Foreword: As the old saying goes, no one is perfect. Even emperors such as the Qin Emperor Han Wu and the Tang Emperor Song Zu must have done not do well enough, but the merits of these emperors were so great that people could ignore their faults. If they are a state in which merits are offset, or if they are too great to be done, I believe that they will not let future generations respect them so much. For example, the Sui Emperor did do something beneficial to the future, but his selfish desires were too heavy and his faults were too great, so he became a negative teaching material for history.
Emperor Xiaozong of Ming's deeds were not obvious, and there were some faults, but he was highly respected by later generations, and even many people thought that he was the first Ming Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Why?
Portrait of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming Dynasty
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > Ming Xiaozong's fault</h1>
The plague of the Loop
Throughout ancient history, the nomadic civilization on the northern steppe has always been a major problem for the Central Plains Dynasty, the Han Dynasty has the plague of the Xiongnu, the Tang Dynasty has the plague of turks, the Song Dynasty has the plague of the Khitans, and the Ming Dynasty has the plague of Mongolia. There was a trade-off between the Central Plains Dynasty and the nomadic civilizations. When the Zhongyuan Dynasty was weak, the nomadic civilization would take advantage of the opportunity to take advantage of the border and even enter the Central Plains; when the Zhongyuan Dynasty was powerful, the nomadic civilization had to shrink its neck to live.
When facing nomadic civilizations, the Central Plains Dynasty often adopted a defensive counterattack strategy, first having to defend and then try to attack, which was determined by the characteristics of civilization. In other words, defense is about building strength, and if defense requires a lot of resources, then that defense is too passive. In the same way, if you can occupy a favorable position and only need to invest less resources to defend, then you can grasp more initiative.
Threaten Guanzhong to the south and Hetao to the west to the east
It was this favorable terrain in the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures and the Hetao region, and the Song Dynasty failed to retake the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, resulting in a passive situation of being beaten all the time, and the failure of the Western Han Dynasty to retake the Hetao region in the early stages of the Western Han Dynasty led to the Xiongnu burning the Ganquan Palace. Ming Taizu expelled the Tatars, restored the Han Dynasty, and set up the "Nine Sides" on the long northern border line, reconstructing the defense lines of Yanyun and Hetao. Ming Chengzu moved the capital to Beiping, further consolidating the Yanyun defense line.
After the change of Tumu fort, the Hetao area was invaded by the Mongols, and after Emperor Mingxianzong succeeded to the throne, he knew that the land of Hetao was related to the safety of the entire north, so he sent troops twice to recover Hetao in one fell swoop. Compared with the strategic vision of Emperor Mingxianzong, Emperor Mingxiaozong was one level lower, and Emperor Mingxiaozong was bent on being a benevolent prince, unwilling to make a big move, and sat by and watched the Mongol forces go deeper into Hetao, ignoring it, and eventually the Ming Dynasty completely lost control of the Hetao area.
The nine-sided town of the Ming Dynasty
2. Rewards and punishments are unfair
The Ming Dynasty may have many problems of one kind or another, but it is still worth affirming in the management of foreign relatives, and in the final Ming Dynasty, there was no such thing as the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty in which foreign relatives were chaotic. Why is that? Because Ming Taizu had long considered the hidden dangers in this regard, he formulated many effective systems to eliminate hidden dangers, and in addition, the ministers of the Ming Dynasty could also timely and effectively persuade the emperor to abide by the ancestral system.
Ming Xiaozong was a good man, who treated Empress Zhang wholeheartedly, and even under the overflow of love for Wu and Wu, he constantly sealed Empress Zhang's mother's family. The cabinet chief assistant, who felt that something was wrong, advised the emperor several times, but was dismissed by the emperor. Empress Zhang's maternal brothers often violated the law and discipline, but Emperor Ming Xiaozong ignored it. Some ministers impeached the Zhang brothers, and it is reasonable to say that such ministers should have been affirmed by the emperor, but Emperor Xiaozong of Ming threw them into prison.
Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, Empress Zhang, and the sons of Emperor Wuzong of Ming
There were foreign relatives and eunuchs, and both were people who made the emperor feel close. Although Emperor Xiaozong of Ming did not condone the eunuch dictatorship like Emperor Mingying, he also favored the eunuchs. Just when he was succeeding to the throne, some civil officials and eunuchs clashed, and the civil officials accused the eunuchs of wantonly encroaching on civilian land, and the eunuchs said that the civil officials had formed a party for personal gain. The fact that eunuchs encroached on land is conclusive evidence, and civilian officials forming parties for personal gain is something out of nothing.
