ps: Thanks to the Melancholy Messenger monthly ticket for the encouragement.
Li Maozhen was a native of Shenzhou, Hebei Province, and his real name was Song Wentong. Speaking of which, he was still a township party member like Li Chengzhong's old boss Liu Rengong, but he made his fortune much earlier than Liu Rengong. When Liu Rengong was still an unknown border town general, he had already suffered from a series of events in his life.
He came upon an unexpected encounter and took control of the city.
Li Maozhen had the same background as Liu Rengong, and he was also a big-headed soldier, but he served Chengde. After Huang Chao raised his army, the court was unable to respond, so he sent an imperial edict to King Qin to the vassal towns all over the world. Chengde's army was not interested in King Qin, and only sent several hundred Chengde
The soldiers went to Shaanzhou to meet the occasion. It was at this time that Li Maozhen was promoted to the rank of team leader and stationed at Fengtian, Shaanxi Province. From then on, he began to write his important chapter in the history of the Tang Dynasty.
When Huang Chao withdrew from Chang'an, the emperor summoned all the armies in the world to encircle and suppress Huang Chao's army, so Li Maozhen accompanied the army to participate in the attack on Huang Chao's army. In fact, Li Maozhen did not have any noteworthy battles, nor did he show any extraordinary military talent, but he had special luck.
Well, he actually won the jackpot during the battle, rushed in front of Shang Rang in the chaos, and cut off Shang Rang's command, so the peasant army was defeated.
Who is Shang Rang? He was the Taiwei and Zhongshu Ling of the Da Qi Dynasty established by Huang Chao, and the second-ranking figure in the Peasant Army. Speaking of which, Shang Rang is older in the Peasant Army than even Huang Chao. He started the army together with Wang Xianzhi
"Revolutionary Leader"!
Because the various armies chasing Huang Chao were too chaotic, and the entire battlefield was disrupted, Li Maozhen couldn't find his own general, so he simply went to Chang'an with Shang Rang's commander-in-chief. Then, Li Maozhen was lucky enough to meet the most powerful general in the world.
Tian Lingzi, this time happened to be the time for Tian Lingzi to reorganize the Forbidden Army, so he immediately joined the Forbidden Army with dozens of soldiers under his command. With the captured commander, he got the title of commander of the Shence Army and became an army under Tian Lingzi.
head.
Later, Tian Lingzi had a falling out with Li Keyong, Wang Chongrong, Zhu Mei, Li Changfu and other four townsmen over the competition for salt ponds, and fled to Fengxiang with Emperor Xizong. Li Maozhen, as a commander of the Shence Army, fled.
In the process, he showed great loyalty and served the emperor and Tian Lingzi to great satisfaction. As a result, he rose from a military leader in the Forbidden Army to become the military commander of the Wuding Army. The emperor gave him the name Li Maozhen.
Later, when the emperor returned to Chang'an, he was intercepted by Li Changfu, the military governor of Fengxiang, and the two sides soon started fighting. At this time, the Imperial Imperial Army was not as incompetent as it would be ten years later. Under Tian Lingzi's reorganization, it still had a certain fighting capacity.
Li Changfu was quickly defeated, and the emperor ordered a pursuit. Then, Li Maozhen was lucky enough to catch up with Li Changfu in the chaotic pursuit battle, and had the sole benefit of beheading him. Therefore, he was granted the title of Fengxiang, Longyoujie
Dushi has since become the largest, strongest and most powerful vassal town near Chang'an.
After Li Maozhen rose to prominence, he was particularly concerned about the government affairs. This concern became quite obvious after Emperor Li Ye inherited Dabao, but it was a little too frequent. Whenever something big happened in the court, he would lead troops to Beijing.
He always believed that Emperor Xizong was kind to him, and believed that since he was included in the royal family tree, he should help the former emperor to care for and teach the emperor. So he killed the eunuch Yang Fugong, forced to death the prime ministers Du Renneng and Li
Xi and Wei Zhaodu, to be honest, are quite domineering.
However, the domineering Li Maozhen encountered a ruthless hand this time. He hit the head of the Xuanwu Army. In more than a year of war, Fengxiang's strength suddenly fell to the bottom, and he actually wanted to surrender but could not get it. It is quite said.
depressed.
