"The History of the Ming Dynasty"

☆。 Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

In 1573, the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng served as the first assistant of the cabinet, and carried out a series of reforms with the main content of rectifying the rule of officials, developing the economy, and consolidating border defense.

In this year, he began to implement the "examination method", controlling six departments with six subjects, and then controlling six subjects with the cabinet.

It has greatly changed the phenomenon of procrastination in the past and greatly improved the efficiency of departments at all levels.

Moreover, the responsibilities are clear, and the rewards and punishments are clear, so that the decrees issued by the imperial court "are carried out from the bottom to the bottom, although they are thousands of miles away".

The entire twilight of the Ming Dynasty appeared with the last ray of brilliance.

In the third year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng's fourth son, Zhang Jianxiu, won Xie Yuan in one fell swoop in the township test, and became a sensation at the age of 16 years old.

In the coming year, Zhang Jianxiu won two yuan and won the title of Huiyuan. In the palace examination, he also lived up to expectations, and won the champion with an article "Where will the reform of the country go", becoming the youngest person in the history of Lianzhong Sanyuan.

At the same time, this article "Where will the reform of the country go" is like a stone thrown into the lake water, causing a lot of waves and making students all over the world compete for debate.

For a time, the Zhang family, as a reformist, was pushed to the forefront.

Everyone in the world is watching what Zhang Juzheng's reform will be, and in full view of everyone, no one dares to make small moves behind his back.

At this time, Zhang Jianxiu made a move that shocked the world.

He resolutely abandoned literature and martial arts, rejected the Hanlin Academy, and instead held the position of a thousand households in the capital army.

However, well-informed people know that although Zhang Jianxiu was in the army, he had always assisted Zhang Juzheng's reforms, and some of the reform measures came from him.

In the same year, Zhang Juzheng stipulated that those who did not carry out the trial of 90% of the local officials' levies would be punished.

In December, a large number of magistrates were demoted as a result.

This made officials at all levels, who were afraid of lower penalties, not dare to slack off, and urged the heads of households to pay the taxes and grain of the year.

As a result of the change in the situation of arrears in taxes and grain, the state treasury has become more and more abundant, and the long-term fiscal deficit has been reversed at once.

Many historians of later generations believe that 1578 was a turning point for the Ming Dynasty from decline to glory.

This year, Zhang Jianxiu stepped onto the stage of history.

☆。

In 1578 (the sixth year of Wanli), Zhang Juzheng's father died, Zhang Juzheng returned to his hometown of Ding Wei, and officially handed over the banner of reform to his fourth son Zhang Jianxiu.

Although there is the support of the Mingshen Sect and the Zhang faction, at the age of 18 years old in Zhang Jianxiu, how can the civil and military officials be willing to obey?

And for these officials who made things difficult and disobeyed orders in every way, Zhang Jianxiu directly punished them with the law of the Ming Dynasty.

His rude and unreasonable behavior aroused the resistance of many conservatives, but the reformers led by the Zhang family had long been full-fledged and almost powerless in the DPRK and China, and were not afraid of the conservatives' resistance.

In the same year, Zhang Jianxiu successively launched the land of Qingzhang across the country, and redrew the fish scale atlas on this basis.

At the end of the year, 7,013,976 hectares of land were inventoried, an increase of 2,336,026 hectares from 1571.

With the increase of the forehead field, coupled with the crackdown on the aristocracy and the gentry landlords to evade taxes in the hidden fields, the income of the Ming Dynasty increased greatly.

In 15779 (the seventh year of Wanli), Zhang Jianxiu implemented "tax increase and profit return" and "skillful heavy tools".

He greatly increased taxes on commerce and provided preferential policies for manufacturing industries such as dyeing, textile, paper and printing, and woodware.

He is also a strong supporter of tricks and tricks, and as long as there is any good invention, its inventor can be rewarded with huge rewards.

What is even more puzzling is that he even personally organized and participated in many of the manufactures of firearms, artillery, glass, etc.

However, most people at the time thought that it was a plaything and a loss of mind.

Later historians believe that these were very critical two years, which provided economic and technical support for Zhang Jianxiu's later reforms and expeditions.

