"5,000 Years of China"
Chapter Seven: The Five Dynasties of the Sui and Tang Dynasties
Chapter 17: The Change of Manna
In the late Tang Dynasty, the regime was already in jeopardy. The most fundamental reason is that the eunuch dictatorship and even the abolition of the emperor finally broke out the famous "Ganlu Change" in the history of the Tang Dynasty.
Eunuch (web image)
The Eunuch Dictatorship
There was a eunuch named Wang Shoucheng who acted arbitrarily because of his meritorious support for Emperor Muguizong of Tang. After Muzong's death, his son Jingzong was eunuch after only one year as emperor, and Wang Shoucheng and others welcomed Li Ang as emperor, that is, Tang Wenzong.
After Emperor Wenzong succeeded to the throne, Wang Shoucheng was promoted from a privy councillor to a cavalry army because of his meritorious support. On the surface, Emperor Wenzong favored the eunuchs, but in his heart he hated them very much. Don't see that the eunuchs are so powerful that they can kill and support the emperor at will, Wenzong felt intolerable.
In 831, Emperor Wenzong conspired with the chancellor Song Shenxi to get rid of these threatening eunuchs. Who knew that such a big secret had actually been leaked, and Song Shenxi was degraded and the plan failed. But Emperor Wenzong was not reconciled, and was still quietly looking for someone who could help him get rid of the eunuchs. Two years later, Emperor Wenzong fell ill and was unable to speak. Wang Shoucheng pushed his official Zheng Zhu to see Emperor Wenzong. Emperor Wenzong took Zheng Zhu's medicine, which was very effective, so Zheng Zhu was favored by Emperor Wenzong.
Emperor Wenzong had always hated eunuchs, but after the last failure, he did not dare to tell the chancellor about it. Zheng Zhu was well aware of Emperor Wenzong's thoughts and often secretly contributed to Emperor Wenzong.
There was a man named Li Xun, who was originally a very unambitious petty official, and when he heard that his friend Zheng Zhu was highly valued by the emperor, he turned to Zheng Zhu. At this time, Zheng Zhu was trying to find a good helper, so he asked Wang Shoucheng to recommend Li Xun to Emperor Wenzong. Emperor Wenzong saw that Li Xun was dignified, courageous and resourceful, and trusted him more and more, and later promoted him to be prime minister.
After a while, Emperor Wenzong felt that the time was ripe, so he told Li Xun and Zheng Zhu about the need to get rid of the eunuchs.
Li Xun and Zheng Zhu also had plans, and they decided to take the method of dividing and disintegrating and attacking the eunuchs with poison. Among the eunuchs who originally supported Emperor Wenzong, in addition to Wang Shoucheng, there was also a person named Qiu Shiliang. Qiu Shiliang had always been suppressed by Wang Shoucheng and had not been able to become a high official. Li Xun appointed Qiu Shiliang as a lieutenant in the Zuo Shen Ce Army, trying to divide some of Wang Shoucheng's power, and also strained the relationship between Wang Shoucheng and Qiu Shiliang. Subsequently, Li Xun relieved Wang Shoucheng of his military powers.
The Change of Manna (Network Illustration)
"The Failure of the Scheme"
Wang Shoucheng, who did not have military power, was much easier to manipulate, and Tang Wenzong solved this nail in the eye with a cup of poison. After Wang Shoucheng died, the next target was Shi Liang.
Li Xun originally agreed with Zheng Zhu that when Wang Shoucheng was buried, Emperor Wenzong ordered all the eunuchs below the rank of lieutenant to be buried, and then Zheng Zhu led his troops to kill all these eunuchs. However, Li Xun was eager to win, and wanted to monopolize the credit of cutting off the eunuchs, so he decided to take action in advance.
On this day, Emperor Wenzong made an early pilgrimage in the Zichen Hall. After the civil and military officials stood still in turn, the Janissary General Han Yue went to the temple and said that in the courtyard behind the Janissaries Hall, there was a stone tree that had descended nectar last night. In ancient times, the nectar that descended from heaven was considered a good head of peace. Li Xun led hundreds of officials to congratulate Emperor Wenzong and asked Him to personally go to the back of the Janissaries to watch.
Emperor Wenzong ordered the chancellor Li Xun to inspect it first. Li Xun pretended to go to the courtyard and turned around and said, "I went to see it, I'm afraid it's not really nectar, please ask the emperor to send someone to review it." ”
Tang Wenzong then ordered Qiu Shiliang to lead the eunuchs to watch. Qiu Shiliang and the others came to the Weijun Hall, but they saw that Han Yue looked nervous, his attitude was abnormal, and his heart was very confused. At this time, the sky was not beautiful, and just when a gust of wind blew the curtain in the hall, Shi Liang found that behind the curtain stood many soldiers with weapons.
Qiu Shiliang was taken aback and quickly withdrew and ran back to Tang Wenzong. Li Xun saw Qiu Shiliang fleeing, and immediately ordered the ambushed guards to catch up and kill Qiu Shiliang. Qiu Shiliang and the eunuchs had already grabbed Emperor Wenzong in their hands, pulled him into a soft palanquin, and lifted him up and left.
Li Xun caught up and grabbed Emperor Wenzong's palanquin, and a eunuch took a step forward and knocked Li Xun to the ground. Qiu Shiliang took the opportunity to support Emperor Wenzong's soft palanquin and entered the inner palace.
The premeditation was difficult to succeed, so Li Xun had to change into plain clothes and escape, but was eventually caught and killed. Afterwards, Zheng Zhu was unable to escape the clutches of Qiu Shiliang and was secretly killed. This failed event is known in history as the "Change of Manna." In this way, Tang Wenzong's plan to kill eunuchs planned by Li Xun and Zheng Zhu failed. After that, Tang Wenzong's life was even more difficult, and he had to die of illness after 5 years. Qiu Shiliang supported Emperor Wenzong's brother Li Yan to succeed to the throne, that is, Tang Wuzong, and at this time the Tang Dynasty was already in decline.
Historical Archives
Tang Dynasty Famen Temple underground palace
Famen Temple Underground Palace (network photo)
In April 1987, the Ming Dynasty brick pagoda of Famen Temple collapsed, and while cleaning the base of the remnant pagoda, the tang dynasty pagoda underground palace was found about 1 meter above the surface. The Famen Temple Underground Palace is the largest pagoda underground palace ever discovered. The four Buddha finger relics that were sent many times in the Tang Dynasty and a large number of gold and silver vessels, porcelain, glassware, pearls and jade treasures, lacquered wood, stone carvings, miscellaneous utensils, currency and a large number of silk fabrics stacked on top of each other were placed intact in the underground palace. The Treasure Letters of the Buddha Finger Relics treasured in the underground palace of Famen Temple are made of precious materials such as gold, silver, crystal, jade, jewelry and sandalwood, which shows the great respect of the Tang Dynasty royal family for the Buddha and the cherishing of the relics.