Chapter 27 Yuan Zai: The fate of those who exercise power

From the day he successfully eliminated Yu Chaoen, Yuan Zai began to get carried away with complacency.He often uttered wild words in the public, claiming that his writing can secure the country, his martial arts can set the country, he has economics in his stomach, and a strategy in mind. From ancient times to the present, no one can match it! Whenever this happens, the audience will feel nauseated and nauseated, but Yuan Zai is always complacent and enjoys it. No one would deny that Yuan Zai was indeed talented; but at the same time, no one in the civil and military circles of the Manchu Dynasty knew that Yuan Zai had no virtue!Once the imperial government is controlled by such a talented but unvirtuous person, the result can be imagined.

It is said in history that after Yu Chaoen's death, Yuan Zai "gave power and danced with wit, and politics was achieved through bribery, with extravagance". Working under the hands of such a person, an honest person must have no good fruit to eat.At that time, there was a servant named Yang Wan, who was upright and honest, never attached to Yuan Zai, and always adhered to the principle of fairness and justice when selecting officials. Nature is a big obstacle.Yuan Zai regards him as a thorn in his side and always wants to find a chance to get rid of him. At the end of March in the fifth year of Dali, a Lingnan Jiedu envoy named Xu Hao focused on the fat vacancy of Minister of the Ministry of Officials, so he bribed Yuan Zai with "all the treasures of the south".It is said that this Xu Hao has a very bad reputation in the local area and is known as "greedy and sycophant", but Yuan Zai doesn't care whether he is smelly or not, the only thing he cares about is the "Southern treasures" that are pulled to his house one by one. ".A few days later, Yuan Zai transferred Yang Wan to the Qingshui Yamen Guozijian and asked him to serve as the son of the country's sacrificial wine. At the same time, he transferred Xu Hao to the court to replace Yang Wan as the new servant of the official department.

There is no doubt that once this kind of rotten person who only spends money to buy officials has mastered the personnel power of the central government, all imperial officials who want to be promoted or fill vacancies in the future will definitely be "plucked"; When Mao's officials take office, they will definitely do everything possible to get them back from the common people.Therefore, no matter what era, "buying and selling officials" and "official corruption" must be a pair of twins, if there is one, there must be the other! Of course, Daizong Li Yu would not be ignorant of what Yuan Zai did.But Yuan Zai had been the prime minister for several years after all, with rich experience, outstanding ability, and the merit of punishing Yu Chaoen, so Daizong was still reluctant to get rid of him.

At the end of the fifth year of Dali, Daizong found an opportunity to summon Yuanzai alone, and gave him a deep criticism and education, hoping that he would restrain himself and not repeat the mistakes of Yu Chaoen. However, Yuan Zai took Daizong's earnest persuasion as a deaf ear, and still went his own way without any sign of remorse. After half a year of waiting and observation, Daizong finally lost his patience and was completely disappointed. Unexpectedly, this guy and Yu Chaoen are completely of the same character and the same kind! Later, Daizong had to consider taking back the power in Yuanzai's hands.

However, Daizong was also very clear that this matter cannot be rushed and can only be done step by step.Because Yuan Zai had been the prime minister for a long time, there were many party members in the court, such as the prime minister Wang Jin, Jing Zhaoyin Du Ji, the official minister Xu Hao, Xue Yong and others were his best friends, and many other ministers also followed his lead.Under such circumstances, it is really not easy to find a person who is truly loyal to the court and capable of dealing with Yuan Zai among the civil and military officials of the court. In August of the sixth year of Dali (771 A.D.), Daizong finally fixed his sights on a local official after careful investigation.

This person's name is Li Qiyun, who was the observation envoy of western Zhejiang at that time. In order to avoid the obstruction of Yuan Zai and others, Daizong simply bypassed the Ministry of Education and directly issued an imperial edict calling Li Qiyun back to the court to serve as the royal doctor. The main task that Daizong entrusted to Li Qiyun was to find evidence of Yuan Zai and others' corruption, perversion of the law, and malpractice for personal gain, and then initiate impeachment. In March of the eighth year of Dali (773 A.D.), Li Qiyun lived up to Daizong's expectations and found a breakthrough.

