1. A promise worth a thousand gold

In the last years of the Qin Dynasty, there lived a man named Ji Bu in the Chu region. He was upright, chivalrous and helpful. As long as it was something he promised, no matter how difficult it was, he would try to do it and receive praise from everyone.

During the conflict between Chu and Han, Ji Bu was Xiang Yu's subordinate. He made several suggestions and defeated Liu Bang's army. After Liu Bang became emperor, he became angry when he thought of this and ordered his arrest. Ji Bu

At this time, everyone admired Ji Bu as a person and helped him secretly. Soon after, Ji Bu disguised himself and went to work as a servant in a family named Zhu in Shandong.

The Zhu family took him in even though they knew he was Ji Bu. Later, the Zhu family went to Luoyang to find Liu Bang's old friend Ruyinhou Xia Houying to intercede. Liu Bang withdrew the wanted order against Ji Bu under Xia Houying's persuasion, and made Ji Bu a doctor, and soon became the prefect of Hedong.

There was a fellow countryman of Ji Bu, Cao Qiusheng, who loved to associate with powerful officials to show off and promote himself. Ji Bu always looked down on him. When he heard that Ji Bu had become a high official again, he immediately went to see Ji Bu.

When Ji Bu heard that Cao Qiusheng was coming, he grimaced and prepared to say a few words to prevent him from stepping down. Unexpectedly, as soon as Cao Qiusheng entered the hall, no matter how gloomy Ji Bu's face was and how unpleasant his words were, he immediately bowed and saluted to Ji Bu, wanting to reminisce with Ji Bu's family.

And boasted: "I heard the saying "It is better to get Jibu Yinuo than to get a thousand taels of gold" spread everywhere in Chu. How can you have such a good reputation in Liang and Chu? What about the local people? Since we are from the same hometown, and I spread your good reputation everywhere, why don’t you want to see me?” After hearing what Cao Qiusheng said, Ji Bu felt happy. , leaving him to stay for a few months as an honored guest. Before leaving, he also gave him a generous gift.

2. Bearing a thorn to plead guilty

During the Warring States Period, the eunuch of the State of Zhao ordered Lin Xiangru, a retainer of Yingxian, to be sent by the King of Zhao to the State of Qin from Handan with rare treasures and jade. With his wisdom and courage, he returned the jade to Zhao intact, and was appreciated by the King of Zhao, who made him a senior official.

Later, King Qin proposed to meet King Zhao in Mianchi, hoping to force King Zhao to surrender. Lin Xiangru and General Lian Po urged King Zhao to attend and devised a clever plan. Lian Po used his bravery and skill to put pressure on King Qin in terms of military strength. Lin Xiangru used his sharp tongue and loyalty to King Zhao to save King Zhao from humiliation. and returned to Handan safely.

In order to commend Lin Xiangru, King Zhao named him Shangqing, which was a higher official position than General Lian Po.

This time Lian Po was not happy. He believed that he was brave and good at fighting, fighting on the front line for the Zhao State, and was the greatest contributor. However, Lin Xiangru was ranked above him with just one mouth. Lian Po was very unconvinced and decided to humiliate him.

When Lin Xiangru heard the news, he avoided meeting Lian Po everywhere. On the day of going to court, he said he was ill. One time, Lin Xiangru went out for business and met Lian Po in the carriage lane.

Lian Po ordered his men to use various methods to block Lin Xiangru's road, and finally Lin Xiangru had no choice but to order him to return to Lin Xiangru's house. Lian Po was even more proud and spread the word everywhere.

Lin Xiangru’s disciples heard about it and asked to go home one after another. Lin Xiangru asked why, and they said: “We work for you because we respect you as a truly noble gentleman, but now you are so arrogant. Lian Po swallows his anger, we can't stand it"?

After hearing this, Lin Xiangru laughed and asked: "Which one do you think is more powerful, King Qin or General Lian Po? I'm not even afraid of King Qin, so why should I be afraid of Lian Po? What? The Qin State does not dare to invade now. It is only because General Lian and I are protecting the Zhao State with both civil and military force. As the right-hand man of King Zhao, how can I ignore the country's interests because of a small personal grudge? "

When Lian Po heard about it, he was very ashamed, so he went to Lin Xiangru's house to plead guilty to Lin Xiangru. From then on, they became good friends who shared life, death and adversity, and worked together to serve the country.

3. High Mountains and Flowing Waters

At that time, there was a scholar in the Chu State whose surname was Bo and whose given name was Ya. He likes to play the piano very much, and he learned the piano from a gentleman named Liancheng since he was a child.

Boya is talented and talented, and his piano skills have greatly improved, but it is difficult to capture the charm of the music. ?

One day, the teacher said to Boya: I will take you to find an immortal master for enlightenment, okay?

Bo Ya readily agreed, happily carrying Qin on his back and taking a boat with his teacher to Penglai Mountain in the East China Sea. The teacher asked him to sit on the ground to rest, and went to find the teacher himself.

Bo Ya waited for a long time in the majestic and lush mountains, but did not see his teacher return, so he went along a mountain road to look for him. After rounding a mountain top, a strange scene appeared before our eyes: it was really a waterfall in the clouds, a clear spring in the fog, the water splashed like pearls, and the exciting sound echoed like fairy music.

Bo Ya suddenly felt that his eyes were wide open and inspiration surged up, so he sat on the ground and played the piano to compose wonderful music. Suddenly, the teacher's voice came from behind him: "Haha, haha... you have found the immortal master."

