Chapter 35 The "student emperor" elected by the eunuch

In July of the fourteenth year of Emperor Yizong Xiantong (873), his fifth son, twelve-year-old Li Yan, was renamed Li Yan and was established as the crown prince.In the same month, Tang Yizong died of illness, and the crown prince Li Xuan came to the throne as Tang Xizong. According to the "Old Tang Book", the establishment of this twelve-year-old child is the meaning of his father Tang Yizong, who also praised him as "filial piety, gentleness, generosity and generosity, daily innovation and virtue, natural and heroic appearance, and his words are full of wisdom." In the rules, the action must be governed by etiquette."Not to mention whether Li Xuan is like this, using such a bunch of good words to describe a twelve-year-old child already seems a bit nondescript.Perhaps, the historians used this method to imply the truth of the matter: In fact, it was not his father, Emperor Yizong, who supported the twelve-year-old boy, but the eunuch Liu Xingshen, the left lieutenant of the Shence Army, and Han Wen, the lieutenant of the right army. about.

It sounds unbelievable that the emperor of the Tang Dynasty was supported by eunuchs, but it was the result of the growing power of eunuchs since the middle and late Tang Dynasty.The eunuchs in the Tang Dynasty came to power in the period of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Gao Lishi. He often read the performances from various places on behalf of the emperor, and made small decisions on his own.But although Gao Lishi was in power, he had always been loyal to Xuanzong, but not all eunuchs later were like this.Li Fuguo, the great eunuch during the Suzong and Daizong periods of Tang Dynasty, was domineering and domineering, and even the Emperor Suzong would look at his face.As soon as Suzong died, he said to Emperor Daizong who had just ascended the throne: "Everyone (the name of the emperor in the Tang Dynasty palace) is confined, and foreign affairs are punished by old slaves." Fearing his power, he didn't dare to show it, so he had to secretly send assassins to kill him.But Emperor Daizong also healed his scars and forgot the pain. He just killed the great eunuch Li Fuguo, and then began to reuse another great eunuch Yu Chaoen.Perhaps, from the emperor's point of view, eunuchs are their own domestic slaves. Even if they are allowed to hold power, they are only acting on their behalf. Once they take back their power, they are still domestic slaves. .But things don't always go as expected.As the power of the eunuchs grows, the military power of the central government has actually come under their control. It is said that political power emerges from the barrel of a gun, and the eunuchs have soldiers in their hands. The momentum is different from before. For the emperor The master also gradually ignored him.The emperor felt dissatisfied, so he wanted to rely on the power of the foreign court bureaucrats to get rid of the eunuchs, such as the "Yongzhen Reform" in the Shunzong period and the "Nanlu Change" in the Wenzong period, but they all ended in failure.Tang Wenzong was even so angry that he was not as good as Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was still controlled by powerful officials, but he was controlled by domestic slaves.Since the eunuchs controlled the emperor, the emperor's abolition and establishment were also under their control. Starting from Tang Muzong, there were nine emperors in the Tang Dynasty, including seven emperors: Muzong, Wenzong, Wuzong, Xuanzong, Yizong, Xizong, and Zhaozong. The emperor is supported by eunuchs.The eunuchs relied on their great achievements and called themselves "the elders of Dingce". These emperors who were supported by them became their "student emperors".

Since the emperor is regarded as a "student", it is better to cultivate it from an early age, so as to facilitate control; if you are too old, I am afraid that you will not listen to the words of the "elders of the country", so eunuchs like to support children as emperors .Emperor Yizong originally had seven sons, but the eunuchs tried their best to kill all the older ones while he was seriously ill.Thus, the twelve-year-old little emperor Tang Xizong came to the throne and became one of the "student emperors". "Son of disciples" Emperor Xizong of Tang ascended the throne, knowing his kindness and repaying him, and made Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue, two eunuchs who supported him, dukes.However, the eunuch Tian Lingzi was the one he favored the most.

