The Wanli Emperor was the Son of Heaven for forty-eight years, and after his death, the Ming Dynasty existed for only twenty-four years before it was destroyed by Manchuria in the northeast. I believe that the demise of the Ming Dynasty is inseparable from the Wanli Emperor himself and some of his political actions, that is, the Wanli Emperor had a huge impact on the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty was like a hero in troubled times, grew up in troubled times, and survived tenaciously under the strong and fierce Mongol cavalry. With a strong heart and courage, a glorious era was created. However, after nearly three hundred years of ups and downs, this dynasty inevitably went into decline and demise.
Because it is in the most critical period of historical development, the collapse of political power will lead to the loss of social order and the stagnation of development. Regime change will also carry out order reorganization, but breaking the original political foundation and social order, for China, it will take a long recovery period, which will affect not only the economy, but also the ideology and culture.
It can be said that the demise of the Ming Dynasty affected the future development trend of China, and carried too many problems worthy of our deep consideration and consideration.
The evaluation of the demise of the Ming Dynasty in the "History of Ming" has this sentence, saying: "The death of the Ming is not due to the loss of virtue of Chongzhen, but to the laziness of Wanli." ”
Although the demise of the Ming Dynasty was produced by many reasons, the Wanli Emperor himself played a decisive role in the tragic historical process of the demise of such a dynasty. Next, let's analyze one by one what role the Wanli Emperor played in the events of the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
First, the Wanli Emperor himself did not go to the dynasty for nearly thirty years and did not deal with the imperial government, leaving behind huge political hidden dangers
The Wanli Emperor himself reigned for forty-eight years, a long time, but he ignored the imperial government for nearly thirty years, in other words, he did not go to work for nearly thirty years!
The government is in a state of shutdown. This has resulted in problems that are not solved in a timely manner, and matters that are not dealt with in a timely manner. Most of the ministers' voices were sealed, neither approving nor refuting them.
It is recorded in the "Notes on the Lives of Wanli": "On August 26 of the seventeenth year of Wanli, this chapter was frequently left behind, the cabinet was not allowed to vote, the foreign court had no endowments, and the province decided to be less neglected." ”
The surrender to the emperor was not given any instructions, and the cabinet could not exercise the functions and powers of the vote. Added to this is the more serious problem of official shortages. At that time, it can be said that there were serious vacancies in government departments from cabinet members to the six Shangshu, Duchayuan, Tongzhengshi, Dali Temple, and other administrative agencies in various provinces.
By the time of the thirtieth year of Wanli, there were three shangshu and ten attendants in the north and south. In the forty-first year of Wanli, there were a total of fourteen shangshu and attendants in the north and south. There was even a higher order that the prefecture of one county also serve as the prefecture of other prefectures, but the number of prefectures did not increase, which can be described as a historical exception.
As the saying goes, "just work, don't take money". It can be seen that the Wanli Emperor did not go to the dynasty and did not handle political affairs, which had an extremely significant and far-reaching impact on the country and the dynasty.
Second, Zhang Juzheng's retaliatory slack caused by the shadow of strict education
This was also the main reason why the Wanli Emperor ignored the imperial government for thirty years. It was precisely because of his hatred of Teacher Zhang that the Wanli Emperor was using this kind of behavior to take revenge on his teacher's teaching.
The Wanli Emperor's father, the Longqing Emperor, reigned for six years and then drove Hexi to the west. At this time, the power of the imperial court was controlled by Zhang Juzheng and the eunuch Feng Bao, the eunuch in charge of Si Lijian. The relationship between Feng Bao and the Wanli Emperor was originally good, and Wanli often affectionately called Feng Bao "big companion" when he was a child. But when he grew up, this faithful companion also rebelled in the eyes of the Wanli Emperor.
Because the Wanli Emperor's biological mother Empress Dowager Li ordered Zhang Juzheng to educate and assist the Wanli Emperor. Zhang Juzheng treated the Wanli Emperor quite strictly, and severely reprimanded the young Wanli Emperor at every turn. Empress Dowager Li trusted Zhang Juzheng considerably, and teachers and parents managed the education of the Wanli Emperor together.
Sometimes, when the Wanli Emperor disobeyed and did something that the emperor should not do, Zhang Juzheng or Feng Bao would react to Empress Dowager Li, and Empress Dowager Li herself was also quite strict in educating the Wanli Emperor, beating the board at every turn, punishing kneeling, not eating, and even once threatening to abolish the throne of the Wanli Emperor.
As an emperor, he grew up in this environment of strict education and frightening, never enjoying a moment of joy and ease, and always beware of unknown punishments. In the face of his biological mother, even if he is resentful in his heart, he does not dare to show it. In the end, he had to anger Zhang Juzheng and Feng Bao.
After Zhang Juzheng's death, he not only stripped him of all his titles, but also forced Zhang Juzheng's son to death, and Feng Bao was also stripped of his official position.
