刘瑾（Liu Jin） (1452-1510)

Occupation: Court eunuch

职业： 朝廷宦官

Source of wealth: Graft

财富来源： 贪污

Assets: Gold and silver

资产： 黄金和白银

Claim to fame: Inspired morality tales on the danger of greed

成名原因： 在道德激励故事中危险的贪婪

A fabulously wealthy courteunuch of China's Ming dynasty, Liu Jin abused his office to amass agreat fortune. When he was finally executed for treason, he was foundto have 12 million ounces of gold and 259 million ounces of silver. Bycomparison, the treasury of the imperial palace had only 30 million to70 million ounces of silver when the dynasty fell. However, reports ofLiu Jin's wealth might have been grossly exaggerated, since chroniclersused his story to warn what can happen when an imperial eunuch annoysenough people.

一个在明朝时传说最富有的宫廷宦官，刘瑾滥用职权收敛了大量的财富，当他最后因为叛逆被处以极刑的时候,他被发现有一千二百万盎司的黄金和二亿五千九百万盎司的白银。作为比较，当明朝落下帷幕时，国库中只有三千万到七千万盎司的白银，然而，刘瑾的财富的报告可能非常被过分渲染，因为编年史编者使用这个故事来警告当一个宦官掌权时能发生什么。