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In October of the fourth year of Jianning (171 years), after the Huangmen ordered Dong Meng to meet the Empress Dowager Dou in the Ling Emperor's court, he repeatedly complained for the Empress Dowager Dou in front of the Ling Emperor, and the Ling Emperor accepted Dong Meng's opinion, often sent him to visit the Empress Dowager Dou, and greatly increased the worship of the Empress Dowager Dou.
Seeing that Emperor Ling uncharacteristically completely ignored the wishes of Cao Jie, Wang Fu and other eunuchs, and went to see the Empress Dowager Dou, Dong Meng, who was already in a struggle with Cao Jie and Wang Fu, tried to cater to Emperor Ling through the above actions, so as to seek factors that could help him win.
However, under the circumstance that the issue of the Empress Dowager has become the focus of the contradiction and struggle between the upright bureaucrats and the eunuch clique, no matter what purpose Dong Meng has for helping the Empress Dowager Dou speak, he has actually touched the fundamental interests of the eunuch clique, which has committed an unforgivable crime against the eunuch clique to which he belongs.
Soon, Cao Jie, Wang Fu and others falsely accused Dong Meng, saying that he curried favor with Empress Dowager Dou everywhere and slandered Emperor Ling's biological mother, Empress Dowager Dong, and Dong Meng was executed for this.
Dong Meng's death undoubtedly announced to people that the powerful eunuchs will never allow anyone to make a fuss about the queen mother.
1. Hou Lan's death
The eunuchs executed Dong Meng, for the courtiers who opposed them, it may have played a role in killing one hundred for a while, but I don't know if the eunuchs thought of it, Dong Meng's death will also make Emperor Ling feel strongly uneasy!
That strong feeling of uneasiness would of course cause the Spirit Emperor to hate and even hate the eunuchs who restricted his freedom.
On the issue of dealing with Empress Dowager Dou, Emperor Ling felt that they were clearly starting from their own interests, and they did not consider and understand Emperor Ling's hardships at all.
Although the excesses of the eunuchs did not make Emperor Ling feel terrible, after all, they caused Emperor Lingdi to a certain degree of disgust and hatred. It should be under the domination of this emotion that Emperor Ling began to realize that he could not have no restrictions on the eunuchs he relied on.
In April of the first year of Xiping (172 years), a green snake fell from the sky, lying on the throne, and did not go for a long time, which is not an auspicious omen! For this reason, Emperor Ling also ordered the ministers to discuss the gains and losses of the government, so as to improve the government and eliminate the changes.
Since Emperor Ling's accession to the throne, there have been a series of incidents of eunuch massacres and framing of dissidents, and as a result, there has been a situation in the imperial court where the eunuchs hoped for all the people to be together. Although Emperor Ling repeatedly emphasized that the discussion of politics should be "secretive", no one dared to provoke those eunuchs for a while. Only Guangluxun Yang Ci wrote a letter to denounce the eunuchs and suggested that the eunuchs should be suppressed to eliminate the "snake change".
Emperor Ling actually appreciated Yang Ci's words very much and adopted his suggestion. Yang Ci's grandfather Yang Zhen and father Yang Bing are both known for their uprightness, and they are important ministers who fully "support the royal family" and "assist the government and help the people".
At the beginning of Emperor Ling's accession to the throne, the three dukes unanimously recommended Yang Ci, who was proficient in Confucianism and had a noble character, as Emperor Ling's teacher, and Emperor Ling had always respected his teacher. On the one hand, this effect of Yang Ci's book is naturally inseparable from the special relationship between Yang Ci and Emperor Ling, and on the other hand, what Yang Ci said in his book is in line with Emperor Ling's desire to restrict his power.
This kind of "conformity" undoubtedly made Emperor Ling feel a kind of encouragement, and it prompted Emperor Ling to quickly put his desire to restrict the eunuchs into action for the first time.
Under Emperor Ling's policy of restricting the power of eunuchs, Hou Lan, who was once the vanguard of reviving the "party disaster" and slaughtering the "party members", handed in bad luck. The eunuch Hou Lan, with his unique clever words and flattery and sinister cunning, became a regular attendant in the early years of Emperor Huan. For many years, he has been corrupt and perverted the law, although Yang Bing, Zhai Chao and other ministers have repeatedly impeached him, but he always has the ability to turn the danger into a disaster.
