have not eaten official meals for several years, and I don't want to eat anymore." Kublai Khan summoned Wen Tianxiang and offered him high-level positions such as prime minister and privy minister in person, but he sternly refused, saying: " I wish I could die!"