"Zhang Juzheng's reform measures have completely exposed the adverse consequences of excessive centralization. Before many practical problems in lower-level administrative units have not been solved, the improvement of administrative efficiency will inevitably be slow and limited. Forcibly improving efficiency has exceeded a certain limit.
It will only cause unrest within the administrative system, the entire bureaucracy will either split or rally due to excessive pressure, and practical issues will evolve into moral issues."
"Looking again at today's requisition policy, the central government has forced the improvement of efficiency, but there are many problems in the lower-level administrative units, making it difficult to effectively implement the decree. This has made it difficult for the entire Chinese administrative system to adapt, and the pressure on middle-level and grass-roots bureaucrats is too high.
They can deceive superiors and subordinates in a crude way. For example, in the Henan requisition, in order to complete the task, officials chose to conceal the facts of the famine from the central government, regardless of the people's sentiments and massively expropriated. This brought about a series of serious consequences, the government's prestige was greatly lost, and the people suffered.
It is unspeakable. It then extends to a moral issue. The government upholds the cause of the War of Resistance and requires the people to dedicate everything they have to the country. If they do not support the expropriation, it is unpatriotic. The people think that the government expropriates excessively and does not consider the people. The personal ethics of leaders and officials are also doubted.
"
"There is a saying in the historians that 'the Ming Dynasty taxed people heavily and made the people poor'. It seems to be because corrupt officials were rampant at that time and the people were taxed too heavily. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. In fact, this has little to do with the truth.
Discrepancy. During the same period, British tax revenue was equivalent to that of the Ming Dynasty, but the population was only one-thirtieth of the Ming Dynasty. How could Britain continue to develop and grow? The reason was not excessive taxation, but the inferior government and laws. Even though
The country’s low tax rate does not benefit farmers, but only encourages exploitation at home by landlords and additional exploitation by bureaucrats.”
"Morality is not omnipotent. The government cannot rely solely on the righteousness of the War of Resistance and ask people to sacrifice their families to serve the country. It must also improve the legal system, improve the administrative system, curb corruption, encourage and support advanced economies, and reduce the squeeze on traditional agriculture..."
These were review articles written by Chen Yinke. After writing them, he burned them and did not publish them.
Chen Yinke never talks about politics, but it does not mean that he does not understand politics. To the point where he has studied history, he can see many things more clearly than the bureaucrats, but that is all and cannot change the current situation in China.
Anyone can sit down and talk, but the hard part is how to solve the problem.
There is no solution!
Of course Chang Kaishen wants to improve the administrative system and improve the execution ability of grassroots officials. But this is impossible unless a major reform that touches the fundamentals is carried out in China, and the internal and external conditions during the special period of the Anti-Japanese War do not allow him to do so.
Do.
Therefore, it would be useless for Chen Yinke to burn the article and publish it. On the contrary, it would offend those in power.
After burning the article, Chen Yinke quickly rewrote another one, analyzing "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" purely from the perspective of historical methods. He first criticized Zhou Hexuan's ignorance of certain historical materials, thinking that some of Zhou Hexuan's thoughts were a little one-sided.
At the same time, he praised "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" for its unique style and novel perspectives, which opened up new forms and directions for the study of Ming history.
…
Before Chen Yinke's second article was published, Wu Han had already started to praise "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli".
Wu Han is also an expert on the history of the Ming Dynasty. Although he was a liberal in the past, he had a very radical personality. As early as more than ten years ago, Wu Han wrote to Hu Shi and said: "If you look at the history of any country or dynasty, you can't find it.
Such a despicable, shameless and crazy government (Nanjing National Government) was created.”
Wu Han asked Hu Shi to point out a clear path, and Hu Shi asked Wu Han to "save the country through science."
At that time, Wu Han respected Hu Shi very much and specially wrote Hu Shi's famous sayings on the back of his graduation photo: "Bold assumptions, careful verification. Say less empty words and read more good books."
However, when Wu Han arrived at the Southwest Associated University, the corruption of the Kuomintang and its disregard for the lives of scholars, as well as the death of his friend in poverty and illness, caused Wu Han's thoughts to completely turn to the left. His behavior was more radical than Wen Yiduo's, and he not only devoted himself to
In response to various anti-Chiang activities, he also wrote a book called "From the Sengpai to the Imperial Power".
