Is it true that the emperor's dragon chair is not a real dragon, and a person who is not the Son of Heaven will faint to death when sitting on it?

In ancient times, the main performance venue for opera and other arts in the city was called Goolan. Hook railing, originally that is, railing. "Water Jing Note: River Water": "Tugu Hun is a bridge on the river...... Hook the bar, very strict decoration. "Wang Jiangong Ci" has: "The wind curtain water pavilion presses the hibiscus, and the four sides are hooked in the water." "In the Tang Dynasty, Goolan has been associated with song and dance. Li Shangyin's "Advocate Poem" has the sentence "The curtain is light and heavy gold hooks", and the "advocate" written in the poem is an artist who is good at singing and dancing.

Most of the folk hooks are related to tile city. Washi, also known as Washe, Washi or Wazi, is a concentration of entertainment venues in large cities. Naide Wong's "Capital Jisheng": "The tiler, the meaning of wild gathering and easy dispersion." Many sheds were erected in the tile city to shelter from the wind and rain. There are a number of hook railings in the shed, that is, demarcation railings that prevent people from entering. In the big tile city, there are dozens of hook rails, performing miscellaneous dramas and telling history, palace tunes, puppet shows, shadow plays, acrobatics and other tricks, which can accommodate thousands of spectators.

Folk tile goulan is mainly an entertainment place for the untouchables, although those who can watch the play are at least the masters who can eat a full stomach, but after all, they belong to the first-class untouchables. Most of the powerful people have theaters in their mansions, that is, the general magistrate, the general judge, the main officer, the county lieutenant and other petty officials equivalent to the department level and section level in later generations, generally have to put on a noble shelf, disdain to go to the hook bar to watch the play. They usually invite singing halls, not only because the boss of the troupe wants to expand his influence and pursue the box office value, but also when he prepares another table and chairs in the first three rows, spreads a tablecloth, and puts on a tea set, so that the beautiful elementary school apprentices can be greased and powdered, and serve as masters in a loud voice. It is nominally a play, but in fact it has lost the essence of watching a play, which belongs to the category of relationalism, which is called "cheering" and "giving face". Therefore, the folk hook fence is generally relatively simple and easy to damage. Occasionally, a second- or third-rate celebrity actor plays, it is crowded, and there are often tramplings and injuries, and even unfortunate incidents of the stage collapsing and crushing the audience to death also occur from time to time. There are so many people that they crush a few picky seedlings, and the officials will not pay attention to them.

The Imperial Fence is dedicated to the top level of the emperor and his family and close ministers, and of course the building is luxurious and the facilities are extraordinary.

Zhao Kuangyin and the three of them wandered around in the courtyard, only to see the exquisite scenery in all directions, and rendered wonders in all directions; the towering pavilions and halls received the green clouds, carved the beam dragon as a team, and painted the phoenix in a row; the winding path was deep and far, and the flowers were planted all over the place, all of which felt fresh and strange.

"I have grass, so many houses! It's like a palace! There are all kinds of pavilions and pavilions, which are much more fun than Yuwangtai and Xiangguo Temple!" Wang Xianqi exclaimed with emotion.

"With so many flowers and trees, it's a big garden!" Shi Shouxin sighed as he watched.

Zhao Kuangyin also said enviously as he walked: "It's really big and beautiful, it's ten million times more fun than the Goolan Courtyard elsewhere!"

"What kind of tree is this? What kind of flower is this? I've never seen it before!" Wang Xianqi's eyes were full of surprise.

"These are all obtained from foreign countries, and each one is worth a lot of money! I heard that there is a cherry blossom, which was bought from Dongying, and there is also an agarwood tree, which was bought from the Great Yue Kingdom, and the shipping fee alone is tens of thousands of taels of silver! These two trees alone exceed the investment of the entire capital's Wazigoulan!" Shi Shouxin looked well-informed.

"My grass is so precious! Where is it?" Wang Xianqi asked.

"I, I've just heard! There are no such precious flowers and trees in the market, how could I have seen them?" Shi Shouxin replied embarrassedly.

Zhao Kuangyin scolded jealously: "No matter how expensive it is, it is still a tree, and it is not two big glutons, two fat butts, and it will not give birth to children, nor will it make jewels, gold and silver, what is rare to have a ball?"

"Yes, the construction of the Goolan Courtyard is to listen to music and watch plays, the stage is the main thing, what is the use of building so many idle houses, planting so many exotic flowers and plants, and having balls?" Shi Shouxin said busily.

