Chapter 57 Chapter VII

Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply influenced by Confucian Neo-Confucianism. If the Song Dynasty was the period for the theoretical formation and maturity of Neo-Confucianism, then the Ming Dynasty was the period for the deepening and practice of Neo-Confucianism. He infiltrated Confucian Neo-Confucianism into every aspect of Chinese social life. Because the Confucianism system based on farming civilization is difficult to be understood by the Mongolian nomads, and the vast Mongolian Empire, in addition to the local culture and Confucian culture, the cultures chosen include the Tubo Trumpet culture, the Islamic culture of Central Asia, and the European culture. Christian culture, etc., so after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, they rejected Confucianism and abolished the imperial examination system that began in the Sui Dynasty.The Han people were devastated by this, and scholars had no chance of being promoted, so they naturally hated the Yuan Dynasty.Zhu Yuanzhang's important use of Confucian scholars, the revival of Confucianism, and the restoration of the imperial examination are undoubtedly a gospel for the Han people and the national culture, especially those scholars who regard him as the "savior" to save the declining world and sing praises to him No wonder.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang inherited the regime system of the "family property system" of the Yuan Dynasty, and threw away the traditions of "enlightened autocracy" and "ruling the world for the scholar-bureaucrats" of the Song Dynasty. He ruled the world with violence and the people with power. "Because of killing and humiliating, treat scholar-bureaucrats as servants."Huang Zongxi once commented: "The changes from the past to the present, all come to an end in the Qin Dynasty, and again in the Yuan Dynasty. After these two events, the ancient sages and kings have nothing to do with compassion and love for their loved ones."

Even the restored imperial examination system is not comparable to the previous generation.Zhu Yuanzhang put him into a narrow track, binding the talents of scholars all over the world into a rope that he can dance at will.The content of the imperial examination is based on the sentence proposition of the Four Books and Five Classics, and the explanation must be based on Zhu Xi’s annotations. There are eight parts of strands and strands.In order to gain fame, literati in the world only bury their heads in the Four Books and Five Classics, the Tao of Confucius and Mencius, and Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism, and only write empty stereotyped essays, knowing nothing about society, current affairs, and life. Can't be right."It has cultivated a large number of idiots who are regarded as nerds, resulting in an unprecedented waste of talents and seriously hindering the development of cultural science.

Zhu Yuanzhang leaped from an out-and-out peasant (strictly speaking, Liu Bang was not an orthodox peasant) to the dragon chair, which was the first time in Chinese history.This is also the dream of every peasant uprising since Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. "God" was finally realized through Zhu Yuanzhang, a historical figure.Farmers—the Chinese farmers who accounted for more than 99% of China's total population at that time, all looked forward to Zhu Yuanzhang, the shining savior, and placed infinite expectations and hopes on him. Zhu Yuanzhang also felt the heavy responsibility and mission on his shoulders. Judging from his actions, he did not seem to disappoint those peasant brothers who were at the bottom of society.

Zhu Yuanzhang is a typical representative of Chinese peasants, and he understands the sufferings of peasants best.In him, not only the advantages of frugality, diligence, hard work and hard work of the peasants are condensed, but also the deep-rooted shortcomings of the peasants are accumulated.The most prominent among them is the "peasant consciousness" of Chinese farmers that is ever present and ubiquitous. Personally speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang has reached the pinnacle of individual life when he boarded the Dragon Throne. However, he still has a palpable goal and ideal in his heart—that is, to establish an agricultural society that is equal, simple, prosperous and happy. .

According to the "Ming Taizu Records", Zhu Yuanzhang once said: "Among the four peoples, farmers are the hardest and the hardest. In spring, they get up as soon as the rooster crows, and drive the cattle to the fields to cultivate. Planting seedlings, weeding, fertilization, and the sun I was sweating in the sun and working hard. It was so easy to wait until the harvest was over. After the grain and taxes were paid, there was not much left. In case of floods, droughts, insects and locusts, the whole family was anxious and had no choice. But the country’s taxes are all Farmers come out, and doing errands is also the job of farmers. To make the country prosperous and strong, farmers must live and work in peace and contentment, so it is possible.”

