Among the many high-ranking officials of the Wang family, we focus on Wang Mang.

Because as mentioned earlier, he is not only the first powerful opponent Liu Xiujun encountered on his way to the world, but also single-handedly made Liu Xiu stand out

social conditions. Moreover, when people evaluated Liu Xiu at that time and later, they often used him as a specimen.

The reason why Wang Mang was able to usurp the Han Dynasty successfully has its historical inevitability.

If he is a wise man, of course it is a blessing for the people.

However, his methods of usurping the Han are extremely despicable, and after ascending to the throne of the first brother, he blindly tosses around, resulting in the decline of the country's fortunes, and the resentment of heaven and people, Liu Xiubian does not

It is to follow the trend in order to meet the wishes of the people.

Then we'll take a closer look at him.

Let's look at the social environment in which Wang Mang lives.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, due to the fact that Emperor Yuan was not at ease to do his own work, Wang's relatives held the authority of the empire and made a mess of the government and various societies

The contradictions will intensify, the people will not have a good life, and people's minds will change.

All this is clearly recorded in various official histories, and you can take a closer look.

I would like to emphasize that during this period, from officialdom to society, there was a kind of hypocrisy everywhere. That is, tolerate hypocrisy, appreciation

Hypocrisy and the use of hypocrisy have become the character and habits of many people, and have become official, popular and social customs. What is even more tragic is that hypocrisy has also been recognized by the system

Can and encourage.

In my opinion, this degeneration of political culture is the deeper reason for the fall of the Western Han Dynasty.

Let's imagine, if hypocrisy is beautiful in terms of atmosphere, personality and even system, who wants to be an honest person?

Who among the cadres and the masses is really hardworking, honest and law-abiding?

How can the state apparatus function healthily?

Regarding this point, everyone just needs to understand how Wang Mang carried out hypocrisy to the end and finally ascended to the position of the first brother, and how he used hypocrisy to toss blindly

, and in the end, he was played with his own hypocrisy, and he will definitely understand better.

When Wang Mang was born and grew up, the hypocrisy and treachery of the Western Han Dynasty were extremely prevalent, and I might as well give you two examples. Two of them were highly educated

, all of them are a generation of Confucian scholars; The officials did a lot of work, and they all became prime ministers.

One is Kuang Heng, who had been farming for generations and had a poor family, but after hard study, he eventually became a generation of famous Confucians, and the official became the prime minister of Emperor Yuan.

Seeing that Emperor Yuan favored the eunuch Zhongshu Ling Shi Xian, Kuang Heng did everything possible to flatter Shi Xian.

Shi Xian and his gang formed gangs, interfered in government affairs with authoritarian power, and endangered the world, and the broad masses of cadres and the masses had very strong opinions and were very dissatisfied.

As an important minister of the country, Kuang Heng not only did not stand up to stop and expose it, but deceived his superiors and subordinates, and curried favor with Shi Xian everywhere.

Brother Shi still has a level, inside and outside the palace, up and down the court, you are counted as having a high level, strong ability, and good character!

However, as soon as Emperor Yuan was hung up and Emperor Cheng succeeded to the throne, Shi Xian immediately fell out of favor, and Kuang Heng immediately stood up and wrote a chapter to expose Shi Xian's various crimes in detail.

Lao Kuang is a typical upright gentleman inside and outside the court, but in fact, he has done a lot of illegal things to the court and the people behind the scenes.

The other is named Zhang Yu, who was Emperor Cheng's teacher when he was the crown prince, and later succeeded Emperor Cheng's uncle Wang Shang as prime minister.

Zhang Yu's family is very good, rich in land, and his life is very luxurious.

He is also very good at drilling, cautious in doing things, good at getting along with people, willing to sacrifice principles rather than offend people, and is wise to protect himself everywhere, and he is a delicate person.

He is similar to Lao Kuang, he is a decent man and a gentleman inside and outside the court, but in fact, his life is filthy and very lascivious.

He has two students who are the most accomplished, one is named Dai Chong and the other is Peng Xuan.

