What is the limit? No courtiers know.
This is the poem "Palace Topic" by Tang Wenzong Li Ang, the 14th emperor of the Tang Dynasty. The general idea is: autumn grass grows on the roadside in the palace, and the upper forest garden is full of branches; Standing on a high place, I can't help feeling infinite sadness, which I'm afraid even my courtiers don't know.
Why is Li Ang miserable?
In the ninth year of Taihe (835), Li Xun, the prime minister, joined forces with Fengxiang and asked Zheng Zhu to launch "Ganlu" and planned to kill eunuchs. As a result, the operation failed, and Chou Shiliang became more and more arbitrary.
From then on, "everything in the world is decided by the North Division, and the Prime Minister only makes documents". Beisi, the interior office of the Tang Dynasty, is located in the north of the palace. The eunuch group headed by Chou Shiliang "held the emperor to make the princes, looked down on the prime minister, and bullied the monarch and ministers like dirt". They firmly hold the military and political power, can decide the life and death of the monarch at will, and are extremely lawless.
Just a eunuch, but he can master the military and political power, starting with the Shence Army.
The Shence Army, originally a garrison in the northwest of the Tang Dynasty, was founded in Mohuanchuan in the 13th year (754) by the famous Tang Dynasty Tianbao. This army is well-trained and has experienced many battles with Tubo in the northwest, and its combat effectiveness is extremely strong. This is an elite department.
After the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Wei, the general of Shence Army, led more than a thousand people to rush to the Central Plains and besieged Anqingxu with nine people from our army. However, An Qingxu's army attacked head-on, and Wei and Yu Chaoen, the eunuch manager, had to retreat to Shaanxi.
At this time, Tubo took advantage of the opportunity of the Shence Army to leave Mochuan and sent troops to occupy the hometown of the Shence Army. The homeless Shence Army was under the command of Guo Yingai, Shaanxi provincial envoy, and the army under Guo Yingai's jurisdiction was merged into the Shence Army and was under the jurisdiction of eunuch Yu Chaoen. With the reunification of the two armies, the Shence Army expanded into an army of more than 10,000 people.
In the first year of Guangde (763), just after the Anshi Rebellion, Tubo soldiers invaded Chang 'an, and the imperial army of the DPRK was defeated. Tang Daizong Li Chu fled to Shanzhou, and Yu Chaoen led the Shence Army to guard Tang Daizong. In the first year of Yongtai (765), Tubo invaded Guanzhong again. Guo Ziyi led the troops to repel the enemy and recapture Chang 'an. Yu Chaoen led Ce Shen Army into Beijing, and Ce Shen Army officially became the emperor's imperial army. Due to Yu Chaoen's meritorious escort, Tang Daizong made him an envoy of the world and commanded Ce Shen's army in the capital.
Yu Chaoen held military power and began to interfere in politics, even the emperor. The prime minister decides political affairs. If you don't say hello to him first, he will stare big eyes and say, "Isn't this world my call?" He also set up a prison in Ce Shen's army to persecute the innocent. Yu Chaoen was so cruel and tyrannical that he bullied courtiers, even more than the emperor, that officials in the DPRK dared not look up at him.
Until the fifth year of Dali (770), with the cooperation of Prime Minister Yuan Zai and others, Tang Daizong set up a "Hongmen Banquet" to call Yu Chaoen, captured him and killed him in the Office of the Interior. In the following ten years, the Shence Army was governed by its generals.
In the fourth year of Jianzhong (783), the foot soldiers of Jingyuan Town mutinied and the rebels captured Chang 'an. Tang Dezong and his imperial concubine, prince, king and others fled to Fengtian in Xianyang and were surrounded by rebels for more than a month. During this period, only eunuchs Huo Xianming and Dou Wenchang were escorted. Therefore, after Tang Dezong returned to Chang 'an, he began to reuse eunuchs.
This is how Shiliang Zhou stepped onto the stage of history. First of all, he waited on the prince of the Spring Calendar. After Chun Li succeeded to the throne, he was transferred to Shiliang Zhou to command Pinglu and Fengxiang armies.
