When it comes to the Duke of Qi Huan, we all think of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya, the "friendship of Guan Bao", Bao Shuya supported the Succession of the Duke of Qi Huan, guan Zhong assisted the Duke of Qi Huan to govern the country, and then the Duke of Qi Huan ordered the princes to become the first overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period. However, what is less known is that the greatest contributor to the succession of Duke Huan of Qi was not Bao Shuya, and the most trusted minister after ruling the country was not Guan Zhong, but the ancestor of the Gao surname, Gao Dai.
The state of Qi rebelled against the king, and the sons competed for the throne
In the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Qi ushered in a civil unrest, which began with qi Xianggong.
Qi Xianggong was an absurd, unscrupulous, and untrustworthy man, who had incest with his half-sister Wen Jiang, killed his brother-in-law Lu Huangong for fornication with Wen Jiang, and killed Zheng Ziqi (wěi), the monarch of the state of Zheng, at a meeting of the two countries for the sake of his personal grudges in his youth, which made Qi Xianggong have a very bad international reputation. Of course, Qi Xianggong's biggest mistake was not to believe his subordinates, he sent Lian Zhi and Guan Zhi's father to kuiqiu to garrison, agreed to go when the melon was ripe, and sent someone to replace them when the melon was ripe next year, and as a result, after the expiration of the melon, Qi Xianggong turned his face and did not recognize the account, so he even called and managed his father to be angry and plotted a rebellion, colluding with Gongsun Ignorance (Qi Xianggong's cousin) to kill Qi Xianggong.
At that time, the three people who were most qualified to succeed to the throne were Qi Ji, the son of Qi Xianggong, the second brother of Qi Xianggong, And Xiao Bai, the third brother of Qi Xianggong, but after Qi Xianggong was killed, Qi Ji was very dangerous, so he took the initiative to flee to the Chu state, and Gongzi Gui and Gongzi Xiaobai had always been the targets that Qi Xianggong wanted to get rid of. Therefore, after the killing of Duke Xiang of Qi, Gongsun was ignorant of the fact that there were no competitors, so he very easily established himself as the monarch.
At the beginning of Gongsun's ignorant succession to the throne, he was very rude to the doctor Yongliu, and it is said in the Zuo Biography that "Gongsun ignorantly abused Yongliu", which caused Yongliu to hold a grudge, and the next year, when Gongsun was ignorant and went out to play, Yongliu sent someone to kill him.
At this time, there was no suitable successor in the State of Qi, and whoever arrived in the State of Qi first, Gongzi Gui and Gongzi Xiaobai, who would be able to occupy a significant advantage in the battle for the throne. In this race, Gongzi Xiaobai seems to have only a 50% chance, but in fact he has a powerful boost - Gao Dai, the Shangqing of Qi (like the future prime minister).
Gao Dai carefully planned, and Gongzi Xiaobai succeeded to the throne
After Gongsun Wuzhi's death, Gao Dai immediately sent news that he secretly recalled Gongzi Xiaobai from Juguo, and after Lu Guo learned of it, he also sent someone to escort Gongzi back to China, and asked Guan Zhong to lead people to attack Gongzi Xiaobai to prevent the latter from returning to China. In the next story, we all know that Guan Zhong shot an arrow, and Gongzi Xiaobai pretended to die by hitting the arrow, thus deceiving Guan Zhong and Gongzi Toggle, and then Gongzi Slowly and leisurely returned to China, and Gongzi Xiaobai immediately quickly stepped up his whip and soon joined Gao Dai who came to meet him. After Gongzi Xiaobai entered the capital of Qi, Gao Dai immediately endorsed him as the monarch of the State of Qi.
Six days later, when Gongzi Gui came to the border of the State of Qi, he was unceremoniously blocked by Gao Dai. After that, the State of Lu became angry and sent troops to attack the politically unstable State of Qi, because the State of Qi had just established a new monarch, there were different opinions from top to bottom, some said to meet the battle, some said to negotiate peace, and some said to move the capital, Gao Dai vigorously advocated the War of Resistance, and commanded the Qi army to defeat the Lu army in one fell swoop. This victory of Gao Dai not only allowed the newly established State of Qi to survive a dangerous period, but also forced Lu Zhuang to send out Gongzi Gui, Guan Zhong, and others, eliminating the aftermath of civil unrest.
It can be said that before and after Gongzi Xiaobai ascended the throne, Gao Dai was crucial, and it was difficult to have Qi Huan without him. One of the simplest reasons is that because Duke Xiang of Qi did not designate an heir, and Gongsun was killed in ignorance, then Gongzi Gui was the second son of Duke Qi, and Gongzi Xiaobai was the third son, according to the orderly rules of the Zhou Dynasty Inheritance Law, the throne should be the prince of The Prince. Therefore, the greatest contribution to Qi Huan gong is not Bao Shuya, but Gao Dai.
Qi Huan's history of hegemony, Gao Dai's great feats
During the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, a number of talents were appointed, the most widely known being Guan Zhong, Bao Shuya, And Yi (xí) Peng, but in fact Gao Dai was also one of the key figures in Qi Huan's hegemony and Guan Zhong's reform.
At that time, Gao Dai was the Shangqing of the State of Qi and held the military and political power of the State of Qi, so most of the important decisions and implementations of the State of Qi were difficult to bypass Gao Dai. Unlike the Qing emperor who can intervene in almost anything, China has restrictions on imperial power for most of the time, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, the monarchy is more obviously restricted, what position and what to do, the monarch can not interfere casually, the most typical is the Jin state secretary family, almost empty the power of the Jin state monarch, so later there were three branches of Jin. In the face of a powerful king, Shangqing's power will be eroded, but from the historical records, the Duke of Qi Huan has always trusted Gao Dai.
