Chapter 31 The abortion plan

Wen Zong Li Ang sometimes felt that there was no essential difference between himself and Mu and Jing, and they were all useless emperors.Although he is more self-disciplined, more diligent, and more ambitious than his father and brother, the world has always judged heroes by success or failure. You don't believe it yourself. Since he ascended the throne, Li Ang found that he would feel more powerless when he was emperor for one more day. He is even more powerless against the mighty eunuch group. Among the three, feudal towns and cronies are certainly hateful, but Li Ang can tolerate them to some extent. After all, they will not directly overthrow his throne and endanger his life.What makes Li Ang feel the most hateful and terrifying is actually the eunuch who is good at power and disorderly.

Li Ang knew very well in his heart that both Xianzong and Jingzong died at the hands of eunuchs. This was a great shame to the Li Tang royal family, and it was an unforgettable blood feud; but ironically, Li Ang himself was supported by eunuchs. Li Ang would not be where he is today if there were no rebellious criminals like Wang Shoucheng and others.How should this messy account be calculated? Perhaps, we can only count kindness and hatred separately. After Li Ang ascended the throne, in order to repay Wang Shoucheng's support, he had to be appointed as a privy envoy and lieutenant of Shence, and soon he was worshiped as a general of hussars.Since then, Wang Shoucheng has covered the sky with one hand, not only recruiting power and accepting bribes, but also wantonly interfering in the government affairs, as if he has the tendency to ostracize the emperor.

For Li Ang, this is the real serious problem. Now, Li Ang has already repaid the "favor" of the newspaper.Next, shouldn't it be revenge? The answer is yes. In fact, from the day he ascended the throne, Li Ang had made up his mind to get rid of the eunuchs.This is not only a matter of revenge for Xian and Jing, but also a strategy that Li Ang must adopt to protect himself.The reason is very simple, since these unscrupulous eunuchs could kill Xian and Jing Erzong without any effort, now they can also take Li Ang's life at any time and support another emperor. As long as they feel the need to do something, they probably won't even blink their eyes.

Therefore, Li Ang knew that he had to act first, otherwise, sooner or later, he would follow in the footsteps of Xian and Jing Erzong, and become the ghost of these eunuchs. Dealing with eunuchs is a matter with a high risk factor, and it needs courageous, capable, and highly loyal people to undertake it, otherwise, if you are not careful, you will lose everything. However, what makes Li Ang feel helpless is that there is almost no one available around him. Today, from the prime minister to the civil and military officials, almost all are busy with party disputes and strife, and most of them have inextricable connections with eunuchs. It is almost difficult to find a person with a clean background, loyalty and ability .

Fortunately, Wenzong Li Ang searched for three years and finally found one. This person's name is Song Shenxi, who was a Hanlin scholar at that time. After a long period of observation, Li Ang felt that this person was calm, capable, loyal and reliable, and he should be able to entrust him with important tasks.One day, Li Ang summoned Song Shenxi alone, and mustered up the courage to test him.This temptation is rather vague.Like a fair lady with a hot heart but a reserved appearance, she secretly admires a certain gentleman but dare not confess her love directly, so she can only throw that kind of winking eyes at him that seem to have nothing but want to say nothing.

Although the emperor's "wink" was somewhat ambiguous, the clever Song Shenxi understood it immediately.He immediately stated that he should find a way to gradually weaken Wang Shoucheng's power and finally get rid of him. Hearing this, Wen Zong Li Ang was immediately delighted. Looking at Song Shenxi's honest and honest face, Li Ang was extremely relieved. A few days later, Li Ang promoted Song Shenxi to Shangshu Youcheng.On July 11th in the fourth year of Taihe (830 A.D.), Li Ang officially appointed Song Shenxi as prime minister. Song Shenxi jumped up so fast, although it was a bit abrupt, but people didn't think much about it.At this time, the prime minister Li Zongmin, Niu Sengru and others, including the power eunuch Wang Shoucheng, did not guess the real reason why this political upstart suddenly became the center of power.Therefore, they naturally would not expect the special mission on his shoulders.

