The image of eunuchs in paintings of the Ming Dynasty
But less than twenty years later, starting from his son Zhu Di, he left his "family rules and national laws" behind, began to trust eunuchs, and played an important role in politics and politics. Entrusted with important diplomatic and military responsibilities.
"In the Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs had great powers such as sending envoys, conducting expeditions, supervising the army, dividing towns, and assassinating the subjects, all of which began in Yongle ." "History of the Ming Dynasty" (Eunuch Biography·Preface)
Why is this like this?
" Chronicles of the Ming Dynasty " records: "Yan had an internal official named Gou'er, and he was also brave. He led thousands of Hua Hua to fight together on the north bank of the river. Baihu Gu Yun entered the battle and was ranked seventh. The king personally led his troops to attack and killed Thousands of people commanded He Qing to be executed. "There is also a description of the Nanjing eunuch offering advice, "the middle official was deposed and came to run, indicating that the capital was empty and desirable."
The root cause of Zhu Di's "Jingnan Battle". once received help from the eunuchs around Zhu Yunwen , such as surrendering and leaking secrets. As the saying goes, never forget the man who dug the well. Zhu Di regarded the eunuchs as "his wife" and relied heavily on them. On the contrary, he did not care about his generals and civil servants. trust. The young eunuch Zheng He who had been following him when he started the army (yes, he was the one who later went to the Western Seas), had a flexible mind and often made suggestions. Zhu Di always took him for training during the war, and even the eunuch beside Zhu Di during the Jingnan Campaign There are also records of leading troops to fight, all showing Zhu Di's trust in the eunuch group, creating a political atmosphere in which eunuchs were reused in the next 200 years.
The image of eunuchs in art paintings
Zhu Di also set up a special Dongchang to conduct spying and surveillance and other spy activities, and arranged for eunuchs to serve as general managers, which greatly gave the eunuchs (eunuchs) practical power. During the period of XuanzongZhu Zhanji of the Ming Dynasty, a library was even set up in the palace to teach eunuchs how to read and write. This broke the tradition established by Zhu Yuanzhang that eunuchs were not allowed to read, and provided a breeding ground for the subsequent eunuch dictatorship.
According to records, the important position in the inner study hall was held by the ceremonial supervisor . In the inner study hall, the young eunuchs who enter the palace are eliminated by the survival of the fittest. During the training process, if they have not read "Hundred Family Surnames", " Thousand Character Essay ", "The Book of Filial Piety", " Four Books " etc. , those with poor grades will only become ordinary eunuchs, while those with good grades will be assigned to many important positions, such as , royal horse eunuch, , internal eunuch, etc.
From then on, the eunuch group became a key role on the political stage of the Ming Dynasty, and gradually evolved from being sent to participate in activities to acting as a dictatorship.
02
There was a special situation in the Ming Dynasty. The emperors from the middle to the following ones grew up in small palaces and were accompanied by a eunuch for a long time. The princes at such a young age were actually just children and did not develop independent values and a complete mind. In addition, the palace rules are strict, and it is easy to be squeezed and reprimanded. Over time, a person will become dependent on the eunuchs around him.
Once they become emperor, young emperors are often afraid of ministers. These ministers will write memorials to accuse the emperor of what he has not done well. Moreover, there are many affairs in the world, and if they are not handled properly, they will attract criticism. At this time, the emperor It is easier for them to turn to the eunuchs they have long trusted and followed for help.
Ming Dynasty Eunuch Clothes
The ideal is correct. If we had a friend who grew up playing with us when we were young, it would definitely be an old friend, not to mention accompanying him to the throne. There were so many uncertain moments of life and death, this kind of The natural sense of trust cannot be compared to the ordinary master-servant relationship. In fact, many eunuchs in power were very protective and caring towards the emperor, such as Feng Bao, who accompanied Wanli throughout his childhood. He tried his best to protect the little prince from harm, and had the same affection as father and son. Wanli also called Feng Bao his father-in-law. "Big companion", dependent on one's parents.
So by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, as the political product of the emperor's balancing of the civil servant system, eunuchs' status and power increased day by day. The situation of eunuch dictatorship, controlling the main affairs of the government, and even controlling the emperor is irreversible.
