History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 866 All Good Things Must Come to an End 2
2. Gao Huaide

Unlike Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, who came from humble backgrounds, Gao Huaide came from a prominent family. His father was the King of Qi, Gao Xingzhou, and his grandfather was Gao Siji.

In the first half of this book, the three Gao Siji brothers were mentioned. At that time, Li Keyong's Hedong Group first annexed the Youzhou Lulong Army. The Youzhou native general, the number one "Youzhou traitor" and "Liu Kutou" Liu Rengong first instigated the three Gao Siji brothers to strictly enforce the law and kill the Hedong soldiers who acted recklessly in Youzhou. Then he made trouble in front of Li Keyong and instigated Li Keyong to kill the three Gao Siji brothers who "killed the imperial army without authorization". He successfully provoked the relationship between the Hedong garrison and the Youzhou army and civilians, and shook the ruling foundation of the Hedong Group in Youzhou.

Under Liu Rengong's deliberate efforts, the people of Youzhou regarded him as a "hero against the Jin Dynasty", while Li Keyong regarded him as a loyal lackey of the Hedong Group and a trustworthy traitor. When Tang Seng looked in the mirror, he was a handsome man inside and out.

After killing the three brothers Gao Siji, Liu Rengong also recruited their sons to his own account, distorted the facts, and put the blame of their father's murder on the Hedong Group, and then asked them to join his "anti-Jin movement." He killed people and made their sons work for him.

The most famous of these children are Gao Xinggui and Gao Xingzhou.

Liu Rengong was later imprisoned by his son Liu Shouguang, who usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. Li Keyong used this as an excuse to launch a second campaign against Youzhou, during which Gao Xingzhou and his brothers defected and surrendered to Li Keyong. Later, Li Keyong assigned Gao Xingzhou to Li Siyuan, who let Gao Xingzhou and his adopted son Li Congke lead the guards together.

Li Siyuan and Li Congke, when they saw this, they knew that Gao Xingzhou was destined to have a glorious life.

Gao Xingzhou was promoted from governor to military commander in the Later Tang Dynasty, and then to military governor.
Shi Jingtang of the Later Jin Dynasty gave him the title of Tongpingzhangshi, and successively served as the governor of Luoyang and Weizhou, and was stationed in important towns; after Shi Chonggui ascended the throne, he was appointed as the Shizhong, the Inspector of the Grand Tutor, and sat in the Guide Army of Songzhou;

During the reign of Liu Zhiyuan of the Later Han Dynasty, he was granted the title of Grand Tutor and concurrently the title of Minister of the Central Secretariat. Later, due to his meritorious service, he was granted the title of Grand Commandant, the title of Governor of Weizhou, and the title of Prince of Linqing. After Liu Chengyou ascended the throne, he was further granted the title of Prince of Ye and granted the title of Grand Master. Later, he was granted the title of Prince of Qi.

Guo Wei of Later Zhou Dynasty respected the "elderly veteran" Gao Xingzhou very much and treated him with great kindness. When issuing imperial edicts, he did not call him by his name, but only called him "King of Qi". He also appointed him as the Minister of the Chancellery and increased his fiefdom. To be honest, Guo Wei could only do so much and there was no other way to confer him any more, unless he was made the crown prince.

In August of the second year of Guangshun (952), Gao Xingzhou died of illness and was posthumously awarded the title of Shangshu Ling and King of Qin, with the posthumous name "Wu Yi".

Gao Huaide, the son of Gao Xingzhou, was a popular young man at the time. As the saying goes, a general's family has no bad sons. Although Gao Huaide was the son of a prince, he was loyal and suave, with great martial arts skills. He had always followed his father in battles. When he was 20 years old, the father and son fought side by side against the Liao. In the famous Battle of Qicheng, the father and son were surrounded by Khitan cavalry. At the critical moment, Gao Huaide shot arrows left and right, rushed left and right, disrupted the Khitan formation, and then "took his father away".

Guo Wei admired Gao Huaide very much. After Gao Xingzhou passed away, he summoned Gao Huaide to the court and made him a general of the imperial guards.

Gao Huaide appeared in both the "Battle of Gaoping" and the "Three Expeditions to Huainan".

During the "Three Expeditions to Huainan", one day, Chai Rong climbed a height to observe the battle, and suddenly saw one of his generals madly chasing several bandit generals and taking their spears back. Chai Rong was overjoyed, and asked his attendants to find out who the brave general was. After they reported that it was Gao Huaide, Chai Rong immediately summoned him to his side and promised on the spot that he would be promoted to Jiedushi after the battle.

