The reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty

The demise of the Ming Dynasty has made many people lament. It is a sad dynasty and a sad era. Many people are discussing why the Ming Dynasty perished? Almost everyone wants to travel through time and space and return to Chongzhen to save the Ming Dynasty. Popular views believe that the reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty are as follows. I think these views are superficial.

First, the Ming Dynasty died due to party strife. There are party struggles in every dynasty, and in order to stabilize his position, the emperor artificially created party struggles to achieve balance and stability in the court. Therefore, in a sense, party struggles will not only not destroy the world, but will stabilize the monarch. 's rule.

Second, the Ming Dynasty died in the factory guard. Dongchang and Jinyiwei were born to strengthen the imperial power. Dongchang and Jinyiwei are not as exaggerated as depicted in movies and TV shows. The factory guards only supervise unjust officials and have nothing to do with the people. Therefore, it is a joke to show that the imperial court fell to the factory guards.

Third, the Ming Dynasty died due to the dictatorship of eunuchs. Did eunuchs rule in the Ming Dynasty? It seems that since the mid-Wanli period, the status of eunuchs has declined. Some people say that Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian was indeed domineering, but Emperor Tianqi used Wei Zhongxian precisely to deal with the Donglin Party. Therefore, no matter how domineering Wei Zhongxian was, Tianqi also controlled the world.

Fourth, the Ming Dynasty fell in the three great campaigns of Wanli. Which dynasty did not have frequent wars? Did the Tianqi and Chongzhen dynasties have few wars in Liaodong? During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, so many small countries were fighting wars every day, every month, every year, and no country was finished because of the war. Wanli's three major levies cost millions of taels of money, and the money consumed by the three major levies were all taken out by Wanli from the inner court. Could it be that a few million taels of silver could finish the Ming Dynasty? Even more ridiculous.

Fifth, the Ming Dynasty died because Shenzong did not go to court. If Shenzong doesn't go to court, will the world perish? The civil service system of the Ming Dynasty was already very complete. Even if the emperor did not manage politics, the Ming Dynasty would still function. Moreover, all major events in the Wanli Dynasty were conducted under the leadership of Shenzong, and Shenzong did not completely ignore politics.

Sixth, the Ming Dynasty died during the Little Ice Age in the climate of the northern hemisphere. The seventy-year climate ice age led to a reduction in grain production in the north in the late Ming Dynasty, an epidemic of plague, and an increase in victims. But was this the fundamental reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty? No. We must know that during the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, the Ming Emperor Zhu Di was also in the northern hemisphere climate ice age. The disasters in the north were also serious, but they were all overcome because the government provided relief and the government at that time had strong control.

Seven, the Ming Dynasty died due to land annexation. In ancient times, the feudal land rent was divided into three out of ten, and then the landlord took 0.5 from the "three" to pay the agricultural tax. With seven out of ten, the farmers could still live a good life.

Eight, the Ming Dynasty died due to reduced silver imports. Western scholars put forward the view that a large amount of foreign silver was imported into China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, which led to inflation. Later, due to the unprofitable production of silver, the amount of silver mining decreased, which reduced the amount of silver imported into my country. However, there was a lot of private silver hoarding, which led to deflation. Due to the early inflation has happened, so the end result is that supplies are expensive and silver is scarce, leading to economic collapse. This view is wrong, why is it wrong? Because the reduction in silver input, in today's terms, means that the money supply in the market is insufficient, causing prices to fall. In the late Ming Dynasty, when the silver circulating in the market decreased, prices rose instead. It was not because there was too much silver in the early stage. The excess of silver in the early stage led to high prices. When the circulation of silver decreases, prices will naturally fall. There is no need to worry about this, but why do prices not fall when silver decreases? This is due to structural inflation, that is, due to the reduction in the production of basic commodities, grain, which leads to an increase in grain prices, which in turn drives up the prices of other commodities, so the fundamental problem is still a food problem, not a silver problem. It is even more of a joke to say that the government has less money and has no money to buy grain to help the victims. Grain production decreased in the late Ming Dynasty. Even if you have a lot of money, can you buy grain? Therefore, the demise of the Ming Dynasty had nothing to do with the amount of silver imported. The Ming Dynasty died due to corrupt officials and political darkness. These are all big words, empty words, cannot withstand scrutiny and are untenable. 10. The Ming Dynasty fell due to Li Zicheng's uprising and the entry of Qing troops. This is the result, not the cause.

On the eleventh day, the Ming Dynasty died due to Qi Shu. This is the most ridiculous, and this reason is completely a manifestation of scholars covering up their ignorance. Every outcome has its own reasons, and it must not be attributed to luck.

I have refuted the previous popular views, so what was the reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty? I think there are two reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

First, the civil servant group was too powerful and the imperial power was suppressed.

