The origin of Wei Zhongxian's nine-year-old title: "Eating with the emperor's wet nurse"

Why is Wei Zhongxian nine years old? Wei Zhongxian (1568~ 1627), formerly known as Wei Jinzhong, was born in Hejian Suning (now Suning, Hebei). He was playful by nature, gradually formed the habit of laziness, and became a street hooligan when he grew up. Unable to repay his gambling debts, he was humiliated by many gamblers, but resigned from his post in the palace and became a eunuch in the palace. After Ming Xizong ascended the throne, he began to gain power, which opened the curtain of the darkest eunuch dictatorship in China history. He claimed to be "nine-year-old", rejected dissidents, and arbitrarily ruled state affairs, so that people "only know that there are loyal kings, but they don't know that there are emperors." After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne in the Ming Dynasty, he attacked and punished Yan Party, dealt with Wei Zhongxian's top ten crimes and ordered him to be arrested. He finally hanged himself and the rest of the party was completely wiped out. In the second year of Dragon (1568), Wei Zhongxian was born in a poor family in Hejian Suning (now Suning, Hebei). He didn't like reading and writing since he was a child. He plays outside all day and makes friends with some local ruffians and hooligans. As he grew older, he became more and more idle and proficient in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. He loves gambling, and he often hides in hiding in order to avoid gambling debts. When he grew up, he married Ma Shi and had a child, but he still didn't get rid of his bad habits and was called a street hooligan.

One day, he went gambling again. Because of bad luck, he lost all his money and finally owed gambling debts. Unable to afford it, he ran to a restaurant and hid. Unexpectedly, the creditor finally found him, dragged him into the street, insulted and humiliated him, and asked him to pay his debts with his wife. Wei Zhongxian felt ashamed and resentful, so he abandoned his wife and children and ran away from home, wandering outside. He has been looking for a way to get ahead in his wanderings. After some painful thinking, he finally made up his mind to become a eunuch in the palace after he entered the palace. At that time, being a eunuch was a "fashionable" profession. Because eunuchs have the opportunity to get close to the emperor, once they are favored by the emperor, they will enjoy endless wealth, and even the whole family can follow them. For a lazy man like him, it can be called a shortcut to get ahead. So Wei Zhongxian left the palace, set off for Beijing, and managed to find a way to get into the palace.

When he first entered the palace, he was the lowest eunuch and was assigned to do odd jobs. Such a day is far from Wei Zhongxian's ideal day. So he flattered and fell at the door of the big eunuch, and changed his surname to Li from now on, and he was loyal. It didn't take long for him to win the favor of Wei by his sweet words. At the age of 22, he was transferred from an ordinary handyman eunuch to Sun Sian, the eunuch in charge of the East Factory and the warehouse. Managing warehouses has many advantages, which makes Wei Zhongxian gradually rich. And this job is much easier than before. Wei Zhongxian returned to her original surname after she established herself in the palace. In the days that followed, he tried his best to please Wei Chao and became sworn brothers with Wei Chao. Wei Chao was very satisfied with his cajoling, so he recommended him to Wang Cairen in the harem and made him the eunuch in charge of catering.

Wang Cairen is the concubine of Emperor Wanli and the biological mother of Zhu Youxiao, the great-grandson of Emperor Wanli. At that time, Wang An was the eunuch in charge of the womb. Wei Zhongxian was introduced by eunuch Wei Chao, then joined Wang Anmen, and was gradually reused. This is an important turning point for Wei Zhongxian, because it is a great opportunity to meet the future emperor. Because Zhu Youxiao was young, Wei Zhongxian grasped the characteristics that children like to play, tried every means to amuse Zhu Youxiao, and sent some rare playthings and various delicacies to the Prince from time to time to win the favor of Zhu Youxiao.

The wet nurse's name is Ke. She is a very shrewd woman, and she is also very vicious. Hakkas also know that Zhu Youxiao will be emperor sooner or later, so they always try their best to please him. According to the practice in the palace, after the prince stops breastfeeding, the wet nurse will leave the palace, but the Hakka people are unwilling to leave. Therefore, she tried every means to make Zhu Youxiao feel dependent on herself. The ministers of the DPRK have repeatedly asked the Hakkas to leave the palace as soon as possible, but the Hakkas who are good at using the feelings of the prince remain in the palace. After Zhu Youxiao's mother died, Hakkas played the role of Zhu Youxiao's mother. Wei Zhongxian saw the importance of Hakkas in Zhu Youxiao's mind, so he showed his kindness to Hakkas and won her favor.

