Shi Chong and Wang Kai were richer

After Jin Wu Emperor Sima Yan unified the country, he thought that he had made great achievements, so he lived a debauched, debauched and debauched life. Under his leadership, ministers in the court regarded ostentation as a decent thing. His officials, big and small, were eating, drinking and having fun without any scruples.

In Luoyang, the capital of the Jin Dynasty, there were three famous rich people at that time: one was Yang Xiu, the central guard in charge of the Imperial Guard, one was Wang Kai, the uncle of Emperor Wu of Jin and the later general, and the other was Wang Kai, the uncle of Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty and the later general. He was Shi Chong, a regular attendant of Sanqi.

Yang Xiu and Wang Kai are both relatives. They are more powerful than Shi Chong, but they are not as rich as Shi Chong.

"Shi Shuo Xin Yu·Eliminate Extravagance" depicts the poverty and luxury of the high-ranking officials at that time, which is enough to make today's nouveau riche stunned. The most famous one is the story of Shi Chong and Wang Kai's fight for wealth. Shi Chong built a luxurious manor in the capital Luoyang. He had more than 100 wives alone, and everyone's head and hands were shining with gold. Wang Kai was the uncle of Sima Yan, Emperor Guwu. He became a super rich man by taking bribes and corruption through nepotism with the emperor. . The two were dissatisfied with each other, and each showed his special powers and openly fought for wealth: Wang Kai used maltose to cook the pot, and Shi Chong used candles as firewood: Wang Kai used silk and satin as a screen on the 40-mile road section, and Shi Chong used 50-mile road sections to make a screen. It was surrounded by a splendid corridor; Wang Kai used peppercorn flour to make his house, and Shi Chong used red stone resin as paint...

No one can tell how much money Shi Chong had. Where did all this money come from? It turns out that Shi Chong served as the governor of Jingzhou for several years. Jingzhou is a big city and an important land and water transportation route. There are many merchants traveling from north to south. Shi Chong served as the governor of Jingzhou for several years. During this period, in addition to stepping up his efforts to plunder people's wealth and wealth, he also engaged in dirty robberies. activity. He also allowed his subordinates to rob property and take property by force. When some foreign envoys or businessmen passed by Jingzhou, Shi Chong sent his subordinates to extort money, and even openly killed people and looted goods like a gangster. In this way, he plundered countless money and jewelry and became the biggest rich man at that time. In order to show off his wealth, Shi Chong specially sent people to collect precious exotic flowers and herbs from all over the country, and built a Golden Valley Garden surrounded by flowers next to his residence, and built an exquisite Green Pearl Tower in the garden. , which contains the singing girl he bought with five measures of pearls. A friend of Shi Chong, named Liu Shi, once visited Shi Chong and suddenly felt a stomachache. He quickly went to the toilet. When he entered the toilet, he saw a big bed inside, with beautiful gauze hanging and gorgeous cushions. . The two maids stood aside, holding sachets in their hands. Liu Shi quickly exited and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I accidentally entered your bedroom." After hearing this, Shi Chong laughed and said, "It was the toilet you went in."

Wang Kai, on the other hand, relied on the fact that he was a relative of the emperor to plunder people's wealth and dominate. As a result, he gained countless properties and became one of the richest families in Luoyang City.

When Shi Chong arrived in Luoyang, he heard that Wang Kai was famous for his wealth and wanted to compare with him. He heard that Wang Kai's family used caramel water to wash pots, so he ordered his kitchen to use candles as firewood to cook meals, and also used spices to paint the walls, outdoing Wang Kai.

Wang Kai was not willing to admit defeat. In order to show off his wealth, he woven a barrier of precious fine purple silk threads on both sides of his door for forty miles. Anyone who wants to go to Wang Kai's house must pass through this purple silk barrier that is forty miles long. This luxurious decoration caused a sensation in Luoyang City.

After Shi Chong heard about it, he deliberately suppressed Wang Kai. In order to show his wealth, he ordered people to lay a fifty-mile-long barrier on both sides of the road in front of his home with colored satin, which was more precious than purple silk. It was longer and more luxurious than Wang Kai's barrier. If people want to go to Shi Chong's house, they must walk through this long brocade screen. As soon as this incident spread, people said that Shi Chong's family was richer than Wang Kai's family.

Wang Kai lost another move, and then he realized how powerful he was. But he was not willing to give up, so he had to ask his nephew, Emperor Wu of Jin, for help. Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty heard that his uncle was competing with Shi Chong for wealth. He thought such a competition was very interesting, so he sent someone to bring out a precious coral tree more than two feet high that was collected in the palace. The coral tree was red with pink and crystal clear. Translucent, with well-proportioned branches and sharp edges, it is the top grade among corals. Emperor Wu of Jin gave it to Wang Kai so that Wang Kai could show off in front of everyone and stand out in the limelight.

