#明朝不灭亡能成为列强吗 #
Many people have been influenced by the di stall book, and have the impression of Chinese history: if the Ming Dynasty had not perished, it would certainly have become a great power. But the reality is awkward: because history has given the answer.
1. The Great Ming Turtle shrank for three hundred years
In fact, from the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was in a state of high tension: the Ming Dynasty in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, as a unified dynasty, but its capital was still set up in Nanjing. This is a phenomenon unprecedented in Chinese history. Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not know a few big characters, but his IQ was not low, he would not be unaware of the importance of the central plains of the capital, but Zhu Yuanzhang still chose to build the capital Nanjing.
After zhu Yuanzhang established the national rule of the Ming Dynasty, the main reason why he did not choose to move the capital to the north was because: Although the Ming Dynasty was established, the power of the Northern Yuan was still there. And the Northern Yuan did not consider letting the Ming Dynasty have a peaceful birthday. Therefore, after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the war with the Northern Yuan did not stop. Although zhu Yuanzhang was late in his reign, the Ming army launched a "Fishing Sea Campaign" against Northern Yuan in Northern Mobei, which severely damaged the Northern Yuan court. However, the Mongol threat always made the Ming Dynasty feel pressure.
The original Ming emperors also actively considered solving the Mongol problem. During the reign of Zhu Di in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di personally conquered the Mongol tribes many times. But even so, the Mongol ministries were still a hidden danger to the Ming Dynasty. In the era of Ming Yingzong, Ming Yingzong also considered the imperial conquest to solve the Mongol problem, and the final result was that Ming Yingzong was captured alive by the Mongol army, and the Ming Dynasty was almost closed in advance.
In the Ming Dynasty after Emperor Yingzong of Ming, the main body was in a state of continuous shrinking territory. By the time of the Jiajing Emperor, the Ming Dynasty was almost unable to withstand the intrusion of the Mongol ministries: even the Jiajing Emperor directly stated that anyone who advocated that the Ming Dynasty take the initiative to seize the Hetao area from the Mongols would be executed immediately. Although later generations judged that the Jiajing Emperor was faint according to this point, I personally felt that the Jiajing Emperor was more helpless.
By the time of the Wanli Emperor, the Ming Dynasty needed to face the Mongolian ministries that had plagued the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years, and also needed to face the emerging Jianzhou Jurchens. At the beginning of the Wanli Emperor era, the Ming Dynasty also entered the countdown stage.
In other words: from the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it needed to face the pressure of external troubles, and eventually perished because of external troubles. In the entire three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty did not establish rule in the western regions, and this alone can be seen that the strength of the Ming Dynasty is far inferior to that of the Han and Tang Dynasties.
2. How far away is the Ming Dynasty from the great powers?
On the eve of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the gap between the Ming Dynasty and the world was already obvious.
At that time, Spain had occupied most of the Americas in Europe; Portugal had also established many colonial strongholds in Asia. Even Tsarist Russia, in the process of eastward expansion, conquered a large number of raw natives in Cheshi. Only the Ming Dynasty, instead of defeating the fishing and hunting and nomadic tribes, was defeated by the nomadic and fishing tribes.
In other words: the Ming Dynasty could not even win the Qing Dynasty (Later Jin), so how could it become a great power?
Of course, when it comes to this, some people will think that the Ming Dynasty at least defeated the Netherlands, Portugal and Britain. But in fact, the ming victory was watery: because the Ming Dynasty used regular troops against the dutch, Portuguese and British civilian armed forces, and also relied on the tactics of the sea of people to barely win the battle. This victory in itself is not worth boasting about.
Of course, in fact, before and after the Ming Dynasty, some people suggested to the king of Spain: as long as tens of thousands of Spanish soldiers, the Ming Dynasty can be destroyed. From this, it can be seen that the weakness of the Ming Dynasty was vulnerable.