"Relying on eunuchs to regain power is not a good means!" Huo Guang waved his hand and said with a smile, "It can be seen from the example of Empress Lu that the strength of the scholars and loyal ministers is enough to set things right, and even if the scholars have some different intentions, if they can't dominate the family, it will be difficult to monopolize the power." ”

Lu Pheasant was seriously ill, but she did not forget to consolidate the Lu family before she died. When she was critically ill, she ordered the appointment of her nephew, Zhao Wang Lu Lu, as a general to lead the northern army; Lü Chan commanded the Southern Army. And admonished them: "After Emperor Gao pacified the world, he made an alliance with his ministers: 'It is not the Liu clan who is the king, and the whole world will punish him.'" 'Now that the Lü clan is king, the Liu clan and the ministers are indignant, I will soon die, the emperor is young, and the ministers may mutiny. Therefore you must keep a firm grip on the army, guard the palace, and never leave the palace for my funeral, and do not be restrained. ”

After the collapse of Lu Hou, he left an edict to give the princes a thousand catties of gold, and the generals, ministers, liehous, lang, and officials were all given gold according to their official ranks. Amnesty to the world. Let the king of Lü and Lü Chan serve as the prime minister. Let Lu Lu's daughter be the queen. Because Empress Lü cultivated a group of Lü's relatives during her reign, which exacerbated the contradictions within the Han ruling class, after her death, it immediately led to a bloody struggle between the Liu royal group and the Lü clan's relatives. Empress Dowager Lü died before she could complete her political plan. The internal contradictions of the Han ruling class suddenly intensified, and Liu Zhi's army swarmed. Liu Xiang, the king of Qi, was difficult to go outside, Chen Ping and Zhou Bo responded to the inside, and the kings of the Liu family rose up and killed Zhu Lu, and a bloody struggle between the Liu royal group and the Lu family group ended in the victory of the royal group.

After the destruction of the Lu family's power, the minister believed that the two young emperors and the other two Liu Ying concubines set up by Lu Pheasant were not Liu Ying's own children, so he first abolished and then killed the young emperor Liu Hong, and chose the heir to the throne in the imperial family surnamed Liu. The focus of consideration is that his mother must not have a powerful mother's family, so Liu Heng, who was named the acting king at that time, inherited the throne and was Emperor Wen of Han.

Of course, it was not difficult to accept that supporting his family and suppressing the surname Liu during the authoritarian period of Empress Lu was not something to accept. However, relatively speaking, it is still the same situation, after her death, no one can coordinate the relationship between the Liu royal group and the Lu family's foreign relatives group, and mutual fire is inevitable.

So the question is, who has the ability to raise a person who is good enough to reconcile the two? Or the relationship between the two is actually fundamentally irreconcilable, Lu Pheasant is the queen mother, so there is no way. If you change someone else, even if it's a queen or something, it's not justifiable enough, and it's useless.

"What's more, whether it is a relative or a scholar, although what he does is said to be for his own power, he will also contribute when he is in power and be responsible for the people." Huo Guang continued, "After all, no matter what, for the sake of national stability, we must do a stable job. ”

"And eunuchs are different, they don't exist for posterity at all, what they do is for the power in front of them, the enjoyment in front of them. Therefore, they confuse the emperor, grasp the power, do misdeeds, accumulate money and food, and do not take into account the problems of people's livelihood at all! Huo Guang continued, "The two are completely different in nature, and the results are unimaginable. ”

What Huo Guang said can be said to be the essence of the problem.

Eunuchs are generally from humble backgrounds, illiterate, and despised by ordinary people. However, once in power, the eunuchs also began to annex land and rose to the landlord class. We say that eunuchs are not necessarily bad people, and there are sometimes outstanding people among the eunuchs, such as Taishi Gong, who repaired the "Historical Records", Cai Hou, who invented papermaking, and Sanbao Eunuch, who went to the West, all of which have left good names in history.

Although eunuchs are not all bad people, eunuch politics must be dark. This is because: first, the eunuchs are corrupted, have a perverted temperament, and have a hatred for society and normal people; Second, eunuchs had no offspring, and therefore were not bound by the slightest sense of morality; Third, the eunuchs came from humble backgrounds, were illiterate, and had no cultural literacy; Fourth, the eunuchs only know how to send to usher, flattery, and have no political experience.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the eunuchs competed with their relatives politically, and also expanded wildly economically. The eunuchs rose to become powerful landlords, but they were not valued by the upper class of wealthy families and Qingliu, but were the political representatives of the lower classes of powerful landlords.

The harm, threat, and public anger brought about by this kind of action are the greatest, and the dictatorship of scholars and relatives will only be a struggle for the superstructure. Needless to say, the scholar and clear stream type, and the family type don't care about any money, grain, land and other issues, and there is no such ferocious crazy accumulation of wealth as the eunuchs.

