Yi Shi Zhu: After talking about more than a dozen court struggles in a row, let's change our tastes and talk about a hermit who is an official. The seven sages of the bamboo forest, we have talked about six before, Ji Kang, Ruan Cheng, Ruan Xian, Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling, Shan Tao, this time, we will talk about the last one - Wang Rong. Wang Rong is the youngest of the seven sages, but he is the one who is the most free in official work, and his heart is to Ji Ruan, and as the third duke, he combines Xuanxian and Shi Gong very smoothly.
Wang Rong, character 濬 Chong (濬讀如俊), was born from the famous Langxi Wang clan. Grandfather Wang Xiong, did the history of Youzhou assassination. His father, Wang Hun, became the Marquis of Liangzhou and was made Marquis of Zhenling Pavilion.
Yi Cilu said: At that time, there were two Wang Hun, Wang Hun of Langxie was Wang Rong's father, and there was also a Wang Hun of Taiyuan, as we have said many times before, he was one of the official bigwigs of the Sima Yan Dynasty, and one of the main generals of Pingding Eastern Wu, Emperor Hui Sima Zhichao, who was an official to Situ. In the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Taiyuan Wang clan was extremely prominent, and in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Lang Evil Wang Clan was an extremely powerful minister, the so-called "king and horse, sharing the world", refers to the Lang Evil Wang clan, we will talk about it later.
Wang Rong has been intelligent since he was a child, with a beautiful look, and can look directly into the sun without spending his eyes (looking at the sun without dazzling). Pei Kai saw Wang Rong, and after looking carefully, he said, Rong's eyes were bright, like electricity under a rock. It means that Wang Rong's gaze is sharp, and as far as he can see, it is like lightning.
Yi Cilu said: This record, which was probably taken from "The World Speaks New Words", gives people the feeling that Wang Rong is still a little fart child, his eyes are like electricity, in fact, Pei Kai is three years younger than Wang Rong, and when he is qualified to comment on the characters, Wang Rong must be thirty or forty years old.
Once again, I reiterate one of the basic principles of my history reading, namely, that the time point must be clear.
History books often put a bunch of events that occurred at different times in the same paragraph to narrate, which will mislead future generations. Six or seven years old eyes like electricity, and thirty or forty years old eyes like electricity, can it be a concept? Of course not. But I believe that anyone who has read the original text, the first feeling, will think that Wang Rong hit the child, the eyes are bright, bright like a searchlight, the light is ten miles away.
Emperor Cao Ying of Wei Ming once watched warriors fight tigers at Xuanwu Field (a venue north of Luoyang City), and brought the common people in to watch it together. At that time, the tiger suddenly rushed to the fence, climbed the railing, roared, and shook the heavens and the earth. How have the people seen this, in an instant, they ran clean, and only a six or seven-year-old doll was left motionless on the field, staring at the tiger with a relaxed expression. Cao Ying saw this scene in the attic and was very surprised by this doll.
This doll is Wang Rong.
Another time, Wang Rong was playing on the side of the road with a group of children, and saw plum trees full of plums, and the other children ran to pick plums to eat, only Wang Rong stood still. Someone asked him why he didn't go, and he said that the tree grew on the side of the road, but it was full of plums, and it must be bitter. The implication is that if the plums on the side of the road are delicious, they have long been picked by others. The man picked one and tasted it, and sure enough, it was bitter.
Yi Cilu said: Wang Rong's two do not move, which is very interesting. Facing the tiger in the bar, do not move; Face the plum tree full of plums, do not move. It shows that Wang Rong has two characteristics when he beats children: one is intelligence, and the other is calmness.
Ruan and Wang Hun are friends. When Wang Rong was fifteen years old, he lived with his father Wang Hun in the apartment of an organ cadre (Langshe). Wang Rong was more than twenty years younger than Ruan, but Ruan had a relationship with Wang Rong. Every time Ruan Cheng went to visit Wang Hun, he took a look at him, turned around and went to find Wang Rong, and he came out for half a day. Wang Hun said, Lao Ruan, did you come to find me, or did you come to my family Arong?
