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When the feudal lords saw that the emperor was incompetent, they felt that their opportunity had come, so they rose up one after another and began to stage the "opera drama" again.

The prosperous era that Li Chun created with great difficulty was like the brightest star in the night sky, which flashed by and was quickly submerged in the dust of history. This story tells us: It is better to govern the country well than to pursue immortality. Otherwise, it would be truly tragic if you cannot even defend your own country!

[Read all the historical facts about Qiu Shiliang, the top eunuch in history]

When talking about famous eunuchs in history, people may think of Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty, the Ten Eunuchs of the Han Dynasty, and Wei Zhongxian, who was once powerful in the Ming Dynasty. However, compared with the protagonist of this article, these characters seem to pale in comparison.

In terms of power, he was no less powerful than them. He could kill two kings and one concubine, force the prime minister to death, depose and enthronize the emperor, sideline the prime minister, and even massacre half of the court officials. His methods were so cruel and far-reaching that it was shocking.

What is even more surprising is that he did not end up in disgrace like Zhao Gao and Wei Zhongxian, but instead had a good end and spent his later years peacefully. He was Qiu Shiliang, the uncrowned emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

Qiu Shiliang was born into a family of eunuchs, and his family background was extraordinary. Some people may wonder, eunuchs are eunuchs, and they have no fertility, so how can there be a saying that eunuchs are hereditary? The mystery lies in a unique phenomenon in the middle and late Tang Dynasty.

Although eunuchs have no children, they can form a formal family by marrying and adopting children, thus continuing the family line.

Although the practice of adopting offspring existed before the Tang Dynasty, it was not for the purpose of continuing the family bloodline, nor would the adopted offspring be included in the list of eunuchs.

By the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the eunuchs' power gradually grew and formed a complete industrial chain. The adopted sons continued to serve as eunuchs to ensure the long-term continuation of the family's power.

The Qiu family is a typical example. According to historical records, Qiu Shiliang's family had been eunuchs for five generations, starting from his great-grandfather. With the power of his family, Qiu Shiliang entered the palace when he was sixteen or seventeen years old and began his career as an eunuch.

Qiu Shiliang, who later gained power, not only married the daughter of a minister in the court, but also had five sons. Of course, some of these children might be his own children born before he entered the palace, but in the environment at that time, they were more likely to be his adopted sons.

Qiu Shiliang, who had just stepped into the palace, was just an inconspicuous eunuch, but he soon got a chance to change his destiny - serving the emperor's grandson Li Chun in the East Palace for nine years.

Li Chun was later known as Emperor Xianzong of Tang. After Emperor Xianzong's death, Emperor Muzong ascended the throne. However, Emperor Muzong was a short-lived emperor, and died of illness after only four years on the throne.

Later, Li Zhan, Emperor Jingzong of Tang, succeeded to the throne. This emperor was even more incompetent and made a mess of court politics. Not long after, he was killed by the eunuch Liu Keming.

As the saying goes, "Heroes are made by the times." Under the incompetent rule of Emperor Muzong and Emperor Jingzong, the court was in turmoil, and Qiu Shiliang took the opportunity to expand his power. He was promoted from the initial academician of the Five Palaces to the lieutenant of the Left Shence Army, becoming a real powerful official.

However, it seemed that God still felt that Qiu Shiliang's power was not strong enough, and he was pushed to the top through a coup d'état, which was the famous "Ganlu Change" in history.

The severity of the eunuch scourge in the Tang Dynasty is often mentioned. Although the eunuchs' monopoly of power in the Tang Dynasty began with the An-Shi Rebellion, it reached its peak after the Ganlu Incident.

After Emperor Wenzong ascended the throne, Qiu Shiliang's status had reached a new height. However, at this time, there was still an eunuch Wang Shoucheng in the palace who was competing with him. In order to balance the power of both sides, the emperor let Qiu Shiliang and Wang Shoucheng fight each other.

As a result, Qiu Shiliang successfully overthrew and killed Wang Shoucheng with his own strength. With his greatly increased strength, he naturally became a thorn in the emperor's side. Therefore, Emperor Wenzong of Tang, as the emperor, contacted the ministers to get rid of this scourge.

One day, Jinwu General Li Xun lied that the palace had fallen sweet dew, intending to lure Qiu Shiliang into a trap and then get rid of him. But in the end, due to the incompetence of the ministers and the cowardice of the emperor, the plan failed.

In the competition among various forces, Emperor Wenzong of Tang wanted to eliminate the eunuchs in one fell swoop, but he was completely controlled by the eunuchs who held military power. After the Ganlu Incident, all the ministers involved were liquidated one by one, and the situation in the capital suddenly changed, with blood flowing like a river.

At the same time, Qiu Shiliang took the opportunity to launch an attack and eliminated Li Xun, the only imperial guard who could compete with him. The four prime ministers were not spared and became his victims.