In fact, after Yan Song's death, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty have always been monolithic. The emperor can no longer divide and control them. These civil servants who believed in Neo-Confucianism and Xinxue had a religious fanaticism and despised all personnel who were not from the imperial examination. They controlled the government, suppressed the imperial power, and were not afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice for their beliefs and dogmas. As a direct result, the emperor was helpless. In addition, Hai Rui, who only talked and fired guns, set an example for them. Once the imperial power was suppressed, the country's policies would not be based on the overall situation, but on the interests of the civil servant group, that is, the interests of the bourgeoisie. The Ming Dynasty The civil servant group was exactly the representative of the Jiangnan bourgeoisie in the late Ming Dynasty. Because Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was born in a poor family and was well aware of the people's sentiments. In addition, after the war in the early years of the Ming Dynasty, everything was in ruins waiting to be revitalized. Therefore, Taizu and the people rested and recuperated. The direct result was that the taxes in the Ming Dynasty were always very low (Huang Renyu's point of view), and commercial taxes were even higher. Therefore, the finances of the Ming Dynasty were always very difficult. In the Chongzhen Dynasty, there was no money for wars and disaster relief. However, the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan spent hundreds of thousands of taels or millions of taels. The emperor's attempt to increase taxes was immediately opposed by the ministers. In addition, in the late Ming Dynasty, commerce was developed and merchants earned huge amounts of money from overseas trade. However, due to the obstruction of the Donglin Party, commercial taxes could not be increased. The Wanli Dynasty had no other choice, so it levied a mineral tax. As a result, the ministers instigated local officials to kill the tax envoys, which can be seen from now on. If the imperial power is strong and the finances are sufficient, then water conservancy projects can be built in the north, so that they can cope with disasters. Therefore, those Donglin Party members who talked nonsense, harmed the country and the people, were self-righteous, retaliated, and only knew about tax evasion were definitely traitorous ministers of the Ming Dynasty, and Wei Zhongxian, who attacked the Donglin Party, was definitely a wise minister of the Ming Dynasty. He is right to be named. , after Wei Zhongxian's death, the Donglin Party returned to power and the commercial tax was eliminated. My point of view is that the emperor should reduce the appointment of officials from wealthy provinces, especially officials with gentry backgrounds, so that the policies formulated can take the overall situation into consideration and allocate resources nationwide.

Second, the advanced development of the economic system in the late Ming Dynasty (views of Huang Renyu and Du Chebie). Why did ancient China emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce? Because climate, rivers, and geographical factors determined that my country was an agricultural country, unlike Europe which was mainly commercial. Therefore, most of the population in my country was agricultural. This determined that food production security was an important factor in ancient China. The first important thing is that without food, people will rebel. In ancient China, China emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and banned overseas trade precisely to restrict the agricultural population from engaging in non-agricultural industries, resulting in a reduction in food production.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, cash crops were planted on a large scale in Jiangnan, overseas trade was active, and a large number of agricultural people entered handicrafts or engaged in overseas trade. However, Zhang Juzheng’s tax reform transformed physical taxes into monetary taxes, and people stopped producing food. You can also pay taxes. The consequence of large-scale planting of cash crops in Jiangnan is that the food rations of the people in Jiangnan need to be supplied by Huguang. By the time of the war in the late Ming Dynasty, the wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan had money to buy houses and land, but they could not buy food. After the Qing soldiers went south, the two towns in the four southern towns One hundred thousand elite soldiers all surrendered to the Qing Dynasty because they had no food. The government had no food and it was difficult to recruit troops. Food is temporarily in short supply in the south, but if the north encounters such a huge disaster, it can be said that there is no food relief in the world. Imagine if Jiangnan increases food production and transports food reserves to the northern provinces several years in advance. In the disaster year, warehouses are opened for relief. What will happen? Isn't it much better?

Let’s talk about Zhang Juzheng’s tax reform. Zhang Juzheng's tax reform made the Ming Dynasty take a big step toward a commodity economy. However, it was Zhang Juzheng's tax reform that enabled the transitional development of the commodity economy in the late Ming Dynasty, which led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty. Before Zhang Juzheng's tax reform, farmers could pay taxes after harvesting the grain, but after the tax reform, this was no longer possible. They had to sell it on the market and exchange it for money before paying taxes. The seasons for harvesting grain and selling grain are the same. When everyone sells grain, grain merchants will take the opportunity to lower prices. This means that farmers are being exploited again, and taxes are increased in disguise. Places like those in the south of the Yangtze River are better because they have a lot of money and have a large export-oriented economy, and they can grow profitable cash crops in exchange for money. However, places like the northwest are short of silver and have an inward-oriented economy. The situation is even worse, and farmers are more exploited in exchange for money. , so in addition to famine, this is also a very important reason why peasant uprisings broke out in the northwest. In addition, as mentioned earlier, Zhang Juzheng's tax reform was equivalent to encouraging the planting of cash crops instead of growing food. Therefore, it was not Li Chengliang, Wanli, Tianqi, Chongzhen, and Wei Zhongxian who led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but Zhang Juzheng, the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty. A capable minister, history can be so weird sometimes.

A country based on agriculture, due to excessive commercial expansion, exhausted the resources of the empire and eventually destroyed the empire.