Moreover, the eunuchs have no experience in governing at all, and what they do is not in line with the overall interests of the country at all, and from the perspective of the people and the long-term peace and stability of the country, the eunuchs can be said to be the biggest saboteurs.

"Of course, I also know the truth of relying on eunuchs to seize power, eunuchs are eunuchs after all, and at most they can only serve as a regular attendant of the emperor. Convey the edict, take charge of the documents, and influence the emperor's hearing and hearing. Huo Guang continued, "They are only purely attached to the existence of the Han Emperor, and they cannot occupy any real power position, and they are much easier to control than their relatives. It's a matter of one sentence to deal with. ”

Liang Ji was a famous relative in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. His two younger sisters have been successively established as empresses, and Emperor Chong, Emperor Qian, and Emperor Huan were also established as emperors by Liang Jice. Liang Ji controlled the government and covered the sky with one hand, and his arrogance was beyond words, and the emperor became a puppet without power.

After Emperor Huan of Han ascended the throne, he made a bloody alliance with five eunuchs including Tang Heng, Shan Chao, and Xu Huang, and was determined to get rid of Liang Ji. Tang Heng, Shan Chao and other five people, with the support of the emperor, after careful planning, mobilized more than 1,000 Yulin troops to surround Liang Ji's residence with lightning speed. Liang Ji and his wife committed suicide in fear of crime, and most of his family members and party members were killed. Shan Chao, Tang Heng, Xu Huang, Gu Ying and other five people were made marquis in one day because of their meritorious service in killing Liang Ji, and the food and euphemism ranged from 20,000 to 13,000 households.

In the years that followed, the "Five Marquises" were cronyistic, and most of their relatives were promoted, but they also relied on their power to exclude dissidents and do whatever they wanted. For example, Xu Huang's nephew fell in love with the Li woman, and after being refused, he led officials to break into the Li family, snatched the female drama and shot her. Huang Fu, the prime minister of the East China Sea, was dealt with in accordance with the law, but was criminally responsible by Emperor Huan. The "five marquis" became increasingly powerful and arrogant, which in turn posed a threat to the imperial power. Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty took advantage of the crime of Gu Ming's brother to suppress it painfully, and issued an edict to demote Gu Ying as the marquis of the capital, Shan Chao, Tang Heng and others were also implicated and degraded one after another, and the dictatorship of the five marquis came to an end.

From here, it is obvious that it is very simple to deal with eunuchs, just give an order, take it directly, not too simple.

However, perhaps it is because many Han emperors have been directly on the throne since they were children, and they do not have the opportunity to learn slowly by themselves without the support of their predecessors. Therefore, it is instinct to fight for power and profit, but after seizing power, you don't have the ability to control this power.

This is like Dong Zhuo, Liao, Jin and the like, I have never seen such a luxurious life, as soon as I entered the prosperous and rich Central Plains, the whole person was confused, I didn't remember any ambitions, I was corrupted in an instant, and I only knew how to enjoy.

The situation of the Han Emperor can be described as the same. After all, when his relatives were in power, the control over him was still relatively strict, and it was impossible to do anything wrong. And when it comes to the eunuch, it is just about currying favor with him, and he doesn't care about other problems at all.

It's like Liu Hong today, although the court is talking about Yang Ci, Liu Kuan, and Zhang Ji teaching Liu Hong. However, it is useless, Liu Hong was completely blinded, naively thinking that the world was as stable as Mount Tai, so he enjoyed himself with peace of mind, and rarely asked about political affairs, and all kinds of hedonistic behaviors can be described as a model of a faint king.

Emperor Ling himself lived deep in the inner palace, trying out new tricks for fun. There is no donkey in the inner palace, and a small yellow door that is good at welcoming carefully selected four donkeys from other places to enter the palace. After Emperor Ling saw it, he loved it like a treasure, and drove a small car to play in the palace every day. At first, I also found a driver to drive, and after a few days, I simply operated it myself. The news of the emperor driving a donkey cart came out of the inner palace, and many bureaucrats and doctors in the capital competed to imitate it, thinking that it was fashionable, and the price of donkeys among the people rose sharply for a while.

Just as the capital was filled with smoke and dust raised by donkey carts, Emperor Ling lost interest in donkey carts again. There are also eunuchs who are ingenious, dress up the dog, put it into the virtuous crown, wear court clothes, and wear ribbons, and swayed to the court. When Emperor Ling recognized Naiyi, he couldn't help clapping his hands and laughing, and praised: "What a dog official." Although the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty felt ashamed and humiliated, they dared not speak out.

Therefore, at this time, if it is a Huo Guang, it is the best thing.

