Ruling a Great Country Is Like Cooking a Small Fish
Su Hu, Jiang Hengchu, and the others all looked at Li Yuan. They wanted to see if Li Yuan dared to take the attack and if he was really as talented as Shang Rong and Bi Gan had boasted.
Li Yuan calmly ate a thousand-year-old seed and asked Ji Chang calmly," What's the problem with Old Ji?"
Ji Chang automatically filtered out Li Yuan's strange address and asked,"
"In my opinion, how can we govern a country well?”
Li Yuan smiled faintly." Old Ji, your question is big and general enough.”
Ji Chang also smiled and said,
"It's mainly Old Shang."
Oh, slip of the tongue.
"Prime Minister Shang and Prime Minister Bi Gan have often mentioned little friend in my ears these past few days. The two prime ministers are full of praise for little friend's talent. Therefore, this old man will use the most difficult question to ask little friend. I wonder if little friend can answer my doubts?”
Li Yuan picked up a piece of fried yellow croaker with his chopsticks and said in a relaxed tone,"
"This question is easy.”
"Puff!"
Chonghou Hu couldn't help but laugh when he heard Li Yuan's reply.
He mocked Li Yuan,"
"I thought you would say something shocking about governing. I didn't expect you to compare governing the country to cooking fish. It was really better to meet someone than to hear about them.”
E Chongyu and Jiang Hengchu were also disappointed. They felt that Li Yuan was just trying to please the crowd.
Su Hu's face turned black from anger. He felt embarrassed.
When Daji heard Chonghou Hu mocking her brother, her face turned red with anger. She really wanted to stand up and help her brother, but unfortunately, she did not know how to govern the country, so she could only be anxious.
Only Shang Rong, Bi Gan, Huang Feihu, and Deng Jiugong knew that Li Yuan wouldn't shoot without thinking, so they remained calm.
However, they actually did not understand what this saying of governing the country meant.
Ji Chang was stunned for a moment.
He also felt that Li Yuan did not live up to his name.
However, when he thought about the phrase 'governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh', he suddenly felt that this phrase was full of charm, as if it contained some kind of philosophy.
Therefore, he did not laugh at Li Yuan. Instead, he humbly asked Li Yuan,"
"Young friend, you are speaking too abstruse. I wonder if you can explain to us what it means to rule a big country like cooking a small fish?”
Chonghou Hu saw that Ji Chang was still politely asking Li Yuan for advice. The smile on his face could not help but fade. He asked Ji Chang in confusion,
"Could Marquis of the West not see that this person has no real talent? Why are you still asking him for advice?"
Ji Chang said with a pleasant expression,"
"I feel that there is some truth in your words, but I still can't fully understand the profound meaning contained in it, so I specially asked you for guidance.”
"Makes sense?" Chonghou Hu was shocked.
Jiang Hengchu and Suhu were also surprised. They couldn't help but ponder the phrase 'governing a country is like cooking a small fresh'.
Li Yuan had a calm expression from the beginning to the end. He did not show any embarrassment because of Chonghou Hu's ignorant mockery.
He saw Ji Chang's gentle and humble attitude, and he could not help but nod his head in approval.
No wonder Ji Chang was able to replace King Zhou and dominate the country. He was indeed extraordinary.
He was much stronger than Chonghou Hu, Jiang Hengchu, and E Chongyu.
Li Yuan praised Ji Chang,
"Old Ji is not bad. You don't know but you know how to ask. Unlike Old Chong, who didn't understand the philosophy in my words. Not only did he not know to ask, but he even mocked me.”
"You…"
Chonghou Hu saw Li Yuanzhong insult him for being brainless and his face instantly turned black with anger.
If it wasn't for Wen Zhong's respect for Li Yuan, even Chonghou Hu would have turned hostile in front of everyone.
"Humph, I want to hear what kind of reasoning you have.”Chonghou Hu said angrily.
Hearing Li Yuan's praise, Ji Chang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He said it was praise, but he felt that it was more like sarcasm.
However, Ji Chang was not angry. Instead, he looked at Li Yuan expectantly, waiting for Li Yuan's explanation.
Li Yuan didn't keep everyone in suspense and explained,"
"Those who cook small fish cannot be scratched. Those who govern a big country cannot be bothered. If they are bothered, they will hurt people.”
The meaning of this sentence was that fried small fish could not be turned over and over again. If it was turned over and over again, the fish would easily rot. However, in governing a big country, those in power could not be irritable, and the government orders could not be repeated. Irritation and repeated government orders could easily lead to the hearts of the people being lax and the government orders being blocked.
The saying that governing a big country was like cooking a small fish came from Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.
" Those who cook small fresh food cannot be swayed, and those who govern a big country cannot be annoyed..." This sentence was the annotation of Tang Xuanzong on " governing a big country is like cooking small fresh food."
In the future, almost every person in power would drink this sentence to encourage themselves or warn others.
After hearing Li Yuan's words, Shang Rong, Bi Gan and the others were enlightened.
"So that's what it means. This metaphor is indeed appropriate.”
"Ruling a big country is like cooking a small fish. The more you taste it, the more wonderful it feels.”
Ji Chang was so excited that he slapped the table and exclaimed,"
"Seconds, seconds, governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. It indeed contains the principles of governing a country.”
He looked at Li Yuan with a fervent expression. He was so excited that his long beard could not stop trembling. This person was simply the good face that he had been searching for.
"Mister is indeed a great talent, Ji Chang admires him.”Excited, Ji Chang stood up and bowed to Li Yuan.
He also addressed Li Yuan as "Mister".
The word 'mister' was equivalent to a teacher. Only those with outstanding knowledge and talent were worthy of the title 'mister.'
From this, one could see how excited Ji Chang was.
Chonghou Hu, Jiang Hengchu, Suhu, and the others couldn't help but change their opinion of Li Yuan.
They weren't idiots, so they naturally understood Li Yuan's explanation.
He suddenly felt that Li Yuan was indeed talented and had the ability to govern the country.
When Daji saw that her brother had made all the dukes in the room prostrate in admiration with just one sentence, her small face instantly beamed brighter than a flower.
She was even happier than when she was praised.
Li Yuan didn't appear complacent because of everyone's praise. He continued to eat and drink calmly.
After Ji Chang bowed, he asked Li Yuan,
"Sir's words of 'governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh', are indeed wonderful and enlightening. Ji Chang still has a question he would like to ask little friend.”
"Speak."
"I wonder what I should do to make the country stronger?"”
This question was much more difficult than the previous one.
Just now, Ji Chang asked how to govern a country well. This could be answered in a very general way. As long as it could be said with a convincing reason, it would be fine.
However, the problem of making the country strong and powerful required a feasible and concrete method. This could not be solved with just a few words of reasoning.
Almost all those in power would face this problem-to make the country strong. However, since ancient times, there were very few people who could produce satisfactory answers.
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