The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 617
Mingyue was there, Zeng Zhaocai returned.

——Excerpt from Yan Jidao (Song Dynasty)

……

At the beginning of the third year of Qianyuan, the imperial court made several appointments of border officials:

Yu Chisheng, king of Khotan (XJHT city), and Jiedu envoys of the four towns all entered the Central Plains to quell the rebels.On the 24th of the first lunar month, the imperial court appointed Wei Chiyao, younger brother of Yuchi Sheng, as the deputy envoy of Jiedu of the Four Towns, temporarily in charge of the state affairs of Khotan.

The Dangxiang tribe of the Qiang nationality in the northwest of Bashu continued to encroach on the border of the Tang Dynasty and approached Gyeonggi.

The imperial court divided the Binning Theater (headquartered in Binzhou, present-day Binzhou City, Shaanxi Province) and the Fufang Danyan Theater (headquartered in Kunzhou, present-day Fu County, Shaanxi Province), also known as the Weibei Theater;

Sang Rugui, governor of Binzhou, and Jiedu envoy of the Binning theater were ordered; Du Mian, governor of Kunzhou, and deputy envoy of Jiedu of the Danyan theater of Fufang were ordered to meet the party headquarters respectively.

On the 26th of the first lunar month, the imperial court again appointed veteran Guo Ziyi and the Jiedu envoy of the two theaters listed above, but he did not take up his post and stayed in the capital, just using Guo Ziyi's prestige to govern.

According to legend, the eunuch Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen meant that the imperial court did not hand over military power to Guo Ziyi.

Speaking of Li Fuguo, Li Guangbi and Bai Fu had a long talk that night, repeatedly talking about this person.

Li Guangbi told Bai Fu: "To be a general, one must not only understand the military, but also understand the government. The one who leads the army must always pay attention to the movement in the court.

Today, the power in the court is not in the hands of a few prime ministers, but in the hands of the eunuch Li Fuguo..."

In the Maweipo change, Li Fuguo was one of the main heroes who supported Suzong's accession to the throne.

After Suzong Lingwu ascended the throne, he granted Li Fuguo the important position of Sima in the Marshal's Mansion.This position is temporarily established during the war, and has great power: all orders issued by His Majesty the Emperor to civil and military officials, and documents and memorials submitted to the imperial court from various places must be read by Li Fuguo.In addition, Li Fuguo was in charge of the most important seals, talismans, etc. in the imperial court and the army, and even the morning and evening orders in the army were all issued by Li Fuguo.

After regaining the two capitals, Li Fuguo became more and more powerful. He lived in the palace and was in charge of the Beiya imperial army.The emperor's edicts and edicts must be signed by Li Fuguo before they can be released; the prime ministers and hundreds of officials will play chapters, and all kinds of instructions and edicts issued by Suzong must go through Li Fuguo's "Guanbai, Chengzhi", that is, transit .

It is equivalent to acting on behalf of the emperor!
Li Fuguo works in the official office of Yintaimen every day. All affairs in the world, no matter how big or small, are all decided by Li Fuguo alone!After the incident, report to Emperor Suzong again.

Li Fuguo is well aware of his identity, and intervening in politics as an eunuch is inconsistent with the court's laws.

In order to consolidate power and avoid the impeachment of officials, Li Fuguo set up a secret agency - Mastiff Guards, which raised dozens of quack warlocks called minions, who acted as hawks and dogs, and specially went to the people to spy on the privacy of officials.

Once the political opponent's tricks are discovered, Renhai is immediately arrested and imprisoned, and the mastiff guards are ordered to torture and extract a confession.Once the crime was confirmed, the men of the family would be hanged one after another, and the women's family members, women and children would be sent to Yeyou Court as slaves.

All the officials in the imperial court changed their countenance when they heard the name of Mastiff Guard.Photographed by Mastiff Guard's despotic power, the Six Departments of the Central Committee obeyed Li Fuguo's orders, and no one dared to resist and disobey.

For felons detained in Yushitai or Dali Temple, as long as they can rely on their connections to bribe Li Fuguo heavily, even if the case has not yet been concluded, Li Fuguo can refer the criminal to his Yintaimen official office at will and release him at will.

Over time, the three divisions (Yushitai, Dali Temple, Criminal Department) and government and county government offices had to ask Li Fuguo for instructions before trying cases, and took the initiative to send the files to Li Fuguo's mansion, acting according to Li Fuguo's winks.

Facing the powerful Li Fuguo, the ruling and opposition parties competed to flatter him; his fellow eunuchs did not dare to call him his official title, but affectionately called him "Wulang"; He also held the gift of children and called him "Five Fathers" respectfully.If the dignified prime minister is in such awe of him, let alone ordinary officials.

……

After hearing this, Bai Fu turned to face the case with a look of indignation, and said: "Such a national traitor, everyone can kill him!"

Li Guangbi made a silent gesture, and said: "This matter is not so simple, it involves His Majesty's imperial mind."

Bai Fu said, "Marshal, what do you say?"

Li Guangbi said: "The Art of War says: 'He who is the husband and general is the assistant of the country. If he assists the Zhou Dynasty, the country will be strong, and if it assists the gap, the country will be weak.'

Since ancient times, there must be five kinds of talents around the emperor to serve him and assist the emperor to achieve his great cause: confidantes, thighs, eyes and ears, mouthpieces, minions and wings. "

Bai Fu said: "What's the difference between the thigh and the confidant?"

Li Guangbi smiled meaningfully, and said: "Let's put it this way, there is a kind of courtier who can assist the emperor to do a hundred good deeds, and this kind of courtier is the 'hammer'.

There is also a kind of courtier, the emperor is willing to take him to do bad things together, this kind of courtier is a 'confidant'.

