During his reign of Fifty-four years, Emperor Wu of Han appointed a total of thirteen ministers, except for Tian Qianqiu, the remaining twelve, seven of whom were removed from their posts, three committed suicide, and three were killed. One of the seven ministers who were dismissed was beheaded and one was frightened to death.
During Emperor Wu's reign, the ministers knew that officials were not easy to do, and their lives were in danger at any time, and in the later period of Emperor Wu's reign, the imperial court wanted to promote a minister to be a minister, and the minister was crying while prostrating his head and begging for forgiveness.
For those who are officials, it is impossible for a high-ranking official to be able to ascend to one of the three dukes, but for the officials of the imperial dynasty, being the prime minister is as painful as going to the execution ground, many people are unwilling to be the minister, and Gongsun Hong is an exception, he has been a minister for six years, lived for eighty years, and died in the position of the minister, so why can Gongsun Hong die well?
Portrait of Gongsun Hong
Why was Gongsun Hong able to get emperor Wu's weight?
Gongsun Hong today Shouguang people in Shandong, born lowly, when he was young in his hometown prison as an errand boy, and then lost his job because of violating the laws of the Han Dynasty, in order to maintain his livelihood, Gongsun Hong went to the beach to herd pigs, at this time Gongsun Hong was already forty years old, he was not willing to be a pig official, decided to take the road of reading, as the saying goes, as long as you are willing to work hard, the iron pestle can also be sharpened into a needle, Gongsun Hong began to read at the age of forty, learned "Ram Spring and Autumn", and learned successfully.
Gongsun Hong was a well-known filial piety in his hometown, very filial to his stepmother, the Han Dynasty attached great importance to filial piety, and it is well known that Emperor Wu advocated Confucianism and mainly adopted the Confucian "filial piety" in thought.
In October of the first year of Jianyuan (140 BC), when Gongsun Hong was already sixty years old, Emperor Wu ordered that all officials with more than 2,000 stones in the country could recommend talents to the imperial court, because Gongsun Hong was a well-known filial piety in his hometown of Zichuan, and was soon recommended to the imperial court by the local government. After much screening, Gongsun Hong stood out and became the doctor of Emperor Wu of Han, and since then he has entered the career path.
Stills of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty
Gongsun Hong's career was not smooth during his tenure as an official, and he resigned from his official position on the grounds of frailty and old age.
In the fifth year of Yuan Guang (130 BC), Emperor Wu of Han again ordered the selection of talents, Gongsun Hong was again elected, his countermeasure won the first place, and then Emperor Wu summoned him, although Gongsun Hong was already a 70-year-old man, he was a table of talents, Emperor Wu was also a appearance association, he was very satisfied with the appearance of Gongsun Hong, and reappointed him as a doctor.
In 126 BC, Gongsun Hong was promoted to the rank of Imperial Grand Master, and later Emperor Wu felt that he was humble and courteous, and promoted him to be a chancellor.
Why was Gongsun Hong able to die well?
First, it is good to surrender to the king
It is well known that the Han Dynasty advocated Taoist doctrine before the Wu Emperor Dynasty, and Emperor Wu's grandmother Empress Dou firmly believed in the art of Huang Lao, and Emperor Wu's great promotion of Confucianism at the beginning of his reign annoyed Empress Dou, who exchanged all the ministers of the court for her own cronies. Emperor Wu had no real power when he took the throne, and he had to follow his grandmother's wishes. After Empress Dou's death, Emperor Wu began to govern pro-government, and Confucianism became the guiding ideology for governing the country.
Why did Emperor Wu promote Confucianism? The Qin Dynasty took the idea of the Fajia as the guiding ideology for governing the country, and it told the emperors of later generations that only the Fajia would destroy the country, but it was inseparable from the Fajia to engage in despotism.
The laws of the Han Dynasty basically inherited the Qin system, and in order to avoid the political risks brought by the Legalists, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty adopted the ruling strategy of the "Outer Confucian Meat Law", that is, on the surface, Confucianism was promoted, but in fact the set of the Legalists was implemented, and Emperor Wu was nothing more than using the benevolence of Confucianism to put on a gentle cloak for the harshness of the Legalists, which is popularly speaking, hanging sheep's heads to sell dog meat.
