[There are two days in the sky, the beginning of chaos]
It is impossible for the bourgeoisie of the Ming Dynasty to be revolutionary. It is impossible to make revolution in this life, and it will not choose revolution in the next life.
Historically, the bourgeois revolution broke out in England for one direct reason: the king was preventing nobles and businessmen from making money!
And what is the situation in Ming Dynasty today?
Officials and businessmen collude in collusion, emptying the country at the top and exploiting the people at the bottom. A series of policies promulgated by the court are all beneficial to businessmen, so the bourgeoisie is still revolutionary. Are they going to revolutionize their own lives?
Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's government was highly centralized, with a vast territory and a large population. How could it be compared to Britain, which had a scarce population, a narrow territory, and a powerful feudal aristocracy at that time? Even if you want to revolutionize, it is impossible to succeed!
The British bourgeois revolution seems to be very noble.
It was just to make the king obedient and the bourgeoisie gain more benefits. One of the consequences of this was the intensification of the land enclosure movement. At that time, the king did not support the land enclosure movement because he also wanted to collect rent from the farmers. After all,
It is easier to exploit farmers than businessmen.
But after the success of the British bourgeois revolution, the enclosure movement began. The life of the farmers became more difficult than before...
If this kind of thing were done in the Ming Dynasty, hehe, the bourgeoisie would definitely not be able to deal with it. Because there are too many peasants, and hundreds of thousands of rogue bandits can easily cause chaos for you. How can the bourgeoisie have the ability to suppress it?
Just like Ming Dynasty's overseas colonies, their nature is also different from European colonies.
When the United States became independent, how many immigrants were there in the Americas? The British could simply send tens of thousands of people there and they could suppress the colonies. If France hadn't stabbed them in the back, it would have been impossible for the United States to succeed in becoming independent.
Just like after Washington became president, farmers rioted in Pennsylvania because of tax increases.
Washington used the national army, but it was impossible to suppress it. In the end, he had to form a militia group and finally put an end to the peasant uprising. Guess how many peasants were suppressed, a total of 150 were arrested!
These are completely two forms of development.
The Yinzhou immigrants of the Ming Dynasty liked intensive farming, and the colony's population density was very high. Even when planting cash crops such as sisal, the Han immigrants were reluctant to waste land and liked to interplant some grains or vegetables.
British immigrants to the Americas liked to build large farms, and the farmers also liked to raise slaves. Each slave had to cultivate more than 100 acres of land. This was purely a result of extensive planting and poor harvest.
Take the Chen family of Shengzhou as an example. No matter how many muskets he has, he can raise an army of 100,000 at any time. It is far away from the ocean and the terrain is complex. How should the Ming court suppress it?
The Ming Dynasty’s bourgeois development route was completely different from that of Western European countries.
If we have to compare, it is somewhat similar to Tsarist Russia before the October Revolution: the agricultural population accounts for the vast majority of the country's population, the proportion of industrial output is not as high as that of Tsarist Russia at that time, and industry is mainly concentrated in a few large cities.
What is the scariest thing about Ming Dynasty?
There are two points.
First, more than 300 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, land annexation has become extremely serious, and vested interests have monopolized politics, land and voice. Please contact the United States after 2008.
Second, there is no external pressure or strong competitors. Tianzhu and Luzon are both younger brothers at this time. This is different from the fierce competition in Europe. If you don’t change or develop, you will die. In the comfortable environment of Ming Dynasty, technology and
Thoughts progress very slowly.
As for the separation of powers and the ideas of liberal democracy, it is impossible to become mainstream in traditional China.
China's traditional political system may use the separation of three powers, but it is just a use and cannot be used as a governing thought. For ancient Chinese governing thoughts, you can refer to the "Huangdi Neijing". The heart is the emperor, the lungs are the prime minister, and the separation of the three powers is based on other organs.
no big deal.
Freedom? Now that we are free, how can we maintain the patriarchal clan?
