A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 908: The Ganlu Incident: Emperor Wenzong is depressed, the new emperor of Huichang is annoyed by the old slaves

Huichang was the reign title of the new emperor Li Yan.

In the ninth year of Taihe, Emperor Wenzong Li Ang launched the "Ganlu Rebellion" with the intention of completely eliminating the constraining eunuch group.

So he used the excuse that sweet dew had fallen from the pomegranate tree in the courtyard of Zuo Jinwujiao, which was a sign of good fortune from heaven, and ordered the eunuchs Qiu Shiliang, Yu Hongzhi and other lieutenants of the left and right guards of the Shen Ce Army, to lead the eunuchs to investigate on his behalf.

Be prepared to wait for them to reach Zuo Jinwu Zhangyuan, then use swords and axes to annihilate them in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, when Qiu Shiliang and his companions arrived at the gate of Zuo Jinwu Zhangyuan, they saw Han Yue, the Jinwu General in charge of the defense here, with a nervous look on his face and incoherent words.

Qiu Shiliang realized that there was a trap and ran away. The warriors who were ambushing behind the scenes saw that their plan was exposed and immediately rushed out to intercept him.

However, the eunuchs had seen through the trap, so they fought and retreated. Finally, the eunuchs retreated all the way to the Hanyuan Hall, shouting "Please invite the saint into the palace", preparing to force Li Ang, who was waiting for news here, to ride a sedan chair into the inner palace.

Prime Minister Li Xun, who was in charge of this operation, saw eunuchs coming towards him with knives in hand and murderous intent in the distance, and heard the sound of fighting behind him. He knew that the situation was urgent.

So he called on the left and right Jinwu guards to come to the palace to protect him, while climbing onto the palanquin and shouting, "Your Majesty, you are not allowed to enter the palace."

Dozens of Jinwu guards, Jingzhao prefecture officials, and about 500 officials from the Censorate climbed up to the palace and fought, killing dozens of eunuchs.

However, when the Shence Army arrived, Li Ang knew that the situation was hopeless. In order to save his life, he immediately scolded Li Xun for hijacking the emperor.

When the soldiers on both sides saw the emperor scolding the prime minister, they were frightened and their morale dropped greatly.

The eunuch took the opportunity to break through the defense line, stepped forward and knocked Li Xun to the ground, and immediately shouted for Li Ang to be carried into the Xuanzheng Gate, and then closed the palace door tightly.

The ministers who were trembling in the corner of the hall were frightened and scattered.

Seeing that things were going badly, Li Xun thought of Li Ang's behavior just now, feeling disappointed and angry. He immediately rode out of the palace alone and walked into the Buddhist temple in Zhongnan Mountain.

The other prime ministers, Wang Ya, Jia Yu and Shu Yuanyu, did not know the truth and had to retreat to the Secretariat to wait for Li Ang to summon them.

However, after the eunuchs took Li Ang hostage and retreated into the inner hall, they immediately sent out 500 soldiers of the Shen Ce Army, who came out of the East Shangge Gate with knives and killed anyone they saw, killing six or seven hundred people.

Then he forged an imperial edict ordering the closure of all the gates in the palace and Chang'an, and searched the whole city, killing more than a thousand people.

By dawn the next day, important court officials including Li Xun, Wang Ya, Jia Yu, Shu Yuanyu, Wang Fan, Guo Xingyu, Luo Liyan, Li Xiaoben, and Han Yue were all captured and killed by eunuchs.

His family was also implicated and killed.

After this incident, Li Ang was placed under house arrest by eunuchs, and the state affairs were controlled by eunuchs. The prime minister in the court only had a clerical job.

As a result, the eunuchs became very powerful, threatening the emperor, despising the prime minister, and bullying court officials like grass.

Moreover, if the prime minister made the slightest mistake, he would be beaten or humiliated by the eunuchs.

After this battle, Li Ang lost his ambition and just drank to get drunk and wrote poems to relieve his boredom.

In the fifth year of Kaicheng (five years later), Li Ang became ill due to depression and could not get out of bed. He ordered the Privy Councilors Liu Hongyi and Xue Jiling to call the Prime Ministers Yang Sifu and Li Jue and asked them to assist the Crown Prince Li Chengmei in regulating the country.

However, Qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi, lieutenants of the Shence Army, coveted the credit for supporting the emperor and proposed to reinstate the crown prince on the grounds that the crown prince was young and sickly and could not handle the heavy responsibility.

Prime Minister Li Jue argued with reason, but Qiu Shiliang and Yu Hongzhi, who controlled the Shence Army, were too powerful, so they decided to support Li Ang's younger brother, Prince Ying Li Yan, as the crown prince.

That night, Qiu Shiliang forged an imperial edict to appoint Li Yan as the crown prince, led his troops from the Sixteenth Residence to welcome Li Yan to the Shaoyang Courtyard of the Daming Palace, and forced all officials to come for an audience.

