Introduction: The Eastern Han Dynasty was the feudal dynasty in Chinese history that paid the most attention to education and education. The founding emperor Liu Xiu was a scholar, and the heroes who followed him to fight the world also had no shortage of Confucian scholars, and the Eastern Han Dynasty, which lasted for nearly two hundred years, also had a little more Sven and Confucian temperament. However, bloodshed swept Sven to the ground, cruelty made Confucianism no longer, and the scourge of the party in the second half of the 2nd century broke the backbone of the empire and left a sigh of eternity.
Lecturing Diagram Han Portrait Stone
Taixue was the official Central University of the Han Dynasty, which was founded during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. It was the first national central university in the history of education in the world to be accurately documented. By the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the number of Tai students who gathered in the Capital Division had reached more than 30,000. After the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the political and ecological environment deteriorated day by day. In the central government, foreign relatives and eunuchs took turns to control the government, and they were nepotistic and committed crimes, which led to the collapse of Wang Gang and the collapse of the government. In the localities, the clans and their respective protégés and former officials formed a network of large and small interpersonal relations, and the party was in the same position, controlling the selection and use of grass-roots officials. In this case, the students can no longer "turn their ears out of the window and read only the books of the sages."
The future of the individual, the suffering of the people's livelihood and the fate of the country have become the topics that readers are most concerned about. Some upright court officials and the leaders of the Tai students gradually united to form a group of Qing dynasty scholars. With the goal of supporting the royal family and upholding justice, they have used speech criticism as a weapon, pinpointed the shortcomings of the times, attacked the eunuchs, and become a new political force.
The "Qing deliberation" in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was essentially a kind of social opinion. The main body that creates public opinion is the Qing school of scholars, and foreign relatives, eunuchs, and bureaucrats who do nothing are all objects of criticism of the "Qing Deliberation", and celebrities and bureaucrats who are upright, loyal, and courageous in doing things have become the objects of praise for the "Qing Deliberation".
Chen Fanzhi is sweeping the world
The Book of the Later Han Dynasty records a large number of related songs, love and hatred, jumping on the paper: "Li Yuanli, the model of the world, not afraid of the strong Emperor Chen Zhongju, the world Junxiu Wang Shumao", "Ru Nan Tai Shou Fan Mengbo, Nanyang Zong Zi Master Painting Promise, Nanyang Tai Shou Cen Gong Xiao, Hongnong Cheng Yao but sits down". In these folk songs, Li Yuanli (李膺), Chen Zhongju (陈蕃) and others are representatives of the Qing Dynasty scholars, and they have also become models respected by the world.
The Qing dynasty celebrities of the late Eastern Han Dynasty were a very special group of people. They are penniless, but they don't have to worry about food and clothing. They are not powerful, but they can make the powerful condescend.
Emperor Fugui (皇甫規), courtesy name Weiming, was born in the northwest and was one of the most famous generals of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was not afraid of the brave Qiang people, not afraid of the powerful eunuchs, but only the famous soldiers. After the demobilization and return to his hometown, a fellow villager who had served as the Taishou of Yanmen came to visit, and Emperor Fugui sent the people away very coldly. One day, a young scholar named Wang Fu came to the door to ask for a meeting, and the general Huangfu "rose up in shock, did not have enough clothes, and walked out to greet him", for the simple reason that Wang Fu was a famous scholar of the Qing school.
Cao Cao greeted Xu You barefoot
At the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao also treated Xu You, who came from Yuan Shao's side, in such a sloppy but extremely enthusiastic way, and people thought that this was Cao Cao's request for Xu You, but in fact, there was another important reason: Xu You was a famous scholar. In that era when celebrities were full of arrogance, offending celebrities would attract criticism and lose people's hearts, which was equivalent to self-destruction of the future.
The history books describe that the celebrities "made alarmist remarks and did not hide their arrogance." From the secretary of state below, do not fear his depreciation, and walk to the door." The baumes' deliberative rhetoric has so much energy, it is
A phenomenon peculiar to the late Eastern Han Dynasty
Looking at the ancient Chinese feudal dynasty, it is unique.
The Eastern Han "Qing Council" criticized and attacked the eunuch group most severely. "Pro-Xianchen, far lesser, this first Han so Xinglong also; pro-villain, far-reaching Xianchen, after that Han so fell into decadence also." When the former emperor was there, whenever he discussed this matter with his subjects, he did not hesitate to sigh and hate Huan and Lingye. The "villains" that Zhuge Liang denounced in the "Table of Teachers" were mainly foreign relatives and eunuchs, and especially eunuchs were the most.
Zhuge Liang and the Table of Teachers
Eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty deeply intervened in political affairs, about the time of Liu Bao, the Shun Emperor; by the time of the reign of Emperor Huan Liu Zhi and Emperor Liu Hong of Ling, the power of eunuchs had developed to the point of reaching the pinnacle of perfection and becoming the protagonist of the political arena in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In the second year of Yanxi (159), Emperor Huan used the power of eunuchs to eliminate his powerful foreign relative Liang Ji, and Shan Chao, Cao Teng, Gu Yan and other eunuchs were made marquises for their merits, and the Eastern Han Dynasty entered
Eunuch dictatorship
The age.
