Jinyiwei was the exclusive military and political intelligence gathering agency of the Ming Dynasty, directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor. So, what was the purpose of Zhu Yuanzhang's establishment of the Jinyi Guard? What kind of influence did it have on the Ming Dynasty? Xiaobian brings you a detailed introduction to the article.
Antecedent: Hu Weiyong case
In 1380, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang executed Hu Weiyong for the crimes of "conspiracy to commit misdeeds" and "unauthorized power and planting the party", and tens of thousands of people were connected; After that, Taizu became more distrustful of his subjects and formally established the Jinyi Guard.
Consequences: Ming Chengzu reused the Jinyi Guard
In 1402, zhu di, the King of Yan, attacked Nanjing and ascended the throne as emperor, and in order to suppress the old jianwen ministry and suppress the dissatisfaction of his subjects who had originally supported emperor Jianwen, he restored all the power of Jinyiwei and strengthened it.
Detailed process:
1. Ming Taizu handled the affairs of the dynasty
In 1382, after the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang handled the Hu Weiyong case, he became even more distrustful of his subjects, so he changed the Yiluan Division (in charge of court etiquette) to Jinyi Wei to monitor the subjects. The establishment of Jinyiwei was an important means for the Ming monarchs to interfere in the judiciary and strengthen the autocratic rule, and was a typical symbol of the Ming Dynasty's secret service politics.
When Taizu first ascended the throne, he was very jealous of the founding heroes, and hu Weiyong, the chancellor, relied on the support of the founding hero Li Shanchang and wantonly seized power. Once, champa (located in present-day central Vietnam) came to pay tribute and directly visited Hu Weiyong, and Taizu was notified afterwards.
Taizu was very dissatisfied with this, but Hu Weiyong was the chancellor of the dynasty and commanded hundreds of officials. Taizu deliberately bypassed the chancellor and established his own cronies. Taizu selected Yiluansi from his own guards and gave them the new name "Jinyi Wei", which could be directly responsible to the emperor without being restricted by the chancellor and hundred officials.
When The Jinyi Guard was first established, the supreme person in charge of the Jinyi Guard commanded the envoy division from Sanpin. Later, in order to elevate the status of Jinyiwei, Taizu changed the rank of Jinyiwei Commandery to Zhengsanpin.
2. Duties of the Guards
Jinyiwei was directly responsible to the emperor and could directly arrest, interrogate, and detain officials without going through judicial organs such as the Punishment Department and Dali Temple. When the emperor wanted to perform the staff on the ministers, it was also the Jinyi guard who was responsible for execution. What frightened the officials even more at that time was that the Jinyi guards were secretly monitoring them, everywhere.
Qian Zai was an official in charge of compiling books, and his work was very hard, and he often complained. One day he wrote a poem: "Four drums bang up and get dressed, it is too late to meet at noon, when will you have to enjoy the countryside, and sleep until the earth is cooked." ”
The next day, when Qian Zai went to the court, As soon as Taizu saw him, he said, "It's a good poem written yesterday, but I don't think about it, how about changing it to a worried word?" Frightened, he quickly prostrated his head and apologized. Taizu had already learned of Qian Zaizuo's poem through eyeliner, and he said, "Let go of Ru and sleep well."
Not only ordinary officials, but also those with prominent positions and close ties to Taizu would also be monitored by Jinyiwei. Song Lian was the leader of the literary circle at that time and also the teacher of the crown prince Zhu Biao, who was very cautious and rarely involved in what was right and wrong, but Taizu was still uneasy about him.
One day, Song Lian set up a banquet at home and invited some guests. The next day, Taizu asked him who he had invited and what dishes he had eaten. Song Lian answered truthfully one by one. Taizu knew that Song Lian's reply was consistent with the information reported by Jinyiwei, and only then did he say satisfactorily: "It is all right, Song Lian did not deceive me." ”
Third, the means of the Jinyi guard
Not only that, their surveillance of officials can be said to be to the extent that everything is in detail. Once, Taizu asked Guozi why Song Ne was unhappy yesterday. Song Ne was very surprised, saying that the next person broke one of his beloved porcelain pieces, and he sat in his room angry, and he asked Taizu how he knew. Taizu took out The painting of Jinyiwei, and it turned out that Jinyiwei had painted him with the look of anger he had yesterday.
When Taizu eliminated meritorious ministers and launched a war against the Mongols, Jinyi Wei contributed a lot. After Taizu finished handling the "Guo Huan Case" and the "Empty Seal Case", he felt that the dissident forces in the DPRK had almost been eliminated, so he ordered the burning of Jinyiwei's torture equipment and handed over the prisoners arrested by Jinyiwei to the Punishment Department.
Taizu also killed the Jinyiwei commanders, and put the responsibility for the rise of the great prison and the slaughter of the courtiers on the Jinyiwei, leaving himself behind.
Later, Taizu raised the "Blue Jade Case", and the founding heroes were slaughtered. Taizu finally breathed a sigh of relief and ordered that all cases in the future be handled by the Court Law Department, and that internal and external prison affairs would no longer pass through the Jinyi Guards. The status of the Jinyi guard plummeted. It was not until Ming Chengzu ascended the throne that the Jinyi guard was reused again.
conclusion:
The establishment of the Jinyiwei was an important means for The Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang to strengthen the power of the monarch and suppress the founding heroes and nobles, but it caused serious damage to the normal judicial system of the Ming Dynasty, and later the Ming Monarch set up secret service organs such as the East Factory and the West Factory.