Those Things in the Ming Dynasty Part 1 The Great Emperor Hongwu _ Chapter 17 The Case of Hu Weiyong
Hu Weiyong did not understand the real reason for his victory. It was not that he was stronger than Liu Ji, but because Zhu Yuanzhang was on his side. Zhu Yuanzhang was very clear about the struggle between the two groups. The reason why he did not mediate was
Because no matter who wins or loses in this fight, he will be the final winner. Whether it is the victory of the landlord surnamed Hu or the victory of the landlord surnamed Liu, as long as the landlord surnamed Zhu is guaranteed to have the highest status.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang chose Hu Weiyong was not because he was very strong. On the contrary, it was precisely because Hu Weiyong posed little threat to Zhu Yuanzhang that Zhu Yuanzhang made him the winner. But the stupid Hu Weiyong did not understand this.
Therefore, after defeating Liu Ji, Hu Weiyong became more and more rampant. He took bribes, ostracized anyone who disobeyed him, and even dared to challenge Zhu Yuanzhang's power. He secretly intercepted memorials from his subordinates, promoted officials, and executed prisoners without Zhu Yuanzhang's approval.
In the sixth year of Hongwu (1373), Hu Weiyong squeezed out another prime minister, Wang Guangyang, and monopolized the power of prime minister, and remained in power for seven years.
But what is puzzling is that Zhu Yuanzhang did not express any reaction to Hu Weiyong's criminal behavior, which is very unusual.
Zhu Yuanzhang was a man with a strong desire for power. He fought hard and became the most outstanding talent of that era. Li Shanchang was ordered to retire after he was just a little arbitrary. Who is Hu Weiyong? He has no military merit.
, and has no political achievements, how dare you be so presumptuous!
This is really puzzling. Many historical materials record various stories of Hu Weiyong's crimes and Zhu Yuanzhang's ignoring them. From this, we can infer that Hu Weiyong deserved his crimes and Zhu Yuanzhang acted in self-defense.
When we peel back the surface of the facts and analyze their essence, we will find that there is much to learn.
The famous Duke Zhuang of Zheng in history was never liked by his mother. His younger brother also relied on his mother's doting to make various unreasonable requests to him, but Duke Zheng always satisfied him. Until finally, his younger brother attempted to rebel against Zheng.
Only then did Duke Zhuang send troops to destroy them.
Later generations often think that Zheng Zhuanggong was extremely benevolent and righteous, and it was praised as a good thing. However, some people pointed out that Zheng Zhuanggong was a real hypocrite. He only condoned his lawlessness because he wanted his brother's life.
When we deeply understand this story, we will have a clear conclusion about Zhu Yuanzhang's abnormal behavior-this is a conspiracy.
This conspiracy has different expressions in different languages. The idiom is "play hard to catch", the scientific name is "pengsha", the common saying is "if you want to get it, you must first give it to it", in the words of Zhang Ga, a soldier, "don't look at it"
Have fun today, but be careful about making a list in the future."
But we still have a question. To deal with a little Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang needed to use so many brains. Did he have to endure him for seven years?
Yes, when we analyze history carefully, we will find that Hu Weiyong is by no means Zhu Yuanzhang's real target. What Zhu Yuanzhang wants to destroy is the behemoth behind Hu Weiyong.
Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to endure Hu Weiyong's tyranny and let this clown perform to his heart's content. To use a saying in Go to describe it, "If you don't do it for small gains, you must have a big plan." He has experienced so many hardships, such as Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, Wang Baobao and other contemporary heroes.
They are no match for him, let alone little Hu Weiyong!
He wronged himself in this way just because his target opponent was too powerful. This opponent was not Li Shanchang, nor the Huaixi Group, but the prime minister system that had lasted for thousands of years behind Hu Weiyong.
Ever since Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he has always felt that this system was too restrictive of his power. He always believed that the world was won by his own ability, but it is unreasonable that someone wants to divide power!
But this system has a history of many years. Both ministers and ordinary people believe that the prime minister is indispensable. To abolish this system, there must be a sufficient reason, and the arbitrary actions of an unscrupulous person like Hu Weiyong are just right.
can provide him with an excuse.
He watched Hu Weiyong quietly, waiting for the opportunity to come.
Hu Weiyong’s Countermeasures
Although Hu Weiyong was an out-and-out villain, he was not stupid. As his behavior went out of line step by step, his fear of Zhu Yuanzhang became greater and greater. However, Zhu Yuanzhang did not attack him, which gave him
With an ominous premonition, he knew Zhu Yuanzhang relatively well. This person would either do nothing or do absolutely nothing and never compromise.
After thinking for a long time, Hu Weiyong came up with a brilliant countermeasure, which was to lure people into the water.
In his opinion, if you want to avoid being killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, you must ensure that there are enough people on the same side as him. As the saying goes, the law does not punish everyone, Zhu Yuanzhang can't kill all the ministers in one go.
As for the method, it is relatively simple. First find a good partner, then appoint an official and make a wish. Everyone will have a meal together, take a bath, and then do some entertainment programs. After the emotions are blended, find a topic of concern to both parties to talk about. During this period,
If you are emotionally invested and shed some "sincere" tears during the conversation, the effect will be better.
After this, the two sides became iron brothers, and then they formed an alliance and swore that they would share blessings and suffer hardships together.
If you analyze the word "pull someone into the water" carefully, you will find that there are many problems in it. If you are going to a good place, you don't need to pull someone into the water. You have to be pulled into the water. It can be seen that the "water" is either a frying pan or a fire pit.
As the saying goes, "If there is danger, you go, and if there is any trouble, you take the blame." Once there is any trouble, the oath will change to "If there is any difficulty, you will definitely take the blame, and if there is any blessing, I will enjoy it."
Among those who were dragged into the trap by his tactics were the Marquis of Ji'an Lu Zhongheng, the imperial censor Chen Ning, the governor Mao Xiang and a number of other important ministers. For a time, they were all Hu Weiyong's spies in the court and throughout the country.
But Hu Weiyong was not satisfied. He also wanted to win over the most important person - Li Shanchang.
Because Li Shanchang is not only highly virtuous and highly respected, he also has a rare treasure, which is the iron ticket to avoid death.
