Throughout the ages, the highest pursuit of people is their own illustrious life, and their children and grandchildren are not left behind, so that they can continue to carry forward the family, and their children and grandchildren are endless, especially in the feudal era, they pay more attention to the quality of their children and grandchildren and the future of the family, and they do not hesitate to sacrifice everything for this.
But in the Tang Dynasty, there was such a person, he stood firm after three dynasties, was valued by several emperors, enjoyed countless glory and wealth, and had a clever fortune-telling technique, it stands to reason that a person like him should use his own merits to ask the emperor for a bright future before he dies.
But to everyone's surprise, before he died, he not only did not seek officials for his descendants, but also told everyone: "If my descendants have such descendants, then they must not keep his life, otherwise, he will definitely affect the whole family!"
[The world is in turmoil, just in time]
In 594 A.D., a baby boy was born in a family of eunuchs in Heze, Shandong, the baby boy was the eldest son in the family, and was very favored by his parents.
Xu Maogong has been smart since he was a child, he is a well-known prodigy, and he also inherited his father's character of being kind and charitable, when the world was in turmoil, the people did not continue to eat, he often took his family out to give porridge, so that the people in the township can have a way to live, so his reputation is very good.
During the great cause of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang imposed heavy taxes on the government, and the people of the Central Plains could not bear the hardships and rebelled. Xu Maogong's neighbor Zhai Rang formed the Wagang Army in order to survive. However, the army was short of food, so Zhai Rang set his sights on his homeland and sought resources to support the rebel army.
Xu Maogong hurriedly stepped forward and persuaded: "Rabbits don't eat the grass by the nest, if the general wants to get the hearts and minds of the people to fight in all directions, then he must not attack his hometown, Songzhou and Zhengzhou are famous, if you have money, you might as well go there and loot."
This trick can be regarded as saving the villagers in Heze, Shandong, and also made Zhai Rang appreciate this brave and calm young man very much, and immediately absorbed him into his Wagang army.
Xu Maogong watched the chaos in the world at that time, and he didn't want to sit on the ground and wait for death, so he happily joined the Wagang Army and gave advice to Zhai Rang, but what he never expected was that Zhai Rang was a short-sighted person, he burned and looted everywhere to satisfy his selfish desires, but there was no correct means of governance, which made the people below complain, and also made Xu Maogong completely see the true face of this boss.
Just when Xu Maogong intended to change the court, the imperial court appointed General Li Mi to crusade against the Wagang army. Xu Maogong is good at observing appearances, and when he saw Li Mi's extraordinary face, he concluded that he could achieve great things. However, as an important minister of the imperial court, why did Li Mi join the Wagang rebels?
Although Li Mi is still loyal to the imperial court, the emperor Yang Guang behind him is a suspicious and jealous person, he is very dissatisfied with Li Mi, who is deeply loved by the soldiers, and actually stabbed him directly in the back, and Li Mi had to join the Wagang Army.
As soon as Xu Maogong saw that this master was coming, he immediately raised his hands and feet to welcome, and also strongly advised the boss Zhai Rang to abdicate and make way for Xian, otherwise, with Li Mi's means and everyone's love for him, Zhai Rang would be abdicated sooner or later.
Zhai Rang also felt justified when he heard it, mainly because he felt sorry for his own life, and immediately gave up the position of the leader of the tile steel army to Li Mi, but Li Mi was also disrespectful, and comfortably made the first place, for Xu Maogong, who said all the good things to himself and helped him to take the position, Li Mi also valued it very much, and let him be the second in command with a wave of his hand.
Changing a reliable boss is different, Li Mi was born in Jiangmen, has ambitious ambitions, and the short-sighted Zhai Rang is not at all different, as soon as he sat on the top spot of the Wagang Army, he began to buy the hearts of the people everywhere, and absorbed a large number of homeless victims, let them join the Wagang Army, and crusade against the court together.
Soon, the Wagang Army became a big problem for the imperial court, seized a lot of land in the imperial court, and also made the princes of the world have to take this chaotic army from the bandit underworld in their eyes.
However, Li Mi and Xu Maogong were not satisfied with the victory at this time, their goal was the whole world, so after laying the territory, Xu Maogong and Li Mi not only did not burn and loot like other exile troops, but also opened warehouses and released grain to the people in the autumn without committing any crimes, and collected them into the hearts of the people.
