Zhu Youxiao's question was: "The key is who can guarantee that the previous dynasty is not well controlled, and it can be controlled well in our hands?" ”

The Emperor of the Apocalypse, Zhu Youxiao, put forward the core of the problem, and it was very accurate.

But Lord Wei Baowei's answer was that he could hand over the customs and sailors to the eunuchs of Dongchang.

Lord Wei's words can be called astonishing, and no one would have thought of this answer.

Because Wei Bao saw it very clearly, the emperor was only worried, and the most worried was only one, the economy was out of control, the money could not reach his own hands, the sailors lost control, and the military at sea was raised.

Wei Bao handed over the money and the army to the eunuchs to manage directly, didn't he solve this problem at once.

But Wei Bao seems to have forgotten one thing, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty can only secretly seize power, at least not justifiably, so the officials dare to jump out one by one and hit the wall as loyal ministers.

In Chinese history, if the emperor gave part of the monarch's power to his domestic slaves, eunuchs, and let them intervene in court affairs, the eunuch dictatorship would be formed.

There may be two determinants of this phenomenon, one is that the emperor is threatened by the civilian clique of foreign dynasties, including military generals, and the other is the contrast between the emperor's personal power and the power of the civilian clique.

The former factor determined the extent to which the emperor had the right to reuse eunuchs, and the greater the threat he felt from civil officials, the more likely he was to promote eunuchs and let them restrain foreign courtiers.

The latter factor determined the extent to which eunuch intervention could be achieved, and even if the emperor tried to promote eunuchs, if the civil clique was strong enough, it could thwart the emperor's efforts.

In the early years of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that eunuchs were not allowed to read and write, and they were not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and the control of eunuchs was very strict.

Zhu Di had been helped by the eunuchs because of the seizure of the throne, so he regarded them as cronies and set up the East Factory, which was presided over by the eunuchs.

The eunuchs began to obtain the power of envoys, special expeditions, and town divisions, which provided the conditions for the later dictatorship of eunuchs.

The dictatorship of eunuchs began with Wang Zhen during the reign of Yingzong.

Wang Zhen was favored by Yingzong, his power was blazing, and he was uncontrollable.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, in view of the disaster of the previous eunuchs, the iron plate was placed at the palace gate, stipulating that "the ministers shall not interfere in political affairs, and those who are predestined will be beheaded." ”

The precautions are strict, and the eunuchs have no chance to take advantage of it.

Zhu Di raised troops to "Jing Difficult", spying on the affairs of the palace, mostly with Emperor Jianwen as his eyes and ears, and many eunuchs made military exploits.

Such as Gou'er, Li Xing, Zheng He, Ma Jing, etc., began to be reused.

"The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty sent envoys, conscripted special forces, supervised the army, divided towns, and assassinated subjects, all of which began from Yongle."

Although the eunuchs were involved in many political activities, they did not reach the level of autocracy.

During the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, a situation of eunuch dictatorship began to form.

The eunuchs could use the celebrant to intervene in the government.

Among the 24 eunuch yamen, eunuchs such as the celebrant and the commander, the palm seal, the bingbi, and the hall are extremely powerful.

"The palm print is in charge of the internal and external chapters and the royal survey. Bing pen, with the hall chapter to play the paperwork, according to the cabinet ticket Zhu "

The flame is above the cabinet.

Manipulating the appointment and dismissal of government officials, and even influencing the departure and retention of cabinet ministers.

Commander of the Beijing camp and commander of the supervising army.

Serve as town guards and garrisons.

manipulated the factory guards, implemented spy rule, and brutalized the officials and the people.

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, whose power was upgraded, can be divided into four periods.

That is, the dictatorship of Wang Zhen before Chenghua, the dictatorship of Wang Zhi during the Chenghua period, the dictatorship of Liu Jin during the period of Wuzong, and the dictatorship of Wei Zhongxian during the period of Xizong.

During the orthodox years, Wang Zhen abused power in the court, repeatedly used troops against Luchuan, and worked hard to pay the teacher; Coerced the Ying clan to conquer Warat, resulting in the defeat of civil engineering.