We need to talk about the iron ticket to avoid death. In the Ming Dynasty, the highest reward given by the emperor to ministers was the iron ticket to avoid death. Its function was that when the minister broke the law in the future and the Jin Yiwei went to kill someone at home, as long as you did not throw it away (probably also
No one will throw it away), and if you take it out before cutting off your head with the knife, you can avoid death. Many ministers, thinking about their heads, tried their best to get one, because no matter what gold or silver coupons they have, they are not as useful as this iron coupon.
, those who are lucky enough to get it will be placed in the lobby of their home as an offering, and will be shown to each other when they come. It seems that with this iron ticket, there are two heads.
Li Shanchang had such a treasure, and there were two more. Hu Weiyong tried his best to fawn over him. These two iron coupons were one of the important reasons. Although Hu Weiyong could not use them for his own use, Li Shanchang would not die, so he would have a backer.
But the function of this iron coupon is actually problematic, because the iron coupon is given by the emperor, just like a check, whether it can be cashed depends on the issuing bank. The emperor is the issuing bank. If he says it is valid, it will be valid. If he says it expires, it will be valid.
Expired. It is hard to imagine that if the emperor is determined to kill someone, he will change his mind because of a verbal check he once wrote. To use a sentence we often say today to describe it is: "If I can praise you, I will step on you."
I have to knock you down!"
Looking at it from another perspective, there are many variables. The emperor does not necessarily have to kill you. He can lock you up, beat you half to death, and then find someone to harm you without knowing it, and then take revenge.
He died of a sudden illness. This not only fulfilled his reputation, but also fulfilled his wish, killing two birds with one stone. It's not that I don't keep my word, it's really that you are unlucky.
At that time, both Hu Weiyong and Li Shanchang attached great importance to these two empty promises, which fully demonstrated that their political level was only at the primary school stage compared with Zhu Yuanzhang.
When Hu Weiyong exposed his intention, Li Shanchang ignored him because he was different from the stupid Hu Weiyong. He had seen countless heroes defeated at the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang. He knew Zhu Yuanzhang's terror very well and would not commit the crime.
It was such a stupid mistake to go against Zhu Yuanzhang. He never thought that the little man he chose back then would now overestimate his own abilities and want to compete with Zhu Yuanzhang, and even drag himself into trouble now. Times have changed, and he firmly refused.
Hu Weiyong’s request.
Hu Weiyong was not good at seeing problems, but he still had a good way of seeing people. He found that Li Shanchang didn't like him, so he started to take the route of relatives. It happened that Li Shanchang's younger brother Li Cunyi was Hu Weiyong's son and daughter, so Hu Weiyong pulled Li Cunyi down.
Shui. Li Cunyi benefited, so he kept lobbying Li Shanchang. At first, Li Shanchang sternly scolded Li Cunyi. Later, after hearing more, he acquiesced. He said a meaningful sentence: "I am already old, wait for me
After death, you can figure it out for yourself (I am old, and you will take care of it when I die)."
Li Shanchang was dragged into the water like this.
Hu Weiyong finally felt relieved. The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty were all my people. What can you, Zhu Yuanzhang, do to me? If you can be the emperor, can't I?
Now it seems that he is indeed a clown who knows nothing about heaven and earth.
But these activities of Hu Weiyong did pose a problem for Zhu Yuanzhang. After all, so many ministers were from the same party. Zhu Yuanzhang had to consider how to divide and disintegrate them in order to eliminate Hu Weiyong's power. And this was not easy. It was really a difficult problem.
However, after Zhu Yuanzhang listened to the spies' report on Hu Weiyong's abnormal behavior, he solved this problem in just one sentence, which was quite high.
"Then kill them all!"
Kill for life
Zhu Yuanzhang always kept his word when it came to killing people. He watched Hu Weiyong's every move with a cold eye to see what tricks he could play. Hu Weiyong was also actively preparing to deal with Zhu Yuanzhang. He knew that sooner or later, he and Zhu Yuanzhang would have a fight.
There will be a head-to-head confrontation one day.
This day is coming soon.
During a trip, Hu Weiyong's son fell off his horse and died under the wheels of a passing carriage. Hu Weiyong was so angry that he killed the carriage driver without notifying the judicial department. This matter was reported to Zhu Yuanzhang, who ordered Hu Weiyong to explain the matter to him.
matter.
Hu Weiyong rushed to Zhu Yuanzhang. He had already thought of all the excuses and excuses on the way. As soon as he saw Zhu Yuanzhang, he hurriedly complained about how pitiful he was, how filial his son was, and how the coachman did not obey the traffic rules.
, driving on the line illegally, etc., and Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude was very strange.
He just remained silent and looked at Hu Weiyong with cold eyes.
Hu Weiyong still had no idea and kept talking about his grievances. When he found that only one person spoke in the conversation, he stopped and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, and he found that Zhu Yuanzhang was also looking at him.
The terrifying silence.
Zhu Yuanzhang finally stood up. He walked up to Hu Weiyong and said calmly in a small but clear voice: "A murderer must be punished with a life."
Then he drifted out without looking at Hu Weiyong again.
Hu Weiyong was stunned. He kept sitting on the chair and looking ahead blankly.
Suddenly, Hu Weiyong's hands began to tremble. He pressed his hands with his body, but it was of no use. His whole body began to tremble, like a person suffering from convulsions.
He couldn't hold back the fear in his heart, it was his body's natural reaction.
When discussing with his comrades at home, he felt that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be too weak to be attacked. Each department had its own people, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not have many close followers. As the number of his comrades increased, he continued to feel that
His own strength. In the praise of his comrades, he seemed to see that he would replace Zhu Yuanzhang and become the supreme ruler!
And when he really faced Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, he felt that he was far different from the person in front of him. He was also considered a talent, but his opponent seemed not to be a person, but a gleaming knife.
.
This is how Zhu Yuanzhang got to this point: from the wind and rain in the thatched house to the lone lantern in Huangjue Temple, from the flash of swords and shadows in Chuzhou to the raging flames of Poyang Lake, he galloped out from thousands of troops and stood up from the sea of blood on the mountain of corpses.
; He has experienced countless hardships and endured countless pains. He is not afraid of all authority or any enemy; all the great heroes have fallen in front of him. The dead people he has seen are worse than the living people Hu Weiyong has seen.
many!
Hu Weiyong finally understood why Li Shanchang was unwilling to become Zhu Yuanzhang's enemy. It was not because he had no ambition, but because of fear.
