Chapter 37 Powerful Prime Minister and Super Eunuch

One emperor and one courtier. As soon as the new monarch Li Yu came to the throne, the first thing he did was to oust the prime ministers Yang Sifu and Li Jue.Because these two guys opposed his succession, of course they are not qualified to be his prime minister.Moreover, from Li Chen's point of view, their qualifications, abilities, and prestige are really limited, and it is obviously not enough to be the prime minister of this new dynasty. What Li Chen is interested in now is a senior figure - this person has been a general and a minister, both political and military talents are quite outstanding, but unfortunately his official career has not been smooth, he has had several ups and downs in the political arena, and now he is still demoted. He lived in Huainan.

Li Chen felt that only when this person became his prime minister could he hope to sweep away the weakness of the Wenzong Dynasty and rebuild a strong political core in the Li Tang Central Committee. On the fourth day of September in the fifth year of Kaicheng (840 A.D.), this man was called back to the court and took up the post of Minister of Zhongshu and Zhangshi of Tongping. He is Li Deyu. A crony leader has returned, and the Manchu civil and military can't help but have mixed feelings. The good news is that Li Deyu's ability is undoubtedly far stronger than those of the prime ministers in the Kaicheng years. If he is in power, the political situation of the empire may be improved; the worry is that once such a well-known crony leader returns to power Does this indicate that a new round of party struggle will begin again?

As if to respond to people's doubts, and at the same time to show his innocence to the new king, Li Deyu solemnly preached to Li Zhen the principles of distinguishing good from evil when he returned to the court. He said: "The secret of governing is to distinguish the good from the bad. However, the upright and the treacherous villains often blame each other, so it is difficult to distinguish the master. I think that the upright are like pines and cypresses, independent and not attached to them." treacherous villains are like vines, they cannot survive without clinging to each other. Therefore, the upright people serve the king wholeheartedly, while the treacherous villains compete to form cliques. Although the late emperor knew the disaster of cliques, he always used cliques The people are all because of weak will, and villains can take advantage of the gap. If your majesty can promote virtuous people as prime ministers, all those who are treacherous and deceitful will be dismissed, so that the central government affairs will be decided by the prime minister, and he will trust the prime minister with confidence. Doubt, why worry that the world cannot be governed!"

Li Deyu's big reasoning sounds high-sounding, but in fact it is a bit outrageous.What he said was nothing more than emphasizing that he was not a crony, but a person who wholeheartedly fought against the cronies.This kind of confession is really a bit of a place where there is no money, and a thief shouting "stop thief".As the leader of the Li Party, if Li Deyu does not engage in party disputes, how can the slap of the Niu Party be so loud? In addition, Li Deyu said that an "upright person" does not need to "attach to others" or "climb to each other" to be an official. This is also a bit hypocritical.Everyone on the earth knows that throughout the ages, if a person hangs out in officialdom alone, if he doesn't form a network or form a clique, he may have problems getting a foothold, let alone trying to climb up.

In fact, don't talk about others, just talk about Li Deyu's return to the court and his restoration, to a large extent, is the result of "attachment" and "climbing" to eunuchs. The eunuch he befriended was named Yang Qinyi. A few years ago, Li Deyu served as the governor of Huainan, and Yang Qinyi served as the supervisor of Huainan.At first, although the two were close, they had no personal relationship, because the self-proclaimed noble Li Deyu never had a good impression of eunuchs.At the beginning of this year, the new monarch Li Zhen came to the throne and ordered Yang Qinyi to return to the court. There were rumors that he was about to become the Privy Councilor.Yang Qinyi thought, this time, Li Deyu must come to curry favor with him, right?

However, for several days in a row, Li Deyu remained indifferent and did not express at all.Yang Qinyi couldn't help feeling disconcerted.It wasn't until a few days before he was about to return to the court that Li Deyu suddenly showed rare hospitality. Not only did he invite him to a banquet alone, the banquet was very courteous, and he was also given several beds of gold, silver and jewelry afterwards.Yang Qinyi was overjoyed and felt that Li Deyu was really wronged before. A few days later, Yang Qinyi set off to return to the court. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Bianzhou, the emperor Li Zhen issued another imperial order, asking him to return to Huainan temporarily.Yang Qinyi was extremely disappointed, and felt that since he could not enter the main center, he had no reason to accept Li Deyu's property.After returning to Huainan, he immediately returned the original.But Li Deyu was very generous and said: "Those things are not worth much, so don't take them to heart!"

