Why was a talented eunuch executed by the king, with a dismembered body?

The famous eunuch Liu Jin of the Ming Dynasty was rich and talented in strategy, but when he died, his body was not left intact. Emperor Zhu Houzhao gave him the most cruel death: slow slicing. Why?

The Ming Dynasty passed through 16 emperors, ruling the country for 276 years. Today in the 21st century, people have not yet come to an accurate conclusion about the merits and crimes of the Ming Dynasty. Ignoring the merits of the emperors, the only thing people criticize is the eunuch dictatorship.

Since the reign of Emperor Chengzong of Ming, eunuchs have always played an important political role. From Wang Zhen to Wei Zhongxian, it can be said that the eunuchs' dictatorship has harmed common people everywhere, just for their own selfish desires, and finally led to the decline of the entire Ming Dynasty.

There is one eunuch who cannot be left out, that is Liu Jin, from Xingping, Xianyang, Shaanxi Province. He was born on February 28, 1451 in a family with the surname Tan. Liu Jin's original name was Tan Jin.

At the age of 6, Tan Can was adopted by the eunuch Liu Shun and then castrated to work in the palace, changing his name to Liu Can. Liu Can was different from other eunuchs, he was very agile and lively, so he was arranged to serve the Crown Prince of the East Palace, Zhu Houzhao.

In 1505 AD, Zhu Houzhao became Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty. Liu Jin naturally became the head of the eunuchs. From then on, Liu Jin gradually gained more power and influence. However, as Li Hongzhang assessed Liu Jin, "He seems to be a talented strategist, but not a great talent."

As the Chief of Ceremonies, Liu Jin was notorious for altering memorials sent to and responses from the Emperor, and he was known as a notorious eunuch who took bribes.

Liu Jin took advantage of the opportunity when officials from all over the country went to the capital every three years to report on their work, and blatantly set up an unspoken rule: Those who had little money had to pay 1,000 taels of silver, those who had more money had to pay 5,000 taels of silver, those who paid more would be promoted, those who did not pay would be demoted. Not only that, he also took advantage of his power and position to establish a blatant network of embezzlement.

Liu Jin was also very influential in the military. At the height of Liu Jin's power, all military actions had to be approved by him, giving him more power than the generals.

After re-establishing the Western Depot and placing it under Gu Dayong's control, Liu Jin convinced the emperor to create an Internal Affairs Warehouse (Neichang), which would oversee immediate threats to the throne and the emperor's safety. This warehouse was made the supervisor of the other two warehouses, the East and West, thus consolidating Liu Jin's power. The warehouse persecuted many opponents of Liu Jin and his policies. It is estimated that over 1,000 people were executed in the Internal Affairs Warehouse.

At that time, the people called Liu Jin "Standing Emperor", referring to his power, to distinguish him from the "Sitting Emperor" Vu Tong. Liu Jin's power grew stronger and stronger, causing everyone in the court to fear and hate him, including the eunuch Truong Vinh.

In 1505, Truong Vinh, through investigation, obtained important evidence to denounce Liu Jin's crimes to the emperor. Among the evidence Truong Vinh presented, there was evidence that Liu Jin had forged the jade seal and illegally hidden weapons. The amount of jewels, gold and silver that this eunuch embezzled was worth equivalent to the combined financial income of about 150 years before.

In 1510, the Jinyiwei were sent by Emperor Wuzong of Ming to arrest and confiscate Liu Jin's property. During the search, the soldiers found a total of 12,057,800 taels of gold and 259,583,600 taels of silver, along with countless jewels. The amount of silver in the estate alone was six times the amount of the Ming Dynasty's national treasury at that time.

Not only was a large amount of gold, silver, and jewels found, but Liu Jin's house also contained many bows and arrows, guns, and even some special assassination tools: Two daggers were hidden in the large fan that the king often used.

After receiving Zhang Yong's accusation, Emperor Zhu Houzhao was extremely angry and gave Liu Jin the most cruel death: slicing. This form of execution caused the prisoner to suffer pain and be dismembered until he died.

According to the law of the Ming Dynasty, those who committed serious crimes were sentenced to slow slicing, the more serious the crime, the more cuts. In the case of Liu Jin, the infamous "Standing Emperor" of that time, he had to endure a total of 3,357 cuts of slow slicing, which was carried out over 3 days, not allowing the prisoner to die halfway.

On the first day of execution, Liu Jin received 1,300 knives, and after being sent to prison, he was still able to finish two bowls of porridge. In the following days, the number of knives he received continued to increase, eventually causing Liu Jin to die in pain.

In 2001, The Wall Street Journal Asia listed Liu Jin as one of the 50 richest people in the world over the past 1,000 years. The eunuch's wealth was on par with that of many great figures such as Genghis Khan, the founding emperor of the Yuan Dynasty - Kublai Khan, the Qing Dynasty's great minister - He Shen and Song Ziwen of the Republic of China.

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