Wei Zhongxian was the most famous eunuch at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and his power was almost unrivaled. How did he do that?
He first took advantage of the intimacy of the Ming Xi Sect. Wei Zhongxian entered the palace since he was a child and became the personal eunuch of Ming Xizong, and was trusted and favored by Ming Xizong, becoming his eyes, ears and confidants.
Wei Zhongxian not only grasped the emperor's mind and influenced the decision-making of the court, but also manipulated the emperor's feelings, so that he ignored his wife and son, and only obeyed Wei Zhongxian's arrangement.
He then took control of the secret services such as Dongchang and Jinyiwei. Wei Zhongxian bribed, coerced, induced and other means to make most of the eunuchs of Dongchang and Jinyiwei become his henchmen, and carried out various assassinations, frames, espionage, surveillance and other tasks for him.
Wei Zhongxian used this to eliminate his political enemies and expand his power, so that no one in the court dared to be his enemy, and even the life and death of the emperor were controlled by him.
He once again established the eunuch party and the internal kinship forces. In order to consolidate his position, Wei Zhongxian did not hesitate to form an alliance with some greedy and shameless civil and military ministers and imperial relatives, forming a huge interest group called the eunuch party.
Wei Zhongxian, through the eunuchs, manipulated the appointment and dismissal of personnel in the imperial court, controlled the direction of the government, deprived the loyal people of their right to speak, and abused the country's finances, which led to the corruption and decline of the Ming Dynasty.
Chongzhen was the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his struggle was almost unparalleled. How did he fight Wei Zhongxian?
First of all, he showed a strong sense of responsibility and mission. Chongzhen has been taught by Mingshenzong since he was a child, and Mingshenzong once said to him: "You are my son, you are my heir, you have to govern this country for me, you have to keep this country for me." ”
Chongzhen was deeply affected by this sentence, he inherited the spirit of the Ming God Sect's diligence and love for the people, he had a clear understanding of his duties, he knew that he was shouldering the heavy responsibility of saving the Ming Dynasty, and he did not hesitate to sacrifice his personal happiness to fight for the rise and fall of the country.
He secondly showed keen insight and judgment. Since he was a child, Chongzhen has shown extraordinary intelligence and talent, he can understand the essence of things, can distinguish between right and wrong, can grasp the change of timing, and can formulate strategic plans.
He has a clear understanding of Wei Zhongxian's conspiracy and the evil of eunuching the party, he has an accurate estimate of the crisis of the country and the threat of the enemy, he has a realistic grasp of the necessity and difficulty of reform, and he has superb skills in the selection and use of talents.
Once again, he showed a strong will and courage. During Chongzhen's reign, he faced the dilemma of internal and external troubles, he had to deal not only with the sabotage of Wei Zhongxian and the eunuchs, but also with the attacks of Li Zicheng and Houjin, he not only had to deal with the disputes of the imperial court, but also cared about the hardships of the people's livelihood, he not only had to implement reform measures, but also resisted conservative opposition.
However, he always adhered to his beliefs and used his wisdom and courage to fight against fate to the end.
The struggle between Wei Zhongxian and Chongzhen can be divided into the following stages:
The first stage was the secret battle before and after Chongzhen's accession to the throne. After the death of Ming Xizong, Chongzhen was made the crown prince, but Wei Zhongxian wanted to prevent him from succeeding to the throne, he once secretly sent someone to assassinate Chongzhen, and also wanted to establish Ming Xizong's youngest son Zhu Youlang as emperor, but they were all thwarted by Chongzhen's supporters.
After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he immediately ordered Wei Zhongxian's power to be cut and his henchmen and cronies cleaned up one by one.
The second stage is the Ming dispute in the early years of Chongzhen. After losing the protection of Ming Xizong, Wei Zhongxian began to seek the support of his relatives, and he allied himself with the empress Wang and the empress dowager Li of Ming Xizong, and used their influence to pressure Chongzhen to restore Wei Zhongxian's power, and also asked him to respect Wang as the empress dowager and Li as the empress dowager.
Unwilling to give in and openly confront them, Chongzhen refused their demands and ordered Wei Zhongxian's crimes to be investigated, killing all his henchmen and cronies, and Wei Zhongxian had to flee to Wang's dormitory and beg her for protection.
The third stage was the assassination in the middle of Chongzhen. Wei Zhongxian was in Wang's dormitory and had been planning the assassination of Chongzhen. He used his remnants in Dongchang and Jinyiwei to send people to assassinate Chongzhen many times, but they were all defused by Chongzhen's vigilance and wit.
Wei Zhongxian also wanted to use the body of Ming Xizong to create a change in the imperial tomb, trying to make Chongzhen fall into the charge of injustice, but he was also thwarted by Chongzhen's decisiveness and determination.
In these assassinations, Chongzhen not only did not suffer any harm, but strengthened his determination to eradicate Wei Zhongxian, he stepped up the pursuit of Wei Zhongxian, and cut down his comrades and relatives one by one, Wei Zhongxian could only survive in Wang's dormitory.
The fourth stage is the end of the later period of Chongzhen. Wei Zhongxian had lost all support and hope in the Wang family's dormitory, and he could only wait for Chongzhen's final blow.
After learning of all of Wei Zhongxian's crimes, Chongzhen ordered Wei Zhongxian to be arrested and sentenced to death, while demoting the Wang and Li clans to concubines and confiscating their relatives and property.
On the way to **, Wei Zhongxian was besieged by angry people, and finally beaten to death, his body was dragged to the market for public display, and then burned to ashes, and even the ashes were not allowed to be buried. Wei Zhongxian's life ended in a tragic ending.
The reason why Wei Zhongxian covered the sky with one hand in the Ming Dynasty, but could not fight Chongzhen, who had just succeeded to the throne at the age of 17, was because his power base was weakened, his enemies increased, and his sins were exposed.
His life is a typical story of the rise and fall of power, as well as a typical story of the development and punishment of evil. His story provides us with a profound historical lesson, that is: power is not omnipotent, evil will not endure, and justice will eventually triumph.