By the time of the Han Ling Emperor, the Eastern Han Empire was already the end of political decay. In the past, the laws followed in the operation of the country's political system have become the basis for certain political groups to grab benefits, and they can no longer play an effective role in the past. In the pursuit of short-term political interests in the immediate future, almost all political groups have been wiped out in this apocalyptic struggle. Empress He of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who originally lacked political experience and administrative ability, stepped into the core of Eastern Han politics in this context, and could not help but end in tragedy. Under the so-called nest cover, there will be no eggs!
Empress of butcher origin
Empress He of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a native of Wanxian County, Nanyang (present-day Nanyang, Henan). Her family was originally a butcher, her father He Zhen had always made a living by slaughtering sheep, and her mother's birth was also very low.
He Shi gradually grew up in such a family, and became a famous local beauty. Father He Zhen had the intention of relying on his daughter to get ahead. After the routine palace beauty pageant began, He Zhen bribed the eunuchs who came to choose with the money and wealth accumulated by slaughtering sheep, hoping to send his daughter to the palace. It is said that the butcher's family, from a lowly background, did not meet the requirements of the Han family's beauty pageant by the "good family son", but because the eunuch in charge of the matter was bribed, the He family was indeed extraordinary, so he selected her and sent her to the Yeting Palace.
It goes without saying that the fact that He Shi was able to enter the palace was the result of the political corruption of the Eastern Han Court, otherwise, if the eunuchs did things according to the regulations, He Shi would be a beautiful heavenly immortal and would not be elected to the harem.
At this time, the emperor of the dynasty was the Ling Emperor Liu Hong. He was originally the Marquis of Xieliting, but after Emperor Huan's death, he was proclaimed emperor by Empress Dou Miao, and Dou Miao took the title of empress dowager. Empress Dowager Dou's father, Dou Wuren,a general who wanted to join forces with imperial officials to wipe out the eunuchs, was killed by the eunuchs led by Cao Jie. Since then, eunuchs have become more arrogant and have become a powerful faction that controls the government and controls the emperor.
After He Shi entered the palace, in order to gain a firm foothold and see the situation, he paid great attention to establishing good relations with eunuchs. At this time, the so-called "Ten Constant Attendants" headed by Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong were the most prominent eunuchs. Emperor Ling once said shamelessly, "Zhang Rang is my father, and Zhao Zhong is my mother." "They manipulated the imperial court, plundered the people's land, built mansions, acted as a blessing for the sake of power, and suppressed the courtiers without any scruples. Since Emperor Huan, the so-called "scourge of the party" created by eunuchs has developed into a bloody massacre by this time. Many honest and loyal people in the imperial court were imprisoned and persecuted by eunuchs, such as Li Bing, who was known as the "model of the world", Du Mi, who was "a good assistant in the world", and Chen Fan, who was "not afraid of the strong and strong", all died because of the disaster of the party. Under the control of eunuchs, the Ling Emperor only knew greed, and in the "naked pavilion", day and night, indulged in pleasure, and compared himself to the gods. Once, when the eunuch Cao Jie told him that Li Bing, Du Mi, and others had formed a party, Emperor Ling asked, "What is the purpose of forming a party?" To form a party is to be a party member, and to plot against the party. He asked, "What is a misdeed?" It's completely confusing. Once, when Emperor Ling ascended the Houtai at the Yong'an Palace to look at luoyang city, the eunuch was afraid that he would see the gorgeous house they had built for himself in the city, so he said to him: "The son of heaven should not ascend to a high place, and if he ascends, the people will be scattered." From then on, the Ling Emperor really did not dare to take the stage and look at it from afar.
Since He Shi entered the palace, it was through these eunuchs that he was able to get closer and closer to the Ling Emperor and was deeply favored. Soon, she was worshipped as a nobleman. Soon, He gave birth to a son, Liu Zheng. Because most of the sons born to the Ling Emperor's palace died prematurely, the He clan did not dare to raise Liu Wei in the imperial palace anymore, but instead fostered him in the Shi Dao family, and did not call him "Prince", but only "Shi Hou".
