From leaving Beijing in the autumn of the third year of Longqing to returning to Beijing in June of the sixth year of Longqing, Shen Mo has been away from this capital for nearly three years. In the past three years, a lot of things have happened, some good and some bad, deep or shallow, near or far, affecting the fate of the empire," ......

Let's talk about the good aspects first, "Some people say that the greatest luck of the Ming Dynasty is not to get out of the famous ministers like Shen Mo, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng, but to have a Longqing Emperor." But this view is not accepted by the general public" In fact, the emperor, who was always known for his goodness, laziness, and all kinds of absurdity, "almost never stirred up trouble in the political arena of the Ming Dynasty, and did not even receive ministers all year round" and did not have any will, quietly, almost unfelt.

However, he is the most suitable emperor for this era, whether it is wise or foolish, or really too lazy to be hopeless, he has put himself in a very suitable position since the founding of a dynasty, after a series of active and passive evolution and development in the past two hundred years, its political system and ideology "Dao" morality, has become very special "different from any previous dynasty, but also different from the beginning of the country now" The governance of the country has gradually been completed by the civil class, and the emperor's power and responsibility in administrative management are becoming less and less. It gradually became a tool used by ministers to fight for legislation and a symbol of morality.

To put it bluntly, when the ministers are in agreement, the emperor can go cool, everyone at this time the most dislike the emperor to come out to intervene in anything, if any emperor wants to point fingers" will be attacked by the ministers and accused of tyrants: and when the ministers have differences of opinion, the emperor is invited to come out and be the final judge, and everyone at this time most hopes that the emperor will come out to support them. Otherwise, there is a danger of being scolded as a lazy faint king. At the same time, everyone also asked the emperor to be a model of morality, filial piety, "benevolence, courtesy, faith", diligence, and righteousness, otherwise there is also the danger of being scolded as a faint monarch or a tyrant... Of course, the requirements of this last article are a bit high, "Maybe only Emperor Xiaozong can barely be counted, so Xiaozong is also regarded as a model of Ming Jun by later generations of courtiers, once he feels that the emperor has done something wrong", he will say, "If Emperor Xiaozong is here, it will not be like this, but how." , Compared with Xiaozong, Emperor Longqing must not have anything to do with the last one, but fortunately, it is in terms of personal cultivation, which is only about the spiritual world of the minister, but it does not hinder state affairs. But in other aspects, "he is more in line with the image of the Ming monarch in the hearts of his courtiers than Xiaozong...... He is more cooperative with the ministers' requirements than Xiaozong, "I will never interfere with the ministers' affairs, because he knows that he can't compare with Master Gao in terms of governance, Master Shen in terms of military affairs, and Master Zhang in terms of finance...... The internal () and the ministries and institutes can already do things very well, even if they leave themselves, they will still turn around. In fact, "it seems that people have never counted on themselves", so why do you have to bow down for that senseless sense of existence? Tired of himself and causing chaos to the ministers, the standard is thankless.

Throughout the millennium, it is estimated that the Longqing Dynasty is the closest to the pursuit of the ancients, the era of the Holy Son of Heaven hanging the arch and ruling the arch. Therefore, some people say that Emperor Longqing was just lucky to "catch up with the explosion of character in the Ming Dynasty", and suddenly emerged Gao Gong, Shen Mo, Zhang Juzheng, Yang Bo, Wang Chonggu, Qi Jiguang, Li Chengliang, Pan Jitao, Hai Rui, Zhu Heng and countless other outstanding talents. This argument itself is based on an erroneous theory, and the so-called Kyushu and all states are tied to one person, as if the emperor does not contribute to the "country will not be well governed." In fact, if Emperor Longqing was like the Manchu Emperor in Shen Mo's original era, and the ministers only had the share of listening to and doing things according to the orders of the emperor, how could there be room for these talents to play? There aren't so many talents.

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It is precisely because Emperor Longqing can not doubt or suspect his trusted ministers, set up obstacles, let them do things, and give them lasting and stable dependence, that he can provide the most ideal stage for his auxiliary ministers to be able to promising.

