Chapter 19 Chapter 15 The Second Century

Chinese history has always revolved around a circle: 1. The ruling class of the old dynasty was corrupt and perished.2. Warlords or mob groups took the opportunity to seize power, resulting in scuffles and killings.3. The final winner of the melee establishes a new dynasty, organizes a new government, and becomes the new ruling class.4. After a period of stability or prosperity.Fifth, back to number one: the ruling class is corrupted and destroyed. ——and so on, like a revolving lantern, the cycle is endless. China in this century is entering the first and second stages.First, the political reappearance of relatives, and then the first era of eunuchs in China.In the end, the Eastern Han Dynasty government collapsed after a peasant uprising, and the great unity also collapsed, and wars were everywhere.

a loss of the west The return of the Western Regions (Xinjiang) to the territory of China was won by heroes and heroes through untold hardships.In the third year (102) of the second century of this century (102), the governor (du guard) Ban Chao retired and returned to Luoyang.The Eastern Han government dispatched a seemingly smart general, Ren Shang, to replace him. Ren Shang asked Ban Chao, "This is the first time I have taken on such a big responsibility, and I am deeply overwhelmed. You have been outside the Great Wall for 30 years. Please give me your advice." Ban Chao He replied: "Almost all the Chinese officials outside the Great Wall have made mistakes at home before going out to make meritorious service. They are pleasing to the eye, but it is easy to arouse their resistance. Your temperament is very strict. As the saying goes: "There are no big fish in too clear water, and too strict requirements will lose unity." I mean, everything should be kept simple, Forgive more for small mistakes, and take responsibility layer by layer, you only have an overview of the outline, not picky about the details."

Like Zhang Qian, Ban Chao was not only a successful adventurer, but also a successful politician.But a person whose wisdom is one level lower can never comprehend the insights of a higher level person, just like a cow can never comprehend a symphony.After Ban Chao left, Ren Shang sarcastically said: "I thought Ban Chao was an ordinary person after all." In just four years, Ren Shang stirred up rebellion in all countries in the Western Regions (Xinjiang).After Ban Chao, Ren Shang's governor's office was located in Shule Kingdom (Kashgar, Xinjiang).In 106, all countries jointly attacked Shule, but Ren could not stop him, so he urgently asked for help in China.The Eastern Han government recalled him and sent another general, Duan Xi, to succeed him as governor.But the chaotic situation was out of control. Duan Xi moved to the Kingdom of Kucha (Kuqa, Xinjiang) and could not enter again.King Qiuci supported Duan Xi, but the people of Qiuci rebelled against their king and organized coalition forces with the Kingdom of Wensu (Ushi, Xinjiang) and the Kingdom of Gumo (Aksu, Xinjiang) to attack Duan Xi and King Qiuci.Duan Xi defeated them, but there was only one isolated city of Kucha left in the entire western region, and the prospects were very bleak.Reluctantly supporting it until next year (107), the Eastern Han government had no choice but to revoke the governor of the Western Regions and withdraw all remaining settlement areas.

In 119, Cao Zong, the prefect of Dunhuang (Dunhuang, Gansu), tried to send Soban to Yiwulu (Hami, Xinjiang) for reclamation. Returned to China.Soon, the remnant tribes of the northern Xiongnu (southern foot of the Altai Mountains in Xinjiang) who had not yet moved westward joined forces with the Cheshihou Kingdom (Jimsar, Xinjiang) to capture Yiwulu and kill Soban.The Kingdom of Shanshan appealed to China for help. The Chinese government was caught in the increasingly serious war and could not send troops.Only Ban Chao's son, Ban Yong, was sent to serve as the chief of staff of the Western Regions (Xinjiang) (the Chief History of the Western Regions), and he was stationed in Dunhuang to express his support from afar.The remnant tribes of the Northern Huns and the Cheshihou Kingdom took this opportunity to attempt to attack the Hexi Corridor, which had become the mainland of China.Ban Yong, the son of a hero, couldn't bear it anymore and led 6,000 people to fight back. He captured the king of Che Shihou Kingdom alive, took him to the place where Suoban died, and beheaded him. He sent his head to Luoyang, the capital 1,900 miles away, and hung it for public display.Then they recruited troops from various countries to attack the remaining tribes of the Northern Huns. The Northern Huns were defeated and fled northward, never to appear again.

However, China did not send a governor, and only continued to send the chief of staff to act.None of Ban Yong's successors are suitable candidates.This is an inevitable phenomenon after the ruling class has been corrupted for a long time. The roots have been festered, and it is difficult to grow good fruits.Wang Jing, the last chief of staff, probably envied the prestige of his predecessors.In AD 152, he beheaded the king of Khotan (Hotian, Xinjiang).The people of Khotan counterattacked and killed Wang Jing.At this time, China was caught in civil strife and could no longer send envoys, so the Western Regions (Xinjiang) separated from China again.However, economic and cultural exchanges have not ceased on the basis that has been established for hundreds of years.

