Chapter 38 Qiu Shiliang: A perfect curtain call for a power official

In April of the second year of Huichang (842 A.D.), all the officials proposed to give the title of emperor Li Yujin, calling him "emperor of benevolence, sage, civil and military, supreme god and great filial piety". . It will be a grand ceremony.At that time, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty will gather in Danfeng Tower, and the soldiers of the Sixth Army of Shence will also be present to perform security tasks.If something happened at such an important moment, such as soldiers from the imperial army mutinied for some reason, wouldn't there be a good show to watch?

Thinking of this, Qiu Shiliang smiled silently. He seemed to smell the cold and fishy aura that wafted in Daming Palace seven years ago again. Of course, the soldiers of the imperial army will not mutiny for no reason.To see this good show, you must have a strong excuse. Qiu Shiliang had already had such an excuse. As soon as the date for the ceremony was confirmed, a rumor suddenly spread in the court.Rumors said that the prime minister and Duzhi had already discussed with the emperor, and they were going to issue an edict to reduce the supply of clothing, food and grass for the imperial army.And this edict will be issued on the day of the ceremony.

What excuse could have aroused the anger of the soldiers more than this news? In the few days when the rumors were spreading violently, Qiu Shiliang said to everyone: "At that time, if the emperor really issued such an edict, then the soldiers of the Six Armies will gather in front of the Danfeng Building to demonstrate and petition!" Obviously, this is Qiu Shiliang issuing action instructions to the soldiers of the imperial army, and also intimidating the emperor and the prime minister. Li Deyu realized the seriousness of the situation and responded immediately.On April 21, that is, two days before the grand ceremony, Li Deyu urgently asked the emperor to open the Yanying Hall, and he made an appeal in court to clear up the rumors.

The emperor Li Zhen was furious. Regardless of whether he and the prime ministers had any plans to reduce the military supplies of the Forbidden Army, it was intolerable for Li Zhen to make a big fuss about this matter.On the same day, he sent envoys to announce to the Left and Right Shence Army: "I have only discussed the content of the amnesty order with the prime ministers, and have never discussed the reduction of the military supplies of the forbidden army. What's more, even if it is true, it is my intention. It has nothing to do with the prime minister. What is the intention of someone spreading rumors wantonly?"

The emperor himself refuted the rumors, and his posture was so tough that Qiu Shiliang immediately fell into a passive position. With no excuses for inciting the imperial guards to mutiny, Qiu Shiliang naturally had no reason to stir up trouble. It seems that everything is different from the past.Qiu Shiliang had no choice but to realize that the current Li Zhen was no longer the Li Ang of the past, and Li Deyu was not the Li Xun and Zheng Zhu of the past.Fighting against such a group of steady and watertight opponents, Qiu Shiliang felt unprecedented pressure. In the end, Qiu Shiliang had no choice but to give in, and bowed his head to the emperor to apologize with a sincere and fearful expression.

This is the first time since the Ganlu Incident, the originally invincible official bowed his head in front of the emperor.Wuzong Li Zhen was very pleased, and from then on he relied more and more on Li Deyu. Through two contests with Qiu Shiliang, Li Deyu has curbed the arrogance of the eunuch group to a certain extent.Next, what he wants to deal with with all his strength is naturally the domineering feudal town. Since the end of Yuanhe period, the Tang Empire has been in Mu, Jing, and Wen dynasties, and has always adopted a policy of compromise in the affairs of the feudal towns. It has always acquiesced to the phenomena of the four feudal towns, especially the three towns in Hebei, which are self-dedicated and hereditary. The mutiny has always held the attitude of letting it go.As long as the feudal vassals and towns in various places do not openly raise troops against the central government, the Li and Tang courts will hand over the axes and axes of the Jiedu envoys to those arrogant soldiers.What used to be regarded as treason by the court has now become a common social reality.Over the years, the subjects of the Tang Empire seemed to have become numb.

However, in Wuzong's reign, this political status quo was destined to be rewritten. Because neither Wu Zong Li Zhen nor Prime Minister Li Deyu are the kind of people who can muddle through and accept it.Once they have the opportunity, they will definitely take a tough stance on the affairs of the feudal town and reshape the authority of the Li Tang Central Committee. In April of the third year of Huichang (843 A.D.), an opportunity to rewrite the status quo was finally presented to them—the Zhaoyi Jiedu envoy Liu Congjian died. Therefore, he asked the court to grant him the post of posthumous post.

Give him the right to inherit? Wu Zong and Li Deyu quickly answered - no. Zhaoyi Town is located in Hedong, and its government is located in Luzhou (now Changzhi City, Shanxi).Originally, this place was a feudal town that the Li and Tang courts were more assured of. Over the years, there were few problems. Even whenever Hebei rebelled, Zhaoyi's soldiers had always been the main force of the court to counter the rebellion.However, in recent years, the relationship between Zhaoyi and the court has become worse and worse.The reason is to start with the Manna Change eight years ago. After the bloody incident that shocked the government and the public, Li Xun, Zheng Zhu, Wang Ya and other ministers in the court were all brutally massacred and punished by the family. In February, he gave Wenzong a lecture, said some fair words, and pointed the finger at Qiu Shiliang.