☆。

In 1580 (the eighth year of Wanli), the Liaodong Tartars were in trouble again, making the entire imperial court feel threatened, and Zhang Jianxiu took the opportunity to launch the "Tuiwu Order" and "Tuien Order".

He officially established the National Military Supervisor in the imperial court, and the long-abandoned martial arts were restarted, and at the same time, he still encouraged the people of the world to practice martial arts.

This recognized that all the warriors saw hope, and Zhang Jianxiu also became their benefactor.

The "Tui En Order" is a bit puzzling, but later generations changed the name of this decree to "sheep eat people".

This decree simply means that wool products were introduced among the upper classes, especially cashmere sweaters began to prevail in the Ming Dynasty.

It is a very expensive garment, made of the best cashmere on each sheep, and it takes every twenty sheep to make one.

But what is even more interesting is that this decree advocates the purchase of wool from the Tartars of the grassland, and no one is allowed to raise sheep in Daming without permission.

This policy had a great impact on the later years, and it also became a typical example of "boiling frogs in warm water".

In the same year, a big wedding attracted the attention of the whole world, and this marriage can be said to have had a very big impact on the trend of the entire Ming Dynasty.

This year, Zhang Jianxiu married Princess Shouyang, and Mingshenzong Zhu Yijun became his brother-in-law.

In 1581 (the ninth year of Wanli), Zhang Jianxiu ordered the implementation of "spreading into acres" nationwide.

He spread the Ding silver into the field and collected it, abolishing the previous "poll tax"

The implementation of the apportionment of the land into the mu changed the extremely chaotic and seriously uneven system of servitude at that time.

It has lightened the peasants' unreasonable burden of servitude, restrained the corrupt practices of the officials, and in particular, abolished the harsh force difference, so that the peasants have more time to engage in agricultural production.

☆。

In 1582 (the tenth year of Wanli), Zhang Jianxiu took over Jinyiwei. This moment opened the curtain of bloody rain.

This year, a large number of corrupt officials were imprisoned and distributed, and in serious cases, their homes were raided to sue the world.

For a while, everyone was in danger, and the court was panicked.

In the same year, he founded the "Royal Chamber of Commerce" and the "Royal Ticket House".

He ordered all merchants from all over the country to join the Royal Chamber of Commerce, and to register their information here in order to do business, and they had to pay some dues every year.

There are still many insider stories that I won't talk about one by one.

In the history of capitalist development, the royal ticket bank has always been regarded by historians as the prototype of modern banks and the germ of capitalism in the Ming Dynasty.

With the completion and implementation of various policies in previous years, the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty unexpectedly reached more than 10 million taels this year.

Although some of them were windfalls, they also had to make people all over the world marvel at the effect of Zhang Jianxiu's reforms.

"For Zhang Jianxiu's tough reform methods, everyone has mixed reviews. But I think that in that era of factionalism and selfishness, this is the only way to bring the rotten scholars to their knees, otherwise this great 'period of great change' is likely to be strangled in the cradle by the combined efforts of shallow people.

Have you noticed a detail, in the fourteenth year of Wanli, Zhang Jianxiu apologized to the conservative Qing officials who were forcibly suppressed by him, and talked with them in detail for one night. Since then, it has become clear that many conservatives have also been reformed. ”

The famous modern historian Wen Xiu wrote in his book "The Great Change".

☆。

In 1583 (the 11th year of Wanli), the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci came to China to preach, and under the leadership of Zhang Jianxiu, the missionaries cooperated with the Hanlin Academy to open a new type of education.

With Matteo Ricci's arrival, the ship was loaded with strange things, which surprised the people.

Zhang Jianxiu took advantage of the situation and ordered the reopening of the sea ban to encourage merchants to develop maritime trade.

He had prepared a great voyage plan for many years in front of everyone, and he sent a new navy to follow Zheng He's example when he went to the Western Ocean to reopen the era of great navigation.

Before leaving, he gave them the task of establishing diplomacy in European countries, implementing maritime trade, and making the Ming Dynasty the center of the world.

