An eagle and two rabbits.(一雕兩兔)
He was a famous minister in the Tang
Dynasty and his story is recorded in history books.
Li Linfu served as Prime Minister of the
Tang Dynasty for 19 years. During his tenure as Prime Minister, in order to
consolidate his power, he often thought of many ways to conspire against those
upright ministers, and he also used many shady means to eliminate those capable
ministers.
The ninth king of China's Tang Dynasty was
called Li Longji. He became king of the Tang Dynasty after a very cruel
political struggle. He was 27 years old when he became king.
Li Longji was a very wise and modest man.
He appointed many upright and loyal ministers to help him rule the Tang
Dynasty.
He fully empowered these upright ministers,
and with their help, the overall national strength of the Tang Dynasty became
extremely powerful.
After Li Longji turned 50, he felt that the
Tang Dynasty had become so powerful and invincible that he began to relax. He
said to himself, 'I have led the Tang Dynasty to become so powerful, and in the
days to come I will enjoy the fruits of my past hard work.
There were three prime ministers in the
Tang dynasty, each in charge of three important departments. In 736 AD, Li
Longji appointed the treacherous Li Linfu and two other upright ministers as
prime ministers.
At the inauguration ceremony of the three
prime ministers, Li Linfu stood in the middle of the three. He stood straight
and had a very arrogant posture. The other two ministers stood on either side of
him. Both ministers bent down and had a humble attitude.
The other ministers who were watching the
ceremony saw this and expressed their opinions privately.
These ministers said
These three people standing together are
like an eagle standing in the middle and two little rabbits standing beside the
eagle.
Why was Li Linfu's attitude different from
that of the other two ministers? Why did Li Longji like Li Linfu so much?
According to the records in the history
books, the reason was that Li Linfu would follow Li Longji's opinions and make
remarks that Li Longji liked to hear.
When Li Longji made some bad decisions,
those righteous ministers would raise their objections, while Li Linfu would
praise Li Longji's opinions and express his strong support for Li Longji's
decisions.
Let's take an example from a history book.
Once Li Longji wanted to appoint a young
general to an important post. Many righteous ministers told Li Longji that this
person lacked knowledge and experience, so the appointment should be postponed.
Li Linfu said to Li Longji in private,
I think you have excellent vision and wise
judgment, and this young general is very suitable for this important position.
You are our leader, you can appoint
whomever you want, you don't need to listen to the opinions of these ministers.
When Li Longji was young, he hated
ministers like Li Linfu. He liked ministers who were upright and willing to
raise objections.
But when Li Longji reached middle age, he
felt that he was very great. He thought it was his merit that the Tang Dynasty
had become so prosperous. He became arrogant and liked to be flattered. That is
why people like Li Linfu had a chance. Can hold power.
From that time on, the Tang Dynasty began
to decline.
The literal translation of this saying is
one eagle and two rabbits.
It is used to describe three people in
similar positions, one of whom has more power than the other two and has
completely suppressed the other two.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Have you become comfortable and relaxed in
your present situation? How can you prevent yourself from going from success to
failure?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
一雕兩兔(An eagle and two rabbits.)
李林甫是唐王朝一個著名的大臣，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
李林甫擔任唐王朝的宰相長達19年之久，在他擔任宰相的期間，他為了鞏固自己的權力，他常常想出很多方式去設計那些正直的大臣，他又用很多不光明的手段去排擠那些有能力的大臣。
中國的唐王朝的第九任國王的名字叫做李隆基，他經過非常殘酷的政治鬥爭才成為唐王朝的國王，他成為國王的時候的年紀是27歲。
李隆基是一個很聰明又謙虛的人，他任命了很多正直又忠誠的大臣協助他管理唐王朝
他充分的授權給這些正直的大臣，他在這些大臣的協助下，唐王朝的總和國力變得非常的強大。
李隆基在他50歲之後，他覺得唐王朝已經變得強大而且無法被戰勝，所以他的心態開始鬆懈，他對自己說，我已經帶領唐王朝變得如此強大，接下來的日子裡我要好好享受我以前辛勤所得到的果實。
唐王朝的宰相有三個，分別掌管了三個重要的部門，西元736年，李隆基任用了奸詐的李林甫與另外兩個正直的大臣擔任宰相。
在三個宰相的就職典禮上，李林甫站在三個人的正中間，他站的挺直且態度非常傲慢，另外兩個大臣站在他的兩旁，這兩個大臣都彎著腰而態度謙遜。
在場觀禮的其他大臣們看到這個情況就私底下發表他們的看法。
這些大臣們說。
這三個人站在一起，就好像是一隻老鷹站中間而兩隻小兔子站在這隻老鷹的旁邊啊。
為何李林甫的態度與其他兩個大臣不同?為何李隆基特別喜歡李林甫?
根據歷史書上的紀載，原因是因為李林甫會順著李隆基的看法去發表一些李隆基喜歡聽的言論。
當李隆基做出一些不好的決策時，那些正直的大臣會提出自己的反對意見，而李林甫會讚美李隆基的意見並且表示自己非常支持李隆基的決定。
舉一個歷史書中記載了一個例子。
有一次，李隆基要讓一個年輕的將軍擔任一個重要的職務，許多正直的大臣對李隆基說，這個人的見識與閱歷都不夠，所以應該暫緩這項任命。
李林甫私底下對李隆基說，
我認為你的眼光非常好，你的決定非常的睿智，這個年輕的將軍非常適合擔任這個重要的職務。
你是我們的領導者，你要任命誰就任命誰，你不需要聽這些大臣們的意見。
當李隆基年輕的時候，他很厭惡像是李林甫這種類型的大臣，他喜歡那些正直與感於提出反對意見的大臣。
但是當李隆基中年之後，他覺得自己非常的偉大，他覺得唐王朝可以變得如此繁榮都是自己的功勞，他變得自大與喜歡聽一些奉承的話，所以李林甫這類型的人才有機會可以掌握權力。
從這時候開始，唐王朝走向了衰敗的道路。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一隻老鷹與兩隻兔子。
這句成語被用來形容三個職位差不多的人，其中一個人所掌握的權力大過其他兩個人，這個人已經完全的壓制住另外兩個人。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你現在的情況已經讓你感到安逸並且鬆懈了嗎?你如何避免自己從成功走向失敗呢?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為新唐書-卷212-李林甫傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%96%B0%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7223%E4%B8%8A