Chapter 245

【Ranking the Top Ten Corrupt Officials in History: Second Place, Liu Jin】

【Dynasty: Ming Dynasty (Zhengde era)】

【Official Rank: Director of Ceremonial Eunuchs】

【Title: Head of the "Eight Tigers"】

【Characteristics: The pinnacle of eunuch power, corruption amount equivalent to 150 times the annual revenue of the national treasury】

"Eunuchs manipulating power, usurping the center.

Vermilion brush replacing approval, life and death decided by heart.

Gold holes can fill the sea, silver mountains can cover the sun.

Dragon robe hidden in a private room, lingering death to comfort the wronged souls."

The Heavenly Screen scene unfolds in the Zhengde era of the Ming dynasty, that special period when the Emperor was absurd and playful, and the power of eunuchs expanded rapidly.

【Liu Jin, a native of Xingping, Shaanxi. Originally surnamed Tan, his family was poor.】

【To find a way out, he ruthlessly castrated himself in his childhood, then entered the palace, relied on an old eunuch surnamed Liu, and thus took the surname Liu, struggling bitterly at the bottom of the deep palace.】

In the scene, the thin young Tan is in a dilapidated earth house, facing a dim oil lamp, picking up a rusty pair of scissors, his face a mix of despair, ruthlessness, and numbness.

Subsequently, he clutches his lower body and stumbles toward the capital...

【In the treacherous and complex palace, Liu Jin, relying on his agility, cunning, skill in drilling, and a streak of ruthlessness, climbed up step by step.】

【He curried favor with Zhu Houzhao, who was then the Crown Prince.】

【Zhu Houzhao was naturally playful and disliked restraint, so Liu Jin catered to his preferences, trying every means to get hawks, dogs, singing, dancing, and juggling, and even personally played the clown to amuse the Crown Prince, deeply winning Zhu Houzhao's favor and becoming one of the most favored eunuchs around him.】

In the scene, the young Liu Jin in the Crown Prince's East Palace barks like a dog and does somersaults, making the young Zhu Houzhao laugh out loud.

He looks at the Crown Prince with eyes full of flattery, but also hiding deep ambition.

【Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, becoming Emperor Wuzong of Ming, with the reign title Zhengde.】

【This young Emperor had no interest in the boring court affairs and only wanted to play.】

【Liu Jin and seven other favored eunuchs—Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, Zhang Yong, Wei Bin, Qiu Ju, Gao Feng, and Luo Xiang—formed a clique, known at the time as the "Eight Tigers," and Liu Jin, because of his deepest scheming and most ruthless methods, became the head of the "Eight Tigers."】

The scene changes; Zhu Houzhao, wearing a dragon robe, sits in the hall, his face full of impatience.

Below the steps, the eight eunuchs in bright clothes, led by Liu Jin, are triumphant, exchanging glances.

【Emperor Wuzong of Ming threw almost all court affairs to Liu Jin.】

【Liu Jin was appointed as the Director of Ceremonial Eunuchs.】

【In the Ming dynasty, the Director of Ceremonial Eunuchs was responsible for "red-brushing"—that is, acting on behalf of the Emperor to make final instructions on the memorials "voted" by the Grand Secretariat.】

【This was equivalent to mastering the empire's highest administrative decision-making power.】

【Liu Jin thus became the actual "Standing Emperor," with power over the court, deciding life and death with a single vermilion brush.】

The scene shows the scene at that time.

Late at night, the office of the Ceremonial Eunuchs is brightly lit.

Liu Jin sits in the position originally belonging to the Emperor, with memorials piled up in front of him.

He slowly picks one up, glances at it, and then casually writes "As proposed," "Understood," or directly writes severe reprimands, dismissals, or even imprisonment instructions with a vermilion brush.

His handwriting is crooked, yet it decides the life, death, honor, and disgrace of countless officials, and relates to the well-being and disaster of millions of people.

【After seizing power, Liu Jin quickly exposed his greedy and cruel nature.】

【Publicly selling offices, with clear price tags.】

【Liu Jin turned the buying and selling of official positions into a public business, and his "reputation" was excellent—he did things if you gave him money.】

【Local officials wanting promotion or transfer to good places, and capital officials wanting to fill vacancies or get fat jobs, could not do it without bribery.】

【Prices were determined by the "oil and water" of the official position, fair to children and old people alike.】

【Even officials who committed crimes and wanted to escape punishment or get a lighter sentence needed to pay Liu Jin a huge "redemption silver."】

In the scene, Liu Jin sets up a "negotiation office" at his outer residence (he had a luxurious residence outside the palace), and those seeking office come in an endless stream.

