Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Across the World

Let us go back to the era of Emperor Yongle. Under the rule of Zhu Di, the country was prosperous and the people were safe, and things like repairing books, moving the capital, and sailing were all proceeding in an orderly manner. At this time, China was one of the most powerful countries in Asia and even the world. If you consider At the same time, the Eastern Roman Empire was dying, the Hundred Years War between Britain and France was still fighting, the Habsburg family was strong outside, and the German Empire was torn apart. It seems that we can also remove one or two words from the previous sentence.

We often have a question, that is, how to gain the respect of other countries and their people, and be proud in the world. In fact, the answer is simple-the country is strong. The Ming Dynasty is a typical example in this respect. Since the mid-Yuan Dynasty, after the decline of national power, the original majestic Mongolian Empire that spanned Eurasia has become empty, and the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty has become the nominal ruler. Many countries no longer come to pay tribute, and even cut off contact. A sick tiger is not only not a tiger, it is even worse than a cat. Since Zhu Yuanzhang accepted this mess, he made great efforts to govern and develop production, and the national power gradually became stronger. When Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, the Ming Empire skyrocketed and became famous far and wide.

So those envoys from various countries who had been "missing" for a long time appeared one after another, paying tribute, and worshiping, but you must not take these superficial etiquette seriously, you must know that after they pay tribute and worship, they will be rewarded Yes, that is, the so-called "blessings of brocade, gauze, gold and silver, and soft things". If the country is not strong and has no money, do you think he will come to worship you? As we said before, during the Hongwu period, North Korea became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Since then, any crown prince or king enthroned in North Korea must first inform the Ming emperor, and obtain the emperor's permission and formal canonization before it can take effect.In the first year of Yongle, the new king Li Fangyuan sent envoys to China to pay tribute, and this practice remained unchanged for more than two hundred years.

After Zheng He's voyages to the West, many Southeast Asian countries also came to pay tribute, but some of them paid tribute in a very special way. Ordinarily, it is enough to send a minister as an envoy to pay tribute, but the envoys of some countries are actually their kings! According to statistics, during the Yongle period alone, envoys from Southeast Asian and African countries related to Zheng He's voyages came to China more than 300 times, an average of more than ten times a year, an unprecedented event.And the missions from Brunei, Malawi, Sulu, and Gumarang countries are led by kings every time they come to China, and the visits of these kings are by no means like today’s visits by heads of state, who stay for two or three days before leaving , They often have to stay for a month or two, and take hundreds of members of the mission to eat and have fun before leaving. It seems to be more like a sightseeing tour group than a mission.

What is surprising is that in this series of processes, as many as three kings died of illness in China during their visits. It is even more unbelievable that they admired China so much that they actually wrote in their wills. They all said that they would bury themselves in the land of China.The Ming government respected their choice and buried them generously according to the prince's etiquette. You are the king of a country, but you do not want to return to your homeland after death, but would rather be buried in a foreign country, China, which shows the attraction of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, the three countries of the Ryukyu Islands at that time: Zhongshan, Shannan, and Shanbei also sent envoys to China to pay tribute. Among them, Zhongshan was the strongest and the first to come. Shannan and Shanbei were also very active. They not only paid tribute regularly, but also sent many official children. Come to China to learn advanced culture. The tribute of another country in Asia is also worth mentioning in detail. This country is Japan, which has dealt with China a lot in modern times. Among the countless tribute missions at that time, there was also Japan. In the first year of Yongle, the actual ruler of Japan, Minamoto, sent envoys to pay tribute to China. At that time, there were many tribute countries, and most of them were safe and sound. problem.

What's the problem? It turns out that the Ming government at that time allowed foreign envoys to carry weapons, but these Japanese tribute groups were different from others. They not only carried their own swords, but also often brought a large number of weapons into the country.After completing their diplomatic mission, they even privately sold a large number of samurai swords they brought in the market to make some extra money (probably because they had nothing else to sell).According to what the Customs and the Bureau of Industry and Commerce said today, this kind of behavior is carrying contraband beyond the scope of reasonable self-use and selling it without a business license. It should be punished. Minister Li Zhigang suggested that the violators be arrested and locked up for two days , teach them a lesson.