When they returned a few years later, they also brought back many of the elite and aristocracy of the West, all of whom had escaped the war in Europe. As the upper class of the West, they also brought with them the unique knowledge and technology of the West, and many precious books and advanced equipment were brought.

This year is considered by historians to be a year of meeting between Eastern and Western civilizations, a year of fierce cultural collision, and a year in which all kinds of peculiar ideas impacted the traditional thinking of the people of the Ming Dynasty.

"The world is a sphere, and we live on a sphere" is the most subversive question of 1583.

This year was later called the "first emancipation of the mind", and its significance is far-reaching and can have an impact to this day.

After that, there were scientific giants such as Fang Yizhi, Li Shizhen, Xu Guangqi, Xu Xiake, Song Yingxing, as well as many scientists such as Zhu Zaiyu, Li Zhizao, Wang Zheng and so on.

The cultural circle has also produced great thinkers such as Li Zhen, top calligraphers and painters such as Xu Wei and Dong Qichang, and dramatist Tang Xianzu.

They are all a generation of outstanding scholars who have grown up under a new type of education.

Later generations generally believed that from 1583 to 1593, this decade was a period of fierce collision of new ideas, new concepts, and new cultures, which was almost comparable to the "hundred schools of thought" during the Warring States period.

Fan Jilin, a master of history, once publicly stated: "The Wanli era is the stage of Zhang Juzheng's father and son, without them, the decadent dynasty at that time would have finally perished, and there would never have been three later "ideological emancipation", which laid the foundation of our science and technology and the status of the world. No matter how the group of beam-jumping clowns tossed, Zhang Jianxiu's exploits are still indelible. ”

Some people also sighed: "The Zhang family is full of outstanding talents." The most outstanding is Zhang Jianxiu, who has led the Ming Dynasty from decline to glory from beginning to end, and throughout the previous history, this is definitely an irreproducible miracle. Especially when we look at this period of history from a modern perspective, we are more aware of what epoch-making moves Zhang Jianxiu made at that time. In terms of reform and reform, he can be said to be the first person in history. Of course, he is also the first person in history to be named a queen with a different surname. ”

☆。

From 1592 to 1600 (the 20th to 28th year of Wanli), Wanli's famous three major campaigns were officially launched, which completely consolidated the strength of the Ming Dynasty, and also occupied a large area of land, making the Ming Dynasty even more vigorous.

Battle of Ningxia.

In the twentieth year of Wanli, the Tatars and Jurchens invaded the frontier, and the Ningxia generals rebelled.

The imperial court was furious and sent Li Rusong and other generals to lead 200,000 troops to quell the rebellion.

The following year, Bibai was killed, and the Ningxia rebels also lost their armor and collapsed, but they still had a stalemate with the Tartar children on the frontier.

In the twenty-third year of Wanli, Zhang Jianxiu sent troops to support.

Until the twenty-sixth year, the Tatars and Jurchens were completely defeated, and large areas of land were occupied by the Ming Dynasty, which greatly expanded the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Most of them surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and a small number fled to the far north, which is now Russia.

Battle of Korea.

In the twentieth year of Wanli, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who held great power in Japan, led a large army to attack Korea.

In this situation, the Ming Dynasty sent troops to aid Korea at the request of North Korea.

However, the reinforcements were small and the geography was unfamiliar, and they finally failed.

After the news of the defeat of the Ming Dynasty, he ordered Zhang Jianxiu to be the general of Dingguo and let him lead an army of 150,000 to aid Korea.

Zhang Jianxiu sent his troops on two routes, one straight to Korea, the other prepared to cut off Japan's sea supplies from the rear, and at the same time a navy also quietly set off.

The war lasted intermittently for two years, in which the musket team and artillery that Zhang Jianxiu had trained for many years shone brightly.

Japan's 200,000 troops were annihilated, 120,000 were captured, and the remaining 30,000 were defeated and surrendered.

In Japan's surrender treaty, there is a very interesting article that says that the emperor's only daughter should marry Zhang Jianxiu.

Toyosei Hideyoshi was also killed in this war, Tokugawa Ieyasu took the opportunity to seize military power in Japan, and other undead families also took advantage of the situation, and Japan fell into the Warring States period again.