This time, the power of the court officials was greatly weakened, Qiu Shiliang completely sidelined the emperor, and his power was almost comparable to that of the emperor. If he had not had some flaws, it might not have been impossible for him to ascend the throne and become emperor.

After this coup, Emperor Wenzong of Tang, Li Ang, was controlled by Qiu Shiliang.

"Zizhi Tongjian" records: "All affairs of the world are decided by the Northern Department, and the prime minister only issues written documents." At this time, Qiu Shiliang had complete control over the court. He was domineering and threatened the emperor, despised the prime minister, and bullied court officials like weeds.

Emperor Wenzong of Tang was at a loss as to what to do. A passage in the New Book of Tang fully demonstrates the tragedy of his fate.

Emperor Wenzong of Tang once summoned the scholar Zhou Chi to the palace and asked him, "In your opinion, which monarch of the past can I be compared to?" Zhou Chi knelt down and said, "I am not qualified to judge. But I have heard people all over the world say that Your Majesty can be compared to Yao and Shun in ancient times."

Emperor Wenzong of Tang said, "How dare I compare myself to Yao and Shun? So I want to ask you, how do you think I compare to King Nan of Zhou and Emperor Xian of Han?" Zhou Chi was shocked and said, "Your Majesty is so virtuous that you would compare yourself to those two kings who lost their country?"

Emperor Wenzong of Tang said, "King Nan of Zhou and Emperor Xian of Han were merely controlled by powerful vassals. Today, I am controlled by my household slaves. I am afraid I am even worse than them." As he spoke, tears fell like rain.

In the following years, Emperor Wenzong of Tang became a puppet in Qiu Shiliang's hands and lost his dignity and power. Later, Emperor Wenzong stopped attending court and fell ill.

Tang Wenzong had tried to secretly plot his plan with the help of the crown prince, but Qiu Shiliang saw through his plan and directly cut off the source of the trouble by personally appointing Tang Wuzong as the new emperor. This incident was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Tang Wenzong.

With the death of Emperor Wenzong of Tang, although Emperor Wuzong of Tang became emperor in name, his position was not actually stable and was even worse than that of Emperor Wenzong of Tang.

Tang Wenzong at least had the support of some court officials, but Tang Wuzong had no one around him and could only try to please Qiu Shiliang in order to protect himself. However, Qiu Shiliang was not satisfied with this.

He knew that Emperor Wuzong was a puppet he had supported, so he expanded his power even more recklessly. In order to consolidate his position, Qiu Shiliang could not wait to get rid of Concubine Yang, Prince An Li Rong and Prince Chen Li Chengmei at the beginning of Emperor Wuzong's accession to the throne.

These three people had shown strong opposition to Qiu Shiliang's support for Emperor Wuzong of Tang, and became his biggest worry. Therefore, once the time was right, Qiu Shiliang ruthlessly eliminated them one by one.

Faced with Qiu Shiliang's strong suppression, Emperor Wuzong of Tang could only let it go and watch the two kings and one concubine being brutally murdered.

However, Qiu Shiliang never expected that the Tang Wuzong he personally supported was no ordinary person. As time went by, Tang Wuzong gradually accumulated his own power.

He appointed Prime Minister Li Deyu as his trusted minister, and relied on Li Deyu's wisdom and prestige to balance the power structure in the court and gradually weaken Qiu Shiliang's power.

Qiu Shiliang was naturally no pushover. He keenly perceived Tang Wuzong's intentions and tried to prevent the implementation of this plan by inciting the imperial guards.

However, Tang Wuzong had been secretly developing for many years, and his strength was no longer what it used to be. In the end, under Tang Wuzong's strong suppression, the rebellion of the imperial army was quelled, and Qiu Shiliang's conspiracy also failed.

Although Qiu Shiliang was still the most powerful person in the court, his glory days were numbered. Under the joint suppression of the emperor and the prime minister, Qiu Shiliang's power quickly collapsed.

In desperation, he could only choose to admit defeat, and wrote a letter saying he was ill and asked to resign from his post. Tang Wuzong finally held power, but he knew that the eunuchs were still powerful.

Since Qiu Shiliang had already surrendered, he did not want to create any more trouble, so on the basis of his contribution in supporting the enthronement of the emperor, he pardoned all Qiu Shiliang's crimes and did not pursue his past.

Qiu Shiliang knew that the emperor would settle accounts with the eunuchs sooner or later, and the emperor's pardon at this time was only a temporary measure. In order to protect himself, he had to evacuate the palace. However, a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

When Qiu Shiliang was about to return home, many of his followers and eunuchs came to see him off.

He also took this opportunity to teach these eunuchs his own way of being an official: do not let the emperor be idle, always use luxury to blind his eyes and ears, make him indulge in pleasure, and have no time to take care of other things.

Then, we can achieve success. You must remember that you must not let him study or get close to scholars, otherwise he will know the rise and fall of the previous dynasty, and will be worried in his heart and will punish us.

