Chapter 17 Lecture 4 Ming Dynasty-2

The examination system has not changed much since the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty, the changes were great.Later, the exams in the Qing Dynasty followed the Ming Dynasty. Now let’s talk about two important points: The first lecture is Jinshi and Imperial Academy.In the examinations of the Tang and Song dynasties, the folks first reported to the local government, and the local sent it to the central government. These people were called Jinshi.After the examination, it is called Jinshi Jidi.For example, if you are from Shandong, you can apply to the Shandong provincial government, and they will send you to the central government, and you will be a Jinshi in Shandong province.Admission by examination is called Jinshi Jidi.Therefore the main exam is only one time.In the Ming Dynasty, it was divided into several exams almost because there were more people applying for the exam.The first is the prefectural and county examinations. Admission is called admission, also known as county students, and the common name is also called scholar.Logically speaking, county students should go to the county school to study, but in name only, there is no official county school.The second is the provincial examination, which takes place in the provincial capitals of the provinces directly.The candidates from each province are then sent to the central government for a collective examination, which is called a general examination.The general examination and the mid-term examination began as Jinshi, also called Jinshi Jidi.In fact, in terms of name, raising a person is like a Jinshi, and a Jinshi is like raising a person. How can there be so many differences?After the Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, they should still stay in the central government to study, and the central government will send an old senior Jinshi to teach.This person, himself a senior official of the imperial court, did not strictly teach and read.As usual, these Jinshi had to study for three years, and then take another exam. If they got good grades, they had to enter the Imperial Academy.Therefore, the Imperial Academy of the Ming Dynasty was a Jinshi who studied in the central government for several years and passed the examination.However, this kind of system for Jinshi to study will soon be in name only.However, the fashion in the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to Jinshi and Hanlin, and one could not be a high official without Jinshi Hanlin.In the imperial examination before the Ming Dynasty, only Jinshi and the ranks were awarded, even if the service was distributed, it gradually rose according to its administrative performance.In the Ming Dynasty, it was not enough to be a Jinshi. Those who entered the Imperial Academy could become high officials.Those below Juren are not eligible to be high officials, and if so, the imperial examinations will also be divided into inferior ranks.Scholars and ranks are clear streams, which float on the top and move forward, while scholars and scholars become turbid streams, which settle below and will never be exalted.Ding Jia's background has also become a kind of first-class concept.We cannot say that there are classes in the scientific field, but there are ranks.From the Han Dynasty to the Tang and Song Dynasties, everyone had to start as a small official, but everyone had the hope of becoming a high official.After the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination was divided into two levels. The lower level was for scholars and candidates, who could not become high officials.The upper ranks are Jinshi and Hanlin, and none of them are petty officials.The same is true in the Qing Dynasty.Like Zeng Guofan, although he ranked top three in the Jinshi Palace Examination, he was just from the same background as a Jinshi. However, he got good grades and was admitted to the Imperial Academy. After he came out, he served as the chief examiner for several academic and political affairs. High official.As for those who are not admitted to Jinshi Hanlin, no matter whether you are well-educated or have good achievements in politics, there is no way.This kind of system is still valuing the law but not the person.But in all fairness, this system is by no means without benefits.Many famous people in the Ming and Qing dynasties all came from the Imperial Academy.Because after being admitted as a Jinshi, he stayed in the central government for the past few years, and gradually understood all the actual political affairs of the government.The government has given him a good background, and he will be a high-ranking official in the future, so he can work hard with peace of mind.During the period when he was a Jinshi and the Hanlin Academy, while studying and studying, he acquired a lot of political knowledge, waiting for the government to use it.Jinshi and Hanlin have become a ladder for the government to store talents and support them.The imperial examination can only find talents, not cultivate talents.However, under the Jinshi Hanlin system of the Ming and Qing dynasties, some talents could be cultivated.This kind of talent is concentrated in the center invisibly, and its influence is great.Even Zeng Guofan was only in his thirties when he was admitted to Jinshi, and he did not have a deep foundation in learning at that time.And during the period when he was a Jinshi scholar, he lived in the capital. Although his life was very poor, he was also very leisurely. He had nothing to do.The foundation of knowledge was built at that time.And do Hanlin, or nothing, or study.Even if he is sent to other provinces as the chief examiner, the chief examiner still has nothing to do. He travels around, knows more about the people's customs and customs, and knows more friends.So how many years did he officially become an official.The country supports you there and guarantees that you have high-ranking officials.You know everything about the government. It only allows you to take it easy for a while. This is a good system.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, many scholars and great politicians were mostly from Jinshi Hanlin.It's not that under the ten-year window, I only understand stereotyped articles, and I don't know anything else.They live in the capital, often with only one servant, raising a horse, or living in a guild hall, or living in a monk's temple. One day they find friends, the next day they visit Liulichang, check books, and buy antiques.Or teach a private school in the home of the current minister.However, they have high expectations and are talents deliberately cultivated by the government.In the theory of government, there should be a talent storage place where the talents of the next generation can be trained.Cultivate his knowledge and cultivate his prestige.Only then can you catch your breath.In the Han Dynasty, it was the genus who cultivated talents.In the Tang Dynasty, talents were cultivated in the family.In the Song Dynasty, talents were trained for the post of reading and managing in the library.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, institutions for cultivating talents began to be incorporated into the examination system.Of course, not all those who are academicians are good, but it is also true that politicians and scholars come from here.

