Chapter 20 Chapter 20 The Donglin Party Destroyed the Ming Dynasty

When people talk about the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the most lamented sentence is "the Ming Dynasty actually died in Wanli".From the reign of Emperor Zhu Yijun of Wanli to the enthronement of Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Apocalypse, the Ming Dynasty during this period can be described as constant internal and external troubles. In terms of "foreign aggression", the southwestern chieftains rebelled in the south, the Dutch colonists invaded the southeast, and the Hou Jin in the northern border became stronger and stronger, threatening the northeast of the Ming Dynasty. The "internal worries" are even more lively. First, it revolves around the "Case of Struggle for the State" concerning the establishment of the crown prince. The "Red Pill Case" in which the mystery of Guangzong Zhu Changluo's death was revealed, and the "Moving Palace Case" in which the Ming Guangzong's favorite concubine Li Xuanshi was expelled.The forces from all sides are clamoring for you to sing and I will appear on the stage, and the head of the Ming Dynasty's political altar changes the king's banner, and in the end, it becomes the "eunuch party" of "nine thousand years old" Wei Zhongxian in power, what a mess.

However, when it comes to these dark years, all kinds of history books mention one of the short bright periods, that is, the early days of Emperor Zhu Youxiao's ascension to the throne. Whether it is "History of Ming Dynasty" or "Sin Wei Lu", it is called this period. For the sake of "All Zheng Yingchao", that is, the "just force" has mastered the power of the country. This "just force" that has brought hope to countless people is the famous Donglin Party. During this period of power transfer in the Ming Dynasty and the vicissitudes of the political arena, the Donglin Party has always been evaluated as a positive role by various historical books, and it is also the role with the highest "appearance rate". They joined in the fun when "struggling for the foundation of the country", and they tried their best to turn the tide and save the crisis during the "Hongwan case" and "Yigong case".During the period when Wei Zhongxian's "eunuch party" seized power, they fought generously without fear, and finally failed tragically and died heroically.The process of its birth, development, growth, and final failure is all permeated with impassioned and epic stories.Later generations read the history books, and when they read the word "Donglin Party", what always greeted them was bursts of righteousness.

However, when we truly touch the truth of history through the "Majestic Righteousness", we will see a completely different Donglin Party. These passionate scholars who are determined to help the world and create ZTE have often not become the promoters of history. , On the contrary, it has become a destroyer of history, and it can even be said without doubt: The Donglin Party is also to blame for the fall of the Ming Dynasty. To understand the true situation of the Donglin Party, we must start with the birth and growth of the Donglin Party. When it comes to the birth of the Donglin Party, it is generally said that in the 22nd year of Wanli (1594 A.D.), Gu Xiancheng, a doctor of the Ministry of Officials, was dismissed from office and returned to his hometown. With the support of Ouyang Dongfeng, the prefect of Changzhou, and Lin Zai, the prefect of Wuxi, Donglin Academy, where Yang Shi, a native of the Song Dynasty, lectured was restored, and since then it has opened a forum to give lectures, and it has gradually become a large scale.His remarks are called "Qingyi", and his social influence is increasing day by day. A large number of scholars, scholars, and even new businessmen and gentlemen gathered here, and eventually formed a series.Afterwards, its members gradually stepped into the political arena and formed this political faction - Donglin Party.However, if we go back to the source, the emergence of the Donglin Party is more thanks to Zhang Juzheng.