Ruan Cheng said, Lao Wang, don't be weird, it's really boring to chat with you, but it's really pleasant to talk to Ah Rong.
Wang Hun died in the position of Liangzhou Assassin, and the ceremonies presented by his cadres totaled millions, and Wang Rong did not accept them, so he became famous.
Yi Cilu said: Everyone pay attention, pay attention, pay attention, millions of money, Wang Rong does not want. Liangzhou was Wang Hun's last official position, and Wang Rong was fifteen years old when he served in the capital; If he did not have enough personal favors, he would never have received millions of ceremonies, so I judged that Wang Hun had been in Liangzhou for five or six years, that is, Wang Rong was at least in his twenties, and his outlook on life and values had already been formed.
This shows an important characteristic of Wang Rong - he does not love money - which is very important.
Wang Rong often traveled with Ruan for bamboo forest tours, and once, when Wang Rong came late, Ruan said that the common things had come again to defeat the people's interest (the common things had returned to defeat the people).
Wang Rong said with a smile, can you old people also be defeated?
Yi Cilu said: Ruan Cheng died in 263 AD, and this gathering, when Wang Rong was twenty years old. We should note that Ruan nationality called Wang Rong a "common thing", and I understand that it should refer to Wang Rong's enthusiasm for the Shitu, which is much higher than that of Ruan nationality and others, but the Ruan nationality did not draw a line with this "common thing".
Wang Rong is short in stature, spontaneous, not heavy-looking, and eloquent. One year, during the festival, celebrities went to Luoshui to play. The next day, someone asked Wang Ji (son of Wang Hun of Taiyuan) and said that he had any brilliant words during his visit yesterday?
Wang Ji said:
Zhang Hua talked about "Shiji" and "Book of Han", which was very exciting; Pei Wei (read Ruwei) is good at talking about fame and theory, and is endlessly talkative, and has elegant intentions; Wang Rong talked about Zhang Liang, Ji Za and others, which was mysterious and thorough, and detached.
Yi Cilu said: Shangxi Festival, the Han Dynasty used to use the first day of the third month of the lunar calendar as "Shangxi", and after the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was mostly changed to the third day of March. On this day, people go to the water's edge to cleanse or swim to remove the ominous.
Ji Za, also known as Gongzi Za, Yanling Jizi, etc., was a member of the Wu royal family during the Spring and Autumn Period, and was also a very prestigious minister, who, like Zhang Liang, did not seem to be very interested in power, and his personality was diluted and retreated. Wang Rong talked well about Zhang Liang and Ji Za, which probably reflects that he should follow the path of Zhang Liang and Ji Za in the officialdom, not the kind of role that roars and fights for official positions.
Pei Wei is Wang Rong's son-in-law, born in 267 AD, died in 300 AD, Pei Wei and Zhang Hua are the leaders of the imperial court during the reign of Empress Jia Nanfeng, so this trip to the summit should be after 291 AD, Wang Rong was born in 234 AD, at this time, it was nearly sixty years old, and he was no longer a hairy boy.
After the destruction of Shu (263 AD, Wei destroyed Shu), Wang Rong was conscripted to work in Xiangguo Mansion (Sima Zhao as Xiangguo), and successively served as an official Huang Menlang, Sanqi Changshi, Hedong Taishou, and Jingzhou Assassin, because he sent cadres to repair his house and yard, he was impeached, he should be removed from office, and the imperial court issued an edict that he could spend money to atone for his sins (edict to atonement). In 280 AD, he participated in the Battle of Pacifying Eastern Wu, and because of his meritorious service to the Marquis of Anfeng, he increased his household by 6,000 households and gave 6,000 horses of silk.
Yi Cilu said: Wang Rong's professional resume is quite beautiful, and the imperial court, locality, administration, and military are all remarkable.