Battle of Banshu.

In the twenty-sixth year of Wanli, the Banzhou rebels were in trouble, and the Ming Dynasty sent troops to eliminate them.

The following year, the rebels were exterminated, and some of their families were belittled or exterminated in the name of rebels.

In 1600 (the twenty-eighth year of Wanli), the three major expeditions officially ended, in order to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died in the three major battles, Mingshenzong established martyrs' monuments in these three places.

So far, the Ming Dynasty has almost swept away all internal and external obstacles, and Zhang Jianxiu's reform began to bring the Ming Dynasty to its heyday, and since then it has opened the "Wanli Prosperous Era".

In later history books, the Wanli period is called the "period of great change", and the period of great change is also divided by historians into "period of innovation", "period of change" and finally "peak period". The end of the three major battles marked the official entry of the Ming Dynasty into a "period of change", and since then the Ming Dynasty has been changing every day and entering a period of rapid development.

☆。

It also happened during the Three Great Expeditions of Wanli, in 1598 (the twenty-sixth year of Wanli), Zhang Jianxiu's army marched into Japan after a few years of recuperation and development.

In order to prevent the occurrence of the "kamikaze" incident of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhang Jianxiu's army was extremely well prepared, and the land battle, naval battle, logistics, supply, maintenance, and defense were all foolproof.

Due to the defeat of a large number of Japanese elite soldiers in the Korean War, the signing of unequal treaties, and the civil strife in the past four years, Japan was almost on the verge of collapse in terms of financial, material, and human resources.

A year later, Zhang Jianxiu occupied Japan, and almost all the remaining families bowed to him.

The ordinary people of Japan are sincerely grateful to Zhang Jianxiu, because they think that it was Zhang Jianxiu who rescued them from the war and chaos of the people's livelihood.

Especially in the places occupied by Zhang Jianxiu, he implemented "opening grain to rejuvenate agriculture" and "giving surnames to households", and the common people not only got new agricultural technology from Zhang Jianxiu, but also everyone got their own surnames, which made their sense of belonging to Zhang Jianxiu even stronger.

There are also many policies to divide and recover the Japanese people, which I will not mention here for the time being. (It's not too lazy to think about it)

In 1600 (the 28th year of Wanli), the year after his expedition to Japan, Zhang Jianxiu began to rule and administer Japan, implementing a new style of education in this overseas land, which had not been completely eroded by Confucian culture.

The new style of education here is more thorough and novel than it was in the Ming Dynasty.

He divided the education of the college into humanities, physics, chemistry, mathematics and physics, philosophy, astronomy, geography, history and other courses for students to choose from.

At the same time, he also opened up a wide range of speech and practiced freedom of speech, and many newspapers were established in Japan.

It was also during this period that Zhang Jianxiu committed a crime in Japan that was condemned by future generations, and was forever criticized, which also became a strong evidence that many experts said that he was murderous and brutal.

Soon after the reunification of Japan, Zhang Jianxiu forcibly escorted people with disobedience and ugly appearances to overseas on the grounds of "for the benefit of all generations" to open up more territory for Japan.

Earthquakes occur in Japan every year, so we need to look for other islands or territories that are suitable for people to live in.

According to later statistics, in this overseas war, known as the "Holy War of Eternity", the number of dead was as high as hundreds of thousands, and the number of people who have not been able to find out the details from the ancient books left behind, many modern historians believe that this was an unusually cruel expedition, a large number of Japanese died from diseases at sea, miasma in other places, water and soil adaptation, etc., rather than a battle with the local aborigines to expand the territory.

Although the death toll is incalculable, it did succeed in developing a large number of islands, and at the "peak" of the Ming Dynasty, it was included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty as far north as Sakhalin Oblast and as far south as the Philippines.

Because of the perennial war and this "eternal holy war", the ratio of men and women in Japan was completely unbalanced, reaching 1 to 13, so Zhang Jianxiu encouraged the Ming Dynasty to intermarry with Japan, and also encouraged childbearing, and subsidized this family dividend for every child born.