After the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the original Neo-Confucian thought was severely impacted, the trend of free thought flourished, and freedom of speech among scholar-bureaucrats became popular.During Zhang Juzheng's reform period, Zhang Juzheng's practice of strengthening personal authority became the target of public criticism.In order to suppress speech, Zhang Juzheng destroyed the Tianxia Academy and strictly prohibited discussing current affairs. During his lifetime, he temporarily suppressed the "free thought trend", but the "ideological activity" of the Ming Dynasty was still there.During the ten years of Zhang Juzheng's reforms, the Ming Dynasty's economy developed greatly, capitalism sprouted, and ideological openness and freedom also surged undercurrents.This trend of thought rebounded after Zhang Juzheng's death and liquidation. After Emperor Wanli came to power, the "autocratic monarchy" was no longer what it used to be. Ming Dynasty scholars discussed government affairs and even criticized the king, which was the mainstream of society.Emperor Wanli could not overwhelm his officials on the issue of establishing a crown prince. The two sides had stalemate for decades.And the Donglin Party, an organization different from any previous political schools in China, came into being.

The founder of the Donglin Party was Gu Xiancheng. Before the Donglin Party was born, he was just an inconspicuous figure in the officialdom.In the 22nd year of Wanli (1594 A.D.), as a doctor of the Ministry of Officials, he recommended cabinet candidates to Emperor Wanli. The candidates he recommended did not meet the wishes of Emperor Wanli. The emperor dismissed him.Afterwards, Donglin Academy was built, where lectures were held, and those who responded gathered.The reason for the sensational effect was mainly that his behavior of defiantly resisting Wanli won the admiration of many intellectuals among the people.The relationship between the monarch and ministers in the Ming Dynasty has always been antagonistic. When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he used extremely high-pressure policies to suppress the civil official group. However, with the growth of the civil official group, the Ming emperor's control over the civil official group declined day by day.In the late Ming Dynasty, officials often used the method of attacking the emperor to increase their popularity, and Gu Xiancheng did it.At this time, it was the period when Emperor Wanli and the civil official group were "struggling for the foundation of the country" around the issue of "establishing a prince". Many people "like-minded" came together.The three heroes of the Donglin Party, Gu Xiancheng, Zou Yuanbiao, and Zhao Nanxing, all had similar encounters.In addition, at this time, capitalism was sprouting in the southeast coast, and many emerging businessmen also formed alliances with the Donglin Party in order to seek future benefits.From the first day Donglin Academy was established, this organization hidden among the people has been a silent undercurrent, silently accumulating, and when it breaks out of the ground, it will shake the entire Ming Dynasty.

The Donglin Party gradually penetrated into the state power of the Ming Dynasty through cooperation with many real power figures in the court. The two most important figures were Li Sancai, governor of Fengyang, and Ye Xianggao, a cabinet scholar.In the "Donglin Dianjianglu" (the list of "criminals" of the Donglin Party) compiled by the eunuch party later, each member of the Donglin Party on the list drew a Water Margin character for comparison, and Li Sancai was compared by the eunuch party. As Chao Gai, the Heavenly King of Tota, Ye Xianggao was compared to Song Jiang who rained in time, which shows the importance of the two in the "Liangshanbo" of the Donglin Party.Li Sancai, named Daofu, was born in a merchant family in Lintong, Shaanxi. When he was the governor of Fengyang, he severely punished Chen Zeng, the local mine tax eunuch, and asked for reductions and exemptions of commercial taxes many times. He was a well-known official at that time.He is close to Gu Xiancheng, not only responding to Gu Xiancheng internally, notifying the changes in the court, but also recommending Gu Xiancheng to become an official many times.Another political figure, Ye Xianggao, was even more important. He was promoted to a cabinet scholar in 1635. The next year, because the cabinet scholar Zhu Geng resigned, he was the only one left in the cabinet, so he was called "the only prime minister".Taking this opportunity, he proposed to Emperor Wanli to fill in vacant officials, taking the opportunity to place a large number of officials with Donglin Party background in key departments.However, the Donglin Party attracted attention for the first time, mainly related to Li Sancai: in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli (AD 1610), Ye Xianggao recommended Li Sancai to join the cabinet, which was opposed by many people. Some people attacked Li Sancai as "Donglin Party", this is the first time the Donglin Party has appeared in the court.Around the issue of Li Sancai's entry into the cabinet, officials with Donglin background and the opposition confronted each other and attacked each other. In the end, Li Sancai angrily resigned from office.The following year happened to be the Jingcha (a major assessment of cadres), and the Donglin Party fought back, taking advantage of Ye Xianggao's opportunity to preside over the Jingcha, and vigorously repelled dissidents.However, the forces opposing the Donglin Party were also very strong. After several contests, many officials with Donglin Party background were dismissed, and the opposition occupied prominent positions in the six ministries.As the "Tuota King" of the Donglin Party, Ye Xianggao opened up a second battlefield, and arranged many recent Donglin Party members to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Dali Temple and other departments. It didn't attract too much attention, but it was this arrangement that left Donglin Party with the capital to turn around.

