When it comes to the Ming Dynasty, what everyone remembers most is its terrifying politics. As the spokesperson of terrifying politics, Jinyiwei and East China Factory, are even more famous. However, for a long time, people have not been very clear about the history and functions of these three institutions. In many novels and TV series, they are often regarded as the mastermind behind the scenes, and spy organizations and other casually move around. In fact, there is a big difference between the East Factory and the Jinyiwei, while the West Factory has only existed for less than ten years. This article will briefly introduce these three major spy agencies, striving to give everyone a clearer impression.

1, Jinyiwei

In chronological order, let’s talk about the Jinyiwei established by Zhu Yuanzhang. The military system in the early Ming Dynasty was relatively simple, with its grassroots units being "Guards" and "South". Each guard was under the jurisdiction of about 5,000 regular soldiers, and it was divided into thousands of households and hundreds of households. The imperial guards in the capital had 48 guards. By the fifteenth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to reform the imperial guards and established twelve personal guards, the most important of which was the "Embroidered Guards".

The leader of the Jinyiwei is called the commander (or commander-in-chief, command assistant), and is generally served by the emperor's confidant generals, and is rarely served by eunuchs. His functions are: "in charge of guards, patrols and arrests", and a slogan, basically divides the Jinyiwei into two completely different departments. The responsible person in charge of the guards, displaying ceremonial guards and accompanying the emperor on patrol are basically no different from the traditional imperial guards, and the more famous one is the "General". Although these people are famous, they are only responsible for standing in the hall, passing on the emperor's orders, and doing security work. To put it bluntly, they are stakes in the palace hall. Of course, these "stakes" are not ordinary people. They are generally tall and big, with a tiger's back and bear waist, and are full of energy and loud voices. They are quite majestic from the outside, and they have a certain deterrence effect on those who do not understand the background of the Ming court.

The Han general formed a battalion among the Jinyiwei. At the beginning, there were about 1,500 people. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, due to the expansion of bureaucracy, the Han generals also increased to more than 5,000. As for "patrol and arrest", it was the special thing that distinguished the Jinyiwei from the imperial guards of other dynasties, and it was also the reason why it could be remembered for people. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention of establishing the Jinyiwei was only to use the ceremonial guards, but later, because he slaughtered the heroes, he felt that the traditional judicial institutions, the Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and the Censorate were not very easy to use, so the Jinyiwei's security function was improved and made it the emperor's private police. The Jinyiwei agency responsible for investigating criminal matters was the North and South Town Fu Office. Among them, the Beizhen Fu Office was responsible for the case designated by the emperor and had its own prison (decree prison). It could be arrested, tortured, and executed by itself without having to go through general judicial institutions.

The north and south vassal department has five wards, and its commanders are called Qianhu, Baihu, General Banner, Small Banner, Ordinary Soldiers are called the lieutenant and Lishi. When the lieutenant and Lishi are responsible for the task of stolen and accusing traitors, they are called "Tiqi" (everyone must be very familiar with this term). The number of Tiqi is at least 1,000, and at most 60,000 people. The Jinyiwei official school generally selects Kongwu from the people, and good people with no bad records are added, and then they are promoted step by step based on their abilities and qualifications. At the same time, the official positions of the Jinyiwei are also allowed to be inherited.

Due to the special nature of his origin, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, the first two emperors of the Ming Dynasty, had strong hopes for maintaining imperial power that other dynasties did not have. This made the Jinyiwei's function of "inspection and arrest" infinitely expand. Generally speaking, the Jinyiwei's work was limited to reconnaissance of various intelligences and handling cases delivered by the emperor. However, once a commander with ambition and heart is in power, he will use his position to spare no effort to create trouble, which can not only attack dissidents, but also serve as capital for his own promotion. For example, Ji Gang during the Chengzu period, Lu Gao during the Yingzong period, Qian Ning during the Wuzong period, etc., when they were in power, the Tiqi came out everywhere, from the prime minister and the vassal kings to the Ping

The people were under their surveillance. As long as they were against their orders, their families would be destroyed and their families would be destroyed. The whole country was shrouded in a terrifying atmosphere. The infamous Beizhen Fushi prison was filled with all kinds of innocent people, and countless upright people died under the torture of the Jinyiwei. What is even more terrifying is that this terrifying atmosphere was different from the short-term appearance of the Tang Dynasty Wu Zetian period. In the end, the Ming Dynasty was almost endless. This uncontrollable abuse of arrests greatly affected the relationship between the emperor and the bureaucracy, causing all officials, the people, the army to be separated from the emperor. No wonder some people said that the dynasty was not destroyed by bandits, but by the factory guards.

