In the Song Huizong Dynasty, a special eunuch appeared, saying that he was special, first, he was the only eunuch with a long beard in history, and secondly, as a eunuch, he did not stay in the palace to serve Song Huizong most of the time, but led the troops outside all the year round, and even became the king of Guangyang County for his merits, becoming the only eunuch in history to be crowned king.
Judging from Tong Guan's achievements alone, he seems to have some merits, such as withstanding the pressure to recover the four states occupied by the Western Xia, pacifying the Fangla Rebellion, and even recovering the Northern Song Dynasty's coveted Yanjing, but these exploits have been controversial for a long time, and it can be said that Tong Guan's behavior has become a microcosm of the absurd political situation in the late Northern Song Dynasty.
Tong Guan: The profession of eunuch has reached its peak
Tong Guan was purified into the palace in the last years of Song Shenzong, perhaps because of the purification after adulthood, Tong Guan has a masculine appearance, and even has a beard, looking no different from a normal person, not like a eunuch at all.
Like the little eunuch who first entered the palace, Tong Guan, who had just entered the palace, worshiped under the eunuch Li Xian, this Li Xian is also a peculiar eunuch, who likes to talk about the military in the northwest, so he was highly regarded by Song Shenzong.
Tong Guan thought that he could be taken care of by Li Xian, but Li Xian did not take special care of him, so that Tong Guan entered the palace for more than 20 years and has never been able to get ahead Xi.
Seeing that he was about to die in the palace, Tong Guan was very unwilling, but he was almost sixty years old, and he was just a little eunuch, how could he get ahead? The only way was to find out what others were thinking about by observing words and feelings, but Song Shenzong was followed by the hot-blooded young man Song Zhezong, who was bent on enriching the country and strengthening the army, and Tong Guan's whiskers and horses had no effect.
In addition to being the emperor, Song Huizong has achieved the ultimate in everything
In the first year of the Yasukuni Kingdom (1101), Duan Wang Zhao Ji succeeded to the throne, which was for Song Huizong, at the beginning of the throne, Song Huizong could still show a Ming Jun posture and actively adopt the opinions and suggestions of the minister, but with the death of the Empress Dowager, Song Huizong's frivolous personality was exposed.
As a famous art emperor in history, Song Huizong was proficient in music, calligraphy, painting, poetry and songs, but he didn't like to govern the government, and he was not interested in the government, so Song Huizong completely put his energy on playing and playing, and Tong Guan, who liked to observe words and colors, quickly figured out his interests and hobbies from Song Huizong's daily life.
In order to flatter Song Huizong, Tong Guan mentioned in front of Song Huizong from time to time that there were many rare treasures and celebrity calligraphy and paintings in the south, and suggested that Song Huizong send people to the south to collect these treasures.
Subsequently, Song Huizong set up the Jinming Bureau in Hangzhou, which was directly led by Tong Guan, and after arriving in Hangzhou, various local officials in Hangzhou scolded him one after another, and the treasures were countless, which also made Tong Guan feel the beauty of power for the first time, and in Hangzhou, he also saw Cai Jing, who was degraded here.
Cai Jing
At this time, Cai Jing was only serving as a vacant position in Hangzhou Dongxiao Palace, and he had been eager to return to the center of the imperial court, but he had no way, Tong Guan's arrival made him see the opportunity, Tong Guan was a eunuch and could not hold a heavy position, so he could only rely on Cai Jing, and Cai Jing also needed Tong Guan to help him promote in front of Song Huizong, and the two hit it off.
Because Song Huizong liked calligraphy and painting, Cai Jing, who was also good at Danqing, carefully painted many paintings, and Tong Guan sent these paintings and calligraphy into the capital, and at the same time did not forget to mention Cai Jing's loyalty in front of Song Huizong.
Subsequently, Tong Guan returned to the capital with the looted treasures, Song Huizong saw it, naturally delighted, and Tong Guan took the opportunity to recommend Cai Jing in front of Song Huizong, and soon Cai Jing was promoted to Dingzhou Zhizhou, and a year later, Cai Jing was promoted to the left servant, that is, the prime minister.
In order to repay Tong Guan's support, Cai Jing began to recommend Tong Guan in turn, how to let Tong Guan take the position? He could only use troops against the Western Xia, who had sued for peace again and again under the constant blows of Song Zhezong, and Song Xia also maintained a period of peace for the time being, and Song Huizong did not want to send troops to worsen the relationship between the two sides, so he rejected Cai Jing's plan to send troops.
