When reading the history of the Ming Dynasty, when talking about the topic of "eunuchs", people must first think of Wang Zhen, Wang Zhi, Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian. Undeniably, these four people greatly influenced people's cognition of the Ming Dynasty, especially the image of the special group "eunuchs" in people's minds.
However, in the 277th year of the Ming Dynasty, among the tens of thousands of eunuchs, there were not only top eunuchs like the four powerful eunuchs, but also ordinary eunuchs like others. They have the same feelings as ordinary people, and they have all kinds of talents and abilities. Only when we get rid of the "colored glasses" that discriminate against eunuchs and get to know them more deeply can we have a better and more comprehensive understanding of the history of the Ming Dynasty. First, the cultural accomplishment is extremely high
During Chenghua's reign, Dai Yi, the eunuch of Sili Prison, played the piano well and named himself "Bamboo House". At that time, there was a woman in Nanjing with superb piano skills, who claimed that there was no one in two Beijing and thirteen provinces. When she heard that Dai Yi was good at playing the piano, she was so competitive that she set a date for a competition with Dai Yi. On the day of the competition, the woman let Dai Yi play first in order to show her tolerance. Dai Yi didn't refuse, so he played the fiddle. Unexpectedly, when Dai Yi finished playing a song, the woman was in tears. She was white and bloodless, and suddenly stood up, smashed the guqin she was carrying, and then brushed away, never talking about guqin again for life.
In addition to being good at drums, Dai Yi also writes good calligraphy, especially regular script, which is said to be comparable to Shen Du, known as "Wang Xizhi of the Ming Dynasty".
during the Wanli period, Zhang Wei, the eunuch of sili prison, had profound knowledge, was good at composing metrical poems, and was in line with metrical rules; Zhang Wei is also very good at calligraphy. His calligraphy was learned from Wen Zhiming, and he got the essence of it. He called himself "Yanshan Feisuao" and used this name to make a name (business card). When Zhang Wei was in charge of the war, Emperor Wanli was still young, and he was scolded by the emperor for admonishing Emperor Wanli not to play with weapons. Zhang Wei is a good writer, and the article is well written. Emperor Wanli usually does not directly address Zhang Wei by his first name, but calls him "Scholar Zhang", which is quite courteous to him.
Zheng Zhihui, the eunuch in the late Ming Dynasty, was different. He didn't love power, but was obsessed with classics and history, and he could write eight-part essays and ancient prose. In the fifth year of the Apocalypse (1625), Zheng Zhihui became a palace classic, and later became a supervisor. In the winter of the first year of Chongzhen (1628), in order to compare Zheng Zhihui's literary talent, Emperor Chongzhen personally tested it, and came up with an eight-part essay topic, "Everything can lead to him." Zheng Zhihui was elected with a pen, and immediately promoted to the eunuch of Sili supervisor, which can be described as a unique encounter in ancient and modern times. Second, have the courage to give advice
During Hongzhi's reign, the eunuch He Wen Ding was born as a juren and entered the palace in his prime. Later, due to the impeachment of Shouning Hou Zhang Heling and Jianchang Hou Zhang Yanling, Emperor Hongzhi was angered and was arrested in Jinyi Prison. The jailer of the Royal Guards tortured him in turn, asking him to confess the behind-the-scenes instigation. He Wen Ding said, "There are two leaders, but you can't take him." When the jailer asked who it was, He Wen Ding replied, "Confucius and Mencius!" Emperor Hongzhi was furious when he learned that. Suggestion Huangshan and others have written to rescue He Wen Ding, but Emperor Hongzhi, who has always been ready to give advice, refused to listen at this time. After Xiao Kang floundered, he was also very angry because He Wen Ding impeached his two younger brothers, and secretly sent someone to kill He Wen Ding. Later, He Wen Ding got snow from unjust imprisonment, and Emperor Hongzhi ordered him to be buried with courtesy, and he also wrote a eulogy himself. When people wrote poems, they said, "My consorts have power all over the world, but my ministers resist being indifferent to the past and present."
