The book picks up. When the shi clan occupied more and more land and wealth, and could continue to pass it on, Emperor Huan of Han, who was high in the temple, could not sit still, and he decided to find an opportunity to fiercely clean up these increasingly large shi clans. And to be whole, you need not only to have a reason, but also to have thugs. The reason is actually very easy to find, the literati like to form a party, you a large group of people gathered together to point out the country, so that the Manchu Dynasty wenwu are afraid of you, what is this intention? As for the thugs, it is easier to find, and the eunuchs around them are undoubtedly the best candidates. To analyze this first disaster of the party, we must first have a preliminary understanding of who the Han Huan Emperor, the chief promoter, really is.
(The picture comes from the Internet, invaded and deleted.) ）
1. Emperor Huan of Han and his people
Historically, Emperor Huan's reputation was not good, and it was widely believed that he was a faint and incompetent emperor who had corrupted Gang Chang. But Emperor Huan, this person, may really be addicted to wine, but also do have shortcomings of one kind or another, if you really want to delve into the details, how many good emperors can withstand such scrutiny? Qin Emperor Han Wu Tang Emperor Song Ancestors, who is perfect? He has many shortcomings, why not say the highlights? When he ascended the throne at the age of fifteen, his power was controlled by his foreign relative Liang Ji for thirteen years, and finally relied on the power of the eunuch clique to get rid of Liang Ji, and then he played a balance between the eunuchs and the warriors until he flew up. The reuse of zhang yi, huang fugui, Duan Ji (pronounced "囧") and other three famous generals (historically known as "Liangzhou Sanming"), basically calmed the Qiang plague that had long plagued the Eastern Han Dynasty, and ensured the tranquility of the border.
It can be said that if it were not for the fact that the scourge of the party had offended the scholar clan, his evaluation in history would have been able to mix with a moderately conservative monarch. But if you offend the scholars, those literati who have the right to speak, they will infinitely magnify your shortcomings, and infinitely reduce your advantages until you become a faint prince.
Emperor Huan did not ascend the throne as a prince, before he ascended the throne, he was just an ordinary member of the clan, and his title was not even a prince, but he was only given the title of Marquis of Liwu (蠡吾 is a place name). His predecessor, emperor Of Han, was also a teenager who ascended the throne, and because he was dissatisfied with the dictatorship of the great general Liang Ji and said that Liang Ji was a "general of the Great Army", he was poisoned by General Liang ji and died at the age of nine.
Emperor Huan probably didn't think that how such a fifteen-year-old young Li Wuhou could have taken over Emperor Qian's class? In fact, the general Liang and the empress dowager had really decided that he would be the emperor, because he had no foundation in the palace and was easier to manipulate. And because he was born in a local clan, he actually knew much more about the life of the grass-roots people and the operation of the entire Eastern Han society than the princes in the deep palace compound in the past.
As soon as he ascended the throne, he was emptied by Liang Ji for thirteen years. During the thirteen years, he secretly accumulated strength, and finally relied on the Five Marquises (Shan Chao and other five eunuchs) to eliminate Liang Ji in 159 AD, but liang Ji's downfall led to a sudden expansion of eunuch power. Subsequently, Emperor Huan of Han used the warrior clan to weaken the power of eunuchs and suppress them. By 165 AD, the year before the first party disaster, the Five Princes had been basically purged. Of the five, all but three had already died, and the remaining Zuo Wei was forced to die by Emperor Huan, and Gu Yi died of depression. In the government and the opposition, the forces of the various factions reached a basic balance, and Emperor Huan's efforts were not in vain. However, the good times were short-lived, and a new storm was about to appear.