Later, Wang Rong was summoned back to the dynasty and served as an attendant. Liu Zhao, the Taishou of Nanjun, gave Wang Rong fifty ends of fine cloth (one end is equal to six zhang). This matter was picketed and impeached by the captain of the division. Wang Rong probably knew in advance that he had been impeached, so he did not accept the cloth, but he still wrote back to Liu Zhao to thank him. The courtiers talked about this. Sima Yan, Emperor of Jinwu, said to everyone:
Okay, is Wang Rong a greedy for money? He just didn't want to act too different.
However, the honest and prudent people despised Wang Rong's character because of this, and Wang Rong's reputation fell a lot.
Yi Cilu said: Sima Yan's original words are: If you do what you do, you will not be selfish, and you will not want to be a foreign ear!
Some people translated: How can Wang Rong's behavior be regarded as selfishness, it is just that he is different from others by not being greedy.
This translation, up and down, is really wrong.
Wang Rong later served as Guangluxun and Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, but when his wife died, he resigned and went home to mourn. Wang Rong is filial to filial piety, but he does not follow the Confucian system of mourning etiquette, he should drink wine, eat meat and eat meat, and run out to watch people play chess when he is fine, but he is extremely sad, describing him as haggard, and he can't stand up without a stick.
At that time, Hejiao was mourning for his father, completely in accordance with the etiquette law, and how many meters he ate at each meal was weighed according to the regulations, but the degree of grief could not catch up with Wang Rong.
Sima Yan, the emperor of Jinwu, said to Liu Yi, a cadre of the organ, "Keeping the funeral with Jiao and surpassing the etiquette system, I am worried that there will be problems with his body."
Liu Yi said:
and the funeral, the etiquette is indeed thoughtful, sleeping on the straw mat, drinking gruel, but the mental state is good, it can only be regarded as "filial piety"; As for Wang Rong, although he made a mess in etiquette, he was really grieving, so that he was emaciated, which is the so-called "death filial piety". The minister thought that His Majesty did not need to worry about Hejiao, but should pay attention to Wang Rong.
Yi said: I only knew that Confucianism had a set of rules for mourning, but I really didn't know that even how many meters to eat at each meal was to be measured. How good it would be to put this kind of serious and real energy on hold for scientific research!
As we said earlier, with the establishment of the Jin Dynasty, a large number of "filial piety" people were promoted to high-ranking officials, and basically, the mourning stipulated by Confucianism, they all performed solidly. Wang Rong is in the officialdom, and he can actually come without Confucian etiquette, and for this alone, I think he is qualified to be ranked among the seven sages of the bamboo forest.
In 290, Sima Yan died, Sima Xin succeeded to the throne, and his father-in-law Yang Jun took the throne, appointing Wang Rong as crown prince.
In March 291, Empress Jia Nanfeng staged a coup d'état and killed Yang Jun. Ma Miu of the Dong'an Company (son of Sima Ling, king of Langxie, grandson of Sima Yi) arbitrarily sentenced the punishment and reward, and threatened the ruling and public.
Wang Rong said to Sima Xiu, "Brother, after the big matter is handled, quickly find a place to get up, read books, fish and fish, and avoid trouble."
Sima Xiu did not take Wang Rong's words seriously.
Soon after, Sima Xiu exiled Daifang (Shaliwonseong, North Korea) for "arbitrary rewards" until ten years later, when he was recalled.
Yi Cilu said: We have talked about this before, and I brought it up here to illustrate Wang Rong's attitude of survival in the officialdom.
Wang Rong later appointed Shangshu Zuo as a servant, in charge of the bureaucracy, and established the "Jia Wu System", that is, where talents are selected, the selected ones are first allowed to govern the people, and then they are formally appointed according to their ruling performance.
