History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 306 Playboy
【playboy】

The two Xu concubines were travel enthusiasts and visited major scenic spots and historical sites in the country, such as Zhangren Temple, Jinhua Palace, Sanxue Mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, etc. Every trip was an extremely huge expense.

Under the careful teachings of Concubine Xu and Concubine Xu, Wang Zongyan soon embarked on a path of extravagance and indulgence, "addicted to wine, sex and games."

After Wang Jian became the crown prince, one day when he passed by the palace, Wang Zongyan was playing football and cockfighting with his brothers, and the noise could be heard outside the palace. Wang Jian was angry and sad, and pointed at the palace wall and said to the people around him: "Can such a person protect the family business? (I fought hundreds of battles to establish my foundation, how can this person protect it?)"

After Wang Jian died, no one could restrain Wang Zongyan anymore.

In July of the sixth year of Zhenming (920), Wang Zongyan issued an imperial decree to tour the north at public expense.

In August, Wang Zongyan officially left the capital Chengdu. On the day of departure, Wang Zongyan wore golden armor, a pearl hat, a spear in hand, and a bow and arrow on his waist. The accompanying team with flags flying stretched for more than a hundred miles. The common people looked at him from afar and called him "Guankou God", that is, Erlang Shen.

Concubine Xu and Concubine Xu gave Wang Zongyan a farewell party at Shengxian Bridge, and then accompanied Wang Zongyan to Hanzhou with 20 palace maids. On the West Lake of Hanzhou, Wang Zongyan and the concubines went boating, played music, and feasted all night for several days.

In December, the imperial boat arrived at Lizhou leisurely, and Lin Si'e, the commander of the Langzhou militia, respectfully invited the emperor to visit Langzhou. The imperial boat then sailed down the river, and the luxurious royal fleet was brightly lit, illuminating the river as bright as day at night. The boatmen were also required to wear brocade, and all the expenses were forcibly shared by the counties along the river.

The local counties and prefectures could only scrape the land and squeeze the last penny out of the people's pockets. The people along the river were miserable and complained constantly. But Wang Zongyan turned a deaf ear to this and composed a song "Water Tune Silver Han" with great interest, and ordered the actors to rehearse and perform it.

It was not until the first month of the following year that Wang Zongyan returned to Chengdu, where he had fun for nearly half a year.

The only time he went out was relatively short, and that was because he encountered a supernatural event - the White Fish Tribulation.

It was April of the third year of Longde (923), when Wang Zongyan went to Huanhua Creek for a trip. The dragon boats and painted boats stretched for more than ten miles, from Baihuatan to Wanli Bridge. The attendants were all dressed in silk and satin, covered with pearls and jade, and lined up on both sides of the river, which was very luxurious and spectacular. At noon, the sun was shining brightly, but suddenly dark clouds gathered, strong winds blew, heavy rain poured, and thunder and lightning struck. A big white fish in the water suddenly took off into the air, turned into a dragon, and flew away on the clouds. Everyone was horrified, "thousands of people drowned", and Wang Zongyan was also greatly frightened, "the emperor was afraid, and drove back to the palace."

But even in the capital Chengdu, it did not prevent Wang Zongyan from becoming corrupt and degenerate.

In the city of Chengdu, Wang Zongyan expanded the Xuanhua Garden, which includes the Chongguang Hall, Taiqing Hall, Yanchang Hall, Huizhen Hall, Qinghe Palace, Yingxian Palace, Jiangzhen Pavilion, Penglai Pavilion, Danxia Pavilion, Yishen Pavilion, Feiluan Pavilion, Ruishou Gate... "The civil engineering work is extremely luxurious and ingenious." As the name suggests, it has a strong local Taoist color. This is a fantasy world created by the two Xu concubines and Wang Zongyan with all their efforts.

Many of the literary works of Concubine Xu and Concubine Xu describe the extravagant life of drunkenness and debauchery in Xuanhua Garden, which is strong evidence that Concubine Xu owned the copyright of "Palace Poems of Lady Huarui".

Wang Zongyan completely let himself go in this paradise on earth, playing there and drinking all night long.

