"If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools. If you live in this country, you should be a wise man who serves its officials, and a benevolent friend of its scholars." [The Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong]
The Hongnong Yang family is a world-famous noble family. It began with Yang Chang, the prime minister of Emperor Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty, and flourished with Yang Zhen, the Taiwei of Emperor An of the Eastern Han Dynasty. They had been with the Han Dynasty for four hundred years until the fall of the Han Dynasty, and their family continued after that.
For thousands of years, a dynasty was even created.
Not to mention the past and future generations, but in this dynasty, Dong Zhuo is good at governing the government. He killed the four generations and three princes of the Runan family. In order to offset the negative consequences, he won over the wealthy families of Guanxi, so he killed the same four generations and three princes.
The Hongnong Yang family, who was not inferior to the Yuan family, generously awarded rewards. The Hongnong Yang family became an official in the court.
There were dozens of people, large and small, distributed both inside and outside. In the inner court, there were Yang Zan, the minister, and Yang Qi, the servant; in the outer court, there were ministers like Yang Zhong, Yang Zhong, and Guanglu doctor Yang Biao; in the local area, there were Yin Yangyi from Henan, and Yuanniaochei the capital.
Wei Yangru. Although he is not the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, in terms of authority alone, the sum of these people is nothing more than the prime minister.
Yang Qi's surrender only represents his personal position and cannot be regarded as the opinion of the entire Hongnong Yang family. This time, letting Yang Qi go to convince everyone in the Yang family is actually giving them a chance to increase their offer. It's just that for such a behemoth, if he wants to
he
They all bet, and there must be huge benefits in exchange. Even if the emperor is willing to pay a price to cooperate with the Yang family in order to seek the support of the nobles, the cost may be unbearable for him at any time. If he fails, the tail will not be lost, and he will be defeated.
It's empty.
Wang Bin, as the emperor's mother and close relative, felt the need to remind the emperor to always be wary of the Yang family while relying on the power of Yang Qi and others.
The emperor also knew in his heart that at the end of the Han Dynasty, the powerful forces were rampant in the place, and they firmly controlled the Qing Dynasty, academics, and even the official career. Emperor Guangwu looked to Nanyang, Hebei and other powerful forces to revive the Han Dynasty, although there were repeated mergers and acquisitions by powerful forces.
policy, but still not possible
This resulted in the expansion of local powerful forces. The growing political, economic, and cultural power of the gentry directly threatened the imperial power. As a result, the Eastern Han Dynasty repeatedly saw emperors getting close to eunuchs and authorizing eunuchs to intervene in politics to attack the gentry.
Every peck and every drink has a certain number.
The power struggle between the eunuchs and the gentry lasted for nearly a hundred years, and finally ended with Yuan Shao, who was a scholar, leading his troops into the palace to kill all the eunuchs. However, the balance of the court was broken, and the gentry, without the eunuchs and other old enemies, began to
The internal struggle for power resulted in Dong Zhuo going to Beijing to clean up the court.
At first, Dong Zhuo chose to cooperate with the Yuan family and recruit people from all over the country, hoping that the gentry would give him political support. Unfortunately, Dong Zhuo was born in a humble family and was excluded from the gentry circle. He also appointed scholars from prefectures and counties.
Repeated betrayals. Especially when the trusted scholars Wu Qiong and Zhou Ao repeatedly coaxed Dong Zhuo to treat the scholars courteously and recruit scholars as officials, but this caused the scholars to rebel after taking office, Dong Zhuo broke up with the Guandong nobles.
Be an enemy.
This is also the cause and effect of what happened during the two hundred years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Emperor Ling died.
"After my death, the world will be in chaos. I hope your majesty will love yourself!"
The emperor was sitting alone in the empty Xuanshi Palace, and his mind suddenly echoed what Zhang Rang and others said to his brother, the Young Emperor Liu Bian, before they committed suicide by drowning in the river. Now that the Young Emperor has passed away, it is his turn.
"Self-love", but how can he avoid the situation where Wang Yun becomes more powerful after Dong Zhuo is executed, and the Yang family becomes more powerful after Wang Yun is suppressed?
It seems that unifying the world is not as simple as one imagined.
A long and heavy sigh sounded from the depths of the self-declaration room that was imperceptible.
The next day.
A red sun hung alone over the city. It was almost dusk, and the sky was still sultry. The heat on the ground came out from the cracks in the earth. Outside Qingsuo Gate, Wang Bin, the captain of Fengche, personally saw off Zhang Chang, the minister of Huangmen.
One person was inside the door, and the other was outside. Zhang Chang, who was outside the door, turned around, bowed to Wang Bin, and said, "Please stay, and Wang Duwei must not see him off again."
