In March 777 (the 12th year of the Tang Dynasty), Prime Minister Yuan Zaifu.
He was taken to Wannian County to be executed. Before the executioner cut the knife, he asked as usual, "Xianggong, do you have any last words and requirements?" . Yuan Tsai said that he just wanted to die quickly. The executioner said, that's not difficult, but you have to be wronged. So he took off his smelly socks and stuffed them in his mouth. Then, the knife flashed and the head fell to the ground. At the same time, his wife, his two sons, his master book, attache, master and cronies, as well as his insiders in the imperial court, were all finished, or handed over their heads, or put them in prison, or expelled from Chang 'an, or cut their positions for the people. A great man who stamped his foot and shook Chang 'an, the tree was gone, and the body was not collected.
Yuan Zai in the Tang Dynasty, Cai Jing in the Song Dynasty, Yan Song in the Ming Dynasty and Shenyang in the Qing Dynasty should be regarded as countless traitors' greed in the history of China. But Cai, Yan and him, no matter how crazy they are, at least they still care about their master. Yuan Zhen, on the other hand, did not buy the emperor's account at all. On the contrary, the emperor had to act according to his face. Therefore, when the broadsword film was killed by Yuan Zai with smelly socks, the happiest person in Chang 'an was Tang Daizong Li Yu.
So, at the same time of beheading in Wannian County, Chang 'an City began to raid the property. In Daning and Anren Square, where Yuan Zai lived, and Changshou Square in his ancestral hall, the precious articles copied were piled up like mountains, and the treasures found were pitted. If it weren't for the identity of the son of heaven, Li Yuhan could not personally participate in the fattening activities of this small autumn harvest! He sent a wave of little eunuchs to send back the news. When he heard that among the stolen goods of his family, the most shocking, spectacular, unimaginable and puzzling 800-stone pepper filled a big yard of Dali Temple (Supreme Court), even Li Yu's eyes were straight.
According to the weight of 79,320 grams of a stone in the Tang Dynasty, the total weight of 800 stone peppers should be 63,456 grams, that is, 63,456 kilograms, nearly 64 tons. Three containers can't hold it, which is not only enough for millions of people in Chang 'an to eat for a lifetime, but even global grocery suppliers like Wal-Mart and Carrefour may not have as much pepper purchases in an accounting year as the stolen goods collected by traitors in the Tang Dynasty in China.
Yuan Zai has a hobby. He is keen on building houses, which is also an indispensable part of all the trilogy of corrupt officials (tickets, houses, women). The house he built actually occupied Daning, Anren and Longevity. There were 109 squares in Chang 'an City in Tang Dynasty, accounting for one third of the square, which shows the large scale and numerous buildings. According to Tang Shu? Don't leave your job and face each other? ,? Different names, but not as good as the imperial court? . After his fall, the confiscated house was enough for hundreds of senior officials to live in. He also built a garden-style private house in Luoyang, the eastern capital, which was confiscated and turned into a royal garden.
Stolen peppers that can fill three containers can be called a black and humorous world corruption history record. In his book The History of Heaven, Ding of the Dynasty asked:? Life is 60 years old, except for the old and the young, everyone who can be happy is over 40 years old. That is, I have no worries about food and clothing, and I won't eat 800 stone peppers. Only a fool can produce greed, and greed will become a fool. Although gold is accumulated, it can't save the navel from burning. It is difficult to solve the danger of blocking the wall, which is also a great regret for this friend. ?
In fact, there is no need to pity. Only a fool can produce greed, and greed can become a fool? The irresistible possessiveness of small farmers' psychology is the basis of this kind of official crime. This Yuan Zai's family is poor. At first, he was grateful for a bowl of Qishan minced meat noodles. Now he is the prime minister. Ambition is arrogant, and everyone talks big, claiming that they have literary skills and military skills, which are beyond the reach of ancient and modern times, playing politics, bribing politics, and being arrogant and extravagant. ? After gaining absolute power, even Li Yu is helpless, and naturally he is unscrupulous and unscrupulous.
You can call him an idiot or a fool. What's the use of saving 60 tons of peppers? It's not that he doesn't know that he can't eat or sell, but for Yuan Tsai, a big criminal, all he needs is possession, endless possession. Because absolute power is absolute possession, and absolute possession is absolute happiness. If he owns these sixty tons of peppers, he is full, because he is full, he is satisfied, because he is satisfied, he enjoys it. This is his highest realm, and it is also the driving force for all corrupt officials at home and abroad to refuse to give up until they die.
It was not until the smelly socks were stuffed into his mouth and the executioner raised his knife that Yuan Zai realized that the 800 stone peppers he once owned could not be taken into the grave.