Chapter 16 14. Changes in the Han Palace

At that time, nursery rhymes, like prophecies, also had the "magic power" of mysterious oriental prophecy in legend.What is unique about Liangzhou, no one can tell.As early as the first year of Yongning (301 A.D.), Zhang Gui, an Anding man who was then a regular servant of Sanqi, wrote to the Western Jin Dynasty court, asking to go to Liangzhou to quell the chaos.Zhang Gui came to Guzang as the governor of Liangzhou. He crusaded against the local Xianbei rebellion, cracked down on thieves and bandits, and stabilized the society. Then he developed production, opened schools, and restored the local economy.Over the past ten years, Zhang's prestige in Liangzhou has steadily increased.In the second year of Jianxing (314 A.D.), Zhang Gui died, and the people of Liangzhou elected his son Zhang Shi as the governor.The day before Emperor Jin Min left to surrender to the Han army, he secretly sent his subordinates to Liangzhou to worship Zhang Shi as the governor of Liangzhou and the shepherd of Liangzhou, and took charge of all affairs in Liangzhou.

In the second year of Chang'an's fall, Zhang Shi decided to use offense instead of defense, preemptively, and sent Sima Han Pu and general Zhang Lang with 10,000 infantry and cavalry to attack the Han army that had just captured Chang'an and had not yet gained a firm foothold in Yongzhou.Han Pu's army was cut off by the local Qiang soldiers in Nan'an area. The two sides held each other for more than 100 days and ran out of ammunition and food. Han Pu personally slaughtered the cattle driving the car to reward the sergeant. While eating the beef, he asked excitedly: "Do you miss your parents at home?"

Everyone said in unison: "I miss you!" Han Pu asked again, "Do you miss your wife and children?" Everyone shouted in unison: "I miss you!" "Then do you want to go back alive?" "Of course I do!" "Then you obey my orders?" "I swear to obey!" Han Pu then beat the war drum and commanded the soldiers to fight hard. It happened that Zhang Lang's army also came to kill them. The two armies pinched the Qiang soldiers and won a complete victory. Although a decisive victory over the Han army was not achieved, the Han army's attack on Liangzhou was effectively blocked. In addition, Liangzhou was located in the northwest, and the main force of the Han army was out of reach for a while.As a result, under the management of the Zhang regime, Liangzhou was able to temporarily avoid the wars in the Central Plains, and it really became a "pure land" where one could "look on the pillars".For the Han Kingdom, it is not impossible to make a comeback in the face of the small Liangzhou, but the hidden crisis within it is escalating step by step, and a coup d'etat and the chaos that followed seem to be inevitable.

The cause of the coup was Liu Cong, the emperor of the Han Dynasty who lived an extremely dissolute life.Although there are more and more concubines, Liu Cong still feels that it is not enough.He brought the two daughters of the Central Guard Jin Zhun, Yueguang and Yuehua, into the harem, making Yueguang the upper queen, Yuehua the right queen, and the original queen Liu E as the left queen, so three queens coexisted in Liu Cong's harem The grotesque.Chen Yuanda tried his best to admonish him, pointing out the indecentness of this move, Liu Cong was very upset.Not long after, Chen Yuanda found out about the empress Yueguang's scandal and explained it to Liu Cong, which forced Liu Cong to abolish Moonlight.Moonlight committed suicide in shame because of this, and Liu Cong secretly resented this minister who dared to speak out.Only one year later, still obsessed with his obsession, he took a fancy to Fan Shi, the former maidservant of Empress Zhang, and made her the empress to fill the "vacancy" left by Yueguang's death.

