The Ming Dynasty, as a once glorious dynasty, eventually went into decline, which is of course due to many complex reasons, but the root cause can be traced back to a seemingly simple, but in fact terrifying fact - hooligan culture occupies a dominant position in the government and the opposition, and intellectuals are no longer ashamed. Those literati and writers who have always been self-righteous and reserved have inevitably degenerated into outright hooligans in the face of the temptation of power and profit. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, what are the roots of the fall of the Ming Dynasty?
1. The king has no way, and the monarch and the minister are out of harmony
Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, and at first implemented the policy of unifying the country and reforming the amnesty decree to curb the domestic turmoil. But in the later period, the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory were corrupt, the officialdom was full of malpractices, and the people were not able to make a living. What's more, there is even a strange phenomenon of father and son holding hostage.
After Zhu Naqi ascended the throne, he was suspicious and suspicious, and he was deeply afraid that someone would obstruct him. He coerced and enticed, bribed a cadre of cronies with a lot of money, and awarded important positions to important ministers. These people rely on their backgrounds to help them rise to the top, and they are embarrassed and embarrassed by their big responsibilities, which naturally causes the country's political performance to deteriorate. In the Jiajing period, Jinyiwei was directly subordinate to the imperial court, and the autocratic power became more and more gradual, and Emperor Jiajing became a puppet, which led to the obstruction of the government and the boiling of public resentment.
After Emperor Wanli succeeded to the throne, the country's economy was acceptable, but he had a tyrannical temperament, drunkenness, lust, and indulgence. He killed his own son in a fit of rage, and treated his subjects like mustard. He was obsessed with the literati and scholars and neglected the court, causing the government and the opposition to be traitorous. The so-called "thousands of red makeup towards the restaurant, a yellow scarf out of the picture", completely shows the harm of discord between monarchs and ministers.
Finally, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, peasant uprisings continued, the national strength was declining, and the Manchus entered the Central Plains, leading to the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Chongzhen acted perversely, turned a blind eye to the ministers, and did not adopt the advice, resulting in the people's misery and the country's decline. The prosperity of the Zhu dynasty from the former prosperity was fleeting and came to naught. This is a sad portrayal of the monarch's misconduct.
Second, the literati are out of moderation and their ethics are degraded
The literati of the Ming Dynasty pretended to be upright and talked about benevolence and righteousness, but in the face of real power and interests, they often lost their ethics and degenerated. Take the famous writer Yuan Lifeng as an example, he was originally a talented and famous leader in the literary world, and he can be described as a model of literati. However, when he was appointed as the first assistant to the cabinet, he suddenly changed his appearance and became an important participant in the struggle between the government and the opposition.
Yuan Lifeng was born in a famous family, received an excellent education since he was a child, and has a deep understanding of Confucian classics. After becoming famous at a young age, he quickly became a cultural icon respected by the whole country with his outstanding literary talent and far better insight than the people of the time. It is generally believed that a literati like Yuan Lifeng, as an important minister of the country, will be able to assist the emperor in supporting the literary style and restoring the religion of etiquette.
Who would have thought that once Yuan Lifeng took charge of national politics, he would immediately change his face. He repeatedly made crooked remarks about the emperor and induced him to lead a lifestyle of debauchery. What's more, in order to seek personal interests, he did not hesitate to act as a pawn of the envoy of the Dongchang Festival, spying on the minister's privacy everywhere, so that those Qingliu who were unwilling to work hard for him would be severely punished.
The saddest thing is that Yuan Lifeng finally destroyed the cultural concepts he once preached with his own high profile. He not only personally planned a "meeting of the Confucians" that violated etiquette and religion, but also openly shouted that "the people of the world do not know the shame of honesty" and belittled and attacked those literati who adhered to Confucian ethics. Since then, the cultural circle, which once boasted of being a glorious moon, began to corrupt and degenerate on a large scale and embarked on the road of no return.
Yuan Lifeng is just a microcosm of the decline of literati ethics in the Ming Dynasty. What's more, some people were even indifferent to the country's danger and accused and slandered the emperor. For example, the first assistant Wei Zaode, he did not think of a way to deal with it in times of crisis, but was bent on selfish interests, and in the end he was even more treacherous and declared himself a vassal to the enemy. This despicable and shameless performance is a resounding slap in the face to the entire literati community.
3. Heroes of the rivers and lakes, hooligans are rampant
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, peasant uprisings continued, and heroes such as Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng appeared. They were originally penniless poor people, but with their tricks and shameless means, they finally captured Jingshi, leading to the fall of the Ming Dynasty. This kind of hooligan culture is becoming more and more prevalent in the government and the opposition, and has become the biggest bane of corruption in the government and government.
Zhang Xianzhong was originally a destitute peasant in a small village in Weinan, Shaanxi Province. In his early years, he fled to Sichuan to work, and later returned to Shaanxi. By chance, he got acquainted with a group of heroes on the rivers and lakes, and was enlightened to some street fighting skills. Since then, Zhang Xianzhong gave up farming, turned to the Nazis as his family, and specialized in robbing homes and houses.
With his extraordinary force and all-encompassing intrigues, Zhang Xianzhong soon spread wildly in Sichuan and Shaanxi, and was regarded as a hooligan leader. By the time of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, he had gathered tens of thousands of brave and warlike people, forming a proud army that dared to call the king of Hades to go to Huangquan.
