From Wanli to Kangxi: A Typical Analysis of a Historical Cycle Rate is another monograph on Ming history by Mr. Zhu Yongjia after "The Origins and Gains and Losses of the Political System in the Ming Dynasty".
Starting from the financial problems and social evolution of the late Ming Dynasty, this book describes the history of the fall of the Ming Dynasty and the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, as well as the specific situation of consolidating rule and strengthening control over border areas in the early Qing Dynasty, focusing on summarizing the historical lessons of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. From the Wanli of the Ming Dynasty to the Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, it is a typical case of the cycle of dynasties in ancient Chinese history, which is the origin of the name of this book. The author uses this to provide insights to explore and find a new way out of cyclical rates.
Wen / Zhu Yongjia
The problem of the mine superintendent and tax envoy reflects one aspect of the contradiction between the Ming court politics and the central and local bureaucracy in the Ming Dynasty on financial issues, and we have to analyze the situation in which the entire bureaucracy continued to operate at that time.
In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli (1607), the official of the Duchayuan gave Weng Xianxiang a lecture:
It is said that 'it is not appropriate to let the officials go away.' 'It is when the official is too late, appeased, according to the official waiting, or more than ten years without returning, the ministry is deep, and more borrows to go out. There will be Xu Honggang, the governor of Jiangxi, who will return with his father's difficulties, recommend Lu Changgeng and Wang Zuo to replace themselves, and will not be restored, and will be disbanded and left. Xianxiang said: 'Story, Masaro does not obey, caresses and will be replaced.' Today, on the contrary, it is appropriate to affirm the old system. 'Neglect, don't report. There were many shortages of senior officials, and Xianxiang thought that he had hurt the national body, and because he was reinstated to make up for the officials, he left a few things behind, and reported it. (Ming Tongjian, vol. 73, "Wanli 35 Years")
Fu and press refer to the governors and inspectors of local provinces, and when the local governor encounters difficulties and obeys the system, he must open a vacancy and return to his hometown, and when his term of office expires, someone must replace him, and when the examination method is relaxed, then there is no one to replace the local official when his term of office is reached, so he will not return for ten years.
Why say no? Because of the avoidance system in the Ming Dynasty, locals could not be local officials, southerners went to the north to be officials, northerners went to the south to become officials, the term of office expired, they had to return to their home as candidates, Xu Honggang and other people could not replace him, and automatically resigned. The bureaucratic machine came to a standstill. According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, only the imperial history of the capital inspection court can go on patrol, and the attendant cannot go on patrol, because the servant is low, they find an excuse to travel, because there is additional income to the local area. The treatment of local officials in the second Ming and Qing dynasties was higher than that of Beijing officials, and local officials had additional income such as fire consumption and rat consumption. As the saying goes, it is better to be a chicken's mouth than an oxtail, and local officials can dominate one side in the local area, while small Beijing officials can only follow people everywhere, and after being a Beijing official for several years, they want to go to the local government to be an official.
In the middle and late Wanli period, it became common for officials to be vacant and unable to fill their posts in time. "Ming Shi Weng Xianxiang Biography" cloud:
There is a shortage of staff. And the attendants Yang Shiqiao and Yang Daobin died one after another during the day, and there was no one in the two ministers of the official and the second minister. The military department stopped a book and could not raise it. The three departments of household, criminal punishment, and work, as well as the officials of the capital inspection court, all have their books in the words of people. Tongzheng Dali also did not see officials. Xianxiang's words are full of vastness, which hurts the national body. Because Chen made up for the lack of officials, he started several things and reported it.
Not only can the local chief executive leave his job automatically, but the head of the central department, when a person dies, there is no one to fill the vacancy, the most important official secretary is not served, the military department is unable to recover from illness, and the bureaucracy has been in such a crippled state for a long time. The bureaucracy of the middle and late Wanli period was in such a state for a long time, and the key to the problem was that Wanli himself was neglectful of political affairs and busy with games and entertainment at the court. In May of the 38th year of Wanli (1610), volume 74 of the Ming Tongjian "The 38th Year of Wanli" contains:
Ye Xianggao urged the palm seal of the Criminal Department and revealed: "The official of the Criminal Department, waiting for orders for a long time, urging the number of troubles, without Yu Yun, the prison prisoners have accumulated to a thousand, so there is no question; The number of prisoners is increasing day by day, and they are all responsible for the compensation of the shopkeepers. Theft is not a pity for a felony, and a misdemeanor is pitiful. Since the ancestors, there have been cases of hot trials every year, and the difference in punishment of three years, the old cases were all petitioned in February and March, and it is difficult to delay it to this day. The reason why the minister was pleading, with the palm print of the ministry as the invitation, Gai also had no choice but to suffer. "Loose in, don't report.
