【Wei Yinyu case】
Wei Yinyu is Guozi Siye, the vice president of the National Noble University. The old man submitted a memorial, reporting and exposing a "case of bad morals": Guo Jingshu, the administrator of the royal armory (internal workshop envoy), had promiscuous relations between men and women, was immoral and shameless.
Guozixue, as we have mentioned before, is a real aristocratic school with only 300 seats. It only recruits the children of high-ranking officials of the third rank or above and the Duke of the country and the great-grandsons of the second rank. The teachers are all top five.
As the vice-principal (fourth grade), Wei Yinyu is a role model, has high moral standards, despises the three customs, and hates torn shoes the most. So he wrote a memorial to expose and report, rectify unhealthy tendencies and promote righteousness.
Unexpectedly, after Tang Yizong saw the memorial, he became furious and ordered Wei Yinyu to be beaten to death with a stick.
The dignified Imperial Prince Siye, a fourth-rank official, the vice-chancellor of the sons of princes and nobles, was unexpectedly beaten to death with sticks. Even if this was not enough to satisfy his hatred, his home would be ransacked, all his property would be confiscated, and his wife and children would be confiscated and used as slaves.
Why did Tang Yizong do this?
It turned out that the Guo Jingshu who was reported was the brother-in-law of Tang Yizong, the younger brother of his favorite Concubine Guo Shu, and the uncle of Princess Tongchang.
Concubine Guo Shu once "entertained and drank endlessly" at Wei Baoheng's house and stayed out all night. Especially when Princess Tongchang was seriously ill, Concubine Guo Shu stayed in the Prince Consort's mansion for a long time in the name of her mother's visit.
At her age, and at his age, there are people who can talk and people who can't listen. They are two-faced, but they are all rational anyway. Even if you jump into the Yellow River, you can't wash them away... The mother-in-law loves her husband, and the child loves sweets. Over and over again, there were widespread rumors that there was something unethical and disgraceful between Concubine Guo Shu and Wei Baoheng.
The mother-in-law and her son-in-law broke the shoes!
Wei Yinyu, on the other hand, said that Concubine Guo Shu's younger brother was shameless and incorruptible.
In front of a monk, don't call a thief bald; Tang Yizong, avoid being green.
Wei Yinyu's letter of accusation directly hit Tang Yizong's lungs. This matter could not be clarified, which really angered Tang Yizong to death.
After Wei Baoheng found out, he was happy instead of angry. The opportunity has come!
On May 6, Tian Xianzhu, the envoy of the imperial court who received the memorial, was demoted to the manager of Qiaoling (Qiaoling, the tomb of Li Dan, Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty), and went to visit the tomb, just because he accepted the memorial from Wei Yinyu;
Yan Jing, the Secretary of the Gemen, was sentenced to fifteen punishments with a stick, and was assigned to Nanya;
Wei Yinyu's wife Cui and nine prostitutes and concubines were all punished as slaves in Yeting;
Wei Yinyu's uncle, father-in-law, brother-in-law, etc. were also demoted to the Guangdong and Guangxi areas;
Du Yixiu, a member of the fifth rank in the imperial examination, was Wei Yinyu's close friend, and naturally he was also a "Wei Yinyu party member". He was demoted to Duanzhou (now Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province).
Hand in hand, let’s go together, traveling to Lingnan and Guangxi at public expense.
Du Yixiu, the son of Du Cao, needs no introduction.
Wei Baoheng went further and further on the road of eliminating dissidents and uniting the party to defeat those who were different, and he resorted to all possible means. He peered at the officials of the DPRK and China with extreme acrimony, looking for breakthroughs, tearing apart the defense lines, blooming in the center, outflanking the two wings, and making sure to remove all obstacles.
A large number of officials were demoted without reason, and major personnel changes occurred frequently in the court. The old will not go, and the new will not come.
Wei Baoheng naturally wanted to fill these vacancies with his cronies and install his own informants in the court. For example, he wanted to promote Pei Tiao, a close member of the party, but was worried that Li Zhang, the fair and strict Zuocheng, would not buy his face, so he sent someone to greet Li Zhang in advance.
As expected, Li Zhang was unwilling to bend the law for personal gain, and did not buy Wei Baoheng's face. He adhered to principles and handled official affairs, especially in the promotion of officials, and did not allow any malpractice for personal gain.
Bravo.
Therefore, in July, Li Zhang was demoted from the central government and was posted as the "Xuanshe Observer Envoy", working in Xuanzhou (today's Xuancheng City, Anhui Province).
"Those who follow me will prosper, and those who go against me will perish." This is Wei Baoheng's political declaration.
"Who else--"
Wei Baoheng was satisfied. It only took more than a year for him to go from being an eighth-rank official to becoming prime minister. Prime Minister? Huh, there are also three, six or nine levels. There are only a handful of people like me who spit and smash into holes and stomp their feet to make the whole city tremble.
Looking through the small account book, oh - by the way, there is one more person, I almost forgot.
Wei Baoheng looked through his little notebook and found another fish that had slipped through the net: Prime Minister Wang Duo.
"I've killed two prime ministers, can I still spare you?"
Wang Duo was demoted to Xuanwu Army Jiedushi, demoted from the court, and excluded from the core power.
