Prodigy, also known as the Holy Child, the Odd Child, the Heavenly Child, or the Gifted Child, is a title for the child who is endowed with excellent talents, the so-called "special and heterogeneous, the transgression of the Lun, the qi ling, the infancy, the enlightenment originating in the age of the young", "the insight in the early budding, the wisdom in the foresight, the scheming enough to accomplish the work, the oral discernment is enough to resolve the dispute". During the Warring States period, Gan Luo, the grandson of Gan Mao, the minister of the Qin state, was a guest of The Qin Emperor Lü Buwei at the age of twelve. The Han Dynasty already had a system for the selection of prodigies, and the election law of the Han Dynasty stipulated: "Those who test the scriptures for filial piety worship as langs, and young talents worship tongzilang." ”
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was a prodigy Yuan Jia, who could "use one heart and six uses": the left hand drew a circle, the right hand drew a square, the oral recitation of the history of the scriptures, the eyes counted the flocks, and the four cross poems were combined, and the foot book was five words and one. In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozong's reign (661), Yang Jiong, who was only 11 years old, was elevated to the rank of prodigy. Wang Bo was able to write poetry from an early age, and the eyes of people were prodigies, and the Old Book of Tang said: "At the age of six, he solved the text, conceived without delay, and the words were heroic." Liu Yan was called a prodigy at a young age, and his shape was bad, and Zhang Said, the prime minister, called him "Guorui". The "Tale of the Children", "The Biography of the Young Child", the "New Language of the World", and the "Taiping Guangji" all record a large number of prodigies.
It can be said that there are many young and famous prodigies in Chinese history, but when it comes to the youngest prime minister in China, it is not Ganluo.
In the public's impression, the prime minister was highly powerful and was the second most powerful figure in the feudal dynasty after the emperor. And the person who has the ability to sit in this position is not an old minister who has experienced vicissitudes and has a large beard, or a middle-aged cadre who is exquisite in all directions and has won the trust of the emperor. The exception was Ganluo, who was only twelve years old when he was prime minister.
So, what ability does Ganluo, who is not yet an adult, have to be the prime minister?
During the Warring States period of strife, Ganluo was born into a famous family, and his grandfather was Gan Mao, a general of the Qin state. Gan Mao is not only brave in battle, but also has a brilliant strategist and is a rare talent. He had served as a general in the Qin State, and also served as a left chancellor, and the limelight went straight after Zhang Yi. Later, many ministers of the Qin state were jealous of Ganmao's talents, and even rejected Ganmao in various ways.
In desperation, Gan Mao first fled to the State of Qi, then to the State of Wei, and finally died in the State of Wei. After Gan Mao's death, the situation of the Gan family declined day by day. In order to revive the family business, the Ganluo father and son decided to defect to the powerful Lü Buwei. Lü Buwei saw that the Qin king Yingzheng was young and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to monopolize the government and then make the Qin state dominate the world. And Ganluo, it is in this situation that he became famous.
The reason why he was able to become a twelve-year-old was because he had made two great contributions to the Qin State.
The first thing was that it prompted Zhang Tang to go to the Yan kingdom to become the prime minister.
After Lü Buwei's power grew, he planned to attack the State of Zhao and seize strategic positions around the river. To this end, he decided to send Zhang Tang to the State of Yan as the prime minister, in order to obtain help from the State of Yan. Unexpectedly, Zhang Tang did not buy Lü Buwei's account at all. He had attacked the Zhao Kingdom before, killing many people in the Zhao Kingdom, and now the King of Zhao wanted to kill him and then hurry.
King Zhao once said that anyone who caught Zhang Tang could obtain land within a hundred miles of the Zhao kingdom. Going to the Yan kingdom to be a chancellor was bound to pass through the Zhao kingdom, although Lü Buwei promised to send more guards, but this kind of risk, Zhang Tang was absolutely unwilling to take. The State of Yan had already sent Prince Dan as a hostage, and the State of Qin must make a statement, otherwise, there would be no way to talk about unity.
In order to move Zhang Tang, Lü Buwei knew his affection and moved with reason, but Zhang Tang was still unmoved. Lü Buwei held the power of life and death, and in his anxiety, he even wanted to use force to force Zhang Tang to obey. However, even if Zhang Tang was forced to go to the Yan Kingdom, it was difficult to guarantee that Zhang Tang would act according to the plan. If Zhang Tang came to Hu in the Yan Kingdom, then things would be even worse.