Due to living in the inner palace for a long time, Liu Cong began to favor the eunuchs Wang Chen, Guo Yi and others around him. (Being fond of eunuchs seems to be one of the biggest "crimes" of a foolish emperor since ancient times. The emperor also has "congenital deficiencies", that is, he has too little contact with the outside world, and even the eunuchs are the only people who are in contact with the outside world all day long.) All political affairs are entrusted to him Son, Xiangguo Liu Can dealt with it.As a result, the careerists began to act. First of all, Guo Yi, the patriarch Jin Zhun and the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi (Liu Cong wanted Liu Yi to be the emperor before he came to the throne, and he was just acting as regent, so his plan was to pass the throne to Liu Yi in the future. Because the ministers around Liu Yi persuaded Liu Yi to rebel, he was first reported, and at this time he was under house arrest by Liu Cong.) There was a personal grievance between them, so Guo Yi aimed at Liu Can, the prime minister who had coveted the throne for a long time.One avenges personal revenge, the other fights for the throne, and the two hit it off.The two sides decided to pay attention to Liu Yi's actions on the one hand, and gradually eliminate the ministers who supported Liu Yi and opposed Wang Shen and others on the other hand.

When Wang Chen, Guo Yi and others repeatedly slandered, a large number of ministers who had serious conflicts with the eunuchs were ordered to be executed by Liu Cong. The ministers Wang Yi, Chen Yuanda and others expressed bitter remonstrance, but this time Liu Cong couldn't listen to anyone's words, so he showed the above form to the eunuchs, and said with a smile, "Chen Yuanda and his gang are simply idiots." Wang Yi's direct remonstrance was blocked, and he died of depression. Chen Yuanda cried and sighed: "Since I can no longer speak, why am I still living in this world?" Then he committed suicide.

(Alas, Chen Yuanda, an intellectual from the Xiongnu tribe, has witnessed the rise and prosperity of the Xiongnu Han Dynasty, and also witnessed the rapid decline of the empire caused by the corruption of the rulers. He saw that a newly established country could not learn the lessons of the failure of the previous dynasty. , Just a few years later, the same mistakes were repeated. The ministers who dared to speak out and were good at giving advice died because they could no longer speak out, and the world suffered more than this.) Liu Can used the power of the eunuch to wipe out the alien forces in the palace, and turned his target to the emperor's younger brother Liu Yi.He sent someone to send a false edict to Liu Yi, saying that there would be a mutiny in the capital and that armor should be worn to prevent accidents. Liu Yi was really fooled.Liu Can informed Jin Zhun and others of the news.Jin Zhun immediately said to Liu Cong: "Liu Yi wants to rebel, and he has already prepared his armor!" Liu Cong was shocked, and sent troops to the East Palace, and it was true.Of course Liu Cong was furious, and deposed Liu Yi, who didn't know about it, as the king of Beihai. Wang Shen and others took the opportunity to kill a group of people who had grievances with them, and Liu Yi was finally murdered by Liu Can and Jin Zhun.

After some twists and turns, Liu Can was established as the crown prince, and Jin Zhun also took control of the power in the middle school, gaining Liu Cong's full trust.In the third year of Linjia in the Han Dynasty (318 A.D.), Liu Cong died of illness. Before he died, he wanted to call Liu Yao and Shi Le, who were heavily armed, to Pingyang, the capital of the country, to assist the government. Of course, they "resigned."When Liu Can succeeded to the throne, of course Jin Zhun was reused. Jin Zhun once again used Liu Can's hand to eradicate dissidents in the Liu clan and killed all Liu's kings who served in the court.Liu Can's level of absurdity was no less than that of his father, and Jin Zhun soon gained the decision-making power in military affairs.

Only one month later, Jin Zhun led troops into the palace, killed Liu Can, and at the same time beheaded all of the Liu family, regardless of age. Even Liu Cong's body did not escape the catastrophe. . (Liu Cong’s life was rotten during his lifetime, and he ended up with a rotten corpse after his death. It’s really a retribution. Liu Yuan’s family suffered such a tragic end, which is inseparable from the deep ethnic conflicts during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Shi Le massacred the clan of the Jin Dynasty It was one time, and this time it was another time. Throughout the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, there will be many such massacres.) Jin Zhun called himself the Great General and the Heavenly King of Han. He felt that as a Han, he eliminated the regime of the Hu people. , will definitely get the support of Jin, the Han regime, so he claims to be a vassal to Jin.

After a battle in the palace, Jin Zhun finally won, but he turned himself into a target, and he didn't seem to realize that he could not stand against his opponent militarily.While Jin Zhun was massacring in the palace, two elite troops, led by Liu Yao and Shi Le, were marching from Chang'an and Xiangguo to Pingyang respectively.