Building the Great Ming Through Industry

Even if someone tries to portray Wei Zhongxian as a good person in the Ming Dynasty, I can tolerate it, since he only killed civil officials and embezzled. But I can't stand the whitewashing of Shanxi merchants. Back then, these big merchants were utterly shameless, disregarding their rulers and fathers.

This overstates the status of Shanxi merchants. In reality, they were just unscrupulous merchants, lackeys, and fat pigs. They were called Shanxi merchants only because people at the time valued their hometowns and colluded to act as traitors, exchanging goods and services.

The author doesn't understand, so don't write nonsense; it's misleading. Zheng He made money on every voyage to the Western Ocean; otherwise, where would Emperor Yongle's military funds have come from! It was just that the civil official group saw the profits and became envious. Even the blueprints for the treasure ships were burned, so the civil official group misled the emperor into imposing a maritime ban, and they started going to sea themselves to make money.

During the Chongzhen era, Wu Sangui was in Northeast China, having absolutely no connection with Yunnan. At that time, the most powerful force in Yunnan was the Mu family, followed by various local chieftains. Wu Sangui arrived in Yunnan after the Manchu Qing dynasty entered China, during the mid-to-late Shunzhi period.

This author is definitely from Shanxi, and should be a descendant of the Fan family.

Without those traitorous old shrewish merchants from Shanxi, the Eight Banners would truly number less than ten thousand; if they did, they would starve to death.

In the Ming Dynasty, it was impossible for a successful candidate in the imperial examinations (举人) to be so destitute. First, they could become officials. Second, they were exempt from taxes. Once they passed the examinations, many people in their hometowns would want to register their land under their names.

I heard that the Confucius Mansion was replaced by the Mongols during the Yuan Dynasty.

If you transmigrate to the Ming Dynasty and don't kill ordinary merchants, develop industry, or dominate the seas, then you've wasted your time.

Trying to whitewash the Shanxi merchants? Don't they know why the Shanxi merchants became imperial merchants of the Qing Dynasty? Can traitors be whitewashed?