| | Liang Daifu Song Jiu was a county magistrate in the border region, neighboring Chu. The frontier watchtowers of Liang and those of Chu each planted melons, with their own respective quantities. The frontier watchtower of Liang worked diligently and watered the melons frequently; as a result, its melons were fine. Chu was negligent and rarely watered their melons, so its melons were poor in quality. The county magistrate of Chu was angry because the melons from Liang were excellent while those from his own watchtower were poor. The Chu watchtower resented that their melons were inferior to those of Liang, so at night they secretly went and damaged the melons in the Liang watchtower, causing many of them to wither and die. The Liang watchtower discovered this, so they requested permission from their local official, also wishing to secretly go and damage the melons at the Chu watchtower. The official reported this matter, and Song Jiu said, "How detestable! What kind of words are these!" This is the way of spreading resentment and inviting disaster. How terrible! Why use such strong words! I will teach you: do not send anyone to go, but secretly water the melons at Chu's watchtower at night, and let them remain unaware of it." Thus, the Liang watchtowers secretly went every night to water the melons of Chu's watchtower. When the Chu watchtowers inspected their melons in the morning, they found that they had already been well-watered. The melons gradually improved in quality; the Chu watchtowers were puzzled and investigated, only to discover that it was the Liang watchtower who had done this. The county magistrate of Chu heard about this and was greatly pleased; he reported the matter in full. King Chu heard of it, and with a look of shame, he reflected on his own confusion and moral failure. He told the officials, "Because of damaging melons, could there be any other crime?" Admiring the discreet generosity of Liang, he sent rich gifts as an apology and requested a diplomatic alliance with King Liang. King Chu often praised King Liang, regarding him as trustworthy; thus, the friendly relations between Liang and Chu began with Song Jiu. The saying goes: "Turn failure into success, and transform disaster into fortune." Laozi said: "Repay resentment with virtue." This is precisely what that means! A person who has already acted wrongly, how could they be worth emulating?
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| | The King of Zhai sent an envoy to Chu. The King of Chu wished to impress him, so he entertained the guest on the terrace of Zhanghua. To reach the top required three stops for rest along the way. The King of Chu asked, "Does the state of Zhai also have such a terrace?" The envoy replied, "No." Zhai is a poor state; we would not wish to see such a terrace. The King of Zhai, when building his own residence, raised the hall only three chi high, built a simple earthen staircase just three layers high, left the thatched roof untrimmed, and used rough-hewn wooden beams without smoothing them. Moreover, the King of Zhai still considered those who built it to have suffered greatly, and those who lived in it to enjoy excessive ease. The state of Zhai would not wish to see this terrace!" The King of Chu felt ashamed.
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