Chapter 14 The first eight skills: avoid rhetoric

Sweet words refer to words or diction that are empty in content and used to deceive others.The words come from the "Zhu Zi Yu Lei" in the Song Dynasty: clever words are the so-called rhetoric today, and it is also true that today's scholars use pens to write words. Confucius also said: "Smart words and attractive looks are rare and benevolent." Confucius also said: Too much talk makes you poor. These words mean that we must speak truthfully and not boast.Otherwise, it will lose credibility and even lead to disaster.This is the truth of too much talk. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the story of the famous talent Yang Xiu whose head was beheaded because of his cleverness and rhetoric is worth learning.

Yang Xiuben was an eloquent man who was appreciated by Cao Cao and appointed him as the chief bookkeeper.But Yang Xiu is proud of his talent, loves to play tricks, and is good at covering up with rhetoric, offending Cao Cao many times. One day, Cao Cao ordered someone to build a garden, and Cao Cao went to watch it.After reading it, he did not comment, but wrote a huge movable type on the gate and left. The craftsmen did not understand what Cao Cao meant. After Yang Xiu saw it, he played tricks on purpose and said: Write a movable type inside the door, which is also a wide type. The prime minister thinks that the door of the garden is too big.

So the craftsmen tore down the gate and built a narrower garden gate, and invited Cao Cao to watch it. Cao Cao was very happy after seeing it, and asked: Who guessed my thoughts and changed the garden gate? The craftsmen replied: It's Yang Xiu. Cao Cao was very disgusted when he heard this. Another day, Cao Cao received a box of crispy fruit from Zhaibei. On a whim, he wrote a box of crispy three characters on the fruit box without any other meaning. Unexpectedly, this box of crispy fruit was seen by Yang Xiu, and he played a clever trick by taking a spoon and sharing it with everyone.People asked him what he meant by this?Yang Xiu said:

The prime minister clearly wrote on the box that one bite per person, how dare we disobey our orders? This matter let Cao Cao know, and Cao Cao was very annoyed at Yang Xiu's rhetoric. Later, Cao Cao stationed troops in Hanzhong and confronted the Shu army for a long time without a decision.He wanted to send troops to attack Shu, but when he saw that Ma Chao was in charge of Shu, he didn't dare to rush in; he wanted to withdraw his troops and return to Luoyang, but he couldn't save his face, so he couldn't help but be helpless.At lunch that day, he saw chicken ribs in the vegetable bowl, so he was moved and said to himself: Chicken ribs!

This remark happened to be heard by Yang Xiu, and he played a clever trick. He ordered the soldiers to pack up their weapons and horses immediately, and prepare to retreat and return to Luoyang. General Xiahou Dun was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly asked Yang Xiu: Why did the master order the troops to retreat? Yang Xiu cleverly replied: Didn't the prime minister call out chicken ribs when he drank chicken soup?Chicken ribs are unwilling to discard and tasteless to eat. Isn't it just because you want to retreat and return to the division as soon as possible?So I ordered the soldiers to clean up in advance, lest the prime minister's order be too late.

Xiahou Dun was confused by Yang Xiu's rhetoric, and immediately ordered his subordinates to prepare and wait for orders. That night, Cao Cao was so upset that he couldn't sleep, so he patrolled the camp.Suddenly seeing the soldiers in Xiahoudun's camp busy packing their luggage, as if they were about to break out of camp and set off, they were taken aback, and hurriedly summoned Xiahoudun to inquire. Xiahou Dun said: The master secretary Yang Xiu already knew that the prime minister wanted to retreat, so he ordered the soldiers to prepare early. Cao Cao said nothing, and immediately summoned Yang Xiu for questioning.

Yang Xiu said it again with his own guesses. Cao Cao was furious when he heard this, and shouted: How dare you spread rumors to confuse the public and disturb the morale of our army, you will be punished immediately! Immediately ordered the knife and axe hand to push Yang Xiu out and behead him. Just like this, Yang Xiu only cared about showing off for the moment, rhetoric, and cleverness, regardless of the dignity of others, and his head was chopped off. This shows that we must be honest in our words, and we would rather appear clumsy than show off cleverness and rhetoric.If you talk too much, you will lose it, which will make people lose trust in you, and even lead to disaster.Of course, although it is wrong to talk too much, it does not mean that you should not speak.Words should be true, words should not be spent, let alone pretend to be smart.