As the proverb goes, it is better to have good fortune than to have good years, and to be a good official is not as good as to have good luck. This is true. Not only women are charming with sex, but also officials.
This is the first paragraph in "The Biography of Ni Xing" written by Sima Qian. The beginning is full of worry and anger, and reading the full text also makes people feel a deep sense of powerlessness. The biography is an account of the Han Dynasty. A joint biography of the fawning ministers Hongru, Deng Tong, Li Yannian, etc., the article sharply criticizes the emperors of the Han Dynasty for their inappropriate appointments and heavy use of traitors. It has a strong warning significance and also expresses Sima Qian's disappointment and disillusionment with the political status quo of the Han Dynasty. Worry about the future of the country.
Nowadays, many people are harshly criticizing Sima Qian, saying that his "Historical Records" extremely slandered the Han Dynasty, especially Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, but it was praised by Lu Xun as the "swan song of the historian" and the rhymeless "Li Sao" This history book will not be obscured by bad words. How authentic will a history book that only praises it be?
"The Biography of Ni Xing" is included in "Historical Records". It is a very classic classical Chinese article. It has historical value and is also an excellent literary work. The main theme of the whole article is explained at the beginning. The first paragraph of the opening paragraph translated into vernacular means:
As the saying goes: "It is better to have a good year than to work hard in farming." It is better to be an official than to meet a king who appreciates you. ?This is not empty talk without basis. It is not only women who use their beauty to flatter themselves to gain favor, but also scholars and eunuchs. Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was as heroic as Liu Bang, but he also had favored eunuchs and children
Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, played by Chen Daoming
Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was described by Sima Qian as "even violent resistance". He was such a person. An extremely fierce and upright man, even after becoming an emperor, he was still deceived by a male favorite like Ji Ru.
After reading the entire "Biography of Ni Xing", we will find that the emperors of the Han Dynasty had a hobby of raising male pets. This is the origin of the saying "Dirty Han Chaos in the Tang Dynasty".
Ji Ru was a eunuch in the palace. She was petite, frail and girlish, which attracted Liu Bang's liking. He often hung out with Ji Ru's servants, so he often did not go to court. King Ying of Huainan launched a rebellion, and Liu Bang pretended to be ill for such a big thing. The ministers were as anxious as ants on a hot pot. In the end, the straight-tempered Fan Kuai didn't care about etiquette, so he pulled a few ministers and forced the door in. , and saw an astonishing scene:
The eunuch was lying alone on the pillow. When Kuai and others saw him, he shed tears and said: "Since then, Your Majesty and his ministers have made abundant and abundant things to rule the world. How powerful it is!" Today is decided, and it’s peaceful again! And your Majesty has not seen anything about Zhao Gao? ?He laughed.
The handsome man with Liu Bang's thigh on his pillow was a child. After listening to everyone's advice, Liu Bang laughed generously, and then went to fight Yingbu. Although Yingbu was killed, Liu Bang was also hit. Wounded by an arrow, he died of the injury the next year. The fate of Ji Ru's children after Liu Bang's death is not recorded in historical records, but considering Empress Lu's methods, it is probably more bad than good. The Hong Ru who made the entire court become a mother
After Liu Bang's death, Prince Liu Ying ascended the throne and became Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty.
Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty liked male pets, and one of them named Hong Ru was the favorite. The two often slept together on the same bed. Hong Ru liked to put on makeup and wear gorgeous and bright clothes, but as a result, he was a bit unruly in court. In order to please Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty, the ministers at the helm all wore hats decorated with bird feathers, tied belts decorated with shells, and were painted with makeup. It was really funny how fancy the ministers dressed up in the dignified court.
Hongru also had a strong voice. Empress Lu’s mistress was thrown into prison by Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty and was about to be executed. No one could plead for mercy, not even Empress Lu. Liu Ying He hated Shen Shiqi's affair with his mother and was determined to get rid of her. Hongru was very smart and knew that this was an opportunity to please Empress Lu, so she went to plead for mercy. As a result, Liu Ying's ears softened as soon as she mentioned it. After she was released, Hong Ru's reputation was greater than that of Empress Lu.
Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty had always been in poor health and died after reigning for seven years. He was only twenty-three years old. There is no record of Hong Ru’s subsequent deeds. Some people say that he was killed by Empress Lu. This is actually impossible. , Empress Lu was a person with clear grievances, so she would let Hong Ru go just by interceding for Shen Shiqi, and Hong Ru should have a good death. ?Banknote Printing Factory?Director Deng Tong
Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty inherited the hobby of raising male pets from the previous emperors. One of the male pets named Deng Tong was loved by Emperor Wen to the extreme. The concubines in the palace even None of the princes were as favored by Emperor Wen as Deng Tong.
Emperor Hanwen was fond of ghosts and gods, and always yearned for immortality. This was actually a common problem among many emperors, but how could anything in the world be immortal? Emperor Wen had a dream one day. He dreamed that he was going to heaven, but he couldn't get up no matter what. At this time, a yellow-headed man pushed him up from behind. He turned around and saw that Huang-headed man was wearing a short shirt with a horizontal waist. , the belt is tied behind the back.
When Emperor Wen woke up from his dream and went out for a walk, he happened to meet Deng Tong, the Huangtoulang in the palace. The so-called Huangtoulang was the person in the palace who was in charge of sailing. The belt of Deng Tong's clothes was knotted from the back, just like in Emperor Wen's dream. When asked for his name, he was told that his surname was Deng Tong. Emperor Wen was overjoyed, because the homophone of Deng Tong is "Deng Tong".
Deng Tong also had good looks, and he happened to match the person in his dream. The superstitious Emperor Wen favored Deng Tong from then on, and Deng Tong, who had not made any meritorious service, was named a high official like Shang Dafu. Emperor Wen often rewarded Deng Tong with hundreds of millions of copper coins. A good minister deliberately asked a fortune teller to tell Deng Tong's fortune. The fortune teller said that Deng Tong would die of poverty and hunger in the future. ?
Emperor Wen said: ?I am the one who can make a fortune. What is poverty? ?So he gave Deng Tong Shu the Yandao Tongshan, and he got money from it. Deng's money spread all over the world. Such is his wealth.
But Emperor Wen didn't take it seriously and rewarded him with large and small copper mountains near Deng Tong's hometown and allowed him to mint money. Deng Tong even had his own "printing factory" and the circulation of "Deng Tong's money" was huge. , one of the major currencies in circulation at that time.
Deng Tong had no other skills, but his ability to flatter was very good. He tried his best to please Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, and Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty also had a very deep relationship with him. Emperor Wenwen often ran away I went to Deng Tong's home and played various games with him. This is taboo in history books. I always feel that Emperor Wen went to Deng Tong's home for more than just playing games.
Everything must be reversed at the extreme. A man like Deng Tong, who had no ability to govern the country, was favored by Emperor Wen. The ministers in the court were privately dissatisfied. However, his attentiveness and loyalty to Emperor Wen angered the prince Liu Qi.
Emperor Wen once contracted carbuncle and had malignant sores on his body. Deng Tong took the initiative to suck the pus and blood for Emperor Wen. Emperor Wen asked Deng Tong: Who in the world loves me the most? Deng Tong said: "There should be no one who loves you more than the prince." ?Prince Liu Qi came to visit his father's condition. Emperor Wen asked him to suck the pus and blood. Liu Qi gritted his teeth and sucked the pus and blood, but his face still showed discomfort. Emperor Wen was very unhappy. Later, when Liu Qi heard that Deng Tong sucked pus and blood for Emperor Wen and the conversation between the two, Liu Qi hated Deng Tong with itch.
There is always a banquet in the world. Emperor Wen passed away and Prince Liu Qi came to the throne, also known as Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Jing, who had just come to power, immediately settled the accounts after the fall and confiscated all Deng Tong's money, leaving him penniless. As expected, Deng Tong obeyed the fortune teller's words and starved to death. Musician Li Yannian
Musician Li Yannian of the Western Han Dynasty
The most favored eunuch during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was a man named Li Yannian, and Mrs. Li who was favored by Emperor Wu was his sister.
Li Yannian committed a crime when he was young and was tortured. He stayed in the palace and was responsible for raising dogs. Although he was a little eunuch who raised dogs, he was very talented in music and had a good voice. He was loved by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and often presented songs to Emperor Wu. Li Yannian's sister was very beautiful. Once he sang a song of his own to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The song he composed said: "There is a beautiful woman in the north, peerless and independent. She looks at the charming city and then the charming country." I would rather not know a beautiful city or a beautiful country. Beautiful women are hard to come by. ?