Next, we will talk about the eight-legged essay.This is the worst thing about the examination system of the Ming Dynasty.During the three or four hundred years from the second half of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, the eight-legged essay examination was really the most talent-consuming in Chinese history.Everyone knows that stereotyped essays are meaningless, but why does the government use them for examinations?Of course some people would say, isn't this the deliberate policy of the autocratic emperor to fool the people?However, the implementation of stereotyped essays in the Ming Dynasty has long been in decline.How could the emperor at that time create such a malicious system with his heart?It should be known that it is difficult to say that any system was invented and formulated by one or two people.Because there were too many candidates at that time, the admission standards were always a problem.In the past Tang Dynasty examinations, it was necessary to test regulated poetry, because it was not easy to set standards for ancient poetry and judge good or bad.Standards are more specific and objective.In the Song Dynasty, there was no examination of poetry and scriptures, benevolence, righteousness and morality. Everyone would say that it is difficult to distinguish who is good and who is bad.So it evolved into the Ming Dynasty, and gradually evolved a certain format in the scriptures.If it violates this format, it will not be accepted.This is nothing more than an objective test standard.Stereotyped prose is like a regulated poem in disguise, a kind of regulated scripture.This format was not formulated all at once, but gradually formed.At the beginning, it was not that the government deliberately wanted to fool the people and consume talents, but the purpose was to recruit real talents.Yet the talent finally wears off for it.Now it is only blamed on those who initiated this system with bad intentions and great malice. In fact, this system was not initiated by a certain person at a certain time.Moreover, even if people are just and kind-hearted, the system they create may be biased and harmful.We must think like this in order to have in-depth research and vigilance on the political system.

In terms of economy in the Ming Dynasty, it is very trivial to talk about.There is nothing special about the system, so I don't plan to talk about it now.From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the country had an important book for taxes and servitude, called the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book.The yellow register is for household registration, and the fish scale register is for registering acres of land.Until the end of the Qing Dynasty for more than a hundred years, the yellow book disappeared, and the household registration was not checked for a long time, but the fish scale book is still in use today. Even though there have been many improvements, it is still created and passed down in the Ming Dynasty.This is worth mentioning.The yellow books are mainly households, which are updated every ten years, and there are four books.One went to the Ministry of Household Affairs, and three copies were distributed to the prefecture and counties of the Chief Secretary.The book contains the actual number of old management and new collection and expulsion, which is a four-column style.The so-called household-based, if a certain household has a field of 100 mu, or sells 20 mu, the book will say that the old management is 100 mu, and if it is sold today, the household should be expelled and the farm should be 20 mu, and the buyer will reap 20 mu. But this household is actually only 80 mu.This is registered according to a certain household in a certain city.If the buyer is from Biedu, it will be established as a sub-household and registered in the household map of the person who bought the land, and clearly marked item by item.This book-making system may seem troublesome at first glance, but in fact, at that time, it was originally intended to limit the name of the people.So that the wind of mergers is not easy to grow casually.However, this yellow book has accumulated many disadvantages for a long time, and many incidents have occurred.If there is a rich family with tens of thousands of hectares of land, and too many acres of his fields have invaded other capitals, some people will try to mess up the yellow book, and randomly transfer the new income into the old management to accommodate this evil trend of annexation.In addition, the yellow book stipulates that one hundred households constitute a mile, and ten households with more grain grain are selected as the head, and the remaining hundred households are divided into ten households, and one Jia is divided into ten households.There is one chief in the year-old service and one head in the armor. Dong is in charge of this matter.Mainly for the government in charge of urging collection.However, since the trend of mergers is strong, and the length of a large household with a thousand acres is one mile, and a small household with 30 acres is also a mile, the small households will have to go bankrupt and go bankrupt.

