Author: Wei Donglin
In 1644, in the year of the Lunar Calendar, Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army attacked the city of Beijing, and the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the Chongzhen Emperor, hanged himself on the coal mountain, ending the 276-year-long Ming Dynasty.
The Chongzhen Emperor was the king of the Ming Dynasty, but some responsibilities really should not be borne by him. The Chongzhen Emperor was diligent in political affairs, and the Ming Empire was helpless, and the Ming Empire was already full of holes and wounds, and finally it was going to perish step by step.
Historian Youyun: The Ming Dynasty was defeated by the Wanli Emperor. The Wanli Emperor was the real culprit of Daming's demise.
(1) Liquidate Zhang Juzheng and self-destruct the foundation
The Wanli Emperor was the longest-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He ascended the throne at the age of 10, died at the age of 58, reigned for 48 years, and in his infancy, the actual helmsman of the Ming Empire was Zhang Juzheng. Relying on his iron fist and ambition, Zhang Juzheng began a series of drastic reforms with the support of Empress Li and the eunuch Feng Bao.
In 1581, Zhang Juzheng implemented a whip law: the tax and the tax were combined to collect, the poll tax of a place was transformed into a local servitude, a stone of grain was converted into a number of silver, each person paid silver without paying grain, and finally the service silver and the silver were combined. The "one whip law" adapts to the development of social economy, brings more rural products into the market, promotes the further disintegration of the natural economy, and creates conditions for the further development of industry and commerce.
(Zhang Juzheng)
With the implementation of the "One Whip Law", the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty increased significantly. Because the relatives of the emperor and the state and the landlords also had to pay taxes, the burden on the people was reduced. The Ming Dynasty was thriving. Dealing with the Mongols and Jurchens in the north, Zhang Juzheng sent Qi Jiguang as the governor of Jiliao, supplemented by Li Chengliang and others. The borders of the Ming Dynasty were calm for a time. The Ming Dynasty saw the emergence of the real "ZTE".
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and in 1582, Zhang Juzheng fell ill and died, and the Wanli Emperor, who had long lived in zhang Juzheng's shadow, began to pro-government. Half a year later, he liquidated Zhang Juzheng. He stripped Zhang Juzheng of all the honors and titles he had given him in the past, and ordered that Zhang Juzheng's family property be confiscated. Some of Zhang Juzheng's six sons were captured, some were detained, and some were charged with the army. It is really the separation of wives and children and the destruction of families.
The Wanli Emperor tore down all the reforms implemented during Zhang Juzheng's time, and all of Zhang Juzheng's efforts were in vain. The "ZTE" of the Ming Dynasty was also hopeless and embarked on a road of no return.
(2) It is absurd to the government of the dynasty, and it has not been in the dynasty for decades, and many ministers have rarely seen the emperor for many years
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, established the Ming Dynasty in Nanjing. Zhu Yuanzhang was born from a poor peasant background, and he was well aware of the peasants' sufferings. After he took the throne. Crack down on powerful forces, earnestly protect the interests of peasants, and encourage the development of agricultural production. Zhu Yuanzhang was an energetic emperor, and he meticulously formulated various laws and regulations for future generations to ensure that the "Daming" ship went all the way forward.
More than 200 years later, when the Ming Dynasty came to the Wanli Emperor, everything changed. When the Wanli Emperor first came to power, he was also a flesh-and-blood young man who wanted to do something.
After the large-scale liquidation of Zhang Juzheng, he launched the famous "Three Great Marches" to ensure the stability of the Daming border. He led his courtiers to the Temple of Heaven to sacrifice and pray for rain, showing his feelings of concern for the world. Without Zhang Juzheng's shackles and shackles, the Wanli Emperor in adulthood would become more and more free to do as he pleased.
After 20 years of Wanli, he simply stopped going to the government under the pretext of inconvenient legs and feet, pushed all the major affairs of the military state to the cabinet and the superintendent of ceremonies, and hid in the harem alone to enjoy his leisure. In the event of a major imperial government, the cabinet ministers can visit the emperor. In addition to the six ministries and nine secretaries, other officials rarely saw the emperor once in decades.
The Wanli Emperor favored Concubine Zheng Guifei and stayed with the beauties day and night, and had already left the government out of the cloud of nine clouds. Although he was sluggish in government affairs, he was greedy.
In the late Ming Dynasty, the budding of capitalism in China had emerged, and a large number of mining minerals appeared in the Jiangnan area, and the Wanli Emperor sent eunuchs in the palace to collect mining taxes and silver in various regions. The collection of mining taxes and silver fattened the emperor and the eunuchs, and the big and small miners suffered unspeakably, and the people were displaced. The money looted by the Wanli Emperor was completely at his disposal, and the household department had no right to interfere.
Because the Wanli Emperor did not go to the court for more than 20 years, there was a serious shortage of personnel in the six ministries and nine secretaries and various departments. However, the Wanli Emperor was reluctant to equip each ministry with men and horses, because it would cost money. The Wanli Emperor let them work as messengers for two or three people alone, and even the Household Department concurrently served as the Ceremonial Department and the Punishment Department concurrently served as the Ministry of Works. The officials were busy, and the emperor was stealing music. In desperation, many things can only be ignored, or even delayed again and again.