After the second "party disaster", due to the slaughter of the party, he was also a regular servant and a servant of the Changle Palace, which was even more arbitrary and arrogant. In May of that year, someone played Hou Lan's autocratic power and arrogance, and Emperor Ling ordered Hou Lan to collect the "seal ribbon" to investigate his crimes, and Hou Lan committed suicide in fear of crime. An invincible eunuch perished, and all his henchmen were deposed.
Hou Lan's death seems to have regained a sense of crisis among the eunuchs. However, they always manage to get through the crisis.
2. The death of the Empress Dowager Dou
In June, Empress Dowager Dou died of illness in Nangong. With the aim of getting out of the crisis and preserving themselves, the eunuchs made the battle over the "funeral" of the empress dowager extremely fierce.
When discussing the issue of the funeral Empress Dowager Dou, Cao Jie and Wang Fu asked Emperor Ling to use a noble person to perform the funeral, but Emperor Ling made it clear:
"The Queen Mother personally bowed down and inherited the great cause. Shiyun: 'No virtue is not rewarded, no words are not rewarded.' 'Shall you end up with a nobleman?' ”
So, the coffin was like a ritual, and the mourning was mourned. When the Empress Dowager Dou was about to be buried, Cao Jie and others planned to lower the specifications and enter the spiritual seat of Feng Guiren to match Emperor Huan. In the face of such presumptuous eunuchs, although Emperor Ling was very angry, but because he still had to rely on eunuchs after all, it was inconvenient to completely turn his face with them, so he ordered the ministers to gather for the funeral of the queen mother, and wanted to use the power of the ministers to restrain the eunuchs.
When Tai Lieutenant Li Xianzheng was bedridden due to illness, after hearing about the "assembly", he immediately got up and wanted to go to the DPRK to participate in the assembly.
Before leaving, he carried the poison and said goodbye to his wife: "If the queen mother is not allowed to eat Emperor Huan, I will not survive." ”
Hundreds of ministers gathered together, and everyone saw the gloomy face of the eunuch Zhao Zhong in their eyes, so the ministers looked at each other for a long time when they began to gather, and no one dared to speak first.
Although Taiwei Li Xian had made up his mind to fight desperately for the Empress Dowager Dou's reputation, the depressing atmosphere in the hall made him dare not speak first for a while.
This situation made the eunuchs who supervised the deliberations think that they could win the battle, so Zhao Zhong urged in a strange way: "Now that the secretary of state has arrived, he should make a decision immediately!" ”
Zhao Zhong's smug appearance made Tingwei Chen Qiu unable to hold back any longer, and immediately took Zhao Zhong's words and said:
"There is no doubt that the queen mother is a good family and a mother in the world, and she is suitable for the first emperor!"
Facing Chen Qiu, who dared to sing against the stage, Zhao Zhongpi didn't smile, and said in a threatening tone: "Chen Tingwei has this proposal, why not put pen to paper?" ”
Chen Qiu immediately took the pen and paper and wrote hard. Zhao Zhong read Chen Qiu's book, his face changed suddenly, so he pretended to be calm, and said with a threat in his words: "Ting Wei is really bold to create this proposal!" ”
At this time, Chen Qiu no longer had any worries, and took the opportunity to spit out the words in Yu Ji's chest vividly:
"Chen (Fan) and Dou (Wu) are both wronged, the queen mother is claustrophobic for no reason, the ministers are often sad, and the world is indignant. In today's words, retreat and suffer sin, the wish of the past! ”
Chen Qiu's impassioned Shen said that the atmosphere of the court was immediately reversed, and all the ministers in the hall rose up to echo Chen Qiu's suggestion.
After the assembly, Cao Jie, Wang Fu and others were still unwilling, and in front of Emperor Ling, they invoked the example of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Empress Wei and Emperor Huan Liang Empress who were not allowed to eat the first emperor due to their crimes, and strived to cancel the qualification of Empress Dowager Dou to serve Emperor Huan.
