Introduction: As we all know, since the Ming Dynasty Wanli years, the dynasty government corruption, the phenomenon of party strife is very serious, although each dynasty and each generation has a partisan dispute, but because the Ming Dynasty is too concentrated in power, the imperial power is suppressed, the struggle within the ruling class naturally intensified, this phenomenon continued until the Chongzhen Emperor succeeded to the throne and issued an edict to make the crimes committed by Wei Zhongxian castrated the party as a "reverse case", ending with the stage victory of the Donglin Party, but the partisan dispute greatly weakened the internal strength of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, it was also one of the main reasons for the accelerated demise of the Ming Dynasty.
<h1>What is a "shun case" and the context in which it happens</h1>
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's rebel army attacked Beijing, and the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself at Coal Mountain, while the bureaucrats who remained in the capital Nanjing supported Anzong Zhu Yousong as emperor, changed the Yuan "Hongguang", and established the Hongguang regime, and the "Shun Case" occurred in this context.
The Dashun regime was the regime established by Li Zicheng in Xi'an, and after his attack on the city of Beijing, many Ming officials defected to the Dashun Dynasty, expecting to become high-ranking officials of the new dynasty, but did not expect that the good times would not last long, Li Zicheng was soon defeated by the Eight Banners of Manchuria and Wu Sangui and fled in a hurry, and then these officials turned to the Hongguang regime, and for the handling of the "rebellious" officials and the "reverse case" Ruan Dacheng wanted to use this to combat dissidents, history called this incident: "Shun Case".
Ruan Dacheng stills
<h1>Nguyen Da Cheng and "Shun Case"</h1>
Ruan Dacheng (1587 ~1646), Zi Jizhi, Shangshu of the Late Ming Dynasty, Right Vice Capital Yushi, and Dongge University Scholar, he was one of the parties to the "reverse case", first dependent on the Donglin Party, and then attached to Wei Zhongxian's castration party, but finally when the castration party was defeated, he took the initiative to impeach the castration party to the Chongzhen Emperor, and finally he was exempted from punishment and was only dismissed, but after the dismissal, he avoided living in Nanjing, and at the same time constantly contacted the people of the Donglin Party to seek peace, expressing his willingness to return to Donglin, but it was not recognized, but it was deeply appreciated by Ma Shiying. After the establishment of the Hongguang regime, Ma Shiying took advantage of this to ascend to a high position, so he recommended Ruan Dacheng to be a military attendant, and then Ruan Dacheng was promoted to Bingbu Shangshu, he re-became an official, the nature of party strife remained unchanged, and Zhou Zhong was one of his people who excluded dissidents.
Zhou Zhong was one of the officials of the Donglin Party, and also one of the people who did not agree with Ruan Dacheng's return to the Donglin Party at that time, after Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, he was recommended as an official by The Chancellor of Da shun, Niu Jinxing, and drafted Li Zicheng's edict of enthronement, and after Li Zicheng fled from Beijing, he thought that the north and south were not well informed, so he defected to Nanming, but he did not know that before he returned, Xu Shilin, a protégé from his brother Zhou Gong, had already told his teachers and everyone the news of his "rebellion", and Ruan Dacheng naturally would not let go of this opportunity to take revenge on him. He then wrote to the Hongguang Emperor with Ma Shiying:
"Shu Ji Shi Zhou Zhong, persuaded to advance before he was ready, and advised the thief to settle Jiangnan early; Hearing that he had tasted the horse in front of the Former Emperor Zi Palace, the courtiers were overwhelmed. His uncle Ying Qiu and Wei Zhongxian Eagle Dog, now Zhong Fu is a loyal thief; The Owl is gathered in one door, and the anti-party bell is in two lifetimes: Yijia Chi Clan Jie. His brother Quan, the class of the toilet crown; From the brother, like the Yin Qing Office: it is advisable to sit down and use the Qing Rebel Party. "
This is where the "Shun case" was born, and the handling of "rebellious" officials is also one of the most important battles in partisan struggles.
Statue of Shi Kefa
<h1>Shi Kefa and the "Shun Case"</h1>
The Fu King Zhu Yousong established the Hongguang regime, of which Shi Kefa was one of the main supporters, but Shi Kefa had a different way of dealing with the issue of officials in the Hongguang imperial court who handled the "shun case" and the process of his change of leniency before strictness. As the core figure of the Hongguang Imperial Court, Shi Kefa had to carefully consider his handling opinions.
