日期: 2022-01-20
In this article we will introduce another old saying, which is: "People will only give their best shot at the first round of the drumbeat". In Chinese it is 一鼓作氣, and again, 一鼓作氣. It is a kind of pep talk used to boost people’s morale in getting the job done by giving everything they have got ASAP, with same meaning as the western proverb “hit the iron when it’s hot”.
The story is still about the Chi State which we have talked about in both the 4th and the 5th episodes. In the 5th episode we have mentioned how Jon hsiaobei beat Jon Joe, his half-brother, to become the ultimate ruler of the Chi State, and then had been addressed as the Chi Huan Duke ever since. One day as he was speaking to his Prime Minister Guangzhong about whether or not it was a good idea to get even with the Loo Chaung Duke to punish him for his support of John Joe which had turned out to be a total failure in the end.
Guangzhong opposed the idea outright by saying that the time was not ripe yet as the Loo Chuang Duke had already done all the things that the Chi Huan Duke asked for, namely, killing and returning the head of Jon Joe and sending Guangzhong back to the Chi State alive. Therefore, the Chi Huan Duke simply had no excuses to start a war because that would have constituted the Chi State’s unilateral breach of peace among the states. However, the Chi Huan Duke had decided to do it anyway simply because he had a score to settle and had a bigger army. Also, another reason could have been because at the time he and Guangzhong still had a long way to go to know each other very well, so that the trust element between the two was just not there yet. However, you should know that the Chi Huan Duke later on had addressed Guangzhong as his demi-father to show his respect for him in the next 40 years after the two had become close both at work and personally.
Learning the news about the Chi Huan Duke’s immediate invasion plan into the Loo State, the Loo Chuang Duke was also preparing his defense by putting all his people and resources together to make sure everything was ready when the time came. So that not only the ruling class but also the people on the street were starting to know that the war was inevitable between the Loo State and Chi State. One day there was this commoner Tso Guay talking to people on the streets about the war, but the people simply told him to go mind his own business because people on the top are supposed to do the job.
In response, Tso Guay said his famous catchphrase that people are still using today when criticizing people on the top being ignorant about what’s happening in the country, perhaps somewhat like the king’s new cloth proverb in the west. He said: “those meat eaters are short on sight and can’t see very far.” Meat eaters he meant were high ranking government officers because ordinary people on the street at the time were not allowed to eat meat except for very rare occasions, such as royal weddings or rulers’ birthdays.
Anyway, Tso Guay finally got the opportunity to speak to The Loo Chaung Duke asking him: What makes you think you can possibly win the war?” To which the Loo Chuang Duke answered: “Because I can get help from all the people around me as I always share everything I have with them,” while Tso Guay said: Your favors to the people around you had nothing to do with the ordinary people who would fight the war for you. The Loo Chaung Duke then said: “Because I will get blessings from gods as I have always been true to them about the numbers and quantities of my sacrifices, and I never inflated them. To which Tsao Guay responded by saying: Blessings from gods are not good enough to help win the war. Finally, the Loo Chaung Duke said: “Because I can get help from the ordinary people as whenever I sit on the bench to adjudicate a dispute between people, I have always been impartial doing my best to find out about the truths and render my best judgments. To which Tso Guay replied by saying: “In that case, we may still have a chance to win the war. I will stand in the front of your chariot with you and see what I can do.”
Then one day in 684 BC, the Chi State’s troops had finally approached the border to start their move, while Tsao Guay and the Loo Chaung Duke stood side by side on the chariot ready for anything to happen, when they heard the Chi troops starting their first round of drumbeat signaling that they were about to attack, when Tso Guay stopped the Loo Chaung Duke from doing the same thing explaining: When it comes to troops’ advances in wars, the first round of drumbeat always boosts the highest morale, which will become weaker after the second round, and will simply all gone after the third round. So that the Loo Chaung Duke had waited up until the Chi State’s third round was over when he gave order for the Loo State’s first round of drumbeat to attack which hit the Chi troops real hard when the Loo’s troops’ morale was at its highest, and that did the trick and turned the tide.
As the Chi’s troops had turned around to retreat, Tso Guay once again stopped the Loo Chaung Duke from pursuing the enemies by asking him to wait until Tso Guay had finished checking on the ground to see how the wheel tracks had looked. After he was done with his checking, he jumped back on to tell the Loo Chaung Duke “Now is time.” Then the Loo Chaung Duke started his trigger-happy pursuit until the Chi troops were completely pushed back to where they had come from leaving all kinds of logistics and armors behind. This was the War of Changshow” of 684 BC, as the last war the Loo State ever to win against the Chi State by itself.
貼文者：Mariia