Zi Zhi Tong Jian

Chapter 39 Chen Ji: Xiao Kuan offers advice (2)
[Comment and Analysis]

The meal that Yuwen invited Yang Jian to was another "Hongmen Banquet"!When Liu Bang went to the banquet, he was able to escape with the guards of Zhang Liang, Fan Kui and others.This time Yu Wenzhao prepared no worse than Xiang Yu, but let Yang Jian escape again, mainly because of Yuan Zhou's help.If it weren't for Yuan Zhou's sacrifice to save him, Yang Jian might have become a ghost under the sword.

Subjugation
[Original text]

The second year of Chen Changcheng's Duke Zhide
On this year, in front of Guangzhao Hall, there are three pavilions of Linchun, Jieqi, and Wangxian. It is made of sandalwood, decorated with gold and jade, with pearls and emeralds in the middle, with bead curtains on the outside, and precious beds and tents inside. The clothes and play are magnificent, unprecedented in modern times.Every time the breeze comes, the fragrance smells for miles.The piled stones below it are mountains, and the water diversion is a pool, where exotic flowers and plants are mixed.Shangzi lives in Linchun Pavilion, Zhang Guifei lives in Jieqi Pavilion, and Gong and Kong two noble concubines live in Wangxian Pavilion, and they come and go again.There are also two beauties, Wang and Li, Zhang and Xue, two Shuyuan, Yuan Zhaoyi, He Jieyu, Jiang Xiurong, and You Chong, who swim on top of them one after another.Yuan Dashe, a famous scholar in the court, was regarded as a female bachelor.Although the servant Shejiang is the prime minister, he is not close to government affairs. He has more than ten literati, such as Kong Fan, the official minister of the capital, and Wang Yu, the regular servant of Sanqi, and more than ten literati. guest".Every time he drank wine, all the concubines, concubines and female scholars wrote poems together with the courtiers, and gave each other gifts, especially those who were beautiful, and were given new voices. More than a thousand court ladies were selected to learn and sing, and the divisions advanced one after another.Its songs include "Flowers in the Backyard of Yushu" and "Linchun Le", etc., all of which are roughly beautiful to the looks of concubines.It is common for the monarch and his ministers to sing to their heart's content, from evening to dawn.

Zhang Guifei's name is Lihua. She is a daughter of a military family. She is the servant of Gong Guifei.The noble concubine's hair is seven feet long, her light can be learned, her personality is sensitive and intelligent, she has divine splendor, she moves in and out of the flower, and every time she looks at her, the brilliance overflows her eyes and shines on her left and right.Good waiting for the master's color, recommending the ladies of the palace;There is also the technique of dispelling charms, often setting up prostitution sacrifices in the palace, and gathering witches for encouragement.The top was lazy in political affairs, and all the divisions played, and the eunuchs Cai Tuo'er and Li Shandu were invited;Li and Cai are unable to report, and the concubines are not in the same order, and nothing is lost.Because of visiting foreign affairs, there is a word or a thing in the world, and the imperial concubine must know it clearly;Eunuchs are familiar with each other, linking internally and externally, citing clan relatives, committing crimes, selling officials to prisons, and bribing public goods; the order of rewards and punishments does not come out of the outside world.If the ministers disobeyed, they blamed them.As a result, the power of Kong and Zhang suffocated the Quartet, and the ministers in power all followed the wind and flattered them.

【Translation】

The second year of Chen Changcheng's Duke Zhide (584 AD)
In this year, Empress Chen built three pavilions, namely Linchun, Jieqi and Wangxian, in front of Guangzhao Hall of the Imperial Palace.Each pavilion is tens of feet high and stretches over dozens of rooms. The doors, windows, wall belts, hanging lintels, and railings are all carved from sunken wood and sandalwood, and decorated with gold, jade, pearls, emeralds, etc. , There are bead curtains hanging outside the doors and windows of the pavilions, treasure beds and tents are placed indoors, and the things to wear and enjoy are magnificent, all of which are unprecedented in modern times.Whenever the breeze blows, the fragrance of sunken wood and sandalwood will float for miles.Stones are piled up under the pavilions to form rockeries, water is diverted into pools, and exotic flowers and plants are also mixed.

