What are the "Five Don's" of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty?

Wanli

Wanli (1573-1620) is the reign name of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun. The Ming Dynasty used the reign name Wanli for 1***48 years, which is the time it was used in the Ming Dynasty The longest era name. Historian Huang Renyu used the perspective of "big historical perspective" to write "The Fifteen Years of Wanli", a monograph on the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun (1563-1620) was the thirteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The third son of Emperor Mu Zong, Zhu Zaihe, was appointed crown prince in the second year of Longqing (1568). In the sixth year of Longqing (1572), Mu Zong died of illness and Zhu Yijun succeeded to the throne. In the second year, the reign name was changed to Wanli. Zhu Yijun, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was the longest-reigning emperor in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yijun was only 10 years old when he came to the throne. He was assisted by bachelors Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Yi. After Zhang Juzheng took over as the first assistant, with the support of Empress Dowager Li, he carried out political and economic reforms in the first year of Wanli (1573). Politically, we should rectify the administration of officials, implement the examination method, and conduct inspections on officials at all levels as the basis for promotion and removal. Militarily, they reorganized their armaments, strengthened border defenses, selected generals who were good at fighting and leading troops strictly, and adopted a policy of appeasement and good neighborliness towards Mongolia. Economically, to clear the country's land, a whip law was implemented. The basic content was to merge taxes and levies, simplifying the complex; This can be regarded as a major change in our country's tax system and promotes the development of the monetary economy. Zhang Juzheng also managed the Yellow River and achieved good results. These measures have eased social conflicts and gradually restored national power. At that time, the grain reserves in Taicang could be used for 10 years, and the national treasury amounted to more than 4 million yuan. The Zhu Ming Dynasty, which was in a crisis of governance, experienced a short-term recovery and prosperity.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. After Zhang Juzheng's death in the tenth year of Wanli (1582), bureaucrats who opposed the reform attacked and framed Zhang Juzheng one after another. Zhu Yijun issued an edict to seize Zhang Juzheng's title and posthumous title, and also raided the Zhang family. The reforms were abolished, and the imperial court declined day by day. Zhu Yijun was an emperor who enjoyed himself to the fullest. After he became an adult and took charge of the government, he rarely visited the court and lived deep in the inner palace. Not only did he want to enjoy life while he was alive, he also thought about the happiness after death, so he planned his own mausoleum early, and it took 6 years to build Dingling Tomb. He also had a bad habit of collecting money personally by any means necessary. He encouraged officials to pay tribute to him, and used the amount of money donated as a criterion to measure whether the officials were loyal to the emperor. In order to amass people's wealth across the country, he sent a large number of eunuchs to various places to serve as mine supervisors and tax envoys, arbitrarily collecting people's wealth and money. This made people's hearts angry, civil unrest broke out, and society became more turbulent.

There are even more contradictions within the ruling class. Since he ignored government affairs, the ministers' memorials and his edicts were all conveyed by his internal servants. The long delay in appointing a crown prince has led to conflicts among various factions of the bureaucracy, and party disputes have intensified. The incompatible struggle between the Donglin Party members and the evil party lasted for a long time, and the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. In the forty-eighth year of Wanli (1620), Zhu Yijun died at the age of 58 amid internal and external turmoil and wind and rain. Buried in Dingling, his posthumous names were Fan Tianhe, Daozhe, Sudun, Jianguang, Wenwen, Renzhixiaoxian, and his temple name was Shenzong.

Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun was born in 1563. He was the thirteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the longest reigning emperor in the Ming Dynasty. When Muzong of the Ming Dynasty died in 1573, Zhu Yijun, who was only ten years old, succeeded to the throne as the crown prince. This was the Ming Shenzong in history. In 1620, 58-year-old Zhu Yijun died of illness, and the 48-year Wanli era came to an end. Because Ming Shenzong only used the era name "Wanli" during his 48 years of reign, people usually call him the Wanli Emperor.

