"Shang girls do not know the hatred of their country's subjugation, but they still sing the flowers in the backyard across the river." This is a famous line written by Du Mu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, in his work "Bo Qinhuai". From a literal meaning, it means Singing girls did not feel sad because of the country's demise. They still sang "Flowers in the Backyard of Yushu" even after the country was destroyed and forced to flee south. In fact, Du Mu was insinuating that the rulers of the Tang Dynasty were mediocre, dissolute and unprogressive. However, as the author of "Flowers in the Backyard of Yushu", Chen Shubao, the later leader of the Chen Dynasty, was also ridiculed by this poem.
As a negative example in Du Mu's poems, Chen Shubao can be said to have single-handedly ruined the Chen Dynasty, which was originally a relatively powerful country. Sadly, he still only knew about pleasure after becoming a slave to the subjugation of the country. In the end, he was the same as the Shu Han Dynasty back then. Liu Chan, the later master, and Sun Hao, the last emperor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, spent the rest of their lives in Luoyang.
So, how ridiculous is this emperor who has been criticized and criticized since ancient times?
In the second year of Liang Chengsheng (553), Chen Shubao was born in Jiangling. When he was born, his uncle Chen Baxian had already achieved a high status in the court because of his contribution to quelling Hou Jing's rebellion.
In the second year of Taiping (557), Chen Baxian established the Chen Dynasty and named his nephew Chen Xu King Ancheng. As the eldest son, Chen Shubao became the eldest son of King Ancheng. After Chen Baxian died, the throne was handed over to his nephew Chen Qian. Later, Chen Qian also died of serious illness, and the prince Chen Bozong succeeded to the throne.
In the second year after Chen Bozong succeeded to the throne, the throne was seized by Chen Xu. Although he took power from his nephew, Chen Xu was not considered a tyrant. During his reign, he was quite diligent in governing the world. He also took advantage of the chaos in the Northern Qi Dynasty to launch the Northern Expedition and once seized the land along the Huaihe and Sihe rivers. After reigning for more than ten years, Chen Xu died, and the throne was handed over to Chen Shubao.
Like many subjugated kings in history, such as Li Yu, the later leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and Zhao Ji, Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Chen Shubao's talents were all reflected in other places. Pampered since childhood, he loved poetry and music very much.
In terms of poetry, the system adopted by Chen Shubao laid the foundation for the later famous rhythmic poetry of the Tang Dynasty. When the Ming Dynasty scholar Xu Xueyi studied his poems, he once said: "The five characters of Chen Shubao's poems are all integrated into the rhythm." .
In terms of music, as mentioned above, Chen Shubao loves composing music by himself, and "Flowers in the Backyard of Yushu" is his representative work. In addition, according to the records of "Southern History", he also once "selected thousands of palace maids with good looks, made them practice and sing, divided them into groups one after another, and continued to enjoy each other." If it was just a prince or prince, Chen Shubao would develop These hobbies are understandable and even worthy of praise, but after becoming emperor, he still put a lot of energy into entertainment. This was the first ridiculous thing he did.
Since the founding of the country by Chen Baxian, the emperors of the Chen Dynasty have practiced strict economy to show that they did not forget their commoner origin. However, after Chen Shubao succeeded to the throne, he disliked the dilapidation of the original palace, so in order for himself and his concubines to live happily, he built three high pavilions with a height of tens of feet, and they were carefully carved and used with utmost artificiality. After the outline was built, Chen Shubao made railings and windows out of sandalwood, decorated them with gold and silver jewelry, hid many treasures in the pavilions, and built rocks to form mountains and water to form ponds downstairs. This effort naturally consumed a lot of manpower and material resources. This was Chen Shubao's second ridiculous thing.
After building such three magnificent pavilions, Chen Shubao naturally wanted to enjoy them, so he spent all day upstairs drinking and having fun, ignoring national affairs. If the monarch neglects state affairs, society will naturally be negatively affected. As a result, social conflicts in the Chen Dynasty accelerated and the growth of national power stagnated.
At that time, Chen Shubao favored a traitor named Kong Fan. Although this man was the 30th grandson of Confucius, he only flattered and whitewashed peace. He knew that his later master did not like to hear bad news, so he lied It is said that the country is safe and the people are happy.
Even later, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian sent a large army to the south, but Kong Fan said: "The natural chasm of the Yangtze River was limited in ancient times and separated the north and the south. How can the Sui army fly across it today?" He also claimed that the reason for the border pass was The guard general reported the war emergency just to gain credit.
After hearing this, Chen Shubao also believed that the Chen Dynasty had natural dangers on the Yangtze River and could not be destroyed, so he continued to enjoy himself despite the persuasion of ministers. As a result, the Sui army came in force and easily drove the Chen Dynasty off the stage of history. Abandoning the government and favoring treacherous ministers, which resulted in the ruin of the ancestral foundation in his own hands, was the third ridiculous thing Chen Shubao did.
In the third year of Zhenming (589), the Sui army invaded Jiankang. Chen Shubao was captured and surrendered. He then followed the Sui army back to Chang'an and was named the Duke of Changcheng County by Yang Jian.
Knowing that Chen Shubao only cares about pleasure, Yang Jian gave him a big house and gave him many gifts. This made him completely lose his will to resist. From then on, he played in his house every day. He remained a slave for sixteen years and finally died of illness in Luoyang. After the country was destroyed, he had no shame and continued to pursue pleasure as a slave of the country. This was Chen Shubao's fourth absurd thing. Interestingly, Chen Shubao's posthumous title was "Yang", and Yang Guang, who succeeded Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty after the death of Yang Jian, was also posthumously named Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty.
In general, Chen Houzhu's absurdity can be said to have reached a state of "selflessness". As long as he can live, as long as he can continue to live and drink, he is satisfied. For a person who has given up his ancestral heritage to others and ended up being quite complacent, it is no wonder that some people call him ridiculous, and some people call him a "floating idiot".