Under the erosion of policy, culture, and military, Japan has long since lost the heart of resistance after a few decades, and she completely regards herself as a part of Chinese civilization.

Later, they regarded this recovery by the Ming Dynasty as a return to the arms of their mother, and called the return before the return "Lost Era".

Now in the 21st century, various questions about Japan's "lost era" have been hotly debated again, sparking debates among many scholars and netizens on the Internet.

Is Japan the seed of Chinese civilization?

Judging from the genetic map of the modern Japanese and the ancient Japanese before the "Eternal Holy War", there are no real Japanese people now?

Compared with the mainland, the historical monuments of the Japanese province are more well preserved, many palaces and buildings left over from the Ming Dynasty still exist today, and the valuable cultural relics, books and murals of the Ming Dynasty and modern times are still preserved in museums and libraries.

There is a saying that is most famous in the academic world, if you want to appreciate the real traditional Chinese culture, you should go to the province of Japan.

(This Japan, not that Japan, do not substitute.) ）

☆。

In 1600, Zhang Jianxiu married the daughter of the emperor at that time, that is, the eldest princess of Japan, as the second lady. The following year, Mingshenzong conferred on Zhang Jianxiu's second wife the empress of Japan, and at the age of seventy-three, Zhang Juzheng began to move to Japan with his family.

In 1602 (the thirtieth year of Wanli), after ruling Japan for two years, Zhang Jianxiu was named "King Ding", and Japan was completely reduced to the territory of the Zhang family.

This astonishing reward made various officials at that time dumbfounded, and rumors and jealousy were everywhere, but fortunately, the reformists were in power, and Zhang Jianxiu was the person in charge of the reformists, so he quickly controlled public opinion.

The praise of the emperor's wisdom overshadowed Zhang Jianxiu's limelight, calling him "the master of Zhongxingming" and "the first emperor of the ages", etc., and also said that it would be immortal and become a beautiful talk and good story through the ages.

In the historiography books, there is still no unified view on this, and everyone expresses their own opinions and disagrees with others.

You must know that since the founding of the Ming Dynasty at that time, no one has been named a king with a different surname, not to mention that Zhang Jianxiu's second wife became the empress of Japan, which is equivalent to handing over the whole of Japan to Zhang Jianxiu.

What are the considerations of the Myojin Sect?

In 1612 (the 40th year of Wanli), ten years have passed since he was named "King Ding". During these ten years, Zhang Jianxiu traveled back and forth between the imperial court and Japan, and assumed the post of first assistant to the cabinet and the prince of Japan.

The mainland and Japan are changing with each passing day, various reform policies are being implemented, and everyone can feel that life is becoming more and more affluent.

Since the Age of Discovery was restarted in 1583, and now 29 years have passed, and the Ming Dynasty has now completely become the center of maritime trade, and even the center of the world, and is the holy place for all maritime traders.

In the coastal areas, you can see blonde hair, blue eyes, brown hair, and deep eyes, and many churches have been established here.

Because of the arrival of these aliens, it has also caused many questions about race, and discrimination against some upper-class people.

In the past ten years, too many novelties have emerged and developed, and the social order has undergone a great upheaval, which is known as the "July Change" in history.

Later, with the cooperation of Zhang Jianxiu, a complete legal system was formally established, leaving behind the Wanli Code, which is known as the "ancestor of modern law", with the main purpose of governing the country according to law.

There are too many changes and reforms to be explained here.

☆。

In 1620 (the forty-eighth year of Wanli), the sixty-year-old Zhang Jian retired after completing his work, recuperated in Japan, and Mingshenzong posthumously awarded the title of "Taifu of the Country".

When parting by boat at Tianjin Port, thousands of students and disciples bowed down to pay tribute to this old gentleman who had dedicated himself to the great rejuvenation of the Ming Dynasty.

At this point, the twenty years known as the "period of change" officially ended, and the Ming Dynasty entered a short "peak period".

After that, there was a terrible disaster, and no one could have imagined that China would not be able to survive until 1900, when it returned to the top of the world.

In the same year, Mingshenzong passed the throne to his eldest son Zhu Changluo, and retired in the apse. Zhu Changluo had studied under Zhang Jianxiu for some time, and he deeply understood that his most important responsibility now was to maintain the development of reform policies.