Wang Bin said with a smile: "The assistant minister teaches writing, and he is considered to be the teacher of your Majesty's writing. Since I have obeyed the order, I should take a few more steps."
"I don't dare to take it, I don't dare to take it." Zhang Chang took a few steps back and waved his hands to refuse.
Wang Bin glanced around, and the Sima of the palace gate alertly led people into hiding in the darkness of the doorway. Then he took a step closer and whispered: "Your Majesty invites you so kindly, is this really what you want the minister to do?"
Zhang Chang smiled bitterly when he heard this and said: "My younger brother Kun doesn't know etiquette, doesn't like poems and books, and behaves perversely. How can he respond to the imperial edict and enter the palace to hold a halberd for His Majesty? Not only will it be difficult to gain, but it may even ruin your Majesty's important affairs, both for the country and for yourself.
I have to think about this, and I hope the captain can make things right for me."
Wang Bin sighed, no longer pressed, and said, "Please be careful about what you say today."
Zhang Chang nodded and bowed to Qingsuo Gate again. This has been a custom since the Han Dynasty. When the Huangmen Minister returns home every evening, he must bid farewell to the Qingsuo Gate. Therefore, the Huangmen Minister is also called Xi.
Lang.
After bidding farewell to Zhang Chang, Wang Bin stood silently for a long time in the sunset, looking at the long street intently. The palace gate Sima walked up to him at some point and said behind him: "Your Majesty, the palace gate is about to be locked."
Wang Bin is the uncle of the state. Yang Qi and others can maintain their identity and call him the captain. The palace gate Sima is a low-level official, but they dare not entrust him to the throne and respectfully call him the duke. So Wang Bin turned around and walked back to the car, preparing to drive.
Returning, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the palace gate Sima, who looked very much like a person. He moved his hands and said, "Who are you?"
"Gongmen Sima Gaishun." Gaishun replied in a neither humble nor overbearing tone.
A figure flashed through Wang Bin's mind. He looked at the high-spirited guards beside the palace gate, and suddenly an idea came to his mind. He looked at Gai Shun deeply, as if to remember
He looked at the other person's young face, nodded, and then drove away in the car.
In the Xuanshi Hall, someone had spread a bamboo mat on the verandah on the west side. The emperor was wearing loose Yanju uniforms, holding a red tube in his hand, and was sketching the eight-point regular script stroke by stroke on the silk.
The emperor finished writing a copy. Behind him, Xiao Huangmen, who was a few years older than the emperor, cleverly replaced it and carefully placed it beside the table. He said with a flattering smile: "The word "country" is written really well, one horizontal line and one vertical line.
, it’s exactly the same as the words on the sutra tablet.”
This was the first eunuch in two days who said something unrelated to his duties to him. The emperor was surprised. He put down his pen, rubbed his sore wrist, and asked, "Can you read?"
"My slave is illiterate, but I have seen some stone tablets in the suburbs of Chang'an. I vaguely remember a few words, but I don't know the meaning." After Xiao Huangmen finished speaking, he knelt on the ground and stretched out his hands. The emperor understood and placed his right hand on the other side.
Put it on your hands and let it rub.
"What is your name?" asked the emperor.
"My humble name is Mu Shun."
After some questioning, the emperor gradually understood the origin of Mu Shun. He was originally from Jingzhao. He entered the palace at an early age and was elected to the Shang Yao Superintendent. He could have lived a peaceful life as a eunuch in the Shang Yao Superintendent, but he was unwilling to be mediocre.
Rely on your own intelligence, seek to make progress, and find opportunities to contact
When the young emperor Liu Bian arrived, he was still the crown prince. However, he was informed by Gao Wang, the medical superintendent of Xiaohuangmen, and he was sent to Beisi Prison to seek an opportunity to kill him. Yuan Shao and his troops broke into the palace and massacred the eunuchs wantonly. Gao Wang died.
, and Mu Shun was able to escape by hiding in Beisi Prison because he saw the opportunity quickly.
After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, he considered that the eunuchs in the palace were almost extinct after Yuan Shao's killings, and there was no one to take care of the young emperor's daily life. Although Dong Zhuo let the scholars fill some of the positions that the eunuchs once had, he was also worried about the relationship between the scholars and the emperor.
The emperor came too close, so he used forced conscription, recruitment, or castration of criminals and prisoners to enrich the palace. Therefore, Mu Shun not only resumed his duties, but also took charge of the Shangyang Prison, often calling himself an eunuch.