His strategy undoubtedly planted a nail next to the emperor, laying the groundwork for the eunuchs' monopoly of power in the future. As Qiu Shiliang had predicted, the Li Tang Dynasty fell into chaos.

However, Qiu Shiliang relied on his wisdom and means to protect himself in the chaotic times, and it can even be said that he had a good ending.

Looking back on Qiu Shiliang's life, from a certain perspective, his good end was not entirely dependent on the emperor's grace, but was something he fought for with his own abilities and means.

He acted recklessly throughout his life, but he was able to escape unscathed in the end. This makes people sigh at his cleverness and deep scheming. In comparison, although Wei Zhongxian was once powerful, he was nothing compared to Qiu Shiliang.

[The first meritorious official of the Tang Dynasty, the first prime minister, historical knowledge of the Tang Dynasty]

When it comes to the founding ministers of each dynasty in Chinese history, Xiao He of the Han Dynasty, Zhao Pu of the Song Dynasty, and Li Shanchang of the Ming Dynasty are all household names.

However, when talking about the Tang Dynasty, a glorious era of great significance in Chinese history, many people may not know Pei Ji, the founding minister of the dynasty.

Although Pei Ji in history was mediocre in talent, he relied on his connections to become the first meritorious minister of the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and he can be called a legendary figure. In this video, let's talk about Pei Ji, the first meritorious minister of the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

Pei Ji was born into the Hedong Pei family, a famous and prominent family that shone brightly in Chinese history.

During the thousand years from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the Pei family produced 59 prime ministers, 59 generals, 55 ministers, and more than 600 people who left their mark in the Twenty-Four Histories.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was even a saying that "without Pei Ji, there is no family", which shows how powerful his family was and how profound their background was. Although Pei Ji lost his parents at a young age and his family was declining, he was raised by his elder brother, but in that era when the concept of family status was deeply rooted, his prominent family background became his most powerful asset.

At the age of 14, Pei Ji relied on the glory of his ancestors and the system of patronage to enter the official career and served as the chief clerk of Puzhou, officially starting his career as a civil servant in the Sui Dynasty. After that, his career was smooth and he was promoted to the key position of deputy supervisor of Jinyang Palace. This turning point profoundly changed the trajectory of his destiny.

What is the position of Jinyang Palace Supervisor? This needs some explanation.

During the reign of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, the Jinyang Palace was built in Taiyuan. Such a large palace naturally needed people to manage it, so a chief supervisor and a deputy supervisor were appointed. Pei Ji was the deputy supervisor of the Jinyang Palace. Who was the supervisor of the Jinyang Palace? This person was Li Yuan, the later Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty.

Although Li Yuan was the chief eunuch at that time, the daily operation of Jinyang Palace still depended on Pei Ji. Don't underestimate this position and think that it is just a deputy chief eunuch of the palace.

In fact, Jinyang Palace was not only a temporary palace for Emperor Yang of Sui, but also an important fortress for Taiyuan to defend against the Turks in the north. A large amount of military supplies were hidden in Jinyang Palace. Therefore, Pei Ji was considered the deputy minister in charge of military logistics in Taiyuan at that time.

Pei Ji and Li Yuan were acquainted with each other, and with their working relationship, they became close friends after years of getting along. The two often spent the whole night together drinking and having fun. As peasant uprisings broke out one after another and the country was in chaos, Pei Ji's life also took an important turn.

According to the records in Old Book of Tang, Li Shimin, who was ambitious at the time, wanted to rise up against the Sui Dynasty, but he did not dare to speak directly to Li Yuan.

Li Shimin knew that his father had a good relationship with Pei Ji, so he secretly asked someone to gamble with Pei Ji and deliberately lose money to win over Pei Ji. As the saying goes, "a man who takes from others is short-handed, and a man who eats from others is soft-hearted", Pei Ji gradually became close to Li Shimin.

Afterwards, Li Shimin told Pei Ji the truth. Pei Ji agreed to persuade Li Yuan to start a rebellion, so Pei Ji set a trap to force Li Yuan to rebel.

Once, Pei Ji and Li Yuan were drinking. Pei Ji deliberately got Li Yuan drunk, then secretly helped Li Yuan to sleep in the Jinyang Palace, and asked two palace maids to serve Li Yuan.

When Li Yuan woke up, he found himself sleeping on the dragon bed in the palace, with two palace maids beside him. This was a crime punishable by genocide.

Pei Ji took the opportunity to persuade Li Yuan: "The world is in chaos now, and there are thieves outside the city gates. If you observe minor rules, you will surely die; if you raise an army to start a rebellion, you will surely gain the world." Li Yuan now realized that he had committed a serious crime. If Emperor Yang of Sui knew about it, the entire Li family would be executed.

Instead of doing this, it would be better to raise an army and establish an independent state. So Li Yuan agreed to let Li Shimin and Pei Ji raise an army to rebel.

After the Jinyang Uprising, Li Yuan needed to recruit soldiers and even more logistical support at the beginning of his rebellion, especially food, fodder, weapons, etc. were in urgent need.