Wu Zetian had great trust in Di Renjie. In the later years of Di Renjie’s life, Wu Zetian asked him to recommend talents to be appointed as the official position of Shangshu Lang. In ancient times, the six Shangshu were equivalent to the ministers of later generations, and the six Shilang were equivalent to the deputy ministers of later generations. The official position of Shangshu Lang is equivalent to that of an official in later generations. Generally, after three years, Shangshu Lang can be promoted to Langzhong. The official position of Shangshu Lang is not small, and there is a high chance of promotion, which is a job that many people envy. According to the New Book of Tang, Di Renjie recommended a person named Di Guangsi to Wu Zetian.
Di Guangsi is the eldest son of Di Renjie. When Di Renjie was in his twilight years, he didn’t care about avoiding suspicion and rushed to recommend his own son. It is not difficult to understand Di Renjie’s feelings. He had to lower his face for the sake of his son’s future. So, under the arrangement of his father, Di Guangsi obtained the very promising profession of Shangshu Lang.
When Di Guangsi was appointed as Yuanwailang, it was in the first year of the Holy Calendar, 698 AD. Di Guangsi did an excellent job in the position of Langguan, according to the record in the “New Book of Tang”, it was “competent to hear”. Wu Zetian praised Di Guangsi, saying, “Like father, like son. The old lady of the Di Pavilion did not shy away from her relatives and recommended a talented person to me
When the future of Di Guangsi was bright, there was a big event in the Di family, and Di Renjie passed away peacefully. In ancient times, when the father passed away, the son had to observe the ritual for three years, which was actually twenty-five months. Di Renjie passed away, and Di Guangsi saw that his official position in the imperial court was gone. He could only go home to be filial to Di Renjie. When Di Guangsi returned after completing his filial piety period, Wu Zetian still gave him the official position of Langzhong.
After Wu Zetian abdicated, Li Xian became emperor. Everyone should know that Li Xianneng became the emperor, which was fought hard by Di Renjie. Di Renjie spent his later years persuading Wu Zetian to make Li Xian the crown prince, which gave Li Xian the opportunity to become emperor. According to the New Book of Tang, this matter is: “Ji Xu and Li Zhaode repeatedly requested the return of the Crown Prince, but did not respond afterwards. Only Renjie spoke of his mother son nature, and although he endured it later, he could not be indifferent, so he passed away and became the heir of the Tang Dynasty
Li Xian expressed ten thousand thanks to Di Renjie. As soon as Li Xian ascended the throne, he posthumously conferred the title of First Class Sikong upon Di Renjie and personally offered sacrifices to him. As the son of Di Renjie, Li Xian would definitely not mistreat Di Guangsi. Li Xian was also not ambiguous, and a decree gave Di Guang the position of governor of Zizhou. During the Tang Dynasty, the position of governor was held at the third rank. In the Tang Dynasty, the first and second ranks were honorary positions, and the appointed prime minister was generally a third rank official. From the position of third rank, if you climb up another half, you will be on equal footing with the prime minister.
After Di Guangsi became a third rank governor, he showed a weakness in his abilities. Di Guangsi’s talent makes him competent as a junior official, but it can be a bit challenging as a governor. After Di Guangsi became the governor, he couldn’t climb up either alive or dead. He served as the governor of three places in a row, only to encounter a major incident at home. Di Guangsi’s mother, also known as Di Renjie’s wife, has passed away. According to the ritual system, Di Guangsi has to be filial again.
At that time, the emperor was already Tang Ruizong Li Dan. Di Renjie showed great kindness to Li Dan. Li Dan was imprisoned by Wu Zetian for more than ten years, and it was Di Renjie who persuaded Wu Zetian to release Li Dan. Li Dan is also extremely grateful to Di Renjie. In order to repay Di Renjie, Li Dan ordered Di Guangsi not to be filial anymore and to directly take up the position of Taifu Shaoqing in the capital city. Di Guangsi strongly demanded to mourn his mother’s death, so Li Dan had to agree.
After the end of the mourning period for Di Guang’s stepmother, Li Dan gave Di Guang the position of Grand Historian of Yangzhou. Although Di Guangsi served as the governor for three terms, he held positions in small areas. Yangzhou was a prosperous place in the Tang Dynasty, just like today’s officials from poverty-stricken areas being transferred to coastal developed areas. The New Book of Tang categorizes the transfer of Di Guangsi as a promotion.
Di Guangsi served as four local officials in a row, but he couldn’t overcome the hurdle of third rank, and his psychology began to fluctuate. Di Guangsi saw that he couldn’t climb up, so he began to willingly fall. Di Guangsi took advantage of something he shouldn’t have taken, but was reported to have gone wrong. Di Guangsi had a good father who made such great contributions to the Tang Dynasty. The emperor didn’t want to do anything to him, so he had to demote him to Shezhou. After Di Guangsi was demoted, he was so depressed that he really died. Di Guangsi was demoted to death for his crime, and the Di family’s main house fell into decline.
To be honest, Wu Zetian, Li Xian, and Li Dan’s mother and son have already taken good care of Di Guangsi. Di Guangsi himself lacks the ability to ascend. If he had been an honest local official, the Di family’s mansion would not have declined. Di Guangsi insists on falling for himself, he’s really a stupid son who tricked his father. Dige has been struggling all his life, but he was tricked by his father’s eldest son and became rich for no more than three generations. It’s really a pity.
Di Guangsi is already enough to deceive his father, and his younger brother Di Jinghui is even more deceitful than him. Di Jinghui is the second son of Di Renjie. He is a playboy who can’t achieve success in literature, martial arts, food, or anything else. Di Jinghui had a good father and was also appointed by the court to serve as a military officer in Weizhou.
Di Jinghui is not only as stupid as a pig, but also as heartless as a snake swallowing an elephant. Di Jinghui is wealthy and desperately exploits the people. The common people hate Di Jinghui, so some people want to report him. Di Jinghui was afraid of being reported by the common people, so he used cruel means to abuse his subordinates. The common people hated Di Jinghui so much that they found ways to retaliate against him. Coincidentally, a temple was built in Weizhou to commemorate Di Renjie. When the people became angry, they joined forces and smashed Di Renjie’s temple.
Poor Di Renjie, who made such great contributions to the Tang Dynasty before his death, only then did he receive the treatment of building a temple for commemoration. Unfortunately, Di Renjie gave birth to a son like Di Jinghui who had a deceitful father, causing Di Ge to die of old age and be humiliated by the people. After the common people smashed Di Renjie’s ancestral hall, Di Jinghui still dared not report to the court. The reason is simple: once Di Jinghui reports to the court, the court will send people to investigate. As soon as the court investigated, the bad things that Di Jinghui had done could not be concealed. (This incident is recorded in the “New Book of Tang”: “Jinghui, who served as a military officer in Weizhou, was corrupt and cruel, causing great suffering to the people. As a result of jointly destroying his father’s ancestral hall, he was no longer worshipped.”)
It is said that ‘a tiger father has no dog son’. This sentence is obviously inappropriate when applied to the father and son duo of Di Renjie. Di Renjie is extremely intelligent and can be called a tiger father. Di Guangsi has no trace of fatherly conduct, and even if his abilities are insufficient, he willingly falls into depravity. Di Jinghui is a stupid pig and a stupid cow, insatiable in greed, causing his deceased father to suffer humiliation, but he dare not even fart. Di Renjie’s two sons are really getting dumber and dumber than each other, and they are cheating their fathers. If Mr. Dige knew about Quan Xia and saw his two foolish sons, he would definitely scratch his ears and pull them away.
