During the Yuan Dynasty, the Han people were humiliated. Many officials bullied the people in the name of official duties. As a result, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a large number of peasant uprisings occurred. As the best of them, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Emperor, eventually won the victory and established the Ming Dynasty.
When Ming Taizu was in the people, he personally experienced the actions of those corrupt officials. Even his own family was buried under the harsh government of the Yuan Dynasty.
Therefore, after Ming Taizu became emperor, he paid great attention to the control of officials and their attention. Therefore, the supervision intensity during the Ming Dynasty was not available in the past dynasties.
1. The Jinyi Guard during the Ming Dynasty
1. The birth of Jinyiwei
Jinyiwei is an institution that was born during the Taizu period. In that era, eunuchs did not accomplish much. At that time, the emperor's main trust was the pro-soldiers he personally brought up. And these pro-soldiers, that is, the foundation established by the later Jinyi guards.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor wantonly rewarded Wen Wugong's subjects. Although this can be regarded as a full of his righteousness, it also lays hidden dangers for the rule of the national dynasty. Soldiers who have made achievements in times of war. It does not mean that in peacetime, you can be a good official.
Therefore, in order to prevent officials from becoming corrupt officials and oppressing the people like officials during the Yuan Dynasty. He organized the Jinyi Guards to supervise the hundred officials. Once a problem is found, it is reported directly to the emperor. It can also be regarded as the emperor sitting inside the palace, with an external eyeliner.
2. Jinyiwei ranks above the East Factory
The main purpose of the early establishment of the Jinyiwei was to collect information on civil and military officials and arrest and interrogate guilty people. He was in charge of the information of the king of the domain, supervised the movements of neighboring countries, and defended the emperor's safety. Because it was to report information directly to the emperor and only obey the emperor's orders, its social status at that time was extremely high.
Many ministers were very kind to Jinyiwei in order not to be played in secret. Later, all officials were horrified by the "Hu Weiyong Case", "Blue Jade Case", "Empty Seal Case" and many other cases. Jinyiwei have played an important role, making the status of Jinyiwei higher and higher.
Second, the follow-up development of the East Factory
1. The foundation for the establishment of the initial East Factory
If we say that the establishment of the Jinyiwei is to uphold justice and crack down on corrupt officials. Then the establishment of the East Factory is not so beautiful and righteous. After the Battle of Ming Chengzu Zhu Dijing, he won the throne.
Many of the old ministers of the past Jianwen period did not approve of Zhu Di's rule. At any time, there were uprisings in the name of Emperor Jianwen, and assassinations were more frequent. Therefore, in order to protect himself, Zhu Di arranged for powerful eunuchs to establish the East Factory.
The East Factory itself was served by eunuchs, and most of them would not have much to worry about being more loyal to the emperor. In addition, they are not highly educated and have physical disabilities. So they have an inexplicable desire for power psychologically.
Coupled with the fact that these eunuchs had not participated in government affairs in the past, naturally there was no faction to say, and it was completely based on the emperor's will, so such a team became a weapon to monitor the world. At that time, the East Factory did deal with the actions of many rebel groups.
Coupled with the things done by the East Factory, most of them are things outside the scope of the law, which makes people feel afraid. And because of the influence of his origin, his status is not high. Compared with the regular Jinyiwei, the status of the East Factory at that time was very low.
2. The East Factory that came after it
History proves that the composition of the personnel of the East Factory determines that they can finally please the emperor and become the largest secret service agency. The east factory was composed mainly of eunuchs, and this group of people waited by the emperor's side every day.
It is easier to speculate on the holy will and do things according to the emperor's will. He even went to help the emperor deal with some unseemly things and win the emperor's favor.
Third, the East Factory dominates the two major institutions
1. The East Factory is gradually growing
After Ming Chengzu, the center of gravity of the East Factory began to change. As the scope of its investigation has become larger, its power has also continued to expand. It turned out that it was only responsible for arresting the prisoners and then transferring them to the Jinyi Guard for interrogation.
However, as the number of cases became more complicated, the East Factory began to set up its own places for annoying detention. And also had the right to interrogate prisoners. These eunuchs, who were physically disabled themselves, were tortured one after another in the methods of interrogating prisoners.
In this way, the East Factory has gradually improved, and has a situation of sitting on an equal footing with Jinyiwei. "Ming Shi Penal Chronicle": "Raise the fate of the dynasty and the wilderness, and listen to the hands of the warriors and eunuchs, and it is good to sigh." ”
2, the east factory of the error fundamental
In fact, whether it is Jinyiwei or East Factory, it is just an institution. It is just a knife in the hands of the emperor, as long as they do their part, posterity will not evaluate it much. But as a knife controlled, the East Factory was not self-aware. Try to be anti-customer-oriented, so that the person with the knife listens to his own words.
As a secret service agency, there is no justice. On the contrary, it is to satisfy one's own selfish desires, to plant bribes to frame good ministers, to beat them into confessions, and to eliminate dissidents. Countless courtiers died here.
Countless unjust, false and wrongly decided cases have been created, and this is the second biggest mistake. The eunuch led the East Factory to confuse the imperial program, causing the people to be uneasy and unstable, which was the third major mistake. The East Factory has been left behind for thousands of years, which is really deserved.
As a tool to maintain imperial rule, Jinyiwei and Dongchang have their own values and drawbacks. In the three hundred years of history of the Ming Dynasty, the corruption of the two organizations can be clearly felt. In fact, in the system itself, there are not too many problems.
More or less is the essence of imperial power, there are problems. After all, the supervising officials, even in modern times, are still implementing. But the imperial power of the feudal dynasty also represents a departure from the rule of law. Only by ruling the country according to law can the foundation of the country be guaranteed, but the privileged class is an extralegal force.
The JinyiWei and the East Factory, with the help of the power of the imperial power, broke away from the restrictions of the rule of law. Therefore, the two organizations in the later period will make so many crimes that are difficult to hide. If there is any restriction, it will not be serious enough to affect the imperial rule.
Reference: "Myo history"