The curse of eunuchs has existed since ancient times.
Throughout thousands of years of feudal history, eunuchs have made waves in the dynasty, and in many dynasties, there are always a few eunuchs who will dominate the dynasty and bring disaster to the country and chaos.
As a result, many founding monarchs, in order to avoid this phenomenon, once hated eunuchs and did not give eunuchs much power, but only regarded them as servants.
However, some emperors sincerely liked eunuchs, and emperors were lonely, and they believed that only eunuchs were their intimate people.
Even in history, there was a dynasty in the last period, and most of the officials in the dynasty were eunuchs, as many as more than 20,000 people.
The emperor even issued an order that after the examination, only those who became eunuchs were eligible to be officials.
This dynasty was the Southern Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, and the emperor who issued such an incredible order was Liu Xun (chang), the last emperor of the Southern Han Dynasty.
The Southern Han Dynasty, 917-971, one of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the territory is located in the current three provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, the four emperors of the past, the fifty-fifth year of the State.
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was a period of great division in Chinese history, beginning with the fall of the Tang Dynasty, until Zhao Kuangyin added his yellow robe and established the Song Dynasty, and the Five Dynasties ended.
During this period, there were many divided regimes, and the Southern Han Dynasty was one of them.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Liu Qian served as the Assassin of Fengzhou, and had many soldiers and horses in his hands.
After Liu Qian's death, Liu Yin inherited his father's business and gradually unified the Lingnan region, and later became the King of the South China Sea.
After Liu Yin's death, his brother Liu Qi attacked Feng. Relying on his father and brother's inheritance in Lingnan, Liu Qi proclaimed himself emperor in Guangzhou in 917, and the Southern Han Dynasty was formally established.
In his later years, Liu Gong was tyrannical and ruthless, indulging in a luxurious life, coveting enjoyment, and jealous of people.
In this case, the status of the scholars gradually declined, and at the same time, Liu Gong was very close to the eunuchs, which made the eunuchs' power grow wildly.
In 942, Liu Gong died, and his son Liu Yue succeeded to the throne, as the saying goes, if there is a father, there must be a son, and Liu Yue succeeded to the throne with pride and luxury, absurdity, and political affairs.
Because of his fainting, the minds of many local officials in the DPRK and China at that time came alive.
Later, his younger brother Liu Sheng launched a coup d'état, killed him, and established himself as emperor.
Liu Sheng was more brutal than his father and brother, and during his reign, many ministers were killed, and even many of his brothers were killed by Liu Sheng, appointing many eunuchs to govern.
The Southern Han Dynasty experienced these three emperors successively, and the national strength deteriorated.
After Liu Sheng's death, the seventeen-year-old Liu Xun succeeded to the throne.
Compared with the previous three emperors, Liu Xun was even more faint and very stupid, with no strategy for governing the country in his mind, and entrusted the affairs of the country to the eunuchs.
Liu Xun was the lord of the Southern Han Dynasty, and generally the lord of the Later Han Dynasty did not have a good reputation, such as Liu Chan, the lord of the Shu Han Dynasty, who was ridiculed as Liu Adou, who could not be supported by the Shu Han.
However, history proves that Liu Adou is still much stronger than this Liu Gang.
At least when Zhuge Liang was alive, state affairs were taken care of by Zhuge Liang, and Liu Chan did not have to worry at all.
Liu Xun was not so lucky, there were many young and ignorant descendants, but the loyal minister of the country could not be sought.
Because of the trust of previous emperors in eunuchs, Liu Xun also had a fondness for eunuchs, and entrusted political affairs to the eunuch Gong Chengshu and the maid Lu Qiongxian and others.
"New Five Dynasties History, Volume 65, The Fifth Family of the Southern Han Dynasty": Yong Chang was cowardly in nature, could not govern his country, political affairs were entrusted to eunuch officials, and there were palace people with crowns, pre-officials, and foreign affairs.
The ancients said: "Loyalty and filial piety cannot be both."
Liu Xun was convinced of this sentence, and because of this, Liu Xun had a sudden whim.
He believed that if the minister had ordinary trivial matters such as family descendants, how could he still be loyal to the royal family?
On the other hand, eunuchs, on the other hand, do not have a family, can not have children, they have been working for the emperor all their lives, only this kind of person who has no worries can be loyal to the imperial court.
With this concept, Liu Xun paid more attention to the use of eunuchs, and even set up a very strange election system.
Want to be an official? Come, the knife is for you, please first from the palace.
If a minister wants to be promoted, he can only qualify after he has first become a eunuch from the palace.
This policy made the eunuchs of the Southern Han Court as high as 20,000 at one time.
Under this strange system, the dynasty is not far from extinction.
In 971, under the strong onslaught of the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Xun wanted to flee overseas with a ship full of treasure and beauty, but the eunuchs took the lead in leaving with the treasure.
In desperation, Liu Xun had to surrender, and the Southern Han Dynasty perished.
After Liu Xun surrendered, Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, did not kill him but treated him kindly.
It was not until 980 that Liu Xun died at the age of 39.
Reference historical materials: "The History of the New Five Dynasties", the picture comes from the Internet!