Let's compare the experience of Emperor Kangxi in compiling Ming History. These two people are very similar. They all had extremely strong assistants at the beginning, prosperous times, brilliant victories and the same failures in the later period. Emperor Wanli's greatest failure was the Battle of Salhu, which was constantly publicized in the Qing Dynasty and lost 40,000 yuan. Kangxi's greatest failure was that in 56 years, Kangxi wiped out 60,000 troops in Zhungeer. As for the mining tax of Emperor Wanli, there was an appalling deficit of 43 million in the national treasury during the reign of Emperor Kangxi. One of the two emperors with very similar trajectories was hyped up because of its shortcomings and mistakes, and even inferred that Ming died in Wanli, which is really an anecdote in the world. If the emperors behind the Ming Dynasty could treat their ministers the way Wanli treated Xiong Tingbi, the history of the Ming Dynasty would be much longer. While Emperor Kangxi was promoted as the emperor in past dynasties, after nearly 30 years of war, the people were miserable (until the signing of the Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu in 28 years). In the next ten years, nine sons won the office, and chickens flew and dogs jumped. But if you think about it, you will be relieved. Who let him have a good grandson to edit the "Four Ku Quanshu" and destroy the history books? To change it, the literary inquisition is terrible and much more effective than his son's prosperous time.
Although saying that a good emperor is not necessarily a good man, let's first look at the private virtues of two people. There is no doubt that Emperor Wanli is more emotional, at least much better than Kangxi. He is almost like a stallion, from laundry slaves to Mongolian princesses. The affection between Wanli and Zheng Guifei has remained unchanged for more than 40 years. Although it is not as good as Ming Xiaozong, even today, they are still moral models. The slander of Wanli wine's color and wealth Let's talk about "wealth" after "color" Let's look at wine. According to some "historians", Wanli was drunk at every meal and was a big alcoholic. But there is only one record in the eight-year history book of Ming Wanli, and he really drank too much. As long as you know a little about the power of officials in the Ming Dynasty, you will know that the column lifting in the Ming Dynasty can never cover up the drunken incident in Wanli. However, there is no such thing as going through historical materials. What is even more sensational is that some people even infer that in the late Wanli period, they were tired of politics because of drug abuse. When I went to Dingling the other day, I heard a tour guide chattering. Emperor Wanli drank good wine and then monitored it to his bones. He also took drugs in front of him. This is sheer nonsense. Can he run China for more than 40 years after every meal? I'm afraid it will be over in a few days. Although Kangxi has no rumors of good wine, his interest in hunting is simply surprising. If Chengde is to facilitate contact with Mongolian ministries, then the reason for such a dense trip is unconvincing. Of course, there is a saying that Kangxi needed such exercises to ensure the combat effectiveness of the Eight Banners Army, but was it necessary when the war lasted for the first 20 years? Will it be necessary to repeat the same military exercise every year in the next few decades? It can only make people feel that Kangxi neglected state affairs because of his personal hobbies. To make matters worse, Kangxi once claimed to shoot 3 18 rabbits a day. I said that he had absolutely no time to deal with state affairs that day. This inference should be no problem. Forty-eight rounds, the time and money consumed by this kind of hunting, compared with a meal of wine, is really a heaven and an underground. Even if Emperor Wanli really drinks every day, it is hard to flatter him. It is hard to blame that Wan Li's occasional wine is not linked to stimulating domestic demand. Finally, talk about the problem of "qi". The so-called Qi is nothing more than that the Emperor Wanli once blamed eunuchs. In fact, this situation was much more common and ruthless in the Qing Dynasty, even after Qianlong entered the palace. Zhao and other surnames. All this is because the "wise" Manchu emperor thought the eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty were particularly evil, so the horror of the punishment of eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty was shocking. But if Emperor Asako lived another 500 years and saw that women in the Qing Dynasty were particularly evil, would he travel back to that era and claim that he was not close to women?
