(Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty Liu Bao)
In the first year of Jiankang, AD 144, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty Liu Bao died.
This emperor was a wise king. He once killed the influence of his relatives and returned the Eastern Han Dynasty government to the hands of the emperor.
But this emperor was also a foolish emperor. He excessively appointed eunuchs, which caused him to be ignored by the eunuchs and became a puppet emperor without real power.
Eunuchs are a very special group of historical products in China's feudal imperial era.
They often come from miserable backgrounds and have their own unfortunate life experiences, so they join the eunuch camp out of desperation.
These eunuch friends were often disabled physically and mentally. The scholar-bureaucrats looked down upon them, and there was no place for them in the harem. The only person they could rely on in the palace was the emperor himself.
But in the reign of Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty, the situation was quite different.
Eunuchs do not need to rely on the emperor, but the emperor must always rely on the eunuchs.
We know that Emperor Shun's throne came through an armed coup. Before that, he was just a powerless and deposed prince in Luoyang, the eastern capital.
It was with the help of his eunuch friends that Liu Bao was able to ascend to the throne of the Ninth Five-Year Plan.
As the saying goes, don’t forget the well digger when you are ready. When you become an emperor, of course you have to thank the eunuchs who support you.
Treating meritorious officials is nothing more than giving money, gifts, and promotions.
But Comrade Liu Bao’s thanks seemed a bit excessive.
In order to please these eunuchs, the emperor almost gave up all his power.
The power fell, the era of exclusive power of relatives was over, and the era of exclusive power of eunuchs came again.
There seems to have always been such a strange circle in the political arena of the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is: anyone can have power, but only the emperor cannot.
Now that the emperor is dead, the power of the eunuchs quickly collapsed.
The reason is very simple. It is said that once the emperor has one courtier, then in the same way, one emperor also has one eunuch.
The emperor and the eunuch were a very special pair of political forces.
They are interdependent, and they both prosper and suffer.
But now, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty is dead, and those eunuchs who once gained power because of the emperor's praise and titles have stepped down within two days.
(Eunuch of the Eastern Han Dynasty)
The eunuch stepped down, then who came to power?
is still a familiar recipe and a familiar taste.
The new political force that came to power was the empress of Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty, who was also a relative of the Liang family behind her.
Of course, Queen Liang had been successfully promoted to the Queen Mother at this time, becoming the new powerful Queen Mother of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The name of
needs to be changed.
As soon as Emperor Shun died, Crown Prince Liu Bing, the successor appointed by the emperor during his lifetime, ascended the throne. (Emperor Chong of the Han Dynasty)
Liu Bing ascended the throne at the age of one. His resume is very simple. There is only one sentence in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" about this little emperor: Chong Yao was not known.
This sentence means that the emperor was very young, and he died within two days after he ascended the throne. Therefore, we historians did not understand this emperor well, so we could not write anything about it, and we did not know how to record it at all.
Since you don’t know how to record it, you can’t record it randomly. Since you can’t record it randomly, just remember this sentence honestly.
Here, let us praise the professionalism of the historians of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
The first year of Yongxi, AD 145.
The little emperor Liu Bing died after finishing the soy sauce.
(Han Chong Emperor Liu Bing)
The emperor died in a hurry, but the Empress Dowager Liang was prepared.
The queen mothers of the Eastern Han Dynasty were very experienced in selecting successors.
Those who are too old don’t want it, those who are too young don’t want it, those who are too smart don’t want it, and those who are too healthy don’t want it.
Anyway, in a word, choose someone who is obedient and easy to control.
Empress Dowager Liang picked and chose, and finally selected the son of Liu Hong, the Xiaowang of Bohai, the great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhang of Han Liu Jin, Liu Zan. (i.e. Emperor Zhi of the Han Dynasty)
was only eight years old, and he became the tenth emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty .
(Emperor Liu Zuan of the Han Dynasty)
was eight years old, which was undoubtedly an immature age, so naturally, the Empress Dowager Liang set up the curtains and started to listen to the government behind the curtains and call the court.
But the Queen Mother was the woman of the late emperor after all, so she could not always be in the public eye. If she wanted to control the entire Eastern Han Dynasty, someone from the old Liang family must be placed in the court.
Who is this person?
Empress Dowager Liang’s brother, General Liang Ji.
Liang Ji, courtesy name Bozhuo, was born in Jingchuan, Gansu Province. He served successively as Huangmen Shilang, Shizhong, Huben Zhonglang General, Yueqi Xiaowei, and Zhijinwu. They were all less important idle and petty officials.
Liang Ji is a man with a kite-shouldered jackal eye, which means that his shoulders stand up like eagle wings, and his eyes look like a jackal, tiger, and leopard. When he looks at people, his eyebrows are raised horizontally and vertically, which is very scary.
We have to admire those ancient historian friends. Such detailed records of appearance can be said to be very dedicated.
(Liang Ji)
Through the records of historian friends, it is not difficult for us to draw a conclusion:
Comrade Liang Ji was not a good person at first glance.
Of course, it is superficial to judge a person's quality based on his appearance. We also need to understand Liang Ji's personality.
What is Comrade Liang Ji’s daily schedule like?
is very simple, that is:
Archery, chess, mahjong, football, gambling, and visiting brothels. Such a dandy who was mixed up in the officialdom of the Eastern Han Dynasty suddenly became a powerful figure because of his family's gain in power.
Liang Ji is a little confused.