The Expansion and Tragedy of the Erqiang War The Qiang people's anti-violence actions against the Eastern Han government entered this century (2), and the Eastern Han government could not think of any other solution except to continue to adopt a high-pressure policy. The only solution was to make politics clear, which naturally couldn't be done.As a result, the Qiang war gradually expanded from a small conflict to a large-scale war.And it spread to the heart of China's headquarters, reaching the outskirts of the capital Luoyang. We summarize the expanded and important Qiang battles in the table below:

It can be seen from the above table that the expansion of the Qiang War has not only advanced more than a thousand kilometers to the east of the Chinese headquarters, but also the number of deaths in each battle has reached tens of thousands. It can be speculated that the number of troops participating in the battle should be several times or dozens times that.The Qiang nationality has changed from passively getting rid of corrupt officials and resisting tyranny to hostility towards the Han nationality as a whole.However, despite this, there was no national concept in the modern sense in that era, and it was still purely government-driven rebellion in essence.Because government officials are greedy, cruel and violent, they treat them equally, regardless of the Qiang and Han nationalities.For example, in 115, when the first zero tribes invaded Yizhou (Sichuan), Yin, the general of the Eastern Han government, led an army to encircle and suppress the Han people. It’s okay, Yin is here and will kill me.” Yin was just a small military operation, there was no battle at all, and the harm to the people was so tragic. We can’t bear to imagine what happened to the people in other major battles.Wherever the war went, unarmed good farmers or shepherds and their poultry were slaughtered together.The entire western part of China is desolate for thousands of miles, bones are everywhere, and there is no smoke from cooking.Fortunately, the surviving people, whether they were Qiang or Han, fell into the dire situation of cannibalism due to hunger.Prime Minister Deng Kou even advocated abandoning Liangzhou (Hexi Corridor), which had tens of millions of deaths in the second century BC and was captured from the Xiongnu Khanate, which shows the seriousness of the officials at that time.

The huge civil uprising lasted for 120 years. Due to the small population of the Qiang people, the heavy casualties made them unable to survive, and some tribes were almost extinct.In 169, he finally succumbed to the high-handed tactics of the Eastern Han government.The high-pressure policy achieved a decisive victory, but the price paid was too great, including prying open the tomb door of the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Replay of Three Relatives' Politics Amid the expansion of the Qiang war, foreign relative politics was once again formed in the central government of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the first century BC, the politics of foreign relatives led to the demise of the Western Han Dynasty.Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty and declared the rejuvenation of the Western Han Dynasty, but he was unable to take effective actions to prevent the revival of foreign relative politics. Instead, he walked back and forth, still walking on the broken bridge of foreign relative politics. The ruling figures of the Eastern Han Dynasty can be divided into three types: foreign relatives, scholar-bureaucrats, and eunuchs.Foreign relatives are an ancient force, while scholar-bureaucrats and eunuchs are a new force.These three kinds of characters struggle with each other and constitute the entire court political history of the Eastern Han Dynasty. "We use the following table to explain their relationship positions in the struggle (the one added by the emperor means that he is not the son of the previous emperor. Because the previous emperor had no son or other reasons, the side branch sat on the throne.)

An important feature of the royal family of the Eastern Han Dynasty is that the emperors were all young.Except for the founding emperor Liu Xiu and his son Liu Zhuang, the oldest emperor was only eighteen years old when his ass sat on the throne, and the youngest was still breastfeeding in his arms. This phenomenon made the recurrence of foreign relatives' politics unavoidable.Since the emperor was young, the empress dowager, who was his mother, naturally became the center of power.Under the Confucian school ideology and the polygamous court system, the queen seldom contacts other men, and hastily grasped the highest power in the country. She must face political actions that are very unfamiliar to her and make the final decision. Unable to adapt.As if she was suddenly thrown into the street naked, she was panicked and lonely. The only reliable people were not the ministers of the court, because she didn't know them at all, but the family members she could often see on weekdays. She had no choice but these people She believes that it can help her solve the problem.

