The full text is a total of 1733 words, and the reading time is about 2 minutes The Ming Dynasty is in the late stage of China's feudal society, and the rule has a great autocratic color. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was born into poverty, and he grew up with poor people, so he could deeply appreciate the difficulties of the people and deeply resented those high-ranking officials who had oppressed him.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he was determined to rectify the rule of officials and restore a clean and upright official atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was worried about internal and external troubles, there were peasant uprisings inside that had not yet been eliminated, there were remnants of the Northern Yuan outside the tiger, and the Wukou in the southeast coastal areas were prevalent, making the life of coastal residents very difficult.
However, at that time, the Ming Dynasty had just been established, and there was no excessive military strength to suppress multi-faceted threats, so Zhu Yuanzhang could only use other methods to solve hidden dangers, such as the policy of sea ban.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the policy of forbidding the sea, and asked future generations to pass on this as an ancestral precept and never open the sea. However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the influence of the Wukou became more and more severe, and the opening of the sea ban was already an inevitable trend, but it was subject to the ancestral precepts and some officials who defended the ancestral precepts could not implement them.
It was not until the Longqing period that the officials at that time broke through all the difficulties and finally realized the "Longqing Switch", allowing the people to trade overseas. So is there a credit to the Longqing Emperor behind the Longqing switch, or is there another hidden plot?
1. Coastal residents live by the sea
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's military strength was insufficient, and it was impossible to send a large number of troops to quell the rebellion in the southeast coastal areas, so it could only adopt the policy of sea ban and prohibit overseas trade among the people. In this way, although the adverse effects of the maritime Wokou on the local population can be blocked, new problems have also arisen.
China's feudal society has always been dominated by small-scale peasant economy, agricultural development is the top priority, but the land in the southeast coastal area is seriously salinized, unable to carry out large-scale planting, nor can it meet the daily life of the local people, so relying on the sea for a living is the tradition of the local people.
Since the implementation of the sea ban policy, the local population has been unable to trade overseas and has lost its only source of livelihood, so many people have to collude with the Wokou and become pirates, disturbing the stability of the coastal areas.
So that the vast majority of the later Wokou were composed of coastal residents, who were forced by life to take extreme roads and threatened the rule of the Ming Dynasty.
2. Longqing switch is difficult
During the Longqing period, it was very difficult to open up the sea ban policy, because the sea ban was an ancestral precept formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, and could not be changed by future generations. Although piracy was prevalent along the coast at that time, which seriously threatened the safety of the Ming Dynasty, a large part of the officials in the DPRK still did not support the opening of the sea ban.
For example, Xu Jie, the first assistant of the cabinet at that time. Xu Jie, as the first assistant, has an absolute right to speak, but Xu Jie's thinking is too backward and he is not aware of the adverse effects of the sea ban.
In the end, it was under the impetus of Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others that the "Longqing Switch" was finally realized. So behind the "Longqing switch", is it the dedication of Gao Gong and others, or is the ruler at that time, the Longqing Emperor different?
1. Ostracized by Jiajing
As the third son of the Jiajing Emperor, the Longqing Emperor Zhu Zaiyuan had no hope of ascending the throne, but Jiajing's eldest son and second son both died of illness due to illness, so Zhu Zaiyuan became the rightful successor in the eyes of the chancellor, and also had great expectations for him.
However, the Jiajing Emperor was reluctant to meet Zhu Zaiyuan because of various superstitious remarks, and he suppressed this son to the extreme, making Zhu Zaiyuan's position as crown prince in jeopardy. However, it was precisely because of the jiajing emperor's distrust and the pressure of the outside world that a large number of truly talented people gathered in Zhu Zaiyuan's palace.
They did not assist Zhu Zaiyuan for the sake of fame and fortune, but were content with loneliness, down-to-earth duty, and jointly dormant for the future cause. Among them were Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng and others, who were no less important to Zhu Zaiyuan than Li Si to Qin Shi Huang, and Zhu Zaiyuan also trusted them very much.
2. Longqing's strength is insufficient
After unremitting efforts, Zhu Zaiyuan finally sat on the throne, but he was not much different from his father Jiajing. In his later years, the Jiajing Emperor was addicted to the elixir and abandoned the government, while the Longqing Emperor had always been addicted to beauty and could not extricate himself, and his ability in government affairs was also very limited, and he could only rely on Zhang Juzheng and others to assist him.
After Longqing ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty faced a great crisis, and if it was not careful, it would be doomed. At this time, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng and others were not as kind as Xu Jie, but directly affirmed the ability of The Longqing Emperor to govern, established a good relationship between the monarch and the subject, and did not hope that the Longqing Emperor would take the initiative to be diligent in government affairs.
In order to alleviate the crisis of the Ming Dynasty, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were determined to use their own strength to turn the tide and save the Ming Dynasty from water and fire. When the DPRK and China called for the Longqing switch, Zhang Juzheng and others could vigorously promote the opening up of the sea ban and make great contributions to the development of the Ming Dynasty.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the policy of sea prohibition was no longer applicable to the society of the time, the Longqing Emperor did nothing, and Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng and others shifted their focus from relying on the emperor to becoming a Ming Emperor to their own drastic reforms to help the Ming Dynasty get on the right track.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty appeared "Longqing Switch" was not because of how outstanding the Personal Ability of the Longqing Emperor was, but because of the high-ranking officials who had never given up behind him, and with their assistance, the Ming Dynasty was revived under the conditions at that time. References: "Biography of Ming Shi Song Lian", "Biography of Yuan Shi Xiaoyou", "Ming Shi Taizu Zhu YuanzhangJi"