(Tang Zhaozong Li Ye image)
In 900 AD, Tang Zhaozong Li Ye was still asleep and was placed under house arrest by the eunuch Liu Jishu.
The noble and the extreme are anti-cheap, and the lowly and extremely are anti-expensive, and the eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty are anti-Tiangang, this is not the first time.
The house arrest of the emperor was not counted, Liu Jishu simply abolished Zhaozong's throne and made Zhaozong's son, the crown prince Li Yu, the new emperor.
Liu Jishu's purpose is very simple, that is, to set up a puppet little emperor, and then coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes.
Of course, the idea is very plump, and the reality is very skinny.
Because, the warlords of the local feudal towns in the Tang Dynasty did not recognize the puppet regime created by Liu Jishu at all.
But it doesn't matter if you don't get support, because whoever doesn't support it will win over whom, so Liu Jishu immediately wrote a letter to Zhu Wen in Henan, saying Lao Zhu, you support me, if you support me, I will hand over the military power of the Tang Dynasty to you.
The weight of these words is not light, and there is a faint meaning of letting Zhu Wen become the emperor on behalf of Tang.
At this critical time, we have to mention an important person, this person is Cui Yin.
Cui Yin, whose name is Chuixiu, was born in the Cui clan of Qinghe, Jinshi and the first, and was the prime minister of Zhaozong at that time.
Cui Yin has always been very disgusted with eunuchs, and he is almost incompatible with eunuchs, seeing Liu Jishu manipulating imperial power like this, he can't stand it, and secretly wrote a letter to Zhu Wen, the content is:
Lao Zhu, I know that you are a pillar of the country, and I trust you, so I invite you to eradicate the eunuch forces, so you can come to the side of the Qing monarch as soon as possible.
(Cui Yin image)
Zhu Wen is known as the envoy of the imperial court, but he, like most warlords, in the world at that time, he only existed for his own interests, Liu Jishu also wooed him, Cui Yin also wooed him, and he couldn't make a decision for a while, so Zhu Wen simply pretended to be stupid and sweet, and said Oh, this is a problem of the central power, and it is a major matter in the court, this is not something that I can manage with a small section.
In terms of Zhu Wen's character as a vested interest, he is subjectively more inclined to help Liu Jishu, because Liu Jishu can obviously give Zhu Wen more things he wants, of course, Liu Jishu said that he would support Zhu Wen as the emperor, but at least Liu Jishu has real power at the moment, and Cui Yin asked Zhu Wen to come to Qingjun's side, but it just sounds good, Zhu Wen has never cared about this kind of false name.
Zhu Wen put on a look of being quiet and busy, fame and fortune, it was not his real peace of mind, but that he needed advice.
Because, whether it is Zhu Wen or Li Keyong, they are not one person, they actually represent the ideology of a group of people.
At this time, a strategist named Li Zhen under Zhu Wen's account stood up.
Li Zhen, the word Xingxu, participated in the imperial examination when he was young, failed many attempts, and later finally sought fame, and the work arrangement was not very good, in essence, Li Zhen and Huang Chao, who rebelled and revolted, had a similar mood, that is, he was dissatisfied with the imperial court, and he was also full of resentment towards the scholar class.
On the way from Chang'an to Taizhou, he was just in time for the Huangchao Uprising, the world was in turmoil, and Taizhou couldn't go, so Li Zhen had to go back, and when he passed through Bianzhou, he met Zhu Wen, so he simply followed Zhu Wen directly.
(Li Zhen image)
In the view of intellectuals like Li Zhen, eunuchs will never be able to achieve a big deal, and sooner or later they will fall, and Li Zhen also believes to a certain extent that his career was not smooth and the political darkness brought about by the eunuchs' arbitrary power also has a great relationship, and the most important thing is that helping the eunuchs to do things is at best just becoming the eunuchs' minions, and helping Prime Minister Cui Yin to do this work on the side of the Qing monarch, and if it is done, then Zhu Wen can replace the eunuchs, and when the time comes, it is Zhu Wen who holds the Son of Heaven hostage to order the princes.
Li Zhen's idea moved Zhu Wen, but of course Zhu Wen would not go to Chang'an alone, or lead his troops to Chang'an, the situation was chaotic, and he had to sit in the Bianzhou base camp, so he simply sent Li Zhen directly to Chang'an to connect with Cui Yin, and asked him to help Cui Yin eliminate Liu Jishu.
