amaotonovel Chapter 1120 The Real Reason for the Fall of the Ming Dynasty
Chapter 1120 The Real Reason for the Fall of the Ming Dynasty
Zhu Biao stared at Yang Shaofeng with a completely bewildered expression.
The case of the remnants of the Pu family hiding their identities has been almost concluded. Anyone who could be associated with Pu Shougeng has already passed away. Even the Yang family of Quanzhou, the Hong family of Quanzhou, and the Chen family of Haining who protected the remnants of the Pu family are now on their way to Liaodong.
The land, houses, and savings of these people have all been confiscated.
In other words, the case of the remnants of the Pu family has basically been settled, and it will be completely over once those fools who raised the flag to rebel are dealt with.
Why did my brother-in-law bring up the Hong family of Quanzhou and the Chen family of Haining again?
Just as Zhu Biao was pondering to himself, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Doesn't Your Highness find it strange that so far, the commotion in the Fujian area hasn't been too significant?"
Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, then replied blankly, "Isn't it too big?"
Dozens of families were wiped out, more than a dozen were exiled to nine generations, plus those fools who had already raised the flag of rebellion. The number of people involved in the entire Pu family remnant case has exceeded ten thousand.
This isn't big enough?
Yang Shaofeng rolled his eyes, chuckled, and said, "I have always had a question that I would like to ask Your Highness—the economic center of all dynasties has been in the north, so why has it become the south now?"
Zhu Biao was stunned again, and said blankly, "Isn't it because the Song court moved south, the Silk Road was cut off, and maritime trade began to flourish?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded slightly, then shook his head slightly, "Then may I ask Your Highness, the Xiongnu were powerful for a time during the Han Dynasty, the Turks were powerful for a time during the Tang Dynasty, and Goguryeo was also powerful for a time."
"But the Xiongnu were driven westward, the Turkic Khan was captured and made to dance in Chang'an, and Goguryeo was completely eradicated."
“From the end of the Tang Dynasty onwards, the Liao and Jin dynasties rose to prominence one after another, and the Mongols swept across the world.”
"Has Your Highness ever considered that the Han and Tang dynasties could defeat the Xiongnu, Turks, and Goguryeo so badly that they were like dogs, while the Liao, Jin, and Mongol dynasties were stronger than the Song dynasty?"
Zhu Biao was completely dumbfounded, and tentatively asked, "Isn't it because the Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military ones?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded slightly and said, "Yes, but not entirely."
"After all, the Song Dynasty had the feat of killing Möngke Khan with cannon fire at Diaoyu City when it was about to fall, and the Song Dynasty's naval power was far superior to that of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty."
"From all perspectives, the Song Dynasty was not a weak or incompetent dynasty in the true sense."
"Instead, the Liao, Jin, and Mongol kingdoms were all ridiculously strong."
"Of course, you can say that the Liao and Jin dynasties abducted a large number of artisans, or that the Song dynasty's policy of strengthening the central government and weakening local powers was wrong."
"But it is undeniable that the Liao, Jin and Mongol kingdoms were originally poor people living in remote corners, and the natural disasters alone could have taken their lives."
"So the question is—what made the Liao, Jin, and Mongol dynasties so powerful?"
"I have never been able to understand this problem before."
"But once you link the three nouns together, all the problems are solved."
Before Zhu Biao could ask a question, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Among aristocratic families, officials, and maritime merchants, the maritime merchants truly hold the dominant position."
Just like in the past, there were always people on the internet saying that the Tumu Crisis was caused by the Donglin Party, and there were always people saying that it was caused by the civil service group, shouting the slogan that the Tumu Crisis was a conspiracy by the civil service group.
However, these claims are somewhat far-fetched.
Because he shifted all the blame onto the civil service, Emperor Chongzhen had the remarkable achievement of changing more than fifty chief ministers in seventeen years.
The blame is being placed entirely on the Donglin Party, but the Donglin Party did not participate in the Tumu Crisis.
Even blaming the officials and gentry group entirely is not an option, because if we include the officials who died for their country in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen's reign and when the Southern Ming fell, their number was more than two thousand. If we also include the families of these officials who died for their country, as well as scholars, palace maids and eunuchs, the total number would be as high as tens of thousands.
Similarly, the number of gentry and common people who participated in the resistance against the Qing Dynasty and refused to surrender to the Qing even at the cost of their lives was countless.
Only by adding the words "maritime merchants" to the "hereditary families and officials" group can everything be explained.
This interest group, composed of "established families, officials, and maritime merchants," was not based in the "Jiangnan" or "Jiangzhe" regions as commonly referred to, but rather in the unassuming and unassuming Fujian province.
Yang Shaofeng picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued, "Since the An Lushan Rebellion, the Tang Dynasty gradually lost control of the Western Regions, and the Silk Road naturally disappeared."
“After the founding of the Song Dynasty, it never managed the Western Regions and was unable to restart the Silk Road, but the trade demand between the Central Plains and the Western Regions still existed.”
"Therefore, the Silk Road, which was no longer passable by land, was changed to a sea route."
“Traditionally prosperous regions such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, and Gansu have gradually declined due to the loss of the Silk Road and the degradation of soil and water.”
"However, coastal areas such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong became wealthy and prosperous due to the rise of the Maritime Silk Road, and a new interest group called 'maritime merchants' also emerged."
"In this way, it can be explained why the Xiongnu and Turks rose to power in the northwest, and even though Goguryeo was able to prosper in the northeast for a time, it was eventually destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, while the Liao, Jin and Mongol dynasties rose to power in the north and northeast, and became stronger and stronger."
"..."
At this point, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but shake his head.
The rise of the Liao, Jin, and even the Mongol dynasties can only be considered as a small test of the power of the "aristocratic families, officials, and maritime merchants" interest groups.
The Japanese pirate raids during the Ming Dynasty and the Imjin War in South Korea were merely failed attempts by these people.
The Qing army's entry into the pass was the pinnacle of these people's work.
If we follow this line of thought, all the doubts about Six-Fingered Huang Zhuowu, Huang Taiji's real name being erased, Ao Bai's sudden rebellion, the mystery of Ma Zi's "This is eight years old", Ma Zi having a child at the age of thirteen, the missing stroke of the character "Cheng" in Ma Zi's imperial edict, Qian Long's several trips to the south of the Yangtze River to visit the Chen family in Haining, Qian Long's "severing hair after the succession" case, Yong Zheng writing "Dayi Juemi Lu" and so on can all be explained.
Because Ao Bai discovered that the man he had always served, Ma Zi Ge, was not Sun Zhi's biological son at all, but had been tricked into becoming Hong Chengchou's son.
Later, Yongzheng had no son, so he went to the Chen family in Haining and brought back Qianlong. If Hong Xuanye knew about the relationship between the Hong family of Quanzhou and the Chen family of Haining, then his decision to make Yongzheng the crown prince because of Chen Hongli would naturally make sense.
While pondering this, Yang Shaofeng said, "Once maritime merchants have made a lot of profits through maritime trade, they naturally don't want to reopen the Silk Road in the Western Regions."
Similarly, they did not want the imperial court to interfere in maritime trade.
"They even hoped the imperial court would ban maritime trade."
"Because a maritime ban cannot completely eliminate smuggling, and the profits from smuggling are even higher than those from the maritime trade market and the customs market."
"Speaking of which, we must mention the two paths that maritime merchants are most likely to take, and which they must take."
A layer of cold sweat was slowly seeping from Zhu Biao's forehead.