Novel scene
He Jin Plots to Purge the Eunuchs 何國舅謀誅宦豎
About this event
He Jin Plots to Purge the Eunuchs is the latter scene of the Chapter 2 title of the Romance, "Zhang Yide, enraged, flogs the inspector; Imperial Uncle He plots to purge the eunuchs." It portrays the course of events from the time Emperor Ling fell gravely ill in the 4th month, summer, of the 6th year of Zhongping (189), through He Jin, the empress's elder brother, setting up the Heir Apparent Bian and trying to do away with the eunuchs, to his running into Empress He's opposition and sending a call to arms to the garrisons of every region on Yuan Shao's plan. Romance, Ch. 2 §36–37 · 41 · 52–53
Chen Shou's text has the same outline. The Biography of Yuan Shao and the Annals of Emperor Wu record that He Jin planned with Yuan Shao to kill the eunuchs but, when the Empress Dowager would not go along, summoned Dong Zhuo in order to intimidate her, and the biography of Chen Lin attached to volume 21 records that the Registrar Chen Lin remonstrated at this time but He Jin did not accept his advice. The troops summoned in this way lead on to Dong Zhuo Enters the Capital. Records, Wei 6 §34Records, Wei 1 §5Records, Wei 21 §13–14
In the Romance
In Chapter 2 of the Romance, in the 4th month, summer, of the 6th year of Zhongping (189), Emperor Ling, gravely ill, summons the General-in-Chief He Jin to the palace to discuss what is to follow. He Jin, from a family of butchers, had gained power when his younger sister bore the imperial son Bian and became empress, but Emperor Ling wished to set up the imperial son Xie, born to Meiren Wang, and the Regular Palace Attendant Jian Shuo memorializes that to set up Xie he must first kill He Jin. Warned at the palace gate by the Major Pan Yin, He Jin returns and gathers the high officials intending to kill all the eunuchs, and when Cao Cao tries to stop him, saying that if the matter leaks they will suffer the extermination of their clans, he is rebuked. Romance, Ch. 2 §36–39
When Emperor Ling dies, Yuan Shao, Colonel Director of Retainers, offers to enter the palace with five thousand elite troops, and He Jin, with He Yong, Xun You, Zheng Tai and some thirty other high officials, sets up the Heir Apparent Bian as emperor before Emperor Ling's coffin. Jian Shuo flees into the imperial garden and is killed by the Regular Palace Attendant Guo Sheng. When Yuan Shao proposes using this momentum to kill all the eunuchs, Zhang Rang and the others appeal to Empress He, and He Jin, after hearing the Empress Dowager, backs down, saying he will exterminate only Jian Shuo's family. Romance, Ch. 2 §40–44
When Empress Dong, as Zhang Rang and the others advise, enfeoffs the imperial son Xie as Prince of Chenliu and her elder brother Dong Chong as General of Agile Cavalry, she quarrels with Empress He, and in the end He Jin has Empress Dong removed to Hejian and surrounds Dong Chong's house with troops, driving him to take his own life. In the 6th month he secretly sends someone to poison Empress Dong. Meanwhile Zhang Rang and Duan Gui send bribes to He Jin's younger brother He Miao and their mother Wuyangjun and regain favor. Romance, Ch. 2 §44–50
Yuan Shao urges He Jin to seize this chance to do away with the eunuchs, but Empress He refuses, saying that the eunuchs' management of the palace is the old custom of the Han. When Yuan Shao proposes summoning heroes from all quarters to bring their troops to the capital, He Jin promptly sends out the call to arms. The Registrar Chen Lin, citing the proverb "covering one's eyes to catch swallows and sparrows," tries to stop him, saying it is like gripping a spear upside down and handing the hilt to another, but He Jin laughs it off as a coward's view. At that moment the man beside him who claps his hands and laughs aloud that this business is as easy as turning over one's palm is Cao Cao. Romance, Ch. 2 §50–55
Where the Romance differs
The plan to summon Dong Zhuo: In Chapter 2 of the Romance, it is Yuan Shao who proposes summoning outside troops to the capital, and He Jin follows him. The Biography of Yuan Shao in the Records says that Yuan Shao urged He Jin two or three times to settle the matter then and there but He Jin did not agree, and both the biography of Dong Zhuo and the Annals of Emperor Wu record the summoning of Dong Zhuo only as He Jin's doing. Romance, Ch. 2 §53Records, Wei 6 §34 · 5Records, Wei 1 §5
Jian Shuo's death: In Chapter 2 of the Romance, when Yuan Shao comes in to seize him, Jian Shuo flees into the imperial garden and is killed by the Regular Palace Attendant Guo Sheng. The Biographies of the Two Gongsuns, Tao and the Four Zhangs in Records of Wei 8 record that when Emperor Ling died, Jian Shuo was killed by He Jin. Romance, Ch. 2 §42Records, Wei 8 §31
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.