The Four Great Ages Recognized in History

From the time when Qin Shihuang completed the unification of China to the Qing Dynasty’s destruction, in the two thousand years of history, the Great Ages were actually only Appeared four times; the so-called prosperous era refers to some specific stages in social development in history, a period of prosperity for a long period of time, when the country is rich, the army is strong, and diplomacy, culture and other aspects have reached their peak.

But among these four prosperous times, the first three are the eternal pride of the Chinese people, because at that time China was the well-deserved number one in the world, and truly achieved what Chen Tang of the Han Dynasty said: "If you offend me, you will be strong." "The Han will be killed no matter how far away he is"; but the fourth time, it seemed a bit self-proclaimed.

The first time: The prosperous age of Hanwu

The prosperous age of Hanwu refers to the peak state of the country during the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Che ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor at the age of sixteen. After Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, eliminated the hidden dangers of division by eliminating kings with different surnames and implemented "inaction" governance, the country began to revive; and then experienced the recuperation of Empress Lu, Emperor Wen of Han, and Emperor Jing of Han, and the country's population and financial resources reached unprecedented heights.

The biggest goal of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty after Liu Che ascended the throne was not to continue to accumulate wealth like his ancestors, but to establish the country's national unity and national pride. The most direct way is to continuously win and start Expanding territory, especially defeating the feuding Huns; Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did so. After the death of Queen Mother Dou, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was able to take control of the country; and then issued a series of national reform measures.

In order to consolidate the imperial power, the central government established the Central Dynasty. In order to strengthen the supervision of princes, kings and local officials, thirteen prefectural governors were set up in the local areas, and the governors at the level of 600 stone were ordered to supervise the counties at the level of 2,000 stone. The Prime Minister of the country.

Create an inspection system to select talents. Adopting Zhufuyan's suggestion, he issued an order of grace to resolve the kingdom's power and return the power of salt, iron and coinage to the central government. Culturally, Dong Zhongshu's suggestion was adopted to "depose hundreds of schools of thought and respect only Confucianism" in order to unify thinking.

But the greatest political achievement of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was the continuous victory of foreign affairs and the building of national self-confidence. During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he conquered the barbarians and expanded the territory, and the national prestige was far-reaching. He annexed North Korea in the east, annexed Baiyue in the south, and conquered Dawan in the west. Defeating the Xiongnu in the north established the basic scope of the Han Dynasty and ushered in the prosperous age of Han Dynasty. From this point on, until the fall of the Western Han Dynasty and even the Eastern Han Dynasty, no matter how chaotic and turbulent the country was, it always maintained a tough attitude towards the surrounding foreign races, and often destroyed the country and the species. It was really "the only Han Dynasty destroyed by force"!

The second time: the prosperous age of Kaiyuan

The prosperous age of Kaiyuan refers to the period of Tang Xuanzong and Li Longji. At that time, the Tang Dynasty experienced the "Government of Zhenguan", "Government of Yonghui", etc. , in the mid-term, although there was turmoil, it did not affect the country's sustainable development. Therefore, by the time of Emperor Xuanzong and Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty, there had been further development. Li Longji and Princess Taiping jointly launched the "Tang Long Coup" and killed Queen Wei's group. Li Dan ascended the throne as emperor again, but soon gave up the throne to his son Li Longji.

In the early days of Tang Xuanzong's reign, he was very accomplished in politics. He was diligent in political affairs and took measures from all aspects to consolidate and develop the Tang Dynasty regime. Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty paid attention to bringing order out of chaos, appointed Yao Chong, Song Jing and other wise ministers, worked hard to govern, and created the most prosperous era of the Tang Dynasty - the Kaiyuan era. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese army entered Central Asia for the first time in history, which was the "Battle of Talas" unknown in history. The opponent they fought was the most powerful in the history of the Arab Empire.

Although the "Battle of Talas" failed, you must know that the Tang Dynasty expeditionary force only had 24,000 people at its peak, while the Arab Empire army reached 300,000. , and it is unknown how many of the 24,000 people were real troops of the Tang Dynasty, because many of them were mercenaries from the slave countries, and the main reason for the failure of the Tang Dynasty was also the betrayal of the mercenaries of these slave countries. .

The third time: the Yongxuan prosperous age

In fact, the so-called Yongxuan prosperous age mainly refers to the Yongle prosperous age. However, during the Xuanzong period of the Ming Dynasty, the national power of the Ming Empire reached its peak, so it was collectively called the Yongxuan prosperous age. Xuan Shengshi. It is said that after the beggar emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expedition to the Central Plains and the end of the Mongolian Yuan rule in China, he pacified the southwest, northwest, northeast and other places, and finally unified China. During his reign, Zhu Yuanzhang carried out reforms in all aspects. After the efforts of the Hongwu Dynasty, social production gradually recovered and developed, which is known as the Hongwu Rule in history.

However, the successor Zhu Yunwen selected by Zhu Yuanzhang was really not qualified. Later, when he was cutting off the military power of his uncles, his fourth uncle, King Yan Zhu Di, raised troops and drove him away. Zhu Yunwen's whereabouts are unknown since then, and Zhu Di ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. That is Emperor Yongle; when Zhu Di was in power, he reformed political institutions and established a cabinet.

Five personal expeditions to Mongolia were carried out to recapture Annan, and the Nurgandu Division was set up in the northeast, the Hami Guard was set up in the northwest, and the Xuanwei Division such as Dagonci, Demassa, and Diwuci were set up in the southwest. The Guizhou Administrative Envoy Department was also established to consolidate the north-south border defense and maintain the integrity of China's territory; he sent Zheng He to the West many times to strengthen friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries and strengthen the management of the South China Sea; he also ordered people to compile the "Yongle Dadian" , dredging the Grand Canal.

Moving the capital to Beijing in 1421 played a very positive role in strengthening the rule of the Ming Dynasty. During his reign, the Ming Dynasty had a prosperous economy, a strong national power, and great improvements in civil and military skills. It was known as the Yongle era in history. Zhu Di's son and grandson were also very good, and they continued to develop their national power. The national power of the Ming Dynasty reached its peak, and it was called the rule of Renxuan in history.

Later generations will collectively refer to these three generations as the "Yongxuan Prosperity". At that time, the Ming Empire ranked first in the world in terms of influence and national power.

The fourth time: the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong

The so-called prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong, I really don’t want to say it, it’s a bit embarrassing, I really don’t know how it can be called the prosperous age? During the one hundred and thirty-four years of the rule of the grandfather and grandson, it was the highest peak of the Qing Dynasty. During this period, all aspects of Chinese society reached their peak under the original system framework, with the most reforms, the strongest national strength, and social stability. , rapid economic development, rapid population growth, and vast territory.

However, there is a huge crisis hidden in the prosperous times. Due to the rigid system, national oppression at home and isolation from the outside world, political corruption and social contradictions have become more and more intense. Various signs of decline have gradually emerged, and the Qing court society The ability to rule and manage is declining.

In the late Qianlong period, various civil uprisings broke out one after another, which also marked the beginning of the decline of the Qing Dynasty.

In fact, to be fair, I have always believed that there were only three prosperous ages in Chinese history, namely the "Hanwu Prosperity", the "Kaiyuan Prosperity" and the "Yongxuan Prosperity"; in fact, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, There is also a "Wuyue Dynasty", but it has not been recognized by history. It is like the "Kangxi and Qian Dynasties", and it feels a bit self-proclaimed.