But Cai Jing was not reconciled, and united with other henchmen to continue to play, Song Huizong had no choice but to agree to send troops to the northwest, as for the candidate to send troops, Cai Jing proposed Tong Guan, saying that Tong Guan had followed Li Xian in and out of the northwest, familiar with the affairs of the border fortress, and had the talent of a general, just like that, Song Huizong took Wang Hou as the general soldier and Tong Guan as the supervising army, and led an army of 100,000 to conquer the four states of Qingtang occupied by Western Xia.
After the opening of the Xihe River, it suppressed the Western Xia
In the second year of Chongning (1103), the Song army marched westward, but when the army arrived in Huangzhou to prepare for the attack, Song Huizong sent an edict to collect the troops, it turned out to be a sudden fire in the palace, Song Huizong thought that this was not a good omen, so he urgently ordered the troops to be collected.
The army has been pulled out and this is an opportunity for his own promotion, Tong Guan hid Song Huizong's order in his shoes under pressure, and declared to the outside world that this is Song Huizong's order to succeed in sending troops, which virtually boosted morale, and finally succeeded in recovering the four states of Qingtang that were occupied by Western Xia.
To tell the truth, at that time, the four states of the Qingtang Dynasty had already requested that the three states be attached, and the people's wishes, coupled with Wang Hou's outstanding ability, this battle was actually not difficult to fight, and because of the successful recovery of the four states of the Qingtang Dynasty, Song Huizong not only did not blame Tong Guan for his pretentiousness, but also promoted him to serve as the envoy of Jingfu Palace and the observer of Xiangzhou.
In the second year of Daguan (1108), Tong Guan served as the envoy of Wukang Jiedu, becoming the first eunuch to serve as the envoy of the Jiedu in the Northern Song Dynasty, and in the northwest region, Tong Guan formulated the strategy of "controlling the death of the Xia people", and once recovered Taozhou.
The territory of the Northern Song Dynasty in the second year of Daguan (1108).
For example, attacking the Jishi Army occupied by Brother Zang Zheng, Brother Zang Zheng had no soldiers and horses, and led the rest of the 28 people to surrender under the successive attacks of the Song army, and Tong Guan deliberately exaggerated the military exploits in order to invite merit, and forged a large number of trophies to report to the imperial court.
In order to promote his henchmen, Tong Guan bypassed Cai Jing and directly reported the selected northwest generals to Song Huizong, this kind of overstepping his authority caused Cai Jing's dissatisfaction, so Song Huizong wanted to appoint Tong Guan as the Kaifu Yi and the three divisions, but was opposed by Cai Jing, and finally Tong Guan failed to obtain this honor as he wished, so he naturally held a grudge against Cai Jing.
In the first year of Zhenghe (1111), Tong Guan was ordered to send an envoy to the Liao State, and Song Huizong crowned him as the inspector of the school, and on the way, Tong Guan met Ma Zhi who served as Guangluqing in the Liao State, Ma Zhi said that he had a strategy to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun, Tong Guan had a deep talk with him, and praised his strategy, and in this way, brought Ma Zhi back to the Northern Song Dynasty, and Ma Zhi changed his name to Li Liangsi.
The so-called recovery strategy is actually Lianjin to resist Liao, Tong Guan thought he was a talent, recommended him to Song Huizong, and the Northern Song Dynasty's proposal to recover the sixteen states of Yanyun also began at this time.
It's just that Song Huizong's recovery of Yanyun was only a temporary intention, but after calming down, he didn't dare to rashly raise troops, and many ministers dissuaded him, so the matter of plotting Yanyun was temporarily stopped, while Tong Guan continued to take credit for sitting in the northwest, so that he could be promoted to the rank of knight, and even achieved the position of captain.
In the northwest, Tong Guan became more and more presumptuous, making the northwest smoke miasma impossible to get, the military and politics were bad, and even forced the famous general Liu Fa in the northwest to attack Shuofang, as a result, Liu Fa was defeated and died, but Tong Guan told Song Huizong as always that it was a great victory, relying on the high emperor Yuan, the northwest became Tong Guan's own kingdom.
In the fifth year of Zhenghe (1115), Tong Guan led the six side affairs, and the military power was further increased, as for Tong Guan's unforgettable Kaifu Yi Tong Sansi was also sent by Song Huizong, for a time, Cai Jing was called "Gongxiang", and Tong Guan was "Xiangxiang".