During the Chenghua period, because Ming Xianzong was indulged in leisure and did not ask about political affairs, the eunuchs gained power.

Famous eunuchs include Wang Zhi, Shang Ming, Liang Fang, Qian Neng, Wei Xing, Chen Xi, Wang Jing and others.

Among them, Wang Zhi is the most famous.

Under the instruction of the emperor, Wang Zhi established the West Factory, and led the Tiqi to ride the East Factory, and his power greatly exceeded that of the East Factory and Jinyiwei.

When courtiers are arrested, sometimes they are imprisoned first and then they are heard, and sometimes they are released but they are not heard.

The repeated imprisonments intensified the contradictions between the courtiers and the eunuchs.

Eunuchs relied on power to do wrong, and people "only knew that there were eunuchs, but they didn't know that there was a son of heaven."

During the time of Wu Zong, the eunuchs Liu Jin, Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, Wei Bin, Zhang Yong, Qiu Ju, Gao Feng, Luo Xiang, etc., were called the "Eight Parties" and also known as the "Eight Tigers".

Liu Jin was the most domineering and domineering, and the minister's recital had to be written in two copies, which had to be sent to Liu Jin first, and then sent to the political secretary to be transferred to the emperor.

Jiao Fang and Cao Yuan, who are cabinet scholars, are Liu Jin's henchmen, and Jiao Fang even went to Liu Jin's house to do errands.

It is said that there are two emperors inside and outside Beijing, "Emperor Zhu" and "Emperor Liu", or "Emperor Sitting" (Wuzong) and "Emperor Li" (Liu Jin).

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor did not personally manage the government, and the power was controlled by greedy eunuchs.

Wei Zhongxian is even more needless to say, he is hot, and his power is tilted towards the government and the opposition.

"From the six ministries of the cabinet, the governors of the four parties, all over the dead party".

Many bureaucrats recognized him as his father-in-law.

He relied on the factory guards to widely distribute detectives and frame the people. and colluded with Xizong's nursing mother Ke to arbitrarily dictate national politics, build a big prison, and kill the Donglin party.

Claiming to be 9,000 years old, there are 5 tigers, 5 biao, 10 dogs and other disciples and grandchildren, and the eunuchs are all over the country, and their power has reached its peak.

Eunuchs not only seized power politically, but also took bribes economically, took bribes, and extorted a large amount of wealth.

Wang Zhen's family has more than 60 gold and silver vaults, and Liu Jin's family has 240,000 gold ingots and 57,800 taels.

The dictatorship of the eunuchs exacerbated the political corruption of the Ming Dynasty and aggravated the suffering of the people and social unrest.

For China's dynasties, how to deal with the issue of eunuchs is a rather brain-consuming matter.

As strong as the Han and Tang Dynasties, the demise of the dynasty was also accelerated by the rebellion of the Ten Standing Servants and the Manna Change.

Compared with the Han and Tang dynasties, the issue of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty was quite distinctive.

In the Ming Dynasty, although the eunuchs did not have the great power and arrogance of the eunuchs who deposed the emperor at every turn in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs gained power for a long time, and the number of huge eunuchs and eunuchs was rare in the world and unmatched by other dynasties.

Why did the eunuch forces of the Ming Dynasty come and go in the more than 200 years of history of the Ming Dynasty and gain power for so long?

If you want to explore the eunuch problem of the Ming Dynasty, we must first start with Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang drew on the experience of the previous eunuchs who used power to lead to the death of the emperor and the destruction of the country, and formulated a strict iron law to prohibit eunuchs from interfering in politics.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in a poor family, believed that eunuchs were the emperor's domestic slaves, and it was his job to sweep and serve in the palace every day.

Interfering in government affairs and encroaching on military power is simply intolerable.

In order to let future generations firmly remember his ancestral teachings, Zhu Yuanzhang specially cast an iron tablet in the palace that "ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and offenders are beheaded" to warn future monarchs.

The issue of eunuchs in the future of the Ming Dynasty seems to have nothing to do with Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and the strength of the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty is all because of the later emperor's indisputability, and the ancestral training of Taizu is regarded as the wind in his ears.

However, the fact is that the huge power of the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty is precisely related to this Taizu, who treats the eunuchs quite harshly.

