Zhu Yuanzhang established the Jinyiwei for the purpose of controlling lawless ministers, and gave him the power to patrol and arrest. The Jinyiwei was the military and political intelligence collection agency of the Ming Dynasty. It was formerly the "Gongwei Division" established

Zhu Yuanzhang established the Jinyiwei for the purpose of controlling lawless ministers, and was given the power to patrol and arrest.

Jinyiwei was the military and political intelligence collection agency of the Ming Dynasty . It was formerly known as the "Gongwei Division" established by Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, and later It was renamed the "Qinjun Duwei Mansion" and governed the Yiluan Division, in charge of the emperor's guard of honor and bodyguards. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1382), the Duwei Mansion and Yiluan Division were abolished and replaced by Jinyiwei.

As the military institution of the emperor's bodyguard, the main functions of the Jinyiwei are to "directly control the bodyguards, patrol and arrest", and engage in activities such as reconnaissance, arrests, and interrogations. They also participated in the work of collecting military intelligence and instigating rebellion against enemy generals. For example, during the Korean War during the Wanli era, a large amount of Japanese military intelligence was collected. Its leader is called the Commander of the Imperial Guard, and is generally held by the emperor's trusted generals, who are directly responsible to the emperor. Anyone, including members of the royal family, could be arrested and interrogated in secret.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Jinyiwei continued to exist until 1661 AD. The commander of the Jinyiwei of Emperor Yongli of the Southern Ming Dynasty Ma Jixiang and the chief guard Ren Zixin were killed in the Cursed Water Disaster , which can be said to have officially ended. It has a history of 290 years. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, they followed the Ming Dynasty system and still established Jin Yiwei. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645 AD), it was renamed Luan Yiwei. The Jinyiwei of the Qing Dynasty only existed for one year. Due to the influence of the Ming Dynasty, the Hou Le Dynasty and Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam also imitated the Ming Dynasty and equipped with royal guards.

Zhu Yuanzhang set up imperial guards for the purpose of controlling lawless ministers. "History of Ming Dynasty·Criminal Law Chronicles" records: "The two cases of Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu were implicated and amounted to 40,000 people."

In order to strengthen centralized rule, Zhu Yuanzhang specially He was put in charge of the prisons and jails, and given the power of inspection and arrest, with a town and government department under him. Hongwu 20th year (AD 1387), Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Jinyiwei torture instruments to be burned, and the prisoners were transferred to the Ministry of Punishment for trial; at the same time, he ordered that all internal and external prisons be placed under the jurisdiction of the Sanfa Department for trial, and Jinyiwei was abolished. When Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty became emperor, the Jinyi Guards were restored, and the Fusi of the North Town of the Ming Dynasty was specially responsible for the imperial edicts and prisons. The two emperors of the early Ming Dynasty reused Jin Yiwei. After that, there was the Ming Dynasty, and this shortcoming was difficult to get rid of.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from a rough life, was naturally suspicious. After becoming a master, he was disturbed by unscrupulous ministers in the court, and he felt even more insecure. He was afraid that his ministers would be disloyal to him, and he was even more worried about the country and wealth he had gained through hard work. It turned into nothing. Therefore, he was always on guard and paid no attention to every move of his subordinates. Not only did he require ministers to be respectful to him in person, obey his advice, and be loyal, but his words and deeds after returning from the court must also be under his supervision and control. For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang took great pains and sent spies to patrol around, ensuring that the movements of the ministers would be reported to him as quickly as possible.

Therefore, the clever Zhu Yuanzhang decided to use Jin Yiwei to protect himself. "Shuidong Diary" once recorded such an interesting story, which typically reflects the power of Zhu Yuanzhang's spies: Minister Qian Zai was ordered to compile "Mencius' Jiewen". He worked for days and felt very tired. One day, he returned from the court. After arriving home, I had a sudden interest in poetry and wrote a poem: "With the four drums banging and my clothes rising, it's too late to meet at the Meridian Gate. When will I be able to enjoy the pastoral joy and sleep until the food in the world is ready?"

