The statements in this article are based on reliable sources of information and are detailed at the end of the article
"Eunuch" refers to eunuchs, as early as the pre-Qin to the Western Han Dynasty, there was no eunuch, and later in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a clear provision: if you want to become a eunuch, you must first become a eunuch.
Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian of the Ming Dynasty, Li Lianying of the Qing Dynasty... All of them deceived the emperor by conspiracy and treachery, held the power of eunuchs in their hands, abused their power to satisfy their own selfish desires, and deceived the superiors and subordinates with one hand, and many dynasties made the people miserable because of a great eunuch, and finally the country also went to ruin.
Good eunuchs are not nothing, but there are only a handful, one of the reasons is that many eunuchs forget their original intentions after being promoted, accept the bewitchment of interests and blacken, Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty is that he actively helped Qin Shi Huang solve problems before, but in the later period, he and Li Si designed to abolish Gongzi Fusu.
But there are still people who come out of the mud and are not stained, they entered the palace as a eunuch at the age of 9, and mastered the power of eunuchs at the age of 59.
01
The lucky one who entered the palace
It is not an exaggeration to call the Ming period the period of eunuchs, whose status was significantly improved during the Ming Dynasty, and they not only had privileges, but also played an important role in politics.
They were divided into two types, the inner eunuchs were mainly responsible for the internal affairs of the court and the daily life of the emperor, while the outer eunuchs were responsible for managing the army and the state bureaucracy.
After the Yongle Dynasty, eunuchs began to be highly used by the emperor and could gradually represent imperial power, and the celebrant was the most powerful institution among the eunuchs, responsible for reviewing instructions, issuing government decrees, and even manipulating state power.
Some eunuchs who were reused by the emperor were buried as accompaniments after the emperor's death, and entering the imperial mausoleum was a very glorious thing in the social context at that time, which shows the high status of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.
In 1539 AD, Chen Ju was born in a poor family in Ansu County, his parents are low-level people, it can be said that he is poor, the family is forced to work as a coolie everywhere under the pressure of life, but Chen Ju has many brothers and sisters, and can only barely make food and clothing.
When Chen Ju was 9 years old, there was no surplus food at home, and Chen Ju, as a male in the family, was thin and small because of long-term malnutrition, and no one collected him to work as a coolie, so his only way out was to enter the palace.
After Chen Ju entered the palace as a eunuch, he was assigned to the most powerful celebrant eunuch, Chen Ju was clever, sensible and intelligent, he knew that if he wanted to gain a foothold in the celebrant eunuch, he had to work harder than others.
The celebrant is not a place where anyone can come, and this department has extremely high requirements for eunuchs, who know astronomy and geography, and are proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, etc., which are all basic items, especially requiring certain insights into government affairs.
Chen Ju's cleverness was fully appreciated by Gao Zhong, the eunuch boss at the time, and then took Chen Ju with him.
Gao Zhong entered the palace at the age of 11, and he relied on his own strength to rise to the top, and he could fight and work with the emperor to consult on state affairs.
02
Be honest and honest
Gao Zhong took Chen Ju to study for 3 years, and in these three years, Gao Zhong taught him by word and deed, and Chen Ju lived up to Gao Zhong's expectations, and perfectly learned the essentials of survival in the palace, as well as his understanding of national affairs.
The biggest interference of the Ming Dynasty is Mongolia, when Chen Ju was 12 years old, Gao Zhong took him to the city gate to defend the enemy attack, Tatar Altan Khan led the troops to attack the Beijing division fiercely, Gao Zhong who was stationed at the city gate could arrange a team of troops, but Gao Zhong was concerned about the rise and fall of the country, wearing armor and carrying swords and guns to go into battle in person.
The scene of Gao Zhong facing 20,000 Mongolian elite soldiers and bravely resisting foreign enemies brought a great impact to Chen Ju's heart, and Gao Zhong's image once again stood high in Chen Ju's heart.
At this point, Chen Ju secretly vowed that he would become a hero who fought for the country like a teacher in the future.
After the end of the war, Chen Ju began to study and began to slowly take over to assist in handling government affairs, Chen Ju's performance every time made everyone's eyes shine, and rave reviews, Chen Ju also began to slowly be pinned on high hopes.
In 1583 AD, Chen Ju was ordered to personally escort Zhu Yantang, and the destination of this trip was Fengyang, and at this time Chen Ju already had greater power, and the county order had to bow his head in front of him.
Passing by Chen Ju's hometown in the middle, Chen Ju saw things and thought about people, and wanted to pause here in his hometown and go to worship his parents, at first the officers and soldiers who accompanied him thought that Chen Ju was finally going to make some movement after pretending to be so long, but who knew that Chen Ju was really simply sacrificing his parents.
Chen Ju's approach surprised the officers and soldiers accompanying him, and Chen Ju either read a book in the carriage or improvised two poems along the way, which is extremely rare.
To say that the most "Buddhist" eunuch has to be Chen Ju, he went out to do errands and saw that the road was uneven and pulled out a knife to help, when Shenzong was worried about the mining tax, Chen Ju helped the university scholar Shen Lijin to say that the mining tax was abolished, and Chen Ju has been pursuing the "eight-character principle" in daily life, and his life is simple and simple.
Later, Chen Ju's style of work gradually became deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and both the people and colleagues called Chen Juzun "Buddha".
03
The law of the ancestors, the truth of the sages
Chen Ju is upright, has a moderate reward and punishment, is honest and honest, and has tried several large and small cases in his career, and each time he will strive for leniency according to the facts.
In 1603 A.D., the "Demon Book Case" made Chen Ju famous, and early in the morning of the same day, a letter spread all over the government and the opposition, this anonymous letter was "Continuing the Anxiety and Danger Discussion", the content of the letter showed that Zheng Guifei and the traitors in the court colluded to prepare to kill the prince.
What the court is most afraid of is that someone is plotting against him, if he is given the opportunity to take advantage of the traitor, it is likely to lead to the destruction of the country, so the current situation is precarious, and in a panic, Shenzong handed over the matter to Chen Ju for investigation, hoping that he can catch the murderer.
However, the demon book case finally became an unsolved case, and in order to calm the panic of the Divine Sect, Chen Ju deliberately threw the black pot of this matter on a scoundrel named Wan Shengguang, and no matter how he defended himself on the execution ground, it was useless.
First, Hui Shengguang was originally a death row prisoner, and let him be a scapegoat so that the case could be closed as soon as possible; Second, if the murderer is investigated, it will definitely bring disaster to the court, and I am afraid that the thieves will rush to the court at that time.
Chen Ju became the boss of the East Factory with his strength, but he didn't abuse his power to covet pleasure, he did his job as he pleased, and several entourages around him were also influenced by Chen Ju and became honest officials.
In 1607, the 68-year-old Chen Ju ran out of oil and dried up, and the news soon spread throughout the imperial court.
In ancient times, the coffin was only used by monks, but at that time, everyone felt that Chen Ju was like a "Buddha" in the world, and hoped that he would still be able to bless the country with good weather after he went.
Almost all the people who dealt with Chen Ju at the funeral came to see him off, including Chen Ju's political enemies.
Information sources:
[1] Sinology Network: "History of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 305, Biography 193"
[2] Encyclopedia of China: The Demon Book Case
[3] "History of the Ming Dynasty, Volume 95, Zhi 71"