The rule of the Shang Dynasty was that after the death of the emperor, the brother would succeed to the throne. If there were no brothers, the son would succeed to the throne. When Shang Tang passed away, his sons were already old. Crown Prince Taiding had already passed away, and Taiding's younger brother, Waibing, had inherited the throne. After three years on the throne, he died, and his younger brother, Zhong Ren, inherited the throne. Zhong Ren ascended the throne for four years and also died. Taijia was the eldest grandson of Shang Tang, and Yi Yin supported Taijia, the son of Taiding, as emperor.
Yi Yin was an elder of the four dynasties, and the royal family and ministers respected him. When Taijia first ascended the throne, he was afraid of Yi Yin and did not dare to act rashly. In the third year, Taijia felt that his wings had hardened. He did not put Yi Yin in his eyes and began to act as he pleased. He gave orders at will, ate, drank, and played, and tyrannized the people.
Yi Yin advised him," A gentleman becomes a gentleman because he can constantly eliminate the dirty things in his heart, purify himself, and constantly improve his mental state. He can resist temptation, control his desires, and not do vulgar things. The monarch could not do whatever he wanted. He had to always think about the heavy responsibility of the rise and fall of the world, think about the major events of governing the country, and do things modestly and prudently to benefit the world.”
On the surface, Taijia expressed that he would listen to Yi Yin's advice, but in his heart, he was very disgusted by Yi Yin's advice and did not listen to a single word. He liked beautiful women and secretly asked people to find beautiful women for him. He liked to have fun and not work. Every time he went to court to manage government affairs, he always felt that time passed especially slowly. During the court session, she ran faster than the ministers. When she returned to the harem, she would be energetic when she saw the beautiful palace maids. She would sing, dance, drink, and often play all night long. It was time for morning court. He complained,""Why is it time for court so soon?”But afraid of Yi Yin's endless persuasion, he could only go to court listlessly. When he arrived at the court, the ministers had been waiting for him for most of the day. After the court session ended, Yi Yin would find him to talk alone and talk about the "great principles" that he hated. After that, Taijia hid from Yi Yin.
Yi Yin saw that Taijia did not listen to his advice at all and was becoming more and more degenerate. The Shang Dynasty was beginning to decline, and he was very anxious. The elders of the royal family were also very anxious. They found Yi Yin and said,"Your Majesty is greedy for fun every day. This will ruin the world. Please persuade him to stop at the brink of death." The ministers also looked for Yi Yin and said,"His Majesty is the same as Xia Jie. Sooner or later, he will bury the world. At that time, we will all suffer with him." Please think of a way to save His Majesty.”
Yi Yin had said everything that needed to be said N times. What was wrong with Taijia? He had abandoned the bright path and insisted on walking down the dead end. What should he do? Could it be that he would not turn back until he hit the south wall? When he hit the wall, everything would be over. Yi Yin knew that there were too many dirty things in Taijia's heart. He had to perform a major operation on his mind that touched his soul. He had to automatically get rid of the dirty things in his mind, wash his heart and face, and turn over a new leaf. Only then could he solve the problem from the root. Thus, he decided to remove Taijia from his throne and let him reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors.
However, this action was too shocking, and Yi Yin was really unwilling to do so. As a subject, if he were to drive the emperor from his throne and force him to reflect on his mistakes, others would say that he had offended his superiors. The royal family and some ministers would suspect that he was plotting to usurp the throne. Taijia's best friends and some people with ulterior motives would take the opportunity to make trouble and seize the world. However, if he didn't do this, he could only allow Taijia to end the Shang Dynasty like King Xia Jie. Taking the lesser of the two evils, driving the emperor from his throne and forcing him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors was better than watching Taijia bury the Shang Dynasty. But what if Taijia refused to repent? He could only try his best. If he repented, everyone would be happy. If he refused to repent, then he would have to find a new ruler. He could not let him ruin the Shang Dynasty like King Xia Jie.
Yi Yin couldn't sleep well and couldn't eat well. He repeatedly worried for many days and told this idea to the people of the royal family. The people of the royal family pondered for a long time and said,"This is the only way." When he told the ministers, they all said,""This is the only way."
Yi Yin couldn't sleep the whole night. The next morning, he hesitated until the sun was high up in the sky. He muttered to himself,"Your Majesty, I'm sorry. This is all for the good of you and the country. I hope you can endure the pain, repent, and be a wise monarch.”Then, he led a group of warriors to pay their respects to Taijia.
Taijia was having fun with the beauties in the palace. When he heard that Yi Yin had broken into the palace, he hurriedly hid in the basement.
