Liu Bao, Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty
In 125 A.D., Emperor Han’an died on his way to the south. At that time, empress Yan, Yan Xian and other ministers who were afraid of the capital took the opportunity to make Jiyin King Liu Bao emperor, so they hurried back to Luoyang without loss. When they arrived in Luoyang, empress Yan and her family decided to mourn emperor Han’an. Empress Yan plans to face the court by herself, and selects a young child Liu Yi (the son of Liu Shou, the king of Jibei, the grandson of emperor Zhang of Han Dynasty, and the Marquis of BEIXIANG) as the emperor, and she becomes the Empress Dowager herself.
When Queen Yan came to the court, Yan Xian became a general in charge of chariots and horses. Yan Xian replaced Sangong (Taiwei, situ, Sikong) and executed the generals Geng Bao, Zhongchang Shi fan Feng, Xiehui, Zhou Guang, and Ye Wang Junsheng on the charges of forming a party for personal gain. Yan Xian’s brother Yan Jing became a guard, Yan Yao became a city gate captain, and Yan Yan became the ruler of Jinwu. The Yan Family suddenly dominated the court.
A few months later, the infant emperor Liu Yi died of illness. Empress dowager Yan and Yan Xian had not yet discussed which prince to set up. Sun Cheng, the Chinese standing minister, had secretly contacted ten eunuchs. One night, he suddenly started to kill Jiang Jing, Liu An and Chen Da, the internal attendants, and captured Li run alive. Li Ran surrendered. That night, they made Liu Bao, the 11 year old king of Jiyin, the emperor of Han Shun. Then, sun Cheng sent all the Yan Xian brothers to prison and executed them, and put empress dowager Yan under house arrest. Within a few days, Empress Dowager Yan also died. Sun Cheng and his 19 eunuchs were all marquees. The regime of the Eastern Han Dynasty was suddenly transferred from relatives to eunuchs.
During the Han Dynasty and the emperor, only one eunuch, Zheng Zhong, was appointed as Hou. Now, these 19 eunuchs who were appointed as Hou have made the imperial court restless. Sun Cheng was also knowledgeable. He asked Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty to worship Zuo Xiong as the minister order, and still appointed a group of ministers. These 19 eunuchs who had been granted marques returned to their fiefs. Zuo Xiong also asked Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty to issue an imperial edict to recruit famous scholars, including Chen fan, Li Ying, Chen Qiu, Li Gu, Ma Rong, Zhang Heng and others. These people were all highly valued by Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty. Among them, Zhang Heng is not only a famous writer, but also a famous scientist. The seismograph (AD 132) invented by him is the world’s first instrument to determine the orientation of earthquakes. It was not until 1700 that the first seismograph appeared in Europe.
In 132 A.D., when Emperor Shun of Han was 18 years old, he made the noble Liang family the queen. Liang Shang, the father of the queen of Liang, became zhijinwu, and her brother Liang Ji and brother Liang Buyu also became officials. Later, Liang Shang became a general. He used to learn from the fate of his relatives. He didn’t dare to be too authoritarian and kept in touch with eunuchs.
After sun Cheng’s death, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty made an exception and let Sun Shou, sun Cheng’s adopted son, inherit the title and fief. In this way, it virtually made a bad start, and eunuchs vied to accept the adopted son. After sun Cheng, the eunuchs who were favored by the emperor of Han Shun included Cao Jie, Cao Teng, Meng Ben, etc.
In 141 ad, Liang Shang, a senior general, died of illness. Liang Ji became a senior general, and Liang Buyi succeeded his brother as Henan Yin. Unlike his father, Liang Ji is a libertine with a cruel disposition. When he was Yin of Henan Province, he sent people to assassinate LV Fang and implicated more than 100 people because Luoyang ordered LV Fang to speak disrespectfully to him. After he became a general, he did what he wanted, and the people were forced to rebel one after another.
