The Embroidered Uniform Guard: Fivefold Spycraft at the End of the Ming Dynasty

The remnants of the eunuch faction's corrupt rule during the Tianqi era have yet to be cleared. Although Wei Zhongxian is dead, his followers remain hidden in the Six Ministries, local government offices, and the Imperial Guards System, waging a brutal factional struggle against the Donglin faction. Though the Donglin scholars hold great power, they style themselves “upright officials” and purge their rivals, turning a blind eye to the Later Jin beyond the frontier and the peasant rebellions within it.