Empress Chen himself lives in Linchun Pavilion, Concubine Zhang lives in Jieqi Pavilion, and the concubines Gong and Kong live in Wangxian Pavilion. They communicate with each other through the complex roads between the pavilions.In addition, there are Wang Meiren, Li Meiren, Zhang Shuyuan, Xue Shuyuan, Yuan Zhaoyi, He Jieyu, and Jiang Xiurong in the harem, all of whom are favored by Chen Houzhu, and they often go to the three pavilions to have fun.Empress Chen also appointed Yuan Dashe and others who were talented among the court ladies as female bachelors.Although Shangshu servant Shejiang is the prime minister, he does not handle political affairs personally. Every day, he and more than a dozen civil officials, including the capital official Shangshu Kong Fan and Sanqi Changshi Wang Yu, serve the empress and play and have fun in the back court of the palace. There is no emphasis on the order of superiority and inferiority of monarchs and ministers, so they are called "Xiao Ke".Every time Empress Chen held a banquet, she asked all the concubines, concubines, and female scholars to compose poems and compositions together, give each other gifts, and then select particularly beautiful poems from them to compose new songs, and then selected more than a thousand court ladies to practice singing. Division staged.His songs include "Yushu Houting Flower" and "Linchun Le", etc. Most of them praise the beauty of the concubines and concubines.Monarchs and ministers drink and listen to music all night long, which is a habit.

Concubine Zhang's name is Lihua. She was originally the daughter of a military family, and later became Concubine Gong's maid. Empress Chen fell in love with her at first sight.She soon won the favor of Queen Chen and gave birth to Prince Chen Shen.Concubine Zhang's hair is about seven feet long, black and glossy, alert and intelligent, full of literary talents, and has elegant and dignified manners.Whenever she gazes at it, she looks even more radiant, shining on her left and right.Concubine Zhang Guifei was good at observing words and feelings, and understood the empress's mind, and recommended court ladies for the empress; therefore, all the concubines, concubines, and court ladies in the harem were grateful to her, and praised her kindness in front of Empress Chen.She is also good at witchcraft of pretending to be gods and ghosts, and often holds some unceremonious sacrificial activities in the harem, gathering witches there to dance with drums and zithers, making the whole harem full of smoke.Empress Chen was too lazy to deal with political affairs, so as long as the Chinese, Chinese and military officials had to give performances, they had to go through the eunuchs Cai Tuo'er and Li Shandu for instructions; so Empress Chen leaned on the soft cushion and hugged Concubine Zhang Guifei in his arms. On their knees, the two of them jointly approved the performance table and adjudicated on political affairs.Concubine Zhang would analyze everything that Cai Tuo'er and Li Shandu failed to remember one by one, so there were no omissions.Concubine Zhang also often visits to learn about things outside the palace. Concubine Zhang must know every word and every thing in the world in advance, and then report the truth to Empress Chen.Empress Chen favored her even more. As a result, Concubine Zhang's status far surpassed all the concubines and concubines in the harem.The eunuchs and cronies close to Empress Chen colluded with each other, colluded with each other, cited clan relatives, ran amok, sold officials to jail, bribed public officials, and even ordered rewards and punishments from the court, they all went outside the palace.If the ministers of the foreign court violated the will a little, they would be framed by the government.For a time, Concubine Kong Gui and Concubine Zhang Guifei were all in power, and they were very popular, and the princes and ministers in charge of the government all competed to flatter and cling to them.

Yushu Xinsheng
[Original text]

Kong Fan and Kong Guipin became brothers and sisters; they heard of mistakes, and every time there was a bad thing, Kong Fan would play it as a decoration, praise and praise, because he was favored and favored, and he obeyed his words.If there are admonishers among the officials, they often condemn them with crimes.Shi Wenqing, a member of Zhongshushe, has a lot of experience in the history of books. He has tasted things in the East Palace. He is clever and memorized.He also recommended Wu Xing, Shen Keqing, Yang Huilang, Xu Zhe, Ji Huijing, etc., who were good at it, saying that there are officials who are capable, and all of them are promoted; Keqing is the person of Zhongshushe.The guest Qing has oral arguments, knows the court allusions, and is also in charge of the gold and silk bureau.Old system: Soldiers and scholars are not subject to city taxes.Shangsheng repaired the palace, but his eyes and ears were extremely poor, and the treasury was empty.Ke Qingzao, please don't ask the scholars and concubines, and take responsibility for the levy of the city, and add to its old.Therefore, Yang Huilang was appointed as Taishi Order, and Ji Huijing was appointed as Shangshu Jin and Cangdu Lingshi. The two family members were small officials, and they were not bad at all. , The scholars and the people complained.According to the governor of Keqing, the annual income is dozens of times more than normal.Going to Dayue, it is beneficial to regard Shi Wenqing as an acquaintance, especially because of relatives, and he is appointed for all small public affairs.There are 50 people from Er Diao Chan.