From the end of the last century (1), when the fourth emperor Liu Zhao, who was only ten years old, came to the throne, his aunt, the Queen Mother Dou, relied on her elder brother Dou Xian.Entering this century (2), a series of doll emperors appeared, further strengthening this tendency.The fifth emperor Liu Long ascended the throne for only three months, and his aunt, the Empress Dowager Deng, relied on her elder brother Deng Kou.Liu Ku, the sixth emperor, was only thirteen years old when he came to the throne, and his aunt, the Empress Dowager Deng, continued to rely on her older brother, Deng Kou.Every foreign relative pops up in the government in this way. The emperor's young age was the only basis for the politics of relatives, so the relatives themselves tried their best to exclude older heirs, so as to create a situation where the politics of relatives had to be implemented.If the heir is an adult, the empress dowager will not be able to control him, and the relatives will lose their magic wands, so there is no relative who does not insist on supporting the child.After the death of Liu You, the sixth emperor, his wife Empress Yan was promoted to empress dowager. She and her brother Yan Xian decided to get rid of Liu You's own son Liu Bao and make Liu You's cousin Liu Yi.This is an appalling and abnormal measure, the throne is passed on to cousins ​​instead of parents.But when you look at the age, you can suddenly realize it.Liu Bao was already eleven years old that year, and Liu Yi was only eight months old. Of course, it took much longer to handle an eight-month-old baby than an eleven-year-old boy. Among the foreign relatives, the ones with the longest time in power and the most prestigious, one is the Qi family surnamed Deng headed by Queen Mother Deng and her elder brother Deng Kou; the other is the Qi family surnamed Liang headed by Queen Mother Deng and her elder brother Liang Shang.The Qi family surnamed Deng has been in power for 30 years. Twenty-nine people were named marquises, two were prime ministers, thirteen were marshals, fourteen were ministerial senior officials (two thousand stones in the middle); Two people, forty-eight governors (prefects) and county chiefs (prefects), and countless middle- and lower-level officials.The Qi family surnamed Liang is also very powerful, and they have been in power for 30 years. Seven people were named marquises, two were queens, two were concubines, two were marshals, and their wives and daughters were named "Junjun". (female princes), seven "county lords" (female marquises), three who married princesses, and fifty-seven generals.The friends and subordinates of the two major Qi clans, as well as the fly politicians who are stalking their power, jointly organize a power group, which has been established in the government, intertwined and unshakable. However, most of the relatives do not know how to cherish power, but only know how to abuse power.They only know about corruption and tyranny, and blindly pursue material enjoyment.The Qi family surnamed Liang is more depraved than the Qi family surnamed Deng, especially Liang Ji, a villain who is vicious and stupid.Of course, this caused criticism from the emerging class of scholar-bureaucrats outside the foreign relatives group, but the scholar-bureaucrats were obviously at a disadvantage because the magic wand was held in the hands of foreign relatives.The best outcome for failed scholar-officials was dismissal, but most were beheaded or committed suicide.The most legendary is Dugan. He asked the Queen Mother Deng to return the power to the emperor. The Queen Mother Deng ordered him to be packed in a cloth bag and culled on the spot in the Golden Temple.Unexpectedly, Dugan, like Fan Sui in the third century BC, had the best luck. When he was dragged to the wilderness and discarded, he woke up leisurely.But he still pretended to be dead, lay there for three days, with maggots growing out of his eyes, and then fled to a hotel in the mountains to work as a waiter. Fifteen years later, the Deng Qi family failed, so he dared to come forward. Not only would the scholar-officials fail in the struggle, even the emperor himself would face a crisis if he wanted to take back the power that should belong to him.The tenth emperor Liu Yan, when he was nine years old, couldn't stand Liang Ji's arrogant attitude, and said "domineering general" (domineering, arrogant, probably a popular colloquial phrase in the second century, otherwise a child would not blurt it out) , Liang Ji immediately poisoned him to death. The political power and military power are all under control, and the relatives seem to be invincible forever. The Formation of the Four Earth Doctors and Their Families Scholar-bureaucrats are a unique product of Chinese society.In one aspect, it is similar to the Kshatriya in India, and in another aspect, it is similar to the monks and priests in the Middle Ages in Europe.In fact, scholar-bureaucrats are intellectuals. In the long period after the Confucian school was established, of course it refers specifically to the intellectuals of the Confucian school. Sometimes they are also called "scholars" in general, and of course they read Confucian books.In the environment at that time, they regarded being an official as their only occupation, so to be more precise, Tu Dafu refers to intellectuals who serve as government officials, including current officials, retired officials, and those who are studying Confucianism hard and may be officials in the future. In the Zhou Dynasty in the 12th century BC, "shi" was a military officer, and "doctor" was a civil servant.In the first century BC, in order to increase the new blood of the government, the Western Han Dynasty imitated the method of "recruiting talents" in the Warring States Period and ordered senior officials and local governments to recommend "virtuous and upright" and "outspoken and highly admonishing" people. Then gradually formed a new class of scholar-officials.In the first century of the last century, the Eastern Han Dynasty imitated the