Dongfang Shuo smartly blames himself

In the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dongfang Shuo was called to the palace and served as a permanent waiter to accompany Emperor Wu. Because of his alertness in situations and humorous speech, he gradually gained the favor of Emperor Wu.

One of the dog days of summer, Emperor Wu wanted to give meat to all the officials. According to custom, the high officials should divide the meat. Dongfang Shuo heard the news and came to the hall to wait for the meat. Starting from noon, I waited until the sun was about to set, but the official Cheng did not come. The weather was very hot at that time, and the civil and military officials were all soaked with waiting, but they did not dare to leave without permission. Dongfang Shuo was also very agitated by the waiting. He looked at the sun for a while, then looked at the meat, and finally picked up the sword and walked to the meat case to cut it. He picked up a piece of fat meat, held it up and said to everyone: "The weather is too hot, it's better to go back and rest early. I'll use it myself first. Thank you for the reward." After that, he walked out of the hall carrying the meat and went home alone. The other ministers saw this and wanted to do the same, but no one dared to step forward to cut the meat. They waited until the official came and read out the emperor's order before giving the meat. Daguancheng didn't see Dongfang Shuo, so he asked other people, and then he found out that Dongfang Shuo had cut the meat and went home. He blamed him for violating his order, so he immediately told Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty about it.

When he went to court the next morning, Emperor Wu saw Dongfang Shuo and asked him directly: "Yesterday, I gave you meat. Sir, you cut the meat and left without waiting for the edict. Why?" Dongfang Shuo was already prepared. He quickly knelt down to plead guilty. Seeing that Dongfang Shuo had confessed, Emperor Wu asked him to talk about his fault in front of the ministers. Dongfang Shuo looked around and said: "Dongfang Shuo came to the palace to accept the reward but did not wait for the edict. It is so rude. He pulled out his sword and cut the meat. How heroic! He just cut a small piece of meat. How honest! How kind and righteous it is to give it to your wife after you return! Isn't this sinful?" The ministers laughed secretly after hearing this. This is not self-blame, it is clearly self-praising! After hearing this, Emperor Wu laughed and said: "I want you to blame yourself. , but you praise yourself, how ridiculous!" As soon as Emperor Wu said this, everyone in the court laughed. Emperor Wu said again: "Because you are heroic, honest, and benevolent, I will give you one stone of wine and 100 catties of meat. Go home and give it to your wife!" Dongfang Shuo danced with joy and received the gift. The reward rushed home happily. After Dongfang Shuo left, the ministers whispered to each other, discussed one after another, and marveled at his wit.