Wang Duo was the examiner when Wei Baoheng passed the imperial examination.
Under the imperial examination system, the most important link in official ethics was the relationship between the examiner and the Jinshi (the same father and son), and the Jinshi (as close as brothers) in the same year. This relationship between teachers and students and classmates is a natural political alliance, especially when factional struggles occur in the scholar class. This was clearly demonstrated in the political struggles of the Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
Wang Duo was Wei Baoheng's examiner at the same year, and Xiao Yuan, who had been demoted in the "Yu Cong Case", was Wei Baoheng's Jinshi classmate in the same year.
If you only look at the resumes of these three people and analyze their social relationships, you will preconceptionally think that Wang Duo and Xiao Yu must also be "Wei Baoheng's party members." But, they are not. They despised Wei Baoheng's character, so they were all ruthlessly excluded by Wei Baoheng.
At this point, the new prince-in-law Wei Baoheng first used the death of the princess to brew a "medical case", and then created a series of politically charged cases such as the "Liu Zhan case", "Yu Cong case", and "Wei Yinyu case" in two years. After an earthquake in the officialdom, a major reshuffle was carried out, and he finally took over the power.
If God wants to destroy it, it must first make it crazy.
Just when Wei Baoheng achieved a complete victory in the political struggle, he suddenly saw a fatal hidden danger - his father-in-law was dying soon!
His father-in-law, Tang Yizong, was already forty-one years old.
Seeing the decline of Tang Yizong's body, Wei Baoheng was more anxious than the emperor himself. "My father-in-law, my old Taishan, you are my biological father! You are more of a grandfather than my biological father. No matter what, you have to hold on."
Tang Yizong had a wide range of hobbies. Apart from listening to politics and handling national affairs, he also liked singing, dancing, rap, basketball, and was superstitious about Buddha.
Before that, as long as the dragon's body was not in good condition, he would either offer amnesty to the world, or donate money to the temple and beg the Buddha for blessing. It's tried and true.
Now, Tang Yizong has another whim and wants to imitate his grandfather, Tang Xianzong, to welcome the Buddha's bones.
To welcome the Buddha's bones means to send people to Famen Temple to welcome the Buddha's bones and relics to the capital, which is about three hundred miles away.
When the emperor welcomes the Buddha's bones, it is not as simple as sending a rider to fetch them. This is an expensive project.
Once the edict to welcome the Buddha's bones was issued, memorials to dissuade him came like snow flakes. Are you still following Tang Xianzong’s example of welcoming Buddha’s bones? Have you forgotten that Emperor Xianzong died suddenly after receiving the Buddha's bones? Isn't it unlucky for you to learn this?
Tang Yizong didn't know who he was - maybe Wei Baoheng (I hereby declare: empty words, no historical data, purely guesswork, if there are any mistakes, I will not be responsible) who gave him ecstasy, and he was obsessed with flattering the Buddha's bones and expressing his own feelings. Pious. He even set up a flag and said: "Even if I only take a look at it, it will be worth my death (I can see it in life, and I will have no regrets in death)!"
Why did you take this oath?
Tang Yizong insisted on going his own way, and no one could dissuade him.
Finally, in March of the 14th year of Xiantong (873), the money-burning project to welcome the Buddha's bones was officially launched:
The capital built pagodas in a big way; curtains were made of jewels, trolleys were made of sandalwood, flowers were decorated with long banners and roof umbrellas, and all the utensils were decorated with gold, silver, jade, brocade silk and jade, and they traveled to and from the capital. Between it and Famen Temple, cars and horses gallop around day and night.
In April, the Buddha's bones arrived in Chang'an, the capital. The guard of honor of the Forbidden Army cleared the way, the royal band played and beat the roof tiles, and the bright lights stretched for dozens of miles... The scale was unprecedentedly grand, far surpassing the most solemn ceremony of worshiping heaven in the empire, and even beyond the reach of the dead Emperor Xianzong; wealthy households lined the streets to build colorful buildings, Show off your wealth by comparison.
Tang Yizong was inspired by this and stepped forward to greet him personally. The supreme ruler of the Tang Dynasty, the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, actually knelt on the ground in excitement, kowtowed to the ground, and cried in grief, with tears streaming down his face. He clasped his hands respectfully and raised them to his forehead.
The monks who came with him and the elderly people among the common people who had experienced Xianzong's reception of the Buddha's bones (this happened in 819, 54 years ago) were all given large amounts of gold, silver, and silk satin.
Tang Yizong personally took the Buddha's bones into the palace.
Three days later, the Buddha's bones were enshrined in Chonghua Temple in Anguo. Tang Yizong issued another edict: Amnesty for the whole world!
Is it effective to worship the Buddha's bones by mobilizing people, laboring people and wasting money?
Of course, immediate results!
On April 8th, the Buddha's bones were welcomed. On July 16th, Tang Yizong was critically ill. On July 18th, he hurriedly made a testament and explained his funeral arrangements. He hurriedly passed away on July 19th. At the age of 41, he left us too early.
From the time when the Buddha's bones were received to the time of his death, it was exactly one hundred days.
The imperial edict of Yizong of the Tang Dynasty: King Pu Li Yan was the crown prince and succeeded to the throne; Wei Baoheng was the regent.
