【Eunuch's Wrath】
In August of the fifth year of Qianning in the Tang Dynasty (898), Emperor Zhaozong set out from Huazhou and returned to Chang'an, the capital, to change the Yuan Dynasty to Guanghua and grant amnesty to the world.
This year, Zhaozong had been working diligently at the emperor's job for ten years. After ten years of hard work, the two mountains - eunuchs and vassal towns - are still standing tall, but his resistance has declined sharply. The Tang Empire was in decline.
The energy of his two magic weapons - the civil service group and the prince's army - has also been exhausted in these ten years of struggle. After the "Sixteen Houses Massacre", the princes were physically wiped out, completely cutting off the idea of "princes acting as soldiers"; the civil power also changed under the combined influence of internal and external forces.
There are two major congenital flaws within the civil service power. First, Zhaozong was very selective in selecting people, which resulted in the civil service group being born with deformities, with uneven talents and a mixed bag of characters. Second, the civil service group was also defenseless in the face of interests. Factional struggles are constantly being staged in order to compete for fame and wealth.
External factors also restrict the healthy development of the civil service group, mainly reflected in the brutal interference of local vassals in central affairs. For example, Zhu Wen secretly colluded with Prime Minister Cui Yin and forced Zhaozong to appoint Cui Yin as prime minister; another example is Han Jian, who carried out unscrupulous political purges in Huazhou; not to mention Li Maozhen, who directly forced the dissident imperial prime minister to death.
Two major internal and external factors turned the civil service group into a double-edged sword coated with poison. Zhaozong wanted to use it but did not dare to use it. If he didn't know how to use it, he had to use it.
The eunuchs are still arrogant and domineering, the feudal towns are still in constant disputes, the princes are massacred, and the civil servants are unreliable... How can we relieve our worries? Only Du Kang. Wine is the father and food is the mother. Drinking to death is better than being shot. Emperor Zhaozong finally got into the bad habit of drinking and drank to relieve his sorrows.
When Zhaozong "willed himself to fall", the danger was quietly approaching.
The danger came from the eunuch's fear.
Since Zhaozong ascended the throne, he has successively eradicated two powerful eunuchs, Tian Lingzi and Yang Fugong. From the perspective of seizing power from the eunuchs, Zhaozong has indeed achieved certain results, greatly frightening the eunuchs' power and digging out several loyal people from them. For example, eunuchs such as Ximen Daguanren (Ximen Junsui).
The good times did not last long, Fengxiang and Li Maozhen claimed that the soldiers were invading the palace. The high officials of Ximen and other Qingliu in the turbidity and the Prime Minister Du Rangneng of Zhenqingliu were made scapegoats and died unjustly.
Later, the "first brother of the eunuch" became Luo Quanguan and Liu Jingxuan. They witnessed with their own eyes the power of the Kansai Group and the disgrace of the majesty of the royal family, so they actively colluded with the Kansai Group, colluded internally and externally, and excluded Zhaozong. The eunuch world, which had just improved, has returned to its original appearance.
Under the combined effect of this evil wind, the "Three Towns of Crime" was quickly catalyzed. Subsequently, under the intervention of Hedong forces, the Guanxi Group had to resort to eunuch forces in order to protect itself. Luo Quanguan, Liu Jingxuan and other eunuchs became scapegoats.
As a result, eunuchs Song Daobi, Jing Wuxiu and others became the leaders of the new generation of eunuch groups.
In these short years, the eunuchs who held real power (left and right Shen Cejun; privy envoys) came and went like a revolving door. However, the weakness and incompetence of the imperial court had been fully demonstrated, and the eunuchs' awe of the imperial power had long since disappeared. Nothing left. Song Daobi, Jing Wuxiu and other eunuchs showed no restraint in their arrogance and domineering behavior.
Prime Minister Cui Yin used these two eunuchs as a breakthrough and actively encouraged Zhaozong to kill the eunuchs. The reason why he has such an idea is not to find a way out for Jiangshan Sheji, but to strive for fame and fortune himself.
First of all, it is out of consideration for one's own safety.
As we all know, Zhaozong's two major concerns were eunuchs and feudal lords. Zhaozong was considering whether to move his left foot first or his right foot first. The power behind Cui Yin is the power of the vassal town, so Zhaozong must be allowed to take the eunuch's foot first.
Secondly, you can exclusively enjoy the bonus of attacking eunuchs.
The biggest gain from the attack on the eunuchs was the power of the imperial army. Now, the princes have been slaughtered by Han Jian, leaving only the civil service group to take over the military power of the Forbidden Army. Therefore, Cui Yin, who strongly advocated suppressing eunuchs, was of course a "trustworthy" comrade who could be entrusted with military power.
Suppressing eunuchs kills two birds with one stone. Therefore, Cui Yin strongly advocated that Zhaozong raise the butcher's knife against the eunuch power.
The previous emperors of all dynasties have made moves to fight against the eunuch forces, but without exception they all ended in failure. Some of them also paid a heavy price during the period, such as the famous "Manna Incident" in the Wenzong Dynasty. Zhaozong had been hesitant about Cui Yin's idea of killing the eunuchs, so he asked other prime ministers for their opinions.
Prime Minister Wang Tuan strongly opposed it, and his reasons were very pertinent. The eunuchs are arrogant and domineering, and everyone in the world knows that, but they are hard to come back. They cannot be calmed down overnight, let alone killing a few eunuchs. Isn't the problem from Tian Lingzi to Yang Fugong enough to explain the problem? Besides, the news that the emperor wanted to kill the eunuchs has been leaked, and it has spread in the court. The eunuchs have military power and everyone is in danger. This is an extremely dangerous sign! The correct approach should be to appease and maintain stability and make plans for the future.
