In 168 AD, the 36-year-old Emperor Heng of Han died. Empress Dowager Dou began to govern, Dou Wu was named a general, and Chen Fan came back to be named a prince. Dou Wu began to control Shangshutai and mastered **.
Subsequently, Empress Dowager Dou ordered to welcome the 12-year-old Emperor Ling of Han into the city. Dou Wu and Chen Fan began to summon all the talents into the court to participate in the affairs of the imperial court. Chen Fan and Dou Wu decided to settle the eunuch group once and for all.
Dou Wu deeply agreed, and said to Dou Hou that he would kill all the guilty eunuchs. However, Dou Hou disagreed, and the two sides were at a stalemate. Foreign courtiers and doctors wrote one after another, asking Empress Dou to approve the killing of eunuchs.
Dou Wu and Chen Fan couldn't wait and prepared to launch a coup d'état on their own. However, Dou Wu took a leave of absence from the palace and gave the eunuch a chance. The eunuchs took control of the capital and acted immediately.
They arrested Zheng Sa and confessed through him that Cao Jie, Wang Fu and other eunuchs had conspired to cause chaos. Shan Bing, Dou Wu's confidant, took over the position of Huangmen Ling. He was ready to immediately ask Empress Dowager Dou for approval to arrest Cao Jie and others.
However, after Dou Wu left the palace, the eunuch in charge of the chapter immediately opened and looked at Dou Wu's chapter, scolded Dou Wu and others for their guilt, and decided to kill Dou Wu and others. The eunuchs eventually took control of the emperor and Fu Xin, and took control of Shangshutai.
The key elements of the coup d'état were the arsenal, the Simamen, the emperor and the army. Dou Wu only had an army, but he had no arsenal and could not arm the army; He controlled Shangshutai, but Sima Men was controlled by eunuchs; He had an emperor and a jade seal, but did not control the army.
Eventually, the eunuchs succeeded in taking control of the emperor and the army and seizing power.
The arrival of a scholar changed the situation completely. The Eastern Han Dynasty Hun Zhonglang general Zhang Huan just entered Luoyang to report on his work, he was controlled by the emperor, and ordered him to lead the army to crusade against Dou Wu.
At this time, Wang Fu personally dispatched and led the Praetorian Guards out of the Vermilion Bird Gate to set up defenses. Dou Wu's subordinates scattered and fled, and Dou Wu and Dou Shao committed suicide. Dou Wu's relatives, guests, and in-laws were all hunted down and killed, and the scholar went from a steady victory to a collapse overnight.
A fire broke out among the eunuchs who held power, and Wang Fu united with Duan Cheng to kill his political enemies Liu Kui, King of Bohai, Zheng Sa, and Dong Teng, Zhonghuangmen, on the grounds of conspiracy to establish Liu Kui as emperor.
The era of eunuchs has arrived! Just when the eunuchs were fighting to the death, in 176 Yongchang Taishou Cao Luan wrote a book"Party people"Grievances and demands that the imprisonment be lifted. In the face of the real enemy, the eunuchs temporarily stopped the internal fighting, collectively put pressure on Emperor Ling, arrested Cao Luan and sent him to Luoyang to torture to death, and issued an edict to the state and county officials to re-investigate the student disciples, old subordinates, fathers, sons, and brothers of the party to see if there are any fish that have slipped through the net!
The scope of this adjustment is extremely wide, and the court is almost empty again. Although the gentry group was desperate for power and posed a certain threat to the imperial power, the imperial court could not function without them.
From the height of the temple, to the distance of the rivers and lakes, from the "Three Princes" to the "Gongcao", the foundation of the Eastern Han Dynasty was destroyed in all directions. After being branded as "party members", the scholars began to transform from collaborators of the Eastern Han Dynasty to saboteurs.