The seizure of power by officials and eunuchs was an important factor leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but it is a little strange that when Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he has been trying to achieve the purpose of centralizing power and avoiding letting other forces threaten the imperial power, so Zhu Yuanzhang made a lot of efforts after he ascended the throne, and he also abolished the prime minister and let the power be firmly in his own hands. It has to be said that during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, the imperial power was indeed very stable, but with the gradual development of the Ming Dynasty, the shortcomings of this system began to be gradually revealed, and later eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian were also connived.
Wei Zhongxian was actually very beautiful before the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, and Wei Zhongxian,who single-handedly covered the sky with his power, should not have been defeated at the hands of a seventeen-year-old Chongzhen Emperor, but the historical ending tells us that Wei Zhongxian still died at the hands of this little emperor, so why did Wei Zhongxian end up in such a miserable end? If you want to understand this problem, in fact, you still have to figure out why Wei Zhongxian will step by step on the road to power. Since the Ming Dynasty did not have a prime minister, the civilian official clique had a customized contract for the imperial power, and when the balance between the imperial power and the civilian official clique deviated, the power of the civilian clique would gradually overshadow the imperial power, making the emperor feel tied hands and feet, so that a system that balanced the relationship between the two was needed.
Thus was born the eunuch clique, and Wei Zhongxian survived under such demand. Originally, Wei Zhongxian was just a city scoundrel, and later because he lost all the money in gambling, there was no way to become an eunuch into the palace, but Wei Zhongxian's greedy nature for money has not changed, so after he entered the palace, he has always been courting the emperor, and slowly became a eunuch trusted by the emperor, and his power has slowly become larger, it can be said that Wei Zhongxian at that time wanted the wind to wind and rain to rain, all the officials in the court had to respect him for three points, and Wei Zhongxian's money also rose. However, Wei Zhongxian forgot one thing, that is, the existence of official eunuchs was mainly due to the needs of imperial power, and when the emperor relied on eunuchs, they naturally flaunted their might, but when the emperor no longer needed them, these eunuchs could be abandoned at any time, even if the eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian, who were deeply rooted in the power in the dynasty, were the same.
The Chongzhen Emperor was deeply influenced by traditional ideas, and he was very concerned about the issue of the monopoly of official eunuchs, so after ascending the throne, he began to quietly cook with Wei Zhongxian. On the one hand, the Chongzhen Emperor sent people to collect Wei Zhongxian's guilt, and on the other hand, he slowly brought Wei Zhongxian down as usual, and in the face of all kinds of crimes, Wei Zhongxian was powerless to resist, and could only obey the fate's arrangement and go to the end of the road, so Wei Zhongxian seemed to be strong, but in fact, he was only a strong outsider, there was no imperial power as a backer, and the eunuch was just an empty shell that could be discarded at any time.