The earliest eunuch power is usually believed to have appeared in the period of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the famous eunuch Wang Zhen.Wang Zhen relied on the merits of accompanying him during his childhood, as well as Ming Yingzong's love for him and his own calculations, and he successfully took the most powerful position among the eunuchs, the eunuch and the eunuch. As Wang Zhen secretly trained and manipulated the young Ming Yingzong, now commonly known as "PUA", Wang Zhen gradually established a prestige for himself, and took the opportunity to attack those who were dissatisfied, thus opening up a situation where eunuchs had exclusive power.
He also single-handedly planned, directed and performed the "Homecoming Show", but he failed, resulting in the Ming army's Tumu Fort defeat, the main force was destroyed, many important ministers were killed in the battle, and Ming Yingzong was captured. After this incident, Yu Qian and other ministers were full of disgust towards the eunuch group. Emperor Jingjing of the Ming Dynasty had always been wary of eunuchs, and the status of eunuchs once fell to the bottom.
Until the reign of Xianzong Zhu Jianshen, because he was addicted to having fun, hated dealing with official duties, and favored the eunuchs around him, he once again gave the eunuchs an opportunity. At this time, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty established the West Factory, and gave full power to the eunuch Wang Zhi. He never asked questions, which made Wang Zhifei domineering and arrogant. Those who flattered him and bribed him to gain pleasure were promoted. Those who disobeyed and resisted were killed and arrested indiscriminately, which greatly intensified social conflicts and political corruption.
This section about the eunuchs of the West Factory in the movie "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" was once depicted in the famous movie "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate". Chen Kun played the leader of the West Factory. Yuhuatian refers to Wang Zhi. That famous sentence "What is the West Factory?" It also refers to the situation in which the West Factory was more powerful than the East Factory at that time.
During the Ming Wuzong period, Emperor Zhengde was absurd and willful, coveting the "Leopard Room". At this time, another eunuch group headed by Liu Jin emerged. Liu Jin took advantage of Emperor Zhengde's lack of interest in government affairs and his lust for play. He offered various rare treasures to confuse the emperor, then controlled and monopolized government affairs, and even took over the review of memorials. If there is a memorial below when going to court, it must first be handed over to Liu Jin for review and processing, and then Liu Jin will draft opinions and submit them to the emperor for approval. At that time, in addition to "Emperor Zhu", people also knew that there was an "Emperor Liu".
Wei Zhongxian in film and television works
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Xizong simply did not go to court. All government affairs, large and small, were handled by the "minister" Wei Zhongxian. , Daxing prison. When he was extremely victorious, hundreds of officials flattered him and called him "nine thousand nine hundred years old". People from all over the country took the initiative to build shrines to him, and for a time they knew the loyal and worthy people but did not know the emperor.
Such a situation was exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang, who founded the Ming Dynasty, had never imagined. The person who was most taboo about the power of eunuchs ended up creating a dynasty that ended up being ridiculed as the "Eunuch Empire".
03
The biggest negative impact of the Ming Dynasty eunuchs on the country was their control of the empire's economy.
The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang came from a lower class background. He had seen all the suffering in the world since he was a child. In order to win the reputation of "light corvee and small taxes" and stabilize the foundation of his rule, he worked hard to recover the economy. Therefore, in the early Ming Dynasty, he was very restrained in collecting taxes from farmers. The court The tax rate enacted is very low in history. According to statistics, it is about 4%. (The agricultural tax rate in the four dynasties of Tang, Song, Yuan and Qing was about 7%.)
The image of Ming Dynasty eunuchs in film and television works
However, such a low agricultural tax rate suppressed the development of industry and commerce, and later implemented a sea ban. It will undoubtedly make the entire Ming Dynasty's finances stretched. The entire Ming Dynasty's financial system is deformed. In the end, the Ming Dynasty also died from a weak financial system.
The finances were not adequate, and the king's life was not adequate, so the emperor was very distressed.
The reason is also very simple. The Ming Dynasty emperors spent a lot of money on eating, drinking, eating, drinking, playing, and giving rewards and hobbies. Correspondingly, defense expenditures and government operating costs were also not small. It is impossible for the treasury to be compressed to meet the needs of the emperor first, otherwise the courtiers would spray it to death.
Therefore, the Ming emperor could only find other ways besides the prescribed tax rate.
