Why was eunuch Liu Jin executed by Ling Chi What did Liu Jin do

Today, the History Encyclopedia editor will bring you Liu Jin from the Ming Dynasty, hoping to be helpful to everyone.
In the Ming Dynasty, there was no problem of powerful officials usurping the throne, but in order to balance the civil and military officials in the court, the emperor had to strengthen the power of “eunuchs”. Therefore, in the hundreds of years of Ming Dynasty history, a new problem emerged, which is also a ridiculous but also sad phenomenon. That is:
Eunuchs engage in political chaos.
Liu Jin, his identity is a eunuch.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Jin was recommended to enter the palace as an eunuch, but he was unlucky. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, he did not know what he had committed, which led to him being sentenced to death.
Perhaps Liu Jin exhausted all her connections to operate and ended up in a “great fortune”. Instead of being executed, she became a “personal attendant” of an important figure, who later became Emperor Wu of Ming and the crown prince at that time, Zhu Houzhao.
History has not provided a detailed answer about the reasons for Liu Jin’s “transformation”, but what is certain is that Liu Jin’s life trajectory leap began with this “death sentence”. Liu Jin benefited from misfortune and climbed into the position of crown prince.
But similarly, Zhu Houzhao’s later absurdity was also “cultivated” by Liu Jin during this period.
Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao was a very intelligent person, but unfortunately, he was also a crown prince who was “not favored” by his father Ming Xiaozong. However, he had no other choice but to let Zhu Houzhao ascend to the throne.
Before the death of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, he repeatedly emphasized to the Crown Prince to “calm down” and become a qualified emperor.
Unfortunately, Zhu Houzhao’s personality had been “influenced” by these eunuchs. Zhu Houzhao’s “incompetence” was actually the most important factor in Liu Jin’s later death: it led to the king’s lack of interest in managing the court and being idle in entertainment.
During the period when Emperor Wuzong was still the crown prince, Emperor Xiaozong encouraged refinement and governance, initiating the “revival” of the Ming Dynasty. However, his father’s diligence did not infect Emperor Wuzong. Emperor Wuzong, who was unanimously regarded as a “genius” by everyone, played with eunuchs every day and used his intelligence in useless ways.
The Crown Prince became playful and incompetent, which was directly related to these eunuchs. This was also a mistake made by Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty, who allowed eunuchs to serve the Crown Prince.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Ming Dynasty, there was a famous eunuch “group” known as the “Eight Tigers”.
Eight tigers were the eight eunuchs led by Liu Jin, who tried their best to make Ming Wuzong Zhu Houzhao happy. However, Zhu Houzhao, who was young, did not learn the principles of life. In addition, his father Ming Xiaozong focused on political affairs and devoted himself to rejuvenation, neglecting discipline. Zhu Houzhao’s “life education” was completely manipulated by these eunuchs and was “scrapped”. Zhu Houzhao only knew how to play and no longer studied.
The ‘malpractices’ of the Ming Dynasty, worth mentioning, are precisely the overcorrected’ eunuch system ‘.
The fundamental reason why Liu Jin and others worked so hard to please Zhu Houzhao is that they were considering their own “future”.
If placed in any dynasty before the Ming Dynasty, including the Tang Dynasty, eunuchs would not have been so desperate to take care of the emperor’s emotions. However, the Ming Dynasty was different because since the reign of Zhu Di, eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty had been given a leap in importance. In addition to the Imperial Household Department, eunuchs also established an organization called Dongchang to counter the Jin Yi Wei.
Seemingly wise in design, the Ming Dynasty avoided the conflict between monarchs and officials, but in reality, this conflict was only temporarily transferred, and over time, a new conflict emerged, which was between the emperor and eunuchs.
The Tumu Fortress Incident of Emperor Yingzong of Ming Dynasty was caused by the eunuchs, which led to the great defeat of the Ming Dynasty. From then on, the existence of eunuchs was not much better than that of “powerful officials”, because the power of the eunuchs in charge of seals and the “Bingbi” eunuchs could almost resist the “Xiangquan” organization: the cabinet. Therefore, the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty had their own life ideals.
Speaking of Liu Jin, he developed in such a context.
In 1505 AD, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty passed away. Before his death, Emperor Xiaozong was very afraid that the fifteen year old Zhu Houzhao had not learned well enough to control the dynasty. Unexpectedly, Emperor Xiaozong’s concerns became a reality. Emperor Wuzong, who ascended the throne at the age of fifteen, ruled for his entire life, which was considered “absurd”.
In the same year, Liu Jin was granted the qualification to manage the elite army of “5000 battalions” at that time, and the accession of Ming Wuzong was also a milestone in Liu Jin’s “leap” in life.
In order to win the favor of the young emperor, Liu Jin and others resorted to the tried and tested method of taking the emperor to play new things.
