Killing Wang Maozhong: Gao Lishi's battle for dignity

In the first year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, who had been enthroned for one year, killed Princess Taiping and took charge of the world since then. In the Inner Dynasty, two officials, one groom and one eunuch, rose rapidly. The groom's name is Wang Maozhong, and he was born in a eunuch's family in Koguryo. Later, Koguryo was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, and Wang Maozhong became a domestic slave of Li Longji, who was responsible for raising horses for him. At first, Wang Maozhong was a deserter when he killed Queen Wei in Li Longji and set up his father Li Dan to reign. However, he lost his way and became a pawn when he killed Princess Taiping, helping Li Longji ascend to the throne. Since then, he has been favored by many people, and he has been named General Zuo Wuwei with the doctrine, and he has been given the title of Huo Guogong.

Another eunuch who rose rapidly was Gao Lishi, who also made great contributions to the establishment of Li Longji as the emperor. He was given the rank of General Right Wuwei, who was in charge of internal affairs and provincial affairs. They were considered Xuanzong's right-hand men and should have been appreciate each other.

But after Wang Maozhong came to power, he began to look down on eunuchs, thinking that they were favored by sneaking around for information, so it was better to be justified by bleeding to death. So he turned a blind eye to those high-ranking eunuchs in power, such as Gao Lishi. For those eunuchs with small ranks, Wang Maozhong always rebukes and insults, and simply regards them as his own slaves.

at first, Gao Lishi could bear it because of his status. But later, in addition to the title of general, Wang Maozhong was also given a post called Taibu Temple by Xuanzong, which is also the groom's head of the whole country. His main duty was to raise war horses for the central imperial border guards. In the early years of Kaiyuan, the number of war horses was only 24,. Since Wang Maozhong took over, in just over ten years, the number of war horses has risen to 43,, nearly doubling. Therefore, Xuanzong added Wang Maozhong to open the third division of the government and the official residence, in recognition of his contribution to raising horses.

He was promoted to rank and knighthood, but Wang Maozhong was still very disciplined in front of the emperor, but he despised eunuchs even more.

Once, Wang Maozhong had a drink with his friends, and everyone drank too much. So someone joked that he first raised horses for Prince Li Longji and then for Emperor Li Longji, and his master improved, and he was the life of the groom all his life.

Wang Maozhong drank too much and said with a smile, "Although I am a groom, I also take care of that beast Gao Lishi! Who let him be the third product and I am the first product? Who let his name be Feng? Isn't he just two horses? I'm in charge of 43 thousand horses! Not only he, but also the whole family is in my charge, and they are all afraid of me! The same is true of their ancestors. His ancestors were prisoners of our Koguryo people and were finally killed by us, so he will never lift his head in front of me! "

everyone burst into laughter.

Gao Lishi was even angrier when he heard this. He scolded, "This Wang Maozhong not only insulted me, but also insulted my ancestors. I must try to teach him a lesson!" It turns out that more than two hundred years ago, Gao Lishi's ancestors established Beiyan, which is located in Liaodong. Later, Beiyan was destroyed by the Northern Wei Dynasty. Feng Ba fled to Koguryo, and was later killed by King Koguryo, and Koguryo became a vassal of the Northern Wei Dynasty. From then on, the Feng family fell to Lingnan and was punished by Wu Zetian. Gao Lishi was forced to become a eunuch. So if the two families have feuds in theory, now that new enemies have broken out again, Gao Lishi is naturally angry, but Wang Maozhonggong shows great respect. Although he has a bad attitude towards eunuchs, he keeps a low profile in front of the emperor and is law-abiding on weekdays. It is not easy to bring him down, so Gao Lishi decided to wait patiently for the opportunity.

A few years later, Wang Maozhong couldn't hold back, and he became more and more arrogant. Apart from many civil servants in the DPRK, dozens of imperial generals who followed Xuanzong in the coup, such as Ge Fushun and Li Shoude, all became his hardcore buddies. Relying on Wang Maozhong's power in the DPRK, these people were reckless and lawless, and the relevant departments could only turn a blind eye.