Dai is easy-going, smart and witty, does not pay attention to the rules, he is a confidant and has a very close relationship, and often takes him to the back hall of the prime minister's mansion to drink and listen to music, and find

Some of the women were playing, and every time they made a fuss until late.

And Peng is usually cautious in words and deeds, diligent and thrifty, and Zhang Yu feels that he is not speculative when he is with him, and often only talks about learning. Peng was late to visit the house

, Zhang Yu left him to eat, and it was very simple.

In this way, both of them feel very comfortable with their teachers.

History called Zhang Yu "for himself, not for the world".

Just like Kuang Heng and Zhang Yu, as a famous Confucian, and the prime minister of the dynasty, he is still a man and a man, and he is exquisite, so the official style and the people's customs can be imagined

And I know.

Speaking of which, I am reminded of a well-circulated poem by a contemporary poet:

Noble is the epitaph of the noble, meanness is the pass of the mean.

For example, since hypocrisy is universally tolerated, appreciated, and exploited, is there a place for honesty, kindness, and nobility? so

Can its degeneration and demise be reversed?!

Of course, Lao Kuang Lao Zhang has to compare with Wang Mang in hypocrisy, and he can only be regarded as a primary school student.

Wang Mang is the most hypocritical man in Chinese history.

He not only carried out hypocrisy to the end, but also used various practical means (power and deception) under the guidance of the theory of hypocrisy to perfection

This, coupled with the special power and status of Wang's relatives, brought him from a poor family (as opposed to his uncles) who lost his father at a young age

The first brother in the world.

Wang Mang was able to pick up the "crown" of the king of hypocrisy, in addition to the social environment that advocates hypocrisy, and the careful cultivation of the Wang family, it is mainly him

The result of personal hard work.

Indeed, when Wang Mang was born, his family was poorer than his uncles and uncles.

From the time when Wang Mang first remembered, what he saw was that the children of the Wang family lived a very luxurious life, although the brothers were immoral, talentless, and nestled

bag, but with Wang Zhengjun's nepotism, all of them are extremely noble, sensual, and do whatever they want.

However, Wang Mang has no conditions and no intention of showing off like this.

Such an environment has enabled him to develop the character traits of being respectful, diligent and thrifty, and self-motivated, and has also enabled him to practice a set

The ability to observe the face and look at the scene, speculative drilling.

Through nepotism, Wang Zhengjun made many of the men of his mother's family marquis, and the latter frantically pursued power, titles, wealth, and women.

However, Wang Mang's pursuit is very unusual, and he spares no effort to pursue fame.

That's right, it's those two words: fame.

After Emperor Cheng became the first brother and later, the former Han Empire was defeated. In particular, hypocrisy and fraud prevailed, from princes and princes to peddlers and pawns

Pursue more benefits, interpersonal interactions are full of reality, snobbery and calculation, just like Kuang Heng did with Shi Xian.

This shows that this empire is getting farther and farther away from truth, goodness, and beauty, and the clinical signs of severe and even terminal illness are becoming more and more obvious.

Therefore, Wang Mang, as the maiden nephew of the Queen Mother, is very different from the others with his professional attitude and methods, which can't help but attract the attention of many people.

Wang Mang worshipped Chen Shen, a famous Confucian at that time and a native of Peijun (now west of Zhunbei City, Anhui), as his teacher, and studied the "Book of Rites" diligently.

To be honest, he is studious and very attentive, coupled with his deliberate attention to his public image, he looks like a Confucian everywhere in his words and deeds.

("Diligent and erudite, served like a Confucian student")

At home and in the family, he served his widowed mother and sister-in-law respectfully, and took great care of the nephews left behind by his deceased brother, and carefully curry favor

Powerful uncles and uncles have never disobeyed in the slightest.

In society, he valued his friends over wealth and made friends with celebrities and scholars.

This son of the old Wang family is good and has quality!

Xiao Wang is open-minded, studious, polite, good!

For a while, Wang Mang had a good popularity.