To this day, the orthodoxy of the Han family surnamed Liu is still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. According to you, many scholars are working hard for the Han! Huo Guang continued, "Don't say whether He Jin has an autocracy or not, even if He Jin has an autocracy." As long as Emperor Han dares to speak, someone will dare to take He Jin's power. However, relying on eunuchs to do this, the result is that the Han Emperor himself has corrupted into this picture, and what can he do if he regains his power? Just for enjoyment? This kind of Han Emperor, I can't wait to abolish him and set up another Ming Jun! ”

"However, looking at the performance of the scholars now, although they are loyal, they are not pedantic in nature!" Huo Guang continued, "If you dare to deal with the eunuchs, why are you completely subservient to the emperor? To prove that you are a loyal servant? ”

Huo Guang dared to say such things, after all, the importance of reputation among scholars is unimaginable to ordinary people, and they would rather die than ruin their integrity.

However, this is also a fact, the two disasters of the party are not that the scholars and the party can't fight the eunuchs, it is purely the eunuchs who blinded the Han Emperor's hearing and hearing, and then the Han Emperor gave an order, and the party members all knelt.

Faced with the situation of the eunuch dictatorship, led by the upright officials Li Ying and Chen Fan, a trend of "Qing discussion" was formed to discuss current affairs and evaluate figures, and launched a struggle against the eunuch group. Li Ying was the lieutenant of Sili at that time. The eunuch Zhang Rang's younger brother Zhang Shuo was greedy and cruel and killed pregnant women for fun, and Li Ying arrested him and executed him. Because the eunuchs were afraid of Li Ying's power, their behavior was restrained a lot, and they didn't even dare to go out of the palace gate when they were on vacation. But the ruthless eunuch will naturally not give up, but always look for an opportunity to get rid of Li Ying, a thorn in his side.

The Henan warlock Zhang Cheng Zongzi killed people, and Li Ying put him to death. Zhang Cheng once gave Emperor Huan a hexagram and had a lot of dealings with eunuchs. Zhang Cheng's disciples colluded with the eunuchs and falsely accused Li Ying of colluding with the Tai students to slander the imperial court. In a fit of rage, Emperor Huan ordered the arrest of more than 200 people including Li Ying, and offered rewards for Li Ying's party members throughout the country. The eunuchs took the opportunity to declare their personal vendetta and indiscriminately arrest good people, and for a time the people in the government and the opposition were panicked. However, some "party members" invited themselves to be imprisoned in solidarity with Li Ying and others. Taiwei Chen Fan was dismissed by the emperor because he wrote a letter to Li Yingming. Dou Wu, the commander of the city gate, Shang Shu and others also wrote to cry out for Li Ying. Emperor Huan was forced to pardon more than 200 people including Li Ying, but he was imprisoned in the township for life and was not allowed to be an official. This was the first party rebellion in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Li Ying, who survived the first party rebellion incident, did not accept the advice of relatives and friends after the Zhang Jian incident and suffered calmly, and died in prison after being arrested. In addition, more than 100 officials and celebrities, including Du Mi and Yu Fang, were falsely killed, and as many as 600 or 700 people were implicated and exiled, imprisoned, and executed. Subsequently, the eunuchs made waves several times to hunt down the party, and the party's prisons spread all over the country, forming the second disaster of the party in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In Huoguang's view, this is nonsense, just killing eunuchs, is it so troublesome?

"I just heard Mr. Xun say something, which can be said to be similar to the thoughts of these scholars." Huo Guang said with a smile, "A man named Zhao Xuan, his father died, after he buried his father, he lived in the tomb and mourned for more than 20 years, and his reputation shook the state and county. The magistrate recommended him to Chen Fan. Chen Fan met with him and asked about his wife and children, and it turned out that his five sons were born during the mourning. Chen Fan was furious and committed his crime. ”

"I heard that there are nursery rhymes called Juxiucai, but I don't know the book. Filial piety, father does not live? Huo Guang continued, "So if they weren't exposed in the end, would they be the model of the so-called filial piety?" On the other hand, this is debunked, what about others that are not? ”

"Then I'm going to ask!" Huo Guang sneered, "People are making a moral appearance of filial piety and honesty, the purpose is to be promoted, just for the career!" ”

"And they, the scholars, make a loyal appearance, the king wants the minister to die, and the minister has to die, for what? In order not to leave a record of a loyal minister in the history books? Huo Guang continued, "But in essence, the purpose of promoting filial piety is to promote and select ruling talents, and in the final analysis, it is to let them govern the country." Can these deceitful franchises do that? ”

"In the same way, what are the two disasters of the party, these scourged scholars, in high positions and in power, are in order for them to become the retainers of the Han Emperor? They decided that this Han Emperor, even if it endangered the stability of the entire Han Dynasty, it didn't matter? Huo Guang sneered, "In the final analysis, it's still the same situation, those who cheat are afraid of not being promoted, and what about these people?" Isn't he afraid that he will be infamous for his dictatorship in the history books? So he didn't dare to act, and he was manipulated by the eunuchs. ”

"If you are not afraid of death, why not be afraid of what others will say behind you?" Huo Guang said categorically. (To be continued.) )