Eunuchs, as a special product of the ancient feudal dynasties on the mainland, were called eunuchs before the Ming Dynasty, and they were a familiar and mysterious group in the harem.
As a special product of the feudal imperial system, they have an inextricable relationship with the royal family and have played an important role in the development of history.
Some eunuchs had a very high prestige and fame, especially during the Ming Dynasty.
Like the "Wei Zhongxian" who "left a name in black history", they set off stormy waves in the sea of history, and in some cases, the power of eunuchs can even override the imperial power.
But not all eunuchs are traitors, in the Ming Dynasty, there was a eunuch who was indifferent to fame and fortune, had a clean breeze on his sleeves, and ran for the country, and he was even called "Buddha" during his lifetime.
After his death, Mingshenzong personally gave the nine altars of sacrifice, nominated "Qingzhong", and ordered hundreds of civil and military officials to support his coffin and bury him.
This is the eunuch who holds the seal of the celebrant and the commander of the East Factory, Chen Ju.
He entered the palace at the age of nine and was accepted by Gao Zhong, the eunuch of the "King of Eunuchs" at that time, and became his little entourage.
Like most eunuchs who enter the palace, Chen Ju's family is very poor, and it is better to send children to the palace to be eunuchs to eat, than to beg and starve to death outside.
In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing (1547), Chen Ju was elected to the palace, because he was smart and able to speak, he was picked by Gao Zhong and accepted by his side, and since then he has started his legendary life.
We all know that the status of eunuchs during the Ming Dynasty was very high.
Some favored eunuchs became the emperor's cronies, participated in the decision-making process of the imperial court, and were quite favored in front of the emperor.
Some eunuchs have more prestige and power than the six Shangshu, and they can ride horses on the imperial city road and shoulder public opinion in the palace, while great eunuchs like Wang Zhen can even make decisions on the country's foreign wars.
This is closely related to the special political environment of the Ming Dynasty.
During his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister and strictly ordered his descendants not to be set up again, establishing an autocratic imperial power with unprecedented concentration of power.
Although all major state affairs were submitted to the Emperor after consultation among the ministers and cabinet members, the Emperor could not read them all.
Especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there were few emperors as diligent as Zhu Yuanzhang, they obviously did not have Zhu Yuanzhang's enthusiasm for work, and they also needed someone to help him.
Emperors need to hold power in the palm of their hands, and if they don't trust the ministers, they can only trust the eunuchs who live in the palace and can't compete with them.
Therefore, some eunuchs who had no social status and no descendants gradually became loyal helpers of the emperor.
Generally speaking, the emperor would ask the eunuchs to deal with the documents sent by the cabinet for approval, and "approve the red" according to their own dictation or the cabinet's vote.
In terms of the nature of its power, it belongs to the highest decision-making power and is the core way to realize the imperial power, so the power of the eunuch Bingbi is very large; the eunuch is not a single person, but composed of several people.
The trust of the emperor and the peculiarity of his position gave the eunuchs Bingbi a great deal of space, and it can be said that they could actually call the shots in place of the emperor.
Therefore, as the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi, Gao Zhong has a lot of power in his hands, and he took Chen Ju by his side, which allowed him to have a "high starting point" from the beginning and has a status in the palace.
Compared with other eunuchs, Chen Ju was lucky.
After entering the palace, he met his master Gao Zhong, the most important noble person in his life. Gao Zhong not only gave him a relatively decent physical status at the beginning, but also gave Chen Ju a correct and healthy life values.
It also cultivated Chen Ju's good study habits, and it was Gao Zhong's kindness, loyalty, fairness, rigor, courage and many other excellent positive spiritual temperament that made Chen Ju a good example to learn from an early age.
Since the end of the reign of Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youjiao, the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars have continued to fight each other, interrupting the mutual market with the Tatars.
Altan Khan sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty in the hope of restoring the "tribute", but after being repeatedly refused, he decided to force the Ming Dynasty to submit by force.
In 1550 AD, the Tatars launched an invasion of the Ming Dynasty, Altan Khan led more than 100,000 iron cavalry south, and the forward troops reached the city of Beijing in one fell swoop.
Gao Zhong, the eunuch of Bingbi, was ordered to supervise the 12th regimental battalion of the Beijing Division, and was also in charge of the Imperial Horse Supervision Seal and the 4th Guard Battalion of the Admiral Warriors, and was burdened with the important responsibility of the security and defense of the Beijing Division.
When the Tatar army threatened the safety of the Beijing Division, Gao Zhong, as a physically disabled eunuch, was not timid, participated in the defense of the Beijing Division with full armament, and fought bravely and fearlessly against the Mongols.
Although the Ming army was not very heroic in this battle, Chen Ju, who was only twelve years old and followed Gao Zhong, was greatly shocked.
The tall image of Gao Zhong wearing a helmet and commanding soldiers left a very deep image in his young heart, and he hoped that one day he could become a useful person to serve the country and support the society like his master.
Since then, Chen Ju has studied more diligently with Gao Zhong, read and read and read, and watched Gao Zhong handle government affairs, and benefited a lot from hearing and seeing.
As he grew older, he assumed his own position, began to work on some of the affairs required by the emperor, and traveled frequently throughout the country.
At that time, many powerful eunuchs would rely on their status and power to be complacent, and they would extort local officials and people when they left the palace.
Eunuchs can't be women, they can only enjoy power, money and face, and in order not to offend the "red people" around the emperor, local officials often have to swallow their anger.
