First, who is Tian Yi?
There was a eunuch in the Ming Dynasty who was indeed an "outlier" among eunuchs. The integrity of his image is that even many ministers are inferior. He was Tian Yi, a eunuch who had gone through the Longqing and Wanli dynasties. When Tian Yi really shone brightly in the Ming Dynasty, the official Zhi Si Li supervisor was in charge of the Eunuch Yin, the most powerful position among the twelve prisons of the Ming Dynasty. Although he holds great power and is in a high position, he does not bully others, but also likes to be charitable, and he sees many things clearly and long-term than the emperor, often risking death in front of the emperor to argue with reason, and exhorting the emperor to be diligent and love the people. It is really a rare stream of eunuchs in Chinese history.
Second, the "anecdote" of Tian Yi who left a name in history
1, Gozen saves Wu Baoxiu
Wu Baoxiu was a jinshi in the seventeenth year of the Wanli Calendar (1589), an official who paid tribute to Dali and was later demoted to the prefect of Nankang. In the twenty-seventh year of the Wanli Calendar (1599), Li Dao, the tax inspector at Hukou, was a special envoy of the emperor and acted arrogantly. Wu Baoxiu was an upright man and did not want to seduce Li Dao, so he did not associate with him. Li Dao, enraged, falsely accused Wu Baoxiu of obstructing the tax and ordered his arrest. Baoxiu's wife, Chen Shi, was so sad that she handed baoxiu the silver money and jewelry she had saved in her daily life, crying and saying, "Take these as travel expenses!" That night, Chen hanged himself. After Wu Baoxiu was escorted to Beijing, he was imprisoned in Zhao. Zhao Prison is directly controlled by Jinyi Wei, executed on behalf of the emperor, power beyond all laws, going to Zhao Prison is going to hell, the criminal law is extremely harsh, and the possibility of survival is extremely small. Many ministers also wrote to the emperor to seek justice for Baoxiu. There was a backlog of more than a dozen pieces that were not reported, and even if they were reported, the emperor ignored them.
After that, Tian Yi gathered all the sonatas and sent them to Wanli, who was very angry and threw them all to the ground. Tian Yi calmly picked up the recital and put it in front of the emperor, prostrating his head and saying, "The ministers have been waiting outside the door for a long time, and they will never quit if they do not receive a reply." The emperor was slightly angry, read the song again, and ordered Wu Baoxiu to be moved from zhao prison to the punishment department. In September, Wu Baoxiu was released from the rank of a commoner, and the following year he died of illness, and Nan Kang Shimin built a temple for Baoxiu and his wife. It was not until the apocalyptic years that Bao Xiu's unjust case was rehabilitated, and he was posthumously awarded the title of Tai servant Shaoqing, enjoyed the sacrifice, and hired one of his sons as officials.
2, for the mining tax directly to the emperor
The most emblematic of Tian Yi's image of being upright for the people is to dissuade the Wanli Emperor from paying taxes on mining. In the thirtieth year of Wanli (1602), shortly after the crown prince had just been married, the Wanli Emperor suddenly fell ill, feeling that he might accidentally die, wanli urgently summoned the first assistant of the cabinet, Shen Cheng, to draw up a will and abolish the mining tax that people were complaining about. But who knew that Wanli Emperor's illness was suddenly cured, and at this time he deeply regretted the abolition of the mining tax, so he sent someone to recover the will and testament from Shen Zheng. Shen always believed that the abolition of the mining tax was the emperor's will, and how could it be withdrawn at will, but forced by the emperor's successive urgings and imperial authority, he had to return the edict.
Just when the Wanli Emperor sent people to claim back the will, Tian Yi was well aware of the harm of the mining tax, so he risked his life to advise the emperor not to collect the mining tax, and the Wanli Emperor was angry and wanted to kill him with a knife, but Tian Yi had already put life and death aside, and was not afraid in the face of the dangling steel knife. At this time, the person who was running the errand took back the will and handed it to the Wanli Emperor, who was satisfied with the edict and drove Tian Yi out, Tian Yi walked out indignantly, just when he met Shen Zheng, Tian Yi scolded head-on, saying, "Why are you so timid, as long as you insist for a while, I can persuade the emperor to stop collecting mining taxes, and now the success is in vain." After Shen was scolded by Tian Yi's spitting, he was ashamed and embarrassed. The Mining Tax of the Ming Dynasty made the people of the whole country suffer for 18 more years, and it was not abolished until the 48th year of the Wanli Calendar.
Third, the name goes down in history, and Tian Yi died well
Tian Yi is a decent person, not bullying others, being charitable, but doing his best to save the innocent. In particular, he was able to distinguish between right and wrong in major matters, uphold justice, and dare to risk death in front of the emperor to argue with reason, which was extremely rare in the power prison at that time.
In the thirty-third year of the Wanli Dynasty (1605), Tian Yi was bedridden and sick, and the Wanli Emperor sent a medical officer to diagnose him, and soon after Tian Yi died, the Wanli Emperor was deeply saddened, and specially sent three people to sacrifice him within five days, and gave him a large amount of money, "giving the three altars of sacrifice", and rewarding the "East Garden Secret Instrument", ordering the craftsmen to dig the underground palace for burial, specially "tree enjoyment hall stele pavilion", permanent sacrifice, which is a rare grace. At this point, Tian Yironggui died well.