Therefore, there were few reform measures during this "peak period", and more of them were adjustments and improvements to the system that had been reformed.

In these years, the seeds of reform planted in the past began to sprout, giving the entire Ming Dynasty a new life, and even the entire Chinese nation.

A hundred flowers are blooming in various fields, and there is a prosperous scene everywhere.

Even if Zhang Jianxiu is in Japan, all the students in the mainland are respectfully called Mr. Zhang, and everyone takes Zhang Jianxiu's early book "On Reform" as the code of action, and they are also spiritual leaders in the literary and political circles.

He was destined to be the most glorious man of his time, and his name will forever remain in history for future generations to remember.

Later generations of historians have a common conclusion: just as the study of geology must involve earthquakes, and the study of history must involve Zhang Jianxiu.

People in other fields such as economics, finance, philosophy, politics, etc., sometimes need to involve Zhang Jianxiu.

This is because the three imperial masterpieces he wrote in his later years, "The Theory of the State", "Capital", "On China" and the "Theory of Reform" in his early years, have influenced the Chinese Federation and the world to this day.

Later historians of the Ming Dynasty were very curious about how Zhang Jianxiu would feel in the face of the second decline of the Ming Dynasty in his later years.

He devoted his life to recreating the revival of the country, but in the end, before he died, the Ming Dynasty fell into decay again, under the control of eunuchs and traitors.

Maybe he'll be as free and easy as he said.

I'm just a seed planter.

☆。

In 1624, Myojin Sect died. A year later, Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo died, and the whole country mourned. A few years ago, Mingguangzong was seriously ill, took the elixir many times, and before his death, he had eaten a red pill, and the ministers of the court believed that the red pill was the culprit for the emperor's violent death.

Subsequently, the crown prince Ming Xizong Zhu was enthroned by the school, Xizong was a good carpenter, known as the carpentry emperor, after the accession to the throne, he ignored the government and politics, Wei Zhongxian and others abused power, and the government became increasingly corrupt.

Several clans that had been suppressed by Zhang Jianxiu revived, cooperated with Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs, excluded dissidents, and tried in vain to control the imperial court, but were strongly resisted by the reformers.

Ming Xizong ascended the throne at a young age, and his power was gradually controlled by the Hakka family and Wei Zhongxian.

Under the interference of eunuchs and traitors, the reformers fell one by one in the imperial court and were exiled to the frontiers.

A large number of reform measures were abolished, and Zhang Jianxiu was also branded as "gossip", reinstating the retro and excesses of taxation.

During the reign of Emperor Guangzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Jianxiu's books were strictly forbidden by the ruling class to circulate among the people, and they were burned to the ground, and as long as they were a few words about reform, they were also strictly forbidden.

If discovered, the scepter will be forty or the house will be imprisoned.

This is what later generations called "writing." The prototype of "prison" has continued to be a party dispute, and the imperial court has completely become a tool of power for the ruling party.

Under the oppression of the ruling class, a large number of intellectuals went into exile in Japan, and many of them were amazing figures in various fields, and in addition to the freedom of public opinion in Japan, many knowledge and systems that could not be disseminated on the mainland grew rapidly in Japan.

Many cultural relics and ancient treasures were also exported to Japan to prevent destruction. In the future, it was known as the "Pure Land of Free Thought", where a hundred schools of thought contended, and public opinion was free, and it was a holy place for intellectuals.

In 1652, the peasants of the Ming Dynasty revolted, and various places rose up. Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, the Beijing division fell, and the Son of Heaven was martyred.

The Ming clan and the ministers of civil and military affairs turned south and established the Southern Ming. Later, the Jin army marched south into the pass and defeated Li Zicheng and the Nanming regime.

In 1668, Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang was killed, and the Southern Ming Dynasty perished.

At this point, the three-hundred-year-long Ming Dynasty came to an end.

There is a word that says:

The rolling Yangtze River is passing away, and the waves are sweeping away the heroes.

The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red several times.

How many things in ancient and modern times are laughing and talking.

-- END --