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Text: Yanyan
Edited by Yeon-yeon
Preface
In the court of the early years of the Han Dynasty, Chen Ping and Zhang Liang, two resourceful ministers, secretly launched a contest without gunpowder. Chen Ping was resourceful and used all kinds of clever means to try to gain the upper hand in the struggle for power.
However, it wasn't until the last moment of his life that he suddenly realized: his self-righteous cleverness was no match for Zhang Liang's great wisdom after all.
What made Chen Ping suddenly wake up when he was dying? How did Zhang Liang's foresight unconsciously affect the situation? In this battle of wisdom and scheming, who is the final winner?
Soldiers: Zhang Liang avenges the country, Chen Ping chases Quan Fulu
In troubled times, difficult choices are everywhere. Although Zhang Liang and Chen Ping eventually took refuge in Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, their backgrounds and life ideals were very different, which doomed them to have different status and actions under Liu Bang.
Zhang Liang is a descendant of the family of South Korean prime ministers, and has received a profound education in the Confucian tradition since he was a child, and has a lofty understanding of the country's righteousness.
However, the catastrophe of Qin's annihilation of Han made him personally experience the pain of his family's ruin, and he made up his mind to avenge the atrocity for his family and country.
In order to achieve this goal, he devoted himself to studying the art of war and strategy, just waiting for an opportunity to turn over and take revenge. Chen Ping, on the other hand, came from a humble background, drifted west in the Middle East in the turbulent era, and finally came to Liu Bang.
Compared with Zhang Liang's tenacious ambition to repay the country and take revenge, Chen Ping's reason for defecting to Liu Bang is actually very simple, but he heard about Liu Bang's reputation of "knowing people and making good use of them", hoping to obtain a path to get rich under his protection. From the very beginning, the destination of the two was clear.
Forbearance I: Clever calculations determine the world
Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were anxious on the way to win the heir, and Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, the two most core strategists in the think tank, naturally showed their respective tricks.
Zhang Liang's methods are often far-sighted and decisive from thousands of miles away. For example, when Xiang Yu sealed Liu Bang in the barbaric land of Bashu, Zhang Liang used his personal relationship with Xiang Bo to set up camp for Liu Bang in Hanzhong for a few years, so that Xiang Yu relaxed his vigilance against Liu Bang.
For another example, on the eve of the Battle of Caogang, Zhang Liang advocated burning the trestle bridge, which made Xiang Yu further believe that Liu Bang was already a person who surrendered to Cheng, so as to gain a chance to breathe.
It can be said that it is Zhang Liang's strategic strategy, which is unknown at the moment, but can win a decisive victory thousands of miles away, that laid the foundation for the final unification of the world.
In contrast, Chen Ping uses more trickery and intrigue. In the offensive and defensive battle of the Battle of Xingyang, he laid a deception of "Li Dai Taozhuang", and used the men and horses disguised as Liu Bang to make all Xiang Yu's army fooled, so as to help Liu Bang break out of the encirclement at the critical moment.
However, Chen Ping's determination to fight to the death is indeed thrilling, and he even turns a blind eye to the thousands of corpses that were sacrificed, just for the purpose of finally achieving victory.
It can be seen that for Chen Ping, war is not only a means, but also a belief in achieving an end.
Retired after success: Zhang Liang is hidden in the countryside, Chen Ping is obsessed with power and wealth
The war was raging, and finally in 202 BC, the dust settled, and Liu Bang unified the world and established the Han dynasty. As the founding heroes, Zhang Liang and Chen Ping are naturally indispensable for the love of rewarding and adding officials. However, in the face of this peaceful scene, the two made very different choices.
Zhang Liang resolutely resigned from the important responsibility of the court, he humbly said that he had taken revenge from Han to seize the heir, during which he had been caught in the smoke of war, and now the Han family has opened a decent foundation, he has nothing else to ask for, and intends to follow the Taoist master Chi Songzi, be a free-spirited hermit, and live an otherworldly life.
In stark contrast, it is Chen Ping's heart that is greedy for power and wealth. He set his sights on his children and grandchildren, wanting to create an environment for them to be distinguished and prosperous, and to perpetuate the wealth and status he had worked so hard to accumulate throughout his life.
For things such as fame, fortune, power and money, Chen Ping can't put his mind at ease. This opposition speaks to the differences in the core values of the two men.
Zhang Liang has seen through the red dust and understands that wealth will eventually pass by, and only by maintaining high ethics can he always have the joy of contentment; And Chen Ping is still blinded by the temptations of the world, and his obsession with chasing fame and fortune is destined to suffer from it by his descendants.
The ending is like a cloud: Zhang Liang's high wind and bright festival Chen Ping's descendants rubbed it
Life is impermanent, how many people can maintain their sanity and concentration when they take off? The ending of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping shows the world of difference between a wise man and a fool.
Although Zhang Liang was already in a high position and was prominent, he was not confused by these glory and wealth. He has insight into the turmoil in this world, which is simply fleeting, and will eventually be washed away by the long river of history.
With this transparent outlook on life, he can so calmly let go of the title of Marquis of Wanhu, follow the old path of seclusion in the mountains and forests, and live a free and easy life.
As the saying goes, "don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself", Zhang Liang's move shows the calmness and freedom of the wise man's transcendence. However, Chen Ping was deeply bewitched by power and money. What he has worked hard all his life to pursue is just a little bit of fame and profit.
But when he hoped that these finite things would be immortalized and benefit future generations, the painful doom came as expected.
Chen Ping's great-grandson Chen He was finally beheaded for indulging in lust, and the Chen family was also hit hard, and the family collapsed. Isn't this God's punishment for Chen Ping's conspiracy?
There will be a farewell: the wise awaken the blind and the ignorant love Yan Shouzhu
Facing the end of life, how will the wise and the fool have different realizations? Although Zhang Liang has long been away from the red dust, he still retains a noble character.
Although Chen Ping once achieved success, he was always blinded by fame and profit, and he did not suddenly have an epiphany until the last moment of his life.
At the time of his death, Zhang Liang did not have any doubts and confusion about his life path. On the contrary, he still has a devout reverence for Taoist naturalism, believing that everything should be as it is, and should not be forced or contrary to one's heart.
It is also this freedom and indifference that makes him extremely peaceful and peaceful when he leaves the world. At the last moment of his life, Chen Ping finally understood his mistake.
He lamented that he had violated Taoist teachings many times and used many tricks and conspiracies to achieve his own goals, which would make his children and grandchildren implicated and suffer.
The power and money that he holds in the palm of his hand are the root of evil. He finally realized that blindly chasing fame and fortune and losing his moral character was the root cause of his doom.
Yes, in the chaos of the world, we are often inevitably tempted by fame and fortune and lose our way. Only by maintaining the awakening and cultivation of a wise man like Zhang Liang can we be freed from the turmoil of the world and live a free and easy life.
epilogue
Floating clouds cover their eyes, and wise men know the value of life; There is a lot of fog, and fools are greedy for power and wealth. Although history has passed, its lessons are still alive.
In today's era of chasing fame and fortune, have we also lost our inner peace? Let us maintain Zhang Liang's high-spirited attitude towards life, and don't be confused by the clouds, so that we can live a wise man's calmness.