Without having to fight, Hu Weiyong already understood that he was in the wrong arena. He and Zhu Yuanzhang were not heavyweight players at all.
But it's too late to regret, just go to the dark side.
There are many different versions of what happened after that. Many historical materials record that Hu Weiyong was preparing to rebel and was exposed, so Zhu Yuanzhang took action to deal with Hu Weiyong. However, there are also some historical records that there is another hidden reason for this matter. In my opinion, the latter may be more
Have credibility.
In October of the twelfth year of Hongwu (1379), the Champa Kingdom (now central Vietnam) sent envoys to Nanjing to pay tribute. However, Hu Weiyong did not report the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang. This should be regarded as a serious diplomatic incident. Zhu Yuanzhang learned about Champa
When the Chinese delegation arrived in the capital, the anger that had been accumulated for a long time finally broke out, and he sternly reprimanded Hu Weiyong and Wang Guangyang (then the censor of Zuodu) who were responsible for the incident.
In fact, at this time, Hu Weiyong's most correct way to deal with it was to admit his mistake. Who doesn't have time to take a nap? But he and Wang Guangyang passed the responsibility to the Ministry of Rites, thinking that this would settle the matter.
Zhu Yuanzhang fully demonstrated his creative thinking and applied it to the handling of this matter. He did not let Hu Weiyong lead him by the nose to find out who did this. Instead, he executed Wang Guangyang first, and then
All officials involved in the matter were imprisoned.
Since it's either you or him, then I must be right to arrest you all.
The knife was already on Hu Weiyong's neck, and it was only a matter of time when he would cut it off.
He didn't wait long.
Tu Jie was Hu Weiyong's best friend. His position at that time was Yu Shi Zhongcheng. I believe everyone is familiar with this official position. His role in Hu Weiyong's group was very important. He mobilized public opinion to attack political opponents and formed gangs to plot evil. He was indispensable for everything. Hu Weiyong
He has always been regarded as his confidant.
However, this henchman used his actions to reinterpret the meaning of the word best friend - the comrade who will put you to death.
Seeing that Hu Weiyong was dying, he reported Hu Weiyong's conspiracy to the emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang was waiting for this moment. He ordered that Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning and important members of Hu's party be executed immediately, and Hu Weiyong's three clans were destroyed. Then he ordered,
Investigate in depth who else is involved in this matter. If found to be true, they will all be executed!
Thus began the Hu Weiyong case that will go down in history. Facts have proved that it is difficult to verify the truth because it is too troublesome, and it is easy to execute them all. The interrogation methods at that time also facilitated the development of the case.
After an officer catches a suspect, the first treatment he provides is not coffee or tea, but a beating. After the beating, some guys who have a grudge against the officer under trial will take advantage of the chaos to have sex with him. It's still office work anyway.
, it’s understandable to take the opportunity to seek personal revenge.
Then he asked his accomplices, how could those scholars stand up to being beaten, and they confessed many so-called accomplices, as long as they knew them, had a casual relationship, borrowed money, and paid off debts, whoever came to mind
Who said it? The officials investigating the case were naturally overjoyed, reported to the emperor, and went to arrest other people. As a result, the case became bigger and bigger. From the incident in the 13th year of Hongwu (1380), the investigation continued for several years, and more than 10,000 people were killed.
.
The plans and organizations that Hu Weiyong had carefully planned for many years were destroyed. Facts have proved that it is very easy for Zhu Yuanzhang to eliminate him, just like squeezing an ant to death.
No matter from which angle you look at it, Hu Weiyong is just a clown. His only effective job is to attract tens of thousands of people to go to hell with him.
We almost forgot about the informant Tu Jie. His ending was quite dramatic. This person who played a funny role in the Hu Weiyong case was taken to the execution ground immediately after the incident and was executed together with Hu Weiyong. I don’t know that these two people were at the execution ground.
How would you feel if you meet someone on the Internet?
Hu Weiyong is dead. This result is exactly what Zhu Yuanzhang needs. Now he is sitting on his dragon chair, looking at the ministers below. These poor survivors, who were ministers in the same court as Hu Weiyong, are more or less a little bit different.
They came into contact and saw their colleagues being dragged out and killed one by one, their hearts were filled with fear.
It's time to end, we just want to live.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not think so. In his opinion, there was still a lot to do.
Don't worry, the fun has just begun.
It is worth noting that only one month after Zhu Yuanzhang executed Hu Weiyong, he revoked the position of prime minister, which had lasted for thousands of years, canceled the establishment of the Zhongshu Province, and arranged for the organization to divert personnel. Such a big move was done vigorously and neatly.
This gives us reason to suspect that he was well prepared, just like Song Jiang in "Water Margin", who refused to succeed Chao Gai no matter what after his death. Once he "reluctantly" agreed, he could immediately organize a large-scale celebration.
In any case, Zhu Yuanzhang achieved his goal. The annoying position of prime minister finally disappeared, and everything was under his control. However, he did not realize that for his dynasty and his descendants, this would be a huge blow.
It was the biggest mistake he made in his life.
To explain this problem, we must first introduce why the position of prime minister must exist. We will start to talk about it below.
How was the Prime Minister made?
Someone once said to me that it is enough to know the appearance of history, but there is no need to know the essence of history. Just tell the story clearly, and the reasons are irrelevant.
Yes, the story is interesting for the boring reasons. But the boring ones are more valuable.
For many people, Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen are two gods. They can often foresee the direction of development of things. Even if they live in the countryside and cannot enter the city a few times a year, they can still know the general trend of the world and accurately predict the future.
Just like Zhuge Liang's "Longzhong Battle" and Liu Bowen's "Anfeng Battle", you can predict the future by sitting on the kang and crossing your legs.
Because they know the story and understand the reasons. Therefore, they are extremely powerful.
The most terrifying thing in this world is the unknown. If everyone knows their future, they will no longer be afraid. But before the time machine is invented, we can only learn from Comrade Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen. For example, when we
After knowing the rules of how to become a landlord, next time you see a peasant leader uprising in the history books, you don't need to look further. As long as this person is not killed during the uprising, you can be sure that
There will definitely be one more landlord in the next dynasty. This is the power of connotation, an extremely powerful power.
Let’s get started. This time our protagonist is still Zhang San. He has just finished being a landlord. This time we still use him as the protagonist, but in the Prime Minister article, he cannot directly become the Prime Minister, but must first become the village chief.
