Chapter 25 triangle politics

After an Anshi Rebellion, three political strongmen emerged in the court of Li Tang, they are: Guo Ziyi, Yuan Zai, and Yu Chaoen.In the military world, Guo Ziyi is the most worthy leader; in the imperial court, Yuan Zai is the chief prime minister with great power; in the inner court, Yu Chaoen is the top eunuch in charge of the forbidden army. Politically, the three formed a triangle of mutual restraint and dynamic balance, and Emperor Daizong Li Yu stood between the triangles, carefully maintaining this delicate political structure. This is a job with high technical content, not only to test the IQ of an emperor, but also to test his EQ.

For example, in February of the second year of Dali (767 AD), an incident happened between Daizong and Guo Ziyi. On the surface, this seems like a trivial matter, but if it is not handled properly, it will inevitably lead to a catastrophe. Daizong and Guo Ziyi were not only monarchs and ministers, but also in-laws - Guo Yan, Guo Ziyi's son, married Daizong's daughter, Princess Shengping.The young couple is usually affectionate, but it is inevitable that there will be times when they quarrel.One day, for some reason, the two of them quarreled suddenly, and they refused to give in to each other. The more they quarreled, the more fierce they became. In the end, Guo Ai suddenly said: "You rely on your father as the emperor, right? Let me tell you the truth, my father doesn't care about it at all. If you don’t become the Son of Heaven, you still don’t deserve him if you let him be him!”

It's over, impulse is the devil.Guo Yan regretted it as soon as he said it. He knew that the words he yelled impulsively were enough to make his head move, and it was enough to destroy his father's reputation in one life, and it was enough to make Guo's whole family suffer with him! Needless to say, just looking at Princess Shengping's expression at the moment, Guo Yan already knew what kind of disaster he had caused-the princess didn't say a word, just staring at Guo Yan. If the princess's gaze is fire at this moment, Guo Ai must have become a piece of coke; if the princess' gaze is a knife at this moment, Guo Ai must have become a pool of meat.After staring at Guo Yan for half a stick of incense, the princess turned and left without looking back.

Where is she going? Don't ask, go back to your mother's house. To be precise, it was back to the palace. As soon as Guo Yan thought that his words of destroying the nine clans would immediately fall into the ears of the emperor, he suddenly sweated profusely and his knees became weak.He really wanted to stop his wife and apologize to her, but his manly self-esteem prevented him from opening his mouth no matter what. The princess entered the palace like this. Daizong Li Yu was also stunned for a while after hearing the baby girl angrily relayed that sentence.A lot of rich content flashed in his eyes instantly.However, the emperor is an emperor after all, and at this time, his emotional intelligence is naturally higher than that of ordinary people.

Daizong smiled and said, "You don't know about this. In fact, your husband is right. If his father wants to be the emperor, this world belongs to our Li family!" The princess was dumbfounded, the small cherry mouth turned into a huge circle at this moment. Daizong laughed, and Wen Yan advised her to go home quickly and stop playing childish temper.Afterwards, no matter how furious the precious daughter was, Daizong insisted on sending her out of the palace by the eunuchs and court ladies. As soon as Princess Shengping was dragged out of the palace, Guo Ziyi entered the palace with a face full of panic, followed by a young man who was tied up.

The young man is Guo Yan, and his expression is almost dead. Guo Ziyi bowed to the emperor and asked the emperor to punish him—not only for Guo Wei's crime of treason and immorality, but also for Guo Ziyi's lax discipline. Daizong still laughed, helped Guo Ziyi up with his own hands, and said: "There is an old saying: 'If you are not stupid or deaf, you are not a writer.' The words of the children's boudoir are not enough to listen to!" (Volume 224) As the saying goes: "If you are not a fool and a deaf person, don't be your father-in-law and father-in-law." How can you take the angry words of the children in the boudoir seriously!

This is the generosity of the emperor. Even if you don't have such generosity, you have to pretend it, otherwise you won't be able to sit on the throne of the emperor for a day. When Guo Ziyi heard this, the rock in his heart finally fell to the ground. Of course, the son still needs to be disciplined. After returning home, Guo Ziyi mercilessly beat Guo Ai dozens of sticks.Although Guo Yan was beaten to pieces and almost passed out, the fear and anger in Guo Ziyi's heart could not be subdued for a long time. Not long after the "Children's Disturbance" had passed, another unlucky thing happened to Guo Ziyi—I don't know who had eaten the guts of a leopard and dared to break ground on Tai Sui's head and dug Guo Ziyi's ancestral grave.

This sensational tomb robbery incident quickly spread in Chang'an.Daizong immediately ordered the relevant departments to track down the tomb robbers, but after checking and checking, there was still no clue.The common people talked about this, saying that none of the ancestral graves were dug by this group of tomb robbers, but the ancestral grave of Guo Ziyi, a big boss of the empire, was obviously not only for money, but also to vent their anger. Who has such a deep hatred with Guo Ziyi? According to bold guesses by some well-informed sources, the mastermind behind this matter is likely to be another imperial boss who is on the same level as Guo Ziyi.