In order to strengthen the imperial power and clear the way for future generations, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister, repeatedly killed heroes and nobles, and only punished the prime minister Hu Weiyong's case of more than 30,000 people.

The imperial power has been strengthened unprecedentedly, and it has also laid hidden dangers for the eunuchs to interfere in politics later.

"This is absolutely impossible, Dongchang is responsible for the investigation and arrest, and the power has been criticized for being too great. Jinyiwei and the East Factory are side by side, and the activities are strengthened, and they are collectively called the factory guard. The power of Dongchang is above Jinyiwei, and it is only responsible to me, without the approval of the judicial organs, and can supervise the arrest of subjects at will. Zhu Youxiao asked.

As soon as Wei Bao heard the emperor say this, he had a bottom in his heart, Zhu Youxiao was not worried about not being able to open the sea ban, and he was not worried about co-ordinating the entire Daming Naval Division, but worried about other people's opinions.

It shows that the emperor does not reject his strategy, and even has a preference for acceptance.

"Your Majesty, the world is Your Majesty's world, at the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu was in ruins, what system was set according to the situation at the time, the world changed over time, and the situation changed dramatically. The opening of the sea ban can increase revenue, and all sailors can be uniformly co-opted, which can not only ensure coastal defense, strictly check tariffs, but also prevent people from going to sea without going through the imperial court. The profits they created by going to sea privately had nothing to do with the Ming court, and they were all cheapened by the officials who colluded with them, as well as the private maritime merchants who risked killing their heads to go to sea to trade. Does Your Majesty know that this silver is far higher than the total amount of taxes collected by the Ming Dynasty every year? Therefore, the Ming Dynasty does not engage in sea trade, and sea trade has always existed, so it is better to reshuffle the cards, form an institutionalization, plug the loopholes, and let more than ninety percent of the silver enter the treasury. Wei Bao said.

"I'm not talking about this now, I'm not asking if it's feasible, but the courtiers will definitely not agree." Zhu Youxiao sighed.

"Why don't they agree, when Taizu raised troops, Emperor Chengzu raised troops, and there were several emperors in the Ming Dynasty who personally led the troops, the emperor personally led the army, why not, the Dongchang Territorial Water Division is equivalent to His Majesty's leading army, besides, isn't Jingying directly under His Majesty's command? Who are you afraid of? Those who dare to talk nonsense will not be able to see the good of His Majesty, and they will not be able to see the good of Daming, and their hearts can be punished, and the nine clans should be killed. Wei Bao gritted his teeth.

Zhu Youxiao listened warmly in his heart, and felt that Wei Bao was really the biggest loyal minister, so for the sake of the royal family, so for the sake of me.

Dongchang is the East Investigation Factory, which is the privileged supervision agency of the Ming Dynasty.

Secret Service and Secret Police Service.

In the eighteenth year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, in 1420, the East Investigation Factory was established, referred to as the East Factory, and the eunuchs served as the leader.

The location is located in the north of Dong'anmen in Jingshi.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei and the East and West factories were juxtaposed, and the activities were strengthened, and they were often called "factory guards".

Dongchang's power is above Jinyiwei, and it is only responsible to the emperor, and without the approval of the judicial organs, it can supervise the arrest of subjects at will, thus opening the end of the eunuch interference in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Di illegally overthrew the regime of Emperor Jianwen by force in the Battle of Jingyan, ascended the throne in Nanjing, changed the Yuan Yongle, and was the Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty. However, at that time, there were many objections to the legitimacy of the Yongle regime.

On the one hand, rumors that Emperor Jianwen was not dead appeared from time to time, and on the other hand, many ministers in the imperial court were not very supportive of the new regime.

And Zhu Di also distrusted the ministers of the imperial court.

He felt that the Jinyi Guard, which was located outside the palace, was not very convenient to use, so he decided to establish a new institution.

In the process of Zhu Di's army, some eunuchs and monks made great efforts, such as the famous Zheng He and Daoyan, so in Zhu Di's mind, he still felt that eunuchs were more reliable.

Moreover, the eunuchs are in the palace, so it is more convenient to connect.