Democracy? When democracy is developed to its extreme, it becomes populism. The minority kidnaps the majority. How can the country reach a consensus?
At least in terms of democracy, Wang Yuanzhen feels unreliable.
After he resigned and returned home, he was invited by his friends to help manage Utopia. It was an experimental work created by some members of the Datong Society who raised funds. By purchasing and replacing land, they controlled the territory of several villages, and then used it according to their ideals.
model to govern.
It included content similar to democracy, but its implementation was a complete mess. Everyone had their own ideas and interests. In the end, Utopia was disbanded, and Wang Yuanzhen fell out with her friends because of this.
Constitutional monarchy?
Presidential change?
Sorry, these two things are against basic human nature. Unless they are successful in some countries and these countries are still developing and strong, there is no way to promote them on a large scale.
Constitutional monarchy only applies to small countries, and overseas colonies do not count.
The change of president is purely a historical accident and is exported to the outside world as the United States becomes stronger.
The American Revolutionary War was caused by a group of factory owners, farmers and smugglers who wanted to obtain more profits. They could not find a suitable commander for the war, so the military genius Washington was forced to go to the shelf. Washington's military talents were all
Focusing on escape success rate and luck, his main combat experience is bullying Indians.
With the help of France, the United States gained independence, and then the situation was very embarrassing.
After independence, the United States had no tax collection system and could not afford to support the army. Military commander Washington did not want to make a mess anymore, and because his family's more than 40,000 acres of land failed to harvest, he hurried back to his hometown to take care of plantations.
Next, the northern and southern factions argued endlessly.
A group of capitalists in the north want to establish a big government and collect more taxes to repay the debts of the War of Independence. A group of farmers in the south want to establish a small government, but they are unwilling to pay taxes anyway and each takes care of their own one-third of an acre of land.
Both sides were confused and suddenly thought of Washington, so they asked Washington to come back and take charge of the overall situation.
Washington is presiding over a crappy situation. The country's annual tax revenue is only 1,000 pounds. It can't even support the army. At one time, it had to disband the army. This army is nonsense. It can't handle hundreds of peasant uprisings, and Washington has to temporarily recruit militia groups to suppress it.
The North and the South are still quarreling. Washington's two assistants each represent the interests of the North and the South. Washington's brain is blown by their quarrel.
What the hell is a president doing who can't get any benefits?
Moreover, Washington suffered from severe toothache, and only one tooth fell out of his mouth. He did not even want to talk much during the presidential inaugural speech, let alone argue with his two assistants. Washington’s tens of thousands of acres of land were also lost due to lack of management.
If you can't make ends meet, you might as well not be president and go home and be a farmer.
This is the reason why Washington only served as president for eight years, and it became a routine. It was purely a historical coincidence of various factors colliding together.
As for the U.S. Constitution's express stipulation that the president can only serve two terms, that happened after Roosevelt's death. Before 1951, the U.S. president could in principle be re-elected indefinitely, but two terms were regarded as just an unspoken rule.
If it can bring huge benefits to itself instead of endless troubles, do you think Washington will let the president die?
…
In the seventh year of Pingning, cotton farmers in Shandong revolted, but the imperial court was unable to suppress it.
The Huang family in Shandong, which owns 4 million acres of land, is the descendant of Huang Chongde who supplied cotton to Wang Yuan. He funded his own team training and gradually became the master of Shandong.
But what is interesting is that the Huang family in Shandong had no intention of being independent and wanted to continue doing business in the Ming Dynasty.
After all, for aristocratic families, they have plenty of wealth and power, and they have been officials for many generations. Why do they want to engage in such a high-risk industry as rebellion?
This is the bourgeoisie of the Ming Dynasty, which has no desire for revolution and only wants to maintain the status quo forever.
Huang Zongde was awarded the title of General Soldier of Shandong because of his meritorious service in quelling the rebellion and being a member of the court.
