Jinyiwei was a military and political intelligence collection agency of the Ming Dynasty, formerly known as the "Gongwei Division" established by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, and later renamed the "Qinjundu Lieutenant's Mansion", which controlled the Yiluan Division and was in charge of the emperor's ceremonial guard and bodyguard.
In the fifteenth year of Hongwu (1382), the pro-military capital and the Yiluan division were abolished, and Jinyiwei was replaced. As a military institution of the emperor's bodyguard, Jinyiwei's main functions are to "control the guard, patrol and arrest", and engage in reconnaissance, arrest, interrogation and other activities. He also participated in the work of collecting military information and plotting against enemy generals, such as collecting a large amount of Japanese military information in the Wanli Korean War. Its leader was called the Jinyiwei Commander, and was generally held by the emperor's close military generals, who were directly responsible to the emperor. Anyone can be arrested, including royal family members, and interrogated in camera.
Speaking of Jinyiwei, everyone should be familiar with it, Jinyiwei and the East Factory and West Factory together constitute the three major secret service organizations of the Ming Dynasty court in the film and television drama. The Jinyiwei officials wore flying fish suits and embroidered spring knives at their waists, and their methods were uncanny and cruel. Their presence is often accompanied by conspiracies, whistleblowing and killings that make people shudder. Why did the Ming Dynasty suddenly appear such a secret agency as Jinyiwei? And what is the relationship between Jinyiwei and the East Factory and the West Factory? Why did the Ming Dynasty have different authoritarian gains? And what authoritarian cost did the Ming Dynasty cost?
First, why did Jinyiwei appear in the Ming Dynasty? We all know that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty set up Jinyiwei to strengthen his autocratic rule, it is worth noting that Jinyiwei did not appear overnight, its birth has gone through a long process, and at the beginning of the establishment of Jinyiwei, he did not do the work of licking blood at the knife's edge.
In 1364, at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was still one of the many hegemons, he was building up strong, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming king, and his power became more and more powerful. At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang's sphere of influence was mainly in the area of today's Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and the geographical scope belonged to the ancient state of Wu, so Zhu Yuanzhang was supported by his subordinates as the king of Wu. Soon after Zhu Yuanzhang became king, he proposed to establish a strict etiquette system. Why did Zhu Yuanzhang spend his mind on such an insignificant matter as etiquette? There are several main reasons.
First of all, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that in order to achieve the final success of the war for hegemony, in addition to the fist must be hard, the banner must also be right, so as to distinguish his own team from other insurgents. Zhu Yuanzhang's banner was to drive the Mongols back to the north, recapture the territory of the Han people, and restore order in China.
What best represents the Han people? Of course, it is the etiquette culture of the Han people. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to occupy the moral high ground, give greater legitimacy and legitimacy to his military operations, and at the same time attract more people to surrender and continue to grow the ranks. In addition to the things in name, Zhu Yuanzhang also recognized that etiquette has many practical functions. In ancient China, etiquette meant order, the so-called monarch and subjects, father and son, which represented stability and order.
We may think that Zhu Yuanzhang was a big old man, from a poor family, who herded cattle for landlords, and also worked as a monk in a temple, and he was also very barbaric after becoming an emperor. But Zhu Yuanzhang saw the function of etiquette very clearly. After a retreat from the dynasty, he said to Zuo Xiangguo Xu Da, why did the Yuan Dynasty have chaos in the world? Just because the discipline is not established, the Lord is weak and the subjects are strong, the law is not good, and the people's hearts are scattered. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang proposed to rectify the discipline and establish a capable bureaucratic and military contingent to consolidate and expand his vision.
In addition to the etiquette system being able to restore social order, Zhu Yuanzhang also saw a deeper stake. As mentioned earlier, Zhu Yuanzhang was supported as a king by his subordinates, and everyone was brothers when he fought the world, but after the establishment of the dynasty, the relationship between the two sides had to change, and they became kings and subjects, and there was a distinction between upper and lower. This question has plagued Zhu Yuanzhang since he became king. For example, some people will be proud of their achievements and do not care about the relationship between honor and inferiority of the monarch, while others will feel that the position they have obtained does not match their contribution, and they are not very satisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang's distribution.