For this reason, Yang Qinyi was quite moved.A few months later, the emperor issued an edict again, formally calling him back to the court to serve as a privy envoy.Yang Qinyi tried his best to recommend Li Deyu to the emperor, thus paving the way for Li Deyu's return to the court. It can be seen from this that Li Deyu's so-called "a gentleman who is an official should not be dependent on climbing" is purely hypocritical to say that grapes are sour after eating grapes. However, Li Deyu is still a principled person after all.Although this time, he regained control of the court by making friends with eunuchs, but he still has a steelyard in his heart when dealing with such big issues as "eunuchs chaotic politics".

As a veteran of the five dynasties of the empire, Li Deyu knew better than anyone else how much harm the "eunuch's power" had caused to the country and the court, and he knew even more that those who cling to eunuchs would not end well in the end.Therefore, even if it is not for the political ideal of clarifying the universe and revitalizing the court, Li Deyu must not allow himself to commit himself to the power and official group in terms of his family background, personal temperament and political ambitions. Li Deyu knew very well that he had to use two tactics to deal with eunuchs, that is-to pull one faction and fight the other faction.For example, for upstart eunuchs like Privy Envoy Yang Qinyi, his strategy is to maintain a certain degree of personal friendship with them so that they can be his help in governing; Will compromise, and will do everything possible to restrict them.

The reason is simple, dealing with an eunuch like Yang Qinyi is equal, both sides follow the principle of mutual benefit and exchange, and no one will be above the other; You can't show favor, let alone show weakness, otherwise you will become a puppet and plaything in their hands. Moreover, as a prime minister, the amount of power Li Deyu can have will directly depend on how much power he can regain from the eunuchs that belonged to civil servants; result of the game.Therefore, if he could not successfully restrain and weaken the eunuch's power, it would be meaningless for him to be the prime minister, and he could only make the world laugh at him.Therefore, whether in public or private, it is impossible for Li Deyu to become Qiu Shiliang's friend, but to stand on the opposite side of him.

Since Li Deyu returned to the court with such a mentality, a power game between the powerful prime minister and the super eunuch was inevitable in the days to come. When Qiu Shiliang supported Li Zhen to ascend the throne, Yang Sifu and Li Jue tried their best to obstruct it. For this reason, Qiu Shiliang always held a grudge and wanted to put them to death. In March of the first year of Huichang (841 AD), Qiu Shiliang frequently put pressure on Emperor Wuzong to kill Yang Sifu and Li Jue.At that time, Yang Sifu had been demoted to be the observer envoy of Hunan, and Li Jue had been demoted to be the observer envoy of Guizhou. Although he was far away from the imperial court, in Wu Zong's heart, he also had a hidden worry about future troubles.

