In the autumn of Tianbao Sanzai (744), Li Bai resigned and left Beijing. When he passed through Huayin County, he drunkenly rode a donkey and crossed the street market without anyone, almost crashing into Huayin County Ling. Being so offended by a drunk man made the county lord very angry, and he immediately scolded: "Who is Ru, dare to be rude?" Li Bai looked at the county order with drunken eyes and said, "I once ordered the dragon towel to spit out, the royal hand to spice the spoon, the noble concubine to hold the stone, and the lux to take off the boots." In front of the Gate of Heavenly Son, Shang Rong walked on horseback, and in Huayin County, he was not allowed to ride a donkey? The county commander was shocked to hear this, and quickly apologized and said, "I don't know hanlin so far, forgive the sin and forgive the sin!" ”
The above allusions are from the "Biography of Tang Caizi", and the passage that Li Bai said to the county order translated into modern Chinese means: Tianzi once wiped vomit for me with his handkerchief, personally mixed soup for me, the noble concubine held a brick platform for me, and Gao Lishi took off my boots. I was allowed to ride a horse in front of Tianzi's gate, so why wouldn't I let you ride a donkey in Huayin County?
Li Bai is the number one poet in Chinese history, and such a famous figure is naturally indispensable to all kinds of anecdotes about him. Some of this is true, and some of them are rumored to be more and more outrageous. So are these things true or false: "Dragon towel spit, royal hand spoon, noble concubine holding stone, Lux taking off boots" are true or false? Here we will take "Lux boots" as an example.
In the third year of Tianbao (744), Li Bai wrote the "Three Songs of Qingping Tune Words" that has been passed down through the ages in the way of flower metaphors. After Tang Xuanzong saw it, he greatly appreciated Li Bai's talent and invited him to the palace for dinner many times.
Li Bai's ideal was to assist the emperor to "make the Huan District Da Ding and the Hai County Qing Yi", rather than relying solely on poetry and eating. However, although Tang Xuanzong admired Li Bai's poetic talent, he did not think that he had any talent in government affairs, so he only regarded Li Bai as a literary attendant.
Seeing that the "ceiling" of the profession encountered but could not be broken, Li Bai gradually became discouraged. Already an alcoholic, he became even more intoxicated. Du Fu wrote in the "Eight Immortals in Drinking Song": "Li Bai wrote a hundred poems, and the restaurant in Chang'an City slept. Tianzi did not come to the ship, claiming that his subject was a wine immortal. ”
One day, Li Bai was drunk again. Tang Xuanzong happened to have something to summon him to the palace to face the saint, and Li Bai deliberately asked the eunuch Gao Lishi to take off his boots through the power of wine. Gao Lishi was afraid of delaying the right thing, so he had to help Li Bai take off his scalp. The allusion of "Lux taking off his boots" has been passed down. However, the authenticity of this matter is very doubtful.
Colliers was a powerful eunuch at that time, and the prince called him "brother", the princes and ministers called him "Weng", and the horses all called him "Grandpa". It can be said that except for the emperor, no one dares not to look at Colliers with a straight eye. At that time, Li Bai's position was Hanlin Waiting for the Commandment, which was equivalent to the disciple of the Son of Heaven, and his status was not high, and his power was even less. That is to say, the status of Li Bai and Gao Lishi is extremely different. Even if Li Bai really drank too much at that time, he probably did not dare to make such a request, and Gao Lishi could not agree to take off his boots for Li Bai. Therefore, this allusion should be fabricated by later generations in order to elevate Li Bai and demean eunuchs.
In addition to "Lux taking off his boots", "dragon towel spit, royal hand spoon, noble concubine holding stone" these things are likely to be exaggerated. Although Li Bai's historical status was very high, in the eyes of people at that time, he was only a very famous poet. Tang Xuanzong admired his talent and provided him with generous treatment, which was no problem. But it didn't seem realistic to take a handkerchief of your own to wipe his vomit on him. As for Yang Guifei, who was even more favored in the harem at that time, she dared to quarrel directly with Tang Xuanzong without a word. Let her stand aside and hold the Yantai to serve Li Bai to write, this possibility is even lower.