In Chinese history, rebellion and uprisings were common due to hunger and cold, but dyeing riots were very rare. In particular, the rioters were not caused by hunger and cold, nor to resist oppression, but seemed to be just to enjoy the life of the palace. It's really ridiculous.
dyer is a worker in the imperial court's official dyeing workshop, who is dedicated to printing and dyeing silk fabrics in the palace. Because , Emperor Jingzong of Tang likes luxury, and there are many silk fabrics presented to the court in various places, the task of printing and dyeing is very heavy. There are many dye workers in the dyeing workshop, and they work day and night, which is very hard. The dyers were both envious and resentful when they saw the palace living a life of luxury.
dyer has a leader named Zhang Shao, who has been a dyer for many years. Historical books do not record where Angela Chang was from and how old she was. Zhang Shao has been in Chang'an for a long time and has become good friends with a fortune teller on the street. Fortune Teller is named Su Xuanming. He is good at speaking and seems mysterious. Angela Chang often asked him to tell fortunes, and it happened to be true, so she was very convinced of him.
One day, Angela Chang and Su Xuanming drank again. When drinking was bored, Su Xuanming taught Zhang Shao a divination. Suddenly, Su Xuanming pretended to be surprised, pointed to the hexagram, and said to Zhang Shao, "Brother Zhang, you are going to be rich and noble! Judging from the hexagram, you should be in the palace, sitting on the emperor's bed, and drinking with me." Zhang Shao was overjoyed when he heard this.
Su Xuanming's comments were unintentional, and Angela Chang's listeners were intentional, so they started to think badly. Zhang Shao knew that the current emperor was Tang Jingzong, the grandson of Tang Xianzong , . Tang Jingzong did not have the ambitions of his grandfather, but was mediocre and incompetent, and was particularly playful, playing during the day and hunting foxes at night, and was not in the palace most of the time. The officials of the court and the people in the palace were lazy, and the defense of the palace was lax, so it was not difficult to get into the palace. Not long ago, an ordinary citizen named Xu Zhongxin sneaked into the palace and spent a long time in the palace. He walked to the bathhouse where the emperor was bathing and was discovered, which caused a sensation.
Zhang Shao had some brains and made a plan to get into the palace. Some of the dyers had passes to enter the palace and could enter the palace with a swagger under the pretext of delivering goods. But what should people without a pass do?
Zhang Shao thought of the vehicle that transported purple grass. Purple grass is a raw material for printing and dyeing, and is used very much. Zhang Shao’s plan was to hide the person in the car, cover it with purple grass, and after mixing into the palace, find a place to hide, and then act together at night to sneak attack the palace.
Zhang Shao immediately caused heated discussion when he told his plans to his companions. These dyers are simple-minded and complain about it. I heard that they can enter the palace to enjoy it. They are eager to try it, and some timids dare not participate. Zhang Shao contacted some gangsters on Chang'an Street, and gathered more than 100 people in total.
In April 824 AD, an incredible dyeing riot occurred. According to the plan, Zhang Shao walked towards the palace with several large carts loaded with purple grass. Zhang Shao was very familiar with the gatekeeper and the first gate passed smoothly. However, there are many doors in the palace, and the more you go, the stricter the defense. Fortunately, Angela Chang often brought her car into the palace, which did not arouse the suspicion of the gatekeeper, and passed through several doors in a row.
Zhang Shao went smoothly and was secretly happy, and he was about to enter the core area of the palace. Unexpectedly, in front of a door, the vehicle was stopped. The purple herb is originally very light. Even if it is full of a large cart, it does not have a lot of weight. However, if people are hidden in the cart, it looks very heavy. The gatekeeper became suspicious and wanted to inspect the vehicle.
has exposed the filling and can no longer hide it. Zhang Shao had no choice but to pull out the knife from the purple grass and suddenly cut off a gatekeeper. The person hiding in the car had to jump out and kill all the gatekeepers. Seeing an accident, Angela Chang had to change from a sneak attack at night to a strong attack during the day. Zhang Shao gathered his personnel and divided them into two teams, one team to capture the arsenal and seize the weapons; the other team rushed straight to Qingsi Hall where the emperor lived, intending to capture the emperor.
On this day, Emperor Jingzong of Tang did not go out of the palace to play, but instead played polo in in Qingsi Palace.Emperor Jingzong of Tang was having fun when he suddenly heard that a riot had occurred and was immediately panicked. He planned to leave the palace to hide, but Angela Chang was familiar with the situation in the palace and had closed the gate to the south of the Qingsi Palace. There were not many guards in Qingsi Palace, and the sound of shouting and killing was approaching. Emperor Jingzong of Tang was panicked and hurriedly ran away from the back door.