Western Han Dynasty and ordered senior officials and local governments to recommend "talented" and "filial" people. As a result, the number of officials of non-noble blood in the government, that is, the number of scholar-bureaucrats, increased. And finally condensed into a force. In this case, "recommendation" became the only means for intellectuals to achieve their official goals.The recommended standard, in addition to Confucianism, also lies in moral behavior.With intense competition, a groundbreaking reputation is a must to get the attention of those with referral authority.As for how to have a breakthrough reputation, it needs to be surprising.Therefore, every intellectual is conscientious, pursuing the perfection of breaking records.This makes the social atmosphere of the first and second centuries very special, which is rarely seen in later generations. We can divide it into the following five categories: A long period of mourning for parents. The three-year mourning that Confucius and Meng Ke firmly advocated has been implemented by the government since the Confucian school dominated the regime in the second century BC.At the beginning of the first century of the last century, the new dynasty strictly stipulated that government officials above the middle level must serve three years of mourning.This ancient zombie, which has been forgotten, was revived under the powerful political force.However, when everyone observes a three-year mourning period, there is nothing unusual about a three-year mourning period.So some people have doubled the mourning for six years; some have had their father's braids up when they were young, and have already served three years of mourning.Some people simply accept twenty years of mourning.It is connected with mourning, some people are crying and bleeding, some people really refuse to eat, and they are as skinny as a stick. Second, giving up property and giving up official titles Property and official titles are the goals pursued by most people, and Confucian intellectuals pursue them especially violently, so it is also the easiest to make surprising moves on this.For example, when dividing the family and property, the brothers all insisted on the least share.The title left by the father should have been inherited by the son, but the son fled into the mountains and gave it to other brothers.There are also some well-known intellectuals who refused to accept the government's order to recruit them to serve as officials.Such people are beautifully called "Zhengjun" - gentlemen who are recruited by the emperor but refuse to be recruited, which means that they have high sentiments and are different from popular customs. The Confucian school of San Shang Xia Shang Yi divides the nature of all human behaviors into two, one is the behavior of righteousness, and the other is the behavior of benefit.The behavior of scholar-bureaucrats should of course only consider "righteousness" and not "benefit".The most common manifestation of this aspect is that they would rather sacrifice themselves than avenge their friends.Some people even took the risk of being killed to collect the body of a friend who was executed, or travel thousands of miles to bury a dead friend. The brutal corruption of the four clean and honest officials was the most common evil and evil in ancient Chinese society.During the two centuries, the literati and bureaucrats made sharp corrections on this, and they encouraged each other, taking it as the greatest honor not to take illegal wealth.Even if it is not illegal money, it will not be collected. Some people have returned the funeral ceremony given by their friends to their deceased father, but they are not stingy about helping the emergency. The five pairs of benefactors are absolutely loyal to senior government officials, most of whom are hired by senior officials themselves.Once an intellectual is hired, he will embark on a bright and splendid official career.Some of the staff members (sanfu rafters) hired by the prime minister became governors (inspectors) in just a few months, and were promoted to central ministers within a few years.This is the most important opportunity for the future of intellectuals. After being recommended as "maocai" and "filial piety", they must break through the barrier of being hired, otherwise they will still be in the field and will not be able to achieve success.Scholar-bureaucrats treat their benefactors in the same way that Japanese samurai and European knights treat their benefactors. They not only have to take risks for their benefactors, but also sacrifice their lives for them.As for the three-year mourning for the benefactor, it is even more ordinary. Not every scholar-bureaucrat can do the above five types of behavior, but they all compete to do it true or false, and they often do it impressively.Of course it has its disadvantages, the most common is that some people regard moral behavior as a means of fraud.For example, Zhao Xuan, who had been in mourning for twenty years, according to Confucian regulations, was never allowed to sleep with his wife during the mourning period, but he gave birth to five children during the twenty years.It is also like Fan Dan, who is famous for his honesty, went to visit his sick sister, and the sister asked him to eat, but he insisted on paying for the meal.But even such abuses do little harm to society. The scholar-officials soon realized that they had to safeguard the vested interests they had obtained through various business operations, so the scope of recommendation and appointment gradually narrowed.In the initial