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At dawn, Dong Zhuo had already arrived at the west of the city. After some inquiries, he learned that Yuan Shao and others were busy slaughtering eunuchs in the palace, and the little emperor had been kidnapped to the northern suburbs and was now on his way back.

Hearing this, Dong Zhuo could not help but sneer: Yuan Shao was too foolish, only caring about killing the eunuchs, but not knowing what political impact would be brought back to the emperor. Dong Zhuo immediately led his troops to the northern suburbs to welcome the emperor, and after sending the emperor back to the capital, he refused to leave.

Qi Du, a general under He Jin, once predicted that Dong Zhuo must have ulterior motives by coming to the capital with such fanfare. He said to Yuan Shao, "If we don't get rid of Dong Zhuo, he will definitely control us in the future. It is better to take advantage of his new arrival and take the initiative to capture him."

Even so, Yuan Shao was still a little timid, because the Liangzhou soldiers under Dong Zhuo were all very strong. How many people did Dong Zhuo bring this time? Actually, not many, only 3000.

Are there any follow-up troops? Yuan Shao was not sure and did not dare to act rashly. So, in the imperial capital Luoyang, the Inspector of the Imperial Guards Yuan Shao and the former general Dong Zhuo confronted each other.

At this time, we can see the importance of military power. The three dukes and nine ministers are now in name only. Whoever has the strongest fist is the boss of Luoyang City.

First, let's look at Yuan Shao, the Si Li Xiao Wei. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Si Li Xiao Wei had great power, and his actual power was even higher than that of the Three Dukes. Later generations compared the Si Li Xiao Wei of the Han Dynasty with the Jin Yi Wei of the Ming Dynasty. From the perspective of official position, he was not the top official, but his authority was very strong.

Yuan Shao was not only the Inspector of the Imperial Guards, but also the second-in-command of the Eight Inspectors of the Western Garden, commanding the Central Army. After Dong Zhuo entered the capital, Yuan Shao actually became the commander of the Eight Inspectors of the Western Garden and held military power. If Dong Zhuo had not shown up, Yuan Shao would have easily controlled the capital.

Dong Zhuo was a former general. At the beginning, General He Jin and his stepmother ordered him to come to the capital as a deterrent, so he did not dare to bring more troops. Dong Zhuo only brought 3000 people. With this amount of troops, it was obviously very difficult to control Luoyang.

In addition to Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao, there are three other armed forces in Luoyang:

The first armed force was a large number of troops directly under the command of the former general He Jin. However, since He Jin was dead, this army was leaderless and in disarray.

The other two armed forces were of the same nature as Dong Zhuo, and they entered Luoyang from other places under the order of General He Jin. One of them was an army recruited by Qi Duwei Baoxin from the Taishan group, with more than 1000 people. Baoxin had advised Yuan Shao to kill Dong Zhuo to eliminate future troubles. At this time, if Yuan Shao and Baoxin joined forces to eliminate Dong Zhuo, it would not be difficult.

However, Yuan Shao hesitated and missed the opportunity. Knowing Dong Zhuo's character, Yuan Shao was afraid of being killed, so he left without saying goodbye and led his army back to his hometown. The other armed force was Ding Yuan's Bingzhou Corps.

The Bingzhou Corps was a fresh force in the northern border, with thousands of soldiers, and its strength was not inferior to Dong Zhuo. Ding Yuan had a brave general, Lu Bu, under his command. This Bingzhou Corps also became Dong Zhuo's biggest worry.

Compared with Yuan Shao and Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo's political ambitions were much greater. His purpose in entering the capital was not simply to kill the eunuchs and save the emperor, but to control the court and turn the Eastern Han Empire into his own empire.

Where there is ambition, there is action. But Dong Zhuo had too few troops and had no advantage over Yuan Shao and Ding Yuan. So, he suddenly had an idea and decided to launch a psychological warfare.

Dong Zhuo set up a maze, sending his soldiers out of the city secretly in batches, and then returning with great fanfare, creating the illusion that the Liangzhou Corps provided continuous support.

With this cunning trick, Dong Zhuo successfully intimidated Yuan Shao and Ding Yuan, and at the same time quietly annexed the former subordinates of General He Jin, thus changing the balance of power and gaining an advantage in strength.

Dong Zhuo used a trick to lure Lü Bu into killing Ding Yuan, getting rid of another major rival, and annexing Ding Yuan's troops. He also got Lü Bu, a powerful general.

At this time, Dong Zhuo had already controlled three of the four major armed forces in the capital Luoyang. He was powerful enough to hold the imperial court in his hands, leaving Yuan Shao alone.

Dong Zhuo was a master in politics. He deposed Emperor Shao Liu Bian and made Liu Xie the emperor. In addition to his bad impression of Liu Bian, he also had a deeper purpose.

His real intention was to establish his own unshakable authority by deposing and enthroning emperors, becoming the chief meritorious official of the court and thereby monopolizing power. When Dong Zhuo proposed this idea, he encountered two tough opponents: one was Yuan Shao, the lieutenant of the imperial court, and the other was Lu Zhi, the minister of state.

