[Dong Chang proclaimed himself emperor]
Dong Chang was the most opportunistic. He learned from Liu Hanhong's experience and actively paid tribute to the court, and doubled the payment.
Each tribute is 10,000 taels of gold, 5,000 ingots of silver, 15,000 bolts of silk and satin, a specialty of Yuezhou, or other tributes of equal value, and is paid once every ten days; in order to ensure the timely delivery of the tribute When arriving, he specially dispatched a group of armed couriers, one group of 500 people, to provide armed escort, and the discipline was strict: anyone who missed the deadline would be punished by law.
Such astronomical amounts of money and materials must of course come from the people. Dong Chang used horrific and bloody methods to levy and extort money, plunder the people's fat and oil, and use the people's blood and sweat to satisfy his "loyalty."
The imperial court was moved by Dong Chang's loyalty, and letters of commendation and edicts were sent one after another (at least every ten days). Dong Chang's official title also quickly reached its peak: Kaifu Yitong Sansi, Feng Situ ( Ranked as the third Duke), he was given the title of Prime Minister and was granted the title of King of Longxi County.
Dong Chang's pursuit of power and reputation is almost perverted.
Whenever an edict of reward from the imperial court was delivered, greedy saliva would flow from his eyes. According to the number of words in the edict, he rewarded the messenger who delivered the edict with a piece of fine silk for each word. The envoy only regrets that it was too late for the popularization of vernacular writing.
As his official rank increased, Dong Chang gradually revealed his true nature, abandoned his mask of hypocrisy, and became wanton.
Dong Chang implemented severe punishments under his rule. The lightest punishment was hundreds or thousands of lashes, and even the entire family would be killed for a minor offense (a minor offense included the Yi tribe). The land on the execution ground was soaked in blood and turned red.
If someone files a lawsuit, he will order both parties to throw dice in court. The one who wins will win the lawsuit, and the one who loses will be killed directly. Judgment of cases is never done without looking at the case files, without asking for reasons, it’s Russian roulette.
The standard for selecting and recruiting officials is also to throw dice, and those who win will be promoted.
It's so ridiculous.
One time, according to his law, more than 5,000 people should be executed. Dong Chang gathered them and said: "Anyone who can serve me will be spared death." Everyone rushed to swear allegiance. So Dong Chang recruited them and gave them high salaries and generous salaries. The unit code was "Thanksgiving Capital" and he tattooed the words "Thanksgiving Capital" on their arms so that they would always remember Dong Chang's decision not to kill. kindness.
The record of "Grateful Capital" in "The Preparatory History of Wu and Yue" is even more bloody and cruel, "gathering scoundrels, they all cut off their wrists and ears, and called it Grateful Capital".
In short, he was extortionate, unkind, bloody and cruel.
It is said that there were so many wronged victims that supernatural events often occurred near the execution site in the middle of the night, such as wild ghosts crying.
Unfettered power often makes people crazy and crazy, and Dong Chang is no exception.
The people were deeply poisoned by him, but he felt good about himself and considered himself an unprecedented sage and virtuous person, so he ordered a shrine to be built for himself.
Ancestral halls are built after a person dies to commemorate them for future generations. The ancestral halls built when he was alive are called "sheng ancestral halls", and they are usually built by others out of gratitude. For example, Chenzhou Zhao Wei built the birth ancestral hall for Zhu Wen in Chenzhou. But building a shrine for oneself is too shameless and extremely shameless.
Dong Chang carved his own statue out of precious fragrant wood, and then filled it with gold, white jade, silk and other precious materials to make the internal organs. The statue is dressed in a full set of mianfu (ancient dress) and sits in the middle of the ancestral hall. Groups of statues of wives and concubines are lined up on both sides to serve, with hundreds of advocates and advocates in front and soldiers in the back.
If his birthplace were buried in the soil, it would be a copycat version of Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum.
The specifications of Dong Changsheng Temple were completely built according to the Dayu Temple, and an order was issued: From now on, in all folk worship games, it is strictly forbidden to go to Dayu Temple, and you must go to Dong Changsheng Temple! He believed that his merits exceeded those of King Yu.