Kong Fan claimed that his talents in civil and military affairs were beyond the reach of the imperial court, so he calmly said: "The generals outside will fight against each other by themselves. How can they be far-sighted and far-sighted? They don't know that!" , also agreed; Sima Shen praised it again.Since the general made a slight mistake, he seized his soldiers and assigned civil servants; he seized Ren Zhong's trilogy to match Fan and Cai Zheng.From the disintegration of civil and military affairs, and even destruction.

【Translation】

Duguan Shangshu Kong Fan and Kong Guipin were sworn brothers and sisters; Chen Houzhu hated hearing ministers criticizing him for his mistakes, so every time he did something wrong, Kong Fan would try to cover it up for him and punish him. Praise praise.Therefore, Empress Chen favored and treated Kong Fan very much, and often obeyed his advice.If civil and military officials dared to speak up and speak out, Kong Fan would charge him with a crime and then drive him out of the court.Shi Wenqing, a member of Zhongshushe, has always been well-read. When Empress Chen was the crown prince, Shi Wenqing once worked in the East Palace. He can handle things in an orderly manner anywhere, so he is very close and favored by Chen Houzhu.Shi Wenqing also recommended his good friends Wu Xingren Shen Keqing, Yang Huilang, Xu Zhe, Ji Huijing and others to Chen Houzhu, saying that they all had the ability to serve as officials. Let Shen Keqing serve as the scholar of Zhongshu.Shen Keqing is eloquent by nature, understands the rules and regulations of the imperial court, and is also in charge of the Jinshu Bureau of Zhongshu Province.According to the old system: the state does not levy entry tariffs on soldiers and officials.However, because Empress Chen built a large number of buildings and palaces, and the decoration was extremely luxurious, the treasury was short of money and the finances were exhausted. If there is a little construction, he often suffers from lack of money to pay.Shen Keqing then asked both officials and civilians to impose market entry tariffs on them, and also proposed to increase the amount of collection.Chen Houzhu immediately appointed Yang Huilang as Taishi Order, and Ji Huijing as Shang Shujin and Cangdu Lingshi.Yang and Ji were originally petty officials, and their examination papers were not bad at all;Shen Keqing supervised the general, and his annual income was dozens of times more than the amount in previous years.Chen Houzhu was very happy because of this, and even more believed that Shi Wenqing was wise and good at knowing people, especially his cronies relied on him and entrusted him to handle all the big and small political affairs.Shi Wenqing and his group recommended each other, and there were as many as 50 people who were prominent in the government and the opposition.

Kong Fan thought he was an all-rounder in civil and military affairs, and no one in the court could compare with him, so he calmly said to Chen Houzhu: "The generals who lead troops outside the court are all born in the army, and they have the courage of a man. As for the foresight and strategizing How could they know!" Chen Houzhu asked Shi Wenqing for his opinion, and Shi Wenqing was afraid of Kong Fan's power, so he echoed; Sima Shen, the general secretary of Zhongshu, also agreed with Kong Fan's opinion.From then on, as long as the general made a slight mistake, he would immediately lose his military power and assign it to civilian officials; the leading general Ren Zhong's trilogy was therefore seized and assigned to Kong Fan and Cai Zheng.As a result, all civil servants and generals were renounced and were about to disintegrate, which eventually led to the fall of the Chen Dynasty.

[Comment and Analysis]

Chen Houzhu is a famous faint emperor in history. He spends all day drinking and having fun with the concubines and maids in the harem. A minister can't even tell who is a civil servant and who is a general; he has never asked the poor people in the world, and he doesn't know how big the border of Chen State is; he stays in the harem, and doesn't know spring and autumn, winter and summer.The government is becoming more and more corrupt day by day. Local officials imitated the Chinese, Chinese and military officials of the court, only caring about blackmailing the people and domineering. The people of Chen Dynasty are struggling to death.How could such a dynasty not perish?
(End of this chapter)