Gao Lishi thinks it's about time. So one day, while Xuanzong was happy, Gao Lishi got up the courage to tell Xuanzong his worries. He was worried that Wang Maozhong and his gang would threaten Xuanzong's notice. Xuanzong dismissed this, but said that Wang Maozhong was still loyal to him. He also said that they were all very simple soldiers, and they would not engage in cronyism and play politics. Instead, they laughed at Gao Lishi's alarmism, and they were not allowed to sue the black again without evidence!

Gao Lishi had to step down after hearing this, and he really suffered from the fact that there was no evidence to prove that Wang Maozhong had colluded with Ge Fushun and others for personal gain, because officials would rather be bullied and endured by themselves than anyone dared to testify against them. Later, Gao Lishi felt that since he could not sue Wang Maozhong and his gang, he simply disintegrated them from the inside.

He heard that Ge Fushun's son, Ge Xi, was old enough to get married, and that Gao Lishi had a like-minded friend, Assistant Minister Qi, and a daughter at home was old enough to get married, so he decided to propose marriage and tried to pull Ge Fushun over. After talking to Assistant Minister Qi, the other party readily agreed.

So Gao Lishi took a heavy gift to be a matchmaker to propose marriage, because everyone has worked together for many years, and it can be regarded as a suitable match. Ge Fushun agreed happily.

I didn't expect Wang Maozhong to know about this, so he found Ge Fushun and insisted on marrying his daughter to Ge Fushun. What else did he say? "How can nothing marry the daughter of a eunuch's best friend? It's cowardly of them to take the initiative to please you! Ge, we are military commanders. You should refuse the proposal of Sun Quan, a coward, like Guan Gong of Wu Shen in those days! Otherwise it's too humiliating! "

Ge Fushun was said to be moved, and flatly rejected Gao Lishi and let his son marry Wang Maozhong's daughter.

Gao Lishi was a little happy when he heard that he was not angry. In fact, he was waiting for this opportunity. He hoped that someone would go to the emperor's place again to fan the flames and ruin Wang Maozhong's image, so he immediately encouraged Assistant Minister Qi to sue Wang Maozhong and Ge Fushun for engaging in graft through marriage. Assistant Minister Qi also thought that they were not pleasing to the eye, so he agreed.

So in June of the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan, before Wang Maozhong and Ge Fushun married in-laws, Assistant Minister Qi found a chance to play alone, and solemnly Xuanzong said, "Your Majesty, I think Ge Fushun should not marry Wang Maozhong. Wang Maozhong is a shallow and impetuous person, and he gets carried away when he gives too much power. If it is not eradicated as soon as possible, it will become a great disaster. And Gao Lishi is cautious, and he is a eunuch. He is suitable for serving in the palace. Your majesty can be a confidant. Why should you reuse Wang Maozhong? "

Xuanzong was lost in thought after listening to it. In fact, the complaints of Gao Lishi and Assistant Minister Qi were very touching to him, and Xuanzong was not unaware of Wang Maozhong's bullying. The reason why no measures have been taken against Wang Maozhong is that Wang Maozhong has formed a certain influence in the DPRK, and it needs evidence to eradicate it. Moreover, Xuanzong also knows that Assistant Minister Qi is too rude and honest to tell him the truth, so he pretends to reprimand him and send him off.

Assistant Minister Qi was very dissatisfied, thinking that Xuanzong sheltered Wang and Ge's family.

when Gao Lishi learned of this, he came to fan the flames, saying that Wang and Ge would hold a wedding banquet tomorrow and invited many people, but Gao Lishi and Assistant Minister Qi were not invited, saying that they were cowards who stole to say goodbye to each other and were scolded by the emperor, fearing that they would bring bad luck and defile the wedding hall!

assistant minister qi was already unhappy, and now he got even angrier. he immediately took someone straight to ge Fushun's house to make a scene at ge Xi's wedding. Ge Xi is also a general in the imperial army, which is not easy to handle. The two of them also started to fight in a big mess, and at that time the whole city of Chang 'an was noisy.