After the marriage of the Wanli Emperor, Empress Dowager Li also relaxed her control over the adult Wanli Emperor, and the Wanli Emperor began to gradually slack off in political affairs.
This is what caused the Wanli Emperor himself to have complicated feelings for Zhang Juzheng, from being respectful at the beginning to gradually resentful later. Even in the face of advice, he often scoffed and dismissed, and produced a completely negative judgment of Zhang Juzheng, which was quite a bit of a young rebellion.
Subsequently, the Wanli Emperor began to spend days drinking and sending eunuchs everywhere to search for people's fat and people's anointment, which was a psychological manifestation of his opposition to Zhang Juzheng in his heart. And it is precisely this situation that has a considerable impact on the life of the Wanli Emperor himself.
Third, in the Wanli Dynasty, party disputes began to emerge that affected the fate of the Ming Dynasty
The Wanli Emperor did not care about the affairs of the imperial court for several years, and the ministers, in the face of such a Wanli Emperor, began to form a party for personal gain and break the law and discipline for their own selfish interests. As the Wanli Emperor himself, he did not stop it, which is one of the evil consequences of the Wanli Emperor's failure to rise to the dynasty for several years.
At that time, Gu Xiancheng, the founder of the Donglin Party, also angered the Wanli Emperor in the famous dispute over the country in the Wanli Dynasty and was removed from his official position. Subsequently, the "Donglin Academy" was founded, where he and some people discussed current affairs.
Later, many politicians came out of here, and they formed the Donglin Party in the middle of the dynasty, confronted Wei Zhongxian's gelding party, and used their lives to protect the integrity and dignity of Taoism and Chinese scholars.
But what we are going to talk about now is the impact and problems caused by party strife on the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and the party at that time can be understood as a type of people with the same political demands and interest needs.
In the DPRK, whenever the opinions put forward by another party affect the interests of another group or attack one person, there will be collective counterattacks and opposition.
But this starting point only exists at the level of interests, and does not delve into the right and wrong and connotation of the matter itself. As long as interests have a common starting point and the same needs, they will become alliances and even integration.
The Qi Party, the Chu Party, and the Zhejiang Party that appeared in the Wanli Dynasty all gathered under Wei Zhongxian after losing the battle with the Donglin Party, which also formed the Gelding Party power group.
This kind of inter-party strife will not bring any benefit to the country, but on the contrary, it will have an unstable factor in the country's political situation. The germ of this phenomenon appeared in the Wanli period, and he himself did not stop it, but allowed it to develop and expand, which became one of the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Fourth, the Wanli Emperor himself's principle of doing things as he pleased, only for his own selfish interests, had a profound impact on the dynasty
This behavior also stems from Mr. Zhang's relatively strict approach to education. After the Wanli Emperor came of age, in the process of asking his biological mother Empress Dowager Li for peace, the Wanli Emperor secretly blessed a palace queen clan in the Cining Palace.
This Wang clan later gave birth to the eldest son of the emperor, Zhu Changluo, who later became Emperor Taichang. However, as a whim, the Wanli Emperor himself was not willing to admit this matter, on the contrary, he tried his best to cover up this matter, but finally recognized the status of Wang and Zhu Changluo.
It's just that the Wanli Emperor didn't want to give this concubine the corresponding status and honor in his heart, and this poor concubine cried blind, and he couldn't see his own son for more than ten years.
Later, the Wanli Emperor favored Zheng Guifei, and gradually had the idea of abolishing the eldest son Zhu Changluo and replacing Zhu Changxun, born to Zheng Guifei, as the crown prince. As soon as this matter was announced, it was strongly opposed by the ministers, and they all wrote to impeach the harem for doing politics, and the spearhead was directed at Zheng Guifei.
At first, the Wanli Emperor ignored this matter and stopped sending letters to the ministers, but later, he began to gradually take the punishment of dismissal, dismissal, and exile.
During this period, not only did he force away four cabinet chiefs and assistants, but more than 300 officials were involved, and nearly 100 people were removed from office.
It can be seen from this that the serious political struggle that took place in the Wanli Dynasty caused the fundamental nature of the internal patriarchal law of the Ming Dynasty, including the feudal moral consciousness, to be shaken, and produced extremely serious consequences, directly or indirectly causing the development and growth of the castration party's forces.
This was a trampling on the feudal rite system, shaking the foundation of the Ming Dynasty that established the country with the feudal rite system and leaving a legacy for the future. And this point is undoubtedly the responsibility that the Wanli Emperor cannot shirk as the king of a country.
In short, for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the Wanli Emperor can be said to have a great historical responsibility. Until now, there has been no shortage of negative comments on him by historians. During the forty-eight long years of his reign, his own slackness and ignorance of the imperial government eventually planted the seeds of demise for the Ming Dynasty.