At this time, Emperor Ling's empress was the Song clan, but she was not favored. He took the opportunity to contact other favored concubines to attack and slander Empress Song. Several eunuchs, including Zhongchang Shi Wangfu, also framed Empress Song for practicing witchcraft and demonization in the palace, and Emperor Ling believed it to be true. Empress Dowager Song was taken back and forced to go to the tyrannical chamber (a place where the Han Dynasty specially punished concubines and other laborers for crimes), and soon died of grief. In the third year of Guanghe (180), the favored He clan was made empress under the influence of eunuchs.
The empresses of the Eastern Han Dynasty were mainly chosen from the Yin and Deng clans of Nanyang (present-day Nanyang, Henan), the Dou clan of Fufeng Pingling (present-day Xianyang, Shaanxi), the Liang clan of the Anding Wu clan (present-day Pingliang, Gansu), and other descendants of the magnates. Like the He clan who was able to enter the middle palace as the daughter of a butcher, if it were not for the eunuch's doorway, I am afraid it would be difficult to reach the destination. This shows that the system of the Eastern Han Empire no longer operates according to the original rules, and the fact that He Shi can become an empress as the daughter of a butcher is naturally enough to show the weight of eunuchs in the social politics at that time.
After Empress He became the lord of the harem, according to the custom, her father was posthumously awarded the title of Cheqi General and Marquis Xuande of Wuyang, and her mother was also given the title of Wuyang Jun.
On the one hand, Empress He was respectful and respectful to the eunuchs, but on the other hand, she opened her teeth and danced her claws to the concubines of the harem, and she was extremely strong and jealous, and the six palaces were all shocked. There was a Wang Meiren (a concubine whose status was inferior to that of a nobleman) who was pregnant by emperor Ling because of her rich appearance, and after she was afraid of he, she found an abortion pill to take, and wanted to beat off the fetus herself to avoid causing trouble. Who knows, Wang Meiren took the medicine, only a few days of stomach pain, but the fetus was safe and sound. It is said that Wang Meiren once had a dream at night, dreaming that she was carrying the day on her back. She wondered in her heart, feeling that this was a good omen for the fetus. So she decided to take the risk and saved the child. In this way, Wang Meiren gave birth to a son in the fourth year of Guanghe (181), named Liu Xie (later Emperor Xian of Han). When Empress He learned of the situation, she was furious and blatantly killed Wang Meiren in the palace. When the Ling Emperor learned of this, he was furious and planned to depose her. At this time, He Hou was really frightened, and hurriedly found the eunuch Zhang Rang and others, begging them to help her intercede. Zhang Rang and others felt that Empress He Pingsu was very respectful to them, and now if they helped the empress through the difficulties, they would definitely be able to support the empress, thus further strengthening their position in the palace, so they decided to help. Zhang Rang and the others gave tens of millions of dollars of money and gold extorted from their daily lives to emperor Ling, and said many good things before emperor Ling gave up. After this time, there was no danger, escaped a disaster, and naturally had special respect for the eunuchs.
Empress Dong, the biological mother of Emperor Ling, was a famous money-hungry person in history, when there was a nursery rhyme in Luoyang City, "Chabanban, into the river, the hejian female worker counts money, and uses money as the room gold", which is a satire on this empress dowager. After the fall of the Dou clan, Empress Dong also began to interfere in the government. The most typical thing was that she persuaded her son Emperor Ling to openly sell his official position to make money. Except for the emperor, all officials in the world can buy it with money. The three princes asked for 10 million yuan, jiuqing 5 million, Guannei Hou, Hu Ben, Yulin Lang, etc. all had markets, all of which were clearly marked according to the rank of the official, and Tong Sou was not deceived, handing over money with one hand and giving it to the official with the other. From the first year of Guanghe (178), this kind of capitalless business made the Ling Emperor's mother and son make a lot of money, and the house was full. Later, it developed into that all officials had money to buy, and those who spent money to buy officials would naturally get their money back after they took office. In this way, the king is greedy like a tiger, the officials are greedy like a wolf, and the upper and lower levels are invaded, and it is the common people who have fallen. Even so, the Ling Emperor never stopped looting the people. Under the pretext of building a palace, he demanded a tax of ten dollars per acre of land, and put a heavy stone on the already breathless people.