Now let's take a look at the ruling process of two people. The beginning of their reign was very similar. At the beginning of their accession to the throne, both of them lived in the huge shadow of the minister of auxiliary government. Their only choice is to trust or get rid of this person. If they want to get rid of this person, Emperor Wanli should have more convenient conditions than Kangxi. First of all, the power of Wanli dynasty is a trinity, the power of phase, the power of position and the power of court. The latter two powers depend entirely on the existence of emperor Wanli. They only care about whether to cooperate with Xiang Quan or not, and who Xiang Quan Cao works with is not a matter of principle. Secondly, for Zhang, there is a high arch that can contain his opponent, even if this person is in office for a short time; Regardless of the difficulty of operation or the risk of success or failure, Wanli is obviously much easier than Kangxi. However, although Wanli was as dissatisfied with the Minister of Fuzheng as Kangxi, he did not choose to get rid of Zhang, but chose to trust and stick to it. At least when Zhang was alive, the perfect relationship between them was one of the best relationships between monarch and minister in China history. So, under the control of this monarch and minister, the Ming Dynasty sailed for prosperity again. But Kangxi's political wisdom is not as good as Wanli's. In the case of irreconcilable contradictions between the two sides, Kangxi took risks and succeeded very narrowly. To make matters worse, the Qing Dynasty lost its first warrior. Since then, all forces have been eager to move. But the little emperor himself obviously does not have enough deterrence, and a protracted war disaster will come again. The two sides have different political wisdom and different choices. One will usher in another prosperous time after Ren Xuan's rule, and the other will immerse China in blood and fire again.
In the early years of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, China began its real prosperity. During the Jiangling period, the efficiency of the Ming empire was improved unprecedentedly, and the examination of politics and law became a law that shone on later generations. Meanwhile, many bureaucracies were abolished. Although there are no clear statistics showing how many official posts have been cut, it is estimated that more than 20,000 official posts have been cut. At the same time, the land stock changed from 565.438 billion mu to 785 million mu, which broadened the national tax revenue. What followed was a flogging method that made a name for itself in history. Its core was to pay land tax. The burden on the poor was not heavy, and the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, which led to a harmonious and prosperous era. A great tax and fee reform! Corresponding to Qi Jiajun, the Li family will threaten the town from all directions. Especially the attack of the Li family, even reading history today, makes people feel that they are dreaming back to the Han and Tang Dynasties, much like Huo Qubing and Li Jing. As for the division of the two major forces of Mongolian Tatar, "virtue is in the west and glory is in the east", since the first year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, 1200 enemy stations have been built, which has benefited generations. The Great Wall's war of resistance cannot be separated from these enemy platforms. More importantly, it is better than the so-called "prosperous time of kanggan", because it always had great freedom of speech in that dynasty, which is much stronger than the prosperous time when Daxing Wenzi Prison was ready to fight, than the so-called prosperous time when people were constantly killed or even flogged because of a poem, an article or even a sentence and a signature. In the early years of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, dark clouds overwhelmed the city. If Prince Zhu San's nightmare is inevitable, this eight-year-long war has covered more than ten provinces in China from east to west. The country's financial resources are empty and the people are miserable. Life is like grass in troubled times.
As time goes by. Although Emperor Wanli lost Zhang, his courage and boldness did not diminish. This young and promising monarch not only kept a set of whipping methods, but more importantly, he had three famous battles at this stage. These three wars not only ensured the unity of the country, but also dealt a powerful blow to the enemy. For the next 300 years, the enemy did not dare to peep at the Central Plains in the West. The chaos of worshiping and worshiping in the twenty years of Wanli in Ming Dynasty, known as the chaos of Ningxia in history, plunged the whole Ningxia region into erosion. In the face of this rebellion provoked by the pilgrimage and the cover of Mongolia, Emperor Wanli planned to cover Mongolia and Helan Mountain one by one under the unfavorable circumstances in the first battle, really drove a long car to break through the lack of Helan Mountain, and then sent troops to Ningxia City to quell the rebellion. Then there was the battle of Bozhou, where the Yang family in Sichuan and Hubei had ruled this land for generations since the Tang Dynasty. In the Ming dynasty, it was named as the ambassador of Bozhou, which was actually an independent kingdom. In the twenty-eighth year of Wanli, the Ming army made a massive conquest, broke through the natural barrier of Loushanguan in March and put down the rebellion in June. The place that has been almost separated from the central government for thousands of years has finally returned to the unified central government. These two battles are not long, but we must see that the roads in these areas are difficult and the logistics support is extremely difficult. Compared with Qianlong, it died in more than ten years, and countless talents laid Jinchuan with a total population of only tens of thousands. The talent of Emperor Wanli is much higher than this so-called "perfect old man". After pacifying the San Francisco Rebellion, Kangxi also launched a war to safeguard national unity and attacked Mongolian Grdan. In this disastrous battle, Kangxi showed the ability of a strategist, seducing the other side first, and then making an expedition on his own, in order to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop. However, in the course of this war, Kangxi made another mistake, which led to poor food and grass and starved thousands of soldiers. Every time I read this history, I am surprised. It is said that Manchu originally entered the customs from the Great Wall, and the route of transporting grain in the customs can be transported by water. Customs is on the grassland, which is far more convenient than the Ming army in the mountainous area without roads in Bozhou War. But Wanli did better than Kangxi.