The first contest between Wenzong Li Ang and the eunuch group quietly kicked off like this. After more than half a year of deliberation and planning, in the spring of the fifth year of Taihe (831 AD), Wenzong Li Ang and Song Shenxi finally formulated a top-secret plan to cut off the eunuchs. All is ready except for the opportunity.The next step is to find a specific executor for this plan. Song Shenxi chose Wang Fan, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Officials at the time, and planned to introduce him as Jing Zhaoyin, that is, to hand over the military and political power of Gyeonggi to him, and let him deal with the eunuch group holding the forbidden army.

We don’t know why Song Shin-seok chose this Wang Fan, but one thing is certain—it was a very stupid choice. This choice will bring disastrous consequences to him and the emperor. When Song Shenxi conveyed the emperor's secret decree to Wang Fan, Wang Fan was quite flattered at first, but after thinking about it, he felt something was wrong. Because the risk of this matter is too high, and the return is too low, it is not cost-effective. Let's talk about risk first.The two sides in this confrontation are the emperor who has lost power and the prime minister who has just taken over; the other is the eunuch with deep roots and powerful power. If you go to this muddy water with a hot head, not only will your head fall to the ground, but the whole family will probably have to move with your head.

Let's talk about income.Even if the Son of Heaven wins by chance, the credit goes to Prime Minister Song Shenxi. What can he, Wang Fan, get for running errands?It's just a "Jing Zhaoyin" who doesn't hurt or itch.For this dispensable black gauze hat, he risked his life to fight the eunuch, wouldn't that be insane? Therefore, Wang Fan quickly came to the conclusion that this matter is very unreliable and must not be done. Of course, Wang Fan would not say that in front of Song Shenxi. He didn't even show any hesitation in his heart, but acted like he was jealous and at odds with the eunuch, so he completely stabilized Song Shenxi.

Then, as soon as he walked out of Song Shenxi's house, Wang Fan couldn't wait to rush to Wang Shoucheng's mansion, shaking out everything he had just heard, and not forgetting to add a few drops of oil, Add some vinegar to win Wang Shoucheng's favor. Wang Shoucheng was a little shocked when he learned of the emperor's top-secret plan.Although he knew that the emperor Li Ang was somewhat dissatisfied with him, he never thought that the emperor would commit murder. It turns out that a person who looks so weak also has such a strong murderous intention in his heart. It seemed that I still underestimated this young man a bit.