However, at this time Dong Zhuo's strength was already difficult to shake, and the two had no choice but to flee the capital.

Afterwards, Dong Zhuo officially enthroned Liu Xie as Emperor Xian. Dong Zhuo appointed himself as the prime minister, did not need to bow when entering the court, did not need to name his name when praising or bowing, and entered the palace wearing a sword and shoes, thus establishing privileges similar to those of an emperor.

At this time, his power in the court was at its peak. However, Dong Zhuo was still a military man after all, and all his political schemes were nothing more than tricks and conspiracies. After he seized power, he began to act recklessly.

Dong Zhuo relied on his military power to kill innocent people and allowed his soldiers to rob the people in Luoyang, plunder property, and rape women. He also forced the emperor to death, poisoned the Empress Dowager He, and ruled the country arbitrarily.

At that time, there was a nursery rhyme "The grass is so green, and the ten-day divination shows that there is no life", which reflects people's hatred for him. From this point of view, Dong Zhuo's actions were not very wise. He relied on cruel and high pressure to consolidate his position, but it would eventually backfire.

In 190 AD, local tyrants rose up against Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo forced Emperor Xian to move the capital to Chang'an. In 191 AD, Dong Zhuo was defeated by Sun Jian and retreated to Chang'an.

As Dong Zhuo's ambitions continued to expand, his brutal and domineering behavior made everyone feel insecure. Therefore, Prime Minister Wang Yun set up a counter-espionage plan and successfully instigated Lu Bu to kill Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo's entire family was also exterminated. With the demise of Dong Zhuo, the situation of warlord separatism in the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms began.

Looking back at Dong Zhuo's life, he was an out-and-out traitor. As the saying goes, "Dong Zhuo in the Han Dynasty is like Zhao Gao in the Qin Dynasty." However, it cannot be denied that Dong Zhuo was quite politically capable and was able to seize opportunities in the chaos and eventually succeed in taking power.

As Huang Fusong commented: "Living with the people, he is a swan; serving as an official in the court, he is a phoenix." However, Dong Zhuo's tyranny and inhumanity, which made him lose the hearts of the people, are also what people despise. But overall, he was still a hero at that time.

[The first monk to go to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. A little historical knowledge]

He was a great monk who traveled to the West more than 200 years earlier than Xuanzang, and who went through difficulties to retrieve the true scriptures.

He was also a pioneer in Chinese ocean voyages and was considered to be a Chinese who discovered America before Columbus. He was the first great monk from China to go overseas to seek Buddhist scriptures - Faxian.

Faxian's original surname was Gong. He was a great monk in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was born in Linfen, Xishan. He lived in the chaotic Sixteen Kingdoms period. The endless wars led to the destruction of lives and the people were living in misery.

Faxian's three older brothers died one after another, so his parents sent him to a Buddhist temple to become a monk when he was three years old.

After Buddhism was introduced into China during the reign of Emperor Ming of Han in the 1st century AD, it developed greatly during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

In the Western Jin Dynasty, there were 180 Buddhist temples in China, with 3700 monks and nuns. Xie Lingyun of the Southern Dynasty lamented that "there are temples in the Southern Dynasties, and many towers are in the mist and rain", which can reflect the situation at that time.

However, the increase in temples and monks only highlighted the problem of Buddhist precepts. In addition, the Buddhist classics introduced into China were either incomplete or lacking, especially due to the lack of precepts, making it difficult for the majority of Buddhists to follow them, so that the upper-level monks indulged in extravagance and committed all kinds of evil.

In order to uphold the truth of Buddhism and correct current ills, in 399 AD, more than 200 years before Xuanzang's journey to the West, Master Faxian embarked on a journey to India, the birthplace of Buddhism, to seek true Buddhist scriptures.

Xuanzang was a 29-year-old young man when he traveled west, while Faxian was already 65 years old when he set out. In this way, after 13 years of hardships and dangers, Faxian passed through more than 30 countries and traveled about 5 miles, and finally returned to China with the scriptures at the age of 78.

What is more worth mentioning is that Master Faxian was the first person in Chinese history to reach India and return home by sea and leave a record. In other words, Faxian was the first and even the only Chinese who experienced both the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road.

When thinking of this eminent monk who lived more than 1000 years ago, one can't help but admire his spirit.

However, Master Faxian brought back not only precious Buddhist scriptures, but also an eternal mystery - he may have discovered the American continent more than 1000 years earlier than Columbus.

In 413 AD, after Master Faxian returned to China, he summarized his journey to the West and wrote a book called "Records of Buddhist Countries", also known as "The Biography of Faxian". In the early 20th century, French historians proposed the view that Faxian arrived in America earlier than Columbus based on the records in "Records of Buddhist Countries".

