How did the eunuch Huang Hao gain power step by step? Why didn't Zhuge Liang get rid of him to avoid future troubles?

When Huang Hao was getting rich, Zhuge Liang had been dead for who knows how many years. How could Zhuge Liang think of getting rid of a little eunuch who had never heard of it when he was still alive?

Although history books do not record when Huang Hao came to his later master Liu Chan, we can at least know from the existing records that when Zhuge Liang was alive, Huang Hao was definitely not "prominent" yet. Just an ordinary eunuch. The evidence is as follows: The queen grew up and fell in love with the eunuch Huang Hao. Hao then turned away from Ren Hui and wanted to admit himself. If Yun Chang goes up, he will uphold the color of Kuangzhu, and if he goes down, he will take responsibility for Hao. Hao is afraid of permission and will not do anything wrong. In the end of Yun's life, Hao's position will not be higher than that of Huang Mencheng.

The above is the record in "Three Kingdoms? Dong Yun Biography", which tells that as Liu Chan grew older, he favored the eunuch Huang Hao. However, Dong Yun often corrected Liu Chan's mistakes and scolded Huang Hao severely. Therefore, Huang Hao was very afraid of Dong Yun and did not dare to do anything wrong. Until Dong Yun's death, Huang Hao could only hold the official position of Huang Mencheng at most.

Although Zhuge Liang is not mentioned in the above record, Dong Yun is mentioned. When Dong Yun was alive, Huang Hao never had the courage to do evil, but he only became a minor official like Huang Mencheng. Huangmencheng is the deputy of Huangmenling. Huangmenling is the official in charge of the eunuchs in the palace. His salary is only 600 shi, so Huangmencheng is naturally even lower. In ancient times, only those with more than 2,000 dan were considered high-ranking officials. Huang Mencheng is such a small person. And when is this? When Dong Yun died.

Dong Yun died in the ninth year of Yanxi (246), and Zhuge Liang died in the twelfth year of Jianxing (234). In other words, twelve years after Zhuge Liang's death, Huang Hao was still insignificant. As a minor official, if we push it forward for more than twelve years, it is hard to say whether he has entered the palace or not! Even if he entered the palace, he would probably be just a little handyman serving tea and water, spreading tables and sweeping the floor. To find out that there was something wrong with him, Zhuge Liang would have been so boring. He ignored so many military and state affairs and stayed in the harem every day to check them one by one. How is the little eunuch's character? Isn’t it ridiculous to blame Zhuge Liang for this matter?

After saying that Zhuge Liang has nothing to do with Huang Hao’s dictatorship, let’s talk about how he rose to power step by step. As mentioned before, Liu Chan was particularly fond of him because he "disobeys the wisdom of others and wants to accommodate himself", which means that he flatters Liu Chan and deliberately wants to climb up. So he gained Liu Chan's trust.

Dong Yun was able to suppress him when he was there (Dong Yun's official position at that time was Shi Zhongshu Shangshu Ling, and he could manage the affairs of the inner palace and outer court at the same time). After Dong Yun's death, Chen Zhi, who succeeded Dong Yun, no longer suppressed Huang Hao, and Huang Hao was promoted to Huangmenling and became the leader of the eunuchs. Chen Zhi was able to better obtain power, so he colluded with Huang Hao, helping each other outside and inside, and won Liu Chan's trust. Huang Hao has also participated in government affairs since then. This kind of collusion between internal and external officials has been common in all dynasties since Zhao Gaolisi of the Qin Dynasty.

After Chen Zhi passed away, Huang Hao was promoted from a Huangmenling who could only manage eunuchs to a member of the emperor's immediate ministers who participated in the decision-making of government affairs. He also took advantage of Liu Chan's trust and monopolized power. Even Liu Chan's younger brother Liu Yong couldn't stand Huang Hao, so he slandered him and excluded him, and he couldn't see Liu Chan for more than ten years.

Another skill of Huang Hao is that he knows how to find backers and can take advantage of conflicts among ministers to benefit himself. For example, Jiang Wei was strict with him and intended to eliminate him. However, because Jiang Wei was away for a long time, Huang Hao was able to make friends with Zhuge Zhan and Dong Jue, who were at odds with him and were also quite powerful, to protect him in the court. Shangshu Ling Fan Jian had a high status in the court and did not make friends with him. Huang Hao did not confront him head-on, but stayed away from him, and they lived in peace with each other.

Therefore, for eunuchs to rise to power, they often need to have two basic conditions: being ingratiating with the emperor and being good at handling relationships with ministers. Huang Hao obviously knew this well, and in the end he was like a fish in water. He had smooth sailing in the court and acted arrogantly, which ultimately caused the Shu Han to suffer a lot. But even so, he could escape. Deng Ai wanted to kill him after he destroyed Shu, but Huang Hao bribed the people around Deng Ai, and he was safe in the end. Such communication skills can be considered a talent.