Getting Rich from Legend of Zhen Huan

Entering the official career

Li Guangdi's ancestral home was in Yanping, Fujian (now Nanping, Fujian). It is said that he was a descendant of Li Yuanxiang, the King of Jiang in the early Tang Dynasty. Later, he moved to Hutou Township, Anxi County, Quanzhou Prefecture (now Hutou Town, Anxi County). On September 1642, the 1th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1664), Li Guangdi was born in Huadi Township, Anxi County. He was very smart since childhood. [1670] When he was 1672 years old, his family encountered bandits. He escaped from danger and returned home to study hard. In the third year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1673), Li Guangdi passed the provincial examination. In the ninth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (2), he performed outstandingly in the joint examination of Gengxu, and was selected as the second-class Jinshi. In September of the eleventh year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (3), he was appointed as an editor of the Hanlin Academy. In the twelfth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (4), he served as a co-examiner of the joint examination. In May of the same year, he asked for leave to go south to Fujian to visit his relatives. [-] []

Suppressing the Three Feudatories

Statue of Li Guangdi [46]

In the 1674th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (5), Jingnan Prince Geng Jingzhong rebelled and Zheng Jin occupied Quanzhou, Fujian. Li Guangdi and his family hid in the mountains. Zheng Jin and Geng Jingzhong sent people to persuade them to surrender, but Li Guangdi firmly refused. [1674] In the 6th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (), Li Guangdi secretly wrote a secret memorial, hid it in a wax ball, and sent someone to secretly deliver it to the capital. Finally, it was presented to the emperor through Cabinet Scholar Fu Hongji. Emperor Kangxi was deeply moved after reading the secret memorial. He praised Li Guangdi's loyalty and ordered the Ministry of War to appoint him as a military minister. At that time, Shang Zhixin rebelled and led his army to occupy Ganzhou and Nan'an, but failed to enter Fujian. Prince Kang Aixinjueluo Jieshu captured Xianxia Pass from Quzhou and recovered Jianning and Yanping. Geng Jingzhong was forced to surrender. Prince Kang Jieshu's army entered Fuzhou and ordered the commanders Lahada and Lai Ta to attack Zheng Jin and inquire about Li Guangdi's whereabouts. []

In the 1677th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (7), the imperial court recovered Quanzhou. Li Guangdi paid a visit to Lahada in Zhangzhou. Lahada wrote to Prince Kang, saying, "Li Guangdi is determined to serve the country. He has never changed his ambition even in the face of hardships and displacement. He should be rewarded." Prince Kang ordered preferential treatment for him and promoted him to the position of Imperial Academy. When Li Guangdi arrived in Fuzhou, he returned home to attend his father's funeral. []

In the 1678th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (8), the rebel army led by Cai Yin of Tongan, under the banner of restoring the Ming Dynasty, besieged Anxi with more than men. Li Guangdi recruited more than rural warriors to hold the fort and cut off the enemy's food supply to break the siege. Soon after, Zheng Jing sent General Liu Guoxuan to capture Haicheng, Zhangping, Tongan, Hui'an and other counties, approaching Quanzhou, cutting off the Wan'an and Jiangdong bridges, and cutting off the Qing army's north-south aid. Li Guangdi sent an envoy to Lahad Da's army for emergency assistance, but the river was flooded and the roads were blocked. So Li Guangdi led his troops to enter from Zhangping and Anxi trails, and cooperated with his uncle Li Rihuang and his brothers Li Guangyi and Li Guangyin to attack. The army entered Quanzhou and defeated Liu Guoxuan's army. Lahad Da reported his achievements, and Li Guangdi was again promoted to Hanlin Bachelor. Soon after, he was promoted to Yongzhou General for his merits. []

In July of the 1680th year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (9), Li Guangdi returned to the capital after his mourning period was over. Emperor Kangxi told him that he did not need to wait for a vacancy and could be appointed as a cabinet scholar. Li Guangdi suggested that Shi Lang be appointed as the commander of the Taiwan Strait. The emperor accepted the recommendation and successfully recovered Taiwan. [10] Chen Menglei was from Houguan, Fujian. He passed the imperial examination in the same year as Li Guangdi and served as an editor together. While Chen Menglei was at home, Geng Jingzhong rebelled. Li Guangdi sent his uncle Li Riyu to secretly go to Chen Menglei to inquire about the situation. After learning of his true intentions, he invited him to draft a memorial to the emperor to secretly propose a plan to defeat the enemy. Li Guangdi submitted the memorial alone and was greatly favored by the emperor. After Geng Jingzhong was defeated, Chen Menglei was arrested for joining the traitor and taken to the capital. He was imprisoned and sentenced to death. Li Guangdi wrote a memorial to describe the two secret meetings he had with Chen Menglei. Only then was Chen Menglei spared the death penalty and was sent to Fengtian for garrison. []

