Over two thousand years ago, China was not unified yet, and there were seven main powerful kingdoms, all the kings of those seven kingdoms wanted to defeat the others and became the only king of China. This story was happened in one of the seven kingdoms, and it's about one famous man who wisely persuaded his king to listen to the criticize from his people and tried to reform his kingdom. The man's name was ZouJi.
Mr ZouJi was an officer of Qi. He was well known as a handsome gentleman in the city he lived. At least that' what he heard from people around him, until oneday he saw another man named XuGong. For the first time Mr ZouJi felt defeated.
The next morning after he saw XuGong, he got up very early. He looked into the mirror carefully and asked himself: Am I the most handsome man in this country? He was not sure, so he decided to ask the others for confirmation.
Firstly, he went to his wife, he asked: Who is the more handsome, XuGong or me? His wife answered with a big smile: You, of course, my darling. Mr ZouJi was happy with this answer, but he was not a man who was easy to be satisfied.
Then he went to his concubine, and asked her again. His concubine answered in a very low voice, and it's certainly she choosed Mr ZouJi as the more handsome man. Mr ZouJi was not surprised, but he found that when his concubine was answering she didn't even dare to look at his eyes.
For the last confirmation, Mr ZouJi decided to ask someone who is not one of his family members. He went to his friends, and asked the question again. Before his friend's answer, there was a few seconds' silent. And then he got the same answer as from his wife and his concubine. Mr ZouJi left with confusion.
He went back home and looked into the mirror again. After thinking for a few minutes, he laughed and he thought he finally find the answer.
The next day, he went to his king and told the king the whole story and the final answer he found. He said: For a very long time, I thought I was the most handsome man in this country, people around me all agreed with that with no doubt. But after I saw XuGong, I knew I was wrong. But why my family and my friend lie to me when I asked them? I was confused, until yesterday I figured it out finally. My wife, she lied to me because she loved me, my concubine lied to me because she didn't want to provoke me, my friend lied to me because he didn't want to lose a powerful friend like me.
His king was a little shocked, and Mr ZouJi continued on: My king. You managed such a big country, some time you were also like me in the story, you might not want to hear anything bad from your people. Our country is now in big danger if you still don't want to listen to real voice of your people. Wake up, My king. And oneday Qi will become the most powerful country in China under your leadership.
The story ended with the king took his advice and Qi became much more strong then it ever be, for a couple of years. That' another story.
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