selection of candidates, reputation is also important. A civilian who has nothing to do with any aspect, as long as he has moral behaviors that are praised, has the possibility of being recommended for employment.Later, the situation changed, and the possibility existed only if he was a member (children) of a scholar-official family.A strong concept of family status was born because of it.The longitudinal section of society presents countless linear industries. The son of a carpenter continues to be a carpenter; the son of a farmer continues to be a farmer; the son of a scholar-official continues to be a scholar-bureaucrat.The family status of a scholar-bureaucrat is based on the number of officials in his family and the size of his official position as the standard of high and low.Like Yang Zhen, there were three prime ministers in the four generations (four generations and three princes).Like Yuan Shao, there were five prime ministers in the four generations (four generations and five princes).This kind of family status is generally envied and revered by the society. ——Pay attention to the matter of "family status", which firmly maintained the scholar-bureaucrat class, and until the early 20th century, it had a widespread influence in Chinese history. After the middle of this century (2), although politics was corrupt, the number of students (tai students) at the national university (taixue) established in Luoyang, the capital, increased. The older generation of literati needed it to train the next generation of literati, so they actively supported the national university Expansion of the University.In the 1950s, there were more than 30,000 college students.These quasi-scholar-bureaucrats, future officials, had close contacts with current government officials who had become scholar-bureaucrats.In addition to talking about the "Five Classics" of the Confucian school, it is inevitable to talk about real politics.Like journalists or political commentators, their praise or criticism of characters forms an influential public opinion. Compared with relatives and eunuchs, scholar-bureaucrats have a higher level of sentiment and ambition than relatives and eunuchs.Foreign relatives rely on women to gain power, eunuchs obtain power by flattery, and scholar-bureaucrats claim to rely on moral knowledge to obtain power. Doomed to conflict with relatives and eunuchs. system of five eunuchs Eunuchs are one of the most shameful products of the Chinese cultural system. Eunuchs occurred in the polygamy system in agricultural society.In the 12th century BC, the agricultural and polygamous Zhou tribe developed eastward from the Wei River basin in the west and wiped out the Shang Dynasty.Therefore, this cruel system of animal nature was brought into China and became a part of Chinese traditional culture, which lasted for three thousand years until the twentieth century, when the imperial system was eliminated. After a man has a large number of wives, in order to prevent them from cheating on other men, the best way is to lock them up like prisoners in a heavily guarded courtyard (palace) and isolate them from the world.The problem is that not all palace work can be done by women, such as shopping in the market is a problem.If women are still in charge, they must still have contact with men.If they are held by men, they are bound to go deep into the palace.For a husband, all these make him feel uneasy.So the chiefs surnamed Ji of the Zhou tribe came up with a cruel method, that is, to castrate the man's genitals for dispatch, and call them eunuchs (eunuch eunuchs), which became the most ideal relationship between women and men under the polygamy system. Almost every aristocratic family needs the medium, and the number needed in the palace is of course more.The number of concubines of several emperors sometimes reached more than 40,000. If one person serves ten people on average, it can be inferred that there are at least 4,000 eunuchs. ——Eunuchs are very common, any rich family can buy them.Until the 10th century, when the government of the Song Dynasty banned the keeping of eunuchs among the people, eunuchs were exclusive to the emperor. There are very few men in the world who are happy to castrate themselves, so there are only two sources of eunuchs, one is the temptation of money, and the other is coercion.Even if it is the temptation of money, because the court does not accept adult eunuchs, how can the children know how to sacrifice their lives for money?And buying a child's parents is still coercion for the child.But no matter how poor the parents are, they will not bear the heart of their children being castrated. The so-called bribery is just a superficial disguise.So in fact there is only one source, that is, from the mourning poor people.This is the longest-running tragic experience for the Chinese.The poet Gu Kuang once wrote a poem "Children" describing the birth of a eunuch: Son, you were born in poverty Officials hold you up and maim you In order to pay tribute to the emperor, in order to get a house full of gold and silver In order to be ruthless, the child was put on a torture tool and treated as a pig and sheep O God, what kind of mercy is in you that you let the child suffer such a murderous hand God, what is your justice to make the officials happy and rewarded Dad bids farewell to the child: "Son, I regret having you when you were born People tell me not to raise I can't bear Sure enough, you have suffered such a tragic end..." The child bids farewell to the father: "Heart shattered, two lines of blood and tears Dad, far away from now