In the thirty-eighth year of Wanli (AD 1610), the Jingcha ended with the failure of the Donglin Party. In the following years, the number of Donglin Party members was greatly reduced, and the lectures withered. At the most difficult time, Donglin Academy came to listen to the lectures. The number of people is only 20% of the previous one.Gu Xiancheng, the founder of the Donglin Party, died in depression the following year at the age of 62.He would never have imagined that only four years after his death, a sudden accident would trigger the turnaround of the Donglin Party. This is the famous taper incident in the 43rd year of Wanli (AD 1615), that is, the "murder of the prince".On the fourth day of May of that year, a farmer named Zhang Cha sneaked into the Ciqing Palace where the prince Zhu Changluo lived, and attacked the prince with a stick. Fortunately, he was captured by the eunuch.The court was shocked after the incident, and many officials demanded to find out the truth.It was a sensitive period at this time. Although Wanli conceded defeat in the "struggle for the foundation of the country", Zheng Guifei, Wanli's favorite concubine who wanted his son to be the prince, was not reconciled.As soon as the incident happened, the whole court turned their suspicious eyes on Concubine Zheng Gui.After all, it was a royal scandal, and the Ming Dynasty tried to cover it up from the very beginning. The three courts tried several times and decided that Zhang Cha was a lunatic.Before the case was about to be finalized, Ye Xianggao arranged for Wang Zhicai, the head of the sixth grade in the Ministry of Criminal Justice, to design a night trial for Zhang Chai when he was in Beijing. Then members of the Donglin Party acted one after another and demanded a retrial of the case. Under the pressure of public opinion, the Ming royal family had to agree to a second trial, and finally Zhang Cha confessed the behind-the-scenes instigation of the case: Zheng Guifei's personal eunuch Pang Gonggong and Eunuch Liu.There was an uproar in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty. In the end, Emperor Wanli had no choice but to arrange for Concubine Zheng to ask the prince for help on the spot, and beheaded Zhang Cha and the two eunuchs before closing this muddled case.This ridiculous and repeated farce became a turning point in the fate of the Donglin Party: due to the investigation of the Donglin Party, the crown prince's position was stabilized, and the Donglin Party became the prince's ally, and its reputation has grown since then.In response to the growing power of the Donglin Party, the former opponents of the Donglin Party also began to form cliques, forming the Qi, Chu, and Zhejiang parties.The factional struggles in the Ming Dynasty became more and more intense from then on.