Taiwei Li Xian wrote-for-tat to fight for the fame and qualifications of the Empress Dowager Dou. Emperor Ling then took Li Xian's recital and told Cao Shu and others forcefully: "Although the Dou family is unreasonable, and the Queen Mother is virtuous, it is not appropriate to dethrone." ”
This brought an end to the "funeral dispute" of the Empress Dowager Dou.
3. The "contrast" between Liu Meng and Duan Cheng
In the autumn of the first year of Xiping (172), an anonymous notice appeared in the Imperial Palace, stating:
"The world is in turmoil, Cao Jie and Wang Fu killed the Queen Mother, Chang Hou Lan killed many party members, the ministers are all corpses, and there is no one who is loyal."
It is also impossible to say who posted this notice, and its appearance gave the eunuchs an opportunity to make a fuss. In the eyes of Emperor Ling, this was a contempt and challenge to the emperor's power, and Emperor Ling certainly could not tolerate it.
Regarding the "chaos in the world" claimed by the notice, Emperor Ling would think that it contained the evil intention of "fearing that the world would not be chaotic", and "chaos in the world" meant that the imperial power and throne were unstable.
Therefore, this vicious curse made the Spirit Emperor even more angry. This notice, which Emperor Ling was most intolerable, was precisely from the position of the "party members".
In this way, the eunuchs will be extremely convenient and natural to help Emperor Ling to associate the "danger of the party" from the notice. This will not only prove how effectively the eunuchs' suppression of the "party members" in the past has effectively protected the interests of Emperor Ling, but will once again prove the loyalty of the eunuchs to Emperor Ling.
The eunuchs immediately acted as a spearhead in the investigation of the "anonymous notice" incident. Emperor Ling's edict ordered Liu Meng, the lieutenant of Si Li, to strictly investigate this incident. Liu Meng was extremely dissatisfied with the eunuchs' massacre of "party members" in the past, and did not seriously investigate them, so he pursued them for more than a month without results.
So, at the instigation of the eunuchs, Emperor Ling issued another edict: demote Liu Meng to the counselor, and replace Liu Meng with Duan Cheng in the imperial history as the lieutenant of the school. Duan Cheng was originally a famous general of the Eastern Han Dynasty who had experienced a hundred battles, but in order to protect his wealth and wealth, he always flattered and conspired with eunuchs. Duan Cheng adhered to the eunuch's will, and as soon as he took office, he immediately led people to investigate everywhere, and as a result, he actually arrested more than 1,000 students for this anonymous notice.
In the investigation of the "anonymous notice" incident, although Cao Jie, Wang Fu and others tried their best, they believed that the expected goal had not been achieved.
After the quick arrest of the students, the eunuchs colluded with Duan Cheng and punished Liu Meng, who had rebelled against their will, but many courtiers stood up for Liu Meng, and Liu Meng was not only exempted from punishment, but was immediately requisitioned by Emperor Ling. Liu Meng's matter made the eunuchs find out that their weight in the eyes of the Spirit Emperor was far less important than they expected.
In order to increase their weight, the eunuchs hatched a major conspiracy.
4. Bohai Wang conspired against the case
Bohai Wang Kui is the younger brother of Emperor Huan. Emperor Huan is the eldest son of Liu Yi, the Marquis of Liwu in Hejian, and after he entered the throne, his younger brother Liu Kui was enthroned as the Marquis of Liwu. Later, because Liu Hong, the king of Bohai, had no children, he changed to Liu Hong's posthumous title and became the king of Bohai.
In the eighth year of Yanxi (165), he was demoted to the rank of Marquis of Liao Tao for his crimes. In order to seek the restoration of the country, Liu Kui often sent people to Beijing to deal around, bribed Wang Fu, a regular servant of the middle school, to intercede with Emperor Huan on his behalf, and promised that if he could restore the country, he would thank him for 50 million yuan. Before Emperor Huan died, he really reinstated Liu Kui as the king of Bohai. The happy Kui soon found out that the reason for the resealing was that Emperor Huan cared about family affection, not Wang Fu's credit, so he regarded the "contract" of 50 million yuan as invalid.
