Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 70: The Ming Dynasty actually fell during the Wanli reign, the genealogy of the Ming emperors [Seeking follow-up reading]

Zhu Biao suddenly understood after hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Come to think of it, that was an elite division of two to three thousand men who had fought in the north and south for decades and had made countless military achievements.

Without the tacit consent of the emperor and his ministers in the court, how could a general massacre them just for the reason of saving military pay and rewards?

Even if the imperial court is short of money, it shouldn't be so short of this little money, right?
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Liu Kuan, "I said before that Jiajing must be a foolish and incompetent person, but you said we were wrong. Then this Wanli must be a foolish and incompetent person, right?"

Liu Kuan said: "The Wanli Emperor was indeed somewhat mediocre and incompetent, but the most important thing was that he was foolish and selfish. When people in later generations talked about the fall of the Ming Dynasty, they often said that it was Wanli who fell."

"The Wanli Emperor ascended the throne at a young age. During the first ten years of his reign, the cabinet's chief minister, Zhang Juzheng, oversaw government affairs and initiated reforms to address the Ming Dynasty's many shortcomings."

"Zhang Juzheng's reforms covered many areas, including civil service, finance, taxation, and the military. Overall, they were quite effective. The Ming Dynasty reversed the decline of the Jiajing and Longqing reigns and could barely be considered a well-equipped army with sufficient food supplies."

"After Zhang Juzheng's death, the Wanli Emperor took over the government. Although he hated Zhang Juzheng and abolished some of his new policies, he also retained some. At the beginning of his reign, he was eager to make achievements and even wanted to do better than Zhang Juzheng."

"However, he lacked both talent and self-discipline. After only three or four years, he grew weary and began to indulge in wine and women, neglecting state affairs, only interested in filling the treasury and satisfying his own desires."

"In the middle of his reign, he wanted to depose the crown prince and install his favorite concubine's son as heir. The court officials refused to allow this, which triggered a dispute over the foundation of the country and the beginning of a factional struggle that lasted until the end of the Ming Dynasty."

"The Wanli Emperor simply followed the example of his grandfather, the Jiajing Emperor, and stopped attending court. The Jiajing Emperor did not attend court because it was easier to manipulate the court from behind the scenes. However, the Wanli Emperor's absence from court was a genuine abandonment of state affairs."

"It is said that in the middle and late Wanli period, the cabinet often consisted of only one or two ministers, or two or three; and the positions in the Supervisory Office, the Six Ministries, and other departments were also often vacant."

"Wanli ignored state affairs and focused on his own desires, yet he launched the three great expeditions of the Wanli era, which depleted the treasury's reserves of money and grain accumulated during the reigns of Jiajing, Longqing, and Zhang Juzheng."

"Because of the Wanli Emperor's neglect of border affairs, the Tusi chieftains in the southwest and the Jurchens in the northeast also rose up and rebelled from time to time."

"Even Burma in the southwest, Japan in the east, and the Western powers all coveted the Ming Dynasty and had plans to capture or colonize it."

"Nurhaci, the founder of the Qing Dynasty, also rose to prominence during this period and established the Later Jin Dynasty in the 44th year of the Wanli reign."

"In the 47th year of the Wanli reign, he proclaimed the 'Seven Great Grievances', openly opposing the Ming Dynasty. He then defeated four Ming armies at the Battle of Sarhu, annihilating nearly 100,000 border troops. He thus occupied Liaodong and established the foundation of the Later Jin Dynasty."

"Although the Wanli Emperor reigned for a long time, he was not in good health because of his fondness for sweets, his constant confinement in the palace, his indulgence in wine and women, and his laziness for exercise. He died of illness in the 48th year of the Wanli reign."

"After the Wanli Emperor's death, the crown prince ascended the throne, and the reign was named Taichang. However, he reigned for only one month before he died due to the 'Red Pill Case'."

"Then the Taichang Emperor's eldest son, Zhu Youxiao, who was only fifteen years old, ascended the throne and became the Tianqi Emperor."

"But the Tianqi Emperor reigned for only six or seven years before he died of drowning. He had no children, so his younger brother, the 17-year-old Zhu Youjian, ascended the throne and became the Chongzhen Emperor."

Having said this, Liu Kuan stopped.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "How many years was Chongzhen on the throne?"

"Sixteen or seventeen years."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a cold expression, "That is to say, the Ming Dynasty fell within just twenty years of Wanli's death."

Liu Kuan said, "After the fall of Beijing and Chongzhen's suicide, several princes succeeded the Ming Dynasty in Jiangnan. However, most were conquered by the Qing invaders within a year. There were also cases where two or three people simultaneously proclaimed themselves emperors, fighting each other for legitimacy."

"Only the last Emperor Yongli held out longer, but by then the Ming Dynasty only had a small corner of the southwest. Moreover, the Yongli Emperor had no real power and was mostly a puppet of warlords."

"So, the view of later generations is that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed after Chongzhen hanged himself at the Beijing Chengpo."

After listening to Liu Kuan's brief account of Wanli and several subsequent emperors, Zhu Yuanzhang actually had many questions about the late Ming Dynasty.

How to compare the three major expeditions of Wanli?
What is the Red Pill Case?
Did Zhang Juzheng have any intention of rebelling?

Is there anything strange about Emperor Tianqi’s death from drowning or illness?
and many more.

But because he had too many questions, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't ask in a hurry.

However, he was certain of one thing - what later generations said about the Ming Dynasty falling during the Wanli reign was probably correct.

