Jin Ying (eunuch)

During the reign of the Xuande Emperor, Jin Ying served as Eunuch Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial (司禮監太監) and was regarded as a trusted attendant involved in state affairs. In 1432, he and Fan Hong received an imperial edict granting them exemption from the death penalty. Following the accession of Emperor Yingzong, Jin and the eunuch Xing An continued to enjoy imperial favour. As the eunuch Wang Zhen later rose to dominance, Jin's influence gradually declined. In the summer of 1449, a severe drought occurred, and Emperor Yingzong appointed Jin to oversee the Ministry of Justice. He presided over judicial matters, seated centrally with the minister and subordinate officials positioned on either side, and instituted a system of reviewing legal cases every six years. Later that autumn, Emperor Yingzong was captured by the Oirats during the Tumu Crisis. In response, Zhu Qiyu (later the Jingtai Emperor) ordered Jin and Xing to convene court officials to deliberate on state affairs. When the Reader-in-Waiting Xu Cheng suggested relocating the capital to the south, Jin and Xing sharply rejected the proposal. In November 1450, Jin was imprisoned and sentenced to death on charges of corruption. The Jingtai Emperor subsequently commuted the sentence to lifelong imprisonment, with a permanent ban on future official employment.^[1][2]