When it comes to eunuch eunuchs, most people scoff. Whether it is Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty, Gao Lishi of the Tang Dynasty, or Wei Zhongxian of the Ming Dynasty, these people are all hated and itchy. Basically, these eunuchs are related to the words of adultery, insidiousness, cholera, etc., but everything cannot be generalized, and eunuch eunuchs are also good and bad.
There is a saying that good things do not go out, bad things spread far and wide, and the truth is the same. In history, the eunuchs who were traitors were well known, but some of the good eunuchs were little known. Although there were villains in charge at the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was no shortage of good people, such as the eunuch Zhang Juhan, who deliberately misread the holy will, saving nearly a thousand people from the scourge of killing.
Eunuchs referred to as eunuchs, are the internal servants of the court, basically the imperial palace costume emperor and concubines are composed of eunuchs and palace women. According to records, the eunuchs appeared in the earliest period of the Xia And Shang Zhou. At that time, eunuchs were not all eunuchs, they were generally not involved in government affairs, but were only responsible for the living and living of the emperor and the concubines of the inner palace.
According to legend, in the Qin Dynasty, after the death of King Xiang of Qinzhuang, Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne, and Empress Dowager Zhao Ji was not willing to be lonely, hooked up with the eunuch Concubine Yi, and even secretly gave birth to two children. When Yin Zheng found out, he was furious and put Yan Yi to death. Subsequently, in order to prevent the concubines and eunuchs from committing adultery, all eunuchs who entered the palace were begun to be castrated.
After arriving in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it slowly evolved into all eunuchs must be eunuchs. In fact, most of the people who enter the palace as eunuchs are from poor families, or their parents cannot afford to send them to the palace, or they are deceived and sold into the palace, although the reasons for entering the palace are different, but the fate is equally tragic.
In the palace, eunuchs, as eunuchs, were often looked down upon or even bullied. In the TV series, many eunuchs seem to be majestic, and even many officials and concubines have to please them, but this is only a small number of people. For example, the chief eunuch who took care of the emperor or the eunuch in charge of the internal affairs office, but most of the eunuchs lived at the lowest level and were trampled on.
People are rebellious, just like a dog jumping the wall, eunuchs are also people, and depression will break out after a long time, which is why so many eunuchs are trying to climb to the highest level eunuch chief of eunuchs. Because only if you stand tall and look far, the people next to you will not look down on you, let alone bully you.
Maybe it was because they were bullied a lot in their daily lives, and one day they had power in themselves, so most of the eunuchs began to go to a road of no return. They were obsessed with power, money, and even held the power of life and death in some dynasties, like Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty, and even influenced which prince inherited the throne.
In the long course of history, there may be many reasons why most eunuchs have become traitors, but there are exceptions. In the late Tang Dynasty, there was a eunuch who held a high position but at the same time maintained a benevolent heart, and this person was Zhang Juhan.
Zhang Juhan was the adopted son of Zhang Congmei of the Tang Court, and because of Zhang Congmei's reasons, he entered the palace as an official. Zhang Juhan did things steadily and carefully, which was deeply appreciated by Tang Zhaozong. In 906, when Zhu Wen attacked Cangzhou, Liu Rengong asked Li Keyong for help because he was unable to defeat Zhu Jun, and Zhang Juhan happened to be working in Li Ke's army.
Li Ke surrounded Zhu Wen's army in two ways with his men and successfully rescued Liu Rengong's army. During this War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Li Keyong found that there was one person in the army who handled things very safely and was also very good at sending troops to deploy troops and manage them, and this person was Zhang Juhan. Therefore, Li Ke used to stay with Zhang Juhan and let him continue to train soldiers in the military camp.
When Zhang Juhan was in the barracks, he not only brought good soldiers, but also led the soldiers to plant trees and sow seeds, and the people around him liked him very much, so they also supported Li Ke's use of the army. In 907, Later Liang again sent troops to attack Luzhou, and Zhu Wen repeatedly sent people to persuade Zhang Juhan to surrender. The temptation of the high-ranking official Houlu also failed to bring Zhang Juhan to his knees, and Zhang Juhan always insisted on Luzhou's oath to die.