The "Confession of the Southern Return from the Rebellion of the Ministers" included in the Collected Works of Shi Kefa records that:
"The northern capital surrendered the thieves to the south, and it was appropriate to get the northern letter, and the Nine Tombs still set up a viceroy to assist Feng Quan, and also used the northerners to exhaust." Or do not forget the current dynasty, intend to go south, avoid the lack of way, is the Hebei land, talent is lost. Begging for wisdom, he talked about the officials and kejia gong supervisors in the northern region, Hebei, and Shandong, but Huai Zhong served the country, came to the south early, and used them in a new way. ”
However, it is recorded in the "Sayings from the Contrarian Law" that are also included in the "Commentaries on the Contrarian Law should be From heavy neglect":
"If it is rebellious to guide a thief to plunder the city, then it is not a rebellion; if the thief wishes to be rebellious, it is disfigured and not rebellious; if a thief is rebellious, he is humiliated as a non-rebellion"; "If it is a rebellion, it is not a rebellion, and he who is the first to call the subject of the beast heart, who escapes the crime." If it is not reversed, it has a deserved name and is determined by the examination method. ”
When we carefully compare Shi Kefa's two shangshu, we can see that his handling opinions are completely different, in the first shu he suggested that the imperial court compete for talents in the north, and "use it in a new way" for northern officials like Feng Quan who were still loyal to the country. In the second book, he classified the crimes committed by the "rebellious" ministers, and for the two completely different ways of dealing with "rebellion" and "non-rebellion", for those who were ordered to be punished, it was Shangshu Xie Xuelong of the Punishment Department.
The Shikova Collection
<h1>Xie Xuelong and the "Shun Case"</h1>
Xie Xuelong, as one of the enforcers of the punishment of "Shun Case", naturally has his own ideas, of which the "History of Southern Xinjiang" describes this in detail, Xie Xuelong Shangshu said:
Shi Yingfang re-impeached Zhou Zhong, Guang Shiheng, and others in order to fight with the courtiers. Xuelong nai weighted Zhou Zhong and Guang Shiheng, and Yu still insisted on the previous discussion. Shi Ma and Ruan Bi wanted to kill Zhou Zhong, and Xue Long wanted to slow down his death, but he was the second assistant to Wang Duo. In the first month of next year, The Rider Is on top of the lawsuit, and please stop Xing. Duo wants to prepare Yu's will, and has the praise of "xiang and even peace". Shi Ying was furious, but nothing had happened. “
Xie Xuelong wanted to sentence Zhou Zhong to a suspended death, so he consulted with the second assistant Wang Duo, handed over the verdict when Shiying was on leave, and asked to stop the use of torture, but Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng were bent on killing Zhou Zhong, and they were greatly annoyed. After Wang Duo drafted the edict of consent, Ruan Dacheng and his accomplices Zhang Jie, Yang Weiyuan and others impeached Xie Xuelong, at this time Xie Xuelong saw that Shi Kefa also demanded serious treatment, so he said that he was sick and retired, and then the baoguo Duke Zhu Guobi and Yushi Zhang Sunzhen attacked Xie Xuelong to protect the sinners, favoritism and fraud, and finally Xie Xuelong was deposed by the imperial court.
Xie Xue LongZhao
<h1>Look at partisanship from the "shun case"</h1>
The enmity between Shi Kefa and Ruan Dacheng has a long history, before Ma Shiying recommended Ruan Dacheng as an official, Shi Kefa strongly opposed, and Ruan Dacheng, in order to retaliate, Shangshu treated Shi Kefa's younger brother Shi Kecheng as "from the opposite", so we see That Shi Kefa's attitude towards the handling of the "shun case", although it changed from the initial idea of tolerant handling (probably for the younger brother) to the later serious treatment, but it can be seen that there is no intention of party strife, and in the environment of the internal widow Fang Xing and Jun Di Chen, if he wants to make a difference, he must "take the national system as the mainstay." He also opposed the verdict of understanding Xuelong, and Ruan Dacheng and Xie Xuelong were not concerned about the country, and the struggle between the two intensified the internal friction of the imperial court, although Xie Xuelong consulted with Ma Shiying and others on the issue of "Shun Case", but Ruan Dacheng was not a kind person, and eventually he could only end up with the fate of his post.
Zhu Yuanzhang
<h1>Conclusion: Partisanship at the end of the Ming Dynasty – one of the main reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty</h1>
In fact, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was highly vigilant against the issue of the partisan party very early on, and promulgated a very severe punishment system.
The "Great Ming Law" clearly points out: "If officials in the dprk make friends with the party, and those who disorder the government of the dynasty, they are all beheaded, their wives and children are slaves, and their property is entered into the officials, and all the officials of the various gates are betrothed to each other with the inner palace and the close attendants, and if they leak things, and if they cheat and play the same role, they will all be beheaded, and the wives and sons will be placed for three thousand miles." “
However, even in the face of such a severe punishment system, partisanship has intensified, mainly in the face of complicated and huge internal affairs of the country, the energy of the Ming emperor is also limited, and in the face of the dilemma of party strife, he is helpless and simply content with pleasure. And the party struggle also accelerated the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
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References: "Shi Kefa and the "Shun Case":Centered on Shi Kefa's Three Pieces of Music" by Yang Zhengwei.
"Shi Kefa Collection", Qing, Zhang Chunxiu, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1984.
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