Under the cruel oppression of the Ling Emperor, the anguished and sorrowful cries of the people everywhere called out to a "savior", who was the Taiping Taoist lord who called himself a great sage and good teacher, Zhang Jiao. Zhang Jiao used religion and medical techniques to secretly carry out propaganda and organization, and after more than ten years of preparation, he finally gathered a peasant uprising team with thirty-six parties, known as "the sky is dead, the yellow sky is standing, the age is in Jiazi, the world is auspicious", and in the year of Jiazi, that is, the first year of Zhongping (184), he raised the banner of uprising. They wrapped their heads in yellow turbans as a symbol, so they were called "Yellow Turban Army" in history. Together with the Yellow Turban Army, between the ten days, the world responded, and the Beijing Division shook. This uprising brought the Eastern Han Dynasty, which was already on the verge of collapse, to pieces. Although the main force of the Yellow Turban Army was eventually suppressed, in the process of the uprising, Yuan Shao of Ruyang, the son of the so-called "Fourth Dynasty and Three Dukes", and the great warlord Dong Zhuo and others rose one after another, indicating that the crisis of the eastern Han Dynasty's rule had reached its final moment. In this eventful autumn, there was also a fierce competition within the court for power.
The fighting method of luring wolves into the house
Empress He's half-brother He Jin (何進), who had taken advantage of the suppression of the Yellow Turban Army, was promoted to the post of general. Due to the power struggle, Empress He clashed with empress dowager Dong. The conflict between the two is different from the usual mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, they started with real character, and finally escalated to a knife and gun meeting, you live and die.
In fact, there was already a grudge between Empress He and Empress Dong. Originally, after He Hou poisoned Wang Meiren, Emperor Ling, fearing that his son Liu Xie would be unplanned, sent him to Yongle Palace and asked his mother Empress Dong to adopt him, known as Dong Hou. Emperor Ling often missed the unjustly deceased Wang Meiren, and once wrote "Chasing Virtue Fu" and "Ling Yi Song" to mourn her, and was very fond of his son Liu Xie, the Marquis of Dong. Although Empress He's son Shihou Liu Wei was older, Emperor Ling thought that Liu Wei was a frivolous man, lacking the dignity and dignity that a monarch should have, and it was difficult for him to be a human master. Dong Shi took the opportunity to persuade Emperor Ling to make Liu Xie crown prince. For this reason, Empress He gritted her teeth in hatred for her mother-in-law, Empress Dong. However, since Empress He was Liu Jie's biological mother and He Jin held military power, Emperor Ling did not easily decide on the choice of crown prince.
In the sixth year of Zhongping (189), Emperor Ling fell ill and died. Before his death, he entrusted Liu Xie's affairs to the eunuch Jian Shuo. Last year, Jian Shuo served as a lieutenant of the upper military academy, and with the post of marshal, he was subordinate to the lieutenant of the school, and was in charge of the forbidden army of the Beijing Division, although the great general He Jin also became his subordinate, which can be described as extremely powerful. In this way, the contradiction between foreign relatives and eunuchs became sharpened. The eunuch Jian Shuo was in complete agreement with Empress Dong in his attitude toward Liu Xie. Therefore, Jian Shuo set a trap and tried to get rid of the great general He Jin first, and then support Liu Xie.
After Jian Shuo made up his mind, he began to implement it.
On this day, when He Jin quickly walked to the palace gate, Pan Yin, a eunuch who was close to him, came up to him and gave him a look. He Jin was shocked to see this, he realized that things were not good, hurriedly turned around and ran back to the General's Mansion from the trail, ordered the troops to be on guard, and said that they were not sick. Knowing that the plan had been revealed, Jian Shuo had to abandon her original intention and allow Empress He to put her 14-year-old son Liu Zheng on the throne as The Young Emperor. This was an attempted coup d'état planned by eunuchs after Emperor Ling's death.
