Why did Shen Wansan lose in the end? It was not Zhu Yuanzhang who hated the rich, Empress Ma said the real reason
Speaking of the rich people in Chinese history, from Zigong and Tao Zhugong in the pre-Qin period to Shi Chong in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, all the way to Shen Wansan in the Ming Dynasty, Hu Xueyan in the Qing Dynasty, there are many rich and invincible people, the most legendary of which is Shen Wansan of the Ming Dynasty. His ups and downs and dramatic life are still touching to this day.
Shen Wansan's family lineage can be known to his father Shen You, Shen Yousheng has four sons, and Shen Wansan ranks third. Shen Wansan's eldest brother is not found in the historical records, the second brother is named Shen Zhenyi, who lives in Jiading Anding (present-day Anting), and the fourth brother Shen Gui, known as Shen Wansi, lives in Huangdun, north of the Bai clam river. All three of them have a good fortune, and the rich side is the one. Shen Wansan had thirteen wives and concubines, who lived in various places. The children are recorded as Shen Mao and Shen Wang's second son; the daughter should have three, whose name is unknown; and the sons-in-law are Yu Shishe, Gu Xuewen, and Song Tong. The Shen family married the Gu clan of kunshan, the Mo clan of Wujiang, and the Ge clan for generations, and had a close relationship. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang beat Shen Wansan into a blue party, and most of the descendants of the Shen family were exiled and charged with the army, and these powerful surnames in the Suzhou area were also planted one after another. Since then, the Hao clan in Suzhou has almost been destroyed by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Shen Wansan is famous because he is rich enough to rival the country, and why he changed from a peasant boy to a businessman with a wealth of hundreds of millions has always been the most curious thing, so his experience of getting rich is also full of legends. There are many theories about his origins, the most commonly heard is the story of the "cornucopia". It is said that his family had a wonderful "cornucopia" that could call for gold and silver, so the gold and silver in the house were piled up. Later, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang sent people to snatch his cornucopia and smash it and bury it in Jinling Gate, which is commonly known as Jubao Gate. However, due to the lack of records, the mystery here has always been a mystery, but the folk have long made various conjectures about the reasons for this, and many folklore has been handed down for hundreds of years.
Some of these legends are bizarre in imagination and absurd in content; some of the records do not match the truth, and there are many loopholes; but after removing the cloak of imagination, some of them also give some enlightenment to future generations who are interested in the source of Shen Wansan's huge wealth.
Leaving aside the above legends, there is a record in Kong Xuan's "Chronicle of the Yunjiaoguan" that gives a very reasonable explanation. Among them, Shen Wansan "once worked as a haija, traveling all over Hui, Chi, Ning, Tai, Chang, and Zhenhao and rich, going around and trading, causing millions of gold, because he was rich." In general, he is flexible in mind and good at business, and has accumulated a lot of funds from "starting from the crops" to "opening up the fields and houses and enriching the gold and jade". On this basis, he took advantage of the convenience of the Baibei River (Dongjiang) connecting the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the west and entering the Liuhe River in the east, transported silk, ceramics, grain, and handicraft products from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to overseas, and began the foreign trade activity of "competing for wealth as a service" that most people at that time did not dare to do, making him quickly become the richest man in Jiangnan who "has tens of millions of dollars and has a lot of land in the world."
But wealth can also cause trouble. According to legend, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, fixed the capital in Nanjing, and he met in half to build the city of Nanjing. As a result, Shen Wansan's half was completed three days earlier. In this regard, the book "Yunjiaoguan Chronicle" has a clear record: "My grandfather, since he was ke Jinling, wanted to establish a land for the construction of the capital and expand its outer cities, and when the army was withering and destroying, the treasury of the government was scarce and it was difficult to achieve things." Wan San, who was rich, wanted to build in half with Taizu, and at the same time build a work, first completed for three days. "It can be seen that its financial resources are strong. Anyone who has seen the Zhonghua Gate in Nanjing, which is now the largest city gate in China, the South Gate at that time, and the wall from the Zhonghua Gate to the Shuixi Gate (built with the help of Shen Wansan) will lament the vastness of its project, and the cost alone is not something that private financial resources can afford. Shen Wansan's huge investment, coupled with three years of long labor supervision, must have been a last resort.