So Zhu Di went against Taizu's ban that eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in political affairs and reused eunuchs.

In the eighteenth year of Yongle, in December 1420, in order to suppress the political opposition, Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, decided to set up a new official office called "Dongzhi Factory", referred to as "Dongchang", and ordered the favored eunuch to serve as the leader.

The establishment of the East Factory also has the intention of monitoring Jinyiwei. The deeper background to the establishment of Dongchang was the strengthening of centralized power in the Ming Dynasty.

At first, it was directly under the command of Ming Chengzu, and later the control was transferred to the hands of eunuchs, whose power was above Jinyiwei.

In the thirteenth year of Chenghua, in the first month of the spring of 1477, Ming Xianzong added the West Factory and used the eunuch Wang Zhi as the commander.

Its power as a member exceeds that of the East Factory, and the scope of activities extends from Beijing to all over the country. At the time of Xianzong, the "West Factory" was re-established.

This institution "does not have the right to assassinate adultery, but also has the right to inspect the Chinese and foreign countries, and the official school of the East Factory can also be inspected."

Later, although it was "discouraged" by the cabinet scholars, it was "reinstated in the west factory" during the time of Emperor Wuzong, forming a situation of "confrontation between the two factories" in the east and west.

What's more, a "specialist factory" was set up in a few days, with the eunuch "Liu Jin bowing to himself", and the east factory and the west factory were all under supervision, "the soldiers came out in all directions, and the world was in an uproar".

In the late Ming Dynasty, class contradictions, national contradictions, and internal contradictions within the ruling group became increasingly intensified, and the imperial power of feudal autocracy faced a serious crisis.

Wei Zhongxian selected eunuchs who knew martial arts in the palace to form an armed team of 10,000 people as wings.

The officials who were mainly recruited from the Luoqi, Chu and Zhejiang parties were used as pawns of their righteous sons, and they were called "eunuch parties".

Wenchen has Cui Chengxiu and other "five tigers", military generals such as Tian Ergeng and other "five biao", as well as "ten children", "forty grandchildren", etc., "from the cabinet, the six ministries to the governor and governor of the four directions, and put the dead party in place."

Wei Zhongxian criticized the red with his pen, mastered the government and politics, from the first assistant to the hundred bureaucrats, all of which were arbitrarily promoted and taken by him.

Wei Zhongxian held military power, could appoint and dismiss governors and ministers at will, and also held economic power, sending his cronies and eunuchs to the governor of Jingshi and Tongzhou warehouse, the governor of Cao Canal Road, and the tax supervisor to search for people's wealth.

The internal and external power is returned to the loyal and virtuous.

Wei Zhongxian went out to fight, like an emperor, and everywhere he passed, the scholars and doctors knelt on the side of the road and shouted that Wei Zhongxian was nine thousand years old.

Eunuchs and shameless officials also compete to build shrines for him in various places, a shrine costs tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, after the ancestral hall is completed, the local officials want to enjoy the spring and autumn sacrifices, and the officials and people who do not worship in the shrine will die.

When Wei Zhongxian was in power, the factory guards were even more arrogant.

In the third year of Xizong's Apocalypse, in 1623, Wei Zhongxian began to serve as the governor of Dongchang.

The governor of Jinyiwei was Tian Ergeng, the godson of Wei Zhongxian.

The factory guards colluded, set up unjust prisons, brutalized dissident officials, extorted money, and tyrannized the people.

"Folk puppets, or touching the loyal and virtuous, were captured, and even skinned and tongued, and the killings were innumerable, and the road was eye-catching."

Once, four civilians in the capital were drinking at night in the secret room, one of them was drunk and hot, scolding Wei Zhongxian, and the other three did not dare to speak out.

Before the scolder could finish speaking, several people suddenly rushed in, arrested four people to meet Wei Zhongxian, and Wei ordered the scolder to be skinned on the spot, and the other three were rewarded and put back.

The survivors were so frightened that they were on the verge of madness. Wei Zhongxian wreaked havoc on the dictatorship for seven years, which further intensified various social contradictions in the late Ming Dynasty and accelerated the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.