We know that Zhu Yuanzhang was suspicious by nature, and he was also very distressed and anxious when he encountered such a thing, so Zhu Yuanzhang proposed to emulate Zhou Shizong of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and still strive to re-establish the national rites and restore the Han traditions during the arduous entrepreneurial period. Taking this opportunity, Zhu Yuanzhang forced his courtiers to accept and respect his status. Since this matter is so important and urgent, there must be a special team in charge, and Jinyiwei was born in this context.
However, the name Jinyiwei did not appear until more than ten years later. Zhu Yuanzhang first set up two institutions, one called the Gongwei Division and the other called the Yiluan Division, which were the predecessors of Jinyiwei. The main function of this institution is to display ceremonial guards, that is, to be responsible for all related matters of large-scale national events, such as hanging flags, arranging ceremonial vessels, and reminding the emperor and officials what dresses to wear and what etiquette to use, much like the things that celebration companies do now.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang had already mastered half of the rivers and mountains, seized the world, and victory was in sight, so he sacrificed heaven and earth in the southern suburbs of Nanjing and officially ascended the throne as emperor, and this important ceremony was mainly operated by the Yiluan Division. Jinyiwei, also known as the Gongwei Division, his functions are biased towards security work. For example, when Zhu Yuanzhang received the congratulations of hundreds of officials in the Fengtian Temple, he separated the two sides, and when the emperor traveled, they would also follow left and right.
Because this is a group of people who serve the emperor closely, the recruitment is relatively strict. According to the literature, there is a very important official position among the officials of the Department of Ceremonial Guards called Tianwu General, and their selection criteria include tall, capable appearance, no body odor, brave and martial arts, clean foundation, no criminal record, and so on. But you think, the emperor travels not only security, but also ceremonial guards, and when holding celebrations, not only ceremonial guards, but also security must be configured. So slowly these two departments merged into one organization, and Jinyiwei was born.
In this way, Jin Yiwei naturally plays two roles, security guard and ceremonial guard. In peacetime, Jinyiwei's work also included domesticating elephants and imperial horses needed for the emperor's travels. It is precisely because Jinyiwei is linked to the two most important things of royal prestige and emperor safety, so the status and treatment of Jinyiwei are also incomparable with other departments. Take the clothing accessories of Jin Yiwei, the word Jin Yi can see that they are dressed gorgeously. There are also two things that have to be mentioned, flying fish suits and embroidered spring knives.
Influenced by film and television works, many people think that these two things are the standard of Jinyiwei, in fact, only high-ranking officials in Jinyiwei have three kinds of clothing: python clothing, flying fish clothing and bullfighting clothing. Not all members of the Jinyiwei can own flying fish suits and embroidered spring knives, these two things symbolize royal glory, they need to be rewarded, and there are very strict rules for wearing them. According to historical records, flying fish suits and embroidered spring knives only appeared during major events, such as emperor sacrifices and trips.
In the movie, it is unrealistic for Jin Yiwei to go out and cut people with an embroidered spring knife in a flying fish suit. The special status of Jinyiwei is not only reflected in the clothing accessories, but also in the treatment. For example, during the Ming Dynasty, a general of Jinyiwei could receive 100 liters of Lumi per month, while similar grades in other formations only 60 liters per month. There are also more opportunities for promotion in Jinyiwei. For example, Ming Renzong, the fourth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, promoted 128 Jinyiwei generals at one time. The other courtiers were puzzled, and Emperor Mingrenzong explained that these people had served our Zhu family for thirty or forty years, and the short ones were no less than 20 years, their hair was gray, and they had not made any big mistakes. To be an emperor is to talk about human favor. From here we can see the close relationship between Jinyiwei and the emperor, their power system in the Ming Dynasty is destined to be different, but if it is said that spending so much effort to raise such a large group of people, just doing a battle of security work, it is too wasteful.
Secondly, we will talk about what is the first priority of becoming an emperor? Of course, it is to sit on the throne, and only when the throne is stable will there be a chance to talk about something else. Therefore, the first investment that the Ming emperor made with Jinyiwei was to supervise the ministers, that is, let Jinyiwei play the role of a spy.