Wang Xianqi looked around and asked: "That's it! The royal hook column is also a hook column, and it is also a place for singing, dancing and acting! Alas, why haven't you even seen the stage anywhere?"

All three of them looked around for the stage. Wang Xianqi said that it was in the east building, Shi Shouxin said that it was in the west courtyard, the two were arguing, Zhao Kuangyin waved his hand, pointed to a tall building in front of him and said: "No matter where it is, let's take a look at this building first!"

The three of them found the steps and scrambled to the top.

I saw a large hall with red lacquered pillars that were five feet high, carved beams and painted buildings, brocade tents and decorative walls, the floor was paved with mahogany, inlaid with various patterns of boxwood, and there were many red lanterns hanging on the ceiling like wine jars. The area is half the size of a stadium, but there is no hook railing, stage, waist shed, god building, and no colorful curtains, signs, flags, accounts and other ornaments that mark the stage.

Wang Xianqi scratched his head and asked, "Ho! This house is so big, my house can fit with a yard! What is it for?"

"It seems to be a place for singing! Otherwise, why is it so big?" Shi Shouxin analyzed while observing.

"Where's the stage?" asked Wang Xianqi.

Shi Shouxin looked around, pointed to a low platform at the other end and said, "Isn't there a platform at that end?"

The three men stepped forward and saw that the platform was only a square square circle, and the semi-circular hook bar was only more than a foot high, and there was no curtain hanging, and there was a large chair wide and high in the center, and several embroidery piers were placed on both sides.

"Why are there seats on the stage?" said Wang Xianqi strangely.

"It's not the stage, it's the audience!" Shi Shouxin analyzed.

"Opposite the auditorium should be a place for acting, but there is no stage on the other side? Besides, the audience seat is so small and the place for performance is so big, isn't it upside down?" Wang Xianqi retorted loudly.

Shi Shouxin pondered for a moment and analyzed: "This is the Imperial Hook Column, a place for the emperor and his ministers to watch plays, of course it can't be the same as the people! There are only a dozen or so folk actors, three or five, and sometimes even only one or two people, but the audience is hundreds, thousands, or even thousands; while the Imperial Hook Column gathers famous actors from all over the country, as well as more than a dozen foreign celebrities, and a total of hundreds of geisha, but the emperor is mainly waiting for him. There are many actors and few audiences, and the design of the stage and viewing seats is of course reversed from the folk hook!"

"So many people are performing, just for him to watch, he will really enjoy it!" Wang Xianqi exclaimed unevenly.

"That is, if you let us in, even if you stand on the side!" Shi Shouxin said enviously.

"Don't say come in and stand aside, even if you stand outside the window and listen to us, we're not qualified?" Wang Xianqi said inferiorly.

"Yes, if it weren't for the eldest brother leading us today, we wouldn't even be able to enter this courtyard!" Shi Shouxin's gratitude to Zhao Kuangyin was beyond words.

While Shi Shouxin and Wang Xianqi were arguing, Zhao Kuangyin's eyes kept staring at the big chair placed in the middle of the low platform.

The chair is made of precious nan wood, open-carved double dragon play bead pattern, gold lacquer cloud dragon pattern throne, high waist, open on all sides, the whole body is more than five feet, the seat width is more than three feet, the chair circle is coiled thirteen golden dragons, the hair is erect, teeth and claws, the whole body is carved in the empty place carved lotus petals, curly grass, fire beads, ruyi cloud head and other patterns.

Zhao Kuangyin knows that this magnificent chair is the folklore, people admire, supreme, infinitely mysterious emperor's seat, called the dragon chair.

He once heard the folklore that a thief stole into the palace and saw the emperor's dragon chair. He sat down curiously, and immediately fainted.

He once asked his father Zhao Hongyin: "Is this legend true? The emperor's dragon chair is not a real dragon, and people who are not the Son of Heaven will really faint to death if they sit on it?"

Zhao Hongyin smiled, his smile was full of mystery, worship, understanding, and contempt: "This dad doesn't know, dad hasn't sat on it! I only know that the owner of this dragon chair is constantly changing, and the few people I followed who have sat on the dragon chair don't seem to be special compared with ordinary people."

