As we all know, when Zhu Yuanzhang was governing the country, he issued three measures, namely, requiring the state to recruit talents, the imperial court to set up the Metropolitan Inspection Yuan, and abolishing the post of minister. After that, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that these three measures were not enough, and immediately issued a fourth measure, that is, the establishment of JinyiWei.
At the beginning, the Huaixi Group and the Zhedong Group fought each other, and in the end, they ended up with the result of both defeats and injuries. This result should make Zhu Yuanzhang happy, but his more feelings are shock. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that it was necessary to revoke the post of minister of state in order to avoid the problem in the future. After that, the position of chancellor was revoked, and the emperor directly managed the six ministries and nine secretaries.
In addition, he also set up the Jinyi Guard, but the actions of this institution made the officials very afraid. At that time, the JinyiWei was a secret secret service organization of the imperial court and was a prison institution. Zhu Yuanzhang suffered a lot in the folk before starting his business, and when he became the master of the people, he was very insecure. He feared that his ministers would not be loyal enough to him, and that his regime would be stolen or overthrown by the people. Therefore, he was always on guard, and every move of the ministers touched his heart, like a "bird of fright", always tense his nerves.
Zhu Yuanzhang not only demanded that the ministers must be respectful and obedient to him, but also wanted to control the situation of the officials in the mansion, and what they said at home and the guests they saw were things that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to know. In order to achieve this goal, he constantly sent secret agents to visit various places in order to quickly understand the situation and thoughts of officials.
Therefore, the clever Zhu Yuanzhang used the Jinyi Guard to guarantee his power, so that any unusual action could not escape his eyes.
There is an interesting story recorded in the "Diary of Shui Dong", which is about Jinyiwei. Qian Zai was instructed to complete the compilation of mencius verses, and he rushed to work day and night, very tired.
One day, when he returned home, he suddenly wrote a poem with great enthusiasm and wrote a poem casually:
The four drums banged and dressed, and it was too late to meet at the noon gate.
When to have a pastoral pleasure, sleep until the earth is cooked.
This poem was originally written with nature, and after Qian Zai finished this poem, he fell asleep on his head. The next day, when Zhu Yuanzhang saw Qian Zai, he actually said to him: "Ai Qing wrote a good poem yesterday, but Yuanqing did not dislike that you came late to the dynasty. When Qian Zai heard this, he immediately fell to his knees in fright and asked Zhu Yuanzhang to punish him.
In fact, Qian Zai was a little fortunate in his heart, fortunately he did not talk nonsense yesterday, otherwise, his life would be in danger today. It can be seen from this that Zhu Yuanzhang's agents are really powerful, and their casual words can reach the emperor's ears.
If only his cronies were sent to search for the privacy of the ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang would not be able to pose a serious deterrent to the ministers in the government and the public.
In the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang's secret agents were called "inspection schools," and their task was to listen to some illegal and anecdotal things done privately by officials inside and outside the capital, and these things, no matter how big or small, were to be reported to Zhu Yuanzhang.
In April of the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the royal secret service agency, Jinyiwei, was officially established. The word "Wei" of Jinyiwei should mean the emperor's pro-army, but the duty of Jinyiwei is not to protect the personal safety of the emperor, but to collect illegal things within the country. In addition, the Guards often travel with them, and they used to be just royal honor guards dressed in gorgeous costumes.
Later, due to the needs of the emperor, this group of people evolved into fearsome agents. Moreover, the head of the Jinyi guard was the commanding envoy, appointed by the emperor and served by the military general. The commander of this position needed to have experience in leading soldiers, not to let eunuchs take over, and in addition, the duty of the commander was to protect the emperor's safety and patrol and arrest criminals, so these two functions could divide the Jinyi Guards into two distinct departments.
The Jinyi guards, who were responsible for the work of the guards, displaying the majesty of the imperial army and following the emperor on the tour, in fact, they were the same as the traditional Janissaries, and the more famous ones were the "Great Han Generals". Moreover, although these guards were called generals, they only needed to stand in the palace and pass on the emperor's orders, just like the piles in the palace. Also, they are responsible for cleaning, and they are responsible for cleaning in designated areas.
Although they look like piles, they are not ordinary piles. These people were all tall, tall, tiger-backed, and most importantly, they were full of energy, and their voices were loud when they delivered orders, which really served as a deterrent to those who did not know the situation.
So, what did the "patrol and arrest" Jinyi guards do?
As the name suggests, they are the people who patrol the streets and catch the big criminals, and they are different from the ordinary Janissaries. It is precisely because of this feature that people firmly remember this institution.
Initially, Zhu Yuanzhang's purpose in establishing the Jinyi Guard was only to increase the majesty of the honor guard. Later, because of the need to massacre ministers and suppress the people, he felt that the traditional judicial organs did not enforce the law enough to meet his requirements. Therefore, he promoted the Jinyi guards in the honor guard, and some important things were left to the Jinyi guards to complete, and they were directly responsible to the emperor and reported to the emperor.
It can be seen that the Jinyi guards have become the emperor's personal police.
In addition, the Beizhen Fusi of Jinyiwei specialized in handling cases of concern to the emperor, and they had their own prisons, which could take the initiative to arrest, interrogate, and execute prisoners, a process that did not require any judicial organs. There are five guardhouses under the Fu Division of the North and South Towns of the Jinyi Guards, and the commanders of these guardhouses are thousands of households, hundred households, general banners, small banners, etc., and ordinary soldiers are called lieutenants and lishi.
