History is the memory of things that have been said and done. —Carl Baker
In the TV series "Kangxi Dynasty", the character of Wu Liuyi is believed to have left a considerable impression on everyone, this fictional character in the play played an important role in the Kangxi Emperor's eradication of Aobai, he served as the governor of the Nine Doors, because of the strict law enforcement, ruthless, known as "Iron Man". He was also a man who knew the reward of grace, and spared no effort for more than ten years to rescue the benefactor trapped in prison in order to repay the favor of Chai Huang's meal, and even did not hesitate to exchange his official title for the life of the benefactor. In the play, he made great contributions to quelling the rebellion of Aobai, rose to the rank of viceroy of Liangguang, and died of illness a few years later. So is there an archetype of this character in history? The answer is yes, he is Wu Liuqi, who served as a chief military officer during the Shunzhi period and posthumously pursued the young master and the prince's master.
Wu Liuqi, Zi Jianbo, nicknamed Wu Hook, read poetry books as a child, and was widely involved in the history of scripture. Wu Liuqi has a rough appearance but a meticulous mind, and his name Ge Ru means to imitate Zhuge Kongming, who often assumes that he is arrogant, drunk and gambling, and uses his family property as a postman, and then does not do his job, becomes a beggar, and wanders in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. When Wu Liuqi was a teenager, he was wandering in a monastery in Phoenix Mountain to do miscellaneous work. The monks in the temple taught his apprentices the stick method at night, and Wu Liuqi learned it as he watched, and killed two tigers in a row between the ten days, and the frightened monks advised him to use his martial courage to make a meritorious career. In Haining, Zhejiang, he met the famous scholar of the time, Xiaolian Chay Huang, who saw Wu Liuqi with a bear and a tiger's back, and his courage was extraordinary, and he regarded him as "Hai Nei Qijie" and gave him a generous amount of money to send him back to his hometown. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, smoke was everywhere in eastern Guangdong, and rebel armies rose up everywhere. Relying on Cha Yihuan's generous gifts, Wu Liuqi and his brother Wu Biao gathered the township heroes and expanded their power, and soon became the warlords of eastern Guangdong who dominated the side. The Southern Ming Yongli Emperor Zhu Youluo also made him the chief soldier with his soldiers. There is a scholar who once said, "There is no reading in the family, where did the official come from?" "Mocking him as a warrior. He replied, "There will be no seed in the face, and the boy should be self-reliant." "It can be seen that his ambition is great.
In addition to Wu Liuqi's rule of the army, he reads diligently, likes calligraphy, and can salute corporals, and has the style of an ancient famous general. However, the good times were not long, just when Wu Liuqi was flying Huang Tengda, in the first month of the seventh year of Qing Shunzhi (1650), the Qing court sent Shang Kexi to lead a large army to conquer Guangdong, facing the Qing army moving south, Wu Liuqi, who knew that he was invincible, chose to surrender to Qing, and then cooperated with the Qing army to sweep away the Southern Ming forces in Guangdong. He also assisted Geng Jimao, the king of Jingnan, to lead a 100,000-strong Manchu army to attack Chaozhou, and Wu Liuqi was outstanding in this battle, and the Shunzhi Emperor specially appointed Zuo Dudu, the commander-in-chief of the Hanging Seal, and ordered him to be stationed in the town of Raoping. In order to repay the Shunzhi Emperor's kindness, Wu Liuqi, who had officials, grain and territory, proposed to the imperial court to strengthen coastal defense in the twelfth year of Shunzhi (1655). The following year, the Qing court announced the implementation of the "sea ban" policy, the intention of which was to cut off the supply and replenishment of the Ming army under Zheng Chenggong in order to achieve the purpose of complete elimination. Wu Liuqi was also on the Dazhi sea in Guangdong, recruiting sailors to suppress Xiamen and surrender the Nan'ao garrison in order to strike and blockade Zheng Chenggong's anti-Qing struggle on the southeast coast. In the second year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1663), due to the "Ming History Case", Wu Liuqi's benefactor, Cha Yi Huang, was connected, and Wu Liuqi tried his best to rescue him, so that Chai Yi Huang was able to escape, and it became a good story for a while. In the fourth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1665), Wu Liuqi was rewarded by the Kangxi Emperor for his meritorious service in defending the territory, and was initially given the title of Prince Shaobao, and was repeatedly promoted to Young Fu and Crown Prince Taifu. On May 3 of that year, Wu Liuqi fell ill and died at the age of 59. The Kangxi Emperor posthumously presented the young master and crown prince Taishi, gave shunge, sent officials to sacrifice and burial, made imperial sacrifices and inscriptions, and gave a pint of canonical construction of his tomb under the LiaoHu Mountain on Tai Po Lake. Wu Liuqi's military career was mainly to help the Qing court pacify eastern Guangdong and resist Zheng Chenggong, including recruiting Qunhao in eastern Guangdong, suppressing the rebellion of Hao Shangjiu, the commander-in-chief of Chaozhou, and recovering Jieyang and cutting off Zheng's food supply.
As for the origin of his name of the Iron Servant, Pu Songling's "Liaozhai Zhiyi", Wang Shizhen's "Notes on Xiangzu", Jiang Shiquan's "Snow Man" and so on are all recorded, "Liaozhai Zhiyi - General Hercules" said: "Chai Yi huang once went to a ruined ancient temple, saw a large bell placed on the ground, through the gap he saw that there seemed to be something inside the bell, out of curiosity, he ordered several servants accompanying him to move the big bell, and as a result, four or five people could not move, and a rough-looking beggar came in a moment, and lifted the bell with one hand. Taking out the food placed in it and eating it as if no one had eaten it, Chai Juan was horrified and called it an iron beggar and fellowshiped with it, helping him return to his hometown to build a career.