Why do you have to pay homage to Zhu Yuanzhang every time you go to Jiangnan?

In the previous article, Guo (a general theory of national history) once said that it was not easy to maintain domestic stability in the early days of Manchu's entry into the Central Plains. Although they used violent means to promote "shaving and changing clothes" and literary inquisition, they adopted more appeasement means. For example, they advocated the justice of Chongzhen and Yuan Chonghuan, named the locust tree that hanged itself in Chongzhen as "Sin Sophora" and tied it with chains for more than 200 years. At the same time, they also have special feelings for Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor.

As early as the Qing Dynasty just entered the customs, Dourgen and Duoduo sent people to worship the Ming Tombs many times. After pacifying San Francisco and unifying the whole country, Kangxi personally went to the Ming Tombs in Nanjing to pay homage to Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, five times, while Emperor Qianlong went to Jiangnan six times and even went to the Ming Tombs once, which was very grand and full of humility. Why on earth is this?

You know, in the feudal history of China for more than 2,000 years, the emperor was most concerned about the legitimacy of his own rule. Especially in troubled times, every regime is fighting for the name of "orthodoxy", just as Liu Bei said that he was a descendant of the Han Dynasty royal family, and Cao Pi officially abdicated, so later generations generally believe that Cao Wei is orthodox. However, it was embarrassing that although China was ruled, no one gave it Zen status. So I want to be close to myself. The first thing that every Ming Di did after he ascended the throne was to pay a visit to the Ming Tombs, which naturally became a symbol of orthodoxy, and the Qing Emperor naturally went to bow down.

As Manchu emperors, Kangxi and Qianlong were naturally unwilling to bow to their former enemies, but at that time, most Han Chinese did not agree with Manchu rule. For example, Wang Fuzhi, a adherent of the Ming Dynasty, once said that "Zen can be maintained, changed and not stand between different classes", which was full of contempt for Manchu. But if the Manchu emperor made the Ming emperor an "ancestor", it would make sense to rule the Central Plains.

What they did was really useful, and a special program was added in an ingenious way: I deeply felt sorry for Daming's misfortune, hated the bandits' overthrow of the Ming Dynasty, deeply felt obliged to destroy them personally, and was full of regret for Daming's "national destruction and family destruction". At that time, ordinary people in Nanjing saw this touching scene, "all the people, fathers and followers, cried."