In "Water Margin", Gao Li is a bad person. At the beginning of the chapter, it is written that he persecuted Lin Chong, and throughout the book, he did all kinds of bad things, as if he was the most prominent representative of the traitors in the imperial court at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
However, in the real history, the famous "Six Thieves", that is, the six biggest traitors, appeared in the last years of the Northern Song Dynasty: Cai Jing, Tong Guan, Wang Yi, Liang Shicheng, Zhu Xun, and Li Yan. Of these six people, none of them were high-ranking. It can be seen from this that it is obviously inappropriate to count Gao Li as the most prominent representative of the traitors in the imperial court at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty.
(Gao Li stills)
So, who is Gao Li? Is he a traitor? What is the ultimate outcome of this person?
Gao Li was a lieutenant during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song. In ancient times, Tai Wei was a considerable official, and before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, he was in charge of the national military power. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, although the power was not so great, it was the highest rank among military attachés and belonged to one of the three dukes. During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, Gao Li was actually in charge of the Forbidden Army, and he was in charge of the Forbidden Army for 20 years.
However, the strange thing is that Gao Li is such a big official, and his record in the canonical history is very vague. The deeds of his life, and the final outcome, are unknown. What's going on here?
In order to answer this question, we will first tell gao Li's life experience according to the records of various historical materials.
According to the Southern Song Dynasty Wang Mingqing's "Record of Swinging Cranes", Gao Li was originally a small history of Su Dongpo, that is, equivalent to a literary secretary, he wrote well, had a certain literary foundation, and could also play football and other skills. Later, Su Dongpo recommended him to his good friend Wang Yi (王诜) the Duke of Qima. Although Wang Yi was implicated and demoted by Su Dongpo, because he was a calligrapher and painter, he had close contacts with The Duanwang Zhao (later Emperor Huizong of Song).
One day, Wang Yi wanted to send a grate knife to Duan Wang, so he asked Gao Li to send it. When Gao Li was sent, he happened to encounter Duan Wang playing football, so Gao Li was able to show Duan Wang his superb ball skills, so he was left behind by Duan Wang and became duan wang's former courtier.
(Skilled Gao Li)
Gao Li's mouth was very sweet, and he coaxed Duan Wang to be very happy, and Duan Wang was very satisfied with him. Later, after Duan Wang became emperor and became Emperor Huizong of Song, Emperor Huizong of Song, in order to cultivate Gao Qi, transferred Gao Qi to the side of Liu Zhongwu, the commander of the border, and let him exercise and cultivate his work history in order to promote him.
This incident is recorded in the "Biography of the Ten Generals of Song Nandu". The first volume of the book is written about Liu Zheng, who is the son of Liu Zhongwu. When recording the deeds of Liu Zhongwu and Liu Zheng, he wrote in passing: "The old law, unless there is a side merit, must not be three ya. Shi Zhongwu was the commander of the side, and the upper part was the subordinate, and the side was actually the commander of the palace. That is to say, Gao Li was with Liu Zhongwu, because of "bian gong", and eventually returned to the central government as a lieutenant.
Obviously, no matter whether Gao Li has fought a victorious battle or not, as long as he has been in the border pass for a period of time, he has a resume and a capital, and Song Huizong can also rely on this to promote him to the supreme military commander.
Gao Li served as a lieutenant for 20 years. In these 20 years, there was no success in army building, so that in the end, when fighting with Jin Guo, he suffered many fiascos, and it should be said that Gao Li was responsible. In the "Tokyo Dream Record", it is recorded that Gao Li often engaged in some bidding competitions and other things in the army: "There are hundreds of plays of various armies in the four colored boats, such as the big flag, the lion and the leopard, the knife, the barbarian card, the gods and ghosts, and the miscellaneous dramas." Two more boats were lined up, and both were happy..." Obviously, this is not a military competition, it is all fun, catering to the taste of Emperor Huizong of Song. How can the army's combat effectiveness go up in this way?
(Song Huizong stills)
In addition to this, Gao Li also used his status as a lieutenant to seek a lot of benefits for himself. The Jing Kang Essentials record that Gao Li "was in charge of the military and government, and invaded the military camps, in order to widely privately occupy the forbidden army, and to fill up the service."
In this way, the "Water Margin" writes Gao Li as the first adulterous minister at that time, although it is somewhat exaggerated, but saying that he is a traitor does not wrongfully accuse him.
Of course, "Water Margin" writes Gao Li as a big bad guy of the whole person, and in fact he has wronged him a bit. He was a man of gratitude. When he was a lieutenant, he helped Liu Zhongwu, who had lost the battle, many times, to save him from punishment. At the same time, he also repeatedly received help for the family of Su Dongpo, who was hit by the blow and had a poor life.
At the time of the destruction of the country and the death of the family, Gao Li did not receive much judgment in the end, enjoying the "treatment" of the "six thieves", and it can only be said that Gao Li's luck was too good. It is recorded in the Jing Kang Chronicle. When the Jin Dynasty fell, Emperor Huizong of Song hurriedly picked up the throne, passed the throne to Song Qinzong, and fled south himself. However, he also retained his position of power, and in the process of escaping, he recruited a group of old courtiers such as Tong Guan, Liang Shicheng, and Cai You to form a small imperial court. At that time, Gao Li originally went with an army to follow, but because Gao Li and Tong Guan had a conflict, Tong Guan ostracized him and left him in Sizhou. This also made tong guan, Liang Shicheng, Cai You and others finally tried, and Gao Li was not implicated.
The "History of Song" records the death of Gao Li: "Kaifu Yi died with the three si Gao Qi, the story, the son of heaven should hang up the clothes and mourn." "As for how he died, it is not said. Probably it may be that there are too many evils, and at the same time the body is sick and frightened to death.
(References: "History of the Song Dynasty", "Tokyo Dream Hualu", "Jing Kang Zhilu", "Biography of the Ten Generals of Song Nandu", "Records of the Swinging Dragon", etc.)