Ji was an expert in training cockfighting in the Spring and Autumn Period. Because of his reputation, the King of Qi also recruited him to train cockfighting.

Ten days later, the King of Qi asked him, "How is the cockfighting training now?" Ji Xunzi replied: "The chicken's temperament is arrogant, and the time has not yet arrived." Ten days later, the King of Qi came to ask him again: "Is it time to practice cockfighting?" Ji Xunzi replied: "Not yet, you can't just hold your horses." A month later, the king of Qi was impatient. Ji Yaozi shook his head and saidno. Ten days later, Ji Xunzi told the king that cockfighting was well trained. Cockfighting is so powerful that other chickens are stiff when they see it. It can be seen that it is really a world-beater cockfighting!

Get out of the way:

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was civil strife in the State of Jin, and Jin Xiangong's son Zhong Er fled to Chu. King Chu Cheng took him in and entertained him. He promised that if there was a war in Chu Jin, the Jin army would retreat from three houses (one in Sanli). Later, Zhong Er returned to the State of Jin with the help of Qin Mugong. The state of Jin supported the struggle between Song and Chu, and the two armies met in Chengpu. Zhong Er avoided, lured the enemy in and won.

A blockbuster:

According to legend, Chu Zhuangwang (another name is Qi Weiwang) had a good time at the end of his three-year term, and neglected state affairs. A courtier said to Zhuang Wang, "I heard that there is a big bird in the countryside that doesn't fly for three years and doesn't sing for three years. What's wrong? " Zhuang Wang said: "This bird can fly without flying, and it will soar in the sky;" It will be a blockbuster if you don't sing. " Then, we will rectify state affairs, enrich Qiang Bing, and form a situation of great governance in just a few years.

Eat bread and taste courage:

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Fu Cha, King of Wu defeated and captured Gou Jian, King of Yue. Gou Jian fed the horse for three years and was tortured. After returning home, he decided to take revenge and rejuvenate the country. He asked Fan Li to help train the army, hire talents, take part in labor by himself, and insist on sleeping on firewood. He tasted courage before every meal, and finally destroyed Wu.

An old horse knows the way:

During the Spring and Autumn Period, at the request of Yan State, Qi Huangong led an army to defeat the invasion of Shanrong State. The Milu, the king of Shanrong, fled to the lonely bamboo country to ask for reinforcements, and Guan Zhong followed Qi Huangong to defeat the reinforcements of the lonely bamboo country. On the way back to China, Qi Jun was trapped by a fake guide's agency. Guan Zhong suggested using an old horse to lead the way to save the day.

Apologize humbly:

During the Warring States Period, Lian Po and Lin Xiangru, two important ministers of Zhao State, were made prime ministers by Zhao Wang because of Lin Xiangru's many achievements. Lian Po was unconvinced, thinking that his martial arts had overshadowed his mouth. Lin Xiangru avoided Lian Po many times for the sake of the country. Lian Po was ashamed when he learned of his good intentions, so he went to Lin Xiangru's house to confess secretly. From then on, the two made up and became friends with each other.

Theoretically:

During the Warring States Period, Zhao Kuo, the son of Zhao She, a famous Warring States soldier, was proficient in the art of war. Even his father can't beat him, and he thinks he is invincible. Zhao She thinks that he is an armchair strategist and doesn't understand traffic. Later, when Zhao She died, Zhao Kuo took Lian Po's place. Lin Xiangru and others strongly opposed it. Zhao Wang insisted that Zhao Kuo lost 400,000 troops in the battle of Changping.

Three orders and five applications:

Sun Wuliu lived in the State of Wu, and the King of Wu wanted to test Sun Wu's military talents, so he gave Sun Wu the 180 young maid-in-waiting to practice. Sun Wu divided the ladies-in-waiting into two teams and made the prince's favorite concubine the captain. After Sun Wu confessed the password to the ladies-in-waiting, he drummed and commanded. The ladies-in-waiting burst into laughter and the team was in chaos. Sun Wu gave another order, but the ladies-in-waiting just thought it was fun and didn't listen at all. Sun Wu said that since he had understood the order and didn't listen, it was the crime of the leader and ordered the two captains to be put to death. The prince of Wu hurriedly ordered that the princess should not be killed, but Sun Wu killed two princesses. Then, Sun Wu rehearsed the ladies-in-waiting, and this time no one dared not listen to orders.