The imperial court dispatched the Huang family troops to Liaoning to suppress the rebel generals. Huang Zongde immediately went there and fought hard. The Northeast military generals who respected themselves for supporting the invaders were very unhappy, so they united with the rebel generals to fight against the rebel generals, and the Huang family army returned in defeat.
In the eighth year of Pingning, the Miao people in Guizhou revolted, and Wang Meng's descendants established a regiment training. Because of his achievements in quelling the rebellion and having someone in the court, he was promoted to the rank of General Soldier of Guizhou.
Yes, there is someone in the Wang family!
Prince Consort Wang Su was granted the title of Marquis of Zunhua by Zhu Zaiyi for his improvement in steel-making technology and equipment, and was hereditary.
Currently, one of Wang Che's descendants is the Left Minister of the Ministry of Works, and the other is the Yushi of the Right Qiandu.
Among Wang Qi's descendants, one is currently a doctor in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, one is a minister of Taichang Temple, and one is a political candidate in Fujian Zuo.
They are all unfilial descendants who do not care about the merits of their ancestors. They have turned into loyal ministers and good generals who are the worms of the country. They have no way to get high in this world. Even if they enter the central government, they will sit on the bench.
At the beginning, Wang Yuan worked hard to clear the fields in Gyeonggi Province, but now Wang Yuan's descendants have become big landowners in Gyeonggi Province!
In the ninth year of Pingning, three major regiment training forces emerged in Sichuan, one of which was the son-in-law of a descendant of Huang E's natal family. Although the civil unrest in Sichuan subsided, the three major regiment training forces fought with each other and fought bloody battles around Fushun, a salt-producing land.
In the same year, Shaanxi was devastated by the peasant army, and tens of thousands of people began to pour into Shanxi.
Shanxi merchants did not betray their country this time, but became active protectors of the Ming Dynasty.
Shanxi woolen merchants were afraid that their factories would be occupied by the rebels, so they recruited village warriors for team training and fought against the large number of peasant soldiers. However, Shanxi farmers were infected by the Shaanxi rebels and responded to the uprising one after another, because their lives could not be lived.
Went down.
In the tenth year of Pingning, the Mobei Mongols took advantage of the situation and invaded. Tens of thousands of cavalry attacked Hetao and Jining, but were beaten by the border troops in the two towns until they fled.
However, the three major border towns of Ningxia, Hetao, and Jining, due to long-term arrears of food payments and consecutive poor harvests, started large-scale mutinies after driving away the Mongols. As for the cause, the imperial court's rewards were unfair, and the soldiers believed that
No silver reward.
The three major border towns of the Ming Dynasty actually imitated the Mongols and joined forces to plunder Shanxi. If they didn't plunder food, they would starve to death!
The Shanxi merchant regiments are going crazy. They have to fight the Shaanxi Peasant Army and the Shanxi Peasant Army, and now they have to deal with the regular armies of the three major border towns. To make matters worse, their woolen raw materials come from the border towns, and now the factory
It's all so difficult that we can't even start work.
Then, a strange phenomenon happened.
The Shanxi merchant regiments were disbanded on a large scale. Shanxi merchants replaced the imperial court and distributed food and salary to the officers and soldiers of the three towns, and then sent the officers and soldiers of the three towns to fight the peasant army.
The various peasant armies suffered a disastrous defeat and were forced to flee to Henan, causing the farmers in Henan to also rebel.
There are certainly coercion situations, but there are also many spontaneous uprisings by farmers in Henan, because the imperial court has not built dams for 20 years, and the Yellow River just overflowed last year, and the lives of ordinary people in Henan are also difficult.
The peasant army made a mess in Henan and was unable to break through Kaifeng. Instead, it moved north to Zhili and Shandong, and was defeated by King Qin's army and Tuanlian of Shandong respectively.
The Ming Dynasty, which was riddled with holes, seemed to be settling down again.
In the 11th year of Pingning, Shanxi woolen merchants no longer provided military pay to the border towns, and the military generals in the border towns were unwilling to spend their own money to buy food.