Of course, Li Zhen also completed this task very well, after he arrived in Chang'an, he planned with Cui Yin, and staged another mutiny, killed Liu Jishu and other eunuchs, and re-put Zhaozong on the throne.
Of course, Liu Jishu was killed, but there are still several eunuchs in the court, and the power of the eunuchs is still strong, Cui Yin is very dissatisfied with this situation, because he is worried that if he kills Liu Jishu today, there may be countless Liu Jishu tomorrow.
However, Cui Yin has Zhu Wen as the backstage, and the eunuchs in the court also have their backs against the big trees, and Li Maozhen, who had an ambiguous relationship with the eunuchs because of his meritorious service in escorting and eliminating thieves, was willing to support the eunuchs.
Cui Yin is a person who dares to think and dare to do, he doesn't want to drag on like this, so he immediately issued an edict in the name of the Son of Heaven, ordering Zhu Wen to lead troops into Chang'an.
(Portrait of Zhu Wen)
Zhu Wen saw that the time had come, so he didn't pretend, and went straight to a showdown, leading 70,000 troops, and set off from Bianzhou to Chang'an.
Moreover, in the process of rushing to the road, Zhu Wen did not forget to occupy the states and counties he passed through and brought them under his command.
Zhu Wen marched forward and soon arrived at the outskirts of Chang'an, the eunuchs of Chang'an City saw that this could work, if Zhu Wen was allowed to enter the city, he would not kill all the little eunuchs in the palace?
At this time, the eunuch leader in Chang'an City was the eunuch Han Quanzhu.
When Han Quanzhu saw that the catastrophe was coming, he didn't pretend anymore, and he suddenly broke out, kidnapped Tang Zhaozong and left Chang'an, and defected to Li Maozhen of Fengxiang.
Since Xizong sealed Li Maozhen to Fengxiang, he has been expanding his territory and improving his strength, and many places in Shaanxi and Gansu have been slowly occupied by Li Maozhen.
Moreover, Li Maozhen is not the same as other warlords, for example, Wang Jian who ran away from Sichuan, the emperor is far away, whether he rebels or not, whether he rebels or not, whether he revolts or not, the impact on the central court is actually not great, but Li Maozhen's base Fengxiang is near Chang'an, he feels that since he has this kind of geographical advantage, then he can use this to get involved in the government, so Li Maozhen has always pointed fingers at the court, as if the affairs of the heavenly family are his Li Maozhen's private affairs.
Zhaozong's new monarch ascended the throne, the eunuchs in the palace cleaned him up, and the warlords in other places also gave him anger, do you say he can do it, he will definitely not do it, so Zhaozong did not give Li Maozhen a good face, and even asked Li Maozhen to leave Fengxiang several times and go to other places to serve, in order to disintegrate Li Maozhen's power through this kind of work transfer.
(Lee Mao-jeong image)
Of course, this is impossible, because Li Maozhen refused to obey the edict, and he would not leave at all.
The emperor said Li Maozhen, you hurry up and leave Fengxiang for me, but Li Maozhen sneered at each other:
Your emperor of the Tang Dynasty runs away all day long, if I leave, you won't be able to go to Shuzhong (already controlled by Wang Jian), see where you flee when the time comes!
Put yourself in Zhaozong's shoes and think about it, Li Maozhen treats Zhaozong with this attitude, how angry Zhaozong should be in his heart, but what can he do now?
The dignity of the emperor is not on the dragon chair, but on the edge of the sword, you Zhaozong is not enough to protect himself, how can he fight against Li Maozhen?
Zhaozong is indeed very ambitious, but he doesn't seem to be able to get rid of the shadow of being ambitious and talented.
This night, the emperor lost sleep, and in the history books, he left such a sigh with tears: I can't sit and be bullied!
I don't want to be so weak and bullied by others.
Many people in Chang'an City are still pushing cups and changing lamps, singing songs night after night, as if Datang is still prosperous day after day, year after year, and it seems that anyone's absence can't change all this.
But this is the case, Li Maozhen not only spoke disrespectfully to Zhaozong, but also often led troops to invade Chang'an, once he hit the city of Chang'an, Xingshi asked for guilt, and even asked the emperor to execute a minister named Du Rangneng next to him.
(Du Rangneng image)
Du Rangneng, the word Qunyi, the son of Du Xianquan, and Du Xianquan is the one who promoted Wang Jian and changed Wang Jian's life against the sky.
There were many prime ministers during the Zhaozong period, Cui Yin was one of them, Du Rangneng was one of them, and there was another prime minister named Cui Zhaowei.
