"Wang Jiben is still tasteful, and Shi Chongfang is extravagant." The carving plate is not recognized, and the qi xi is an augmentation. From this poem, it can be seen that in that era, Shi Chongdoufu was not alone. In the traditional Chinese culture of advocating moderation and low-key, the literati and official Shi Chong dared to show off his wealth unscrupulously, and it is not difficult to understand why the Western Jin Dynasty was short-lived.
In 280 AD, the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, officially ending the eighty-year division that had lasted since the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty; it was also in this year that Sima Yan changed his era name to "Taikang" and put up a posture of Yanwu Xiuwen and the revival of the prosperous world.
It is true that, on the one hand, after more than ten years of hard work, the Western Jin Dynasty did appear a prosperous scene of singing and dancing, and the history said that "there is nothing under the world, taxes are even, and people want their work and enjoy their work", which is in stark contrast to the tragic situation of "white bones exposed in the wild, no chickens in thousands of miles" at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty;
But on the other hand, the great success of reunifying China diluted the ruling class's sense of distress and enterprising spirit; moreover, Sima Yan also implemented a series of systems and regulations to protect the interests of the clan, and the privileges of the clan in political and economic interests were officially escorted by the regime.
As a result, the so-called full of warmth and lust, the ruling class of the Western Jin Dynasty began to collectively corrupt in life and politics. Sima Yan, the Emperor of Jinwu, who had been frugal and severely punished extravagant, led the fall, and his most breathtaking move was to collect tens of thousands of (real) concubines, and then ride in a sheep cart every day and randomly visit one of them.
The emperor is so good at playing, the magnates below are naturally unscrupulous. At that time, in addition to the "Three Yangs" (Sima Yan's elder brother-in-law Yang Jun, and his younger brothers Yang Jue and Yang Ji), there were also the following three:
One is Sima Shi's brother-in-law, Yang Xuan, who was born from the famous "Taishan Yang Clan", which is the family of the famous general Yang Hu;
The second was Wang Kai, the uncle of Sima Yan, the Emperor of Jinwu, who was also from the Famous Gate, and it was said that his ancestor was wang Qi, a famous general of the Qin Dynasty;
The third is Shi Chong, although he is not a foreign relative, his wealth is far greater than that of others.
Shi Chong, the sixth son of The Founding Father of the Western Jin Dynasty and Sima Shi Bao, was brilliant and famous from an early age. Therefore, in 273 AD, when Shi Bao's inheritance was divided before his death, Du Du excluded Shi Chong, and his reason was: "This child will certainly be able to take advantage of his own wealth in the future." ”
Knowing that the son is like his father, Shi Chong's later generation did have the "ability to pay money", but the specific way did not see the light very much.
Because of his famous birth and learning talent, Shi Chong's weak crown (20 years old) was appointed as the commander of Xiuwu County, and because of his outstanding political achievements, he was promoted to Chengyang Taishou; in the first year of Taikang (280 AD), Shi Chong's participation in Wu Yougong was awarded the title of Marquis of Anyang Township, and then he was appointed as the Assassin of Jingzhou, the Lieutenant of southern Manchuria, and the general of Jiaying Yang.
Although Gui was the highest official of the party, Shi Chong, on the surface, was upright and awe-inspiring, protecting the territory and the people, but privately arranged for his concubines to dress up as robbers and rob passing merchants in a dignified manner. In the land of affluence, Shi Chong, through this astonishing way, accumulated a huge fortune, as his father wished, "taking his own wealth".
Later, Shi Chong, who had plundered a pot full of pots, was able to return to the capital and serve as a guard lieutenant, squandering and displaying his wealth in the world of flowers and flowers in Luoyang. He purchased property in various places, and then built a large number of buildings and was extremely magnificent, and there were as many as 800 servants in the family; although he was not an emperor, his wives and concubines exceeded a hundred, each of whom was silk and satin, wearing gold and silver, and accompanied himself to sing and sing night and enjoy the blessings of the people. History says that Shi Chongjia "has endless bamboo in the twilight, and the food service is extremely precious".
Not long after, Shi Chong made a name for himself in Luoyang City, successfully attracting the attention of his colleagues in the circle of showing off his wealth, and Wang Kai, who was gaining momentum, was particularly unconvinced, and a shocking battle for the rich was officially launched:
Wang Kai's family sugar water shabu-shabu, Shi Chong used candles as firewood; Wang Kai made a 40-mile-long step barrier with purple silk cloth, and Shi Chong made 50 miles with Jinbu; Wang Kai painted the walls with peppercorns, and Shi Chong replaced it with more expensive red stone grease.
In view of repeated defeats, Wang Kai, who was angry, entered the palace to complain to his nephew; in order to help his uncle overpower Shi Chong, Sima Yan, the emperor of Jinwu, gave Wang Kai a coral tree that was two feet tall and rare in the world.