He said: "Wang Ya and others are just Confucian scholars. The Netherlands is so kind. How could they easily rebel? Li Xun and Zheng Zhu were actually trying to get rid of the eunuchs who messed up the government, but they were framed for rebellion. In the end, they were not guilty. To take a step back, even if the prime ministers really have conspiracies, they should be handed over to the judiciary. How can the eunuchs be allowed to slaughter wantonly? Moreover, so many innocent courtiers and people have been implicated. I wanted to go to the court in person and tell my majesty what is right and wrong I am evil, and I am worried that I will be framed by others and harm my descendants. Although I can't go there in person, I will definitely fulfill my responsibility to seal the border and train the army as soon as possible. I hope that I will be your Majesty's confidant inside and your Majesty's fence outside. If the treacherous ministers still run rampant, The minister will swear to the death to enter the court, on the side of the Qing emperor!"

As soon as he saw the memorial, Qiu Shiliang became furious and clamored that Liu Congjian had the ambition to spy on the court.At that time, Wenzong Li Ang had completely fallen into the control of Qiu Shiliang, so he could only symbolically add the honorary official title of "inspector Situ" to Liu Congjian as a sign of encouragement.However, Liu Congjian flatly refused, and criticized Wenzong's cowardly performance. Since then, there has been a gap between Zhaoyi and the court. After Emperor Wuzong Li Yu came to the throne, Liu Congjian hurriedly presented the new emperor with a unparalleled BMW in order to improve the relationship with the court.But for some reason, Li Chen didn't accept it.Liu Congjian felt more and more that the court didn't trust him, so he killed the BMW in a rage, and then began to actively expand his armaments, competing with the central government openly and secretly.When the neighboring Taoists saw this, they panicked immediately, and hurriedly built weapons, recruited soldiers, and started an arms race with him.

