Flattery is a gentle knife

　　There are people who follow the rich and those who are noble. It is not surprising that people have been snobbish since ancient times. However, what is strange is that those rich men and powerful officials are not only not ashamed in the face of nasty flattery, but also get carried away with pride. In the end, they are often flattered to the point of being imprisoned or even decapitated. sigh.

　　Han Tuozhou of the Southern Song Dynasty, because he succeeded in supporting Song Ningzong Zhao Kuo to the throne, he became the prime minister with “the merit of wearing the wings” and was named the king of Pingyuan County, becoming a generation of powerful ministers. With power in his hands, Han Yuzhou’s heart began to swell. He held the state’s public assets, recruited power and accepted bribes, and bribed public companies. He especially liked the flattery of the people below.
　　According to the “Jianhu Collection” by Chu Ren of the Qing Dynasty, Han Tuozhou was awarded the royal garden at the foot of Wushan Mountain – South Garden. After being awarded the South Garden, he dug springs through mountains, built pavilions and pavilions, and spent huge sums of money on renovation and improvement. After the completion of the project, Han Yuzhou chose an auspicious day, and led officials, officials and celebrities to visit the garden and personally inspect and accept it. When he saw the exotic flowers and plants all over the garden, and the pavilions and water pavilions, he couldn’t help smiling. Later, when I turned around a stretch of green hills, I saw a hut with bamboo fences, mulberry and elm interspersed with each other, just like a farm house, but Han Yuzhou said with regret: “The beautiful scenery of this pastoral area is indeed very similar, but the fly in the ointment is missing the sound of chickens crowing and dogs barking. “Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he heard the farm dog barking “Wow”, Han Yuzhou was very surprised, and after following the sound, it turned out that it was Zhao Shiwei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was lying in the grass and learning how the dog barked, which made Han Tuozhou laugh loudly Laughing made him extremely useful. Soon, Han Tuozhou promoted Zhao Shikui to be the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, so people at that time called Zhao Shikui “Dog Ming Shangshu”.
　　The “Qingyuan Party Ban” written by the Qiaosou in Cangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty recorded an incident, saying that Han Tuozhou had a favorite concubine who was kicked out of the palace for minor faults. Cheng Songshou, who was the magistrate of Qiantang County at the time, was good at flattering and flattering, and felt that this was a good opportunity, so he quickly bought this concubine home for 800 guan. A few days later, Han Yuzhou really missed this concubine again, and sent someone to inquire about her whereabouts. When he learned that it was bought by Cheng Songshou, he was furious for a while, and planned to hold him accountable. After Cheng Songshou heard about it, he hurriedly returned the concubine to Zhao, explaining that a county guard left Beijing at that time, and when he saw this beautiful concubine, he planned to take her to his post.
　　Han Yuzhou doubted his intentions, but his face was still full of anger. This concubine hurriedly came out to prove that the county magistrate Cheng was telling the truth and treated me like a distinguished guest. Only then was Han Tuozhou relieved, turned his anger into joy, and immediately promoted Cheng Songshou to be the chancellor of Taifu Temple, and then promoted to admonishment doctor. Later, Cheng Songshou paid a lot of money to buy a beauty who was more beautiful than this concubine and gave it to Han Yuzhou. Han Yuzhou was overjoyed and used Cheng Songshou as a member of the Privy Council who was in charge of military affairs. A small county magistrate, he became one of the important officials of the imperial court in three or two years.
　　As a powerful minister, the promotion of high officials and small officials is all in his hands. His preferences have become eggs with cracks in the eyes of flies. There are countless people, they praised Han Tuozhou as the contemporary Yi Yin, the later Huo Guang, the one who called him “my king”, and the one who added Jiuxi, and they used all kinds of flattery methods. However, “the warm wind makes tourists drunk”, it is precisely the nasty flattery of those who cling to him, which makes Han Tuozhou even more complacent and domineering. He has neither official morality nor integrity. After Han Tuozhou pleaded guilty, many courtiers wrote letters one after another, saying that he was “dictatorship without a king, arrogance and injustice”, asking the court to dig Han Tuozhou’s grave and open his coffin, show his head to the public, and throw his body in the wilderness to thank the world. But the most ridiculous thing is that these people were the ones who stalked behind Han Yuzhou back then, and it was these people who asked the imperial court to show their heads and apologize to the world after Han Yuzhou’s death.
　　Ying Shao in the Eastern Han Dynasty said in the book “Customs of the Customs”: “The long officials’ horses are fat, and the viewers are quick, and the riders are happy with their words, and they will drive endlessly until they die.” The official horses are strong, and everyone who sees them will definitely run It was fast, and the rider, so pleased with the compliments, kept the horse galloping so hard that it died of overwork. It means that the one who kills the horse is the person who once applauded the horse. It can be seen that flattery is a gentle knife, it can make you feel like a spring breeze, and it can even kill you invisible.