Li Kang, the third son of the famous general Li Guang, known as the "Flying General", is also his favorite youngest son. In 119 BCE, his father, Li Guang, had lost his way and disobeyed military orders, feeling unable to bear the great humiliation, and angrily raised his sword to kill himself. Just a few dozen days later, Li Dang was awarded the title of Marquis of Guannai by the emperor for the great feat of capturing the battle banner of King Zuoxian, and successfully fulfilled his father's great wish that could not be fulfilled in his life. But fate took a dramatic turn, and only two years later, Li Kang was met with Huo Quzhi's blatant plot and was shot mercilessly.
The origin of the whole thing is actually very simple, the reason is that Li Dang overheard the news of his father's death, and this tragedy is closely related to the general Wei Qing, the young man with strong blood immediately came to the door with great anger to find Wei Qing's theory, Wei Qing originally planned to turn big things into small things, and small things into nothing, so he didn't care. But this aggrieved founding hero was beaten, and what made people feel cold was that this matter was known and held a grudge by Huo Quai's nephew. Just when Huo Qubing was hunting in Ganquan Palace, he made a decisive move and shot Li Kang.
We have to sigh that Li Kang's death is really regrettable, although the responsibility for Li Guang's death does not lie entirely with Wei Qing, but as a filial child, he upholds justice for his father and avenges his grievances, no matter from which point of view, this can not reflect the brilliance of his humanity, which is undoubtedly an act worthy of understanding and forgiveness. More importantly, Li Kang himself is not a straw bag, but a well-deserved young hero. In the second year of Yuanzhen, Li Kang, who was only 18 years old, followed his father to participate in the northern campaign.
At that time, due to the slow movement of the troops led by Zhang Qian, the Taizhong doctor, Li Guang's army fell into the heavy encirclement of the 40,000 cavalry of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King. Li Guang immediately made a decision and ordered Li Dang to lead dozens of cavalry to charge into battle and bravely break into the enemy camp. Li Dang was fearless and heroic, and with only light cavalry, he directly broke through the enemy formation and reinvigorated the fighting spirit of our army. In order to get rid of the embarrassing situation, Li Guang decided to find a force that could bring him more fighting opportunities, and at this time, Li Guang gradually realized that his father's overprotection might hinder his son's growth, so he agreed and supported Li Dang to come to the account of the famous general Huo Quai.
In the fourth year of Yuanzhen, Li Dang followed Huo Qubing on an expedition to the Hexi Corridor, went deep into the hinterland of the Xiongnu, marched more than 2,000 miles north, crossed the Lihou Mountain, crossed the Gonglu River, and met the main force of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's heavy defense. In this tough battle, Li Dang always took the lead, hated the enemy with the army, beheaded countless people successively, and even took the lead in seizing the battle banner of King Zuoxian. After this Northern Expedition, Li Kang was named the Marquis of Guannei by the emperor and became the fierce general whose merit was second only to Huo Quai's in the Marquis of Guannei. Whether it is in terms of personal talent or fighting spirit, Li Kang is undoubtedly an outstanding general.
However, such a young and promising soldier did not die on the battlefield, but was harmed by his own people, which can not help but make people deeply regretful, and even the historian Sima Qian questioned Huo Quai's behavior. So, what is the reason that prompted Huo Quzhi to dare to defy the condemnation of the world and openly shoot Li Kang, who has been promoted to the rank of Hou Ye, in full view of everyone? Was it an impulsive atrocity, or was it a pre-planned conspiracy? As Huo Qubing with extraordinary wisdom, would he really make such a move of killing his brother and relatives without considering the consequences?
In this case, we have to think deeply. Further, the process and details of the whole development of events are enough to prove that this must have been a premeditated political corruption. At that time, Li Kang was not only the only seedling of General Li Guang, who was well-known in the army (before Li Guang's heroic death, because of the war, his eldest son Li Danghu and his second son Li Jiao were unfortunately killed), but also the Guannei Marquis, who was granted fiefs and fiefs by the imperial court, almost equivalent to the status of princes, and his identity was naturally extraordinary.
From the step-by-step analysis of his decision-making, Huo Quzhi obviously decided to assign Li Kang and kill him after careful consideration. Immediately afterwards, he explained the situation to the emperor. With the king's deep affection for him at the time, it must have been quite safe to do so. Obviously, the outcome he foresaw was not wrong, and the emperor finally accepted the official explanation of "falling into the fence and dying", and put an end to the incident.
However, we can't help but ask, why did Huo Quzhi treat his colleagues and friends who had fought together mercilessly? The answer comes down to his unique way of leading troops.