Zhu Youxiao/Kloc-proclaimed himself emperor at the age of 0/6, and was called Xizong. At this time, the status of Hakkas also rose. In order to climb higher, Wei Zhongxian stepped up his efforts to please the Hakkas, and finally made them abandon the Wei Dynasty (Wei Dynasty once formed a "food confrontation" with the Hakkas) and formed a "food confrontation" with Wei Zhongxian (that is, eunuchs and maids formed a nominal husband and wife). Wei Dynasty was very dissatisfied with this matter, and began to resent Wei Zhongxian, trying to win back the Hakkas. But Wei Zhongxian is resourceful. With the passage of time, Hakka people became more and more alienated from Wei Dynasty. Wei Chao was very angry. In order to recapture Hakka, he began to curse Wei Zhongxian in the warm room of Gan Qing Palace. Then the conflict between the two escalated. Things went from bad to worse and finally reached Zhu Youxiao, the first emperor of Xi. In order to calm this matter down, Xizong personally came forward and asked who the Hakkas would like to "eat" with. Hakkas say they like Wei Zhongxian and hate Wei Dynasty. Xizong personally named the Hakkas for Wei Zhongxian. Wei Chao knew he couldn't change the status quo, so he had to retreat outside. Soon, Wei Dynasty, who had helped Wei Zhongxian, was killed by them in Fengyang.

Hakkas always try their best to make Xizong happy. Therefore, Xizong was also very kind to her, and appointed her son Hou Guoxing as a Royal Guards for thousands of people and made him a saint. At this time, Hakkas have everything and live a luxurious life all day. Every time I go out, there are many domestic slaves and handmaids waiting by. She sat in the sedan chair and told everyone what to do. All the servants in the palace call her "nine-year-old lady".

With the help of Hakkas, Wei Zhongxian gradually gained the appreciation of Xizong. Before long, Xizong promoted Wei Zhongxian from a miser to a pen-holding eunuch. The eunuch who supervised the ceremony was responsible for writing and reviewing the throne of ministers instead of the emperor, and was regarded as the closest person to the emperor. Originally, only literate eunuchs could hold this position, but Wei Zhongxian could not read at all. He got the position with the help of Hakkas. Wei Zhongxian, with the emperor as his patron and power in hand, intensified his actions and ran amok in the palace. The maids and eunuchs are under their control. If someone does not obey, they will be persecuted.

In order to gain more power, the insidious Wei Zhongxian understood Xizong's temperament. Knowing that the emperor was active by nature, he especially liked riding and boating, so he took a fancy to it and ordered people to choose a good horse for the emperor to ride. This makes the palace almost a racetrack. In addition, Wei Zhongxian often encouraged the emperor to go boating in Beihai. In order to win the favor of the emperor, he and Hakkas sometimes acted as boatmen. Wei Zhongxian also organized ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs to array in the palace and practice in the morning and evening, which is called internal strength. The emperor can order people to fight with each other like a general. The decadent life made Ming Xizong gradually abandon the state affairs.

Another special hobby of Xizong is civil engineering. He can not only saw with an axe, but also build houses and paint. What he is best at is carving and making small crafts. Xizong devoted himself to his work, and nothing could distract him. Even if the minister reports on state affairs, he is extremely impatient. Wei Zhongxian, who knew the emperor's nature, saw the opportunity, so JaeHee took out the minister's memorial and asked the emperor for instructions when he focused on carpentry. Xizong said impatiently, "I'm busy, you should deal with it first." Over time, the right of marking papers gradually fell into the hands of Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian also began to do whatever he wanted. Many things are no longer reported to the emperor, but decided by him. Some ministers knew it was Wei Zhongxian's idea, but they had to do it. The more powerful Wei Zhongxian is, the more ambitious he is. Every time he leaves the palace, he sits in a noble and gorgeous car, wearing a jade belt, beating gongs and drums to clear the way, followed by a huge team, surrounded by guards with swords. Many officials and gentry bowed down on both sides of the road, calling them "Nine Thousand Years Old".

