The history of the Ming Dynasty is an extreme history. On the one hand, fans of
are constantly touting it, on the other hand, some people are disgusted with and . People who understand will still understand whether the Ming Dynasty was good or not, but the biggest criticism of the Ming Dynasty was that the shamelessness of the scholar-bureaucrats reached the highest level in feudal history.
Shamelessness integrated into the blood
The shamelessness of the scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty accompanied the Ming Dynasty from beginning to end, following it like a ghost, and finally integrated with the dynasty.
When the Ming Dynasty finally fell, Emperor Chongzhen said with emotion, "I am not the king of the country's subjugation, but I am the fate of the country's subjugation." Chongzhen, who died after the country was destroyed, did not forget to scold the intellectuals for mistreating the country and the people even before his death.
The demise of the Ming Dynasty was a complex issue. The emperor had an unshirkable responsibility, but the shamelessness of the scholar-bureaucrats was indeed the biggest root cause of the Ming Dynasty's demise.
After Chongzhen's death, the "东林" scholar-bureaucrats who tried their best to shout loyalty to the emperor and serve the country ridiculed Chongzhen and said, It is unethical to confer the first title on a single man.
This sentence is a literary statement. As the saying goes, death is not a pity. While these scholar-bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty enjoyed the identity and status given to them by Chongzhen and used it to seize social wealth, they also made high-profile statements when the Ming Dynasty fell, saying that their old employer deserved the misfortune.
There is no other dynasty in history that holds the job of the Ming Dynasty and wants to smash the iron pot of the Ming Dynasty. So, how shameless were the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty?
Shamelessly put on the cloak of morality
In fact, the Ming Dynasty was the most moral dynasty among the people. In history, there has never been a dynasty that talked about benevolence, righteousness and morality as much as the Ming Dynasty. It founded the country based on the principles of Confucius and Mencius, and the whole country was harmonious. All the people were filial sons, virtuous grandsons, loyal ministers and good generals.
This dynasty seems to have no problems, but it hides huge problems. Because Zhu Yuanzhang advocated honesty and integrity, the salaries set for officials were very low. In order to improve their lives, officials had to take desperate risks to "generate income."
Subsequently, a strange collective phenomenon emerged in the Ming Dynasty. While the scholar-bureaucrats praised morality, they also used various conveniences to increase their private income. The most straightforward manifestation of
is the birth of Hairui " Haiqingtian ".
Let’s take your time to understand why Hai Rui became a model official in Chinese history. Why did he come from the Ming Dynasty? Was it because of his outstanding abilities? Not really.
On the contrary, Hai Rui was a feudal bureaucrat with extremely limited abilities. It was just a coincidence that he was born in the Ming Dynasty and made his mark in history. In the Ming Dynasty at that time, Hai Rui existed like a "freak", and many incredible stories happened about Hai Rui.
For example, one of the most popular hot searches in the Ming Dynasty that year was "Hai Rui celebrates his old mother's birthday." Just a simple story about Hai Qingtian cutting off two pounds of pork for his old mother became the hottest topic in Jiajing .
Hai Rui's moral character is worthy of recognition, but the story surrounding Hai Rui is worth pondering.
While civil and military officials throughout the dynasty were writing moral articles praising Hai Rui, Hai Rui's official career was not as smooth as the moral articles praising him.
Abnormality must be accompanied by demons. Everyone praised Hai Rui for his good moral character, but no one recommended or reused him. That's the problem.
In the final analysis, Hai Rui's colleagues were just using him as writing material for moral articles. They didn't care at all how Hai Rui lived, let alone his rare qualities.
Because everyone is focused on their own interests, rather than on their moral character and talents.
The scholar-official class that was shamelessly corrupted
Under this exaggerated and impetuous social atmosphere, it not only provided opportunities for intellectuals with evil intentions, but also catalyzed a group of originally upright scholar-officials to become black and corrupt.
For example, Dong Qichang, the great literary giant of Wanli dynasty, was skilled in calligraphy and painting and was regarded as one of the best in the world, but his depravity and shamelessness in the second half of his life was also shocking.
Dong Qichang was a Jinshi and the th in the 17th year of Wanli. When he first entered officialdom, Dong Qichang was full of enthusiasm.