At the beginning of Longqing's ascension, what he faced was actually a mess left over from the long-term chaos of the Zheng and Jia dynasties. The situation has been extremely volatile, and the turbulent factors have been growing in the shadows, and most of them have surfaced. At that time, Henan, Huguang, Shandong, Zhili and other places "all had a great hunger for many years" and even a human tragedy occurred in which hungry people sold their children and daughters and changed wives for food. The reason for this is that "in addition to natural disasters", it is more **, but it is actually due to the fact that the imperial court, large and small yamen at all levels, "are dominated by some officials who only know how to be greedy and stubborn, and unruly." These people have been in the officialdom for a long time, and they are good at meeting the camp to "never care about the people's suffering, neither afraid of public opinion, nor shameless", but they take their own eunuch situation and financial operation as a trade-off for dealing with people.

If the government is in the hands of such a group of officials, it will naturally loot too much, and the officials will be greedy and corrupt, so as to make a fortune and harm the common people. The Imperial Law Department is nothing more than a special trading place for money and power, a violent organ for safeguarding the vested interests of the powerful and wealthy, and the whole state apparatus is like a meat grinder, with the blood and bones of the people as the only raw material. As a result, there is a huge disparity between the rich and the poor in society, and land annexation is serious. More to Hu Lu Kou plunder, the border alarm is frequent, it can really be said that internal and external troubles are intertwined, the world of the Ming Dynasty is shaking, there is a sign of collapse.

If everything remains unchanged, or if it is only a headache and a pain in the foot, the situation in the Longqing Dynasty will inevitably deteriorate, and a full-scale crisis will inevitably erupt. But as the saying goes, the times create heroes", when the country is in danger and the people's livelihood is difficult, there are always some people who want to save the fortunes of the world, brave and heroic, and promise to "be willing to dedicate themselves to the world's heavy salvation talents." The most outstanding representatives of this dynasty are Gao Gong, Shen Mo, and Zhang Juzheng. Although they have different viewpoints and stances and "different methods and strategies," they are the same in their courage to face up to the dangers, their diligent analysis of the situation, their courage to put forward and implement them, their courage to take advantage of the evils and the advantages in order to help the crisis and repeal the stubborn, and their earnest hope to seek the rebirth of the political power and the improvement of the people's livelihood through a series of reforms. They firmly believe that the law must be governed by the change of time, and the rule will be meritorious when the world is appropriate", and they believe that it is necessary not to adhere to the "ancestral law", it is necessary to break through the framework of traditional concepts and systems and regulations, and it is necessary to be pragmatic and carry out great reforms in a targeted manner, and only then can the country get rid of its predicament and open up a new path of development.

Therefore, starting from the second year of Longqing, due to the ardent social needs and subjective conditions, "the Ming Dynasty vigorously launched a major reform campaign from top to bottom, throughout the country, including rectifying political style, rectifying the administration of officials, improving administrative efficiency, reforming the personnel system and taxation system, strengthening border defense, building water conservancy, and implementing shipping." Just like the host of the grass change, "Nei () Shoufu and the official department of Shangshu Gao Gong xìng grid, this grass change is also vigorous and unstoppable from the beginning, almost in the blink of an eye, it will spread all over the country, inside and outside, and really promote the heavy and stagnant footsteps of history......

First of all, under the auspices of Gao Gong, vigorously refreshed the rule of officials, institutionalized and transparent the selection and appointment of officials, "made the inspection of officials routine and standardized, eliminated all unqualified officials, showed no mercy to officials who broke the law, and did not allow mediocre and greedy people to abuse the number and muddy the officialdom: emphasizing the punishment of serious meritorious crimes and deposing, and advocating the practice of practical government and practical things with a solid heart." It does not take the ranking of the first grade as the main criterion for employing people, but selects them according to their political achievements.

Since the second year of Longqing, Gao Gong has inspected officials every year, eliminated nearly 1,000 unqualified officials, and punished countless people who were greedy for ink, so that since Zhengde, the increasingly corrupt and seemingly hopeless government has been greatly reversed. Under his exceptional promotion, "a large number of young and promising officials from humble backgrounds came to the forefront, and these people were outstanding in talent and eager to make meritorious contributions, injecting fresh blood into the rigid and decadent body of the Ming Dynasty", greatly improving the administrative efficiency of the government and greatly reducing the harm to the people. It reshaped the image of the imperial court, established the authority of the internal (), and laid a solid foundation for other reforms.

