What kind of hidden dangers did the historical Zhu Zhanji leave for the Ming Dynasty?
Emperor Xuanzong of Ming was the founder of the rule of Ren Xuanzhi and one of the most accomplished emperors of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Zhanji, as the prince of Shoucheng, was almost perfect. The people were freed from years of conquest and were able to recuperate, Zhu Zhanji reorganized his military strength, reduced large-scale conquests, restored the economy, and strengthened the country.
By reducing taxes and attaching importance to production, Zhu Zhanji has also done a good job. With regard to the border issue, Zhu Zhanji quelled the Wuliangha rebellion, stabilized the situation in Nan'an, and finally xuanzong's dynasty, without any major wars.
People make mistakes, and the emperor is no exception, and Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji also did some things that were not conducive to Daming, and also left many hidden dangers for his descendants.
Eunuchs rise
Eunuchs have existed since the Qin and Han dynasties, and have continued until the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to physical disabilities, most of them are not very healthy, so eunuch chaos has occurred in various dynasties and generations. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the eunuchs had great power, and could even depose the emperor, while the Northern Song Dynasty learned from the lessons of the previous dynasty and exercised stricter control over the eunuchs, and there were no large-scale eunuch rebellions.
In the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs rose to the stage of history and became a powerful force in the field of political wrestling. The reason why eunuchs were able to gain authority was that Zhu Zhanji bore an unshirkable responsibility.
During Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, eunuchs could not have made a trace, because Zhu Yuanzhang understood the harm of eunuchs, so he set a ban, eunuchs could not read and write, eunuchs could not interfere in the government. According to Zhu Yuanzhang's idea, eunuchs are servants who serve people, and servants do servants' business, and power has nothing to do with them.
Zhu Yuanzhang deposed the chancellor, and in the game between the chancellor and the emperor, the emperor was obviously on the inferior side, and the powerful Zhu Yuanzhang could handle it freely, while his descendants could not deal with the menacing wenchen. Zhu Di was brilliant and strategic, and his ability to rule the country under the horse and the army was unparalleled, but Zhu Di was still unable to deal with complicated government affairs, so the cabinet was born.
At the same time as the cabinet was formed, Zhu Di also restored the Jinyi Guard and founded the East Factory, and the eunuchs in charge of this series of affairs were the eunuchs. Under the cultivation of the emperor, the eunuch power gradually formed. Of course, Zhu Di also strictly restrained the eunuchs, and once they crossed the line, they would be punished with capital punishment.
Historical records:
"In the beginning, under the Taizu system, the internal servants were not allowed to read and write. Later, Emperor Xuanzong set up an inner book hall, selected a small internal servant, and ordered the university scholar Chen Shan to teach it, so it was customized. It is used to use a lot of literary ink, to know the ancient and modern, to be clever and skillful, and to commit adultery with every king. After several passes, it began with Wang Zhen and died in Wei Zhongxian. ”
From the beginning of the founding of the imperial industry, the subsequent emperors will become more and more lazy, Zhu Zhanji has a sharp mind and is brilliant, but he also does not want to deal with official documents day and night. At the same time as the cabinet helped, Zhu Zhanji also thought of eunuchs. On the one hand, eunuchs can help him handle official affairs, and on the other hand, eunuchs can also help the imperial power to restrain the power of the courtiers.
So Zhu Zhanji set up an inner study room and asked the cabinet scholars to teach them to read and read, and before that, Zhu Yuanzhang strictly forbade eunuchs to read and read. It's just that when Zhu Yuanzhang died early, whether the ancestral system was obeyed or not was all said by posterity. Bad people are not terrible, they are afraid that bad people have culture, and the destructive power of a bad person who does not know how to write is far less than that of a bad person with extremely high cultural attainments.
Soon, the evil consequences of Zhu Zhanji's teaching eunuchs to read appeared, Wang Zhen entered the imperial palace, and successfully gained the trust of Zhu Qizhen, and then the Ming army was defeated at the Battle of Tumu Fort, and almost ended up with the result of the fall of the country.
Abandon Nuer Gandusi
Zhu Di created the world-famous Yongle prosperous world, and most of this was achieved by war, Zhu Di's five northern expeditions to the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan, The Wallachians and Tatars were all subject to the feet of Daming.