After obtaining this treasure, Wang Kai's spirit was invigorated, and he could not wait to invite Shi Chong to his home and move out of this coral tree to demonstrate. Without thinking, Shi Chong, looking at it, smiled contemptuously, and casually grabbed a handful of iron ruyi and smashed the coral tree to pieces.
Wang Kai was furious: You dare to destroy the treasures given by the emperor? Turn the other cheek immediately. But Shi Chong's wind was light: "Thin things, which is worth angering?" This will be paid to you", and then gave his subordinates a command.
Not long after, Shi Chong's servants brought a large number of coral trees, the largest of which was three or four feet high, and the kind of goods that Sima Yan gave to Wang Kai were everywhere.
Even the emperor was defeated by the help of the horse, and the battle for wealth ended with a great victory for Shi Chong.
But as the saying goes, wealth is not exposed, wealth is not revealed, Shi Chong, in the end, still paid a heavy price for his arrogance.
After Sima Yan's death and the Jin Hui Emperor Sima Zheng ascended the throne, a fierce power struggle soon broke out in the Western Jin dynasty, and the yang jun clan, a foreign relative in power, was wiped out, and Empress Jia Nanfeng gained power. And Shi Chong, on the other hand, saw the wind and made the rudder, took the initiative to paste, he relied on his own talent and learning, successfully won the favor of Jia Nanfeng's nephew Jia Mi, and was jointly known as the "Twenty-Four Friends" with a number of celebrities at that time, and became Jia Mi's guest. In order to appease this nobleman, every time Shi Chong encountered Jia Mi's maternal grandmother Guo Huai going out, he must stand on the left side of the road and look at the dust and worship, and the basic discipline of the literati was shattered.
But in that era of political turmoil, taking such a naked side would benefit greatly and take risks. In 299, Sima Lun, the King of Zhao, staged a coup d'état and murdered the Jia clan, and his henchmen were eliminated.
At first, Shi Chong, who was only dismissed from office, sang and danced every day, drunkenly dreamed of death, but also lived a dashing life. However, sitting on huge wealth, once there is not enough political strength to protect it, the end can be imagined.
Soon, Sima Lun's number one confidant, Sun Xiu, set his sights on Shi Chong. First, he sent someone to Shi Chong's house to ask for a beautiful woman. Shi Chongdu was also generous, he picked out dozens of beautiful concubines for the visitors to choose, but the other party named the green beads that were charming and good at singing and dancing.
Shi Chong was furious: "The green pearl is my concubine, how can I give it to you!" The visitor advised: "Your Excellency, who has learned from the past and the present, and who has seen far and near, hopes to think twice so as not to regret it!" However, Shi Chong still categorically refused; even though the comers came and went and returned and persuaded again, he still refused. After Sun Xiu heard about it, he was determined to kill the killer.
Since rejecting Sun Xiu, Shi Chong, also uneasy, together with his nephew Ouyang Jian and his friend Pan Yue (潘安), secretly instigated Sima Yun, the king of Huainan, to kill Sima Lun.
The plan was soon revealed, and armed clashes broke out between the two sides in the imperial palace, sima Yunbing was defeated and killed; then Sun Xiu sent people to arrest Shi Chong, Pan Yue, Ouyang Jian, and others in the name of secretly infiltrating the rebel party.
When the heavily armed soldiers arrived, Shi Chong was upstairs feasting and drinking with a group of concubines. Seeing the movement downstairs, Shi Chong turned back to The Green Pearl and lamented, "I have offended people for you today, how can I be good?" Lu Zhu burst into tears: "Only by repaying with death, do not let you suffer alone." "Say it and jump off the building and die."
However, Shi Chong's love and righteousness were not as heavy as Lu Zhu's, and at this time, he still had illusions and shook his head at the corpse of Lu Zhu downstairs: "I am just exiled to Jiaotong and Guangzhou, why do you have to do this?" ”
However, he had not yet been caught in Yamen, and the holy decree of the palace had been delivered: to pull him to the East Market and beheaded. It was only then that Shi Chong suddenly woke up: "Slaves benefit my family's wealth!" His detainees answered: "If you know that you have enough money to cause trouble, why don't you scatter it to the townships!" ”
Shi Chong was speechless, fifteen members of the family were killed, and all the family's property was seized by Sima Lun and Sun Xiu, and countless gold and silver, slaves, and land property were obtained.
As a celebrity, a writer, a talented man, and a government official, Shi Chong," unabashedly flaunted his illegally acquired wealth and gained the acquiescence of the emperor of the dynasty, which was unique in the entire history of China. The reason for this is only because the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty is only the product of the collective conspiracy of the Sima clan and a number of family door valves; after seizing the Cao Wei regime, the Sima family, which lacks the legal foundation of Guangming zhengda, can only bind its own "collaborators" with political and economic interests.
The collective degeneration of the ruling class, which lacked institutional constraints, fell apart just 51 years after the great unified dynasty that had ended more than 80 years of division, followed by nearly 300 years of further divisions. It is not difficult to understand why there are so many usurpers in history, and why people alone hate the Sima family.