In the history of the Ming Dynasty, the power of eunuchs in the imperial court attracted much attention, among which Wei Zhongxian was the most famous one. In addition, the emperor at that time, Zhu Youxiao, was more fun and unreasonable, which made Wei Zhongxian so powerful that he even claimed to be "nine thousand nine hundred years old", and his reputation even overshadowed the emperor. As the saying goes, it's hard to get cold in high places. After the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, his first priority was to purge the eunuchs, and even though Wei Zhongxian had helped Chongzhen ascend the throne, he was eventually forced to be exiled.
So, why was Wei Zhongxian, a powerful minister who once overrode the government and the opposition, easily eliminated by Chongzhen and had no power to fight back?
The answer to this may be closely related to the eunuch system.
In the early days, most of the palace women were employed, which led to an imbalance in the ratio of men and women and a shortage of labor, so eunuchs came into being. However, as time went on and power struggles intensified, the eunuchs' power grew stronger.
At the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang clearly stipulated that eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in government affairs. During his reign, he personally presided over the state affairs, and the eunuchs were only subordinates, and their daily work was to serve their masters, not to interfere with offside, and the early days of the Ming Dynasty were clean and upright. However, such a Qingming scene did not last, and by the time Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants succeeded to the throne, the situation changed.
Gradually, the power of the eunuchs continued to expand, even infiltrating government affairs. When Zhu Di encountered the Jing disaster, the eunuchs provided him with great support;And after he ascended the throne, Zheng He went to the West seven times, and the eunuchs also contributed a lot. Zhu Di was friendly to the eunuchs. He even established the East Factory to carry out spy activities, which also laid the groundwork for the eunuchs to interfere in politics.
However, the eunuchs kept a low profile at the time.
However, with the advent of the Speech Officials, the emperor began to focus on cultivating his own strength and turned his attention to the eunuchs. There was even a school of eunuchs set up to give them the knowledge to handle more affairs in place of the emperor. With knowledge and power, eunuchs knew more about flattery, and became omnipotent beings, even above ten thousand people under one person. However, no matter how powerful the eunuchs were, they were no match for the absolute authority of the emperor, and Wei Zhongxian was no exception.
Despite Wei Zhongxian's power and many of his followers in the court, he ultimately failed to truly control the court. Otherwise, how can Chongzhen succeed to the throne at the beginning, and can Yang Suoxiu and others use it?When Chongzhen began to prepare to deal with him, Wei Zhongxian gave in and even ended himself. Chongzhen's purge of Wei Zhongxian's followers demonstrated the supremacy of imperial power.
However, such reforms also have their limitations, leading to an imbalance in the political structure. Wei Zhongxian is just a double-edged sword, and the emperor can balance the inside and outside if he uses it well, otherwise he will hurt others and his own body. In fact, during Wei Zhongxian's reign, the domestic situation was stable and the eastern Liaodong region was relatively calm, so some believe that Wei Zhongxian's death hastened the fall of the Ming Dynasty.