Ming Zuo

Chapter 28 Why not start over?

In the history of the late Ming Dynasty, the Donglin Party is definitely a topic that cannot be avoided.

Regarding the Donglin Party, the disputes of later generations have never ceased.

There are various viewpoints, there are those who praise it, and there are many who criticize it.

What's more, the responsibility for the death of the Ming Dynasty was pushed to the head of the Donglin Party.

But there are not many people who can tell what the Donglin Party should be like.

In fact, the Donglin Party during the Chongzhen period was completely different from the original Donglin Party.

"When Duke Jingyang lectured on Donglin, who were the followers? Only merchants, craftsmen, and ordinary people in the market. Although the sages of Donglin were officials in the court, there were cabinet ministers and dignitaries? No."

Zuo Menggeng was waiting quietly on the side, and Hou Xun and Liu Zongzhou didn't take it seriously.

Although he showed good martial arts and military talent, in the eyes of the two bigwigs, he was at most only a military commander.

What does a child know about political affairs?
But Zuo Menggeng didn't make a sound, and it was a blockbuster.

When Hou Xun and Liu Zongzhou were worried about the fire of the Donglin Party, Zuo Menggeng was shocked and bluntly said that the Donglin Party had changed because of the change in the nature of the Donglin Party.

In the beginning, the Donglin Party was not a dignitary, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it originated in the wild.

At that time, the people who founded Donglin were basically small officials.

Even Gu Xiancheng is only a foreign official, and Zhao Nanxing is a kung fu master, not a top boss.

When Gu Xiancheng was lecturing at Donglin Academy, almost all the people who came to listen to the class were businessmen, craftsmen, and ordinary people.

Although these people are pariahs, they are of great significance.

Because of the prosperity of commerce and trade in the south of the Yangtze River, the economic development far exceeds that of other regions.The commoners here are no longer satisfied with three meals a day, but have begun to have higher pursuits.

In the past, they had no way, but Gu Xiancheng's lectures gave them a way to progress.

As a result, thousands of people gathered, and their momentum expanded rapidly, which led to the rise of the Donglin Party.

It can be said that the Donglin Party in the beginning represented the interests of merchants, handicraftsmen, craftsmen, and civilian traders.

This is undoubtedly progress from the perspective of the entire historical process.

After all, the transition from feudal society to capitalist society is the general trend.

In the late Jiajing period, including the early period of Longqing and Wanli, the performance of the entire Donglin Party was high-spirited and full of positive significance.

Among them, Longqing Kaihai is a heartbreaking work of the Donglin Party.

One of the views of those who criticized the Donglin Party in later generations was that the Donglin Party opposed the opening of the sea, which prevented China from opening its eyes to the world.

This statement is very wrong.

Because in the late Ming Dynasty, it was the Donglin party who led the opening of the sea.

The governor of Fujian, Tu Zemin, who shot the first shot of the Longqing switch, was a member of the Donglin party.

At that time, the governor of Fujian, Xu Fuyuan, was a student of Zhan Ruoshui.The person who promoted and reused him was Donglin boss Zou Yuanbiao.

Xu Fuyuan was also Liu Zongzhou's teacher.

Are these relationships enough to prove?
In many views of later generations, it is said that the Donglin Party is the representative of the big landlords and big capitalists.

This is even more strange.

Since the Donglin Party is the representative of the big capitalists, why would they not support Kaihai?

Which capitalist hates making less money?

what?
Monopoly smuggling?

Please, how much does smuggling make?
Longqing Kaihai finally chose to be in Fujian or a small place like Yuegang. The reason is that the inherent forces in Jiangnan are too strong, resulting in a helpless choice that the policy cannot be implemented here.

The biggest mistake in this view is that the entire Jiangnan power is represented by the Donglin Party.

In fact, in the Jiangnan area, the Donglin Party is not the most powerful force.

The people who really monopolized the finance and trade of the Southeast and obstructed the opening of the sea were actually the nobles, big landlords, and aristocratic families in the Southeast.

For example, the Duke of Wei, the Zhejiang Party, etc., these talents are the representatives of the big landlords.

To say that the Donglin Party has a monopoly on smuggling is even more of a joke.

At that time, the Donglin Party had neither power nor soldiers. How could they get through the sea ban and transport the goods out?

Those who can really do this must be the nobles and noble families who control the military power and political power in the southeast.

This is also the reason why Qi Jiguang, Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun and others needed to recruit additional troops to fight against Japanese during the Jiajing Dynasty, and Yu Dayou started in Fujian instead of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

After the war against Japan, Hu Zongxian died tragically, Qi Jiguang and Tan Lun were transferred from afar, and Yu Dayou withdrew to Fujian.

Similarly, because the nobles and noble families in the southeast were too powerful, the Donglin Party had to put the location of opening the sea in Fujian.

Later, the Donglin Party's purpose of supporting Zheng Zhilong was also because it could not break through the confinement of the Southeast nobles and noble families on land, and had to solve the problem from the sea.