It is said that after Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, not only did he not sit on Hongfu, but he became more and more anxious. He wondered if those who fought the world with him would also want to be emperors? Taking a step back, even if they dare not play any tricks during my reign, when my children and grandchildren take the throne, will these heroes take advantage of their high positions and have the intention of rebellion? Even if everything is fine and no one dares to covet the throne, will the ministers have bad intentions, collude with each other, enrich their own pockets, and embezzle and accept bribes? Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and felt that the people in the state bureaucracy were unreliable, and he still had to rely on his own private team to supervise the minister.
So, Jin Yiwei came in handy. Jinyiwei's involvement in the judicial field did not happen overnight, and one of the key things was that there was an official named Hu Weiyong next to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was very talented. In his early years, Hu Weiyong served in the Taichang Temple, and the responsibility of this department was to be in charge of ritual rites. In other words, in the establishment of the etiquette system in previous years, Hu Weiyong contributed his own strength. In addition, Hu Weiyong is very good at doing things, and over time, he has won Zhu Yuanzhang's favor. Hu Weiyong's official became bigger and bigger, and even became the prime minister. Unfortunately, as Hu Weiyong's power rose, he became no longer cautious. For example, sometimes when encountering major events such as life and death, he did not report to Zhu Yuanzhang, and he dealt with it himself. As well as the recitals of various internal and external departments, he first took them to see, as long as it was unfavorable to himself, Hu Weiyong would not report it to Zhu Yuanzhang. Some people curry favor with Hu Weiyong in order to increase their official ranks.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not unaware of these things, but he just endured it all the time, waiting for an opportunity to clean him up. Finally a foreign country came to the DPRK one year, this is a very important thing, but Hu Weiyong did not report Zhu Yuanzhang, according to the ancient etiquette system, this is obviously a trespass, this matter soon reached Zhu Yuanzhang's ears, plus someone reported that Hu Weiyong secretly went through Mongolia in the north, the country of Yao in the east, inside and out, Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, since he became king, he paid special attention to the personal authority of the emperor, and was busy with etiquette during the entrepreneurship, isn't it for this? Therefore, he must not agree to the trespassor of his courtiers.
Taking this opportunity, Zhu Yuanzhang planned to clean up the bureaucratic ranks, and in the end, more than 30,000 people were arrested because of Hu Weiyong's case. The first commander of Jinyiwei caused Mao Xiao to create a major case after Hu Weiyong's death, and finally he was killed by Zhu Yuanzhang in order to calm the anger of the people. The second was Jiang Ying, and the evidence of Lan Yu's rebellion in history was that he secretly told Zhu Yuanzhang.
The Hu Weiyong case is very different from other cases, and a relatively complete judicial system has been formed before the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor can indeed intervene in the case, but he will also face resistance from officials, saying that the emperor has done something that you should not worry about. During the Ming Dynasty, there were also three divisions of law, namely the Criminal Department, the Inspectorate, and the Dali Temple. For major cases, these three institutions should cooperate with each other, with the Criminal Department responsible for hearing, the Inspectorate responsible for correcting, and the Dali Temple responsible for rejection, so as to avoid the occurrence of unjust, false and wrong cases as much as possible.
But in the case of Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang completely skipped the Three Laws Division to personally handle it. Through the Hu Weiyong case, Zhu Yuanzhang not only cracked down on the meritorious system, but also took the opportunity to adjust the organs of state power, such as abolishing the prime minister system. It must be known that the prime minister has a history of more than 1,000 years, and Hu Weiyong has become the last prime minister in ancient Chinese history.
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In addition, in the future, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty could also interfere more blatantly in the country's judicial affairs, for example, there was a kind of prison called edict that was very active in the Ming Dynasty. The edict literally means that the emperor personally issued an edict to convict the case, and the people involved are high-ranking officials, since the emperor personally consulted and supervised it, who will do the specific things? Of course, it is Jinyiwei, because they have the support of the emperor, the Three Laws Division has no right to interrogate, so when they judge officials, it is called ruthless.
The edict prison has an alias called the heavenly prison, which not only means that only the upper class is qualified to enter the prison, but also means that as long as you enter, you will ascend to heaven, and it is difficult to come out alive. According to historical records, the criminal law of the edict is extremely cruel, such as clamping sticks, peeling skins, breaking spine, piercing the heart, etc., which makes people sweat coldly when they think about it.
