The king's orders are absolute.(君命無二)
From 770 BC to 476 BC, this period of
Chinese history was known as the Spring and Autumn Period.
During this time, the highest-ranking
leader in China was the King of the Zhou dynasty. The Zhou king divided China
into more than 100 vassal states.
These vassal states then established their
own kingdoms within their respective territories.
Within these kingdoms, there were many
instances of fathers turning against sons or brothers killing each other in the
struggle for the right to the throne.
One such story is that of the 22nd king of
the Jin Kingdom, Ji Chong'er. His father had five children, and Ji Chong'er was
the second oldest. All of his brothers had different mothers.
Ji Chong'er's father favoured his fourth
wife. He deposed his eldest son's right to the throne and awarded it to the son
born to his fourth wife instead.
Consequently, in 656 BC, Ji Chong'er and
his brothers were forced to leave the Jin Kingdom and go into exile in other
kingdoms.
Ji Chong'er spent a total of 19 years in
exile. In 636 BC, with the help of the Qin Kingdom, he returned to Jin and
became its 22^(nd) king.
However, after becoming king of Jin, Ji
Chong'er's power base was unstable. He knew that there were many forces within
the central government of Jin opposing him, so he was very cautious.
One day, his guards told him,
'A man named Bo Di wishes to see you.'
Would you like to see him?' Hearing this name brought back many memories for Ji
Chong'er.
He and the previous king of Jin were not
born of the same mother. In order to prevent his brothers from seizing the
throne, the previous King of Jin had sent people to assassinate them while they
were in exile in various states.
The former king of Jin ordered Bo Di to
assassinate Ji Chong'er. Bo Di was very efficient, and acted immediately upon
receiving the order. However, the assassination attempt failed.
Soon after the first assassination attempt
failed, the former King of Jin ordered Bo Di to kill Ji Chong'er again. This
time, Bo Di almost succeeded.
Ji Chong'er narrowly escaped. During the
escape, Bo Di's knife tore a large piece off his sleeve.
He told his guards,
'I do not wish to see Bo Di. "You must
ask him to leave my palace immediately, and at the same time, you must
strengthen my security."
The guards received the order and left.
About ten minutes later, they returned to Ji Chong'er and said,
'Bo Di asked me to pass on a message to
you. He said that if you still do not wish to see him after hearing these
words, he will leave Jin and go to another kingdom.'
Bo Di said,
'I tried to assassinate you twice before
because the former king ordered me to. I am a loyal subject of the Kingdom of
Jin and its king. I believe the king's orders are absolute and will do my
utmost to fulfil them.
Now that you have ascended to the throne as
the legitimate King of Jin, I am a man who upholds law and order. Because of
your royal status, I will show you absolute loyalty.
There was once a king in the Kingdom of Qi
named Jiang Xiaobai. After becoming king, he forgave Guan Zhong, the man who
had tried to kill him. He made him his prime minister and Guan Zhong helped him
become the greatest king in the history of Qi.
If you are willing to forgive my previous
offence and see me, I believe you have the potential to become the greatest
king in Jin's history.
After hearing these words, Ji Chong'er
pondered for a few minutes. Then he said to his guards, "Bring Bo Di to
me. I wish to see him.'
Bo Di later helped Ji Chong'er escape a
political assassination attempt and remained loyal to him for the rest of his
life.
The idiom literally translates as 'the
king's command is absolute'.
This idiom is used to describe a leader
whose authority is absolute.
Dear friend, what inspiration or insights
did you gain from this story?
If you were Ji Chong'er, what decision
would you make? How would you evaluate Bo Di?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
君命無二(The king's orders are absolute.)
西元前770年到西元前476年，中國歷史上稱這一段期間為春秋時代。
當時中國最高領導者是周王朝的國王。周王朝的國王把中國的土地分封給100多個諸侯。
這些諸侯在自己所擁有的土地上建立屬於自已的王國。
在這些王國內，為了爭奪王位的繼承權，發生了許多父子反目或是兄弟相殺的故事。
晉王國的第22任國王，他的名字叫做(姬重耳)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。他的父親有五個孩子，他的排行第二。他們五個兄弟的母親都不相同。
他的父親寵愛第四位妻子，他的父親廢除他的哥哥的王位繼承權，他的父親把王位繼承權交給他的第四位妻子所生的兒子。
因為這個原因，西元前656年，他與他的兄弟們被迫離開晉王國，他們流亡到其他的王國。
姬重耳總共流亡了19年，西元前636年，在秦王國的協助下，他回到晉王國並成為晉王國的第22任國王。
姬重耳成為晉王國的國王後，他的權力基礎並不穩固，他知道晉王國的中央政府內有著許多反對他的力量，所以他非常的謹慎。
有一天，姬重耳的衛士對他說。
有一個名字叫做(勃鞮)的人希望能夠見你，你願意見他嗎?
姬重耳聽到這個人的名字後，他的腦海中湧出許多回憶。
晉王國的前任國王與姬重耳不是同一個母親生的。晉王國的前任國王為了避免自己的兄弟搶奪自己的王位，所以他派遣了很多人殺害自己那些流亡在各個國家的兄弟們。
晉王國的前任國王曾經下令要求(勃鞮)去暗殺姬重耳，(勃鞮)是一個執行力很強的人，他在收到命令之後就立刻行動。但是這次暗殺行動失敗了。
過了不久，
第一次暗殺失敗之後，晉王國的前任國王再次下令要求(勃鞮)去暗殺姬重耳，這次的暗殺行動(勃鞮)差一點就成功了。
姬重耳僥倖逃脫，姬重耳在逃命的過程中，他的衣袖被(勃鞮)手上的刀割裂了一大塊。
姬重耳對保護他的衛士說。
我不願意見到(勃鞮)，你立刻請他離開我的宮殿，同時你們要強化對我的安全防護。
那個衛士收到命令離開，大約十幾分鐘後，那個衛士又回到姬重耳的面前，這個衛士對姬重耳說。
(勃鞮)請我轉告你幾句話，他說如果你聽完這些話後仍然不願意見他，那麼他會直接離開晉王國到其他王國。
(勃鞮)說。
我之前兩次暗殺你，那是因為前任的國王向我下達了命令。
我是一個對晉王國與國王宣示忠誠的人，我認為國王的命令是絕對的，只要國王下令，我就一定要盡我的全力去達成。
你現在已經繼任成為合法的晉王國的國王，我是一個遵守法律與秩序的人，因為你的國王的身分，所我會對你表現出絕對的忠誠。
齊王國有一個叫做(姜小白)的國王，在他成為國王之後他原諒那個曾經想要殺他的名字叫做(管仲)的人，他還讓管仲成為他的宰相，結果管仲協助他成為齊王國歷史上最偉大的國王。
如果你願意原諒我之前對你的冒犯與願意見我，我認為你就有機會成為晉王國的有歷史以來最偉大的國王。
姬重耳聽完這些話後他思考了幾分鐘，他對保護他的衛士說。
你去帶(勃鞮)到我的面前，我願意見他。
(勃鞮)後來協助姬重耳逃避的一場政治暗殺，他的餘生都對姬重耳非常忠心。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是國王的命令是絕對的。
這句成語被用來形容一個領導者的命令有著絕對的權威。
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。
你如果是姬重耳你怎麼做決定呢?你如何評價(勃鞮)呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為左傳-僖公24年
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%98%A5%E7%A7%8B%E5%B7%A6%E6%B0%8F%E5%82%B3/%E5%83%96%E5%85%AC