However, Wang Shoucheng did not panic at all.The emperor Li Ang's little tricks and tricks, to Wang Shoucheng, who came here in a bloody storm, were nothing but pediatrics. Later, Wang Shoucheng summoned someone. Over the years, no matter how big or small the matter was, Wang Shoucheng would come to this person to discuss it, and then leave it to him to settle it. In Wang Shoucheng's opinion, if he were to find two smartest people in this world, one would be himself; the other would probably be him. This person is named Zheng Zhu. When I read martial arts novels in the past, I often found a pattern, that is-the level of a person's martial arts is often inversely proportional to his appearance. Usually, the burly guys with the fiercest appearance are usually the worst in martial arts. When they appear on the stage, they will always be beaten by a dozen of them, and they will always be beaten with a fan or a willow stick to find their teeth.Therefore, this kind of fierce-looking person is useless at all, just a thug level. On the next level, it is usually a suave young man, or a beautiful young girl, or an old man with silver hair and long beard.In short, this kind of people are relatively gentle, they seem to be incapable of fighting, but in fact, they can knock down more than a dozen burly men with one shot, which belongs to the level of masters. However, the real masters are often the most inconspicuous.For example, whenever a few groups of people were having a heated fight in the inn, there would always be a shriveled, thin, slightly hunchbacked man sitting in the corner who looked like a consumptive ghost.Others were beating him half to death, but he didn't realize it, he just sat there and kept coughing.However, when the coughing stopped suddenly, the whole inn would be completely still in an instant. Because, the tuberculosis ghost made a move. No one knows how he made the move, only that those burly men, young men, young girls, and old men with long beards were all stabbed to death in an instant, unable to move at all. In the end, the consumptive ghost would stand up amidst a series of coughing sounds, walk out slowly with his body hunched over, without letting anyone see his face, leaving only an unfathomable back figure that came and went without a trace. In the scheming arena at that time, Zheng Zhu was such a seemingly inconspicuous, but in fact a top master with profound internal skills. According to history, Zheng's annotations are "small and small, looking down, but cleverly flattering, good at guessing people's wishes, traveling around with medicine, and restraining the poor." (Volume 243) Translated into vernacular, Zheng Zhu is shriveled and thin, with squinted eyes. He is cunning and scheming, and it is easy to frame or flatter a person, because he is good at penetrating people's hearts.In his early years, this person relied on his medical skills to walk the world, but he didn't do well, and he was often poor. No one who dealt with Zheng Zhu in the early years would have expected that this unremarkable guy would become a figure in the political arena of the empire in the future. Zheng Zhu's fortune began in Xuzhou. The first noble person in his life was Li Yan, the famous general who pacified Huaixi. At that time, Li Yan served as Wuning Jiedu envoy and was based in Xuzhou.One of his dental generals was sick once, and he was always unlucky, but somehow he found Zheng Zhu, and as soon as Zheng Zhu came, he was cured immediately.Ya Jiang was surprised and delighted, and quickly introduced him to Li Yan.Li Yan was not in good health at the time, so Zheng Zhu tried to prescribe some prescriptions for him. After taking it, he really felt refreshed, his waist was no longer sore, his legs were no longer painful, and his body was better. Why not eat it? fragrant. Li Yan was overjoyed, and immediately gave Zheng Zhu an official position and kept him by his side. Zheng Zhu came into operation at this time, from a poor and down-to-earth quack doctor to the personal doctor of Jiedushi, realizing the first leap in life. However, Zheng Zhu is a very ambitious person, and he will never be satisfied with the role of a personal doctor.Soon, he took advantage of Li Yan's trust in him to frequently intervene in military affairs.Maybe it's because this guy is really scheming, and he always handles everything he handles very well, so Li Yan trusts him more and more, and the power delegated to him is getting more and more powerful. After Zheng Zhu got his ambition, he began to do his best in Xuzhou. As the days went by, it naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the soldiers. At that time, there was a person who was most disgusted with Zheng Zhu, and wished to drive him out of Xuzhou immediately. This person is Wang Shoucheng.At that time, his position was to supervise the army in Wuning. Wang Shoucheng found Li Min and said, "This Zheng man is very dishonest, and his brothers hate him very much, so we should ask him to leave immediately."Li Yan said