In this way, Jinyiwei, an honor guard and security team, slowly also provided one-stop services for surveillance, investigation, arrest, interrogation, and execution, and they were placed in high hopes by Zhu Yuanzhang, and their power expanded rapidly, and through chasing the wind, investigating and denouncing, helping the emperor purge a large number of powerful ministers, and gradually eliminating many of Zhu Yuanzhang's worries. The imperial throne is stable, the emperor does not have to worry too much about the ministers seeking power to usurp the throne, so what else can Jinyiwei do?
As mentioned earlier, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty always could not trust the government system, feeling that some officials were passive and neglectful, and some officials were full of private pockets, so the emperors often sent their own private class Jinyiwei to intervene in various government affairs, which was the second benefit that Jinyiwei brought to the Ming emperor. For example, during the reign of the fifth emperor, Emperor Ming Xuanzong, Jinyiwei did a job similar to that of a policeman, catching thieves.
One year the Grand Canal was in turmoil, and officials, merchants and ordinary people from the south could only go by land, and Ming Xuanzong was worried that they would be robbed by robbers, so he sent the good Jin Yiwei to arrest the thieves. Other officials suggested that Jinyiwei offices should be set up every six or ten miles in places where bandits were frequented. Later, Jinyiwei not only arrested thieves near the capital, but also expanded its business area to Sichuan and Jiangxi.
In addition to monitoring the courtiers and catching thieves, Jin Yiwei even participated in foreign affairs. For example, in the later period of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, Jinyiwei entertained tributes from the northwest. Once, a North Korean spy was captured in the Liaodong region and escorted to the capital, and Zhu Yuanzhang was also handed over to Jinyiwei. Of course, it is the northern Mongols who are more important. The Yuan dynasty collapsed, and the Mongols retreated to the north and soon separated. One of them was very powerful, called Wala, and the most important diplomatic object of the Ming Dynasty was Wala. Since many of the people in Jinyiwei are foreigners who master many foreign languages, Jinyiwei appears to be very active in foreign affairs.
For example, in the Ming Dynasty, during the time of the sixth emperor Ming Yingzong, a major event occurred, the change of Tumu Fort, and Ming Yingzong was captured by Wala. Later, Jinyiwei, who sent an envoy to Wala, brought back a message from Emperor Ming Yingzong, saying that the country could not be without a king for a day, and that his younger brother would take the throne. You see, as the personal tool of the emperor, Jinyiwei's power is not given by the government system, but authorized by the emperor, and they, as tentacles of imperial power, reach out to all corners of the state power system. When we see Jinyiwei flying and domineering, we should not forget that behind it is actually the continuous expansion of imperial power.
As mentioned earlier, Jinyiwei is the emperor's private team, in this way, Jinyiwei can not only wrestle with the ministers on behalf of the emperor on the table, but also serve as a tool to meet the emperor's various special needs. This is the third benefit that Jinyiwei brought to the old Zhu family. For example, Ming Shizong did not have a good relationship with the minister. Jin Yiwei often played the role of thug and gave the minister a board. The 13th emperor, Myojinzong, was a fan of wealth, and it is said that he had people dig a big hole in the palace and put all the looted wealth into it. At this time, Jinyiwei's first priority was to help the emperor grab wealth everywhere. The tenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty had too many interests, such as raising boys, raising rare birds and animals, and playing military games, and Jinyiwei had to follow the emperor to role-play. The 16th emperor of the Ming Dynasty was the Chongzhen Emperor who was the last to hang himself on Meishan Mountain, and because he was full of suspicion and resentment towards his courtiers, Jinyiwei became a tool for him to vent his personal anger. It seems that this asset left by Zhu Yuanzhang has indeed brought a lot of convenience to the old Zhu family. However, since it is an asset and has income, there must be a cost.
