The story you are telling seems to be that "the mouth to defend the people is better than the river" that appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. In the history of China, there are people who don’t dare to speak casually. This is it.
Record source:
"Guoyu Zhouyu 1": "It is better to guard against the mouth of the people than to guard against the river. If the river collapses and collapses, many people will be hurt, and so will the people. . Therefore, those who work for Sichuan must make decisions and guide them; those who work for the people must make propaganda and words."
Story:
Li Wang Jihu was the tenth king of the Zhou Dynasty. At that time, the national power was declining. At this time, foreign tribes invaded, princes rebelled, tributes decreased, and the dynasty's treasury was empty. However, the newly enthroned King Zhou Li was extravagant and debauched, and followed the path of Jie and Zhou, which soon caused a financial crisis for the Zhou royal family.
In order to decide to increase taxes, King Zhou Li maintained a life of debauchery. All the taxes that should be collected have been collected, so how can we establish a name for new taxes? What name should be used to collect taxes? He couldn't think of it, all the taxes that should be collected have been collected. At this time, one of his ministers named Rongyi Gong gave King Li an idea and asked him to collect a "patent tax" on some important products. Regardless of whether they are princes, ministers or ordinary people, as long as they collect medicine, chop firewood, fish and shrimp, shoot birds and beasts, they must pay taxes; even drinking water and walking have to pay money and materials. This method was strongly opposed by the common people, and even some more enlightened officials felt it was inappropriate. Many ministers also sought advice from King Li. Among them, a doctor named Rui Liangfu advised King Li not to implement "patent". He said, "Patents will offend the interests of most people and are very hurtful." But King Li couldn't listen at all. He blindly trusted Rongyi Gong and asked him to implement the "patent" without immunity.
After the implementation of patent. The life of the common people was even worse, and public resentment suddenly boiled. At that time, there was such a song:
The big rat is the big rat, and there is no food for me. I am willing to take care of you when I am three years old. When you pass away, you will be suitable for that paradise.
It means: "Big rat, big rat, don't eat my millet (referring to grain) anymore. I have indulged you for many years, but you have not taken care of us. We vowed to leave You, go to that paradise of joy." The people's strong dissatisfaction with King Zhou Li was beyond words.
The common people were full of resentment towards King Zhou Li and cursed him one after another. Seeing the critical situation, the minister Zhao Gonghu advised King Zhou Li: "Your Majesty, the people really can't stand it anymore. If the 'patent' law is not abolished, it is difficult not to have unrest!" But King Li couldn't listen at all. He asked the wizards of Wei to monitor the people. If they found anyone talking about "patents" or cursing King Li, they would be arrested and beheaded. From then on, although people had no choice but to swallow their complaints, no one dared to speak out again. When meeting acquaintances on the street, they don't dare to stop and talk, so they say hello and walk away quickly. The entire Haojing suddenly became lifeless and lifeless.
But King Li thought that his brutal rule had produced results, and he said to Zhao Gonghu complacently: "Look, is anyone else talking about anything?" After hearing this, Zhao Gonghu said to King Li: "Although the people's mouths were forced to be blocked, their complaints turned into resentments. Just as water is blocked, once it breaks, more people will be hurt; instead, water control methods of dredging rivers should be adopted, and the same principle applies to governing the people. We should open up the channels for speech. Isn't it dangerous for the king to block the channels for speech now with severe punishments?" King Li ignored Zhao Gong's words and instead carried out his cruel rule even more cruelly.
Where there is oppression, there is resistance, and the Chinese people really can't stand it anymore! The small nobles, small businessmen, and craftsmen in the capital gathered together and rushed to the palace to settle accounts with King Li. At first, King Li wanted to suppress the people, but the soldiers in the army who were mobilized turned out to be civilians. When they saw the rebellion of the countrymen, many people also joined in. Seeing that the situation was over, King Zhou Li had no choice but to sneak out of the palace with some followers. Before leaving, King Li entrusted Prince Ji Jing to Zhao Hu, and then fled to present-day Huo County, Shanxi Province.
The angry uprising crowd could not find King Li, and they were filled with anger and decided to find the prince to make up for the crime. They learned that the prince Zhao Gonghu's family had taken in the prince, so they surrounded Zhao Gong's house and ordered Zhao Gonghu to take out the prince. Duke Zhao thought to himself, "In the past, the emperor did not listen to my advice, and that's why he ended up in this situation.
Now that I hand over the prince, will anyone say that I am disloyal to the emperor and waiting for revenge? At the beginning, I promised to protect the prince. So that the king can feel at ease; if he handed over the prince now, wouldn't it be a great injustice? But when the people of the country see that they can't find the prince, they will definitely refuse to agree. What should they do? "After careful consideration, he decided to replace the prince with his own son and handed it over to the revolting people. This prevented the prince from being killed by the people.
On the second day of the people's uprising, Wei Wu Gong, the king of Wei, He led the army to Haojing. This Duke Wu of Wei was called Bohe. He led his army to Haojing to suppress the rebellion, but the rebels had already killed him before he came to the capital. After they dispersed, Bohe led his troops and stationed themselves in the palace.
King Li was on the run and did not dare to return to the capital. Although the prince was in the capital, he was too young to take charge. Zhao Gong replaced him with his son. Now that the riot has just subsided, it is not time to tell the truth. So Zhao Gonghu proposed that the state affairs be temporarily handled by Uncle ***, and all the other ministers agreed. , but in fact he was the same as the emperor in governing and conducting affairs, so these two years are called the first year of ** and the first year (841 BC). From this year on, the history of our country began to be accurate. The era can be checked. After Emperor Bohe came to power, he adopted Zhao Bohu's suggestions, abolished the "patent" law of King Li, and reduced various taxes. The people were able to live in peace and stability. /p>
Historical books refer to the period when Uncle Liu was in power as the period of Liuhe. In the blink of an eye, fourteen years later, King Zhou Li died, and Prince Ji Jing was raised in Zhao Gonghu's family. When he came of age, Zhao Gonghu felt that the time was ripe, so he went to court to tell the truth to the uncle and other ministers, saying that the ministers of the Zhou Dynasty saw that the prince was still alive, and everyone agreed to let the prince succeed to the throne. Bohe knew that he was not an orthodox member of the Zhou family, and if the struggle continued, it would be difficult to convince the public, so he might as well be a favor, so he personally went to Zhaogong Hu's house to bring Prince Jing into the palace, and held a grand enthronement ceremony for him back to his original fiefdom. His princes and kings have gone. The new emperor is King Xuan of Zhou.