However, Yi Yin would not give up until she found Taijia. She found Taijia from the basement and criticized Taijia's series of mistakes in person. Finally, she said to Taijia,"If this goes on, you won't have a good end, the country won't have a good end, and the royal family and the subjects won't have a good end. In order to prevent a tragedy from happening, I'll send you to the Tong Palace now. You'll wake up for the late Emperor while repenting and turning over a new leaf. When you're better, I'll go with the ministers to welcome you back to manage the country. If you don't repent and turn over a new leaf, I'll discuss with the royal family and the ministers to establish a new ruler. You'll forever reflect on your mistakes in the Tong Palace.”
The Tong Palace was the tomb of Taijia's grandfather, Shang Tang. The tomb was similar to that of ordinary people, and there was only a low palace on the tomb. Taijia no longer had a luxurious life, no concubines, no jade buildings, only an old tomb keeper to accompany him. "Too poor," complained Taijia.”
"You mustn't say that. You have to be grateful to the imperial court," said the old tomb keeper. We guard the Shang Emperor's tomb, and the imperial court gives us shelter and food. How can the commoners have such good houses to live in? Some people don't even have enough to eat."
Speaking of Shang Tang, the old tomb keeper told the story of Shang Tang and Yi Yin's business with respect. When the old tomb keeper learned that Taijia was exiled to the cemetery by Yi Yin to reflect on his mistakes, Taijia was full of complaints towards Yi Yin. "You can't hate Yi Yin," the old tomb keeper said hurriedly."Yi Yin is a great hero of the Shang Dynasty and a great benefactor of the royal family. He was doing this for your own good. The people of the Imperial Court are different from the commoners. It's fine if the commoners make a mistake, but the people of the Imperial Court don't dare to make a mistake. If not, they might die without a burial place. You can enjoy yourself in the palace because Yi Yin led the people to protect the world for you. If Yi Yin did not lead the people to protect the world for you, others would immediately take away your world. Not only would you have no place to enjoy yourself, but your life would also be difficult to protect.”
In the Tong Palace, Taijia would starve if he did not eat, and no one would help him solve his life problems if he did not work. The huge contrast caused him to think deeply. He began to think about the meaning of life, the principles of the operation of heaven and earth, society, and the lives of the common people. Gradually, he was enlightened, his thoughts matured, and his kindness and conscience were discovered. Only then did he realize that his original soul was so dirty. There was no meaning in eating, drinking, and playing. He deeply felt sorry for the people he had abused, for what he had said and done in the past. His vulgar thoughts made him so ashamed that he slapped himself repeatedly. As he slapped himself, he said regretfully,"How can you think that? How could he say such words and do such things?”He wished that he could turn back time and immediately go back to the past to correct his mistakes. He wanted the people he hurt in the past to hurt him and make up for his mistakes. However, time could not be turned back. It could only leave him with endless regret. He warned himself sternly,"I must never do such a wrong thing again!"”
Taijia understood that if he didn't want to make the same ugly mistake again, he had to first improve his understanding of the world. He studied hard, facing the sun, rivers, mountains, and forests to meditate, comprehending the principles of heaven, earth, society, and life, and slowly removing the dirty things in his mind. Every time he had new insights, he could not wait to talk to the old tomb keeper and discuss the principles of heaven, earth, society, and life with the old tomb keeper.
After Yi Yin sent Taijia to the Tong Palace, the country could not go a day without a ruler. The royal family and ministers of the Shang Dynasty believed that no one was more suitable than Yi Yin to manage the country's affairs. Yi Yin took over the government affairs, presided over the state affairs, and met the vassals.
Yi Yin had been paying close attention to the changes in Taijia. The old tomb keeper told the people Yi Yin had sent to inquire about Taijia's thoughts, words, and actions. Yi Yin was very happy to hear that.
Taijia reflected on his mistakes in the Tong Palace for three years, repented and blamed himself, and became good again. On the 1st day of the 12th month of the third year, Yi Yin felt that Taijia's dirty thoughts had been cleaned up and that he had a noble and broad soul suitable to be an emperor. He brought the crown and royal clothes, and led the civil and military officials to the Tong Palace. He invited Taijia to bathe and change clothes, put on the crown and royal clothes, and bowed to Taijia. Yi Yin said,""The people do not have a monarch and cannot live by correcting each other. Without people, a monarch could not govern. Heaven cares about helping Shang clan, so that the heir king can achieve the virtue of a monarch, it is really the boundless beauty of Shang clan!”To welcome Taijia back to the imperial court and return the regime to him.
From then on, Taijia cultivated his morals, worked hard, loved the people, was filial to his elders, and respected his subjects. The people obeyed his teachings, and the ministers supported him. Even his allies and neighbors said the same thing: "Wait for our monarch. Once our monarch comes, there will be no more trouble.”The Shang Dynasty flourished again.
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