Do you know why Huo Quzhi didn't hesitate to shoot Li Kang? This is not just an impulsive act, but an act of necessity!
Speaking of Li Kang, he is the third son of the familiar "Flying General" Li Guang, and he is also the youngest. Specifically, in 119 BC, Li Guang finally chose to end his life because he was lost and felt regret and anger; However, just a few days later, Li Kang was promoted to the title of Marquis of Guannei because of his achievements in capturing the banner of King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu, and successfully achieved the pinnacle of his father's career in his life.
However, what is unexpected is that only two years and a few months have passed, Li Kang was assassinated, which undoubtedly brought great shock to the world. The truth behind this incident is actually not complicated, just because Li Dang heard about his father's death and thought that his father's death was closely related to the general Wei Qing. Unfortunately, however, all this was known to his cousin Huo Quzhi, and as a result, during the hunting activities in Ganquan Palace, Huo Qubing resolutely decided to take action and shot the unsuspecting Li Kang with an arrow.
Recalling the years Li Dang had, although the death of his father Li Guang was actually not directly related to Wei Qing, as a child, he alleviated the strong dissatisfaction in his heart and did his best to be filial. In addition, Li Kang himself is not the kind of gentleman who only has fun, on the contrary, he is a heroic young hero.
I still remember that it was the second year of Yuanzhen, only 18-year-old Li Dang followed his father to the northern expedition of the Huns, due to the slow dispatch of the Taizhong doctor Zhang Qian, Li Guang was later besieged by the 40,000 cavalry of the Xiongnu Zuoxian King, at that time the entire Han army was in fear, and the military heart was floating, but at this time, Li Guang sent Li Dang to lead dozens of cavalry to break into the enemy formation, showing extraordinary courage and intelligence. After Li Dang engraved the mark and returned to the position, he told everyone in a loud voice: "The Huns are not Erer!" So much so that the morale of the Han army rose again.
In fact, Li Guang's combat methods did not conform to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, so that he had few fighters, in this case, Li Kang once suggested to his father that he wanted to join an army that might have more fighters, and Li Guang also knew that his overprotection would not be beneficial to his son, so he agreed that Li Kang would take refuge in Huo Quai's account.
Four years later, that is, four years of Yuan hunting, Li Dare followed Huo Qubing to the desert to fight the Huns, the Han army marched north for more than 2,000 miles, crossed the Hou Mountain, crossed the Gonglu River, and the Xiongnu Zuoxian Wang Department launched a life-and-death struggle, in this battle, Li Dare bravely charged, ** the enemy is numerous, and also took the enemy's handsome banner first, because of its outstanding performance, Li Dare was sealed Neihou.
Whether in terms of ability or combat bravery, Li Kang is undoubtedly a rare and excellent general. His untimely death is really a sigh, and it is no wonder that Taishi Gong is quite dissatisfied with Huo Quai's approach.
So, why did Huo Quzhi shoot Li Kang, who had become the Marquis of Guannei, without any scruples? Was it the result of a momentary impulse, or was it premeditated?
Judging from Huo Quzhi's wisdom, he absolutely knew what serious consequences would be if he shot Li Kang. After all, Li Dang at that time was not only the only son of Li Guang, who enjoyed high prestige in the army, but also the Marquis of Guannei who had food and a feudal household, and his status was second only to Huo Quai, who was one level higher than him.
In addition, judging from the time interval between learning that his uncle was beaten and shooting Li Kang, and choosing to do it while hunting, he did not make a blind decision by losing his mind for a while, because if it was really out of the enthusiasm of young people, Huo Quzhi would undoubtedly immediately break into Li Kang's house to take revenge.
Through an in-depth analysis of Huo Qu** He's brutal killing of Li Dang and confessing to Emperor Wu, we can feel that he implemented this decision with full consideration. Given that he had already been favored by Emperor Wu at that time, it is believed that he would not feel any discomfort with this practice. In fact, things turned out as he expected, and Emperor Wu only said it in a rather ironic way"Picked to death by antlers", and lightly covered up the whole incident.
So what is the reason why Huo Quzhi treats his colleagues and comrades-in-arms so ruthlessly? Here, we have to talk about his way of running the army.
