& lt& lt at the beginning of Yan Zi's poems >> Information about

Yan Ying, whose name is Zhong Ping, was born in Yiwei, Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period. Yiwei is near Gaomi County, Shandong Province today. He worked as a doctor in Qi State and was a famous politician at that time. Calling him "Yanzi" is an honorific title, and "Zi" is an ancient honorific title for people, used after surnames, such as Confucius, Laozi and Mencius.

In the 26th year of Qi Gongling (556 BC), Yan Zi was appointed as Qi Qing. After three generations of monarchs, Gong Ling, Duke Zhuang and Gong Jing, he was called "the elder of three generations". Shortly after Gong Jing ascended the throne, a rebellion broke out in the state of Qi, and he always stood by and helped suppress the rebellion, which won great appreciation. Although Yan Zi is short and plain, he is proficient in business and quick-thinking, especially famous for his excellent eloquence.

Once, Zou, the servant in charge of raising birds, released a bird. Angry, want to cut the candle Zou. Made a prelude: "Wait a minute, monarch, let me declare the crime of candle Zou first, and then put him to death." Gong Jing agreed. So Yan Zi said, "Zhu Zou, you raise birds for the monarch, but you neglect your duties and let the birds fly around. This is the first crime; Let the monarch kill people because of a bird, this crime is two; Let other princes know that our monarch values birds over people, so he looks down on our monarch. This is the third sin. " Then he bowed down to Jing and said, "Please do it." Gong Jing understood it in public and waved his hand and said, "That's all, I understand."

Yanzi didn't "hit his face" and even risked his life to hit his face. He just took advantage of the situation and persuaded the monarch in an understatement, showing his superb eloquence and keen thinking.

Of course, Yan Zi's most famous story is "Two peaches kill three scholars". There were three brave generals in Qi Jinggong. They were Gong Sunjie, Tian Kaijiang and Gu Yezi. They won the title of the three armed forces and were close brothers. Later, because of his outstanding military achievements, he became more and more arrogant. Yan Ying is deeply worried about the great potential of the three men. Every time she wants to get rid of them, she is afraid that her husband will not listen and bears a grudge against them. It happened that at a banquet held by Duke Jing of Jin for Lv Hou, he presented several flat peaches, each as big as a bowl, as red as charcoal, with a fragrant smell and sweet juice, and finally there were two left. Yan Zi took the opportunity to say, "There are still two peaches on the plate. Your master can tell the ministers that people who have made great contributions should eat this peach to show their talents." In other words, let the princes and ministers talk about their contributions, and the one who makes great contributions can eat a peach in recognition of his contribution to the country. Tanoko and Miyako were the first to jump out and show their kindness and divide the peaches. Now Tian Kaijiang's face hangs, saying, "I went to Wan Li Road, and the bloody battle was successful, but I couldn't eat peaches. I was humiliated between the monarch and the minister of the two countries and laughed at by all previous dynasties. How can I stand on the court? " When he finished speaking, he committed suicide with his sword. Qi people are brave men with blood, so Gong and Gu Yezi, on the one hand, are brothers to Mr. Tian, on the other hand, they feel that their contributions are not as good as Mr. Tian's, and they are ashamed and commit suicide.

In this way, Yan Zi kept a quiet face, skillfully used people's vanity and frankness, and provoked three experts to commit suicide, which can be described as deep in mind.

That's an introduction about Yan Zi. Let's talk about the political situation of Qi and Chu before Chu.

Qi was one of the vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty. Since Huan Gong ascended the throne, Guan Zhong has been the prime minister, engaged in internal affairs and became a diplomatic vassal, and his national strength has become increasingly strong. It soon became the most powerful vassal state in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Huan Gong also ranked first among the five tyrants in the Spring and Autumn Period. But since the death of Huan Gong, Qi began to decline.

Qi Jinggong's name was Jiu, and he was in office for 58 years. In the early days of his administration, he wanted to make great efforts to restore the prestige of Qi. The young monarch is enthusiastic in doing things. He once shouted the words of "co-prosperity with the monarch" in his meeting with the State of Jin, that is to say, I will replace your State of Jin as the overlord. Therefore, he appointed Sima Yi as a general to revitalize the military. He once defeated the invading army of the State of Jin and Yan Guojun in the north.

However, Gong Jing didn't last long. In his thirtieth year in power, he began to fall into the road of national subjugation and indulge in pleasure and debauchery. Domestic officials are corrupt, people's livelihood is withered, and the combat effectiveness of the army has also begun to decline sharply.

On the other hand, Chu in the south is thriving. Chu is not a vassal state enfeoffed by the Zhou Emperor, but belongs to the State of Qin. At that time, the governors of the Central Plains disdained to call Chu "Man Jing". However, Chu became another military power in the Spring and Autumn Period, competing with Jin, the first military power in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Period, for decades.

In the second year of Qi Jinggong's accession to the throne, because of his arrogant attitude during his visit to the State of Jin, he caused dissatisfaction among the top officials of the State of Jin, so he sent troops to make a shocking attack. Qi Jinggong didn't care at first, but later the army of the State of Jin was almost in Enemy at the Gates, which forced him to give in mainly. Through this lesson, Gong Jing realized that the strength of Qi alone could not compete with the powerful State of Jin, so he turned his attention to the southern State of Chu and decided to make peace with Chu and fight against the State of Jin together. In this case, Yan Zi visited Chu as a special envoy.

At this time, Chu was ruled by King Chu Ling, who was arrogant and planned to humiliate the envoys of Qi, so there was a story of "Yan Zi Li Chu". About the story, my friends upstairs have already said it in detail, so I won't go into details.