After He Di, the situation of alternate dictatorship of consorts and eunuchs appeared on the political stage in the Eastern Han Dynasty. After Emperor Huan ascended the throne, he used the power of eunuchs to eradicate Liang Yi, a consort who had been in power for a long time. Since then, the eunuch group has risen again and manipulated the imperial power for 30 years. These eunuchs are described as "no different from thieves", spreading henchmen, planting cronies everywhere, and wantonly searching for people's wealth and cream.
The first time was in 166, the ninth year of Emperor Yan Xi. At that time, Captain Li Si was in charge of picketing officials in the capital and Mars, an official in a nearby county. They did not dare to avoid the important, which violated the law. In the past, Zhang Shuo, the younger brother of the great eunuch Zhang Rang, was greedy for money and even abused pregnant women when he was a county magistrate. Later, he fled to the activity column of Zhang Rang's house and hid. Mars personally led his men to kill them according to law. Therefore, Mars and eunuchs became enemies, but his reputation was even higher. Thai students flaunt him as "a model of the world, Li Jueqing". Scholars are proud of being able to accept it, which is called "boarding the Dragon Gate". At that time, he became the central figure in opposing eunuch chaos.
In A.D. 166, Zhang Cheng, a eunuch confidant, instigated his son to kill, and was arrested and killed by Mars. Eunuch group took the opportunity to fight back, ordering people to falsely accuse Mars and others. Under the temptation of eunuchs, Emperor Huan was furious and informed all counties and countries to arrest "party member". After Mars was arrested, more than 200 people, including some former students, were put into prison for strict interrogation. For a time, everyone was very dangerous and nervous.
The second time began in 169 and lasted for more than 10 years. Houlan, the great eunuch, relied on his power to kill people indiscriminately. At that time, Du You James Zhang of Yang Shan wrote a letter, denounced the evil of Hou Lan's family, demanded that Hou Lan be put to death, and confiscated his seized assets on the spot. Later, in order to save the country, Hou Lan instigated a fellow countryman from James Zhang to accuse James Zhang and 24 people from the same county of joining the Party. The court took this opportunity to arrest party member, and "more than 100 people died in prison." James Zhang was forced to flee to Saibei to avoid disaster.