When it comes to the emperor in history, people will definitely think of Xia Jie. But few people know that in history, there was also a faint monarch who gave him the nickname "Xia Jie II". So who is this Dark Lord? Why did he get the nickname "Xia Jie II"? Before answering these questions, let's start with Xia Jie to see what bad things Xia Jie has done, and then compare it with the late Emperor to see if his nickname of "Xia Jie II" is "deserved".
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According to historical records, Xia Jie was actually a man of both culture and martial arts, who could straighten the iron hook with his bare hands, and with this skill alone, I am afraid that he would frighten many of today's Hercules. Regrettably, although Xia Jie was capable, he did not devote his mind to governing the country, but on the contrary, he paid more attention to how to enjoy himself.
Later generations summed up several crimes for him, and the first of them was the reuse of a courtier, who reused a villain named Zhao Liang, who was dedicated to Xia Jie's favor and taught him how to enjoy himself, how to blackmail and kill the people.
Another is absurdity, Xia Jie not only "built a palace, decorated Yaotai, made a Qiong Room, and established a jade gate", but also searched for beautiful women from all over the place, hid in the harem, and drank and enjoyed with his sister And the palace women day and night. It is said that the sake pond built by Xia Jie is so large that it can be used for boats, and it is often possible to drown when drunk.
There is also Xia Jie's rejection of loyalty and tyranny. Someone introduced Yi Yin to Xia Jie, and Yi Yin persuaded Xia Jie with the benevolence of Yao and Shun, hoping that Yi Yin would understand the suffering of the people and govern the world with his heart, but Yi Yin could not listen to it, so Yi Yin had to leave; the minister Guan Longqi advised Xia Jie several times: "Only when the Son of Heaven is humble and faithful, thrifty and reuses talents, can the world be stable and the dynasty be stable." Now His Majesty is extravagant and murderous, so that the common people are looking forward to His Majesty's early demise, which is very dangerous! Only by quickly correcting his mistakes can His Majesty save people's hearts! ”
Although these words came from the heart, Xia Jie could not listen to a single word, he said: "There is a day in the sky, and there is a people in Judah." Is the day dead? I'm dead! "Translating it into the current vernacular, the gist is that in Xia Jie's view, sitting on the country and ruling the people, it is as natural as the sun shining on all things in the sky, as long as there is always a sun in the sky, I Xia Jie will always sit in this country. The implication is that I am the sun in the sky, and I want to shine brightly, and I will heat you to death; if I am in a bad mood, then I will kill you coldly. How can you tolerate me!
Although Xia Jie believed that his rule over the country and mountains, just like the sun in the sky illuminating the earth, would last forever, not only did not listen to the advice of the ministers, but also killed Guan Longqi, but in the end Xia Jie was not the sun, and he could not escape the retribution law of "good has good retribution, evil has evil retribution, not unrequited, and the time has not yet come". After 52 years in power, the Xia Dynasty was destroyed by the army of Shang Tang, and Xia Jie was also exiled and starved to death.
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Although Xia Jie died himself and did not do the Xia Dynasty, he gave the future generations an admonition that "Yin Jian is not far away, in the life after Xia". This means that those rulers, you should always think about the lessons of Xia Jie's subjugation, and stop doing something wrong. Unfortunately, however, the person who wrote this sentence has a good heart, but few people are willing to accept the kindness, let alone do it. Therefore, although Xia Jie died, since then, rulers like Xia Jie have not only not disappeared, but on the contrary, they have emerged endlessly. However, although there were many emperors in later generations, they were given the nickname of "Xia Jie II" and recorded in the history books, probably only the last monarch of the Song State in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Song Wangyan.
Regarding the Song Dynasty, it is recorded in the "History of the Song Weizi Family": "Cut into forty-one years, culling into a brother Yan attacking and attacking, culling into Ben Qi, Yan established himself as a Song Jun." He reigned for eleven years and established himself as king. Defeating Qi in the east and taking the five cities; defeating Chu in the south and taking three hundred miles of land; defeating the Wei army in the west, nai and Qi, Wei as enemies. The blood is shot in the name of Wei Nang, and the county shoots it, and the fate is called 'shooting the sky'. Fornication with the alcoholic woman. The courtiers shoot at it. Therefore, all the princes were known as 'Jie Song'. ”
This short paragraph gives us a lot of information.
First of all, Yan is a capable person. He was not qualified to be a monarch, but through his own efforts, he created a rebellion against his brother, drove away his brother, and successfully ascended the throne himself.