In the forty-eighth year of Wanli (1619 A.D.), Emperor Wanli died amidst internal and external troubles, and the prince Zhu Changluo, the protagonist of "Struggling for the Country", came to the throne, and the status of Donglin Party was also improved.After Zhu Changluo ascended the throne, he overindulged in sexual desires, causing his health to deteriorate, and he was poisoned to death by taking "red pills" (aphrodisiac medicine). He only reigned for 8 months.The situation became tense again, and Zhu Youxiao, the son of Zhu Changluo, came to the throne, and the year name was changed to "Tianqi" the following year.During this period, Li Xuanshi, Zhu Changluo's favorite concubine, attempted to hold Zhu Youxiao hostage to control the government. Under the persecution of Yang Lian, a direct minister of the Donglin Party, Li Xuanshi was forced to leave the Qianqing Palace, and Zhu Youxiao successfully ascended the throne with the support of the Donglin Party.So far, the Donglin Party has become the enthroned hero of Zhu Changluo and Zhu Youxiao's father and son.Emperor Apocalypse, who successfully ascended the throne, also knew how to repay his kindness. At the beginning of his ascension, the Donglin Party members occupied important positions such as the Minister of Rites, the Minister of Officials, and the Minister of Dali Temple. Party Alliance", Ye Xianggao, the "Tuota King" of the Donglin Party, sat on the position of the chief assistant of the cabinet, and thus took charge of the power of the Ming Dynasty's civil official group.The "All Zhengying Dynasty" mentioned in the history books is this period.

Looking at the development process of the Donglin Party, it seems that justice has defeated evil on the surface.The members of the Donglin Party are basically gentlemen with high morals and lofty aspirations. The couplet of Donglin Academy, "Family affairs, state affairs, world affairs, and everything concerned", is still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people today.The Donglin Party’s long-term political propositions include reducing commercial taxes, resting with the people, and opening up speeches. Many people in modern times have "raised" the Donglin Party because of this, saying that this is an ideological proposition "with a bourgeois nature".However, after carefully examining the internal and external situation of the Ming Dynasty at that time, we have to admit that it is true that the Donglin Party was worried about the world, but it was mostly fantasy and had little practical significance.

One of the important reasons why the Donglin Party's ambitions are not fulfilled is that none of the elite among them, like Zhang Juzheng, can take into account the current disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty, and have mature and effective innovative ideas.Even if there is one or two "flash" rhetoric, it is not systematic and difficult to achieve.An inherent gap is that the original founders of the Donglin Party, such as Gu Xiancheng and others, mostly returned to their hometowns to give lectures after being dismissed from office.Their so-called reform ideas have naturally turned into vanity.In addition, the important members of the Donglin Party, although they are still masters in terms of political tactics, but in terms of governance ability, except for a few people such as Sun Chengzong and Ye Xianggao, most of them are rookies.Without a down-to-earth concept and effective display ability, moral teaching alone has never been able to accomplish anything.