He regarded agriculture as the foundation of the country, and adopted the consistent policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce of rulers of all dynasties. He killed the sprout of capitalism that emerged in the late Song Dynasty - a very weak commodity economy.He believed that farming was the most noble profession in the world. In his eyes, it seemed that only by personally participating in agricultural labor and living a hard and simple life could be considered moral. In order to control and manage the people of the whole country, collect taxes, and establish an effective ruling order, he implemented the household registration system nationwide, implemented a census, and verified the number of people. Western statistical historians believe that it is the earliest census record in the world.After the establishment of the household registration system, he strictly restricted farmers to the ridges of the fields. "Agriculturalists don't travel within a mile, go out at night and go in at night, and know each other's work and rest." And by extension, the activities of all soldiers and civilians in the country are limited to within a hundred miles.Beyond this range, you have to ask the magistrate for guidance, which is equivalent to the current pass or ID card.If it is violated, it must be captured and sent to the official.Confining the general public to a fixed site, the so-called "chickens and dogs hear each other, and never communicate with each other when old and dead."The result is that society becomes more closed, lifeless like a pool of stagnant water.

Zhu Yuanzhang also implemented the Confucian education policy to the grassroots of society.He is very practical and does not expect everyone to become Yao and Shun, but requires ordinary people not to make troubles or disturb the government.He issued six clear and easy-to-understand edicts: "Be filial to your parents, respect your elders, live in harmony with the village, teach your children and grandchildren, keep everyone safe, and don't do anything wrong." It is stipulated that every old man in Lijia should ring the bell and recite aloud every day.He also issued notices to teach the people, "The Imperial Order", etc., "educating" from time to time, asking the people to do good and avoid evil.Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a peasant and knew the peasants best. He knew that the peasants did not understand classical Chinese such as "Zhihuzheye", so he tried to write such proclamations in an easy-to-understand manner, or translated the relevant codes into vernacular, called " Straightforward."Contrary to ruling officials with power and ferocity, Zhu Yuanzhang seems to have a special feeling for peasants, but instead focuses on enlightenment and supplements punishment.

He advocates frugality and hard work, hates idlers, and hates gambling even more.He has no way to deal with corruption, but his treatment of gambling has achieved remarkable results.He built a "Xiaoyao Building" in Nanjing City, and sent gamblers into it, letting them gamble their fill, but they just didn't give them food.As soon as this move was made, all the gamblers were in danger, and they were all terrified, and they dared not gamble again. What Zhu Yuanzhang never forgets is to give farmers a good space for survival and development, so as to achieve the long-term stability of the country.He severely punished corrupt officials and cracked down on powerful landlords, all for the purpose of protecting and supporting small farmers.

