Chapter 76 Relying heavily on eunuchs, frightened to death

Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty loved the nanny Hakka very much, and her "counter food" Wei Zhongxian followed the chicken and dog to ascend to heaven, and became the eunuch of Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies.This position is very powerful, not only as the head of the eunuch in the palace, but also because he has the power to comment on the ministers' reports, even half of the emperor. It's the whole emperor.However, since it is called "Bingbi", it can be seen that Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch who holds this position, must have a high cultural quality, otherwise he would not be able to understand what the memorials written to the emperor were, let alone comment.Xi Zong was also illiterate, so the role of the eunuch Bingbi was even more important.But, coincidentally, Wei Zhongxian, the pen-holding eunuch, was also illiterate.

Wei Zhongxian was just a rascal in the market. Because he borrowed money and refused to repay it, he was forced to pay the debt, so he left the palace angrily and entered the palace as a eunuch.Although he didn't know a single word, he was cunning and wise, had a particularly good memory, and was good at flattering and sycophanting, so he soon got along well in the palace.Later, he hooked up with Keshi, the nanny who was very favored by the emperor, and became the "counter food" of Keshi, becoming a person close to the emperor.He is good at trying to figure out the emperor's mind, knowing that the little emperor likes to play, he came up with all kinds of fresh and interesting games to make the little emperor happy, so he gained great trust from the little emperor, and made him a eunuch holding a pen.

The "Bingbi" eunuch is illiterate, so how can he criticize and answer the memorial?This is not a problem for Wei Zhongxian, he has his own way.He asked his cronies to speak to him the obscure classical Chinese in the memorial.Then he gave orders, and the man translated them into classical Chinese, and wrote them on the memorial for him with a vermilion pen.After such a lot of tossing, it also made a good appearance.The little emperor is also illiterate, and he likes to forget things in a muddleheaded way, so naturally he doesn't care about these things with him.Wei Zhongxian also learned a trick from his predecessor, Eunuch Liu Jin. He also waited for the emperor to have a good time, for example, when he was doing carpentry with a plane and saw, he took the official document and asked the emperor for instructions. The emperor was in high spirits. These things are always waved impatiently and let him deal with them by himself.Therefore, Wei Zhongxian firmly held the power of the court in his own hands.

Wei Zhongxian acted indiscriminately, and the ministers of the court and the central government naturally did not do it.Yang Lian, the censor of the left deputy capital, impeached Wei Zhongxian for the 24 crimes.Said: "In the palace and in the mansion, all major and minor matters are dedicated to loyalty and virtuousness." All the officials responded immediately, and the voice of impeaching Wei Zhongxian was very loud. Even Wei Zhongxian was a little scared and told the emperor that he would go out of the palace to avoid disaster.Where the emperor was willing to let him go, he persuaded him gently and persuaded him to stay in every possible way. He also stopped court for three days because of this;As a result, the ministers shouted loudly and began to play again.But the emperor was determined to keep Wei Zhongxian, and the ministers had no choice, and the chief assistant Ye Xianggao resigned because of this.And Wei Zhongxian became more and more courageous when he saw that the emperor supported him so much.He is in charge of all the powers inside and outside the court. He is called "nine thousand years old", and others call him "nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years old", which is only one year away from "long live".Most of the officials in the court and the central government defected to his sect, with names such as "Five Tigers", "Five Biao", "Ten Dogs", "Ten Babies", "Forty Grandsons" and so on.His buddies range from the central government to the local government, from the cabinet, the six ministries to the four governors and governors.Of course, Wei Zhongxian did not get the support of everyone, and it was the "Donglin Party" who fought fiercely with him.

The Donglin Party is named after the Donglin Academy where its leader Gu Xiancheng gave lectures.Gu Xiancheng once wrote a famous couplet for Donglin Academy: "The sound of wind, rain, and reading are in your ears; family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, and everything is concerned." This shows the ambition of this "party" person .They are often not afraid of power, plead for the people, boldly impeach the dignitaries in the court, and even dare to offend "Long Yan".They put forward proposals such as opposing mine supervisor tax envoys to plunder, reducing the burden of taxes and labor, and developing the economy in the southeast region.These opinions on current affairs were widely supported by the society, but they were also strongly opposed by eunuchs and their dependent forces.They strongly impeached Wei Zhongxian's chaotic government, so they hated them to the bone and persecuted them crazily.He destroyed Donglin Academy and closed all academies across the country. He also accused the retired Donglin Party leader Gao Panlong of corrupting the law and sent Jin Yiwei to ride a fast horse to arrest him.Gao Panlong was very calm, and wrote two letters to his grandson, asking them to hand them over to the Jinyiwei people tomorrow, and then threw them into the pool to die.

