During the reign of Emperor Mingxian (1465-1487 AD), the streets of Nanjing talked and talked, and the story of a strange thief who was deeply hated by the eunuchs of Jinsheng was spread everywhere. He was portrayed as a man who was good at playing with demons and confusing the people, and because his name was Wang Chen, people called him "Demon King Chen".
Wang Chen was a habitual thief, and when he was young, he was particularly clever and clever, and liked to make some gadgets. No matter what kind of juggling, he could learn it as soon as he learned it, and he could imitate it at a glance; therefore, he was quite popular with people, and was hired by some princes and marquises of Nanjing to accompany the prince to read. Therefore, Wang Chen followed the reading and literacy, roughly read the historical texts, and especially liked the ancient accounts of "strange tricks and tricks". He did not tire of reading the records of "robots" in the past dynasties and dynasties, and carefully copied and imitated them, all of which were exquisite and exquisite, and even surpassed the works of his predecessors.
However, he admired the extravagance of the Marquis's mansion, the endless wealth in the mansion, and the dazzling treasures. He thought how beautiful it would be if he had these treasures, and he felt that the wealth of these rich and powerful people was actually nothing but the plaster of the people who had scraped it, but they had just put a legal cloak on open thieves. He lamented that the laws of this world were so unfair that they actually protected the powerful from wanton plundering and stealing, so that these jiangyang thieves would become dignified and upright gentlemen. The world is uneven, the world is too dark! Since they have stolen by any means, why don't I treat them in the same way as men and steal their wealth? The prince thought so, so he began to steal the property in the palace of the dukes and marquises.
Wang Chen first started at the house where he was a domestic worker, but soon lost the wind and was driven out. He changed his name, and went to another mansion to be his next person. Under the cover of his family's identity, he stole the family's belongings, and naturally he was discovered and expelled. Every time the Marquis of that class touched the prince's petty theft, he had to beat him up and then push out the door. The poor king's courtiers were beaten so badly that they had broken their legs, and it was difficult for them to walk upright with a limp.
Soon after, a group of Marquises panicked again. Because the jewelry in their house suddenly disappeared and was even looted. Even if they send more defense day and night, they will not be able to catch the thief. It turned out that this pile of theft was actually the work of the royal courtiers who did not leave the house, and there was not a single piece of jewelry that he did not steal.
After a period of time, Wang Chen left Nanjing and came to Jiangyin County. The rich and powerful families in Jiangyin County also began to steal, and one of the squires, Zhou Weizhan, visited Wang Chen and invited Wang Chen to live in his home. One day, wang chen went out, and Zhou Weizhan found two small wooden people in his wooden box, each more than a foot long, walking freely and able to resist each other. Zhou Weizhan was very surprised, and when Wang Chen returned, he did not hide it, so he asked him the secret of the little wooden man. Wang Chen then told Zhou Weizhan the truth: when he was expelled from the Palace of the Duke of Gonghou in Nanjing and beaten half to death, he gritted his teeth in hatred and vowed to take revenge and steal all their treasures. But he himself was crippled and unable to steal, so he hid at home to develop small wooden people, hoping that they could steal instead of himself. With his ingenuity, he finally produced an omnipotent little wooden man, and obeyed his command, and they did whatever they wanted to do. Wang Chen wanted to steal something, as long as he gave a command, they both went away, and the gods quickly took it unconsciously.
Zhou Weizhan was suspicious and asked Wang Chen to demonstrate it once. Wang Chen agreed. He caged two small wooden people into his sleeves and went shopping with Zhou Weizhan. Approaching a store, Wang Chen whispered to Zhou Weizhan that he wanted to steal something. Before he could say anything, he stole the money box from under the eyes of the shopkeeper and flew away. The shopkeeper didn't notice anything. When Wang Chen was limping away, Zhou Weizhan pretended to be very panicked and reported to the shopkeeper, and led him to chase after Wang Chen. Seeing that he had caught up with Wang Chen, Wang Chen threw the money box and the little wooden man into the river, denying that he had stolen the shopkeeper's things. The shopkeeper searched, and sure enough, he saw that he had no stolen goods, so he had to give up.
