Chapter 28 The second quarter is in crisis

From the middle of the 15th century to the middle of the 16th century, it was the middle of the development of the Ming Dynasty.From Yingzong Zhu Qizhen to Mu Zong Zhu Zaihou [Houhou], there were seven emperors.During this period, the emperors were mostly indolent in political affairs, indulged in sensuality, stayed away from court all year round, and handed over power to eunuchs or powerful ministers. Politics became increasingly dark, border defenses were weakened, social conflicts were sharp, and peasant uprisings came and went, impacting the Ming Dynasty. Decay reigns. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, land annexation developed rapidly, mainly the emperor, princes, eunuchs, and gentry landowners occupied land.The system of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the clan, relatives of the emperor, and meritorious officials all had land grants.But they also asked the emperor to increase the land to expand the industry, which is called "begging".During the reign of Emperor Xianzong, Zhou Yu (yuyu), the commander of Jinyiwei, a foreign relative, asked for more than 600 hectares of land in Wuqiang and Wuyi; the wife of Yi (yiyi), Mrs. Liu, applied for granting more than 300 hectares of land in Tongzhou and Wuqing, and the emperor agreed.Just as Li Sen said in the story of Huke: "It's called Zuoqiu, but it's just a plunder!" ("Ming History Li Sen Biography") Some big landlords simply took the land they had seized forcibly in order to get ahead of officials or avoid taxes and servitude. Dedicated to the prince of Xunqi, it is called "dedication".Powerful eunuchs also took the opportunity to embezzle fertile land by building temples.During the reign of Emperor Xianzong, the great eunuch Wang Zhi occupied 20,000 hectares of land and became a big landlord.The emperor occupying the land is even more prominent.During the Chenghua period, there were five Huangzhuang in Beijing. In the period of Wuzong Zhengde, there were as many as 36 Huangzhuang in less than 30 years.The emperor not only built Huangzhuang, but also issued "imperial debts", opened "imperial stores", sold "imperial salt", set up "imperial kilns" (coal kilns), and made huge profits.The result is that "private households are getting richer, the public office is getting poorer, and the country is deficient and the people are poor" ("Zhang Taiyue Collected Works", Volume 26, "Promised Heaven Governor Song Yangshan's Discussion on the Balance of Food and Enough People").During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the people in the Zhili area resisted the occupation of land, and the government arrested more than 200 people including Lu Tang, a commoner, which caused commotion among the people in southern Gyeonggi.

During this period, the eunuchs who were the emperor's domestic slaves became the political representatives of the royal landlord group, while the cabinet bachelors were the political representatives of the bureaucratic landlords. A situation in which eunuchs and power officials took turns ruling.From Yingzong Zhengtong to Wuzong Zhengde years, the eunuchs were mainly dominated by Wang Zhen, Cao Jixiang, Wang Zhi, and Liu Jin. From Shizong Jiajing to the early years of Shenzong Wanli, it was Xia Yan, Yan Song, Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, etc. Power ministers rule.Of course, powerful officials also have to win over eunuchs.Therefore, eunuch dictatorship is a prominent political feature of this stage.Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jian deeply favored the great eunuch Wang Zhi, and the little eunuch Ah Chou sarcastically said in the form of cross talk: "I only know Wang eunuch, but not the emperor." Eunuch Liu Jin has power over the world and does evil.At that time, there were legends inside and outside Beijing that there were two emperors in the imperial court, one sitting emperor and the other standing emperor; one emperor was surnamed Zhu, and the other was surnamed Liu.Shizong Zhu Houcong [cong hastily] ruled for 45 years and handed over the power to Yan Song.He believed in Taoism, took the alchemy made by Taoist priests, and begged for immortality.The eunuchs dominated the government, most of the officials flattered, practiced favoritism, and bribery was common.In order to please Liu Jin, the academician Jiao Fang moved to his home to work.During the reign of Hongzhi, the eunuch Li Guang's home was raided, and a book was seized with the names of many ministers of civil and military affairs written on it, and thousands of stones each of yellow rice and white rice were presented.Xiaozong asked in surprise: "How much grain does Li Guang eat and receive so much rice?" The attendants on the left and right said, "This is a code word. Yellow rice is gold, and white rice is silver." Ten thousand taels, two million taels of silver, and countless treasures.You can get a glimpse of the failure of the official administration in the Ming Dynasty.

