In a few days, it will be the Chinese New Year. On the sixth day of the first lunar month in the third year of Emperor Tianfu of the Tang Dynasty (903), Li Maozhen saw the opportunity that Han Quanhui and other powerful eunuchs were not present, met with Zhaozong alone, and told his plan: to kill Han Quanhui and other eunuchs, and use their The human head was used as a token of reconciliation and the emperor was sent back to Chang'an respectfully.
Zhaozong was overjoyed. Since he had Li Maozhen's support, what was the resistance to killing a few eunuchs? He immediately agreed to Li Maozhen's request.
As a result, 40 Fengxiang warriors arrested Han Quanhui and other eunuchs and beheaded them all. That night, they also beheaded Han Quanhui's comrades - Zhou Chenghui and Dong Yanbi among the "Three Envoys"; Li Jiyun, the commander of the Fengxiang garrison in Chang'an, He was also one of the masterminds, and was also killed by Li Maozhen.
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Emperor Zhaozong sent Han Xie and others to the Bianjun camp and presented more than 20 heads of the eunuch Han Quanhui and others to Zhu Wen for viewing and appreciation. These are the monarchs and ministers who refuse to reconcile. Now that Li Maozhen and I have killed them all, you can tell the troops to calm down everyone's anger."
Obviously, this was Zhaozong helping Li Maozhen to shift the blame.
Zhaozong should be very aware of the role played by Li Maozhen and the Kansai Group he represented in the entire incident. The eunuch party headed by Han Quanhui was naturally the initiator, but Li Maozhen could never absolve himself of the guilt of being an accomplice. The reason why he took the initiative to exonerate Li Maozhen was mainly because Zhaozong was still Li Maozhen's hostage. What Zhaozong had to do was to express his sincerity to Li Maozhen to the greatest extent to avoid being ripped off.
This is the tacit understanding between Zhu Wen, Li Maozhen and Zhaozong.
Zhaozong is Li Maozhen's last bargaining chip. Once Zhaozong is sent out of Fengxiang Mansion, the life and death of Li Maozhen's family will only depend on Zhu Wen's mercy.
Zhu Wen and Zhaozong had the same idea, that is, how to make Li Maozhen believe that he would not suffer a counterattack after handing over the hostages.
Before the formal handover, the nerves of the three parties involved were extremely sensitive and fragile. They could only maintain the maximum balance through tacit understanding. The "peace talks" were like walking on a tightrope and could hardly withstand any disturbance.
However, the accident still occurred.
On that day, Zhu Wen inspected each camp. When he walked to the north of the city, he suddenly discovered that Fengxiang's army was mobilizing on the mountain in the north, so he urgently ordered an attack and captured the general of Fengxiang's army alive.
Zhaozong hurriedly sent his beloved concubine to Zhu Wen's camp to investigate and mediate; Li Maozhen also immediately found the cause; Zhu Wen sent his confidant Jiang Xuanhui into the city to report.
With the active efforts of the three parties, the problem was finally properly resolved. It was just a small misunderstanding.
The dynamic balance of terror between the three parties may be broken at any time. It may be a deliberate conspiracy or an accidental misunderstanding.
Generally speaking, the initiative in negotiations lies with the stronger party, especially the alliance under the city. The weak do not have the power to "negotiate" and only have the obligation to "listen to the judgment". The strong will use the cloak of "negotiation" to "negotiate" the weak. Sentence”.
However, Fengxiang's alliance under the city was very paradoxical. The initiative was in the hands of the weak Li Maozhen. Zhu Wen threw himself into the trap, and Zhaozong endured the humiliation and survived, all waiting for Li Maozhen's final price.
After thinking hard, Li Maozhen finally proposed her price:
First, Cui Yin.
Li Maozhen was very confident in Cui Yin's ability to stir up trouble. He believed that Cui Yin would definitely encourage Zhu Wen to seize Fengxiang, so he had to find the man behind the scenes. What happens after you find him? It would be best to ask Zhaozong and Zhu Wen to submit a petition to him and kill him just like they killed the eunuchs; the next best thing is to ask him to make a guarantee in favor of the Kansai Group face to face.
Therefore, Zhaozong urgently summoned Cui Yin and asked him to lead all civil and military officials to Fengxiang to pick him up. A total of four edicts and three personal letters from the emperor were issued, urging him to go on the road.
They are all veteran Chinese doctors, so don’t give me folk prescriptions. Cui Yin always complained that he was ill and refused to move forward.
Li Maozhen also wrote a personal letter to Cui Yin, which was very humble and pleading.
Cui Yin still refused to come.
In the end, Zhu Wen could only come forward and write a letter to Cui Yin, half joking and half serious: "I don't know the emperor, please help me identify it, don't get it wrong."
With Zhu Wen's support, Cui Yin dared to come. However, Cui Yin still did not come to Fengxiang's scene. This is a story for later and will be mentioned later.
Secondly, political marriage.
Li Maozhen proposed two marriages: for his son Li Kan to marry Zhaozong's daughter, Princess Pingyuan; and for Prime Minister Su Jian's daughter to marry King Jing Li Mi. Use in-law relationships as the final guarantee.
Princess Pingyuan is Queen He's biological daughter, and Queen He is very opposed to this marriage. Zhaozong was so anxious that he stamped his feet, "As long as I can leave Fengxiang, why worry about your daughter?" It was a pun.
