A man named Li Wen, who bore a grudge against Zhang Tang, became an assistant in the office of the imperial secretary. Making use of the documents that passed through his hands there, he took every opportunity to make public any detail that reflected poorly on Zhang Tang and moreover ensured that he was held to account for them. Lu Yeju, a favourite secretary of Zhang Tang, got someone to report to the Emperor that Li Wen was engaged in rebellious and evil affairs. Zhang Tang was put in charge of the case and sentenced Li Wen to death. Despite knowing that the charges had been trumped up by Lu Yeju, Zhang Tang nevertheless pleaded ignorance when asked by the Emperor on who he thought to be responsible for bringing forth this accusation, responding by saying that it was probably the work of some old enemy of Li Wen's. Not long afterwards, Lu Yeju was taken ill, and Zhang Tang personally visited his bedside and massaged his legs for him. The King of
Zhao had reason to hate both men, given that the charges that he had brought against central government officials had always been dismissed by Zhang Tang and as he had himself been the subject of charges drawn up by Lu Yeju. He suggested to the Emperor that the fact that an official as high-ranking as Zhang Tang had visited and even massaged his secretary's legs was a sign that the two were engaged in planning some great crime. While these charges were being investigated, Lu Yeju died, but his brother became embroiled in the scandal and was arrested. It so happened that on one occasion, Zhang Tang was interviewing another prisoner held at the same place but pretended not to recognise Lu Yeju's brother as he hoped to use underhanded means to assist him. However, the latter was oblivious to these intentions and resented being ignored, so he revealed to the throne that Zhang Tang and Lu Yeju had been responsible for the false charges against Li Wen. Jian Xuan, an enemy of Zhang Tang, was tasked with investigating these allegations. Around the same time,
Emperor Wen's mausoleum was broken into and money offerings buried there were stolen. Zhang Tang made an agreement with Qing Di, the chancellor, that they would offer a joint apology to the Emperor for the crime, but when they appeared before him, Zhang Tang pointed out that he had no reason to apologise as the inspection of funerary parks was solely within the domain of the chancellor's duties, and thus Qing Di alone offered his apologies. Zhang Tang was tasked with the investigation afterwards and made such an attempt to prove that Qing Di had intentionally neglected to report the incident that the latter felt threatened. His chief secretaries - Zhu Maichen (a former associate of the Zhuang Zhu whose execution Zhang Tang had effected), Wang Chao and Bian Tong - informed him that Zhang Tang's actions were motivated by his ambition of replacing Qing Di as chancellor. All three detested Zhang Tang, as they were all former high-ranking officials and resented having now to treat him with reverence, and so they plotted together to bring about his downfall. They arrested a number of his merchant friends, amongst whom Tian Xin admitted that he had received insider knowledge whenever Zhang Tang was about to submit a proposal to the Emperor, thereby allowing him to hoard goods and make large profits that he would then share with Zhang Tang. When the report of Jian Xuan's investigation was submitted, the findings convinced the Emperor that he had been swindled in front of his very eyes. However, Zhang Tang denied all the claims and refused to admit any guilt when envoys were sent to present him with the charges. The Emperor subsequently dispatched Zhao Yu, who Zhang Tang treated as an elder brother, to see him. Zhao Yu berated Zhang Tang, saying that he ought to understand his own situation given that he had inflicted it upon so many others, and that the Emperor did not want to haul him off to prison but rather hoped that he would end his own life. Thus convinced, Zhang Tang penned a letter apologising for his failures and accusing the chancellor's three chief secretaries of causing his ruin, then committed suicide. After his death, it was found that his wealth amounted to no more than 500 pieces of gold, attributable to either his salary or to gifts that he had received from the Emperor. Despite his brothers' and sons' wish for an extravagant funeral, his mother objected on the basis that his negative reputation did not warrant one, and so he was taken to the cemetery in an ox cart and buried without an outer coffin. Later, the chancellor's three secretaries were charged and executed, while Qing Di himself also committed suicide. The Emperor, feeling regret for Zhang Tang's fate, gave his son
Zhang Anshi a promotion to a higher government position. == See also ==