Bo Ya suddenly realized that the immortal master mentioned by the teacher was nature. It is said that the two guqin pieces "Shuixian Cao" and "High Mountains and Flowing Waters" were composed by Boya at that time. Since then, his piano skills have reached a state of perfection, but he has never been able to find a close friend.

Later, Boya went to Jin State and became a doctor. One day, he was ordered to go to Chu as an envoy. Due to strong winds, we had to stop at the mouth of Hanyang River. After the wind calmed down, a mid-autumn moon strolled out from the floating clouds.

Bo Ya stood on the bow of the boat, looking up at the bright moon and overlooking the waves on the river. He felt very excited about playing the qin, so he played the qin. As the song ended, a woodcutter suddenly jumped out from the grass. This man was amazed by Boya's piano skills.

Bo Ya was shocked and asked: "You can listen to the harp, can you tell the quality of the harp?"

The woodcutter took the harp and looked at it, and replied: " This Qin is called Yao Qin. It was made by the Fuxi family. The tree must be three feet tall and cut into three sections. The sound of the upper section is too clear and the sound of the lower section is too turbid. Only the middle section is clear. After that, the wood was spread in the water for seventy-two days, and on an auspicious day, it was carved into a musical instrument. Initially, the piano had five strings, with gold, wood, and Water, fire, and earth are arranged according to Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu. Later, King Wen of Zhou added another string, which was called Wenxian, and King Wu of Zhou added another string, which was called Wuxian. "The lyre."

After hearing this, Boya was convinced, and then he tuned the strings and played the lyre again, sometimes majestic and high-pitched, sometimes comfortably and fluently. Sometimes the woodcutter said: "It's so good! It's as tall as Mount Tai." Sometimes he said: "It's so good! It's like a river." Wise men in the world, please tell me about your noble surname." The woodcutter returned the favor and said, "My surname is Zhong, but my surname is Ziqi."

Bo Ya sighed and said, "I know a lot of people in the world, and I know how many people I know." That is to say, the boy was ordered to burn incense and candles and become brothers with Ziqi. And we agreed to meet here again during the Mid-Autumn Festival next year.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival of the next year, Boya arrived as scheduled. Who would have expected that at this time, he would be separated from his good friend, and Ziqi would have left him.

In front of Ziqi's grave, Boya played the harp and cried. He played a song called "High Mountains and Flowing Waters". At the end of the song, he cut the strings with a knife. He looked up to the sky and sighed: "Who can I play the harp for when my confidant is gone?" After saying this, the harp struck the altar and the strings broke. ?

4. Guan Zhong’s friendship with Bao

Guan Zhong had a good friend, Bao Shuya, and they had a deep friendship. They both went into business together. When he made money in business, Guan Zhong always gave more to himself and less to Bao Shuya. Bao Shuya never cared about this with Guan Zhong.

People secretly talked about this and said that Guan Zhong was greedy for money and did not care about friendship. When Bao Shuya found out, he explained to Guan Zhong, saying that Guan Zhong did not care about friendship and was only greedy for money. He did this because his family was poor. I am willing to give him more money.

Guan Zhong participated in the battle three times, but escaped from the battle three times. So people ridiculed him, saying that Guan Zhong was greedy for life and afraid of death, and did not have the spirit of brave sacrifice. When Bao Shuya heard the ridicule, he knew that this was not in line with Guan Zhong's actual situation, so he explained to people that Guan Zhong was not afraid of death because he had an elderly person in his family. His mother was solely supported by him, so he had to do that.

Guan Zhong had a very sincere friendship with Bao Shuya. He also tried to do some good things for Bao Shuya many times, but he failed. .

So people think that Guan Zhong has no ability to do things, but Bao Shuya doesn't think so. He knows in his heart that his friend Guan Zhong is a very capable person. The reason why the matter was not accomplished was simply because the opportunity was not ripe.

In their long-term relationship, the two of them formed a deep friendship. Guan Zhong told people many times: It was my parents who gave birth to me, and it was Bao Shuya who knew me.

5. Friendship between Yang and Zuo

Zuo Botao has "talent in governing the world", but at nearly forty years old, he still has not achieved success or fame. Hearing that the King of Chu was "recruiting talented people", he rushed to the Chu Kingdom in the snow and cold. On the way, he asked to stay at Yangjiaoai, and was warmly received by Yangjiaoai. That night, the two of them lay down to sleep, and the two of them talked about their knowledge, and the conversation was very speculative.

The next day, they became brothers and decided to go to Chu State together to seek fame. Unexpectedly, the weather was not good. Along the way, it was rainy and then windy and snowy blocked the way. They had run out of food, their clothes were thin, and they didn't carry much dry food.

In this case, Zuo Botao thought, if two people go to Chu State, neither of them will be able to go. If one person goes alone, there is still hope.

So Zuo Botao took off his clothes to Yang Jiaoai and forced him to go alone. Yang Jiao'ai refused and wanted to take off his clothes and give them to Zuo Botao, so that Zuo Botao could go to Chu alone.

The two couldn't argue, and Zuo Botao persuaded him to commit suicide. In the end, Yang Jiao'ai, filled with infinite sorrow, took clothes and food, and left crying sadly.

After becoming an official in Chu State, Yang Jiaoai immediately returned to the place where Zuo Botao froze to death and buried Zuo Botao's body. Zuo Botao's mausoleum is close to Jingke's tomb, and he is disturbed by it every night.

Feeling that Zuo Botao was alone, and thinking of the true past of "taking off clothes and stealing food", Yang Jiao'ai decided to commit suicide and was buried next to Zuo Botao's tomb, and helped him to relieve his pain. He was freed from the harassment of Jing Ke’s ghost.