The news of Li Maoxun's defeat also reached Li Maozhen's ears. He was sad and relaxed at the same time. He was very entangled and conflicted in his heart. However, this entanglement was no longer necessary. Shannan and Guannei were divided between the King of Shu and the King of Liang. Now the King of Liang
You should be relieved, right? Should we, Lao Li, be allowed to surrender now?
It was under such circumstances that the tooth general Guo Qiqi went to the Xuanwu Army camp again, with the purpose of asking for surrender. Facing Li Maozhen's urgent inquiry, Guo Qiqi nodded sadly and said: "The Bian Army... promised us to surrender...
..." Guo Qiqi was also very sad that Fengxiang's army, which once stretched across the pass, Longyou, Shannan, and the capital, would find itself in a situation where it was unable to surrender despite repeated requests.
Li Maozhen patted Guo Qiqi on the shoulder and comforted him: "The green hills are still there, so we don't have to worry about running out of firewood. As long as we pass this test, we Fengxiang can stand up again."
Guo Qiqi nodded: "The staff understands. By the way, Your Majesty, Prince Liang has arrived at the camp below the city. Prince Liang specially summoned the staff. He has a condition..."
Li Maozhen looked solemn: "Say!"
Guo Qiqi whispered: "The King of Liang and Prime Minister Cui deeply hate the middle officials and demand that Han Quanjie and others be killed."
Li Maozhen gritted her teeth, hesitated for a moment, and then said with determination: "Then kill him! If it weren't for these middle-ranking officials to persuade Your Majesty to come to our Fengxiang, the situation would be like this, it's really hateful!"
People are like this. Once they encounter disaster, they are accustomed to justifying their own failures and guilt and finding someone to take the blame. Even Li Maozhen, who is the king of Qi, is not exempt from this habit. At this moment, Li Maozhen accused Han Quanhui and other officials of inciting the emperor to come.
Feng Xiang, however, completely forgot that he was also one of the conspirators at that time.
Li Maozhen immediately ordered Guo Qiqi to prepare for the war, and made an appointment to do it tomorrow morning. Before leaving, Guo Qiqi also talked about seeing Han Quanhui's convoy at the city gate. Li Maozhen said: "Okay, let the King of Liang kill Lieutenant Han himself.
"He and Han Quanjie have a very good relationship. When Han Quanjie was serving as a military supervisor in Fengxiang, the two had a good relationship. Hearing that he didn't have to kill Han Quanjie himself, Li Maozhen felt much more relaxed.
Early the next morning, Li Maozhen met with the emperor alone and informed the emperor of the peace agreement he had reached with Xuanwu. He said that the military disaster was caused by Han Quanhui and other officials kidnapping the emperor, and that he was driving Fengxiang just for precaution.
The thieves and the middle-ranking officials are the sinners who caused this disaster. Now that the King of Liang has led his troops to welcome the emperor back to the capital, he can feel relieved and can hand over this heavy burden.
These words were high-sounding, but both Li Maozhen and the emperor knew that these words were all nonsense. The emperor pretended to listen, and Li Maozhen pretended to speak, both of which were performed for the historians who recorded the emperor's daily life. In fact, he was writing quickly on the side.
The historian who recorded it also knew the details of it very well, and he also practiced it for the world and future generations to see.
Li Maozhen said that after deliberation, the courtiers unanimously requested that the Zhongguan be held accountable before returning to Beijing. The emperor had already sent Han Quanjie, Zhang Juhan and Zhang Mao'an out of Fengxiang, and he felt very at peace, so there was nothing he could ask of Li Maozhen.
Nothing was wrong. He was happy to be able to return to Chang'an soon. Then he would not be subject to the siege, and at least he would be able to have enough to eat. So the emperor looked very happy and said that King Laoqi would take care of everything.
On the same day, Li Maozhen led the Fengxiang troops into the army, arrested high-ranking officials, and killed more than ten people including the Privy Council envoys Yuan Jianyi, Zhou Jinrong, right lieutenant Zhang Yanhong, and the palace envoy Han Chuting. Li Jiyun, who was on duty as a guard, was
, Li Jijie, Li Yanbi and others were the executors assigned by Li Maozhen to kidnap the emperor to Fengxiang. Li Maozhen simply killed them together to eliminate the hidden danger.
