【restoration of Zhaozong】
After receiving secret support from Zhu Wen, Cui Yin began to plan intensively. He also quickly found a breakthrough, which was quite interesting.
The bad guys are not completely bad, and the good guys are not pure enough.
The initiators of the coup were the "core four eunuchs" - Liu Jishu, Wang Zhongxian, Wang Yanfan, and Xue Qixi. The first two were in charge of the left and right strategic armies respectively, and had the power of the imperial army; the latter two were privy envoys, responsible for receiving and conveying memorials and conveying the emperor's orders, equivalent to the "prime ministers" in the eunuch world.
The collusion between the commander-in-chief of the Shence Army and the privy envoys was a powerful alliance of powerful departments of the eunuch group, and launching a coup was a matter of minutes.
After the initial success of the coup, Liu Jishu's villainous face was clearly visible. He bullied his superiors, used his power to exercise power, and rewarded and killed indiscriminately. He was active at the forefront of the stage, with a strong sense of presence, and was responsible for the flow of the "core four eunuchs". However, this is just an outsider's perception. In the Forbidden Army system that the eunuchs relied on, the real traffic controller was Wang Zhongxian.
According to historical records, Wang Zhongxian was smart and strict, perceptive and cynical. He had been exposed to corruption in the Forbidden Army for many years. After he became the commander-in-chief of the Youshence Army, he played the role of the "Discipline Inspection Commission" and struck hard. , crack down on the corruption and perversion of the law by the officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army, and recover the stolen money through severe torture (painful hammering).
The historical data about this eunuch's "Discipline Inspection Commission" are too poor, and we have no way to verify the whereabouts of the recovered stolen money. In other words, we don’t know whether Wang Zhongxian is truly selfless or is just a gangster. Personally, I am very willing to believe it is the former. This kind of history will be fuller, more three-dimensional, and more like real history.
He played a disgraceful role in the righteousness of the monarch and his ministers, but he showed no mercy in cracking down on violations of law and discipline. He is rebellious, but he does not allow others to take bribes. Both contradictory and three-dimensional.
Wang Zhongxian made a stupid mistake and forgot that rabbits do not eat grass beside their nests. Wang Zhongxian's rectification work of the Central Forbidden Army made everyone in the Forbidden Army feel in danger (quite uneasy), and among them was a junior officer named Sun Dezhao.
Sun Dezhao was a junior officer in the Forbidden Army. He conspired with his colleague Dong Yanbi to embezzle five million yuan (the stolen money was 5,000 yuan). He was found out by Wang Zhongxian, and then he was "Wang Zhongxian's three companies": criticism meetings, severe torture, and legal pursuit of stolen goods. Especially for little people like Sun Dezhao and Dong Yanbi who have no background, no backing, and no foundation, the law should be strict, and they will be investigated to the end without mercy. They will pull out the carrots and bring out the mud (there are many implicated people).
Sun Dezhao hated Wang Zhongxian because of this. When he was drinking with his friends, he gritted his teeth with hatred when he mentioned this matter and couldn't help but curse.
All this was seen by Cui Yin and kept in mind, so he sent his confidant Shi Jian to secretly contact Sun Dezhao.
After three drinks and five dishes, Shi Jian seemingly unintentionally introduced "Wang Zhongxian" into the topic. As expected, Sun Dezhao was so angry that he filed his teeth into pieces and wished he could cut Wang Zhongxian into pieces to relieve his hatred.
Shi Jian followed the wind and lit the fire, saying that the two eunuchs Liu Jishu and Wang Zhongxian were the chief culprits of You humiliating the emperor. If they could kill the two eunuchs and welcome Zhaozong back to Luan, wouldn't he be the country's top meritorious official? Enjoy endless glory and wealth during your lifetime, and your name will be remembered in history after your death. Why not?
He elevated personal revenge to the level of national justice and held Sun Dezhao high.
Facing this high hat, Sun Dezhao was obviously moved, but he told the truth: "To be honest, I wanted to kill them, but they were in a high position and I, a small junior officer, was really unable to do what I wanted." ah!"
Shi Jian came closer and whispered: "The prime minister has been strategizing and has already planned it. All he needs is you as the vanguard."
Sun Dezhao couldn't restrain the joy in his heart, "If the Prime Minister really supports me, I, Sun, will dare to take this initiative!"
Shi Jian reported to Cui Yin. Cui Yin immediately tore off his clothes, wrote down the instructions in his own handwriting, sealed them in a wax pill, and asked Shi Jian to bring them to Sun Dezhao.
When Sun Dezhao saw this token, he was elated and hurriedly contacted Dong Yanbi. The two hit it off immediately, and secretly contacted another low-level officer Zhou Chenghui. The three reached a secret agreement: they would act separately during the Spring Festival.
A few days later, it was New Year's Eve. When Chang'an City was immersed in the festive atmosphere of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, the three of them each led their own troops, and under the cover of night, ambush near Anfumen, waiting for the New Year's blood.
On the first day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Guanghua of the Tang Dynasty (901), Wang Zhong went to the palace to pay homage. As soon as he reached Anfu Gate, he was suddenly blocked by a group of people, led by Sun Dezhao.
Wang Zhongxian was furious and was beheaded by Sun Dezhao before he could get angry.
