The dictatorship of eunuchs has always been a chronic disease in the history of Chinese authoritarian politics, with the Eastern Han, Tang and Ming dynasties being the most serious. Wang Mingsheng, a historian of the Qing Dynasty, once said in his "Seventeen Histories of Discussion":
The "Ming" has the "Biography of the Castration Party", the name is particularly exquisite, and gai does not look at it as a traitorous courtier, and its person is also under Yu Xing and a traitorous courtier. Reading the "Biography of the Eunuch", it is known that Han already has it.
In fact, at the beginning of the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the power of eunuchs was not large, and it can be said that for a long time, the power of eunuchs was well constrained by imperial power and system. The expansion of eunuch power had a lot to do with the changes in the political system of the Eastern Han Dynasty. During the Western Han Dynasty, in order to elevate the civilian official clique of the outer dynasty and strengthen the imperial power, the emperor created a small group of the inner dynasty. The so-called small groups of the Inner Dynasty generally give additional officials to certain imperial officials. The so-called addition of officials refers to the addition of an official name in addition to the official's own official, such as Shizhong ( 侍中 ), Zhongchang Shi (中常侍), Scattered Horseman , and Zhu Guan (various officials).
"Seventeen Histories of Discussion"
Officials who entered the Inner Dynasty could enter the palace, serve the emperor around, and become the emperor's cronies, that is, the so-called "those who are given to the matter by the servants and the servants, all of them are allowed to be the subjects of their confidants", and among these officials, the closest courtiers who have obtained the title of "Zhongchang waiter" are the closest courtiers. In the late Qing Dynasty, King Xianqian of the Confucian Dynasty once said in the Collected Interpretations of the Later Han Dynasty:
At the beginning of Xijing, there were only regular attendants, and after Yuan Cheng, there was always the name of Zhongchang waiters, but they were all scholars. ZTE uses eunuchs, and slightly different.
According to Wang Xianqian, after emperor Yuan and Emperor Cheng of the Western Han Dynasty, there was the name of "Zhongchang Shi", and they were all used by scholars. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, after the so-called Zhongxing, eunuchs were used as regular attendants, but not all eunuchs were used. After the death of Emperor He of Han, when his widow and Empress Dowager Xi Deng were about to make the emperor's claim, Zhongchang Shi began to use eunuchs to the fullest, "Since Empress Dowager Hexi used the title of female lord, did not accept the secretary of state, but took eunuchs as regular attendants", and the power of eunuchs began to expand.
Eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty
In addition to the expansion of eunuch power, there was also a political chaos in the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, the monopoly of foreign relatives. In view of this, emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty took very strict precautions against foreign relatives and stipulated that "the house of the queen concubines shall not be enfeoffed with marquises and politicians." This system was well implemented in the early days of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but after emperors of Han Zhang, Han and Emperor He, foreign forces gradually rose. When Empress Dowager Dou came to the throne during the Han Dynasty, Dou Xian's "brothers are all in the land of relatives", and the history of foreign relations' monopoly of power began.
According to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, "The Imperial Rule of Tokyo has been repeatedly extinct, the power has been vested in the female lord, the four emperors of the expatriates, the sixth queen of the pro-dynasty, the uncertain strategy, the entrustment of fathers and brothers, the greedy children to rule for a long time, or the Ming Sage to monopolize their authority." "In the Eastern Han Dynasty, from Emperor He to Emperor Xian, for more than a hundred years, the emperors were all on the throne at an early age, the eldest fifteen years old, the younger one hundred days old, the young lord reigned, the mother and queen came to the court to rule, and the real power of the imperial court fell into the hands of foreign relatives.
Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu
Imperial power is absolutely exclusive, the little emperor is not willing to be subject to foreign relatives when he grows up, and the eunuchs who grow up with him become the most reliable force. The pinnacle of the eastern Han Dynasty's foreign monopoly was Liang Ji, a great general who had gone through the four dynasties of Emperor Shun, Emperor Chong, Emperor Qian, and Emperor Huan.
Liang Ji was born into a family of generations of aristocrats, and Liang Ji's ancestor Liang Tong was the Anding (Ningxia Guyuan) Hao clan, who was annexed to the Han Dynasty in April of the fifth year (29 AD) of the fifth year of the reign of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiujianwu. From Liang Tong to Liang Ji, in a period of 130 years, the Liang family had seven generations and fifteen people who were enfeoffed.
Liang Ji
In the sixth year of Yonghe (141 AD), Liang Ji's father Liang Shang died, and Emperor Shun of Han made Liang Ji a general and succeeded his father, and his brother Liang Was undoubtedly the Yin of Henan. Sima Guang made this evaluation of this personnel metabolism in the Zizhi Tongjian:
Emperor Cheng could not choose Xianjun and entrust the uncle's family, which can be described as a secret; he knew that Wang Lizhi was not qualified, and abandoned it. Emperor Shun granted the great handle, granted to the Hou clan, Liang Ji was stubborn and fierce, and wrote in the past, and made him succeed to the father's throne, and finally rebelled, swept the Han Room, and studied in the Cheng Emperor, and the darkness was very bad!