The third part, the most direct cost is the heavy financial pressure, Jinyiwei is equivalent to outside the country's secretarial, judicial, and military systems, the emperor has a set of private teams, and because they serve the emperor directly, the emperor spends money on them even more sparingly. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu (1382), Zhu Yuanzhang set up Jinyiwei. The initial functions are threefold: first, guard duty; second, investigation and arrest; Third, the prison is a canonical prison. These three functions have not been established for a period of time with a stable system for their implementation. In the later period of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, the scale of Jinyiwei grew rapidly, and he was specially ordered to take charge of the prison, giving inspectors the power to arrest and arrest, and setting up a Zhenfu Department under it. In the twentieth year of Hongwu (1387), Zhu Yuanzhang believed that Jinyiwei had abused his power, and according to the situation, he ordered the burning of Jinyiwei's torture instruments, and the prisoners he was held were transferred to the criminal department for trial; At the same time, it was ordered that all internal and external prisons be tried by the Three Laws Division and abolished Jinyiwei. During the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei was restored again, and Beizhen Fusi specially handled the edict. The two generations of emperors in the early Ming Dynasty reused Jinyiwei, and after that, the Ming generation, this drawback was finally difficult to solve.
For example, in the 24th year of Hongwu, Jinyiwei added four thousand households to the training general, tuntian, Ma Jun left, and Ma Jun right, and you can know from the name that they are mainly responsible for raising horses and elephants for the emperor. In the Ming Dynasty, one thousand households had more than 1,100 people, and adding four thousand households would add obvious pressure on finances. Jinyiwei has a total of one conductor, three products; Conductor Tongzhi two, from the third pin; Conductor two people, positive four products; Calming makes two, from the four pins; Fourteen houses with fourteen people in a thousand households, plus the five products; Vice Sento, from the five pins; Hundred households, zhengliupin; Try a hundred households, from six products; General flag, positive seventh product; Small flag, from the seventh pint. There are generals, captains, and lux under them, and there are external counselors and school orders, and there are translators who are proficient in many Chinese words. Later, this situation became more serious, and Jinyiwei had at least 17 schools under its jurisdiction, that is, nearly 20,000 people. And become a member of Jinyiwei, their field endowment will be halved. This is equivalent to more people eating, fewer people paying food, and further increasing the financial burden.
In addition to daily servitude, according to custom, as long as Jin Yiwei makes a small merit, such as catching two thieves, for the sake of the emperor's face, he must also give a reward. At this time, the household officials in charge of the money are dripping blood in their hearts, and if a large-scale project starts, the situation is even more serious. When high-ranking officials of the Red Jinyiwei were generally ordered to make money, they could not only take advantage of the opportunity to demand more money from Hubu, but also receive huge bribes. And on the day of the completion of the project, they often add officials to the knighthood. Because Jinyiwei is a fat poor, many powerful families and even royal relatives want to squeeze in to share power and wealth, which causes great interference to the bureaucracy. This is the second full-time cost brought by Jinyiwei.
Incumbent Jinyiwei officials will promote their favored subordinates or draw their relatives into the Jinyiwei system. As mentioned earlier, the selection of Jinyiwei officials is very strict, but when the military department selects people, it is forced to lower the assessment standards due to the pressure of Jinyiwei officials. By the time of Ming Shizong, the 11th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei even canceled the five-yearly military and political selection. As a result, the Jinyiwei system and the bureaucratic system are further chaotic, and Jinyiwei will also become a maintenance center for the children of the royal family, state relatives, and powerful courtiers, relying on the merits of their fathers, these people will be mixed in the Jinyiwei system. Later, the emperor also took some of the positions of Jinyiwei as a reward, stabilizing the dynasty through benefit-sharing. With good food, good drink and a good future, will Jin Yiwei definitely obey the emperor's words? This brings us to the third autocratic cost that Jinyiwei brought to the Ming Dynasty, which increased the administrative burden of the emperor and intensified the power struggle in the state.
Ji Gang
Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty was very fond of a Jinyiwei official, his name was Ji Gang, and in the thirteenth year of Yongle (1415), he put Xie Jin, the president of the Yongle Classic, to freeze to death in the snow. Whenever he encountered a more sensitive and oily case, Zhu Di handed it over to Ji Gang to handle. It's just that Ji Gang is getting more and more arrogant. Once, a eunuch angered Zhu Di, and the emperor ordered the execution in a crowded city. Ji Gang had a bad mind at this time, and he first invited the eunuch to his house to entertain him with wine and meat, telling him that as long as he handed over all the money, he would definitely ask the emperor to pardon him for his crimes. When he drained the eunuch's money, Ji Gang picked a day to put him to death in the market. Before that, the report on the execution of this eunuch had long been submitted to the emperor. Ji Gang also forged edicts and extorted salt, ox carts, and even government ships. Later, he even collected dragon robes, and at home, asked others to call himself Long live. He even raised a lot of outlaws and hoarded many sword and armor bow slaves. It's just that no matter how he calculates, he can't calculate Zhu Di, who started the rebellion, and before he could get up, Zhu Di eradicated it.