The high-ranking eunuchs in the inner court were all vacant, so the emperor appointed a group of low-ranking eunuchs to fill their positions, with the imperial eunuch Wu Kefan as the lieutenant of the left army. Qiu Chengtan, the envoy of Xuanhui Nanyuan, was made the lieutenant of the right army, and Wang Zhigu was the privy councilor of the upper court.
The envoy, Yang Qianlang, is the privy envoy of the lower court.
On the seventh day of the lunar month, the emperor ordered the new Zhongshu Ling Han Wo to bring the heads of the lieutenants to the Bianjun camp outside the city to ask for an audience with Liang Wang Zhu Quanzhong, and passed down the emperor's oral instructions: "In the past, I held the emperor's chariot hostage and detained him for fear of being convicted and sowing discord.
Those who are unwilling to live in peace and harmony are all this kind of people. Now that Li Maozhen and I are determined to kill them, can you tell the troops clearly to calm the public's anger?"
The King of Liang sent the observation judge Li Zhen into the city to express his apology to the emperor.
When checking the heads, the King of Liang did not see Han Quanhui, and after confronting Li Maozhen, he realized that Han Quanhui had run away. So he sent troops to look for him everywhere. But at this moment, Han Quanhui and others had been away for two days, and they were completely gone.
I don't know where it went, or where it can be found.
The peace agreement has been reached, and Li Maozhen also surrendered to the King of Liang. The group of middle-ranking officials who "held the Emperor hostage in Fengxiang" were also killed, but the King of Liang still had no intention of retreating and continued to lead his army to besiege Fengxiang.
Li Maozhen and the emperor asked the King of Liang several times about when the emperor could return to Chang'an, but the King of Liang ignored him and did not mention the return to Chang'an. So Li Maozhen was very scared, and the emperor had become a hot potato in his hands.
, he couldn't throw it away even if he wanted to. He felt that King Liang might want to take the opportunity to knock down Fengxiang. In this case, wouldn't he, King Qi, be left alone? So Li Maozhen suggested to the emperor that the prime minister in Chang'an must be killed.
Cui Yin came to greet him. Cui Yin had a strong appeal in the court, and he had an irreversible friendship with King Liang. As long as Cui Yin came, King Liang would definitely give Cui Yin face.
The emperor was so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore. He really didn't want to stay in Fengxiang any longer. As long as he could return to Chang'an and have enough food, he could do anything. So the emperor summoned Cui Yin to come to meet him and asked him to do anything.
He led all the civil and military officials from Chang'an to Fengxiang to take him back.
Cui Yin was severely reprimanded by the emperor and dismissed from his official position because he led hundreds of officials in Chang'an to welcome the King of Liang in the suburbs of Changlepo. He felt that he had been greatly wronged this year, so he claimed to be ill and could not come.
.
The emperor had no choice but to write four edicts in succession, and restored all Cui Yin's official positions, allowing him to resume his duties as Sikong, servant, Tongping Zhangshi, and leader of the third secretary. Li Maozhen also wrote a humble letter to express his gratitude to Cui Yin.
Cui Yin admitted his mistake. After Cui Yin gained enough face, he wrote to the King of Liang to ask for his opinion.
King Liang had no intention of capturing Fengxiang City. To him, this poor and ruined city had no value. The reason why he did not withdraw his troops was to delay time. After enough time had been delayed and everything was arranged, he
He wrote back to Cui Yin, jokingly saying that he had never seen the emperor before, and needed Cui Yin to help him identify him and help him connect the dots, so that he would not lack etiquette when meeting the emperor.
So Cui Yin "recovered" and led all the civil and military officials to leave Chang'an and come to Fengxiang to greet him. At the same time, the King of Liang also released the siege of Fengxiang and returned to Chang'an with the emperor. On the 25th of the first lunar month, Cui Yin and
Civil and military officials welcomed the emperor's guard of honor in Xingping. On the 27th, the emperor finally returned to Chang'an after more than a year's absence.