Wang Zongyan ordered the reconstruction of Tang Daoxi's former residence on the top of Qingcheng Mountain into Taiqing Palace, where a statue of Wang Zijin was enshrined. Wang Zijin, also known as Prince Jin, was the crown prince of King Ling of Zhou. His original name was Ji Jin. He was gifted and intelligent, and was a qualified successor to the Zhou Dynasty. Unfortunately, he died young and failed to become the emperor. Later, his son Zongjing changed his surname to "Wang", which became the origin of the surname "Wang". Therefore, Wang Zongyan regarded Wang Zijin as the ancestor of the Wang family.

Wang Zijin enjoyed a high status in Taoism. It was said that he liked to play the sheng, and his voice sounded like a phoenix, just like a fairyland. Later, it was said that he attained the Tao and ascended to heaven, leaving behind the legend of "Prince ascending to heaven". His image of "controlling cranes and playing the sheng to attract phoenixes" also greatly influenced the music, clothing, and cultivation methods of Taoism.

Wang Zijin's influence on Taoism is multifaceted, and his influence on Chinese culture is also extremely far-reaching. Many literary and artistic works show his deeds or image. Taoism gave him a title of honor, and emperors of all dynasties also conferred him a title of honor. Temples were built and named for him in various places.

Wu Zetian conferred the title of "Prince Shengxian" on Wang Zijin, changed the Zijin Temple to "Prince Shengxian Temple", and wrote the inscription herself.

Wang Zongyan certainly could not lag behind, so he built the Taiqing Palace for him, gave him the temple name "Shengzu", and the honorific title "Zhidao Yuchen Emperor". Since then, Wang Zijin has been known as "Yuchen Emperor". So when you see the word "Yuchen Emperor", don't mistake it for "Jade Emperor". This is the test question Comrade Wang Zongyan left for us.

So far, Wang Zongyan's absurdity in building a temple for Wang Zijin's statue is not obvious, but Wang Zongyan will not let us down: he also built statues of Wang Jian and Wang Zongyan, standing on the left and right of Wang Zijin... The living and the dead are placed side by side, which is the biggest taboo. In the main hall, he also enshrined the founder of Taoism, Li Er, the "Taishang Xuanyuan Emperor", and the statues of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty.

After the project was completed, Wang Zongyan went to the opening ceremony with the grandest and most solemn ceremony (with a royal carriage) to cut the ribbon and personally pay homage.

Wang Zongyan believed that his actions were to demonstrate the legitimacy of his regime and to emphasize his good family background. The Taiqing Palace also became a designated diplomatic attraction of Former Shu. When Li Yan, the special envoy of the Later Tang Dynasty, visited Former Shu, Wang Zongyan enthusiastically invited Li Yan to accompany him on a tour and explained to him with great interest, "Look, this is Emperor Yuchen, the one next to him is my father, and look at that one - it's me!"

The people of Shu thought that this was a bad sign, and that Wang Zongyan's homage to the Tang emperors was a sign that Former Shu would be incorporated into Later Tang. After visiting the site, some tourists also said that this was "summoning the spirit of the Tang Dynasty," which was extremely unlucky.

After Li Yan finished his tour and returned to the Later Tang, he described what he had seen and heard, and urged Li Cunxu to attack Shu. Li Cunxu did send troops and destroyed the Former Shu. This will be discussed in detail later.

Wang Zongyan could be called a professional player. He had many inventions, such as the "Meteor Chariot". According to historical records, the Meteor Chariot had "twenty wheels to pull fine horses". A carriage with twenty wheels was like a moving palace.