On the moral level, although most of the Donglin Party members are true gentlemen in terms of character, Lei Feng is not elected to govern the country.In feudal society, the moral level of officials was not directly proportional to their actual work ability in many cases, and sometimes even inversely proportional, as Zhang Juzheng said, "Ten Qingliu are not as good as one subordinate official."One of the important reasons why Zhang Juzheng's reforms have achieved outstanding results is that he employs people to use their strengths. For example, Yin Zhengmao, a famous general who pacified the Southwest, has been criticized for corruption, but no matter Gao Gong or Zhang Juzheng, they always employ people with no doubts.In contrast, the administrative methods of the Donglin Party members are morality overriding everything. Moral issues are one-size-fits-all. When dealing with people, they even use moral hats to suppress people.For example, when Zhao Nanxing was Minister of the Ministry of Officials, he used cleanliness as the yardstick across the board and dismissed a large number of unqualified officials, many of whom had excellent administrative ability.Shandong's "model of clean government" Yuan Yingtai was also promoted to the governor of Jiliao because of his integrity, and then he was beaten by Nurhachi, causing the Ming Dynasty to lose important towns such as Shenyang and Liaoyang, and became a "border policeman" for a while.Nurhachi at the beginning stage is also the stupid victory of the Baidonglin Party. Judging from the situation of internal and external troubles of the Ming Dynasty at that time, the Ming Dynasty faced two urgent problems: one was the urgent border situation, and the other was the lack of financial resources.For the previous question, when the Donglin Party failed one after another and Nurhachi approached step by step, fortunately there were talents like Sun Chengzong in the Donglin Party. He went to Liaodong alone to supervise the division, promoted the famous general Yuan Chonghuan, and created the Jurchens to the Ming Dynasty. The Guanning line of defense, which could not be breached even at the time of its demise, stabilized the overall border defense situation for the Ming Dynasty, but such figures are rare in the Donglin Party.On the latter question, the morally noble Donglin Party also has a very selfish side: the most prominent tax problem in the Ming Dynasty was tax inequality. After the middle and late Ming Dynasty, land mergers were serious, the commodity economy was highly developed, and the agricultural tax that the country could collect Fewer and fewer.To solve financial problems, it is necessary to establish a new financial system and expand tax sources, especially commercial tax revenue.During Zhang Juzheng's reform period, he re-measured the land while conducting strict investigations on the tax evasion of businessmen in the southeast coast by relying on wealthy landlords, which increased the country's fiscal revenue. However, after Zhang Juzheng's death, his reform measures came to an abrupt end.During the Donglin Party’s “All Zhengying Dynasty”, most members of the Donglin Party had businessman backgrounds, so they strongly opposed the state’s imposition of commercial taxes. When discussing the motive of collecting commercial tax, all officials of the Donglin Party opposed it.For example, after Wei Zhongxian was liquidated in the first year of Chongzhen, Shen Yongmao, Minister of the Ministry of War, asked the country to rectify commercial taxes and expand financial resources, but was attacked by the Donglin party members who had just "rehabilitated" and resigned sadly.As a result, the Ming Dynasty could only continue to increase agricultural taxes, and finally ended up being destroyed by peasant uprisings. During the period before and after the "Zhongzhengying Dynasty", the biggest mistake made by members of the Donglin Party was to entrap Xiong Tingbi, a famous general in Liaodong with outstanding military exploits. Lin Party model, later risked his life to impeach Wei Zhongxian, Yang Lian was posthumously named "Zhonglie Gong" by Chongzhen after his death. After the Battle of Sarhu, the situation in Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty was critical for a while.The victory of Wanli's three major campaigns is inseparable from the correct selection of the Wanli emperor.After the defeat of Sarhu, Emperor Wanli corrected his mistakes and appointed Xiong Tingbi, the supervisory censor, to patrol Liaodong and control the military affairs of Liaodong.Hearing of this person's arrival, Li Yongfang, a general of the Ming Dynasty, hastily reported to Nurhachi: "With this person here, we will be in danger." Xiong Tingbi, whose name is Feibai, is from Jiangxia, Huguang. He is a man with a tough temper as well as his ability.When he was a censor, his biggest problem was that he liked to curse and offend people wherever he went.His level is stronger. When Li Chengliang gave up Liubao, the whole court praised Li Chengliang's meritorious service of "recruiting one hundred thousand", but he saw through it at a glance and exclaimed "There will be no peace in Liaodong since