However, wealth made him and ultimately destroyed him.
Ming Shi records that after Shen Wansan built Jinling City, he also asked for funds to reward the army, and Ming Taizu was furious and scolded: "Pifu Treats the Heavenly Son's Army, and the chaotic people are also good!" In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, this was Shen Wansan deliberately showing off his wealth in front of him, and when he was ashamed and angry, he wanted to kill his head, and Empress Ma advised: "Concubines can only kill people who break the law according to the law, not kill ominous people." A civilian who is rich enough to be an enemy of the country is ominous at best. Ominous people, God will bring him disasters, why should His Majesty kill him! Ming Taizu heeded Empress Ma's advice, so Shen Wansan was spared the death penalty and sent to Yunnan.
Why did Shen Wansan have nothing to do? Is it really like the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang understood that "bullying wealth"? In fact, this is not the case. According to Mr. Wu Han's research, Shen Wansan's move was not a "bully", but a helpless move. At that time, the construction of the city was divided by the Ministry of Works, Ying Tianfu and Shen Wansan, and the building materials such as bricks and stones were supplied by more than 100 prefectures and counties, and were supervised by the Governor's Office of the Chinese Army. Each section of the project has a time limit, and the missed time should be held accountable. Shen Wansan, one of the three parties, is difficult to handle, because of the lack of authority, in bad weather and difficult areas, it is easy to delay. Although there were sergeants sent by the Governor's Office to supervise the work, he did not move, if he sent a "hard fee", the emperor would have to peel the skin alive for the extra money, who dared to accept it? In this dilemma, Shen Wansancai put forward the request of "treating the army", the purpose is very clear, is to strive for the legalization of the bonus.
In addition, there are inspectors who come to look for right and wrong for three days. The inspector is a royal agent, and instead of being beaten up by them, it is better to take the initiative to pay for Taiping. Unexpectedly, it annoyed the suspicious emperor and eventually caused disaster. In fact, rewarding the army to anger Zhu Yuanzhang was only a fuse, and what really led to his tragic end was his wealth that was too rich to rival the country, which made the rulers blush.
According to Kong Xuan's "Chronicle of the Yunjiaoguan", "The mountain is rich, and the clothes and utensils are intended to be the king." ...... With the mink rat as the mattress, the Shu brocade as the mattress, and the silk as the account, it is a very luxurious time. Lang Ying's "Seven Revision Drafts" also records: "At the beginning of the country, shen wansan xiu in the southern capital was very rich, and the present huitongguan was his former residence, and the middle of the lake was his garden." Shen Wansan took several islands in Xuanwu Lake as his own garden, which was no less than the scene of Penglai, and only these few words revealed the arrogance and luxury after his wealth.
In China's feudal era, the idea of hierarchy was deeply rooted, how could he be allowed to be so arrogant? Not long after being sent to the border of Yunnan, this Jiangnan man, who was accustomed to apricot blossoms, smoke, rain, spring breeze and willows, became a stranger with sorrow and depression. Although he was still unwilling, he still closed his eyes sadly and helplessly. Before he died, he made a shocking decision and decided to bury himself under the water of Yinyinbang, east of Zhouzhuang. Building a haunted mansion after death under the cold water is a taboo in the Tradition of Chinese Dynasties, but he resolutely and resolutely made this choice that has never been made before and has never come after.
Shen Wansan's tragedy is intriguing. In China's feudal society, in the absence of a normal business environment, the dismal businessmen always wanted to establish some kind of goodwill relationship with the officialdom in order to get more room for development. But one thing Shen Wansan didn't understand was that the establishment of this kind of relationship depended on money, but it couldn't all rely on money, and things were far more complicated and sinister than his businessman's mind imagined. Therefore, he was successful in the town of Jiangnan, but in the capital city of Nanjing, he planted a big heel.
After all, his shrewd thinking ability belongs only to economic personality, and it is difficult to adapt to the rules of the feudal officialdom, and a commercial mentality that is really a bit ahead of China at that time was difficult to see at both ends of the government and the opposition. Even Empress Ma, who was trying to save his life, believed that "the people are rich and the enemy country, the people are ominous, the ominous people, the heavens will be disaster", and in the end, Shen Wansan's end can only be a head broken and bleeding, and he has been defeated.
Source :大明贤後 – Empress Ma