Emperor Chong of Han
After Liang Ji became a great general, the four dynasties of Emperor Shun, Emperor Chong, Emperor Qian, and Emperor Huan began his 20-year monopoly rule. On the sixth day of the first month of August in the first year of Jiankang, The Han Shun Emperor Liu Bao died at the age of 30, and the crown prince, who was only two years old when he ascended the throne, was emperor Chong.
In the first month of the first year of Yongjia (145 AD), the Han Chong Emperor collapsed and was three years old. At that time, Li Gu, the head of the imperial court's civil officials, advised Liang Ji: "Now that emperor is established, it is advisable to choose a long period of time, be wise and virtuous, and serve as a pro-government affair." ”
Emperor Han angrily scolded Liang Ji
If he really became an adult emperor, how could Liang Ji monopolize power? In the end, Liang Ji established Liu Yi, the son of the eight-year-old Prince Xiao of Bohai, as emperor and emperor. The young Emperor of Han was few and intelligent, but he did not understand the city government, and "knew that Ji ji was arrogant", and once when he met with his courtiers, he looked at Liang Ji and said: "This general is also a general." ”
Liang Ji saw that this little emperor was not easy to fiddle with, and if he became an adult, he would definitely suffer, so he painfully killed the killer, "so he ordered the left and right to enter the duck and add boiled cakes, and the emperor collapsed on the same day." After killing the little emperor, Liang Ji coerced his subjects to establish Liu Kai, the grandson of Liu Kai, the Prince of Hejian And liu Yi, the son of Liu Yi the Marquis of Liwu, as emperor, as emperor of Han Huan.
In the Chinese history books, Emperor Huan of Han was a famous Emperor Huan, but judging from his rivalry with Liang Ji, this Emperor Huan was not ambiguous at all. When Emperor Huan of Han had just ascended to the throne, Liang Ji was still arrogant, "mighty inside and outside, hundreds of officials looking sideways, not daring to disobey orders, and the Son of Heaven was respectful to himself and not allowed to be intimate."
Liang Ji poisoned and killed Emperor Han
Emperor Huan of Han was named Emperor, but in fact he was only a prisoner under the close supervision of Liang Ji, "palace guards close to the staff, and the trees he kissed, forbidden to live in the province, and the subtle must know." In addition, Emperor Huan's first empress was Liang Ji's second sister Liang Ying. Although the emperor hated the Liang family, he always held back.
Liang Ying, who had been empress for 12 years, died of illness in July of the second year of Yanxi, and Emperor Huan was suddenly half relieved. One day in August of that year, Emperor Huan Liu Zhi went into the toilet of the palace to relieve his stool, and summoned tang Heng, a close confidant of him, into his side and asked, "Who else is there in this palace who is not compatible with the outside?" ”
Emperor Huan of Han
The outside of what the emperor said was Liang Ji and his henchmen. Tang Heng said that Zhongchang Shi Shan Chao, Xiao Huangmen Shi Zuo, Zhongchang Shi Huang, and Huang Men Ling Gu Zhen were all privately dissatisfied with Liang Ji. Therefore, Emperor Huan summoned these people to plot to get rid of Liang Ji. Liang Ji's side seemed to be unaware of the bad situation, and sent his confidant Zhang Yun into the palace to spy on intelligence.
Unexpectedly, this move turned into evidence of incriminating, and Emperor Huan arrested Zhang Yun for entering the palace without authorization in an attempt to commit misconduct, and then, with the speed of lightning, summoned his courtiers, announced the Liang Ji conspiracy, and ordered Huang Men Ling Gu To lead more than a thousand guards to surround Liang Mansion and arrest Liang Ji.
Although Liang Ji was powerful, he did not have the strength to resist the imperial army in Luoyang at this time, and perhaps Emperor Huan really laid out for more than ten years! The army surrounded the house, Liang Ji and his wife committed suicide, the whole family was killed, the whole family was killed, and dozens of people were coloneled together with the party secretary, and more than 300 officials and guests were deposed, and the imperial court was empty.
Eunuch dictatorship
Emperor Huan relied on eunuchs to destroy his foreign relative Liang Ji, and the eunuchs' power swelled. The five life-and-death allies of Emperor Huan were rewarded with the title of Marquis, known as the "Five Marquises of One Day". Among the five marquises, Shan Chao died prematurely, and the fourth marquis ran rampant in the world, and the Book of Later Han said that they "competed for the first house, the view of the building was magnificent, and the poor skills ... Take many good people and beautiful women as concubines, all cherish the decoration of luxury, and imitate the palace people."
In addition, although the Liang clan was extinguished, the phenomenon of the monopoly of foreign relatives did not disappear in the politics of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the two tumors derived from foreign relatives and eunuchs continued to endanger the body of Han Dynasty politics until they perished!