Emperor Ling's favorite eunuchs were Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong. He once publicly declared: "Zhang Changshu is my father, and Zhao Changshu is my mother." "These eunuchs relied on the favor of the emperor, holding the prince in their hands, holding the heavenly constitution in their mouths, up and down their hands, and swaying the government. They lived deep in the court, but their relatives and friends and vassals were scattered inside and outside the capital, flying high and low, committing evil deeds, forming a powerful network of forces. "Move back to the mountains and seas, breathe frost and dew", the history books use this to describe the power of the eunuch clique.
Cao Teng
He was one of the most prominent eunuchs in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He served four emperors, served in the court for thirty years, was given the title of Marquis of Feiting, and became the most trusted political adviser to the emperor. After Cao Teng's death, his adopted son Cao Song inherited the title and received a high-ranking official like Taiwei. Cao Song's son, Cao Cao, was uninhibited and unruly in his youth, and entered the official arena in his early twenties.
Without the shade provided by the eunuch grandfather Cao Teng, this chaotic tyrant might not have been able to become a subversive of the Han Dynasty. Later, the Cao Wei regime posthumously honored Cao Teng as "Emperor Gao", and Cao Teng became the only eunuch in Chinese history to receive the title of "Emperor". In the pen of Shi Jia, Cao Teng was still a relatively decent eunuch. If a decent eunuch still has such energy, the situation of other eunuchs can be imagined.
In the ninth year of Yanxi (166), The Lieutenant Colonel Li Bing executed an intentional murderer. The man's father, Zhang Cheng, was a well-known warlock who, predicting that the imperial court would issue a general amnesty in the near future, instigated his son to kill his enemies. During The Trial of the Case by Li Bing, the imperial court's pardon came as scheduled. According to the custom, Lieutenant Li should be released unconditionally. But he put the pardon aside and resolutely executed the murderer. The reason was simple: Zhang Cheng was the guest of honor of the eunuchs. In the binary proposition of justice and national law, Li Bing chose the former. This incident directly triggered the first disaster of the party.
The power of the eunuchs was an extension of the imperial power
。 Most of the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty did not have a long lifespan. The emperor was young and weak, did not understand political affairs, and needed the support of foreign relatives, so a situation of monopoly of power by foreign relatives was formed. When the emperor grew up, he was dissatisfied with the fall of the imperial power, so he used eunuchs to eliminate relatives, and the power naturally fell into the hands of eunuchs. Therefore, the existence of eunuchs was actually a chronic disease that accompanied the absolutist imperial power of the Eastern Han Dynasty and could not be eradicated.
Cai Lun papermaking
The Qing dynasty scholars attributed the cause of political darkness to the eunuch dictatorship, which was inevitably unobjective. In addition, not all of the eunuchs were evil and courageous
Lü Qiang
, improve papermaking
Cai Lun
, are all "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty· A positive character in The Tale of the Eunuch. The Qing dynasty scholar-doctors demanded a collective liquidation of the eunuchs, which was actually an extreme venting of hatred. This method of struggle also had a negative impact on their anti-eunuch movement.
Li Bing and Qing officials had no intention of offending the imperial power, but their contempt for state law had in fact defyed the Dragon Scales. The eunuchs wasted no time in launching a counterattack. With the support of the eunuchs, Zhang Cheng's disciples wrote to Tianzi accusing Li Bing and others of bribing too many students, forming a party with friends, slandering the imperial court, confusing people's hearts, and corrupting the social atmosphere. Emperor Huan of Han, who had long been intolerable, immediately ordered the arrest and interrogation of Li Bing and the arrest of "party members" throughout the country.
Murderous emissaries attacked everywhere, and hundreds of party members were imprisoned. Fortunately, under the bitter intercession of the imperial court such as the eunuch Chen Fan and his cousin Dou Wu, in the first year of Yongkang (167), Emperor Huan granted amnesty to the world, and Li Bing, Fan Huan, and others survived, but they were imprisoned for life and were never allowed to be officials. This is the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty
The First "Scourge of the Party"
。
Emperor Hanling
Tianxia is the world of the Han family, and the owner of the world is surnamed Liu. If the owner is like a loach and cannot do without the sludge and the Chen Fan still insists on sweeping away the sludge, then it can only be the Chen Fan himself who is swept away.
In the autocratic political system of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the exercise of imperial power was inseparable from eunuchs
。 A deep blow to the eunuchs was bound to hurt the emperor. To hurt the emperor is to commit a crime of rebellion and great rebellion. The so-called "rat thrower" is this truth. The tragedy of Chen Fan, Dou Wu and the Qing Dynasty scholars and masters also came from this.
