When it comes to corrupt officials, people will always grit their teeth in hatred and be eager to peel them and cramp them. The Qing Dynasty's Hezhen was left with a stink because of his greed. Relying on the favor of the Qianlong Emperor and unscrupulously amassing wealth, when the Jiajing Emperor ordered the raid, he actually copied from his house a huge amount of money equivalent to the fourteen years of the Qing Dynasty's treasury revenue. If there is any other corrupt official in the world who can compete with He yanyi, it must be Liu Jin, a eunuch of the Ming Dynasty who is in power.
In the Peking Opera "Famen Temple", Liu Jin is played by Shang Changrong
According to historical records, when Liu Jin was raided, a total of 12.5 million taels of gold were found, and the amount of silver reached 259 million taels, and the annual income of the Ming Dynasty treasury at that time was only more than 20 million taels of silver, not only that, Liu Jin's collection of rare treasures, antique calligraphy and paintings, and the purchase of houses and fields was innumerable. Speaking of Liu Jin, he was just a eunuch, so how did he accumulate such exaggerated wealth? And listen to the author.
In the second year of Ming Jingtai (1451), in a small village in Xingping, Liu Jin was born, his original surname was Tan, guessing that the family conditions may be too poor, when he was six years old, he was sold into the palace to the eunuch Liu Shun as a dry son, and since then he has become a member of the eunuch, and Liu Jin has changed his surname to Liu Jin. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, Liu Jin committed a major crime and was supposed to be executed according to the law, but somehow he was not only pardoned, but also went to the Eastern Palace to serve the crown prince Zhu Houzhao, later Emperor Wuzong of Ming.
Zhu Houzhao was deeply favored by Emperor Xiaozong and Empress Zhang from a young age, and sent famous teachers to teach, as if he had the momentum of becoming a generation of Ming Emperors, but unfortunately the bad was bad for the group of eunuchs around him. The phrase "environmental influence people" is indeed not empty, and the eunuchs who accompanied the attendant formed the "Eight Parties" headed by Liu Jin, also known as the "Eight Tigers". In order to gain Zhu Houzhao's favor, they exhausted their means to offer eagle dogs and child prostitutes, and the young Zhu Houzhao could not resist the temptation at all, and his studies naturally stagnated.
In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi (1505), Emperor Mingwuzong Zhu Houzhao took the throne, and Liu Jin served as the Bell and Drum Division, and since then Liu Jin has won the favor of Emperor Mingwuzong in various ways, and has been promoted many times. As the leader of the "Eight Tigers", he covered the sky with one hand in the court, which can be said to have reached the point where he was above ten thousand people under one person. Not only him, but the others of the "Eight Tigers" did nothing wrong, and they took advantage of the emperor's favor and began to form cliques, promote traitors and party members, and exclude and frame ministers who opposed them.
With power, naturally I also want to have money. Naturally, there is no shortage of land grabs, encroachment on people's harmful materials, and bribery. The "Eight Tigers" were so disastrous that naturally some loyal people could not bear to look at it, first of all, the university scholars Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and other cabinet ministers repeatedly gave advice, and later Shangshu Zhang Sheng, Yushi Wang Zhuo, and others also joined the ranks of Shangquan, but Emperor Mingwu Zhu Houzhao ignored them all.
It was not until Yang Yuan, who was in charge of astrological observation in the first year of Zhengde (1506), used the sign of "star change" as an excuse to say that the eunuchs had caused a warning from heaven that emperor Wuzong of Ming reacted and decided to send Liu Jin and others to Nanjing. However, the cabinet ministers Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and others decided to take this opportunity to eliminate the unhealthy trend in one fell swoop, so they wrote a letter requesting the killing of the "Eight Tigers". However, he did not expect that there were traitors in the line of joint letters, and the official Shangshu Jiao Fang reported this matter to Liu Jin. Liu Jin was very frightened, and led the crowd to find Ming Wuzong to cry overnight, and Ming Wuzong was touched by his old feelings. Liu Jin not only cried for himself, but also took the opportunity to bite back. Ming Shi Zai: "Jin Yin Yue: Wang Yue, the slave killer and so on." Yue Jie's courtiers wanted to make access to the upper and lower levels, so they first went to the ears they were afraid of. And the eagle dog has lost tens of thousands of things. If the Si Li supervisor is a person, the left class official An Dare to do so. Therefore, Wang Yue, Fan Heng, and Xu Zhi were arrested that night and sent to Nanjing to charge the army.
