Once upon a time during the warring states period there was a man by the name of Feng who lived in the Qi kingdom. He was poor and had no viable prospects so he went to the palace of the wealthy duke, lord Meng. One of his friends worked there so he was hoping to use that connection to find employment for himself his friend mentioned him to the duke and the duke asked “what is he good at?” Feng's friend replied candidly he's not particularly good at anything the duke still wanted to find a reason to hire him does he have any skills again his friend was candid no particular skills either the duke found the brutal honesty refreshing he laughed very well give him a place to sleep and something to eat.
Thus Feng became one of the duke's guests several thousand men who served the duke without clearly defined duties his peers seeing that the duke did not hold him in high regard tended to look down on him however the duke treated him well he got decent food authorization to use one of the duke's chariots and a small allowance each month to support his elderly mother
One day the duke posted a sign for all to see asking for a volunteer there was a remote region in the duke's territory called Xue the people of Xue were in debt to the duke from years ago the duke wanted someone who could keep track of numbers accurately to go there and collect the debts, Feng stepped forward and volunteered the duke in his usual gorgeous manner said to Feng i have been so busy with the exhausting and confusing affairs of the state that i haven't had the time to work on this would you mind traveling to the Xue region as my representative and collect to the loan payments on my behalf
Feng formally accepted the task and began to prepare for the trip he needed to take the loan documents as well as a few guards with him when he was done with his preparations he reported back to the duke your grace he bowed after i collect the money on your behalf what would you like me to purchase and bring back for you the duke could not think of anything so he said take a look around the palace whatever you see i need but do not have that is what you should get for me
After a long trip feng arrived at the Xue region he had the guards round up the villagers to go over the loan documents one by one the villagers were quite poor but they all knew the payments were long overdue so they had no choice Feng could tell it was difficult for them he looked at them and saw anxious and worried expressions most of them had very little and some had nothing at all Feng collected what he could and checked against the ledger then he stood up and announced by order of the duke i am authorized to return the loan payments back to you effective immediately the villagers were stunned as Feng gave them back the money that was paid only a moment ago none of them had ever seen or heard of anything like this then they were even more surprised Feng gathered up all the loan documents and set them on this was better than the duke granting them an extension to pay back the loan the burning pile meant the duke was actually writing off the loans thus clearing the debts they cheered loudly as the fire burned they chanted “long live the duke” “long live the duke”
So Feng returned to the palace and reported to the duke the duke was a bit surprised and asked him why are you back so soon were you able to collect on all the loans your grace i was able to collect some of the money owed to you good what did you purchase for me Feng said your grace you asked me to look around and buy whatever you needed and i did i saw your palace full of precious treasures your stables full of strong horses and your harem full of beautiful concubines the only thing you really needed was YI so i purchased that for you what do you mean by purchasing YI the duke knew ye meant righteousness but he could not see how such an intangible concept could be bought like some sort of goods Feng explained your grace you are the lord of the small Xue region instead of treating the people there as a father with his children he wanted to extract money from them i saw how they struggled with extreme poverty so i falsely claimed that i acted under your orders to return the money to them and also burn up the loan documents in response they cheered and chanted your name that is how i purchased YI for you the duke was not happy to hear this although he was very wealthy and did not really need the money he was expecting to get something but now he had nothing greatly annoyed he waved Feng away fine let us speak no more of this matter
A year later the duke encountered great misfortune the power struggle that was always present in the royal court of Qi went badly against him and king Qi indicated he would withdraw his support for the duke this meant the duke's enemies were now free to attack him unopposed suddenly his entire family was now in danger knowing the situation was grave Feng once again stepped forward to volunteer having no idea how to save his family the duke was only too glad to let him take charge of the situation Feng organized a small group of trusted guards and made the appropriate arrangements in secrecy he escorted the duke and his family out of the palace and they traveled toward the remote Xue region together he sent a scout ahead to let the villagers know they were coming a surprising sight greeted the duke when they were still many miles from Xue the villagers all came out to welcome him men women the elderly the young there was hundreds of them they lined the path to Xue and they all cheered the duke's arrival as he moved through the welcoming crowds the duke suddenly realized this was safe haven the villagers had already set up a secure place where he and his family could stay he knew they would protect him by not revealing his whereabouts to anyone especially the spies of his enemies finally after days of facing what he thought was certain doom he could now breathe a sigh of relief he turned to Feng and said sir this YI that you purchased for me today i see it with my own eyes
You see in life in your life the Chinese concept of YI is translated as righteousness however ye means more than that it isn't just about being righteous it is also about doing the right thing in the right way and for the right reasons the virtue of YI requires no special knowledge talent or skill instead you can collect some good karma for in one day when you will need it desperately you will get it back in return.
遇见更出色的自己
读得太好听了
遇见更出色的自己
读得太好了