At that time, the contradiction between the Donglin Party and Shijia Xungui was that the merchants and handicraftsmen represented by the Donglin Party produced goods but could not sell them. sold overseas.

It is based on this fact that the Donglin Party at that time played an active role in the formulation of policies and the operation of national policies in the Ming Dynasty.

Since when did the Donglin Party deteriorate?
It was precisely in the late Wanli period, especially the Tianqi period.

Because the emperors of Wanli and Tianqi relied on eunuchs and exploited them everywhere, the Donglin Party and the Xungui family in the southeast quickly merged.

Think about it, Wanli and Tianqi sent so many mine supervisors and tax supervisors to occupy mines and traffic, and levy levies.

And who originally belonged to these mines and business roads?

Whose goods are on the various trade routes?

Not from a noble family.

That is to say, the perverse actions of the emperors of Wanli and Tianqi have made the Dongnan Xungui family and the Donglin Party, who were originally rivals, quickly reach a united front.

This is also one of the reasons why the struggle between the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party was so fierce during the Wanli period.

Because the Donglin Party has greater support behind it, it has the energy and courage to fight.

But this kind of confluence, although in line with the situation of struggle, brought the Donglin Party a bad thing.

This originally positive force quickly began to corrupt, and it gradually became the spokesperson of the big landlord.

If the image is analogous, the Donglin Party is like the later KMT.

In the beginning, it was a progressive force that was anti-imperialist, anti-feudal, anti-oppression, and pursued national independence and national prosperity, but later it became the spokesman of imperialism, the comprador class, and the big landlord class, degenerating into a reactionary force.

At this time, people of insight in the Donglin Party might have seen this change, but they certainly couldn't tell why.

After all, this is due to the limitations of the times.

People with sharp eyes, such as Hou Xun and Liu Zongzhou, were only aware of the crisis, but they did not know what the crisis was, where it came from, and how to solve it.

On the contrary, Zuo Menggeng has the concept of future generations, and he is really sharp and clear.

Today's Donglin Party is no longer the progressive force representing the bourgeoisie, handicraftsmen, and ordinary people, but a class of big landlords that has degenerated into power.

Changes in class attributes are the source of the Donglin Party crisis.

Today, the top executives of the Donglin Party have long forgotten the glorious days of the past. In their eyes, there is only the high position vacated by the court. Even their own people have to fight for it.

This is the case when Han Xu returned to the DPRK.

During the Taichang and Tianqi years, Han Xu was already a scholar.In today's Donglin, he is the most top-level boss.

It was for this purpose that Chongzhen recalled him to serve as the chief assistant of the cabinet.

It is worth mentioning that Han Xu is also a native of Puzhou, Shanxi, and he was not less appreciated and promoted by Wang Chonggu when he was young.

The Donglin Party and the Jin Party were originally allies.

But when Han Xu came back like this, Qian Longxi sat on the wax.

He was the first cabinet minister to be drawn by lottery from the "dignified" golden bottle. It stands to reason that this first assistant should belong to him.

As a result, a Han Xu was airborne, and Qian Longxi's heart could be imagined.

Although Chongzhen used Yuan Chonghuan to supervise Liaodong to appease Qian Longxi, can a Yuan Chonghuan be compared with the cabinet chief and assistant?
Besides, Qian Longxi probably didn't know yet that Yuan Chonghuan already had two hearts at this time.

The contradiction between Qian Qianyi and Zhou Yanru is even more unresolved.

These two are rare talents, outstanding talents, and outstanding literary talents. After the older generation of Donglin party members, they have now become stars in the Donglin party.

But the conflict between the two has a long history.

Zhou Yanru was from Yixing, which is today's Wuxi.

Qian Qianyi was from Suzhou Prefecture.

As the saying goes, Su Songchang is Jiangnan.

You are from Yixing, are you worthy of staying in the Soviet Union?

And their paths to rise are not the same.

Zhou Yanru is a typical academic bully.

Qian Qianyi is more like an art student.

In the eyes of a scholar, what is an art student?
slacker student.

In the eyes of art students, what is a scholar?
bookworm.

However, in the Donglin party, Su, Song, Chang and others have the most members, and they all surround Qian Qianyi and promote him.

Zhou Yanru, on the other hand, was excluded and had no friends in the Donglin Party.

His situation made the emerging forces in the Donglin party quite sympathetic and supported him one after another.

This emerging force is the Fushe headed by Zhang Pu.

Hou Xun and Liu Zongzhou may not know yet that Zhou Yanru already has two hearts at this time, and is ready to join forces with Wen Tiren of the Zhejiang Party to deal with Qian Qianyi together.

In the face of chaos, they thought hard and couldn't find a good solution, and they were helpless.

Zuo Menggeng was quite straightforward.

"Today's Donglin, whether the sages or the late, have been blinded by power, fame and fortune. Why don't the two elders start anew, imitate Duke Jingyang, reopen the sun and the moon, and rebuild the Donglin?"

(End of this chapter)