Where can Wang Fu, who is greedy, allow people to rely on "accounts", so he has always been obsessed with this large amount of "bribe debts".
In October of the first year of Xiping (172), Shangshu ordered Zheng Sa, a regular servant in Lian Zhongzhong, to "seek to welcome Likui, and go against the grain". Lian Zhong's recital caused Emperor Ling to fall into an extraordinary pain and uneasiness, and scenes of the past clearly surfaced in his mind.
Liu Kui is not a peaceful person, and he has never been willing to be lonely. When Emperor Huan, he relied on himself as the emperor's brother, and he did not abide by his duty as a Kuang man everywhere, and liked to make friends with those unambitious and fierce people outside, and often gathered groups of people at home.
For the arrogant and lawless Liu Kui, "the state department does not dare to impeach and correct, and Fu Xiang cannot Kuang Fu", and Shi Bi, the middle marquis of the Northern Army, once wrote a letter for this, asking Emperor Huan to punish Liu Kui in order to prevent trouble. However, Emperor Huan indulged his younger brother, so that he finally committed the crime of "conspiracy".
At the beginning, as soon as Emperor Ling ascended the throne, rumors from outside spread into the palace, saying that Bohai Wang Kui was very indignant and deliberately misbehaved for not being made emperor. Later, I heard that he hooked up very tightly with Zheng Sa, a regular servant in Zhongchang, and Dong Teng in Zhonghuangmen.
And Zheng Sa and Dong Teng are famous for their negative spirit and righteousness, and they have a wide range of contacts outside.
The more Emperor Ling thought about it, the more frightened he became, and even conjured up all kinds of terrible scenes of Liu Kui usurping the throne, and shuddered at this, thinking that the rebellion of the clan that he had been worried about and guarded against had finally become a reality.
Emperor Ling's reaction to the "Liu Kui rebellion" incident was basically expected by Wang Fu, Cao Jie and others, and even Emperor Ling's psychological activities on this issue seemed to be clearly understood by Wang Fu and others.
5. Bohai Wang Kui died tragically
Wang Fu, who has a grudge against Bohai Wang Kui, has been secretly collecting and snagging Bohai Wang Kui's faults and crimes, and Wang Fu and others have long known Bohai Wang Kui's every move.
According to the past of Bohai Wang Kui's "arrogance and lawlessness" and what he has done since Emperor Ling's accession to the throne, coupled with the rumors that "Bohai Wang Kui deliberately misbehaved", with the skills of the eunuchs, they could have directed a horror drama of "clan rebellion" that was enough to make Emperor Ling's heart tremble, but they did not easily kick off this horror drama, but sought and waited for the most suitable opportunity.
A series of events since Emperor Ling's disposal of Hou Lan caused Wang Fu, Cao Jie and others to have a more and more serious sense of crisis.
In the "Anonymous Notice" incident, although they showed absolute loyalty to the Spirit Emperor, the effect was not satisfactory, so they were ready to seize the opportunity that the Spirit Emperor had not yet completely freed themselves from the negative effects of the "Anonymous Notice" incident, and lost no time in throwing out the conspiracy of "Bohai King Kui Rebellion", so that the Spirit Emperor knew that his throne was always in danger.
As a result, Wang Fu and others instructed Duan Cheng, the captain of Sili, to arrest Zheng Sa and others in prison, and at the same time instructed Shangshu Lian Zhong to falsely accuse Zheng Sa of conspiring against Bohai Wang Kui.
Deeply troubled by fear and hatred, Emperor Ling, in order to set an example, decided to use the harshest means to punish the "clan rebellion" incident he faced for the first time since he ascended the throne.
Emperor Ling's edict to assassinate Jizhou first arrested Bohai Wang Kui and imprisoned him, and severely tortured him; Then he sent Da Honglu, Zongzheng, Tingwei and other important members of the imperial court to Bohai to force Bohai Wang Kui to commit suicide. He had 11 wives and concubines, 70 children, and 24 maids, all of whom were killed in prison, and Fu Xiang of Bohai and all his subordinates were also killed.
