Recorded by V 2023-04-03
The founding emperors of the Chinese dynasties, except for the "first emperor" of Brother Yingzheng, all others took other people's rivers and mountains as their own owners.
There are no more than two means used: one is "usurpation", which is called "Zen Rang" to put it nicely; The second is "seizure", that is, to seize by force with open fire.
Those who have the power to "usurp" are warlords, such as Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui, and Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu of Song. These people have military power in their hands, and everyone expects them to return, and most of their opponents are orphans and widows (such as Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou is eight years old, and Emperor Gong of Later Zhou is seven years old), and it is naturally easy to win the throne.
Those who have the courage to "seize" are hooligans, such as Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. These people have nothing anyway, and if they suddenly have an emperor to be, they will naturally refuse to let go of this opportunity, and they will have to put their heads on the roulette wheel to bet on him.
If a person is both a warlord and a rogue, and if he is lucky, then his usurpation of power will be successful, such as Liu Yu, the emperor of Song Wu during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. This old man worked as a farmer, woodcutter, fisherman and peddler, a scoundrel who loved gambling, and was once forced to pay gambling debts by the Jingkou clan Diao Kui tied to a horse stake because he lost a gamble. Later, he joined the army, rose to prominence due to repeated battle achievements, and by the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was the commander of the whole army. His success is most deserved.
▲ Liu Yu, known as the "First Emperor of the Southern Dynasty"
In fact, many of the noble families, warlords and emperors have somewhat rogue character.
For example, when Tang Gaozu Li Yuan raised troops to Fenjin, he openly left his son alone, and as a result, the eldest son Jiancheng and the third son Yuanji escaped with their lives, and the youngest son Zhiyun was killed by the Sui Dynasty. This kind of courage of "reluctant children can't fight wolves" is both heroic and rogue.
Another example is the Wei Wu Emperor Cao Cao, who said in the history books that he was "less alert and had the right to count, but he was a debauchery and did not govern the industry", perhaps he was originally a rogue, or quasi-rogue. Therefore, Wei's founding emperor Cao Pi filled in the bloodline with some rogue factors. Only in this way, when this dude attends a friend's funeral, he does not learn to cry a donkey without a eulogy.
Wei's two rivals, Shu and Wu, were also founders of gangsters.
Liu Bei was originally a straw shoe seller, because "good friends and heroes, young (that is, little hooligans) contend." He was finally financed by the "Zhongshan Dajia", which began his political speculative business.
Wu's Sun Jian is the leader of a gang of hooligans, who specializes in collecting "good deeds young people" and "takes care of them and raises them, and has children like children". With these people accompanying the army, Sun Jian was able to leap from a junior officer to a prince.
It is precisely because the "old men" of the Wei, Shu and Wu kingdoms are all such roles that this historical period is a "good show".
Counting in this way, the historical dramas that changed the dynasty after the Qin and before the Qing Dynasty can be said to be directed and starred by hooligans. The hooligans mentioned here certainly include both warlordized hooligans and rogue warlords.
The reasons why hooligans can do this are as follows:
● First, all hooligans "do not produce" and "do not govern industry".
It is really harder than ascending to heaven for them to honestly farm and work honestly and become rich by honest labor. Their favorite is to rob their homes and rob their homes. Without production labor, you can enrich the world; You don't have to read hard to get ahead.
Therefore, most hooligans are addicted to gambling, and taking people is a big gamble. Once you become a winner, you will enjoy endless wealth and glory. Even if you lose the gamble, anyway, you are penniless, and it is not a loss. Even if you lose your head, after all, the scenery has been beautiful for a while, "why not walk in style"?
In the ninth year of the Western Han Dynasty, the ancestor of Han Gao set up wine in the Weiyang Palace and banqueted the ministers.
Liu Bang got up and toasted him, saying that his father always thought that my son was a scoundrel, could not govern the industry, and was not as useful as the second brother. Please dad take a look, how much of my property is now? Or is it the second brother's? As soon as the words fell, "All the courtiers in the palace shouted long live and laughed for fun."
Liu Bang's words are exactly what a gambler is satisfied with after winning a big bet; The reason why Qunchen "laughed for fun" was because they and Liu Bang were both from the same background, and most of them were chicken and dog thieves; Chen Ping is a ronin, Fan Yu is a dog slaughter, Zhou Bo is a drummer, Guan Ying is a cloth seller, Lou Jing is a coachman, Peng Yue is a grass curse, although Zhang Liang and Han Xin are aristocrats, they are actually hooligans, and their natural mentality is the same as Liu Bang.
● Second, all hooligans have less "property concept".
Because they do not have much private property except for their own more than 100 pounds of meat, of course, they most advocate that the world is regarded as "everyone's share", that is, they can eat and drink for nothing, and do not have to be cowardly. Since the world is "everyone's share", then, "The monk can touch it, but I can't touch it?" ”
At first, Liu Bang caught Kuantong, a counselor who had encouraged Han Xin to establish himself as king, and wanted to put him in the oil pot, and Kuantong said "justifiably":
"The Qin Dynasty lost its deer, and people all over the world rushed to grab it, of course, whoever has great skills and runs fast will get it!" At that time, there were many people who sharpened their knives to do His Majesty's business, and His Majesty could still put them all in the oil pot! ”
As a result, the hooligans cherished the hooligans, and Liu Bang released Kuantong.
● Third, all hooligans are "emboldened."
Because they have no "net worth and life", they are naturally "selfless and fearless".
