The economic crisis of the Ming Dynasty: why did the three salaries and increase factions still insist? Public resentment is boiling, and there are rumors in all directions.
Economic problems are often inextricably linked to the rise and fall of political regimes, and the fall of many dynasties often stems from economic crises, especially fiscal crises. The economic problems of the Ming Dynasty are revealed in the History of the Ming Dynasty, which states that the economic crisis of the Ming Dynasty began during the Jiajing period.
Due to Ming Shizong's profligacy, resulting in the "emptiness of the treasury", the original tax revenue can no longer support the operation of **. Therefore, emperors such as Wanli, Tianqi, and Chongzhen had to use those who advocated self-interest, and adopted methods such as raising taxes, opening mines, and expropriating extortions, trying to extract more wealth from the people.
However, the majority of the common people are peasants, and their economic strength is weak and unstable. These heavy burdens have overwhelmed them, and some have chosen to abandon agriculture and business, while others have become thieves and wander around.
This not only further undermined social production and hindered economic development, but also prevented the imperial court from obtaining sufficient funds. Eventually, both the court and the people fell into poverty, leading to the dynasty's demise in the civil war.
The Ming Dynasty was in economic difficulties during the Jiajing period, and the three salaries were a major evil policy in the last years, which were additional levies on Liaodong, banditry, and military training. During the Jiajing period, due to the pressure on the frontier and the increase in military spending, the imperial court's finances were tight.
In order to curry favor with the emperor, the ministers used various methods to increase fiscal revenue, such as selling Terada and atonement, thus undermining the country's discipline. In order to cope with the frequent encroachments of the Ota Minister, Sun Yingkui, the head of the household department, suggested that additional taxes be paid to Zhejiang and other regions, which was the beginning of the increase in Liao's salary.
During the Wanli period, the Liaodong region was briefly peaceful, but after Nurhachi raised troops, the Ming Dynasty used troops in Liaodong again, resulting in a sharp increase in Liaodong's salary. However, the Wanli Emperor was unwilling to use the money from the internal treasury, and Li Ruhua, the secretary of the household department, could only loot from the common people, and in addition to the capital and Guizhou, an additional 5.2 million yuan was given nationwide.
During the Chongzhen period, the Ming Dynasty was still unable to pacify Liaodong, and the Liao salary increased to more than 9 million. By this time, there had been rogues in Shaanxi and Henan, and the peasants had joined the rebel army because they were overwhelmed by the heavy taxes.
Emperor Chongzhen naively edicted to increase the number of troops, but a year later, the people ushered in the continued increase in salaries and salaries.
Jiang Dejing pointed out that the additional 7.3 million yuan in the 17th year of Chongzhen's salary and training did not bring the expected results, but caused a heavy burden. He stressed that the number of soldiers and horses trained by the imperial court was seriously inconsistent with the external claims, and most of the military salaries were not distributed to the soldiers, but went into the pockets of the royal family, nobles and eunuchs.
Although the imperial court has ordered that the three salaries be combined into one salary, under the chase of the state and county, it is only a variant of the three salaries. Chongzhen was furious about this and wanted to label Jiang Dejing as a friend, leading to his resignation.
Chongzhen later reluctantly canceled the salary.
During the Chongzhen period, the imperial historian Hao Jin warned of the seriousness of the three salaries. He said that the national border salary was only 2.8 million in Wanli, but in the Chongzhen period, it increased to more than 20 million.
When the people were exhausted, Chongzhen increased the tax on the three salaries, but did not increase the number of soldiers and horses and improve the equipment, which reflected the corruption of the regime at that time. Eight days before he was hanged on the coal mountain, Chongzhen issued an edict on his sins and began to exempt him from the three salaries, which showed his repentance.
However, Chongzhen's repentance seems to be too late. Just like the Later Tang Zhuangzong, he tried his best to encourage his subordinates, but they were unmoved. The subordinate said: "Your Majesty has done it too late, and those who have received benefits will not be grateful." ”
Sure enough, the people of the Ming Dynasty were not grateful to Chongzhen. On the third day after the three salaries were waived, they followed Li Zicheng into Beijing.
Why did the Ming Dynasty fall into the dead knot of "three salaries and plus factions"? In an agrarian society, where economic growth was slow, wise rulers knew how to invest moderately and avoid over-consumption that could lead to the decay of the state.
The lessons of history tell us that the Qin and Sui dynasties collapsed due to excessive consumption of people's power, the Han Wu Emperor's southern conquest and northern war led to a sharp decline in population, and the Yuan Dynasty's large-scale transformation of the Yellow River eventually led to a military rebellion.
Since Jiajing, the Ming Dynasty was in internal and external difficulties, and in order to deal with the invasion of foreign enemies, it was the first to implement the Liao Salary Increase. However, the war in Liaodong turned into a protracted war, coupled with natural disasters and bureaucratic corruption, and a peasant uprising broke out.
In order to quell the uprising, it also implemented the suppression of salaries and the training of salaries. The government first wrapped the flames in white paper, and when the flames burned, they tried to put out the fire with branches, but the fire became more and more vigorous, and the contradictions and crises became bigger and bigger, and finally fell into a dead end.
The way to govern the country is to be quiet and far-reaching, and the people's will is stable and the country is peaceful. In the face of the Liaodong problem, if the Ming Dynasty could give enough time to plan and implement, it might be able to avoid falling into trouble due to the additional Liaodong salary.
However, Emperor Chongzhen was in a hurry and made too hasty decisions, which eventually led to the boiling of public resentment caused by the Sanjiao faction. Unable to solve the problem of three salaries, the Ming Dynasty fell into a dead knot and had nowhere to go.
Therefore, only by calming the people's minds can the country be peaceful for a long time.