Ups and downs in the political world

In the 1682st year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1686), Li Guangdi asked for leave to send his mother back to her hometown. In the 11th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (), Li Guangdi returned to the capital and was appointed as the president of the Hanlin Academy. He lectured in front of the emperor and served as a daily lecturer and a recorder. He was also responsible for guiding the scholars. A year later, because his mother was ill, Li Guangdi petitioned to go home to visit her. []

Portrait of Li Guangdi [46]

In the 1688th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (41) [1689], Li Guangdi returned to the capital. It was the time of Empress Xiaozhuang's mourning, and officials from the Ministry of Rites impeached him, accusing him of delaying on his way. As a third-rank official, he was unable to come to the capital in time to pay homage to Empress Xiaozhuang's coffin, and asked the Ministry of Personnel to discuss the matter. The Ministry of Personnel proposed to demote him by five levels, but Emperor Kangxi issued an edict to pardon him. In May of the 12th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (), the articles he submitted made Emperor Kangxi very dissatisfied, and he accused him of pretending to be a Taoist scholar and failing to set an example for the Hanlin Academy, and demoted him to the position of Tongzhengshi of the Tongzhengshisi. In December of that year, Li Guangdi was promoted again to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. []

In February of the 1691th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (1694), Li Guangdi was appointed as the deputy examiner of the imperial examination. He inspected the Yellow River project with the assistant ministers Bo Ji, Xu Tingxi, and the former governor of the Yellow River, Jin Fu. In the first month of the 13rd year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (), Li Guangdi was ordered to supervise the education of Shuntian. In April of that year, Li Guangdi’s mother passed away. According to etiquette, Li Guangdi had to resign and return to his hometown to mourn in order to fulfill his filial duty, which was called Dingyou Shouzhi. Emperor Kangxi issued an edict, saying: “Supervising the education of Shuntian is of great importance. Li Guangdi is specially appointed and can serve as a mourner.” After receiving the edict, Li Guangdi said: “I have been blessed by the emperor. How dare I not serve with my last breath?” However, he still asked Emperor Kangxi to grant him nine months’ leave so that he could go back and forth to attend the funeral. []

In the 1696th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1698), Li Guangdi's mourning period was over, and Emperor Kangxi ordered him to resume his post. The following year, he was appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and continued to serve as the Inspector of Shuntian. In December of the 14th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1701), he was transferred to the post of Governor of Zhili because of his "excellent official" and "honesty". During his tenure, Li Guangdi managed the local floods well, and was praised by Emperor Kangxi. He was soon promoted to the Minister of Personnel. [] In the th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (), the river management project he presided over was successfully completed, and he was awarded a plaque with the words "Su Zhi Cheng Qing" written by Emperor Kangxi, a poem about the Yongding River written by the emperor, and imperial clothing and other rewards.

In March of the 1704rd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi (15), Huang Dingji, Tang Youzeng and others jointly impeached Li Guangdi for failing to pacify the Zhili disaster victims and for not reporting the truth about the victims' escape, and requested that the court impose severe punishment on him. In August, Censor Lü Fuheng impeached Li Guangdi for arbitrarily deciding the autumn trial, and Wang Yuan, a member of the Imperial Censorate, also impeached Li Guangdi for making inappropriate recommendations. However, most of these criticisms were rejected by Emperor Kangxi. While serving as the Minister of Personnel, Li Guangdi made many suggestions on military system, official salaries, and tax exemptions. []

In the 1705th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (16), the Ministry of Personnel received an imperial edict from Emperor Kangxi: “Li Guangdi has performed his duties very well and has both excellent talent and character. He is hereby promoted to the position of Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion.” Thus, Li Guangdi, who was over years old, officially ascended to the position of prime minister. []

later life

After the 1711th year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (17), Li Guangdi submitted several petitions requesting retirement. In his later years, Emperor Kangxi was depressed and ill due to the improper selection of the crown prince. He was very attached to Li Guangdi, an old minister. He tried to persuade Li Guangdi to stay, saying: “I feel sad when I see your memorial. Thinking back to the old ministers, they are all gone now. There are only one or two people like you still in the court. Now I am old and I really can’t bear to say anything more.” []