Chapter 28 There is no eternal blessing in the world
Regarding Deng Tong, whether it is in "Historical Records" or "Hanshu", he is listed as "Ning Xing".After all, he is not a bad person, his tragedy is caused by Liu Heng's weakness of character.
Deng Tong's rowing skills are superb, so he served as Huang Toulang in Liu Heng's court.Huangtoulang is the boatman in the palace. According to the theory of the five elements, the ancients believed that soil can restrain water, and the color of soil is yellow, so the court boatmen all wore yellow turbans on their heads.
One day Liu Heng had a strange dream. He dreamed that his body seemed to be driven by a desire, impatient to go to the sky, but he still couldn't fly after trying hard.At this moment, a yellow-headed man pushed Liu Heng violently from behind, and Liu Heng flew into the sky at once.Liu Heng turned his head subconsciously, wanting to see who helped him, but he didn't see this person's face clearly, he only saw a big hole in the clothes of this yellow-headed man above his buttocks and below his belt, Liu Heng secretly thought in his heart Remember this.
The next day Liu Heng woke up from his dream, got up and ran to Jiantai on the Cangchi in the southwest of Weiyang Palace. He carefully observed every yellow-headed man on it, and suddenly saw a man with a big hole in his clothes above his buttocks and below his belt.All of this seemed out of the ordinary, because the yellow-headed man looked exactly like the man in the dream from a distance.Liu Heng couldn't help being overjoyed, and hurriedly called this person to ask for his name, and learned that his name was Deng Tong.
Deng Tong made his fortune by accident, and Liu Heng began to favor Deng Tong from then on.Of course, all of this is due to Liu Heng's belief in ghosts and gods.However, the author still thinks that Liu Heng may have some eccentricity, or maybe there is something peculiar about Deng Tong's appearance.Just relying on a dream to favor a person who has no skills other than rowing for a lifetime, this is also incomprehensible to today's people.
Maybe Shi Qian missed the details of history, let's ignore it, and turn around and talk about Deng Tong.
At first, Deng Tong was very honest.As a popular person in front of the emperor, he knows the truth of being alone, and doesn't have much contact with ministers of the outer court and people in society.Since ancient times, emperors have always been afraid that their favorite ministers will collude with cronies. Deng Tong did this to show his loyalty and clear up the suspicion.He stayed in the palace honestly even when Liu Heng approved his leave. Liu Heng saw that this person was honest and trustworthy, so he gave him more than one billion yuan and awarded him two thousand stones. The upper doctor (one said as "Taizhong doctor").
Liu Heng is really a person with a split personality. According to historical records, Liu Heng was reluctant to spend a hundred gold to build a terrace, but when he rewarded Deng Tong, he was lavish, throwing away a billion dollars at will.Do ghosts and gods really have such a big influence on Liu Heng?Liu Heng's preference for Deng Tong is extreme and unbelievable.
Deng Tong was originally a boatman, and he really didn't know anything about national affairs.Although he couldn't recommend talents to Liu Heng, let alone help Liu Heng handle major national affairs, Deng Tong knew how to be cautious in front of the emperor and behave with his tail between his legs. This is actually what all autocratic emperors value.In the eyes of the emperor, ministers can be incompetent, but not loyal. Deng Tong knows how to "low-key" please the emperor, so Liu Heng has always favored him.
Of course, trying to please can be seen as a kind of begging.Deng Tong was born in a poor family, so he especially cherishes Liu Heng's favor to him. Lowering his figure is just a way for him to maintain this relationship. In essence, Deng Tong's motive to curry favor with Liu Heng is pure.
Once, Liu Heng asked a sorcerer to meet Deng Tong. The sorcerer asserted that Deng Tong would starve to death in the future.After hearing this, Liu Heng was very disapproving, thinking that he could give Deng Tong everything, how could Deng Tong starve to death?In a fit of anger, Liu Heng gave Deng Tong a copper mine three miles north of Yandao County, Shu County (now Yingjing, Sichuan).