Everything that Prime Minister Wang Tuan said was reasonable, but Zhaozong was even more suspicious.
Cui Yin made a slanderous statement in front of Zhaozong, falsely accusing Prime Minister Wang Tuan of being bribed by the eunuch Song Daobi and others, so he protected the eunuch; Wang Tuan exposed Cui Yin's previous scandal of licking Cui Zhaowei and colluding with the Kansai Group.
The debate on the country's major policies has turned into naked personal attacks and throwing dirty water at each other. Among them, there is a lack of evidence for the theory that Wang Tuan colluded with the eunuchs, but there is solid evidence for Cui Yin's attachment to the Kansai Group. Another prime minister, Xu Yanruo, also stood by Wang Tuan and jointly exposed Cui Yin's shameful past in colluding with the Kansai Group.
As a result, Wang Tuan and Xu Yanruo won a short-term victory in this small-scale political struggle. Cui Yin was dismissed as prime minister by Zhaozong, expelled from the central government, and sent to the Guangdong and Guangxi regions (Qingyuan Jiedushi in Guangzhou).
Cui Yin was unwilling to admit defeat, so he secretly contacted Zhu Wen, revealed to him, and distorted the words of Prime Minister Wang Tuan, saying that Wang Tuan advised Zhaozong to focus on reducing the vassal state.
Zhu Wen immediately went to court and accused Wang Tuan of colluding with the eunuchs, framed Zhongliang, and harmed the country and the people. Strongly asked Zhaozong to reconsider the personnel scheduling issue.
Under the pressure of Zhu Wen who brought troops to Chang'an to complain, Zhaozong had to recall Cui Yin and let him serve as prime minister again. At the same time, he demoted Wang Tuan again and again, first from the prime minister, then to Hunan (the governor of Xizhou), and then to Hunan. Hainan Island (Yazhou Sihu). At the same time, the two great eunuchs Song Daobi and Jing Wuxiu were also demoted from the court and sent to other places to serve as eunuchs to supervise the army.
However, these three people did not have to suffer from the long journey, because the death edict was delivered on the same day. As soon as the three of them left Chang'an City, they changed their route to Huangquan Road.
Another prime minister, Xu Yanruo, saw the situation clearly and hurriedly surrendered. He resolutely resigned from his position as prime minister and asked to be released abroad. Finally, he was able to go to Guangzhou and avoid Chang'an, a land of right and wrong.
At this point, Cui Yin, with the support of the local vassal forces, took control of the court and promoted the idea of killing all eunuchs without any scruples.
This situation is very similar to the general He Jin during the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period who planned to kill the "Ten Constant Attendants".
Eunuchs are not impossible to kill. However, both Cui Yin and Zhaozong made the same mistakes that He Jin had made. Such a major secret had been spread widely, but they were reluctant to take action, creating an atmosphere of terror that was extremely unfavorable to them.
Cui Yin's idea of "killing all the eunuchs" was one of the sources of fear for the eunuchs.
The second source of fear is that Zhaozong often behaved drunkenly. Political failure and the "Sixteen Houses Massacre" severely damaged Zhaozong's psychology. There was nowhere to vent the anger in his chest, so he had to drink to drown his sorrows. Zhaozong finally got into the bad habit of drinking. Whenever he was drunk, Zhaozong would become moody, making the eunuchs and maids who served him tremble.
The third source of fear was that Zhaozong became increasingly distrustful of eunuchs and became closer to witch doctors, musicians, monks, and charlatans, because these people were among the few forces that could be utilized by the emperor in addition to the civil service group. .
A certain prince fell ill, and the eunuch Liu Jishu led two royal doctors, Che Rang and Xie Yun, into the palace for treatment. After a long time, the two imperial doctors did not come out. The eunuch Liu Jishu and others then sent a message to Zhaozong, saying that according to the palace's behavioral regulations, idlers were not allowed to stay for a long time. Zhaozong ignored them and not only did not release the two imperial doctors, he also issued an edict that from now on, witch doctors, Taoist priests, etc. were not allowed to enter the palace.
The eunuch Liu Jishu was the "first brother" of the eunuchs after Daobi and Jing Wuxiu of the Song Dynasty. He was the commander-in-chief of the Zuo Shence Army (lieutenant of the Zuo Army) at the time. When Yang Fugong abolished the elder and established the young to support Zhaozong, Liu Jishu was responsible for bringing Zhaozong into the dynasty. The little eunuch.
Nowadays, Liu Jishu and other high-ranking eunuchs endure unprecedented fear and are in panic all day long. Especially their fear of Prime Minister Cui Yin has reached an extreme level. All the eunuchs in the palace dare not look at him. He didn't dare to express his anger, for fear that a word, an expression, or a look would anger him and lead to death.
The deaths of Song Daobi and Jing Wuxiu greatly stimulated Liu Jishu and other eunuchs, and became the trigger for a shocking incident.
This time, the "Ten Constant Attendants" are not trying to kill "He Jin", they are having a more exciting time.
Several important leaders of the eunuchs, Liu Jishu, Wang Zhongxian, Wang Yanfan, Xue Qixi, etc., held a secret meeting and reached a unanimous consensus: they could not sit back and wait for death, but must act first to depose Zhaozong and establish Prince Li Yu as the new king, so as to support the throne. Zhi Gong controlled the government, and at the local level, he united with the Kansai Group, so as to blackmail the emperor and order the princes.
Different from the indecision of Zhaozong and Cui Yin, these eunuchs acted decisively and did what they said.
A conspiracy was laid out quietly.