This is a letter. After the poem was completed, Qian Zai undressed and rested. Unexpectedly, when he went to court the next day, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled when he saw Qian Zai and said: "Ai Qing wrote a good poem yesterday, but I don't think it's too late for you to go to court. Did you use the word 'worry'?" What's better?" These words made Qian Zai frightened. He quickly kowtowed and apologized. He was secretly glad that he didn't talk nonsense yesterday, otherwise he would have been killed today.

If Zhu Yuanzhang only sent his cronies around to spy on his ministers' privacy, it would obviously not be enough to pose a serious deterrent to the government and the opposition. at first.The confidant spy appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang was called "Jianxiao", and his mission was to investigate and investigate the injustice and lawlessness of officials in the large and small yamen in Beijing, as well as the rumors, no matter how big or small, all reported.

On April 16, the fifteenth year of Hongwu (AD 1382), the famous Royal Secret Service Yamen, Jinyiwei, was officially launched. The so-called "guards" are the emperor's personal soldiers, but the mission of the Jinyi Guards is not mainly to protect the emperor's personal safety, but also to deal with illegal affairs. Jin Yiwei traveled with him. These gorgeously dressed men were originally just a royal guard of honor, but later gradually evolved into a feared spy agency.

The leader of the Jinyi Guard is called a commander (or a commander, or a commander). He is usually a trusted general of the emperor, and rarely a eunuch. Its function is: "Directly control the guards, patrol and arrest." A single number basically divides the Jinyiwei into two completely different departments. The Imperial Guards, who are responsible for taking charge of the bodyguards, displaying the guard of honor, and accompanying the emperor on tours, are basically the same as the traditional Imperial Guards. Among them, the more famous one is the "General of the Han Dynasty". Although these people are called "generals", they are actually only responsible for standing in the palace, delivering the emperor's orders, and also doing security work.

Of course, these people who serve are by no means ordinary people. They are generally tall and strong, with strong backs and strong waists. They are full of energy, have loud voices, and look quite majestic in appearance. For those who don’t know the details of the Ming Dynasty, they are certain. deterrent effect. As for "inspection and arrest", this is what makes the Jinyi Guard different from other imperial guards of other dynasties, and it is also the reason why it can be firmly remembered by people. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention of establishing the Jinyiwei was just to record the ceremonial guards. However, due to his wanton slaughter of heroes, he felt that the traditional judicial agencies, the Criminal Department, the Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, were not easy to use, so he changed the Jinyiwei's name to the Jinyiwei. The security function was improved, making it the emperor's personal police. The Jinyiwei agency responsible for investigating crimes is and the South and North Town Fusi . Among them, the North Town Fusi specializes in cases designated by the emperor. It has its own prison (imperial prison) and can arrest, torture, and execute on its own without going through the general judicial institutions. There are five guard posts under the North and South Town Fusi. Their commanders are called Qianhu , Baihu, Zongqi, Xiaoqi, and ordinary sergeants are called Xiaowei and Lishi.

When the captain and the strongman performed the task of catching thieves and raping, they were called "Tiqi". The number of Tiqi was at least one thousand and at most sixty thousand. The Jinyiwei Official School generally selects good citizens with strong military skills and no bad records from among the people, and then they are promoted step by step based on their abilities and qualifications. At the same time, the official position of Jinyiwei is also allowed to be hereditary.

