In the first year of Yongkang (167), the faint-hearted Emperor Huan of Han died suddenly, at the age of thirty-six.
Emperor Huan of Han inherited the throne at the age of fifteen, and during the more than twenty years of his reign, he appointed traitors, favored eunuchs, and made the Han Dynasty a miasma of black smoke. After the state affairs became more and more corrupt, Emperor Huan of Han not only did not repent in the slightest, but became more and more absurd. He chose concubines again and again, until there were more than five thousand concubines in the harem.
Five thousand beautiful women, even if the Han Huan Emperor changes one a day, he still has to change for thirteen years, where will there be any happiness to speak of? During his twenty-one years on the throne, there were as many as a dozen nobles, and there were countless talented women. Moreover, in addition to his numerous concubines, he also created three empresses: one was Empress Liang, one was Empress Deng, and the other was Empress Dou.
Until this time, a problem was placed in front of the Eastern Han Dynasty: the most ridiculous thing is that when Emperor Huan of Han was dying, there was no prince who could inherit the throne. In order to stabilize the foundation of the country, Empress Dou Miao and the general Dou Wu prepared to install Liu Hong in the imperial family to take the throne. In the first month of the following year, Liu Hong ascended the throne in the presence of the ministers of culture and military affairs, and was known as the Han Ling Emperor.
After emperor Han Ling succeeded to the throne, he was very grateful to Dou Miao and Dou Wu for supporting him, and soon after, he made several orders for Dou Miao and Dou Wu to be knighted. At that time, Dou Miao was in charge of the government dou wu's control of the army, and the two became the most powerful figures in the Han Dynasty. Except for the eunuchs Wang Fu, Cao Jie, and Wei Biao, who were favored by Emperor Huan of Han during his lifetime, no one dared to speak out against Dou Miao and Dou Wu.
After Dou Miao and Dou Wu held high positions, Wang Fu, Cao Jie, and others were suppressed everywhere, and the contradictions between the two factions became more and more acute. Dou Miao was still able to receive what was good, but the grumpy general Dou Wu gradually had the idea of eradicating the eunuch forces. In August of the first year of Jianning (168), Dou Wu had his confidant Yin Xun arrest the eunuch Wei Biao and prepare to launch a great purge of the eunuch clique. However, due to Yin Xun's careless behavior, the plan was leaked before it could be implemented.
Wang Fu and Cao Jie were shocked to hear the news, and they were not willing to sit still, so they united with the eunuchs to take the lead in attacking. Dou Wu did not know what was happening, and was killed by a eunuch armed with a sharp blade. After Dou Wu's death, his family was beheaded by the eunuch clique, and only Dou Miao survived. However, after this battle, Dou Miao's power was greatly weakened, and she herself was moved away from the imperial court.
When Jiangshan passed into the hands of the Han Ling Emperor, it was already in danger, and after this coup, the Han Dynasty was even more seriously injured. In this case, the Han Ling Emperor was dressed in the night, and he might not be able to revitalize the Great Han. Only when the monarch is single-minded and immersed in hard work can there be a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately, Emperor Hanling was not a wise monarch, nor were his ministers virtuous. The Fainting of the Han Ling Emperor was even worse than that of the Han Huan Emperor.
Although Emperor Huan of Han favored eunuchs, he still had the distinction of kings and subjects, and when it came to Emperor Hanling, the eunuchs could be compared with the emperor.
At that time, Emperor Ling of Han was very fond of Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, two eunuchs. One day, he sighed in public: "Zhang Changshi is my father, and Zhao Changshi is my mother!" "Under the command of such an emperor, where is the reason for the country not to decay?" The people's livelihood was poor, the treasury of the Han Dynasty was very empty, and in order to build a gorgeous palace, the Han Ling Emperor moved the mind of selling the official. The eunuchs around him, in order to make the emperor happy, expressed their support for this.
At first, the Han Ling Emperor only tentatively sold some petty official positions. However, when he quickly received a large amount of money, he unscrupulously sold important positions such as Situ, Sikong, and Taiwei. After the will was issued, all kinds of posts were clearly marked with prices, it became a common practice for the people to buy officials, and loyal and righteous people all shook their heads and sighed.
Among the many people who bought officials, there was also no shortage of famous people who read poetry and books, and Cui Lie, the Taishou of Youzhou, was one.
When he was in Youzhou, he was sympathetic to the people, and the local people were very supportive of him. However, Cui Lie believes that if you want to make greater contributions to the country, you must enter the central institutions. In order to realize his ambitions, Cui Lie found Lady Cheng, the wet nurse of the Han Ling Emperor, and wanted to buy Situ's official position.
After that, Lady Cheng said a lot of good things for Cui Lie in front of the Han Ling Emperor, so that Cui Lie only spent five million dollars to become a Situ. It is said that after the Han Ling Emperor sold the position of Situ to Cui Lie, he was very regretful, and once lamented in public: "At that time, situ should have insisted on it, and situ's position could have been sold for ten million dollars." ”
It is truly jaw-dropping that the official position is treated as a publicly traded item between the monarchs and the courtiers. Later, the emperor regretted that the selling price was too low, which was even more ridiculous. Although Cui Lie entered the central government as he wished, he also received a lot of criticism because of this. He was bent on reviving the big man, but he was met with a lot of resistance.
Regardless of other political enemies, the eunuch clique alone made it difficult for him to move in the imperial court. Soon after, the Han Ling Emperor died, and the Western Liang warlord Dong Zhuo entered the capital. The tyrannical Dong Zhuo caused chaos and put all his opponents in prison, including Cui Lie. After Dong Zhuo's death, Li Dai, Guo Feng, and others from the old western Liang army led an army back to Chang'an.
In the chaos of the war, the sword and gun have no eyes, and Cui Lie was killed in the rebellion.
Cui Lie originally wanted to use the way to buy officials to realize his ambitions, but unexpectedly drifted away, and finally, even died at the hands of the rebels. In fact, at that time, the Han Dynasty had reached the brink of extinction, and Cui Lie could not save it by relying on his personal ability alone. His act of buying officials to save the country is nothing more than a praying mantis arm blocking the car.
Resources:
【Book of Han", "Book of Later Han", "Biography of Cui Lie"】