Jinyi Wei

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The Jinyi Wei (traditional Chinese: 錦衣衛; simplified Chinese: 锦衣卫; literally "Brocade-Clad Guard") was the secret service of the Ming emperors.

Originally a 500-man organization set up in 1382 by Emperor Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang) to be his personal bodyguards, it was soon entrusted and enpowered to watch over his officials. By 1385 they numbered 14,000 and were the emperor's eyes and ears. At their peak, the Jinyi Wei had about 200,000 members. They had the power to bypass judicial precedures and could arrest, imprison and punish without going through due process.

By the time of Emperor Yongle control of the Guard was largely in the hands of the eunuchs, who had the ears of the emperors.

The Jinyi Wei was disbanded along with the remnants of the Ming Dynasty after the Manchu invasion of China.