In terms of finance, in the first year of Longqing, despite the blood transfusion of the city's customs duties, the imperial court's finances still suffered huge losses every year, and the fiscal deficit accumulated year by year, "and even the salaries of officials were often in arrears...... This also justifies their greed for ink.

But only three years later, the treasury began to balance its expenditures, "to the sixth year of Longqing", there was an annual surplus of one million taels, don't forget, in the past few years, the imperial court has fought two major battles, each of which has an expenditure of more than five million taels. According to the Ministry of Households, if there are no war expenditures in the future, the annual fiscal surplus will be more than 5 million taels, and it will increase year after year, because a whip law is only implemented in Nanzhi, Xijiang, Shandong, Fujian, and Jiangxi.

And Zhang Juzheng was able to solve the financial crisis that had disturbed the Ming Dynasty for sixty or seventy years, relying on the Qingzhang field and a whip method! Since Hai Rui broke the ice in Susong, it has been three years since the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the past three years, the number of cultivated land in the whole country has been re-verified to be 6.5 million hectares, an increase of nearly 2.5 million hectares of tax-paying fields compared with the 15 years of Hongzhi, and the large amount of land embezzled by powerful landlords has been made public...... This is still the case of no tax reform.

What's more, the imperial court vigorously promoted a whip law, "which is to combine all kinds of taxes and levies together, and collect them in silver, which has obvious benefits." You know, in fact, the emperors of the Chinese Dynasty, except for some crazy people, were light on the common people, and the proportion of land was usually twenty taxes one, ten taxes and one was a heavy tax, and five taxes were one, which was an absolute tyrant.

But why can't ordinary people survive? Because there is too much room for maneuver here, there are countless corrupt officials and corrupt officials who use these loopholes to squeeze the juice out of the people, and as a result, the people suffer, the country suffers, and the middle gang of turtles and grandchildren are all cheap. After all taxes are collected in silver, "whether it is field tax, forced labor, or poll tax, there is a unified standard, and it is not the official who has the final say." "If you have it, you have it, and if you don't have it, you don't have it, and you will no longer let officials play hooligans."

It is impossible not to play at all, but in short, everyone is happy, and the court has obtained the silver of Bai Huhu, and the burden of the people is also light. After the implementation of a whip law, the magistrate said on the recital: "The father and the elder have no pain of personal service, no risk of * production, no sorrowful sighs, no bribery, gambling and fishing invasion, and they know that there is the joy of living the people."

The treasury has money, it is possible to solve the problem of border troubles, in the fourth year of Longqing, the Ming Dynasty recovered the Hetao, captured the ancient leader of Méng, Altan Khan, forced his people to pay tribute, and then withstood the pressure to "open the border with the market, and the northwest border has not been prosperous since then." The imperial court was also able to concentrate its forces on Jiliao to "fight against the Tuman, Duoyan, and Jurchen tribes, and Qi Jiguang, Ma Fang and other famous people of the time will continue to shine, and have driven the Méng ancients out of the Great Wall for 200 miles" Since the Tumu Change, the capital has restored security for the first time.

At the same time, the Wei Yinbao rebellion, which once shocked the world, was quelled, Annan and Luzon were reclassified as the land of the Ming Dynasty, and all the countries in the South Seas surrendered......

As a result, the years of Longqing "are indeed very different from the Zheng and Jia periods!" Of course, it is impossible to say that it will be reborn in such a short time. But every aspect of this old empire "is indeed full of vitality and new atmosphere", and as long as time goes in and if everything develops in a good direction, "it will surely create an unprecedented prosperity!"

Unfortunately, the crisis is also with us. The biggest problem with this grass change is also like the xìng grid of its host Gao Gong, which is too urgent and fast, like a storm, so fast that many people's concepts can't keep up, and its drastic grass change has damaged the interests of too many people. Even within the reform group, there were serious differences over issues such as line and leadership, but when Emperor Longqing was healthy, all problems could be overcome. For although the emperor was powerless to stop the fighting between his ministers, he knew who to firmly support and could give him firm support and protection. This prevents the court from falling into endless battles, and the courtiers who are determined to change the grass do not have to worry about open guns and hidden arrows, and go away at full speed!

Some people, when he is well, "you don't feel his importance, but when he is in a situation", you will find that everything is messed up with you. For the Ming Empire, Emperor Longqing is such a person......@.