Sixteen states of Yanyun
As for Li Liangsi, he has always been obsessed with recovering Yanyun, and even sent envoys to the Jin State many times, and finally persuaded Jin Taizu to agree to join the Song Dynasty to attack Liao, according to the plan, the Jin State attacked the eastern part of the Liao State, and the Northern Song Dynasty attacked the western part of the Liao State, and the two sides met in Shangjing, the capital of the Liao State, but at this time, the Fangla Uprising broke out within the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Lianjin destroyed the Liao had to be temporarily put on hold.
Fangla's uprising began in the south of the Yangtze River, and soon gathered tens of thousands of horses, and the rebel army captured Muzhou, Shezhou, Quzhou and Hangzhou all the way, and the momentum was huge.
In order to quell the peasant uprising of Fang La, Tong Guan took the elite of the northwest to pacify, a full 150,000 people, it is not difficult for these people to attack Fang La, if they can't be pacified, they are incompetent, and there are Liu Yanqing, Wang Rin, Yang Weizhong, Xin Xingzong, Han Shizhong and other famous generals, it is difficult to lose with such a configuration.
Fangla uprising
After breaking through the Gangyuan Cave in Fang La's hometown Qingxi, Fang La connived at the indiscriminate killing of innocents under the tree, but Tong Guan turned a deaf ear and allowed the Song army to kill indiscriminately, and Tong Guan was also crowned as a Taishi because of his efforts to pacify Fang La.
After the rebellion of Fang La was pacified, the matter of Lianjin's destruction of Liao was brought up again, and this time, the two sides had been preparing for a long time.
In the fourth year of Xuanhe (1122), the Jin soldiers took the lead in attacking the Liao State, and Song Huizong ordered Tong Guan to lead the Xuanfu envoys of Shaanxi, Henan and Hebei, and led the army north to recover the hometown of Yanyun, although the Liao army could not defeat the Jin army in its heyday, but it was more than enough to attack the Song army, and the Liao generals Shi Linya, Xiao Gan and others successively defeated the Song army, which made the Jin State surprised by the performance of the Song army, and gave rise to contempt.
Originally, the Jin people wanted to use the sixteen states of Yanyun in exchange for the support of the Northern Song Dynasty, so that they could attack the Liao State on both sides, but now the Northern Song Dynasty is dragging its feet and has not helped much, let alone returning the sixteen states of Yanyun to the Northern Song Dynasty, in fact, it was not originally from the Northern Song Dynasty, and now the Jin people occupy it and do not give it, Tong Guan has nothing to do, so he has to ask again and again, and said that the other places in the sixteen states of Yanyun are not wanted, as long as Yanjing, even if it is an empty city, I want the Great Song Dynasty.
In order to show sincerity, Tong Guan and Song Huizong discussed and said that they would give the original coins to the Liao State to the Jin State, and the Jin people still had the will to make friends with the Northern Song Dynasty for the sake of money, although they were not very satisfied with the performance of the Northern Song Dynasty, but they still promised to return Yanjing to Tong Guan, but Yanjing was laid by the Jin people, and they could not let themselves return empty-handed, so they asked Yanjing to give all the annual taxes to the Jin State.
For Song Huizong and Tong Guan, money can be given, but face can not be lost, and they agreed to give the Jin people 400,000 yuan of annual coins and 1 million yuan of tax money every year, and in this way, the Jin people looted Yanjing and threw it to Tong Guan An empty city.
Song Huizong calligraphy and painting
In the fifth year of Xuanhe (1123), Tong Guan led the army into Yanjing, which the Northern Song Dynasty had dreamed of for a hundred years, although it was only an empty city.
Song Huizong and Tong Guan relied on redemption to successfully "recover" Yanyun, Song Huizong not only hyped up the credit of recovering Yanyun, but even crowned Tong Guan as the king of Guangyang County, becoming a unique eunuch king in history.
It's just that Song Huizong and Tong Guan's dream didn't last long, in August of that year, Wanyan Aguta, who advocated friendship with the Northern Song Dynasty, died, and was succeeded by Jin Taizong, who advocated being tough on the Song Dynasty, Wanyan Sheng was not a good stubble, just when the Northern Song Dynasty was immersed in the joy of recovering Yanjing, Jin began to plan to attack the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the seventh year of Xuanhe (1125), Wanyan Zonghan, the king of Qin of Jin, led his troops to the south and attacked Taiyuan, Song Huizong sent Tong Guan to Taiyuan to deal with this matter, Tong Guan sent people to test the tone of Jin after arriving in Taiyuan, but he did not expect that Wanyan Zonghan had a great plan, and asked the Northern Song Dynasty to cede Hebei and Hedong to Jin.
