After Tong Guan entered the palace, he fell at the door of the great eunuch Li Xian. This Li Xian was a famous eunuch in Song Shenzong period. He often goes to the front to supervise the army and directly supervise the war. He has repeatedly made meritorious military service, and successively served as Zhao, Shi Fangbao, Xuanzhou Observation Ambassador, Ambassador, Xuanqing Ambassador and People's Deputy Ambassador. However, Li Xian didn't take special care of Tong Guan, so that he didn't get ahead in the palace for more than twenty years. But because Tong Guan often followed Li Xian, he learned some knowledge about marching and fighting, which became an important capital for him to take charge of the relieving in the future.
Tong Guan has a flexible mind, is good at reading, and can read people's intentions. Even some trivial things can't escape his eyes. Therefore, when he does things, he always thinks of other people's hearts, has a strong sense of being ahead of others, and has won the favor of people around him. In a word, Tong Guan is a very accommodating person.
In 65438 AD, after the death of Song Zhezong, Zhao Ji ascended the throne. This is the famous romantic emperor Song Huizong in history. What kind of person is Song Huizong? He is elegant, intelligent and artistic. Music, piano, chess, poetry and songs are all fine; Music, dogs, horses, beer and skittles, everything. Only for governing the country, but not very good at it. He was 19 years old when he became emperor, and he was a young emperor. At first, he was still putting on airs, issuing an Amnesty to the world and demanding the truth. But before long, his true nature was revealed. Seeing that he likes to have fun and do good deeds in luxury, the chamberlain suggested that he decorate the palace with gold foil, and some officials donated money to help repair the palace. He even sent them away one by one, which seemed a little hard.
Tong Guan is 28 years older than Huizong. Tong Guan, who is very calculating, first mastered Hui Zong's hobby by observing his words and feelings. In order to cater to his preferences, he lost no time in telling Hui Zong that there are many rare treasures, strange stones and flowers and celebrity calligraphy and painting in the south, and suggested sending people to the south to collect them. Hearing this, Hui Zong asked Tong Guan to preside over the matter as a court sacrificial officer, and went to Jiangnan to look for precious paintings and calligraphy. To this end, Hui Zong set up a Ming and Qing Bureau directly managed by Tong Guan in Hangzhou.
Tong Guan arrived in Hangzhou, obeyed orders, and was a favorite of the palace, so he was naturally powerful. Hangzhou officials, which dare not curry favor with? So, a grand banquet was held to welcome Tong Guan. During the dinner, Tong Guan met Cai Jing, whom he had known since Beijing. Cai Jing was very talented in art, especially in calligraphy, which was very famous at that time. But this person is jealous of talent, sinister and sinister, and does a lot of harm. After Hui Zong acceded to the throne, Cai Jing was demoted to two bachelors, Duan Minghe, who knew Taiyuan House, and was later demoted to Jiangning Magistrate. He was depressed and deliberately put off taking office. Huizong was furious and demoted him to Hangzhou Dongye Palace. This is actually just an honorary title, without any real power. Cai Jing is actually idle in Hangzhou. The arrival of Tong Guan made him see the hope of returning to the imperial court. As a result, the two hit it off and soon colluded together.
During his stay in Hangzhou, Tong Guan and Cai Jing became close friends, and Cai Jing simply moved into the Jin Ming branch to get along with Tong Guan. Cai Jing sent some antiques first, and Tong Guan marked them with Cai Jing's name and sent them to Beijing. Cai Jing learned from Tong Guan that Hui Zong likes calligraphy and painting, so he drew many beautiful works carefully. Tong Guan sent people to Beijing many times, and attached a letter to Hui Zong, praising Cai Jing's loyalty. In this way, the emperor Hui Zong had a good impression on Cai Jing.
Soon, Tong Guan returned with a full load, and Hui Zong was naturally overjoyed. Tong Guan took the opportunity to recommend Cai Jing, alternated a happy, let Cai Jing to Dingzhou when the year. More than a year later, Cai Jing was transferred back to Beijing as the Prime Minister.
Cai Jing in return for kindness, in turn, began to recommend Tong Guan. In order to achieve this goal, Cai Jing advocated conquering Xixia. At that time, the relationship between Xixia and Song Dynasty had faded, and only the Qingtang area was occupied by Xixia for a long time, which did not hinder the overall situation. Hui Zong doesn't want to cause any more trouble, which makes the relationship between the two countries deteriorate again. However, Cai Jing and other party ministers repeatedly invited Hui Zong to agree. Cai Jing seized the opportunity to highly recommend Tong Guan in front of Hui Zong, saying that Tong Guan was familiar with frontier affairs and had the talent of a general, and was the only one who wanted to capture the Qing pond. Hui Zong, the fatuous emperor, wrote a letter, appointing Hou Wang as the company commander and Tong Guan as the overseer, and led hundreds of troops to the Western Expedition.
Soon, Song Jun of the Western Expedition really recovered the Qing and Tang Dynasties. Hui Zong was very happy and made an exception to promote Tong Guan as the ambassador of Jingfu Hall and the observer of Xiangzhou. As a eunuch, I worked as an ambassador twice, starting from Tong Guan.
In April of the fourth year of Chongning (1 15), Xixia refused to accept the Song Dynasty and invaded the border several times. In order to stabilize the western front, Tong Guan was ordered to appease Lan and Qin Feng Road, and almost all the military forces in the western front were commanded. It is really rare for a eunuch like Tong Guan to be in charge of half the military forces in the world.