It stands to reason that such a rebel army is undoubtedly a good seedling of the lord of the world, but unfortunately the son of the Mandate of Heaven at that time was Yang Guang's cousin Li Yuan, Li Yuan was born in the Li family of Longxi, one of the top wealthy families in the Sui Dynasty, with elite soldiers and strong generals under his hands, and the support of the family, where can the grassroots Wagang Army compare?
Li Yuan also has a talented son, Li Shimin, who is brave and good at fighting, and his fame is shocking everywhere. Every time he comes to the battlefield, he can always turn danger into a disaster and repeatedly perform miraculous feats. All the soldiers were in awe of him, and they were convinced and regarded as their leaders.
After the Wagang Army encountered Li Shimin, it no longer had the previous scenery, and could only run away.
This made Xu Maogong and Li Mi also very devastated, when they met such an open father and son, where they could succeed if they worked hard, so after careful consideration, the two of them were very aware of the current affairs, like the Li family submitted a sincere letter of surrender.
At that time, Xu Maogong served as the second-in-command of the Wagang Army, and the territory and people of the Wagang Army were managed by him, so if he could take the initiative to present the information of the Wagang Army to Li Yuan and his son, it would be a great credit, but Xu Mougong was grateful for Li Mi's kindness and refused to be so treacherous.
The people around him advised him to make a decision as soon as possible, but Xu Maogong said: "Li Mi, the Duke of Wei, is the real master of Waguangjun, if I send these materials to the Lord before him, it will be treacherous and traitorous to seek glory, and I will never do such a thing."
So these materials were given to Li Mi, and when Li Mi dedicated them to Li Yuan, he relayed the words of Xu Maogong, and Li Yuan was moved to tears, after all, in that turbulent era, having such a loyal minister was simply the dream of all lords.
Therefore, Li Yuan also attached great importance to Xu Maogong, not only gave him the title of Duke of England, but also waved his hand and asked him to change his surname to Li, which is the highest honor that a courtier of the Tang Dynasty can get!
[Return to the Ming Lord, a generation of famous ministers]
After Xu Maogong returned to the Tang Dynasty, he tried his best to serve the Tang Dynasty, and offered advice and advice to Li Yuan to help him successfully pacify the world. Li Yuan praised him, and his son also regarded him as a loyal minister of the Li family, and he was courteous. Xu Maogong was famous and respected in the Tang court.
When Xu Maogong was in the Tang Dynasty, the old lord Li Mi was in a bad situation. Li Mi has a proud personality, and although he is treated favorably by Li Yuan, he still feels wronged, complains constantly, and even tries to rebel. Li Yuan was angry and decisively ordered Li Mi to be killed.
Xu Maogong deeply felt Li Mi's love in the past, and wrote a letter requesting to receive his remains. After reading it, Li Yuan deeply praised his loyalty, so he agreed to his request, increased his trust, and promoted him to a higher salary. Xu Maogong's loyalty was deeply appreciated by Li Yuan and was highly used.
But what disappointed Li Yuan was that although Xu Maogong had a loyal heart, he was also the most able to judge the situation in his life, so in the Xuanwumen Change, he simply did not help each other, and after Li Shimin won the final victory, he immediately left the old master Li Yuan behind and submitted to Li Shimin.
Li Shimin also attached great importance to this clever courtier, and after ascending the throne, he also frequently showed kindness, and Xu Maogong took out an attitude of death as a confidant, and followed Li Shimin to fight in the south and the north.
In the battle against the Eastern Turks, Xu Maogong led a cavalry raid and defeated the enemy. Subsequently, he laid an ambush and successfully intercepted the fleeing enemy, and finally completely defeated the Eastern Turks. Li Shimin was overjoyed and immediately gave Xu Maogong's son an official position as a reward.
After this battle, Xu Maogong was not satisfied, attacking the Turks was just revenge, if he wanted to occupy an unparalleled position in Li Shimin's court, then he must have the merit of expanding the territory.