In October of the second year of Jianning (169), at the behest of eunuchs, the imperial court ordered a nationwide search for "party members". The eunuchs' minions and the bureaucrats, who had been criticized by the Qing school, joined forces and spared no effort to hunt down the Party. More than a hundred Qing dynasty scholars and doctors, including Li Ping, Du Mi, and Fan Huan, suffered to their deaths, and many innocent people were framed as "party members" and imprisoned for offending eunuchs. Some of the relatives, protégés, and former officials of the Party were executed or exiled, and as many as six or seven hundred victims were killed. The imperial court also issued an edict that the protégés, former officials, fathers, sons, and brothers of the party members, as well as relatives within the five clothes, were imprisoned for life and were not allowed to become officials. That's it
The second party curse
The eunuch clique seems to have won the final victory in the two party disasters, but they did not expect that after Qingliu was all put into another book, the eunuch clique also quickly perished with the unbalanced Eastern Han court. In the palace coup d'état of the first year of Guangxi (189), more than 2,000 eunuchs were massacred en masse. It's just that
The disappearance of the eunuch community did not save the eastern Han Dynasty from the fate of the fall of the country
This may be an unanticipated result of the party.
Clear beginners
Gu Yanwu
It was once said, "In the worst place of customs under the heavens, the Qing deliberations still exist, which are still enough to maintain one or two; as for the Qing deliberations, they will go to the end." The weakened Eastern Han court rejected the Qing proposal, and what awaited it would be a storm that swept the country.
Yellow Turban Uprising
After the Outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the eunuchs became even more arrogant. Xiang Xu and Zhang Jun addressed the emperor, saying that the Yellow Turban Rebellion was entirely caused by eunuchs, and as long as the heads of the eunuch leaders were cut off and hung in the southern suburbs, the military disaster would naturally subside. Emperor Ling passed on their secret music to the eunuchs, and it was not the eunuchs who lost their heads, but the two attendants.
Emperor Fusong
、
Lu Zhi
In the process of quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he made great achievements, but he could not escape the eunuch's plot. Lu Zhi only refused to pay bribes to the eunuchs of the prison army, and as a result, he was taken back to Luoyang in a prison cart and almost lost his life. Zhao Zhong, the zhongchang attendant, had a residence in his hometown of Yecheng, which was as luxurious as a prince's palace, which was obviously excessive. Emperor Fusong marched through Yecheng and immediately reported the matter to the imperial court, demanding confiscation. Another lieutenant, Zhang Rang, asked Emperor Fusong for fifty million yuan, but the Emperor Fu general categorically refused. The two eunuchs were furious, and later in front of Emperor Ling, they took away Emperor Fusong's cavalry officer seal and reduced his food from eight thousand to two thousand households.
The eunuchs attached themselves to the emperor, but eventually kidnapped the imperial power.
Emperor Fusong (皇甫嵩), also spelled Yizhen, was a native of and around anding Dynasty (in present-day Guyuan, Ningxia), who was both good at fighting horses and was proficient in Confucianism, and could be called Wen for Confucianism and Wu for generals. As the first meritorious servant to quell the Yellow Turban Uprising, Emperor Fusong shook the world, and no one could stand out. A man of insight named Yan Zhong persuaded him to overthrow the Han Dynasty and claim the title of emperor in the south. The history books vividly record the conversations between them.
Yan Zhong said, "Now that you are not rewarded for your meritorious deeds, you are both a noble person, and the mediocre lord in the north, why seek peace?" ”
Huang Fusong asked rhetorically, "I have been in the gong all night, and my heart has not forgotten to be loyal, so why am I uneasy?" ”
Yan Zhong said: "Eunuchs live in groups, the same evil as the city, the upper order is not good, the power is close to Xi, under the lord, it is difficult to live for a long time, do not reward the merits, slander people sideways, if you do not plan early, regret is not enough." ”
Emperor Fusong refused, saying, "Although there are many clouds and rumors, but they are discarded, they are still famous, dead and immortal." ”
Emperor Fusong attached great importance to honor and loyalty to the Han Room, but when the Heavenly Dao had no relatives and the Han family's qi was about to run out, how many Haojie could be as consistent as he was? The ancients had clouds: "The weapon of the country cannot be shown to others." "In the chaotic world, the strong beam is the way, and the army is the weapon of the state." In the process of the crusade against the Yellow Turban Army, the heroic and powerful heroes who mastered the state's sharp weapons were no longer only the leaders of the Eastern Han Dynasty court.
After experiencing the change of the Yellow Turban, the Eastern Han Dynasty was "chaotic in the government and the sea", and completely slipped into the quagmire of chaos. Chaos in the Central Plains, chaos in the frontier, chaos in the officialdom, chaos in people's hearts, what a mess of words! Zhong Changtong, a thinker who had personally experienced the devastation of the chaotic world, sighed: "If this continues, the Great Han Dynasty will probably run out of gas, and I don't know what methods the saints of the next life can use to save this society." "The saints of the next life that Zhongchang Tong was looking forward to were out of reach, but a group of chaotic tyrants broke into the stage of history with their swords and leaps horses.
Zhongchang died in 220 at the age of forty-one. In that year, Emperor Xian of Han abdicated and the Han Dynasty officially came to an end.