During the "Northern Conquest of the Three Passes", Gao Huaide and Han Tong served as pioneers side by side and made great contributions to the recovery of the area south of the pass. However, before Chai Rong could fulfill his promise, he died in a hurry. After Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, he promoted Gao Huaide to the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards and the governor of Jiangning Army.

After assisting Zhao Kuangyin in seizing power, he was promoted to Deputy Inspector of the Palace and married Zhao Kuangyin's sister, the Princess of Yan.

After "giving up military power with a cup of wine", Gao Huaide moved to Songzhou, and later he was appointed as Tongpingzhangshi; after Zhao Guangyi ascended the throne, he was appointed as Shizhong and Jianxiu Taishi, and he participated in the expedition against the Northern Han Dynasty and made great contributions. He was transferred to Caozhou and was granted the title of Duke of Ji. He died of illness in the seventh year of Taipingxingguo (982) at the age of 57. He was posthumously awarded the title of Zhongshu Ling and Bohai Jun Wang, and was given the posthumous title of "Wu Mu". Compared with Shi Shouxin and Wang Shenqi, Gao Huaide's family was very low-key. His affairs after his death can be summarized in one sentence: his two sons, Gao Chugong, served as Zhuangzhaishi and finally retired as Youjianmenwei General; Gao Chujun was Xijing Workshop Envoy.

End.

Many times, no news is the best news. The best rest is to be ordinary in history books.

After they have made great contributions, it is difficult for them to surpass their fathers. They have lived under the aura of their fathers all their lives, and have also lived in the comfort of their fathers, living in luxury, and being unable to write or shoot. Under the temptation of privilege, they often despise the law and often commit crimes. For example, the descendants of these founding heroes in the early Northern Song Dynasty were almost all involved in a shocking case, which will be described in detail later.

3. Zhang Lingduo
During the reign of Li Congke of the Later Tang Dynasty, he joined the Imperial Guards as a junior officer. During the Later Han Dynasty, he followed Guo Wei to fight against Li Shouzhen in Hezhong, and was promoted to a mid-level officer (Commander of the Fengguo Army) for his merits. During the Later Zhou Dynasty, he was promoted to Commander of the Control Cranes and Commander of the Qianzhou Tuanlian. He participated in the "Three Expeditions to Huainan" and was awarded the title of Defense Envoy for his merits. After Chai Zongxun ascended the throne, he was granted the title of Commander of the Imperial Guards Infantry, becoming a senior general of the Imperial Guards and the Jiedushi of the Wuxin Army.

After the "Chenqiao Mutiny", he was promoted to the rank of Du Yuhou of the Imperial Guards Cavalry and Infantry Army.

After "releasing military power with a cup of wine", he was demoted to be the Jiedushi of Zhenning Army. At the same time, he let his younger brother Zhao Guangmei marry Zhang Lingduo's third daughter. In terms of seniority, Zhang Lingduo was the oldest among the "Yidai meritorious officials".

He died of illness in the third year of Kaibao (970) at the age of 60, and was posthumously awarded the title of Shizhong.

Sons:
Zhang Shouzheng, an official of the Imperial Garden;
Zhang Shouen served as Chongyi Envoy, Xishanggemen Envoy, and Taizhou Prefect.

Grandchildren:

Zhang Yongan (son of Zhang Shouen) served as the Minister of the Palace.

It’s also relatively simple.

Although Zhang Lingduo came from a military family and spent his entire life in the military, he was kind and forgiving. In his later years, he commented that he had served in the army for thirty years, fought in more than forty battles of varying sizes, and defeated many enemies, but had never killed anyone without reason.

Good people live a peaceful life. Zhang Lingduo's descendants are just like Gao Huaide's descendants, ordinary and without any scandals or stains. At the same time, Zhang Lingduo is the longest-lived among the Yidai meritorious officials:
Shi Shouxin 57, Wang Shenqi 50, Gao Huaide 57, Luo Yangui 47, Wang Yansheng 58, Han Lingkun 46, Murong Yanzhao 51.

If Zhang Lingduo is not counted, the average life expectancy of these people is 52.28 years old. Then let’s look at Zhang Lingduo’s 60 years old. Isn’t he a very centenarian?
As for Luo Yangui and Wang Yansheng, historical records do not have clear records of their descendants, but only say in the final conclusion at the end of the volume that "after Shi Shouxin... they were made to give up their military power in order to preserve their wealth and honor and pass it on to their descendants. How could Emperor Guangwu of Han treat his meritorious officials better than this?" In other words, the historians believed that Zhao Kuangyin did fulfill his promise at the wine table, allowing them to enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of their lives, and their descendants would never have to worry about food and drink.

(End of this chapter)