During the Hetao mutiny, the general was killed, and the imperial court urgently mobilized the Ningxia border troops to suppress it.
The Ningxia border troops mutinied on their own halfway and chose to join forces with the Hetao rebels. The Jining general soldiers rushed to Hetao, but were afraid to move forward, but were appointed as their commander-in-chief by the Jining rebels in Hetao and asked him to lead the army to Beijing.
Armed to demand wages.
Jining's commander-in-chief pretended to agree, and when he walked to Shanxi, he trapped and killed more than ten rebel leaders. The rebels dispersed and did not dare to return to the border town. They occupied mountains and became kings in various parts of Shanxi.
In the twelfth year of Binh Ninh, the Nguyen family of Jiaozhi raised their own troops, killed the chief envoys of Jiaozhi, and established the country of "Dai Viet". They attacked Guangxi again, and the gentry and merchants of Guangxi were forced to form regiments to deal with the invasion of Jiaozhi's army.
In the same year, civil unrest broke out in Jiangxi, and the peasant army swept across the entire southern Jiangxi region. The Jiangxi Tuanlian army could only resist.
In the fifteenth year of Pingning, Japan, which finally completed its reunification, suddenly sent troops to Korea.
The Ming Dynasty maritime merchants, who had huge interests in North Korea, used armed merchant ships to form a naval regiment and defeated the Japanese fleet. The Japanese army who landed in North Korea were either killed in battle or captured.
In the 16th year of Pingning, the emperor passed away. Fortunately, he did not become the last monarch.
Emperor Taichang succeeded to the throne, taking the meaning of "the country is prosperous and the people are prosperous".
In the first year of Taichang, 1713 AD, it had been 345 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Insightful people all over the world are calling for the reform of bad government, demanding that commercial taxes be increased, land taxes be reduced, and extra factions be cancelled. However, commercial taxes are still being reduced, because all the dynasties are spokespersons for merchants.
In coastal provinces, industry and commerce are developed, and a large number of landless peasants flock to cities and factories. Even if civil unrest occurs, they are defeated by the powerful private armies of merchants. If the natural disaster is too serious, they will immigrate to Yinzhou, anyway, the people will not be allowed to cause chaos along the coast.
The coastal provinces are singing and dancing, creating a scene of prosperity.
Wang Yuanzhen has been training in the Huguang regiment for ten years, occupying Yizhang, Guiyang, Lanshan, Ningyuan, Jianghua, Yongming, Daozhou, Bangzhou, and Yongxing, which are some remote prefectures and counties in Huguang, directly bordering Guangdong and Guangxi to the south.
, it is also very convenient to buy arms in Foshan.
Industry and commerce were underdeveloped in these places, so Wang Yuanzhen did not attack the merchants, but frantically expelled the big landlords and distributed their land to the sergeants and common people.
Neighboring gentry raised funds one after another to support powerful officials in organizing group training in order to organize Wang Yuanzhen's expansion.
As for the government, they turned a deaf ear and allowed the local regiments to attack each other. Anyway, Wang Yuanzhen did not kill the officials in rebellion.
In the first year of Taichang, Wang Yuanzhen captured Yongzhou Prefecture, which was the first prefecture he captured. He then sent his troops to capture Hengzhou Prefecture. In the middle, he defeated a large number with a small number, defeating an army of 30,000 regiments. There was no opponent in the entire southern Huguang.
The difference in weapons between the two sides is very small, but the difference in morale is huge.
The troops under Wang Yuanzhen's command were all allocated land in real terms. However, the enemy's regiment training troops were paid to eat and were not willing to work hard at all.
A partial division was sent to capture Baoqing Mansion. Wang Yuanzhen led his own army to march to Changsha, and then went to Yuezhou, Changde, and Chenzhou. He moved his base to Yuezhou Mansion and carried out large-scale land division activities in the newly expanded territory.
The Governor of Huguang finally couldn't sit still and led the regiment training army in northern Huguang southward.