What is good at the top will be worse at the bottom. The establishment of the Jin Yiwei provided a real place for ministers who were willing to act as the imperial minions. Many people were favored by Zhu Yuanzhang for this reason, such as Gao Jianxian, Xia Yu, Yang Xian and Ling Yue, who were all famous for their "watching and fighting", and even the most accomplished princes were afraid of them. However, they won the favor of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang once proudly said: "Only these few people are like vicious dogs, and people are afraid of them." This metaphor is very appropriate. In order to preserve the Zhu family's country, Zhu Yuanzhang took great pains and did not hesitate to use it. The method of "fighting fire with fire" uses evil methods to contain the ministers. Facts have proved that Jinyiwei was indeed Zhu Yuanzhang's effective accomplice in eradicating dissidents and massacres. Most of Zhu Yuanzhang's executions of heroes and prisons were carried out by Jin Yiwei's generals. Zhu Yuanzhang established the Jinyi Guards to monitor the illegal behavior of officials at all levels. It was impossible for the emperor himself to personally handle every case reported by the Jinyi Guard officials, so conviction and sentencing were entirely in the hands of the Jinyi Guard officials. Zhu Yuanzhang especially liked to use torture, and the Jinyi Guard officials used it in every possible way. As the old saying goes, "If you want to impose a crime, there is no excuse." Under severe punishment, if you can't die, how can you not make a false accusation? Therefore, Jinyiwei became a tool for these royal agents to vent their lust and do whatever they wanted.

In addition to investigating various intelligence and handling cases handed over by the emperor, the Jinyiwei's other famous function is to "control the imperial staff ". The imperial rod system was a torture method used by the emperor to teach disobedient scholar-bureaucrats. Once an unlucky official offended the emperor and was declared to be imprisoned, he would immediately be stripped of his official uniform, his hands tied behind his back, and taken to the Meridian Gate where the execution would take place. There, the ceremonial supervisor the palm eunuch and the commander of the Jinyiwei, one on the left and one on the right, were already ready. The victim was wrapped in a big cloth, and with the word "beat", sticks fell like raindrops on his thighs and buttocks. The executioners are Jinyiwei captains. They have received strict training and are skilled in skills. They can accurately control the life and death of the victim according to the hints of the eunuch and the commander of the Jinyiwei. If the feet of the two people are spread out like a figure eight, it means that the person under the staff can survive; on the contrary, if the toes are drawn inward, the person under the staff will only die. After the stick is used, the four corners of the cloth wrapped around the victim must be lifted up and then dropped heavily. At this time, even if the person in the cloth is not dead, half of his life is gone.

Compared with cane punishment, clamping sticks and other punishments, several torture methods that are not commonly used by factory guards can make people shudder. Among these torture methods, scrubbing, frying, pouring poison, and standing in heavy stocks can torture people to death. Life or death is worse than death.

Scrubbing: The prisoner is stripped naked and pressed on the iron bed , pouring boiling water on the prisoner's body, and then while it is hot, use an iron brush studded with iron nails to scrub the burned area vigorously until the bones are exposed. Finally until the prisoner dies.

Frying: similar to the later iron soldering iron. After heating a flat iron plate, he placed the person on it. Within a moment, the prisoner was charred.

Feeding poison: The agents feed poison once, then feed the antidote once, and then feed another poison until the prisoner is poisoned to death. The purpose is to make the prisoner taste the horror and pain of death, while the agents watch from the sidelines.

station heavy shackles : This criminal law of the Ming Dynasty was very special. People wearing shackles had to stand and were not allowed to sit or lie down. The weight of the shackles exceeds the weight of ordinary people. The heaviest shackles ever weighed 300 kilograms. After being put on the prisoners, they would be exhausted in a few days. According to unofficial records of the Ming Dynasty, the torture methods used by factory guards to kill people included skinning, shoveling, and hooking the intestines. It is said that these punishments are better than the tortures mentioned above.

The Jinyiwei were directly ordered by the emperor, and other officials had no right to interfere with their actions. Therefore, Jinyiwei actually has a supreme protective umbrella, and he is so domineering that he can even ignore the Three Laws Division. However, in order to block the eyes and ears of the people in the world, Jin Yiwei often handed over the results of the trial to the Ministry of Punishment. Therefore, in the eyes of people at the time, Jinyiwei and the "Edict Prison" became the highest criminal law trial agencies. "The judicial department can be empty, but the criminal officials are redundant!" The functions and powers of the three judicial departments were deprived by the emperor and the Jinyiwei, which actually led to the destruction of the dynasty's legal system. The legal power of the court turned out to be a tool for the Jinyiwei officials to do whatever they wanted.

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