The Three Kingdoms is an era of heroes and fame, but also an era of strategists.
Liu Bei, who debuted relatively late, was very miserable in the early days of entrepreneurship, although he had such fierce generals as Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, he still could not change the fate of upheaval and displacement.
If you want to fight in the chaotic world, in addition to having brothers who can charge for you, you must also have military divisions who can advise you. For Liu Bei in the early stage of entrepreneurship, the most lacking thing is a top strategist.
"The three Gu frequently annoy the world's plans, and the two dynasties open the hearts of the old ministers." Liu Bei's bumpy road to hegemony began to take a turn after meeting Zhuge Liang.
As we all know, the longzhong pair between Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang laid the basic strategy of three points in the world. If Zhuge Liang is the direct pusher to change the pattern of the world, then Sima Hui is the driving force behind the scenes.
Why? Because Zhuge Liang was recommended to Liu Bei by Sima Hui.
Who is Sima Hui? He was a Yingchuan Yang Zhai person at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with a moral character, proficient in Qimen, martial arts, and classics, and was called "Mr. Water Mirror" at that time. It should be noted that he has nothing to do with the Sima Yi family, and if he must say that there is, it is only the same surname Sima Yi.
In order to escape the chaos of war, Sima Hui lived in seclusion, half ploughing and half reading, and although his life was clear and hard, he was also at ease.
In Sima Hui's time, it was extremely difficult for a reader to achieve fame. Because the selection of talents by the imperial court depends on local recommendations, and the number of local recommendation places is very small, a state usually only has one or two places. Those clans almost monopolized the number of referrals, and no matter how talented ordinary people were, it was difficult to have the opportunity to get ahead.
Poor children and poor children can certainly not fight the family and the family, but they are not willing to do nothing for a lifetime.
So under the scarcity of the market, a profession called "critic" was born.
The so-called "critics" are today's "big V". Whether in the ancient times of lack of information or in the current flood of information, the "big V" has a decisive influence. After the recommendation of "taste critics" or "big V", whether it is a person or a thing, it can become famous in a short period of time and become the focus of attention of the world.
"Taste critics" generally do not stick to their identity and status when they do tasting people, which gives the cold disciples who are both excellent in character and learning have the opportunity to stand out. This opportunity is very precious, and it also raises the value of "taste critics" in disguise.
Therefore, the readers at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty tried their best to get a comment from a "taste critic". The evaluations made by these "taste critics" on the talents and virtues of the readers will become the basis for all parties to recommend talents to the imperial court, so the reading talents will be extremely eager to get the evaluation of the "taste critics".
Sima Hui was the top "Big V" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and a "taste critic" respected by the world. There are four main reasons why Sima Hui has obtained such a status:
One is knowledgeable. Sima Hui was familiar with the scriptures, was familiar with the Qi men and had a considerable study of the art of war, which could be described as a high eight buckets and a rich five-car. Yin Mo and Li Ren, who were far away in Yizhou, because only modern classics were popular in the local area, came to Jingzhou thousands of miles to learn ancient texts and classics with Sima Hui.
The second is high character. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms evaluates Sima Hui's character in 2 words, that is, "Qingya". The story of pushing pigs and people and borrowing silkworms is enough to prove that Sima Hui was a famous man of high moral character.
The third is to be good at knowing people. As the saying goes, knowing one's face and not knowing one's heart shows the difficulty of knowing one's own. Sima Hui has a pair of wise eyes, and by chatting with people, he can judge a person's talent and potential.
Fourth, the network is extensive. Who are Sima Hui's circle of friends? Pang Degong, Han Song, Shi Tao, Meng Jian, and Cui Zhouping were all his close friends. Pang Degong was a high-ranking hermit and senior "critic" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Sima Hui's "Mr. Water Mirror" was called Zhuge Liang's "Wolong" name, and Pang Tong's "Phoenix", all of which came from the mouth of Pang Degong. Shi Tao, Meng Jian, and Cui Zhouping were all Zhuge Liang's nemesis, and none of them were idle people.
Sima Hui is different from Xu Shao (Zi Zi General), who founded the "Yuedan Commentary" and liked "Zang No Characters", and he never made a direct evaluation of the level of others. If someone asked him how talented and how his character was, Sima Hui always replied, "This person is good and very good."