He also invented a mobile brocade court, which was made by holding up expensive brocade as a barrier, and it had to move with the emperor. The emperor had no out-of-bounds balls, and sometimes, "the ball would gradually reach the street without him knowing it";
There is also a silk rockery. Wang Zongyan used precious silk to make the rockery. Pavilions can also be built on the rockery. Various gold and silver kitchen utensils are placed in the pavilion. The royal chef cooks all kinds of delicious dishes for Wang Zongyan on the spot. Wang Zongyan called it "face-to-face cooking". The silk rockery and the palace pavilions were damaged by wind and rain. Wang Zongyan immediately ordered a new set to be made. At that time, cloth and silk, like copper coins, were circulating currencies. Using silk to make rockery and pavilions, Wang Zongyan truly interpreted the meaning of spending money.
Wang Zongyan feasted and enjoyed himself on this "Zong Mountain", often staying there for more than ten days at a time, which shows its scale. A canal was dug in front of the mountain, leading directly to the harem. Wang Zongyan returned by boat at night and ordered more than a thousand palace maids to stand on both sides with candles to illuminate the water as bright as day.

Wang Zongyan liked burning incense at first. The palace burned various precious spices (sandalwood, orchid, musk) 24 hours a day. Over time, Wang Zongyan got tired of it, so the palace changed to burning soap beans to dispel the previous fragrance...

In short, when it comes to spending money, Wang Zongyan always spares no effort and has a lot of imagination.

As the saying goes, wine and sex are inseparable, and Wang Zongyan was also going further and further down the path of lust.

Wang Zongyan ascended the throne in June, and in October he issued an imperial decree to select beauties from all over the country, "selecting 6 girls from good families to serve as concubines in the harem." He buried his father Wang Jian in November. Filling the harem was more urgent than burying his father.

The reason why Wang Zongyan could indulge in licentiousness without restraint was closely related to his mother, Concubine Daxu. In ancient times, the role of "mother" played a pivotal role in family education, because at that time, men worked outside and women worked inside, and the burden of educating children was basically completed by the mother, and "Mencius's Mother Moved Three Times" and "Mother-in-law Embroidered Words" became models of good family education.

Let’s take Li Cunxu as an example. Li Cunxu was also lustful and licentious, but he dared to let himself go only after his mother, Empress Dowager Cao, passed away. Empress Dowager Cao was relatively strict in disciplining Li Cunxu, often “pulling his ears to teach him”. It is very vivid, she would pull his ears and scold him, and sometimes she would really beat him.

When Li Cunxu contradicted Zhang Chengye, he was whipped by Empress Dowager Cao. Li Cunxu was in awe of Empress Dowager Cao, so when he heard that "the Empress Dowager invites you to have tea", he was so scared that he almost knelt down to Zhang Chengye, poured wine himself, drank four cups in a row, and asked Zhang Chengye to help him intercede with the Empress Dowager.

Let’s look at Wang Zongyan’s mother. Not only did she not stop or correct him, but she actively led him astray.

Once, Wang Zongyan went back to his grandmother's house to visit and fell in love with his cousin, the daughter of his uncle and grandpa Xu Geng's granddaughter. He didn't expect that after not seeing her for a few years, his cousin had grown up to be so beautiful, but due to the blood relationship, he couldn't say the dirty thoughts in his heart.

My mother, Concubine Xu, was understanding. She thought that the good things should be kept in the family and given to my son. So she brought her niece back to the palace and betrothed her to Wang Zongyan. She was first a concubine and later promoted to Concubine Yuan.

It was too harsh to say that the emperor married his own cousin. So Wang Zongyan claimed that she was the granddaughter of Wei Zhaodu, and the history books also recorded her as "Wei Yuanfei". Wei Yuanfei's father was Mr. Xu.

Wang Zongyan's wife was Gao. When Wang Jian established Wang Zongyan as the crown prince, he married him the daughter of Gao Zhiyan, the Minister of War, and made her the crown princess. After Wang Zongyan ascended the throne, he made her the queen. This was a typical political marriage. Queen Gao was well-educated, but not as pretty as Wang Zongyan, who was obsessed with appearance. Especially after Wang Zongyan married his cousin, he became more estranged from Queen Gao. Later, he simply abolished her and sent her back to her parents' home on the grounds that she had no heir.

The influence of deposing the empress was far worse than that of deposing the crown prince. When Empress Gao was deposed and sent back to her parents' home, Gao Zhiyan was so shocked that he fainted on the spot and fell to the ground. After waking up, he committed suicide (die of hunger strike).

(End of this chapter)