Secondly, whether you are a monarch or can you govern the country well. You must know that compared with the surrounding countries of Qi, Chu, and Wei, the Song Kingdom at that time was simply an old, weak, sick and disabled person, who was bullied by strong men and did not even dare to look at people with a straight eye. However, soon after Yan ascended to the throne, he turned the "old, weak, sick and disabled" Song State into a thug who attacked from all sides -- attacking the State of Qi to the east and seizing the five cities of the State of Qi; attacking the State of Chu to the south, encroaching on the three hundred miles of land of the State of Chu; attacking the State of Wei to the west, and beating the State of Wei without the strength to fight back.
There is also the fact that with the passage of time in power, the upper position has become more and more inflated, and even crazy. He not only claimed to be king, but he also acted recklessly, and the people feared God, but he used a cowhide bag full of blood, hung it up, and shot it with an arrow, called "shooting the heavens"; every day he spent the day and wine ignoring the government, and the ministers could not see past it, so they went to advise, and Yan took up his bow and arrow and said, "I dare not shoot even the sky, don't I dare to shoot you?" "Just say it's an arrow."
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Judging from the above records alone, although this Song King Yan did many bad things, they were all aimed at the princes and ministers, and it seems that they did not treat the ordinary people of the Song Kingdom. Therefore, the princes called him "Jie Song", that is, "Xia Jie II", as if they were only trying to vent their anger and revenge, and to find excuses for destroying the Song. Subsequently, although the three kingdoms of Qi, Chu, and Wei killed Yan and divided up the Song kingdom, they did not have the taste of "hanging the people and cutting down crimes" that Tang extinguished xia. Did the Yan, who was called "Xia Jie II", abuse the people, or was he really "Song Dynasty"? There is really no specific record in the "Chronicle of History". However, this does not prevent us from restoring that period of history, because some chapters in mencius are related to Song Wangyan, and we can also read about the abuse of Song Wangyan when we read Mencius.
When Mencius became famous, it was the Song king Yan who was in power. Mencius, as an international scholar and a great celebrity, of course, many courtiers of the Song Dynasty also wanted to ask Mencius how to govern the country, so some of the remarks between them were recorded.
In "Mencius Teng Wengong", two such stories are recorded-
One story is that Dai Shengsheng, a minister of the Song Dynasty, asked Confucius for advice on how to make his master, King Yan of Song, learn well. After listening to Dai Shengsheng's questions, Mencius explained a bunch of truths to Dai Shengsheng, and finally said disappointedly: "Now the people around King Yan of Song are all bad guys, and he is surrounded by bad guys all day, how can he learn well?" ”
This story tells us from the side that how can the people of the Song Kingdom not be abused under the governance of such a bad guy governance team?
Another story is that another minister of the Song Dynasty, Dai Yingzhi, went to Mencius to ask him how to govern the country. Mencius said: "Now the taxes collected by the Song State are too heavy, and there is also the problem of arbitrarily setting up cards to charge fees. All these have overwhelmed the people and should be corrected immediately. "This Dai Yingzhi listened, perhaps thinking, you Mencius old man said very well, but this is implemented, first, you have to ask the King of Song for instructions before it can be implemented; second, the King of Song approves it, and there must be a process of implementation." Therefore, he replied to Mencius euphemistically: "Tithe, the march to guanshi, has not been able to do so now." Please take it lightly, wait for the next year, and then already, how? Who knew that this Mencius was anxious about the anxieties of the common people of the Song Dynasty, and said unceremoniously to Dai Yingzhi: "Today some people are holding the chickens of their neighbors day by day, or telling them: 'The way of a gentleman is not a gentleman.' "Please lose it, take a chicken in the month, wait for the next year, and then it has been." 'If you know that it is not righteous, you will be finished, so why wait for the next year?' "I shook Dai Yingzhi up."
This story not only tells us from the side that under the rule of King Yan of Song, the people of the Song Kingdom really bear a heavy burden, but also tells us that in Mencius's view, King Yan of Song is "Xia Jie II", because when he talked about how much the tax rate of the state tax should be, he once said that "those who want to be heavy on the way of Yao Shun, the great and the small", that is, Mencius said that if the tax exceeds the tax rate set by Yao Shun, then this ruler is the "Xia Jie" in the current world. From this point of view, although Mencius intimidated Dai Yingzhi in person, he did not directly scold The Song King Yan as "Xia Jie" in person, which was already a great face for Dai Yingzhi!
From this point of view, both the history of zhengshi and the records in Mencius tell us such a historical fact, that is, the Song Wang Yan, who attacked the princes, tortured and killed the ministers, and killed the people, was a well-deserved "Xia Jie II".
Author: Zhao Xianwen, our special guest author