The book records that when Faxian returned to China by sea, he originally planned to board a ship from Sri Lanka, pass through Indonesia, and then head north to Guangzhou to return to China. Under normal sailing conditions, it only takes about 30 days to reach Guangzhou from Sri Lanka, and even if there is an accident, 50 days is enough to arrive.

This is why Faxian carried 50 days of food on board. However, according to the Buddhist Records, the ship drifted on the sea for more than 100 days, and when the fresh water and food were almost exhausted, it arrived at a place called Yetipo.

He rested there for five months before returning to China. But where exactly this Yetiva was has become the biggest controversy.

The translator of the English version of "Records of Buddhist Kingdoms" believed that Yetiva was today's Java Island in Indonesia, but later scholars unanimously agreed that this statement was inconsistent with historical facts.

If a ship drifted to Java Island, it would only take about 10 days to arrive, but the merchant ship that Faxian was on drifted for more than days. The time taken by Magellan's fleet to cross the Pacific Ocean, which we are familiar with, was about three months, which is similar in time.

During the voyage of more than 100 days, under the influence of strong winds and ocean currents, the ship is likely to drift into the Pacific Ocean and reach America on the other side.

According to the records in "Records of Buddhist Kingdoms", Faxian once saw the words "huge waves crashing against each other, glowing with the color of fire" during his voyage. This is a luminous phenomenon caused by the crashing of huge waves when sailing in the deep sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean.

The "round strange rat" should be a deep-sea animal such as a whale shark, dolphin, hawksbill turtle, etc. that is difficult to see near the coast.

The "dark winds, heavy rains, and cloudy skies" encountered on the way back westward also coincided with the heavy winds and rains in the North Pacific at the turn of spring and summer. From this, it can be inferred that after drifting at sea for more than 100 days, Faxian and his companions probably reached America.

Later, the Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan also wrote "The Theory of Faxian's Discovery of the Western Hemisphere", affirming the view that Faxian reached America. In 1934, historian Lu Simian also believed that Yetiwa was America in his "History of the Chinese Nation" published by Shijie Shuju.

In addition, in the 20s and 60s, Taiwanese scholars Dai Qingsan and Wei Juxian published the books "Faxian First Discovered America" ​​and "The Chinese Discovered America" ​​respectively. Both of them believed that the Yetiwa Kingdom that Faxian arrived at was actually today's American continent.

It can be seen from this that although there is still controversy about the exact location of Yetiwa, the details in the Buddhist Kingdom Records are not groundless. Therefore, if the argument is true, then Faxian may have arrived in the Americas more than 1000 years earlier than Columbus.

However, looking at the legendary life of Master Faxian, he was not only a great monk, traveler, translator, and explorer, but more like a pioneer.

He opened up a new path for seeking Buddhist scriptures, allowing future generations to follow his footsteps to find the source of Buddha. On the road to seeking Buddha, his pioneering spirit, his attitude of not giving up, and his contribution to the cause of Buddhism are all worthy of admiration and learning from future generations.

[Read the legendary woman who became queen six times in one go. Little historical knowledge: Beauty fades with age]

She is the most legendary and tragic queen in history. She was made queen six times and deposed five times. She married two emperors. In the first half of her life, she was accompanied by an "idiot" and had a bad fate. But in the second half of her life, she met true love and was loved. She is the legendary queen Yang Xianrong.

Yang Xianrong was born into a prominent family. She was deposed and reinstated five times in her life. Although she was crowned as the empress, her status as empress did not bring her stability. Instead, it made her fall into the vortex of power struggle and become a victim of political struggle. Not only that, in that era when women were regarded as accessories, she had to bear the eternal infamy of "beauty brings disaster", which is really sad.

Yang Xianrong's first husband was Sima Zhong, the Hui Emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, and her second husband was Liu Yao, the Emperor of the Former Zhao Dynasty. Although from the historical perspective, neither of them was a wise ruler and both ended in misery, the impact they had on Yang Xianrong was completely different.

In the first half of her life, Yang Xianrong was the empress of the "demented emperor" Sima Zhong, and suffered a lot of hardships. In 300 AD, the Eight Princes Rebellion broke out, and Jia Nanfeng, the first empress of Sima Zhong, the Emperor Hui of Jin, was killed by Sima Lun, the Prince of Zhao.

Yang Xianrong's grandfather was a member of the same clan as Sun Xiu, a favorite of Sima Lun, the Prince of Zhao. Therefore, he was made queen. This was her first time to be made queen. However, becoming queen was the beginning of suffering for Yang Xianrong. If she knew what she was about to encounter, she would definitely not want to become queen.

When Yang Xianrong was the empress of Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong, it was during the turbulent period of the Eight Kings Rebellion in the Western Jin Dynasty. She and her father Yang Quanchi almost died many times.

As "the flags on the city walls changed", powerful officials such as Sima Yue, Sima Ying, and Sima Yong, after coming to power, all deposed Queen Yang Xianrong and used her as a tool to establish their authority. Sima Yue even planned to kill her.