Author: Yang Zheng
The outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion provided a stage for the Heroes of the Tang Dynasty to serve the country, and the heroes fought bravely on the battlefield to establish immortal merits for the country, but in addition to fighting on the battlefield and fighting bravely to kill the enemy, they also had to spend a lot of time and energy fighting with the villains in the dynasty to fight and fight, among them there was Cheng Yuanzhen, a eunuch with a deep heart, and the appearance of Cheng Yuanzhen brought a lot of impact to the political arena of the Tang Dynasty.
Mr. Qian Mu once said: "In history, eunuchs have abused their power and are directly proportional to the arrogance and extravagance of the royal family" Tang has gradually begun to enter this historical circle since Wu Zetian, and Tang Xuanzong has even more interpreted it to the extreme.
During the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, it was stipulated that internal servants should not set up Sanpin officials, and no more than one hundred should be established. After the Wu Dynasty, it increased, reaching 3,000 by the time of Emperor Zhongzong of Tang. Even if Yuan Shao had killed eunuchs at the beginning, there were only two thousand people, including young and old, which showed that the number of eunuchs at that time was unprecedented.
The first step is to help Li Fuguo;
The second step is to get rid of Li Fuguo.
You see this person is insidious and not insidious.
Cheng Yuanzhen, at a young age, entered the imperial palace as a eunuch. Later, he gradually climbed to a high position, serving as an envoy of internal shooting and a deputy envoy of the Flying Dragon Stable, but at this time he was not satisfied, because he had a higher eunuch above him, and finally Cheng Yuanzhen climbed to the highest position.
Li Fuguo film and television image
In the first year of de (756 AD), in order to escape the Anshi Rebellion, Tang Xuanzong led the imperial court officials and relatives of the imperial family to flee to Shudi. The crown prince Li Heng, under the planning of the eunuch Li Fuguo and his concubine Zhang Liangdi, rushed to Shuofang Jiedu to envoy Lingwu, and was later given the title of Grand Marshal of Terracotta Warriors and Horses by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. In September of that year, Li Heng officially ascended the throne as Emperor Suzong of Tang.
In the second year of De (757 AD), the general Guo Ziyi regained Luoyang and Chang'an, and Emperor Suzong of Tang also moved back to Chang'an, and Li Longji, who was already emperor of Tang, also returned from Sichuan. At that time, the reason why Tang Suzong was able to ascend the throne smoothly was mainly based on the help of the eunuch Li Fuguo, so he naturally believed in Li Fuguo, so he gave him a lot of power.
Tang Suzong's luck was also bad, and he became emperor at an early age, but he was seriously ill within a few years, at this time, Empress Zhang believed that her biggest enemy was Li Fuguo. Because Li Fuguo was Tang Suzong's most profitable assistant, his power was very large.
Cheng Yuanzhen was Li Fuguo's subordinate at this time, the two were in cahoots, and the tang eunuch monopoly began with Li Fuguo, Cheng Yuanzhen was the amplified, he was the most important accomplice and successor, so when Emperor Suzong was seriously ill, Empress Zhang felt that it was more important to eradicate these two people.
In April of the first year of Baoying, Emperor Suzong was critically ill and unable to handle government affairs, so he let the crown prince Li Yu supervise the country. Empress Zhang was ready to emulate Wu Zetian, and she wanted to depose the crown prince Li Yu and make her son King Yue crown prince, while killing Li Fuguo.
Empress Zhang said to the crown prince: "Li Fuguo has been in charge of the imperial court for a long time, and he has not yet issued military orders to various places without the emperor's approval. The most important thing is that he already has a grudge against me and you. Now that your father and emperor are critically ill, Li Fuguo and Cheng Yuanzhen are two human rights in a terrible state and committing reckless acts, and if we don't eliminate them as soon as possible, I am afraid that we will harm ourselves!"
Whoever thought that the crown prince would shed tears after hearing these words and say, "Father Emperor is now dying, and both Li and Cheng were once his subordinates, and if we get rid of them now, it will not only frighten father emperor, but also lead to more chaos, or it will be considered in the long run."
Empress Zhang saw that the crown prince had no intention of killing Li and Cheng, so she had to say disappointedly: "Since my son can't bear to kill, then let me think about it again!" After Empress Zhang returned, she immediately summoned Li Shi, the King of Yue, and asked him to join forces with Li Shu (李僩), the King of Yan, to kill Li and Cheng.
Li Shi immediately began to prepare, and he sent his internal servant Duan Hengjun to select hundreds of eunuchs of strong stature, fully armed, and then ambushed behind the Immortal Hall where Tang Suzong was recuperating. Empress Zhang then summoned the crown prince to the Hall of Eternal Life under the guise of Emperor Suzong of Tang.
Not wanting there to be no impermeable wall under the sky, their plan was probed by Li Fuguo's comrades, and he immediately passed the news to Li Fuguo. Li Fuguo, who was still in charge of the forbidden army, mobilized a large number of forbidden troops to guard the only way for the prince to enter the palace- Lingxiao Gate. When the prince arrives.
Li Yu film and television image
Cheng Yuanzhen stepped forward and told the prince, "There will be a fight in the Hall of Eternal Life right away. Your Highness must not pass. The crown prince calmly replied, "There is absolutely no possibility, the father and emperor are seriously ill, how can they fear death and not go?" Cheng Yuanzhen still stopped: "May Your Highness take the country as a big deal, and you must not go in." After some bitter pleading, the forbidden soldiers rushed to the Flying Dragon Stable outside the Xuanwu Gate to hide.