On this issue, Zhu Di showed an open-minded attitude. He believed that it would not be easy for the Japanese to travel so far away at the risk of falling into the sea to feed bastards. It takes a lot of risk to take risks...do not hinder the transformation). Some friends may have noticed that we did not mention the Japanese king or the Japanese emperor above, but used a word-the actual ruler.Because we will have to deal a lot with this country called Japan in the future, let me first explain the reason for this name. Next, we will temporarily leave the Ming Dynasty and enter Japanese history.

In Japan, the emperor has always been the supreme ruler, but the emperor did not actually rule for a long time. The real real power is often in the hands of the ministers who own the land and soldiers. They are the real rulers of the country.In the thirteenth century AD, with the occurrence of one incident, this tendency was further deepened. This incident is the famous Genpei battle in Japanese history. The two Genpei families are famous samurai families in Japan. At that time, Genji’s leader, Minamoto Yoshitsune, defeated Genji with the help of his younger brother, Japan’s number one legendary figure, Genyoshitsune. Taira, who gained the right to rule Japan.

Minamoto Yoritomo is a famous statesman in Japanese history. Tokugawa Ieyasu later regarded him as an idol. In order to better control the political power, he established a shogunate outside Kyoto as a base for samurai rule.Because the shogunate was built in Kamakura, it is called the Kamakura shogunate in Japanese history.Minamoto Yoritomo also gave himself a special title-the Great General of the Yi, which is the origin of the so-called shogun in Japanese history. And the source of Daoyi who came to pay tribute during the Yongle period was the Japanese general at that time. Of course, the title of Japanese general cannot be found in the history books of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty after that. For this general whose origin is complicated and unclear, All Chinese history books are collectively referred to as the king of Japan, which is just as it should be. After all, no matter how messy and complicated the names are, that is Japan's own business.

It is precisely for this reason that Japan's national politics and the issuance of government orders (including launching aggressive wars) are all dominated by the ruling generals or powerful ministers (such as Toyotomi Hideyoshi is not a general, but Guan Bai). Of course, except for those brothers who launched the Sino-Japanese War and the War of Aggression against China in modern times (after the Meiji Restoration, the emperor had already taken real power). But at that time, in front of the powerful Ming Dynasty, Japan still behaved relatively friendly, although this kind of friendship was only superficial and temporary. In the third year of Yongle (1405), Japan sent envoys to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. At this time, there were many Japanese pirates along the coast of China. Going back, I want the Japanese king (general) to take good care of this matter.Translating these rhetoric into today's diplomatic language, it should be that if Japan ignores it, the Japanese side will be responsible for all the consequences.If you speak directly according to Zhu Di's personality, that is, if you don't care, I will take care of it for you. The Japanese general at that time was a smart man. He understood the meaning of Zhu Di's words, so he immediately sent troops to wipe out those rebellious people, and escorted 20 of them to China. Zhu Di was very satisfied, and he also gave enough to Japan. For the sake of the general's face, he asked them to escort these people back to Japan for their own disposal. But what Zhu Di didn't expect was that when the envoys came to Ningbo, they felt that it was too troublesome to bring these people. They took up the space, not to mention the cost of food, so they were dealt with on the spot. Of". It can be seen from this incident that Japan at that time was very aware of current affairs. But the good times didn’t last long. Soon after, the Ming Dynasty sent envoys to Japan, but the Japanese generals even detained the Ming Dynasty envoys privately. After that, Japan stopped paying tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and the relationship between the two countries fell into a trough. Generally speaking, the relationship between most countries at that time and the Ming Dynasty was extremely harmonious, and in the northwest of the Ming Empire, the countries in the Western Regions also restored contact with the Ming Dynasty and began to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty. Although the territory of the Ming Dynasty at this time was not as large as that of the Yuan Dynasty, it had already reached Mongolia in the north, the Western Regions in the west, Jurchen in the northeast, Tibet in the southwest, and Korea and Annan (now Vietnam) as vassal states, and its influence and control were even farther. Spread the Quartet. With such a vast territory and such a powerful influence, the Ming Dynasty at that time had become a powerful empire comparable