Then let's compare the peak works of both sides. Anti-Japanese Aid Korea VS Recovering Taiwan Province Province. In the twenty years of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Toyotomi Hideyoshi basically controlled Japan. During the strongest period in Japanese history, he launched a war of aggression against the DPRK, and the DPRK hoped Wanli would help. Almost a replica of the first two signs, the small-scale rescue of the Ming army failed. Emperor Wanli mobilized 40,000 troops to rescue North Korea, recovered Pingyang in World War I, and then showed incredible combat effectiveness in the Biti Pavilion in the face of the absolutely superior Japanese Ming army. In this encounter, the Ming army, with a much smaller number, tied with the other side. However, the Japanese army was shocked by the fighting capacity of the Ming army. Under the situation of120,000 Japanese troops against 40,000 Ming troops, they began to passively avoid the war. The Ming army organized death squads to burn down the rice warehouse outside the Japanese city, and the Japanese army retreated to Busan. The war ended with Emperor Wanli canonizing Chen as a "barbarian". In the twenty-fifth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese army attacked again, and Emperor Wanli mobilized four armies to fight back against the Japanese army. Due to the unfavorable Korean War, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was seriously ill, and the Japanese army began to retreat when all parties were extremely unfavorable. During the Japanese retreat, a large-scale naval battle broke out between China and Deng Zilong. Three ships of the Ming army blocked the Lvliang Strait, firmly blocking 500 Japanese warships, and then the main force of the Ming army and the Japanese army under the command of the Ming army attacked their opponents from behind, sinking and capturing 450 rival ships, completely cutting off Japan's supply to North Korea and declaring the demise of the Japanese army in North Korea. For about 300 years, the Japanese army did not dare to look west at the Central Plains. It is particularly worth mentioning that Emperor Wanli assembled a huge fleet along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Once the Korean War is unfavorable, this unit will directly attack Japan. Unfortunately, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died too soon, otherwise there would probably be another province in China today. A history book compiled in the order of an "emperor of past dynasties" turns black and white and confuses right and wrong. North Korea fought for eight years in winter and spent more than seven million yuan. In twenty-seven years, Bozhou used soldiers and spent two or three million yuan. The three major levy heels are connected, and the country uses a large room. "The three expeditions of Emperor Wanli are considered to be one of the important reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty. However, for this pockmarked "one emperor through the ages", history mercilessly mocked him. To his descendants, the Sino-Japanese war broke out again, and the Beiyang Army, which China invested heavily in, was wiped out and lost 200 million silver. After cutting off Liaodong, Taiwan Province Province and Penghu Islands, Liaodong was later recovered through negotiation among the great powers and paid 30 million yuan to redeem Liao. And ten thousand. We have reason to believe that this is a far-sighted investment for future generations. The glory of victory should belong to Emperor Wanli, to battalion commander Song, to Li, to Chen Lin, to Magway, to martyred Deng Zilong, to the Ming army death squads who didn't even leave their names outside, to every Ming army soldier who participated in the war, and to all China people of that era. History will be just in the end. Heroes cannot be defiled. It is also a battle that has a far-reaching impact on the Chinese nation. The battle of Kangxi's recovery of Taiwan Province Province is of more practical significance because of the argument of Taiwan Province provincial authorities now. It should be noted that Kangxi showed some courage in this battle and built a real navy from scratch. But in the face of the declining Zheng family in Taiwan Province Province, the performance of this army is not so convincing. Is the navy trembling across the Taiwan Province Strait comparable to the famous naval forces abroad? Finally, talk about the Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu. In the face of the Russian expedition with extremely long logistics supply, the Qing army that protected the land of Longxing only won miserably. In this battle, the cavalry of the Qing army obviously fell behind the times when facing the firearms of the other side. But Kangxi, who is famous for his erudition, is not sensitive and has not attracted enough attention. He lost an opportunity to rewrite the modern history of China. Why is the Sino-Russian peace treaty called the Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar Chu? Because China ceded a large area to the east of the Nebuchadnezzar River, the only difference from the later unequal treaties was that there was no compensation, and it was more decent when signing the peace treaty. Mr. Wen Yiduo wrote in the famous Song of the Seven Sons: "... China lost its land, lost its motherland and was abused by others from the treaty of Nebuchadnezzar to the concession in Dalian, assuming that its sadness exceeded that of the seven sons of Taifeng." "..." When Long song cried!