Due to the expansion of land annexation and the aggravation of taxation and labor, more farmers were forced to leave their homes and became refugees fleeing famine. "The people died and chaos" led to the outbreak of peasant uprisings, which continued to expand and spread to seven or eight provinces.In the twelfth year of Zhengtong (AD 1447), Ye Zongliu led the migrant miners to rise up first in the border areas of Zhejiang, Fujian, and Jiangxi.The following year, Deng Maoqi in Shaxian County, Fujian Province led the tenant farmers' struggle against rent.In the eighth year of Tianshun (1464 A.D.), Liu Tong led the refugees to revolt in the mountainous area of ​​Yunyang (now Yunxian County, Hubei Province).In the sixth year of Chenghua (1470 A.D.), Li Yuan revolted here again, calling himself "King of Taiping", with nearly a million refugees.From the fifth to seventh years of Zhengde (AD 1510-1512), the Liuliu and Liuqi uprisings broke out in Bazhou and Wen'an, southwest of Beijing, which had a greater impact, posing a direct threat to the capital.

At this time, the Mongolian tribes in the north, first Oala (Lala) and then Tatar, often harassed the interior; on the southeast coast, Japanese pirates (Japanese pirates) appeared from time to time, robbing business travelers, plundering people and property.This serious situation of border troubles was called "Southern Japanese and Northern Captives" by the people at that time.The Mongolian cavalry crossed the Great Wall and entered the Central Plains, carrying out large-scale killings and looting. Twice the soldiers pointed directly at the city of Beijing, shaking the government and the public.In July of the fourteenth year of Zhengtong (AD 1449), the leader of Wala also led the army to attack the Ming Dynasty in four ways from Chicheng, Datong, Ganzhou, and Liaodong.The eunuch Wang Zhen mobilized about 500,000 troops from the three major battalions of the capital (the Five Army, Three Thousand, and Shenji) to hold the Yingzong hostage.In Tumu Fort (now east of Huailai, Hebei), the Ming army was defeated, Yingzong was captured, and Wang Zhen died in the rebellion. This is the famous "civilian change" in history.In the twenty-ninth year of Jiajing (1550 A.D.), Yan Song was in power at that time, and things on the border were bad.Altan Khan, the leader of the Tatars, led his troops straight in and stationed troops outside the Anding Gate to besiege the city of Beijing.This year is the Year of Gengxu, which is known as "The Change of Gengxu" in history. In the middle of the 16th century, that is, during the Jiajing period, Japanese pirates colluded with powerful Chinese landlords and wealthy businessmen, and their activities were rampant.At that time, Yan Song's party members Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian served as the main generals of the anti-Japanese war.Zhao Wenhua only knows how to sacrifice to the sea god, and dare not confront Japanese pirates.As the governor of the Anti-Japanese War, Hu Zongxian had contacts with the Japanese pirates in private, and he was known as the "Japanese Lord of the Military Gate".It was not until the late Jiajing period that the Yan Party and his gang collapsed, and the anti-Japanese generals Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou [youyou], Liu Xian and others led their troops to fight bloody battles, and they won the great victory in the anti-Japanese war.

When Zhang Juzheng stepped onto the political stage, the whole situation could be described as internal and external difficulties, the country's finances were deficient, and it was impossible to make ends meet;Zhang Juzheng has long been aware of the disadvantages of society.In the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing (1549 A.D.), he gave the court a "On Current Politics", expounding the five major disadvantages of the court: (1) "Clan arrogance".On the surface, the patriarchal vassals courted relatives and flattered their lord, but in fact they raped, raped, abused, bullied local officials in charge, exploited the people harshly, and did whatever they wanted.

(2) "Common official [official official] Kuang".The state doesn't pay much attention to the cultivation of talents, and they don't trust them when they use them. If there is any discussion, they will be dismissed and expelled. "Salary by rotation", the phenomenon of job neglect is serious. (3) "Officials follow the rules".Officials are not strictly tested, their names and facts are not checked, and those with a lot of bribes are high in rank, and those who are opportunistic are used in turn. (4) "The edge has not been repaired".The defense work is not complete at ordinary times, and it cannot prevent the invaders and captives from invading.

(5) "Financial shortage".The cost of the imperial court was more than 10 times that of the beginning of the country, and the supply of bureaucrats cost tens of thousands of dollars every year, and the state's finances were short of money and food. So, how to cure this "bloated paralysis" disease?Zhang Juzheng pointed out that it is necessary to make "blood energy flow up and down".It is recommended that Sejong open the door to accept advice, get close to the prime minister, and there is no barrier between the monarch and his ministers. According to the five issues, responsibilities are assigned, everyone can use their strengths, and the accumulated disadvantages can be eliminated.

The 25-year-old Zhang Juzheng, with the spirit of not being afraid of tigers as a newborn calf, bitterly stated the current disadvantages, and his words were sonorous.At that time, the power minister Yan Song was in power, and he did not forward Zhang Juzheng's Shangshu to Yulan, but put it aside and ignored it.