to the Han and Tang Dynasties. The people under the rule of the Ming Empire finally got rid of the chaos of war and wandering, and no longer fear the intrusion of foreign races, because this powerful country can make them proud, and proudly say: I am a citizen of Daming. Although the Ming Empire was very powerful, there were still some troublesome neighbors, which caused some troubles to some extent, and the place where troubles first appeared was Annan. Annan (now Vietnam), also known as Jiaozhi, was a part of China in the Han and Tang Dynasties. By the time of the Five Dynasties, the Central Plains area was in a state of darkness, and no one had time to care about it. Annan became independent, but it was still a vassal state of China and had close contacts. .During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang once conferred the title of King Chen of Annan, and the relationship between the two parties was good. Since then, Annan has followed the example of North Korea and made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, and all important events such as the succession of the king must be reported to the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. Only after being officially canonized can it be confirmed as legal . However, during the reign of Emperor Jianwen, Annan's peace was broken. An earth-shattering event happened in his country. Because someone blocked the news in time, Daming knew nothing about it. In the first year of Yongle, King Annan sent people to congratulate him as usual. Zhu Di and the officials of the Ministry of Rites were surprised to find that King Annan's surname was no longer Chen but Hu in the congratulatory documents.The document also claimed that the Chen family had no descendants, that he was the nephew of the Chen family, and was supported by the people as king, and requested to be canonized by the Ming emperor. This document does not seem to have any flaws, and things seem reasonable, but Zhu Di, who has rich political experience, felt that there must be something wrong with it, so he sent officials from the Ministry of Rites to Annan to find out the truth. The official who was dispatched was named Yang Bo, and he took his entourage to Annan. Due to some unknown reasons, he made a tour of Annan. After returning to the court, he proved that what King Annan said was true and not fictional.Only then did Zhu Di believe it, and officially canonized him as King Annan. So Annan's secret was continued to be covered up. In hindsight, if this Yang Bo committed a formalist error, he committed the crime of accepting bribes. But the dark curtain will eventually be revealed. In the second year of Yongle, Pei Boqi, the minister of Annan Kingdom, suddenly appeared in China and said that he had something urgent to report to the emperor. He was then sent to the capital. After being received by Zhu Di, he finally told the truth of the Annan incident as a witness . It turned out that during the reign of Emperor Jianwen, Annan Prime Minister Li Jisuo suddenly launched an attack and killed the original king and the ministers who supported the king. Later, he changed his name to Hu Yiyuan and passed the throne to his son Hu (upper Daxiahu), and designed Defrauding the Emperor of Ming Dynasty and obtaining the title. Pei Boqi is really a first-class loyal minister, he said it with deep tears, and wrote a letter, in which a few lines are really touching: "The minister is not self-sufficient, dare to imitate Shen Baoxu's loyalty, cry out, and make a wish Prosper the master of slaying, Long inherit the righteousness of Jue, wipe out the treacherous villains, restore the Chen family, and the ministers will die and be immortal!" Pei Boqi made an impassioned statement, but the effect was not very good, because Zhu Di is a veteran in the power field who has experienced political storms, and he is also skeptical of this statement.And judging from Pei Boqi's letter, it is obvious that this person's intention is to use the army of the Ming Dynasty to crusade against Annan.Therefore, Zhu Di did not act immediately, but arranged for Pei Boqi to stay and talk later. However, in August of the same year, the arrival of another uninvited guest broke Zhu Di's silence. This person was Chen Tianping, the younger brother of the former Annan King Chen. He also came to the capital and confirmed what Pei Boqi said. Now Zhu Di is in a dilemma. If what these two people said is true, then this is a serious political incident, and troops must be dispatched, but who can guarantee that they are not lying? The current King Annan is already in power, so naturally Denying Chen Tianping's statement, how to judge the authenticity? And the most important problem is that Zhu Di has never met Chen Tianping before. To him, this so-called Chen Tianping is just a person of unknown origin. If it is fake, the reputation of the imposing Ming Dynasty will be discredited and it will be difficult to clean up the situation. This is really a political problem. However, Zhu Di is Zhu Di, and he came up with a brilliant idea to solve the problem. At the end of the year, all countries will come to pay tribute in advance to wish the Ming Dynasty a prosperous