Although Zhu Di's life was not harmed, this incident caused Zhu Di to have a serious distrust of Jinyiwei. If he wants the throne to be secure, he must find a way to make Jin Yiwei use it for himself without betraying himself. He planned to find some trustworthy agents to help him keep an eye on Jinyiwei, and you must have thought that this was the group of people closest to the emperor, eunuchs. In fact, when Zhu Di, the ancestor of Ming Cheng, was still the king of Yan, he was very good at using eunuchs, planting people around Emperor Jianwen to spy on the situation. The East Factory was established in this context, so we sometimes feel that the power of the East Factory is greater, and the incomparably majestic Jinyiwei is actually chattering in front of the eunuchs, which is the factory guard.
Wang Zhen
During the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, the commanders of Jinyiwei were Liu Mian and Xu Gong, and the "History of Ming" recorded that they were "all respectful". After Wang Zhen took the throne, he promoted his confidant Ma Shun to be the commander of Jinyiwei.
During the Ming Jingtai, Lu Zhong became a commander and commanded a "golden knife case", and after being confused, Lu Zhong even pretended to be crazy, and the bloody case caused by a knife was jointly suppressed by the cabinet and Si Lijian. The commander after the "Change of Gates" was Lu Qiao, who openly demanded bribes and arbitrarily punished him, and was cut down by Cao Jixiang's nephew Cao Qin, who was preparing to rebel. It was Menda who took over, and it was not a good person either. Emperor Ming Xianzong took the throne and exiled to Guangxi. However, the most famous commander of the Tianshun Dynasty was the emperor's great benefactor Yuan Bin. Once the Son of Heaven and a courtier, every emperor had to be cleansed when he came to power, only he served two generations of emperors and was still a legitimate guard, even his mother and wife were all a pint of commandment. Another Jinyiwei commander at the same time was the Mongol Ha Ming, who and Yuan Bin were the only two Jinyiwei officers who shared the hardships with Yingzong after the "Tumu Change". He also left behind a memoir "Orthodox Linrong Record".
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The appearance of the East Factory was originally to supervise and balance the Jinyiwei, which was cultivated by the emperor, and the emperor would distrust them. Then let's try to think about it, will one day the emperor even distrust the East Factory? Indeed, in this case, the descendant emperors will concoct it and cultivate another force. Ming Xianzong, the eighth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, set up the West Factory, and let his favored eunuchs monitor the East Factory, Jinyiwei, and the hundred officials. The first commander of the Xianzong Dynasty was Wan Guifei's younger brother Wan Tong. The successor, Zhu Ji, was impartial in prison and had a good reputation. The tenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Ming Wuzong, set up an inner factory detective, which was even more widespread, monitoring Jinyiwei, East Factory, and West Factory, as well as ordinary subjects. Mou Bin of the Hongzhi Dynasty was also a kind person.
In the early days of Zhengde, the eunuch Liu Jin held power and placed his henchmen in various important positions in the imperial court, and Jinyiwei commanded Shi Yiwen and Zhang Cai to often flatter Liu Jin. With the further expansion of Liu Jin's power, Jinyiwei had to rely on the East Factory, and the pattern of factory guards changed.
When Qian Ning was ruling the Wei affairs, Jinyiwei's power rose again. When Qian Ning was an imperial bodyguard, he even shared a bed with Emperor Wuzong, and was later overthrown by Emperor Wuzong's close confidant Jiang Bin. Jiang Bin succeeded Jinyiwei as the commander of Jinyiwei and Emperor Wuzong also "went in and out of the leopard room and lay down together", and also took charge of the East Factory. After Emperor Wuzong's death, Jiang Bin was also killed.