(Picture from the Internet, invasion and deletion)
Second, the first disaster of the Party
(1) The Discussion of the Party - Two Verses
Just when Emperor Huan was not emperor and was still a young marquis in peace and stability, he worshipped a man named Zhou Fu as a teacher. Later, after ascending the throne, In order to cultivate his own power, Emperor Huan promoted his teacher Zhou Fu to the palace to become a Shangshu. However, Zhou Fu had a fellow villager named Fang Zhi, and at this time the official also achieved Henan Yin (equivalent to the highest administrator of the capital Luoyang), Zhou Fu's original reputation was not as prominent as Fang Zhi's, but because of the identity of Emperor Huan's teacher, the reputation of the two was basically equal. So the two people's hometown of Ganling circulated two nursery rhymes like this: "The rules of the world Fang Bowu (Fang Zhi), because the master was sealed Zhou Zhongjin (Zhou Fu)." This was actually taunting Zhou Fu because of the dignity of the emperor who was in a high position. This is not the end, the two guests still ridicule each other, turn against each other, so the literati of Ganling County, because the two are divided into two factions in the north and the south, and the people of each faction are compared to the party and have their own opinion leaders, they have the title of "party members". This is exactly the truth mentioned in the previous article, the literati are both light on each other and smell the same.
(2) The growth of the party - four verses and three verses.
Just two verses later, the taishou of Runanjun at that time was named Zongzi (hometown of Nanyang), and he appointed the famous scholar Fan Huan as a gongcao, although Zongzi was the superior, but he entrusted the political affairs to Fan Huan, and he only had to review and approve them (abbreviation: painting promises, that is, circles on the documents); at the same time, Nanyang Taishou Chengyao (old home Hongnong) also painted the gourd and entrusted the political affairs to the famous scholar Cen Xuan (pronounced "Zhi"), and he himself moved his mouth to express his consent (abbreviation: sitting whistle, that is, agreeing with his mouth). This also has four poems: "Runan Taishou Fan Mengbo (范滂), the nanyang sect master painting promise." Nanyang Taishou Cen Gongxiao (岑晊), Hongnong Chengyao but sitting on the whistle. This means that although Fan Huan and Cen Yi are nominally Gong Cao, they are actually the real Taishou. As for the two Taishou Zongzi and Cheng Yao, they only need to read the documents and affirm the achievements of Gong Cao. In this way, all four people have gained a good name. The two Taishou have gained the good names of loving talents, cherishing talents, appointing talents, and using talents, and the two Gongcao have gained the good names of wanting to be an officer, being able to be an officer, daring to be an officer, and accomplishing things. As a result, the literati's mutual praise continued to ferment and passed into Taixue.
At that time, there were more than 30,000 Tai students in the capital Luoyang, led by Guo Tai and Jia Biao. They and the representatives of the scholar clan at that time, Li Bing, Chen Fan, Wang Chang, and others also praised and lifted each other up, so they had three poems: "Li Yuanli (李膺), the fearless and powerful Chen Zhongju (Chen Fan), and the world's Junxiu Wang Shumao (Wang Chang). Look at these titles: "model of the world", "fearless of the strong", "the world is handsome", these people are really so great? Isn't it touting each other? At this point, the reputation of the party members was known all over the world, because they could criticize foreign relatives and eunuchs, and they had knowledge, so the common people believed that these people were celebrities who represented justice, thus forming a psychological sense of identity with them.
Among them, the most famous is Li Bing, who led an army to garrison the frontier in the early years and made considerable military achievements. Later, he became a famous minister of the Eastern Han Dynasty, famous all over the world, and became the spiritual idol of many scholars. According to the "New Sayings of the World", the descendants of the world at that time were proud to see Li Bing's side, and even thought that it was their great merit to be received by him, because when they were received, their reputation would soon spread all over the world, and then they could jump the dragon gate with carp. ("The First Virtue of the New Language of the World": Those who are latecomers, those who have ascended to the (Li Bing) Hall, all think that they have ascended the Dragon Gate.) For example, the Guo Tai mentioned in the previous paragraph, after Li Ping received him and became friends with him, he was "famous zhenjingshi", when he returned to his hometown, the literati in the capital came to send him, and there were thousands of carriages alone, and Li Ping's fame was evident.