Once in Chang'an, Zhu Quanzhong and Cui Yin went to the palace together to report to each other. Cui Yin reported: "In the early days of the country's peace, the eunuchs did not take charge of the military and interfered in the government affairs. Since Tianbao, the eunuchs have gradually become stronger. In the last years of Zhenyuan, Yulin Wei was divided into
In order to protect the left and right Shence armies, they began to put eunuchs in charge, with two thousand people in charge. From then on, the eunuchs took part in taking charge of confidential affairs, seized the power of the Baisi, covered up and down, and jointly committed illegal things. In large cases, they colluded to incite the overthrow of the vassal.
It is harmful to the country; at a small level, it is to use officials and titles to sue for business and corrupt the government. It is precisely because of this reason that the imperial court is declining and disrupted. Unless its root causes are eradicated, the disaster will never stop. Please remove all envoys and return all affairs they are in charge to the province.
To manage the temple, all Taoist supervisors and troops were summoned back to the capital."
In fact, the emperor himself also understood that what he wanted was to kill the eunuchs rather than "kill all the middle officials." The purpose of killing the eunuchs was to gain power, but if all the eunuchs were killed, the emperor would not even have the last bit of shame to cover up.
The family fortune was gone. Only the Xuanwu army was standing around. How could the emperor not obey the advice of King Liang and Cui Yin?
On the same day, Zhu Quanzhong led his troops and drove the eunuch Wu Kefan and hundreds of others to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and killed them all. The sound of grievances and wailing resounded throughout the interior and exterior. The newly appointed Privy Council and Lieutenant Wu Kefan and others did indeed
It was quite unjust. They were killed just ten days after taking office. It can be said that their deaths were unclear.
Among the eunuchs who were on missions to other places, the order was issued to arrest and execute them in the place where they were located, leaving only thirty young and weak eunuchs of low rank to prepare for the sweep.
As soon as the imperial edict came out, the eunuchs stationed in the towns were killed one after another. Among the high-ranking eunuchs in the world, there were only Lieutenant Han Quanjie, Lulong Supervisor Zhang Juhan, Hedong Supervisor Zhang Chengye, Xichuan Supervisor Yu Quan, Jinghai
The supervising army allowed Cheng Kuangrou and a few others to be saved.
From then on, whenever the inner court announced the transmission of imperial edicts, all palace people were ordered to enter and exit; the eight internal and external armies under the jurisdiction of the left and right armies of Shence also belonged to the six armies of left and right, including Longwu, Yulin, and Shence, and appointed
Cui Yin also took charge of the affairs of the Sixth Army and Twelve Guards.
Under Cui Yin's strong support, the emperor continued to issue edicts, granting Zhu Quanzhong the title of "returning to heaven and rebuilding the world, the hero who is loyal and upright", and his confidants Jingxiang, Li Zhen, Pei Di and others, the title of "the hero who welcomes Luan and helps praise", and the general Zhu Youning
The others were called "The hero who welcomed Luang Guoyi", and the officers above their heads were called "The four heroes who calmed down the trouble".
Zhu Quanzhong and Cui Yin still felt unsatisfied, so they forced the world to confer Zhu Quanzhong as "Deputy Marshal of the World's Soldiers and Horses" and appoint him as Taiwei, and let the young prince Li Zuo become the "Generalissimo of the World's Soldiers and Horses", with Cui Yin also serving as a minister.
In name, it gave Zhu Quanzhong the military power to take charge of the world's troops, and also gave Cui Yin the administrative power to combine the powers of Cui Yin's subordinates, Zhongshu, Shangshu and the three departments.
The two men divided the emperor's power until there was nothing left to divide, and then they stopped. The reasons why the two men wrote to punish the eunuchs that day - seizing the power of Baisi, colluding to incite vassal towns, privately granting civil and military positions, etc. - are now answered one by one.
It's really a huge irony for me.
After Cui Yin came to power, he began to clean up the political hall with the iron-fisted support of the Xuanwu Army. He forced the emperor to issue an edict and granted Su Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Works, Tongping Zhangshi, and Lu Guangqi, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, to commit suicide. He also ordered the ministers of Zhongshu and Tongpingzhang to commit suicide. King Pu was demoted to the prince's guest and divided into divisions. He dismissed all the more than thirty courtiers who had followed the emperor and moved to Fengxiang, and made up for them with close confidants. In a short time, power was overwhelming in Chang'an.
Prime Minister Cui finally completed the unification of the court and became a veritable prime minister. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!