Encircling Wei to save Zhao;

During the Warring States Period, Wei Jun besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao. Zhao asked Qi for help and sent Tian Ji as the general and Sun Bin as the strategist to send troops to save Zhao. Tian Ji wanted to directly lead troops to save Zhao Handan, while Sun Bin advocated that troops should besiege the capital girder of Wei, and Wei would return to the army to save himself. This will not only lift the siege of Zhao, but also exhaust Wei Jun. Tian Ji adopted Sun Bin's strategy and led his troops to take the lead. When Wei Jun heard the news, he quickly withdrew the troops besieging Handan and returned to the army to rescue the girder overnight. Going to Guiling, the Qi army will meet Wei Jun earlier and earlier. Wei Jun was defeated, almost completely annihilated.

Khufu riding and shooting:

During the Warring States Period, Wu Wangling, the monarch of the State of Zhao, was determined to become stronger. King Wuling saw that the Hu people (ethnic minorities) were dressed in short-sleeved plain clothes, riding horses, shooting arrows while running, and their actions were agile and flexible, so he decided to learn from the Hu people, reform soldiers' clothing and develop cavalry. In less than a year, Zhao had a powerful cavalry. After fighting in the south and north, Zhao became one of the great powers at that time.

Steal operator to save Zhao:

During the Warring States Period, the State of Qin sent troops to besiege Handan, the capital of Zhao. Zhao asked Wei for help, and Wei sent troops to save Zhao. When Qin heard that Wei sent troops to save Zhao, he sent people to Wei to threaten Wang Wei. Wang Wei gave in to Qin and ordered those who went to save Zhao to stay where they were. So he wrote to Xin, the son of Wei State, for help. Xinlingjun once avenged Wang Wei's favorite concubine, such as Ji, for killing his father. Xinlingjun let Ruji steal the art of war from Wang Wei, thus seizing the military power, leading tens of thousands of soldiers to Handan, defeating Qin Jun and solving the siege of Handan.

Don't forget the past, the teacher of the future:

According to the records in the Warring States Policy Zhao Ceyi, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the power of the State of Jin fell into the hands of Zhi, Zhao, Wei and Han Siqing, and actually became a puppet. In 458 BC (during the Warring States Period), an envoy was sent to ask Qi and Lu to send troops to attack the four clean-ups. Four clean-ups got the news and sent troops to attack Jin Dinggong. Unable to resist, Ding Gong was forced to flee and died on the road.

After Ding Gong's death, Ji Jiao, the imperial clan, was established as the monarch, which was called Jin Aigong in history. Zhi Bo, an educated youth, monopolized the power of state affairs and became the largest minister in the State of Jin. Other Sanqing, Wei and Han Kang dare not challenge him. Zhi Bo made important contributions to Wei and Han Kang respectively. When he asked Zhao Xiangzi to cede the land, he was severely rejected. Zhi Bo was so angry that he immediately sent someone to order Wei and Han Kang to send troops to attack Zhao Xiangzi with him.

Zhao Xiangzi estimated that Zhi Bo would attack him, so he was busy talking to his counselor Alina Zhang. Alina Zhang suggested going to Jinyang (now southwest of Taiyuan, Shanxi) to resist. In Jinyang, Zhao Xiangzi found few weapons capable of fighting. Zhang Meng talked and urged, "The fence here is made of wood more than a foot high, and the pillars in the temple are made of copper. These are all good materials for making weapons. " Zhi Bo led Wei Han to attack Jinyang, but Zhi Bo couldn't win because Wei Han didn't want to work for Zhi Bo.

Jinyang was flooded by Zhi Bo and besieged for three years. Because there was water on the ground, the people put up sheds in the trees to live in, and the food in the city was almost finished. Many people fell ill because of cold and hunger, and their morale began to shake. One day, I met him and said, "Wei and Han had to do it." I want to explain their interests to them and mobilize them to betray Zhao and destroy Zhi Bo together. " Zhao Xiangzi was very happy and thanked him again and again.

That night, we agreed to sneak into Wei and Han Ying, persuaded Wei and Han Kang, and decided that the three families would unite to destroy Zhi Bo, and share Zhi Bo's territory equally after the job was done. On the appointed day, Zhao, Wei and Han jointly attacked, killed Zhijun and fled, and Zhi Bo was captured. Since then, the state of Jin has become a tripartite confrontation between Zhao, Wei and Korea.

One day, Alina Zhang said goodbye to Zhao Xiangzi. Zhao Xiangzi hurried to retain. Alina Zhang said, "What you want is to repay my efforts, and what I want is the truth of governing the country. It is because of my great contribution that my reputation will even surpass yours that I decided to leave. No monarch and minister in history have the same power and always get along well with each other. Don't forget the past, please let me go. " Zhao Xiangzi had to agree with regret. Alina Zhang talked about resigning from his official position, returning his fief, and living in seclusion in Fujiashan, where he spent his old age.