When Xuanzong heard this, he immediately called Assistant Minister Qi and Ge Xi to give them a big scolding, calling them disgraced by the imperial court, and finally demoted them and sent them abroad. Wang Maozhong was very distressed when he heard that his uncle had been punished, so he bribed the official and the officials who were sent abroad to receive him, and secretly hid Ge Xi in his home, waiting for the opportunity to ask Xuanzong for pardon before reusing him.

Assistant Minister Qi failed, and Gao Lishi was disappointed. Later, he heard that Ge Xi was missing, and the rumor was that Wang Maozhong had done it, but the emperor learned that there was no order to trace it. I can't help but say to myself: The emperor is still very afraid of Wang Maozhong. Without a good opportunity and real evidence, the draft can't beat Wang Mafu, so Gao Lishi decided to wait for the opportunity.

at the end of the 18th year of Kaiyuan, the opportunity finally came. First, Wang Maozhong asked to be the minister of war in front of Xuanzong, but Xuanzong refused. For the first time, he expressed his dissatisfaction in front of the emperor. Gao Lishi beside see in the eye, can't help a pleased, heart said this Wang Maozhong finally bear, want to send yourself to the guillotine.

Then Wang Maozhong's wife gave birth to a son. Three days after the baby was born, in order to ease the relationship with Wang Maozhong, Xuanzong sent Gao Lishi to congratulate him. He not only gave a lot of wine, meat, gold and silver, but also awarded the baby five official positions. Gao Lishi forced himself to congratulate Wang Maozhong's house. Unexpectedly, Wang Maozhong held the baby in his arms and said to Gao Lishi, "Gao Gao, you see my son is in good health before he was named a five-grade official. And you have six incomplete roots, but you can be a doctrine officer. Do you think the emperor's rewards and punishments are unknown? I think my son should also be a doctrine officer! "

People all nodded and said yes. Although Gao Lishi pretended to be embarrassed on his face, he was happy in his heart. He was busy leaving for an excuse to complain. Before going out, he saw someone present at the dinner. Although he was hiding in the corner, he was found by Gao Lishi. He couldn't help but be ecstatic, but he pretended to be calm on his face and went back to the palace to report to me.

Xuanzong asked him, "Is he happy that I sent Wang Maozhong a gift and a seal?"

Gao Lishi embellished Wang Maozhong's mocking remarks and turned them into accusations against the emperor.

when Xuanzong heard this, he was angry at first and flew into a rage: "Wang Maozhong is a dog slave! When Wechsler was killed in those days, this boy was at both ends of the first mouse, hiding without a trace, and I didn't blame him. Just a few days ago, because I didn't give him the post of Minister of War, I showed it to my face! Now you dare to blame me for a child! "

But then he sat down and shook his head and said, "It's nothing if he complains. Words after drinking? Forget it. "

Gao Li knew that Xuanzong was worried about Wang Maozhong's great potential, so he leaned forward and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, I have one more thing to play. I actually saw Ge Xi at Wang Maozhong's banquet. It turned out that he was not sent abroad, but secretly hid in Wang Maozhong's house! And today, all the party members of Wang Maozhong gathered at Ge Fushun's house to drink, and they were not on guard. It was a good opportunity for adowa! "

after hearing this, Xuanzong said to himself, "Gao Lishi knows my mind best, and has laid out the reasons and opportunities for getting rid of Wang Maozhong. When will I wait until I do it?"

Then he pretended to be furious and shouted, "That's not bad. He dared to hide and commit crimes against my will, and immediately issued a decree, in the name of blaming the emperor and resisting the decree to hide traitors, and demoted Wang Maozhong to the second-in-command of Lingzhou! And his in-laws Ge Fushun and his son were all demoted to the second-in-command in remote States! "

Soon after, Wang Maozhong went to Yongzhou, where he was chased by an emissary sent by Xuanzong and was hanged on the spot. At this point, the groom and the eunuch competed for favor with each other, and finally decided the final winner. Gao Lishi gained dignity and power by being low-key, patient, and good at leveraging his strength. By the hand of the emperor, he got rid of his opponent in the name of safeguarding imperial power, while Wang Maozhong lost everything because of his arrogance and publicity.