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Why didn’t eunuchs monopolize power in the Song Dynasty

The so-called absence of eunuchs in the Song Dynasty is from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, so strictly speaking, it should be said that “the Song Dynasty did not have the situation in which the eunuchs became powerful like the Ming Dynasty.” That’s about it. But this does not mean that the eunuchs in the Song Dynasty never caused disasters, which is wrong. Because it is not too far from the late Tang Dynasty, the eunuchs in the previous dynasty were in chaos, and the history of deposing the emperor still hangs in the heads of the rulers of the Song Dynasty, so the rulers of the Song Dynasty can learn some experience and lessons, first of all from the system Made a plan.

First, the Eunuch Biography Department of Song History mentioned that the Song government and decision-makers paid more attention to the issue of eunuchs, and had been limiting the number of eunuchs in order to limit the power of eunuchs. Among them, Taizu limited the number of people to 50. To adopt an adopted child, you must be over 30 years old and you have no adoptive father before you can adopt one person.

By the time of Taizong, the number had increased, but it was also limited to about 180 people. When Xiaozong arrived in the Southern Song Dynasty, an official reported to Song Xiaozong because of the “crowd of eunuchs”. Xiaozong ordered a list to be made and the number was limited to less than 200. Later, it increased, but it only increased to 250. Comparing the number of eunuchs in the Tang and Ming dynasties, it can be seen that the Song Dynasty did a relatively good job in controlling the power of this special group, and the natural influence was relatively small.

Second, due to the chaos of the eunuch party in the Tang Dynasty, the root cause was the high position and power of the eunuchs. Drawing on the lessons of the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty was generally more cautious when eunuchs held high-level positions. It is not that they are not granted senior positions, but that they are more cautious about the timing, candidates, and conditions of the award.

For example, an important eunuch in the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Jien, who once held military power, should be awarded the Xuanhui envoy as a rule because of his military exploits, but under the insistence of Song Taizong, he was only awarded a relatively low Xuanzheng envoy. Later, someone complained on behalf of the prince, thinking that the reward was too thin, so he was dealt with by “Stick Ridge Noodles with Yazhou” (in today’s Sanya, Hainan, which was a very remote place at that time).

Another example is during the Zhenzong period, an eunuch named Liu Chenggui died of a serious illness. Before he died, he asked to implement the policy and conferred the honorary title of Jiedushi (Jiedushi in Song Dynasty was an honorary title, and had no real power in charge). Because he had presided over the work of the Ministry of National Defense during his lifetime (provide some privy secretaries), so it is not too much for him to have such a request when he is dying, and it is only a little treatment for his adopted son and family members.

Zhenzong had already agreed, but due to the insistence of Prime Minister Wang Dan, it was finally terminated with “Jiedu stayed behind”. During the Guangzong period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Wang Deqian, the prince, wanted to seek the honorary title of Jiedushi. He had already approved it, but the ruling team unanimously opposed it.

Third, despite the above restrictions, it is impossible for eunuchs not to hold foreign posts and undertake part of the work of foreign courts. In response to this situation, there are also some restrictions in the system. For example, if the ranks of eunuchs were only promoted within the two systems of the eunuch’s internal servants and internal servants (Note 1), the highest level could only be enshrined in Neidongtou (Note 2).

If you want to continue to be promoted, you have to “transfer out”, that is, transfer out of the eunuch system and put it under the jurisdiction of the government’s organization and personnel agency “the Ministry of Officials”. The official ranks granted by them are promoted according to the military officer system. That is to say, if eunuchs want to engage in more important work, they must accept the jurisdiction of the Privy Chief who is in charge of the Privy Council, and the Privy Chief is mostly civilian officials (there are also a few military officers).

Because of these various institutional restrictions, especially the inclusion of eunuchs’ foreign powers into the organizational system of civil and military officials for management, this is tantamount to adding a heavy insurance to the power of eunuchs. The management of the more senior eunuchs is the same as that of other officials. They have to go through the government’s assessment and review, and then they are appointed, which is relatively strict. Because of this, eunuchs in the Song Dynasty were particularly active in military activities. Because they are often awarded military ranks, their dispatch is often regarded as a military officer to remove the award.

In the biography of eunuchs in Song History, there were 43 eunuchs in the Northern Song Dynasty. Of these 43 people, 18 had obvious military experience! From the famous eunuchs Qin Han, Li Shenyou, and Dou Shenbao in the early Song Dynasty, to Wang Jien and Wei Shaoqin, to Wang Zhongzheng and Li Xian in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, to Tong Guan (that is me!), Tan Zhen and so on, it can be said that there are many generations.