Although the Mongol Yuan had long ceased to exist and split into many forces such as Wala, Tatars, and Wuliangha, they still fantasized about restoring the Mongol regime, and the threat remained from beginning to end. On the one hand, Zhu Di's Northern Expedition recovered a large amount of land, and also labored and hurt the people's wealth, the economy was hit, and the perennial war also made the people miserable.
Things often have two sides, and there are no absolute pros and cons. The war launched by Zhu Di stabilized the border situation, the country was unprecedentedly strong, and Zhu Di proved with facts that Zhu Yunjiao was not a reliable emperor, and only in the hands of Zhu Di could the Ming Empire go further. On the issue of selecting an heir, Zhu Di chose Zhu Gaozi, which was largely due to Zhu Zhanji's factors.
Very early on, Zhu Di attached great importance to his grandson Zhu Zhanji and focused on cultivating him, and the Northern Expedition took Zhu Zhanji with him many times, so that this grandson learned a lot of battlefield experience and means of commanding troops.
After a long period of conquest, the state and the people were in urgent need of recuperation, and even the army would be tired of the days of war, so Zhu Zhanji conformed to the people's will and implemented a soft state policy. It is a wise choice to slow down the pace of the military and focus on the development of the economy and production.
From another point of view, Zhu Zhanji also weakened his control over the border, and it was also related to the fact that he immediately made Walla stronger and bigger. After Zhu Di took the northeast region, he set up nuer ganwei, and most of the surrounding ethnic minorities were annexed to the Ming Dynasty. To a large extent, the health center system ensured the stability of the Daming Mountains.
In the seventh year of Yongle, Zhu Di established the Nuer Gandu Division, but due to the long distance and far from the core area of Daming, most of the controllers here were local ethnic minority leaders, and the Ming army's control over this was slightly weaker. In fact, this is already within the territory of Daming. Nuer Gandusi, east to Sakhalin Island, north to waixing'an Ridge, east from the Onnen River, the scope is vast.
In the Xuanzong period, Zhu Zhanji believed that this place was a bitter cold place and did not have much practical value for the country, so he relaxed his control over this place and withdrew a large amount of power. In Zhu Zhanji's mind, this could help the imperial court save a lot of manpower and material resources, and military expenses could also save a lot, which was beneficial and harmless.
"All the things that are collected, built, built, and transported grain are stopped, and all the objects they bring are sent to the official treasury of Liaodong; they are sent to internal and external officials and other orders to return to Beijing, and officials and soldiers and others return to the guard house to serve."
In fact, if Nuer Gandusi had been under the control of the imperial court, the subsequent border problems and the rise of Houjin might not have happened, and since Zhu Zhanji abandoned Nuer Gandusi, then the same was true for the emperors after him. The Terra Nullius became a paradise for ethnic minorities, and the liaodong generals always had to spend a lot of effort to resist the invasion of ethnic minorities, and the Jurchen tribe gradually grew in this environment, slowly becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Since ancient times, the princes will compete mainly for land and population, not forced by few people to voluntarily give up land. It is thought that after the Jin Dynasty, Jingyao ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to the Liao State, and the Northern Song Dynasty was forced to spend money to buy peace. Zhu Zhanji could not think of the rise of Jin after the Wanli Dynasty, which may be the verdict of fate.
To sum up, it seems that Zhu Zhanji made a big mistake, but in fact, his contribution to the Ming Dynasty was even greater, and the rule of Renxuan was famous in history. Zhu Zhanji is also a generation of Ming Emperors, and we cannot deny his exploits because of the mistakes he made, after all, no one can predict the future.
But the collapse of the empire is not a cold day, but if the kings behind the Ming Dynasty can have the domineering spirit of Lao Zhu and the arrogance of Xiao Zhu (Zhu Di), they will not end up with the death of their descendants.
Just like a literary essay that we have learned when we were studying, Pu Songling's "Liaozhai Zhiyi And Promoting Weaving" tells the story of Zhu Zhanji's reign, and he is also known as the "Emperor of Promoting Weaving":
"The Alien Chronicle says: 'The Son of Heaven uses a thing occasionally, but he may not forget it, but the devotee is the rule.'" ”
Perhaps Zhu Zhanji only used eunuchs, just to balance the military expenditure on the frontier, and did not know that "the follower is the rule", which also led to the trouble of the eunuchs in the future and the Manchu Qing crisis.