When Zhang San became the mayor of a certain village, he would start to manage it. Every day he would walk from the east end of the village to the west end of the village to see if the door of A’s family was locked, whether the couple of B’s family had any quarrels, and whether the village
You can go shopping two or three times a day and go home to sleep afterward. This is the management life of a village chief.
Soon, Zhang San became the head of the township. The township was so big that it would take him a day to walk around, so he started to visit every two days and handed over the work to the village chief.
Due to his excellent work, Zhang San became the county magistrate. He could no longer go shopping every day. He had to spend all his time reviewing the reports of the township chiefs and completely trust them.
After that, Zhang San continued to be promoted, from prefect to chief envoy, and then to prime minister. The whole country was under his control (we assume there is no emperor). Now Zhang San was busy. He didn't even have time to read the memorial. He saw countless people every day.
He was so busy that he didn't finish at night. Heads and heads from various departments were looking for him, and he had to make decisions on the proposals of these departments alone. He was really tired, so he found someone to help him.
And give him part of his power.
This is probably the case. Zhang San's position is similar to that of an emperor, and the person he calls for help is the real prime minister.
Since there were too many things in the country and the emperor's energy was limited, he had to find someone to hand over part of his power to him.
I believe everyone has understood the origin of the Prime Minister. Although this story is simple, it contains a very profound theory in political science - the theory of separation of powers and checks and balances.
There are many wise emperors throughout the history. They are no worse than Zhu Yuanzhang, but they all used the prime minister system. As a feudal society where the emperor is autocratic, the emperor is not willing to hand over his power, because once the power is given to others, he himself
There is a danger of being restricted. However, the contradiction between the unlimited expansion of imperial power and the limited energy of the emperor will inevitably lead to the emergence of the prime minister system.
After all, the prime minister is indeed an annoying guy. He constantly gives advice to the emperor and can also refute the emperor. As an emperor, he will not like this guy. He thinks that this guy is just hired by himself to work.
A wage earner, I gave him a job and gave him power, but this person has to take care of everything.
He not only has to take care of national affairs, but also his own private affairs. If he wants to build a house, he has to take care of it, saying it is a waste of money; if he wants to go out to play, he has to take care of it, saying it is a labor of the people. Some even go too far, even eating, resting and sleeping by themselves.
He also wants to take care of his wife. Not only does he take care of her, but he also plausibly calls it "for the sake of His Majesty's health." He often has an expression on his face that needs a beating, as if he always owes him two hundred dollars.
Who is the boss and who is the part-time worker?
The problem is that you can't lose your temper. The scholar-officials are watching. You have to accept his opinion and have a better attitude. If you can't help but scold him or even punish him, then trouble will come. The truth is
If you are on the side of the prime minister, history books will record that he dared to speak out, and you will unfortunately have a reputation of not accepting advice. The officials below will also be on his side and look at him with admiration.
Those prime ministers also know this in their hearts, so when doing these things, they often rush in and out, as if they are eager for you to beat them up.
For these reasons, the emperor did not like those prime ministers. Like Zhu Yuanzhang, they all wanted to abolish this position. But the problem was that if this position was abolished, they would have to do everything themselves. But it was hard work to become the emperor.
They were not just for work, they also wanted to enjoy life. They were not triathlon athletes and did not have that much energy. Therefore, this position was retained until Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang has been a hard-working man since he was a child. The young man is in good health, energetic, and has a big appetite. He can eat several bowls at a meal. Not only is he a champion in the Ironman competition, he may have practiced long-distance running and has strong endurance. In his opinion,
The prime minister hurried home, just to do more work, and it didn't matter if he was tired. So the glorious deeds of model worker Zhu Yuanzhang were left in history.
According to statistics by Mr. Wu Han, from September 14th to 21st in the 17th year of Hongwu (1384), Zhu Yuanzhang received 1,666 official documents in just eight days, totaling 3,391 pieces.
On average, I have to read 200 documents and deal with 400 things every day.
This is really a frightening number. There were no labor laws in Zhu Yuanzhang's time, and no one would pay him overtime even if he worked for eight days. But he kept working like this, which also made him hate those people who couldn't come up with ideas for a long time.
There is a famous story that illustrates this point. Ru Taisu, the Minister of Household Affairs at that time, once wrote a memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang asked someone to read it to him, but it took nearly three words to read it halfway through.
For an hour, it was all about the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, benevolence, justice, morality, etc. Zhu Yuanzhang made a quick decision and ordered not to read any more. He counted the number of words and found that there were already more than 10,000 words.
Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he immediately ordered Ru Taisu to come in and ask the guards to beat him severely.
It can be seen that after the abolition of the prime minister system, Zhu Yuanzhang paid a heavy price, but he did not care, because in his opinion, just do more work, but things were not as simple as he thought.
In order to explain more clearly the balance of power between the emperor and the prime minister, we use another way to express it.
The relationship between the two parties can actually be described as a tug-of-war sport. The emperor and the minister were at one end of the rope, pulling in their own direction. There is no referee in this sport, but there is an unwritten rule, that is, it cannot go too far.
There is a certain limit to the advance and retreat.
This limit has been drawn up by thousands of years of political practice. He tells both sides of the tug-of-war what things the emperor can do and ministers cannot interfere with, and what things ministers should manage and what the emperor should allow.
In the thousands of years of games between emperors and ministers, this rule has been continuously improved. Both parties know what they should do and what they can do. Within such rules, power has reached a balance.
But Zhu Yuanzhang did not abide by the rules and changed everything. He dragged the ministers staggering around, announced that they were fired from now on, and then took the rope and went home to dry their clothes.
He seems to think that this solves the problem and that the power can be controlled by him alone, and there is no need for a so-called balance.
Facts have proved that he was wrong. The rules of history cannot be changed by the little Zhu Yuanzhang. Since Zhu Yuanzhang does not like this balance, the God of history will arrange another tug-of-war opponent for him and his descendants, and this opponent is different from the previous ones.
different.
They don't follow the rules either.
Of course, Comrade Zhu Yuanzhang's unruly behavior only harmed himself, and was not necessarily a bad thing for the entire Ming Dynasty politics. Zhu Yuanzhang shot himself in the foot, but did not hit the dynasty.
