Give a few well-known stories about ancient frugality in China.

1, there is a folk story: a long time ago, at the foot of Funiu Mountain in the Central Plains, there lived a farmer named Wu Cheng. He lived a carefree and very happy life all his life. Legend has it that before he died, he set up a horizontal plaque for his two sons, which read "thrift" and warned them: "If you want to be free from hunger all your life, you must be like these two families."

Later, the two brothers separated and saw the plaque in half. The eldest brother got the word "thrift" and the second got the word "frugality". The boss respectfully hangs the word "diligence" at home, "work at sunrise and rest at sunset" every day, and harvest every year. However, his wife lives in luxury, and children often eat two bites of white steamed bread and throw it away. Over time, there is no surplus grain at home.

Since he gave the second half a plaque, he also took the word "frugality" as nave's "Oracle", but forgot the word "thrift". He neglected farming and refused to intensively cultivate, so he didn't get much food every year. Although the family is frugal,

After all, it is also difficult to last. This year's drought, the home of the eldest brother and the second child has been empty. In desperation, they tore off the plaque and put the word "diligence and thrift" on the ground. At this time, suddenly a piece of paper flew into the house from the window, and the two brothers quickly picked it up-look, it said: "Diligence is like carrying a bottomless bowl, but always full of dissatisfaction!"

"If you are frugal and don't work hard, you must be poor and hungry!" The two brothers suddenly realized that the words "diligence and thrift" cannot be separated, complement each other and are indispensable. After learning the lesson, they posted the words "Diligent Housekeeping" on the door to remind themselves, warn their wives and children and live on their own. Life has been getting better and better since then.

2. Ji Wenzi was born in a family in it runs in the family. He was a famous minister of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period and served as an official for more than 30 years. He has been frugal all his life, based on frugality, and also asked his family to be frugal. His clothes are simple and neat, and he has almost no decent clothes except imperial clothes. Every time he goes out, the horses and chariots he rides are extremely humble.

Seeing that he was so frugal, a man named Wang advised his son, You are a big official, but I heard that wives and concubines are not allowed to wear silk clothes at home, and they don't have to feed horses with food.

You don't even pay attention to your appearance and clothes. Is it too shabby to let people in other countries laugh at you? This is also detrimental to the dignity of our country, and people will say what kind of life Lu Shangqing leads. Why not change this way of life? It's good for you and your country. Why not?

Hearing this, Ji Wenzi smiled indifferently and said to the man seriously: I also hope to decorate my home luxuriously and elegantly, but look at the people in our country. There are still many people eating coarse grains, wearing shabby clothes, and others are freezing and starving. With this idea, how can I have the heart to add property to myself? If ordinary people are poor in tea and clothes.

And I pretend to be a wife and concubine, raising food and horses, and I have no conscience to be an official! Besides, I heard that the strength and glory of a country can only be expressed by the noble behavior of its subjects, not by their beautiful wives and horses.

In that case, how can I accept your suggestion? This sentence made Zhong Sun look ashamed, and at the same time made him respect Moon Hee more. After that, he took Ji Wen Zi as an example and paid great attention to the simplicity of life. His wives and concubines only wear clothes made of ordinary cloth, and the horses at home are only fed with chaff.

3. In 1080, he was demoted to Huangzhou, and his life was difficult. In order to tide over the difficulties, he made a special expenditure plan: divide all income into 12, one for each month.

Then divide each portion into 30 small portions, and use only one small portion every day. He hangs every small sum of money he sends every month on the roof beam, and chooses a bag to use every morning, and the surplus must not exceed. He put the rest of the money in a bamboo tube in case of unexpected expenses.

Later, he became a senior official in the imperial court, but he was still frugal and never extravagant. He can only order one dish per meal, and if he has guests, he can only add two dishes, and no arrangements are allowed, otherwise he will refuse to eat. Once, an old friend of Su Dongpo reunited with him and invited him to dinner. He told his friends not to make a fuss.

But when Su Dongpo was invited to an old friend's house for dinner, he saw that the banquet was quite luxurious. He politely refused to sit down and left. After Su Dongpo left, his friend said with emotion: "When Dongpo was in trouble, his life was very frugal. I didn't expect him to be so thrifty now that he is in a high position. "

4. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a great official named Wu Yinzhi. His father died when he was a child. He struggled with his mother and formed the habit of frugality and simplicity. After becoming an official, he still hated luxury and refused to move into the government office prepared for him by the court. For many years, the whole family lived in only a few thatched houses. Then his daughter got married and people thought he had to take care of it. But on the big day, the Wu family is still deserted.

General Xie Shi's housekeeper came to congratulate him and saw a servant coming out with a dog. The housekeeper asked, "Why didn't your young lady look prepared for her wedding this day?" The servant frowned and said, "You're welcome. My master is too frugal. My young lady is getting married on this day, and the master ordered the preparation only last night.

I thought the owner should spend some money this time, but the owner asked me to go to the market this morning to sell the dog and use the money to buy things. Tell me, how much can a dog sell? I think ordinary people marry their daughters more gracefully than my grandfather! "The housekeeper sighed." Everyone says that Mr. Wu is a rare official. It seems that he really lives up to his reputation. "

5. In Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, there is also a song with four dishes and one soup: "The emperor treats you, four dishes and one soup, radish and leek, so sweet; Onion tofu, the benefits are deep and long, clear and white, and corrupt officials are flustered. "

When Zhu Yuanzhang celebrated the queen's birthday, he only used two bowls of carrots, leeks, vegetables and spring onion tofu soup to entertain the officials. Moreover, there are three chapters in the Covenant: in the future, no matter who hosts a banquet, only four dishes and one soup are allowed, and anyone who violates it will pay in hell.