This breakthrough was found from Xu Hao, the official servant who spent money to buy officials. Xu Hao has a brother-in-law, surnamed Hou Mochen (three-character surname), who was originally a county lieutenant in Meiyuan (now Fuping County, Shaanxi).Xu Hao wanted to get him to the capital, so he asked Jingzhao Yin Du Ji to fabricate a political record, claiming that Hou Mochen had performed well in the job of being in charge of the post-horse, with outstanding achievements, and he hereby recommends it to the court.Then, Xu Hao asked his colleague Xue Yong, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, to come forward and transfer Hou Mochen to the post of Chang'an County Captain.

According to regulations, the Chang'an county lieutenant must first report to Yushitai before taking office.As a result, as soon as Hou Mochen arrived at Yushitai, Li Qiyun detained him involuntarily. Originally, this wasn't a big deal, but since Li Qiyun took office, he has been looking for the faults of Yuan Zai's party with his eyes wide open. Now that Hou Mochen himself hit the door, Li Qiyun certainly won't let it go easily.After a little investigation, Hou Mochen's deeds of falsifying political achievements were revealed.Li Qiyun immediately initiated impeachment and handed the memorial to Daizong.

Daizong ordered Yu Shao, the Minister of Rites, to be in charge of hearing the case. This Yu Shao is also Yuan Zai's henchman. He didn't realize that Daizong wanted to use Hou Mochen's case to lure snakes out of his hole, so he foolishly defended Hou Mochen, claiming that although this person made false political achievements, the time he made the falsehood was Before last year's amnesty (in May of the seventh year of the Dali calendar, Daizong's court once had an amnesty), since "the crime precedes the amnesty", naturally it should not be punished. Daizong was furious when he heard this.

Well, Yu Shao, you can think of such a far-fetched excuse?That's okay, since you are all in the same group, then I will take all of you cronies together! In May of that year, Emperor Daizong categorically issued an edict, demoting Xu Hao to Mingzhou Biejia, Xue Yong to Shezhou Governor, Du Ji to Hangzhou Governor, and Yu Shao to Guizhou Governor. The four core members were expelled from the court. Since then, Yuan Zai's power has been weakened to a certain extent, and the atmosphere of the court has finally improved. However, this is only the first step for Daizong to clean up Yuanzai.

