. "
The Royal Guards and the later established East Factory, West Factory and Inner Factory were the main measures taken by the rulers of the Ming Dynasty to strengthen their monarchical power, and they were famous secret service agencies in the history of China. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the war subsided and the society tended to be stable. The civil servants and military commanders who made great contributions to Zhu Yuanzhang began to fidget. They asked Zhu Yuanzhang for official positions and treatment, and they were arrogant. Some people even form gangs and cronyism. Zhu Yuanzhang was greatly annoyed by this. He realized that it is necessary to strengthen the supervision and control of these people, otherwise, the mountains and rivers he worked hard for may be destroyed by these people. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu (1382), Zhu Yuanzhang, after some thinking, established the Royal Guards, formerly known as Yi, which was the "guard of honor" and "guard" of the emperor. The top leader of the Royal Guards is the Commander-in-Chief, who is a close confidant of Zhu Yuanzhang. The commander-in-chief is directly led by Zhu Yuanzhang, only responsible for Zhu Yuanzhang, and no one else can get their hands on him. The Royal Guards have two duties: one is to protect the emperor's safety, and the other is to "patrol".
In contrast, the first of the two responsibilities of Royal Guards is not very conspicuous, and the second is the core work of Royal Guards. Its monitoring of civil and military officials is pervasive, and every move of civil and military officials is under its close supervision. Relying on the Royal Guards, Zhu Yuanzhang knew all about the civil and military officials in the Qing Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang knew all about them. For example, who invited people to dinner between courtiers and who held private parties were all under Zhu Yuanzhang's control. 1393, Liang Gong Aquamarine, who had made great contributions to Zhu Yuanzhang but was proud of himself, conspired with others to rebel. Royal Guards found out that Zhu Yuanzhang imprisoned Aquamarine and was killed. It can be said that the role of Royal Guards in helping the rulers of the Ming Dynasty to consolidate their dominant position cannot be underestimated. Thirty-eight years after the Royal Guards were founded, that is, in 1420, Judy, the fourth son of Zhu Yuanzhang and the Ming emperor who won the throne after the Battle of Jingnan, was uneasy about the Royal Guards and set up a spy organization named Dongchang.
It comes from Dongchang Hutong, whose address is located in the north of Dong 'anmen. Unlike the Royal Guards, the head of the East Factory is a eunuch. Judy's main reason for letting eunuchs run the East Factory is that he doesn't trust others. His throne was taken from his nephew, and the eunuch helped him a lot in the process, such as passing on information and working for him on the battlefield. So Judy trusts eunuchs. After the establishment of the East Factory, the Royal Guards continued to exist. At first, their relationship was equal: Dongchang was in charge of investigation and arrest, and Wei Jinyi was in charge of interrogation. The division of labor between them is very clear. However, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Dongchang was the favorite eunuch around the emperor, and his words and deeds permeated the will of the emperor, so the relationship between them changed. It was no longer an equal relationship, but a superior-subordinate relationship: the commander of the Royal Guards even saw Dongchang kneeling and kowtowing, and whether he was responsible or not was regarded as disrespectful. 1477, Zhu Jianshen, Ming Xianzong, the eighth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, felt that the Royal Guards and the East Factory were not to his liking, and established the West Factory, which was in the charge of his trusted eunuch. Because the power of the West Factory is too great, many unjust cases have been created, which has been opposed by many ministers in the DPRK. Ming Xianzong had to order the cancellation of the West Factory on 1482, but by the time of Emperor Wuzong of Ming Dynasty, the West Factory was revived and re-established. The factory was established in 150 1, and was headed by Liu Jin, a trusted eunuch of Ming Xianzong. The responsibilities of the inner factory are different from those of the East Factory, the West Factory and the Royal Guards. Designed for East Factory, West Factory and Royal Guards. Its main duty is to supervise them, so it has more power. The responsibility of the inner factory determines that it is a short-lived secret service organization. The heads of the East Factory and the West Factory are eunuchs. How can they tolerate being watched?
1506, the internal factory was quietly closed under the curse of everyone. Except the Royal Guards, the East Factory, the West Factory and the Inner Factory are all controlled by eunuchs. On the one hand, the existence of these spy organizations helped the rulers of the Ming Dynasty to consolidate their dominant position to a certain extent, but on the other hand, it also provided a stage for eunuchs to monopolize power. For example, Wang Zhen, the eunuch of Ming Yingzong, took advantage of the special position of Yingzong's first teacher, openly violated Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral motto that "I should not interfere in political affairs", fanned the flames in Yingzong's ear, made bad ideas, intervened in state affairs, and even took bribes. If the minister wants to see Yingzong, he must pass through Wang Zhen. As for Yingzong, he was almost obedient to Wang Zhen. When the leader of Walla attacked for the first time, at the instigation of Wang Zhen, he quickly collected Walla himself. As a result, he was trapped in the civil fort and became a prisoner of Walla. Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Mingxi reused eunuch Wei Zhongxian and put him in charge of the Royal Guards and the East Factory. Wei Zhongxian took advantage of Zong Ai's carpenter's mentality, monopolized the state affairs, bossed around, and acted recklessly. Under the influence of Wei Zhongxian, the Ming government was in chaos, the people were poor, and the position of the rulers was in jeopardy. In A.D. 1644, after the Li Zicheng Rebels entered Beijing, Zhu Youxiao, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was forced to hang himself in Jingshan. The feudal dynasty came to an end, and the secret service organization guarding it died with its master.
Source: curriculum guidance and teaching research in middle schools.