Wang Yuanzhen could not avoid the battle and held Yuezhou City for more than two months.
When the enemy's morale was exhausted, they suddenly launched a night attack. The governor of Huguang took advantage of the chaos to escape. The Hubei soldiers fell into the river and died. The regimental training commander was killed by a stray bullet.
Wang Yuanzhen took advantage of the situation and occupied Jingzhou, and his finances were immediately abundant. He also organized a naval army, and his reputation finally spread to Beijing.
The imperial court sent the contemporary Marquis of Zunhua, a descendant of Wang Su, to recruit Wang Yuanzhen through kinship relations.
Wang Yuanzhen actually became the governor of Huguang, and blatantly opened government offices. Moreover, he continued to crack down on big landowners and distributed land to poor people. Many of the affected landowners and their tribesmen served as officials in the court.
The officials were furious and planned to conquer Wang Yuanzhen, but there was no army available.
As for the regiment training troops in each province, they only want to "protect the territory and the people" and are expanding their own territory. How can they be willing to cross provinces to help the imperial court fight?
In the second year of Taichang, Wang Yuanzhen occupied the entire territory of Huguang and carried out a policy of dividing the province.
There were riots among the gentry, but Wang Yuanzhen did not need to send troops. The peasants who learned the news took their hoes and suppressed them spontaneously.
In the fourth year of Taichang, Wang Yuanzhen sent troops to Jiangxi, which instantly stirred up a hornet's nest because there were too many families serving as officials in the government.
However, the war went extremely smoothly.
Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi was the province with the most civil unrest, ranking first in the country, and there was no other semicolon.
Wang Yuanzhen came over shouting the slogan "equalize the land", and countless Jiangxi farmers heard about it and came to vote. However, due to the large number of officials in Jiangxi's large families, the regiment training troops were full of conflicts, and no one obeyed anyone. When fighting, even the Huguang regiment training was inferior.
In the fifth year of Taichang, Wang Yuanzhen occupied all of Jiangxi.
It can be said that he was extremely rich, because he controlled part of the Yangtze River waterway and made a fortune every day by collecting taxes from merchant ships.
Finally, the merchants regretted it.
No matter whether they are land traders or maritime traders, they cannot tolerate local separatism, because the forces in each province are setting up cards to collect taxes, which has caused their commodity transaction costs to increase significantly. Factory owners also have a headache, and the cost of transporting raw materials has also increased sharply.
ah.
But what's the use of regret?
If you are awesome, build your own army and fight!
In the sixth year of Taichang, the emperor died suddenly, leaving no children.
All officials compared the royal family genealogy and welcomed Emperor Taichang's second brother from Hanzhong to Beijing to succeed him.
The new emperor was riding a train and passing through Shanxi when a group of bandits came out.
These bandits are so powerful. They ride on tall horses and have muskets in each hand. They are rebel soldiers from Hetao who scattered into the mountains and forests. They complained that they were deceived by the general soldiers of Jining and asked the new emperor to give an explanation. They all wanted to return to Hetao to be with their relatives.
Reunion.
The rails were pried, and Xinhuang overturned.
The new emperor pretended to agree and conspired to deal with the bandits in Taiyuan. The bandits were tricked once, but they were very cautious this time and kidnapped the new emperor again at a critical moment.
Well, I shouldn't call him the new emperor, because he hasn't officially ascended the throne yet.
So, the hijacking was just a hijacking, and the officials in the court elected a new prince.
The bandits were dumbfounded and didn't know what to do. After much deliberation, they simply put a yellow robe on the prince from Hanzhong and took him back to Hetao to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor.
The Hetao border troops responded one after another, killed their generals, came to join them, and supported the emperor to attack Shanxi.
Shanxi merchants were cut off from their wool supply. For their own benefit, they simply cooperated with the border troops, supported the emperor, and announced that the capital would be moved to Taiyuan.
When two emperors stood side by side, the world was in chaos.