Emperor Jingzong of Tang escaped from Qingsi Hall and planned to take refuge in the imperial guards' camp. The imperial guards were divided into two armies, and the Right Army had always supported Emperor Jingzong of Tang, and the Left Army had opposed Emperor Jingzong of Tang's succession. Therefore, Emperor Jingzong of Tang had long been favoring the Right Army and did not like the Left Army. At this critical moment, Emperor Jingzong of Tang naturally thought of going to the Right Army.
However, the Right Army stationed in the west, which is far away; while the Left Army stationed in the east, which is closer. Emperor Jingzong of Tang advised him, saying, "I don't know how many people rebel. The Youjun has a long way to go. If you encounter thieves on the way, it will be troublesome. Let's go to the Zuojun to take some insurance." Emperor Jingzong of Tang felt it made sense, so he had to flee east.
The commander of the left army at this time was eunuch Ma Cunliang . Ma Cunliang was cautious and begging for the left army because he had opposed Emperor Jingzong of Tang. Now, he heard that the emperor was coming to take refuge and was very excited. He trotted all the way out of the camp, knelt on the ground, licked the emperor's boots with his tongue, and carried the emperor into the camp himself.
Tang Jingzong felt safe and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he remembered that his mother came and urgently ordered Ma Cunliang to send troops to take the empress dowager into the military camp. Emperor Jingzong of Tang ordered Ma Cunliang to rectify his troops and go to quell the rebellion.
Zhang Shao led the dyeing brothers and rushed into the Qingsi Hall smoothly. Qingsi Palace was empty, and the emperor's imperial meal was still placed on the imperial desk. Zhang Shao sat on the imperial bed and was so happy. He really entered the palace and sat on the imperial bed, Su Xuanming's divination was truly powerful.
Zhang Shao asked someone to invite Su Xuanming, bowed deeply to him, and said, "Brother Su, your hexagram is really powerful!" Su Xuanming also smiled happily. The two sat on both sides of the imperial desk, enjoying the imperial meal, eating and drinking, and feeling happy like a god.
The two of them were drinking and eating and drinking happily. Su Xuanming asked, "Brother Zhang, what should I do next?" Zhang Shao was stunned and said, "We are sitting on the imperial bed and eating imperial meals. Your divination has come true. Where can I take the next step?"
Su Xuanming was shocked when he heard this and scared away his alcohol. He jumped up from the imperial couch, opened his eyes wide, and said hurriedly: "The government army must be coming soon. Are we waiting to die here?"
Hearing Su Xuanming say this, Zhang Shao's wine was also awakened. He pulled Su Xuanming, summoned his subordinates, and hurried to the arsenal. At this time, the team of people attacking the arsenal still failed. The officers and soldiers guarding the arsenal fought hard.
Zhang Shao gathered all the people together and distributed the treasures in the palace to everyone, so that everyone could even seize the arsenal when they fought to the death. Although occupying the arsenal is not a long-term solution, with a large number of weapons, it can be resisted for at least a while. At this moment, Angela Chang had no other way.
Arms battle is in full swing, the imperial guards arrive. How could Zhang Shao's more than a hundred mobs be able to defeat the well-equipped and well-trained imperial guards? The imperial guards were like cutting melons and vegetables, and they were cut into two. In a blink of an eye, the entire dyeing worker team was wiped out, and none survived. Zhang Shao and Su Xuanming had no way to escape, so naturally they were in different places. Poor brothers from the devil worker went to the underworld without even having a bite of imperial meal.
Dyeing workers riots, and the incident happened suddenly and without any warning. At that time, the emperor did not know where to go, which caused all the officials of the court to flee everywhere, and the people in the Chang'an City were panic. The next day, under the escort of the imperial guards, Emperor Jingzong of Tang returned to the palace. There were only a few dozen court officials coming to greet him.
Emperor Jingzong of Tang rewarded Ma Cunliang and other meritorious personnel, and gave a lot of rewards for the Left Army's meritorious support. At the same time, the officials in charge of the dyeing workshop were removed from office and exiled, and the 35 people who were dereliction of duty were beaten to the gate. The dyeing workers riot that caused a sensation in the capital finally came to an end.
Judging from historical records, the dye riot seems ridiculous and funny, and seems to be a farce.Later, many scholars believed that the dye riot was not that simple and may have deep-seated reasons. Scholars have conducted research, but have not yet reached a consensus conclusion. After the dyeing riot, ministers wrote letters, believing that Emperor Jingzong of Tang ignored the government and was greedy for entertainment, which caused the disaster. Perhaps only in the absurd and funny era of Emperor Jingzong of Tang would such a ridiculous and funny thing happen.
Due to the incompetence of Tang Muzong and Tang Jingzong's two generations of emperors, the power of the eunuch group became stronger and almost no one could defeat it. After Tang Wenzong ascended the throne, he wanted to curb the eunuch's power, but unexpectedly failed, which led to the eunuch group massacre of court officials, resulting in a tragedy. Please watch the next episode, the eunuchs started killing in the Incident of Ganlu.