In December of the second year of Bao Li (826), Tang Wenzong Li Ang, who was only eighteen years old, succeeded to the throne. On the eve of the Ganlu Rebellion, Chou Shiliang was blocked as the Left, and since then, Chou Shiliang has mastered the military power of Shence Army.
It's a pity that Tang Wenzong only got rid of Wang Shoucheng, so Shiliang Zhou failed and was taken away by the eunuch in Shiliang Zhou. Eunuchs holding the emperor hostage can issue imperial edicts in the name of the emperor, and Shiliang Zhou, as the eunuch leader, has completely mastered the power in the DPRK.
On one occasion, Tang Wenzong asked the great scholar Zhou Yong, "In your opinion, which monarch can I compare with?" Hearing this, Zhou Yong quickly bowed down and said, "It is not enough to observe it with the talent of a minister, but to hear the words of the world, your majesty is comparable to Yao and Shun in ancient times." Tang Wenzong said: "How dare I compare with Yao Shun, so I want to ask you, how do you think I compare with Zhou Nanwang and Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty?"
Zhou Yong was surprised and said, "Your majesty's sages are not as good as Zhou Chengwang, Zhou Kangwang, Wendi and Jingdu. Why compare yourself with those two perishing kings?" Tang Wenzong said: "Zhou Nanwang and Emperor Xiandi were only controlled by powerful princes, but today I am controlled by domestic slaves. I am afraid it is not as good as Zhou Nanwang and Han Xiandi. "
Tang Wenzong said, and burst into tears, while Zhou Yong knelt down and cried. Since then, Tang Wenzong no longer appeared in front of ministers, and finally died of depression in the first five years (840).
After consulting with Shiliang Zhou, regardless of the opinions of the ministers, he issued a false imperial edict and made Li Hong, the fifth son, and Ying Wang, Tang Wenzong's younger brother, king.
Tang Wuzong is not as easy to pinch as Tang Wenzong. Although he is not as good at reading as literate Sect, he is resolute and can't see the joys and sorrows. And he's a little less academic and pedantic than Tang Wenzong. Regarding Chou Shiliang and Tang Wuzong, he took the measures of "doubting the truth inside and respecting his pet outside", apparently obeying orders, secretly accumulating strength and plotting a counterattack; And appointed Li Deyu as the prime minister to crowd out Chou Shiliang. Li Deyu is also different from previous prime ministers. Fan Zhongyan said: "Li Yuwuzong is independent and fearless, and has contributed to the four sides. Although trapped by traitors, its righteousness is immortal. " Li Shangyin praised it as "a good painting forever".
The Tang dynasty once again entered the era of sage. With the help of Li Deyu, Tang Wuzong gradually deprived Shiliang Zhou of his military power and official position. Chou Shiliang knew he was doing evil and worried about a catastrophe, so he asked to retire. In June of the same year, Shiliang Zhou died of illness, and Tang Wuzong posthumously awarded him the Yangzhou secretariat. A year later, after being accused of possessing weapons, Tang Wuzong wrote a letter, lowered his rank and confiscated his house.
During Shiliang Zhou's reign, he killed two kings (Li, his youngest son, and Li Rong, his eighth son), a concubine (Yang Xianfei, Tang Wenzong's favorite concubine) and four prime ministers (Li Xun, Wang Ya, Jia Kui and Shu) for more than 20 years. First, because he holds the military power of Shence Army, and second, because the emperor is pedantic and the officials are eccentric.
When Chou Shiliang returned to his hometown, he taught the eunuchs and partisans who came to see him off how to manage the emperor: "Don't let the son of heaven be idle. We should always cover his eyes and ears with luxury and let him indulge in pleasure, so that our generation can succeed. Don't let him study, don't let him get close to the scholar, otherwise he will know the rise and fall of the previous dynasty, and he will be afraid and alienate my generation. "
This experience coincides with what Gao Lishi, the eunuch of Xuanzong period, did! The emperor thought that eunuchs could be reused carefree, but once eunuchs were in power, it was more difficult to control them than to rebel. Eunuch curse is really terrible!