and prosperous year ahead, and the country will live in peace and prosperity.Annan was no exception. At the end of the year, Annan's envoys came to the capital of the Ming Dynasty as usual to pay tribute to Zhu Di, but they never imagined that a good show was waiting for them. The envoys came to the palace and were about to bow down when Zhu Di, who was sitting on the throne, suddenly said, "Look at this man, do you still know him?" At this moment, Chen Tianping stood up and looked at the envoys from Annan. When the envoys saw the person coming, they were shocked and immediately bowed down out of habit, and some even cried bitterly. Pei Boqi on the side was also very angry. He stood up and reprimanded the envoys who knew that the current king was a usurper, but they worked for a tiger and were not worthy of being ministers.His few words hit the vital point of the envoys, and Annan's envoys were terrified and unable to deal with it. The seasoned Zhu Di immediately understood the truth of the matter from this scene. He took the case and sternly reprimanded Annan's envoys for colluding to deceive Daming and ignoring the treacherous officials who usurped the country. After finding out what happened, Zhu Di immediately issued an imperial edict, severely criticizing the current Annan King Hu (upper and lower), and said that if there is no satisfactory answer to this matter, he will look good on him. Zhu Di's ruthless words were very effective. Annan's current King Hu's reply was quickly spread to the capital. It's just the position, the name of the country has not been changed, and now the position has been vacated, sincerely waiting for Chen Tianping to return to the country to inherit the throne. Zhu Di was very satisfied with this answer, and he also tolerantly expressed that if he could follow suit, not only would he not be held accountable, but he would also be given land. Then, Zhu Di immediately arranged for Chen Tianping to return home. Having said that, Zhu Di is a very shrewd person. He knows that verbal agreements and documents cannot be trusted (this is due to his early experience), because he himself never complied with these things back then. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the matter, he arranged for his envoy and Guangxi general Huang Zhong to lead 5,000 people to escort Chen Tianping back to the country. According to Zhu Di's vision, Chen Tianping's succession to the throne was absolutely sure. But what happened afterwards can only be described in one word: sensational. After Huang Zhong escorted Chen Tianping to Annan, the Annan Army even set up an ambush to kill Chen Tianping under Huang Zhong's nose. They also killed the envoys of the Ming Dynasty along the way, blocked the road, and prevented the Ming army from advancing. After the news reached the capital, Zhu Di was enraged, truly enraged. What audacity! It's nothing more than obedience and disobedience, but he dared to kill the heir to the throne in front of the Ming army, even the envoys sent by the Ming Dynasty! If you don't hold this grudge, what's the use of Daming!What's the use of raising soldiers! After killing Chen Tianping, the Hu family felt relieved. All the descendants of the Chen family were killed, and the envoys of the Ming Dynasty were also killed. Although he knew that the Ming Dynasty would definitely come to settle accounts with him, he had already made arrangements. The defense of the army has been strengthened, and checkpoints have been set up in prominent positions. As long as it occupies a favorable position, and it drags on for a few more years, the Ming Dynasty will have to admit its status. This is the wishful thinking of Hu and his son. Although the abacus was fighting like this, they also understood that it would not be fun for the Ming Dynasty to attack in anger, so they kept training their troops day and night, deploying defenses, and preparing to deal with them. But to their surprise, after more than three months, there was no movement at Ming Dynasty. Could it be that they felt that the place was remote and they didn't want to come? Hu's father and son, who had a fluke mentality, were not happy for a long time, and the news of the war came. The Ming Dynasty army had officially set off to attack Annan. This was already expected by Hu and his son, so when the subordinates reported the military situation to them, the father and son pretended to be calm, indicating that all defensive work had been prepared and there was nothing to fear. A large part of the reason why this father and son can still pretend to be fat with swollen faces is that the father and son do not know why it took three months for the Ming Dynasty to attack them. That's because there are too many troops and it takes time to mobilize. How many troops will need to be mobilized for several months? Answer: Three hundred thousand. Of course, according to the habits of military strategists, there is also a so-called number of people. This time, the Ming army has a total of 300,000 troops, and Annan claimed 800,000. After hearing this number from the mouth of his subordinates, Hu and his son almost fainted . The leader of this huge army is the famous general Zhu