【Huzhou Curse】
In the second month after Zhang Zhiyuan was killed, Gao Li, the governor of Huzhou under Qian Liu's rule, led Huzhou to rebel and annex Huainan.
Gao Li is actually a "martyr's family" of Gen Hongmiaozheng. His father is Gao Yan and his brother is Gao Wei. During the "Xu Xu Rebellion", Gao Yan sent his son Gao Wei to help, but was ambushed by rebels in Lingyin Mountain, and Gao Wei died heroically. After Gao Yan's death, Gao Li inherited the position of Huzhou governor.
There is no trace of his father or brother in this Gao Li. He is so cruel and cruel that he has never been seen before or since.
It is said that Gao Yan had a strange dream. He dreamed of a winged immortal with a sword in his hand, breaking into the bedroom. Gao Yan was startled and asked what he wanted to do. The immortal replied: "I came to find your son, for Thousands of wronged souls take revenge!" Gao Yan suddenly woke up and found that it was just a nightmare. However, on that day, his wife was pregnant, and the child she was carrying was Gao Li.
Gao Li was a premature baby (born less than a month old). The exact age of his premature birth is not stated in the history books. It is only said that when the child reached the age of 13, he showed a cruel and violent side.
It is said that Gao Li was reincarnated as a Yaksha spirit. One day, Gao Li went to visit Qiu Guangting, a doctor from Taichang. Qiu Guangting went out to greet him, but he saw a green-faced ghost standing in the corridor. He was so frightened that Qiu Guangting yelled. As a result, the "green-faced ghost" hurriedly took two steps forward and grabbed him. She grabbed his wrist and took a closer look. It turned out to be Gao Li. Gao Li lowered his voice and said: "Shhh - don't make any noise, it's me. I just accidentally revealed my true form."
When Gao Li succeeded as the governor of Huzhou, his absurdity and cruelty could no longer be concealed. He recruited a personal guard team, named "Peers to the Capital". They all wore green clothes and white trousers, tattooed their faces, put red marks on their foreheads, dressed up as Yakshas, and carried swords, guns, bows and arrows.
Not only that, but residents across the state are also required to have their faces tattooed within a three-day period. Those who fail to tattoo their faces after the expiration date will be beheaded.
Gao Li himself also painted his face like an opera singer. When everyone was ordered to get tattoos, he washed off his makeup and became the only person in Huzhou without tattoos, so he was nicknamed "White-faced Yaksha". "Those with fair faces have untattooed faces and ears."
Gao Li has two major hobbies: killing and cannibalism. Those who have made mistakes will be killed, no matter how big or small they are. People who have made no mistakes will take pleasure in killing people depending on their mood. Huzhou generals have to say goodbye to their wives and children before going to work every day, because everyone may never return and may be killed at any time.
Later, after he returned to Huainan, he heard that there were many beauties in Jianghuai, so he often invited Huainan beauties to come and serve them, and then "kill and eat them."
Under his rule, Huzhou was like a purgatory on earth. It is said that every time in midsummer, Gao Li would climb to a high building to escape the heat. But when he looked from afar, there was not even a single person in the most prosperous area of Huzhou city center. Extinct”.
Later, he said to his staff: "I plan to kill all the people in Huzhou, how about that? (I want to kill all the people, but what?)"
The staff quickly dissuaded them, saying that if all the people were killed, where would we collect taxes? Killing a few prisoners would be fun.
Gao Li was obsessed with killing people and was very addicted. Small-scale killings could no longer bring him pleasure. He had to have a massacre to satisfy his cravings. So he ambushed 3,000 soldiers at the Kaiyuan Temple in the territory, and then released the news: Good news, good news, big opening bonus, everyone can get it for free, it’s really free!
They deceived the people by saying that a wealthy family was donating money and food at Kaiyuan Temple to fulfill their wishes.