On March 24, Wu Zong couldn't help Qiu Shiliang's repeated instigation, and finally sent two groups of eunuchs to Tanzhou (now Changsha City, Hunan Province) and Guizhou (now Guilin City, Guangxi City) respectively, preparing to kill Yang Sifu and Li Jue. When the Minister of the Household Department, Du Ji, got the news, he immediately rode on a fast horse to look for Li Deyu, hoping that he could help him. This Du Tang was recommended by Yang Sifu and Li Jue at the beginning, so of course he wants to repay his favor now, but the problem is that Yang and Li are out-and-out bulls, but now Du Tang is asking Li Deyu, the leader of the Li Party, for help. Was it the wrong person? No, Du Tai was not mistaken. Because Li Deyu told Du Chu on the spot - no problem, I am willing to help. There are three reasons why Li Deyu made such an unexpected decision.1. Now that the Niu Party has completely lost its power, the main conflict in the court at this stage is obviously not between the Niu and Li parties, but between civil servants and eunuchs; It is different from making a selfless free advertisement for yourself, which is enough to establish a glorious image in front of the world that "regardless of past suspicions, repaying grievances with virtue"; Third, the most important thing is that Li Deyu knows very well that the person who wants to kill Yang Sifu and Li Jue is Qiu Shiliang If you can stop him in this matter, you can take this opportunity to fight against the arrogance of the eunuch group, and at the same time win the hearts of the civil and military people of the Manchu Dynasty and the people of the world. All in all, this is no longer a question of whether Yang Sifu and Li Jue can be saved, but whether Li Deyu can prove that he is a strong prime minister. Therefore, Li Deyu immediately launched a rescue operation. On March 25th, Li Deyu urgently contacted the other three prime ministers, and submitted the memorial three times within one day. At the same time, he urged the privy envoy Yang Qinyi to go to the Zhongshu Province for consultations, and invited him to enter the palace to face the emperor and oppose the killing of Yang and Li Er. people. Li Deyu and others said in the memorial to the emperor: "At that time, Emperor Dezong suspected that Liu Yan had shaken the East Palace and killed him hastily. He repented and hired Liu Yan's descendants as compensation. The former Emperor Wenzong also suspected that Song Shenxi was colluding with the prince and exiled him to death. He also regretted it afterwards and shed tears for Song Shenxi. Now, if Yang Sifu and Li Jue are really guilty, It can only increase the relegation, even if it must not be tolerated, it should be interrogated first, and it is not too late to kill them when the evidence of the crime is conclusive. Now, His Majesty sent envoys to kill them without discussing with all the officials, and everyone in the court was shocked. I implore Your Majesty Deng Yanying Temple, allow us to speak face to face!" Wu Zong still gave Li Deyu a lot of face, and announced them to the palace that evening. As soon as Li Deyu and others went to the hall, the first sentence said: "Your Majesty should think carefully, so as not to regret it!" Li Chen showed displeasure, and said simply: "I will never regret it!" Then he ordered them to sit down, meaning that they would not have to be so excited. But the emperor said it three times in a row, but Li Deyu and others still stood upright.Li Deyu said: "I hope that your Majesty will absolve the two of them from the death penalty, and not let the world cry for injustice because of their death. If your majesty does not make an order, the ministers will not dare to sit down." Li Xuan stared at Li Deyu's face in bewilderment, wondering why he had to save Yang and Li.After watching for a long time, Li Chen finally gave in. Although he didn't know Li Deyu's thoughts very well, since he had just ascended the throne, there was really no need to get into an argument with the prime ministers because of two outdated people.So, in the end, Li Chen had no choice but to wave his hands helplessly: "Forget it, just for your sake, spare their lives." Li Deyu and others were relieved, and immediately knelt down on the steps and kowtowed to thank each other. Subsequently, the two envoys were recovered.Yang Sifu was relegated to Chaozhou Inspector, and Li Jue was relegated to Zhaozhou Inspector, but their lives were saved at last. Qiu Shiliang's teeth itch with hatred, but there is nothing he can do. Because he realized that the forces opposing him this time should not be underestimated - there are crony leaders and political strongmen like Li Deyu, and there is another eunuch leader Yang Qinyi who has recently risen and obviously wants to fight against him. Facing such a powerful opposition, Qiu Shiliang never dared to take it lightly.He had a premonition that it might be difficult for him to do whatever he wanted in the court of the new king Li Zhen like he did in the Wenzong Dynasty. Qiu Shiliang's hunch was right. In August of this year, Emperor Wuzong Li Yu suddenly issued an imperial edict, giving him the title of "Military Watcher".Although the position of Lieutenant Zuo Shence was still retained, this newly added title did not make Qiu Shiliang feel happy, but felt uneasy. Because, anyone with a little political common sense knows that this is a practice of "showing respect externally and seizing power internally".In other words, the current title addition is actually just a transition.In the next step, Li Deyu will probably encourage the emperor to remove Qiu Shiliang's military power from the imperial army, and only give him the false title of "Guardian Rongshi". Realizing this, Qiu Shiliang couldn't help but gasped. Are you just sitting there waiting to die? Of course not. Qiu Shiliang decided to take action to fight back against Li Deyu and others. Once you find a suitable excuse, why not have another nectar change.