The Young Emperor took the throne and changed his name to Yuan Guangxi. Empress He became empress dowager and took the throne. She commissioned He Jin and Taifu Yuan Kui to be the scribes of The Shang Shu and assisted the government of the dynasty. In this round of competition, Empress Dong failed to fight the He clan, and Liu Xie, who was 9 years old born to Wang Meiren, had to bow to the wind and was crowned the King of Bohai. This situation in the court struggle also led to division within the eunuch clique. Afterwards, Jian Shuo was worried that He Jin would retaliate against him, so he wrote a letter to Zhao Zhong, a servant of Zhongchang, plotting to preemptively attack and want to join forces with Zhao Zhong to hunt down Ande Jin. However, Jian Shuo's secret letter was obtained by Guo Sheng, a close eunuch of Hou He, who together with Zhao Zhong reported it to He Jin. Soon, Jian Shuo was executed by He Jin's men. As soon as Shuo Shuo fell, Empress Dong lost her dependence in the palace, and for a while she was even more unable to change the status quo.
The wand that lost power in her hand lost the magic weapon to make money, and Empress Dong was indignant in her heart. Empress Dong's nephew Dong Chong, the Marquis of Xiuhou, was a general on horseback at the time, leading more than a thousand troops, and he was jealous of He Jinren as a great general, very unconvinced, and felt that he was also a foreign relative, so why was he under He Jin? The "clash of powers" prompted an escalation of conflict between the Empress Dowager Dong and the Empress Dowager He. In addition, at this time, there were also a group of eunuchs who attached themselves to Dong Zhong and formed party support with him, which made the problem more complicated.
Once, Empress Dowager Dong, who was embarrassed and angry, scolded He Hou in a harsh and vicious voice: "Look at your crazy appearance, flying and stumbling, isn't it because your brother He Jin is a great general?" Be careful, see if I don't let General Hussar take down He Jin's head!" Then there will be you who will have a good look. He Hou listened, did not argue with her, and only told He Jin the truth of the matter. He Jin naturally understood her intentions, so he used his favorable political identity to make a response. At the behest of He Jin, the Three Dukes of the Imperial Court and his younger brother He Miao, the che general, together with him, gave He Hou a note, saying: "The Dong clan was greedy for money and instructed his subordinates to embezzle the treasures handed over to the state treasury in various places and put them into their private pockets. After Dong Shi became the king of the domain, he should not have stayed in the capital division, but now that his evil deeds were obvious, he should move out of Yongle Palace and return to the hejian feudal state. Such an action seems both fair and solemn. He Hou received the recital table, a smile appeared on his face, and he immediately played it. He Hou understood what this decision meant for Dong. Sure enough, after He Jin received the approval, he immediately led his troops to surround the Hun Cavalry General's Mansion, captured Dong Zhong, and forced him to commit suicide. When Empress Dowager Dong saw the situation, she knew that the daughter-in-law of the current empress dowager, He Hou, had poisoned her, and she couldn't help but shiver, and a wave of fear struck her heart. Perhaps it was a rapid fire attack, she suddenly fell ill and died violently in the palace.
This court battle between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law ended with a victory. However, the political turmoil and struggle in the palace is still heating up sharply. It's really the trees that want to be quiet and the wind is not stopping.