As the local people revolted one after another, Zhou Ju, the remonstrating doctor, wrote to Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty and asked the local officials to be thoroughly investigated. Emperor hanshun sent eight ministers, including Zhou Ju, Du Qiao, and Zhang Gang, to inspect various places separately. When Zhang Gang arrived at Luoyang duting, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became. He destroyed the car and buried the wheels. When others asked him, he said, “jackals are in charge, and an asked the fox!” Simply, he wrote to impeach the “jackal” Liang Ji and Liang Buyi. Although Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty knew that the Liang brothers were evil, he dared not offend them, so he had to put Zhang Gang’s memorial aside. But Liang Ji hated Zhang Gang and tried to get rid of him all the time. It happened that Zhang Ying, a Guangling man, gathered tens of thousands to revolt. Liang Ji took the opportunity to recommend Zhang Gang as Guangling’s prefect and let him die. Zhang Gang went to Guangling with a dozen attendants to see Zhang Ying, and persuaded Zhang Ying. Zhang Ying dismissed the troops. Zhang Gang punished corrupt officials, and Guangling soon settled down. Zhang Gang made great contributions. Emperor Han Shun planned to seal him, but Liang Ji opposed it. A year later, Zhang Gang died at the age of 36. Emperor hanshun made his son Zhang Xu a doctor.
In 144 ad, Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty died of illness. Emperor Shun of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne at the age of 11 and reigned for 19 years. He was only 30 years old and was buried in Xianling after his death.
After the death of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty, Prince Liu Bing ascended the throne, which was Emperor Chong of Han Dynasty, and empress Liang was honored as empress dowager. Emperor Chong of the Han Dynasty was only two years old when he ascended the throne. Less than a year later, he died.
After the death of emperor Chong of Han Dynasty and the death of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty, the Minister of Gongqing proposed two people, one is Liu Suan, king of Qinghe, the other is Liu Zan, king of Haohai, both of whom are great grandsons of emperor Zhang of Han Dynasty. Tai Wei Li Gu advocated the establishment of an older Liu Suan, but empress dowager Liang and Liang Ji decided to establish an 8-year-old Liu Zan, the emperor of Han Dynasty, in order to dominate the court.
Although the emperor of Han Dynasty was only 8 years old, he was already very smart. Soon after he ascended the throne, he had seen Liang Ji’s face clearly. One day, he pointed to Liang Ji in front of all civil and military officials in the court and said, “this is a domineering general.” Hearing this, Liang Ji hated and was afraid. He asked the waiter to put the poison in the cake and take it up. Emperor Han Zhi ate the cake and soon died. Li Gu Fu’s corpse cried bitterly. Emperor Hanzhi was poisoned by Liang Ji within a year of his reign.
After the death of emperor Hanzhi, Li Gu, Du Qiao and other ministers advocated the establishment of liusuan, the king of Qinghe River, but empress dowager Liang and Liang Ji took a fancy to Liu Zhi, the 15-year-old Marquis of Li Wu, and wanted to make him emperor. Li Gu wrote against it and was dismissed by Empress Dowager Liang. In 147 ad, Liu Zhi ascended the throne, which was Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty. The Empress Dowager Liang Ji was in charge of the court.
In August of that year, Empress Dowager Liang married her little sister to Emperor Han Huan, who made her queen. In this way, one of the Liang sisters became empress dowager and the other queen. When empress Liang married, Liang Ji wanted to use the national treasury, but Du Qiao refused. Empress dowager Liang looked for an opportunity to dismiss him.
Liu Wen from Ganling and Liu tuna from Nanjun wanted to make Liu Suan king. Liu Suan was afraid, killed them and reported to the court. After hearing the eunuch’s words, Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty demoted Liu Suan by one level and renamed him Hou. Liu Suan was so angry that he took poison and committed suicide. Liang Ji took the opportunity to frame Li Gu, Du Qiao, Liu Wen and Liu tuna as accomplices and arrested them. Li Gu and Du Qiao committed suicide in prison.
In the first month of 150 A.D., the Empress Dowager Liang was seriously ill. She issued an imperial edict to grant amnesty to the world and returned the imperial court to Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty. After a month, she died. When the Empress Dowager Liang died, the power of the imperial court actually fell to Liang Ji. Liang Ji is in power and even more lawless. On New Year’s day in 151 ad, ministers paid New Year greetings to Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, and Liang Ji swaggered into the court hall with his sword. The minister Zhang Ling was angry and ordered the Yulin army to come forward and take his sword.
Like Zhang Ling, there was another official of the gang called Zhu Mu. In AD 153, Zhu Mu became the governor of Jizhou. Before Zhu Mu arrived, there were more than 40 corrupt officials who evaded by hanging seals. Later, many people were arrested and convicted by Zhu Mu. Eunuch Zhao Zhong gave a funeral for his father. He was very extravagant and violated the system. Zhu Mu was punished according to law, but he was arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty. Thousands of students led by Liu Tao filed a petition outside the palace gate to complain about their grievances, and Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty had no choice but to release Zhu Mu.
