In the twenty-four histories of China, all dynasties have almost never escaped six major internal troubles, namely, the internal strife of the kings, the usurpation of power by powerful ministers, the separatist vassal , the heroine abuses power, the usurpation of relatives by foreigners, and the eunuchs interfere in politics.
And among these six major disasters, the most frequent one is the item "eunuch interferes in politics". Since Qin was destroyed by Zhao Gao, Han Dynasty was destroyed by the Ten Constables, Tang Dynasty was destroyed by eunuchs in charge of the imperial guards, Ming Dynasty was destroyed by the East and West Factory, and the East China Factory, ceremonials were punished by the chaos of the dynasty, and almost all of them were harmed by the great unification of the dynasty.
But is there really no good people among these eunuchs ? If you ask this question, friends who know history will immediately point out one person, that is, the eunuch who is the most trusted by Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the eunuch who has outstanding military achievements, famous all over the world, and voyages to the West for seven years.
Zheng He has indeed made great contributions to promoting the prestige of the Ming Dynasty and maintaining the stability of the coastal borders of the Ming Empire. In addition to Zheng He, is there such a "eunuch" in history that is worthy of commemoration in future generations? The answer is yes.
As early as Han , there was a "good eunuch" who was not inferior to Zheng He. He experienced the five generations of Han emperors in his life and became the confidant of the two emperors and one descendant. At the peak of his life, he was extremely powerful and powerful. However, he did not forget to study "science and technology", and finally invented "paper" and created the earliest papermaking technology (one of the four great inventions in ancient China), which brought endless conveniences to the writing and writing records of the entire mankind that benefited the eternal.
Maybe many people have guessed his name. Yes, he is the famous Eastern Han The eunuch Cai Lun . Some people may say that he is not a good person because he has participated in many palace coups and has not ended up in a good end, so he cannot be compared with Zheng He.
Let me ask the viewers, was Zheng He flawless from the beginning? In the Jingnan Campaign, the emperor Jianwen was still the legitimate emperor of the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing. Zheng He, as a servant, followed the King of Yan Zhu Di to raise an army to rebel. What is this? It is nothing more than a success and a defeat for the enemy, and finally it covers this "stain" that even the Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di, is often scared. What's more, it is not the many rumors in official history. What happened to Zheng He repeatedly voyage to the West? Is it just to promote national prestige?
Today, the editor will not talk too much, but let’s get back to the point. Let’s talk about the legendary life of Cai Lun “ Cai Hou ”. Let’s take a look at whether Cai Lun really can’t compete with Zheng He?
Cai Lun, whose courtesy name is Jingzhong, was from Guiyang County during the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is in the current boundary of Chenzhou, Hunan. Cai Lun entered the palace as a eunuch in Emperor Ming of Han in the late Yongping year.
Han Zhangdi It was only during the early years of Jian's reign that he achieved his official position as the Xiaohuangmen among eunuchs. When Emperor He of Han ascended the throne, he was promoted to the extremely prominent Zhongchangshi around the emperor, and directly participated in the affairs of the palace.
Cai Lun is very talented and knowledgeable. He is also very dedicated and responsible for Han Hedi , is very kind and cautious in doing things, and is also very supportive and assisting the gains and losses of the government. Every time it was his turn to go home to rest, he would close his door and then run to the fields outside the country to relax.
Later, he was actually appointed as a eunuch by the emperor as a court order. Shang Fang Ling was an official of the young mansion of one of the nine ministers, who specialized in managing the private wealth in the emperor's palace, especially the weapons and tools in the palace, and he was the only one who supervised and controlled them.
In the ninth year of Emperor Yongyuan of Han, the emperor asked him to manufacture the emperor's sword and various imperial equipment. None of them were not exquisite and tough. His secret sword making technique was also regarded as a treasure by later generations.
Before Emperor He of Han, all books were basically arranged in bamboo slips. In addition, in order to carry light, some people used silk as paper as writing tools. However, silk was too expensive at that time and could not benefit everyone in the world.
Cai Lun then forced his brain to operate, and finally mixed cheap things such as tree bark, hemp, rag, fish nets, etc., and then processed to create the earliest paper. The invention of paper is both cheap and convenient.
In the first year of Emperor He of Han Dynasty, Cai Lun presented the paper to the emperor. The emperor was very happy, so he began to use the paper he invented as a documentary tool. Therefore, people all over the world also call this kind of "paper" " Caihou Paper ".
Later, Emperor He of Han passed away, and his youngest son Emperor Shang of Han died at the age of less than one year. So Emperor He's wife Empress Deng and his ministers brought the deposed prince of Emperor Zhang of Han King of Qinghe Liu Qing's son Liu Hu into the capital Luoyang as emperor. Liu Qing was the elder brother of Emperor He (Liu Qing had a very good relationship with Emperor He of Han), and Liu Hu was the nephew of Emperor He of Han, which was the famous Emperor An of Han .
and Empress Deng also led the court to rule the country in the name of the Queen Mother. Empress Deng believed that Cai Lun had been guarding the palace for a long time, so she added him to the Marquis of Longting and granted him 300 households to the fief. Soon she was promoted to the Grand Duke of Changle, and was specially appointed as the steward of the Queen Mother.
In the fourth year of Yongchu of Emperor An of Han, the emperor believed that there were many uncertain words and sentences in the scriptures of Confucian , so he selected many Confucian scholars who were proficient in classics to come to Dongguan to proofread these books, and ordered Cai Lun as the master of writing books. It can be seen that his talent cannot be underestimated.
When Emperor Zhang of Han, Emperor An of Han, Emperor An of Han was killed by Emperor Zhang Empress Dou (Empress Dou's brother was the "Yanran Leshi" general Dou Xian , who was as famous as Emperor Zhang Huo Qubing . Later, because he was too domineering, he was sentenced to death by Emperor He of Han and King Liu Qing of Qinghe for committing rebellion), and Cai Lun also participated in it.
Later, Empress Deng passed away, Emperor An of Han personally took over the power of the world, and immediately turned against each other and handed Cai Lun over to the Tingwei Mansion for punishment. Cai Lun could not bear the great humiliation of being so shameless, so he took a bath and put on his clothes and died of drinking poisoned wine. His position as a marquis was also abolished.
Cai Lun's life was actually very similar to Zheng He. His years in the palace were very cautious. He was extremely loyal to his masters of all dynasties. From Emperor Ming of Han to Emperor Zhang of Han, Emperor He of Han to Empress Dowager Deng, and then to Emperor An of Han, he did not do many bad things like Zhao Gao of Qin, Li Fuguo of Tang, and Wei Zhongxian of Ming, which are incredible to write about the majesty of the emperor and the country.
was just a tease of fate, which made him unable to end well in the hands of Emperor An of Han. But in the end he maintained the dignity of a "good man". He did not beg for life, nor did he beg for mercy in a miserable way, but faced the end of his life calmly.
Although he, like Zheng He, was just a pawn of the imperial family throughout his life. But at the end of his life, he had a similar effect with Zheng He. When he went to the West for the last time, Zheng He buried himself in a foreign land where he could not find a trace according to the etiquette that his family had long lost. At the same time, he also ended his humiliated slave label. At this moment, he gained eternal freedom like Cai Lun. In the end, Zheng He became famous in later generations for his great sailing, and Cai Lun also used his "paper making technique" to last forever!
