Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, through Jingnan, Ming Chengzu Zhu Di became emperor.During his reign, the strength of the civil official group and the generals group represented by Gui Xun has been strengthened.Zhu Di, the founder of Ming Dynasty, set up the post of bachelor among the civil servants, which is to re-establish the prime minister in a disguised form.Although the power of the bachelors at that time was not great, the civil servants finally had a core of leadership.And a large number of Jing Nan's heroes and generals also joined the ranks of Gui Xun.However, because Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was relatively strong, the situation in the court could remain stable under the balanced confrontation between the civil servant group and the military general group represented by Gui Xun.

However, with the death of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, the balance of power between the civil official group and the military general group represented by Gui Xun was broken. The Ministry of Households has mastered the distribution of military salaries, making the generals group represented by Gui Xun in a weak state.And because, after all, not every emperor is like Zhu Yuanzhang, a model worker among emperors, who can take care of all the affairs of the country.Under such circumstances, Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji of the Ming Dynasty set up an inner study room to train the eunuchs' ability to study and govern, and used those eunuchs as the emperor's assistants and secretaries.In this way, the eunuch group in the Ming Dynasty rose.

The Wang Zhen introduced in the previous article was the first teacher in the inner study at that time. Therefore, his influence on Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, the son of Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, was very huge.But Wang Zhen wanted to be a good and bad eunuch (if Mingyue was big back then), so he fooled Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen to go to the Mongolian grassland.The Ming army suffered a disastrous defeat at Tumubao. A large number of elites of the Xungui Group headed by the then British Duke Zhang Fu died in this battle. Since then, the status of the Xungui Group in Ming Dynasty politics has plummeted.This can be seen from the selection of queens in the palace.Before the Tumubao Incident, the queens were basically from noble families.Afterwards, it basically came from small folk families.From then on, the situation of the court in the Ming Dynasty was basically a history of the struggle between the civil official group and the eunuch group.

Here, the author wants to correct some people's misunderstandings about the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty.

The first misunderstanding is that the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty were all rich and ignorant.The first half of this sentence is basically correct, and the second half is completely wrong.In the Ming Dynasty, the eunuchs who held pens in the supervisor of ceremonies had a very high level of education (Wei Zhongxian was an exception, he was illiterate), and some of them had reached the level of juren and Jinshi.Moreover, their level of governance is also very high. It is no exaggeration to say that they are completely a group of elites who governed the country at that time.In the palace, a group of young eunuchs are selected to study in the inner study every year.And their teacher is a great Confucianism invited from the Imperial Academy.After a very strict cultural education, they have to go to various yamen for internships to understand the operation and rules of each yamen.Only eunuchs with such qualifications can enter the supervisor of ceremonies to be the eunuch of Bingbi.

Therefore, if you just look at the level of governance of the country, the eunuch group has the highest level, surpassing the civil officials who only know how to study hard and become officials through the imperial examination.Of course, the level of civil servants who can achieve a bachelor's degree is also very high.There are even some civil servants whose level is outstanding, such as Zhang Juzheng, such as Shen Mo (I really like "The First Grade of Official Residence").On the contrary, the lowest level of governance is the emperor with little social experience.Because of Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Chongzhen alienated the eunuch group, and he changed ministers frequently, without the support of civil officials. He just dragged the broken car of the Ming Dynasty in the mud How could the car not be towed apart during the middle run?This is also one of the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.To be honest, if Emperor Chongzhen completely handed over the country to any eunuch who was in charge of ceremonies or a senior scholar in the cabinet, the process of the demise of the Ming Dynasty would be greatly slowed down, and it would not even perish.

The second misunderstanding is that the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty had great power.This statement is not entirely true.In the Ming Dynasty, the Supervisor of Ceremony was a bit similar to the current Zhong Yang Office.The orders issued by the eunuchs of the ceremonial supervisor must also be carried out by civil officials.If the civil servants don't implement it, they have nothing to do.Because the eunuchs at most control the secret service departments of factory guards, they can send these spies to catch disobedient civil servants, but they have no way to let these spies go to the government or county to perform specific government affairs.This is a bit like the current court enforcement.If there is a lawsuit against the government and the court decides that the agency has lost the case, but the agency refuses to implement it, then the court has nothing to do.

Also, the power of the eunuchs comes entirely from trusting their emperor.If a certain eunuch is trusted, then he must have unlimited glory, but once he loses the emperor's trust, he will immediately fall into the abyss.For example: Liu Jin during the Zhengde period, when the Emperor Zhengde gave an order, Liu Jin was cut into pieces.Another example is Wei Zhongxian, when Emperor Chongzhen issued an order, Wei Zhongxian hanged himself in fright.Eunuchs had great power during the Han and Tang dynasties.Their eunuchs at this time can put the emperor under house arrest, control the replacement of the throne, control the imperial army, and kill ministers.

So what are the characteristics of civil officials in the late Ming Dynasty?There are many works that have already been introduced, so here is a brief introduction:

First of all, the political skills of civil servants are very high.Because they are basically from the imperial examinations, they are strong in word-writing;

Secondly, as the political spokespersons of the local big landlords and big businessmen, civil servants tried their best to maintain certain policies that were not good for the country but beneficial to the big landlords and big businessmen.For example: low commercial taxation, or even no taxation; tax exemption policy for gentry groups; sea ban, etc.;

Third, the civil servants in the late Ming Dynasty formed political groups because of their teachers and students, fellow villagers, and the same year, and the representatives of them were the Donglin Party.These groups not only fought against the eunuch group, but also fought among themselves.So much so that no matter whether a certain policy is beneficial to the country or not, as long as the other party agrees, I will oppose it. This kind of right and wrong is irrelevant;

Finally, because civil servants are basically well-known scholars in the local area, their remarks are well accepted by the common people.Moreover, their articles will be widely disseminated, so they control public opinion and publicity.

The nobles at the end of the Ming Dynasty basically had no power.Except for certain occasions, special people.For example, the Xu family of Wei Guogong in Nanjing is the defense of Nanjing City.However, they still possess great wealth and retain certain privileges.On the contrary, it was those military generals, because they held the army in their hands, and the Ming Dynasty's fu did not pay all the military pay, which led them to rob private wealth or develop their own financial resources, forming a warlord.Such as Wu Sangui and Zuo Liangyu.Of course, Wu Shigong, the protagonist of this book, will do the same in the future (friends who like fighting for world supremacy and war content can be happy, there will be many wonderful war scenes in this book in the future).

(After so much rambling, does it feel like watching "Lecture Forum of Hundred Schools"? Closer to home.)

After arriving at the Wei mansion, Wei Zhongxian told his little eunuch to prepare the food and drinks quickly, and then went to the study with Xue Lian.After the two sat down, seeing Xue Lian's cheerful look, Wei Zhongxian asked with a smile: "Xue Hou, what's the matter so happy?"

Xue Lian nodded with a smile and said, "Duke Wei, the relief work is finally on the horizon. The Marquis already has a plan."

"Oh? Let's hear it."

So, Xue Lian told Wei Zhongxian the plan just discussed in detail.After listening to the plan, Xue Lian looked at Wei Zhongxian, waiting for him to express his views.Unexpectedly, Wei Zhongxian frowned and said nothing, as if he was thinking about something carefully.After a while, Wei Zhongxian suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "Okay! Very good! Great!"