The Ming Dynasty Under Wanli

In addition to natural and man-made disasters, the biggest problem in the late Ming Dynasty was internal and external difficulties, and these actually interacted with each other. One of the natural disasters was the Little Ice Age. The long-term drought not only greatly devastated the agricultural production activities in the hinterland of the Central Plains, but also hardened and flattened the land in the Northeast Plain, which was originally covered with swampy mudlands, allowing the formation of large-scale pastures. The Jurchens began to transform from a fishing and hunting nation to a half-fishing and half-herding horseback riding nation, and finally formed the freak of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Man-made disasters are party disputes. Qi, Chu, Zhejiang, Kunming, Xuan and other parties were originally just small fights with different political opinions. However, under Jiajing's deliberate indulgence, they gradually evolved into bloody fights between the same parties and against different parties, which greatly consumed the national power. Internal difficulties, because of the excellent national defense policy of the Ming Dynasty, most areas in the mainland were protected from military disasters. Coupled with the development of the commodity economy, the degree of social atomization in the late Ming Dynasty was extremely high, and it was difficult to carry out large-scale social mobilization like the early Ming Dynasty. (The Weisuo system was actually still operating well until Wanli's later years, and there was a steady stream of people. The Ming Empire provided excellent mid-level and high-level generals) External difficulties, many people know about the above, and they are just the same old tune, but external difficulties, I think many people don't understand, or can't imagine, it is the impact of the Age of Discovery. As the most important trading body in the Age of Discovery, China has never actively participated, but it has always been deeply affected. A very important plan for Zhang Juzheng's reform was to change the original physical tax to a silver currency tax. China has been a silver-poor country since ancient times. The huge demand for silver monetization cannot be met by China's own production of silver alone. The discovery of the new world and the rise of Eastern trade allowed China, as the terminal of the Eastern Sea Route, to obtain huge amounts of silver from the Americas. This was the economic basis for Zhang Juzheng's reform. At the end of the 16th century, the Anglo-Spanish War broke out, the Eastern sea route was cut off, and it was difficult for American silver to enter China. The silver shortage began. The most direct result was the difficulty in collecting taxes and the sharp decline in central fiscal revenue. (Many people like to attribute the financial difficulties in the late Ming Dynasty to the tax evasion and resistance of the gentry and landlords and the corruption of officials. It is undeniable that these reasons are true, but the more important reason is that there is really no silver, and it is difficult to pay taxes even if you have money and food)

The Ming Dynasty established the silver standard in the hands of Zhang Juzheng, and the silver in the Ming Dynasty was all in the hands of the gentry. People had to exchange things for silver to pay taxes, so this was a policy for the poor. If you want the people not to live too miserably and revolt everywhere, you must not let Zhang Juzheng implement this policy. You can pay taxes in kind or in copper coins. The Ming Dynasty died in Wanli, thanks to Zhang Juzheng. So if you want the Ming Dynasty to be strong, you must abolish the silver standard. Or find ways to increase the amount of silver in circulation. Think about the Chongzhen period, when Li Zicheng copied tens of millions of silver from officials and eunuchs, and think about whose hands the silver was.

The author is a newcomer to L1. Among some newcomers, it is already very good to write like this, especially a traditional historical article without a system. It is encouraging, keep up the good work! Take your time, every famous author gets through it step by step!

Why the change? As for the system of the Ming Dynasty, it was basically sufficient for the operation of the feudal dynasty. The real problems were nothing more than annexation, the corruption of the salt administration, shipping, and the clan. The solution was nothing more than official governance. Reform was too difficult. As long as the original system was implemented, it was enough to defeat everyone around it.

Wanli Mingjun's crimes were so heinous that the rest of them were tasteless after reading them, forcing readers to write the articles themselves.

Don't just change this or that right away. Reform is a long process.

The story is very graphic, the characters are clearly drawn, and it can be explosive.

Is it necessary to have dark and high arches? Can you check the history? The novel is not nonsense Gao Gong is not a corrupt official. Gao Gong served as the chief minister of the cabinet during the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty. He was committed to rectifying officialdom and fighting corruption. In the first year after he took office, he handled an average of nearly three major corruption cases every month, and brought 169 officials to justice. Gao Gong has also taken a series of measures to prevent and punish corruption: -Establishing official files: Officials with grades below the third level across the country are required to establish a "book", which records in detail the official's quality, political achievements, hometown address and folk reputation, etc., And is updated monthly. This not only provides accurate navigation for anti-corruption, but also forms effective supervision of officials, because the register also arranges "substitute officials" for officials in critical positions. Once the "main officials" have problems, the "substitute officials" can immediately take over, thereby warning officials not to act recklessly. - Implement recommendation and continuous sitting: It is stipulated that recommended officials must be held accountable. If the recommended person is incompetent after taking office, the recommender will sit together. This measure effectively curbed the unhealthy trend of abuse in official circles. - Strict pursuit of stolen goods: He changed the previous rule that the worst form of corruption for officials was to cut off their posts for the people and not to immove their property, and implemented "the corrupt still ask questions to recover the stolen goods." Under his governance, the corruption trend that had become increasingly fierce since the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty was effectively curbed in the last three years of the Longqing period, and a good situation of "a temporary cleanup of officialdom" emerged. To sum up, Gao Gong is an official who vigorously combats corruption and purges officialdom, not a corrupt official.

In the sixth year of Longqing's reign, there were basically no Japanese plagues, but the southwest became lively. Burma directly dominated Yunnan for ten years and seemed to be in an uninhabited land. It was not until Jiangling's death that he was defeated by the Ming army in southern Sichuan and returned home.

I hope that the supporting role of Zhang Juzheng can be written in a more three-dimensional way. As the first prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, his character is very complicated. But it is undeniable that he is a young genius reformer. What he really wants to save the Ming Dynasty is not just for power. He regards the emperor as his political heir, and hopes to write more about the master-apprentice relationship with the emperor, so that master and apprentice can work together. I always feel that he is the best choice at this time and hope to give him a good result.