In the study of political history in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the dictatorship of eunuchs is an issue that cannot be ignored.
Even Tang Xuanzong, known as "Little Taizong", was not spared the doom of being plotted by the eunuch group to establish an heir. So, how did Tang Xuanzong deal with the dictatorship of eunuchs?
Tang Xuanzong's strategy to suppress eunuchs Tang Xuanzong was compromised about the rise of eunuch power in the early days, but this did not mean that he did nothing to take action against eunuchs.
In fact, his decisions were based on the eunuchs' support for him, which made this pattern very unstable. However, Tang Xuanzong still managed to curb the power of the eunuchs and tried to re-establish the authority of the imperial power.
Xuanzong had a strong desire for power, and he did not want to be suppressed by others forever. As time passed, his political position became more and more secure, and his attitude towards eunuchs gradually hardened.
In the first month of the eighth year of Dazhong, Xuanzong issued the "Washing the Deyin of the Changqing Rebellion Ministers and Branches", announcing an amnesty for the so-called "Yuan and the Rebel Party". This action showed that he had succeeded in eliminating dissidents from the eunuchs and had taken control of the situation in the inner court.
After this, Xuanzong began to secretly discuss with his confidant ministers how to suppress the eunuchs. According to the Tongjian, Xuanzong summoned Wei Ao, a scholar from Hanlin, and they discussed the power of the eunuchs.
Wei Ao suggested that talented people among the eunuchs should be involved in decision-making, while Xuanzong thought this was an unrealistic suggestion. Xuanzong had also discussed with Ling Guyi how to completely eliminate the eunuchs, but Ling Guqian was worried that this would implicate innocent people, so he suggested that only the guilty eunuchs should be dealt with, and that the vacancies should not be filled arbitrarily.
This suggestion made the eunuchs very unhappy, and they began to contradict the courtiers, and the relationship between the north and the south became increasingly strained.
According to the "Southern New Book", Xuanzong set up cane punishment in the imperial palace, and imposed cane punishment on the guilty officials. However, instead of helping Xuanzong to restrain the eunuchs, the prime ministers interceded for the eunuchs.
What's more, Ma Zhi, Cui Xuan and others colluded with the eunuchs at the beginning of the middle school, and it is obvious that the prime ministers have long been in the same league with the eunuchs for their own interests. Xuanzong's efforts to suppress the eunuchs were not effectively supported by the ruling prime minister Ling Huxuan, and the results were not obvious.
1.During the Tang Xuanzong period, in order to prevent the eunuchs from usurping power due to excessive power, the family of eunuchs with lush branches and foliage was dispersed. He sent Wang Zongshi to serve as the left lieutenant of Shence, while Wang Zongjing was appointed as the supervisor of the western Zhejiang army.
Yang Qinyi once served as a lieutenant in the Right Army, and his adopted sons Yang Xuanluo and Yang Xuanhua were in charge of Jiqing and Yanzhou. Such an arrangement made the eunuchs' power relatively dispersed, and the chances of usurping power were greatly reduced.
2.In the late period, Emperor Xuanzong began to rely on pills to maintain his physical strength and energy, and became more and more favored by Taoism, which aroused the opposition of the ministers of the court. The officials went to the court one after another, but Xuanzong ignored it.
In the end, Xuanzong was poisoned by long-term pills, and his disease became more and more serious. At the same time, the issue of succession to the throne triggered a contest and competition for political forces, and rebellions broke out frequently in the southern towns, and the prime minister and friends colluded, and even excluded Xuanzong's confidants.
Xuanzong's dissatisfaction with the Bull Party clique also grew. In this case, Xuanzong's left and right began to control his decision-making, leading to a relapse of the eunuch group.
At the turn of feudal domains, the number of warehouses stored in the warehouse was reported, and the surplus was used as a standard for performance, and the imperial court commended them for this. But I privately think that there is a certain pattern in the wealth of the feudal government, if it is not that the taxes are too heavy, or the soldiers are abolished, and the food and clothing are reduced, then how can there be so much storage leftover!
Recently, there have been frequent riots in many feudal towns in the south, and this is all for this reason. "In the middle and late Tang dynasties, the storage surplus was managed by the inner treasury controlled by the eunuchs. The imperial court used the amount of surplus as the criterion for performance, which was obviously an important manifestation of the expansion of the eunuchs' economic power.
The sharp deterioration of the political situation in the south was largely held by Xuanzong and the group of eunuchs on whom he relied on. In June of the thirteenth year of the Dazhong Palace (859), Xuanzong died due to a long-term swallowing of pills and a seizure of illness.