Lu Bing
The command of the Jiajing dynasty Jinyiwei changed very quickly, and Zhu Chen, Luo An, Wang Zuo, and Chen Yin were all Jiajing's old departments in the Anluxing royal palace. After that, Lu Bing was the heyday of Jinyiwei's power, and the East Factory also bowed its head to it. He was the son of Jiajing's mother, and he also saved Jiajing's life in the fire, and the official did not have any evil deeds, and was polite to Shi Dafu, and did not frame a person. Jiajing succeeded by Zhu Xizhong, a descendant of Zhu Neng, a hero of the "Jing Dynasty", who attacked Chengguogong.
In the early days of Wanli, Zhu Xixiao and Liu Shouyou commanded Jinyiwei. Its exercise of power can be described as regular, does not expand the situation, strictly abides by the rules, and handles things more cautiously. In the tenth year of Wanli, Liu Shou was the governor of Jinyiwei, and he colluded with the East Factory, causing a situation of mutual benefit and mutual cooperation between Jinyiwei and the East Factory.
Wei Zhongxian
In the late Wanli period, Shenzong ignored the imperial government for a long time, and illegal detention and long-term imprisonment were common at this time. At this time, Jinyiwei's power was not as powerful as that of the East Factory, and he became its vassal. Since the Wanli years, the social contradictions of the Ming Dynasty have gradually deepened, the imperial court has fallen apart, the ministers have formed parties to support themselves, and the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian has tilted his power inside and outside. In the early days of Emperor Xizong, Luo Sigong was the commander of Jinyiwei Zhenfusi, because he was upright, "refused to flatter, refused to kill", abided by discipline and law, and made great efforts in the "palace transfer case", Wei Zhongxian took advantage of the situation to remove him from office. Subsequently, Tian Ergeng defected to Wei Zhongxian and was willing to be his righteous son. He was "sinister and cunning", and because of his "meritorious arrest", he was promoted to the governor of Jinyiwei.
In the early days of Chongzhen, although Zhu Youzhen rectified the chaos, the social contradictions were not eliminated. During this period, Dong Kun was in charge of Jinyiwei, and this person was in a hurry to achieve quick results, and he was soon deposed. Succeeded by Luo Sigong's son Luo Yangli. Subsequently, Wu Mengming was in charge of Jinyiwei, a man who was impartial, but always waited and watched the East Factory when acting, and was eager to get bribes instead of harming others. Therefore, it is not important whether the system is good or not, the key is whether the people who implement the system are good or not.
Luo Sigong
You see, driven by the pursuit of centralization, the Ming Dynasty's national collective became more and more bloated and sick. For the national system, Jinyiwei was originally a tumor, not a normal body, and the addition of eunuchs was tantamount to proliferating new tumors. The entanglement of the Jinyi eunuchs and ministers of various factions caused huge autocratic costs to the rule of the Ming Dynasty and exacerbated the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty was destroyed by Li Zicheng, and many Shidafu explained that he did not die in exile but died in the factory guard, which is of course Shidafu trying to clear his responsibility, but this sentence is constantly quoted, and we can also feel how much autocracy the group of Jinyiwei and eunuchs brought to the old Zhu family as a tool of the emperor's power.
Finally, let's calculate an account, if Jinyiwei is the emperor's authoritarian asset, which is the greater benefit and cost brought by this asset? Ming Taizu and Ming Chengzu were the founders of the Ming Dynasty, they were very capable, at that time, the stable survival of the country was also the emperor's first priority, so Jinyiwei could better play a role in stabilizing the ruling order and consolidating the imperial power in their hands. But the old Zhu family's world has been around for a long time, and Jinyiwei has slowly become a tool for the emperor to satisfy his personal desires. At the same time, in order to consolidate his power, the emperor used a group of eunuchs to hedge against the uncertainty brought by Jinyiwei, but this increased the burden on the Ming royal family, disrupted the political order, and aggravated the decline of the Ming dynasty. By this time, the costs of autocracy had outweighed the benefits of autocracy.
In the Ming Dynasty, Jinyiwei has always existed, and it was not until 1661 that the Jinyiwei command of the Yongli Emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty made Ma Jixiang and the head guard Ren Zixin killed in the difficulty of cursing water, which can be said to be officially over, with a history of 281 years. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, it imitated the Ming Dynasty system and still set up Jinyiwei. In the second year of Shunzhi (1645), he was renamed Luan Yiwei. The Qing dynasty's Jinyiwei only existed for one year.