Fu Xian, a commander under the division, impeached Wang Rong and said:
The "Book of Shang" says that officials are evaluated once every three years, and after three evaluations, they can be promoted to the good and dismissed from the inferior. Now internal and external officials, less than a year in office, Wang Rong played and summoned them back, this is not nonsense! The local people send old officials to welcome new officials, and the cars are constantly coming, which will make cleverness rampant, hurt agricultural affairs, and harm government affairs. Wang Rong could not act according to the laws established in the Yao and Shun eras, but instead drove flashiness, corrupted the atmosphere, and caused far-reaching harm. Wang Rong should be removed from his official post and set the custom right.
Wang Rong and the foreign relatives in power, the Jia family and the Guo family, were both related to the in-laws, so they were not criminalized. Soon after, he was promoted to Situ.
Yi Cilu said: Wang Rong's jia noon system is more scientific, or Yao Shun's employment system is more effective, there are no specific examples to confirm, and it is not praised. But we will find that no matter who is in power, Wang Rong can be reused, which is his ability.
In 299, Empress Jia Nanfeng deposed Sima Sui (read Ruyu), the crown prince, and Wang Rong did not say a word.
In 300, Sima Lun, the king of Zhao, staged a coup d'état, killed Empress Jia Nanfeng, and killed Sikong Zhang Hua and his attendant Pei Wei (read Ruwei). Pei was Wang Rong's son-in-law, and Wang Rong was relieved of office. Sima Lun deposed Emperor Hui Sima Xin and became emperor himself.
In 301, Sima Feng and others rebelled and killed Sima Lun, and Sima Feng took charge.
Emperor Hui Sima Xin returned to being emperor and appointed Wang Rong as Shangshuling.
After that, Sima Ji the King of Hejian united with Sima Ying the King of Chengdu and planned to attack Sima Ying, the King of Qi.
When the letter reached Jingshi, Sima Feng said to Wang Rong:
Old King, I Xingyi overthrew Sima Lun, the King of Zhao, and supported the emperor to re-ascend the throne, and now, the King of Hejian and the King of Chengdu listened to the rumors and actually attacked the Jingshi Division, you see, what should I do?
Wang Rong said:
Wang Ye, you first advocated the righteous soldiers, Kuang Ding's great cause, this merit has never been seen in ancient times. However, when evaluating merit and awards, some meritorious figures were not rewarded, unfair, and disappointed by the government and the public, so some people had two hearts. Nowadays, the king of Hejian and the king of Chengdu, with a million armors, are invincible, and if you can go home as a king and raise your days and hand over your power, you will not only get the name of courtesy, but also be able to protect yourself, which is more secure.
Sima Mian's adviser Ge Min (read like a fish) said angrily:
Since the Han and Wei dynasties, which of the princes who gave up power and returned home saved their wives and children? Those who hold this opinion should be beheaded!
As soon as these words came out, Wang Rong's little heart almost popped out of his mouth, pretending that he had taken the wrong medicine, ran to the toilet, plunged into the dung pit, and escaped with his life.
Yi Zhilu said: Shi is born.
Wang Rong advocated ruling without doing anything and never confronted those in power. Since he was in charge of the cadre selection work, he has never promoted a humble person, nor has he ever deposed a person with a false name, but just followed the trend and selected and employed people among the wealthy families.
After Wang Rong became a Situ, he did not take care of things, and handed over all the work to his subordinates, and he often rode a small horse and wandered out from the small gate of the official office, and the people who saw him, who knew that this little old man was Situ Yi of the Great Jin Dynasty. Many of his former protégés and former officials became high-ranking officials, and if they ran into them, they would avoid them on the side of the road.
In 304, Emperor Hui Sima Xin marched north to Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu, and Wang Rong followed. Wang Shi was defeated at Dangyin (Tangyin County, Henan Province), and Sima Xin was taken by Sima Ying's troops to Yecheng, accompanied by Wang Rong. The Anbei general Wang Jun attacked Sima Ying, but Sima Ying was defeated and returned to Luoyang with Sima Xin, and Wang Rong accompanied him all the way.