Subsequently, Wang Chen and Zhou Weizhan returned home together, smiled and said to Zhou Weizhan, "You see", with his hands extended, two small wooden people jumped out of their sleeves and held the money box. Zhou Weizhan was dumbfounded, puzzled, obviously seeing that he had thrown them into the river, how could he suddenly jump out of his sleeve again? After Zhou Weizhan's disclosure, the fame of Wang Chen's reputation spread from then on, and the more it spread, the more mysterious it became, and the farther it spread.
In the seventeenth year of Chenghua (1481 AD), Wang Chen bid farewell to Zhou Weizhan and came to Beijing alone. His strange name was passed into the ears of Emperor Mingxianzong, and the curious Emperor Mingxianzong wanted to see his appearance, so he sent someone to summon him into the palace. Emperor Mingxian summoned Wang Chen, witnessed his lame and unsteady appearance, and felt that he was an unpredictable demon. Because all the strange people do not have a complete image, they are all incomplete and strange appearances. Emperor Mingxianzong was an emperor who believed in ghosts and gods and wanted to live forever, so he ordered Wang Chen, together with the eunuch Wang Jing, to go to Huxiang, Jiangyou, Jiangsu, zhejiang, and Jingdong to collect immortal medicines, and believed that he would be able to collect immortal herbs such as lingzhi that mortals could not pick.
Wang Chen and Wang Jing, who had been ordained, led more than twenty people all the way south, like ministers of Chincha, and were greeted and greeted by local officials along the way. The eunuch Wang Jing was an insatiable fellow, demanding and demanding, often coercing local officials to send gifts. And the king's courtiers hated the gentry, so they stole from the officials and ingested countless treasures. One robbery, one stealing, the gentry and rich people who passed through the state capital and county were all looted. They also played the sign of Ming Xianzong, fox false tiger power, arbitrarily sent local officials, and if they did not agree, they reprimanded them in public. All the way through the state and county, the county guards and county commanders dared to be angry and did not dare to speak, and they also had to swallow their voices and accompany the smiling faces.
In the nineteenth year of Chenghua (1483 AD), Wang Jing and Wang Chen came to Jiangdong and entered the Jiangsu realm. Wang Chen especially hated the eunuchs and gentry of Jiangsu, especially the Marquis of Nanjing, who had beaten him, and was even more unforgettable. Therefore, after coming, he instigated Wang Jing to abuse and insult them to the fullest. The officials and eunuchs in Jiangsu have long been aware of Wang Jing and Wang Chen's behavior of stealing and stealing all the way, so everyone is in danger of themselves and takes strict precautions. But no matter how tightly the precautions were, none of them helped. Wang Chen's two small wooden men were mighty and invincible. The official mansion was patronized by two small wooden people and lost countless treasures, the most of which were calligraphy and paintings, utensils, images of Buddhism and Taoism, and classics.
Wang Chen and Wang Jing's behavior along the way was too wanton, and the local officials colluded and played the text, accusing Wang Jing and Wang Chen of misbehaving, extorting money in vain, and arousing people's resentment. At this moment, the Inspector Sima Wanggong went to the local area and informed Emperor Xianzong of what he had learned. Emperor Xianzong read the recital of the Prince of Sima and was furious, and immediately issued an edict to arrest Wang Jing and Wang Chen. Jinyiwei's catcher obeyed the order and cast a net of heaven and earth to round up Wang Jing and Wang Chen. Although Wang Jing and Wang Chen were surrounded and could not escape, the Jinyi Guards were afraid of Wang Chen's magic and did not dare to come close to arrest them. In fact, wang Chen didn't have any magic skills, he didn't have the strength to bind the chicken in his own hands, and it was as easy to catch the jinyi guards as an eagle grabbing a chick. However, Jinyi Wei was convinced that Wang Chen was a demon and had to break his magic first. One by one, they stripped naked, covered themselves with dog blood, and then put on dog skins, rushed up, arrested Wang Chen and Wang Jing, put them on the shackles, and immediately escorted them to the capital and sent them to the prison of Jinyiwei. Not long after, the Court of Inspection found out everything, sentenced them to death, and beheaded them in Dongshi.
The reason why Wang Chen is called a demon is that his superb skill in stealing is a small wooden man with a flexible hand to commit a crime. Records of the production of such robots in ancient China, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, from the main history to the novel notes, and the generations are more exquisite and flexible, unfortunately this manufacturing technology has not been finally handed down.