The Ming Dynasty: Starting with Emperor Chongzhen's crackdown on factionalism

Steward Li turned pale with anger and turned to leave with two servants.

The gift box wasn't even delivered, and I was publicly reprimanded. I lost face big time.

The doors on both sides of the alley quietly closed again.

Chen Zhiyuan stood at the gate of the courtyard, watching the three people disappear into the alley before closing the gate and bolting it shut.

Back inside, he sat down in a chair and poured himself a bowl of cold water.

The Shanxi merchants actually dared to come directly to our door to offer bribes, and so blatantly at that.

What does this tell us?

This shows just how arrogant they have become in the capital.

This shows that they didn't take him, a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, seriously at all—or rather, they thought that as long as enough money was given, any official could be bribed.

What surprised Chen Zhiyuan even more was how they found a place to stay so quickly.

It's only been a few days since he started playing the game on the platform.

The Ming Dynasty's imperial court was already riddled with holes.

No matter what secrets or national affairs, once you step out of the Qianqing Palace, everyone who needs to know will know within an hour.

Why was the Yuan Chonghuan case so difficult to investigate?

From the very beginning, all parties received the news, began to make plans, and started attacking each other.

Why is the military intelligence in Liaodong always so inaccurate?

Because the border generals knew that someone in the court would leak information, they simply reported false information or did not report anything at all.

The emperor spent his days reviewing memorials in the deep palace, believing he was in control of everything.

In reality, what he saw was what others wanted him to see.

Chen Zhiyuan remembered something.

During the Tianqi era, when Wei Zhongxian was in power, an imperial censor impeached the eunuch faction. Before the memorial was even sent to the Ministry of Justice, Wei Zhongxian already knew its contents.

As a result, the censor was ambushed in the alley by the Eastern Depot's men as soon as he stepped out of his house and beaten half to death.

The matter was eventually dropped.

This was the political landscape of the Ming Dynasty.

There are no secrets.

Only interests matter.

He recalled what he learned in his history textbook when he was a child—that capitalism had begun to emerge in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty.

Textile workshops in Suzhou and Songjiang employed dozens or even hundreds of workers.

The porcelain workshops in Jingdezhen have a detailed division of labor and produce a huge output.

The banks in Shanxi have already started offering remittance services.

It seems that there is indeed a hint of "budding".

But later the textbook was revised, and this part was deleted.

Why delete it?

Only through in-depth research did we discover that this so-called "budding capitalism" in the Ming Dynasty was fundamentally different from that in Europe.

European merchants, after making money, thought about expanding production, improving technology, and opening up markets.

They formed companies, drafted bylaws, fought for autonomy, and even dared to challenge the king.

The shareholders of the Dutch East India Company were willing to fight Spain for profits.

British merchants dared to challenge the nobility for power in Parliament.

Because they share a consensus: we earn our own money, and we fight for our own power.

But what about the merchants of the Ming Dynasty?

The first thing I did after making money was to buy land.

Why buy land?

Local landlords.

Why become a landlord?

The social hierarchy is: scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants; merchants are considered the lowest class.

No matter how rich you are, you still have to kneel down and kowtow to a seventh-rank county magistrate.

Only by buying land and becoming a landlord could one send their children to school, take the imperial examinations, and become officials.

Only by becoming an official can one change their social status and protect their family property.

Therefore, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty would eventually become landlords, gentry, and part of the bureaucratic system.

They will not challenge this system.

They just want to get into the system and become a part of it.

The Shanxi merchants are a typical example.

When people like Fan Yongdou and Wang Dengku made money, the first thing they did was buy land in Shanxi, build ancestral halls, donate for official titles, establish marriage alliances with officials, and send their children to school.

They are not cultivating capitalists.

It was about cultivating scholar-officials.

It was about elevating his family from the merchant class to the gentry class.

Therefore, they will not fight for the rights of businessmen, nor will they promote the reform of the business system.

They only know how to use money to pave the way, bribe officials, and seek protection.

This "budding capitalism" does not grow into a capitalist tree.

It is a feudalistic vine.

They cling to the powerful and wealthy, leeching off the nation to enrich themselves.

Once the country falls, they'll find a new master to cling to.

After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the eight major Shanxi merchants became the eight major imperial merchants of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Isn't that exactly what happened?

Chen Zhiyuan put down his pen and walked to the window.

Outside the window, it's dusk in Beijing, with wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and the bustling city life underway.

Everything seemed peaceful.

But he knew that beneath this peaceful surface lay a volcano about to erupt.

Land consolidation reached its limit, leading to widespread bankruptcy among self-sufficient farmers.

The handicraft industry was hit hard by the silver crisis, workshops closed down, and artisans lost their jobs.

Businesses are exploited at every level; merchants only want to make quick money, and no one wants to do long-term business.

Meanwhile, the imperial court continued to raise taxes, engage in factional strife, and whitewash the situation.

How many more years can this situation last?

ten years?

Fourteen years.

He returned to his desk and spread out the paper for submitting memorials.

This time, he was going to write a memorial to the throne.

It's about the Shanxi merchants coming to bribe us today.

He should report it proactively.

In the political landscape of the Ming Dynasty, there was an unspoken rule: whoever filed the complaint first had the upper hand.

Regardless of whether you are right or wrong, as long as you submit a memorial first and make the matter known first, you will have the upper hand.

The person who comes second will only sound like they are making excuses no matter what they say.

Therefore, Chen Zhiyuan had to report today's events before the Shanxi merchants could.

Tell Zhu Youjian: The Shanxi merchants came to bribe me, but I firmly refused.

In this way, if someone were to impeach him for "accepting bribes from Shanxi merchants" in the future, this memorial would be the best proof.

By the time he finished writing the memorial, it was already dark.

Chen Zhiyuan lit the oil lamp and checked it again.

After confirming that everything was correct, he sealed the memorial and prepared to send it to the Ministry of Justice first thing the next morning.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youjian was reading Chen Zhiyuan's previous memorial, "On Productive Forces, Relations of Production and Means of Production".

He has already watched it three times.

Every time I watch it, I am deeply moved.

This memorial is quite special.

There were no quotations from classical texts, and no empty talk about principles.

It's about presenting facts, listing numbers, and explaining logic.

From the refugees in Shaanxi to the textile industry in Jiangnan; from the land annexation in Shanxi to the arrears of military pay on the border.

All the examples are verifiable, and all the analyses hit the nail on the head.

What shocked Zhu Youjian the most were the three concepts proposed by Chen Zhiyuan: productive forces, relations of production, and means of production.

He had never heard of these three words before.

But he understood the meaning.

Productivity is the ability to create wealth.

Production relations are the relationships between people in production.

Means of production are the things needed for production.

It's very simple and straightforward.

These three simple concepts perfectly explain the problems of the Ming Dynasty.

Why did bandits emerge in Shaanxi?

Because the land was seized by the feudal lords, the farmers had no land to cultivate, and productivity disappeared.

Why did the textile industry in the Jiangnan region fail to develop?

Because artisans were bound by regulations and the state-run textile bureau monopolized production, the production relations became rigid.

Why is the imperial court always short of money?

Because the money has flowed into the hands of a few people, the distribution of the means of production has become unbalanced.

Zhu Youjian had vaguely sensed these principles before.

But he couldn't explain it clearly.

Now Chen Zhiyuan has made things clear for him.

Moreover, it was stated clearly and irrefutably.

Zhu Youjian put down the memorial, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

He felt a deep sense of powerlessness.