We only look at the yellow book system of the Ming Dynasty, from which we can imagine that the accounting system of the Tang Dynasty had some precise and sincere intentions when they created the law.But after a long time, there are many disadvantages.Firstly, people use that system to accommodate the disadvantages. In the end, that system cannot be preserved, so they have to abandon it and establish a new system. Secondly, when it comes to fish-scale albums, they began to exist as far back as the Song Dynasty.But in the Ming Dynasty, this atlas was widely used by the government and became a system.The yellow book is mainly for households, and the fish scale book is mainly for tutian, which was also called fish scale map at that time.Each county is bounded by four realms, and so is every township.The fields are adjacent to each other with mounds, like fish scales, so it is called fish scale map.The field in the picture may be owned by the government.Whether it is owned by the people, whether it is a high field, or a dirty field, or a ridge or barren, or a mountain or a sloping field, all are specified in detail, and the name of the owner is added.If he has land to sell and buy, he will make a bet once a year.Even if people and households move, the fields must not move.Therefore, people at that time called the field as the mother, and the man as the son, and the son was dependent on the mother, which is kind and reliable.If we think about the intention of establishing this system at that time in terms of the two kinds of books, the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book, there is nothing wrong with it.In this booklet, not only is it convenient for the government to collect rent, but it is also really inconvenient for private mergers.But if we talk about the general trend of history, since the two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty, the government has only been concerned about how to facilitate the government’s own finances to collect rents, and can no longer work hard to establish a land system for the public in terms of economic theory. .One of the reasons for this is that the scale of local administration became increasingly simplistic under the Han Dynasty, and it was impossible to pay attention to such major policies.Furthermore, from the mid-Tang period onwards, all the influence of the big family in society disappeared, and the fragmented and fragmented small farmlands were all under the direct control of the government.However, folk cheating and tricks emerge in endlessly. If a law is established at the top, the bottom will follow this law to cheat and make perfect.Ever since the Fish Scale Book came into being, the folks have been thinking of tricks in the Fish Scale Book, such as the so-called flying and cheating at that time.Therefore, even if the four fields in the book are accurate, the names of the owners can still be confused, and in the end it will still become a muddled account.Long before Jiajing, in fact, the fish-scale albums of the Ming Dynasty were already abandoned.

Next, we will talk about a whip method in the Ming Dynasty.The so-called one-whip means that the miscellaneous items of civil servants are included in the land tax, and the silver is collected according to the mu, in order to simplify the procedures.This method was tried out in the southeast of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as early as the reign of Xuanzong Xuande, and it was gradually implemented throughout the country.During the reigns of Sejong Jiajing and Mu Zonglongqing, it was the most popular period in the Ming Dynasty.However, this system is also like the exemption law of the Song Dynasty. Although it is considered convenient in the south, it is deeply inconvenient and strongly opposed in the north.In fact, it didn't take long for a whip method to become disordered, and it couldn't be carried out in full compliance with the legal system.