When Emperor Wanli was preparing to find a teacher for his most disliked eldest son, Zhu Changluo, , no one was willing to take the job. Because all the civil and military officials in the dynasty knew what Emperor Wanli was thinking, and everyone was respectful and insensitive, only Dong Qichang came forward. After
left, Dong Qichang felt regretful. Not only was the job well-paid, but the key was that he immediately became one of the most disliked people in the court. Because the emperor's eldest son was not the emperor's favorite candidate for heir apparent, he had no intention of training him.
is equivalent to the fact that Dong Qichang became a hated person in the eyes of the emperor when he first entered the official career. Later, he was repeatedly made things difficult by his colleagues. Dong Qichang really couldn't do it anymore, so he had to resign and go home because of his illness.
Dong Qichang, who had encountered obstacles everywhere in the capital, immediately hit great luck after returning to his hometown. Because his family members didn't know what happened to him sitting on the bench in the capital, they only knew his identity as the prince's teacher, and those who followed him came to befriend him with gold, silver, treasures, cars and beauties.
Under the corruption of this gentle and wealthy hometown, Dong Qichang quickly degenerated and became the richest man and bully in his hometown. A generation of passionate talents became shameless gangsters who colluded with the current bullies and bullies.
Dong Qichang's evil deeds angered the villagers. People with integrity gathered around the Dong family and asked Dong Qichang to reason with them. Dong Qichang not only ignored them, but also asked his slaves to pour excrement outside the courtyard from his home to disgust those who wanted to reason with him.
Finally, the history books commented on him: Dong's evil was so extreme.
The integrity of the scholar-officials has been lost.
Many previous articles have detailed the shameless behavior of the scholar-officials during the Chongzhen period in the late Ming Dynasty. I will not go into detail here. Let’s talk about a less famous one.
This person is called Gu Bingqian . He is one of the chief ministers of the Ming Dynasty, but his shamelessness is second to none.
Since he is known as the chief assistant, his official position is at least the first in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, and his moral character should not be too bad. He must set an example for the world's scholars.
However, the reality is shocking.
Instead of bringing positive energy to the intellectuals of the Ming Dynasty, Gu Dashoufu made intellectuals a shame.
When Gu Bingqian was the first assistant, it happened to be the time when Wei Zhongxian and were at their peak. In order to keep his existing wealth, Gu Bingqian was willing to be Wei Zhongxian's dog and horse, and became Wei Zhongxian's sub-ruler in the outer court.
In the process of making Wei Zhongxian's career bigger and stronger, Gu Bingqian worked hard, even breaking his legs to win over intellectuals for Wei Zhongxian. It's okay for him to be shameless himself, and he must ask the people below him to be shameless as well. Yang Lian did not want to lose his integrity, but with the help of Gu Bingqian, he became the victim of Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian is in power. As conscientious scholars, all conscientious scholars should stand up to punish rape and eradicate evil and help the country. Especially as the chief minister of the cabinet, even if he does not want to be the first person out of selfish motives, he is willing to act as a thug for Wei Zhongxian. Gu Bingqian's most shameless move is to take his son to Wei Zhongxian's house to recognize his godfather.
It is precisely because of these shameless acts that Gu Bingqian is the only chief minister of the cabinet who is included in the eunuch biography of the Ming Dynasty.
The above historical stories are just the tip of the iceberg of Ming history. In the Ming Dynasty, the shameless history of scholar-bureaucrats is endless.
To paraphrase a popular saying on the Internet, no one can defeat the shameless ones, except they will be even more shameless tomorrow.
Why were the scholars of the Ming Dynasty so defeated?
People are still those people. Why did the scholar-bureaucrats in the Ming Dynasty deteriorate in their ways? The fundamental reason is that there was something wrong with the general environment of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty did not have the rigidity and domineering of the Qin Dynasty , did not have the magnificence of the Han Dynasty , did not have the enthusiasm and openness of the Sui and Tang dynasties , and did not have the looseness and ease of the of the Song Dynasty. In dynasty songs, it is like an alternative without friends, always giving people a depressing feeling, just like the sky that is never clear, always gray, like rain but not rain.
The reason, in the words of Qian Mu, is that they were all feudal dynasties, but the Ming Dynasty was a dictatorship within the feudal dynasty.