Someone dedicated a clay horse to the Dong Changsheng Temple, and placed high-level tributes such as cattle and sheep for sacrifice every day. They also swore that the clay horse would sweat and neigh in the middle of the night when no one was around. This was because Dong The statue of Chang appears, bringing good luck and good fortune.
As a result, those who dedicated the mud horses and those who claimed to have seen the mud horses sweating and heard the mud horses neighing were heavily rewarded by Dong Chang.
That year there happened to be a locust plague, and swarms of locusts flew into Dong Chang's temple, which was very unlucky. Dong Chang ordered his people to catch all the locusts and throw them into the lake to drown them. He also pretended that his own god could restrain them and prevent them from doing evil again.
One of his followers tried to commit suicide by saying, "I once visited the ancestral hall of Wu Yinzhi (a famous figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty), and there was only a simple wood carving in it." Perhaps his original intention was to flatter Dong Chang, and the implication was to laugh at Wu Yinzhi. The shabby, praising Dong Chang's luxurious ostentation.
Shot on the horse's hooves.
Dong Chang was furious, "Can Wu Yinzhi compare with me? I'm more awesome than Dayu!" He even dismembered the retainer on the spot.
There are also many wooden statues of generals erected in the Sheng Temple, with their feet fixed to the ground with long nails, which means that their power is stable and will not be bumpy for hundreds of years.
What he did was even worse than Gao Pian. As a result, "Lu Yongzhi" also flocked in, such as Ying Zhi, Wang Wen and other demons and witches.
These people colluded with Dong Chang's close sycophants to please Dong Chang by creating all kinds of "auspicious things" and weaving all kinds of lies, so as to obtain heavy rewards. Hundreds of auspicious items such as turtles and fish talismans are donated every day. Dong Chang accepted the order and rewarded the discoverer and contributor generously, without doubting its authenticity.
It is also best not to doubt others, and anyone who doubts will be killed.
Dong Chang appealed to the imperial court and asked for the title of "King of Yue". "King of Yue" is a one-character prince, one level higher than Dong Chang's original two-character prince (Longxi County Prince).
The court rejected it.
Dong Chang was full of complaints and complained to the sycophants around him: "The imperial court has failed me! The amount of money I have paid to the imperial court in tribute over the years is too much to count, but the imperial court is stingy with a Yue king!"
The spectators did not think it was a big deal, and they all cheered him, "Why do you think you are the king of Yue, my king? You can just become the emperor!"
As a result, people flocked to the outside of Commander Dong Chang's mansion and surrounded the door. They impassionedly begged Dong Chang to comply with public opinion and ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
Dong Chang was filled with joy and sent people to the door to calm the people's emotions. "Don't worry, everyone, the time is not yet ripe. When the time is ripe, I will naturally comply with the public opinion."
Is Dong Chang's proclaimed emperor really "what the people want"? We already have the answer in mind.
An expert who called himself Old Man of Shanyin (some say it was Mrs. Han, "Witch Han Lao") sang a song, "If you want to know the emperor's surname, the grass will be green for thousands of miles; if you want to know the emperor's name, the sun will rise from the sky." Dong Chang rewarded him with a hundred pieces of silk. Anyone who contributes auspiciousness will be rewarded generously.
However, there were so many people who came to offer auspicious gifts that they could not be recorded, so the rewards were gradually reduced from the initial hundreds of thousands of dollars per person to 500 or 300 dollars.
Dong Chang ordered his masters to build a high altar to worship heaven, and claimed to have obtained a scroll of heavenly books that fell from the sky. The words on it were strange and unreadable. After several translations and deciphers, they finally read "Rabbit on a Golden Bed".
So Dong Chang announced, "I am a rabbit, and I am a rabbit. And next year happens to be the Year of the Rabbit (Yimao). The meaning of the Book of Heaven is very clear. It is for me to ascend the throne as emperor in the Year of the Rabbit, when the Rabbit, the Moon, the Rabbit, and the Sun are the Rabbit!"