After Sizong ascended the throne, although he arrested Wei Zhongxian and expelled the eunuchs, it was difficult to return, he still served as a eunuch, relied on the factory guard, and complained to the ministers with eloquence: "Gou Qunchen is dedicated to the country, and I have nothing to do with the ministers", so until the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

The leader of the East Factory is called the East Factory Palm Seal Eunuch, also known as the Factory Gong or Governor, and is the second person among the eunuchs after the Celebrant Palm Seal Eunuch.

It is usually held by the second or third ranked eunuch Bingbi among the celebrant eunuchs, and his full official title is "Governor of Qincha Dongchang Official School Office Eunuch", referred to as "Admiral Dongchang".

The subordinate officials of the East Factory have one member of each of the 1,000 households and the 100 households, and they are served by the Jinyi Wei 1,000 households and 100 households, and they are called the criminal officers.

In addition, there are more than 40 people in charge, foreman, and secretary, who are allocated by the brocade guard, and are divided into 12 sons, and the stewards wear round hats, soap boots, and brown shirts.

The rest of the people have the same boot cap but wear a straight fit.

The commander is equivalent to the squad leader, also called the "stall head", there are more than 100 people, and there are also 12 ugly people, all wearing pointed hats, white leather boots, brown clothes, and small tapestry.

There are several commanders of the commanders, and the officers are also called "fans" and "officers", and these people are also composed of elite elements selected from the Jinyi Guard.

The East Factory is not only more capable and reasonable in terms of organization and staffing, but also has formulated a fairly strict system in terms of investigation operations.

For example, on the first day of each month, the East Factory should concentrate on the investigation work of the month, and the factory staff will draw lots in the East Factory to decide the site they are responsible for. In the literature, it can be found that the types of work in the East Factory have special names. For example, those who monitor the interrogation of criminals by officials of various ministries of the DPRK and the Central Committee and the torture of criminals by Jinyiwei are called "Tingji", and those who visit local government offices are called "Zaoji".

The first owner of the East Factory has been unexaminable, and the "History of the Ming Dynasty, Chengzu III" records that "it was the year when the East Factory was set up, and the official was killed." ”

The great eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhen, Liu Jin, Feng Bao, and Wei Zhongxian, all commanded the East Factory.

By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Dongchang also had its own prison.

The function of the East Factory is to "visit and conspire against the evil and evil, and equalize the power with Jinyiwei".

One person is in charge, and he is entrusted with the power of visiting and spying.

At first, Dongchang was only responsible for detecting and arresting people, and did not have the right to interrogate prisoners.

But by the end of the Ming Dynasty, Dongchang also had its own prison.

The scope of investigation in the East Factory is very wide, the imperial court will try major cases, and the Fusi of Jinyi Weibei Town will torture and interrogate repeat offenders, and the East Factory will send people to hear the trial.

Each yamen of the imperial court had Dongchang personnel on duty to monitor the officials' every move.

Dongchang monitored various political forces, such as government officials, celebrities, and scholars, and had the right to report the results of the surveillance directly to the emperor.

According to the information obtained by the surveillance, for those political opponents with lower status, Dongchang can directly arrest and interrogate them without judicial trial.

As for the opposition who are high-ranking government officials or have the status of royalty and aristocrats, Dongchang can also arrest and interrogate them with the authorization of the emperor.

"History of the Ming Dynasty and Criminal Law": "The criminal law is created and has its own Ming, and those who are not interested in the ancient system are already the court staff, the east and west factories, the brocade clothes guard, and the pacification of the prison." It is a number of people, who kill people to the worst, and do not obey the law. Follow on the heels, until you don't create them. Raise the life of the court and the field, and listen to the martial arts and eunuchs' hands, which is good and lamentable. "Again" the establishment of the East Factory began with Chengzu. The prison of Jinyiwei, Taizu tasted it, and then it was banned, and its reuse was also since Yongle. The factory and the guard rely on each other, so the speaker is called the factory guard. ”

In the Ming Dynasty, you can see a large portrait of Yue Fei when you enter the lobby of the East Factory, reminding the East Factory that the case is not in vain, and there is a "Hundred Generations Liufang" archway in front of the hall.

It's a pity that Dongchang completely deviated from this original intention in the actual handling of the case.

