As the saying goes, "patting a horse", among which "patting a horse" may be familiar to everyone. It was a common social phenomenon in the Yuan Dynasty, in which lower-level officials slapped the butt of the horse of their superior (usually a Mongolian) with their hands. Ingratiate yourself with someone by complimenting their mount. As for "Slipping the Beard", it comes from a short story that can be traced to a specific person. Let's talk about it below.

In the early Northern Song Dynasty, the Tang system was followed and the Zhengshitang was set up in Menxia Province. Its chief was called "Tongzhongshumenxiapingzhangshi", that is, the prime minister, and the Zhengshitang was the deputy prime minister with the same title as the prime minister. ) and the place where senior officials concentrate on handling government affairs. According to the records of the Song History "Kou Zhun Biography", during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty, one day Prime Minister Kou Zhun and his staff were having a working meal in the political hall. His beard was accidentally stained by the soup. The then deputy prime minister Ding Wei hurriedly got up and helped him. wipe. Ding Wei is only five years younger than Kou Zhun. You can imagine a half-century old man stroking the beard of another half-century old man. This sunset-red version of the back-to-back mountains is simply beautiful. Kou Zhun also laughed at the arrogance, and laughed and scolded: "Participating in politics, the minister of the country, is he whisking his beard for the chief?" This is the origin of "slipping the beard".

Ding Wei was a famous traitor in the Northern Song Dynasty. "The Chronicles of Song Dynasty" even specially included a chapter about "Ding Wei's Tragedy". However, after reading it, I found it very boring. All he did was to gain the emperor's favor and get promoted by saying bad things about the leaders. He did not achieve any spectacular "big things" at all. In short, he was a very small-minded person.

When we usually talk about "traitor", we must think of Qin Hui; when talking about "greed for money", we must think of He Shen; when talking about "cruelty", it must be Dong Zhuo, and the word "cunning" is The trademark of white-faced Cao Cao. However, Ding Wei is just an ordinary and ridiculous little bureaucrat. Just like the short story of "Slipping the Beard", it cannot make a deep impression on people at all.

As for Kou Zhun, because of the misleading of the TV series "Kou Lao Xi'er" starring Ge You 20 years ago, what comes to everyone's mind is that he lives a poor life, is always jealous, has a smooth appearance but The image of inner integrity. It is said that Ge You's father was very dissatisfied with his performance. He believed that Kou Zhun came from a famous family and was a high official in the imperial court, so he could not have so much "ruffianism" in him.

This criticism is very reasonable. Kou Zhun came from a famous family. He was able to write poems at the age of seven and was famous for his talent. He was admitted as a Jinshi at the age of nineteen. History books say that he was "a rich young man, extravagant in sex, drunk in comedy, and always closed his door and escaped after banqueting guests." He was demoted several times in his life, but his luxurious and unrestrained character did not change. According to unofficial records, he often filled the house with candles (at that time, ordinary households used oil lamps, and candles were a luxury item), and stayed up all night to entertain officials and friends for drinking and merrymaking. When he finally left, everyone felt as if they were in another world.

I really don’t understand the reason why Ding Wei wanted to meet Kou Zhun. Maybe he just thought that after all, we were officials in the same dynasty, so it was only natural for people to meet each other. As I said, this is a person with a very small background. He conscientiously plays the role assigned to him by history and cannot escape. No wonder he is so mediocre in his bad deeds. However, there is no inevitable connection between pattern and success. There are so many people with great ambitions and few talents in this world. If you have the ability, you need the right time, place and people. Kou Zhun's pattern is very big, but he will eventually end up dying of illness in a foreign land. But I think the pattern is a lever. It allows you to break through the limitations of certain conditions and move towards bigger and more brilliant things. With a pattern, success will be greater, and even failure will be more beautiful and heroic.