So Xu Maogong took the initiative to invite Ying, and took the elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to exert his might on the border of the Tang Dynasty, and wiped out all the small countries that were slightly unhappy along the way, and the territory of the Tang Dynasty also expanded on a large scale, which made Li Shimin regard Xu Maogong as his confidant, and when he died, he also made him a minister of Tuogu, and asked him to assist the prince Li Zhi to govern the world.
After Li Zhi ascended the throne, he was quite courteous to the former emperor's former ministers, and often gave promotions and salary increases on the occasion of festivals, and gave them treasures. Xu Maogong did not rely on the pride of the elders of the three dynasties, and was respectful to Li Zhi, the young son of heaven, and the monarchs and ministers were harmonious and complemented each other.
At this time, Xu Maogong's age was not young, so he began to gradually let go of the regime to live for a long time, but before he retired, a major event occurred in the court that shocked the government and the opposition, Li Zhi wanted to abolish the queen chosen by Tang Taizong for him, and set up Wu Zhaoyi, who had served Tang Taizong, as the queen, which made the old ministers in the court very opposed, if this marriage was completed, then where is the royal system?
The other Lao Chen only cared about anger, but Xu Maogong understood that Li Zhi not only wanted to abolish the queen this time, but also wanted to reshuffle the court to install his own forces, so when Li Zhi asked him, he spread his hands: "This is the emperor's family matter, how can we who are courtiers discuss it?"
Xu Maogong's knowledge of the times made Li Zhi very satisfied with him, and most of the other old ministers who opposed his abolition ended badly, but Xu Maogong was able to retreat and enjoy his old age in peace.
[Last words, unfortunate fulfillment]
After this reshuffle in the court, Xu Maogong didn't want to continue to stay in the court, so he wrote to ask for retirement, Li Zhi agreed to his request, and after retirement, Xu Maogong cultivated himself at home, studied the Book of Changes, and lived a very leisurely life.
However, Xu Maogong is an old man after all, no matter how he maintains it, the pace of death is gradually approaching, before he died, he called the whole family to his side, and advised: "If he has ambitions and is not of the same kind, he will kill them first, and then smell them."
That is to say, if Xu Maogong thinks that if there are unhealthy descendants among his descendants, the people of the Xu family must kill him immediately, otherwise the whole family will not be able to die!
This was said in a strange and illogical manner, and the people of the Xu family did not take this to heart, but just nodded and perfunctory Xu Maogong. But no one thought that Xu Maogong's words would be ironclad, and in the decades after his death, there was really such a person who brought the entire Xu family to a dead end.
Xu Jingye, the grandson of Xu Maogong, is gifted and intelligent, entered the office at a young age, and has been valued by Li Zhiqi. However, Li Zhi was seriously ill in middle age, and the power was handed over to Wu Zetian. The Wu clan is ambitious, and it is difficult to give up after tasting power, even if the opponent is a parent and child, he is not soft.
Wu Zetian first framed Li Zhong, the crown prince who was not born by himself, and asked him to be deposed with a few words of slander. Even if Li Zhong was appointed as the king, she did not let him go, and finally decisively sent him to the point of no return, showing her ruthless side.
After the crown prince Li Hong and Wu Zetian died young, the prince Li Xian who came up again was even more dissatisfied with his mother, Wu Zetian noticed his thoughts, and waved his hand again, and abolished him, and then the prince Li Xian who came up was lucky, so he became the emperor once, but because of the wrist with the old lady, Wu Zetian kicked him off the throne again, and set up the last youngest son Li Dan to be the emperor.
Where is this change of throne? The difference is Wu Zetian's personal single show, and the throne has become a thing in her hands, and she can get it as she wants. The princes and courtiers of the Li family were very dissatisfied and opposed Wu Zetian for various reasons.
It wasn't until the knife was on the neck that the Xu family believed that Xu Maogong's iron mouth was cut off back then, but now it's too late to say anything, Xu Maogong's life's work was destroyed under Wu Zetian's butcher's knife, and Xu Maogong, who had been dead for 15 years, was ordered by Wu Zetian to dig his grave.
Xu Maogong, a general of Wagang, was like a fish in water in the Tang Dynasty, and after three dynasties, he was awarded the title of Duke of the Kingdom. However, on his deathbed, he foresaw the decline of his family and left a strange last word. The destiny of heaven is difficult to violate, and the descendants of a high man have ruined his life's work, which is really suffocating.