Another famous function of the Jinyiwei is to "hold the court stick". The court stick system began in the Ming Dynasty and was a torture used by the emperor to teach disobedient scholars and officials. Once an unlucky official angered the emperor and was announced to have a court stick, he was immediately stripped off his official uniform, tied his hands behind his back, and took him to the Meridian Gate, the execution site. There, the eunuch in the head of the Sili Supervisor and the commander of the Jinyiwei were already on the verge of the left and right. The person being punished was wrapped in a large brie, and with the word "beat", the stick fell on his thighs and buttocks like raindrops. The executioner was the captain of the Jinyiwei, and they were all strictly trained.

Practice, skillful skills, and can accurately grasp the life and death of the prisoner according to the suggestion of the eunuch of the Sili and the commander of the Jinyiwei. If the two legs are spread out like eight-shaped, it means that the person under the stick can be left to live; on the contrary, if the toes are moved inward, the person under the stick will have only one way to die. After the stick, the four corners wrapped in the prisoner's cloth must be lifted, and then lifted and then fell heavily. At this time, even if the person in the cloth does not die, he will lose half his life. The punishment of the court stick will greatly damage the body and mind of the literati, but the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was happy with it, and the Jinyiwei also had a special liking for it.

Looking at the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty, although there were more upright commanders like Yuan Bin and Mou Bin, in general, its function was mainly to act as an accomplice of the extreme autocratic system of the Ming Dynasty. With efficient tools like Jinyiwei, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty suppressed the literati class, and the lower class seemed more comfortable. However, the price paid for this was a huge reduction in social vitality. This is also the main reason why the Ming Dynasty had more than 200 years of history, but there was no progress in the political and economic system and even had some regressions.

2. East Factory

The inventor of the Dongchang was Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. After launching the "Jingnan Campaign" to seize the throne of his nephew, Zhu Di's spirit was always in a high state of tension. On the one hand, rumors that Emperor Jianwen was not dead did not appear. On the other hand, many ministers in the court did not support the new regime very much. In order to consolidate the regime, Zhu Di urgently needed a strong autocratic institution, but he felt that the Jinyiwei located outside the palace was not very convenient to use, so he decided to establish a new institution. During Zhu Di's revival, some eunuchs and monks made great efforts (such as the famous Zheng He and Daoyan), so in his mind, he still felt that eunuchs were more reliable, and they were in the palace, so they were more convenient to connect.

In this way, after the Ming Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, an investigation agency led by eunuchs was established. Since its address was located on the north side of Dong'anmen (now Dongchang Hutong in the north of Wangfujing Street), it was named Dongchang. The function of the Dongchang was "investigating and traitorous, and was equally powerful with the Jinyiwei." At first, the Dongchang was only responsible for investigation and arresting people, and did not have the right to interrogate prisoners. The suspects caught had to be handed over to the Jinyiwei North Town Fu Office for trial. However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Dongchang also had its own prison. The leader of the Dongchang was called the Dongchang Eunuch, also known as the factory owner and the factory supervisor, and was the second largest person among the eunuchs after the Sili Supervisor. In addition, there were a thousand households in the Dongchang, one hundred households, one in the squad, one in the squad, one in the head, and several offices. The specific responsible for the investigation was the Chief of the Service and the Foreign Service. The Chief of the Service was equivalent to the team leader, also known as the Chamber, and the Fan Service was the common name of the Fan.

The scope of investigation of Dongchang is very wide. The court will try major cases. The Jinyiwei Beizhenfu Department tortures serious offenders. Dongchang will send people to hear the trial. All the yamen in the court have Dongchang staff on duty to monitor the officials' every move. Some important yamen documents, such as various border reports, pond newspapers, and Dongchang will send people to check them. Even the daily lives of ordinary people, the prices of firewood, rice, oil and salt are within the scope of Dongchang's reconnaissance. The information obtained by the Dongchang can be directly reported to the emperor. Compared with the Jinyiwei must report in the form of memorials, it is much more convenient. The layout of the Dongchang government office is more funny. The small hall next to the hall is equipped with a statue of Yue Fei, and the screen wall on the right side of the hall is engraved with the story of the pancreatic case. The tablets of previous Dongchang factory owners are enshrined in the ancestral hall on the west side of the hall, and there is a archway that "remembered for a hundred generations" in front of the hall. Unfortunately, the Dongchang government office is

What the factory staff did was far from their idols. The Dongchang men were active in the streets and alleys of the capital every day, not entirely for the court, but more for their own personal gain. They often laid charges and falsely accused good people, and then they were criticized and took the opportunity to extort. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the scope of the investigation of the Dongchang even expanded to the whole country. Even remote areas of the faraway states also showed "fresh clothes and angry horses as the capital's words", which caused everyone in the whole country to be in danger and the people were living in poverty. In terms of their relationship with the Jinyiwei, the Dongchang came from behind. Because the Dongchang factory owner had a close relationship with the emperor and was in the palace, it was easier to gain the trust of the emperor. The relationship between the Dongchang and the Jinyiwei gradually changed from a par to a superior and subordinate relationship. In the era when eunuchs were in power in the court, the Jinyiwei commander even knelt down and kowtowed when he saw the Dongchang factory owner.