In good conscience, if you look at the above-mentioned performance of the young Wang Mang on a case-by-case basis, it is worthy of praise and should not be criticized, regardless of whether it is in accordance with Confucianism or officialdom

Party requirements, or social customs, these are all decent.

However, when we look at people and things, we must look at the essence through phenomena.

Whenever we open the thick history book, we are often dazzled and confused by the vast number of living beings and the complicated world events, and the history is too complex and too complicated

Rich and wonderful!

In our daily lives, we sometimes feel that it is difficult to explain the events of yesterday, not to mention that historical figures and historical stories are so long away from us, and they speak

We weren't there when we were doing things.

But don't worry, great Karl. Marx taught us that the basic way to observe and understand the world is to see the essence through phenomena and use it

A contradictory, developmental, and universally connected vision to find the intrinsic prescriptiveness of things.

I learned this trick when I was in school, and I also learned it when I participated in work, and I used it when I encountered specific questions, and I tried it repeatedly.

Now, we analyze that Wang Mang also needs to use this trick, that is, we can't just look at how he behaves temporarily, but also how he behaves for a long time; Not only that

To see how he behaves, it also depends on the true intentions of his heart and the ultimate goal to be achieved.

Okay, come on!

In the past few days, Wang Mang has always stayed at his uncle Wang Feng's house, who wants to be interested in let's see what he is doing and what is happening.

In 22 BC, that is, in the 3rd year of Emperor Yangshuo of the Han Dynasty, Wang Feng, who was in power and served as the "Great Sima General Lingshang Shushi", fell ill, and Wang Mang was keen

I saw it, and I didn't hesitate to seize this opportunity.

They are all in their 20s, although the relationship is hard, and the main social relations are like clouds, but they still have no position and no power, and they are in a hurry!

Wang Mang is determined to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

So, for several months, Wang Mang waited for Wang Feng in Wang Feng's mansion respectfully and wholeheartedly.

Wang Feng was seriously ill, and every time the medicine was decoctioned, Wang Mang tasted it himself before serving it.

He never left the sickbed, his hair was combed, his clothes could not be changed, and even his face could not be washed.

This hand really worked, Wang Feng was very moved, and other uncles and uncles also praised it.

Before Wang Feng died, he entrusted his sister Wang Zhengjun and nephew Chengdi, this young man should be reused!

If we don't use such cadres, who else can we use? Of course, he was still our child.

So, Wang Mang embarked on his official career and first became Huang Menxuan, equivalent to the deputy director of the imperial court office.

Soon after, he was promoted to the rank of Captain of Archery, the general in charge of the crossbowmen in charge of the capital of Suwei, with a rank of 2,000 stones.

These are all important positions.

At this time, he was only 24 years old.

Later, Wang Zhengjun's other younger brother, Wang Shang, wrote to Emperor Cheng, asking for further allocation and reuse of Wang Mang, and at the same time expressed his willingness to seal part of himself

The land was transferred to Wang Mang to express the importance of this personnel proposal.

Immediately, several celebrities in the court also praised Xiao Wang.

Emperor Cheng decided to promote Xiao Wang exceptionally.

Xiao Wang was personally arranged by his old mother, entrusted by his uncle Wang Feng when he was dying, and strongly recommended by another uncle Wang Shang, and he also has a certain mass base and a good reputation, of course, he is still his cousin.

Emperor Cheng paid more and more attention to Xiao Wang: such a cadre can rest assured!

In 16 BC, Wang Mang was named the new marquis of the capital, and served as the captain of the cavalry, the doctor of Guanglu, and the servant.

You are optimistic about these positions: Captain Caidu is a general in charge of the Yulin Army, Doctor Guanglu is the emperor's chief adviser, and Shizhong is the head of the emperor's office

Allow.

All of them are important positions, and whoever gets one of them is enough to be called a successful person, and if you do these jobs alone, how important you should be

What a success.

When Wang Mang did these important jobs as the new capital candidate, he was only 30 years old and became a very powerful and important minister inside and outside the imperial court.

Just like Liu Xiu didn't make up his mind to be the emperor when he returned to his hometown to farm, if Wang Mang was determined to usurp the Han and become a brother when he was established, we still we

Not sure, but what is certain is that he was determined to pursue the highest possible position and as much power as possible.