However, these literati and celebrities used the power of the entire Qingliu group to expand their reputation, and in turn led to the expansion of the reputation of the entire Qingliu group, and their intentions pointed to the Eastern Han Dynasty's election system mentioned in the previous chapter- the system of conscription and the system of inspection. With fame, they may be recruited by the imperial court, and the group action can put pressure on local officials to recommend them, and the core behind it is still the interests of the group and their personal interests. However, this led to the fact that the system operation and the people's will of the Eastern Han Dynasty were actually beyond the complete control of the Eastern Han Court, and the public opinion of the common people began to be swayed by these Qingliu, and it was very likely that the government would be coerced with public opinion, so as to further obtain political benefits.
(3) The Party Incident - Who is Right and Who Is Evil?
There are four main events in the first party disaster, which can be summarized as "four things", of course, other events are also meaningful, but the main thing is these four things.
Incident 1: In 165 AD, Zhang Shuo, the younger brother of the eunuch Zhang Rang in the palace, was serving as the Commander of Yewang County, greedy and tyrannical, but because he was afraid of Li Bing, who was a lieutenant of the Si Li Colonel (Si Li is a place name, one of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, and the lieutenant of the Si Li Colonel is equivalent to the military chief and the chief official of the political and legal system of the entire capital region), he ran to the home of his brother Zhang Rang and hid in the pillar, hoping to avoid the limelight. After Li Bing learned of this situation, without asking the emperor for instructions, he immediately took someone to Zhang Rang's house, broke the pillar, took Zhang Shuo away, and killed him immediately. Emperor Huan of Han was dissatisfied and questioned Li Yi, who refuted the fact that Confucius had dared to kill his ministers in seven days as a sikou, but instead made Emperor Huan faceless. Moreover, after this law enforcement, the eunuchs around the emperor began to fear Li Bing, but this violated the monarch's taboo, because the eunuchs around the emperor were different from other courtiers, and the eunuchs could only fear themselves.
Incident 2: In 166 AD, there was a rich man in Wancheng (affiliated with Nanyang), named Zhang Fan (pronounced "Fan"), who had interests with the eunuchs, so the above-mentioned "Sitting Scream" Taishou Chengyan and Gongcao Cen Yun and others arrested Zhang Fan, and even though the imperial court had already issued a general amnesty order demanding amnesty for the world, zhang Fan was still killed, and he also killed innocents, and the clan guests were linked to more than two hundred people (what serious crime did the clan guests commit, more than two hundred people were killed?). In order to create a clear name for being upright and impartial in enforcing the law. However, this move offended the emperor, and you ignored the amnesty decree of the imperial court and punched the emperor in the face; you were a guest, which is called killing innocents. You take the blood of innocent people and the face of Emperor Lao Tzu to promote your reputation? Since you don't know the rules so well, the imperial power will let you know what the rules are, and soon, Cheng Yan and others will die in prison.
Incident 3: After Cheng Yan and the others were imprisoned for their crimes, Chen Fan, known as "fearless and strong", stood up, and he wrote to intercede for Cheng Yan and the others, and again mentioned in the book that the eunuchs were villains, and Emperor Huan was confused by the villains. It is implied that Emperor Huan was a fool who was deceived by others, which caused dissatisfaction among the eunuch clique and laid the groundwork for his own tragedy in the future.
Event 4: In 166 AD, there was a warlock in Hanoi, named Zhang Cheng, who could divinate and befriend eunuchs, and the divination technique was quite skilled, and the emperor also liked it. He speculated that the imperial court would soon issue a amnesty, so he asked his son to kill a man (presumably an enemy) and waited for the amnesty to come. As a result, even though the imperial court had already issued a general amnesty order, Li Bing still sentenced Zhang Cheng's son to death. Punched the emperor in the face again.