then". The facts really confirmed his judgment.It was his performance that made Wanli realize the hero and appointed him the important task of guarding Liaodong. After Xiong Tingbi took office, he lived up to his entrustment. He first rectified military discipline and imprisoned Li Rubai who had escaped during the Battle of Sarhu, forcing Li Rubai to hang himself to apologize.Then he rode into Liaodong alone, surveyed the military situation of Fushun, and staged a "heroic bravery" on the territory of Nurhachi. Thought, while strengthening defense, while engaging in "people's war", a large number of guerrillas were sent into the Nurhachi ruled area to wreak havoc.The two-pronged approach really worked. After Xiong Tingbi arrived, Nurhachi did not dare to act rashly. Xiong Tingbi took the opportunity to repair the fortifications, recruit refugees, select and train elite soldiers, and prepare the army for war.After the defeat of Sarhu, the morale of the Ming army was low, and the morale was greatly improved.At this time, Nurhachi had no production capacity and relied on looting for a living. Xiong Tingbi's move was tantamount to jamming his throat.Unwilling to sit still, Nurhachi launched a tentative attack on Xiong Tingbi in May of the second year after Xiong Tingbi took office, that is, the forty-eighth year of Wanli (AD 1620). As a result, he was hit in Puhe and lost more than 700 people.Xiong Tingbi's "sit down and turn around" combat idea (that is, relying on fortifications and guerrilla harassment to trap Nurhachi to death) began to work.After reading this incident, Zeng Guofan, a military strategist in the late Qing Dynasty, once said with emotion: "If this person is always there, how can our dynasty (Qing Dynasty) take the Central Plains?" The tough-tempered Xiong Tingbi was able to flex his muscles, mainly due to the support of Emperor Wanli. After Xiong Tingbi took office in Liaodong, there were endless memorials scolding Xiong Tingbi. Among them, Yang Lian, a member of the Donglin Party, was the one who scolded Xiong Tingbi the most.In this regard, Wanli will "stay in China and not send out".After Wanli passed away in July, memorials attacking Xiong Tingbi flew all over the sky again, and Xiong Tingbi, who had lost his backing, resigned sadly.Then Yuan Yingtai, the "model of clean government" of the Donglin Party, took over, defeated Shenyang and Liaoyang with troops, and wiped out the family fortune that Xiong Tingbi had worked so hard to build. This was just the beginning of Xiong Tingbi's tragedy. After the fall of Shenyang, in July of the first year of Tianqi (1621 AD), Xiong Tingbi was reinstated and presided over the defense of Liaodong again as a Liaodong economic strategy.This time his resistance was even greater. The 150,000 local troops in Liaodong were all concentrated in the hands of the governor Wang Huazhen.Xiong Tingbi can mobilize only 5,000 troops.After taking office, Xiong Tingbi was soon completely dismissed by Wang Huazhen. Wang Huazhen's ideas were completely opposite to Xiong Tingbi's.Not only did he think so, but he also did so, and he won Li Yongfang, the surrendered general beside Nurhachi. Who knew that Nurhachi would use Li Yongfang to instigate the rebellion of the trusted general beside Wang Huazhen.On the 18th day of the first lunar month of the following year, after confirming that Xiong Tingbi was evacuated, Nurhachi launched a large-scale attack again, beating Wang Huazhen, who was running the train with his mouth full of words, to annihilation. Only then did it protect the hundreds of thousands of local border residents and Wang Huazhen himself from withdrawing into Shanhaiguan from being slaughtered by the enemy.Afterwards, the Ming Dynasty indiscriminately sent the two to prison together.The reason why Xiong Tingbi watched Wang Huazhen mess around was not because he was incompetent, but because Wang Huazhen's background was too strong. His mentor was Ye Xianggao, the "Tuota King" of the Donglin Party.He turned against the Donglin Party twice, was scolded away the first time, and was kidnapped the second time. The Donglin Party was really Xiong Tingbi's bad luck. What the Donglin Party didn't expect was that Xiong Tingbi also became the bad luck of the Donglin Party.In April of the fourth year of Apocalypse (AD 1624), the Donglin Party was already at a disadvantage in the battle with Wei Zhongxian's "eunuch party". Many colleagues were excluded, and key departments were also controlled by Wei Zhongxian's cronies. Fighting, impeaching Wei Zhongxian, but was imprisoned by Emperor Tianqi instead.Wei Zhongxian decided to completely wipe out the Donglin Party, and Xiong Tingbi, who was imprisoned at this time, was the best excuse.As a result, Wei Zhongxian raised the "Liao case", and Xiong Tingbi, who had been scolded by the Donglin Party all his life, was "accepted by the Donglin Party", and Yang Lian and others all became his accomplices.Afterwards, many members of the Donglin Party were persecuted to death, and Wei Zhongxian's power fell to the government and the opposition.Xiong Tingbi, who was cheated twice by the Donglin Party, became the fuse of the Donglin Party's downfall.