Most of the more than 100,000 people killed in Zhu Yuanzhang's Daxing prison case were court officials and wealthy private households.For landlords who own land in the countryside, many obligations are stipulated to strictly limit the expansion of their family wealth.The ideal society of equality in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart is not a society where everyone is rich, but a society where all the rich are turned into ordinary people.There is no difference between rich and poor, only big and small.Pursue a "small country with few people" society where everyone is a self-cultivator, everyone has food and clothing, and everyone is self-sufficient and happy.Not only the countryside, but he also tried to turn the entire land of China into a rural society with idyllic scenery, and turned every member of the entire Chinese nation into farmers. It is impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to surpass the era he was in, let alone get rid of the limitation of "farmer origin".Until the 1960s and 1970s, the general thinking from top to bottom also believed that only physical labor was considered real labor, and those mental workers who belonged to the complex labor category were parasites. become a fashion.Even today, farmers who account for the vast majority of China's total population still stubbornly believe that their occupation is the most important thing in the world - if there are no farmers like us, everyone in the world will starve to death. This is what they say The most catchphrase.After a farmer entered the city, he couldn't help wondering: "So many people are idle, and I don't know where they get food. How can they live happily on an empty stomach?" Agriculture and farmers are the primary issues that China will never be able to avoid, especially for Zhu Yuanzhang more than 600 years ago.What is terrible is that he regards the whole country as an enlarged countryside, governs the country by means of agricultural management, and agriculturalizes the whole of China, grasping the wheel of history that has already moved forward, making Chinese society more solidified and stagnant. In terms of diplomacy, Zhu Yuanzhang's understanding of the world was limited to the surrounding and neighboring Southeast Asian countries and regions.Out of fear of unfamiliarity with the outside world and short-sighted self-sufficiency, he stuck to his feet and carried out a diplomatic strategy of substituting defense for offense; he canceled the non-governmental free trade exchanges that had existed in the past dynasties, and issued six bans on the sea, "No piece of board is allowed to enter the sea. ", prohibiting all Chinese and foreign commercial trade.He said: "Because the sea route can communicate with foreign countries, I prohibit Chinese people from communicating. If there is no prohibition and warning, everyone will be confused by interests and violate the criminal law." He ordered people to compile the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", and personally decided to make it a legal article that was always in effect in the Ming Dynasty and maintained the centralization of the monarchy and the feudal hierarchy. Based on the fixed model of rural spring farming and autumn harvest, four-season cycle, and eternal life, he fixed the basic national policy of the Ming Dynasty with the "Emperor Ming Zu Xun".He wishfully believed that as long as the descendants of the Zhu family abide by the established laws he formulated, they can sit firmly in the country and never change color from generation to generation.Therefore, from internal affairs to foreign affairs, from life to governing the country, he has formulated quite comprehensive and detailed plans based on his own personal experience.Then, he enjoined: "All my descendants, accept my orders, don't be smart and mess with my established laws, and a word cannot be changed." Those who rule the ancestors are regarded as treacherous ministers." Generations of development, but for future generations to formulate some rules and stick to the rules, it is no wonder that during the Ming Dynasty, Chinese culture entered a dead end in historical development.While advocating frugality and hard work, he turned the royal family group into a huge parasitic class.Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that all the salaries of the royal family should be paid by the imperial court.For members of the royal family who were born, all living burdens and burials after death are borne by the imperial court, and they have been "supported" by the state throughout their lives.According to the law, the royal family could neither take part in the imperial examinations to be officials, nor be allowed to work in agriculture, do business, and could only sit back and enjoy the time without working.However, the members of the royal family continued to increase geometrically, reaching more than 50,000 people after more than a hundred years; in the 29th year of Jiajing Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty (1550 AD), the number of royal family members reached nearly 100,000.With such a huge population, all the burdens of life are "contracted" by the state, and the expenditure of Lumi by the princes alone accounts for more than a quarter of the country's total grain and rice income.The parasitic class of the royal family became a huge and heavy burden, which made the economy and finance of the Ming Dynasty overwhelmed. ... After writing this, if we look away a little bit and look at the European society in the same period, there must be many thought-provoking feelings and insights.At that time, Europe was undergoing a comprehensive and vigorous Renaissance movement, its main theme was to exalt human nature, advocate humanism, and carry out the enlightenment of science, democracy, and freedom; externally, in order to find wealth and open up new markets, a group of The brave and strong are going on an exciting expedition of geographical discovery.For the West, it was a society full of youthful vigor and vigor, and it was a great period of high-spirited and high-spirited progress. But we are intoxicated in the charming pastoral scenery of "a small country with few people". The people are bound by narrow fields and land, and the country's land is enclosed by a prison. The whole country has formed a huge "concentration camp" without privacy, personality, dignity, and freedom. One side is high-spirited and vigorously advancing by leaps and bounds, and the other side is sluggish and complacent. Comparing the two, the advantages and disadvantages are self-evident.Over time, the gap will widen, and the development of the West and the backwardness of China are inevitable.And if you fall behind, you will be beaten. History, like this, seems to be accidental but inevitably doomed the Chinese nation to be plagued by many disasters. China's poverty, weakness and backwardness are beaten. Of course, this "old account" cannot be counted on Zhu Yuanzhang alone, but the Ming Dynasty was a major turning point in Chinese history. His innate peasant consciousness and his addiction Killing nature, autocratic centralization, short-sightedness, self-sufficiency, and narrow-mindedness have immeasurable potential effects and profound influences, and they bear inescapable responsibilities for the development of Chinese history.