When the lieutenant and the lieutenant were on a mission to capture the convicts, they were called "Ti Riders". During the Ming Dynasty, the number of Ti riders was at least 1,000 and at most 60,000. Moreover, the Jinyiwei people are directly selected from the people, as long as the people kong wu is strong and there is no bad record, they can enter the Jinyiwei. As for the promotion of official positions in the future, it is up to them to rely on their personal ability. In addition, the official position of Jinyiwei can be hereditary, so being an official can also benefit future generations.
In fact, the emperor has such a hobby, and there will definitely be people who are attached to him below. Therefore, the establishment of the JinyiWei provided opportunities for many courtiers who were willing to act as pawns, so that their ambitions had the opportunity to be displayed. In addition, these minions know how to please Zhu Yuanzhang very well, making Zhu Yuanzhang proud to have such a "capable subject". Therefore, he said with great confidence: these people are like vicious dogs, and only such people can make the ministers afraid. It can be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang compared them to evil dogs, which is quite appropriate.
In order to preserve the power of the Zhu family, Zhu Yuanzhang just used this group of villains to "attack poison with poison" to suppress this group of disobedient ministers.
However, Jin Yiwei did meet Zhu Yuanzhang's expectations and help Zhu Yuanzhang eradicate dissidents and massacre heroes. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also went to prison and dragged a group of ministers to prison.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang set up the Jinyi Guard, which also had a purpose, that is, to monitor the illegal behavior of officials. The officials mentioned here are not only officials in the capital, but officials in the world. Because it was impossible for the emperor to hear every case, every case reported by Jinyiwei was tried by Jinyiwei's officials, who held the power to convict and sentence.
Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang liked to use torture, and Jinyi Wei followed suit, even more frequently than the emperor. There is an old saying that "if you want to add to your sins, you will not be able to do anything", so prisoners will generally confess under heavy punishment, even if they do not do it, they must admit it, otherwise, they will suffer endlessly. Even, in order to die quickly, Blue Jade quickly confessed to his crime. It can be seen that the Jinyi Guard is a tool for the royal family to vent and act recklessly.
In fact, in addition to listening to intelligence, the duty of the Jinyi guard is to assist in handling the case, and the more important duty is to take charge of the court staff. The staff was a form of torture that the emperor used to punish disobedient and disloyal ministers. If a minister angered the emperor and announced on the spot that he would be given a staff, the minister would immediately be stripped of his official clothes, tied with his hands, and sent to the noon gate. There, the commanders of dongchang and jinyiwei were waiting for the criminals to come.
The minister was wrapped in a large cloth, and the commanders ordered it to be struck, and the stick would fall continuously on the minister's thigh and buttocks. The people in charge of the execution were the lieutenants of the Jinyi Guards, who were trained to know what the officers meant. Moreover, the commanders of the East Factory and the Jinyi Guard would secretly command the lieutenants and let them carry out their own requirements.
If the two chiefs have their feet open, it means that they can leave their lives, and the lieutenant will be lighter in the process of law enforcement; if the two chiefs tiptoe inward, they will not stay, and the lieutenant will be heavier and may be beaten to death. After the beating, the lieutenant would also lift the large cloth wrapped by the prisoner and drop it heavily on the ground. After that, even if the prisoner can't die for a while and a half, he has to lie in bed for a long time.
In addition, in addition to the regular punishments of cane and stick, there are also some chilling tortures. These kinds of torture, which are brushing, frying, poisoning, standing shackles, etc., can torture people to death.
What is brushing? That is, the prisoner was stripped naked, and several people pressed him to the iron bed. Then, the boiling hot water was poured on the prisoner, and while the heat was still there, the servant used a brush covered with iron nails to brush the prisoner desperately until the skin was broken, revealing the bones inside. After that, the prisoner died in pain.
What is frying? This torture is a bit like a later soldering iron, where a flat iron plate is placed on the source of the fire and heated, and then the prisoner is pushed up. Soon, the prisoner would be scorched, very frightening.
What is poison filling? The servants first injected poison into the prisoner once, and then gave him an antidote to prolong his life. After that, another poison is poured in, and then the antidote is given to maintain his life. In the process, they continue to torture the prisoner until the prisoner cannot hold on and voluntarily gives up the hope of living.
What is a heavy shackle?
This kind of criminal law is very special, and the prisoner must stand after putting on the shackles, cannot sit, cannot lie down. The weight of the shackles exceeds the weight of the human body, and some even exceed three hundred pounds. The prisoner wore this huge shackle, obviously with a strong sense of oppression, and would be exhausted in a few days.
The History of the Ming Dynasty records that the torture of prisoners punished by factory guards included skinning, hooking intestines, shoveling heads, and so on. It is rumored that these tortures are even worse than those described above. Moreover, jinyiwei only obeyed the emperor's orders, and the other ministers had no right to interfere with them. Therefore, the Jinyi guards had a protective umbrella, as long as they coaxed the emperor to be happy, others could ignore it and do whatever they wanted.
In fact, in the eyes of the world, the Jinyi Guard and the "Zhao Prison" are the highest criminal law adjudication institutions in the country. Later, the power of the three legal divisions of the imperial court was taken away by the Emperor's trusted Jinyi Wei, so that the folk rumors spread: "The law division can be empty, and the criminal officers are redundant." "It can be seen that this institution has set the legislature of the imperial court empty, and what a terrible thing it is.
Moreover, the establishment of the Jinyiwei also undermined the dynastic legal system, making the legal system a tool for the Jinyiwei to act recklessly.
Resources:
["The Power Operation and Evaluation of the Ming Dynasty Jinyi Wei", "Ming Shi · Youfu Zhi III", "Wan Liye Was Edited and Addendum"]