At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

They are desperately opposed, whether they are scheming or really think that this is an insult to the sages and should be banned, they all write to oppose it.

But it was useless. In February, Emperor Ling ordered the establishment of the Hongdumen School to train top students in the arts, and ordered the prefects of the prefectures and counties to immediately select suitable talents to attend the Hongdumen School.

Naturally, the chosen ones were all the underprivileged children, who had no way out and were destitute. They didn't care about sages or morals, they had to eat to their fullest.

So working with the eunuch is the best way.

Emperor Ling naturally stood on the same front as the eunuchs, providing political convenience to these scholars from Hongdumen, making it easier for them to become officials than the students of Taixue, trying to achieve Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to depose a hundred schools of thought. The effect of Confucianism alone.

From the birth of Hongdu School to the death of Emperor Ling, Hongdu School was deposed. During this period of time, the scholars followed one after another and never gave up their efforts to depose it, so that their core interests would not be damaged.

Undoubtedly, Lu Zhi and Cai Yong also joined it. Although they also like art, they never thought that some people could rely on this crooked way to become an official.

If nothing is seen, and if things go on like this, all the officials in the world are all eunuchs' "disciples and former officials", then is it still good?

In fact, from Guo Peng's point of view, it doesn't matter whether the officials in the world are the protégés of eunuchs or the protégés of gentry, the two bastards are more bastards than the other.

For the literati, this is a long-term struggle, and nothing can be seen in the short-term, compared with other political storms brewing.

As a servant, Lu Zhi often accompanied Emperor Ling to do things. One day, when he taught Guo Peng Jingyi, he couldn't help sighing a few times.

Guo Peng asked Lu Zhi why he sighed, and whether it was for the matter of Hongdu School, and Lu Zhi told Guo Peng that was not the case.

The reason is that when he was on duty in the palace, he heard Emperor Ling complaining to Empress Song several times.

"Your Majesty complains to the Queen, this is not a trivial matter, the affairs of the inner palace should not be known to me and other foreign ministers, and now, Your Majesty actually mentions these things, this is obviously to test our reaction, Your Majesty ...I'm afraid I have the idea of ​​​​abolishing it."

Lu Zhi looked at Guo Peng with something strange in his eyes.

Guo Peng saw it.

The wife of Queen Song's elder brother Song Qi is Cao Chi's daughter, Cao Ren and Cao Chun's sister, Cao Cao, is Song Qi's brother-in-law and has a good relationship with Song Qi.

And he, Guo Peng, was Cao Cao's sister-in-law.

In the Han Dynasty, the identities of foreign relatives were always very special and embarrassing. Powerful relatives such as Dou and Liang could control the succession of the emperor. Of course, not all relatives were so strong. The relatives of the Empress Song were relatively A lot of honesty.

The Song family is a foreign relative and is more developed by virtue of the status of Queen Song. The Cao family has also gained a lot of benefits from the marriage with the Song family. Once the Song family is abolished, I am afraid there will be a lot of shocks and the aftermath of the shocks. , and even affect many innocent people.

Lu Zhi patted Guo Peng on the shoulder.

"Xiaoyi, this matter is not easy. You can read and do things with peace of mind. Don't participate, and don't make any remarks. As a teacher, you can be safe."

As the time together became longer, Lu Zhi became more and more like Guo Peng, who was diligent and simple, so he gave Guo Peng a reassurance in advance.

Guo Peng was a little flustered at first, but after thinking about it carefully, this matter really has nothing to do with him. Didn't Cao's family get better later?

But why did Emperor Ling abolish the queen, and what kind of blow would the Cao clan suffer?

Not long after, around April, Cao Song called Guo Peng to the house and asked Guo Peng nervously if he had heard some rumors around Lu Zhi and Cai Yong. Cao Chi was also present at the time.

"Your Majesty wants to abolish the queen?"

Guo Peng asked tentatively, but Cao Chi's face turned pale, and Cao Song's expression was not very good.

"Sure enough! I knew it was like this! Now many people are spreading rumors that this kind of thing is so big, how could it be groundless? Huge height, what should I do?"

Cao Chi had some six gods and no masters, so he asked Cao Song for advice.

Cao Song was nurtured by Cao Teng. He has a deep mind and has a lot of methods. He has seen a lot of wind and waves, so he is naturally relatively calm in this regard.

"Don't worry, this matter is not yet certain, even if it is confirmed, there must be a reason. The Song family does not publicize, does not ostentatious, and does not commit crimes, and Queen Song has never made any mistakes. Why does His Majesty want to abolish the queen? If something goes wrong, there must be a demon, and there must be a problem here!"

Cao Song looked nervous and paced around, but Shaoqing suddenly stopped and looked at Cao Chi.

"Could it be that Wang Fu is the one to blame?"

Chapter 37 The destruction of the Song family

The Wang Fu mentioned by Cao Song is one of the regular servants in the middle, one of the eunuchs close to Emperor Ling, and also the godfather of Wang Ji, the prime minister of Pei, who is filial and honest for Cao Cao.