Of course, he also thinks that in this chase process, it is not polite to have the opportunity to be a brother.

Let's not forget that the process of Wang Mang's birth and growth is the process of the formation of the situation of "Liu Family and Wang Family Management".

Due to the fact that Emperor Yuan and Emperor Cheng did not do their jobs well, the power of the Wang family expanded rapidly.

Especially after entering the center of power, Wang Mang saw and experienced with his own eyes how Emperor Cheng played with women and how his aunt played with power, and his eyes were hot.

Also, although this Emperor Cheng is romantic, he has no descendants after being more than 30 years old, and his efficiency is too low.

This can't help but make some people have rich associations with the post of emperor!

A position coveted by tens of millions of people is absent-mindedly carried by the owner, and it is really eye-catching to not know who the next owner is!

Wang Mang decided to get closer to this post to see if he could touch its texture and temperature.

Although he is no stranger to this position, he has often heard about it in the past and is working for it now, but he never dares to touch it.

In the current environment, it is still necessary to touch it.

Wang Mang believes that if he wants to really touch this position, he must pretend that he is not interested in this position and carry out hypocrisy to the end.

As his status grew, his power grew, and his wealth grew, Wang Mang became more humble, more frugal, and more approachable.

He often used his money to help poor scholars, and when he received rewards from the imperial court, he distributed them to relatives and friends, and tried every means to shelter and support celebrities

Do everything possible to make friends with the powerful.

His reputation is getting better and better, and he is generally favored by everyone and has become a new star of the Wang family.

As he was still in the early stages of his quest for power, Wang Mang was determined to treat hypocrites well.

He had tasted the sweetness of having a good name, but he had also made many sacrifices in order to be a better hypocrite, money, dignity,

Enjoyment, and sometimes physiology**.

Once, he fell in love with a beautiful girl, so he bought it home and worked as a maidservant, but he didn't expect to be known.

This kind of thing was common among the powerful at the time. For example, the aforementioned Prime Minister Zhang Yu is also good, and there are many prostitutes in the backyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

However, if Wang Mang wants the people of the world to say that he is a moral model, he must cover up this matter.

He said that this girl was bought for General Zhu Ziyuan, General Zhu had no son, and she could give birth to a son, so she helped General Zhu buy it.

I'm sorry, but I can do a small favor with my hands.

Saying this, Wang Mang gave this girl to Zhu Ziyuan that day.

Wang Mang is very proficient in the conventional methods of hypocrites.

For example, to be a good hypocrite, you must be good at disguise, that is, to hide your true thoughts; Be good at covering up, as I have just said

In that way, the stuffing can be wrapped in time; Another important trick is to be good at showmanship.

If the two tricks of camouflage and concealment have the color of passive defense, then the show is a kind of active attack with a certain technical content.

As you will see later, Wang Mang, as the highest-ranking hypocrite in history, can not only do it effortlessly, or unconsciously

Use the first two moves well, and use the third move perfectly.

When he used the trick of showmanship, the dark and treacherous purpose, the cunning of the means, and the profound harm of the consequences were unprecedented.

When he won the crown of the highest-level hypocrite in history, he scored the most points and clearly distanced himself from the rest of the competition, which was the show move.

For example, he often used his own money to help others, and when he got the bonuses from the imperial court, he distributed them to relatives, friends or subordinates in a timely manner, known as "the family has no money to spare".

Once, Wang Mang's mother was ill, and the wives of the ministers of the court visited him at home.

Wang Mang arranged for his wife to come out to entertain everyone, and his wife's long skirt only covered her knees.

At that time, even adult women from ordinary families of ordinary people had long skirts to cover their feet.

At first, everyone thought she was a servant of Wang Mang's family, but how did they know that this was Mrs. Wang Mang! Everyone was amazed.

Comrade Wang Mang is hard and simple, although he is in a high position, he is still modest and cautious, and he is strict with his family, and he really lives up to his reputation!

Wang Mang wants such an effect.