with a smile: "Although Zheng Zhu has some problems, he is a genius. If Mr. Wang doesn't believe it, you can talk to him. If there is really nothing to recommend, it's not too late to let him go." Afterwards, Li Yan asked Zheng Zhu to visit Wang Shoucheng.Wang Shoucheng was very disdainful to see this "consumption ghost" at first, but later he thought that he might as well meet and find fault with him, so as to drive him away as an excuse. However, Wang Shoucheng never imagined that the result of this meeting would completely run counter to his original intention. After the host and guest sat down and talked for a while, Wang Shoucheng was so impressed by this ugly consumptive ghost that he completely forgot the purpose of his conversation with him. You really can't tell what you look like.After speaking, Wang Shoucheng was overwhelmed by Zheng Zhu's insight and eloquence, and immediately invited him to the "Zhongtang" (in the beginning, he might only be interviewed in the wing room, and he was going to dismiss him perfunctorily).Then, the two had another long conversation, during which they kept laughing and chatting quite speculatively.Wang Shoucheng hated seeing each other so much, and immediately said to Li Min the next day: "Mr. Zheng is indeed as you said, a rare genius!" From this moment on, Zheng Zhu changed again and became Wang Shoucheng's close friend and think tank; and Wang Shoucheng naturally became the second noble person in Zheng Zhu's life. In the third year of Changqing, Wang Shoucheng returned to the court as a privy envoy, so he brought Zheng Zhu to Chang'an, built him a mansion next to his mansion, and soon recommended him to Mu Zong.At that time, Mu Zong was suffering from wind disease. After taking the medicine prescribed by Zheng Zhu, although his condition did not improve, the pain could be effectively alleviated, so he was very fortunate to Zheng Zhu. So far, Zheng Zhu achieved the second leap in life, from the personal doctor of the Jiedushi to the chief physician of the emperor. At the same time, Wang Shoucheng took advantage of the emperor's illness to monopolize power, and Zheng Zhu, a confidant and think tank, became Wang Shoucheng's rent-seeking agent for power.Anyone who wanted to curry favor with Wang Shoucheng had to pass his Zheng Zhu first. When Zheng Zhu first arrived in Chang'an, the people who came through the back door were just some small officials who wanted to climb up the ladder. After just a few years, all the dignitaries and celebrities who associate with him are all dignitaries and dignitaries.Every day, the high-end carriages and horses in front of his house would form a long queue, attracting the envious and jealous eyes of countless passers-by. During Wenzong's reign, Zheng Zhu had already become a popular figure in the imperial political arena. However, his ambitions were far from satisfied. No one knows that this impoverished quack doctor will soon achieve the third leap in his life.And the last leap was achieved by stepping on Wang Shoucheng's corpse. Of course, these are all things to say later, it is impossible for Wang Shoucheng at this time to predict what will happen a few years later. Now, Wang Shoucheng is looking at the second smartest person in the world with interest, waiting for him to come up with a plan to completely settle the ignorant Song Shenxi, and at the same time teach the emperor Li Ang a profound lesson. Zheng Zhu didn't think for long. He pondered for a while, and a seamless counterattack plan came out. He asked Wang Shoucheng: "Your Majesty, in your opinion, what is the most taboo thing for a gentleman throughout the ages?" Wang Shoucheng blurted out: "Conspiracy." Zheng Zhu smiled: "Then, in your opinion, among the current clan princes, who is the most virtuous and most praised by the people of the time?" Wang Shoucheng blurted out again: "Zhang Wang Li Cou." Next, Zheng Zhu stopped talking, and just looked at Wang Shoucheng with a half-smile. Wang Shoucheng thought for a while, and then laughed silently. Zhang Wang Li Cou is the half-brother of Wenzong Li Ang, and he is very popular. After Jingzong was murdered, this Zhang Wang was actually one of the successors considered by the eunuchs.Wang Shoucheng knew very well that it is impossible for the emperor Li Ang not to be suspicious and guard against this kind of person.Under such circumstances, if someone accused Song Shenxi of conspiring to support King Zhang, and someone came forward to provide evidence, the emperor would definitely believe it or not.In this way, Song Shenxi will die without a place to bury him. The question now is, who to charge?Who will give evidence? Of course, these tasks are what Zheng Zhu wants to do, and they are also his forte.Wang Shoucheng knew that Zheng Zhu would not let him down. Soon, Zheng Zhu found two people: one named Dou Luzhuo and the other named Yan Jingze. Dou Lu wrote that at that time he was the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Shence Army, and his duty was to secretly