History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 2 Living under someone else’s roof
Many of the first generation of wealthy people who have made their fortunes from scratch often have extremely bitter childhood experiences. When they look back on their past, they always sigh with tears in their eyes, "Ah, it's all tears if I talk too much!"

The same was true for Zhu Wen. He had been struggling at the bottom of society, but was thrown into hell on earth by a sudden change.

The historical records of this story are simple and clear:
"The three brothers were orphaned before they came of age, and their mother took them to live with the family of Liu Chong from Xiao County." (Old History of the Five Dynasties, Book of Liang, Chronicle of Taizu)
"After Cheng died, his three sons became poor and could not make a living. They worked with their mother as servants in the home of Liu Chong from Xiao County." (New History of the Five Dynasties, Liang Benji)
Liu Chong of Xiao County was a childhood friend of Zhu Wen's mother, Wang. After Zhu Cheng's death, Wang, forced to make a living, fled to Liu Chong's home with her family and began to live under someone else's roof.

Liu Chong worked as a "recorder" in Xuzhou, mainly responsible for archival and clerical work within the government. He was not a formal civil servant, but a temporary worker in today's terms.

The landlord's family has no surplus food.

Zhu Wen's mother, Wang, did some mending and washing work in Liu Chong's house, replacing a maid; the three Zhu brothers were also young and strong, so they could share some of the dirty, hard and heavy work, replacing three farmhands. The two families supported each other.

Of course, the neighbors gossiped and criticized behind their backs, saying that there must be an improper relationship between Liu Chong and Wang.

The honest and dull eldest brother Zhu Quanyu chose to endure these rumors, pretending he didn't hear them, as it was not easy to make a living; the second brother Zhu Cun and the third brother Zhu Wen could not stand it. They were fifteen or sixteen years old and did not know their place, and they would start fighting at the slightest disagreement.

Be patient for a while, and you will be calm; take a step back, and you will lose more. Brothers fight together, fathers and sons fight together, life and death are indifferent, just fight if you don't agree!

"Cun and Wen were both brave and powerful, but Wen was even more ferocious." (New History of the Five Dynasties)
"When the emperor (Zhu Wen) was young, he did not work and was proud of his bravery, which made many people in the village dislike him." (Old History of the Five Dynasties)
Zhu Wen was idle and did not like to work. He loved fighting and gambling. He was a typical village tyrant and hooligan.

Here we need to briefly explain that the Old History of the Five Dynasties is an official history book compiled by the order of Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty, while the New History of the Five Dynasties was written by Ouyang Xiu himself. Ouyang Xiu, who needs no introduction, is one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties".

Since Emperor Taizu of Song had already asked historians to compile history books of the previous dynasty, why did Ouyang Xiu also want to create an "Ouyang Xiu version" of history books of the same period?

The answer is given in the Preface to the History of the Five Dynasties: "Historical officials who hold pens may not have enough literary talent to shine, or enough knowledge to continue writing... Mr. Ouyang of Luling took on the task generously, and devoted himself to it for many years before completing the book. The records of his deeds are detailed in the old records, and his praise and criticism are based on the Spring and Autumn Annals..."

Master Xiu is outspoken. I just don't like the achievements of the historians, so I started a new one. I am one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties". Do you think I am inferior to you? Humph, grandma!

Xiu Ye deleted a lot of historical materials, artificially creating a historical blank. He was criticized by scholars both ancient and modern for this. But Xiu Ye was so willful.

At the same time, he did not shy away from using the style of the Spring and Autumn Period, incorporating his own value judgment system and moral code of conduct, and adding subjective praise and criticism to the historical materials. In this regard, Master Xiu showed his scholarly spirit to the fullest, hating those bad guys who destroyed the social order and ethics, and denounced this period as a dark era of "the king is not a king, the minister is not a minister, the father is not a father, and the son is not a son."

Therefore, the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" calls Zhu Wen "Emperor" at the beginning, such as "The Emperor is already strong" above; while the "New History of the Five Dynasties" calls him by his name directly, such as "Wen is even more fierce."

Because Zhu Wen murdered two Tang emperors, such a treasonous act was an important reason for angering Ouyang Xiu. Therefore, many scholars have questioned the position of the New History of the Five Dynasties and pointed out that some of its records may be unfair.

However, what is interesting is that the Old History of the Five Dynasties lists the "founding monarchs" of most of the local separatist regimes ("Ten Kingdoms") in the "Biographies of Pretenders", while Xiu Ye lists them as "Aristocratic Families" in the New History of the Five Dynasties. Does the cynical Xiu Ye have double standards in terms of behavior? Xiu Ye is so willful. Both history books record the history of the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period, and are also listed in the "Twenty-Four Histories". There are other history books that also record this period, and the content is slightly different, and some are contradictory.

As the saying goes, it is better to have no book than to believe in it completely. This book will not blindly believe in the words of one person, but will try its best to combine various historical materials, make reasonable deductions, and restore the true history as much as possible.

Zhu Wen did not receive a good education in his childhood, nor did he show outstanding talent. He was no different from other problem teenagers who were idle and did not work.

During his rebellious period, he was exposed to a new skill - gambling. Gambling became his only hobby besides fighting.

Liu Chong looked at the three Zhu brothers with a look of disappointment. The eldest brother was honest and simple, but he was not ambitious and had a dull mind; the second and third brothers were so naughty and lacked family education. He really couldn't figure out what genes these three had inherited from the honest scholar Zhu Cheng.

Although I cannot teach you to be a good person, I will never sit back and watch you sink! Liu Chong strictly disciplined Zhu Cun and Zhu Wen, playing the role of a strict father, especially to Zhu Wen, sometimes he would really use a board or a whip to teach him a lesson when he was angry.

However, Zhu Wen refused to change despite repeated warnings.

Once, Zhu Wen lost so much money in gambling that he stole the pot from Liu's family and used it as gambling money.

Pots and bedding were definitely valuable items in the home in that era.

When I was a kid, I was bullied by older kids, and my grandmother threatened them by saying, "I'll smash your pot." The crosstalk master Ma Sanli has a classic piece called "Just to Make You Play," which humorously tells a story about stealing quilts, mattresses, clothes, and pants. Now, we hardly hear stories about stealing quilts, and "smashing your pot" is no longer a deadly threat.

Zhu Wen stole the pot as gambling money, which is equivalent to a naughty kid today mortgaging the real estate certificate to buy a King of Glory skin or stealing his parents' credit card to reward a female anchor.

So this time, Liu Chong was really furious. He picked up a huge wooden stick and chased Zhu Wen all over the village, muttering: "This kind of prodigal son will be a disaster when he grows up. I must beat him to death today!" Even the family members couldn't stop him. Fortunately, Zhu Wen was agile and strong, so he managed to avoid it.

Zhu Wen could not forget the anger in Liu Chong's eyes, an anger that really wanted to kill people. Zhu Wen was afraid.

It was at this time that Zhu Wen showed his extraordinary wisdom.

Thanks to the book friend "Tang Yuzhe Zhiqu Xiaozhang" for his recommendation vote. I will add another chapter today to express my gratitude!

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(End of this chapter)