"Tang Dynasty Emperor Tang Xizong likes to sound dogs and horses, is good at cockfighting, and loves gambling, to the point of betting on the Xichuan Festival. He was also lucky to fight geese with the prince, and the gambling cost of a goose was as high as 500,000 yuan. And for political affairs, he is always confused. Once, when he heard about a locust plague in the capital area, he summoned the magistrate. The magistrate reported: 'Locusts are there, but they dare not eat the royal crops.' When they came across the royal plot, they were so frightened that they hung themselves with thorns. Tang Xizong was convinced of these lies and still gambled in the palace. Such an emperor has been sitting on the dragon chair for more than ten years, and he has never heard of fainting.

"Tang Xizong's younger brother is named Li Ye, that is, Emperor Zhao of Tang. The history books record that he was 'pure in appearance, heroic, and privately celebrated', but I heard people say that he was timid by nature, had no opinions in trouble, and was a fool and a wreck. The treasury was empty, and in order to win over the ministers, he often rewarded the stunning beauties of the harem as gifts. When the capital was besieged by traitors, food was in short supply, he made a small mill in the palace, grinding beans and wheat and drinking porridge every day, drinking so much that he had no strength at all, and he still acted as if he was fine, and played with the concubines every day. Later, there was no food at all, and the palace people starved to death a lot every day, and the people were even more miserable, and the phenomenon of cannibalism was very common. Human flesh is worth 100 yuan per catty, dog meat is worth 1,000 yuan, every day, the imperial chef will fill human meat with dog meat, he not only can't tell the difference, but also said that as long as the soldiers have meat to eat, the enemy can't come in. Such a stupid person, sitting on the dragon chair for five or six years, has not heard of a single coma.

"Liang Taizu Zhu Wen was born in a poor ravine in Dangshan, and he has not been doing his job since he was a child, and everyone in the family hates him. Later, he participated in the Yellow Nest Rebellion and was promoted to general. Due to repeated defeats and fear of condemnation, he rebelled and surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, became the Xuanwu Army of the Tang Dynasty, and turned back to fight Huangchao. After the fall of Huangchao, all parties made the troops self-respecting, and 'the royal family was humble, and the order was not to go abroad'. Zhu Wen seized the opportunity to launch the 'White Horse Rebellion' in Huazhou White Horse Station, abolished Emperor Zhao of the Tang Dynasty, built the capital Kaifeng, known as the "Houliang" in history, and snatched the dragon chair in his own hands.

"Zhu Wen is brutal by nature and kills people like mustard. The lady was able to persuade her when she was alive, but after her death, she was in a big mess, and even rotten, including her daughter-in-law, had to go to the palace to sleep. So brutal, I sat on the dragon chair for five whole years, and I haven't heard of a single fainting.

"Later Tang Zhuangzong Li Cunqiao inherited his father Li Ke with the title of King of Jin, and snatched the dragon chair of Houliang into his hands by force. Since he was a child, he liked to watch and act in dramas, and after he ascended the throne, he often painted his face, put on costumes, and performed on stage, ignoring the government and politics, and took his stage name 'Li Tianxia'. Once, when he was acting on stage, he shouted 'Li Tianxia' twice in a row! A servant went up and slapped him, and the people around him were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat. When Li Cunmiao asked why he had beaten him, the servant ridiculed him and quibbled and said: "Li" (Li) There is only one emperor in the world, and if you call out twice, who is the other person? The servants were favored by him, and their fortunes were very high, and some of them were thousands of taels of silver in their second appearance, and they were rewarded with precious national treasures. Those celebrities with good acting skills have a higher status than the ministers, and they can freely enter and leave the palace to fight with him, and often insult and tease the courtiers, and the ministers dare to be angry but dare not speak. This 'ticket friend' and 'star chaser' have sat on the dragon chair for three years, and sometimes even wear costumes and paint their faces, and they have never heard of fainting once.

"Li Siyuan of Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty is the adopted son of Li Keyong, the father of Zhuangzong Li Cunqiao. Li Siyuan killed his buddy Li Cunqiao and took the dragon chair; he sat on it for seven years and passed it on to his son Li Conghou; Li Conghou sat on the dragon chair for a year, and was taken away by Li Congke, the adopted son of his father Li Siyuan; Li Congke sat on the dragon chair for three years, and was then robbed by his brother-in-law Shi Jingjiao, who colluded with the Khitan to invade Luoyang and snatch the dragon chair. Shi Jingjiao died of illness, and the dragon chair was snatched away by his nephew Shi Chonggui. Shi Chonggui sat for four years, and was taken back by Gaozu Liu Zhiyuan.

"Although these emperors have been called emperors for a short time, the reason for stepping down is that it is difficult to resist the temptation of arrogance and luxury, and in the end, it is inevitable that the dragon chair will be snatched away, and it is not that they are not blessed and faint to death!