Ever since he fell out with the eunuch Jian Shuo, He Jin always felt that all the eunuchs wanted to calculate him and had to oppose him. At this time, Yuan Shao, who had entered his subordinates and promoted to lieutenant of the Eight Lieutenants of the Western Garden Army, as a servant of Yushi and Hu Benzhonglang, blew a wind in his ear and said: "The general holds a strong army, you are the emperor's uncle, and there are handsome and famous soldiers under him, who are willing to serve the death force, and should do their best to curse the eunuchs and be famous for future generations." Now that the coffin of the Ling Emperor is in the front hall, the general should command the forbidden soldiers, and do not easily enter and exit the forbidden palace, so as not to be plotted by the eunuchs. He Jin felt that it was reasonable, so he followed the plan. Therefore, He Jin neither entered the palace to accompany the spirit to pay tribute, nor did he send a funeral to the Spirit Emperor. However, when he told Empress Dowager He about the idea of killing the eunuch, he was rejected. She said: "The eunuch who rules the forbidden province is the ancestral family law and cannot be repealed. Besides, the bones of the Spirit Emperor were not cold, how could a widow's family directly handle political affairs with those scholars and doctors! I had to rely on the eunuch to pay the edict for me. In fact, he hou considered that the eunuch's power was extremely great and could not be fundamentally shaken. Besides, if she can have today, is she not relying on Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, and a few other close eunuchs?! When He Jin saw that his sister did not agree, he planned to retreat to the second place and kill several of the most indulgent and evil eunuchs to make an example. Yuan Shao thought that this was only a futile effort: "Eunuchs who are close to the supreme being and who enter and exit orders will be troubled if they are not exhausted." ”
It happened that at this juncture, He Hou's mother Wu Yangjun and her younger brother He Miao also heard the wind. It turned out that they had always been bribed by eunuchs, and when they heard that He Jin was going to destroy the eunuchs, they went into the palace together to see He Hou and intercede for the eunuchs. Five times and three times like this, the mother and son also reminded He Hou to pay attention to He Jin's actions, saying: "The great general has the monopoly of power and power, and kills left and right without permission, which is harmful to the society." When He Hou heard his mother say this, he even disagreed with He Jin's plan. He Jin ascended to heaven step by step from the son of a butcher, and he was originally jealous of the eunuchs who were the prince of the marquis and the eunuchs inside and outside the country, and now he did not get the permission of the empress dowager, and even the relatives in the family did not approve of it.
Yuan Shao saw that the matter was deadlocked, and gave Advice to He Jin: "Now that the situation is on the string, He Jin is murdering the Ten Constant Attendants, if he wants to win the support of the Empress, he should use the power of the Great General to recruit the four fierce generals and the soldiers and horses of the various roads, let them march to the Beijing Division, and coerce the Empress." He Jin felt good. However, the strategist Chen Lin said: "The great general must not recruit and dispatch troops from other places. Otherwise, when the soldiers gather, the strong are the strong, and the so-called inverted gango gives people a handle. In this way, not only will the authoritarian power of the great general be swept away, but it will also cause great chaos. This plan is tantamount to luring a wolf into the house, and it will surely eat its own consequences. He Jin, who was self-conscious, did not heed Chen Lin's advice, and went so far as to order the conscription and dispatch of the prefecture governor Dong Zhuo from Hedong (present-day Taiyuan), and at the same time summoned TaishouQiao of Dong Commandery (東郡太守桥) out of Tunchenggao (屯成皋, in present-day XingyangXi, Henan), and sent Wu Mengdu Wei Dingyuan to lead thousands of people to Hanoi (present-day Qinyang, Henan) and burn Mengjin (present-day southwest of Mengxian County, Henan), and the light of the fire shone like daylight in the city. Suddenly, the army mobilized its defenses, clamored inside and outside, and made a noise, all of which declared that they would do their best to punish the eunuchs. But even in such a situation, He Hou still did not agree with He Jin's attack on the eunuchs.
He Jin saw that the plan to coerce the empress dowager with a large army had not worked, so he hesitated again. At this time, his younger brother He Miao advised him again: "When our brothers came to Luoyang from Nanyang, they all relied on eunuchs to get rid of poverty and go rich and noble, and how could family affairs and state affairs be so easy?" As the saying goes, water is hard to harvest. In the current situation, where to go, please think twice. In my opinion, it is better to shake hands with the eunuchs and make peace, so as to ensure that there is nothing wrong with each other. When He Jin heard these words, he lost his claim even more and was shaken. He began to wonder if it was worth it for him to listen to the plans of Yuan Shao and others, and what benefits would he get afterwards? Yuan Shao saw that He Jin was hesitant, but he was afraid that he would change his mind, so he threatened him: "Where is there a turning arrow when you open a bow?" Having already fallen out with these eunuchs, how could they get back together? The situation has become clear, what are you waiting for? Do you want to repeat the mistakes of the Dou clan (Emperor Huan's empress Dowager Dou Miao) and wait to die? Originally, He Jin had ordered Dong Zhuo, who had entered Shichi (渑池, in modern Shichi, Henan), to stop advancing, listened to Yuan Shao's words, and changed his mind again. He Jin simply appointed Yuan Shao as a lieutenant colonel, granted full authority, and allowed him to take matters into his own hands. After Yuan Shao received the order, he immediately urged Dong Zhuochi to play the empress dowager, asking her to order the eunuchs to be killed and to make his soldiers Jinping optimistically on standby. In fact, Yuan Shao's move was still to coerce the empress dowager to agree to attack the eunuchs.
