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By the middle of the period, eunuchs came to play indispensable roles as the emperor's personal secretaries, conveying palace memorials, presenting to the emperor the business of the day, and otherwise handling edicts, decisions, imperial rescripts and so forth between the Emperor and the various arms of government. A number of these eunuch secretaries briefed the emperor each morning in closed-sessions, enjoying an intimate access to the emperor which none but the highest-ranking scholar-bureaucrat officials enjoyed.<ref name=huang/>

By the middle of the period, eunuchs came to play indispensable roles as the emperor's personal secretaries, conveying palace memorials, presenting to the emperor the business of the day, and otherwise handling edicts, decisions, imperial rescripts and so forth between the Emperor and the various arms of government. A number of these eunuch secretaries briefed the emperor each morning in closed-sessions, enjoying an intimate access to the emperor which none but the highest-ranking scholar-bureaucrat officials enjoyed.<ref name=huang/>

Most palace eunuchs, even if from rather lowly origins, were educated at the Inner Palace School from a young age. The content of that education differed little, if at all, from that of the scholar-bureaucracy, and often their teachers included some of the top teachers from the [[Hanlin Academy]].

Most palace eunuchs, even if from rather lowly origins, were educated at the Inner Palace School, established by the [[Xuande Emperor]],<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 247.</ref> from a young age. The content of that education differed little, if at all, from that of the scholar-bureaucracy, and often their teachers included some of the top teachers from the [[Hanlin Academy]].

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