His confidant god-sons are responsible for receiving and negotiating prices.

A price list hangs on the wall: "Provincial Administration Commissioner, 100,000 taels; Prefect, 50,000 taels; County Magistrate, 8,000 taels..."

Silver notes, land deeds, and treasures are sent in like flowing water.

Liu Jin sits in the back hall, listening to the steward reporting the accounts, nodding with satisfaction.

【Extorting the hundred officials, plucking feathers from every passing goose.】

【Liu Jin stipulated that officials from various places coming to the capital to report on their duties ("Morning Audience") must "pay tribute" to him with 5,000 taels of silver, euphemistically called "visiting gift."】

【Those who could not produce it, or were reluctant to produce it, would lose their official positions at best, be imprisoned at worst, or even "be committed suicide" inexplicably.】

【Many honest officials or those with poor family backgrounds, in order to scrape together these 5,000 taels, had to sell their family property or even take out high-interest loans.】

In the capital's post house, officials from various places are worried, borrowing money everywhere.

Some hold the silver they have scraped together, trembling as they send it to Liu Jin's outer residence.

Some really cannot produce it and hang themselves in the post house.

Liu Jin hears the news and just sneers: "Trash, good riddance."

【Fabricating charges, confiscating property to accumulate wealth.】

【Liu Jin controlled the Eastern Depot and Western Depot (and later privately set up the even more terrifying Inner Depot), possessing independent powers of investigation, arrest, interrogation, and trial.】

【He used the depot guards to fabricate charges, frame wealthy merchants, landlords, and even court officials, and then threw them into prison on heavy charges like "rebellion" or "corruption," torturing them, and eventually confiscating their property.】

【Most of the huge wealth obtained fell into Liu Jin's private pocket, and only a very small part was handed over to the national treasury.】

In the scene,

Depot guards, fierce as wolves and tigers, break into the homes of officials and wealthy households, rummaging through boxes and cabinets; if there is the slightest resistance, they are shackled.

In the prison, torture instruments are complete, and screams never cease.

Lists of confiscated property are sent to Liu Jin; he only looks at the final total, a greedy smile appearing on the corner of his mouth.

【Manipulating finance, lining his own pockets.】

【Liu Jin even reached his hand into national finance.】

【He changed the salt law and tea law, increased tariffs, and added various harsh taxes, euphemistically called "collecting wealth for the country," but in fact, most of it flowed into the inner treasury he controlled (the Emperor's private treasury, actually controlled by Liu Jin) or his private residence.】

【The court's normal tax revenue was also often intercepted or misappropriated by him under various names.】

In the scene, Ministry of Revenue officials hold account books, weeping to Liu Jin about the lack of pay for the border and the need for river repairs.

Liu Jin doesn't even lift his eyelids: "The national treasury is empty; you should find ways to open sources."

"As for border pay... borrow some from the inner treasury first, but pay interest."

【In a few years, the wealth Liu Jin accumulated reached a terrifying number that made normal people's brains boil.】

The Heavenly Screen begins to display his confiscation results, the cold numbers like heavy hammers hitting the hearts of viewers of all worlds:

【Gold: 12,057,800 taels!】

【Silver: 259,000,000 taels!】

(Note: This is recorded in "Jishi Jiwen," with another source saying 2.5 million taels of gold and over 50 million taels of silver. The Heavenly Screen takes the highest value to show his corruption.)

【Total converted to silver: Over 310,000,000 taels!】

【Comparison: During the Zhengde era of the Ming dynasty, the annual revenue of the national treasury was about 2 million taels of silver.】

【This means: Liu Jin's personal corruption total was equivalent to the sum of 150 years of the Ming dynasty's national treasury revenue at that time, truly wealth rivaling a nation!】

In the scene, Liu Jin's secret gold vaults are opened one by one.

The sight makes the experienced confiscating officials and Embroidered Uniform Guards go weak in the knees and collapse to the ground.

Gold is not counted in ingots, but in walls.

Bricks of gold are stacked into golden walls several zhang high and dozens of zhang long.

Silver is not counted in boxes, but in mountains.

Silver ingots, silver blocks, and silver cakes are piled into several glittering silver mountains, filling several huge cellars.

There are countless pearls, agates, jades, corals, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings... piled aside like trash.

The entire space is illuminated like daylight by the light of gold and silver, yet it emits a suffocating stench of copper and sin.

【However, what finally made Emperor Wuzong of Ming, Zhu Houzhao, determine to execute Liu Jin was not this heaven-defying wealth, but two more fatal things—the Imperial Seal and the Dragon Robe.】