Dongchang Fanzi is active in the streets and alleys of the capital every day, not completely for the imperial court, but more for his own personal interests.

They often fabricate accusations and falsely accuse good people, and then they turn them into tricks and take advantage of the opportunity to extort money.

In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the scope of Dongchang's investigation even expanded to the whole country, and even in the remote areas of Yuanzhou, there were also "fresh clothes and angry horses as Beijing teachers".

Most of the authoritarian eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, such as Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian, relied on special supervision institutions with the nature of spies such as Jinyiwei, Dongxichang, etc., to constantly frame and falsely kill upright ministers, and often used torture, and Wei Zhongxian's party followers tortured Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and other upright bureaucrats, and used torture to the end.

"The Beijing division is dead, the wealth is coerced, and the officials are regarded as caves", that is to say, the Dongchang officials have become the hooligan leaders, "from the Beijing division to the world, the noon investigation, although the palace is inevitable", "the unjust dead belong to each other".

In the early days of the establishment of the East Factory, it objectively had the effect of anti-corruption, which greatly strengthened the imperial power.

However, the East Factory has had a very bad historical impact.

Bypassing the normal bureaucracy and carrying out spy activities, there is a large number of dark sides, and a large number of unjust, false and wrongly decided cases have been artificially created.

It provided the conditions for the eunuch dictatorship, but in the Ming Dynasty the eunuch was only an extension of the emperor's power.

Because Dongchang's repression methods were extremely cruel, and some of them were done because of soliciting credit from dictators or their own interests, it was easy to create a large number of unjust, false and wrongful cases, so that Dongchang's reputation in Ming Dynasty society was extremely poor.

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were the object of continuous criticism, and the eunuchs and the Dongchang led by them had a profound impact on the society of the Ming Dynasty, and were also one of the important factors in the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Most scholars in the Ming Dynasty were deeply influenced by traditional thinking, and from the perspective of maintaining the rule of the Ming Dynasty, they fiercely criticized Dongchang's interference in the judiciary.

They believe that Dongchang's acceptance of lawsuits often creates unjust cases, arbitrary investigations threaten social stability, and interference in prison administration often indiscriminately inflicts lynchings.

They pointed out that Dongchang's interference in the judiciary undermined the ancestral system of the Three Law Divisions established in the early Ming Dynasty to manage judicial affairs, and threatened the stability of the Ming Dynasty's rule.

One of the main tasks of the factory guard is to monitor the bureaucratic system.

As for the privacy of the upper echelons of society, as well as the "family rice and salt obscenity", it is difficult to escape the eyes and ears of the factory guards, and they are mostly laughed at in the palace.

The surveillance of the people by the factory guards, especially the surveillance of the rich people, is also pervasive.

Dongchang, Xichang and Jinyiwei were the special agencies set up in the Ming Dynasty outside the three judicial organs of the Criminal Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Dali Temple to directly obey the emperor's orders and take charge of the "edict prison".

Jinyiwei, the emperor's bodyguard. Formerly known as the imperial arch guard set up by Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the second year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, in 1369, it was re-established as the Governor's Mansion of the Great Inner Army, and in the fifteenth year, the Jinyi Guard was set up as a military institution for the emperor's guards.

Xichang only existed for a short time in the history of the Ming Dynasty, and a new inner court institution was established during the Chenghua period of Ming Xianzong, Xichang. Its power even surpasses that of the old-timers Dongchang

The West Factory was abolished after only 5 months of establishment, and only a month later, Xianzong reinstated the West Factory. After Ming Wuzong succeeded to the throne, the great eunuch Liu Jin took power, the eunuch power rose again, the West Factory was reopened, Liu Jin fell, and Wu Zong ordered the abolition of the West Factory.

As a temporary product, the West Factory disappeared forever in history.

The leader of the Jinyi Guard is called the commander, or the commander of the Tongzhi and the commander of the affairs, which is generally served by the emperor's cronies and generals, and is rarely held by eunuchs. Belong to the foreign minister.

The leaders of the East Factory and the West Factory were eunuchs, that is, ministers.

In terms of the relationship with Jinyiwei, the East Factory came from behind.