We have talked about the Yellow Book of Fish Scales and Yiyi whip method in the Ming Dynasty above, but there is an important point that is worth mentioning again.I often say that the establishment and implementation of any system is by no means isolated. It must cooperate with several other systems at the same time, and it will inevitably be affected and affected by certain other systems.According to this reasoning, the various systems in any period will inevitably cooperate with each other and affect each other to form a complete set.That is to say, in terms of the land system and the tax system, the two systems cooperate with each other and their mutual influence is particularly great.The well field system in the Spring and Autumn Period is a model of the ideal land system for future generations of Chinese.However, because the aristocracy at that time wanted to simplify the tax system for convenience, they finally destroyed the well field system.The land equalization system in the Northern Wei Dynasty also had to be prepared for the three-headed system of sorting out the household registers.The rent-yong adjustment in the Tang Dynasty could no longer be used due to the confusion of the accounting system at that time.After the two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty, due to various practical difficulties, the government was forced to focus only on the tax system, and gave up the important ideal of rectifying the land system.But even as far as the tax system is concerned, after the establishment of the two-tax system in the Tang Dynasty, there are still various difficulties.The Yellow Book and Fish Scale Book of the Ming Dynasty were still like the account books of the Tang Dynasty, and finally, with the accumulation of years, there were many problems and confusion.This also involves the various organizations and administrative efficiency of local governments, that is, state and county yamen, which are deeply affected.And it is not limited to the organization of local government and its administrative efficiency, but also involves the differences in various situations of local autonomy.Therefore, it must also involve the social forms of each era.For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, there were feudal nobles, from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Mid-Tang Dynasty, there were family houses, and from the late Tang Dynasty to the Song and Ming Dynasties, all social family houses disappeared.Farmers are scattered, and they have all formed a new form.These are all related points that must be involved in understanding the various evolutions of the land tax system in Chinese history.Here we can imagine that if we want to propose a land system arrangement and new planning today, it will still involve how all other systems cooperate with each other and how it is truly suitable for the general situation in society. on a question.We are talking about the gains and losses of various systems in history at this moment, just to make us understand how complicated the conditions are for the establishment and implementation of a new system, and how thorough its consideration is.

Now about the military system.The martial arts of the Ming Dynasty were not far behind those of the Tang Dynasty.Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty pacified the world, and originally planned to have the Wei and Suo systems, which are actually similar to the Fubing system in the Tang Dynasty, but with different names.The large military area is called Wei, and the small military area is called Suo.The Weisuo in the Ming Dynasty was like the mansion in the Tang Dynasty.Ming Taizu once said: "I raise millions of soldiers, or waste a grain of rice from the common people." What method is used for this?That is the guard system.At that time, in each military area, the one located in one mansion was called the post, and the one connecting two mansions was called Wei.About 5,600 people make up a guard, 1,128 people make up a house, and 112 people make up a hundred households. The outside is under the command of the capital, and the inside is under the command of the five armies.In case of sending out troops to fight, the imperial court sends a general, called the commander-in-chief, who leads the army of the guard.At the end of the war, the commander-in-chief handed over his military power, and the army returned to the guard.In normal times, the Weisuo army supports Tian himself, and the state does not pay him taxes. This system is still the same as the Fubing system.

