Chapter 19 110 Shi Chong Wang Kai Bi Fu

After Emperor Wu of Jin unified the whole country, he was satisfied with his ambition and completely indulged in a licentious life. Under his advocacy, the ministers in the court regarded showing off their wealth as a decent thing. In Luoyang, Kyoto, there were three famous rich men at that time: one was Yang Xiu, the central guard in charge of the imperial guards, the other was Wang Kai, the uncle of Emperor Wu of Jin and later general, and the third was Shi Chong, a regular servant on horseback riding. Yang Xiu and Wang Kai are both foreign relatives. They are more powerful than Shi Chong, but they are not as rich as Shi Chong.No one can tell how much Shi Chong's money is.Where did all this money come from?It turned out that Shi Chong had been the governor of Jingzhou for several years. During this period, in addition to intensifying his search for people's fat and anointment, he also engaged in dirty robbery.When some foreign envoys or businessmen passed through Jingzhou, Shi Chong sent his subordinates to extort money, and even openly murdered and robbed goods like Jiangyang robbers.In this way, he plundered countless money and jewels, and became the biggest rich man at that time.

When Shi Chong arrived in Luoyang, he heard that Wang Kai's wealth was very famous, so he wanted to compare with him.He heard that Wang Kai used yi (yi) sugar water to wash the pots, so he ordered his kitchen to use candles as firewood.As soon as this story spread, people said that Shi Chong's family was richer than Wang Kai's. In order to show off his wealth, Wang Kai used purple silk to form barriers on both sides of the main road in front of his house for forty miles.Anyone who wants to go to Wang Kai's house has to go through the forty miles of purple silk barrier.This luxurious decoration caused a sensation in Luoyang City.

Shi Chong deliberately overwhelmed Wang Kai.He used colored satin, which is more expensive than purple silk, to lay a fifty-mile barrier, which is longer and more luxurious than Wang Kai's barrier. Wang Kai lost again.But he was not willing to give up, and asked his nephew Emperor Wu of Jin for help.Emperor Wu of Jin thought this kind of competition was very interesting, so he gave Wang Kai a coral tree more than two feet high in the palace collection, so that Wang Kai could boast in front of everyone. With the help of the emperor, Wang Kai became even more aggressive than the rich.He specially invited Shi Chong and a group of officials to his house for dinner.

At the banquet, Wang Kai proudly said to everyone: "I have a rare piece of coral in my house, how about asking everyone to have a look at it?" Of course everyone wants to see it.Wang Kai ordered the maid to hold out the coral tree.The coral was two feet high, with well-proportioned branches and bright pink color.Everyone was full of praise after seeing it, saying that it is really a rare treasure. Only Shi Chong sneered.He saw an iron ruyi (an utensil) just on the desk, grabbed it, and hit it lightly in the middle of the big coral tree. With a sound of "Krona", a coral was smashed to pieces.

The officials around were all shocked.The owner, Wang Kai, blushed even more, and asked Shi Chong angrily, "You...what are you doing!" Shi Chong said with a playful smile: "You don't need to be angry, I just pay you back." Wang Kai was sad and angry again, and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, you pay me back." Shi Chong immediately asked his entourage to go home and bring all the coral trees in his house for Wang Kai to choose. After a while, a group of attendants came back and brought dozens of coral trees.Among these corals, there are six or seven corals that are three to four feet high, and the largest one is twice as tall as Wang Kai's.The plants are neat and straight, dazzling.As for corals like Wang Kai's, there are more.

The people around were dumbfounded.Only then did Wang Kai realize that the wealth of Shi Chong's family was many times greater than his own, so he had no choice but to admit defeat. That's the end of this extravagant farce.Shi Chong's wealth became famous in Luoyang.At that time, a minister Fu Xian wrote a memorial to Emperor Wu of Jin.He said that this serious extravagance is worse than natural disasters.Now such comparisons of richness and extravagance are not only not punished, but are considered honorable.How can it go on like this. Emperor Wu of Jin read the memorial and ignored it at all.Like Shi Chong and Wang Kai, he intensified his search and spent extravagance on the other hand.

The Western Jin Dynasty was so corrupt from the beginning, and it was destined to be in chaos.