Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
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In the second and third chapters of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, He Jin and Yuan Shao made a series of erroneous decisions in the critical struggle to eliminate the eunuchs and control imperial power, including exterminating all eunuchs and summoning Dong Zhuo to the capital.
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Since the reign of Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a vicious cycle of alternating dominance between maternal relatives and eunuchs had taken shape. By the time of Emperors Huan and Ling, the eunuch faction led by Cao Jie and Wang Fu (precursors to the Ten Regular Attendants) monopolized court affairs, sold official…