Recalling what Liu Kuan had said about Wanli's actions, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but snort, "I really wish I could be like you, travel back to the Wanli era, and give that unworthy descendant a good beating to vent my anger!"

Liu Kuan thought to himself: If you, Old Zhu, really returned to the Wanli Dynasty, it would not just be a simple matter of beating Wanli up. I am afraid you would kill a lot of people, or even lead a rebellion and rebuild the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Biao was also quite emotional about the events of the Wanli Dynasty, but he was not as angry as Zhu Yuanzhang.

At this time, he comforted Zhu Yuanzhang, "Father, from this we can see that whether our descendants are virtuous and filial is really unpredictable."

"For the long-term prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, we must strive to improve the imperial system and build up the foundation of the nation, so that our legacy will not be quickly destroyed by unworthy descendants."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and was about to say something when he saw a eunuch outside the hall come in and whisper something to Li Gui.

Then Li Gui came over and asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the Empress asked whether Prince Consort Liu should have lunch in the palace." Zhu Yuanzhang was about to say yes subconsciously.

Then he remembered that today was only the second day of Liu Kuan and Zhu Huilan's marriage. Although some royal rules were different from those of the common people, he should not have left the prince consort alone in the palace to eat on the second day.

Therefore, Empress Ma was reminding him that it was getting late and it was time to let Liu Kuan leave the palace.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang still wanted to continue listening to Liu Kuan talk about future events, he also knew that he couldn't be impatient, as there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

So he said, "It's almost noon. Let's stop here for today. Liu Kuan, you can go back home."

"Yes, Wei Chen is resigning."

Wait until Liu Kuan leaves Fengxian Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Biao'er, later you will record everything Liu Kuan said about our Zhu Ming imperial family. It would be best if you could compile a genealogy of future emperors."

Zhu Biao was puzzled. "Father, why bother with so much trouble? If you want to know the historical pedigree of the Ming Dynasty emperors, why not just ask my brother-in-law?"

He was just about to ask.

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. "It's better to ask him directly than to compile the information he has collected from the many things that happened in later generations."

Zhu Biao frowned and asked in surprise, "Father, do you think my brother-in-law would deceive us?"

"That's not the case." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head again. "After all, he lived six hundred years later, and wasn't a direct witness to the events of the Ming Dynasty. What he said was just what he read in a book."

"But even if it's official history, is it necessarily true? Furthermore, the truth of many things will be lost or difficult to distinguish after two or three hundred years of history."

"Even if you could read all the history books in the world, could you know the truth about the Tang and Song dynasties? I'm afraid not."

"Actually, when he mentioned the massacre of Qi's army, although I was angry at the time, I later felt full of doubts."

"If the Wanli Emperor and his ministers were wary of the Qi Family Army because of its relationship with Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng, and intended to eliminate them, why would it have dragged on for nearly ten years?"

"So, when we listen to Liu Kuan's stories about the future, we can't disbelieve them, but we can't believe them completely either. We need to discern them carefully so that we can find the truth and usefulness in them."

"Based on the scattered stories he told, create a genealogy of the Ming emperors of later generations. If it doesn't match what he later said, you'll know there's something wrong. You can ask him later to correct it. Do you understand?"

Zhu Biao suddenly understood and nodded, saying, "I understand."

In my heart, I admire Zhu Yuanzhang's wisdom even more.

He then recalled Liu Kuan's information about the later Ming emperors and said, "According to my brother-in-law, our Ming Dynasty had a total of sixteen emperors. After my father, Emperor Yunwen ascended the throne, and the reign was named Jianwen."

"Then my fourth brother, Jing Nan, seized the throne, and his reign was named Yongle. After that, his son and grandson successively ascended the throne, with the reigns named Hongxi and Xuande respectively."

"Then it seems to be the Bao Zong that my brother-in-law mentioned... This one sounds like he's probably an unreliable and incompetent ruler, but I don't know what his reign title is."

"After about four emperors, it was Zhengde. Zhengde had no children, so Jiajing ascended the throne as a minor prince. After him came Longqing, Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi, and Chongzhen."

"Father, is there anything I've missed?"

Although Zhu Yuanzhang still remembered what Liu Kuan had said, he hadn't reviewed it. Upon hearing this, he said, "How do we know if there are any omissions? Go back and review it. If you find anything wrong, go and ask Liu Kuan."

Zhu Biao smiled, "I understand."

···
In later generations, newlyweds who have the means will choose to go to a tourist destination for their honeymoon.

In fact, in ancient times, after a couple got married, there would be a period of time when the elders would create conditions for the two to stay together as much as possible.

It is not for the newlyweds to have a honeymoon, but to hope that the bride will get pregnant as soon as possible to carry on the family line.

Liu Kuan wanted to take Zhu Huilan to a beautiful place in the Ming Dynasty for their honeymoon, but he knew that it was unlikely at this stage.

As for letting Zhu Huilan get pregnant, he had no such idea for the time being - according to his plan, it would take at least another three or four years for Zhu Huilan to become pregnant and give birth safely.

It is too dangerous to let Zhu Huilan get pregnant now.

So, Liu Kuan stayed at the mansion until the fifth day of September, then ended his "marriage leave" and went to work at the Science and Technology Department to handle official business.

After inspecting the power and carriage project teams again, Liu Kuan took his entourage and guards and went straight to the Qinglongshan Coal Mine Project Team in Chunhua Town outside the city.

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　　Thanks to [Empireの白刃] for the reward of 100 Qidian coins!
　　Thanks for the suggestion about Qi's army. This chapter has been patched.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)