Lü Buwei thought to himself, not knowing what to do, so he asked the counselors around him for countermeasures. However, the strategists were well aware of Zhang Tang's character, and no one was willing to take over this hot potato. A few days passed, and no one still spoke back to Lü Buwei. Just when Lü Buwei was at a loss, Ganluo said calmly, "Junhou, please let me persuade Zhang Tang to try it." ”
Lü Buwei saw Ganluo's young age and said dismissively, "Even I can't persuade him, so you little boy should stop making trouble here." Ganluo seemed to have anticipated Lü Buwei's reaction, and he said confidently: "The prince's words are bad, and Xiang Qi became Confucius's teacher at the age of seven. Now that I'm twelve years old, how can I not give it a try? Moreover, even if you fail the prince, you have nothing to lose, so why rebuke me? ”
Seeing Ganluo's confident look, Lü Buwei half-believed and took him to Zhang Tang's mansion to see what kind of strange schemes this child had. Ganluo came to Zhang Tang without humility and asked Zhang Tang, "You have made countless battle achievements for the Qin State's southern conquest of the Northern War, and you can be described as a tiger general. However, compared to the famous white, which of you feels that the two of you are strong? ”
Bai Qi was known as the God of War, and Zhang Tang thought that he was far inferior, so he replied without hesitation: "This still needs to be asked, it must be Wu Anjun Bai qi." Ganluo then asked, "Who is more powerful than Lü Buwei, the prince who is now in power, and Fan Sui, who was in power at that time?" Zhang Tang thought for a moment and replied, "Of course, Lü Buwei, the King of Qin must also listen to him now, how can Fan Sui be compared?" ”
Hearing this, Ganluo asked Zhang Tang solemnly, "Since this is the case, do you know why Bai Qi died that year?" Bai Qi's death was not a secret matter, Zhang Tang replied: "When the King of Qin wanted to attack the Zhao Kingdom, Fan Ju asked Bai Qi to come out of the mountain, but Bai Qi did not comply. Enraged, the King of Qin first demoted Bai Qi to a pawn, and then gave him death. As soon as Zhang Tang's voice fell, Ganluo said coldly, "Then do you want to recreate the tragedy of Bai Qi's year?" ”
Hearing this, Zhang Tang couldn't help but inhale a cool breath. He bowed his hand to Ganluo, and then immediately packed up and went to the Yan Kingdom... This was Ganluo's first great contribution to the Qin state.
And Ganluo's second great achievement was that the soldiers did not have bloodshed to win several cities for the Qin state.
After successfully prompting Zhang Tang to go to the State of Yan as a chancellor, Ganluo took the initiative to ask Lü Buwei for help, wanting to send an envoy to the State of Zhao and come to the city around the river for the State of Qin. Lü Buwei was very surprised when he heard that the area around Hejian had always been a place where soldiers and families had to fight, and it was precisely for this reason that he had painstakingly united with the Yan Kingdom. Although Ganluo was intelligent, wanting King Zhao to take the initiative to sacrifice the city was tantamount to a fool's dream.
Lü Buwei was half-convinced last time, but this time he was completely unbelieving. Despite this, in order not to hit Ganluo, Lü Buwei decided to let him try. King Zhao was very confused when he heard that the State of Qin had actually sent a child as an emissary. However, in order to show his great power style, King Zhao still took the initiative to go out of the city to greet him and receive Ganluo with standard specifications.
Ganluo came to King Zhao with his head held high, and before King Zhao could greet him, he asked straight away: "Prince Dan of the Yan Kingdom has come to our country as a hostage, and our great general Zhang Tang has come to the Yan Kingdom as a minister, do these great kings know?" King Zhao replied, "Of course I know." Ganluo said coldly, "Since you know, can you think of Zhao Guo's future fate?" If our country and the Yan state are united, the elimination of the Zhao state will only be in the daytime. ”
Qin and Zhao had recently shown hostility, and King Zhao had long been wary of the Qin state. This time, the Qin state sent emissaries, and King Zhao also expected that the other side would definitely make a fuss about the relations between the two countries. However, King Zhao couldn't have imagined that Ganluo would tear his face as soon as he came up. Since this was the case, King Zhao didn't care about etiquette or anything.
King Zhao responded with full momentum: "Zhao Guo is ready for battle, even if we fight to the last person, we will not give in, please come back." Ganluo tentatively asked, "I have a better way to solve the problem than war, would the Great King listen?" King Zhao was very angry at Ganluo's rudeness, and he said impatiently, "You doll can say anything, don't listen." ”
Ganluo pretended to be old and sighed, "Great King, you want the Zhao Kingdom to perish." Zhao Guoqun's courtiers saw king Zhao and Ganluo needlepoint against Mai Mang, and the anger of the conversation grew stronger and stronger, and they felt very afraid. The State of Qin is already very powerful, if it unites with the State of Yan again, then, zhao Guoyan has a peaceful day? In order to ease the atmosphere of the conversation between the two men, the ministers persuaded King Zhao that it was not too late to listen to Ganluo's words and make a decision.
