明憲宗昏庸無道，太監汪直最受寵，汪直和他的兩名手下王越及陳鉞，無惡不作到處欺侮官員和百姓，官員怕得罪汪公公，也不敢對憲宗說出真相。當時，有一位擅長演戲的太監，叫做阿丑，因為多才多藝又幽默，很得憲宗喜愛。有一次，憲宗叫阿丑一班人演戲，阿丑演了一齣「醉酒」的戲碼。阿丑一出場便東倒西歪，演一位喝醉酒的人，胡言亂語，四處罵人，用詞詼諧，看戲的人都笑個不停。接著，路人上場，大叫：「大官出巡，閒雜人肅靜迴避！」沒想到，醉漢阿丑東比西指說：「什麼大官小官，黑狗白狗，你走你的陽關道，我走我的獨木橋，大爺我先在這裡喝酒，你才應該繞道走才是！」路人急了，改口說：「皇上駕到…」阿丑笑：「皇上還在睡夢中，迷迷糊糊，比我還醉呢？」路人心想：「連皇上都不怕，我還有一樣法寶，不信你不怕！」接著大叫：「汪公公駕到。」就看到阿丑一副被嚇得屁滾尿流般，馬上趴在地上直發抖說：「小的該死！小的該死！」憲宗看到這裡，雖然很不高興，可是心裡完全明白了。
三十六計之第二十六計：指桑罵槐
不從正面直接施加壓力或警告、責罵對方，而是用拐彎抹角的影射方式，產生嚇阻、威脅作用，來達到目的。
Ming Sian Zong was an incompetent emperor. The eunuch Wang Jhih was his favorite. Together with two of his men, Wang Yue and Chen Rong, they were a gang that did nothing but evil all over the country. The officials were too afraid to offend Wang Jhih, so no one dared reveal the truth to the emperor.
At that time, there was an eunuch by the name of A-Chou who was multi-talented and witty. The emperor liked him very much. Once Ming Sian Zong ordered A-Chou and his troupe to perform for him. A-Chou staged a show called "Drunk". When the show began, A-Chou appeared on the stage staggering as a drunkard. He was talking nonsense and the lines were so witty that the audience could not stop laughing. Then the role of the passers-by came onto the stage. The passers-by announced, "The minister is coming on official business. Clear the way and be quiet!" To his surprise, the drunken A-Chou pointed at the passers-by and scolded, "Who cares if you are a minister or a small official? Who cares if you are a black dog or a white dog? You go your way, and I go my way. In fact, I was here first! So it is you who should walk around me." The passers-by then announced, "The emperor is here!" But A-Chou burst out laughing, "The emperor is still dreaming! His mind is so clouded that he is even more drunk than I am…" The passers-by thought, "Hmm… Not even the emperor could scare him. Well, I have one last way to scare some senses into him." So he made one last announcement, "Wang Jhih is arriving!" A-Chou immediately knelt on all fours, trembling and pleading, "Pardon me! Pardon me!"
Watching this, Ming Sian Zong got the message even though he was quite displeased by the performance.
Strategy 26 : Point at the Mulberry Tree to Curse the Locust Tree
Avoid directly confront, warn or discipline another. Instead use analogies and innuendos without naming names, thereby achieving the goal of dissuading or threatening another.