Neng. We have introduced this person many times before. Letting him go out shows that Zhu Di attaches great importance to this matter. Zhu Di hopes that Zhu Neng can carry forward his fearless spirit after the disaster. Solve the problem. It's a pity that the sky is not as good as people want. Zhu Neng probably didn't expect that not only could he fail to complete this mission, but he couldn't even see Annan's shadow. The Ming army's plan of action was as follows: divide the troops into two groups, one with Zhu Neng as the commander, marching from Guangxi, and the other led by Mu Sheng, marching from Yunnan. This is a military plan with a long history. Whenever Annan is attacked, troops must be divided into two routes from Guangxi and Yunnan. This is almost a fixed routine, which has been used since ancient times. But an accident happened, and Zhu Neng unfortunately fell ill during the march, and died after rescue efforts failed. This is no wonder, because it took three months for the army to set off to Guangxi.The journey was bumpy and uncertain, and all of Zhu Neng's energy had been exhausted in that earth-shattering battle. It would be too harsh on him to participate in another war, and he should rest. Zhu Neng's position was vacated, and his replacement was not an outsider. This person was Zhang Fu, the son of Zhang Yu, whom Zhu Di called "the number one hero of Jing Nan". This is a difficult task, because Zhu Neng's sudden death made many people worry about the prospect of war, and it is doubtful whether this man, who is far less prestigious than Zhu Neng, is qualified for the position of coach. What is gratifying is that at this critical moment, Zhang Yu seemed to possess Zhang Fu's soul.Zhang Fu inherited Zhang Yu's fine tradition, in this war, he is not fighting alone. After Zhang Fu took over as commander-in-chief, facing the distrustful eyes of his subordinates, he convened the first military meeting. At this meeting, he introduced the operational policy and plan in detail, and his meticulous and precise steps impressed his subordinates. At the end of the meeting, Zhang Fu said: "King Kaiping (Chang Yuchun) died in the middle of the expedition, and King Qiyang (Li Wenzhong) replaced him and defeated the Yuan army! Although I am not talented, I would like to follow the example of my predecessors and live together with you. Die, I swear to break Annan!" After stabilizing morale and making sufficient preparations, Zhang Fu formally marched to Annan from Pingxiang, Guangxi. At the same time, Mu Sheng marched from Yunnan, and the Ming army made two assaults to the hinterland of Annan. Facts have proved that the self-confidence of Hu's father and son in Annan is unreliable. Zhang Fu led his troops as if entering a no-man's land. join forces. So far, the Ming army has broken through Annan's outer defense line and broke into the interior. Now it is in front of Zhang Fu, and it is Duobang, an important town in Annan, that hinders his advance. According to historical records, at that time, Annan had two capitals in the east and the west, with a total population of more than 7 million, and there were many rivers in the territory. Zhang Fu saw through Annan's plan. He sent his general Zhu Rong to defeat Annan's army on the Jialin River and established a stable position. Then he joined forces with Mu Sheng and prepared to attack Duobang City in front of him. Although Duobang is an important town in Annan with strong defenses, it seems that it is not difficult to conquer in front of the superior Ming army. This was the opinion of most generals at the time. However, these generals did not seem to notice that in history, underestimating the enemy This is how emotions often emerge and lead to serious consequences.Fortunately, Zhang Fu was not one of these generals. He sent many spies to investigate the situation in the city, and his intuition told him that this city was not that simple. Zhang Fu's feeling was correct. This multi-state city was not only stronger than the Ming army imagined, but also had a secret weapon in the city-elephants. Annan's army estimated that their combat power was insufficient, so they domesticated many elephants, preparing to release these giants when the Ming army attacked, and surprise the Ming army. Fortunately, Zhang Fu did not underestimate the enemy and grasped the situation in time. But having said that, Zhang Fu, who has mastered elephant emotions, has no good way to deal with elephants. This kind of animal has thick, strong and huge skin. On the battlefield, ordinary knives and guns seem to be no good at it .what can we do about it? At this time, someone gave Zhang Fu an idea to restrain the elephant, but looking at it today, it seems that there is not much difference between saying this idea and not saying it. This clever trick is to find a lion to attack the elephant, because the lion is the king of all beasts and must be able to scare the elephant away. Let's not talk about whether this point of view is valid in zoology, but just ask: where can I find lions? As we all know, China does not produce lions, and the rare lions are imported from foreign countries. According to the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", during