Have you heard that eunuchs were crowned kings? Don't be surprised, there are really many in history, but they are very rare. In the long history of more than 2,000 years, only 7 eunuchs have been crowned kings. Northern Wei actually accounted for three, and these three eunuchs were all kings given to him by Empress Feng.
Empress Feng was a famous politician during the Northern Wei Dynasty, who held power in the Northern Wei Dynasty for fourteen years and was an important female politician in Chinese history.
During Empress Feng's reign, she reused eunuchs and was very fond of eunuchs, which was historically called "the use of officials in the middle of the government". This strong political woman greatly favored eunuchs and eunuchs, and made them princes and marquises, and even issued iron coupons for death,promising them no death. According to the "Biography of empress dowager Wei", Empress Feng was "a castrated official who pretended to be kind and trustworthy, and treated her with affection." During her reign, she favored many eunuchs, including three eunuchs, namely Zhao Hei, Zhang You, and Wang Ju. Today, Xiaobian will talk to you about the story of Zhao Hei.
The history books record that although Zhao Hei was a eunuch, he was upright in appearance and cautious in his handling of affairs, and was originally only a small eunuch serving the emperor's meals, but because he was favored by Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei, he was promoted all the way, and he served as a prominent position such as the general of Anyuan and the official Shangshu, and he was also given the title of Marquis of Suiyang and later the Duke of Hanoi.
Emperor Xianwen wanted to pass the throne to Prince Jingzhao, but not to Emperor Xiaowen, so he consulted the opinions of all the ministers, most of the ministers only promised, only He Yuan and others were bluntly opposed and unwilling to obey the order, which made Emperor Xianwen thunder furious, so he asked Zhao Hei what he thought.
Zhao Hei calmly said: "The emperor began to get rich in the spring and autumn, such as the Japanese side, the people of the world are very satisfied, this kind of peace and prosperity, all things are bathed in grace, the people all hope that the emperor can be thousands of generations." In this way, of course, I am loyal to you for the rest of my life. But if the emperor wants to cultivate his spirits, I have to be loyal to the crown prince to the death. ”
This exquisite answer made Emperor Xianwen have to think twice, and in the end he did not abolish it and passed the throne to Emperor Xiaowen.
In addition to being good at words and astute, Zhao Hei was also a eunuch with a sense of justice. Li Su, who served with Zhao Hei in the bureaucracy, was also favored by the emperor. However, Li complained of greed and favoritism, and he installed many of his cronies in important positions everywhere. Zhao Hei hated Li For bending the law for personal gain and undermining the employment system of the imperial court. Li Su actually fought with Zhao Hei in the courtroom with the trust of the emperor. Zhao Hei was not afraid, argued according to reason, and said sternly: "The system of the state has always been to grant official positions by merit and to provide for Feng Lu according to titles. Zhongshu Shilang and Shangshu Shulang can at most be officials in counties and counties, but Li Su let them take charge in Fangzhou, I am really confused! ”
Shizu became suspicious of Li Su's actions and removed Gongsun Yu, the person who was closest to Li Su. As a result, the gap between Zhao Hei and Li Su deepened. In the end, Li sued the emperor for trusting and manipulating right and wrong around the emperor, and forced Zhao Hei out of the imperial court. However, he did not bow his head and concede defeat, but insisted on fighting With Li Su to the death, and finally finally brought Li Su down.
Because of the favor of Empress Feng and the emperor, Zhao Hei was promoted one after another, and the official luck was prosperous, holding the festival, and successively served as the general of Zhennan, the third division of Yi Tong, and the assassin of Dingzhou, and became the king.
However, Zhao Hei never regarded himself as a high-ranking official, and after his promotion, he was still diligent and thrifty, honest and clean. Someone paid him a bribe, but he refused: "I am already a high-ranking official, thick enough to be self-sufficient, and selling public and private enterprises is not what I am willing to do." "Finally no bribes were accepted.
After Emperor Xiaowen came to power, there were often disturbances in the strategic stronghold of Dingzhou, and a powerful minister was needed to guard the town, and he thought of Zhao Hei, who used to speak for him.
Emperor Xiaowen brought Zhao Hei and personally ate and talked with him. Zhao Hei was unwilling to clean up the mess in Dingzhou, so he deliberately said politely: "My level is not high!" I am not from a good background, I am afraid it is difficult to do it! ”
At this moment, a royal chef brought a hot dish up, and a fly flew down to the plate. The cook was so frightened that he couldn't say anything. Emperor Xiaowen smiled and lightly picked out the flies with chopsticks, without pursuing them.
After this chef went out, he brought a bowl of hot soup, because of the fly incident of the right talent, the psychological pressure increased, the more careful the more the problem, the hand was shaken, the bowl was tilted, and the hot soup was poured on the hand of Emperor Xiaowen.
Emperor Xiaowen exclaimed, and the cook almost fainted, and immediately knelt down to plead guilty. Unexpectedly, Emperor Xiaowen and Yan Yue asked the cook to get up and comforted him: "It's all right, get up!" The cook was moved to tears and quickly withdrew.
All this, Zhao Hei saw in his eyes and was touched in his heart: For such a master' life value! Immediately tears crossed the determination, grateful to Dade to go to Dingzhou to take up his post.
In the sixth year of Taihe, Zhao Hei died at the age of 73 during the jizhou assassination history. Emperor Xiaowen gave 450 silk horses, 1,000 grains, and 20 carriages of cattle, and the coffins were transported to the capital for burial, and they were posthumously presented to the Great Sikong and Yu Yuekang.
Zhao Hei was one of the few eunuchs in history who received positive evaluations from the history of Zhengshi, and it was rare for him to be a prince as a eunuch.