In the history of China, the most frequent appearance is undoubtedly the emperor, the most shining is often countless loyal ministers, talents and beautiful people, the most alternative is probably the eunuch. The profession of eunuch has existed since ancient times, the time span is very large, and there are not a few historical celebrities in this profession.
For example, Zhao Gao, the eunuch of the Qin Dynasty, the ten permanent attendants of the Eastern Han Dynasty, also produced many famous eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty and ming Dynasty. The eunuch to be talked about here is indeed an awe-inspiring person, because his appearance saved thousands of lives, he is Zhang Juhan.
Eunuchs at the end of the Tang Dynasty participated in politics with Zhang Juhan
Speaking of Zhang Juhan, I am afraid that most people do not know, but history has made a detailed account of this person, and the reason why it is detailed is directly related to what Zhang Juhan did. Zhang Juhan was born in 857 in what is now Qinghe County, Hebei Province. He was in a time when the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties were at their most chaotic.
In the late Tang Dynasty, the participation of eunuchs in politics was a major feature of the political arena at that time, and the starting point of the prosperity of eunuchs in the late Tang Dynasty should be in the Tang Xuanzong period, when the number of eunuchs was as high as 3,000, and the most famous eunuch was Gao Lishi, who made a start for future generations from then on.
During the reign of Emperor Dezong of Tang, the Jingyuan Mutiny broke out, which began with the distribution of military salaries, and although the mutiny was suppressed, the majesty of the emperor represented by Tang Dezong was severely dealt a heavy blow, and the suspicion between the Emperor and his ministers became more serious, and the generals gradually lost control, and the result was that the emperor relied more on eunuchs to carry out various functions of managing the country.
Eunuchs became a major feature of late Tang politics, so much so that later, the power of eunuchs was even sometimes able to override the imperial power, and the ganlu Temple coup was the best proof. Zhang Juhan was adopted by Zhang Congmei during the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang, and later entered the ranks of high-ranking eunuchs on this platform.
Exquisite on all sides
When Emperor Tang fled, he was awarded the judge of the protector because of his loyalty, which shows that eunuchs had become an important link between imperial power and military power at that time. Although Zhang Juhan held a very high official position, he was very humble and not as good at playing with power as many eunuchs before him, so whether it was in front of the emperor or in the hands of various ministers.
The evaluation of Zhang Juhan is relatively positive. At that time, Zhang Juhan had a good relationship with Liu Rengong in Youzhou Jiedu, and when he was sent to Youzhou to control military affairs, he stayed in the local area with the emperor's permission. In the third year of Tianfu, Zhu Wen's power became more and more powerful, and at this time, emperor Tang Dezong had been completely overthrown by Zhu Wen.
Zhu Wen carried out a large-scale massacre of eunuchs in the palace on the grounds that eunuchs interfered in imperial politics, and Zhang Juhan happened to be in Youzhou, and Liu Rengong intervened to defuse this huge crisis for him. The focus of the war situation at the end of the Tang Dynasty was the struggle between Li Keyong and Zhu Wen, and when Zhu Wen sent an army to attack Youzhou, Liu Rengong sent Zhang Juhan to Li Keyong for help.
When Li Ke sent troops to attack Zhu Wen, he received great help from Zhang Juhan, so he looked at Zhang Juhan differently and kept him by his side, Zhang Juhan became Li Keyong's beloved general, Zhang Juhan played a very big role in the establishment of The Later Tang dynasty of Li Keyong's father and son, so he has always been valued by the Later Tang lord.
Courage to change a word, save a thousand people
In 925, Later Tang Li Cunxun sent an army to destroy Former Shu, and the main leader would be the crown prince Li Jiquan. Wang Yan, the lord of the former Shu state, knew that he was invincible and was willing to surrender when he wrote a letter of surrender, and Emperor Zhuangzong was very happy after seeing Wang Yan's letter of surrender, and returned the edict to wang, which clearly stated that as long as Wang Yan surrendered, he could be spared death and could continue to enjoy glory and wealth.
He also pointed to the stars in the sky and made an oath that "the three stars are on the top, and they will not be deceived at all." However, in April 926, Li Siyuan rebelled in Hebei, because Li Siyuan was a fierce general, and Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang sent troops to persuade him to kill Wang Yan and others who had surrendered.
The reason is that if the war does not go well, Wang Yan and others may rebel again. Tang Zhuangzong had no opinion at this time, and under the persuasion of the geisha, he issued an edict that "Wang Yan and his party should be killed." This line refers to all the people who surrendered in Former Shu. When Zhang Juhan got the edict of Emperor Zhuangzong, he was surprised.
According to what he knew, Wang Yan and his party totaled more than a thousand people, but fortunately, Emperor Zhuangzong of Tang's edict this time was carried out by Zhang Juhan. Zhang Juhan changed "a group of people" to "a family" in the emperor's edict. This difference in words will save a thousand lives.
Tampering with the edict was to kill the head in ancient times, but Zhang Juhan bravely took on this responsibility. When the edict arrived in Former Shu, the crown prince Li Jidi did not interrogate the contents of the edict too much, and since the edict himself was Zhang Juhan, a red man who was close to Emperor Zhuangzong, Li Jiji quickly carried out the order.
Although Emperor Zhuangzong learned of this afterwards, the situation at that time was very unfavorable to Tang Zhuangzong, and he died in the war soon after, and this matter of tampering with the edict became impossible. Li Siyuan led his army into the Beijing Division, and did not blame the ministers of the Zhuangzong period for the past, while Zhang Juhan himself was more neutral.
Li Siyuan agreed to his return to Chang'an and became a justice of the peace, and was able to die well.