One day in the early years of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing saw something crawling on the ground, but he didn't know it, so he asked the eunuchs what it was. The eunuch said it was a crab. Emperor Jiajing ordered him to look at it, and found that there was a faint word on the back of the crab. After careful identification, it was "Gui Calyx" and "Zhang Cong". Emperor Jiajing was frightened and immediately ordered an investigation. As a result, he learned that it was the eunuch Cui Wen. It turned out that Cui Wen didn't like Gui Calyx and Zhang Cong's little people's success and rampage, so he made this decision in order to let Emperor Jiajing punish Gui and Zhang. However, at that time, Emperor Jiajing was very fond of Gui and Zhang because of their great contributions in the debate on "Great Courtesy" and was very angry with Cui Wen's "remonstrance", so he demoted Cui Wen to Nanjing. Six good eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty: loyal ministers who were worried about state affairs, or famous soldiers who made great achievements! Third, Mu Yi has a character
In the last years of Jiajing, Gao Gang, the eunuch guarding the door in Nanjing Imperial City, admired and admired two admonishers, Harry and Lin Run, who were famous in the world at that time. Therefore, he specially asked someone to make a couplet, embedded their names in it and hung them in the purlin. Its couplet said: "There are no waves in the sea, and Harry's contribution is not shallow; Lin has Liang Dong, and Lin Runzhize is the majority. "
Shi Bin, the eunuch in the Wanli period, was a righteous man and didn't like wealth. Jing Guan Mi Wanzhong once borrowed seven or eight hundred taels of silver from Spencer, but Mi Wanzhong was in trouble all his life, and finally failed to repay it. Spencer did not pursue it, and burned the iou. People in Beijing praised Spencer's "righteous act." Fourth, worry about the state affairs
In the fourteenth year of orthodoxy (1449), the Civil Fort changed, the Ming army was defeated, and Ming Yingzong was captured. News reached the capital, and Zhu Qiyu, King J of the State of Supervision, held a command meeting to discuss whether to resist or move south. Hanlin lectured Xu Youzhen on his conceit, excellent knowledge and good astrology, so he proposed to move the capital to Nanjing, with Wala as the boundary, and each side kept the Huaihe River. After hearing this, Xing 'an, the eunuch of Si Li Jian, was furious and scolded: "Damn this fellow, how dare you talk so nonsense! If you move south, and the sacred horse is outside your mouth (referring to Ming Yingzong being captured by Wala), who will welcome you back? Who will guard the ancestral mausoleum palace? " Then he kicked Xu Youzhen out of the court, and soon he was transferred and asked to defend zhang de and other places in Henan.
Jin Ying, the eunuch of Si Li Jian, came from Annan (present-day Vietnam). Jin Ying was ordered to send an envoy in a certain year. When passing by Nanjing, officials at all levels in Nanjing came to the river to bid farewell to Jin Ying, but the official Xue U didn't come. Not only was Jin Ying not annoyed, but after he returned to the DPRK, he also praised the emperor: "Nanjing is a good official, but Xue Qing is the only one!"
after emperor Jingtai ascended the throne, he intended to store it easily. One day, Emperor Jingtai said to eunuch Jin Ying, "The second day of July is the birthday of the East Palace." The "East Palace" mentioned by Emperor Jingtai refers to Zhu Jianji, the son of Emperor Jingtai. Jin Ying kowtowed and said, "The birthday of the East Palace is the second day of November." Jin Ying's "Oriental Palace" refers to Zhu Jianshen, the son of Ming Yingzong, who was then the Prince. Jingtai Emperor understood Jin Ying's meaning and kept silent.
One day in the early years of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing suddenly became interested, and wanted to open the inner vault to look at the antique treasures accumulated in past dynasties. Zhang Zuo, the eunuch of Sili Prison, knelt down and said, "I have my own books to check over the years, so I don't have to read them for a long time." The matter was abandoned. The other eunuchs didn't understand, and asked Zhang Zuo why. Zhang Zuo explained, "This treasure is easy to dazzle people. If it is not seen by Grandpa (Emperor Jiajing), it may open his heart!" V. Tolerance and magnanimity
During the Hongzhi period, Qin, the eunuch of Sili prison, visited a virtuous teacher in order to educate the children of the family, and finally decided to be Yu Zhu, a juren. Yu Zhu didn't want to at first, but he couldn't bear Qin's softness and hardness, and finally reluctantly agreed. When paying a visit to Qin, Yu Zhu was no stranger, and even sat at the top of the table, which was quite rude. The left and right attendants of Qin eunuch had never seen such a bold person, and they were very surprised. Unexpectedly, the eunuch Qin was not angry but happy when he saw this scene. He said happily, "This man is not afraid of eunuch Si Li, but also of my children?"
On the day of teaching, Qin's children, who inherited the position of Royal Guards by relying on Qin eunuchs, were luxuriously dressed and elegant, while Yu Zhu was ugly and short, so Qin's children looked down on Yu Zhu very much. In the face of Qin's nobles, Yu Zhu was uncompromising and severely criticized. As soon as he saw a slacker in his study, he immediately made him kneel down and be punished. Qin's children were dissatisfied and complained. Yu Zhu was furious and immediately asked to leave. Qin's children were afraid of angering Qin eunuchs and knelt down to ask Yu Zhu to stay. Later, eunuch Qin heard about it and sighed, "If it weren't for this gentleman, how could my children be taught?" More respect and courtesy to Yu Zhu.