During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Grand General Liang Shang held the reins of government. His son Liang Ji was born with a shifty-eyed, rat-like face and a repulsive appearance, yet he was a master of every vice—eating, drinking, gambling, and womanizing—making him the local bully.
Liang Ji, relying on his father being a Grand General and his sister being Empress to Emperor Shun of Han, saw his official career soar as he climbed the ranks to become the Governor of Henan. In his post, he abused his power, oppressed the people, and stirred up immense public outrage.
Luoyang magistrate Lü Fang reported Liang Ji's misdeeds to Liang Shang, prompting Liang Ji to receive a harsh scolding from his father. Nursing a grudge, Liang Ji secretly assassinated Lü Fang while he was away. To cover his tracks, he had his father appoint Lü Fang's brother, Lü Yu, as the new Luoyang magistrate, ordering him to hunt down suspicious members of the Lü clan, resulting in over a hundred wrongful deaths.
In 141 BC, Liang Shang died of illness, and since the Liang family held great power, Emperor Shun of Han had no choice but to let Liang Ji inherit the position of Grand General. From then on, Liang Ji became even more reckless, showing no respect even for the emperor. Emperor Shun of Han, not yet 30 years old, was literally angered to death.
After Emperor Shun died, many loyal ministers advocated for the virtuous and mature Prince Liu Suan of Qinghe to take the throne. However, Liang Ji, seeking to maintain his own grip on power, forcibly installed the eight-year-old Liu Zuan as the new emperor, historically known as Emperor Zhi of Han. Unexpectedly, the young emperor proved quite sharp; in front of the entire court, he openly denounced Liang Ji as an "overbearing general." Furious and humiliated, Liang Ji secretly poisoned Emperor Zhi, killing him.
After Emperor Zhi died, Liang Ji, seeing his sister was negotiating a marriage with Liu Zhi, the Marquis of Liwu, ignored the opposition of his ministers and installed Liu Zhi as emperor, known historically as Emperor Huan of Han. Grateful to Liang Ji for placing him on the throne, Emperor Huan naturally agreed to take Liang Ji's sister as his empress. Liang Ji then sought to use the national treasury to fund the wedding, but loyal ministers Du Qiao and Li Gu vehemently opposed this. In retaliation, Liang Ji found a pretext and had both of them executed.
Liang Ji, abusing his power, extorted and embezzled with impunity. He demanded 50 million in cash from the wealthy Sun Fen of Fufeng Commandery, but Sun Fen lent him only 500,000. In retaliation, Liang Ji had Sun Fen and his brother beaten to death, seizing most of their property. Later, when Wu Shu of Xiapi served as magistrate of Wan County, he refused to shield Liang Ji's relatives and instead executed several dozen of the worst offenders publicly. Bearing a grudge, Liang Ji later pretended to host a farewell banquet when Wu Shu was promoted to governor of Jingzhou, but poisoned his wine, killing him.
Liang Ji was so arrogant before the emperor that he dictated court affairs, leaving even the emperor no room for dissent. Emperor Huan initially tolerated this, grateful for Liang Ji's role in his ascension, but grew furious upon learning of his framing of loyal officials and disregard for human life.
After the empress's younger sister passed away, Emperor Huan doted on Lady Liang, who was originally surnamed Deng. Her father died early, and her mother, Lady Xuan, remarried. Liang Ji's wife, seeing Deng's beauty, adopted her as a daughter and sent her to the palace, where she was granted the title of noble lady. Fearing Lady Xuan might reveal the truth, Liang Ji sent an assassin to kill her, but the assassin was captured instead.
When Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty learned of this, he was furious. Long resentful of Liang Ji's arrogance, who treated him as a puppet and monopolized power, the emperor secretly plotted with eunuchs Shan Chao, Ju Yuan, Tang Heng, Zuo Guan, and Xu Huang. They dispatched a thousand imperial guards to surround Liang Ji's general's mansion, seized the Grand General's seal, and demoted Liang Ji to Marquis of Duxiang.
After losing power, Liang Ji feared the emperor would punish him further, so he and his wife committed suicide out of guilt. When he died, the court seized over three billion coins from his estate, and his lands were distributed to the poor, bringing cheers of joy from the people.
Later, people used the idiom "arbitrary and domineering" to describe being unreasonable and tyrannical.
Source: *Book of the Later Han*, "Biography of Liang Ji"
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "专横跋扈" came to describe being unreasonable and tyrannical.