On the fourth day of the first lunar month of the same year, Li Ang passed away. Li Yan ascended the throne in front of the coffin and named the reign "Huichang".

The court also decided to posthumously title Li Ang "Emperor Yuansheng Zhaoxianxiao", temple name "Wenzong", and bury him in Zhangling.

After ascending the throne, Li Yan, under the persuasion of Qiu Shiliang and others, ordered the execution of potential political opponents such as Yang Fei, Prince of Chen Li Chengmei, and Prince of An Li Rong. Soon after, at the funeral ceremony for Wenzong, Qiu Shiliang killed the Privy Councilors Liu Hongyi and Xue Jiling to eliminate the threat posed to Li Yan.

The next year, Prime Ministers Li Jue and Yang Sifu were dismissed and demoted to other places.

The first year of Huichang
Li Yan summoned the capable Huainan Jiedushi Li Deyu to the court to serve as the Minister of Personnel, Co-Prime Minister of the Secretariat, and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and regarded him as his right-hand man to show his determination to reform bad policies.

The first thing Li Deyu did after entering the court was to persuade Li Yan not to execute Li Jue and Yang Sifu.

"Your Majesty wants to revive the country. In addition to publicizing your attitude to the world, you also need talents."

"Although Li and Yang were ministers of the previous emperor, they have now been exiled to other places. What impact will this have on Your Majesty?"

“Why not follow the example of Emperor Taizong and pardon the two men to demonstrate your majesty’s magnanimity and win over the talents of the world.”

In the end, Li Yan pardoned the two.

However, Li Deyu's entry into the court made Qiu Shiliang feel threatened, and he attempted to incite the imperial guards to expel him. Just as the conflict between the two intensified and was about to go to war, Li Yan was defeated.

That day, Li Yan summoned Qiu Shiliang and said:
"I have heard that many in the Imperial Guards are now speaking ill of Prime Minister Li. What do you think, the military envoy?"

Qiu Shiliang sat across from Li Yan carelessly, without a trace of respect or fear, and said as if it was a matter of course:
"That is true. Everyone said that Li Deyu was originally a foreign garrison, and they were afraid that after he gained power, he would lead the Huainan troops into the court to threaten Your Majesty."

"That is why I think it would be better for Your Majesty to release him back to Huainan, so as to avoid a repeat of Li Huaiguang's past."

Faced with Qiu Shiliang's scorching gaze, Li Yan remained silent.

Just as the other party was getting impatient and preparing to reprimand him, Li Yan spoke up: "But I heard that Li Xiang is not only the governor of Huainan Town, but also a relative of Xuanwu Army, and his sister is married to Bai Mian of Xuanwu Town."

Glancing at Qiu Shiliang and seeing a hint of hesitation on his part, Li Yan continued, "If we offend Prime Minister Li, it might lead to the downfall of the Bai family."

Having said this, Li Yan did not say anything further.

Qiu Shiliang was already feeling extremely irritated. He was able to manipulate the power of the court, beat and scold court officials at will, and had the final say in Chang'an and Guanzhong. Everything depended on one premise.

That is, when the border towns and big clans outside the Great Wall remain silent.

Having controlled the government for many years, he was well aware of the great influence of the Bai family in the court and the country, and in the military and political circles.

He knew that if he really offended Li Deyu, the two major towns in Guandong, Huainan and Xuanwu, might lead their troops to Luoyang and force the court to eliminate him.

By then, in order to ensure the safety of Guanzhong, it is possible that these killers below would throw their own heads out to appease the anger of the Kanto feudal lords.

Thinking of this, he felt a little palpitation, and his back was wet with sweat. He thought to himself:
"No, I'm old now, and there's no need for me to worry about my descendants. I should think about my future so that I don't end up with a bad end."

Thinking of this, he glanced at Li Yan who was cowering in front of him and thought to himself:
"It's all this trouble that this bastard brought upon me. If he hadn't summoned Li Deyu to Chang'an, there wouldn't have been so many problems."

But he couldn't say that, but he had to vent his anger. He knew that if he missed this opportunity, he would never get it again, so he taught him a lesson in a stern tone:
"Look, being an emperor is not that easy. You have to pacify the murderers below you, and you have to work hard to raise money for the court."

"Outside, there are concerns about the feudal lords, and inside, there are constraints from the aristocratic families. If it weren't for me, your old servant, to look after your family, your throne would have been taken away by outsiders..."

He lectured Li Yan for a full hour until the other party was on the verge of collapse, with sweat on his forehead and a pale face, and he was about to be unable to bear it, so he stopped.

After taking a deep look at Li Yan, Qiu Shiliang sighed, bowed like a servant and said, "Your Majesty, take care of yourself."

After saying this, he walked out the door without waiting for Li Yan's reaction.

Li Yan looked at Qiu Shiliang walking away, a look of relief appeared on his face, and he let out a long breath.

(End of this chapter)