Emperor Wu has been strengthening the centralization of power all his life, the legal family pays attention to despotism is the most suitable for the rule of the feudal emperor, when Gongsun Hong was a clerk in prison, he knew that the emperor of the Han Dynasty was to engage in centralized power, especially Emperor Wu of Han, so he studied "Ram Spring and Autumn", "Ram Spring and Autumn" emphasized the unification of the country, Gongsun Hong ostensibly respected Confucianism, but in fact did things according to the set of the Fa family, which was just in line with the wishes of Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Wu admired him very much.
Still in response to that sentence, if you want to be appreciated by the leader, you must understand the psychology of the leader, and the key is to do what he likes.
Second, know how to observe words and colors
As the saying goes, Jiang is still old and spicy, Gongsun Hong was seventy-four years old and served as the deputy prime minister, he is older than most officials, in terms of age, Gongsun Hong, who has rich social experience, can be the grandfather of Emperor Wu of Han.
When Gongsun Hong was a doctor for the first time, Emperor Wu sent him as an envoy to the Xiongnu, and when he returned, Gongsun Hong reported to Emperor Wu, and Emperor Wu was very dissatisfied after hearing this, believing that Gongsun Hong had no talent, and Gongsun Hong was good at observing the joys and sorrows of the monarch, and did not wait to be fired, so he resigned and returned home on the grounds of old age and infirmity.
After Gongsun Hongguan was reinstated, he appeared particularly cunning, and once he held a meeting with Ji Dian to discuss things, and after the two of them reached an agreement, they ran to see Emperor Wu of Han, and after seeing the leader, Gongsun Hong had no opinion at all, stood next to him without saying a word, and waited for Ji Di to express his opinion first, and Ji Di began to gush out his opinion endlessly.
Gongsun Hong carefully observed Emperor Wu's reaction next to him, and found that Emperor Wu's face was not right, and he was not satisfied with the opinions they had discussed, so Gongsun Hong immediately turned against him and refuted Ji Dian's opinion, and Ji Di was so angry.
Later, Gongsun Hong always used the method of "seeing the wind and making the rudder" to please the leaders, and every time his opinions were always adopted by Emperor Wu, Ji Dian was not appreciated by Emperor Wu, so Ji Dian suffered a lot of losses from Gongsun Hong.
Kukko Image
Third, strong adaptability
Gongsun Hong's behavior of seeing the wind and making the rudder made Ji Dian very unaccustomed, and he felt that Gongsun Hong was hypocritical and cunning, and he was not honest at all. Once Ji Di exposed Gongsun Hong in front of the ministers and Emperor Wu, saying: "The Qi people are deceitful and ruthless, and they first proposed this discussion with their ministers and others, but now they are doubly loyal." This means that the Qi people have always been hypocritical and cunning, and every time we discussed something good with Ji Dian, when the Emperor Ming was played, he temporarily betrayed and was not loyal at all.
After Ji Dian said that everyone was staring directly at Gongsun Hong, the scene was very embarrassing, and Emperor Wu was also very surprised after hearing it, so he asked Gongsun Hong what was going on, and Gongsun Hong replied: "Those who know the subjects are loyal to the subjects, and those who do not know the subjects are disloyal." People who understand me think I'm loyal, and people who don't understand me think I'm disloyal.
Gongsun Hong's answer is very clever, often things do not do too much justification, the more the explanation, the worse, but it will backfire. After hearing this, Emperor Wu not only did not blame Gongsun Hong, but felt that Ji Dian was too strict and harsh in his handling of people, small belly and chicken intestines, or Gongsun Hong was more open-minded and generous, and he should be strict with himself and be lenient with others.
Later, Ji Dian once again impeached Gongsun Hong in front of everyone, and Gongsun Hong, instead of being angry, praised Ji Di as a rare outspoken advisor, and Emperor Wu felt more and more that Gongsun Hong was loyal and generous and trusted Gongsun Hong even more after hearing this.
It can be seen that Gongsun Hong had a high emotional intelligence and was very cunning, relying on his three inches of uncorrupted tongue to resolve the crisis, not only won the trust of Emperor Wu, but also made Emperor Wu feel that he was respectful and humble, so Emperor Wu promoted him to be a minister and made him the Marquis of Pingjin.
In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (121 BC), Gongsun Hong died at the age of 80 when he was appointed as chancellor.