Many self-made wealthy people often have extremely bitter childhood experiences. When they look back on the past, they will always cry with tears in their eyes, "Hey, I just shed tears after talking too much!"
The same is true for Zhu Wen. He was originally struggling at the bottom of society, but was thrown into hell on earth by sudden changes.
Regarding this story, the historical records are simple and clear:
"Kun and Zhong were all orphans, and their mother took them to the home of Liu Chong, a native of Xiao County." ("Old History of the Five Dynasties·Book of Liang·Benji of Taizu")
"Sincerity died, the three sons were poor and could not make a living, so he and his mother lived as servants in the family of Liu Chong, a native of Xiao County." ("New History of the Five Dynasties: Liang Benji")
Liu Chong of Xiao County was the childhood sweetheart of Zhu Wen's mother, Wang. Forced to make a living, after Zhu Cheng's death, the Wang family took refuge with Liu Chong's family and began a life of living under someone else's roof.
Liu Chong worked as a "recorder" in Xuzhou, mainly responsible for archival documents and other work within the government. He was not a formal civil servant of the state. In today's terms, he was a temporary worker.
The landlord's family has no surplus food.
Zhu Wen's mother, Wang, worked at Liu Chong's house doing sewing, mending, and washing, as a maid; Zhu's three brothers were also young and strong, and could share some of the dirty, hard, and heavy work, and they served as three maids. Long-term workers. The two families love each other.
Of course, the neighbors would gossip and stab people in the back, saying that there must be an improper relationship between Liu Chong and Wang.
Regarding these rumors, the honest and dull boss Zhu Quanyu chose to tolerate it and pretended not to hear it. It was not easy to make a living; the second child Zhu Cun and the third child Zhu Wen couldn't bear it. The fifteen or sixteen-year-old Leng Tou Qing was exactly I don't know the heights of the world and I don't know how to make a move, but I start fighting at the slightest disagreement.
If you endure for a while, everything will be calm; if you take a step back, the more you think about it, the more you will lose. Brothers fighting, father and son in battle, looking down on life and death, just do it if you don't accept it!
"Cun and Wen are brave and powerful, while Wen You is fierce." ("New History of the Five Dynasties")
"The emperor (Zhu Wen) was strong, but he did not pursue any career. He was arrogant about his bravery, and many people disliked him." ("History of the Old Five Dynasties")
Zhu Wen is idle and doesn't like working. He only likes fighting and gambling. He is a typical village bully and gangster.
It needs to be briefly explained here that the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" is an official history book compiled by the order of Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, while the "New History of the Five Dynasties" was written by Ouyang Xiu himself. Ouyang Xiu, who needs no further introduction, is one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties".
Since Song Taizu had already asked historians to compile the history books of the previous dynasties, why did Ouyang Xiu create an "Ouyang revised version" of the history books of the same period?
The answer is given in the "Preface to the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties": "Historians who write well may not have enough literary talent to shine endlessly, and Taoism is not enough to continue writing... Ouyang Gong of Luling took it upon himself to take charge of his job and spent many years to complete the book. For detailed records of deeds, please refer to the old records, and for praise and criticism, please refer to the Spring and Autumn Annals..."
Xiu Ye bluntly said that I just couldn't stand the achievements of the historians, so I started a new one. I, Master Xiu, is one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties". Do you believe me? Hum hum, grandma—grandma!
Xiuye deleted a large amount of historical materials and artificially created a historical blank. Therefore, it has been criticized by scholars both ancient and modern. But Mr. Xiu is so willful.
At the same time, he did not shy away from using the Spring and Autumn style of writing, integrating his own value judgment system and moral code of conduct, and adding subjective praise and criticism to the historical materials. At this point, Xiu Ye showed his scholarly enthusiasm to the fullest. He hated those bad people who destroyed Gang Chang's ethics and denounced this period as "the king is not the emperor, the minister is not the minister, the father is not the father, and the son is not the son." Dark Ages.
Therefore, the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" calls Zhu Wen with "Emperor" at the beginning, as in the above "The Emperor is strong"; while the "New History of the Five Dynasties" calls him by his first name, such as "Wen is particularly fierce".
Because Zhu Wen killed two emperors of the Tang Dynasty and was so rebellious, it was an important reason for irritating Ouyang Xiu. Therefore, many scholars have questioned the position of "New History of the Five Dynasties" and accused some of its records of being unfair.
However, what is interesting is that the "Old History of the Five Dynasties" records the "founding monarchs" of most of the local separatist regimes ("Ten Kingdoms") in the "Biographies of the Puppetry", while Xiu Ye records them in the "New History of the Five Dynasties". They are listed as a "noble family". Does the cynical Mr. Xiu have double standards in his code of conduct? Master Xiu is so willful.
Both history books record the history of the "Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms" period, and are also included in the "Twenty-Four Histories". There are other historical books that also record this period, the contents of which are slightly different and some are contradictory.
It is said that trusting all the books is worse than having no books at all. This book will not be superstitious about what one person says. It will try its best to combine various historical materials, conduct reasonable deliberation, and try to restore the true history.
In his childhood, Zhu Wen did not receive a good education, nor did he show outstanding talents. He was no different from other troubled teenagers who were idle and not doing their jobs.
During his rebellious period, he was exposed to a new skill - gambling. So gambling became his only hobby besides fighting.
Liu Chong looked at the three Zhu brothers with eyes full of hatred that iron could not be transformed into steel. Although the eldest brother is honest and honest, he does not seek to make progress and is not very smart; the second and third children are so stubborn and lack tutoring. I really can’t figure out what genes these three people have inherited from Zhu Cheng, an honest scholar.
Although I can't teach you to be successful, I can't just sit back and watch you perish! Liu Chong strictly disciplined Zhu Cun and Zhu Wen, playing the role of a strict father. Especially for Zhu Wen, sometimes when he got angry, he would whip him with a board or thorns to teach him a lesson.
But Zhu Wen refused to change despite repeated admonitions.
Once, Zhu Wen lost his mind in gambling and even stole the Liu family's pot as gambling capital.
Pots and bedding were definitely valuable items at home in those days.
When I was a kid, I was bullied by the older kids, and my grandma threatened them by saying, "I'll smash your family's pot." Crosstalk master Ma Sanli has a classic piece called "To Make You Fun," which humorously tells a story about a kid stealing quilts, mattresses, and clothes. s story. Nowadays, there are almost no stories about people stealing bedding, and "smashing your pot" is no longer a fatal threat.
Zhu Wen stealing money to use as gambling capital is equivalent to today when a naughty kid mortgages his real estate certificate to buy a king's skin or steals his parents' credit card to reward a female anchor.
So this time, Liu Chong was really going crazy. He grabbed a huge wooden stick and chased Zhu Wen all over the village, muttering: "This kind of prodigal thing will be a disaster when it grows up. I have to fight it today." He must die!" Even the family members couldn't stop him. Fortunately, Zhu Wen was able to avoid it due to his strong skills and physical strength.
Zhu Wen could not forget the anger in Liu Chong's eyes, which was a kind of anger that really wanted to kill someone. Zhu Wen was scared.
It was at this time that Zhu Wen showed wisdom that was different from ordinary people.