The period of Guangwu and Emperor Ming was a period of strict prevention and control of the clan, but at that time, even if there was real evidence for the rebellion of the clan, as long as it did not pose an actual threat to the imperial power, Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Ming, who was known for his harshness, both implemented relatively lenient policies, and never carried out bloody and cruel suppression of all the doors.
From this comparison, it can be clearly seen that due to the deliberate efforts of the eunuchs, even the "rebellion incident" that catches the wind and shadows is enough to cause deep trauma and great pain to the extremely weak and sensitive Spirit Emperor.
In the years that followed, although Emperor Ling was troubled by the "unjust soul" of Bohai Wang Kui from time to time, until he was dying, Emperor Ling refused to forgive Bohai Wang Kui who died unjustly.
The degree of fear brought to Emperor Ling by the incident of "King Bohai's rebellion" directly determined the degree of gratitude and reliance of Emperor Ling to the heroes who solved this "rebellion case".
Wang Fu, Cao Jie and other 12 people were richly rewarded, Wang Fu was named the champion marquis, Cao Jie increased the number of fiefs by 4,600 households, and the total number of fiefdoms he owned before was only 3,000. Many of the eunuchs' fathers, brothers and sons became ministers and colonels and shepherds and commanders as a result. Duan Cheng was also promoted from Sili Lieutenant to Tai Lieutenant, and 4,000 households were added.
6, the death of Cao Luan
The killing of Bohai Wang Kui not only consolidated the position of the eunuch group and greatly increased its power, but more importantly, this incident had a significant and far-reaching impact on some of the decisions of the Ling Emperor.
If it is said that the profound historical lessons of the Liang family's abuse of power and the five marquis to help Emperor Huan to eliminate the Liang family prompted Emperor Ling to form the idea of relying on eunuchs to consolidate imperial power, then the reality that he was able to get rid of the "throne crisis" again and again by relying on the help of eunuchs made the guiding ideology of Emperor Ling's dependence on eunuchs more deep-rooted.
Therefore, in the years of Emperor Ling's reign, no matter what the circumstances, Emperor Ling would never allow the status of the eunuchs to be shaken in any way.
After the killing of Bohai Wangkui, Emperor Ling became more sensitive to anyone and anything that harmed or endangered the imperial power.
In this context, in April of the fifth year of Xiping (176), Yongchang Taishou Cao Luan presented such a recital:
The husband and the party, or the elderly, or the well-dressed and virtuous, are all suitable for the royal family, and the left and right are also the big ones, and they have been imprisoned for a long time and humiliated in the mud. Plotting rebellion and rebellion, he is still forgiven, what is the crime of the party, only forgiveness! Therefore, disasters and disasters are frequent, and floods and droughts are recommended, all because of Si. It is advisable to add Peiran and vice the heart of heaven.
Generally speaking, the emperor's admonition is best effected by "silent admonition" that is neither resentful nor conspicuous. Any drastic and straightforward wording would undermine the authority and dignity of the emperor, and the positive effect of the admonition would often be diminished or even counterproductive by offending the dragon's face.
Cao Luan's book made Emperor Ling angry because it was too straightforward. As a result, Emperor Ling immediately ordered the lieutenant of Sili and the assassin of Yizhou to arrest Cao Luan, and Cao Luan was tortured to death in prison. Immediately afterwards, Emperor Ling ordered the prefectures and counties to re-investigate the protégés and former officials of the "party people" and the relatives of the five clans of the "party people", and all those who were in the official position were exempted from official imprisonment.
I am afraid that the fact that such a serious incident can be triggered by a book on paper is not just caused by "direct admonition".
The deeper reason that led to the torture to death of the author and the expansion of the "party system" was Emperor Ling's fear of "unstable throne" after the so-called "Bohai Wang Kui's rebellion".
At this time, someone overturned the case for the "party members" of "Tuwei Sheji", which of course reminded Emperor Ling of whether there was a conspiracy of "Tuwei Sheji" hidden behind Cao Luan's book. Maybe the repeated torture of Cao Luan was precisely to track down the conspiracy that Emperor Ling had subjectively conjected.
Once Emperor Ling more and more closely linked the "party people" with the "dangerous society", then any wind and grass may trigger the disaster of persecution of the "party people".
(End of text)
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