on until death in hell I will never see my parents again..." ——Gu Kuang was a poet in the 8th century. We introduce this poem in advance of this century (2) to help us understand the eunuch.Especially when our young children were bouncing around, we would cry bitterly when we thought that government officials would arrest and castrate our children just because we were poor. After the children were castrated, they were sent to the court and separated from their parents' hometown forever.Like the fate of the court lady, she is also a lamb thrown into the pack of wolves, with no one to rely on, no relatives and friends, and will be killed or tortured to death at any time.tortured to death.But eunuchs are more miserable than court ladies. After twenty or thirty years, court ladies may still have the hope of being released from the palace, but eunuchs will never be able to, and will be slaves for life.The Chinese court is one of the darkest courts in the world, which has its own unique behavioral standards and operating rules.Children must defend themselves with admiration, tact, and, as a rule, good luck.Fortunately, after entering the palace, he was adopted by the eunuch as an adopted son, and under the cultivation of his adoptive father, he gradually approached the emperor.The emperor is a magic wand of power, if you touch it—it is best if you can grasp the wand of power, then you have a chance to stand out.Yet most children die tragically in the Morden, just as life-serving prisoners die tragically in prison. So far, we can draw the following conclusions: 1. Eunuchs have low self-esteem because they have no fertility.Second, eunuchs do not have advanced knowledge, because they have no opportunity to receive advanced education.3. The eunuchs more or less harbor hatred and vengeance towards ordinary people, because they have been castrated because of poverty.Fourth, eunuchs lack foresight and great ambition, because court life is extremely narrow and realistic.Fifth, eunuchs lack integrity, because the court despises integrity, and people with integrity cannot survive in the court. Therefore, once the eunuchs are in power, we cannot expect them to be better than their relatives and scholar-officials, which is beyond their ability. Six China's first eunuch era The emperor had to get external support to fight against his relatives.An emperor without external support is as vulnerable as an ordinary person.Liu Yan, the tenth emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was poisoned to death by his relatives, which is an illustration.There are two ways for the emperor to get external support, one is to combine with scholar-bureaucrats, and the other is to combine with eunuchs.But it may be rare to combine with scholar-bureaucrats, because the emperor is usually too alienated from them, and he doesn't know who is the lackey who clings to his relatives.The only way is to rely on eunuchs, there is no other choice. The first to attack his relatives was Liu Zhao, the fourth emperor of the last century (1).He combined with the eunuch Zheng Zhong and forced his relative Dou Xian to commit suicide.Then Liu Ku, the sixth emperor of this century (2), joined forces with eunuchs Li Run and Jiang Jing to force Deng Kou, a relative who succeeded Dou Xian, to commit suicide.When the seventh emperor Liu Yi passed away, eunuchs Sun Cheng, Wang Kang, and Wang Guo launched a palace coup to welcome Liu Bao, the son of the sixth emperor Liu You, to the throne. ——This is a monotonous scene that makes people feel emotional. The first batch of upstarts came to power by relying on the relationship of women, swaggering and arrogant, and soon they were all dragged to the execution ground and killed like pigs.The second group of upstarts also relied on their connections with women to come to power, swaggering and arrogant, and soon they were all dragged to the execution ground, and they were all killed like pigs.The third batch, the fourth batch, and the fifth batch will follow.We believe that there are also very intelligent and talented people among the foreign relatives, such as Dou Xian and Deng Kou, it is impossible to be unaware.But the delusion of power is too great, making them think they can control the situation. After the 1950s, the situation became more serious.The relative Liang Ji was in power, and the eleventh emperor Liu Zhi, after the tenth emperor Liu Zuan who was poisoned to death, looked sideways at Liang Ji.Liu Zhi conspired with the five eunuchs to take action. He knew that he was facing the greatest danger, and his life and future were completely in the hands of the eunuchs who conspired with him.At the time of the conspiracy, Liu Zhi once took a eunuch who was beyond the list to bite his arm and bleed as an oath.He and the eunuch have got rid of their status as monarchs and ministers, and have become brothers in the underworld.Therefore, after killing Liang Ji and massacring all the Qi people surnamed Liang, Liu Zhi made the five eunuchs involved in the conspiracy all first-class marquises (county marquises) and the other eight eunuchs as second-class marquises (county marquises). Hou). Since then, eunuchs have appeared as official government officials, and their families, relatives and friends have also served as heads of local governments one after another, relying on Liu Zhi's alliance.These nouveau riche came from the same background as eunuchs, and behaved in the same way. They knew almost nothing except corruption and power manipulation, which was even worse than what their relatives showed when they were in power.This caused even