Chapter 1872: The Eunuch Director of the Palace Workshops

Liu Gui had a very upright, honest face — the kind that instantly inspired goodwill at first sight. Yet beneath his fair, clean-shaven features, there lurked a faintly effeminate air. Of course, this was only natural, for Liu Gui was a eunuch — and the only eunuch ever to serve among the many Directors of the Palace Workshops. That very uniqueness spoke to his extraordinary nature.

Liu Gui was a eunuch of impeccable pedigree, a second-generation palace man. His adoptive father, Liu Yandao, had been a senior eunuch of the Kaifeng court, with seniority that in some respects exceeded even that of Wang Ji'en and Yan Tuo, and considerable renown besides. He had served as Tea and Wine Commissioner, Flying Dragon Commissioner, and Palace Parks Commissioner — a "worthy eunuch" possessed of both virtue and ability.

Under Liu Yandao's personal tutelage and example, Liu Gui's abilities and qualities were exceptionally strong. Not just among the palace eunuchs — even among the court ministers, he could be counted as outstanding.

Emperor Liu had once said that it was only his eunuch status that limited Liu Gui; otherwise, the man's achievements would have been boundless. Of course, precisely because of his eunuch status, Liu Gui also faced fewer constraints in carrying out his duties.

Liu Gui first truly entered Emperor Liu's field of vision after the currency reform of those years. As time passed, new problems gradually surfaced. The old weights and measures had become complicated and outdated, seriously out of step with reality, unable to meet market needs, and had even caused a certain degree of chaos.

Just as the Finance Commission was urgently deliberating and preparing to introduce a new system of weights and measures to re-standardize things, Liu Gui stepped forward at the opportune moment, submitting a "Two-Scale Method" to Emperor Liu.

In that first edition of the "Two-Scale Method," Liu Gui drew on the weights-and-measures systems of successive dynasties, combined them with the conditions of the Great Han, and through summary and refinement, formulated an extremely precise and detailed set of weighing rules. Especially in the measurement of gold and silver value, it could achieve accuracy down to the smallest fraction.

Emperor Liu circulated the "Two-Scale Method" to the Finance Commission for discussion. The Commission gave it extremely high praise, saying that whoever had devised this method was a great talent in calculation, and that the new weighing system could certainly be implemented on this basis.

Only later did they learn that this weighing method they had praised so highly had come from the hand of a eunuch. Presumably to save face, the Finance Commission subsequently made certain additions and deletions to Liu Gui's "Two-Scale Method," giving it a fresh appearance, and then implemented it, gradually replacing the old system and promulgating it throughout the realm.

But no matter how it was altered, its core principles did not change, and Liu Gui's contribution to it could not be erased by anyone. At that time, Liu Gui was not yet thirty. On the strength of this achievement, he made a name for himself and began to receive Emperor Liu's attention.

In later dealings, Emperor Liu discovered that besides his talent for research on weights and measures, Liu Gui was also exceptionally skilled at management. He handled everything in an orderly, unhurried manner, and he was also a devoted reader with considerable literary cultivation.

That such a figure should emerge among the eunuch ranks — raised from childhood in the palace, of clean background — naturally delighted Emperor Liu. At that time, the suspicious Emperor Liu gave no further thought to the harm a talented eunuch might one day bring to the court.

With Emperor Liu's appreciation behind him, Liu Gui's eunuch career naturally proceeded smoothly — one might even say it took off beyond all restraint. He successively served as Palace Parks Commissioner and Palace Treasury Commissioner, and in the end Emperor Liu simply placed him in the position of Director of the Palace Workshops.

One must understand — the Director of the Palace Workshops was a high official of the third rank, with real authority and heavy responsibility, for he managed the imperial clan's properties. This stirred no small controversy. In many old-fashioned views, Emperor Liu's elevation of a eunuch's status was plainly walking the old road — eunuchs meddling in governance, a lesson of a thousand years!

Thus, inevitably, a host of pure-minded remonstrance officials submitted memorials of admonition, citing the disasters wrought by eunuch meddling in the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties to dissuade Emperor Liu.

But how would Emperor Liu listen to any of this? In his three or four decades on the throne, when had eunuch meddling in governance ever occurred? The root cause of such situations lay in the emperor himself being incompetent, in imperial power declining — and if matters ever reached that point, the harm eunuchs could do to the imperial house was not necessarily more severe than what the bureaucrat ministers might do.

On the other hand, Emperor Liu reasoned that these ministers' extreme reactions precisely proved that they felt threatened — and anything that could make the bureaucrats feel threatened was naturally something Emperor Liu wanted to do.

At the same time, Emperor Liu also believed that those bureaucrats who put on a posture of loyal devotion to the state were more likely trying to make an issue of this matter, their fundamental purpose being to restrict imperial power.