The people believed it and came one after another. Gao Li only left one door for entry and exit. Anyone who came in, regardless of age or sex, would be killed.
A veritable rip off.
Over time, people outside noticed something strange. There are so many people, but only those who come in are seen, and no one comes out. No matter how stupid you are, you can see the problem. So people fled in all directions.
"You still dare to run?" Gao Li was furious, and immediately ordered all city gates in Huzhou to be closed, a blanket search was carried out, and then he was executed on the spot.
"Li heard that he was furious, so he closed the city and massacred everyone." - "The Preparatory History of Wu and Yue"
Regarding the massacre at Kaiyuan Temple, some records say that he ambushed 3,000 elite soldiers and acted as executioners, and some said that he killed 3,000 civilians.
It is said that when Gao Yan was seriously ill, an eminent monk named Rune came to visit. He saw that Gao Yan was not going to die soon, so he said goodbye to him. After coming out of the ward, the eminent monk Rune said to everyone: "Master Gao is about to pass away, and it is time for me to pass away. Do you know why? Because the next governor of Huzhou will be the 'white-faced Yaksha', so you can hide as much as you can." "
Qian Liu had heard about Gao Li's misdeeds in Huzhou for a long time, but he just remembered the loyalty and bravery of his father and brother and pitied him as a "martyr's family". Turning a blind eye was considered as giving Gao Yan a bloodline.
When the news of the "Kaiyuan Temple Massacre" came, Qian Liu could no longer sit still. How could he have any reason to massacre the city on his own? It’s simply the reincarnation of the devil! So they planned to send troops to arrest him.
Gao Li heard the news and hurriedly expressed his surrender to Huainan. They also sent troops to burn and loot the towns of Yihe and Linping.
Huainan sent generals Li Jian and Chen Zhang to lead their troops to take over Huzhou.
Gao Li had already killed innocent people indiscriminately and was already very unpopular with the military and public opinion. Now he wanted to coerce the entire state's soldiers and civilians into becoming traitors. So, under the leadership of Master Sheng and Shen Xingsi, his generals chose to disobey orders and refused to allow Li Jian and Chen Zhang's troops to enter. and organized resistance spontaneously.
At the same time, Qian Liu also sent his son Qian Yuanhuang to lead reinforcements to Huzhou for support.
Gao Li was so frightened that he hurriedly led five thousand personal guards to abandon the city and fled back to Huainan with Li Jian and Chen Zhang.
Huzhou is located between the two major powers of Huainan and Hangzhou Qian Liu. It is a very important border city. Qian Liu was not sure about leaving the place to outsiders to guard, so he appointed his younger brother Qian Biao as the governor of Huzhou. He also reported to the Later Liang court that Fuyang County should be changed to Fuchun County, Songyang County to Changsong County, and Puyang County to Pujiang County. Because "the Huai bandits have not been defeated, it is shameful to have a rebellious surname", and Qian Liu "hates the Yang family".
Before leaving, Qian Liu ordered Master Sheng to follow the work group. In other words, Master Sheng was about to be promoted, but Shen Xingsi was left out.
Shen Xingsi really wanted to be promoted to governor by virtue of his success in closing the city to protect Huzhou, so he complained loudly to his colleague Chen Huan (also known as "Chen Gui" in the book), to the effect that he was competing with Master Sheng for credit and expressed dissatisfaction with Qian Liu's favoritism.
At that time, Chen Huan had received a secret order from Qian Liu to deceive Shen Xingsi to the Hangzhou headquarters. Because Shen Xingsi was originally a gangster and had great ambitions, Qian Liu was very worried about him and staying in the local area was definitely a hidden danger.
So, Chen Huan said to Shen Xingsi: "Qian Liu didn't know the situation at that time, so you should go to Hangzhou in person and defend yourself in person. How could Qian Liu not treat you preferentially?"
Shen Xingsi thought what he said was reasonable, so he ran to Hangzhou to meet Qian Liu.