He lay dormant for three years until the emperor was seriously ill and the imperial physician's prescription of medicine required the supervision of the Medicine Supervisor. Mu Shun was able to serve at any time and specialize in the emperor's decoction. He healed the scar and forgot about the pain. Seeing the emperor gradually recover, Mu Shun
Feeling that he had made a contribution, the thoughts that had been dormant in his heart for a long time became active again. The emperor was only twelve years old, and Mu Shun thought that with years of tricks, he would not be afraid of losing the emperor's favor. He knew that this was a hard-won opportunity, so that
He tried his best, but the emperor also had other plans and sang along with him. In the eyes of outsiders, the little emperor was young and ignorant, and had been fooled by Mu Shun.
"Insolent!" A sharp shout suddenly interrupted the conversation between the two. The emperor's smiling face froze for a moment. Mu Shun bent his knees and knelt down immediately. An old man walked towards him quickly, glared at Mu Shun fiercely, and stretched out his sleeves.
He bowed down and said, "Yeting ordered me to bow before your majesty. How can the emperor allow people to talk and laugh in the presence of your majesty? Please bring Mu Shun down to punish him."
This person's name is Miao Si. Although he is a eunuch, his status in the Weiyang Palace is extraordinary. The emperor once heard Wang Bin mention it deliberately. This can be said from several years ago. When Emperor Ling succeeded to the throne, the eunuchs and their relatives and noble families
The conflict was acute. General Dou Wu, the leader of the gentry and his relative, attempted to kill the eunuchs, but the eunuchs preempted him and killed Dou Wu and a group of other gentrymen in the name of rebellion, which was a disaster for the party.
As a guest of General Dou Wu, Miao Si should have been implicated, but he chose to endure the humiliation and accept a punishment of corruption, which was inferior to the death penalty, in order to one day avenge Dou Wu and other party members. For more than twenty years, in Nangong
He served as a humble miser, cleaning the court steps and cleaning the palace; privately, he repeatedly made friends with Yuan Shao and other nobles, communicating with China and foreign countries. Finally, He Jin was arrogant and was killed by Zhang Rang when he entered the palace. He escaped from the palace as soon as possible.
, reported to Yuan Shao, and then there was a series of turbulence that followed.
Afterwards, as the eunuchs in the palace were almost extinct, the eunuch positions such as Ye Ting Ling and Yong Xiang Ling were once occupied by scholars. The young emperor was deposed and the emperor succeeded. Dong Zhuo, out of selfish motives, used the excuse that the emperor had accepted the Fu family and other nobles into the palace, but
Officials such as Ye Ting Ling were responsible for the daily life of the emperor's concubines. It was too sensitive for a scholar to hold the position, so the scholar who held this position was dismissed. After a compromise, Miao Si, who was both a scholar and an eunuch, took the position.
Wang Bin once analyzed the composition of the eunuchs in the palace today to the emperor. The eunuchs at the bottom are mixed in quality and messy in shape. Not to mention him, the eunuchs in high positions such as Ye Ting Ling are almost all controlled by scholars. Every word and deed is restricted at every turn.
Even if the emperor did not want to use eunuchs to balance the court, he had to use pure eunuchs like Mu Shun to offset the influence of scholars infiltrating into the palace.
The emperor was familiar with history and knew that the "people's righteousness in the dynasty" that literati in the past dynasties longed for was not a good thing for the emperor. At present, Miao Si was still entangled with the emperor and wanted to bring down Mu Shun. The emperor wanted to protect it, but Miao Si had a tough attitude.
, he had to force the emperor to give in. The emperor was immediately angry. Wang Yun's attitude towards him was nothing more than that. Now a little-known Ye Tingling dared to disobey him?
"I missed Dongdu, so I asked Mu Shun to tell me some old stories from back then. I don't know what crime he committed. Is it necessary for Ye Tingling to hold him accountable?"
Miao Si turned a deaf ear to the anger in the emperor's words and replied: "I have already understood your majesty from the beginning. Mu Shunyan's smile is unrestrained, which is a breach of etiquette."
"Then I will pardon him."
Mu Shun: From the novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", a eunuch in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Emperor Xian wanted to compile a book and he conspired with his uncle to plot against Duke Cao. Because Shun was the most loyal and loyal among the eunuchs, he ordered Shun to deliver the book.
He hid the book in his hair, sneaked out of the forbidden palace, walked to Wan's house, and presented the book. When he had finished paying the letter, he hid it in his bun and returned to the palace after saying goodbye. However, after hearing the letter, he waited at the palace gate first.
, return to meet the public
, the gentleman drank, searched his body, found nothing on his body, and let him go. Suddenly the wind blew his hat off. The gentleman called him back, took the hat and looked at it, but found nothing, returned the hat and ordered him to wear it. He put his hat upside down with both hands. The gentleman was suspicious.
, ordered people to search his hair, and found Fu Wan's book. When the public saw the book, he was furious, so he went to the secret room to ask Shun, but he refused to recruit him. That night, more than 200 members of the Shun, Wan, and other clans were killed in the market.