The World Created by Qianlong and His Eunuchs

This chapter observes the consequences of Qianlong’s palace management. Making use of his flawed system of oversight, his eunuchs exercised greater control over their lives and over the space of the palace and even the city of Beijing itself. With their salaries lowered (by Qianlong’s new rules), they turned to new paths to enrichment. They became involved in moneylending, pawnshop ownership, and jockeyed for positions in the palace that would earn them extra tips and cartage fees. Qianlong looked the other way, because while he felt compelled to be hard on them in his rhetoric, he quietly wished to make their jobs more appealing, so that more men would be encouraged to join palace service.