"Especially which Emperor Stone is the most valuable after the Jin Dynasty, and it can best solve the mystery of the dragon chair.

"He was originally the nephew of Shi Jingjiao, the ancestor of the Later Jin Dynasty. His father Shi Jingru died early, and Shi Jingjiao adopted him as his son. Shi Jingjiao has six sons, because they are all pampered, there are many natural problems, and they are all a little prodigal, but Shi Chonggui, who is not his own, is 'cautious in words and deeds, simple and pure', and he is very hard at practicing martial arts, how can Shi Jingjiao not love it?

In the second year of the Later Tang Dynasty, Shi Jingjiao raised troops to rebel against the Tang Dynasty in Jinyang, and the Later Tang army besieged Taiyuan. Shi Jingjiao borrowed the Khitan soldiers to defeat the Tang army, left Taiyuan to go to Luoyang to seize the throne, and before leaving, he chose Shi Chonggui to stay in Taiyuan, and awarded the Beijing Stay, Jin Ziguanglu Doctor, Situ of the Inspection School, Taiyuan Yin, and Zhanghedong Guannei Jiedu Observation Envoy. There are many official titles, but there are no political achievements. Despite this, because of Shi Jingjiao's reliance and favor, he was still rising step by step, and before Shi Jingjiao's death in the seventh year of Tianfu, Shi Chonggui had entered the king of Qi and served as a servant. During this period, Shi Jingjiao's six sons have died one after another, leaving only the youngest son Shi Chongrui. How Shi Jingjiao's five sons died, there are different opinions, although the father was in the court at the time, there is no evidence, and it is not easy to judge arbitrarily. But one thing is very clear to everyone, Shi Jingjiao has one more son, and Shi Chonggui is one step closer to the dragon chair.

"When Shi Jingjiao died, he asked Gu and Prime Minister Feng Dao to pass on the dragon chair to his only biological son Shi Chongrui. As a result, Feng Dao and the guards and pro-army, who held real power at that time, both commanded Jing Yanguang to conspire together, changed the edict, and handed over the dragon chair to Shi Chonggui.

"When Shi Chonggui grabbed the dragon chair, he no longer 'cautious in words and deeds, simple and pure', nor 'practiced martial arts and was diligent in political affairs', but lived a corrupt life of drunken dreams and death. Shi Jingjiao's body was not cold, and Zigong was at the funeral, so Shi Chonggui accepted the beautiful widowed lady Feng as his concubine, and asked Tian shamelessly and said, "How am I to be my new son-in-law today?" He sat on the dragon chair, holding the power of life and death, who dared not to say 'good'? Who dared not to 'warm congratulations'?

"In the first year of Kaiyun, the Jin army and the Khitan army fought in Qicheng, but he still listened to music every day. He was accustomed to listening to the 'soft female music' in the palace, and it was inconvenient to be on the front line, so he could only summon the left and right 'shallow military academy, play the three-stringed huqin, and use the Qiang flute, beat the drums, and dance and send songs, thinking that it was entertainment' to make do.

"In March of the second year of Kaiyun, on the eve of the decisive battle between the Later Jin and the Khitan in Yangcheng, Shi Chonggui still went out on a safari. He did not prepare for war, but built a large palace room and made a wide range of tools to play. In order to lay the carpet, hundreds of weavers were used, which took a year. In order to have fun, he rewarded the good men excessively. At the moment of national disaster and the people starved to death, Shi Chonggui was still so squandering, and the consequences can be imagined.

"During Shi Chonggui's reign, he rarely did anything to benefit the people, and occasionally killed two corrupt officials and corrupt officials, which was also a cover-up. As the king of a country, I am a country, and I have everything, but he is insatiable. In order to meet the expenses of the war and to satisfy his own excessive consumption, he even sent evil officials to separate ways to scrape the people in the year of the great locust drought and the great drought. In June of the eighth year of Tianfu, he sent '20 internal and external ministers to the provincial capital to borrow corn, and when the envoys hoped for the decree, the legislation was very strict, and the people sealed it, and the number of hidden people were killed. And this month, 'the great locusts in the counties of the states are all gone.' 'Regardless of the life or death of the people, is such a monarch also a godsend?' If not, why didn't he faint while sitting on the dragon chair?"

When Zhao Hongyin said this, he smiled at his son and said, "I said this, can I solve the mystery of your dragon chair?"

For more information, see the next episode: The Jealousy of the Snake of the Earth.