What he really wanted was Yuan Zai's life! In the ninth year of Dali (774 A.D.), the Tian Chengsi Rebellion broke out in Hebei. Emperor Daizong was busy suppressing the rebellion and had no time to take care of the internal struggle of the court.It was not until the twelfth year of the Dali (777 AD), when the dust settled in Hebei, that Daizong was finally free to deal with Yuanzai. In the past few years, not only did Yuan Zai and Wang Jin's party not wake up because of the "Hou Mochen case", but they went further and further on the road of forming a party for personal gain, corruption and perverting the law. Even the nuns who came in and out of their homes also joined the ranks of soliciting power and accepting bribes.It is said in history that "Wives, Wang's family, Zibohe, Zhongwu, brothers, sisters and nuns who come in and out compete for bribes. Also, the political committees and officials, who seek advancement from scholars, do not marry their children and masters ( Staff) Zhuo Yingqian, etc., can't help themselves..." (Volume 225) It is tolerable, what is unbearable! It is time to act. Of course, Daizong was always cautious.Because he didn't know whether Yuan Zai's eyes and ears were planted around him, Daizong never dared to mention his plan to kill Yuan Zai with his left and right.In the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, he was the only one who dared to discuss with his uncle, Wu Cou, who was then General Zuo Jinwu. One day at the end of March of this year, Yuan Zai and Wang Jin set up an altar at night, and invited a group of Taoist priests to worship and worship. No one knows what they were doing.But early the next morning, someone immediately reported to Daizong that Yuan Zai and Wang Jin had set up an altar to worship and sacrifice, and they were plotting something wrong.Although the history books do not clearly state the identity of the informer, it is not difficult for us to speculate that this person is likely to be the nail placed by Daizong around Yuanzai.Therefore, no matter what Yuan Zai and Wang Jin wanted to do by setting up the altar, they were doomed this time. Daizong immediately ordered Wu Chun to lead troops into Zhongshu Province, arrested Yuan Zai and Wang Jin who were working in the Political Affairs Hall, and then arrested Yuan Zai's son Yuan Zhongwu, staff Zhuo Yingqian and others. Li Han, the imperial historian, formed a collegial panel to hear the case together. Although Emperor Daizong handed over the case to Liu Yan and Li Han, in fact, "all questions are out of the ban", that is to say, the focus and direction of the investigation were determined by the emperor.In other words, the presiding judge of this case is actually Daizong Li Yu himself. Now that the Son of Heaven went to battle in person, Yuan Zai and Wang Jin couldn't speak clearly with their mouths all over their bodies, not to mention their bad records.Therefore, not long after the trial started, Yuan Zai and Wang Jin pleaded guilty. However, Daizong's goal is not only Yuan and Wang.He wants to take advantage of the victory and pursue, dig out all their henchmen in the court, and wipe them all out! On the same day, General Zuowei and Chief Eunuch Dong Xiu was found to be involved with Yuan Zai and was beaten to death with a random stick.In addition, more than a dozen members of the Chaoyuan Party, including Yang Yan, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, Han Hui, an admonishing doctor, and Han Hui, a living roomer, were also arrested. It wasn't until all the truth came to light that Daizong ordered Yuan Zaici to die in prison. After receiving the death order, Yuan Zai said to the jailer in despair: "Please let me die quickly!" The jailer replied darkly: "My lord prime minister, death is very easy, but before you die, it will take more or less Let you suffer a little, please don't be offended!" After finishing speaking, the jailer took off the smelly socks on his feet and stuffed them into Yuan Zai's mouth. It wasn't until the angry-eyed Yuan Zai had had enough of the stinky socks that the jailer swung his knife and chopped off Yuan Zai's head. The ancients often said that a scholar can be killed but not humiliated.For ancient intellectuals, the most terrible thing is not death, but humiliation.Yuan Zai, the dignified prime minister who has been domineering in the political arena of the empire for many years, may have expected that one day he would be defeated, but he never thought that he would die in a humiliating way of eating stinky socks. After Yuan Zai's death, his wife Wang, sons Yuan Bohe, Yuan Zhongwu, and Yuan Jineng were also killed on the same day, and all family properties were confiscated.Aide Zhuo Yingqian and others were imprisoned for several months before being executed with sticks in prison. Wang Jin had already been ordered to die, but the presiding judge Liu Yan interceded for him, saying that Wang Jin was only an accessory, and he should be lenient.Daizong spared his life and demoted him to be the governor of Kuozhou. Daizong originally wanted to kill Yang Yan, Han Hui and others, but fortunately Wu joined forces to remonstrate, so he relegated instead. If it weren't for Wu Cou's remonstrance, it would be impossible for