What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo (French)
Articles categorized | historical oddities
The article has a word count| 1917 words and is about 4 minutes to read
History itself is a realistic part of natural history, a realistic part of the process by which nature has produced man. - Marx
The article has a word count| 1779 words and is about 4 minutes to read
One of the hidden dangers: the establishment of the "Inner Book Hall" to teach eunuchs to read, laying hidden dangers for the rise of eunuchs.
After learning the lessons of the previous dynasty, in order to prevent eunuchs from interfering in politics, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ming emperor, made various restrictions on eunuchs at the beginning of the founding of the country, such as prohibiting eunuchs from being literate, not allowing them to concurrently serve as foreign ministers, and not allowing them to hold official positions of more than four pins.
In order to ensure that the eunuchs could help him deal with the documents, especially the emperor's personal documents, and become a bridge between the emperor and the officials of the imperial court, zhu Zhanji, the Emperor of Ming Xuande, set up the "Inner Book Hall" in the palace in the first year of Xuande (1426), and selected some clever eunuchs to study in the hall, so that the eunuchs could receive formal education. In the third year of Xuande (1428), Zhu Zhanji also designated Hanlin scholars to teach eunuchs in the academy.
Zhu Zhanji
This change enabled many eunuchs to become proficient in literature and ink, and some even succeeded in their studies, even becoming proficient in ancient and modern times. Later, Zhu Zhanji set up the eunuch Bingbi and the eunuch Yin, the superintendent of ceremonies, to assist him in handling official affairs, of which the eunuch Bingbi was responsible for exercising the power of "approving red" on behalf of the emperor, and the attendant Yin Enci was responsible for the final trial and the title of marquis.
When The Ming Emperor Zhu Zhanji was in power, he could control the eunuchs, but once the emperor was idle, the eunuchs could quickly intervene in government affairs through the power of "approving red" and use the role of a bridge with the foreign dynasty to suppress the foreign dynasty. After Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, Wang Zhen of Emperor Mingyingzong was a typical evil consequence.
The second hidden danger: the increasing power of the cabinet and the acceleration of the rise of civilian officials.
After the Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the chancellor, because the emperor usually handled too many administrative affairs, the Cabinet system began to be established during the Ming Chengzu period, but the early cabinet was only an advisory body, responsible for providing suggestions to the emperor for reference, that is to say, only the right to advise, and the decision-making power was still in the hands of the emperor. Executive power is vested in six departments. However, this situation began to change during the ren xuan years.
Yang Shiqi
During the reign of Emperor Renzong, since Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong were both former officials of the Eastern Palace, Zhu Gaozi and Yang Rong not only entered the cabinet, but also held the position of Shangshu, and Emperor Xuanzong of Ming also continued this structure. For example, Yang Shiqi retained the Bingbu Shangshu, Huang Huai retained the Hubu Shangshu, and Jin Youzi retained the Hida Shangshu, giving them a certain degree of execution.
At the same time, these people are not only in a position of a pin and a minister, but many of them are from the imperial family and are from the former dynasty, so these people are invariably respected and trusted by the emperor, and for their proposals, the emperor mostly approves them, and no longer convenes other officials to consult, which makes them have a certain degree of decision-making power.
As a result, the cabinet power of the Renxuan period continued to strengthen, and gradually became a presence above the six ministries. The direct consequence of the increase in cabinet power was the struggle between imperial power and cabinet power after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, which led to the strong rise of the inner court.
Map of the branch stones of Fort Toumborough
At the same time, the temporary position of "inspector" of the former dynasty began to appear very frequently during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, which to a certain extent promoted the institutionalization of this position, and at the same time, the inspector was also concurrently military or military affairs in peacetime, so the prototype of the position of "inspector" began to appear, which accelerated the rise of civilian officials to a certain extent, especially after the "civil security". The Ming Dynasty began to turn from strong to weak.
The third hidden danger: strategic contraction is conducive to economic development, but it lays hidden dangers for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
After Zhu Di's five Northern Expeditions, the northern border between the two dynasties was relatively calm, and coupled with the repeated use of foreign troops during the Yongle years, the national strength suffered a certain loss, so the Ming Dynasty began to shift from strategic offensive to strategic defense during the Renxuan period, especially during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Ming.
On the Mongol side, the Tatars who were attacked by Ming Taizu Zhu Di were devastated (five Northern Expeditions and four Northern Expeditions were against the Tatars), but they did not expect that the Tatars who were attacked by the Wala were forced to march eastward, only to be resisted by Ugariya and Khatiq, and forced by the situation, the Tatar master Arutai was forced to negotiate peace with the Ming court. But the Ming dynasty's strategic contraction left the weak Arutai with little help. As a result, at the Battle of Munashan in September of the ninth year of Xuande (1434), Arutai was killed by Wa Thorn, who had become the new ruler of the steppe.
Strategic contraction led to the ming dynasty's defeat in Liaodong.
The strategic contraction of Emperor Xuanzong enabled the rise of Wallachia, laying the foundation for the subsequent "Tumu Fort Change". At the same time, he voluntarily withdrew from Annam, eventually causing the Ming Dynasty to completely lose its rule over Annam.
In addition, Wuliang Ha Sanwei (Duoyan Sanwei) began to move south from the fifth year of Xuande (1430), and Emperor Xuanzong led three thousand troops to engage Duoyan Sanwei, but after a long period of contention, Duoyan Sanwei still occupied the Daning area, and in the early years of orthodoxy, he was stationed in the Xiaohe and Laoha rivers outside the border of Ming Jiliao, and active in the entire southern Desert region.
In 1430, Xue Lu proposed to concentrate the border defense in the Kaiping area and abandon the border garrison in Kaiping in order to shorten the supply line. As a result, the final result proved that this was a serious strategic mistake, the Ming Dynasty was not effective in the management of Liaodong, lost the barrier of Wuliang and Hassanwei, and completely abandoned the Kaiping border defense, which eventually led to the Ming Dynasty falling into passivity in Liaodong and the complete failure of the management of Liaodong, not only losing its rule over this region, but also laying the foundation for the continuous deterioration of the situation in Liaodong at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Here is "Professional Zhou Haha", the green mountains do not change, the green water flows for a long time, we will have a period later.
History has no real scientific value, and its sole purpose is to educate others. - George W. Qu Weilian (English)
The road of history is not all smooth, and sometimes it comes to a difficult and dangerous realm. It is only by relying on the strong spirit to rush through. --Li Daozhao