Sure enough, in this way, He Hou felt that things were not good. She was afraid that once the army entered the city, everything would be difficult to clean up, and she was forced to drive the eunuchs such as Zhongchang Shi and Xiao Huangmen out of the palace, asking them to return the Lishe each, leaving only a few people who were close to He Jin to serve in the palace.
When Zhang Rang and the others went to He Jin's mansion to apologize, Yuan Shao persuaded He Jin to take the opportunity to execute them all. However, no matter what Yuan Shao said, this time He Jin did not agree. He Jin said to Zhang Rang and the others: "The world is turbulent because of you. Now that Dong Zhuo's army is coming, you might as well go back to your own feudal kingdom as soon as possible!" He Jin meant that he wanted to drive Zhang Rang out of the Beijing Division, so he gave up and did not want to kill them all. However, at this time, Yuan Shao had already ordered the local prefectures and counties to start hunting down the eunuchs' relatives under the banner of He Jin. Since the two sides have met each other, they can no longer get along peacefully.
The same end
When the eunuchs realized that this was a conspiracy to eventually wipe them out, they turned their fears into joint efforts and prepared to fight back. He Jin's hesitation in his attitude toward eunuchs, and the different attitudes of He Hou and his family toward eunuchs, provided a good opportunity for eunuchs to organize a counterattack. In the end, this also brought ruin to the Empress Dowager He.
In the words, Chang Shi Zhang let him see that bad luck was about to come, and suddenly remembered that the sister of the Empress Dowager He was the wife of his adopted son, and he felt that contacting He Hou through this relationship might be saved. As if he had caught a life-saving straw, Zhang Rang hurriedly summoned his daughter-in-law. In front of his daughter-in-law, Zhang Rang pounced on his knees. The daughter-in-law was overwhelmed by his move, paused for a moment, and then avoided it, and bowed down: "What do you command, even if you say it explicitly, how can you perform this great gift?" Zhang Rang said to his daughter-in-law, "I am a guilty minister, and I should have thought about it at home." But I was greatly favored by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and once I was far away from the palace and fell in love, I wished that I could once again go to the palace to see Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, serve her for a few days, and then retire to the wilderness and desert, and there would be no regrets. "Say it, the old tears flow. The daughter-in-law was touched by Zhang Rang's words, so she went to see her mother Wu Yangjun. After Wu Yangjun heard this, he was also very moved, and the two immediately entered the palace to see He Hou. He Hou had previously expelled Zhang Rang and other eunuchs who were originally forced to be helpless, and at this moment, seeing that the eunuchs were completely sincere to themselves, they did not think twice at all, and immediately ordered Zhang Rang and other constant attendants to enter the palace and serve themselves. This incident shows that the He family, who came from a butcher background, completely lack experience in political struggle and are completely ignorant of the laws of political struggle.
As soon as Zhang Rang and other eunuchs entered the palace, like a fierce tiger returning to the mountain, they immediately began to arrange a counterattack.