King Zhao didn't want to start a war either, but just hated Ganluo's arrogance. At this moment, seeing the persuasion of the group of ministers, he said to Ganluo in a disapproving manner, "If you have any way, just say it quickly." ”
Ganluo said slowly, "There is no deep hatred between Qin and Zhao, we have united with the State of Yan to oppose the State of Zhao, but only to plot the city between the rivers of the State of Zhao." Now that King Zhao was unable to resist Qin Yan's combined forces, why didn't he directly cede the five cities near hejian to the Qin state? In this way, our country will inevitably withdraw its troops. Moreover, the King of Qin assured the King that as long as he got the city, our country would immediately send Prince Dan back to the Yan Kingdom and break off diplomatic relations with the Yan Kingdom. Not only that, china can also attack the yan country together with the zhao state. Great King, if you think about it carefully, although zhao guo has lost five cities, once the attack on Yan is successful, the great king can get at least ten cities. ”
The ministers of the State of Zhao were overjoyed when they heard this, and they persuaded the King of Zhao to cut off the land. After weighing it up, King Zhao also agreed. In this way, Ganluo returned to China smoothly with five cities, which once again impressed Lü Buwei. When Qin Shi Huang saw that Ganluo had made such a great contribution, he immediately made him Shangqing (the chancellor of the Warring States period). After becoming Shangqing, Ganluo gradually became obscure.
The history books only record the exploits of Ganluo in his youth, but the end of him is unknown. Later generations of scholars have come up with two speculations after research.
The first guess is that Ganluo died at the hands of Qin Shi Huang.
Although Qin Shi Huang was very fond of Ganluo, in the feudal dynasty, it was always a companion of the king like a companion of the tiger, and rabbits and dead dogs were cooked. Ganluo longed for benevolent people and always wanted Qin Shi Huang to become a monarch with both moral integrity and ability. However, Qin Shi Huang was too cruel, so that Ganluo was like a fish in his throat, not spitting out unhappiness. The more he persuaded, Qin Shi Huang even became disgusted with Ganluo.
In desperation, Ganluo had a retreating mind. However, Qin Shi Huang valued Ganluo's talents and did not allow Ganluo to resign from his official position. In order to stay away from the imperial court, Ganluo decided to try to provoke Qin Shi Huang, even if he wanted to be punished, he had to return to the hidden mountains. Once, when Ganluo was playing chess, he touched the leg of Princess Qin in front of Qin Shi Huang and wanted Qin Shi Huang to punish himself, but unexpectedly, Qin Shi Huang directly ordered GanLuo to be killed in anger.
In this way, Ganluo was self-defeating and brutally killed.
There is also a saying that Ganluo died of illness.
After Ganluo became shangqing, he wanted to show his grand plan, but he was jealous of talent, and it did not take long for him to become seriously ill. Qin Shi Huang and Lü Buwei invited many famous doctors to heal him, but Ganluo died under the torment of illness. After Ganluo's death, his father sent Ganluo's body back to his hometown in Henan province and buried it in Zhangwan Village, Yanling County. Due to ganluo's great reputation, the people of Zhangwan Village changed Zhangwan Village to Ganluo Village in order to commemorate him.
In the "Yanling Gazetteer", it is recorded: "Ganluo Village, formerly known as Zhangwan, is rumored to have washed down from the upper reaches of the Gucai River and ran aground here. The coffin was buried here, and the tomb was built to build a temple, so it was thought to be a village. "Now Ganluo Village has Ganluo tombs and temple ruins. According to legend: the original area of 540 acres, the temple is spacious, the pavilion is magnificent, but it has been abandoned. In 1958, the tomb was opened as a brick chamber tomb, which belongs to the Han tomb and was sealed due to the accumulation of water in the tomb.
There are still several ancient cypress trees in front of the tomb, of which there is a Han cypress tree, the tree is several inches high, the diameter is five feet thick, the literature has a history of 700 years, and it has been included in the county-level cultural relics protection unit.
Resources:
["History, Volume 71, Li Lizi Ganmao Lie's Biography 11th", "Warring States Policy, Volume 7, Qin Strategy 5"]