In the Spring & Autumn Period， Zi Si once controlled the governorship of the State of Zheng. Wei Zhi， a senior minister of the government， had a long-term conflict with Zi Si and mustered the members of his clan to stage a revolt. They charged into the palace and killed Zi Si along with others. They even abducted Lord Jian of Zheng to the Northern Palace. The Minister over the Masses Zi Kong， who heard of the rebellion， immediately gathered his men and quenched the rebellion with Zi Chan. Together they killed Wei Zhi and other traitors.
　　After that， Zi Kong took control of the government of the State of Zheng. He made a letter of alliance， asking the governmental officials at different levels to stay true to their positions and follow his orders. Some ministers and generals objected his leadership and he wanted to kill them. Zi Chan told him to stop this and burn the letter out， which he re-jected.
　　“Making the letter of alliance was for the stability of the country. If I burn it because the masses are angry， isn’t that the masses that controlled the court？ Is that a predicament for the country？” Zi Kong said.
　　Zi Chan refuted： “It is not wise to raise the anger of the masses and it is hard to make one person’s wish come true if that is against the wishes of the masses. It you try to do such two things together， it could be dangerous for the country. Why not burn the letter of alliance to appease the masses. In that way you can get what you want without influencing the others’ life. You must consider other governmental officials’feelings and listen to their advices.”
　　Zi Kong took Zi Chan’s advices and burned the letter of alliance in front of others. From then on， the stability was bestowed upon the State of Zheng.