Due to the close relationship between the owner of the Dongchang factory and the emperor, and being in the palace, it was easier to gain the emperor's trust.

Jin Yiwei reported to the emperor that he wanted to have a sparse performance, and the east factory could be directly spoken.

The emperor also gave the governor of Dongchang the power to supervise the personnel of the Jinyi Guard.

The relationship between Dongchang and Jinyiwei has gradually changed from a horizontal level to a subordinate relationship.

In the era when the eunuchs were in power, the Jinyi Wei commanded the envoy to meet the owner of the East Factory and even knelt and kowtowed.

What the East Factory, the West Factory and Jinyiwei have in common is to monitor, investigate, and suppress the illegal acts of officials, that is, "inspection and arrest".

Due to the internal needs of the autocratic regime, the emperor needed a force independent of the bureaucracy at his disposal, such as the East Factory, the West Factory, and the Jinyi Guard.

Because Dongchang was originally responsible for monitoring the various yamen of the Ming Dynasty, there was no such thing as Wei Bao began to think, and the emperor and Wei Zhongxian were worried that someone would control the water division and it would be detrimental to the imperial court.

Wei Bao was arrested by the Governor of Haiphong's Yamen, and the officers and soldiers of the army and the naval division were all the treasures of the Heaven and Earth Society, as well as the newly recruited or original hereditary officers and soldiers who rebelled and surrendered to Wei Bao.

In short, Wei Zhongxian has not yet had the time to rectify the Yamen of the Governor of Haiphong, and Wei Bao can get a lot of money for Wei Zhongxian, and Wei Zhongxian will not suspect that Wei Bao will have any disadvantages to the imperial court, so he is not in a hurry to rectify the Yamen of the Governor of Haiphong.

If Wei Zhongxian had the need, he would send more Dongchang soldiers to the Yamen of the Governor of Haiphong, and he would be able to control the officials and troops under the Yamen of the Governor of Haiphong.

In the normal period of the Ming Dynasty, I have not heard of several official and military rebellions, and some of them are also very small-scale, and it is impossible to reach the scale of the governor's rebellion.

This can be regarded as a great contribution of the East Factory, and the East Factory's ability to clamp officials is very prominent.

The problem is that the emperor is not concerned about these now, but the opinions of the courtiers, "Wei Aiqing has some truth in what he said, Shoufu, and the two of you, do you all think so?"

Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Apocalypse asked Gu Bingqian, Huang Liji, and Wei Guangwei.

The three of them looked at Wei Zhongxian at the same time, and the three of them had looked at Wei Zhongxian a few times just now.

Father-in-law Wei's face was as usual at this time, and he couldn't see any expression, and everyone didn't know what he thought.

Gu Bingqian, Wei Guangwei and Huang Liji could only bite the bullet and told the emperor that their thoughts were the same as what Lord Wei said.

Zhu Youxiao asked Feng Quan and Ding Shaoshi again, "Why didn't you two speak today, what do you think?" ”

Feng Quan said slyly: "Weichen is only a shallow learner, and he hasn't thought about it yet. ”

Zhu Youxiao was a little displeased, although he was only a young man in his early twenties, Zhu Youxiao had been the emperor for five years after all, and it was obvious whether the officials were in violation of the yang and the yin, and whether they were not left behind.

Ding Shaoshi said: "Weichen thinks that Lord Shoufu, Lord Wei Guangwei and Huang Liji, what Lord Wei said, there is some truth, and what the specific implementation will be, Weichen does not dare to make assumptions." ”

Zhu Youxiao nodded, knowing that Ding Shaoshi was biased towards approval!

Wei Guangwei, Huang Liji, and Gu Bingqian were very strange, they didn't expect Ding Shaoshi to say this.

Under normal circumstances, Ding Shaoshi must oppose anything that several of them support.

And what Ding Shaoshi supports, they must also oppose it.

The eunuch party and the Donglin party usually don't want to think about it, regardless of right or wrong, they don't care about right and wrong, they only compete for the superior, this is the party struggle.

Gu Bingqian, Wei Guangwei and Huang Liji were strange, and Zhu Youxiao, the Emperor of the Apocalypse, also felt strange.