Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, notorious eunuchs have appeared in the court. Such as Wang Zhen of Yingzong, Wang Zhi of Xianzong, Liu Jin of Wuzong, Wei Zhongxian of Xizong and so on.

Supposedly, when Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he had put layers of shackles on eunuchs, which almost cut off all their opportunities and possibilities for insurrection. So, where did the eunuch chaos in the Ming Dynasty come from? Who opened this Pandora's box?

Eunuchs in the early Ming Dynasty actually lived a humble life. Because Zhu Yuanzhang had a bad impression on eunuch group from the beginning. Zhu Yuanzhang once said to the courtiers, "This Cao (eunuch) is not a thousand good people, but a thousand evil people." If you use eyes and ears, that is, eyes and ears cover; Used as a bosom friend, that is, bosom friend disease. "

He also believes that "its (eunuch) is forbidden in the palace, so it can only be used for offering sacrifices and making envoys give orders. Is it appropriate to pre-treat soldiers? " The disaster of Han and Tang dynasties, though called eunuch's crime, was also caused by the master's favor. If eunuchs are not prepared for politics, what can they get if they want chaos? "In the history of China, eunuchs in the Han and Tang Dynasties were the most serious disaster in the country, which led to the demise of a dynasty. In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes, Zhu Yuanzhang simply did not give eunuchs the opportunity to contact political affairs and military power, but only let them do some cleaning and running errands.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also introduced some specific regulations-

First, eunuchs are not allowed to read and write. According to historical records: "In the early days of the Taizu system, ministers were not allowed to read or write."

Second, limit the rising space of eunuchs. According to Zhu Yuanzhang, eunuchs "shall not hold civil and military titles such as foreign minister, and shall not be crowned as foreign minister. The official has no four products, a stone on the moon, and food and clothing are in the imperial palace. "

Third, the yamen is not allowed to have official contacts with internal officials.

Fourth, in the iron sign at the palace gate, it says, "Ministers shall not interfere in political affairs, and offenders will be beheaded." .

Although Zhu Yuanzhang himself sometimes violated the rules in the later period of Hongwu, such as sending eunuchs to convey pardon, observing soldiers before the army, checking taxes, going abroad, etc., he remained vigilant on the whole.

By the time of Zhu Yunwen, the status of eunuchs was suppressed again-if they broke the law slightly when they went out, local officials had the right to escort them directly to the capital and severely punish them.

In this case, eunuchs don't want chaos, even if they want to make friends with ordinary officials, I'm afraid it's hard.

Eunuch went to the front desk, starting from Judy's battle of Jing Nan.

On the one hand, the eunuchs in Judy's official residence began to show signs. In the battle of Jingnan, a group of princes and eunuchs, represented by Zheng He, were loyal and fought with Judy, which was highly valued.

On the other hand, a group of court eunuchs also began to itch to try. It is not a glorious thing to seize power and usurp the throne. At that time, many court officials would rather fight passively than get involved in this muddy water. But eunuchs are different-they have no feathers, so there is nothing to cherish. I heard that Judy was very dependent on eunuchs, so he took the initiative to defect. When Judy was still in the north, the eunuch of Nanjing imperial court secretly sent him a message. When the Yan army approached Jiangbei from the south, some court eunuchs went directly to Judy's barracks to "reveal the truth of the court".

Just as Cha Jizhuo, a scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, summed up, "You can't be famous when you start with your face, and the scholar-officials shrink more." And eunuchs have nothing to care about, and there will be many outsiders. Since Wendi borrowed from the front, he could not be like his ancestors' training, because of the situation. "

After Judy came to power, she rewarded and promoted a large number of eunuchs. Previously, eunuchs were under the jurisdiction of the official department. Now, Judy has separated them and directly obeyed the "Si Li Jian". Not only that, the emperor also found someone to teach them to read and write, which made their status unprecedented.

But after all, due to the constraints of ancestral training, Judy still has some scruples when reusing eunuchs. According to Ming History, "ancestors also tasted the clouds. As soon as I listened to Taizu's instructions, I didn't have a royal treasure document, but I was an army and a people. I was not allowed to judge by the middle officials. " However, if you guess carefully, you will find this sentence very artistic-the ancestral motto is "the minister of the interior must not interfere in political affairs." But when it comes to Judy, it becomes "no good hair adjustment".