In our history and life, there are many very wonderful rules. These rules are invisible and intangible, but they always play a role. For example, the famous golden section, the pattern determined by the golden section ratio is the most beautiful and divided structure.
It is the most reasonable. Many skilled erhu players have found that the tone produced by playing a certain position on the Hu string is very beautiful. It has been verified that that position is the golden section of the Hu string.
These rules are really amazing. If you follow these rules, you will get twice the result with half the effort. And if you violate these rules, you will be punished.
There are also magical rules in history, these rules control everything secretly, and no one can resist them.
In this tug-of-war, historical rules also play a role. For more than a thousand years, princes, generals and ministers have determined their positions according to this rule, but Zhu Yuanzhang ignored this rule because he thought he could completely eliminate the prime minister system. From then on
In a sense, he did.
He canceled the official position of the Prime Minister and prohibited the establishment of this position in the future. He used his power to eliminate the title of Prime Minister, but did he really win in this struggle?
Facts have proved that the dialectics of history played a big joke on him. It created a group of people called cabinet bachelors. Except that their names are not prime ministers, these people are no different from the prime ministers in everything else, which is even more ironic.
What this means is that their power is even greater than that of any prime minister in the previous dynasty.
They were pervasive and did not care about anything. They not only managed the affairs of the country, but also the private affairs of the emperor. They did not allow the emperor to ride horses and play as he pleased (Zhengde), they did not allow the emperor to take Viagra (Longqing), and they did not allow the emperor to choose his favorite successor (Wanli)
, they even created their own era of famous ministers, an era with almost no restrictions from imperial power (Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng)!
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to use his own power to change the balance of power that had lasted for thousands of years, but was eventually punished by the rules of history. Zhu Yuanzhang came to the store of history and wanted to buy a piece of soap, but the dialectics of history forced him to give him a roll of toilet paper. If Zhu Yuanzhang Quan
If you know that your actions have led to such a result, you can only laugh or cry.
Zhu Yuanzhang, you are great, but also small.
In front of the behemoth of historical rules, you are so weak and your resistance is so powerless.
The tide of history is mighty and mighty. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish!
As it is said.
spy
Zhu Yuanzhang killed Hu Weiyong and abolished the prime minister system, but he did not give up. His eyes turned to the Dudufu, which controlled the military power. At that time, it was his nephew Li Wenzhong who was in charge of the military power of the Dudufu. Facts have proved that when he did not trust the ministers,
On this point, he also treated his relatives equally. He reorganized the Metropolitan Governor's Office and divided the military organization into five parts: left, center, right, front and back. As for the original commander-in-chief Li Wenzhong, he did not let go either.
Because Li Wenzhong once accused him of killing innocent people indiscriminately and offended Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang decided to send the Buddha to heaven and kill Li Wenzhong together. Just when he was about to take action, Empress Ma stood up and stopped him, begging him to take care of Li Wenzhong.
Because of his great merits, he was allowed to live. Zhu Yuanzhang never betrayed other people's face, but Empress Ma had shared hardships with him and had a deep friendship, so he followed the advice and let Li Wenzhong go, but still punished him severely.
and removed his position.
Punishing Li Wenzhong was not an isolated incident, it had a deeper meaning. This incident told all ministers that Zhu Yuanzhang had the spirit of righteousness and annihilation of relatives on the issue of cutting off dissidents, and no one was exception.
The Hu Weiyong case involves more and more people, and to some extent it has turned into a massacre. The officials handling the case hold lists in hand and go to various government offices to find people.
Get the list to arrest people. These people have great power. Even when the government office is working, they can break in openly and arrest the so-called criminals. This leads to a very funny phenomenon. Often the official is still majestically deciding the case in the hall just now.
, as soon as these people entered the door, they pulled the man from the hall, put him in shackles and took him away. The prisoners below were also stunned.
The clues for investigating this case mainly come from two departments. One is called the Qinjun Governor's Mansion. You may not be familiar with this name, but when it comes to its later name, no one knows it.
Jinyiwei.
The other one cannot actually be called a department, but can only be called a group. The name of this group is inspection. They have no fixed establishment and all report directly to Zhu Yuanzhang on various situations they have heard. They are Zhu Yuanzhang's most important eyes and ears. These
People stayed up at night and wandered around. Judging from historical data, their eavesdropping and tracking techniques were very clever.
For example, when Song Ne was offering wine at the Imperial Academy, one day he went to court. Zhu Yuanzhang asked him why he was unhappy last night. Song Ne was shocked. Zhu Yuanzhang took out a painting, which was exactly the portrait of Song Ne's angry expression last night.
It's creepy to know that Song Ne didn't sleep on the street. He was angry at his own home. Not only did the inspectors keep monitoring him, but they also took great interest in drawing him when he was angry. You can imagine, in
In those days when there were no cameras, you would be sitting in your room in the middle of the night, and unexpectedly, not far away from you (most likely at your home), someone would be watching you while taking a portrait of you. This kind of plot is very scary in modern times.
It appears quite often in the film.
The sources of these inspections are also very complicated. They are mainly idle people in society, as well as civil and military officials, and even Zhu Yuanzhang's old acquaintances - monks. These people do not know each other and are only at Zhu Yuanzhang's disposal.
These people were pervasive, caught wind of the situation, and created many unjust cases. It was with the help of these people that Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more skillful in handling Hu Weiyong's case and killed more and more people.
Officials were in panic all day long, and more and more people were involved. Even retired people were arrested, the most famous of whom was Song Lian.
Song Lian was a famous civil servant under Zhu Yuanzhang and an excellent scholar. He was a fellow countryman of Liu Ji. He was assigned an important task by Zhu Yuanzhang, to be the teacher of Prince Zhu Biao. He completed this task perfectly, and under his guidance
, Zhu Biao was completely different from his father, Zhu Yuanzhang. He was generous and kind, and had the appearance of a wise king. Later, he was entrusted with the task of compiling "History of the Yuan Dynasty" and served as the chief executive.
But Zhu Yuanzhang did not think highly of him. In Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, Song Lian was just a scholar who could write some articles but could not make suggestions. Therefore, the highest official position he awarded Song Lian was a small Hanlin bachelor (fifth grade). Until the tenth year of Hongwu (
1377) Song Lian retired, and his official position was still a bachelor.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang did not reuse Song Lian, he trusted him quite a lot. This was largely due to Song Lian's personality. Song Lian was a famously honest person and always told the truth no matter what. Zhu Yuanzhang once lamented: Song Lian has served me for twenty years.