With these additional considerations, Emperor Liu naturally hardened his resolve. He cited examples of "worthy eunuchs" and confirmed Liu Gui in the office of Director of the Palace Workshops.

Emperor Liu's trust and favor toward Liu Gui also stirred no small reaction among the vast eunuch community. Eunuchs were an exceptionally closed group, with a hierarchy of rank and status that could be called severe. Competition among them was all the more fierce — every step forward was no less difficult than advancement among the outer-court bureaucrats, and the cruelty involved was even greater.

After all, bureaucrats had a rotation system; people came and went as a matter of course. But the mobility of eunuch positions was extremely poor, severely ossified. One need only look at Yan Tuo to see this — thirty years as Chief of Palace Attendants, the Inner Palace's chief steward in both name and fact. Within the palace, among the various commissioners and bureau directors, there were plenty who had headed a single office for ten or twenty years.

In such an environment, Liu Gui's rise was a complete breach of convention, breaking through all manner of rules and restrictions. Of course, so-called unwritten rules could not withstand a single word from the Emperor. Liu Gui also set an example for the mid- and lower-ranking eunuchs — how to please His Majesty became a matter of intense study for many eunuchs. Yet over all these years, only Liu Gui had managed it, and the luck involved was truly not something ordinary people possessed.

As for Liu Gui's fortunes, the two great eunuch chiefs, Wang Ji'en and Yan Tuo, were deeply rankled — envy, jealousy, resentment, all manner of emotions churning within them.

One must understand — these two had spent decades toiling like oxen and horses, braving wind and rain, relying on seniority and merit to finally break through the rank restrictions on eunuchs and be granted third-rank status.

Yet this fellow Liu Gui, thanks to His Majesty's favor, had risen to heaven in a single step — a latecomer who had vaulted to a position of "equal standing" with them. How could the two of them feel balanced about that?

Of course, such grievances could not be directed at His Majesty. His Majesty's appointments were naturally "impartial" — it was just that this Liu Gui, through opportunism and cunning, had beguiled His Majesty.

Rising above one's rank often meant an unstable foundation. The tree that stands out in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind. As Director of the Palace Workshops, Liu Gui very predictably came under dual suppression from Yan Tuo and Wang Ji'en.

Wang Ji'en especially — the Palace City Office's informants kept a death-grip watch on Liu Gui's every move, seeking to find fault with him.

But the appointment of Liu Gui once again proved Emperor Liu's eye for talent. Despite some controversy, Liu Gui's performance in office once more exceeded expectations. All the affairs of the Palace Workshops were managed by him in perfect order, without a single oversight. The calculating Liu Gui also introduced changes and innovations to the management system, greatly improving administrative efficiency, and made enormous progress in "refined management."

Liu Gui was naturally an extremely clever man. In his work he was high-profile and highly effective, but in his personal conduct he was very low-key, modest, and reserved.

Of course, some of this conduct may have been simply out of necessity. Liu Gui had keenly sensed the risks behind the glory — the hidden arrows lurking in the shadows were always aimed at him. Of such things, Liu Gui, raised from childhood in the palace, had seen and heard far too much.

Faced with such a treacherous situation, Liu Gui naturally had his coping methods. He adopted a strategy of turning enemies into friends and borrowing force to counter force.

First he drew close to Yan Tuo — sending gifts, pledging loyalty, actively seeking his forgiveness. Faced with such a sensible junior, Yan Tuo was ultimately "moved" and accepted Liu Gui.

Of course, the deeper reason lay in Yan Tuo's recognition that Liu Gui's trajectory of ascent could not be checked — that it was not something petty maneuvers could easily strike down. And Liu Gui's proactive approach toward him was all the more gratifying — at least he had not thrown in with that old dog Wang Ji'en.

Once he had secured Yan Tuo's approval, Liu Gui's position as Director of the Palace Workshops naturally became as stable as Mount Tai — first, he had Emperor Liu's trust; second, he had Yan Tuo's protection; and third, his own abilities and qualities were more than sufficient.

The only hidden danger was having made an enemy of Wang Ji'en. But the Great Han court was not a place where a single Wang Ji'en could cover the sky with one hand. And Wang Ji'en, in the course of subsequent developments, came to realize that Liu Gui could not be underestimated, could not be eliminated overnight. Under such trust from His Majesty, minor faults and small losses could not shake him, and major problems were not so easy to find.

After deliberation, Wang Ji'en decided to temporarily set aside his prejudice and even proactively extended an olive branch — after all, he could not allow the Director of the Palace Workshops, with his real authority and real office, to throw in completely with the rival Yan Tuo. That would bring Wang Ji'en no benefit whatsoever, and making an enemy for nothing was not something Wang Ji'en did.

And so, exploiting the contradiction between Yan and Wang, the two great eunuchs of the Han palace, Liu Gui maneuvered between them with consummate ease, gradually gaining a firm foothold, and even building up a faction of palace eunuchs loyal to him…