Sima Hui's wife was very unaccustomed to his attitude of thin mud, and taught him at home: "You idiot, others ask you how someone is, you should say something specific, all answer 'good, very good', how does this work?" When people come to ask you, they don't want to hear you say 'good, very good'. ”
Sima Hui replied to his wife without hesitation: "What you just said is also very good.
The idiom "Mr. Good" comes from this.
So, has anyone really received comments and recommendations from Sima Hui in history? The answer is yes, and these two lucky ones are Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang.
In 198, Sima Hui was still living in Yingchuan Yang Zhai Farming. During this year, Pang Tong, who was in his 20s, rushed from Nan county to Yingchuan to visit Sima Hui, hoping to get a good review.
When Pang Tong saw Sima Hui, he was picking mulberry leaves from a tree. Pang Tong sat in the car and said proudly to Sima Hui: "When the eldest husband is in the world, he should have a prominent position, and whoever has wronged his own male talents will do the things of silkworm women!" ”
Sima Hui didn't think so, and said gently, "Young man, you should get off the bus for the time being." You only know how fast you are on the trail, but you don't think about getting lost. Then quoting the scriptures, a long speech came, saying that the young and vigorous Pang Tong was red-faced.
Pang Tong realized that his words were shallow, and hurriedly looked for the steps: "I come from a poor and remote area, and I don't have much insight. If you don't ring the bell yourself, you don't know the sound of the bell. ”
Sima Hui felt that the young man in front of him was quick to react and his speech was interesting, so he invited him into the house to drink tea, eat, and chat. After all-night conversations, Sima Hui greatly admired the talent of this young man, gave five stars of praise, and announced that Pang Tong was the head of the famous people in Nanzhou. Since then, Pang Tong's reputation has risen.
A few years later, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao set up a school in Xiangyang and sought a wide range of celebrities from all over the world, and for a while, the group of talents was complete, and the few were long and salty. The erudite Sima Hui was hired in Jingzhou as a professor of state studies to teach the Five Classics and Chapters.
Sima Hui, as a well-known master of Confucianism, became his students with many young talents. Among these students, the most outstanding one was Zhuge Liang.
In 197, at the age of thirteen, Zhuge Liang moved to Xiangyang from Shandong with his uncle Zhuge Xuan. After Liu Biao established the Prefecture School, Zhuge Liang became a student of Sima Hui.
The talented Zhuge Liang was greatly appreciated by Sima Hui. A few years later, Sima Hui felt that there was not much he could teach, so he recommended this student with the talent of heaven and earth to the famous scholar who lived in the Lingshan Mountains of Runan, Feng Gongjiu.
Zhuge Liang followed Gongjiu to study the works of the Fa, Bing, and Yin and Yang families, such as the "Secret Basket of The Three Talents", "The Array of the Art of War", and "The Lonely and The Void", and extensively dabbled in the teachings of the various families, erudition, and cultivation and energy storage.
In 201, poor Uncle Liu Huang was chased by the bully Cao Cao and beaten on the buttocks, and in desperation, he threw himself under Liu Biao's account. The taste of sending people under the fence was not good, Liu Bei was in Jingzhou for several years, and he realized that his old age was coming and his work had not been built, so he had a "sigh of hip meat".
In 207, Liu Bei, who was stationed in Xinye, went to visit Sima Hui of the Great Confucian. This visit created an opportunity for Liu Bei, who was in the trough of entrepreneurship, to change his life against the sky.
Sima Hui said to Liu Bei: "How can ordinary readers and people with shallow knowledge recognize the general trend of the world?" Only those who can recognize the general trend of the world can be called Junjie. ”
Liu Bei asked who could be called Junjie, and Sima Hui replied without hesitation: "Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong."
The characters recommended by Mr. Water Mirror can't be wrong! After Xie Bei Sima Hui, Liu Bei quickly went to Longzhong to visit Zhuge Liang. After the Three Gu Maolu, Liu Bei finally saw this great god, and Zhuge Liang presented him with the Longzhong Pair.
At this point, Liu Bei finally has the confidence to compete for world domination.
Reference: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
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