With the emperor's help and reinforcements, Wang Kai became more motivated than his generosity. After getting the coral tree, as if he had found a treasure, he quickly sent out an invitation, specifically inviting Shi Chong and a group of civil and military officials to his home for dinner.

At the banquet, Wang Kai pretended to be mysterious and said: "I have a rare treasure in my family, which is usually not easily seen by others. Today, just because everyone is happy, I intend to let everyone see it. What do you think? ”

Of course everyone wanted to take a look and asked what kind of treasure it was. After being drunk and full, Wang Kai proudly said to everyone: "I have a rare coral at home. How about inviting everyone to take a look at it?"

Everyone said "Please come quickly", so Wang Kai said He ordered the maid to bring out the coral tree. I saw two maids carefully holding out a tall coral tree. Everyone's eyes lit up and they praised it repeatedly. The coral was two feet tall, with well-proportioned branches and bright pink color. Everyone was full of praise after seeing it and said it was really a rare treasure.

Only Shi Chong sneered. He saw a Tie Ruyi (a kind of utensil) on the desk. He grabbed it and approached the coral tree. He slowly moved forward, as if he was watching carefully. , Wang Kai narrowed his eyes proudly.

It was too late to say that, but soon, Shi Chong casually picked up the Tie Ruyi ornament he took from the table and hit the center of the big coral tree hard, " "Kron", the coral tree immediately shattered into pieces and scattered all over the ground.

Seeing a coral being smashed to pieces, the surrounding officials were shocked. The owner Wang Kai turned red in the face and angrily asked Shi Chong: "You... what are you doing!"

Shi Chong playfully said: "You don't need to be angry, I'm still That's it."

Wang Kai was heartbroken and angry. He couldn't help but grabbed Shi Chong and asked him to compensate, saying repeatedly: "Okay, okay, give me back."

Shi Chong looked up to the sky and laughed and said, "Okay, okay, I'll pay, I'll pay." He immediately asked his followers to go home and bring some more coral trees from home for Wang Kai to choose.

After a while, a group of followers came back and brought over all the coral trees from Shi Chong's family. This time, dozens of coral trees were brought in. I saw that the trees were tall and straight, crystal clear; the plants were straight and dazzling. Compared to Wang Kai's tree, it was several times better. Among these corals, there are six or seven that are three to four feet tall, and the largest ones are twice as tall as Wang Kai's. As for corals like Wang Kai's, there are even more.

The surrounding officials were stunned. The onlookers pointed at this tree and looked at that one, dizzying. Only then did Wang Kai understand that the wealth of Shi Chong's family was many times greater than his. His own family's wealth was indeed no match for his, so he had to give up and admit defeat.

This is how this extravagant farce ended. Shi Chong's wealth became famous in Luoyang. In his daily life, he "used silk and bamboo to make the best of the time, and cooked the treasures of land and water." I feel inferior to myself.

Shi Chong was just a middle-ranking bureaucrat in the Jin State (a regular servant of Sanqi). He was so indulgent and wasteful, let alone a high-ranking official at the prime minister level. How could the prime minister ever eat tens of thousands of dollars every day and always complain about the lack of delicious food? With the purchasing power at that time, 10,000 yuan was equivalent to the food expenses of a thousand ordinary people for a month.

Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty once visited the home of his consort Wang Ji. Wang Ji hosted a banquet with glass utensils. More than 100 beauties dressed in silk and satin lined up to serve them, holding food in their hands. This was nothing. Wang Ji liked being beaten by horses, so he bought a large area at the foot of Beimeng Mountain, where the land was the most expensive, as a racecourse. He used woven money to cover the boundary ditch, which was called "Golden ditch" at the time.

At that time, a minister, Fu Xian, wrote a memorial to Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty. He said, "This kind of serious extravagance and waste is more serious than natural disasters. Now this kind of extravagance and extravagance is not only not punished, but is considered a glorious thing. How can it continue like this?"

Emperor Jin Wu read the memorial and ignored it at all. Like Shi Chong, Wang Kai and others, he intensified his search and was extremely extravagant.

Usually at the beginning of a unified dynasty in history, the monarchs and ministers worked together and were full of enterprising and pioneering spirit, which could always lay a deep foundation for the long-term stability of the dynasty. But the Western Jin Dynasty was an exception. After the Jin Dynasty unified the world, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty did not use their excess energy to expand the territory and strive for governance.

Why did the Western Jin Dynasty fall so quickly? The Western Jin Dynasty was so corrupt from the beginning, with so much extravagance, licentiousness and corruption at the top and bottom. How could the country last long? This was doomed to cause great chaos!

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