Zhao Gao
On 27 September 207 BC, eunuch Zhao Gao tested his power against the emperor's. He presented a deer to the Second Emperor, but called it a horse. The emperor laughed and said "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?" Then the emperor questioned those around him. Some remained silent, some aligned with Zhao Gao, and said it was a horse. Zhao Gao executed every official who called the deer a deer. This incident provides the modern Chinese "chengyu" (idiomatic expression) "point to a deer and call it a horse" ( "zhǐlù-wéimǎ"); (see Zhao Gao § Calling a deer a horse).