the reign of Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, Yuezhi Kingdom paid tribute to lions, and Anxi Kingdom also paid tribute to lions after that. The number of lions obtained through this method of tribute must not be many, and there was no artificial breeding technology back then, and it is estimated that one dead lion is less than one.Even if there were lions in the Ming Dynasty, they should be protected according to the treatment of giant pandas today. How could it be possible for you to fight? Then what should we do? There are no lions, but the elephants are alive and waiting in the city. Is it possible to draw a few lions to fight? bingo!If it’s not real, just draw it! You are not mistaken, and I am not mistaken either. Back then, Zhang Fu used painted lions to fight. Zhang Fu is not a lunatic, and he also understands that it is impossible to compete with giant animals like elephants with wood and paper. No matter how good the painting is, it is only a painting after all, and it cannot be regarded as real.As an excellent general, Zhang Fu has prepared a whole set of countermeasures, ready to attack the heavily defended Duobang City. In fact, it is not important whether it is a real lion or a fake lion. The key is in whose hands and how to use it, because the wisdom and quality of the commander ultimately determine the outcome of the war. Zhang Fu's hundreds of thousands of troops settled outside Duobang City, but they did not attack for a long time. The nerves of the people in the city gradually relaxed from the tense state, and even some guards on the city wall began to fight against the city. Of course, this is a kind of provocation. In their view, their strategy is about to succeed. If the Ming army stays here for a long time, the supply will inevitably be unable to keep up, and the siege is not sure. Back off this way. What Annan's defenders didn't know was that the reason for the Ming army's delay in attacking was actually very simple: the longer the knife was sharpened before cutting people, the sharper it would be, and the more lethal it would be when used. This is exactly the fact. At this time, Zhang Fu organized a death squad, ready to attack Duobang City.All he was waiting for was a good time. After waiting for a long time, the Ming army launched an attack on Duobang City late at night in December. During the battle, the Ming army gave full play to the vanguard and exemplary role of leading the battle. Governor Huang Zhong held a torch and led the team first. To cross the moat and open the way for the troops to advance, they all commanded Cai Fu to set up the ladder himself, and took the lead in boarding Duobang City.The heroic behavior of these two high-ranking officers greatly boosted the morale of the Ming army. The attack completely collapsed their defenses, and the soldiers scattered in all directions. The flames of war spread to the inner city. At this time, the Annan army finally used their trump card, the elephant. They drove the elephant to attack the Ming army, hoping to save the defeat. However, Zhang Fu, who had been prepared for a long time, came up with a countermeasure. Considering that although the painted lions are mighty, they can only scare people, not necessarily elephants, Zhang Fu also prepared a lot of horses, and blindfolded the eyes of these horses, covered them with lion skins (painted), When the elephants appeared, they drove the horses forward. Although the nature of the animals, the horses would never dare to fight against the elephants, but the blindfolded horses would rush forward even if the dinosaurs came.At the same time, Zhang Fu also used a large number of muskets to attack elephants. The damage may not be great, but the deterrent effect of muskets is quite powerful. Under the influence of Zhang Fu's few tricks, the elephants in Annan's army were terrified, and they turned around and ran away one after another. They scattered the Annan army who were about to take advantage of them. After losing all hope, the Annan army completely lost their resistance. With courage, the Ming army conquered Duobang City in one fell swoop. The victory of the Battle of Duobang dealt a heavy blow to Annan's will to resist. After that, the Ming army marched forward all the way, conquering the Eastern Capital and the Western Capital successively. And escorted back to the country, Annan was calmed down. After Annan was pacified, Zhu Di made a decree to find the descendants of the Chen family, but there was no result. At this time, thousands of Annan people petitioned the Ming government, saying that Annan was a Chinese territory before, and the Chen family had no descendants. China, became a county in China. Zhu Di agreed to this proposal, and in June of the fifth year of Yongle (1407), he changed Annan to Jiaozhi, and set up a chief envoy to make it a part of China. After the Han and Tang Dynasties, Annan once again became a part of China. territory. The settlement of the Annan issue brought peace and tranquility to China's southwestern border, but the Ming government still had a bigger worry, which haunted the Ming Dynasty for hundreds of years, lingering like a nightmare.