Because his relatives and eunuchs controlled the court, Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty only knew immorality and music, and people everywhere revolted one after another. In 156 ad, Xianbei, which became increasingly powerful in the northeast, also invaded the south. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty appointed Li Ying as the general of Du Liao, which made the northeast border stable.
In 159 ad, empress Liang died of illness, and the noble Liang Meng was favored. Liang Meng was originally surnamed Deng. Liang Ji and his wife took her as their daughter and sent her to the palace, so everyone thought she was Liang Ji’s daughter. Liang Ji was afraid that Liang GUI’s mother, Xuan, would reveal the secret, so he sent someone to assassinate her, but the assassin was caught. Liang Guiren told the truth to Emperor Han Huan, who was very angry and decided to get rid of Liang Ji. He secretly contacted five eunuchs, namely Shan Chao, Xu Huang, Ju Yuan, Zuo Xuan and Tang Heng, and launched more than 1000 Yulin troops. Suddenly, Liang Ji and his wife sun Shou took poison and committed suicide. All the people of the Liang and sun families were executed, and more than 300 officials and officials were punished. Liang Ji’s family property was confiscated, with a total value of more than 300000 yuan.
Because Shan Chao and other five eunuchs made meritorious contributions to the eradication of Liang Ji, they all sealed the Marquis, the so-called eunuch “five Marquis”, and the regime of the Eastern Han Dynasty was completely transferred into the hands of eunuchs. Liang Meng restored the original Deng surname, and Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty made Deng Guiren queen.
The imperial court was ruled by eunuchs, who were made black smoke and angry. Their cronies and minions were everywhere, and there was simply no law. Xu Huang’s nephew Xu Xuan made a piling, forcibly robbed the civilian girl, and shot her alive as an arrow target. Donghai Xianghuang Fu was not afraid of power and beheaded Xu Xuan. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty heard Xu Huang’s slander and dismissed Huang Fu as a criminal. White horse ordered Li Yun to write a letter criticizing emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty for abusing eunuchs, and Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty sent him to prison. Minister Du Zhong wrote that he would die with Li Yun. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty was so angry that he sent Du Zhong to prison again. Chen fan and several other ministers jointly wrote a letter to intercede for Li Yun and Du Zhong. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty sacked them and killed Li Yun and Du Zhong.
As emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty favored eunuchs, celebrities at that time, such as Xu Zhi, Jiang humerus, Wei Zhu, Yuan Hong, Li Tan, Wei Huan, etc., were unwilling to become officials. Guo Tai, Mao Rong, Meng min, Shen Tupan and others all strive to be “celebrities”, willing to be a student rather than an official. Talented ministers such as Li Ying, fan Pang, dumi, chen fan and Chen Shi were often dismissed. Therefore, the officials, students and celebrities of the junzhipai sect at that time had virtually formed a united front against the eunuch group, which called them “party members”.
In 165 A.D., Li Ying became the captain of Sili. Zhang Shuo, the brother of eunuch Zhang rang, is a yewang county magistrate. He usually commits all kinds of crimes. Li Ying wants to arrest him. He hides in his brother Zhang rang’s house. Li Ying just finds him out and executes him according to law. So Zhang rang hated Li Ying. Henan alchemist Zhang Cheng, who has always made friends with eunuchs, learned from Zhong Chang Shi Hou Lan that an amnesty would be granted within a day, so he pretended to be in control, looked at the wind and looked at the air, and claimed that he had divined that an amnesty would be granted within a day. In order to verify his ability, he asked his son to kill. After Li Ying caught Zhang Cheng’s son, the edict of amnesty came down as expected. Li Ying learned of Zhang Cheng’s shameless behavior and resolutely executed his son. Hou LAN and Zhang rang advised Zhang Cheng to let his adopted son fix a letter in prison and accuse Li Ying of forming a party for personal gain, slandering the court and corrupting customs. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty immediately ordered the arrest of the party members without asking whether they were right or wrong. In this way, Li Ying, Du MI, fan Pang, Guo Tai and other 200 people were put in prison. Chen fan, the supreme lieutenant who defended the party members, was also dismissed.