Immediately afterwards, Sima Xin was forcibly taken to Chang'an by Zhang Fang, a general of Sima Ji of Hejian, and Wang Rong did not follow this time, but fled to Hao County (郏县, Henan Province, southeast of Luoyang).
History said that Wang Rong personally confronted the enemy army between crises, talking and laughing freely in the shadow of the sword, and never showed fear (between dangers, he personally took the blade, talked and laughed freely, and did not taste fear). After arriving in Hao County, Wang Rong called relatives and friends from time to time to drink and have fun, from morning to night, hi is amazing.
In 305, Wang Rong died in Hao County at the age of seventy-two, with the nickname Yuan.
According to Shi, Wang Rong was particularly fond of money (sexual pleasure), and he bought water dumplings (instruments that use water power to scoop rice. Read as it is), all over the world. There is too much money, Wang Rong holds the calculator every day, not calculating it in vain or black, but he still feels that it is not enough. There is a lot of money, but Wang Rong is very stingy, reluctant to eat, reluctant to wear, everyone in the world believes that Wang Rong has a love of money disease, and is terminally ill.
The daughter married Pei Xuan and borrowed tens of thousands of dollars from him, but she never paid it back. When her daughter returned to her mother's house, Wang Rong put on a stinky face, and when her daughter saw that the situation was wrong, she quickly returned the money, and Wang Rong immediately smiled. When his nephew wanted to get married, Wang Rong gave him a single dress, and immediately after the wedding, he sent someone to get the clothes back. Wang Rong's family has high-quality varieties of plums, take them out and sell them for money, worried that others will get the seeds, so they drill a hole in the core of each plum, so that others cannot plant them. In all this, Wang Rong was ridiculed by the world.
Yi Cilu said: Wang Rong, this person, after reading it, felt full of contradictions. He is brave and timid, bold and miserly, obeys great discipline and bribes, and is extremely good and careless...
He is between white blades and fearless, but jumps into a cesspool in order to survive;
He refused to accept millions of ceremonies, but chased his nephew to return a single coat;
He drank wine and ate meat for his mother's mourning, but described as emaciated, and his subordinates offered him bribes, and he did not seem to refuse;
As the third duke, he did not seize power, and appointed cadres from all proud;
He was a famous man, but he never gave advice to death;
……
How to understand him?
I think Sima Yan saw him very thoroughly:
If you do what you do, you will not be selfish, and you will not want to be a foreign ear!
Wang Rong doesn't want to be an alternative like Ji Kang, and he wants to maintain a certain kind of wandering remains of the seven sages of the bamboo forest, his more outrageous behaviors, such as chasing his nephew for clothes, counting money with his family every day, selling plums but drilling holes in the core, etc., to be honest, have a certain performance nature, which may be a deliberate design he uses to show his lack of ambition. He had seen too much the death of Ji Kang, the death of Zhang Hua, the death of Pei Xuan, and the death of Wang Ye of the Sima family, and his death would not help, so he would not make unnecessary risks. Without paying attention, he said a few straight words, almost killed by someone, and jumped into the dung pit to escape with his life.
His philosophy of survival is that he must be on the side of the majority. In this regard, Shantao, another high-ranking official among the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, is quite similar to him.
Once, when Wang Rong passed by Huanggong Jiuyuan, he said to his doorman:
Back then, I drank here with Ji Kang and Ruan Yuan, and the tour of the bamboo forest was the least successful one. Ever since they died, I had been entangled in mundane matters. Today, when I revisit the old place, the old things are in front of us, but people are far away from the mountains and rivers.
Ji Kang and Ruan nationality have always been his spiritual pursuit, being an official, is just his way of survival, I personally feel, in the bones, Wang Rong is about a hermit, the imperial court, is his seclusion, the so-called great hidden in Zaifu, I'm afraid it's a person like him.
【Image from the Internet】