Chapter 87 86 Yuan Shao kills the eunuch

After the impact of the Yellow Turban Army uprising, the Eastern Han Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse. After the death of Han Lingdi, the two groups of foreign relatives and eunuchs had a big fire, which accelerated its collapse. In 189 A.D., the fourteen-year-old prince Liu Bian came to the throne. This is Emperor Shaodi of Han Dynasty.According to the usual practice, the Empress Dowager He came to the court, and He Jin, the general of the foreign relatives, was in power.The eunuch Jian Shuo (sound jianshuo), who was originally the leader of the imperial guards, tried to murder He Jin, but failed.After He Jin came to power, he arrested Jian Shuo and killed him.

One of He Jin's subordinates, Yuan Shao, a lieutenant in the Chinese military academy, was a descendant of a noble family.Four generations of his family's ancestors have been senior officials at the level of Sangong (Taiwei, Situ, and Sikong). Many court and state officials are students or subordinates of Yuan's family, so they are very powerful. After Jian Shuo was killed, Yuan Shao advised He Jin to completely eliminate the power of eunuchs.He said: "In the past Dou Wu wanted to destroy the eunuch, but he was killed by the eunuch because he leaked the secret. Now the general is in charge of the military power, and he should eliminate the evil for the world. Don't miss the opportunity."

He Jin didn't dare to make a decision, so he went to discuss with the Queen Mother.Empress Dowager He said nothing. Yuan Shao advised He Jin again, persuading He Jin to secretly summon soldiers from all over the country to Beijing, forcing the Queen Mother to agree to get rid of the eunuchs.He Jin thought this was a good idea, and decided to call soldiers from all over the country to frighten the Queen Mother. Chen Lin, He Jin's chief secretary (official in charge of documents and affairs) heard this, and quickly stopped him, saying: "The general has a lot of soldiers and horses, so killing a few eunuchs is not as easy as burning a few hairs on the stove? If you call foreign soldiers into the capital, it's like handing over the handle of a knife to someone else, and it's no wonder if there is no trouble."

He Jin did not listen to Chen Lin's advice.He thought for a while that among the people in each state, Dong Zhuo, Mu (the governor of the state) in Bingzhou (most of today's Shanxi, part of Inner Mongolia and Hebei), had a strong military force. He couldn't go wrong with asking him for help, so he sent someone to send a letter to Dong Zhuo, Tell him to quickly lead troops into Luoyang. The news quickly reached the eunuch's ears.Several eunuchs discussed and said: "If you don't do it again, we are all finished." They ambushed dozens of warriors in the palace, falsely passed on the Queen Mother's order, and called He Jin into the palace.

As soon as He Jin entered the palace, he was surrounded by eunuchs and killed. When Yuan Shao learned that He Jin had been killed, he immediately sent his younger brother Yuan Shu to attack the palace.Yuan Shu simply lit a fire and burned down the gate of the palace.A large number of soldiers rushed into the palace, killing eunuchs indiscriminately.Some people were not eunuchs, but they were mistaken for eunuchs and killed just because they had no beards. After this fire, both relatives and eunuchs suffered losses.Dong Zhuo, summoned by He Jin, led his troops into Luoyang. Dong Zhuo was originally a tyrant in Liangzhou (about present-day Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia). He made friends with a group of Qiang tyrants in Liangzhou and dominated one side.After the Yellow Turban Uprising, he was promoted to the position of pastor in Bingzhou (about today's most of Shanxi and parts of Inner Mongolia and Hebei) by suppressing the rebel army.He originally had ambitions to occupy the Central Plains.This time, taking advantage of the opportunity of He Jin's recruitment, he hastily brought three thousand horses here.

When Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang, he wanted to gain power.However, there are too few troops, and I am afraid that they will not be able to suppress the officers and soldiers in Luoyang.He played a trick, quietly drove the men and horses out of the city in the dead of night.In the daytime of the next day, let this team drive in with great fanfare.After going in and out several times in a row, the people in Luoyang couldn't figure out how many soldiers Dong Zhuo had dispatched.Seeing Dong Zhuo's power, the soldiers who belonged to He Jin also joined Dong Zhuo one after another.In this way, all the military power in Luoyang fell into Dong Zhuo's hands.

In order to monopolize power, Dong Zhuo decided to abolish Emperor Shao of the Han Dynasty and establish Liu Xie, the younger brother of Emperor Chenliu.He knew that the officials of the gentry in Luoyang City counted the power of the Yuan family, so he invited Yuan Shao to discuss this matter. Dong Zhuo said: "I think King Chenliu is better than the current emperor. I plan to make him emperor. What do you think?" Yuan Shao replied: "Your Majesty is young and has just ascended the throne, and I have not heard of any fault. If you want to abolish him, I am afraid that people in the world will not accept it."

Dong Zhuo hit a nail, eyes widened with anger, put his hand on the handle of the sword, and said threateningly: "The power is in my hands. If I want to do this, who dares to object? Do you think my Dong Zhuo's sword is not fast enough?" Yuan Shao also blushed with anger, and said, "Is your surname Dong the only hero in the world!" As he spoke, he drew out his saber and walked out.He was afraid that Dong Zhuo would not let him go, so he hurried to Jizhou (about the middle and south of Hebei today, the northwest end of Shandong and the north end of Henan).When Yuan Shao's younger brother Yuan Shu heard the news, he also escaped from Luoyang and went to Nanyang (in present-day Henan Province).

After the Yuan Shao brothers left, Dong Zhuo summoned all civil and military officials to announce the decision to abolish the establishment.Liu Xie took the throne, and this was Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty.Dong Zhuo became Prime Minister himself. Dong Zhuo was an extremely cruel guy.After he became Prime Minister, he allowed soldiers to kill innocent people.Once, a temple fair was held in Yangcheng (now southeast of Dengfeng, Henan) near Luoyang.The people gathered there to go to the market.Dong Zhuo sent troops there, killed all the men in the gathering, and loaded the women and property captured by the people in the bullock carts of the people, and returned to Luoyang majesticly.Along the way, they shouted long live, saying that they came back after a big victory.

Dong Zhuo's perverse behavior caused chaos in Luoyang City.Some knowledgeable officials left Luoyang one after another, including Cao Cao, the lieutenant of Dianjun in Luoyang.