Liang Qichao said in the "Outline of Li Wenzhong's Official Affairs": "Those who are subordinate to him are clever in their words, flattering the lord, stealing the handle of the country, and poisoning the people, such as Zhao Gao of Qin, Ten Constant Attendants of Han, Lu Qi of Tang, Li Linfu, Cai Jing of Song, Juniper of Song, Han Nongxin, Liu Jin of Ming, and Wei Zhongxian, wearing a bucket basket, incomparable." ”
Since ancient times, when there are loyal subjects, there are traitors, and the people mentioned in this historical data are the famous traitors in history. Throughout the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs interfered in politics, and the phenomenon of eunuch chaos was particularly serious. And Wei Zhongxian is one of the "leaders", who is known as the culprit who ruined the national fortunes of the Ming Dynasty.
Wei Zhongxian was a eunuch of Si Li Bingbi during the Apocalypse Period, although he was born as a eunuch, he was extremely favored, and at that time Wei Zhongxian was in power and was known as "Nine Thousand Years Old". Without the later Chongzhen Emperor, Wei Zhongxian's reputation would not be far off. So how could such a powerful and deep-seated figure, the 17-year-old Chongzhen Emperor, be able to remove him at the beginning of his ascension to the throne?
First, due to personality, lack of ability
A person's personality has a decisive role in life, and Wei Zhongxian's failure is largely related to his personality. In fact, looking at Wei Zhongxian's origins, experiences, and abilities, he was not as good as other famous traitors in history.
His ascension to the throne was more like a matter of luck, when Emperor Guangzong had no intention of ruling the government, and Wei Zhongxian's ascension to the throne was so smooth.
Moreover, although Wei Zhongxian had a lot of intrigue and trickery, he was less cunning, which was not a positive word, but this was indeed what a famous traitorous courtier in history should have. For example, the famous tyrant Cao Cao, Cao Cao and his people, the most important thing is cunning, and it is also cunning that he can commit the great disobedience of the world and take the throne of the Eastern Han Emperor.
Wei Zhongxian, on the other hand, was just the opposite, although he had the advantage, he did not have a long-term plan for himself. In the end, it was counterattacked by the Chongzhen Emperor.
Moreover, Wei Zhongxian was relatively cowardly in nature, which can be seen from Wei Zhongxian's repeated practices in facing the Chongzhen Emperor. Once, Wei Zhongxian was summoned to the palace because someone impeached him, but in the face of the impeachment of others, Wei Zhongxian did not defend himself, and he cowered and tended to play the emotional card. From here, it can be seen that Wei Zhongxian was afraid of the emperor and imperial power, not to mention usurping the throne like Cao Cao.
Character can determine life because it drives what a person does. Although Wei Zhongxian had a lot of power, he was afraid of imperial power and did not really want to replace it. As we all know, the Ming Dynasty has made many restrictions on the power of eunuchs since the time of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.
Wei Zhongxian and his henchmen controlled very few armies, due to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty. However, the ancestral system is difficult for people with hearts, Wei Zhongxian can control the government, if he really wants to control the military power, it is not impossible. Or it is due to the system, or it is due to personality.
In short, it was a fact that Wei Zhongxian did not have military power in his hands. How could a eunuch without military power, even if he was really powerful, seize the throne? It's not that difficult to pack up.
Second, the inevitable result of a centralized system
As mentioned above, the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty was destined to prevent eunuchs from having much power, and it was the Ming system that played the most fundamental role in the Chongzhen Emperor's effortless removal of Wei Zhongxian.
The Ming Dynasty system was founded by the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, who made changes to address all the aspects that could constrain imperial power, the purpose of which was to prevent the power of courtiers from threatening imperial power in the past.
Zhu Yuanzhang first abolished Zhongshu Province and Xiang Xiang under the pretext of the Hu Weiyong case, and the power was divided into six departments; in the ming Dynasty, in order to further strengthen the imperial power, the formation of the cabinet system allowed the emperor to fully control the central and local political power; in the military aspect, Zhu Yuanzhang also set up the governor's office of the five armed forces, and let them control the military power with the military part, so that they could contain each other, and also created the system of guard houses.
These practices greatly strengthened imperial power and centralization, and the imperial autocracy of the Ming Dynasty almost jumped to the peak of China's feudal society.
The extreme concentration of imperial power was the biggest hole card in the hands of the Chongzhen Emperor. Whether it was political or military, it was really in the hands of the emperor, and even if Wei Zhongxian could control the government for a while, it could not change the political system of the concentration of imperial power.