Let's take a look at the most criticized battle of Salhu in Wanli. It should be said that from the deployment of the campaign, Emperor Wanli was not wrong. At first, the ignorant people of later generations thought that the Ming army should not be attacked by the opponents, but in fact, several important deployments of the three expeditions of Wanli were also multi-attacks. If the Ming army, which is dominated by firearms and infantry, attacks all the way to find the enemy who is dominated by cavalry for a decisive battle, such a deployment can be said to have been defeated before the war. Because your motivation can't keep up with each other. And multiple attacks can effectively limit the opponent's motivation. It is understandable that Levin, the general appointed by Emperor Wanli, who participated in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's governor, played an embarrassing battle in Ulsan. Later, he was dismissed for lying about his military situation. After the Korean War, he was reinstated. During his tenure as governor of Liaodong, he made outstanding achievements among the local people. A general has two lessons: he is familiar with geography and has deep qualifications (only he and retired Liu Gan were among the generals who aided Korea in those years). It should be said that there is nothing wrong with strategically arranging Wanli in the early stage. After all, whether he is a man or a god, he cannot predict the future. It should also be emphasized that the freedom of speech in Wanli era played a very bad role in this movement. The official asked Yang Hao to March quickly, but the Ming army was not ready yet. Wanli was "tired of politics" for a while and had to order a March. As a result, the Ming army was defeated by shunt. It should be said that victory or defeat is a common occurrence in military strategists. There is no problem with the layout in the early Wanli period. Many Qin Shihuang Hanwu and Tang Zong Songzu had similar failures. Even during the reign of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, 100,000 people in Qiu Fu were completely annihilated, which did not affect the Emperor Yongle's closeness to the Mongols. In the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi, 60,000 troops were wiped out by the Junggar Department of Mongolia, and the whole northwest was decadent. Why is Kangxi the wise king and Wanli the bad king? I wonder if the Qing people at that time were afraid to tell the truth because of the arrogant attitude adopted in the literary inquisition?
Did the battle of Salhu affect the power contrast between Ming Dynasty and later Jin Dynasty? Not at all. At that time, the population of the Ming Dynasty was about 654.38 billion, and about 2.7 million soldiers were included in the reserve. It should be said that such a failure is completely tolerable. After the failure, Emperor Wanli decisively appointed Xiong Tingbi to minimize the losses. After Xiong Tingbi went through the customs, he revived the morale and built Liaoyang and Shenyang to build a solid defense line. After several times, he went back in shame. On this basis, he proposed the implementation of Nurhachi. That is, relying on the fortified city to harass, the advantage of the late gold since the battle of Salhu has disappeared. Although the Ming army changed its previous strategy, from a local point of view, the latter Jin had an offensive, but there is no doubt that the initiative of the strategy has always been in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. After the battle of Salhu, the so-called change of attack and defense between the two sides was sheer nonsense, and the latter was just a disaster. Xiong Tingbi was unpopular in North Korea, and during the defense of Liaodong, Emperor Wanli once again. "Xiong Tingbi's action was supported by everyone, but the attack on the Xiong Tingbi Memorial Hall did not happen. This became a big "evidence" of Wanli's fatigue after the death of Emperor Wanli, and the latter was rampant after Xiong was removed from his post. What does this have to do with Salhu? What does it have to do with Emperor Wanli? If the dismissal of Xiong Tingbi, a scholar, was the beginning of the decline of the Ming Dynasty, then the killing of Yuan Chonghuan, another scholar, directly led to the disintegration of many loyal troops and turned them into "bandits". From then on, bandits became an excellent military force and began to sweep across the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty finally died in these "bandits". I feel sorry every time I read history. During the Wanli period, Zhang and Qi Jiguang, two former ministers, reached the peak of their personal lives, which will go down in history forever. The Mesozoic represented by Li Jiajiang also performed well. What is even more rare is that three scholars appeared in the Wanli period. These three men actually showed their military talents beyond that era. Their names are Xiong Tingbi, Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan. It should be said that this is not accidental. There are three military geniuses among the scholars. Emperor Wanli was really meritocratic and worthy of the emperors after him. It's a pity that although these three people devoted themselves to losing the protection of the emperor after Wanli, the ending was tragic. Looking at the so-called diligent emperor behind him, compared with the confused emperor Wanli, I can't help feeling: but what keeps the emperor Wanli alive is not Humadu Yinshan!