Who is he? It is none other than Yu Chaoen, the chief eunuch who is in charge of the forbidden soldiers alone! The reason why people speculate is: Yu Chaoen has always been jealous of Guo Ziyi's high achievements. He had deliberately used the "defeat of Yecheng" to bring Guo Ziyi down. He did not expect Guo Ziyi to make a comeback in the past few years. Yu Chaoen couldn't swallow this breath. Always looking for a chance to suppress him again.However, today's son is very dependent on Guo Ziyi, and Guo Ziyi has a heavy soldier in his hand, Yu Chao Enming can't find a chance, so he has to do such despicable things in secret to vent his anger.

Of course Daizong also heard about the discussions in the market. Although he didn't quite believe that Yu Chaoen did this, the key question was - what would Guo Ziyi think?What if Guo Ziyi listened to the rumors in the market, or took advantage of the rumors in the market, and angrily raised troops to attack Yu Chaoen? Today, this relatively balanced triangular political structure is the basis for the stability of the government and the peace of the country. If this situation is broken, various political or military forces, whether overt or covert, will inevitably start a new round of games. There is no peace!

Daizong was worried about this. Not long after, Guo Ziyi entered the court from Fengtian to report on his duties. Daizong carefully mentioned the tomb robbery to him, and at the same time watched his reaction nervously. Guo Ziyi knew exactly what the emperor was worried about, so he naturally knew how to answer.He was silent for a moment, then burst into tears, and said in a sad and helpless tone: "I have led the army for a long time, but I have not been able to effectively restrain the atrocities of some soldiers, so that robbery and digging of graves have occurred frequently. Today, I encountered this situation. This kind of thing can only be said to be condemned by God and has nothing to do with anyone." "Today and here is the punishment of God, not human affairs." (Volume 224) When Daizong heard the words, he felt relieved immediately. This is really well said, as expected of a veteran of the three dynasties who understands the general situation and cares about the overall situation! In the first month of the fourth year of Dali (769 A.D.), it was the Spring Festival, and Guo Ziyi returned to the court to report on his duties as usual.On the seventh day of the lunar new year, he suddenly received an invitation. The invitation was sent by someone from Yu Chaoen, and he was kindly invited to go to Zhangjing Temple to worship Buddha together. Zhangjing Temple is no ordinary temple. It was built by Yu Chaoen two years ago to pray for the deceased Empress Dowager Zhangjing (mother of Daizong).It is said that this temple is "poor, strong and beautiful". The amount of construction is very large, and the amount of building materials consumed is also extremely alarming. All the wood that can be bought in the entire Gyeonggi area is not enough. In the end, the Qujiang Palace and Lishan Huaqing Palace had to be demolished. Only a part of it can be considered as the completion of the temple, and the entire project cost "more than one trillion yuan". There is no doubt that although this Zhangjing Temple is in the name of praying for the Empress Dowager Zhangjing, it is actually no different from Yu Chaoen's private temple.Now, Yu Chaoen actually invited Guo Ziyi to come here to offer incense, showing his kindness to Guo Ziyi for the first time, what is his intention?Is he extending an olive branch to Guo Ziyi, or is the weasel wishing the chicken a new year, with no good intentions? Guo Ziyi was quite puzzled by this. However, soon someone helped Guo Ziyi clarify the confusion and provided the answer. The provider of the answer is Yuan Zai, the chief prime minister of the dynasty.He privately provided Guo Ziyi with an important piece of information through his cronies—"Chao Enmou is not good for the public." In other words, Yu Chaoen is planning to lay an ambush in Zhangjing Temple, and intends to take advantage of Guo Ziyi's unpreparedness to get rid of him in one fell swoop! However, this information not only failed to clear up Guo Ziyi's confusion, but cast more doubts in his heart.Because, Yuan Zai and Guo Ziyi usually just hum and haha ​​on the scene and perfunctory each other. They have no personal relationship. Why did he tell Guo Ziyi such important information?Furthermore, how did Yuan Zai know about Yu Chaoen's conspiracy?Is there any evidence for him to say that, is he framing Yu Chaoen? Mysteries followed one after another, making it difficult for Guo Ziyi to tell the truth from the fake and puzzled. The triangular political structure of Daizong's court once again faced a crisis of breaking the situation.Whether this crisis can be resolved depends on Guo Ziyi's choice. Guo Ziyi's choice was simple - go. Even if it is a dragon's pond and a tiger's den, he must go for it. The left and right generals advised Guo Ziyi to put on a piece of armor under his clothes, and at the same time bring three hundred armed guards, just in case.But Guo Ziyi did not agree.He said: "I am the minister of the country. If Yu Chaoen didn't have the order of the emperor, how dare he harm me? If he really took the order of the emperor, what can you change?" Afterwards, Guo Ziyi happily went to the appointment, accompanied by only two or three family children. Yu Chaoen greeted him personally at the