3. West Factory and Insider Factory

Xichang only existed in the history of the Ming Dynasty for a short time. During the Chenghua period of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, a mysterious case of "demon foxes coming out at night" appeared in the capital. Then another demonic story, Li Zilong used a side-to-side way to deceive people, and even recruited many eunuchs with misconduct. Although Li Zilong and his party members were eventually beaten by the Jinyiwei, Xianzong felt deeply that the power of the investigation and stabbing was insufficient. So the clever eunuch Wang Zhi was selected and sent outside the palace to inquire about the news. Wang Zhi seized this opportunity, catching rumors everywhere, and collected a lot of so-called "secret news" reports to Xianzong. Xianzong believed that these news was very valuable and was very satisfied with Wang Zhi's performance, and asked him to continue doing it.

A few months later, Xianzong established a new inner court institution - Xichang, and the leader was Wang Zhi. The site of the Xichang factory was located in front of Lingji Palace, with the old ash factory as the headquarters of the factory office. The officers of the Xichang factory were mainly selected from the Imperial Guards, and these people then selected their subordinates. In just a few months, the Xichang staff expanded greatly, and their power even surpassed the old senior East Factory.

The establishment of the Western Factory was originally just to spy on the emperor's news, but in order to get promoted and make money, Wang Zhi tried his best to set up major cases. The number of cases handled by the major cases was so large that the number of people involved was far greater than that of the East Factory and the Jinyiwei. The Western Factory set up a nationwide investigation network, and the main targets were officials inside and outside Beijing. Once someone suspected, they would be arrested immediately without the emperor's consent in advance. Of course, they would torture confessions and try to make the case bigger, the better. For ordinary people, if they were not very serious, they would be dealt with severely for evil words by the Western Factory.

In this case, the Xichang was only five months after its establishment, which caused panic among the government and the people. The auxiliary ministers, led by the Grand Secretary Shang Lu (the talent who won three yuan in a row) collectively wrote a letter to Emperor Xianzong to explain the harm of the Xichang and report the illegal matters handled by Wang Zhi one by one. After receiving the memorial, Xianzong was shocked and revoked the Xichang and dismissed the Xichang personnel.

But the days without the West Factory always made Xianzong feel insecure. After learning about the emperor's thoughts, a treacherous minister, Dai Jin, took the initiative to write a letter and praised Wang Zhi. Xianzong was overjoyed and immediately restored the West Factory. Only one month apart was there. After Wang Zhi returned, he handled the case more harshly, and Dai Jin was also promoted.

In the following five years, Wang Zhi led the Xichang to handle countless "major cases", excluding court officials such as Shang Lu and Xiang Zhong, who opposed him one by one, and his power reached its extreme. But as the saying goes, "Everything will turn against you." Wang Zhi's extremely inflated power must arouse the emperor's alert. In the subsequent power competition, Wang Zhi failed and was transferred out of the capital, and the East Factory was disbanded. A few years later, Wang Zhi died in disappointment.

After Emperor Xianzong's grandson Wuzong ascended the throne, the eunuch Liu Jin took power, and the eunuch power rose again. The Xichang was reopened, led by the eunuch Gu Dayong. What's funny is that although the Xichang and the East Factory were both under the command of Liu Jin, the two did not cooperate with each other, but competed for power and broke up each other. In order to change this situation, Liu Jin built an expert factory, which was directly led by himself. Its functions were the same as the East Factory, but the scope of investigation was larger, even including the East Factory and the Jinyiwei. For a time, the four major secret agencies of the Jinyiwei, the East Factory and the Insider Factory were alive, and the Tiqi was everywhere, and the world was in chaos. It was not until five years later that Liu Jin fell, and Wuzong ordered the abolition of the West Factory and the Insider Factory.

As a temporary product, Xichang disappeared forever in history.

Finally, let’s talk about a distraction: the relationship between the emperor and the eunuch. Everyone must be puzzled by why so many emperors in history have to value eunuchs. In fact, broadly speaking, the eunuch group can also be regarded as part of the bureaucracy, and it has many advantages that the scholar-official class does not have:

First of all, the eunuch was the emperor's slave. He was in the inner palace and was more convenient to communicate with the emperor and to understand the emperor's thoughts more.

Secondly, eunuchs themselves are eunuchs and have no status in society. The only thing they can rely on is the emperor. Therefore, when they are doing things for the emperor, they are often more loyal and consider the emperor. Unlike the scholar-official class, they often take it as their responsibility to save the people of the world, and sometimes they do not buy the emperor's account.

Third, eunuchs are not ignorant people. A considerable number of eunuchs have a cultural level that is not as good as the emperor's personal secretary. They are completely competent and will not have as many objections as ordinary literati.

Finally, eunuchs are the main way for concubines to communicate with the outside world. If concubines want to influence the government, they must unite with eunuchs.
Chapter completed!