Liu Jin, Gu Dayong, Gao Feng, Wei Bin and other eunuchs went to various parts of the country to search for “rare and exotic beasts”. They wanted to imitate the luxurious habit of the Yuan Dynasty imperial family to establish “animal houses” and capture everything that could fly in the sky and run underground for Emperor Wu of Ming. Emperor Wu of Ming loved these elements of life, so he favored Liu Jin and others even more. Similarly, the government was constantly neglected as a result.
The famous’ leopard house ‘appeared during this period.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Ming Dynasty, a large number of “houses” and “workshops” were established near the capital city.
These “rooms” are usually used for “exhibiting” animals. Liu Jin and others arranged for the people below to capture wild birds and beasts, one by one, and bring them back to the “rooms” for breeding, in order to form the “zoo” of Ming Wuzong. Ming Wuzong was not tired of this and had a great time playing with it.
Liu Jin’s actions were not without purpose. He quickly obtained the reward he wanted: the protection of Ming Wuzong and immense power.
The thinking of the “Eight Tigers” is very clear, they are following the same route as Zhao Gao did back then, to make the emperor’s provisions “stupid”.
When Emperor Mingwu was playing selflessly in his own “little world”, Liu Jin and others began their actions.
In summary, what Liu Jin and others did was to fight against officials internally and collect illegal wealth externally.
Firstly, there have always been people in the court who oppose the existence of the Eight Tigers.
In the posthumous edict of Emperor Xiaozong’s death, it was clearly stated that all these eunuchs should be expelled to inspect the city gates. The implication was that Emperor Xiaozong could not trust these eunuchs, and it was highly likely that Emperor Wuzong would continue to be corrupted by them. However, this was indeed the case.
In order to combat the “Eight Tigers”, the courtiers launched attacks and impeached these eight lawless eunuchs. As a result, Liu Jin and others began to hold grudges. The courtiers’ impeachment of the Eight Tigers and Liu Jin had no effect, but they were immediately counterattacked.
Because the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty was supreme, controlling Liu Jin and others of Ming Wuzong was equivalent to controlling half of the court’s politics.
Liu Jin and others began to “clean up” the court. Many ministers in the court were punished for offending Liu Jin and were accused of various crimes, ranging from home raids to imprisonment, and in severe cases, they were beheaded.
On the other hand, the petitions of the officials were almost useless because Emperor Wu of Ming Dynasty no longer cared about these matters. Therefore, to put it simply, the entire court was controlled by the “officials”.
This is also another major trouble created by the Ming Dynasty to balance power.
During this period, Liu Jin also manipulated Ming Wuzong and opened up many “convenient channels”, such as misleading Ming Wuzong to shamelessly accumulate wealth. Even Ming Wuzong himself became addicted to “accumulating wealth”, so Liu Jin caused a high deficit in the national treasury for his own enjoyment, and most of the money actually went to the hands of the “Eight Tigers”.
Until the most serious “Ning Wang Rebellion” during the reign of Emperor Wu of Ming Dynasty, it was all related to Liu Jin. If it were not for Wang Yangming’s quick suppression of the internal strife, new problems would have arisen in the Ming Dynasty.
Such a Liu Jin, who pretends to be powerful and bullies others, will eventually embark on a path of no return.
In fact, the retribution on this road comes quickly.
At the most exaggerated moment, Liu Jin even “falsely transmitted” imperial edicts, which actually exceeded the bottom line of Ming Wuzong. Although Ming Wuzong was playful, he was not foolish. He knew where his bottom line should be when he became an emperor. Therefore, after a large-scale “report” filled with righteous indignation, Ming Wuzong began to attach importance to Liu Jin.
Without investigation, we cannot know. When Emperor Wu of Ming learned that Liu Jin had embezzled a large amount of the national treasury for his own selfish interests, resulting in the suppression of most politically capable officials in the court, and faced with so many charges, Emperor Wu of Ming became angry. This anger may be more likely due to being deceived.
In 1510 AD, Liu Jin was reported for “rebellion”, so Emperor Wu of Ming personally “arrested” Liu Jin. When he arrived at Liu Jin’s home, Emperor Wu of Ming indeed saw the “imperial seal” and the emperor’s exclusive “jade belt”.
Emperor Mingwu was very angry about this, and he ordered the execution of many eunuchs who were plotting rebellion. Liu Jin died because of this.
In fact, the death of Liu Jin is a microcosm of the political ills of the Ming Dynasty. Even with the use of eunuchs to restrain officials, it was still difficult to escape the crisis of someone’s “dictatorship”.
And Liu Jin and others were indeed deeply sinful. A ‘genius’, he ended up dying in his own pleasure filled’ leopard house ‘. It is unclear whether Ming Wuzong hated Liu Jin or thanked him for squandering his life.