Qiu Shiliang, a great eunuch in the Tang Dynasty, once instructed his disciples how to "tune" the "student son of heaven": "The emperor can't let him be idle, he must often seduce him with beautiful songs, dances and rich food, and make him intoxicated. We need to change his pattern every day, so that he has no time to think about other things, then we can boldly seize power. At the same time, try not to let him study, let alone give him the opportunity to get close to scholars, otherwise once he leaves the book If Li learns the experience of the demise of the previous dynasty and worries about the future of the country, we will be alienated and reprimanded." Although Tian Lingzi did not have the opportunity to personally learn from Qiu Shiliang, he was still considered his private disciple.He is from Sichuan, and his original surname is Chen. When Emperor Yizong of Tang Dynasty followed his adoptive father Tian to enter the Ministry of Internal Affairs as an eunuch, he changed his surname to Tian.He was the eunuch who served Tang Xizong since he was a child, and he was with Li Xuan when he was King Pu.This person "knows books and has strategies", and as an eunuch, he is good at observing facial expressions and flattery. When he is hungry, he adjusts the food with his own hands, and when he is cold, he adds clothes with his own hands. Naturally, he served the little emperor comfortably, and couldn't leave him for a moment. He also affectionately called him "Father", and promoted Tian Lingzi as a privy envoy as soon as he came to the throne.Therefore, relying on his close relationship with the emperor, Tian Lingzi used various means to squeeze out Liu Xingshen and Han Wenyue, the two commanders of the Shence Army who had meritorious support, and became a lieutenant of the Left Shence Army himself. The person in control became the lieutenant of the Right Shence Army.In this way, Tian Lingzi controlled all the forces around the little emperor, and practiced Qiu Shiliang's methods on him, and he would learn and apply them flexibly.He understood child psychology very well, and knew that children like to eat snacks. Every time he went to meet the emperor, he would bring two large plates of sweets and snacks with him, and he had a great time eating with the little emperor.After a meal, the relationship between the two improved a lot, and the little emperor was full of trust in him.Moreover, every time he met with the emperor, he only talked about the anecdotes of the previous courts, the strange events and scandals of the foreign officials, and the scenery and scenery of various places. As for political affairs, he never talked about them.He said: "The sage is just young, and it is not appropriate to waste energy on trivial matters. Just leave it to the old slaves."Therefore, Tian Lingzi called the wind and the rain inside and outside the court, and said what he said.

It's just that although this "father" held the power of the court, he had no ability to govern the country. In order to satisfy his own selfish desires, he openly sold his official titles.And the price is clearly marked, no matter who wants to be a high-ranking official such as prime minister, Jiedu envoy, or governor, as long as they find Tian Lingzi, they can reach the sky in one step.When he appointed officials, not only did he not tell the "student emperor" little emperor, he even omitted the edicts of routine matters.With this channel, those who want to become officials will naturally flock to them. There are countless people who have become prime ministers and Jiedu envoys through Tian Lingzi, and there are all kinds of people.There was Wei Zhaodu, the prime minister who came from a famous family, and Chen Jingxuan, the envoy of the Xichuan Festival who was originally a pancake seller.One of them named Li Dequan is even more interesting.This man's father is Tian Lingzi's confidant, he has been with Tian Lingzi since he was in his twenties, and he is deeply loved by Tian Lingzi.So all the civil and military officials took his way to curry favor with Tian Lingzi.In a few years, he accepted tens of thousands of bribes, and became a high-ranking official such as Dr. Jin Ziguanglu and the right servant of the school.But when Tian Lingzi lost power, the tree fell and the monkeys scattered, Li Dequan became destitute, and later he was reduced to begging along the way for a living.Later, a veteran named Li who fed horse saw him as pitiful, so he recognized him as his god-nephew.After the veteran died, he had no other way out, so he had to inherit the work of feeding the horses of the veteran. People who knew him called him "Kanma Li Pushe".The original Pu She only had the ability to look at horses. It can be seen that Tian Lingzi's appointment as an official is entirely based on connections and money, and the ability is not considered at all.The little emperor entrusted state affairs to such a "father", and the result can be imagined.