In 167 ad, Jia Biao, a native of Yingchuan, and Dou Wu, a city gate Captain (the great grandson of Dou Rong and the father of the newly established empress Dou of emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty), monk Shuhuo Chen, wrote to Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty asking for the release of the party members. Chen Ying and others began to fight back in prison. They listed some eunuch children and said that they were also allies. The eunuch was afraid and asked emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty to release them. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty released the party members, but left their names and was not allowed to be officials for a lifetime. This incident was called the first “disaster of Party imprisonment”.
When the party members were released from prison, they returned home separately. Guo Tai returned to Taiyuan from Luoyang. Almost all the students went to the Bank of the Yellow River to see him off. There were thousands of cars. Fan Pang returned to Runan and passed Nanyang. Nanyang literati welcomed him. There were thousands of cars.
It was in the winter of 167 A.D. that emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty died of illness. He has set up three queens, with dozens of dignitaries and thousands of palace maids. He is a dissolute emperor. He ascended the throne at the age of 15, reigned for 21 years, died at the age of 36, and was buried in Xuanling after death.
Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty had no son. Empress Dou discussed with her father Dou Wu to make Liuhong, the 12-year-old great grandson of Liukai, the king of Hejian, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. In 168 ad, Emperor Hanling ascended the throne and honored empress Dou as empress dowager. Worship Dou Wu as a general, chen fan as a lieutenant, Li Ying, dumi and other famous party members came back to participate in the government, and everyone in the world hopes that the Han Dynasty can flourish from now on.
Although empress dowager Dou attached importance to Chen Fan and relied more on her father Dou Wu, she was surrounded by eunuchs Cao Jie and Wang Fu all day in the palace, and regarded them as close friends. Chen fan and Dou Wu asked empress dowager Dou to destroy eunuchs, but empress dowager Dou couldn’t make this determination. Hou LAN, Cao Jie, Wang Fu and others learned of Chen Fan and Dou Wu’s plan, so they started first and arrested Chen Fan with a stick and killed him immediately. He also sent soldiers to besiege Dou Wu, who committed suicide. Then they entered the Changle palace, forced empress dowager Dou to hand over the jade seal and shut her up in the Nangong. Chen fan and Dou Wu’s relatives and disciples were all killed, and Li Ying and Du MI were dismissed as citizens.
The next year, in 169 A.D., Hou LAN and Cao Jie ordered their confidants to write a memorial, saying that the party members slandered the court and attempted to rebel, asking emperor Hanling to issue an imperial edict to arrest them. At that time, Emperor Hanling was only 14 years old and was manipulated by eunuchs. Therefore, he issued an edict to arrest the party members. Li Ying, dumi and fan blasphemy knew they couldn’t escape, and they didn’t want to involve others. They all took the initiative to see officials and died in prison. More than 100 people were killed with Li Ying, and 600 or 700 people were killed, exiled and imprisoned because of their involvement. In 171 ad, Emperor Hanling pardoned the world, but only the party members did not. By 176 ad, Emperor Hanling, under the coercion of eunuchs, ordered all Party members, old officials, father, son and brother, to be freed from official imprisonment, and even the five families. This incident is called the second “disaster of Party imprisonment”.
Although Guo Tai was not killed in this disaster of Party imprisonment, he has seen that the world of the Han Dynasty will not last long. Emperor Hanling was ignorant, and the power of the imperial court was all in the hands of eunuchs. Cao Luan, the governor of Yongchang, wrote a letter asking for pardon, and was sentenced to death. Yi Lang Cai Yong was dissatisfied with the eunuch, and his family was exiled to Shuofang. In 178 ad, Emperor Hanling set up an organization in Xiyuan so that rich people could go there to buy official titles. After that, the court and all parts of the country were overrun by corrupt officials. Coupled with years of famine, the common people could no longer live. Finally, in 184 A.D., the national yellow turban uprising broke out. In 189 ad, Emperor Hanling died. He ascended the throne at the age of 12, reigned for 23 years, died at the age of 35, and was buried in Wenling after death. When later generations talk about the fatuous and decadent monarch, they mostly refer to Emperor Huan of Han Dynasty and Emperor Ling of Han Dynasty, and they are also called “huanling”. As soon as emperor Hanling died, the regime of the Eastern Han Dynasty actually ended.