As time went on, and population, agriculture, and trade activities gradually recovered, local governments at all levels invariably increased additional tax revenue. This was also an open secret in the Ming Dynasty, from local to central government.
But if the emperor wants to increase the tax burden alone, this is a private matter of the emperor's family, and the civil servants must never know about it, so what should we do? The only option is to be a eunuch. Because of this need, eunuchs not only became the spokespersons of imperial power in politics, but also became the spokespersons of imperial power in the economic field. Then, under the assignment of the emperor, they bypassed the national financial institutions and obtained wealth at various points.
The eunuchs from the inner palace accompany and play the pot throwing game
There are also various routines and tricks. The eunuchs have their hands on everything from coastal customs duties, inland road taxes, to salt and mineral taxes, and the weaving bureau to make a living. They even began to control the procurement of military supplies, as well as foreign tribute trade matters, which involved buying and selling, and countless profits were made to the country. The source of wealth became the source of wealth for the imperial power. Eunuchs have become entities that compete with local and even central government objective facts for money. It can be said that the eunuchs at this time have become a special form of bureaucratic group in the Ming Dynasty.
During the Wuzong period of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs began to be directly responsible for tax collection across the country, and continuously added tax subjects, such as setting up " banknotes " on the Yangtze River and canals to collect taxes on ships. In addition, the eunuchs also took advantage of all available opportunities to overfulfill their tasks. For example, during the Jiajing period, the imperial eunuch Huang Jin asked for 200,000 taels from Wuhu in the name of building a dragon bed. Cost of buying wood.
"History of the Ming Dynasty" Volume 304 records: "There are tax supervisors in all cities in Tongdu, salt supervisors in Huaihe and Huaihe Rivers, and pearl supervisors in Guangdong, either specially dispatched or part-time supervisors." The wealth collected by local eunuchs was returned to the emperor and senior eunuchs by donating it to the royal family and bribing powerful eunuchs, forming a special industrial chain and interest chain. The local eunuchs made a lot of money, the senior eunuchs were happy with their filial piety, and the emperor did not worry about spending money. These people lived a very prosperous life.
During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Jin, the great eunuch, was "arrogant and arrogant" and had overwhelming power. It is said that when Liu Jin's home was ransacked for treason, he found "a total of 1,257,800 taels of gold and a total of silver". Twenty-five thousand five hundred and eighty-three thousand eight hundred taels" ("Ji Shi Wen"), other precious items are not included. If the records are correct, the amount is a unique example in the history of corruption.
Then the emperor knew that the eunuchs were so evil and harmful to society? Isn't the emperor afraid that the eunuchs will cause chaos in the world and threaten their rule?
In fact, judging from historical records, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were obviously masters of Houhei Xue. They all knew that eunuchs were not good people, and they all knew that eunuchs would cause criticism when they went out to do mischief. However, they regarded eunuchs as their own from the beginning to the end. For his domestic slaves, successive emperors chose to use eunuchs as spokespersons. Once serious situations arose, the leading eunuch would be pushed out and beheaded to calm public anger. After this back and forth, the money came out, the reputation improved, the domestic public opinion also changed, the people shouted sagely, and the emperor's throne was stable. The
routine was used repeatedly from the middle to the end of the Ming Dynasty. For example, Liu Jin, the favored eunuch during the period of Emperor Zhengde, had an unparalleled success in the early stage. However, in the end, heavy public opinion forced the emperor to kill him. Liu Jin had his home searched for treason and was sentenced to death. In the end, countless money and silk were found in the home. A total of 1,257,800 taels of gold and a total of 259,583,800 taels of silver! This wealth exceeded the entire Ming Dynasty treasury at the same time. This was only gold and silver and did not include other antiques and treasures.
is really pathetic.
Such routine gameplay continued until Emperor Chongzhen. At this time, Chongzhen came to his senses and dealt with Wei Zhongxian, but the country's economic situation was in a mess, Liaodong situation was in danger, the fiscal and taxation system was on the verge of collapse, coupled with natural disasters Peasant uprisings continued to appear, and the Ming Dynasty perished like a spark igniting a prairie fire.
The rise and fall are suffering for the common people, leaving only lessons for the world. Maybe if we do it again, the Ming Dynasty will still be obsessed with the eunuch chaos~