This Cui Zhaowei, who colluded with the eunuchs internally, colluded with the feudal towns externally, belonged to a typical traitor, and he and Du Rangneng had always been at odds, Li Maozhen beat Chang'an, so he secretly told Li Maozhen, saying that Emperor Zhaozong's hostility towards you Li Maozhen was cultivated by Du Rangneng, and Li Maozhen was very angry when he heard Cui Zhaowei say this, and subtly regarded Du Rangneng as his political enemy, so he asked Zhaozong to execute Du Rangneng.
Before he died, Du Rangneng also comforted the emperor, saying that the emperor, you don't have to be sad, I know that Li Maozhen will definitely kill me, and it is worth it to exchange my life for the emperor's safety and the preservation of the country.
In a word, Du Rangneng died in anger.
In addition to Du Rangneng, there are not a few ministers who were directly or indirectly killed by Li Maozhen, Zhaozong can only tolerate it on the surface, but secretly he has a long-standing grudge with Li Maozhen.
Of course, it is not only the emperor who has a grudge against Li Maozhen, Li Maozhen is arrogant, no one is convinced, Hedong Li Keyong and Li Maozhen also have contradictions, Li Ke has failed to crusade against Li Maozhen several times, and he hates Li Keyong is itchy teeth.
Because Li Maozhen is good at defense, he often can't shrink back, and there is really nothing he can do about him under normal circumstances.
Li Maozhen did not fight alone, he and Wang Xingyu colluded with each other, Wang Xingyu was the subordinate of Zhu Mei, the general who hijacked Xizong back then.
(Li Keyong's image)
Li Keyong couldn't eliminate Li Maozhen, but he gambled Wang Xingyu on the battlefield, Wang Xingyu knew that he was not the opponent of the brave and warlike Shatuo people, so he had to flee in a hurry, and was finally killed by his subordinates.
Interestingly, when Wang Xingyu was able to become a warlord, he also killed his old leader Zhu Mei as a subordinate.
Being killed by his subordinates seems to have become the main theme of the warlord's fate, and it will continue to repeat itself in the future.
Anyway, in summary, Li Maozhen is by no means a good type, and he has an enmity with the emperor, Han Quanzhu pulled Zhaozong to run towards Fengxiang, but he didn't consider the emperor's feelings at all.
Zhu Wen's reaction at that time was also very fast, Han Quanzhu took Zhaozong to run in front, and he led most of the men and horses to chase behind, but unfortunately he was still a step slow, so that Han Quanzhu ran to Fengxiang City with the emperor.
Zhu Wen was angry and anxious, and shouted and scolded under Fengxiang City with soldiers and horses, asking Li Maozhen not to be a turtle with a shrunken head, and to hand over the emperor quickly.
This emperor who has no power is a puppet, and the puppet emperor has always been a sweet and sweet potato in troubled times, doesn't Li Maozhen want to control the emperor? Of course he also wants to, so he will definitely not hand over anyone.
Li Maozhen didn't make a handover, Zhu Wen had to surround Fengxiang, Li Maozhen tried to break through several times, but was defeated by Zhu Wen, and even the team that came to rescue Li Maozhen from other places was defeated by Zhu Wen.
(Soldiers in the city)
One is on the wall, the other is outside the city, and those who are outside want to go in, and those who are inside want to come out.
Of course, the warlords knew that this was a chaotic era, but they only took pity on the emperors of this empire, who were held hostage and robbed, and it seemed that there would never be an end to it.
Sometimes, people will be deceived by the illusion in front of them, such as Zhaozong at this time, in his scene, Han Quanzhu is a vicious villain, Li Maozhen is a chaotic minister and thief, and Zhu Wen outside the city is simply a big hero who walks on colorful auspicious clouds to save himself.
Zhaozong didn't know that in fact, the people in the city were just murderous straw bales, and the people outside the city were terrible, hypocritical heroes.
The emperors of the middle and late Tang Dynasty, especially the emperors of the late Tang Dynasty, their lives are like chaos that they can't get rid of, as if there is a pair of powerful hands controlling them everywhere all the time.
Xizong, Zhaozong, and even the former Suzong and Xuanzong, they asked themselves, what is the purpose of their displacement like this?
They can't answer their own questions, as if they're just wandering for the sake of being upside down.
This is also the sad thing about this Tang Emperor, he thought he had a lot of choices, but he didn't know that in the dark, his fate was actually doomed.