History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 138 Dong Chang Becomes Emperor 1
【Dong Chang proclaimed himself emperor】

Dong Chang was the best at taking advantage of opportunities. He learned from Liu Hanhong's experience and actively paid tribute to the court, and even doubled the amount.

Each tribute was 10,000 taels of gold, 5,000 ingots of silver, 15,000 pieces of Yuezhou's specialty silk, or other tributes of equivalent value, and was paid every ten days. In order to ensure the timely arrival of the tribute, he specially selected a group of armed couriers, 500 people in a group, with armed escort, and strict discipline: those who missed the deadline would be beheaded.

Such an astronomical amount of money and goods must of course be taken from the people. Dong Chang used horrific and bloody means to levy heavy taxes and extort money from the people, using the blood and sweat of the people to satisfy his "loyalty".

The imperial court was moved by Dong Chang's loyalty, and sent him letters of commendation one after another (at least once every ten days). Dong Chang's official rank also rapidly reached its peak: he was granted the title of Grand Master of the Three Departments, was granted the title of Situ (among the three highest officials), was given the title of Prime Minister, and was granted the title of Prince of Longxi.

Dong Chang's pursuit of power and fame is almost perverted.

Whenever the imperial edict of reward was delivered, his eyes would drool with greed. He gave money to the messenger who delivered the edict according to the number of words in the edict, one piece of high-quality silk for each word. The messenger only regretted that vernacular writing was popularized too late.

As his official position and title were promoted, Dong Chang's true nature was gradually exposed. He discarded his hypocritical mask and became willful and reckless.

Dong Chang implemented harsh laws and severe punishments during his rule. The lightest sentence was hundreds or thousands of lashes, and even the smallest offense would result in the execution of the entire family (even the smallest offense would result in the extermination of the entire clan). The land on the execution ground was dyed red with blood.

If someone filed a lawsuit, he would order both parties to roll the dice in court. The winner would win the case, and the loser would be killed. He never looked at the case files or asked why, it was like playing Russian roulette.

The standard for selecting and recruiting officials is also rolling dice, and the winner gets promoted.

It's so absurd.

On one occasion, according to his law, more than 5,000 people should be executed. Dong Chang gathered them together and said, "Those who can serve me will be spared." Everyone rushed to swear allegiance. So Dong Chang recruited them, gave them high salaries and generous benefits, and named them "Gratitude Capital". He also tattooed the three words "Gratitude Capital" on their arms, so that they would always remember Dong Chang's grace of not killing them.

The record of "Gratitude City" in "Wu Yue Beishi" is even more bloody and cruel, "Gathered scoundrels, cut off their wrists and ears, and called it Gratitude City."

In short, they were heavy-handed, mean, bloody and cruel.

It is said that there were so many people who died unjustly that supernatural events often occurred near the execution ground in the middle of the night, such as wild ghosts crying.

Unrestrained power often drives people crazy, and Dong Chang is no exception.

The people were deeply harmed by him, but he felt good about himself, thinking that he was a great sage and virtuous man without any predecessor or successor, so he ordered a shrine to be built for himself.

Ancestral halls are built after death for future generations to commemorate people. Ancestral halls built when people are alive are called "living temples", which are usually built by others to express gratitude, such as Zhao Dun of Chenzhou building a living temple for Zhu Wen in Chenzhou. Building a living temple for oneself is too shameless and shameless to the extreme.

Dong Chang carved his own statue out of precious fragrant wood, and then filled it with precious materials such as gold, white jade, and silk as his internal organs. The statue was dressed in a full set of crown and robes (ancient formal attire), sitting in the center of the ancestral hall, with groups of wives and concubines standing on both sides to serve, hundreds of singers and drummers in front, and soldiers lined up behind.

If his ancestral temple were buried in the ground, it would be a copycat version of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum.

Dong Chang Shengci was built in accordance with the specifications of Dayu Temple, and he ordered that from now on, all folk worship and festivals should not be held at Dayu Temple, but at Dong Chang Shengci! He believed that his merits and virtues surpassed those of King Yu.