At that time, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty summoned the heroes to participate in the outdoor barbecue party, Li Guang and Wei Qing feasted on mutton, but they saw Huo Qubing sitting in front of the wine bottle without a drop of wine, so Emperor Wu asked curiously, and Huo Quzhi replied indifferently: "It's just a personal hobby." After being favored by the emperor, Huo Qubing asked to introduce a few chefs to accompany him when he went to war, so that he could eat delicious food between battles. Huo Qu** was provoked by Li Guang: "Don't you know that as a general, you should share weal and woe with the soldiers?" Huo Quzhi ridiculed him: "As a general, you don't need to spend time with the soldiers at all, you just need to show praise and punish crimes!" This conversation made Li Guang feel that he was old and could not keep up with the pace of the times.
Although this dialogue may be a little exaggerated in terms of historical facts, the screenwriters who wrote the book are simply breathtaking, and they skillfully capture the core leadership principle of Huo Quzhi in history - reward and punishment, and those concepts such as sharing weal and woe with soldiers that were previously highly respected by generals seem insignificant in Huo Quzhi's eyes!
The "Historical Records" once used the following text to describe: "Whenever (when Huo participated in the war), the emperor would send the palace dining room to prepare a large amount of food to bring with him, after returning to the dynasty, although full of food, but Huo Qubing often threw away the excess food, and the soldiers faced famine from time to time. During the Biansai operation, the troops suddenly ran out of food, and some soldiers could not cheer themselves up, but he walked through the battlefield to play and play football without worry. The meaning of this sentence is that Huo Quzhi, who fought on the frontier, not only enjoyed all the blessings and wore luxuries, but also had free time to play football, while his soldiers starved and struggled.
Perhaps it was because he neglected the treatment of his soldiers, or perhaps because he felt that the soldiers of his military were not entitled to adequate food, for whatever reason, in stark contrast to other generals of the older generation who respected their soldiers and were admired by everyone, such as Li Guang and Wei Qing. As for the values of "caring for soldiers" and "sharing joy and sorrow", it has become Huo Quzhi's unique way of governing the army.
Undoubtedly, he won the allegiance of many soldiers through this incentive mechanism, thus forming a highly decorated army.
However, his overly strict attitude towards soldiers, even to the point of physical problems, is undoubtedly a defiance of the concepts of "caring for soldiers" and "helping each other in times of need". He punished the soldiers who made mistakes with no mercy, and no matter how prominent their backgrounds and how powerful their backers were, they could not save their fate.
This is the only way for him to maintain his absolute authority in the army.
Unfortunately, this so-called "warrior" - Li Kang, became precisely the soldier who made the mistake.
Tracing back to some of the details, we may be able to find some answers. For example, why didn't Li Dare learn until two years later that his father's death was related to Wei Qing? Instead, what exactly has he been doing in the past two years?
It is clear that someone is deliberately fanning the flames.
Ah! You see, the two relatives and generals Wei Qing and Huo Quzhi have aroused the jealousy of some people to a certain extent, and in their eyes, these two seem to have established such a prominent achievement and noble status only by nepotism. Particularly eye-catching is the young and promising Huo Quai, he was awarded the Marquis at the age of 17, and at the age of 19, he conquered the Hexi Corridor and made great achievements. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty disregarded the eyes of others, and deliberately set up the title of "Prostitute Yao" and "Champion Hou" for him, and even added two additional "Great Sima" positions to show his favor, how can this not make people feel envious and admired!
However, it is precisely because of this excessive grace that some people begin to stir up trouble and create strife. If Huo Qubing chooses to forbear, then his reputation in the army will plummet; If he is unwilling to be humiliated and fights with him in a fit of rage, his favor may disappear as a result. This situation is like the "golden knife plan" that the world will know in later generations, and it is vividly placed in front of you, and no matter how hard you struggle, you will not be able to escape this well-designed trap. But it is also worth pondering that with Wang Meng in history, who mistakenly thought that Fu Jian was tolerant and generous, they also underestimated Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's deep feelings for Huo Quzhi.
There is a wonderful interpretation in the TV series "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty", which describes that even though Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty severely reprimanded Huo Quzhi and raised the wooden staff high, he finally put it down gently, not only did not give him any substantive punishment, but also covered up the truth for him, saying that Li Dang was caught by the antlers and died unexpectedly. This undoubtedly shows Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's love for Huo Qubing like a father and a son.
Therefore, the fundamental reason for Li Kang's tragic fate is that he violated a character who should not be offended at an inopportune time - his upright uncle, Wei Qing.
From Huo Quzhi's point of view, his subordinates bullying their superiors, especially those who hurt their loved ones, should be severely punished whether it is from the perspective of justice or to maintain personal feelings. The act of shooting Li Dang was actually a declaration to the whole army: Everyone must bear the consequences of their actions, even if you are a good general.
There is no doubt that Huo Quzhi must be executed! Because if Li Kang hadn't been his subordinate, I'm afraid these things wouldn't have happened.