It is said that there were 100,000 eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty, but this is actually a rumor.
The 100,000 people should include the 24 yamen of the Ming Dynasty, namely the so-called 12 prisons, four departments, and eight bureaus. The largest number of people are the various craftsmen affiliated with these 24 yamen.
It is impossible for so many people to live in the Forbidden City.
In fact, the Forbidden City was mainly a place where the emperor, his children, wives, and Concub!nes lived. The maids and eunuchs belonging to each palace would live in the side rooms of the corresponding palace, and some of the eunuchs on duty, including maids and strong men, that is, the strong eunuchs, would live in the corridors around Xuanwu Gate.
Most of the palace maids and eunuchs lived outside the Forbidden City and inside the Imperial City. Moreover, most of them did not enter the Forbidden City, but worked in the 24 government offices inside the Imperial City.
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