After dark, Cheng Yuanzhen himself led his soldiers into the palace, and soon captured more than a hundred people, including Li Shi, the King of Yue, and Duan Hengjun, who was ambushed behind. He also falsely passed on the prince's order to imprison Empress Zhang in another palace, and confined dozens of people around Su to the harem. In fact, that night, Li and Cheng executed Empress Zhang, along with Li Shi, the King of Yue, and Li Mi the Prince of Yan. The dying Tang Suzong heard this and immediately returned to the west with his life. Later, the crown prince Li Yu officially ascended the throne, that is, Emperor Tang of Tang.
Because of his meritorious service, Li Fuguo was very arrogant, and he even said to Emperor Tang Dynasty, Emperor, you just have to sit in the palace, and I will do the things outside. Didn't this put the emperor in the air? However, Emperor Tang put up with it, because Li Fuguo controlled the forbidden army. Emperor Tang dynasty sought a way out in the cracks.
Li Fuguo was triumphant, but he didn't know that behind him, his deputy Cheng Yuanzhen was looking at him with a cold eye. Cheng Yuanzhen also participated in the establishment of the Tang Dynasty Emperor, so he was also extremely crazy and abused power. Cheng Yuanzhen was not satisfied with his existing status, because there were eunuchs with higher status than him, who, Li Fuguo.
The opportunity soon came, Cheng Yuanzhen because of the power of Li Fuguo alone above ten thousand people, as Cheng Yuanzhen became increasingly popular in front of The Tang Dynasty Emperor, which also attracted Li Fuguo's jealousy, the two people were soon in the point of sword fighting, of course, Cheng Yuanzhen was naturally still a veteran, preemptive, he constantly told in front of the Tang Dynasty Emperor that Li Fuguo was too powerful and arbitrary. Discovered by Emperor Tang of Tang, he took advantage of this by first setting up Li Fuguo, then depriving Li Fuguo of his powers, and finally sending people to assassinate Li Fuguo.
Tang Dynasty Zong's move was actually not very clever, it was equivalent to removing a wolf and attracting a tiger. After Cheng Yuanzhen replaced Li Fuguo, "Quan shocked the world, on the right side of the auxiliary country, the fierceness was over, and the army called for ten langs", this Cheng Yuanzhen was worse than Li Fuguo.
Cheng Yuanzhen was a villain, and he did not know the stakes and did things according to personal preferences, so not long after he took power, he offended the ministers in the imperial court and the warlords in other places. Cheng Yuanzhen began to do evil and almost destroyed the Tang Dynasty! First of all, frame and persecute famous generals. In the chaos of Pingding Anshi, a large number of famous generals emerged, all of whom were invariably slandered and framed by Cheng Yuanzhen.
Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi, and others were successively stripped of their military power, and Li Guangbi was even killed to a large extent by the courtiers and eunuchs. The main reason for this was Li Guangbi's Khitan identity, and some courtiers shouted every day that "if they are not of my kind, their hearts will be different", Li Guangbi and Alexander, in the end, were killed by these people, forced to die, scared to death, and killed. Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi, because the merits were too great, they were not publicly framed, but the other generals were not so lucky.
Cheng Yuanzhen caught up with the bad luck, Tubo also at this time, began to invade the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty border generals reported the news to Cheng Yuanzhen, Cheng Yuanzhen actually remembered the way to cover his ears and steal the bell, and actually hid the matter from tang Dynasty Emperor.
Why did he do that? Mainly because he was seriously at odds with other armies other than the Janissaries, the border generals were not accustomed to this yin and yang person, cheng Yuanzhen was not willing to let the border generals make meritorious contributions, and the military intelligence report said that tubo had entered the Kou, and he regarded this as the bluff of the border generals wanting to ask for merit and reward.
When the emissaries are rectified, no one is a fool, and naturally they will find ways to protect themselves. Tubo invaded Chang'an, and there was little rescue in various feudal towns, and most of them were evil consequences if they did not sincerely resist. The Tubo soldiers drove straight in, almost to Chang'an, Cheng Yuanzhen could not hide, which alarmed the Tang Dynasty court, so the Tang Dynasty Emperor Cangcang fled Chang'an.
Emperor Daizong hurriedly ordered Li Shi the Prince of Yong to be the marshal of Guannei and Guo Ziyi to be the deputy marshal, and organized forces to resist the attack of the Tubo army. This corresponds to an old saying, "A gentleman listens to the sound of the drums, and thinks of a handsome minister." ("Li Ji Le Ji") The society was in trouble, and when the emperor remembered the good future of the bloody battlefield in the past.
And Cheng Yuanzhen also attracted the attack of civil and military officials - almost everyone in the world believed that the Tang Dynasty lost Chang'an, which was Cheng Yuanzhen's responsibility, so he asked the imperial court to pursue Cheng Yuanzhen.
In the end, Dr. Taichang and Hanlin waited for Zhao Liu to play Chen Yan: Tubo with tens of thousands of people, soldiers without bloodshed will go straight into the capital, this is no loyal minister Liang will contribute, the people of the world hate His Majesty's close eunuchs, if His Majesty takes sheji as the most important, when Cheng Yuanzhen's head is beheaded, and he will sin against himself.
Emperor Tang Dynasty was determined to think bitterly, and finally made up his mind to release Cheng Yuanzhen from his official position and return to his hometown. This time Cheng Yuanzhen was still not dead hearted, and when Emperor Daizong returned to Chang'an, Cheng Yuanzhen put on the woman's clothes and sneaked into Chang'an, the purpose was unknown. At this time, it was known that Yushi played, and the emperor ordered him to be exiled to the southwest region, and as a result, he died violently when he reached the present-day Hubei region.