Since the succession of Dayu was located in his son, the system of inheritance of the right to rule in China's feudal history has been changed from the Zen concession system to the inheritance system of the eldest son.
The primogeniture system is the most basic principle of the patriarchal system, that is, the throne and property must be inherited by the eldest son, the eldest son is the eldest son born of the wife (the wife), the throne of the Western Zhou Tianzi is inherited by the eldest son of the concubine, and the other sons are other sons, and they are divided into important strategic places in the country. The throne inherited by the eldest son of the concubine ensured the status of the Zhou Dynasty for generations, and the concubine was a small emperor to the concubine's great emperor, and in his own fiefdom, the successor must also be the eldest son of the concubine.
Among the more than ten dynasties in China's history, the Tang Dynasty was the most unstable dynasty in the inheritance system of the eldest son. During the three hundred years that the Tang Dynasty ruled the Central Plains, there were countless conflicts over imperial succession, so there were countless court infighting and internecine killings within the ruling class. Especially in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the ascension process of most emperors became full of blood, and almost every one of the last thirteen emperors of the Tang Dynasty experienced extremely tragic palace changes during their reign, which was very characteristic of the times.
Similar events occurred in other dynasties, but the instability of succession to the throne in the Tang Dynasty was somewhat different from other dynasties, and eunuchs were full of eunuchs. From Emperor Suzong of Tang to Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, eleven emperors were manipulated by eunuchs. Zhao Yiwang, a historian of the Qing Dynasty, gave a more pertinent evaluation of this: "The eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty were far more powerful than the emperors, and they had the power to support the king, kill the king, and depose the king, just like a child's play, which is relatively rare in ancient and modern China and abroad." ”
There are eunuchs in the imperial palace, which is a deformed product of the period of feudal rule in China, and the existence of eunuchs almost runs through the entire history of feudal rule. However, in the early Tang Dynasty, eunuchs were not qualified to enter the political front, they were just slaves serving the members of the royal family.
After Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, the number of harem women's dependents increased significantly, and correspondingly, the number of eunuchs serving them was bound to explode. According to statistics, there were thousands of eunuchs dressed in yellow and purple at that time, among them, the highest rank and even the official residence Sanpin, you know, these are all high-ranking officials who are qualified to be listed in the door.
With the anshi rebellion, the political situation was turbulent, and trust was lost between the emperor and the clique of civil and military officials, and eunuchs naturally became the ruler's favorite people. The emperor entrusted more and more government work to the eunuchs, whose status rose and the number of those who were favored was countless.
From the middle of The Tang Dynasty, eunuchs gradually gained the right to discuss the government of the dynasty, which gradually expanded over time to speak, and even eunuchs had the right to participate in the abolition of the crown prince.
After the deposing of the crown prince Li Ying, the chancellor Li Linfu wanted to make the young King Shou crown prince, but Emperor Xuanzong believed that Emperor Suzong was the oldest prince besides Li Ying, and that According to the principle of no concubine, Emperor Suzong should be made crown prince.
When the two sides could not decide on this issue, Colliers admonished: "Pushing the long and standing is an eternal principle, who dares to disobey?" Emperor Xuanzong took Gao Lishi's advice and eventually made the older Emperor Su the crown prince. Because Gao Lishi made great contributions in the process of supporting the crown prince, he was deeply trusted by Emperor Suzong. From then on, it became customary for eunuchs to proclaim the emperor, and until the later emperor Daizong ascended the throne, it was Colliers' idea.
Although the problem of eunuch monopoly at that time was more serious, it was still within a controllable range, and at that time, eunuchs such as Li Fuguo, Cheng Yuanzhen, and Yu Chao'en successively monopolized power, and the power of eunuchs increased day by day, but the ruler still had the ability to get rid of these eunuchs who were causing chaos in the dynasty. However, the rulers of the time did not choose to solve the eunuch problem, but used the contradictions between the eunuchs to achieve political balance, so as to achieve their own goals.
Because of this, although the eunuchs at this time had the right to speak on the issue of the crown prince, they were not yet in full control of the succession to the throne. This state of affairs continued until Emperor Dezong of Tang ascended the throne, and by this time, the rulers had lost the ability to control the eunuch clique, which was already capable of controlling the emperor. Therefore, the eunuch clique after Tang Dezong was in an absolutely dominant position in all subsequent political struggles, and the imperial power and cabinet power were gradually declining.
The rulers after Emperor Dezong of Tang, with the exception of Emperor Shunzong of Tang, were almost all supported by eunuchs. Among them, the two emperors, Tang Jingzong and Tang Xianzong, were killed by the eunuch clique. By this time the rulers had realized the seriousness of the eunuch problem, but they had lost the ability to balance the eunuch clique. In the handling of the military state, the emperor has completely relied on the eunuch clique, and the emperor has lost the right to speak on the issue of choosing an heir.
Sometimes rulers had the best heirs in their minds, but they were no longer in charge and could only be at the mercy of eunuchs. In his later years, Tang Wenzong was suffering from a vicious illness, and on his deathbed, he ordered some senior members of the court to summon some senior officials of the court, and issued an edict ordering the crown prince to supervise the country in front of the dragon bed. However, before this edict could be sent to the palace, it had been tampered with by the eunuch clique. When qiu Shiliang, Yu Hongzhi, and other lieutenants who held real power opposed the crown prince's supervision of the state, they intercepted the edict and established the emperor's brother- and did not take Tang Wenzong seriously at all.