Wei Zhongxian ordered his minions to go to Suzhou to arrest Zhou Shunchang, another member of the Donglin Party. As a result, local people were indignant. Thousands of people gathered outside the government office, led by Yan Peiwei and others, beating drums to express their grievances.The eunuchs were arrogant and lawless, and clashed with the people, and one was killed on the spot.Therefore, the governor of Donglinchang Mao Yilu reported to the court that "the people of Wu are rebellious", sent troops to suppress them, arrested Yan Peiwei and other five people, slandered them as "the first rioters", and killed them immediately.In order to prevent the people from rebelling again, the heads of five people were hung above the city gate to deter the people.But that night Wei Zhongxian had a nightmare in which five people asked for his head.He was terrified, afraid that he was going to die.At this time, his subordinates gave him an idea, persuading him to build a ancestral hall for himself. First, his body was transformed into a statue, which could calm down these ghosts; second, he could better control the people and increase their fear.Generally, ancestral halls are built to commemorate the dead, but Wei Zhongxian is still alive, so it is called "Life Temple".So Wei Zhongxian ordered his confidants to build a living temple for himself in Suzhou.The Sheng Temple was built magnificently.On the plaque is the emperor's imperial book "Pude".The portrait of Wei Zhongxian is enshrined in the ancestral hall, carved with rare fragrant wood, with eyebrows, eyes, mouth and nose, limbs and clothes, all of which are the same as himself.The belly of the portrait is full of gold, jade and jewels.A small hole is left on the topknot, and flowers of the four seasons are inserted in it, which is fragrant and fragrant.A group of sycophants would burn incense and kowtow in the Shrine every day, ordering everyone who passed by to bow five times, calling them 9,900 years old.

With the leader, other sycophants naturally followed suit, and they all regarded it as a way to show their loyalty to Wei Zhongxian.For a time, "nine thousand years old" shrines were all over the world.One is richer than the other, "extremely magnificent and solemn, not only Zhuhu carved beams, but also glazed tiles, almost the same as palaces". In the temples, there are enshrined statues of Wei Zhongxian, wearing official hats, court clothes, and holding jade wats. specs out.Officials from all over the country were also solemn and solemn when welcoming the statues, just like welcoming the emperor.Not only officials, but ordinary businessmen, local tyrants, and even local ruffians and rascals also joined in the fun. The scale became bigger and bigger, and the decorations became more and more gorgeous. In some places, houses, temples, and even schools were demolished to compete for the construction of ancestral halls. .In May of the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), Lu Wanling, the supervisor of Songjiang, actually asked to build an ancestral hall for Wei Zhongxian in the Guozijian. carry.When Gu Yanwu summed up the reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he said that the most important one was "shameless scholar-bureaucrats", which can be said to have been vividly expressed here.

However, although Wei Zhongxian is "nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine years old", which is a bit worse than "Long Live", he is not "Long Live". Once the emperor is gone, his all-powerful power will be gone.In the seventh year of Tianqi (1627), the little emperor accidentally fell into the water while rowing in the lake in the garden of the palace. Wei Zhongxian was frightened and jumped into the water to save the emperor. Others jumped into the water one after another.The emperor caught it, but because of fright, he fell seriously ill soon.Wei Zhongxian was very worried. He found the big red birthday gauze from the palace treasury and made it into clothes for everyone in the palace to wear to pray for the emperor.People kept yelling at the emperor's bedroom: "The holy car is safe and sound."But all this was useless. On August 22, Xi Zong passed away.Because he had no heirs, Empress Zhang presided over the establishment of his younger brother Xinwang Zhu Youjian as Emperor Chongzhen and the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty.Wei Zhongxian was very afraid of King Xin, and tried every means to obstruct his accession to the throne, but under the insistence and maneuvers of Queen Zhang, he failed.Later, Chongzhen finally designed to overthrow Wei Zhongxian, drove him out of the palace, and placed him in Fengyang.Wei Zhongxian committed suicide in fear of crime.Ke Shi was driven to the Huanyi Bureau and beaten to death with sticks.Most of the relatives of the two were also killed, and the shameless people who attached to them were expelled from the court.The Donglin party members who were excluded by Wei Zhongxian came to power again, and Emperor Chongzhen also made great efforts to govern.But it was too late, the Ming Dynasty was already in crisis and rotted from the root.Seventeen years later, Li Zicheng's army invaded Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Meishan, and the Ming Dynasty fell.