Yang Yan to make a comeback a few years later, ascend to the position of prime minister of Dezong's court, and create the famous "two tax laws". The next month after Yuanzai was expelled, Daizong appointed two new prime ministers, one was Yang Wan who had been squeezed out by Yuanzai, and the other was Chang Gun, the Minister of Rites. Yang Wan has always been known for being "clean, simple and frugal". Now Daizong asked him to replace the arrogant and extravagant Yuan Zai, and his intention is self-evident. It is said that on the day when Daizong’s appointment edict was issued, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty responded one after another—Guo Ziyi was very good at enjoying life in his later years. Four-quarters of the band and singers; Jingzhao Yin Liqian originally had a very luxurious guard of honor, but it was cut down on the same day, leaving only ten cavalry; The mansion was demolished. All in all, no one wants to be regarded as the second in Yuanzai by the emperor and the court! After Yang Wan took office, Emperor Daizong had great expectations of him.Because in the past few years, the entire imperial court has been polluted by Yuan Zai's party, Daizong believes that in time, Yang Wan will be able to get rid of the bad government and revive the court! However, Daizong was once again disappointed. Because God only gave Yang Wan three months, Yang Wan hardly had time to do anything. In July of the twelfth year of the Dali calendar, Yang Wan, who was about to carry out drastic reforms, suddenly fell ill and passed away in just a few days.Daizong Li Yu was distraught and lamented loudly in front of his ministers: "Heaven does not want me to bring peace, how can I take Yang Wan's speed!" (Volume 225) God doesn't want me to create peace, otherwise why would Yang Wan be taken from me so soon! Yes, Emperor Daizong Li Yu did have reason to question God. Not only because of Yang Wan's death, but also because of everything that happened in the past ten years... In the past ten years, there have been eunuchs in the country, and the prime ministers have exercised power;The empire was deeply troubled by internal and external troubles, and there was almost no peace in the world of Tang Dynasty.Among all these chaos, what made Daizong feel devastated and physically and mentally exhausted was the successive rebellions in the feudal towns. Looking back on the scenes of chaos in the feudal towns over the past ten years, Emperor Daizong Li Yu was full of a sense of powerlessness and frustration. ——In the first year of Yongtai (765 A.D.), Jiannan Xiao general Cui Min launched a mutiny and forced to kill Guo Yingyi, the Jiedu envoy appointed by the imperial court, causing chaos in the middle of Shu; Cui Min was defeated, so in desperation he had no choice but to appoint Cui Min as the envoy of Xichuan Jiedu, and gave him the name "Ning", so that he could put things to rest. ——In the second year of Dali (767 A.D.), Zhou Zhiguang, the governor of Tonghua (where the government was located in Huazhou), killed Zhang Zhibin, the eunuch of the supervising army, and openly clamored to "break through the city of Chang'an" and "bring the emperor to order the princes"; Later, Zhou Zhiguang was killed by his own generals; Huaixi Jiedu envoy Li Zhongchen immediately "in the name of taking over Huazhou", led his troops into the customs, looted wantonly, and ransacked the wealth of officials and people within a radius of 200 miles of Tongguan. As soon as it was empty, most of the local officials were naked and hungry, and the common people were even more hungry and miserable. ——In the third year of Dali (768 A.D.), Zhu Xicai, the military envoy of Youzhou, killed Li Huaixian, the envoy of Youzhou and Lulong Jiedu, and established himself as "Liuhou" (equivalent to agent and alternate envoy of Jiedu); He was defeated by Zhu Xicai, so he had to be appointed as the governor of Youzhou. ——In the seventh year of Dali (AD 772), the Youzhou army launched another mutiny, killed the Jiedu envoy Zhu Xicai, and jointly supported Zhu Xi, the deputy envoy of Jinglue, as the queen; the court was also numb, and appointed Zhu Xi as You as usual State and Lulong Jiedu envoys. ... In fact, during the ten years of Emperor Daizong's reign, there have been countless mutinies and riots that broke out in various places, far more than the above.In other words, since the Great Tang Empire experienced an Anshi Rebellion, the vile atmosphere of "lawlessness, rebellion, usurpation and power, and self-reliance" has spread to every corner of the empire like a plague.In Sifang towns, it is not uncommon for soldiers to kill generals, generals to kill commanders, and commanders to kill feudal towns. If I can sum it up in one sentence, it would be—level after level of power, arrogant soldiers everywhere! Faced with all this, in order to maintain superficial stability, the Daizong court can only adopt a policy of appeasement most of the time, try to appease and tolerate it again and again. Of course Daizong didn't want to be like this, but he had no choice. Over the years, the most helpless and most typical scene of the rebellion in the feudal towns that made Daizong feel helpless was the Tian Chengsi Rebellion in Hebei.