This is between "non-interference" and "hair is not easy to adjust", but it has a lot of room to play.

The eunuch who was reused gradually moved from behind the scenes to the stage. Soon eunuchs appeared in various positions in the empire.

According to the official records of the Ming Dynasty-

In the first year of Yongle (1403), Judy sent eunuch Li Xing to visit Siam with the imperial edict that "this is the beginning of a foreign country". After that, he sent eunuchs to Java, Qing Yin to Jia, Su Men to Dala, and Pan Cikai, a young eunuch, to Japan.

In the third year of Yongle (1405), Judy sent Zheng He and his 20,000-strong army to visit ancient western countries and countries full of thorns. "This is also the beginning of the general."

In the eighth year of Yongle (14 10), Judy ordered eunuchs such as Wang An and Tan Qing to patrol Gansu. "This is the beginning of military supervision and patrol."

According to Biography of Valley King in Ming Dynasty, during Yongle period, Valley King Zhu Gui rebelled, and Judy "ordered his ministers ... and called him into the DPRK." Thus, eunuchs can also rule the king on behalf of the emperor.

In addition, eunuchs often appear in various engineering constructions. For example, the renovation of the inner city of Beijing was presided over by Vietnamese eunuch Ruan An. Ruanan is quite talented in architecture. According to "Ming History", "Ruan An had fantastic ideas and became the ancestor camp of Beijing Chengchi Palace and Baisifu. He knows the laws and regulations of China, and the Ministry of Industry abides by them. "In the following years, Ruan An successively presided over the reconstruction project of Sangong (Fengtian, Gai Hua and Jinsheng), the dredging project of Tongji River, the reinforcement project of Gu 'an River embankment and the brick-wrapped reconstruction project of Beijing city wall.

In short, during the reign of Judy, the talents and advantages of eunuchs were fully exerted. However, with the increasing popularity of eunuchs, some evil seeds have been quietly planted.

During Judy's reign, eunuchs began to falsely preach the imperial edict. In the fifth year of Yongle (1407), Judy once stated such a thing to Douchayuan: "Last year, Li Jin, the chamberlain, was ordered to go to Shaanxi to collect smallpox. This is a mistake, but after the merger, the military and civilians were recruited, which caused great harm to the people in the name of procurement ... That is to say, two imperial censors were sent to Shanxi, and they had to wait a thousand bows to get to the capital to understand that the law would be strictly enforced. "

The establishment of the East Factory provided fertile soil for eunuch chaos. In the 18th year of Yongle (1420), Judy set up a Tokyo factory in Beijing, headed by a trusted eunuch, who was responsible for espionage such as reconnaissance and criminal detention. Once the East Factory was established, it enjoyed many privileges-

First of all, the East Factory is an ad hoc organization under the emperor, which only takes orders from the emperor and is only responsible to the emperor. Being independent of the judicial system, eunuchs have the privilege to accuse Luo Zhi and arrest others without authorization.

Secondly, the investigation and monitoring scope of eunuchs in the East Factory is extremely extensive. According to historical records, "If the Ministry of War has any newspaper about the pond, the gates are closed, the place is on fire, what is struck by lightning, the price of the capital, the lives of people in the forbidden area, and the rice and salt in the family are excessive." Even Jin Yiwei, who once dominated the previous power, was under its supervision.

Third, the East Factory can report the situation directly to the emperor in secret, even without the limitation of time and occasion. As long as there is news, you can report it at any time. Compared with ministers who need to "muddle through", this is hardly too free.

Judy's overindulgence of eunuchs is bound to breed many problems. The eunuchs in power became more and more arrogant, and began to gang up and run amok. Although in Yongle period, they didn't have the ability to control state affairs, once Pandora's box was opened, it was difficult to close it again. After generations of Judy's descendants, eunuchs finally became a cancer of the Ming Dynasty. Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin, Wei Zhongxian ... these powerful eunuchs appeared in turn, making the Ming Dynasty finally become the "biggest eunuch empire" in the history of China!