[2] Around new year 827, Emperor Jingzong was assassinated by a group of eunuchs and officers resentful of his harsh temperament.
The conspirators initially tried to make Emperor Muzong's brother Li Wu the Prince of Jiàng emperor, but another group of eunuchs—led by the directors of palace communications Wang Shoucheng and Yang Chenghe (楊承和) and the commanders of the Shence Armies Wei Congjian (魏從簡) and Liang Shouqian (梁守謙), and Qiu, who was then a general of the Shence Army as well, was a part of this group—attacked the conspirators, killing them and Li Wu.
[5] As of 835, Emperor Wenzong was conspiring with the officials Zheng Zhu and Li Xun to slaughter the powerful eunuchs.
)[5] On December 14, 835,[6] six days before the scheduled funeral for Wang, Han reported to Emperor Wenzong, at the imperial meeting hall Zichen Hall (紫宸殿), that there had been sweet dew (甘露, ganlu in Chinese) that appeared on a pomegranate tree outside the headquarters of Zuo Jinwu (左金吾), one of the Wei Army (衛軍) headquarters—viewed as a sign of divine favor.
Emperor Wenzong then went to nearby Hanyuan Hall (含元殿) and ordered the imperial officials, including Li Xun, to examine the purported sweet dew.
Li Xun soon returned and stated that it appeared that there was no sweet dew; at Li Xun's suggestion, Emperor Wenzong ordered Qiu and his fellow Shence Army commander Yu Hongzhi (魚弘志) to lead the eunuchs in examining the sweet dew.
Qiu then ordered the Shence Army officers Liu Tailun (劉泰倫) and Wei Zhongqing (魏仲卿) to search and arrest Li Xun.
Eventually, Li Xun and his conspirators were found and executed, along with the chancellors Wang Ya, Jia Su, and Shu Yuanyu, who were not involved in the plot but whom Qiu and the other eunuchs held responsible as well.
At Qiu's order, Zheng was killed by the eunuch monitor of Fengxiang, Zhang Zhongqing (張仲卿).
From this point on, Qiu was the leading figure at the imperial court, with even Emperor Wenzong under the eunuchs' control.
[2] From thereon, few officials dared to stand up to Qiu Shiliang, although late in 835, there was an incident in which Xue Yuanshang (薛元賞) the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the region of the capital Chang'an) executed a Shence Army officer who was being disrespectful to the chancellor Li Shi, and then met Qiu to apologize.
However, after Liu Congjian the military governor of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered in modern Changzhi, Shanxi) submitted several petitions that, in harsh language, defended Wang and accused Qiu and other eunuchs of crimes, Qiu and the other eunuchs began to be apprehensive, and allowed Emperor Wenzong and the chancellors Li Shi and Zheng Tan more room to govern.
Soon thereafter, however, there was an incident when there were rumors that Emperor Wenzong was prepared to give the chancellors commands of the armies to again act against the eunuchs, and tensions rose again.
[5] Meanwhile, Qiu had been resentful of the military governor of Fufang Circuit (鄜坊, headquartered in modern Yan'an, Shaanxi), Xiao Hong (蕭洪)—who was not a real brother of Emperor Wenzong's mother Empress Dowager Xiao but pretended to be and therefore received official commissions—because Xiao had ingratiated Li Xun and, under Li Xun's protection, had refused to pay bribes that his predecessor had promised to pay the officers of the Shence Armies.
[5] As Li Shi had been willing to stand up to the eunuchs on policy issues, Qiu began to resent him deeply.
Emperor Wenzong reluctantly agreed, making Li Shi the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei) instead.
[7] Meanwhile, Qiu resented Liu Hongyi and Xue Jileng for their close association with Emperor Wenzong.
In 841 Emperor Wuzong ordered Liu and Xue to commit suicide and, initially, was set to send eunuchs to Tan Prefecture (in modern Changsha, Hunan, where Yang was then serving as governor of Hunan Circuit (湖南)) and Gui Prefecture (桂州, in modern Guilin, Guangxi, where Li Jue was then serving as the governor of Gui District (桂管)), to order Yang and Li Jue to commit suicide as well.
If he studied histories of past dynasties, he will be concerned, and he will not be close to us.The other eunuchs thanked him and bowed to him before leaving.