The credit cannot be taken away by others. Sun Dezhao ignored the cheers and rushed towards Shaoyang Courtyard at a sprint speed of 100 meters. He knocked on the door and shouted: "Your Majesty, the traitor has been killed by me. Please come out and work for me!"
Queen He was worried that there was fraud, so she shouted out the door: "If this is the case, throw in the thief's head and see."
Sun Dezhao quickly handed the head in and said, "The traitor has been killed. Please come out, Your Majesty."
Zhaozong and Queen He believed it and ordered people to smash the door.
Cui Yin welcomed Zhaozong to the Changle Gate Tower and led hundreds of civil and military officials into the court to congratulate him.
While Sun Dezhao intercepted and killed Wang Zhongxian, Zhou Chengjie raided Liu Jishu, captured Liu Jishu, Wang Yanfan and other masterminds alive and took them to Changle Gate Tower.
Just as Zhaozong was about to question him, Liu Jishu and others were beaten to death with random sticks.
Zhou Chenghui is not smart enough, how can he catch him alive? Liu Jishu and other eunuchs accomplished the coup with the help of the Forbidden Army. Will Liu Jishu resist all the blame on his own? Is he willing to take the blame? As the saying goes, one bite from a thief penetrates three parts of the body. He knows too much to let him "talk nonsense".
Another mastermind, Xue Qixie, heard the news and committed suicide by throwing himself into a well. His body was pulled out and his head was chopped off.
The "core four eunuchs" Liu Jishu, Wang Zhongxian, Wang Yanfan, and Xue Qixi were all executed by the whole family. The three clans were punished, and more than 20 of their party members were also executed.
For participating in the coup, is Wang Zhongxian a bad guy? Yes, but it's not completely bad; to bring order out of chaos, is Sun Dezhao a good person? Yes, but not pure enough.
The eunuchs protected the young master and hid in Zuo Shence's army, and presented the imperial seal.
Zhaozong still had great sympathy for his prince, saying that he was just an 8-year-old kid who was coerced into taking the throne by a traitor. He was just a child and he was not at fault. So he was ordered to return to the East Palace, restore his original title - King De, and restore his original name - Li Yu.
Rewards: Sun Dezhao, the Jinghai Jiedushi (headquartered in Annan Prefecture, today's Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam), was named Li Jizhao; Dong Yanbi, the Ningyuan Jiedushi, was named Li Yanbi; Zhou Chengjie, the Jiedushi of Lingnan West Road, was named Li Jijie. And won the honor of painting the Lingyan Pavilion.
The three Jiedu envoys were only in name only and did not actually go to Guangdong, Guangxi and Vietnam. Instead, they stayed in the capital and served as palace guards. Zhaozong trusted them very much and rewarded them very generously. He almost emptied the storehouse. ("The reward poured out of the treasury" in "Zi Zhi Tong Jian"; "The treasures from the inner treasury were given to him" in "New Book of Tang"), and all three of them also had the title of prime minister (Tong Ping Zhang Shi), and they were collectively known as It is the "Three Envoys".
As the mastermind behind the chaos, Cui Yin also received a reward. Zhaozong granted him the position of Situ (ranked as the third Duke). However, facing the title of Situ, which is almost the highest honor of a civil servant, Cui Yin chose to be upright and resolutely resigned.
Not only did he resign as "Situ", Cui Yin did not take credit for his achievements, but passed all the credit to others. He led hundreds of officials to "treat the crime", with tears streaming down his face, and his face was full of shame and shame. . His Majesty was humiliated by an eunuch, and he held a high position, so he could not seek rape... Fortunately, Comrade Zhu Wen took the lead in being loyal and united with Sun Dezhao and others to capture and kill the demon rebels..."
"Great loyal minister!" Zhaozong loved Cui Yin to death. Although he did not explicitly give him "praise and worship without a name", he still had a name but it was real. From then on, "when you see him or you don't name him, you call him by name, and you are treated with great favor".
After Zhu Wen received the news that Liu Jishu had been executed, he immediately broke Cheng Yan's feet, put on handcuffs and shackles, and went to the capital with Liu Xidu, Li Fengben and others to behead him.
This Cheng Yan was also a staff member of the Bianzhou Office in Beijing. He participated in Liu Jishu's coup and was an important participant in the coup. He once helped Liu Jishu lobby Li Zhen. On the day of the coup, Cheng Yan dragged Zhaozong roughly, which was a treasonous act. After Zhu Wen decided to support Cui Yin, he recalled Cheng Yan to Bianzhou. It was not until Cui Yin's success that he sent Cheng Yan to the capital.
It has to be said that Zhu Wen was really prepared. Now that the big thing was done, he quickly sacrificed Cheng Yan and disowned the relationship with Liu Jishu's eunuch party.
In order to reward Zhu Wen for his rectification, Zhaozong promoted Zhu Wen's title from the two-character prince (Dongping Prince) to the one-character king (Liang Wang).
From then on, Zhu Wen paid more attention to Li Zhen. Li Zhen and Jingxiang became Zhu Wen's two great think tanks, just like the sleeping dragon and the phoenix chick were to Liu Bei.
At this point, Liu Jishu's coup lasted less than two months before being put down.
