[Has it subsided? 】
After Zhaozong returned to the throne of emperor, he struck while the iron was hot and suppressed the power of the eunuchs.
Previously, when the prime minister reported his work to the emperor in Yanying Hall, the eunuchs (private envoys) also attended and often argued with the prime minister. When the prime minister announced the emperor's will to the officials, the eunuchs would accuse the prime minister of "false edicts." , obstructing the issuance of government orders.
Therefore, Zhaozong ordered that from now on, the privy envoys should not sit side by side with the prime minister, but should wait until the prime minister finished his solo work before entering the palace to listen to work instructions.
Later, Prime Minister Cui Yin and Prime Minister Lu Kuang jointly wrote a letter, pointing out that the control of military power by eunuchs was the root cause of successive years of disasters. They suggested that Cui Yin be in charge of the left Shence Army and Lu Kui be in charge of the Right Shence Army. This could deter the warlords in local feudal towns. , to defend the emperor’s power.
Civilian officials and soldiers were the industrial layout established by Emperor Zhaozong ten years ago. However, this time and that time, time passed and the external environment changed dramatically, and there were also subtle changes within the court.
Nowadays, the eunuch power has not been completely eradicated, and still contains energy that cannot be underestimated. And they are now frightened. Excessive and intense suppression in a short period of time will probably cause an even stronger backlash from them. Zhaozong thought about it for two days and did not dare to make this move rashly.
Zhaozong is now more mature and less reckless. He found the "three envoys" who held military power and asked them about their attitude.
Sun Dezhao, Dong Yanbi, and Zhou Chenghui said in unison: "We have served in the military for generations, and we have never heard that civilian officials can serve as commanders. If we insist on giving it to civilian officials, I am afraid the army will change. It is better to be still than to move. It is better to leave it to the eunuch."
Among the three political forces in the imperial court (civilians, eunuchs, and the imperial army), the eunuchs and the imperial army are inextricably linked, and the interest relationships among them are even more intricate, with constant cutting and confusion. For a long time, the two have been interdependent. harmonious symbiosis;
Civil servants and eunuchs have been in constant opposition and conflict with each other for a long time, and there have been countless conflicts that have broken out in the struggle for power and gain.
The imperial army was the core, and the eunuchs were the media.
The palace coup launched by the "Core Four Eunuchs" was essentially a political struggle between the civil servant group (Cui Yin) and the eunuch group, except that this time Emperor Zhaozong was used as a bargaining chip. The eunuchs won first and then lost, so the civil servant group planned to take advantage of the situation and seize the power of the imperial army in one fell swoop to expand the results of the war.
The struggle experience in recent years told Zhaozong that he could not buy peace in the world with a letter of appointment. He knew the gold content of the imperial edict. No matter who is asked to lead the Forbidden Army, the consent of the Forbidden Army must be obtained in advance.
Today, the "Three Envoys" headed by Sun Dezhao are the spokespersons of the Forbidden Army, and the attitudes of these three are particularly important.
What Sun Dezhao hated was Wang Zhongxian, not the eunuchs as a group, nor the mature system in which eunuchs led the imperial army. For the Forbidden Army, they are more inclined to eunuchs, because they have too much in common with each other, and it is easier to join forces and seek benefits; while civil servants are the complete opposite. They often come from famous families, are well-read in poetry, and have high academic qualifications ( Jinshi and rank), they are aloof and aloof. They call themselves "clear streams" and derogatoryly call eunuchs "turbid streams". They also look down on warriors (generals of the imperial army) with well-developed limbs and simple minds.
Previously, Zhaozong personally promoted a Forbidden Army general, Yang Shouli, during the "Struggle to Overthrow Yang", and the civil servant group (Kong Wei) treated Yang Shouli coldly and lightly. It is enough to show that the civil servant group despises the Forbidden Army generals, and the Forbidden Army generals are very self-aware of this.
The civil service group prides itself on being noble and noble, and talks about benevolence, righteousness, and morality, making it difficult to work with them.
Therefore, the "three envoys" unanimously resisted civilian control of the imperial army and insisted on accepting the leadership of eunuchs.
After Zhaozong tossed and turned and hesitated for two days, he finally rejected Cui Yin and Lu Xun's proposal and appointed eunuchs Han Quanhui and Zhang Yanhong as commanders-in-chief of the left and right Shence armies respectively.
So, back to square one. The military power of the Forbidden Army is still controlled by the eunuch group.
Cui Yinshu became so anxious that he teamed up with the mayor of the capital (Jing Zhaoyin) to hire a murderer and wanted to get rid of his political opponents through unfair means. The plan was not kept secret and the plan failed.