At the beginning, in order to make Cao Cao avoid the threat of eunuchs from the beginning of his career, Cao Song created a good reputation and let Cao Cao kill Jiantu. After that, although Cao Cao got a good reputation, he annoyed the eunuchs.

The eunuchs are not a piece of iron, although most of the time the eunuchs are united when faced with terrible things, but usually it is mainly infighting.

The matter of Cao Cao annoyed Wang Fu, because Cao Cao was recommended by his godson.

Wang Fu wanted to clean up Cao Cao and even the entire Cao clan, not only because of this reason, but also because of the Song clan.

The Cao family and the Song family are relatives by marriage. Cao Cao himself has an excellent relationship with Song Qi. Wang Fu and the Song family's Liangzi forged early, and there is also a relationship between the Cao family.

The stakes within the eunuch group are also intricate. All in all, asking Wang Ji to show filial piety to Cao Cao is an attempt to repair the relationship between Wang Fu and Cao.

After the failure of the attempt, even if Wang Fu and Cao Clan turned their faces, this time Queen Song lost his position, so Cao Song couldn't help but think of Wang Fu, who had a grudge with Song Clan.

"What is Wang Fu going to do? Can he move the queen?"

Cao Chi was very annoyed and was going to go to Wang Fu to ask for an explanation, but Cao Song stopped him. Cao Song thought for a while and asked Guo Peng to leave first.

"Xiaoyi, you go back to Taixue, remember, this matter has nothing to do with you, you don't want to participate, follow your teacher to study hard, your teacher can keep you safe and sound."

Guo Peng blinked, nodded, got up and retire.

Mr. Cao probably wanted to withdraw himself from this matter completely and let Lu Zhi protect him. Anyway, the relationship with him would not disappear, and Mrs. Cao had left a way out for him.

After a period of time, Lu Zhi was worried every time he came back from the court, but he didn't say anything to Guo Peng.

Until one day after the fall, Guo Peng heard a private conversation between Lu Zhi, Cai Yong, Yang Biao and others when he was working in Dongguan.

"Your Majesty said that the Queen used witchcraft in the inner palace to curse His Majesty to have no children, in exchange for her stable status. The evidence is conclusive and unshakable."

"How could such a thing happen? The queen is simple and unpretentious. She has been in the palace for many years without any fault. How could she do such a thing?"

"Witchcraft is strictly prohibited in the palace. As the mother of a country, as long as there is no major mistake, the queen cannot be deposed in vain. She cannot fail to understand, let alone use witchcraft. This must be framed by someone."

"Mostly it was done by Wang Fu. Wang Fu framed King Bohai for treason and instructed King Bohai to be killed. Princess Song of Bohai was the queen's aunt. Since then, Song and Wang Fu have had a grudge. This must be done by Wang Fu!"

"This is a ruthless and ruthless man. He thinks about doing things regardless of the overall situation and only thinks about himself. This time he has set his target on the queen. It is unbearable and unbearable. How can the mother of a country be framed like this? Gentlemen, why don't we write a letter together for The Queen's defense?"

"Okay! Just do it!"

"I'm participating too!"

In this way, a group of people negotiated a conclusion that they would write a letter to the queen to defend themselves, leaving Guo Peng speechless for a long time.

Are they really not going to do anything except write a letter to make a confession?

In fact, this kind of thing is true, and if you don't believe it, there is no. It is obvious that Empress Song was abolished not because of this matter, but because Emperor Ling did not like her, that's all.

Emperor Ling thought that Empress Song was in the way, and wanted to drive her away and replace her with a new one.

What a simple thing?

But the emperor always needs a reason and an excuse. If there is no suitable excuse, the ministers will not agree. This kind of thing is related to the state, and it is not just the emperor's family affairs.

Therefore, Wang Fu's actions must have some acquiescence from Emperor Ling, and Emperor Ling wanted to use Wang Fu's hand and slander to drive the Queen Song away.

But Wang Fu obviously wanted more than that. What he wanted was to exterminate the Song clan, and even kill the Cao clan.

The struggle of the ministers is meaningless at all. In the winter and October of the first year of Guanghe, Emperor Ling took back the empress's seal and sash on the grounds of the empress Song's immorality, put it into the cold palace, and officially abolished the empress.

At the same time, Wang Fu, on the grounds that the queen's family must be accomplices, presided over the imprisonment of Queen Song's father and brother, and sent all the female relatives into exile.

Cao Chi entered the palace as a servant and begged Emperor Ling to let him go and let his poor daughter go. Wang Fu insisted that all Song family members were accomplices, and Cao was also an accomplice.

Emperor Ling was upset and handed over the matter to Wang Fu.

Of course, Wang Fu would not pay attention to the Cao clan, and insisted on exterminating the Song clan. Later, Song Feng, the father of Empress Song Jinwu, and his elder brother Yinqiang Hou Song Qi, were sentenced to death and executed.

Knowing this news, Empress Song was angry and hated. She fell ill in the cold palace and died soon after.

After her death, the Song Clan was shattered, and there was no one to collect the body. Emperor Ling did not care about the relationship between the Nian and his wife, and actually did not collect the Song Clan's body.

