 The Hongwu Emperor forbade eunuchs to learn how to read or engage in politics . Whether or not these restrictions were carried out with absolute success in his reign , eunuchs during the Yongle Emperor 's reign and afterwards managed huge imperial workshops , commanded armies , and participated in matters of appointment and promotion of officials . The eunuchs developed their own bureaucracy that was organized parallel to but was not subject to the civil service bureaucracy . Although there were several dictatorial eunuchs throughout the Ming , such as Wang Zhen , Wang Zhi , and Liu Jin , excessive tyrannical eunuch power did not become evident until the 1590s when the Wanli Emperor increased their rights over the civil bureaucracy and granted them power to collect provincial taxes . 