Zhang Cheng's nephew immediately wrote to li, saying that Li Bing and others were: "Raise too many scholars, make friends with apprentices from various counties, drive each other even more, and be a member of the ministry party, slander the imperial court, and doubt customs." Emperor Huan of Han, who had long been intolerable to the shi clan party members, seized this opportunity and immediately took advantage of the problem to arrest more than 200 party members such as Li Bing, and the disaster of the party broke out for the first time. Chen Fan wrote to him many times for advice, and Emperor Huan of Han had found this opportunity so hard, how could he let it go? Besides, you Chen Fan is one of the leaders of the party, do you think Emperor Huan doesn't know? As a result, Emperor Huan not only did not listen, but instead dismissed Chen Fan because of the poor talent he had promoted.
Fast forward to 167, the state governor Dou Wu and others again wrote to Emperor Huan to intercede for the party, at this time Emperor Huan actually did not want to kill, because if he wanted to kill, he could already do it. Just as Li Yi and others confessed in prison, some of the eunuchs' clansmen and nephews were also one of the party members, because the young people were well-known, which was also normal, which made the eunuchs start to panic, and the eunuchs came one after another, saying that the time had come for amnesty for the world. Therefore, after balancing the advantages and disadvantages, Emperor Huan pardoned the party members in June of this year, but he was beaten back to his hometown, imprisoned for life, and never allowed to be an official, which was the first disaster for the party. In doing so, he not only gave the empress face, but also gave the face of the state abbot, and also gave the eunuchs a favor, and also played a deterrent effect on the party members and the scholars, and at the same time did not kill the ring, and it was not unwise to say that it was not clever. Therefore, through these things, it can be seen that Emperor Huan of Han is really not a dimwitted king, but has a high IQ and emotional intelligence, and is a smart person.
Third, before and after death
It is also important to note that in December of this year, Emperor Huan died, which means that when he pardoned the party members in June but imprisoned him for life, his health was not optimistic, and he had half a year left before his death. Worse still, he had no heirs. In doing so, he is actually creating a better governance environment for his successors.
Among the three major forces in the political situation of the Eastern Han Dynasty, at this point in time, the foreign forces could no longer dictate the imperial program after Liang Ji's death, and the foreign relative Dou Wu left by Emperor Huan, although he had the dual identity of a party member and a foreign relative, did not have the same strength as Liang Ji in those years; the scholar forces, after the disaster of the party, had already been hit and could not rise in a short time; the eunuch forces were the loyal guardians of the imperial power, and they could only rely on the imperial power and exist, and they were nothing without the imperial power. Therefore, after the new monarch ascends the throne, at least he will not be like him, a puppet emperor for another thirteen years. Moreover, Dou Wu's auxiliary government will definitely rehabilitate the party members and lift the confinement to balance the expansion that may occur in the eunuch clique, so that the new monarch can still gain the favor of the party members, it is easy to gain a foothold, and the Eastern Han Dynasty will not have any big storms. But how can the world do as it pleases? The ideal is very full, but the reality is very bone.
After Emperor Huan's death, the 12-year-old local patriarch Liu Hong entered the throne as Emperor Ling of Han. Like Emperor Huan, this was another young tianzi. However, the emperor's young age must have led to the decline of imperial power, and Dou Wu, a foreign relative of the auxiliary government, joined forces with Chen Fan and others to rehabilitate the party members one after another, lifted the imprisonment, and the party members were able to return to the court. However, one thing that should not be overlooked is that when the imperial power declines and is not enough to form an absolute advantage, the forces below will make the struggle even more fierce. Soon, the second party attack came again, this time, destined to involve more people than the last time, and it was accompanied by killing and blood.
What exactly is the disaster of the second party, and listen to the next decomposition.
Resources:
Qian Mu's Outline of National History (Chapters 9 and 10)
Lü Simian,"General History of China" (Chapter 31)
Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian (Han Dynasty 47, 48)
Fan Ye's Book of the Later Han Dynasty (Records of the Emperor Xiaohuan, Biography of the Party Gong, Biography of eunuchs, Biography of the Eunuchs, Biography of Guo Fu Xulie)