Later generations changed the phrase "Never forget the past, the teacher of the future" to "Never forget the past, the teacher of the future" as an idiom to remind people to remember the lessons of the past for future reference.

Self-recommendation:

During the Warring States period, rich and powerful people liked to support some talented people to enhance their power. When something happens and someone needs advice, they are allowed to plan strategies and solve problems for themselves. Such people are called diners and doormen.

Ping Yuanjun, the prime minister of Zhao, is very powerful and has thousands of diners at home. One of them, Mao Sui, stayed for three years without any other contribution. Although Ping Yuanjun felt strange, he didn't complain and let him eat and live at home.

Later, Handan, the capital of Zhao State, was surrounded by Qin Jun, and the situation was very critical. So the prince of Zhao sent Ping Yuanjun to Chu to persuade the king of Chu to cooperate with Zhao, and * * * sent troops to attack Qin. When Ping Yuanjun returns to China, he intends to choose 20 all-rounders from the diners to go with him, but only 19 people are qualified and one person is missing. While Ping Yuanjun was racking his brains, Mao Sui suddenly stepped forward and said to Ping Yuanjun, "I am the most suitable candidate and would like to follow my son." Ping Yuanjun said: "A talented person in the crowd, like a sharp awl in a bag, will immediately pierce the bag and show his edge. And I haven't had a good life for you these three years. I think you'd better stay! " Mao Sui replied, "I want to get into the bag now, or my awl will have worn through the bag long ago, showing its sharpness, and even the awl handle will come out of the bag." Ping Yuanjun thought that he couldn't find a suitable candidate for a while anyway, so he took twenty people to Chu.

When he met the King of Chu, Ping Yuanjun explained the situation, gains and losses, and tried his best to convince the King of Chu. 19 diners in the same company had no choice but to come up with a good idea. Just when everyone didn't know what to do, Mao Sui put down his sword and went to the king of Chu and said, "Your life is in my hands now! Chu has millions of elite soldiers, but in the last battle, it was defeated by tens of thousands of troops of Qin, taking away many cities and lands. Even we Zhao feel ashamed and resentful for you. Zhao proposed that the two countries unite against Qin to avenge your Chu state. " The king of Chu felt that Mao Sui was right and threatened with a sword, so he agreed to form an alliance and sign a peace treaty. He immediately sent troops to support Zhao and solved the siege of Handan.

From then on, Ping Yuanjun dared not look down on Mao Sui, but regarded him as a distinguished guest.

Buy the box, but return the pearls.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a businessman in the State of Chu who specialized in selling jewelry. Once he went to Qi State to sell jewelry. For the sake of good business and best-selling jewelry, he specially made many small boxes with precious wood, which were beautifully carved and decorated, so that the boxes would give off a fragrance, and then put the jewelry in the boxes.

A man from Zheng saw that the box containing the orb was exquisite and beautiful. After asking the price, he bought one, opened the box, took out the treasure inside and gave it back to the jeweler.

Decorate yourself with borrowed feathers

During the Warring States Period, when Chu was the most powerful, Chu Xuanwang was surprised that all northern countries were afraid of his general Zhao Xi's shirt. So he asked the North Korean minister why.

At that time, a minister named Jiang Yi told him the following story:

"Once upon a time, there was a tiger in a cave. Because he was hungry, he ran outside to look for food. When he came to a dense forest, he suddenly saw a fox walking in front of him. He thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so he jumped forward and caught him effortlessly.

But when it opened its mouth to eat the fox, the sly fox suddenly spoke,' Hum! Don't think that you are the king of beasts and dare to swallow me; You know, heaven and earth ordered me to be king of kings, and whoever eats me will be severely punished by heaven and earth. "The tiger listened to the fox with a grain of salt, but he was not surprised when he cocked his head and saw the fox's arrogant and calm appearance. The arrogance of the original posture, I do not know when it has disappeared more than half. Even so, he thought to himself: I am one hundred.

The king of beasts, so any beast in the world will be afraid to see me. And he, it turned out, was ordered by Emperor Fengtian to rule us!

At this time, the fox saw the tiger hesitate to eat, knowing that he had believed his words to some extent, so he stood up more proudly and said,' What, you don't believe what I said? Then come with me now, walk behind me and see if all the wild animals are scared out of their wits when they see me. Tiger thought it was a good idea, so he did it.

So the fox swaggered ahead and the tiger followed carefully. Not long after they left, they vaguely saw the depths of the forest, where many small animals were fighting for food, but when they found the tiger walking behind the fox, they couldn't help being surprised and ran away.