Finally, talk about Wanli's mining tax. First of all, it must be clear that both the national currency and the national treasury are collected from the people in the final analysis. Enriching the internal treasury and making excuses. Even in the so-called "anti-corruption Shi Sheng", people pay more taxes to the treasury. But for the emperor, the difference is big. Emperor Wanli is different from emperor Manchu, although it is not the land of a king of the world. However, Emperor Wanli didn't want to spend it. He can't go down to the south of the Yangtze River at will, nor can he easily repair the garden. The biggest difference between ministers in Wanli Dynasty and ministers in Qing Dynasty is that they are really ministers rather than slaves. Emperor Wanli asked the state treasury to provide 100,000 taels of silver to repair the palace at one time, so he had to put it on hold until the "prosperous time of Kanggan". Arsenic only suspected that the palace was not big enough. But unlike Wanli, Wanli got the answer that this was not an imperial edict. And Wanli never reached out to the state treasury again. It can be said that this is the real monarch and minister! Secondly, Wanli is not profligate among emperors. There is no need to build a special palace in the palace to please a woman to solve his concubine's homesickness, and there is no need to go hunting on a large scale, wasting people and money and going to the south of the Yangtze River. The rewards given to courtiers are also symbolic. As for drinking, Wanli can't drink the country even if he drinks Maotai every day. It can be said that most of the expenditure of Emperor Wanli was used as military expenditure. Let's compare it. The last emperor admitted in his confession that his family of six ate 3 1844 Jin of meat and 4,986 chickens and ducks a month after abdication. If this had happened in Wanli dynasty, Emperor Wanli would have been scolded to death by officials. Moreover, the eunuchs sent by Wanli were not so good, and they were often killed. Wanli didn't investigate this situation in four words ... There was an interesting episode about mining tax. Emperor Wanli was once seriously ill and consciously dying, so the recruitment records told the world to cancel the mining tax. As a result, Emperor Wanli recovered the next day and quickly sent someone to restore his will. In the process of chasing, Emperor Wanli was very anxious, because without this tax, he couldn't even live well in an ordinary big family. Therefore, even though Emperor Wanli knew that this tax was not good, he had to bite the bullet and stick to it. And the money given to the emperor Wanli, there are not many channels to squander, and finally as a military expenditure, it is also taken from the people. Of course, it is wrong to expropriate mining tax in theory, which should not be denied. But what is more reprehensible is that the emperor regards the world as his own private treasury, and the emperor with a treasury account book of 50 million actually has only 7 million.
Throughout the life of Emperor Wanli, although there are some shortcomings, his great achievements are really commendable. The main reason why Emperor Wanli didn't become a wise king was that he was too democratic and kind. When Emperor Wanli was alive, his speech was very free, and basically unconstrained officials began to make crazy rumors, which angered the emperor, earned him a scolding, earned him face among his colleagues, and angered the emperor. It's light to kill you until the prosperous time of Kanggan. The worst thing is to hang a sign in front of your house to teach sinners a lesson, and the local officials will visit on the fifteenth day of the first month. Your family has been ruined for hundreds of years. Then who dares to speak ill of anything but idealistic saints? Officials in Wanli Dynasty compared Emperor Wanli to Zhou Wang, who lived in seclusion in the East, and called Wanli the first tyrant in the ages. What is commendable is that Emperor Wanli didn't kill anyone for it. He looked a little scolded and said it was a trap (the official wanted to provoke him), that's all. Even if ordinary people are scolded all day, they probably can't stand it. But Emperor Wanli. Few people can do it with this tolerance alone. He deserves to be a truly wise monarch. He is a wise king, a true emperor and the pride of China people. In his time, the assessment of officials and the arrangement of tax system (a whip method) reached the peak of the whole feudal history of China. He dealt a powerful blow to domestic separatist forces and foreign aggressive forces. He started with a glorious era and ended with three military geniuses beyond the times.