What does pot calling the kettle black's preface tell us?

Explain that people who retreat fifty steps in combat laugh at people who retreat a hundred steps. Metaphor has different degrees of shortcomings or mistakes, but the essence is the same. (Step refers to the ancient unit of length)

pot calling the kettle black's story is about Liang Huiwang boasting "dedication", but in Mencius' view, the measures he adopted are only temporary measures to "love the people", which is actually the ratio of 5 steps to 1 steps in politics with neighboring countries.

The story of pot calling the kettle black

King Hui of Liang urged the people to fight with neighboring countries. On one occasion, King Hui of Liang summoned Mencius and asked, "I am in office, and I can say that I have devoted myself to the governance of the country. In Hanoi (now the north bank of the Yellow River in Henan Province), famine occurred all the year round, and the harvest was not good, so I moved some people there to Hedong, where the harvest was good, and transported some food from Hedong, where the harvest was good, to Hanoi, so that the people in the famine-stricken areas in Hanoi would not starve to death. Sometimes there is a disaster in Hedong, and the harvest is poor. I also do this. I transport the grain from other places to Hedong to solve the problem of people's cooking without rice. I have also seen the practices of those in power in neighboring countries. No one cares for their own people as much as I do. However, the people in neighboring countries have not decreased, and my people have not increased. What is the reason? "

Mencius replied, "Your Majesty likes to fight, so I will use war as an example. On the battlefield, the two armies confronted each other, and as soon as the battle started, the drums drummed, and the two sides fought hand to hand, and each bravely assassinated the other. After a fierce fight, the winner pursued fiercely, and some people on the losing side abandoned their armor and dragged their weapons to escape. Some of the escaped soldiers ran fast and stopped after running a hundred steps; Some ran slowly and stopped after fifty steps. At this time, the slow soldiers laughed at those soldiers who ran a hundred steps because they only ran fifty steps. Do you think this kind of ridicule is right? "

Liang Huiwang said, "No, they just didn't run to a hundred paces, but this is also chicken out!"

Mencius said, "If your majesty understands this truth, then there is no need to hope that there are more people in your country than in neighboring countries."