In the face of such a tiger-like enemy, the Ming army was defeated and retreated, and finally sacrificed Liu Zongyu, the pacification envoy. Liu Zongyu thought he was clever, and he actually wanted to buy Zhang Xianzhong's allegiance with his official position. Who knew that Zhang Xianzhong turned a deaf ear to this, but instead took the opportunity to attack and kill Liu Zongyu's army in one fell swoop. Since then, Zhang Xianzhong has become more arrogant, fighting and plundering everywhere, and the style of hooligans and scoundrels prevails among the people.
Another rogue leader who brought heavy damage to the Ming Dynasty was Li Zicheng. He used to be a small dart master who made a living by smuggling and selling smuggling. During an anti-smuggling operation, he escaped cunningly and accidentally killed the officers and soldiers, and since then he has embarked on the road of no return to the thief.
Although Li Zicheng is not a strong force, he is very good at espionage and deceit. Although he did not have many men, he often attacked and captured officers and soldiers and kept them for himself. What's more, Li Zicheng often used the capture of officers and soldiers alive as a threat to force the imperial court to open the city and surrender. In the end, with these indiscriminate tricks, Li Zicheng actually captured the Forbidden City and forced Emperor Chongzhen to death, which led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
From Zhang Xianzhong to Li Zicheng, they all came from humble backgrounds and relied on shameless and obscene means to succeed. However, the Ming Dynasty allowed it to grow wildly and did not impose sanctions, but instead bred this hooligan culture among the government and the opposition, and finally followed suit and dug the root cause of its own demise.
Fourth, why did the lost dog come?
In that turbulent era, some wealthy families became the biggest promoters of the fall of the Ming Dynasty. They amass wealth by unscrupulous means, hide their personal interests at home, and ignore the country's dangers, which is outrageous.
Among them, the most criticized is Wu Sangui's family. Wu Sangui was originally a general soldier in Liaodong and a feudal official. It can be described as the pillar of the country. But his family became a lost dog, adding a fatal blow to the final rule of the Ming Dynasty.
Wu Sangui's father, Wu Xiang, was originally a relative of the emperor and had a transcendent status. However, when Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army invaded Beijing, he would rather give up a huge amount of money to save the lives of his family. According to history, Wu Xiang alone took out 200,000 taels of silver as ransom money under the destruction of the clamping stick.
What's more, the Wu family actually cooperated with the peasant army and colluded with it. Wu Sangui's eldest son, Wu Youxun, was killed in a conspiracy with the peasant army. He served in Zhang Xianzhong's army until he was arrested and executed. Since then, the Wu family has gradually gained notoriety in the government and the opposition and has become a family of pro-thieves.
In addition to the Wu family, there are many big families who are also flesh and blood, lest they suffer. For example, the Yan family, the Zhang family, and the Yu family all paid huge tributes to the peasant army in fear to spare their lives. It is a pity that the ministers of the DPRK and China at that time only turned a blind eye to this ugly act, and turned a blind eye to the general of the country.
The most despicable thing is the princes and nobles at that time. Not only are they unwilling to die for the country, but they also regard the casualties of the army and civilians as nothing, and they only know how to be greedy for life and fear death. For example, Zhou Kui, the father-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen, as a relative of the country, should shoulder the righteousness of the family and the country, but he pretended to know nothing, hid at home and wrote some moral articles, and looked indifferent to fame and fortune to the outside world. When the peasant army came, he immediately took out 600,000 taels of silver and bribed the warlords to spare his family.
The Ming Dynasty was known for the virtue of "diligence and thrift", and the government and the opposition were very disdainful of extravagance. But these families traveled thousands of miles, trying their best to accumulate private wealth, and they turned a blind eye to the country's danger. If this is already the case for the nobles and relatives of the dynasty, the cultural relics of the government and the opposition will naturally become more corrupted, and the heart of the family and country will be completely lost. It can be seen that blind extravagance and profligacy were an important root cause for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
5. How hateful is the turtle in the urn?
In addition to those big families, there are also some people who are of humble status but also ugly, who are full of their own acres and thirds of land, and are completely indifferent to the future and fate of the country. This is the so-called "turtle in an urn" mentality.
The most famous of them is the eunuch Wei Youyao. Wei Youyao was the confidant of Emperor Chongzhen and the chief eunuch, managing the entire harem. is a high-ranking power, and he should always worry about the rise and fall of the royal family and the country. But in fact, he only cared about looting his own pockets all day long, completely ignoring the dangers of the imperial court.
According to history, when Li Zicheng's peasant army captured the city of Beijing, Wei Youyao and his family hid in the backyard. He only worries about whether he can keep a few properties and a little private money, but he doesn't care about the death of the queen mother princess in the palace under the butcher's knife of the thugs. What's more, in order to save his life, Wei Youyao did not hesitate to take out his private collection of 10,000 taels of silver hush money, so that Yang Zaixing, the leader of the peasant army, would let his family be safe.
Such selfish behavior was not uncommon among the civil and military ministers of the current dynasty. For example, when Li Zicheng's army broke into the city of Beijing, he did not try to suppress the rebellion, but panicked to find bribes from the warlords, just to keep one or two kilns. In the end, he abandoned the entire court, and one person escaped from the city, surviving the life of a dog.
Zhai Liang's ending is not bad, but what happened to the poet Sun Ciqiu is even more miserable. He was originally a well-known talent among the people, and he was even exiled to the frontier because he wrote a poem satirizing Emperor Chongzhen. Who knew that after being released back to Jingshi, he still went his own way, and had no sympathy for Emperor Chongzhen's corruption and incompetence. When the peasant army came, Sun Ciqiu stood by and watched, not caring about the fall of the Ming Dynasty. As a result, he was captured alive by a murderous warlord and killed by Ling Chi.