At this moment, the fox turned to look at the tiger proudly. Seeing this situation, the tiger couldn't help but feel a little scared, but he didn't know that wild animals were afraid of themselves, and thought they were really afraid of foxes!

The cunning fox succeeded, but his strength was entirely due to the tiger, so that he could threaten the animals in a favorable situation at this moment. The poor tiger was fooled and didn't even know it!

Therefore, the people in the north are afraid of Zhao Xi's shirt simply because the king's soldiers are in his hands, that is, what they are afraid of is actually the king's power! "

From the above story, we can know that anyone who oppresses others with the power of authority or bullies others with the power of position can be described as "Smith".

Unite for evil purposes

Twenty-six years of King Xiang of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period. Chu invaded Zheng. At that time, Zheng, as strong and weak as Chu, was really unable to resist. As a result, Zheng was defeated, and even Zheng's was captured by Chu. After the war, the Chu army was surrounded by the son of the younger brother of the king of Chu, and wanted to take the credit for Zheng Jiezhi's capture as his own, saying that Zheng Jiezhi was captured by him. So the two men had an argument, and there was no way to solve it at the moment. Later, they asked Li Bo to be a fair person and decided who was responsible for it.

Bozhou Tiangang Company's solution to the dispute is fair. He insisted that if you want to know whose credit this is, you'd better ask the captured King Zheng. So he ordered someone to take Zheng to Bozhou Plough and explain what had happened to him. Then he held out two fingers, one for King Chu and the other for General Chu, and then asked him who he had captured. Zheng hates his guts, because he was captured by someone who wore a seal, so he pointed to his upper finger and said that he was captured by Gong Ziwei. Therefore, Bozhou Plough decided that this was due to outside the childe.

The idiom "practise fraud" comes from this story; It means cheating in the game and turning right from wrong. In today's society, this situation often happens: for example, someone has done something illegal, knowing that he deserves it, but he can't escape punishment; So he secretly paid bribes, or asked relatives and friends for mercy and protection. As a result, the big things turn into small things, and the small things turn into nothing. We still have to muddle through. People like this, bending the law, get in the way, which can be said to be "collusion".

Unnecessary worry

Once upon a time in the state of Qi, there was a man who was timid and a little neurotic. He often thinks of some strange questions, which makes people feel confused.

One day after dinner, he sat at the door with a big cattail leaf fan and assessed his future. He said to himself, "What should I do if the sky falls one day?" Is it not wrong that we have no way out and will be crushed to death alive? "Since then, he has been worried about this problem almost every day. His friends are worried about him when they see him in a trance and haggard all day. However, after everyone knew the reason, they all came to persuade him and said, "Dude! Why bother yourself about it? How can the sky fall? I mean, even if it does collapse, you can't solve it by yourself. Let's relax! "But, no matter what others say, he doesn't believe it, and he will always worry about this unnecessary problem.

According to the above story, people later extended this idiom to "worrying about the sky." Its main significance is to wake people up from worrying about some unrealistic things. It has roughly the same meaning as "much ado about nothing"

better late than never

This story comes from the Warring States Policy. During the Warring States Period, there was a minister in the State of Chu named Zhuang Xin. One day, he said to King Xiang of Chu: "When you were in the palace, Zhou Hou was on the left and Xiahou was on the right; When you went out, Yan Lingjun and Shou Jing Jun followed you all the time. You and these four people are very particular about luxury and debauchery. Regardless of national events, Ying (Chu capital, in the north of jiangling county, Hubei Province) will be in danger! "

Wang Xiang was very dissatisfied and scolded angrily, "Are you crazy? Deliberately saying these insidious words to confuse people? "

Zhuang Xin replied unhurriedly: "I really think things must come to this, and I dare not deliberately say that Chu has any misfortune." If you always cherish this man, Chu will surely perish. Since you don't believe me, please allow me to hide in Zhao and see what will happen. "

Zhuang Xin lived in Zhao Guocai for five months, and the State of Qin invaded Chu, and Wang Xiang was forced into exile in Yangcheng (now northwest of Xixian County, Henan Province). Only then did I feel that Zhuang Xin's words were good, so I quickly sent someone to get Zhuang Xin back and asked him what he could do. Zhuang Xin said sincerely: "I've heard that it's not too late to think of hounds when I see rabbit teeth;" It's not too late to mend the sheepfold after the sheep have run away. ……"

This is a very meaningful story. You only know how to have fun, not how to do things. The result must be a tragic failure.