In the end, those in the palace who had been favored by the Queen Song and Song's father and son and the Xiao Huangmen took pity on them, and together they paid for the remains of the three father and son, and hastily buried them.

In the end, Cao Chi failed to save his daughter, lost his official position, and became a commoner. He almost lost his life and was driven back to his hometown.

Cao Song originally served as Dahonglu, but now he has been changed to Dasinong.

Cao Cao and Song Qi had close contacts. Originally, Wang Fu wanted to attack Cao Cao, but Cao Song asked Lu Qiang to protect Cao Cao from death.

Wang Fu knew that his attack this time was too ruthless, and it hurt the hearts of many people, so he did not kill Cao Cao, but deposed Cao Cao's position as the commander of Dunqiu, and demoted Cao Cao to a commoner.

The political turmoil after the abolition this time can be said to be a political conflict between the eunuchs and the clan of their foreign relatives, and it has little to do with the scholars.

Therefore, the scholars were not harmed, but the Song family's relatives and people who had close contacts with the Song family were harmed.

But because Wang Fu was too ruthless, Song's relationship with other eunuchs was not bad, and he had a good reputation.

Wang Fu exterminated the Song clan out of personal grudges. The man killed the woman and sent him into exile. One of them was not kept, which made the rest of the eunuchs feel very dissatisfied, and even had a feeling of sadness.

They began to think about making Wang Fu pay some price. This man was already obsessed with power and began to attack his own people.

But before they tried to kill Wang Fu, not many days, in late October, a solar eclipse occurred.

Some people feel the opportunity is coming.

According to Dong Zhongshu's theory of induction between heaven and man, the occurrence of astronomical visions in the sky is a manifestation of the emperor's delinquency. The emperor needs to self-examine whether he has made a mistake.

And during this period, what could be considered a mistake was the death of Empress Song.

Emperor Ling had always felt uneasy about the tragic death of Empress Song, but when he suddenly encountered a solar eclipse, he was greatly panicked and quickly asked the close officials around him what was the cause.

According to the rules, when an astronomical vision occurs, the Eastern Han Dynasty will dismiss one of the three princes in place of the Son of Heaven to respond to the warning from heaven.

And the one who was dismissed was often the titular Taiwei, so Taiwei Chen Qiu poured blood mold and was removed.

But this matter was not over yet. Emperor Ling had a ghost in his heart and actually had a dream about Emperor Huan scolding him for wronging Queen Song. This is not the key, the key is that the content of the dream has come out.

This is a crucial political signal.

So an official who was specially promoted by Emperor Ling came on the stage - the current commander of Sili, Yang Qiu.

Chapter 38 Guo Peng's Letter to Que

Yang Qiu is a special person because he has a special identity.

He has a concubine who is the daughter of Cheng Huang, the permanent attendant.

And he himself was dissatisfied with the eunuchs and considered himself a scholar.

After Lingdi's dream came out, some people said that Wang Fu would not live long.

Wang Fu really didn't live long, he died soon.

Just a few months after that, at the beginning of the second year of Guanghe, Wang Fu died.

Wang Fu's downfall was very sudden. It was only after Yang Qiu had an audience with Emperor Ling that Wang Fu was arrested.

His henchmen and godsons were also arrested, including Duan Jong, the former Taiwei and one of the Sanming of Liangzhou.

There is no doubt that Yang Qiu was a cruel official who abused Wang Fu and his son in every possible way. Wang Ji begged Yang Qiu not to be so cruel to Wang Fu, but Yang Qiu was even more cruel. A few pieces, with the words "Tie Chen Wang Fu" written on them, were discarded on the side of Luoyang Road.

Duan Jie, who had made great military exploits, stabbed himself in prison.

Wang Fu's party was wiped out in one breath, no one rescued him, and he was abandoned.

Yang Qiu suddenly became a model-level official who punished eunuchs, and he was in the limelight for a while.

Originally, he might be able to maintain his position and power, but he seemed to be carried away by the temporary victory, a little flirtatious, out of control, not ready to stop, but to expand the matter.

He also wanted to attack Cao Jie, the great eunuch.

At this moment, Guo Peng, who had been straying from the incident and had to stray from the incident, found a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity——

Cai Yong was targeted by Yang Qiu for some reason.

Yang Qiu, together with his political allies Liu He, Chen Qiu and Liu Na, wrote a letter to frame Cai Yong and put Cai Yong in prison. He was arrested together with Cai Yong, as well as Cai Yong's uncle, Wei Wei Cai Zhi. .

Later, it came out that the relevant authorities believed that the two should be "abandoned".

After Cai Yong was arrested, the first person who couldn't sit still was Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi and Yang Puma Riju and others tried their best to rescue Cai Yong, but with little success. During this period, Yang Qiu's arrogance was very arrogant. , there is a lot of disregard for the posture.

Through Lu Zhi's relationship, Guo Peng learned that Cai Yong was targeted because of his personal grievance with the current Situ Liu He, and that Cai Yong's uncle Cai Zhi had a personal grievance with Yang Qiu.

Yang Qiu took Ling Lai as soon as he had power in his hands, and was about to use Chen Liu and Cai Shi to operate.