Unlike the prestige of other eunuchs, Chen Ju behaved very well, whether it was to officials or the people, he never had the slightest intrusion, so he had an excellent reputation in officialdom and even among the people, and he would be welcomed every time he went out to do business.
Once he was ordered to go out of the palace to do business, escorting the military general Zhu Tingtang to Fengyang, passing through his hometown of Hebei, but Chen Ju did not alarm anyone, but went to worship in a very low-key manner, and left directly.
Such an upright, honest, and self-disciplined eunuch was really valuable in the background of the times at that time.
In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli (1598), Chen Ju became the eunuch in charge of the imperial front beside Emperor Wanli, and the eunuch Bingbi was in charge of Dongchang with the eunuch Bingbi, and officially became a "big man" like his master Gao Zhong.
"Dongchang", an institution that frequently appears in countless novels, film and television dramas, has almost been firmly bound to the concepts of "brutality" and "blood", with great power and cruel methods, which makes future generations discolor.
In fact, Dongchang is a secret police agency directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor, responsible for supervising the ministers of the court and the central government, directly responsible to the emperor, the inspectorate, the Dali Temple, and the criminal department have no right to interfere in its operation, and the power is rarely matched.
A large part of the reason why Chen Ju's descendant, Gonggong Wei, was able to call the wind and rain in the Ming Dynasty was also because he held the actual power of Dongchang in his hands.
Dongchang is mainly controlled by eunuchs, and the leader is generally held by the eunuch Bingbi, which means that Chen Ju actually holds a sword in his hand, and the blade of the sword can be pointed at any official in the court.
With such power, people's hearts are easily alienated, but Chen Ju has never been lost in the position of power and money, and firmly remembers his original intention of serving the country and supporting the society.
Especially after ten years of Wanli and the changes in the situation after Zhang Juzheng's death, Chen Ju's original upright and measured character has a little more heart to take care of the overall situation, and he abides by the eight-character truth of "the law of the ancestors, the truth of the sages", and never kills innocents indiscriminately, nor does he flatter him.
During the period when Chen Ju was in charge of Dongchang, Princess Rongchang, the eldest daughter of Emperor Wanli, had quarreled with the horse because of trivial matters, and the Emperor Wanli had to punish the horse, and angered the ministers related to this matter, and once wanted to punish him heavily.
Chen Ju admonished Shenzong that the secret affairs of the boudoir would damage the royal face, and it was not appropriate to make a noise, and he also said a few soft words for the concubine, which was made a big deal small, and it could be regarded as preserving the face of the royal family.
According to some official historical records, Chen Ju has always been "picketing according to law" during his tenure in charge of Dongchang, and the "criminal prison environment" of Dongchang can be called the best in Dongchang in the Ming Dynasty, and there have been almost no unjust, false and wrongful cases.
The best way to show Chen Ju's outstanding ability to do things is the "Demon Book Case" of tens of thousands of years and thirty-one years.
This matter is very mysterious from beginning to end: on the day of Jiazi in November, many ministers received an anonymous book called "Continuing the Worries and Dangers", criticizing Zheng Guifei, the favorite of the Wanli Emperor at that time, saying that she secretly planned to abolish the crown prince and put her son on the throne.
The post is anonymous, the circulation is crazy, harem, rebellion, collusion...... and other sensitive words, Shenzong was furious, and ordered Dongchang and Jinyiwei to quickly find out about this matter and strictly deal with the manipulators behind it.
For a time, the government and the opposition shook up and down, and everyone was in danger.
Many people aim at the current situation and privately want to buy off Chen Ju and let him frame others as an obstacle.
Chen Ju looked at the matter with shrewd eyes throughout the whole process, and ignored the open and secret battles between ministers, not only did not take advantage of the chaos to get in the way, but also relied on his integrity, fairness, and legal operation to rescue Shen Li, a cabinet scholar who was wrongfully accused, and Guo Zhengyu, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites.
If it weren't for Chen Ju's selflessness, calm and upright, I am afraid that it would really cause an earthquake in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.
With Chen Ju's efforts, although this bizarre case was not solved in the end, it was able to minimize the destructive power and quickly stabilize the political arena of the Ming Dynasty at that time.
In the thirty-fourth year of Wanli, Chen Ju was promoted to the eunuch of the celebrant and the seal of the seal. At this time, he was almost old, but he was still in charge of the affairs of Dongchang, which was equivalent to holding the power of interdicting politics and picketing hundreds of officials at the same time, which can be said to have reached the apex of eunuchs.
Since entering the palace at the age of nine, he has been a great eunuch who leans towards the government and the opposition, Chen Ju has been upright all his life, dedicated to doing practical things for the emperor, and does not take advantage of this to take power for himself, and some of the eunuchs around him have made great progress, and after his death, several of them have been entrusted with important tasks.
In 1607, Chen Ju died in the inner straight room, and was buried in a coffin next to the Xiangshan Cigan Nunnery. Emperor Wanli personally ordered the sacrifice of nine altars, the shrine was titled "Qingzhong", and issued an edict to protect the shrine and tomb.
On the day of his funeral, the three major cabinet scholars personally recited the memorial text, and all the civil and military officials came to pay their respects, and many ministers consciously supported his coffin for the funeral to express their inner respect.
Chen Ju's statue and tablet were given into the imperial city and are still worshipped today.
Such a high-ranking and benevolent eunuch is rare in the long river of history, and I have to say that Chen Ju really deserves the title of the most famous eunuch in history.