The luxury giants of ancient times, with the Western Jin Dynasty as the most. Other dynasties were either economically underdeveloped or relatively equal in society, in short, there was no longer the degree of luxury of the Western Jin Dynasty. Let's talk about a few small stories to see the so-called "literary style" of the Western Jin Dynasty.
1. Strange items used for washing in the Princess House
Among the top giants of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Langya Wang Clan, there was once a figure with a relatively rough personality, Wang Dun. In order to increase the connection between Wang Ma and the two families, Emperor Wu Sima Yan married his daughter Princess Xiangcheng to Wang Dun. Wang Dun just entered the Princess Mansion and felt that the courtyard house decoration was luxurious and very novel. Turning around, he was a little anxious, so it was convenient to go to the toilet. I was in the middle of the refreshment, when I suddenly found a small box on the side, which contained a lot of dried dates. Wang Dun thought that the princess was hungry and even had to eat some snacks when she went to the toilet, so he was not polite and ate all the dried dates in this box. After coming out, the maid brought some green powdery items and a pot of warm water with aroma. Wang Dun thought that this was a delicacy, so he poured the powder into the water and drank it together. The maids immediately laughed when they saw it, and then told Wang Dun that the dried dates in the toilet were used to block the nose to prevent odors, and the green powder just brought over was bath beans, which were used to wash their hands. Wang Dun was ashamed and embarrassed, and lamented that the life of the princess's family was really luxurious.
Second, money paves the way for human milk to feed pigs
Princess Changshan, the daughter of Sima Zhao, emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, also married a donkey, also surnamed Wang, named Wang Ji, but he was not the Wang clan of Langya, but the Wang clan of Taiyuan. The pony did not have to envy the princess's luxury, for he himself was already extravagant enough. He once bought a piece of land around Luoyang, where the land price is very high, as his own racecourse. After leveling, I felt that it was not luxurious enough, so I took money to pave the road, and the raw mat became a "golden light avenue". At that time, this racecourse was called "Jingou", a high-end place where the nobles of the capital often gathered.
Play extravagantly, diet naturally can not be left behind. The delicacy of the food in Wang Ji's home had reached the level of heavenly hearing, and Sima Yan, the Emperor of Jinwu, often thought of going to his home to taste the fresh. Once, Emperor Wu of Jin really went to Wang Ji's house as a guest, and Wang Ji ordered someone to serve a soft and fragrant piglet that had been steaming. After Emperor Wu of Jin tasted it, he only felt that it was tender and tasted excellent, so he asked Wang Ji how this steamed pork dish was made. Wang Ji said, my raw material is something that others can't get. This pig, from birth, is fed with human milk, which is why the meat quality and taste are so wonderful. At this point, even Emperor Wu of Jin, who was already extravagant enough, felt that Wang Ji was a bit excessive, and quickly left for the sake of it.
Third, the quirks of celebrities, counting money until dawn
Wang Rong, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, was also from the Langya Wang clan. He was a famous scholar at that time, known for his literary style, and was famous all over the world. He is a good businessman, who has made a lot of money in real estate trading, and is rich. He was very stingy with others, and even when he sold a plum, he had to dig up the core, lest others get good seeds; when his nephew got married, Wang Rong only gave a single piece of clothing, and afterwards he asked for it back. His own life, nor had he heard of particular luxury, did not seem to be extravagant. However, he has a quirk that modern people want to experience: counting money. Wang Rong had reached a certain realm in counting money. Every night, he and his wife would take the ivory wat board and calculate his property one by one. Due to the large number, it is half a day.
Fourth, the richest man in the Western Jin Dynasty, every corner of his life is luxurious
The richest man in the Western Jin Dynasty, named Shi Chong. He was also a scholar of The Xiang Mendi, and his father was Shi Bao, a warrior general of Cao Wei. Although he had a talent, he plundered merchants in the place where he was an official, thus accumulating a huge fortune. Since then, Shi Chong's path of jaw-dropping luxury has begun.
In terms of dressing, Shi Chong has a rule: if there are guests coming, then before and after going to the toilet, the maid must wait for the guests to change clothes. Once you have been to the toilet, the clothes you have just worn can no longer be worn. As for the new clothes, it is natural that Shi Chonglai provided them; during the Jin Dynasty, there was a kind of "fire raccoon cloth" that was paid tribute from abroad, which was actually what is often called asbestos now. Although this thing does not look gorgeous, it is very expensive. Once, in order to show off his wealth, Emperor Wu of Jin deliberately wore clothes of fire raccoon cloth to find Shi Chong. When I came, I found that the servants in Shi Chong's family were wearing clothes of fire raccoon cloth.
In terms of eating, Shi Chong also has a lot of fresh inventions. To this extent, he has returned to basics, no longer likes big fish and meat, but works exquisite dishes and soups. His family's bean porridge is said by the guests to drink, and it can be served immediately; as for the leeks that can only be eaten in the spring, there are all year round in Shi Chong's family. Originally, he processed the cooked beans into fine powder, as long as they were sprinkled in the white porridge, they immediately became bean porridge; leeks were kept in wheat seedlings, and they were often eaten. However, this way of eating costs a lot, beans have to be processed in large quantities every day, and the preservation of leeks must also maintain temperature and humidity. Eating these convenient and out-of-season vegetables costs more than eating meat. Moreover, Shi Chong's use of candles as firewood to cook rice, the cost of each meal, light and fire work is a little bit amazing.
In terms of living, Shi Chong built a villa called "Golden Valley", which is tens of miles in circumference, the internal mountain-shaped water potential is victorious, the clear stream is haunting, the sound of the water is babbling, the pavilions are staggered, the birds are singing quietly, the fish jumping in the lotus pond, and the natural landscape is excellent. Shi Chong also decorated the house with precious items such as pearls, agate, amber, rhino horns, and ivory, which were golden and brilliant, like a palace. This "Golden Valley" villa has also become a famous tourist attraction, known as one of the "Eight Views of Luoyang". Moreover, the walls of his house are all smeared with pepper water, which not only has a strange fragrance, but also does not produce mosquitoes all year round.
With a mansion, it is natural to have beautiful women. There were hundreds of concubines in the back room of the Shi Chong's family, all dressed in exquisitely embroidered brocade and decorated with dazzling pearls and jade gems. What is used to distinguish is the gold noodle on the head of each concubine. The gold noodles on the heads of the concubines are individually customized, and every time they are lucky, they do not mention their names, only the names of the golden noodles, and the corresponding beauties can be allowed to come and serve. Shi Chong, fond of slim beauties, sprinkled crumbs on the ivory bed and then let the concubines step on it. Those who are light and have not left footprints are given a hundred pearls; if they leave footprints, they are given control over their diet. Therefore, the concubines joked: "You are not a thin bone, where can you get a hundred pearls?" "
In terms of behavior, Shi Chong's is also breathtaking. He did not build the "Golden Gou" to show off his wealth like Wang Ji, but he built a fifty-mile-long Jinbu Barrier. His family's oxcart drivers are all skilled professional drivers, so they can always be one step ahead of others when they compete with others.
In addition to food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, Shi Chong, because he and Wang Kaidoufu, the uncle of Sima Yan of the JinWu Emperor, took the treasure as a child's play and destroyed it at will. Once, Wang Kai took a two-foot-tall coral tree given by the emperor and went to shi Chong to show off. Shi Chong immediately set about smashing the coral trees, and then let people take out more than a dozen coral trees from his home, the smallest of which was three feet high. Then let Wang Kai pick it at will as compensation.