Chapter 83 82 Domineering General Liang Ji

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, starting from Emperor Hanhe, most of the emperors who ascended the throne were children, and the youngest was a baby who was only born more than a hundred days old.The emperor was young, and as usual, the queen mother ruled the court, and the queen mother handed over the power to her natal family, thus forming a situation of foreign relatives' dictatorship.Some emperors died without sons, so the queen mother and relatives found a child from the royal family to replace the emperor so that they could control the political power. However, when the emperor grew up and became sensible, he was unwilling to be a puppet for a long time.He wanted to get rid of the control of his relatives, but he was his relative's cronies inside and out, so who should he discuss with?There are only some eunuchs who serve the emperor every day.As a result, the emperor had to rely on the power of eunuchs to destroy the power of his relatives.In this way, the power of the foreign relatives was transferred to the hands of the eunuchs.

Whether it is foreign relatives or eunuchs, they are all representatives of the most corrupt forces of powerful landlords.The two groups of foreign relatives and eunuchs competed with each other and took turns to control the government. The politics of the Eastern Han Dynasty became more and more corrupt. In 125 A.D., Emperor Hanshun, the seventh emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, ascended the throne, and his relatives, the Liang family, took power.Empress Liang's father, Liang Shang, and brother Liang Ji successively became generals. Liang Ji was a very arrogant guy. He ran amok, blackmailed openly, and ignored the emperor at all.

When Emperor Han Shun died, Emperor Chong who succeeded him was a two-year-old baby, and died half a year later.Liang Ji found an eight-year-old child in the royal family to replace him, that is, Emperor Hanzhi. Although Emperor Hanzhi was young, he was really smart.He couldn't get used to Liang Ji's arrogance.Once, he said to Liang Ji in front of all civil and military officials in the court hall: "What a domineering general!" (Domineering means domineering.) Liang Ji was so angry when he heard this, he couldn't be angry in person.Thinking behind his back, this child is so powerful at such a young age, and when he grows up, he can pay off, so he secretly put the poison in pancakes and gave it to Emperor Zhi to eat.

How did Emperor Han Zhi know that the cake was poisonous, and he immediately felt sick to his stomach after eating the cake. He asked his servant to call Taiwei Li Gu in.Li Gu saw that he was very uncomfortable and asked him what was going on. Emperor Zhi said: "I just ate the cake, I just feel sad in the stomach, my mouth is dry, and I want to drink some water." Liang Ji said hurriedly, "No, I can't drink it. If I drink water, I will vomit." Before Liang Ji finished speaking, the eight-year-old child fell to the ground, rolled several times, and died. Liang Ji killed Emperor Zhi, and selected a fifteen-year-old Liu Zhi from the royal family to succeed the emperor, that is, Emperor Han Huan.

After Emperor Huan of Han came to the throne, Empress Liang became Empress Dowager Liang, and all the government affairs fell into the hands of Liang Ji, who became even more domineering.For his own enjoyment, he built a lot of high-rise buildings and took over all the farmland in the suburbs of Luoyang as the private garden of the Liang family.There are all kinds of pavilions and pavilions inside.He loved raising rabbits, so he built a rabbit garden in the west of Henan City and ordered all localities to hand over rabbits.He also branded the rabbit with a mark, and anyone who hurt the rabbit in the Liang family's rabbit farm would commit a capital crime.A businessman from the Western Regions who came to Luoyang did not know about the ban and killed a rabbit.For this case, more than a dozen people were implicated and lost their lives.

Liang Ji captured thousands of children from good families as slaves, and called such slaves "self-selling people".It means that they all "voluntarily" sold to the Liang family.He also sent people to investigate the rich family, arrested the rich man, charged him with any crime, and asked him to pay for the crime with money, and those who paid less would be punished with death.There was a man named Sun Fen who was very rich.Liang Ji gave him a horse and borrowed fifty million from him.Sun Fen was so forced by him that he had no choice but to give him 30 million yuan.Liang Ji became angry. He ordered the government to arrest Sun Fen, falsely claiming that Sun Fen's mother was a slave who escaped from their family, stole a lot of pearls and gold, and wanted to return them.Sun Fen refused to admit it, so he was beaten to death by the government, and all his property was confiscated.

Liang Ji held power in such a lawless manner for nearly twenty years, and finally had conflicts with Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty.Liang Ji sent people to assassinate the mother of Liang Guiren, who was favored by Emperor Huan.Emperor Han Huan couldn't bear it, so he secretly contacted Shan Chao and other five eunuchs who had grudges against Liang Ji. Taking advantage of Liang Ji's unpreparedness, he mobilized more than a thousand Yulin troops and suddenly surrounded Liang Ji's house. Liang Ji trembled in panic, and when he figured out what was going on, he knew he would not survive, so he had to commit suicide by taking poison.

The relatives of Liang's family and Liang Ji's wife Sun's family were all ruined, some were sentenced to death, and some were dismissed.Up and down the court, more than 300 of Liang Ji's minions and confidants were all dismissed. The officials at the court were almost completely empty at once. Needless to say, the common people were very happy when the Liang family fell.Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty confiscated the property of Liang Ji's family, which was worth more than three billion yuan, which was equivalent to half of the annual tax of the whole country at that time.The land occupied by the Liang family as a garden and a rabbit garden is still cultivated by farmers.

Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty awarded Shan Chao and other five eunuchs as Marquises in terms of meritorious deeds, and they were called "Five Marquises".Since then, the power of the Eastern Han Dynasty has passed from the hands of foreign relatives to the hands of eunuchs.