In 496 BC, He Lv, the king of Wu, sent troops to attack the State of Yue, and was defeated by the State of Yue. He Lv was seriously injured and died.

Two years later, He Lv's son, Fu Cha, led an army to defeat the state of Yue, and Gou Jian, the king of Yue, was escorted to the state of Wu as a slave. After serving the King of Yue in humiliation for three years, Fuxi cleared his guard and sent him back to Yue.

In fact, Gou Jian did not give up revenge. On the surface, he obeyed the king of Wu, but secretly trained elite soldiers, strengthened political supervision and governance, and waited for an opportunity to fight back against Wu. Hardship can exercise the will, and ease will kill it.

Gou Jian was afraid that he would covet the comfort in front of him and kill the will for revenge, so he arranged a hard living environment for himself.

He doesn't need a mattress to sleep at night, just spread some firewood, and hang a gallbladder in the house. In order not to forget the shame of the past, he will taste the gallbladder from time to time.

In order to inspire the people, Gou Jian, together with the Empress and the people, and with the help of Qi Xin, the Vietnamese, made the State of Yue strong and finally found the right time to destroy the State of Wu.

Extended data:

Historical Textual Research on "Sleeping on the Salary and Taste the Courage"

1, "Zuo Zhuan" Two generations of Wang Shi "Mourning for the Duke" recorded a lot of state affairs of Gou Jian, the king of Yue, but did not mention that he had a hard time. Wu Yu and Yu Yue in Guoyu recorded wuyue's struggle, but there was no account of Gou Jian's hard struggle.

In Historical Records of Goujian's Family, only Goujian is recorded: the gallbladder hangs in front of the bed, which can be seen when sitting or lying down, and can be tasted when eating. Sima Qian believed that Gou Jian had the taste of courage and resourcefulness, but he didn't mention the matter of sleeping on his laurels. When did the idiom "salary and courage" appear?

2. Su Shi, a writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote an article "Quasi-Sun Quan answers Cao Cao's book". In the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Shi wrote a false letter to Cao Cao for Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms. In the letter, Su Shi used his imagination and joked that Sun Quan was "having a hard time".

This imaginary thing has nothing to do with Gou Jian. In the Southern Song Dynasty, in the Legend of Zuo's Family, it was said that Fu Cha, the prince of Wu, "lived on his salary and tasted bravery". Zhang Pu of Ming Dynasty said in Chunqiu that Fu Cha's position was to avenge his father and encourage himself.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Depend on salary, taste courage