In the TV series "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty", Huo Quzhi once had a philosophical conversation with Li Guang. At that time, in order to celebrate the victory of the war, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty invited all the stars of the Han Dynasty to gather together for a unique open-air barbecue party. Li Guang and Wei Qing couldn't wait to pick up the mutton and feast on it, but Huo Quzhi drank alone, saying that he had no appetite to enjoy these delicacies. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was puzzled by his love for wine, and Huo Quzhi replied, "I don't like this way of eating. Later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty took pity on him and allowed him to bring a few cooks with him when he went on the expedition, so that he could also taste delicious food on the battlefield. Hearing this, Li Guang couldn't help but sneer: "General Huo, do you know how as a general should be in the same boat with the soldiers and share the glory?" In this regard, Huo Quzhi naturally responded without concessions: "As a general, you don't have to suffer with the soldiers, you just need to have clear rewards and punishments!" Although this dialogue is not necessarily a recreation of a real historical scene, it undoubtedly shows the extraordinary creativity and imagination of the screenwriter. Because in real history, Huo Quzhi's principle of governing the army is only four words - reward and punishment. And the concept of sharing weal and butter and fighting together with the soldiers, which has always been praised by many famous generals, is simply disdainful of Huo Quzhi.
According to the "Historical Records": "During Huo Quai's expedition with his army, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Taiguan to prepare dozens of carriages of food resources for him. However, after the war ended and returned to Chang'an, many of the remaining food, meat and other materials were discarded or wasted, and the soldiers were still hungry and unable to survive. On the other hand, Huo Quai, during his garrison in the frontier, actually wore gorgeous armor, enjoyed food and wine, and even made time to play football. This passage uses stark contrasts to reveal Huo Quzhi's extremely harsh attitude towards the army. Perhaps he was disregarded by his own soldiers and unwilling to meet their basic needs of adequate food; Whatever the reason, it was unacceptable for experienced generals like Li Guang and Wei Qing to stick to tradition.
However, on the other hand, it was precisely because of Huo Quzhi's excessively harsh management of the soldiers that he was able to make this army so powerful. In the new management concept, he always adhered to one principle: that is, he did not forget to give any form of praise and reward to the merits of his subordinates, and at the same time, he would never be greedy for the trophies that belonged to the soldiers. It was through this advanced management secret way that Huo Qubing successfully won the awe and loyalty of the soldiers.
However, it is a pity that because of this, he relied too much on the means of rewarding the meritorious and punishing the guilty, and did not regard "sharing the weal and woe with the soldiers" as the basic principle, which eventually led to his relative rigidity in dealing with soldiers of different backgrounds and statuses, so that once he found that a certain soldier made a mistake or caused a certain controversy, he would punish him mercilessly, even at the expense of shocking and indignant His Highness.
And among all the soldiers who have made mistakes, the one who suffered the most is Li Kang, an unfortunate soldier.
If we dig deeper into the details, we will find out why Li Kang did not learn the inside story of his father's death until two years later and who was involved? Had he been idle for the previous two years?
Obviously, this question deserves our in-depth study, so let's further unravel the mystery of a corner of history!
There is no doubt that there must be some ill-intentioned people who stir up trouble among them. Because our two virtuous relatives named Wei Qing and Huo Quzhi have already aroused the jealousy of some people. In their writings, I feel that the two are extremely brave, but it is precisely by virtue of their nepotism that they have reached today's achievements and noble status, especially the one named Huo Quai, who won the honor of being a marquis at the age of 17, and then it took only 19 years to capture the Hexi Corridor, and now it is even more powerful, and he actually showed his heroic posture in the battle of Feng Wolf Juxu. And Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty not only set up the title of "Prostitute Yao" Lieutenant for him, but also awarded him the honorific title of "Champion Hou", and even combined two supreme powers"Da Sima"All were given to him, how could such attentive attention not be envied?
So, people with jealous eyes began to take action, looking for an opportunity to smash Huo Quai's field, if Huo Qubing can endure this turmoil, then his reputation in the army will plummet; If Huo Quzhi was furious, then the favor he had received would be wiped out in an instant. This approach is like the later "golden knife plan", it is absolutely a blatant conspiracy, and no matter what measures you take, you will fall into the trap of the other party. But just like the misguided Wang Meng underestimated Fu Jian's belly, they also underestimated Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's deep affection for Huo Quai.
As depicted in the TV series "Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty" back then, although Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sometimes harshly added punches and kicks to him, constantly raising and falling the big stick, but in the end, he always opened the net and let him go, whether it was a serious punishment or a subtle mistake, it was easily resolved in the end. In this regard, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even made up an excuse for Huo Quai, saying that Li Dang was accidentally stabbed by a deer antler and died, completely showing a loving father's image of forgiveness.
All this can only show that the tragedy of Li Kang is that he chose the wrong time to challenge an authority figure who should not be challenged.
However, for Huo Quzhi, his subordinates dared to humiliate himself in public, and this person was still his uncle, from the perspective of justice, he needed to be rewarded and punished, and in private he just wanted to vent his evil anger for his uncle. As for the public shooting in such a drastic way, it is more of a solemn declaration to his subordinates: if you make a mistake, you must suffer the consequences, no matter how noble your status is and how prominent your position is. In this case, Huo Quzhi had no choice but to resolutely order to do it!
If it weren't for Li Dang being Huo Quai's subordinate, perhaps all these disputes would not have happened.