picket the faults of civil and military officials.It is logical for him to make the accusation, and it is easy to be believed. Yan Jingze, an eunuch, was responsible for purchasing items for the Sixteen Houses (the residences of the clan princes).The task Zheng Zhu entrusted to him was to prove that Song Shenxi had instructed his confidant and aide Wang Shiwen to secretly make friends with him by surrendering himself, so that he could convey his support to Zhang Wang Li Cou through him. A heavenly net was cast like this, but Wenzong and Song Shenxi didn't know it at this time. They still thought that the top-secret plan to cut off the eunuchs was proceeding in an orderly manner. They still believe that Wang Fan, who shoulders a heavy responsibility, will bring them news of victory soon... On February 29th in the fifth year of Taihe (831 A.D.), Wang Shoucheng hurried into the palace and reported a shocking news to the emperor Li Ang-Doulu, the capital of the Shence Army, accused Song Shenxi of conspiring to own the emperor. The king of Lizhang, Li Cou, was established as the emperor, and the evidence is conclusive. At this moment, Wenzong Li Ang was dumbfounded. It's over, it's over! Li Ang painfully realized that the eunuch plan that he had painstakingly formulated for more than half a year had been aborted at this moment. Because, no matter whether Song Shenxi's rebellion is true or not, this person can no longer stay.The reason is simple, if Song Shenxi really wanted to rebel, he deserved to die; even if he was framed, it was enough to prove that the plan had been leaked, so Wang Shoucheng couldn't wait to attack him.If it is really the latter, then Song Shenxi cannot stay. There was no choice, even if he knew that Song Shenxi was being framed, at this moment Li Ang could only cut off his wrists and save the car, otherwise he might die with Song Shenxi.In other words, he had to sacrifice Song Shenxi without hesitation in order to apologize to Wang Shoucheng and seek forgiveness and understanding from the eunuch group before he could barely protect himself. Wang Shoucheng carefully pondered the expression of the emperor, and a sneer flashed in his heart.He proposed to Wenzong on the spot that he would personally lead two hundred flying cavalry to kill Song Shenxi's entire family. Li Ang looked at Wang Shoucheng in a daze, and nodded helplessly. At the critical moment, another eunuch Ma Cunliang stood up and strongly opposed Wang Shoucheng's proposal.He said: "The killing of all the prime ministers without verification will definitely cause chaos in the capital! I suggest that all the prime ministers should be called to hold a court meeting on this matter." Ma Cunliang is also a veteran eunuch, his qualifications are not inferior to Wang Shoucheng, and he once saved the life of Emperor Jingzong.Although Wang Shoucheng was extremely displeased, it was inconvenient to have an attack, so he had to give up resentfully. Hearing this, Li Ang was overjoyed. Finally, there was an eunuch beside him who remained neutral and was not bribed by Wang Shoucheng. Thank God! Wenzong then issued an imperial edict ordering the prime ministers to go to the Yanying Hall for a court discussion. Until now, Song Shenxi was still kept in the dark.When he entered the palace gate together with the other three prime ministers, he was suddenly blocked by the eunuch who sent an edict: "Among the people summoned by the sage, there is no Song Gong." Song Shin-seok was dumbfounded. However, with at least a sense of politics, he can also realize that something is wrong. He knew——Wang Fan must have sold himself, and by the way, sold the emperor as well. What you entrust is not a person, what you entrust is not a person!Besides blaming himself for being blind, what else could Song Shin-seok do?Just due to the negligence of a specific link, the entire plan was aborted, which not only failed the emperor's trust, but also put the emperor in an extremely dangerous situation.At this moment, Song Shenxi really felt a sense of burning inside. Filled with shame, sorrow and anger, he finally raised the Chaohu high above his head, bowed three times to Yanying Hall, then turned and left sadly. In the Hall of Yanying, when Li Zongmin, Niu Sengru, and Lu Sui, the three prime ministers, learned about this incident, they were shocked and shocked, and they couldn't say a word for a long time. This is a serious crime of treason, what else is there to discuss?What's more, Song Shenxi is the prime minister handpicked by you, the emperor, and now he has committed such a felony crime of racism, what can we say?Therefore, your Majesty, you should make up your own mind. We can only adopt one attitude towards this matter, and that is - silence is golden. Li Ang had expected it a long time ago.It is impossible for these prime ministers who are busy with party disputes and want to curry favor with eunuchs to speak for Song Shenxi. This silent court meeting is actually the same as if it didn't open.Helpless, Li Ang could only