One day in August of this year (the first year of Guangxi, 189), He Jin, who had not entered the palace for several months, suddenly came to the Changle Palace where He Hou lived, and directly proposed to He Hou that he should kill all these zhongchang attendants. As soon as he entered the palace, he aroused the vigilance of Zhang Rang, Duan Jue, and other zhongchang attendants, who sent people to eavesdrop on the conversation between the two and reacted immediately. Zhang Rang led dozens of people armed with blades and quietly ambushed from the side gate into the gate of the forbidden province. When He Jin came out of the Changle Palace, Zhang Rang falsely claimed that the empress dowager had another edict calling him to the forbidden province and tricking He Jin into going to the Jiade Palace. The eunuchs, who had already made preparations, rushed up and surrounded He Jin in the center, and Zhang Rang and the others pointed at his nose and scolded: "You, the next three abuses who came from a sheep killer, have forgotten how today's wealth and glory came from?" When the wings harden, they are ungrateful. Is the collapse of the world just the sins of those of us? You say that I am waiting for the filth, and who is loyal and innocent among the secretaries of state and the hundred officials? Zhang Rang's number of falls is one sentence for the corruption of Eastern Han politics. As soon as the words fell, Shangfang Supervisor Qu Mu took a sword forward and cut off He Jin's head. Then the eunuchs closed the palace gates, refused to hold the middle yellow gate, and set up a decisive battle.
Soon, the news of He Jin's murder spread outside the palace. Yuan Shao's cousin Hu Benzhonglang immediately attacked Yuan Shu into the palace. At this time, the sun had set in the west and the twilight was dark, so Yuan Shu simply sent people to burn the palace gate and the east and west palaces of the Southern Palace in an attempt to force Zhang Rang to leave the palace. In the darkness of the night, the flames soared into the sky, and Zhang Rang hurried to the Changle Palace to report to He Hou: "The soldiers and horses under the great general have rebelled, are burning the palace, attacking the palace province, the situation is critical, please ask Your Majesty the Empress Dowager to leave the palace for a while to hide." He Hou did not know the truth, so he and the Young Emperor Liu Jie, Chen Liu Wang (King of Bohai) Liu Xie and other cadres were held hostage by Zhang Rang and ran from Fudao (the secret passage in the palace) to the North Palace. At this time, Shangshu Lu Zhi rushed with a spear and saved He Hou.
Outside the palace, He Miao and Yuan Shao had already hunted down Zhao Zhong and others. He Jin's confidant Wu Kuang resented He Miao for not sharing the same heart with He Jin, and suspected that he was conspiring with eunuchs, so he led troops to attack and kill He Miao together with Dong Zhuo's brother Dong Min, and abandoned He Miao's body in the palace garden. Yuan Shao sent troops to close the gate of the Northern Palace, caught turtles in urns, arrested all the eunuchs, and then executed them all, young and old. In this great purge, more than 2,000 eunuchs were killed. It is said that some people were even killed as eunuchs for not having a beard.
After Zhang Rang and the others were rescued by He Hou, they still held the Shao Emperor hostage and fled by night to Xiaopingjin (小平津, in modern Gong County, Henan). Who knows, Lu Zhi and Min Gong and others then chased after them, and Zhang Rang and others were cornered and jumped into the river to commit suicide. At this point, the eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty were completely slaughtered.
At this time, Dong Zhuo had already led a large army to the west of Luoyang City, and in the distance he saw the city's flames soaring into the sky, knew that there was a change, and urgently ordered the army to rush straight to Luoyang City. When dawn was approaching, he had reached the west gate of Luoyang City. Tanma reported that the young emperor was in the north of the city, so he turned his horse's head and came north of the city. Under the Northern Qi, Dong Zhuo met with the Young Emperor, Lu Zhi and others. Dong Zhuo saw that when he arrived in Luoyang, he was close to the end of this massacre, and wanted to fight for a miracle, so he planned to use his own troops to support Liu Xie and depose the Young Emperor. When he proposed the abolition of the establishment, he was immediately opposed by Yuan Shao, Lu Zhi, and others, but under his obscenity, Yuan Shao was forced to flee to Ji prefecture (冀州, in modern Southwest Linzhang, Hebei), and Lu Zhi also fled to Shanggu (上谷, in modern Yi County, Hebei) after lu zhi was relieved of his official duties, and no one in the dprk dared to object. In this way, Dong Zhuo can do whatever he wants.
In September of the first year of Guangxi (189), in the Chongde Front Hall of Luoyang Palace, Dong Zhuo took the opportunity of the Qunchen Dynasty to coerce He Hou and ask her to depose the Young Emperor Liu Wei as the King of Hongnong and establish Liu Xie as emperor instead. In this situation, although He Shi was the empress dowager, he had no choice but to be at the mercy of Dong Zhuo. As a result, the Young Emperor was helped down to the Golden Palace, made the King of Hongnong, and declared a vassal in the north, and Liu Xie was pushed to the throne, that is, Emperor Xian of Han.
