Why Eunuchs Grew Stronger After Liang Ji Fell

After Liang Ji was removed, Eastern Han did not return to clean government; eunuch power expanded instead.

Emperor Huan had finally destroyed Liang Ji with help from eunuchs. The Liang family collapsed, and the court seemed to have survived a great danger.

But the next power settled even closer to the emperor.

A Brief Loosening After the Liang Clan Fell

After Liang Ji was executed, Emperor Huan did several things that looked promising.

He confiscated Liang property into the state treasury, reduced that year's rent taxes across the empire by half, and gave Liang Ji's gardens to commoners for cultivation.

The Liang group had controlled court for many years and placed dozens of relatives and clients in high office. Once they were cleared out, many positions opened.

To show that old wrongs might be repaired, Emperor Huan issued an order searching for Li Gu's descendants.

Years earlier, when Li Gu knew disaster was coming, he had sent his three sons back home. His youngest, Li Xie, was only thirteen.

Li Gu's daughter Li Wenji guessed that the Liang family would not spare them. She hid Li Xie and spread word that he had returned to Luoyang.

Soon Li Gu was killed. His two older sons also died in prison. Officials searched for Li Xie but could not find him.

Li Wenji entrusted her brother to their father's student Wang Cheng. Wang Cheng took Li Xie south to Xuzhou. Li Xie changed his name and worked in an inn. Wang Cheng told fortunes in the street. In public they appeared unrelated, but in secret they stayed connected.

They hid like this for more than ten years.

Only after Liang Ji fell did Li Xie reveal his identity and return home to mourn his father. When brother and sister met, they held each other and wept.

Li Wenji then warned him. The Li family had almost been exterminated. In the future he should close his gate and avoid attacking the Liang family, because when Liang Ji killed Li Gu, the emperor had also approved it.

Li Xie obeyed her and stayed in retirement.

Emperor Huan's search for Li Gu's heir gave the old case a little justice. It did not make scholars trust the court again.

Scholars Refused to Come Out

After Liang Ji's death, one famous scholar was summoned to office and refused to go.

People in his village urged him to serve. He answered that scholars accepted state salary in order to realize political ideals. But could the emperor reduce the thousands of palace women? Could he reduce the ten thousand horses in the imperial stables? Could he remove the powerful favorites at his side?

Everyone said no.

Then the scholar asked what good it would do for him to go alive and be carried home dead. Li Gu was the warning.

Liang Ji was dead, but the emperor still loved pleasure, and powerful favorites still crowded around him.

After removing Liang Ji, Emperor Huan made Consort Deng empress. Her father was posthumously honored as General of Chariots and Cavalry. Her mother became Lady of Kunyang. Her nephews received marquis titles. Many Deng relatives became palace gentlemen and generals, with rewards counted in hundreds of millions.

But Deng fortunes did not last long.

Emperor Huan's harem was enormous. Empress Deng was proud and jealous, and she and Consort Guo slandered each other. Emperor Huan grew angry, deposed Empress Deng, and she died in grief. Several Deng relatives were arrested and executed.

The rise and fall of this Deng branch lasted only three or four years and had limited effect on politics.

The real winners were the eunuchs who helped Emperor Huan destroy Liang Ji.

The Five Marquises Appeared

Liang Ji had fallen through a secret plan made in a toilet room. The eunuchs who joined the plot now shared the victory.

Emperor Huan made Shan Chao, Xu Huang, Ju Yuan, Zuo Guan, and Tang Heng marquises in one stroke. Shan Chao received twenty thousand households. The other four each received ten thousand. People called them the Five Marquises.

The palace attendant Hou Lan, because he had presented silk to the emperor, was also made an inner marquis. Junior eunuchs such as Liu Pu and Zhao Zhong received township marquis titles.

From this point, power and prestige rapidly shifted toward eunuchs.

The Five Marquises were especially greedy and undisciplined. Many people had thought a huge stone had been lifted when Liang Ji died. They soon realized that the emperor's new favorites were also hard to endure.

Repeated disasters appeared. The scholar Li Yun submitted a blunt memorial to Emperor Huan and sent copies to the Three Excellencies.

He said Liang Ji deserved death, but the emperor had merely summoned household servants to remove him. Now those eunuchs were being showered with marquisates of ten thousand households. How could frontier soldiers not feel cold when they heard it?

Li Yun also said offices were confused, flatterers rose through bribery, and government teaching was collapsing.

Emperor Huan was furious and ordered Li Yun arrested.

A low official named Du Zhong grieved over Li Yun's loyal remonstrance and asked to die on the same day with him. Emperor Huan grew even angrier and sent both to the law authorities. Chen Fan, Yang Bing, and others submitted pleas, but they were demoted or sent home.

Li Yun and Du Zhong both died in prison.

Eunuch Relatives Ran Wild Locally

After Li Yun and Du Zhong died, eunuchs and their associates became more arrogant.

Shan Chao's son Shan Kuang served as governor of Jiyin Commandery. Relying on his father's influence, he was greedy and violent.

The inspector of Yanzhou, Diwu Zhong, investigated him and found illicit wealth of fifty or sixty million cash. He submitted a memorial accusing Shan Kuang and impeaching Shan Chao.

Shan Kuang feared the investigation would be proven. He sent assassins after the investigators. The attempt failed, and the assassin was put in prison in Luoyang.

