You can't focus on killing gadflies that
are clearly visible.(搏牛之虻)
Song Yi was born in Chu and was a military
general in the rebel army at the end of the Qin Dynasty.
History books tell a story about him.
The name of the leader of the most
important revolutionary army in the Chu Kingdom at that time was (Xiang Liang).
(Xiang Liang) Find the heir to the royal
family of the destroyed Chu Kingdom and help the heir to the royal family
establish a new Chu Kingdom.
With the call of the new king of the Chu
Kingdom, Xiang Liang united all the revolutionary forces in the Chu Kingdom.
In 208 BC, Xiang Liang was killed by the
Qin dynasty army because of his pride and underestimation of the enemy.
Having successfully predicted this outcome,
Song Yi gained the trust of the king of the Chu Kingdom.
The king of Chu Kingdom made him the
supreme military commander of Chu Kingdom.
At the end of 208 BC, the army of the Qin
dynasty attacked the revolutionary army in the original kingdom of Zhao. The
king of the Chu Kingdom ordered Song Yi to lead the army of the Chu Kingdom
into the territory of the Zhao Kingdom to rescue the revolutionary army of the
Zhao Kingdom.
After Song Yi led the army into the
territory of the Zhao Kingdom, he did not immediately attack the Qin Dynasty
army. He ordered all the soldiers to build barracks and garrison them.
Song Yi and his troops stayed in the Zhao
Kingdom for 46 days, and all the generals under his banner thought it was very
strange.
One general told him at a military meeting.
The army of the Qin Dynasty has surrounded
the revolutionary army of the Zhao Kingdom.
We should go to the rescue immediately,
otherwise the Zhao Kingdom army will soon be wiped out.
If we send troops to attack the Qin army
immediately, the Qin army will be flanked by us. I believe we can easily defeat
the Qin Dynasty army.
Song Yi replied.
I disagree with you.
There is a saying. We can get rid of the
mosquitoes on the cattle by beating them hard, but we cannot get rid of the
lice on the cattle by beating them hard.
Our ultimate goal is to overthrow the Qin
Dynasty, which is as difficult as removing all the lice from a whole cow. So we
should maintain our fighting strength.
What we should do now is not to attack, but
to wait. We should wait for the Qin Dynasty army to defeat the revolutionary
army of the Zhao Kingdom, then we can easily defeat them while the Qin Dynasty
army is exhausted.
After Song Yi said these words, he looked
at the young officer calmly and said to the young officer
If we were to face the enemy with both of
us wearing heavy armour and wielding sharp swords, I would lose to you. But if
we both have to work out a strategy and tactics to defeat the enemy, then you
will lose to me.
I am the supreme commander of this army,
and I order you all to obey my orders.
You are not allowed to attack the Qin
Dynasty army without authorisation. Anyone who violates this rule will be
sentenced to death according to military law.
The literal translation of this saying is
that we should not use great force to beat the gadfly on the cow, but should
concentrate on how to get rid of the lice on the cow. Because the latter is
more harmful, the latter is our most important goal.
This idiom is used to describe how a person
should focus on the invisible but important things instead of putting all his
energy into the visible but unimportant things.
Dear friend, what kind of inspiration or
thought do you have after listening to this story?
What do you think is the most important
goal in your life? Do you think you spend most of your time trying to achieve
it?
I hope this story can give you something to
gain.
搏牛之虻(You can't focus on killing gadflies
that are clearly visible.)
宋義是楚國人，他是秦王朝末年的反抗軍中的一個軍事將領。
歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
當時楚王國最重要的革命軍的領袖的名字是(項梁)。
(項梁)找到已經被消滅的楚王國的王室繼承人，並且協助這個王室繼承人成立一個新的楚王國。
項梁藉由這個新的楚王國的國王的號召力，團結了楚王國境內的所有革命軍。
西元前208年，項梁因為他的驕傲與輕敵所以被秦王朝的軍隊所殺。
宋義因為成功的預見到這個結果，因此獲的楚王國的國王的信任。
楚王國的國王讓他擔任楚王國內的最高軍事統帥。
西元前208年年底，秦王朝的軍隊攻打位於原本趙王國境內的革命軍，楚王國的國王命令宋義帶領楚王國的軍隊前往趙王國境內援救趙王國的革命軍。
宋義帶著軍隊到達趙王國的境內後，他沒有立刻攻打秦王朝的軍隊，他命令所有的士兵建築兵營並且駐紮。
宋義與軍隊們在趙王國的境內駐紮了46天，他旗下的軍事將領們都覺得很奇怪。
在一場軍事會議中有一個將領對他說。
秦王朝的軍隊已經包圍了趙王國的革命軍。
我們應該立刻前往救援，不然趙王國的軍隊很快就會被殲滅。
我們現在如果立刻出兵攻打秦王朝的軍隊，秦王國的軍隊會被我們夾擊，我相信我們一定可以順利戰勝秦王朝的軍隊。
宋義回答。
我不認同你的看法。
有一句俗話說。我們可以藉由大力拍打消滅牛身上的牛虻，但我們無法用大力拍打的方式去除牛身上的牛虱。
我們的終極目標是要推翻秦王朝，其困難程度就如同要去除一整隻牛身上的所有牛虱一樣。所以我們應該要保留我們的戰力。
我們現在該做的事情不是進攻而是等待，我們等待秦王朝的軍隊打敗趙王國的革命軍之後，那麼我們就可以趁著秦王國的軍隊疲憊得時候輕鬆地打敗他們。
宋義說完這些話後，冷靜地看著這個年輕的軍官並且對這個年輕的軍官說。
如果要我們兩個人都穿著沉重的鎧甲然後手拿著鋭利的劍面對面與敵人對決，那我會輸給你。但是如果要我們兩個人制定一套戰略與戰術去打敗敵人，那麼你就會輸給我。
我是這支軍隊的最高統帥，我現在下令，你們所有人都要聽從我的命令。
你們不准擅自發動對秦王朝的軍隊的進攻，如果有違反規定的人，那麼我會依據軍法判處這個人死刑。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是我們不要用很大的力氣去拍打牛身上的牛虻，我們應該要把重點放在如何去除牛身上的牛虱。因為後者的危害更大，後者才是我們最重要的目標。
這句成語被用來形容一個人應該把焦點放在看不見但是重要的事情上，而不是把所有的力氣都放在那些可以清楚看見但不重要的事情上。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你認為你這一輩子最重要的目標為何呢?你認為你有把你的大部分時間都放在完成這件事情上嗎?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一點收穫。
出處為史記-項羽本紀
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7007