greater harm to the scholar-official class who originally criticized their relatives. They turned angrily and joined forces with their relatives, targeting eunuchs.And it's not like in the past, just complaining in front of the emperor.The United Front of scholar-bureaucrats and foreign relatives used all available government power to take bloody confrontations against eunuchs.The eunuchs naturally responded equally strongly, and China began the first era of eunuchs.From 159, when thirteen eunuchs were made marquises, to 189, when all the eunuchs were killed, it was a total of 31 years.We list the important struggles between the two sides in the past 31 years: The struggle between eunuchs and scholar-bureaucrats was bloody and tragic.However, it should be noted that all the information on the crimes of eunuchs listed in the above table are all one-sided words of scholar-bureaucrats, and any one-sided words may not be credible.Even if it is credible, eunuchs are indeed serious crimes, but they are still not half as serious as the crimes of scholar-bureaucrats, because scholar-bureaucrats are highly educated intellectuals, and they have always claimed to regard "benevolent governance" and "morality" as their highest political ideals.According to the propaganda of scholar-bureaucrats, as far as we know, there are only three indiscriminate killings by eunuchs. In 160, Zhao Qi’s family was killed, in 166, he shot and killed a civilian girl, and in 179, he killed a hanging corpse.The scholar-officials were much more cruel. In 1600, even the eunuch's guests were killed.In 166, even the eunuch's friends were killed, and the eunuch's mother was even killed.And many times they were killed after the government's amnesty decree was promulgated, and they were proud of torture and torture eunuchs-otherwise they would not have recorded it proudly.For example, Yang Qiu, the commander of the Gyeonggi garrison (Sili Xiaowei), personally commanded the torture when he was interrogating Wang Fu and the eunuch Wang Miao and his son. Wang Meng begged him: "We have reached this point, knowing that we must die. But I beg you to remember the love of your colleagues (Wang Meng was also the commander of the Gyeonggi garrison), take pity on my father's old age, and teach him to suffer less." Yang Qiu said: "Your father and son have committed a heinous crime, and you deserve to die. What's the use?" Wang Meng said angrily, "You have been in and out of my house since you were a petty official, serving our father and son like a slave. Today, taking advantage of people's danger and making trouble, God will not allow you." This time the scar on Yangqiu was exposed, Filled with shame and anger, he stuffed Wang Meng's mouth with soil, and the father and son were tortured to death.Pay attention to Yang Qiu, he married the daughter of the eunuch's family, and gradually promoted by flattering the eunuch, but he is still a scholar-bureaucrat in essence.Here is a phenomenon that is prone to misunderstanding and must be clarified.Some people may say that scholar-bureaucrats are only so cruel to eunuchs, but in fact, scholar-bureaucrats are the same to commoners.Like Zhao Xuan, who had been in mourning for twenty years and had five children, he did not break the law, but Chen Fan, the prime minister, killed him.Kong Rong, the prime minister of Beihai (Changle, Shandong Province) (the chief executive of the feudal state), actually beheaded a man who he thought was not crying in front of his father's grave. In the struggle between scholar-bureaucrats and eunuchs, eunuchs have more chances of winning because the wand is by their side.The Twelve Emperor Liu Hong relied more on eunuchs than his predecessor Liu Zhi. He once pointed to two notorious eunuchs and said: "Zhang Rang is my father, Zhao Zhong is my mother." However, the foundation of eunuch power is not solid , it is all pinned on the emperor's joy and anger, and there is a danger of overturning at any time.Like Yang Qiu killed Wang Fu and his son, as long as there is a memorial to impeach him and the emperor agrees to interrogate, his goal can be achieved.It can be seen from this that the power of eunuchs is really not enough to make people panic.If the scholar-bureaucrat class pays attention to methods a little, it is much easier to correct the disadvantages of eunuch politics than to correct the disadvantages of foreign relatives' politics.However, the leaders of the literati, Li Ying, Zhang Jian, and Fan Pang, used an inexplicable anti-eunuch fanaticism, which led to the great persecution of intellectuals by the eunuchs in 1666 and the eighteen-year-long imprisonment of the party. (Deprivation of public rights and banning from hometown), which made the whole situation corrupt. The last duel between the two sides took place in 189. Yuan Shao, one of the leaders of the scholar-bureaucrats, joined forces with the general He Jin, the leader of his relatives, to plot to eradicate the eunuchs. He Jin's sister, Empress Dowager He, strongly disagreed.Thus, the most stupid conspiracy in the world took place. Yuan Shao suggested: Secretly order Dong Zhuo, the general stationed in Hedong (Xia County, Shanxi), to lead the army to advance to Luoyang, threatening to eliminate the king's side-crusade against eunuchs to coerce Queen Mother He.Cao Cao, another guard officer, objected. He said: "To deal with eunuchs, a judge is enough. But if you beat around the bush and induce a rebellion, I'm afraid it won't stop, and the world will be in chaos from now on." Stupidity begins to execute.The eunuch got the news.He Jin was lured into the