Among the dozen or so emperors in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, there were no shortage of enlightened people, and the actions of eunuchs would also be resented by the rulers, but why did none of the rulers stand up to suppress the eunuch clique during this period?
Because the eunuchs had already figured out a set of rules in years of dictatorship:
In dealing with rulers, eunuchs often pondered their psychology, they knew how to please the king of a country, and used various gentle policies to empty the emperor and make him obediently retreat behind the scenes and ignore the government. Before retiring, the great eunuch Qiu Shiliang once taught his colleagues a set of "ways to tame the king": "The son of heaven should not be idle, and it is often advisable to entertain his eyes and ears with luxury, so that the new moon is flourishing, and there is no time to use other things, and then my generation can get the will." Be careful not to make him read, to be close to Confucianism, and to see the rise and fall of his predecessors, and to know that he is worried, then my generation will neglect to rebuke him. ”
As long as the emperor was somehow immersed in pleasure, depraved, and lost the ambition to work hard, the eunuchs themselves could guarantee their power and interests.
In addition to the emperor, the eunuchs had a method of co-opting the ministers, thereby increasing their influence in the political arena, which was always dominant:
Tang Jingzong was tyrannical by nature, and often abused the eunuchs around him for no reason. Over time, the eunuchs were quite critical of him, and one day, the eunuch Liu Keming could not bear it, and in a fit of rage, he got rid of Tang Jingzong and planned to proclaim the new king. During this period, Wang Shoucheng and Liang Shouqian wanted to change the situation, so they co-opted the chancellor Pei Du and The Hanlin Yuan Wei Chuhou, and several of them jointly supported the King of Jiang as the new emperor and denounced Liu Keming, who was the emperor.
In the whole coup d'état, Pei Du's role was very crucial, he advised Wang Shoucheng and Liang Shouqian, and successfully supported the King of Jiang.
As we mentioned earlier, eunuchs control the emperor through experience, so don't other members of the royal family have the strength to compete with eunuchs? They don't always have no say in the succession of the emperor, right?
However, from the perspective of the middle and late Tang Dynasty, there was no situation in which the royal kings and harem concubines supported their satisfactory royal disciples as crown princes. These royals tended to adopt two attitudes in the royal palace:
One is to collude with the eunuch clique, and the two sides are at peace;
The other was to fight with eunuch groups.
In fact, throughout the late Tang Dynasty, no force was the opponent of the eunuch clique, so the struggle between the royal family and the eunuch clique often ended in the total defeat of the royal family. To succeed in a coup d'état, it was necessary to have a heavy army, and the eunuch clique in the middle and late Tang Dynasty had extremely strong military power. Emperor Wenzong of Tang's concubine, Consort Yang Xian, had considered supporting King Li'an as crown prince, contrary to Qiu Shiliang's view.
For the eunuch clique, how could they cede control of the succession to the throne? When Emperor Wenzong's life was in danger, Qiu Shiliang and some eunuchs intercepted the emperor's edict and made king Ying the new king. Within a few days, the defeated Concubine Yang Xian and King An were executed by a piece of edict and inexplicably became victims.
Through the collation and analysis of historical materials, posterity also found such a peculiar phenomenon.
In order to consolidate their power and reap greater benefits, eunuchs often did not allow the established crown prince to ascend the throne smoothly, but instead supported other princes as emperors and deposed the crown prince. From Tang Xianzong to Tang Zhaozong, of the eight emperors, only Jingzong ascended the throne as the crown prince, so there was also a strange situation of "li's descendants, the interior ministers established".
In addition, there is a problem: when controlling the succession to the throne, there are often differences of opinion within the eunuch clique.
Due to the large number of eunuch groups, among which there are many parties, and the interests of each eunuch party are different, the eunuch clique often has infighting. Once a certain castration party has the control of the succession to the throne, it will often eliminate dissidents at the first time and monopolize power. Some eunuchs who were in decline could sometimes ascend to heaven one step at a time by successfully supporting the new monarch, replacing other eunuchs in power.
As a result, eunuch groups tended to be very active during the succession to the throne.
So why did the problem of eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty get worse? At this stage, historians have the following statement:
During the Middle And Tang Dynasties, in order to oppose the cabinet power, the rulers set up a tit-for-tat privy councillor to divide the power of the zai clique. As the power of the Privy Counsellor grew, not only was the power of the cabinet divided, but the pattern of the Tang Dynasty's political field also came to a major reshuffle. The Privy Counsellor defeated the Cabinet, and the power continued to infiltrate, and the Privy Counsellor at this time exercised no same power as the Prime Minister.
As the power of the Privy Counsellor rose, it gradually affected the succession of imperial power. Eunuchs who wanted to control the succession to the throne were bound to hold military power. The Tang emperor did not realize this, but instead gave the eunuch the important position of lieutenant of the Shence Army, further strengthening the power of the eunuch. In addition to the forbidden army, the local supervisors sent by the emperor were all eunuchs, and after that, the local supervisors and lieutenants of the escort army exchanged information with each other, and firmly controlled the internal and external military power.
Now that the eunuch clique had seized the military power of the whole country, it was naturally no longer difficult to depose the emperor.
Resources:
【Zizhi Tongjian" (Zizhi Tongjian), "New Book of Tang", "Old Book of Tang"]