Over the years, I have never told a lie or said a bad word about others. He is truly a wise man.
Song Lian was sixty-eight years old when he retired. Zhu Yuanzhang gave him a piece of cloth and asked him to use it to make a "hundred-year-old shroud" thirty-two years later. Song Lian was moved to tears.
However, less than three years later, Zhu Yuanzhang prepared a new piece of clothing for Song Lian - prison uniform.
Since Song Lian's grandson participated in Hu Weiyong's rebellion, Zhu Yuanzhang called Song Lian back all the way to kill him. This also reflects another characteristic of Zhu Yuanzhang - selective forgetfulness.
At the critical moment, Empress Ma stood up and successfully persuaded Zhu Yuanzhang to let Song Lian live.
Zhu Yuanzhang's behavior became more and more extreme and his methods became more and more cruel. Except for Queen Ma, few people could change his decision.
In August of the fifteenth year of Hongwu, a man passed away. This man's death did not seem to be a big event in history, but for Zhu Yuanzhang, it was a real tragedy.
This person is Queen Ma.
Queen Ma
She saved Zhu Yuanzhang from danger and risked her life to deliver food to Zhu Yuanzhang when he was trapped and about to starve to death. Although she was a woman, she was quite courageous. When Chen Youliang attacked Longwan, she donated all her money
Jewelry and property were used to labor the army, and women were organized to sew and mend clothes for the army.
Even after becoming rich and powerful, she still maintained a simple style, neither arrogant nor extravagant, and advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to forget the suffering of the people. Even when it came to employing people, she also put forward her own opinions: "I would like to have wise men to manage the world."
, cited as a wise saying by Zhu Yuanzhang.
What is even more commendable is that she prevented many of Zhu Yuanzhang's evil deeds.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Zhu Wenzheng, so she advised Zhu Yuanzhang that Zhu Wenzheng was your nephew and had made great achievements, so please don't kill him.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Li Wenzhong, so she advised Zhu Yuanzhang that Li Wenzhong is your nephew and your adopted son, please spare his life.
Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to kill Song Lian, so she knelt down and begged Zhu Yuanzhang. Song Lian was the prince's teacher, and the common people respected their teachers, let alone the emperor's family.
In this way, she used her kindness to care for everyone she knew or didn't know, and rescued them from Zhu Yuanzhang's butcher's knife.
She knows the value of human life better than Zhu Yuanzhang.
After she became seriously ill, she knew that it would be difficult to cure her, so she refused to be treated by doctors. Zhu Yuanzhang asked her why, and her answer was really touching.
She said: A person's life and death are determined by fate. It is useless to pray to gods and Buddhas. Doctors can only cure diseases, but not life. If I ask a doctor to treat me and the medicine is ineffective, Your Majesty will definitely punish the doctor. This is
What I don't want to see.
This is a person who always cares for others with her love, even when her life is about to end, she still does that.
She left her last words to Zhu Yuanzhang on her sickbed:
"May your Majesty seek talents and accept advice from beginning to end. May all of your descendants be virtuous, the people may live and work in peace and contentment, and the country may be immortal for thousands of years."
Passed away with a smile.
Zhu Yuanzhang leaned against her. This was the woman he loved most in his life. This woman gave him countless help but never asked for anything from him. This was how she spent her life.
After so many hardships, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart has long been harder than iron stone. Since the death of his parents, no matter how desperate and painful he is, he rarely sheds tears. Because he knows that crying cannot solve any problems.
But at this time, he finally couldn't control his emotions, and he cried loudly. Only by crying can he mourn the person in front of him, and only by crying can he vent the extreme pain in his heart!
Because he finally discovered that the person in front of him was everything to him, the only one.
Miss Ma, this ordinary woman, in the difficult years, she did not despise Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in a humble background. Instead, she followed him and dedicated everything to him. No matter how dangerous the environment was or how complicated the situation was, she always obeyed her
The promise of that year.
Regardless of life or death, we will never give up on each other.
After her husband became the emperor, she still treated people with love. Whenever Zhu Yuanzhang raised the butcher's knife, she always stepped forward to stop him. She cared for and saved many people with her unique female motherhood and kindness. Although she did not die in the end.
She could pull Zhu Yuanzhang's out-of-control car back on track, but she had done everything she could.
Today, we can say that she is a great woman.
Live like summer flowers, die like winter snow;
Life is like this, no need to regret or complain.
The death of Queen Ma was a huge blow to Zhu Yuanzhang. After that, Zhu Yuanzhang went further and further down the wrong and extreme path until the end of his life.
The Hu Weiyong case is still ongoing, and people are constantly being arrested and killed. Li Shanchang admitted his mistakes to Zhu Yuanzhang and accepted the punishment. He luckily escaped, but Zhu Yuanzhang's character determined that Li Shanchang would not die well.
Before talking about this, it is necessary to introduce the living conditions of a special group during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang. This group is the officials.
The tragic fate of officials
Being an official is a golden job in any era, but during the Hongwu period, the fate of officials can only be described in one word - miserable.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's era, officials were living in hell. This description is not an exaggeration.
Let's first introduce the grades of officials in the Ming Dynasty. As we all know, first-grade officials are the largest officials. There are many first-grade officials in all dynasties. They are so majestic that even the emperor has to give some face. However, in the Ming Dynasty, first-grade civil servants almost became
Legendary figures are very rare. Since the abolition of the prime minister system, the highest rank among Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinates is Shangshu (the second rank), the highest official in each ministry. The first rank is not nonexistent, but it is only a false position, that is, Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao (the first rank).
, Shaoshi, Shaofu, Shaobao, Prince Taishi, Prince Taifu, Prince Taibao (from the first rank). In addition, there are Zongrenling, Zongzheng, Zongren, Commander of the Five Armies and other positions, which are also first rank, but they are not ordinary civil servants
can be obtained.
These positions look very attractive, but they are difficult to obtain. If you don't have any special achievements, such as conquering the world (few places and extremely dangerous), saving the emperor (high difficulty, few opportunities), etc.
The emperor stood aside and controlled the government affairs by himself (there were only a few people). In addition, being able to survive until the second rank of retirement was already a great honor for the ancestors.