The Queen Mother is her sister, and the Emperor is just a little brat. Doesn’t he have the final say in everything?
This is indeed the case. The power of the eunuchs was in decline, and the scholar-bureaucrats were also powerless, making it difficult to compete with Liang Ji.
Our Comrade Liang Ji thus started his own path of monopolizing power.
Being the emperor's home and the emperor's master means sitting in the emperor's seat and giving orders.
Crack down on dissidents, fight against dissenters with the same party, impose excessive taxes and expropriate money, and corrupt and pervert the law.
Liang Ji has done everything you can think of for a treacherous minister and evil general.
Do the ministers dare not take care of any of them?
That’s not the case. In any era, there will be useless ministers who keep silent and protect themselves wisely, but there will also be loyal ministers and generals who speak up and speak out without hesitation.
Taiwei Li Gu is such a loyal minister.
He often confronts Liang Ji, but always ends up at the disadvantage. The Queen Mother suppresses all the information he submits to expose Liang Ji's crimes. There is no way, the Queen Mother and Liang Ji are a family, and they cannot help relatives. Li Gu had no idea.
(Empress Dowager Liang)
During the morning court, all the officials knelt down and shouted long live, but Liang Ji could stand among the ministers, neither bowing nor kneeling, and went to the palace with a sword, with great arrogance.
The ministers knelt down and bowed. Before the emperor could speak, Comrade Liang Ji started gesticulating.
crazy?
is indeed quite crazy.
In the feudal monarchy era, the power of God could not be offended. There were only a few steps between the monarch and his ministers in the palace, but the disparity in their status was huge.
In the past, courtiers had to be fully prepared when going to court. In front of the emperor, any inadvertent behavior, such as sneezing, farting, or making some small noises, could lead to death.
Because as a minister, in front of the emperor, you must not only be dignified and solemn, but also maintain absolute obedience. Anything that is not within the etiquette norms may be regarded as unfaithful and unfilial.
And Liang Ji's behavior in the court clearly showed that at that time, the emperor's authority had fallen to a very unbearable state.
Although the little emperor Liu Zan is only eight years old, eight-year-old children also have IQ, self-esteem, and their own thinking and opinions.
On weekdays, it was common to see Liang Ji being arrogant and treating himself as nothing. The little emperor pointed at Liang Ji and said this:
"This is a domineering general." - "Book of the Later Han"
The little emperor said that Liang Ji is a domineering general. People are too arrogant and domineering, and thieves are nothing.
This sentence may be unintentional, it may be intentional, or it may be just childish words.
Historically, historians have analyzed this sentence a lot, thinking that this sentence expresses the emperor's intention to kill thieves and his feeling of being unable to save the day. I think historians have over-interpreted it.
Liu Zan is only an eight-year-old child, and these remarks above the court are just the overflowing indignation of a child.
The little emperor Liu Zan said it easily, but after listening to it, the ministers below sweated for the emperor.
(Eastern Han Dynasty)
After many years of eunuchs and relatives taking turns in power, these emperor's ministers have long become timid and mute. They are afraid, they are afraid, they dare not say anything, and they dare not do anything.
But the ministers understood that as soon as these words came out, Liang Ji would definitely have thoughts about the emperor, and Liang Ji's thoughts would most likely be the cause of the emperor's death.
Our Comrade Liang Ji usually has a very bad temper. He often beats and scolds ministers in private. He often engages in political purges and kills many people.
In normal times in the middle palace, Liu Zan would have been slapped in the face if he dared to say this about himself. But now it is the morning court season, and all the civil and military officials are watching below. In full view of the public, the emperor is young and does not want to lose face. He does his own thing. General, you have to save some face.
So Liang Ji remained calm and said not a word in the face of the emperor's rebuke.
But after resigning from the court, a plan immediately took shape in Liang Ji's mind.
He planned to get rid of Liu Zuan and establish a new king.
There are two reasons, divided into private and public.
In private, of course, it was because the emperor publicly humiliated himself in the court, making himself very embarrassed.
As for Yu Gong, it was because Liang Ji was keenly aware that Han Zhi Emperor Liu Zan was really an extraordinary child. If he grew up during the holidays, he would probably pose a threat to the rule of Liang's relatives.
Then how does Liang Ji plan to get rid of the little emperor?
It was easy for Liang Ji, who covered the sky with one hand.
He arranged for his cronies to poison the boiled cakes used by Liu Zuan every day. The emperor suffered from unbearable abdominal pain after eating the poisoned cakes, and hurriedly summoned Lieutenant Li Gu into the palace.
The eight-year-old emperor seems to have foreseen his own end.
(Li Gu)
He called Taiwei Li Gu and said this:
I just ate a piece of boiled cake and the abdominal pain is unbearable. If I drink water now, I may still survive.
Yes, he is an emperor, but he is just a child. No one has the right to take away his life.
Maybe at this time, he can survive as long as he drinks a sip of water.
But Liang Ji was also there at the time and never gave Liu Zan any water on the grounds that drinking water would cause vomiting.
Not long after, Liu Zan died of poison and died in the palace of Luoyang, the eastern capital.
The emperor is dead.
Just because of a blurted rebuke.
This sentence should have come from the mouths of those ministers who knelt at the feet of Liang Ji, who had been rich and generous, and who had been favored by their kings.
A seven-foot man, still acting like a woman.
An eight-year-old boy emperor gave his last cry at the cost of his life.
This is the cry of a generation of emperors, and also the last roar of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty.
