Until the time of the last emperor Li Congke, An Chongrong had been a border patrol officer. The "Hedong War" was a turning point in his fate.
When Shi Jingtang rebelled, in order to unite all the forces that could be united, he sent envoy Zhang Ying to the Daibei area to lure An Chongrong, promising him a high official and a generous salary (Jiedushi).
An Chongrong cannot be said to be unjust, at least he is unjust for the sake of profit. So he happily accepted Shi Jingtang's invitation and prepared to respond. Both his mother and brother opposed his participation in Shi Jingtang's rebellion, and plotted to kill Zhang Ying to prevent An Chongrong from joining the rebellion.
An Chongrong showed off his superb shooting skills. He set up an arrow a hundred steps away, and then said to his mother and brother: "If Shi Jingtang can succeed in becoming emperor, then I will hit the target with one shot." After that, He drew his bow and released an arrow, and he hit the target with one shot. He also raised an arrow a hundred steps away. "If I can be a military commander, I will hit the target." Another shot hit the target.
His mother and brother also believed that this was God's will and stopped blocking him. As a result, An Chongrong gathered a thousand troops and happily defected to Taiyuan Prefecture, becoming the first batch of heroes to submit and support Shi Jingtang.
After Shi Jingtang took control of Luoyang, he fulfilled his promise. Although An Chongrong only brought him a thousand people, he still obtained the position of Jiedushi and was assigned to form the German army in Zhenzhou.
Although An Chongrong has no education, he has his own set of governance methods and has a good reputation in Zhenzhou. One time, an old couple sent their son to him for being "disobedient and unfilial".
In the feudal period, disobedience and unfilial piety were "unforgivable" serious crimes, just like "raping a woman's child" and "disobeying her parents". As long as parents accuse their children of being unfilial, there is no need to provide evidence or a trial, and the children will 100% lose the case. It is best for your children not to plead guilty. If you plead guilty and submit to the law, you may be able to get a lighter sentence. If you dare to talk back and argue, you will be killed on the spot.
An Chongrong tried the case in person, but saw that the defendant was hesitant to speak, and seemed to be very wronged; his father also looked troubled and painful, but his mother kept accusing anxiously and white-faced. "CNM I have to kill you" look.
An Chongrong had half the correct answer in his heart, so he pretended to be angry, scolded the rebellious son, drew his sword and handed it to his father, "If you are disobedient and unfilial, I will chop him down on the spot!"
The old man suddenly cried, "I can't bear it."
At this time, the old lady grabbed the sword and chased and chopped her son while she was swearing.
Seeing this situation, An Chongrong immediately stopped and then asked in detail what was going on.
It turns out that this is not my biological mother, but my stepmother. The case became clear at once: the old lady married the old man and planned to occupy his family property, so she tried to find a way to kill her son, who was the legal heir, by accusing him of disobedience.
"What a vicious woman! From the moment you walked in, I saw that you are not a good person. Why are you still standing there? Get out of here!" An Chongrong scolded her angrily and told her to get out.
The evil woman turned around and walked out. As soon as she walked out of the lobby, An Chongrong quietly picked up his bow and used his archery skills again. He shot an arrow and gave the evil woman a chill.
The people of Zhenzhou spread praises to each other, saying that the commander-in-chief of Zhenzhou knew right from wrong, hated evil as much as hatred, and was a good man.
Soon, An Chongrong's "Qingtian Grand Master" persona collapsed, and his cruel side soon appeared in front of the world:
On a certain day of a certain year, his subordinate Jia Zhang offended him because of a trivial matter, so he framed Jia Zhang for treason and then killed him. At that time, Jia Zhang had a daughter, and An Chongrong felt compassion for her and planned to spare her life. Jia Zhang's daughter said: "My family originally had 30 people. After the war, 28 of them died, leaving only my father and me. Now that my father has been sentenced, what's the point of my life?" So she repeatedly asked for death.
An Chongrong had no choice but to kill her too.
From then on, the people of Zhenzhou saw clearly the true face of An Chongrong's cruelty and tyranny, and they also praised Zhenzhou's martyr woman - the daughter of Jia Zhang.
An Chongrong suddenly became a commander from a small border patrol team, deputy director of a police station in a remote border area, and became a real nouveau riche.
The nouveau riche generally have several basic qualities, such as being extremely arrogant, eager to be respected, and spending all their money to show off their wealth... If they are just obsessed with showing off their wealth, it can only mean that they have no other pursuits. The contradiction of disparity itself is the defender of the ruling order.
An Chongrong vividly interpreted the "nouveau riche" and thought that the goldfish bag was not noble enough, so he carved his own jade fish to wear. This move is like a silver-edged wipe;
Marrying two more wives, risking the disapproval of the world, and Shi Jingtang also gave them corresponding titles. Rather than saying that it was Shi Jingtang's compromise, it was better to say that Shi Jingtang deliberately disgusted him. An Chongrong thought he had unlimited glory, but in fact he lived his life as a textbook fool.
For an ambitious person like An Chongrong, he also has another characteristic of the nouveau riche, which can also be regarded as a shortcoming, and that is the lack of foundation. Network is not equal to the foundation. The foundation is the long-term precipitation and filtering of the network. Generally speaking, the nouveau riche or the new rich are often not accepted by the traditional old aristocracy, and may even be mercilessly excluded.
An Chongrong "started as a soldier and rose to wealth". Whether in the central or local governments, he lacked sufficient political resources. Even in his own army, he lacked sufficient vertical depth. In a nutshell: Who are you?
However, An Chongrong witnessed Li Congke and Shi Jingtang succeed in ascending to the throne due to local vassals, so he refused to admit defeat and spontaneously set an achievable small goal: to become emperor first.
Li Congke was promoted to emperor from Fengxiang Jiedushi, Shi Jingtang was promoted to emperor from Hedong Jiedushi. Why can't I, An Chongrong, be promoted to emperor from Zhenzhou Jiedushi?
People are divided into three, six or nine grades, and the gold content of Jieduzhi is also very different. We have watched Li Congke and Shi Jingtang come along. They are not just "Jiedushi". They are the best among Jiedushi. They have relatively strong armed forces and political capital. They were among the top "Jiedushi" in the previous dynasty. Even so, their path to seizing power is full of uncertainties. After successfully seizing power, they have to deal with all parties' affairs and maintain stability everywhere.
These were naturally ignored by An Chongrong.
After careful summary and analysis, An Chongrong came up with a wise saying: "The emperor would rather have seeds? He has strong soldiers and horses." Once this sentence was uttered, it immediately became a classic famous saying in history.
Some people compared it to the slogan of the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising, and forcibly elevated An Chongrong to the level of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. Let’s take a look at these two sentences:
"Princes, generals, and Xiang Ning have the guts!" ——Chen Sheng, Wu Guang
"The emperor would rather have a seed? He who has strong soldiers and horses will be his ears." - An Chongrong