Dong Zhuo did whatever he wanted and abused the imperial court, he Hou looked in his eyes and hated it in his heart, but he dared to be angry and did not dare to speak. He Hou was above the main hall, but he was choking up and drooling, and weeping with tears of pain. She may have been lamenting and resenting He Jin's incompetence, but she had lured Dong Zhuo, a vicious wolf, to the imperial court, but in the end she was angry with him. The Manchu Dynasty Wen wu in the main hall also had sorrow and pain, but because of Dong Zhuo's obscenity, no one dared to speak out loud.
After supporting Emperor Xiandi to ascend the throne, Dong Zhuo felt that the empress dowager who was still in the court was a bit of a hindrance, so he opened a knife to her and shook out the discord between He and Dong's mother-in-law. He said: "The empress dowager forced Yongle Palace (Empress Dong) to die of sorrow, which was contrary to the etiquette of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Subsequently, he moved the empress dowager He shi to the Yong'an Palace, paving the way for his next monopoly of the government. Dong Zhuo seemed to have great power, calling himself Tai wei (also known as Taishi in the following year), jia yu (meaning that he could kill exclusively), Hu Ben and other names, and presided over the amnesty of the emperor, changing his era name to "Yong Han". This year was actually the sixth year (189) of Emperor Zhongping of the Ling Emperor. After the Young Emperor Liu Wei was appointed, he twice changed the yuan to Guangxi and Zhaoning, and in September of that year, Dong Zhuo changed the Yonghan era name for Emperor Xian, and there were four era names in a year. The problem is that after changing to "Yonghan", this era name was not used until the end of the year, and in December, "the third number of Guangxi, Zhaoning, and Yonghan was removed, and the sixth year of Zhongping was restored", and finally it was changed back to the sixth year of The Ling Emperor Zhongping. The chaos of the government this year can be seen.
The day after He Shi was deposed, he was sent by Dong Zhuo to kill him. Dong Zhuo only ordered Emperor Xian to go to the Fengchang Pavilion in the city to mourn, nor did he order the secretary of state to serve the funeral, and on the day of burial, the secretary of state only wore white clothes, and it was not a funeral at all.
He Hou's death can be described as cold and cold.
He Hou had just entered the ground, and his younger brother He Miao was thrown away by Dong Zhuo in a coffin and abandoned on the side of the road. Her mother, Wu Yangjun, was also killed and thrown into the bushes of the palace garden, where she died without a place to die. The whole family of the He clan was killed in the door and died with the eunuchs. Soon, He Hou's son, the deposed Young Emperor Liu Wei of Hongnong, was also poisoned by Dong Zhuo's men.
It is said that when the Young Emperor Liu Wei was dying, he once sang a sad song to his wife Tang Ji: "Heavenly Dao is easy to make me difficult!" Abandon wan multiplier and retreat to the domain. The rebels saw that the life of the rebel was not delayed, and the death would go to Ru Xi Shi Yu Xuan. ”
Soon after, the world's Haojie raised troops in the name of Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo saw that the Kwantung region was under heavy pressure, so he simply set fire to the Han family's Zongmiao temple and chengguo in Luoyang, and abducted Emperor Xiandi to move west to Chang'an, while forcing the people to accompany him. Soon, the perverse Dong Zhuo was killed in a cry of controversy, and the three tribes were destroyed. Since then, it has been even more powerful and divided, the princes have risen together, the world has become a chaotic mess, and the emperor has completely become a small puppet at the mercy of others. The Eastern Han Dynasty has since survived in name only. It was not until the first year of Yankang (220), cao cao's son Cao Pi, forced emperor Xian to establish a state, and the Eastern Han Dynasty died. Since then, the three kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Sun Wu have been established, and it has been decades in a flash. The heroes appeared on the scene, fought and killed endlessly, and deduced a vigorous heroic legend.
![There are finished eggs under the nest[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)