The reason why the Chongzhen Emperor was able to easily eliminate Wei Zhongxian at the beginning of his rise to power was because in the Ming Dynasty, no matter how powerful the eunuchs were, they were only the emperor's slaves. Under the shackles of a bunch of "ancestral family law", they can never get rid of this identity. As long as the emperor wanted to engage them, they didn't even have room to resist.
We may wish to first take a look at the Chongzhen Emperor's thunderous means, and then talk about the reasons for this.
On August 11, 1627 (September 19, 1627), Zhu You, who had just been 22 years old, died at the age of 22. Since Emperor Xizong was childless, the throne went to his younger brother, Zhu Youjian the Prince of Xin, who was the Chongzhen Emperor.
The eve before the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne was very sinister. As is customary, he is to wait in the palace. Who in the palace had food, originally did not have to worry about him as a prince. However, Zhu Youjian personally brought water and bread. Late at night, the eunuch in the palace sent a supper, and Zhu Youjian said two words: I don't eat, I don't drink. When you are really hungry, you will take two bites of your own dry cake, and then drink two sips of cold water. He did this because he was afraid that Wei Zhongxian's eunuchs would poison him.
It should be said that Zhu Youjian's performance in this way is already clear about his relationship with Wei Zhongxian and other castration parties. That's four words: fire and water are intolerable!
After Chongzhen ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian offered 4 beautiful women in order to repair the relationship with the emperor. Who thought that the Chongzhen Emperor was not, and also searched for volatile Ecstasy from the beautiful woman's body. At this moment, Wei Zhongxian slapped the horse's ass on the horse's leg, and the emperor hated him even more.
Therefore, only two months after succeeding to the throne, a whirlwind blew in the DPRK and China—Qian Jiazheng, a gongsheng of Jiaxing, suddenly attacked and wrote a letter to impeach Wei Zhongxian, counting his ten major crimes. The Chongzhen Emperor immediately summoned Wei Zhongxian and had him read out the bullet seal. Wei Zhongxian was paralyzed in fear, but he still could not let the Chongzhen Emperor let him go. In December 1627, the Chongzhen Emperor decreed that Wei Zhongxian should go to Fengyang, the land of Longxing in the Ming Dynasty, to guard the spirit. After Wei Zhongxian went on the road, he still carried a group of slaves. When the Chongzhen Emperor found out, he ordered Jinyi Wei to go and arrest him. Wei Zhongxian knew that he would not be able to escape death, so he drank a big meal of wine and hanged himself with the strength of the wine.
From the whole process, it can be seen that although Wei Zhongxian was powerful, he had no way to deal with the Chongzhen Emperor. Except for some shady moves, he did not have any hard power to confront the emperor at all. When the emperor is angry, he can scare him to death! Why? Wei Zhongxian once called himself "Nine Thousand Years Old" and held the power of the world, so couldn't he have been a powerful emperor?
Not really! Because of the political environment of the Ming Dynasty, it was guaranteed that eunuchs could not be bigger.
When it comes to the eunuch dictatorship in Chinese history, it is recognized that there are three dynasties that are the most serious: the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty. The "Ten Long Attendants" of the Eastern Han Dynasty were so powerful that every move could influence major state affairs; the eunuchs of the Tang Dynasty were even more evil and could easily depose the emperor! The great eunuch Qiu Shiliang even raised the dictatorship to the theoretical stage, to the point where he collected disciples and no one dared to provoke him. But in the Ming Dynasty, this situation changed dramatically.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was a man with a strong desire for power. He not only abolished the chancellor system and personally led the imperial court, but also guarded against the ancient harem and eunuch dictatorship. He stipulated that eunuchs could not be literate, and certainly not officials. Starting with Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, this ban was gradually relaxed. Therefore, when Emperor Mingyingzong produced Wang Zhen and Cao Jixiang; when Emperor Mingwuzong produced Liu Jin and Gu Dayong; when Emperor Mingmuzong produced Lü Fang and Liu Hong; when Emperor Mingshenzong, he produced Feng Bao; and when Emperor Mingxizong, he produced Wei Zhongxian, who was "nine thousand years old".
However, no matter how powerful the eunuchs were, their relationship with the emperor was always the relationship between master and slave. All the power of the eunuch was based on his relationship with the emperor.
Or the few people we just talked about. Wang Zhen was arrogant when he was supported by Emperor Yingzong of Youming, and hundreds of thousands of troops became the bodyguards of his private property. But once the emperor was gone, a small soldier could kill him; Liu Jin was known as the "Emperor Li", but once Emperor Mingwu was tired of him, it took only one night to let him go to prison and be punished; even Wei Zhongxian, the Emperor of Heavenly Revelation, once said to him, "You must not deceive me". When the emperor likes them, they can be mighty and blessed. And once the emperor didn't like them anymore, their downfall was a matter of minutes.
The reason for this situation is the foundation of the eunuch system. Although the restrictions on them were gradually relaxed from the time of Ming Chengzu, some key rules remained. The most important thing is that eunuchs cannot be officials. Eunuchs may be given some "missions," but they will never be officials. If you are not an official, you will naturally not have power. Their threat to imperial power, of course, would be very small.
In fact, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty had the power to approve the red instead of the emperor's acquiescence, that is, to help the emperor approve the documents. However, if a government decree is to be issued, it is not enough to approve the red, and it must also be stamped. There are two people involved here: the Bingbi eunuch and the palm seal eunuch. Moreover, even the internal affairs of the imperial palace were divided into twenty-four gates, and no one person would be allowed to fully grasp them. In this way, the relationship between the eunuchs will become a mess, and there will be no synergy at all. Coupled with their humble status, they naturally had to rely on the imperial power to earn a living. Once the emperor did not want them to be attached, they naturally had no basis for survival.
Specific to Wei Zhongxian, although he has unlimited scenery on the surface, there are a large number of people around him who tend to be inflamed and attached. However, these people were not in awe of him, but of the imperial power behind him. Wei Zhongxian had his own unique set of methods to control the emperor, and those ministers could get the emperor to issue government decrees in his favor by currying favor with Wei Zhongxian. Therefore, if they can form a win-win political alliance, then naturally Wei Zhongxian's status will be higher. However, after the death of the Emperor of The Apocalypse, the newly arrived Chongzhen Emperor was not under the control of Wei Zhongxian, so he lost the value of use for those ministers. Therefore, when Wei Zhongxian fell, his so-called "power" disappeared. In this way, the Chongzhen Emperor got rid of him, of course, without much effort.
I have to say that the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty is indeed too powerful. Therefore, even if the Chongzhen Emperor had just succeeded to the throne, even if he had entered the palace as a foreign domain, he could still easily eliminate Wei Zhongxian.