(3) The "three major cases" at the end of the Ming Dynasty seriously injured the vitality of the Ming Dynasty and were unable to return to heaven
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the "three major cases" refer to the attack, the red pill, and the transfer of the palace. These "three major cases" all occurred during the Wanli and Taichang years. Among them, the Taichang Emperor died only one month after his reign, and it can be said that the "three major cases" were all caused by the Wanli Emperor.
Because the Wanli Emperor favored Concubine Zheng Guifei, he was bent on establishing his son Zhu Changxun, who was born to himself and Concubine Zheng Guifei, as crown prince.
However, the traditional concept of China's thousands of years of feudal society is the primogeniture system. There are concubines, and there are no concubines. The empress has no children, Zhu Changluo is the eldest son, and the position of this prince should be Zhu Changluo's. Since Zhu Changluo's birth mother was a palace girl of humble status, the Wanli Emperor disliked her very much, hated Wu and Wu, and naturally did not like Chang Luo.
The Wanli Emperor believed that it was his family affair to appoint which son to be crown prince, and outsiders had no right to interfere. However, those ministers who were full of poetry and books believed that the royal family was selfless, and that it was the right way to make the emperor's eldest son Zhu Changluo the crown prince. The ministers fought with the emperor and Zheng Guifei for more than 20 years.
(Zhu Changluo)
One day, a big man with a jujube stick rushed into the Prince's Mansion and beat him when he saw people, and was taken down by the guards. Who is this great man? Why did he easily break into the heavily guarded Prince's Mansion? It is certainly impossible to do without internal response. No matter how stupid people are, they will think that Zheng Guifei did it. In order to calm the people, the Wanli Emperor ordered the execution of the great Han Zhang Cha and the implication of other people. The case became a mystery.
Zhu Changluo was cautious and walked on thin ice as a prince for more than 20 years. In August 1620, the Wanli Emperor died. Zhu Changluo ascended the throne as Emperor Taichang.
After more than 20 years of repression, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Zheng Guifei presented him with 10 beautiful women, and he smiled at it. Due to excessive indulgence, his body fell sharply and soon became ill. Li Kejin, an official of the Hongxu Temple, offered two red pills, saying that they were elixirs. Emperor Taichang ignored the objections of the people and took these two red pills. At first, he felt refreshed, but soon he collapsed again and soon rushed to Huangquan. Emperor Taichang reigned for only 1 month, and this is the Red Pill Case.
One of Emperor Taichang's concubines, Li Xuanshi, occupied the Qianqing Palace and tried to become empress dowager with the help of crown prince Zhu Youxiao. Later, with the efforts of the chancellor Yang Lian and others, Li Xuanshi was expelled from the Qianqing Palace. This is the palace transfer case.
The three major cases at the end of the Ming Dynasty turned the Ming Dynasty upside down and smoked. At this point, even if you are a god, you are no longer able to return to heaven.
(4) Salhu was defeated, and the Ming Dynasty lost the last straw of life
Due to the insufficient military salaries of the Ming Dynasty government, after the death of Qi Jiguang, Li Chengliang's father and son adopted a policy of "turning a blind eye to one eye" for the Jurchen and other ministries when they were guarding Liaodong. It is even often adopted to enrich military salaries by "falsely reporting the number of troops" and "killing good people and risking merits." As a result, she sat back and watched as Jurchen became stronger step by step, and finally reached the point of raising tigers. The Jianzhou Jurchens had become an important hidden danger to the security of the ming dynasty in the north.
In 1519, the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty launched a decisive battle in Liaodong.
The Ming Dynasty, with Yang Hao of liaodong as the commander-in-chief, commanded more than 200,000 people and horses of the four-way army to encircle Houjin. The famous generals Du Song and Liu Que both participated in this battle, and the Ming Dynasty can be described as pouring out the strength of the whole country. Unfortunately, due to the repeated urging of the Wanli Emperor, Yang Hao had to launch an attack on Houjin when the time was not ripe.
Nurhaci implemented a principle: Ren'er came a few ways, I only went all the way, and concentrated superior forces to surround and annihilate the Ming army.
The Eastern Route Army took the lead in attacking, and soon fell under siege. Liu Que is known as "Liu Da Dao", and a large knife dances around. Rao was so, he still couldn't stop the fierce Eight Banners disciples, and finally lost and died.
Juniper was also defeated along the way.
Li Rusong was afraid of the enemy like a tiger, grinding and rubbing along the way, walking very slowly. When he heard the news of the defeat of Liu Que and Juniper, he immediately turned around and ran to trample on countless others. The Battle of Salhu ended with a crushing defeat for the Ming Dynasty. From then on, the Ming Dynasty was no longer able to resist the attack of later Jin.
A year after the Battle of Salhu, in 1620, the Wanli Emperor died. Twenty-four years later, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged the coal mountain, and the 276-year history of the Ming Dynasty came to an end. At the root of its demise, the Wanli Emperor was the real culprit.
(Chongzhen Emperor)
【About the author】Wei Donglin, male, is a thirteenth Chinese language teacher in Linzhou City, Henan Province, and a backbone teacher in the province. He loves to write and records the moments of life with his pen.
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