The civil servants don't care too much about the second rank. They still have to work no matter what rank they are. But what makes them feel extremely unfair is that there is a group of people who have no credit for anything, but almost all of them are first rank.
.
These people are Zhu Yuanzhang's relatives.
Zhu Yuanzhang was poor since he was a child, his parents died early, and he had a deep affection for his relatives. Many of his sons and daughters were named princes and princesses, and their grades were all first-class. The prince's legitimate son was still a prince, and his other sons were named counties.
King, grant him a first rank. What’s more, even the consort who barged in the door was a first rank (subordinate)!
This is really confusing for officials. After ten years of hard work, they may end up being only third- and fourth-grade minor officials, while these people are born into first- and second-grade officials. It is true that "well-read is not as good as good looks" (Consort)
, it is better to grow well than to be born well.”
But what will make the officials even more uncomfortable is what will happen later. They will soon discover that Zhu Yuanzhang, the boss, is very stingy.
How much salary does Zhu Yuanzhang pay to his officials? A first-rank official is one thousand and forty-four shi meters a year, and the salary decreases downwards. A seventh-rank magistrate only has 90 shi meters a year.
Let's take the county magistrate as an example. The monthly salary of a magistrate who manages a county is only seven and a half meters. Please note that he has to use this income to support his wife, children, and a large number of people.
The magistrate in the Ming Dynasty was different from the county magistrate today. In those days, the magistrate also held many positions. He was the county magistrate, president of the county court, chief prosecutor of the procuratorate, director of finance, director of taxation, director of industry and commerce, and captain of the county construction team. A magistrate manages
With so many things, it is inevitable to reward the subordinates below, otherwise no one will be willing to work for you.
He also has a large number of senior officials under him, who are divided into senior masters and second masters. The first masters include the doorkeeper (the gatekeeper), the manuscript signing master (the ink grinder in the signing room), and below them are a group of second masters, including "the judge"
", "Guardian", "Yongyin" and others, these people are the office staff in the magistrate's signing room. In addition, the magistrate will send people to watch the important departments of the county, and the magistrate will also bring his own chef and master.
This large group of people are all subordinates of the county magistrate, and they all need to be supported by him. With only seven and a half meters of salary a month, everyone has no choice but to drink from the northwest wind.
Officials have to welcome people to and from people, and move around during festivals, so their salary is far from enough.
But even this small salary has been discounted.
During the Hongwu period, when it was time to pay wages, the county magistrate would find someone to carry a rice bag to collect his wages. Seven stones and half a meter (just like a beggar) was paid on time. By the time of Emperor Chengzu, he could only receive a salary.
Six out of ten, how to pronounce the rest?
Issue banknotes.
This is definitely not a joke, it is not silver coins, but banknotes. In the early Ming Dynasty, banknotes were circulated throughout the country. It is said that it is okay to give banknotes, but we will find the problem as we read on. When Emperor Chengzu was established, ten guan banknotes could be exchanged for one stone of rice;
During Renzong's time, twenty-five guan notes could be exchanged for one stone of rice.
Everyone understands that the problem is inflation.
When it comes to the issuance of banknotes, we have to start with the Yuan Dynasty. Many things were done badly in the Yuan Dynasty, but the banknote policy was quite good. The people who formulated the policy should be very capable. Its banknote policy profoundly reflected the economy.
The general applicability of the law. The Yuan Dynasty issued banknotes with gold and silver as reserves. If there was no gold and silver, banknotes would not be issued. Moreover, there was a fixed amount for issuance. Those who held banknotes could exchange them for gold and silver from the court at any time.
This is a typical gold and silver standard paper currency issuance system. This system has been used for thousands of years (until the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system after World War II). But in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, this man was not familiar with the economy and saw the Yuan Dynasty printing money.
It could be circulated, and he also printed it. The problem was that he kept printing it from the beginning. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the annual income was only tens of thousands of taels of silver, but the number of banknotes that could be issued was tens of millions. He held a piece of paper with printing on it.
You have five thousand taels and want to use them as five thousand taels? Ordinary people are not stupid.
To be honest, officials are really pitiful. Their salaries are already very low, and they are also issued a pile of waste paper, which is not strong enough to be used as toilet paper.
People can't hold their urine to death, so all kinds of new ways to make money are coming out one after another.
methods of corruption
Officials mainly use two tricks. Let's introduce them. These two tricks have a long history and are very famous.
You may have heard of the word "fire consumption". At that time, taxes were often paid in kind, such as grains, silk fabrics, etc., but sometimes silver taels and copper coins were also levied instead, and there may be losses when melting and forging broken silver. The government
In this name, excess silver was collected, and these excessive taxes were called fire consumption.
In fact, only the government itself knows whether there is any loss or damage. This is just an excuse to charge more money. This trick can be said to have been passed down for hundreds of years and has been popular for a long time. It is longer than the history of the Ming Dynasty until the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty.
, using the measure of returning people to the public through fire, this move disappeared from history.
Having said that, this move is decided by the government, and they decide how much to collect. The actual operation skills during execution are not too high, but the next move is different.
This trick is called Linjian kicking the dendrobium, which is worth mentioning. When the people handed over the grain, the government used dendrobium to pack it. The common people put the grain into the dendrobium, weighed it again, and calculated their own share of the grain.
When they were packed in a pointed pile shape, some of them would extend beyond the wall of the Dendrobium. Just when the people breathed a sigh of relief after paying the public grain, something unexpected happened.
The official aimed at the dendrobium and kicked it with lightning speed! At this time, the part of the grain that exceeded the dendrobium wall would fall to the ground, and the people hurriedly picked it up. At this time, the official would shout loudly: Don't pick it up, it is a loss! Hello!
, as for you, you still picked it up!
This is Linjian Kicking the Dendrobium. The kicked-out part is the so-called loss in grain transportation, and this part becomes the official's legal income. As for the common people, they can only go home and send food. The most critical part of this trick is kicking the Dendrobium.
action.
That kicking style
You must know that this kick is very particular. Officials have practiced hard for this kick for a long time. The specific method may be to find a tree near their home and start by kicking the tree. The trunk will not move and the leaves will fall one after another.
The highest level. Of course, some people choose to practice kicking the door. They must kick it open with one kick. If more than two kicks are kicked, they are disqualified and continue to practice. This practice is also good for them. If one day they stop doing it, they will still be able to do it.
You can switch careers to break into homes and rob people.