order Wang Shoucheng to arrest Yan Jingze and Wang Shiwen immediately.Wang Shiwen got the news in advance and fled overnight; Yan Jing was arrested and taken to the palace for trial by eunuchs. On the second day of March, Song Shenxi was dismissed as prime minister and demoted to the right concubine.Although the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty were well aware of the truth of the case, no one from the prime minister down to the ministers dared to appeal for grievances. The case was transferred to the Foreign Court for trial.However, Yan Jing was settled by Zheng Zhu long ago.Even if it was tried by the judicial department of the imperial court, he still insisted that Song Shenxi and Wang Shiwen secretly made friends with him and conspired to support Li Cou, the king of Zhang, as the emperor. Now that the person involved has confessed to the "criminal facts", the ministers who intend to defend Song Shin-seok have nothing to say. On the fourth day of March, the case was settled, and Song Shenxi and others were convicted of treason. Everyone in the ruling and opposition parties knew that there was only one result waiting for Song Shenxi - beheading. On the same day, Emperor Wenzong convened Taishi, Taibao, and all senior officials from Taiwan, provinces, governments, and temples to hold a court meeting again to discuss how to deal with Song Shenxi. Obviously, Li Ang still had a glimmer of hope in his heart - he hoped that the ministers could say a fair word for Song Shenxi at this last moment and save his life. A group of admonishers headed by Zuo Changshi Cui Xuanliang finally uttered the voice the emperor wanted to hear and unanimously demanded a retrial of the case.Li Ang felt a little relieved.But on the scene, he still had to make some gestures to show the eunuchs.He said to the admonitors: "The prime ministers have no objection to this case, you should retreat, you don't have to insist." But the admonishers refused to retreat, Cui Xuanliang kowtowed in tears and said: "Killing a man must be cautious. , let alone the prime minister!" Li Ang glanced at Cui Xuanliang with an almost grateful look, and said, "Since you are so persistent, I am willing to discuss with the prime ministers again." Li Ang then summoned the prime minister for a court meeting.Niu Sengru saw what the emperor was thinking, so he pushed the boat along and said: "The highest position for a minister is the prime minister. Since Song Shenxi is already a prime minister, if there is really an attempt to rebel, he is still just a prime minister in the end. What else can he get?" It seems that Song Shenxi should not be like this." Zheng Zhu heard that the courtiers began to sympathize with Song Shenxi, and worried that if there was a retrial and Yan Jing could not withstand the retraction of the confession, the truth would be revealed, and even he would have to get involved.Thinking about this, Zheng Zhu had no choice but to take a step back, and persuaded Wang Shoucheng to let Song Shenxi out, so as not to make a mess, which was not good for everyone.Wang Shoucheng thought it made sense, so he adopted Zheng Zhu's suggestion. On the fifth day of March, Emperor Wenzong issued an edict to demote Li Cou, the king of Zhang, as Duke of Chao County, and Shen Xi of Song Dynasty as Sima of Kaizhou (now Kaixian County, Chongqing). Yan Jingze and other criminals were executed or exiled, and more than 100 people were implicated at the same time. On the same day, another person submitted his resignation to Wenzong. He is the only eunuch Ma Cunliang in the palace who is not attached to Wang Shoucheng. I don't know if he has been pressured by Wang Shoucheng, or if he has a premonition of the imminent threat, in short, Ma Cunliang is determined to leave.Perhaps it was because he knew that he had completely offended Wang Shoucheng in Song Shenxi's case. If he had to bite the bullet and stay in the palace, he would definitely not have a good life.Therefore, he can only use thirty-six strategies to escape from this place of right and wrong as soon as possible. Li Ang knew Ma Cunliang's state of mind better than anyone else.Although he was very reluctant to let the only eunuch with a sense of justice around him leave him like this, he still had to approve Ma Cunliang's request to become an official. Because Li Ang knew that if Ma Cunliang insisted on staying, his end would never be better than Song Shenxi. After Ma Cunliang left, Wen Zong soon got another news that Song Shenxi died of illness in the demolition office due to depression, worry and anger. Go away, die dead.You all fled, set free.I am the only one left alone, I don't know where to escape? In the late spring of the fifth year of Taihe, the continuous rain has been persistently floating over the city of Chang'an.Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty Li Ang sat alone in the Daming Palace, and saw loneliness enveloping him layer by layer like a boundless giant net-making him nowhere to escape between heaven and earth.