However, the eunuch Han Quanhui and others were frightened by Cui Yin's crazy move. At the same time, they also recognized Cui Yin's terrifying belief that he would get rid of the eunuch. At that moment, the voices of seniors such as Jing Wuxiu, Song Daobi, Liu Jishu, and Wang Zhongxian were heard. The smiles appeared in their minds like a revolving lantern and could not go away for a long time.
The panicked eunuchs had no choice but to turn to their backers - the Kansai Group. Han Quanjie and Zhang Yanhong had served as Fengxiang's military eunuchs and were closely related to Li Maozhen, so they secretly contacted them to inform the court of the situation.
Fengxiang Li Maozhen knew very well that Cui Yin had great ambitions and would not stop at eliminating eunuchs. After he obtained military power and eliminated eunuchs, the next step would be to attack local feudal towns, and the Kansai Group would be the first target.
Fengxiang and Li Maozhen are closely related to the eunuch forces, and have forged a profound revolutionary friendship during the long-term struggle. They must not sit idly by at this time.
Therefore, Fengxiang Li Maozhen led troops into the court in the name of maintaining order in the capital and suppressing rebellion.
Emperor Zhaozong of the Jin Dynasty granted Li Maozhen the title of "King Qi". Li Maozhen left four thousand Fengxiang soldiers to guard the capital, and then returned to Fengxiang.
In order to protect himself, Cui Yin also secretly persuaded Zhu Wen to send three thousand Bian soldiers to guard the capital.
Fengxiang soldiers and Bianzhou soldiers pretended to be protecting the capital, but in fact they were monitoring the imperial court and defending their own rights and interests. Therefore, there were frequent battles between the garrisons of both sides, and the atmosphere in the capital was quite tense.
Cui Yin's recruitment of vassal towns to Beijing is very similar to He Jin and Yuan Shao's recruitment of Dong Zhuo to Beijing!
Han Xie, who conspired with Cui Yin, was very opposed to Cui Yin seducing the feudal vassal into the capital to guard the capital, saying that this was inviting a wolf into the house. Although Cui Yin was poor in reasoning and words, he remained unmoved.
Although the number of thousands of vassal soldiers is small, it is a dangerous signal for local forces to interfere with the central government. It is also the political extension of local vassal forces in the central government. Behind the small-scale conflicts, there is a game between the two powerful vassals. Any seemingly inconspicuous little move may cause an uproar.
Cui Yin ignored all opinions and went his own way, drifting further and further down the wrong path. He thinks he is a leader in the stormy sea, but little does he know that he will be playing with fire and burning himself.
[Left hook]
Although Zhu Wen dominated the Central Plains and became the undisputed strongest vassal in Guandong, he was still afraid of Li Keyong in Hedong and did not dare to take it lightly. He had "not yet aspired to win the throne." However, with Cui Yin's instigation and help, Zhu Wen Wen finally "began to plan to emigrate to the country", which inspired the Tang Dynasty to become independent.
Just before Liu Jishu deposed and established the emperor, the appearance of a man gave Zhu Wen hope of eliminating Li Keyong.
Wang Gong, the governor of Baoyi Province in Shaanxi Province, was handsome, talented in both civil and military affairs, but he was harsh in government, indulged in extravagance and amassing, was suspicious, cruel and prone to killing, and was mean and ungrateful.
Wang Tie, the former governor of Changzhou, had a prominent family background (after the Prime Minister Wang Dao of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was the fifth-generation grandson of Wang Fangqing, the prime minister during the Wu Zetian period). He had a strong and upright temperament, which fit Zhaozong's employment standards. Zhaozong, who was eager to employ people, issued an edict to let Wang Tie enter the capital. At that time, people unanimously agreed It is believed that Wang Zhe will definitely become prime minister.
When Wang Gong passed by Shaanzhou, Wang Gong treated him with utmost respect, showed him meticulous care, and expressed his willingness to pay homage in the manner of uncle and nephew. He also expressed his desire to share the same ancestry with Wang Gong and to recognize Wang Gong as his uncle.
In fact, the two are not from the same sect. Wang Gong is from Qi County, Taiyuan, and Wang Tie is a descendant of the famous Langya Wang family. Wang Zhi looked down upon Wang Gong and refused Wang Gong's request.
Wang Gong became angry and sent assassins to ambush Wang Ju's team on the road. They killed Wang Ju's entire family, plundered their belongings, and threw all the corpses into the Yellow River. Later, he reported to the court that the ship capsized unexpectedly due to strong winds and high waves, and no one survived.
