Strictly speaking, there are not many Tang poets who can be called happy. Either depressed, such as Li Bai; or the happy life is interrupted by the chaos of An Shi, such as Wang Wei; or he died young, such as Wang Bo; or he was poor and destitute, such as Mengjiao. So lower the bar, we need to define happiness. For the ancient readers, perhaps most of them cared most about their careers, whether they could make meritorious achievements, whether they could go out and enter the picture, do something useful for the country, and if they could be realized, they might also be called happiness. The protagonist of today's talk is Gao Shi, a poet who has become a great poet in his career.
In 704 AD, Gao Shi was born in the most glorious era of the Tang Dynasty. Gao Shi's grandfather Gao Kan was a famous general of the Tang Dynasty, who had captured the Turkic Che-nosed Khan, made many military achievements in the frontier, and received special honors after his death, and was buried next to Li Zhiqian's mausoleum. It is reasonable to say that such a family origin, the starting point of Gao Shi's life is not low, but due to the early death of his father, the family fell in the middle of the road. As an adult, Gao Shi, who ran into walls everywhere in Chang'an, germinated the idea of defecting to the border pass to make meritorious achievements. From 731 to 734, Gao Shi successively wanted to join Li Yu (李禕) the Prince of Xin'an, the deputy ambassador of ShuoFang Jiedu, and Zhang Shoujue (張守珪), the deputy ambassador of Youzhou Jiedu. In 736, when the imperial examination was not successful, the depressed Gao Shi met two equally depressed Li Bai and Du Fu in Zhongnan Mountain, so the three traveled around in pairs, during which time, in the words of Teacher Dai Jianye, they were "looking for immortals, picking immortal grass, refining immortal elixirs... Find immortals, collect immortal grass, refine immortal elixirs."
Portrait of Gao Shi - from Baidu Encyclopedia
After experiencing the travels of Biansai and Zhongnan Mountain, in the 8th year of Tianbao, in 749 AD, the 46-year-old Gao Shi, because of the world-known poetry name, was appreciated by Suiyang Taishou Zhang Jiugao (the younger brother of the prime minister Zhang Jiuling), and under his recommendation, Gao Shi entered the capital to take the exam and finally went to high school and awarded the post of Lieutenant of Fengqiu County.
Because Lieutenant Fengqiu County was a very low-level official, not only did he not have the slightest room for promotion, but he also had to suppress his temperament every day, so three years later, Gao Shi resigned very barely.
He returned to The North Side of Thistle and continued to seek a position in the army. In 754, the 50-year-old Gao Shi finally ushered in a turning point in his life, and he was favored by the famous general Shu Han, entered his shogunate, and was appointed as the chief secretary. During the Anshi Rebellion, the Tongguan Guarded by Geshuhan was breached by the rebels, the rebels drove straight in, Chang'an fell, and Tang Xuanzong fled to Sichuan in a hurry. At this time, Gao Shi showed his mature political vision, and instead of fleeing or surrendering, as some officials did, he quickly caught up with Tang Xuanzong and reported to Xuanzong on the course of the Tongguan war.
Faced with Gao Shi, who had escaped from the line of death and followed him in life and death, Tang Xuanzong was greatly moved, and he immediately made Gao Shi a servant of the imperial history and promoted him to be a counselor. On the way to Shu, in order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, Tang Xuanzong adopted the advice of the chancellor Fang Zhen and ordered the kings to divide the towns and dominate one side. Gao Shide strongly opposed this, believing that the division of the town would lead to the independence of the kings and aggravate the situation of division. Unfortunately, Tang Xuanzong did not heed Gao Shi's advice.
Subsequently, Gao Shi was sent to Jiangling by Li Longji to assist Li Xuan, the Prince of Yong. However, Gao Shi did not listen to Emperor Xuanzong's dispatches, but instead threw himself into the account of the crown prince Li Heng, and in July 756, Li Heng ascended the throne at Lingwu, that is, Emperor Suzong of Tang. Li Xuan, the Yong King who was guarding Jiangling, was unwilling to accept this, and in November of the same year, he led his troops south without authorization in an attempt to divide the southeast. By the way, Li Bai received a summons from the Yong King during this period, and Li Bai, who had always been eager to enter the career, gladly went to ....
Emperor Suzong of Tang, who had just ascended the throne, faced with the rebellion of King Yong, trusted Gao Shi, who had abandoned King Yong and defected, and asked Gao Shi for advice. Gao Shi analyzed the situation in Jiangdong for Emperor Suzong, believing that Li Xuan had gathered a ragtag group of people, and that the imperial court would encircle and suppress them, and that King Yong would be defeated.
Emperor Suzong immediately made Gao Shi the governor of Yangzhou and the envoy of Huainan Jiedushi, ordering him to quell the rebellion of King Yong. In this counter-rebellion, Gao Shi unexpectedly captured his old friend Li Bai, and in the face of Li Bai's plea for help in prison, Gao Shi understood very well that he could not say a word for Li Bai, otherwise he might not be able to save Li Bai, and he would also lose his trust in Suzong. The two best friends parted ways.
After quelling the rebellion of King Yong, Gao Shi was immediately ordered to rush to Suiyang to rescue the siege of Suiyang; in 763, Gao Shi was appointed as the envoy of Jiannan Jiedushi, at this time, Tubo took advantage of the weakness of the Tang Dynasty and raised an army to attack, and Gao Shi, who had already spent years of his armor, still led his troops on the expedition. The following year, Gao Shi was recalled to Beijing and appointed as a squire of the Punishment Department, a regular attendant of the Scattered Horse, and was given the title of Grand Master of Yin Guanglu, and was also named marquis of Bohai County for his military merits. At this point, Gao Shi climbed to the peak of the reader's career. In the Old Book of Tang, it is recorded that "since the Tang Dynasty, the master of poets is only suitable." ”
In 765, Gao Shi died, he was the only famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, he used his half life to tell us that life did not start too late, as long as you persist, success may be late, but it will not be absent.
From this point of view, Gao Shi is undoubtedly happy.