Someone presented a clay horse to the Dong Chang ancestral temple, and placed high-level tributes such as cattle and sheep on it every day for sacrifice. They also swore that the clay horse would sweat and neigh when no one was around in the middle of the night. This was because the statue of Dong Chang was showing its miraculous power and it would bring good luck.

Therefore, those who offered clay horses, or claimed to have seen clay horses sweating or heard clay horses neighing, were all rewarded by Dong Chang. That year, there was a locust plague, and swarms of locusts flew into Dong Chang's ancestral temple, which was very unlucky. Dong Chang ordered people to catch all the locusts and throw them into the lake to drown them. He also pretended that his shrine was enough to suppress them and prevent them from doing evil again.

One of the retainers was courting death and said, "I once visited the ancestral hall of Wu Yinzhi (a famous scholar in the Eastern Jin Dynasty), and there was only a simple wood carving in it." Perhaps his original intention was to flatter Dong Chang, and his implication might be to mock Wu Yinzhi's shabbyness and praise Dong Chang's luxury and pomp.

Hit on the horse's hoof.

Dong Chang was furious, "How can Wu Yinzhi be compared with me? I am more awesome than Dayu!" He actually dismembered this retainer on the spot.

There are also many wooden statues of generals and officials in the ancestral temple, with their feet fixed to the ground with long nails, which means that their power is stable and will not be shaken for hundreds of years.

What he did was even worse than what Gao Pian did. As a result, many "Lü Yongzhis" also came, such as Ying Zhi, Wang Wen and other evil men and witches.

These people colluded with Dong Chang's close flatterers to please Dong Chang by creating all kinds of "auspicious signs" and making up all kinds of lies in order to get a generous reward. Every day, hundreds of so-called auspicious items such as turtles, fish, talismans, etc. were presented to Dong Chang. Dong Chang accepted them all and rewarded the discoverers and presenters generously, without any doubt about their authenticity.

It’s best for others not to doubt you, because anyone who doubts you will be killed.

Dong Chang petitioned the court to be named "King of Yue". "King of Yue" was a one-character prince, one level higher than Dong Chang's original two-character county king (Longxi County King).

The court rejected it.

Dong Chang was full of complaints and complained to his flatterers: "The court has failed me! The money I have paid to the court over the years is too much to count, but the court is stingy with a King of Yue!"

The onlookers were not afraid of making trouble and started to stir up trouble for him, "Your Majesty, why are you still the King of Yue? Just become the Emperor!"

As a result, the people flocked to Dong Chang's mansion in groups and surrounded the entrance. Everyone was impassioned and begged Dong Chang to follow the will of the people and ascend the throne to become emperor.

Dong Chang was overjoyed and sent people to the door to calm the people down. "Don't worry, the time is not right yet. When the time is right, I will naturally follow the public opinion."

Was Dong Chang's enthronement really "what the people wanted"? We already have the answer in our hearts.

There was a sage who called himself the Old Man of Shanyin (some say it was Old Lady Han, "Wu Han Ao"), who sang a ballad, "If you want to know the emperor's surname, the grass is green for a thousand miles; if you want to know the emperor's name, the sun rises from the sun." Dong Chang rewarded him with a hundred pieces of silk. Anyone who presented auspicious signs would be generously rewarded.

However, the number of people who came to offer auspicious signs was too large to be recorded, so the reward was gradually reduced from hundreds of thousands of coins per person to five hundred or three hundred coins.

Dong Chang ordered an expert to build a high altar to offer sacrifices to the heavens. He claimed that he had obtained a book from heaven. The words on the book were strange and unrecognizable. After several translations and deciphering, it was finally found to be "a rabbit on a golden bed."

Dong Chang then announced, "I am born in the Year of the Rabbit. I am the rabbit. And next year is the Year of the Rabbit (Yi Mao). The meaning of the Heavenly Book is very clear. It is for me to ascend the throne as emperor in the Year of the Rabbit, the Month of the Rabbit, the Day of the Rabbit, and the Hour of the Rabbit!"

Thanks to my old friend "最爱一笑" for the recommendation vote and support, and thanks to "Shang Jianxiu" for the reward support!

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(End of this chapter)