The idiom "Better late than never" is based on the above two sentences, which means that if something goes wrong, it's not too late to fix it. For example, a successful person misjudges the development of things, travels light and falls into a state of failure. But he was not discouraged. He thought things over patiently, learned a lesson from this mistake, and thought that it was not too late to "mend after it is late" from scratch!

One day in the sun and one day in the cold-work hard for one day and do nothing for ten days.

During the Warring States period, a hundred schools of thought contended and lobbied vigorously. The average lobbyist is not only knowledgeable, but also has profound and vivid metaphors to satirize and persuade the rulers, which is the most prominent. Mencius was also a famous debater. In the first article of Mencius, Gao Zi, there is such a record:

Mencius was dissatisfied with Qi Wang's fatuity, lack of perseverance, and credulous adulterer's slanderers, so he said to him rudely, "Qi Wang is so unwise. Although there are living creatures in the world, you exposed them to the sun for a day, but frozen them in a cold place for ten days. How do they survive there? " My time with the king is very short. Even if the king has a little determination to be good, as soon as I leave you, those traitors will come to trick you and you will listen to them. What should I do? Based on this, he made a vivid analogy: "Playing chess seems trivial, but if you don't concentrate, you won't learn well and you won't win. Qiu Yi is the best chess player in the country. He taught two apprentices, one devoted himself to listening to Qiu Yi's guidance everywhere; The other is always afraid of the arrival of a big swan and prepares to shoot the goose with an arrow. Both apprentices were taught by a master and studied together, but the latter's grades were far from each other. This is not the difference of their intelligence, but the difference of their concentration. "This is a very instructive story. If we want to learn something and do it well, we must concentrate on it and work hard. If you do something today, forget it and do it for ten days the next day, how can you do it well? Success in learning and doing things is also one of the decisive factors, so people later simplified what Mencius said as "one day's violence, ten days' cold" to the idiom "one day's violence, ten days' cold", which was used to describe the lack of perseverance in learning and doing things and giving up halfway. For example, a classmate is very casual about learning, so he has less time to study and more time to waste. So we say: What can he learn from this self-destructive approach?

Three people spread the news of a tiger, making you believe that there is a tiger around.

During the Warring States period, when attacking each other, in order to make everyone really keep their promises, countries usually gave their princes to each other as hostages. The Warring States Policy; "Wei Ce" has this record:

Pang Cong, minister of Wei, will accompany Wang Wei to Zhao as a hostage. Before he left, he said to Wang Wei:

"Now there is a person who says there are tigers in the market. Can you believe it? "

Wei Wangdao: "I don't believe it."

Pang Cong said, "If a second person says there are tigers in the market, can your majesty believe it?"

Wei Wangdao: "I have some doubts."

Pang cong added, "if a third person says there are tigers in the market, will your majesty believe it?"

Wei Wangdao: "Of course I will believe it."

Pang Cong said: "It is clear that there will be no tigers in the market, but after three people said it, it seems that there really are tigers." Now Handan, the capital of Zhao, is far away from the capital of Wei, much farther than the market here, and there are more than three people who say that I am. I hope the king can see clearly. "

Wei Wangdao: "I know everything myself."

Pang Cong accompanied the prince back to China, but Wang Wei didn't summon him again.

Cities are places where population is concentrated. Of course there will be no tigers. It is obviously a rumor and deception to say that there are tigers in the market, but many people will often believe it if they don't look at the problem from the truth.

This story was originally intended to satirize Wei Huiwang's ignorance, but later it was extended to the idiom "Three people make a tiger", which is a borrowed metaphor, meaning that sometimes rumors can cover up the truth. For example, to judge whether a thing is true or false, we must carefully examine and think, and we can't hear it from hearsay. Otherwise, "three men make a tiger" will sometimes mistake rumors for truth.

hearsay

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a man named Pore in the State of Qi. He loves to hear those unfounded legends, and then tells others what he has heard with relish. Once, Pore heard about a duck and a piece of meat. He felt very strange and told it to Ai Zi. He said, "There was a man who kept a duck that could lay eggs. This duck can lay more than 100 eggs a day. " Seeing Ai Zi smiled, he added, "That day, a piece of meat fell from the sky. It is 30 feet long and 10 feet wide. " Ai Zi smiled and asked, "Really? Is it as long as meat? " Pore quickly said, "Oh, that's twenty feet long." Ai Zi still doesn't believe it. He changed his tune again: "It must be ten feet long." Ai Zi said, "Who raised the ducks you mentioned? Where did you say the meat fell? " Pore faltered, and finally had to say, "I heard it on the road."

The idiom "hearsay" comes from this story. This idiom means to hear unfounded remarks or rumors on the road and then pass them on to others.