Zhaozong was unable to investigate and deal with it.
Not only for "outsiders" like Wang Tie, but also for his own people, Wang Gong was never merciful. From his wife and children to his staff and generals, he would be tortured if he disagreed with him. Wang Gong should have personality defects, a typical psychopath, and would torture and abuse the people around him for various reasons every day.
The people in the tribe were frightened because of this, and finally provoked a mutiny, and were killed by the generals Li Fan and Zhu Jian.
Li Fan took the lead in surrendering to Zhu Wen, so he was memorialized by Zhu Wen to protect his righteousness and stay behind.
Zhu Jian felt extremely unbalanced, so his roommates started fighting and attacked Li Fan. Li Fan escaped with his life and fled to Bianzhou. Zhu Jian then also accepted money from Zhu Wen, and Zhu Wen told Zhu Jian to stay behind in order to preserve justice. Later, Zhu Jian took the initiative to admire Zhu Wen because of the same surname, and was adopted by Zhu Wen as his adopted son. He changed his name to Zhu Youqian, and he continued to use Zhu Youqian in the following articles.
When Zhu Wen formulated the Hedong battle plan, the joining of the Shaanzhou Baoyi Army provided Zhu Wen with the possibility of a left hook.
Judging from the map, the east and south sides of Li Keyong in Hedong are both controlled by Zhu Wen. The two forces are perfectly separated by the "俿"-shaped Taihang Mountains. If Zhu Wen can control the Hezhong area in the west, he can control Li Keyong in Hedong. With a left hook, while the main force is pushing flatly, you can also send out the "Taihang Eighth Route Army" to harass and dig out the heart. You can even join forces with Heshuo Fan Town to detour to the north of Taihang Mountain and deliver a big right hand punch.
After occupying the river, it can not only provide convenience for the elimination of Li Keyong, but also extend the sphere of influence to Chang'an City. Therefore, controlling the river is Zhu Wen's next focus.
After the "Hezhong Heritage Competition Case", the political structure of the Hezhong area was divided. Wang Gong and Wang Yao were essentially dependent on the Kansai Group, while Wang Ke was dependent on Hedong Li Keyong. Wang Ke not only received the support of Li Keyong, but also Li Keyong's daughter. Li Keyong married his daughter to Wang Ke to win over Wang Ke. It can be seen that Li Keyong also understood the importance of the Hezhong area to Hedong. importance.
As mentioned earlier, behind this family matter of competing for inheritance is a game of political forces on all sides. In the end, Hedong Li Keyong won, so Wang Ke was able to take control of Hezhong Mansion.
Now, the Shaanzhou Baoyi Army was in chaos. Zhu Jian recognized the situation clearly and knew that the Guanxi Group was strong on the outside and cadre in the middle, so he decided to submit money to Zhu Wen, a powerful vassal in Guandong, and provided Zhu Wen with the means to attack the river from the east and west. convenient.
Therefore, when Zhu Wen conquered the Heshuo area, he targeted Wang Ke, the protector of the country in the river.
During the Lantern Festival in the fourth year of Guanghua in the Tang Dynasty (901), Zhu Wen and his generals drank wine, admired lanterns, and guessed lantern riddles, creating a festive and peaceful atmosphere.
This year is the Year of the Rooster (Xinyou), but the theme of Bianzhou lanterns is snakes, which are full of snake elements. Everyone is accustomed to this, because Zhu Wen has prided himself on being the "reincarnation of the Red Emperor" since his debut. Anyone who wants to flatter him will compare him to Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty. Even the emperor used this joke to please him. Zhu Wen (Xizong successively named Zhu Wen the Marquis of Pei County and the King of Pei County; Emperor Zhaozong renamed Zhu Wen's hometown Wugouli as Peiwangli), "Snake Killing Uprising" is Zhu Wen's favorite song, no matter where it is. Every year in Bianzhou is the Year of the Snake.
One year spent similar, each year is different. This year's snake has a special meaning.
Zhu Wen explained to the generals: "Hezhong is connected to Hedong. Hezhong is the only way for Li Keyong from Hedong to go south. Wang Ke of Hezhong is Li Keyong's son-in-law. With the support of Hezhong, Shatuo's cavalry in Hedong is as strong as ever. Snakes are hard to stop. Occupying the river is equivalent to cutting this long snake in half! Generals, please get a rope and help me bring Wang Ke's son here."
The generals take orders.
The next day, General Zhang Cunjing, who had just shocked Heshuo, led 30,000 elite troops as the vanguard and launched a surprise attack on Jinzhou and Jiangzhou. Zhu Wen led the main force to follow up.