Chuanbang and Tangmen are descendants of the Shu Han, so I will take the Shu Han as an example.

A confidant represents absolute loyalty. Without such a person, the organization cannot be controlled.Therefore, Liu Bei Liu Huangshu's confidant in Yizhou is Fa Zheng, not Kong Ming.

The femur may not be loyal, but the ability can be alone.Without the talents, the emperor would not be able to achieve his great cause, and he might die of exhaustion and collapse in his prime.Zhuge Kongming is Uncle Liu's thigh. "

Bai Fu nodded, expressing his understanding, and then asked: "What do the other types of people represent?"

Li Guangbi said: "The eyes and ears are those who have the ability to find out the real information.

As an emperor, he must not be deceived by the people below.Therefore, the eyes and ears of an emperor directly contacted the emperor and sent the first-hand information to the emperor.For example, the Shu Han School Affairs Department, the predecessor of the Tang Sect in the middle of Shu.

The mouthpiece is someone who can help the emperor beautify and whitewash the peace.For example, Zhang Shuo, the prime minister during Xuanzong's Kaiyuan period, helped Xuanzong preside over the Taishan Fengchan ceremony and eulogize the prosperity of Kaiyuan.

Xu Jingye raised troops to seek rebellion, and the reason why the arrogant Zetian let go of his aide Luo Binwang was because of Luo Binwang's proclamation "For Xu Jingye's call for martial arts", which was impassioned and enraged, and Emperor Zetian was impressed by it.

The Emperor Zetian read to "A piece of land is not yet dry, but a six-foot solitary man can't care for it", and sighed: "It is the prime minister's fault to have such a talent and make it fall into the ground!"

The talent that Emperor Zetian spoke of was the rare talent of mouthpiece.

……

The minions are foolish, loyal, brave and capable of serving the emperor to death, but also have the strength to cut off all political enemies for the emperor.

Uncle Liu Huang's minions are the two generals Guan and Zhang, not Zhao Yun and Zhao Zilong.

……

Wing, not under the emperor's command, but can endorse the emperor, is the flag that pulls the tiger skin to make the banner for the emperor.

Cao Cao and Cao Mengde's wings are Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, who took the emperor to order the princes, and subdued countless advisers and generals who were loyal to the Han Dynasty, such as Xun Yu and others. "

……

After Li Guangbi explained, he said back to Li Fuguo, saying:
"Li Fuguo is His Majesty's minions, and his mastiff guards are his eyes and ears. Do you think His Majesty doesn't know about Li Fuguo's various evil deeds?
In the final analysis, it was His Majesty's rebellion that Lingwu ascended the throne and was not in the right position.

Now that the Supreme Emperor is still alive, and the princes are watching, His Majesty needs someone who is trustworthy enough to control the power of the palace. At the same time, he will use some special means to restrain the officials and control the civil and military affairs, so as to consolidate his rule.Such as mastiff guard.

Li Fuguo, as an old bureaucrat in the Eastern Palace, has meritorious support and is also an eunuch, so of course he is the best candidate to act as a minion.

In His Majesty's view, no matter how domineering and authoritarian people like Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen are, in the end they are just clean slaves, and it is absolutely impossible for them to usurp the throne and proclaim themselves emperor.

Of course, if Li Fuguo's power is overinflated, His Majesty will not let it go.He would use other people's hands to beat Li Fuguo.

In April of the second year of Qianyuan, Li Xian, who had just been promoted to prime minister, could not understand Li Fuguo's authoritarian and chaotic government, so he collected some evidence of his corruption and perversion of the law, and then sued Emperor Suzong, demanding that Li Fuguo be severely punished.

At this time, Suzong also realized that Li Fuguo's power was too great, and praised Li Xian's integrity, took the opportunity to weaken Li Fuguo's power, took advantage of the situation and abolished the mastiff guards, and let the subsequent imperial edicts and edicts be issued by the Ministry of Education in accordance with traditional procedures.At the same time, all the execution powers of the internal and external affairs of the palace were returned to the Sixth Department and the Third Department. "

Bai Fu was puzzled, and asked: "But I heard that His Majesty accused Li Xian of "associating with cliques", deposed him as Prime Minister, and demoted him to be the Governor of Shu Prefecture.

After Li Xian was dismissed and relegated, Li Fuguo's position in the court was not shaken, and he still had power in the court. "

Li Guangbi sighed: "

After all, Li Fuguo is His Majesty's dog.Use Li Xian to beat Li Fuguo to prevent the dog from getting carried away and biting its owner; after Li Fuguo tucks its tail obediently, remove Li Xian and reward him with a bone.

If Li Fuguo is not appeased, there will be no minions with absolute loyalty around him; sacrificing Li Xian will allow these minions to continue to check and balance the officials and stabilize the throne.

This is His Majesty's imperial art - to show grace and power at the same time, to kill chickens and monkeys. "

　References

　　1. "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" (Bo Yang vernacular version), Bo Yang, Oriental Publishing House, published in May 2007

　　2. "Tong Jian Chronicle (Annotated Version)", Yuan Shu, Zhejiang People's Publishing House, published in October 2019

　　3. "300 Years of the Rise and Fall of the Tang Dynasty", Wang Jueren, People's Daily Publishing House, Reader, published in October 2018

　　reference poem

　　After the dream, the stairs are high and the curtains hang down.Last year's spring hatred came.The flower is independent, and the Swifts fly.

　　I remember that when Xiao Ping first saw it, the two-centered word Luo Yi.Acacia is said on the strings of the pipa.At that time, the bright moon was there, Zeng Zhao Caiyun returned.

　　——"Linjiang Immortal Dream Empress Tower High Lock" Yan Jidao (Song)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)