At the end of the middle and middle periods, Xuanzong's attitude towards eunuchs changed to mild and protective attitudes, but this did not prevent the recurrence of the eunuchs' unauthorized establishment after the collapse of Xuanzong. Historians often blame the coup d'état at the end of the middle and middle periods on Xuanzong's refusal to pre-appoint the prince.
For example, Hu Sansheng believed that "Xuanzong did not determine the national capital early, so that Wang Zongshi could establish a long term and steal the merit of making a decision."
At that time, Emperor Xuanzong's sons were all excellent, especially the third son, King Kui Li Zi, but he was worried that the abolition of Chang Liyu would cause opposition from the courtiers, so he did not appoint the crown prince for a long time.
Before his death, Xuanzong entrusted the affairs of his death to three favored eunuchs, and one of them, Wang Zongshi, a lieutenant of the Left Army, had a disagreement with them. Wang Zongshi was sent to Huainan to supervise the army, but he found out that there was a fake in it, so he returned to the palace.
After his exposure, the exaggerated behavior of Wang Guichang and others was exposed, and their desire to beg for life and support Li Zi as the crown prince was shattered. In the end, Wang Zongshi, in accordance with Xuanzong's last wishes, made Li Wen the crown prince and changed his name to Li Yi.
This is really an irony of history, Li Wen was originally the eldest son of no favor, but in the end he became the emperor.
In front of the coffin of Emperor Xuanzong of Daxing, the newly established crown prince Li Jian succeeded to the throne and became Yizong, when he was only twenty-seven years old. During the Dazhong period, the lieutenants of the two armies played a decisive role in the palace coup.
In the early days of Dazhong, the power of the lieutenants of the two armies was particularly high, but Xuanzong used legal means to control them, so that the old system of exchanging lieutenants between the two armies could not be continued. During the reign of Xuanzong, Liu Xingshen, Tutu Shiye, and Ximen Jixuan, lieutenants of the Right Army, were quite trusted, but Ma Yuanzhen, the lieutenant of the Left Army, was more domineering, and even had a close relationship with the prime minister Ma Zhipan.
Although Ma Yuanzhen was favored for a time after Xuanzong's accession to the throne, he was eventually excluded by Xuanzong, and Yang Qinyi took his place. Overall, although the relationship between the lieutenants of the two armies was very good, they played a key role in Xuanzong's succession to the throne.
Wang Zongshi, a historical figure, has few records before this, but when Xuanzong discussed the strategy of controlling eunuchs with Wei Ao in the eighth year of Dazhong, he mentioned that he had promoted a group of eunuchs, "From yellow clothes to green clothes to scarlet clothes, these people are very grateful, and they will only stand on the same front with me when they wear purple robes." ”
Xuanzong has always attached great importance to the clothing given to eunuchs, and only a few people have the opportunity to receive purple gifts, so Xuanzong may have mentioned this person. In the ninth year of Dazhong, Xuanzong degraded his brother Wang Zongjing as the guard of Gongling because of the incident of chasing the commander in eastern Zhejiang, which showed his determination to cut off Wang Zongshi's henchmen.
Although Xuanzong wanted to suppress him, he did not dare to act easily because he was afraid of his military power, and could only use power techniques to maintain control over the lieutenant of the left army, and the relationship between the two was always suspicious and dissociated.
In the middle years, Xuanzong suppressed the privy envoys, which led to the monopoly of power of Lieutenant Shence, which laid the groundwork for the subsequent coup d'état. When commenting on the disaster of eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty, Zhao Yi pointed out that during the Tang Dynasty, the power of eunuchs was greater than that of the emperor, so that the emperor was established, killed, and abolished, and even like child's play.
Tracing back to the root of the bane, it is because leaving the Forbidden Army and the Privy Council in their management is like handing over the sword to them, and when their power is stabilized, even a wise monarch and a shrewd prime minister cannot stop them.
During the Wuzong period, Li Deyu tried to seize the lieutenant's talisman, but was resisted and ultimately unsuccessful, and soon after, two lieutenants made Xuanzong emperor without authorization.
Although the eunuchs were restrained to a certain extent in the later part of the Xuanzong Dynasty, they were unable to fully control the military power they wielded. In the end, Xuanzong still failed to avoid the tragic ending of the eunuchs behind him interfering with the establishment of a new monarch.
Other historical topics or opinions: Eunuch dictatorship is a common phenomenon in feudal society, which often leads to political corruption and social unrest. In Chinese history, the phenomenon of eunuch dictatorship was particularly serious, such as the eunuch dictatorship in the Ming Dynasty, which led to social turmoil and decline.