Speaking of the north-south party struggle in the Qing Dynasty, it is always reminiscent of the Donglin party struggle in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. In essence, there is no difference between the party struggles that occurred in the two dynasties, and it can even be said that the "north-south party struggle" is a continuation of the "Donglin party struggle".
At the time of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Qing Emperor used a large number of Zhongyuan literati in order to win the hearts and minds of the people and consolidate his rule. As early as the late Ming Dynasty, the southern and northern scholars were already arguing over political disagreements, and this trend continued after the Qing Dynasty did not diminish, but increased day by day.
The Ming Dynasty cabinet scholar Feng Quan, after returning to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, dominated the "Northern Party"; Chen Mingxia, the leader of the landlord intellectuals in Jiangnan, led the "Southern Party" to compete with Feng Quan. At the beginning of the outbreak of party strife, the power of the "Southern Party" was undoubtedly stronger than that of the Northern Party. During dorgon's reign, Feng Quan was deeply trusted by Dorgon. However, after Shunzhi's pro-government, the ministers who had approached Dorgon in the early years were liquidated to varying degrees.
As the number one Hanchen under Dorgon, Feng Quan naturally bore the brunt of it and was deposed by the young and vigorous Shunzhi. After The fall of Feng Quan, the "Northern Party" headed by him suffered an unprecedented blow and was on the verge of disintegration. In addition, the Manchu Rulers followed the talent selection system of the previous dynasty and opened up the science and technology. We know that the southern literati are proficient in the Eight Strands of Literature, and their achievements in the imperial examination are much higher than those of the northern scholars.
After the resumption of the imperial examination, a large number of Jiangnan scholars appeared on the list and joined the imperial court. Most of these scholars from the south became protégés of the "Southern Party." In this environment, Chen Mingxia, as a university scholar, was able to use the power in his hands to promote his sons from among the Jiangnan scholars to enter Beijing. Over time, Chen Mingxia's side gradually gathered a group of scholars from the south.
If this situation is allowed to continue to develop, then it is inevitable that the Qing court will have a scene of the "Southern Party" being the only one.
Although the Manchu ruling class firmly held power in the hands of the Manchus, the dominance of the Hanchen party would undoubtedly pose a hidden threat to the status of the Manchus. The Manchu Emperor was good at learning from the past, and Shunzhi was no exception. In the Donglin party struggle in the previous dynasty, Shunzhi had already seen the drawbacks of the party struggle. Therefore, Shunzhi reactivated the deposed Feng Quan and re-supported a group of Han officials, mainly northern scholars.
Obviously, the Original Intention of the Shunzhi Emperor was correct. Governance of the party struggle can not be achieved overnight, can only rely on the opposite force to "play Tai Chi" and balance the power of the southern and northern scholars. By extension, wouldn't Shunzhi want to reconcile Hanchen into a force for his own use to balance the power of the Eight Banners nobility? However, Shunzhi failed to take into account the tactics used by Han officials in the party struggle.
Chen Mingxia grasped the power of talent selection, and with the help of the strength accumulated by Jiangnan Shizi in the DPRK, launched an all-out war against the "Northern Party" and Manchu officials. First, a copy of Li Chengxiang's "Distinguishing the Unity of Manchu and Han", followed by a fold of "Ren Zhen Case", which directly forced the Shunzhi Emperor to come to power. Shunzhi originally hoped to use the balance between the "Southern Party" and the "Northern Party" to achieve a delicate balance between the forces of the DPRK and China. But unexpectedly, a series of moves by the "Southern Party" made him face a choice: which is the heavier or heavier between Manchu officials and Han officials?
In the eleventh year of Shunzhi, Ning Completed and submitted a copy of the impeachment of Chen Mingxia, pointing out that he "hated me for chaoxuefa." Despise our country's crown. Seduce the old gentry and call on the Southern Party. The bureau advocates chaos by acting selfishly and hiding evil intentions, so why should it be clear that it is also true?"
This sonata can be described as a pearl of words, and it is clear that it is to fight with Chen Mingxia and the "Southern Party" behind it. After Ning finished my recital, I represented no one, but also a group of deliberative kings behind it. It can be said that at this time, the Shunzhi Emperor was already riding a tiger, and if he could not deal with Chen Mingxia, he would not be able to appease the core of the Manchu Qing regime, the Eight Banners Nobles. Faced with the pressure of the Eight Banners, Shunzhi had to order Chen Mingxia to be killed in the name of "not correcting the words of the officials and not correcting them, and they are particularly responsible for their duties".
The northern and southern party struggles of the Qing Dynasty originated from the original intention of the Shunzhi Emperor to reconcile the contradictions between Han officials and Manchu ministers, hoping to build a balanced situation. However, Chen Mingxia, who was in the midst of it, would be wrong and try to override the Manchus, and in the end, he was liquidated by Shunzhi. In fact, Feng Quan's situation was enough for Chen Mingxia to see through the essence of the party struggle, and all the turmoil that occurred in the government and the public was just a political game of the Shunzhi Emperor. Chen Mingxia's attempt to influence the political landscape with the power of the "Southern Party" is undoubtedly a fool's dream.
From the standpoint of the Shunzhi Emperor, we will find out how stupid the ideas of Chen Mingxia and the "Southern Party" ministers are. The reason why the Shunzhi Emperor supported the Hanchens was to use their strength to balance the Manchus. However, checks and balances are not the same as overriding, and for the sake of profit Shunzhi, Hanchen and Manchu can be allowed to sit on an equal footing, but it is impossible to allow the Hanchen family to be dominant. When the Manchu-Han contradictions became more and more acute, the Shunzhi Emperor considered more than just maintaining balance, which had risen to the level of national unification, so he would naturally abandon his former political alliances and side with the Manchus.
By the time of the Kangxi Dynasty, party rivalries were entangled with internal contradictions among the Manchurian nobility, and the friends of the Kangxi period mainly included the Aobai Party, the Pearl Party, the Soetu Party, and the Crown Prince's Party. Looking at the facts of the party struggle in the early period of the Qing Dynasty, it can be seen that from the beginning of the entry into the customs, the ethnic contradictions reflected between the Manchus and the Han Dynasty, to the dispute between the imperial power and the eight banner kings in the early Kangxi Dynasty, Kangxi did his best to take over all the eight banners of military power, so that the feudal centralized power was further consolidated and strengthened, and the contradictions were basically resolved.
After the scourge of the north-south party struggle and the fierce party struggle in the Middle Palace, in the end, the success of the Yongzheng conquest and the establishment of the Military Aircraft Department marked the highest peak of centralized power in Chinese history.
Resources:
["The Struggle Between the North and the South", "Shunzhi First Year Internal and External Official Offices", "Qing History Draft, Xu Ganxue Biography"]