In 908, after a year of perseverance, Li Keyong died, and his son Li Cunxun succeeded to the throne and personally sent troops to assist Zhang Juhan. Zhang Juhan and others cooperated with the reinforcements inside and outside, fought with the enemy, and unexpectedly attacked Liang Bing, resulting in 10,000 deaths and injuries of Liang Bing and panicking everywhere, and Zhang Juhan Fang finally won the victory.
This time, Zhang Juhanning was unyielding, and his move to stick to Luzhou greatly appreciated Tang Zhuangzong. However, Zhang Juhan was also killed by villains. In 923, Li Cunxun established himself as emperor and no longer submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and the most powerful people in the army were Ma Shaohong and the general Guo Chongtao. In order to monopolize the military power, Guo Chongtao had to order Zhang Juhan to manage the Privy Council with him. In fact, Guo Chongtao was a person who hated eunuchs very much, and he just used Zhang Juhan as a pawn.
Fortunately, Zhang Juhan was well aware of Guo Chongtao's intentions, and when he was a privy councillor, he acted in a low-key manner and did not take over military power, so he was not poisoned by Guo Chongtao. In 925, the crown prince Li Jiquan was ordered to lead an army to attack Former Shu, and the brother of the Shu lord Wang Yan, greedy for life and afraid of death, secretly surrendered to Guo Chongtao and demanded an official position.
Without the help of his adoptive brother Wang Zongbi, coupled with the large number of Li Jiquan's army, Wang Yan knew that he could not defeat Tang Bing, so when Tang Bing marched to Chengdu, Sichuan, he wrote to surrender. After Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang knew about it, he sent soldiers and Wang Yan to say that he would give him a fiefdom and would not take advantage of the danger of others, so he would rush to Luoyang to receive the seal.
Unfortunately, Wang Yan overestimated Tang Zhuangzong's benevolence, and when Wang Yan arrived at Qin Chuanyi, he happened to encounter Li Siyuan's rebellion. Li Siyuan's rebellion caught Tang Zhuangzong by surprise and he hurriedly sent troops to rehabilitate. However, at this time, the chancellor Jing Jin encouraged Tang Zhuangzong to say that Li Siyuan was plotting a rebellion, that the crown prince was not in Luoyang, and that Wang Yan was about to arrive, fearing that Wang Yan would rebel, it would be best to kill him to avoid any trouble.
Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang was convinced of Jing Jin's words and ordered that Wang Yan's party be killed, and the holy decree was issued by the eunuch to Yan Si. Just at this time, Zhang Juhan reviewed the Holy Will and found that it was written on the Holy Will: "Wang Yan and his party, and it is advisable to kill." ”
Zhang Juhan was very angry, he felt that Wang Yan had surrendered, and Tang Zhuangzong had also said earlier that he would not take advantage of the danger of people, and it was really reasonable to change his mind at this time, and he should not kill all the people in Wang Yan and his party, so he changed the "one line" to "one family" to exempt Wang Yan from the death penalty of nearly a thousand people.
Changing the Holy Will without authorization is a crime of killing the head, zhang Juhan disregarded his own safety and saved thousands of innocent people in the water and fire, which is really a song and a cry. Fortunately, later, Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang was bent on rehabilitating Li Siyuan, and did not pursue Zhang Juhan, and after the holy decree was issued, except for Wang Yan's family, everyone else was spared the death penalty.
Throughout his life, Although Zhang Juhan was a eunuch, he was loyal and righteous, righteous and kind. In his later years, he also returned to his hometown to farm, raised his life, and got the best ending. Although he was born at the end of the year full of rebellion, Zhang Juhan was always just and upright.
Although Zhang Juhan was trusted by the emperor and also held a high position and held a powerful position, he never coveted power and kept a low profile throughout his life. Perhaps many eunuchs in history are not positive images, but Zhang Juhan can also be regarded as a righteous eunuch, proving to the world that not all eunuchs are bad people, and not everyone is greedy for power and profit.