Since Liu Jin took charge of the ceremonial superintendent, Ma Yongcheng was in charge of the East Factory, Gu Dayong was in charge of the West Factory, and the momentum of the "Eight Tigers" was unstoppable, and they unscrupulously began to suppress and eliminate dissidents. The History of The Ming Dynasty says: "(Zhengde) In March of the second year, Jin summoned his ministers to kneel south of jinshui bridge and declare the traitorous party... All are the loyal ones of the Hai Nei. ”
Liu Jin was bold enough to even falsely pass on the Holy Will, and in the summer of the third year of Zhengde (1508), Liu Jin received news that someone had reported him anonymously, so he summoned hundreds of officials to summon hundreds of officials and let them all kneel under the Fengtian Gate. After questioning the courtiers, he threw officials below five pins into prison. It was not until the next day, when Liu Jin heard that the letter had been transmitted by other eunuchs, that he released the officials, but the chief he Qian, The Governor of Shuntianfu, Zhou Chen, and Jin Shi Lu Shen had already died of heat stroke in the sweltering heat, but Liu Jin still did not receive too severe punishment.
During the reign of Emperor Wuzong of Ming, there was also a famous rebellion of Zhu Chenhao, the King of Ning, and Liu Jin also contributed a lot of power in it. King Ning had ill intentions, and seeing that Liu Jin was so greedy for money, King Ning bribed Liu Jin with a lot of money, hoping that Liu Jin would agree to add more guards to his fiefdom, and Liu Jin agreed after receiving the money. If he wanted to ask the teacher for his guilt, Liu Jin would not be able to get rid of it.
Good and evil will eventually be rewarded, or maybe black eats black, and Liu Jin also "won" the day when he fell off the throne of power. In April of the fifth year of Zhengde (1510), while the capital Yang Yiqing and one of the Eight Tigers eunuch Zhang Yong quelled the rebellion of King Anhua, they quietly discussed the grand plan of "removing Liu". First of all, Zhang Yong took advantage of the opportunity to expose Liu Jin's past seventeen major crimes to Emperor Wuzong of Ming; secondly, the crown prince's master Li Dongyang also led many ministers to write letters saying that Liu Jin had the intention of rebellion.
Emperor Mingwuzong was furious when he heard this, and that night he ordered Liu Jin to be imprisoned, and the next day he personally raided Liu Jin's home. Not only did countless gold and silver were found in Liu Jin's home, but it was also found that Liu Jin forged jade seals and jade belts and hid daggers. In the face of the evidence, Emperor Mingwuzong did not hesitate to order Liu Jinlingchi to be executed!
Ling Chi was the most cruel punishment in ancient times, and Liu Jin's execution lasted for three days. On the first day, the executioner began to cut from Liu Jin's chest, cutting 357 knives, because the executioner's skills were so superb, Liu Jin not only did not die, his mouth could also speak, and also began to curse Ming Wuzong, telling all kinds of ugly things about the royal family, attracting many people to listen to music. When Emperor Mingwuzong found out, he was extremely angry and ordered someone to block Liu Jin's mouth. The next day, Liu Jin gasped after cutting dozens of knives, but the cruel Ling Chi still did not end, and the executioner continued to cut 3357 knives. Many of the people who had been persecuted by Liu Jin also bought the flesh on his body, sacrificed the dead, and some even ate raw to vent their anger...