On the day when the grain was delivered, the officials were ready. Once the dendrobium was filled, they would hold their breath, close their eyes and think deeply, then their anger would sink into their Dantian, and they would give a loud shout. Some people would run ten meters faster, rush to the front of the dendrobium, and kick it as hard as they could (
You can’t do it if you don’t work hard, everything you kick will be yours). If you kick a lot, you will laugh out loud.
Please note that these two tricks are just the most common. Many famous officials in the Ming Dynasty, such as San Yang, Li Xian, Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng, etc., relied on the income from these two tricks to support themselves. Later emperors also recognized these
as legal income.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang's wage policy bears some responsibility for the proliferation of these behaviors, it cannot be an excuse for corruption. Internal factors are the decisive factor, and officials should still look for the reasons within themselves.
You may ask, were there people who were not greedy for these advantages at that time? Let me answer you, there were indeed some, but they paid a heavy price.
The most famous person who lives solely on salary is Hai Rui.
This man is really the number one gentleman. He has been working hard for decades, and he has no luxury (and no money). He does not take any money that he should not take. The fire mentioned above
He had never been greedy for the benefits of consumption and Linjiankihu. He lived on that little salary every month, and his family was extremely poor.
His last official position was Nanjing Youdu Yushi. This was a second-grade official, equivalent to the director of the Supervision Department. He could be said to be one of the highest-paid civil servants. But his family could not afford to hire a few servants, so he had to do everything.
He did it by himself, didn't eat well, and was malnourished for a long time. After his death, the censor king of Qiandu used Ji to deal with the funeral affairs. As soon as he entered Hai Rui's house, he burst into tears. He didn't expect that Hai Rui's death was so miserable.
There are old cloth curtains hanging everywhere in the house (I can't afford new cloth), the boxes used are in tatters, and everyone in the family wears patched clothes. To describe the house as bare-walled is not an exaggeration.
What made him even more unbelievable was that Hai Rui's family couldn't even come up with the money for the funeral, nor could they afford a coffin, so everyone had to pool their money together.
There were such people in Zhu Yuanzhang's time, such as Luo Furen, a bachelor of Hongwen Museum at that time. He was very honest and his family was very poor. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was still worried about him and went to his house one day. Luo Furen couldn't afford a good house, so he had to
After buying a dilapidated house in the suburbs to live, Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and finally found the place. Outside two dilapidated tile houses, he saw a man carrying a bucket and painting the walls. Zhu Yuanzhang saw that this man had a gray face and a face covered with powder, so he thought he was a man.
The migrant workers who worked for Luo Furen asked him: "Does Luo Furen live here?"
Unexpectedly, when the man who was painting the wall heard someone asking him, he looked back and was shocked. He hurriedly ran over and knelt down and said, "I am Luo Furen!"
Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang see his face clearly. It turned out that this person was really Luo Furen. Looking at his clothes, he was holding a brush in one hand and a bucket in the other. His clothes were ragged and no different from a beggar. He immediately couldn't laugh or cry. He held back a sentence for a long time: "You
How can you live in a house like this?”
Luo Furen smiled apologetically and said, "My family is poor, so I can only make do with it."
Zhu Yuanzhang said regretfully: "How can a learned man like you live in such a house?" and gave him a large house.
Luo Furen was considered poor, but after all, his official position was not high, and there were others more powerful than him.
Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel (Personnel Department) has the most important status. Wu Lin, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel (Minister), was an upright official and later retired home. Zhu Yuanzhang sent an envoy to inquire about his current situation. The envoy went to Wu Lin's hometown, considering that
He had been a high official and should have a big house, so he went to look for it. But after walking around, he didn't see any big house. So he found an old farmer planting rice on the roadside and asked: "May I know where Wu Shangshu lives?"
where?"
Unexpectedly, the old farmer raised his head and said to him: "I am Wu Lin, what do you want?"
The envoy was very moved and reported the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was also very moved after hearing this.
The morals are very good and the cultivation is very high, but there are not many people with such high standards.
In addition to the salary system, it is also necessary to introduce the vacation system in the Ming Dynasty. Let us see how the ancients took their vacations.
Let’s talk about our ancestors, the Han Dynasty. They implemented a five-day-one-day-off system, that is, they worked for five days and had one day off. They did not rest on Saturday or Sunday, but on which day it was their turn. This day also has a name called "
"Xiu Mu", on this day, officials can go home, so it seems that the treatment of the Han Dynasty is still good.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it was changed to a ten-day break, which was called "Xun Xiu". It seemed that the treatment was much worse than that in the Han Dynasty, but this was not the case. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the concept of today's Golden Week had already existed.
There will be seven days of rest during the New Year and Winter Solstice. These seven days are paid holidays. In addition, you can also take vacations for any reason you can think of. In addition to our daily Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Double Ninth Festival, there are also the emperor’s birthday (because the emperor often
(changes, so this holiday often changes), what is surprising is that even the birthdays of Tathagata Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Confucius are all holidays. It is estimated that if Christianity was widely spread in those days, God's birthday would also be included in it.
In the Song Dynasty, the treatment was slightly worse, but there were still dozens of days of holidays a year.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the situation changed. In the view of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, life lies in movement, work is rest, and there are no such things as ten-day rest or major rest. Everyone puts work first and only has ten days of rest a year.
Finally, the position was passed to Zhu Yuanzhang. We have already introduced this man's work spirit. He believed that paying you wages and letting you manage things is already a preferential treatment. Back then, I didn't even have enough to eat, so I still had a rest?
Some officials proposed to restore the vacation system of the previous dynasty, but Zhu Yuanzhang refuted it. Then Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated the vacation system. It is really simple and easy to implement, with three days of rest a year! They are the New Year, the winter solstice, and Zhu Yuanzhang's birthday.
I still want to take a few dozen days off, the boys haven’t woken up yet!
However, many problems arose after the actual implementation, such as the problem of separation between the two places and the problem of children's education (which existed objectively). Therefore, the winter vacation was later stipulated to start in December and last for one month, which solved some of the problems.
As mentioned above, due to the provisions of these systems, the conflicts between Zhu Yuanzhang and the officials became deeper and deeper. For their own interests, the officials were bound to violate Zhu Yuanzhang's laws, and Zhu Yuanzhang would not allow these things to happen.
When these conflicts accumulate to a certain extent, they will explode.