At that time, Liu Yuanlin, an attendant of the Ministry of Work, was also in charge of the second Ministry of Criminal Work, and no one in the Criminal Department presided over the daily work, and no one tried the judgment in prison cases, the backlog of prisoners increased, and problems occurred with prison food. Later, the palm seal official of the household was also vacant, which caused more trouble.
In August, Ye Xianggao asked for the palm seal of the second part of the household and the ceremony, and unveiled:
"At present, the affairs of the household department have been suspended for a long time, and the most urgent ones, such as those who ask for pay from all sides, are not paid; Silver is released everywhere, and no one approves it; This is like choking in the throat, all food and beverage cashiers are not passable, and it is the most difficult. And the Ministry of Ceremonies awarded the Winter Congratulations, all of which will be held, and the ministers of the ceremony will not be short of them for a long time! That is, if there are six or seven hundred people who pay tribute to Fanyi, and they are sent out for a long time, and they have no officials in the ministry, they will stagnate, and if they stay for one day, they will spend a day's supply of the temple, and the temple is extremely short of money and food, and it is a pity that there is such a redundant fee. "I don't report it. (Ming Tongjian, vol. 74, "Wanli 38 Years")
If the entire state institution is compared to the human body, the household belongs to the system of food and beverage cashiers, and the activities of each system depend on it to provide energy, and if this system stops, then the entire human body will also stop, and then fall into a state of rigidity and stagnation. And Wanli was still indifferent to all this, and these two recitals remained as usual, without causing any repercussions. In June of the 39th year of Wanli (1611), Ye Xianggao again spoke:
Today, from the cabinet minister to Jiuqing, the Cao Office in Taiwan Province is empty, and the southern capital Jiuqing also stops at the second, and the world's great officials have not used a single person since last autumn. His Majesty ignored everything, thinking that the world was like this, and the ministers feared that the disaster would be unacceptable. (Ming Tongjian, vol. 74, "Wanli 39 Years")
Ye Xianggao said that "one shot is unacceptable", and this prophecy was fulfilled by 1644. In this case, only Ye Xianggao was in office in the cabinet, and his recital book, Wanli, always did not respond, and he could only ask for his resignation. At that time, the official Shangshu Sun Piyang recommended that the sages did not need to go, and Ye Xiangshang asked Gao to stay, and did not report, so Ye Xianggao also led the way to go, and his cloud:
The courtiers repeatedly begged to go, but they were blessed to stay. Gu Chen did not stay alone, but ruled chaos in the country. Today, the disaster and death of the Xiafu, Zhongzhou, Qi, and Luliu moved to the road, plus the emptiness of China and abroad, and the talents were exhausted. Sin is not in others, so why not go. And His Majesty shall do what he says. If this chapter is not released, if the big staff does not make up for it, if it is not abolished, and the minister Weicheng cannot reach it, what good is it to stay? Sincerely use the words of the minister, do not leave the body of the minister in vain, the minister first dew, there is more luck. ("Ming Shi Ye Xianggao Biography")
Wanli still didn't react, and then Ye Xianggao got sick, "Zhang Xuan is about his family's plan, January. And yes, to Gao Jian lies down for a long time, that is, the family intends to be as before, the commentator thinks that it is not body, and Xiang Gao also says that he is wrong, and he begs for it. The emperor did not order him to be the minister, and sent the official to comfort him. To the Emperor's Longevity Festival, it begins to look at things. ("Ming Shi Ye Xianggao Biography")
It was not until the forty-second year of Wanli (1614) that he retired in old age, which is the actual situation of the so-called "arching and rule" of Wanli.
(This article is excerpted from Zhu Yongjia's book From Wanli to Kangxi: A Typical Analysis of a Historical Cycle Rate, published with permission from Shandong People's Publishing House.) ）
Chinese original | Humanities and Social Sciences | history
From Wanli to Kangxi: A Typical Analysis of a Historical Cycle Rate
By Zhu Yongjia
Li Chunbo Finishing
Shandong People's Publishing House
Poplar culture
March 2023
Zhu Yongjia (1931-2023), historian, former member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee. In his early years, he studied under Chen Shoushi, Zhou Yutong, Tan Qiqiang and other famous literary and historical artists, and once taught in the history department of Fudan University. Later, he engaged in research on the history of the Qin and Han dynasties, the history of the Three Kingdoms, and the history of the Ming Dynasty. He is the author of "Mao Zedong Re-reading the Inside Story of Ancient Texts in His Later Years", "On Li Xian", "Shang Martingale Reform Law and Wang Mang's Reform", "Liu Bang and Xiang Yu", "On Cao Cao", "The Origins and Gains and Losses of the Political System of the Ming Dynasty", "Reading History and Seeking Truth", etc.
Mr. Zhu Yongjia's book reflects on the past and the present, and its views on the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty and the political struggle during the Ming and Qing dynasties are particularly noteworthy.
Edit | Zhu Lan
Editor-in-Chief | Zhang Ying
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