In feudal society, the emperors who lived in high positions in the palace endured a kind of pain that was difficult for others to understand. Although it is widely believed that the emperor had the most power, the most wealthy, and the most women, in reality their lives were not at all private, and even their diet, sleep, and clothing were under surveillance. If he was not fortunate enough to live in the historical context of a peaceful and prosperous era, the emperor's life was often less comfortable than that of ordinary rich people.
There have been more than 490 emperors in Chinese history, and none of them has survived the most than the Wanli Emperor of Mingshenzong. His life makes people feel deeply sympathetic, as if living in the coercion of others.
When it comes to Emperor Wanli, a key moment that has to be mentioned is "the fifteenth year of Wanli". In this year, the glorious Ming Dynasty began to decline and embarked on an irreversible downward slope. This moment has become a delicate time node, all kinds of ghosts, gods and snakes have appeared one after another, and the Qingliushi people, who represent the spiritual power of the Ming Dynasty, began to act as demons, exposing the problems of Ming Dynasty society one by one.
The fifteenth year of Wanli": the twilight of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty.
At this moment, feudal history began to transform, and spiritual power was transformed into governing the world. The entire Ming Dynasty was kidnapped by an invisible moral force, whether it was the emperor or the common people, they could not escape its influence.
Shoufu Zhang Juzheng once worked hard for the Ming Dynasty, but in the face of moral force, his contribution was liquidated, and his reputation was reversed overnight. Zhang Juzheng went from being an outstanding politician, reformer, and educator to an arrogant and domineering minister, and was listed as a crime by intellectuals, leading to the liquidation of the Wanli Emperor at the instigation of Confucianism.
However, the Wanli Emperor found that although he held the power of life and death, he was heavily constrained by civil officials in practical use. The civil servants always found moral justification in various scriptures that hindered the emperor from pursuing his own ideas. The Ming Dynasty admired Zhu Xi's science, and the emperor must act in accordance with the code of conduct of science, otherwise he would be regarded as a faint monarch.
The Hijacking of Moral Force: The New Dilemma of the Ming Dynasty.
At this stage, the Ming Dynasty had deviated from the blueprint of the Zhu Yuanzhang period. In the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, the imperial power had the absolute upper hand, and the prime minister had no capital to challenge the imperial power. However, in the Wanli period, the power of the bureaucracy gradually overshadowed the imperial power, forming a unique character, finding fault with the emperor's faults with an upright image, and calling it the reputation of a saint who made the emperor.
The emperors of the Ming Dynasty became "invisible saints", bound by civil officials in the name of morality. The civil servants restrained the emperor by creating moral kidnappings, and even exposed the emperor's private affairs with the harem when there was no better means of counterattack, in the hope of influencing the emperor's decision-making. This tried-and-true trick succeeded in restricting the emperor, and the civil servants gained the political reputation of "loyal ministers".
The Bondage That Can't Be Resisted: The Sad Life of the Wanli Emperor.
Imperial power was shelved during this period, and the majestic imperial atmosphere could only be found on the stage. The careful thinking of the civil officials, Emperor Wanli knew it well, but he was helpless. He had to promise the people of the world with an open-minded attitude of accepting advice and a benevolent and generous mind that "the next will not be an example".
The oppression of this spiritual power made the emperor feel more and more helpless. Under the trend of "selling the king", the Wanli Emperor gradually found that he held the power of life and death, but in practice, he was severely constrained by civil officials. The civil servants were always able to find a moral basis to oppose the emperor's decision-making, which put the emperor in a helpless situation.
Rule by inaction": the bitterness of the Wanli Emperor.
Faced with the moral kidnapping of civil officials, the Wanli Emperor created a way of "ruling by inaction". He deliberately turned a blind eye and turned a deaf ear, and although he knew that his subordinates were deliberately obstructing, he could not find a strong counterattack. Since the Ming Dynasty promoted Zhu Xi's science of science, the emperor must follow the code of conduct of science, otherwise he will be regarded as a faint monarch. This made the Ming Dynasty break away from the blueprint of Zhu Yuanzhang's era and fall into a new governance dilemma.
The Ming Dynasty after the fifteenth year of Wanli: the rise of moral power.
However, the "fifteenth year of Wanli" was only the beginning of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. After this, moral force becomes more powerful and becomes a more influential force than force. During the Jiajing Dynasty, Hai Rui wrote in the way of "selling the gentleman straight", and scolded Jiajing to the point of blood. Although Jiajing was angry, he could not blame Hai Rui, but encouraged him to "remind" him more.