The phrase "a king wants his subjects to die, and his subjects have to die" was very applicable in the Ming Dynasty. Because no matter how prestigious or powerful the courtiers are, they can still be rejected. For example, Yan Song, the famous first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, served as the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years, and his henchmen were all over the world, but the Jiajing Emperor still abolished it with a single sentence.
For the Chongzhen Emperor, imperial power was in his hands, and the deterrent power of imperial power was enormous. The power of the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty was only dependent on the imperial power, which was an extension of the thorough "the king wants the subject to die, and the subject has to die". The emperor was able to give power to eunuchs in order to rule, which meant that the emperor could take away these powers at any time.
As a result, Chongzhen was able to easily confront the scheming Wei Zhongxian and achieve an overwhelming victory, which was rooted in the political system of the Ming Dynasty. Eunuchs like Wei Zhongxian, who were in a position of power to the opposition, could not be exceptiond when they really threatened the imperial power.
Third, internal contradictions have become prominent, and officials have turned against each other
Of course, the political system of centralized imperial power was indeed the root of the guarantee that the emperor would take over Wei Zhongxian, but only if the Chongzhen Emperor had truly controlled the imperial power. When Wei Zhongxian was in power, how could a young Tianzi, who had just turned 17, be able to firmly control the imperial power so quickly? The answer is no. That is to say, the Chongzhen Emperor at that time did not rely on the absolute majesty of the imperial system to take down Wei Zhongxian.
Therefore, there is another very important reason for this, that is, Wei Zhongxian's power is not really deeply rooted, but there is something to attack. Although Wei Zhongxian's henchmen were numerous, they were not loyal. Because when these people discovered that the Chongzhen Emperor intended to liquidate Wei Zhongxian, they turned away, and even more so, they collected Wei Zhongxian's guilt and wanted to report it.
It was only after Wei Zhongxian's most powerful assistant, Bingbu Shangshu Cui Chengxiu, was dismissed by the Chongzhen Emperor that the situation in the court really changed. Many officials saw that the situation had changed drastically, so they pointed the spearhead of the attack directly at Wei Zhongxian.
In the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624), Yang Lian impeached Wei Zhongxian for the "Twenty-Four Great Sins", which was the first time that Someone had so openly impeached Wei Zhongxian. Coupled with the more obvious release of the Chongzhen Emperor, the signal to strike wei Zhongxian once and for all, the number of chapters against the Wei castration party suddenly increased. For a time, Wei Zhongxian changed from a high-powered "nine-thousand-year-old" to a traitor that everyone crusaded against.
Wei Zhongxian's old days of being praised by people no longer existed, and he became the target of being attacked by the government and the public overnight. In the end, the Chongzhen Emperor carried out a "general liquidation" of Wei Zhongxian, and Wei Zhongxian's era finally fell.
brief summary
Looking at the ups and downs of the lives of a generation of powerful people, Wei Zhongxian's final ending, hanging himself, is indeed lamentable. In fact, Wei Zhongxian's end was already doomed, as a political figure with power to the opposition, it was inevitable to make a big move, and the end that threatened the imperial power was also inevitable.
There are countless famous courtiers in history, but how many people can end up in a satisfactory situation? Very few. Imperial power is autocratic, it is not allowed for anyone to threaten and covet, even if there is no intention, but the sharp edge and moral unworthiness are the original sin, and only by being able to conceal its sharp edge and do a good job can we get its good results.
In fact, although Wei Zhongxian was synonymous with traitors and villains, his ability was worthy of recognition. During his reign, there was neither domestic rebellion nor external enemy attacks from the Ming Dynasty, and after his downfall, the situation in the Ming Dynasty took a sharp turn for the worse, with internal and external troubles. It can be seen that Wei Zhongxian's ability is still good, and he has kept the peace of mind for the Ming Dynasty for a while.
Wei Zhongxian's personal fate was related not only to himself, but also to the partisan struggles that affected the life and death of the Ming Dynasty. The party struggle in the Ming Dynasty began with the Jiajing Dynasty, and the peak period of party struggle was ushered in during the Apocalypse. During the Apocalypse, the eunuch party led by Wei Zhongxian broke out into a struggle with the Donglin Party, and in the end the castration party won, and the Donglin party was defeated.
By the Chongzhen period, with the downfall of Wei Zhongxian, the Donglin Party successfully turned around. However, the Donglin Party was the most important resistance force for the reform of the Ming Dynasty, and also prevented the development of the Ming Dynasty's strength, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the party struggle and the Donglin Party were important reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Reference: Li Wenzhong's Official Affairs Strategy
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