Wei Zhongxian is an official of Lindong Party, which is almost unprecedented among eunuchs in past dynasties. And Xizong's cowardice and fatuity are also rare. The greater Wei Zhongxian's power, the more afraid he is of being retaliated by others after losing power. In order to keep his power, he began to cultivate his own armed forces. He selected strong eunuchs in the palace to form an imperial army, and distributed a large number of firearms to all eunuchs from the Ministry of War. Wei Zhongxian often leads this team to practice in the Forbidden City. The headquarters of the team is located on the Wufeng Tower. In order to control this team for a long time, Wei Zhongxian placed his confidants in the army and made them hold important positions in the army. When the troops were training in the Forbidden City, drums rumbled and the sound of firearms disturbed the Palace. Wei Zhongxian, dressed in armor, rode a marooned patrol in the army. Even if Xi Zong was present, Wei Zhongxian dared to gallop back and forth on horseback. Xizong didn't take it to heart. Extreme connivance makes Wei Zhongxian more and more presumptuous.

At that time, most of the literati in the imperial court were Lin Dong party member, forming a political group dominated by Jiangnan literati. Lindong Party advocates open speech and reform, has the power to influence public opinion, and also occupies some important positions in North Korea. Cabinet records Ye, does history, Jingshi suggestion and Zuodu suggestion are all party member. In addition, there are Gao Panlong, Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou.

At first, the relationship between Wei Zhongxian and Lindong party member was not tense, and he respected Zhao Nanxing very much. But in a conversation, Zhao Nanxing solemnly warned Wei Zhongxian not to have any bad ideas about the emperor, but to serve him wholeheartedly. This sentence made Wei Zhongxian very unhappy. In the third year of the Apocalypse (1623), Wei Zhongxian became the prefect of the East Factory. Many enemies of Lindong Party have taken refuge in Wei Zhongxian, and Wei Zhongxian also needs to make friends with the ministers of civil and military affairs in the DPRK and hit it off with each other. He let Tian Ergeng control the Royal Guards; Xu Xianchun was promoted to the town magistrate, responsible for monitoring the movement inside and outside the court. If anything unusual is found, he will immediately suppress it. At the same time, in order to expand his power, Wei Zhongxian also recruited a large number of eunuchs into the palace. Not long after, eunuchs Wang Tigan, Tu, Shi Yuanya and others became his henchmen. At this point, Wei Zhongxian tried to woo cronies and let them control the key departments in the DPRK. However, what Wei Zhongxian and Hakka have done has aroused strong dissatisfaction from Lindong party member. They intend to break up Wei Zhongxian and Hakkas to weaken their strength. Therefore, the statement that Bi Zuozhou and Liu Lan are at large suggests that Xizong send the Hakkas out of the palace. However, Xizong was infatuated with Hakkas, and rejected Lindong Party's proposal on the grounds that the Queen was still young and needed the care of Hakkas. However, due to many visits by most officials, Xizong had no choice but to send the Hakkas out of the palace, but it was not long before he sent someone to take them back. This made the Lindong Party's plan to split Wei Zhongxian and Hakka fail. Wei Zhongxian therefore bears a grudge against Lindong party member.

At the beginning of the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624), many ministers, led by Li Yingsheng, went to court one after another to expose Wei Zhongxian's crimes. But Zong didn't see the letters from the ministers, because all the letters had to be read by Wei Zhongxian and then handed over to Zong. Wei Zhongxian was detained when he found himself impeached, and then blamed the minister in the name of Xizong. In March of the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian ordered his henchmen to send something to Fu Yue and his nephew Fu Yingxing, falsely accusing Xizong of Wang Wenyan. Zong listened to his words, arrested him and handed him over to the county magistrate Qiao Liu for trial. Finally, Wang Wenyan was beaten by the court and dismissed. Wei Zhongxian thinks that Qiao Liu's punishment for Wang Wenyan is too light. In a rage, Liu Qiao was dismissed, and Xu Xianchun, one of his confidants, was pushed to the position of Zhang Zhenfu.