A major measure of Guan Zhong's reform is "three other countries, five despised countries", that is, "the system of the country is considered to be the capital of two or three countries, and the five points are despised." Twenty-one townships, six towns of industry and commerce, fifteen townships. Qi Huan Gong Shuai Wuxiang, Guozi Shuai Wuxiang, Gao Zi (Gao Dai) Shuai Wuxiang.
The State of Lu was adjacent to the State of Qi, and there were many contradictions in the history of the two countries, but if the Duke of Qi Huan wanted to dominate the princes, it was crucial to handle the relationship with the State of Lu well. At that time, Lu Guoqing's father killed the king, resulting in a great chaos in the state of Lu, that is, "Qing father did not die, Lu was not in trouble", the state of Qi helped the state of Lu to stabilize the situation, and then the state of Qi not only did not fall into the well, but sent Gao Dai to sign a covenant with the state of Lu, and later Gao Dai personally led a large army to help Duke Lu succeed to the throne, and finally repaired the relations between the two countries. The allusion "Yu Wang Gaozi" is the gratitude of the Lu people to Gao Dai.
The "History of the Qi Taigong Family" records: "Huan Gong was able to manage Zhong, and together with Bao Shuya, Kui Peng, and Gao Dai to repair the Qi state government, even the soldiers of the five families, set up light and heavy fishing and salt profits, in order to support the poor, Lu Xianneng, Qi people said." This record of Sima Qian shows the important position of Gao Dai in the reform of Guan Zhong, but Sima Qian's ranking of Bao Shuya and Kui Peng before Gao Dao may not be in line with history, in fact, Gao Dai, as Shangqing, did make a difference, and should be ranked before Bao Shuya and Kui Peng.
At the age of gao dai, he once again tried to turn the tide
In the later years of Duke Qi Huan's life, in the arrangement of heirs, it is more reflective of who he trusts the most.
Duke Huan of Qi had six sons, but he chose the heir to the third son, Gongzi Zhao, and entrusted Gongzi Zhao to Gao Dai, and at the same time, in the Kwai Qiu Hui League, which established the hegemony of the State of Qi, the Duke of Qi Huan established the status of Gongzi Zhao's heir, and made an agreement with Song Xianggong that whoever rebelled in his country could help each other suppress it. At that time, Guan Zhong, Bao Shuya, and Kui Peng had not yet died, but the Duke of Qi Huan entrusted Gongzi Zhao to Gao Dai, who was more than 70 years old, and the significance of this was self-evident.
We all know that in his later years, Duke Huan of Qi favored the traitorous ministers Shu Diao and Yi Ya, causing him to be starved to death, and then Shu Diao and Yi Ya welcomed Gongzi Wufeng (the eldest son of Duke Huan of Qi) as the monarch. In this regard, the 85-year-old Gao Dai took the lead in opposing it, and other courtiers also responded one after another, and Shu Diao and Yi Ya became angry and directly carried out a mutiny, killing many opposing ministers, because Gao Dai's prestige was too high, the judges did not dare to kill him. At this time, Gao Dai saw that it was difficult to quell the rebellion for the time being, so he began to plan: first, he arranged for Gongzi Zhao to immediately go out of the city to ask for help from the State of Song, and he himself did the internal response in the State of Qi; second, he provoked the other sons of the Duke of Qi Huan to stimulate their ambitions and let them compete with the Prince for the throne without loss, resulting in the delay in the formal establishment of the Prince of Qi.
By the time Gongzi Zhao won the battle to become the monarch, Gongzi Zhao had already summoned rescue troops, after which Gao Dai designed to kill Shu Diao and summon other ministers to attack the palace, and Li Yingwai joined forces to welcome Gongzi Zhao into the city, and then Gongzi Zhao became the monarch of the State of Qi, known in history as "Duke Xiao of Qi". This was the last time Gao Dai exerted his influence in the State of Qi, at the age of 86. After that, Gao Dai basically bid farewell to politics, but lived until 637 BC, at the age of 91, before dying, which can be called the Spring and Autumn Version of Guo Ziyi.
The State of Qi and the State of Song did not border each other, so why did he have this agreement with Song Xianggong? The reason is that Song Xianggong is a pedantic and trustworthy person, and his character is reflected in the allusion "Song Xiangzhiren", so Qi Huangong has this agreement with him, and it is basically certain that Song Xianggong can fulfill the covenant in the future. However, Gao Dai's personality was not the same as that of Song Xianggong, so why did Duke Huan of Qi entrust Gongzi Zhao to him? The reason is very simple, Gao Dai is the most trusted person of Qi Huangong, who is not entrusted to him? It can also be seen that although Duke Huan of Qi died humiliatingly, his arrangement for the auxiliary heir was very successful—both Song Xianggong and Gao Dai were loyal to the agreement.
So, as a crucial person in the history of Qi Huan's hegemony, what is the origin of Gao Dai?
In fact, Gao Dai was a member of the Duke of Qi, surnamed Lü of Jiang, and great-grandson of Duke Xiao of Qi. Duke Xiao of Qi enfeoffed a son in Gaoyi, in present-day Yucheng County, Shandong, and therefore this person was called "Gongzi Gao" or "Lü Gao". Lü Gao's grandson was called Lü Dai (朱傒), and later he took the fief name as his clan and was called "Gao Dai". The Tongzhi Clan Sketch records that in the Spring and Autumn Period, the grandson of Gao, the Prince of Qi, began to use "Gao" as his clan, that is, Gao Dai as the ancestor of gao surname. Gao Dai's special status was also one of the reasons why Qi Huangong trusted him.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the hegemony of The Duke of Qi Huan, people first think of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya, while a generation of famous ministers Gao Dai has been forgotten.
References: "History", "Zuo Biao", etc