In the spring of the third year of Huichang, Liu Congjian was seriously ill. Knowing that he would die soon, he said to his wife Pei, "I serve the imperial court with integrity, but the imperial court does not understand my intentions, and the neighbors are very different from us. Harmony. After I die, if someone else takes charge of the military administration, there will probably be no fireworks in our family.” Later, Liu Congjian followed the example of the three towns in Hebei, appointing his nephew Liu Zhen as the military envoy of the capital, and his nephew Liu Kuangzhou as the envoy of the Chinese army. After his death, the descendants of the family can inherit the position of Jiedushi. In April, Liu Congjian died, but Liu Zhen refused to send a funeral. He forced Cui Shikang, the eunuch who supervised the army, to report to the court, saying that Liu Congjian was seriously ill, and asked Liu Zhen to be Zhaoyi's queen.Liu Zhen firmly believed that as long as the eunuchs who supervised the army were strictly controlled, the imperial envoys were heavily bribed, and the guards were secretly strengthened, within three months, the imperial court would obediently send the Jiedushi's ax and axe. However, Liu Zhen never expected that he was out of luck this time, and met two people who were destined to take him into action. First of all, Wu Zong Li Zhen would not be fooled by him.Li Yu knew that Liu Congjian was dead, so he immediately ordered his envoys to announce the decree, saying: "If Congjian's illness has not recovered, he will first go to Luoyang, the eastern capital, to recuperate. When he recovers, he will be appointed again; in addition, I hope Liu Zhen can come to Beijing. In the court meeting, the imperial court will definitely add more ranks." Afterwards, Wu Zong sought the opinions of the prime minister and officials on the matter.Other prime ministers, admonishers, and most courtiers believed that Liu Zhen should be given the post of posthumous post following Heshuo towns, but Li Deyu was the only one who firmly opposed it. Li Deyu's reason is that the situation in Zhaoyi is completely different from that in the three towns of Heshuo.Heshuo has been separated for a long time, and people's hearts are hard to recover, so they have been ignored throughout the dynasties.But Zhaoyi was close to the heart of the central government, and the army had always been loyal to the imperial court. It was only because Emperor Jingzong neglected the government and the prime minister lacked foresight and strategy that the official position was awarded to Liu Congjian after Liu Wu's death.Now, if the imperial court insists on following the example and pampering and indulging, who in the world would not want to follow the example of Zhaoyi?From now on, who is willing to obey the authority of the central government and the order of the emperor? Wu Zong immediately asked Li Deyu: "Is there any way to deal with Zhaoyi?" Li Deyu said with confidence: "Liu Zhen's role model and backer are the three towns of Heshuo. As long as they are not allied with Zhaoyi, Liu Zhen will do nothing. Therefore, ministers should be sent to preach to Wang Yuankui and Wei Bo who are Chengde. He Hongjing told them that successive emperors have recognized their practice of succession from generation to generation, but the situation in Zhaoyi is different from them. Now that the imperial court wants to use troops against Zhaoyi, if they do not want to see the imperial army enter Hebei, they should Cooperate with the imperial court to send troops to attack Xingzhou (now Xingtai City, Hebei), Mingzhou (southeast of Yongnian County, Hebei) and Cizhou (now Cixian County, Hebei) that belong to Zhaoyi, and promise to all soldiers that after the rebellion, the imperial court will definitely Give generous rewards. If the two towns obey the order and do not obstruct the military action of the central government, Liu Zhen will surely be captured!" The three prefectures of Xing, Ming, and Ci are the wealth centers of Zhaoyi, but they are far away from Luzhou, where it is governed. They are an enclave located to the east of Taihang Mountain, and Chengde and Wei Bo are sandwiched between them from the north to the south. Therefore, if Wang Yuankui and He Hongjing can be ordered to take over this enclave, the court will basically be sure to win. Wu Zong was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately acted according to Li Deyu's plan. In the past, whenever a Jiedu envoy died in the towns of Heshuo, and the descendants or generals attempted to stand on their own, the imperial court would first send a mourning envoy to offer condolences, and then send envoys to spy on and mediate.If he is not prepared to admit his self-reliance, he will be given an official title first, and the court will not send troops until the army disobeys.Such a set of red tape is often delayed for half a year. By the time the war starts, the feudal town has already made full preparations for war.But this time, Wu Zong Li Zhen canceled all the pretentious Tai Chi pushing hands, and directly issued orders to the five towns of Heyang, Hedong, Chengde, Weibo, and Hezhong. This order is just one word - hit! At the beginning of May in the third year of Huichang, the war against Zhaoyi quickly kicked off. Just when this visible war had just started, another war without smoke of war was won first. This is the war between the emperor (prime minister) and the eunuch. The war ended with Qiu Shiliang's surrender. In May of this year, Qiu Shiliang knew that he could not compete with the current emperor and prime minister, so he repeatedly asked to be transferred to idle positions on the grounds of old age and illness.Wu Zong was right in his arms, and immediately removed his military power from the imperial army, and changed him to be the general of the left guard and the internal servant.On June 16, Emperor Wuzong issued another edict to let Qiu Shiliang retire with the above-mentioned position. At this point, the powerful official who once covered the sky with one hand finally took the initiative to call the curtain down in a hurry. Both the ruling and opposition parties felt a little unexpected.In fact, including Wu Zong Li Zhen and Prime Minister Li Deyu, this was somewhat unexpected. However, this is precisely the genius of Qiu Shiliang. Because, he is a person who is good at retreating bravely.Compared with those who are unwilling to give up power until death, Qiu Shiliang is of course much smarter.Since the Anshi Rebellion, most of the domineering eunuchs such as Li Fuguo, Yu Chaoen, Chen Hongzhi, and Wang Shoucheng died of accidents, and seldom had a good death.As for Qiu Shiliang, he should be satisfied with being able to call the wind and rain in the political arena of the empire in this life, holding the power of life and death, killing two kings, one concubine and four prime ministers, and getting rid of countless political enemies. In the end, there was only one thing he expected. That is - the end of life. Qiu Shiliang knew that his own time had passed.So he told himself that as long as he once had it, it doesn't need to last forever. For this reason, Qiu Shiliang's gesture of calling the curtain to the world is quite elegant and calm.On the day he became official, his disciples and grandchildren held a grand farewell party for him, and then sent him from the palace all the way to his home.Qiu Shiliang, who was full of emotions, couldn't help but delivered a farewell speech. This speech is the essence of his official life and domineering power. Now, he will give it selflessly to his party members. Qiu Shiliang said: "Remember, you must never let the emperor be idle! You should let him indulge in a life of luxury and corruption all the time, fill his eyes and ears with sensual entertainment, and always renovate the pattern, and strive to change with each passing day. Let the emperor have no time to look around. Then, I will be able to succeed. In any case, the emperor must not be allowed to study, nor should he be close to scholars, because once he finds the traces of the rise and fall of the previous generation, he will be vigilant. , I will be rejected later. Remember, remember!" Hearing this kind words of gold and jade, the disciples and grandchildren suddenly felt enlightened and enlightened. At this moment, Qiu Shiliang's pale and beardless face burst into a satisfied smile. Although I left, I did not lose. Because, my spirit will be passed on from generation to generation of eunuchs, and will continue to flourish. Li Tang's emperors and civil servants, you have to be careful!Although the contest between me, Qiu Shiliang, and you is over, I dare say that in the future court, the war between my apprentices and grandchildren will never end...