When we study history, when we read the late Ming Dynasty, we always feel that China is too bad.Manchuria is just a small tribe outside the Songhua River, how could China not be able to resist him?For this resentment, we cannot avoid much reproach.In fact, we should know that the collapse of a country as big as China is certainly not a simple matter, and we should pay attention to it in terms of history.This is not to say that the decline of culture, the degeneration of morality, the tyranny and darkness of the government, and a few empty and far-fetched imaginary words can explain the causes and conditions.As far as politics is concerned, every system, as long as it has been implemented for two or three hundred years, will inevitably go wrong.The Ming Dynasty has generally passed two or three hundred years of peaceful life. No matter how good the system was at the beginning, it will become corrupt. This is a very natural thing.For a long period of two or three hundred years, people's spirits will not always be tense and remain the same.It also relaxes a bit.Take the Weisuo system as an example, this system is not bad, and the Ming Dynasty also established brilliant martial arts based on it.Later, when the country is prosperous and the surroundings are peaceful, and the soldiers have never fought in their lives, their spirits will naturally relax.Moreover, mobilization to fight wars, such as fighting Manchuria, according to the system, requires an average distribution across the country, not random deployment from a certain place.This is not bad, but as a result, hundreds of thousands of soldiers from all over the country gathered in the central government, which has already caused a national commotion.Moreover, their customs, habits, language and appearance are all unfamiliar.Open the arsenal, and the weapons and clothing hidden in it have been stored there many years ago.Take it out, the iron is rusted, and the sewing thread is also rotten.The government cannot be blamed for this either.Of course, we can't always make 200,000 or 300,000 sets of military uniforms every three or two years and let them rot every time.Even today's Americans are forced to make efforts to manufacture military aircraft.He would not have built it without the great enemy of the Soviet Union.In the Ming Dynasty, military uniforms became rotten due to the long accumulation of Taiping.Once these tattered military uniforms are taken out and distributed among the troops, it’s not easy for the fat people to wear tight ones and the thin ones for fat ones. Everyone wants to change to a suit that fits well. In the barracks, it’s not easy , most of them are barely sloppy on the upper body.Before departure, the army will sacrifice the flag as usual, which is of course not entirely superstitious.Now that the army is going to fight, it is necessary to conduct pre-drills and test guns.In the past, the ceremony of sacrificing the flag required killing an ox. This is like testing a cannon before the development of an army today.It is said that in the Ming Dynasty, this cow could not be killed.why?This is because the knife in the arsenal has been hidden for too long, and it is rusted and blunt, so it cannot kill a cow.The same is true for the knives used to sacrifice flags and kill cattle, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers hold them more admirably.Today, we cannot criticize Chinese culture simply because of these things, or even say that our nation is aging.This is really because Yu Taiping has been too long, and he naturally forgot about his combat life.Let's look at the Manchurians again. The hats they wear can be covered on both sides, only from the ears to the jaw, and only the eyes and mouth are exposed on the face.This is because the climate in the Northeast is cold, so putting down the hat can protect the ears and nose from freezing off.The mandarin jackets and robes we wear today were also the military uniforms of Manchuria at that time.For the convenience of riding a horse, one side of the robe has a hakama, and the other side of the robe can be folded over when riding a horse, covering both legs.According to the clothes of the Chinese inland people, when you ride a horse, your knees are exposed, and you will be frozen and stiff.Both hands are stretched out to hold the horse's reins, and their horseshoe sleeves just protect the outstretched fingers.Some of our Chinese troops are from Yunnan and some are from Guangdong. They have never seen ice or snow since they were born.Suddenly transferred to Beijing, put on those ill-fitting old military uniforms, and then transferred outside the customs, the wind blows, and the spirit is depressed. How can we fight against the Manchurian army?I didn't notice these at the time, so it didn't work as soon as I encountered them.At that time, Jun Jun, a general in the Chinese army, was shot to death by a Manchu soldier because his hat was rusted and the arrow pierced through his helmet. None of the generals had good armor, let alone the soldiers.We will not know these things from a cursory reading of history.At that time, Xu Guangqi was in the south, and he repeatedly made a statement about this matter. According to him, we should train new recruits from the beginning. The number of troops does not need to be large. .Of course, knives, guns and weapons should also be new, and they should match everyone's strength.Only then can we talk about training.He made a plan, and the government agreed, but the Ministry of Household Affairs couldn't provide the money, so it couldn't follow through.From this point of view, we can see that the material conditions of a country's armed forces are also important. We cannot always use our spirit to defeat powerful enemies.But after the failure of the Ming Dynasty, they learned a lesson and changed rapidly. At that time, China was still able to resist.However, when the central government collapsed, it would be difficult for the outside army to support it.In the Song Dynasty, there was such a debate in the Song Dynasty. Is it better to raise a horse?Or is it better to raise twenty-five farmers?It seems to be saying now, which is better, butter or cannon?

The military uniforms are sealed in the arsenal, and the farmers all over the country generally live quietly and peacefully. They have never seen soldiers in their lives. Such days should not be cursed too much.But once trouble breaks out at the border and they are required to rush out of the border, the military uniform is the life of the army, and we have to admit the importance of material conditions.The material conditions are not enough, and the spirit alone cannot last.In terms of our military force, after hundreds of years of peace, it should also decline.It's not surprising that a Man Qing suddenly came out and couldn't resist it.From a historical standpoint, there should be a historical statement.The so-called historical argument is to explain specific facts based on history.Let's not say that the Chinese nation is aging, its culture is no longer good, those empty words.We need to analyze the specific situation at that time, in other words, we need to find historical materials to explain where the failure was at that time.Of course, what I said above is only a small part of the historical facts.But always more practical.