The two sides disagreed, and Ming Xiaozong ignored right and wrong, and degraded the relevant civil officials, but did not punish the eunuchs in any way. Emperor Xiaozong of Ming had two favored eunuchs named Li Guang and Li Xing. Li Guang not only plundered the people, but also used the power given to him by the emperor to reach out everywhere. Li Xing often took advantage of his official work to ask for bribes from local officials and insulted them at every turn. At that time, many ministers impeached the two of them, but Emperor Mingxiaozong did not hear or see them.
The curse of eunuchs, which was not uncommon in ancient dynasties
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > second, the reputation of Emperor Ming</h1>
1. Select talents and abilities
Since the Tang Dynasty, after the disaster of the feudal town and the eunuch rebellion, the civilian official group pursued the rule of the world with the emperor, and the civilian officials from the reading family adhered to the sense of mission and responsibility of Confucianism, and used the legal system to restrain the imperial power, and the two sides reached a clever balance to promote the long-term peace of the world. The same is true of the ming dynasty's civilian bureaucracy, and the emperor they hope for is to be able to attach importance to civil rule and reuse civilian officials.
The emperor can not reuse civilian officials, the civilian official group is a huge thing, there are also any people in it, the emperor must also have the ability to know and employ people, in order to be respected by the civilian official group. After Emperor Xiaozong of Ming succeeded to the throne, he cleaned up all kinds of traitors left by Emperor Xianzong, and then promoted a number of well-known civilian officials and entrusted them with heavy responsibilities, so that the atmosphere of the imperial court was changed.
Portrait of Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Mishen
Among the civilian officials used by Emperor Xiaozong of Ming were Ma Wensheng, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Jian, and others, all of whom were highly reputable at the time. At the same time, in order not to be deceived by villains, Emperor Mingxiaozong posted all the lists of officials of the middle and middle ranks and above in the palace, and looked at them when there was nothing to do, in order to allow himself to better grasp the situation of the ministers and avoid using the wrong people.
Emperor Xiaozong of Ming often followed the example of Emperor Taizong of Tang and humbly accepted the advice of the civil officials and ministers. Under such circumstances, the civil-official clique was naturally full of joy, and a state of mutual appreciation developed between them and the emperor. Relations need to be managed, the emperor is good to the civilian officials, the civil officials naturally need to be good to the emperor, and the emperor wants to be in addition to the stability of the world, but also his own reputation. When civil officials encountered an emperor like Ming Xiaozong, they would not skimp on their pen and ink.
Li Dongyang, a representative courtier of the Ming Dynasty
2. Diligent rule of cure
As the old saying goes, karma is good at being diligent and playful. No matter who it is, they have to be diligent in their work, and the emperor is no exception. Even if he is an emperor with the ability to re-water, as long as he can occupy a "diligent" word, he can also get the affirmation of many people, such as Ming Sizong, the whole world has given him a whole thing, but he can be called a night food during his time as emperor, so many people in later generations will have a sympathetic attitude towards him.
In order to have more communication with the ministers, Ming Xiaozong's diligence was not just lip service, and he worked tirelessly to add an additional noon dynasty to the traditional early dynasty, and restored the long-abolished sutra system. This is equivalent to spending most of his time on governing the country, rather than spending most of his time enjoying himself, as many emperors do.
Emperor Ming was diligent in communicating with his ministers
Although Ming Xianzong, Ming Xiaozong's father, can be called a promising king, but he has done far less than he did in the qinyi word, and the eyes of the civilian officials are all shining, which will inevitably compare their father and son, and if there is a contrast, it will be prominent, and the diligence of Ming Xiaozong will be more affirmed and respected by the civilian official clique.
Coupled with the fact that after Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, the Ming Dynasty produced emperors such as Jiajing, Wanli, and Tianqi, wouldn't the civilian bureaucracy miss Ming Xiaozong even more? From the perspective of Houhei, when the civil official clique encountered an emperor who was slacking off in power, it could put pressure on the emperor by promoting Emperor Mingxiaozong and persuade the emperor in a euphemistic way. In this way, the glorious image of Ming Xiaozong is even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
The Wanli Emperor who slacked off his government
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="12" > conclusion</h1>
In summary, although Ming Xiaozong can be called a good emperor, he has not reached that top height. At least during his reign, the Ming Dynasty could only talk about stability, far from reaching the point of being strong. If I want to label him, I think the word "virtuous" is enough!
The so-called sage means that someone's moral standards, professional ethics and ability levels are worthy of recognition, and their merits are another matter. Ming Xiaozong was in this situation, everything was OK, but there was no great enough merit to support. As for why his reputation can be so big? As explained in the previous article, the biggest reason is that his actions met the requirements of the civil bureaucracy for the emperor.
bibliography:
History of the Ming Dynasty
《Ming Tong Jian》
Studies in the History of the Ming Dynasty