In order to avoid the responsibility of the defeated army, he planned to flee back to the capital, but he didn't dare to say it clearly, just told the Taiyuan guard, saying that the conditions proposed by the Jin people were too harsh, and he planned to make a decision after meeting Song Huizong.
As soon as Tong Guan left, the Jin army began to move south, successively occupying Xinzhou and other places, and the other army approached the Beijing Division, at this time the panicked Song Huizong hurriedly passed on to the crown prince Zhao Huan, which was for Song Qinzong, so Tong Guan went back to meet Song Qinzong, and then Song Qinzong arranged for Tong Guan to stay in Tokyo to defend against the Jin soldiers.
Two armies
But Tong Guan had already been frightened by the offensive of the Jin soldiers, and resolutely refused to accept the order, planning to flee to the south with his own soldiers and Song Huizong, and on the way to flee south, some people were old and frail, and walked slowly on the pontoon bridge out of the city.
It's just that because of the residual prestige of Song Huizong, Tong Guan continued to be preserved.
In the first year of Jingkang (1126), the Jin people withdrew from the army, and many people continued to impeach Tong Guan, Cai Jing and Cai You who fled with Song Huizong, and Song Qinzong belittled them one by one, and they were unwilling to lose power, and instigated Song Huizong to intercept all the materials handed over to the imperial court in the southeast region in the name of Emperor Taishang, in order to make a comeback.
The reason why they are so presumptuous is because of the backer of Song Huizong, but after Song Huizong returned to Beijing, he said that he would no longer "peep at his old job", Tong Guan and others completely lost the opportunity to make a comeback, and Tong Guan and others were even more depreciated, among which Tong Guan was exiled to the Jiyang Army for resettlement, which is today's Guangdong County, but before he arrived, Song Qinzong sent people to correct him on the way.
This year, Tong Guan was seventy-two years old, to be honest, Tong Guan can lead the army as a eunuch for more than 20 years, which is rare inside and outside the ancient and modern times, but from the perspective of professional achievements, Tong Guan definitely did the profession of eunuch to a peak, as a eunuch engaged in the three major fields of internal affairs, diplomacy and military affairs in the Northern Song Dynasty, the only one who can compare with him is probably the Three Treasures eunuch of the Ming Dynasty.
Tong Guan's ability is there, after all, he is taller among the short, but it is a bit of a joke to say that Tong Guan is a fierce general of the Northern Song Dynasty, because his identity is only to supervise the army, and he is not responsible for specific operations, and other generals are responsible for specific battles.
Tong Guan's identity is a prison army
And to be honest, Tong Guan is not a good stubble, and he is greedy for money and arbitrary, but he has an advantage, that is, he knows how to delegate power, and he is also the most reliable one among the many prison troops in the Song Huizong Dynasty.
After all, the biggest problem of the military system of the Northern Song Dynasty was that the command was too dead, and the emperor liked micro-manipulation, so the Northern Song Dynasty was only suitable for fighting a battle in which the national strength crushed the opponent, as long as the other party was a little stronger, the Song army could only stare dryly.
As for why Tong Guan is a traitor, it depends on the historical conditions at that time.
Because he was listed as one of the six thieves during the Jingkang period, and Song Qinzong's succession was not a normal succession at all, it was succeeded by Song Huizong who did not want to be the king of the dead country, and a large part of the real power was still in the hands of Song Huizong's close ministers.
Song Huizong is his father, so naturally he can't be labeled as a faint king, but the black cauldron has to be carried by others, so Song Huizong's cronies must be traitors who deceive the saint, which led to the tragedy of Tong Guan.
And Song Qinzong died a year after ascending the throne, and Song Gaozong, who founded the Southern Song Dynasty, did not have the intention of overturning the case for Song Huizong, after all, the more the emperor of the previous dynasty was abolished and mediocre, the more stable the legitimacy of his rule, if he really overturned the case for the second emperor of Huiqin, and described the wisdom and martial arts they described, in case the Jin people sent them back one day, they chose to abdicate or abdicate?
Therefore, Tong Guan must be a traitor.