When Emperor Wu heard about it: ?Is there really such a beauty in the world? ?, Li Yannian took the opportunity to recommend his sister. Emperor Wu was very satisfied with her when she was admitted to the palace, and soon she was canonized as a concubine.
Mrs. Li was favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the Li family became relatives. Li Yannian sang and composed music for Emperor Wu in the palace, and was named the Lieutenant of Xielu. Li Yannian's elder brother Li Guangli was also highly regarded. He became General of the Second Division and was granted the title of Marquis of Haixi.
After Mrs. Li died of illness, the Li family gradually fell out of favor, but Li Yannian, who was completely unaware, did not know how to restrain himself. He had an affair with a woman in the palace, and he relied on Emperor Wu's favor to be proud and indulgent when entering and leaving the palace, but most of all It is difficult to predict the emperor's heart. Some of Li Yannian's crimes were reported. Without the protection of his sister, Li Yannian and his younger brother Li Ji's clan were exterminated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing who appeared in "The Biography of Ni Xing"
Towards the end of Sima Qian's "The Biography of Ni Xing", the names of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing suddenly appeared.
Since then, the number of favored ministers and relatives has been rare. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were also fortunate to have foreign relatives, but they were able to make their own progress with their own talents.
This is not that Sima Qian listed Wei Qing and Huo Qubing as sycophants. Some people used this as evidence to say that it was actually wrong. Sima Qian’s original intention was that although Wei Qing and Huo Qubing were related to their relatives, They are favored by dignitaries, but they can all make progress based on their own talents. Sima Qian still holds a positive attitude towards Wei and Huo.
The names of Wei and Huo can be mentioned in "The Biography of Ni Xing", which reflects that Sima Qian still has reservations about his evaluation of these two people. This view is mentioned in "The Biography of General Wei Qiaoqi" " can be confirmed in ".
However, if you are small and serve the middle class, you are expensive and do not care about scholars. When he joined the army, the emperor sent dozens of chariots to the eunuchs. After returning them, the rest of the heavy chariots were discarded, and the grain and meat were discarded. Some of the soldiers were hungry. Outside the fortress, the soldiers were short of food and might not be able to stand up on their own, while the hussars were still riding across the territory. There are many such things. The general is kind and conciliatory, and flatters himself with his gentleness, but he is not famous in the world.
Sima Qian used a considerable amount of space to record the deeds of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in "The Biography of General Wei Qiaoqi", but he still made sharp criticism of the two people, especially Huo Qubing, saying that when Huo Qubing was fighting outside the Great Wall, , the soldiers were short of food, and some were so hungry that they could not stand up. However, Huo Qubing, the general of the cavalry, was still planning the court and playing football. This kind of thing Huo Qubing often did. General Wei Qing was kind-hearted, had the spirit of concession, and pleased the emperor with his generosity and gentleness, but no one in the world praised him.
Huo Qubing criticized Wei Qing openly, but he criticized Wei Qing's shortcomings of following the crowd and currying favor with the world. But the shortcomings do not hide the good points. The fact that the names of Wei and Huo have been spread throughout the world is inseparable from Sima Qian's wonderful descriptions of them. Sima Qian's main tone is still praised. Conclusion
Sima Qian used his vivid writing style to describe to us the ugliness of a group of sycophants who specialized in flattering their bosses, even at the cost of losing their personality, seeking favors, and severely lashing out at the employment system at that time. At the end, Sima Qian wrote meaningfully:
Tai Shigong said: What a time of love and hate! Mi Zixiao's journey is enough to make future generations feel lucky. Although it can be known for hundreds of generations.
The emperor's likes and dislikes are completely based on a thought. "Being a guest in the morning and a prisoner in the evening" is the normal ending of the sycophant in history. The reason why Sima Qian's "Historical Records" is highly praised by people is precisely because of his record-keeping spirit when compiling history. The decline of the two Han Dynasties is inseparable from the fact that the emperors did not use virtuous ministers and replaced them with treacherous sycophants. Zhuge Liang pointed out pointedly: "Be close to virtuous ministers and stay away from villains. This is why the early Han Dynasty prospered; be close to villains and stay away from virtuous ministers. This is why the Han Dynasty will be favored after that." Decadent. ?