This book was later renamed "The Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" and was published almost at the same time as Zhou Hexuan's "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli", specifically to allude to Chang Kaishen.
After reading "The Fifteen Years of Wanli", Wu Han felt that he had found a confidant. Although one of them wrote about Zhu Yuanzhang and the other wrote about the Wanli Dynasty, they both followed the path of "innuendo historiography" and criticized Chang Kaishen and the National Government.
Wu Han wrote several critical articles in succession, deeming "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" as "an unparalleled classic in modern Chinese history."
…
Zhang Xueliang, who was far away in Guizhou, also read "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" for the first time.
The young marshal had been studying the history of the Ming Dynasty over the years. If he needed any books, he would write to Soong Meiling and ask for them. In 1945, Zhang Xueliang even claimed to have become an expert on the history of the Ming Dynasty. He asked to invite several experts on the history of the Ming Dynasty for face-to-face communication - Dai Li's response
Said it was very difficult.
After Zhang Xueliang finished reading "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli", he did not think about alluding to Chang Kaishen. Instead, he substituted himself as Emperor Wanli, and substituted his former capable subordinates as Zhang Juzheng, Shen Shixing, Hai Rui and Qi Jiguang, and then reviewed
Reflect on his mistakes when governing Northeast China and North China.
Then, Zhang Xueliang compared the Wanli Dynasty with China in the 1920s and 1930s, reflected on the governance issues of the Beiyang government and the Nanjing government, and wrote a 20,000-word reading experience, which he asked the guard agent to forward to Chang Kaishen.
Chang Kaishen threw away Zhang Xueliang's article and left it in a corner gathering dust for decades. It was not discovered until the 1980s when he was cleaning up junk materials.
…
Xie Guozhen is undoubtedly the most popular Ming history expert today. He studied under Liang Qichao in his early years, and he and Zhou Hexuan were barely considered fellow students. His "Historical Records Examination of the Late Ming Dynasty" was very popular in the 1930s, and attracted attention again during the Anti-Japanese War, because of the
China is so similar to the late Ming Dynasty.
Xie Guozhen was stranded in the occupied area at this time. When "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" was published, he had just read Zhou Hexuan's article discussing the death of Shen Wansan.
Zhou Hexuan's views on Shen Wansan's life experience came from Mr. Gu Cheng, an expert on Ming history.
Xie Guozhen disagreed with this. He believed that the historical data in "Wujiang Chronicles" might be wrong, and took out multiple historical data to believe that Shen Wansan might have died after Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne. Of course, Shen Wansan could never be exiled by Zhu Yuanzhang, but
He was just suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Xie Guozhen immediately wrote a rebuttal article, which took several months to be sent to Chongqing for publication.
It was not until the end of 1944 that Xie Guozhen read "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" in the occupied area. He greatly admired the book and wrote three analytical articles after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War to discuss the impact of the Wanli Dynasty on the fate of the Ming Dynasty.
…
As for most ordinary readers, they read "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" as a purely historical reading. They expressed regret for the failure of the Ming Dynasty's reforms. At the same time, they also hoped that the National Government would learn a lesson and called for strengthening the legal system and punishing corrupt officials.
Chang Kaishen also liked "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" very much. He did not substitute himself for Emperor Wanli and Zhang Juzheng, but for Shen Shixing. He felt that he had devoted all his efforts to develop the country, but only gained all kinds of betrayal and suspicion, and at the same time was
Restricted by China's dire situation, none of his talents can truly be brought into play.
At the same time, Chang Kaishen also lamented that there is no perfect person in the world. Even Qi Jiguang was corrupt, flattered, and fond of women. And who among the generals of the Republic of China could compare with Qi Jiguang? Employers should not stick to trivial matters, as long as they have outstanding abilities.
Those generals who can really fight should tolerate it for the time being, such as Tang Enbo who made Henan into a mess.
Every reader has a different interpretation of "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli".
This book was very popular. It was not only popular in China, but even Fairbank brought a copy back to have it translated and recommended to the American historian community.