Then Shan Kuang feared that the Henan governor Yang Bing would pursue the matter. He secretly arranged for the assassin to escape.

In the end, Shan Kuang did not receive the punishment he deserved. Instead, the men Diwu Zhong sent to investigate were punished.

Shan Chao died early. Emperor Huan remembered his merit in killing Liang Ji and gave him an imperial coffin, imperial doctors, and cavalry from the Five Camps for his funeral. A master builder was assigned to construct the tomb.

The remaining marquises became even more arrogant.

A popular song said that Zuo could turn back Heaven, Ju sat alone, Xu was a crouching tiger, and Tang fell twice. The lines mocked the terrifying influence of these men.

They competed in building mansions. Their processions had carriages, horses, and guards. Their brothers, in-laws, and relatives plundered the provinces.

Many common people had no road left except banditry.

Hou Lan and several junior eunuchs held estates near the border of Jibei Kingdom. Their slaves and clients robbed travelers. The chancellor of Jibei arrested and executed dozens, displaying their bodies at the roadside.

Hou Lan and the others complained to Emperor Huan. The chancellor was summoned back to Luoyang, sent to the law authorities, and dismissed.

Officials everywhere understood the lesson. If a eunuch stood behind someone, even lawful local enforcement could ruin the official first.

Ministers Submitted Memorials, and Eunuchs Retaliated

Some court officials still tried to stop the expansion.

Zhu Mu submitted a memorial saying that by Han custom, palace attendants did not have to be eunuchs. Scholars could also be selected for those posts. If all the emperor's intimate attendants were eunuchs, government would suffer.

Emperor Huan did not accept the idea. Zhu Mu then proposed dismissing eunuchs, which enraged the emperor. From then on, eunuchs repeatedly found ways to attack him. Zhu Mu died in resentment.

Kou Rong also drew eunuch hostility.

Kou Rong was aloof and rarely dealt with powerful people. His nephew had married Emperor Huan's sister, and Emperor Huan had taken Kou Rong's granddaughter as a consort. The Kou family was related to the emperor, which made eunuchs even more suspicious.

The eunuchs jointly framed Kou Rong. He was removed from office and sent back to his home commandery with his clan. Local officials then continued pressuring him according to the wishes of powerful people at court.

Afraid that he had nowhere to appeal, Kou Rong tried to travel to the capital and defend himself. On the road, the inspector of Youzhou added another charge, saying he had left a frontier commandery without permission.

Emperor Huan ordered his arrest. Kou Rong fled for years, and even general amnesties did not clear him.

While fleeing, he submitted a memorial saying he was innocent and had been trapped by wicked men. If he stopped, he would be destroyed; if he kept moving, he remained a fugitive. He asked that only he be punished and that his brothers be spared.

Emperor Huan grew even angrier and ordered Kou Rong executed. The Kou family declined from that point.

Hou Lan's Case Brought a Wave of Purges

This dark situation lasted until 165.

Hou Lan's younger brother Hou Can served as inspector of Yizhou and was violent and greedy. Grand Commandant Yang Bing impeached him according to law.

The court sent a prison cart to bring Hou Can back to the capital. He killed himself on the road.

His stolen property was also sent to Luoyang. The gold, silver, brocade, and silk filled more than three hundred carts.

Yang Bing used the moment to submit another memorial. Eunuchs, he said, were supposed to serve inside the palace and guard doors. Now they were excessively favored. Their residences imitated royal palaces, and their wealth rivaled the imperial house.

Hou Lan should no longer remain near the emperor.

Once the memorial was submitted, many officials echoed it.

Emperor Huan had no choice but to dismiss Hou Lan. The capital inspector also impeached Zuo Guan and his brothers. Zuo Guan and his brothers eventually killed themselves.

Then Ju Yuan's elder brother was summoned back to Luoyang for corruption. Ju Yuan went to the law authorities to admit fault, surrendered the seal of Marquis of Dongwu, and was demoted to Marquis of Duxiang.

The titles of the Shan Chao, Xu Huang, and Tang Heng lines were also reduced.

The Five Marquises faction was struck. The court seemed to breathe again.

Emperor Huan Had His Own Problems

But cutting down some eunuchs did not restart Eastern Han politics.

Emperor Huan himself was not a ruler who could restrain himself for long. After removing Liang Ji, he gave excessive rewards to eunuchs. His harem contained thousands of women, and government often stood behind pleasure.

Chen Fan once submitted a memorial saying that Emperor Gaozu had established that only men with merit should be made marquises. Now titles were granted casually, and several members of one family could become marquises.

The harem, Chen Fan continued, held thousands of women who ate meat, wore silk, and consumed cosmetics and fabric beyond counting. People said that a family with five daughters would become poor. How much more would a state suffer from supporting thousands of palace women?

Emperor Huan felt ashamed and released five hundred palace women.

But five hundred was only a gesture when the original number was so large.

Another time, Emperor Huan asked a minister what kind of ruler he was. The minister answered that among Han emperors, he was probably middling. When upright men such as Chen Fan handled affairs, the state could be governed. When palace attendants and junior eunuchs took part, the state became chaotic.

Emperor Huan admitted fault and said he would draw near to worthy men and distance petty ones.

The sentence did not change his habits.

In 165, after the Five Marquises were checked, upright scholars briefly saw hope. It did not last.

Soon Eastern Han would enter a political persecution that lasted for years. This time, the target would not be one minister or one family, but the scholar-official community itself.