"Selling Straight Justice": The Emergence of Moral Strength.
In feudal society, the relationship between the monarch and the minister was supposed to be "the monarch as the minister", and the minister must absolutely obey the emperor's arrangement. However, during this period, the reason why Jiajing did not dare to touch Hai Rui was not because of Hai Rui's status as a clean official, but because Hai Rui was a well-known Qing official in the world. However, when incorruptibility is no longer used to assist the emperor in governing the country, incorruptibility is transformed into a "deformed product" of moral strength.
The end of "rule by inaction": the retreat of the Wanli Emperor.
In the end, Emperor Wanli rejected the early dynasty, which seemed to be a manifestation of incompetence and weakness, but in fact, the Ming Dynasty was no longer the original Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty has lost the founding spirit of Zhu Yuanzhang's period, and has become an arena for Confucian scholars to attack each other and gain fame and wealth by virtue of morality.
The New Realm of the Ming Dynasty: The Age of Lost Souls.
After the fifteenth year of Wanli, the Ming Dynasty fell into a new era, lost the spirit of founding the country, and became a place for Confucian scholars to attack each other and seek personal gain. During this period, imperial power was no longer absolute, and moral power gradually rose as a new factor restricting imperial power. The emperors of this era, like the actors on the stage, are majestic on the surface, but in fact they cannot get rid of the shackles of morality.
Epilogue. In feudal society, emperors did not live in extravagance, but were bound by moral power. The sad experience of Emperor Wanli's life reflects the process of the Ming Dynasty from prosperity to decline. Moral kidnapping not only influenced the emperor's decision-making, but also deprived society of its soul. In this conspiracy of feudal society, the emperor's hardships and social changes are intertwined, constituting a profound and thought-provoking historical picture.
The above depicts in detail the hardships and difficulties experienced by the emperors in the feudal society under the shackles of moral force, presenting a picture full of historical vicissitudes. During this period, moral force gradually became a weapon for governing the country, but it also became a shackle to restrict the emperor's power, which made the feudal society fall into a complex and tangled situation of power and conspiracy.
First of all, the article makes a profound analysis of the fate of emperors in feudal society. Although the emperor is in a high position, he cannot escape the trouble of moral kidnapping. In the era when they admired Zhu Xi's science, they had to handle government affairs in accordance with the code of conduct of science, otherwise they would be accused of being a faint monarch. This kind of restraint made it difficult for the emperor to exert his power and strategy, and he did not dare to act excessively, which eventually restricted the imperial power and lost his former prestige.
Second, by depicting the experiences of historical figures such as Zhang Juzheng and Hai Jui, the article vividly demonstrates how civil officials used moral force to limit imperial power in a way that "betrayed the monarch and betrayed his integrity". Although Zhang Juzheng made contributions to the Ming Dynasty, his reputation was reversed under the reckoning of moral power. Hai Rui, on the other hand, bluntly criticized the emperor in the way of "betraying the monarch and betraying his integrity", which made the emperor angry, but he had to show a posture of "understanding the general situation", and even added officials to encourage him. This scenario not only shows how skillfully the civil officials used moral force to protect themselves, but also reflects the complexity of the power scheme in feudal society.
In addition, the discussion of the governance method of "rule by inaction" in this article is also worth paying attention to. The reason why the Wanli Emperor chose this method was actually a helpless response to the moral kidnapping of the civil officials. He deliberately avoided the government and tried to solve the problem through time. However, this also implies that the Ming Dynasty has long lost its former spiritual backbone and has become an arena for Confucian scholars to attack and defend their strategies.
Finally, through the depiction of the Ming Dynasty after the "fifteenth year of Wanli", the article outlines the historical trajectory of the Ming Dynasty from prosperity to decline. Losing the founding spirit of Zhu Yuanzhang's period, the Ming Dynasty was reduced to a stage for Confucian scholars to compete for fame and fortune, and the imperial power was no longer absolute, and the gradual rise of moral power became a new factor restricting power and conspiracy. Against this historical backdrop, emperors had to struggle between power and morality, struggling to maintain their dominance.
To sum up, the article profoundly reveals the sadness and dilemma experienced by the emperors in the feudal society under the restraint of moral force, and presents the complexity of the power plot in feudal society. In this historical context, conspiracy, morality, and imperial power are intertwined, and together they constitute a thought-provoking historical picture.
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