gate of Zhangjing Temple. When he saw Guo Ziyi had so few followers, he was surprised and asked why.Guo Ziyi told Yu Chaoen the news that "there is an ambush in Zhangjing Temple", and then said with a smile, "The reason why I didn't bring many people with me is because I was afraid that it would be troublesome if you did it." You can take this sentence as a meaningless joke, or you can take it as a profound warning.How to understand it depends on whether you Yu Chaoen really harbors a conspiracy. When Yu Chaoen heard this, he beat his chest and stamped his feet quickly, swore and swore that there was absolutely no such thing as an "ambush", it was all framed by villains, trying to drive a wedge between the two of them, and so on.In the end, Yu Chaoen held Guo Ziyi's hand tightly, with a few drops of turbid old tears in his eyes, and said emotionally: "If Mr. Guo is not a loyal elder, how can he not be suspicious of me!" On that day, Zhangjing Temple was peaceful and peaceful, as solemn and quiet as usual.Both the host and the guest joined hands to pay homage to the Buddha in a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere, and then shared a sumptuous and exquisite vegetarian feast, and finally had a good time. No one knows whether there are armed swordsmen hidden in Zhangjing Temple that day, and no one knows whether Yuan Zai framed Yu Chaoen in an attempt to make Yu and Guo fight with each other, and reap the benefits of the fisherman himself, or Yu Chaoen really wanted to get rid of Guo Ziyi, but found that the conspiracy had been leaked, so he had to temporarily cancel the action plan. Anyway, nothing happened that day. Nevertheless, through the "Zhangjingsi Incident", we can at least draw one conclusion—the political structure of this triangle is not stable. Because, apart from Guo Ziyi, both Yu Chaoen and Yuan Zai seemed aggressive, and they were threatening to put the other two to death! In other words, even if Guo Ziyi can rely on his wisdom, prudence and tolerance to repeatedly avoid danger and resolve crises, sooner or later a life-and-death struggle will break out between Yu Chaoen and Yuan Zai. In all fairness, among the three political strongmen, Yu Chaoen is the most arrogant and arrogant.It is said in history that he "specially prohibits soldiers, is extremely favored and appointed, and the emperor (Daizong) often discusses state affairs with the army, and his power is in the government and the public."In addition, Yu Chaoen likes to "talk about current affairs and insult the prime minister" in the public.Although Yuan Zai was also very strong in court, but in front of Yu Chaoen, sometimes he had to lower his eyebrows and bow his hands, "I dare not answer in silence". (Volume 224) There is one thing that can quite explain Yu Chaoen's arrogance. It was the first year of Dali (766 A.D.), and a new Guozijian (National Aristocratic University) was completed after years of war. Yu Chaoen, who "could only write and decipher sentences", "proclaimed himself talented as well as civil and military", and hurriedly studied People started preaching scriptures in the lecture hall. Once, the Guozijian held a ceremony to pay homage to the ancient sages. After the ceremony, as usual, some masters and Confucians would be enthroned on the altar to give lectures on Confucian classics for civil and military officials and students.So, Yu Chaoen, who thought he was full of knowledge, did his part and swaggered up. That day, Yu Chaoen was speaking.He specifically chose the fiftieth hexagram "Ding hexagram" to talk about.As we all know, the tripod is a national treasure and symbolizes state power, and the tripod's three legs are usually used to refer to the prime minister.Yu Chaoen began to make use of the topic, talking about "the tripod's feet are folded, and the public's feast is overturned".That is to say, if the prime minister of a country is not the right person, the three legs of the tripod will be broken, and the tripod will overturn, and the food inside will be ruined for nothing, just like the government is messed up by an incompetent prime minister. There were two prime ministers present at that time: one was Wang Jin, and the other was Yuan Zai. Hearing that Yu Chaoen openly insulted the prime ministers present by giving lectures, Wang Jin immediately became furious, while Yuan Zai was complacent, keeping a reserved smile on his face all the time. Afterwards, Yu Chaoen said to the left and right: "Anger is natural, but a laugh is unfathomable." (Volume 224) What he meant was: People who are happy and angry in color are the easiest to deal with and are not worth worrying about; The person who is angry but not angry, and who does not change his face in the face of insults, is an unfathomable opponent worth guarding against. Yu Chaoen's judgment is correct, Yuan Zai is indeed an unfathomable opponent worth guarding against, but he did not expect that Yuan Zai is also a late-strike opponent who can kill people invisible. This kind of person is often very good at pretending to be a grandson before the time comes, he can swallow his anger, accept all the insults and injuries you inflict on him, but once the opportunity to counterattack is ripe, he will strike without hesitation, I will return to you double everything I encountered at the beginning, and let you pay the price in blood! Although Yu Chaoen did not misread Yuan Zai, he still underestimated this opponent after all. Therefore, he can only pay the price.