Yes, my daughter is only temporarily stored in Fengxiang. Li Maozhen's head is also temporarily stored.
make a deal!
[Zhaozong returns to Luan]
Li Maozhen's two major requirements were basically met, because Cui Yin only agreed to come but did not actually arrive in Fengxiang. It doesn't matter, because Cui Yin is still of great use value to Zhu Wen. Zhu Wen doesn't want to give up this chess piece yet. Even if Cui Yin comes to Fengxiang, Li Maozhen doesn't dare to touch him. As long as Cui Yin agrees to come, it will represent the sincerity of Zhu Wen and Zhaozong, and also represent the reconciliation between Cui Yin and the Kansai Group.
Of course it would be best to kill Cui Yin, but as long as Cui Yin no longer causes trouble for Fengxiang in the future, it is a discount that Li Maozhen can accept.
On the twentieth day of the first lunar month, Princess Pingyuan married Li Maozhen's son. Since they had the same surname and they were not married, Li Kan restored his original surname and changed his name to Song Kan; King Jing Li Mi married the daughter of Prime Minister Su Jian.
Two days later, Zhaozong left Fengxiang Mansion.
Zhu Wen changed into plain clothes and waited for the emperor's punishment. Zhaozong ordered all guards to be withdrawn, and only one general of the imperial army was sent as the leader. He first went to Zhu Wen's camp to report that he was safe and announced that he would be pardoned of all crimes. Later, Zhu Wen changed into civilian clothes and went to the audience. The emperor kowtows and expresses gratitude (the number of those who bow down is four), and weeps bitterly.
These are all "rules", just like worshiping heaven and earth and worshiping high hall twice at a wedding. The king of a country must always have a sense of ceremony.
Zhaozong ordered Han Xie to help Zhu Wen up, and he also cried and said: "The ancestral temple and the country, Lai Qing, are safe again; I and the clan, Lai Qing, are reborn." You, Zhu Wen, are my reborn parents and father and mother.
Later, Zhaozong took off his jade belt and gave it to Zhu Wen; Zhu Wen also returned gifts such as jade saddles, gold and silver, silks, fruits, and wine according to etiquette.
After a short rest, Zhaozong officially drove back to Luan.
Zhu Wen personally led Zhaozong's horse and whip and walked more than ten miles in one breath. Zhaozong couldn't bear it and repeatedly advised him to go back and rest. Zhu Wen refused, insisting on using this to show his loyalty. Finally, Zhaozong issued an "imperial edict" and ordered Zhu Wen had to go down to rest, so Zhu Wen withdrew, but asked his nephew Zhu Youlun to continue escorting him. This is a political show and a requirement of etiquette.
On the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, Zhaozong arrived at Xingping, west of Chang'an, and Cui Yin led all the civil and military officials to arrive belatedly.
On the twenty-seventh of the first lunar month, Zhaozong finally returned to the capital Chang'an. Emperor Zhaozong refused to surrender and cried in the Ancestral Temple, and then went to Changle Tower to accept the congratulations of hundreds of officials. Later, Zhaozong took Zhu Wen's hand and affirmed his merits again with tears in his eyes (the one who burst into tears lasted for a long time).
The feudal etiquette system is very complicated, but as long as you grasp its essence - one word, cry, it will be easily solved.
Emperor Zhaozong bestowed upon Zhu Wen the honorary title of "He who has returned to heaven to rebuild his country and is loyal and upright", bestowed upon Zhu Wen's think tank Jingxiang and others the honorary title of "Heroes who welcomed Luan and supported Praise", and bestowed upon Zhu Youning and other military personnel the honorary title of "Heroes on Yingluan and Guoyi". "The honorary title is given to officers below the brigade commander with the honorary title of "Heroes in the Four Towns' Relief".
Since Emperor Xizong, there have been countless such honorable titles.
When it comes to rewards based on merit, there is no need to list them in detail.
From Fengxiang to Chang'an, Emperor Zhaozong escaped from the wolves and entered the tiger's mouth again. Zhu Wen and Cui Yin, a pair of close comrades-in-arms, launched an unscrupulous purge in Chang'an.
The first to bear the brunt was the eunuch group that lost the protection of the Kansai Group.
In fact, after Li Maozhen accepted the agreement to hand over the hostages, the massacre against the eunuchs had already begun. In Fengxiang Mansion, Li Maozhen killed 72 eunuchs; Zhu Wen secretly ordered Chang'an to massacre 90 retired eunuchs; after returning to Chang'an, he killed 710 more eunuchs; he also ordered all the roads and towns in the world to hunt down and kill all the eunuchs. The eunuch who oversees the army.
Other records say that Li Maozhen killed more than 3,000 eunuchs in Fengxiang, and Zhu Wen killed more than 500 eunuchs in one go on the second day after returning to Chang'an.
Cui Yin's grand ambition of "killing all the eunuchs" was finally realized. Thousands of eunuchs were killed.
The cries in the city of Chang'an were loud, and the eunuchs' cries of injustice and begging for mercy were endless. Only 30 young eunuchs were left in the palace to do sanitation and cleaning work. The palace maids were responsible for conveying imperial edicts to the emperor. Later, he ordered Wang Rong, the governor of the German army in Zhenzhou, to pay tribute to 50 eunuchs. Because the land of Yanzhao has a kind and honest custom, the eunuchs here are still worthy of trust.