As Mr. Samengwu said, "the joy of life has not been tasted, nor the pain of death is terrible", and he is "most willing to take risks, from nine deaths in a lifetime, suddenly placed on the clouds".
If there are two acres of thin fields and a hut, or there are tens of thousands of family members who have been eunuchs for generations, they will "not be able to give up", and they will never dare to rashly engage in the risky cause of "success is the king's defeat and the defeat is the curse".
● Fourth, all hooligans are "least restrained".
Their filial piety, benevolence, courtesy and integrity, and gentleness and thrift are simply not a matter of course.
They hate etiquette the most and despise Confucianism the most. As soon as Liu Bang saw Confucian's hat, he wanted to use it as a urine pot; Talk to people and curse at every turn.
However, precisely because they do not pay attention to etiquette and integrity, they have no fetters, and they can do whatever they want, turn their faces and not recognize people, or immediately turn their cold faces into smiling faces.
In that year, Han Xin captured the state of Qi and threatened to become the "false king of Qi". Liu Bang was trapped in Xingyang and was waiting for Han Xin to send troops to rescue, so as soon as he heard Han Xin's words, he cursed fucking. Zhang Liang and Chen Ping knew that they could not offend Han Xin at this time, so they kicked Liu Bang with their feet; Liu Bang woke up, and then scolded, fuck, manly husband, if you want to be the king of Qi, you will be real, what is the fake king?
This ability to change faces is not impossible for hooligans.
So when Xiang Yu captured Liu Bang's father, met before the army, and wanted to put the old man in the oil pot to blackmail Liu Bang, Liu Bang was not only not moved, but said with a playful smile, "We are brothers, and my father is your father." If buddy wants to cook our dad, don't forget to leave a bowl of broth for my brother. This kind of trickery is not impossible for hooligans. As a result, the nobleman Xiang Yu, who preached etiquette and integrity, finally lost to the faceless rogue Liu Bang.
Fifth, all hooligans "do not skimp on property."
Because the society in which hooligans live is a quack, and the heaviest thing in the rivers and lakes is righteousness. "Fighting righteousness" is "loosening money", and stingy people cannot be hooligans. Moreover, most of the hooligans' wealth comes from improper sources, not the income of labor, and of course there is nothing to spare. What's more, hooligans can not even want their lives, they can not even have their faces, and how can they be concerned about the money of things outside their bodies? With this open-mindedness, you can buy people's hearts and gather strength.
Liu Bang is a scoundrel and the son of heaven, and the reason is here.
On the contrary, although Xiang Yu is "respectful and loving" to people, he is stingy. His subordinates have merit and should be knighted, but he took the official seal in his own hands, and he was reluctant to play with it, and he was reluctant to give it to people when the seal was rotten.
Therefore, Han Xin criticized him as "the benevolence of women", and the old minister Fan Zeng, finally left him. It is not for nothing that Liu Bang, who loves to scold and generous, finally defeated Xiang Yu, who was polite and stingy.
If so, hooligans do not produce and have no concept of property, which has the motive to seize the world; If you are not afraid of death, do not have face, and do not skimp on money, you will have the psychological ability to seize the world.
Once the world is in chaos, there are social conditions; With military power and material conditions, it will not be difficult for them to make a "earth-shaking" cause.
This is the reason why the history of the change of dynasties in China's feudal society was mainly created by warlordized hooligans and rogue warlords.
The rogue emperor is not Liu Bang's patent - Huang Chao, who "eats human flesh", Zhu Wen, who "dislikes many people in it", Zhu Yuanzhang, a wandering monk... As Yi Zhongtian said: After the Qin Dynasty, the history before the Qing Dynasty can be said to be directed and starred by hooligans.
It can also be said that from the daily life of ordinary people, to local security, to social change, the influence of hooligans is pervasive.
However, despite the popularity of hooligans in China, the history of hooligans is classified as a "unorthodox" partial history, and there are only a handful of his treatises. The well-known person is Lu Xun's article "The Change of Rogues", although it is quite insightful, but unfortunately there are only a few strokes.
To this end, I recommend the most systematic monograph on Chinese hooligans in China so far - Professor Chen Baoliang's "Stateless People: Changes of Chinese Hooligans".
Chen Baoliang studied under the famous historian Gu Cheng to write this history of Chinese hooligans for the canon, and Chen Baoliang combed through all kinds of classics, from "Four Books and Five Classics" to "Twenty-four History", from official records to wild history notes to local chronicles... Comb through the clues of the hooligans:
· the brain-opening new meaning of "single"; The origin of the divine stick; The Water Margin is the "bible" of later generations of hooligans; Rogue means: deception, blackmail, immortal jump...
· Hooliganism is terrifying: threatening the interests of the propertied class; interfere with the daily lives of civilians; Different from the powerful class, but can be in cahoots with the powerful and preying on the people; It is not comparable to the eunuchs, but it can also be merged with the eunuchs, making politics hooliganized; It can even penetrate with the gentry class, making the people more miserable...
· Rogues are idle, and they maintain hedonistic squandering through ingenuity. Society does not exist on hooligans, who live on the fruits of the people. Hooligans all die out and do not pose any threat to society. On the contrary, the demise of hooligans will make the social order stable. However, in the end, hooligans profoundly affected Chinese history, politics, economy, culture, life... Two thousand years.
This book is favored by readers because of its connotative value, and some people have "turned it over" after its publication. It has also been praised by overseas sinologists and included in the Harvard University Sinology Reference List. The publication of "The Stateless" is an additional and new edition.
Source | This article is reproduced from the public number: An Old Well. Author: Yi Zhongtian.