Liu Heng's move is considered a big deal, but when you think about it carefully, this kind of gift is very unfair to other people. Others will think, why did Deng Tong receive such a big gift because he has no talent or virtue?Huge rewards are actually a hidden danger for the low-key Deng Tong. If Deng Tong can continue to keep a low profile, there may be a turning point. Tragedy laid the groundwork.
He offended Prince Liu Qi.
Once there was a big abscess on Liu Heng's body, and Deng Tong often sucked the pus for Liu Heng.Of course, this is another act of showing loyalty to Liu Heng. Perhaps Deng Tong has superb acting skills. No one would willingly do such a disgusting thing, but Deng Tong can cover up the unhappiness in his heart very well, and he just gurgles for Liu Heng all day long. Suck the pus.
Liu Heng was made very comfortable by Deng Tongshi. Seeing his courtiers being so loyal to him, Liu Heng was also aroused to think of his son Liu Qi.He asked Deng Tong: "Who do you think loves me the most today?"
Deng Tong replied: "I'm afraid there is no one who loves you more than the prince."
After hearing this, Liu Heng probably thought to himself: Is this really the case?You Deng Tong are so loyal to me, I don't think the prince can compare to you!
After a while, Crown Prince Liu Qi came to visit his father.Liu Heng saw that it was better to come early than to come by coincidence, and he just asked him to do the same thing with Deng Tong, so as to test his son's loyalty.Lao Tzu asked his son to suck the pus, and of course the son dared not stop sucking the pus, especially since Lao Tzu was still the emperor, and if he was not careful, his son's head fell to the ground.Liu Qi sucked the pus out of his father coyly, and when he went out, he heard that Deng Tong often sucked Liu Heng's pus, and he understood everything at once, thinking that Deng Tong suggested this to Liu Heng, Since then, I have always hated Deng Tong in my heart.
Facts have proved that Liu Qi, Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, was a very stingy person.As soon as Liu Heng died, Liu Qi ascended the throne, and Deng Tong was immediately deposed from the position of "Taizhong Doctor".As a result, on the way, Deng Tong was exposed for casting money outside the border, and Deng Tong was finally arrested.After several interrogations by Deng Tong, Liu Qi confiscated the incomparably rich family property that Deng Tong obtained by casting money, and he didn't know how Liu Qi calculated it, and sentenced Deng Tong to owe the government several hundred million.
This will put Deng Tong in a difficult situation.Deng Tong himself had no skills, and he didn't accumulate contacts in order to avoid suspicion during Emperor Wen's reign, so when he fell into this position, only Guantao Chang Princess Liu Xun occasionally gave him some property in the idea of treating his father's former ministers favorably.But these properties were basically confiscated by officials as soon as they arrived at Deng Tong's house, and they were used to pay off debts.Deng Tong was so devastated in the end that he didn't even leave a hairpin on his head, and handed everything over to the public.Liu Xing had no choice but to send some meals to Deng Tong often, and it was still in the name of "loaning" to Deng Tong.Even so, Deng Tong couldn't survive, and eventually died in the host's house.
The key reason why Deng Tong didn't come to a good end was because of two points.
First, he was born poor and uneducated.Once people with this background receive favors, they only know how to repay the nobles with all their heart and soul, and serve them with loyalty, but they don't know etiquette and don't know how to take care of other people's feelings.This easily arouses the envy of others, especially the envy of educated and well-known people, because when others want to please their superiors, their stature cannot be lowered as low as him.
Second, he relies too much on Liu Heng.Deng Tong doesn't establish contacts, doesn't make good connections, and only uses Liu Heng as his umbrella. This kind of thinking is too naive and naive.His political innocence and ignorance could not be revealed during Liu Heng's lifetime, but once Liu Heng passed away, the eldest princess would be left alone, and Deng Tong himself was a worthless person, so he would naturally be abandoned by the new ruler.What's more, he himself had offended Liu Qi, and his political isolation eventually ruined his life.
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