palace and beheaded.Yuan Shaosui led the imperial guards to set fire to the palace gates, broke into the palace, and massacred the eunuchs, no matter how old or young they were, regardless of their usual behavior. Because of the beard, he was misunderstood as an eunuch and suffered a disaster.When Yuan Shao invaded the palace, the eunuch Zhang Rang held the newly enthroned thirteenth emperor Liu Bian hostage, and fled northward to Xiaopingjin Ferry on the south bank of the Yellow River. Luoyang pursuers arrived, and Zhang Rang threw himself into the Yellow River. The first era of eunuchs in China came to an end.The eunuchs were utterly defeated, but the literati's victory was disastrous, with Dong Zhuo's knife at their necks. ——It is said that there is only one eunuch who has made great contributions to Chinese culture. In the 2000s of this century, the eunuch Cai Lun invented paper.In the past, writing and writing books needed to be carved on bamboo slices with a knife, or written on silk and satin cloth.Bamboo pieces are too heavy, and silk and satin are too expensive.Cai Lun used tree bark as raw material, made paper, and reported it to Emperor Liu Zhao in 105. This is the earliest paper in China.By the end of this century (2), papermaking has made great progress, and exquisite "Zuobo paper" has appeared. Seven Buddhism·Taoism·Yellow Turban Now, we describe the Yellow Turban uprising that broke out in the first eunuch era.It was one of the largest peasant uprisings in China. It combined with the two major religions that began to flourish at that time to resist tyranny. The two major religions are Buddhism and Taoism. 佛教据说于上世纪（一）六十年代传入中国（我们不妨推测，纪元前二世纪张窍通西域时，可能就带了进来），东汉王朝第二任皇帝刘庄曾梦见一个金人。有学问的大臣就告诉他，金人是西域（新疆）的一个被称为“佛”的神祗。刘庄随即派遣官员蔡忄音去西域求佛，那时还没有人知道西域的佛是由天竺（印度）传入。蔡忄音于六五年出发，两年后（六七）返国，随同他来的有两位外国籍的高僧：摄摩腾、竺法兰和白马驮着的佛教经典。刘庄特地在首都洛阳东郊。建造一座白马寺，招待这两位高憎并安置经典。不过事实上，白马到中国的六十年代时，佛教在中国已经大大地流行，亲王刘英——刘庄的弟弟就以信奉佛教，举国皆知。 道教是纯中国宗教，没有人知道它确实的诞生日子。道教跟道家学派有密切关系，老庄哲学的玄虚无为，很容易把人引入一种飘渺幻境。道家学派中有一部分人士转变为“阴阳家”，介乎学派与宗教之间。这种以炼丹炼金，求长生不死药的高级巫师，被称为“方士”，深受历代帝王的欢迎。以后方士中又有一部分转变为念咒画符的人物，道教遂在不知不觉中形成。本世纪（二）三十年代，方士中一位大亨张道陵集神秘之大成，在四川鹄鸣山修炼。他用符咒为人治病祈祷，称“太平道”。追随他的门徒，都要奉献五斗米，所以也称“五斗米道”。张道陵死后，儿子张衡继承。张衡死后，儿子张鲁继承。张鲁时已到本世纪（二）末叶，各地混战，政府因他拥有群众力量，委派他当汉中（陕西汉中）郡长（太守）。 ——但要到三百年后五世纪时，名道士寇谦之出世，才确定“道教”名称，并确定尊奉李耳为教主、为经典、张道陵为先知。我们要特别注意，“道教”跟“道家”不同，犹如“狗”跟“热狗”不同一样。 羌战于六十年代最后一年一六九年被压平，东汉政府胜利的代价之一是；没有被战争直接波及的中原地区，因军需孔亟，在苛捐杂税和官员贪暴，以及地主剥削重重迫害之下，引起大规模的逃亡和民变。逃亡和民变又引起因劳力缺乏而产生的水灾旱灾蝗灾。水灾蝗灾又引起农村破产，到处发生人吃人的可怕饥馑。政府中宦官跟士大夫正斗争的如火如荼，没有人关心那些在死亡中挣扎的农民。农民为了生存，遂逐渐集结在一个标帜“黄巾”之下，希望自己决定自己的命运。 黄巾标帜下农民运动领袖张角以他的家乡巨鹿（河北宁晋）为根据地，供符咒传教，一方面称太平道，一方面又称弥勒佛再世，成为佛道二教的混血儿。传教十余年，门徒有数十万人。张角分全国为三十六“方”，每方一万人，用四句话作政治号召；“苍天已死，黄天当立，岁在甲子，天下大吉。”甲子年是一八四年，一八四年遂成为贫苦农民的盼望。各地公共场所，城墙上，城门上都出现“甲子”字样，人心振奋。 甲子前一年（一八三）年终，张角的门徒马元义潜入首都洛阳，联络宦官作为内应，准备明年日期到时，夺取首都。可是如此庞大的组织中不可避免的会有内奸或变节分子，另一位门徒唐周，像基督教的犹大一样，向东汉政府告密。就在一八四年一月，马元义被捕，被最残忍的车裂酷刑处死。根据口供的牵引，辗转杀了一千多人，并通缉张角。张角仓促间下令起兵，一夜之间，百万以上的农民，掀起暴动。他们用黄巾裹头，以分别敌友。 一八四年距羌战平息，仅十五年。东汉政府用以讨伐羌部落的军队，恰好用以讨伐黄巾。那些凉州（河西走廊）部队在血腥中成长，强悍善战，没有经过训练的农民们，无法与他们对抗，尤其是张角又恰好病死，失去领导中心。于是这一历史性的农民暴动，只支持了十一个月，就被分别击溃。然而，这个世界却再也不能恢复以前的原状了。凉州部队开始轻视中央政府，大将之一的董卓，当中央征召他到洛阳担任宫廷供应部长（少府）时，他不愿放弃军权，拒绝接受。偏偏又遇到两个浆糊脑筋何进与袁绍，利用他来胁迫何太后。 八十年代最后一年一八九年，当洛阳追兵在黄河南岸小平津从宦官手中救出皇帝刘辩时，董卓率领大军，适时的赶到，刘辩就在凉州兵团护驾下，返回首都洛阳。 八三十一年改朝换代混战 董卓到了洛阳后，他的凉州兵团马上把洛阳控制。中央政府原来那些分属于袁绍、曹操的禁卫军，在凉州兵团面前，噤若寒蝉。袁绍、曹操知道已无能为力，先后逃走。董卓忽然高兴地发现，他控制首都就等于控制皇帝，控制皇帝就等于控制全国。他本来只是一个地方部队的将领，现在成了全国主宰。太快的形势变化，使他把政治看的太过于简单。认为现在什么都有了，只缺少威望，而建立最大威望的最大妙法，莫过于把旧皇帝废掉，另立一个新皇帝。于是，他强迫刘辩退位，另立刘辩九岁的弟弟刘协上台。明年（一九○），更把刘辩和他的母亲何太后杀掉。 董卓没有想到，蛮干不但不能建立威望，反而引起强烈反感，等于把攻击自己的刀柄授给敌人。果然，正苦于没有借口的敌人有了借口，各地反对董卓的武力，在东方集结，推举门第最高的袁绍当盟主，讨伐董卓。董卓对洛阳是陌生的，他的根据地在关中（陕西中部），于是下令把首都迁到长安，距他进入洛阳只六个月。皇帝和人民，一齐踉跄上道。为了彻底执行，董卓纵火焚烧洛阳，自纪元前十二世纪姬旦在洛阳筑城以来，经营了一千四百年的当时世界最伟大最繁华的都市，化成一片焦土，一百公里以内，不见炊烟。居民仓促中向西搬移，既没有计划，又没有准备，像押送囚犯一样，凉州兵团夹驰道旁，奔腾鞭策，马蹄的践踏和饥饿疾病，使死亡相继，洛阳长安相距直线五百公里，沿途堆满尸体。 一个没有政治头脑的人偏偏坐在非有政治头脑不可的座位上，不啻坐在毒蛇的牙齿上。董卓的暴发户日子只有三年五个月。一九二年，当东方战争胶着时，宰相级官员王允唆动董卓最亲信的部将吕布叛变，把董卓刺死，屠灭董卓三族。——关于吕布干掉董卓的经过，民间流传的是一个爱情故事，故事说，王允有一位美貌绝伦的女儿貂蝉。他先让吕布跟她恋爱，等吕布入迷之后，王允却把貂蝉送给董卓，向吕布宣称是董卓抢了去的，激起吕布的杀机。 王允只是一个谋略家，不是一个有见识的政治家。那时皇帝的威信仍在，董卓死了之后，中央政府下令大赦，社会似乎又有恢复正常的可能性。董卓手下大将牛辅，驻防陕县（河南三门峡），不接受命令，击败前往接收他军权的政府部队。可是，不久他就死于军营中的一次夜惊。他属下的三个中级军官李囗、郭汜、樊稠，决心投降，但他们曾经在大赦令之后继续反抗政府，所以要求政府再下一次大赦令。王允坚决拒绝，他说：“刚刚大赦过，不到一个月，怎么可以再赦？”三个军官当然不愿亲自把头塞到刀口底下，只有叛变到底。他们向首都进军，攻陷长安。霎时间，王允成了叛徒，就在长安城下，执行死刑。三个叛徒则成了国家正式高级官员，昂然地下令镇压叛徒。 ——政治，有时很严肃很残酷，有时也很滑稽很幽默，好像一场精彩的卡通，使人忍俊不住。 三个不成材的瘪三人物，分别担任宰相元帅，共执朝政。合作了三年，到一九五年，李囗、郭汇把樊稠杀掉，接着李囗、郭汜也反目成仇。李健劫持皇帝刘协，郭汜劫持文武大臣，就在长安城中对垒攻杀，五个月中，死伤数万人。长安成了恐怖与饥饿的鬼城。后来由另一位大将张济从中调解，两个小军阀才同意释放刘协和群臣，让他们东返洛阳。 刘协与群臣离开长安后，长安城空四十余日，强壮的人向外逃散，老弱互相杀害煮食。二三年之内，关中很少看见行人。长安紧接着洛阳，成为第二个遭到浩劫的都市。 刘协和群臣刚逃出长安，两个小军阀才发现自己愚不可及地放掉了护身符，二人马上又化敌为友，联合率军追赶。刘协像被缉捕的盗贼一样，拼命地逃。明年（一九六），才算逃到洛阳。洛阳早成一堆瓦砾，没有房屋住，也没有东西吃，高级官员们亲自到野外拣柴挖菜，有些就在断瓦残垣间饿死。有些怀中有珠宝的，就被士兵抢劫后杀死灭口。御前会议也只能在废墟上举行，好像一个三流的破烂剧团，士兵们围着观看，脸上露着看闹剧时的惊奇和嘻笑。 这时，中央政府的权威荡然无存，全国被大小军阀割据，无处不在混战。东汉王朝划全国为十三个州，除兖州（山东西部）之外，混战遍及十二个州。最主要的军阀，有下列人物： 这些军阀有一个共同特征，他们并非变民领袖，而全体都是政府官员，包括中央和地方政府首长或握有军权的将领。他们表面上对皇帝十分尊敬，即令任用小小官员，也要上奏章请求批准，但实际上恰恰相反。当刘协逃回洛阳，正狼狈不堪时，没有一个军阀运送一粒粮食或一文金钱。袁绍一度考虑过迎接刘协到他的地盘，但他又想到那等于平空弄一个管辖自己的主人坐在自己头上，只有傻子才干。唯一的英雄人物是曹操，刘协逃回洛阳的次月，曹操就率领他的兖州兵团抵达洛阳。洛阳太过于残破，无法居住，于是迁都到他的根据地许县（河南许昌）。 等到曹操开始用皇帝名义向全国发号施令，包括下诏责备袁绍拥兵割据的时候，袁绍那浆糊脑筋才恍然觉悟到皇帝的妙用。他既失去这个机会，唯一的办法是硬着嘴巴宣称曹操劫持皇帝。袁绍用对付董卓的办法对付曹操，他发动勤王军事行动。刘协迁都许县后四年，即下世纪（三）第一年（二○○），袁绍跟曹操在官渡（河南中牟东北古鸿沟渡口）决战，从袁绍建议利用董卓逼何太后和拒绝迎接皇帝两件事上，可看出他的智力商数要差一截。决战结束，他以绝对优势的兵力而大败。 九东西方世界 一○七年（班超回国后五年），日本倭奴国王师升，派遣使臣到中国，进贡生口一百六十人。 一五九年（中国第一次宦官时代开始），贵霜王国迦尼色迹王，邀请佛教高僧五百余人，集会囗宾城（巴基斯坦伊斯兰堡西塔克西拉），统一教义，审定经文。 一九二年（吕布刺杀董卓），罗马帝国皇帝康摩达，凶暴荒淫，被元老院下毒后绞死。罗马城禁卫军，及不列颠、叙利亚、多瑙河等地驻军，各拥立一帝，互相攻战。自奥古斯都大帝屋大维（前三○）以来的统一和平，共历二百二十二年，到此结束。 一九三年（官渡战役前七年），罗马多瑙河驻军所立皇帝塞弗拉斯，削平群雄，进入罗马城。大举屠杀富民，把他们的财产赏赐给自己部下（从此，屠杀劫财，成为罗马帝国皇帝发财的传统方法之一）。