[Edit this paragraph] Wanli Zhongxing

In the first ten years of Zhu Yijun's reign, due to his young age, his mother, Mrs. Li, took charge of the affairs. The Queen Mother left all military and political affairs to Zhang Juzheng to preside over the decision. , implemented a series of reform measures such as the One Whip Method, which led to great social and economic development, which was the "Wanli Zhongxing".

[Edit this paragraph] Wanli neglected government

However, after Zhang Juzheng's death, in November of the fourteenth year of Wanli (1586), Zhu Yijun began to indulge in wine and sex (some say he was a prostitute). addicted to opium).

Later, he had a dispute with the cabinet for more than ten years over the matter of establishing a prince. In the end, he simply did not leave the palace for thirty years, ignored the government affairs, did not go to the suburbs, temple, court, see, criticize, or speak. In 1589, Zhu Yijun Reappeared, the cabinet had the phenomenon of "people stagnating among officials" and "cao offices were too empty"; so much so that the court officials who joined the central government after the middle period of Zhu Yijun's reign did not know what the emperor looked like. In the forty year of Wanli (1612), various departments in Nanjing According to the Taoist imperial history: "Taiwan province is empty, all affairs have been abolished, and the emperor has been living in Shenzhen for more than twenty years without even receiving an interview with the ministers. The world will be worried about the sinking of the land." The first assistant, Ye Xianggao, said that the emperor could meet with King Fu twice in one day. In November of the 45th year of Wanli (1617), "there were ten shortages of six or seven ministers in the ministry and temple, and the government was empty for several years, and the six subjects were suspended." Four people remain, and five people remain at the end of the thirteenth path." The prisoners were locked up in prison, and some of them had not asked a word for as long as 20 years. They hit themselves with bricks in the prison, and lay in a pool of blood to cry out for injustice. Qian Ruogeng, the prefect of Linjiang, was imprisoned by Zhu Yijun for thirty-seven years and was never released. His son Qian Jingzhong wrote: "In the thirty-seven years of my father's life... all his energy and blood were exhausted... there was pus and blood. Dry dripping, swollen limbs, sores all over the body, and even foot tumors, unable to walk or stand, unable to hear or see, unable to move the hands, unable to walk, and still have a little breath in the throat, which is said to be not dead. Reality and death are the same thing." Prime Minister Li Tingji was ill. He submitted his resignation one hundred and twenty times in a row, but received no news. In the end, he left without resigning. In the 40th year of Wanli (1612), Sun Piyang, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, "paid his respects to Shu and left." In the forty-first year (1613), Zhao Huan, the official minister, also "went to Shu".

In the middle and late Wanli period, people did not go to court for up to 30 years. There were very famous six accurate and six inaccurate rules.

The main reason why Wanli did not go to court was that there was a fierce conflict between the imperial power and the civil service system. The imperial power was suppressed, and Wanli resisted in a negative way. However, Wanli still deserves recognition for two things. First, Emperor Wanli did not kill anyone because his ministers opposed him or even cursed the emperor's concubine, which was quite lenient. Secondly, not going to court does not mean not working. During the Wanli years, Wanli handled all major and minor national affairs. Major ones, such as the three major campaigns of Wanli, especially the Renchen War in the Ming and Sun dynasties, were always carried out under the guidance of Wanli. For example, Matteo Ricci went to Beijing to preach, established churches, made monthly payments, and even made cemeteries smoothly under Wanli's intervention. Western missionaries had great respect and affection for Wanli, and Wanli played a considerable role in the exchange of Eastern and Western civilizations.

Secondly, it is definitely a bad side to send eunuchs to set up mine supervisors and tax supervisors to make money. However, we should analyze it specifically. The emergence of mine supervisors was the result of Wanli’s decree that mining could be opened in the world. The original intention was not to harmonize the people. To fight for profit, the mine supervisor was sent. The eunuch recited the sutra crookedly, causing a mess. This period of bad government lasted about four years. Four years later, Wanli stopped eunuchs from leaving the palace to make money, but the mining ban was lifted. This will undoubtedly promote the development of the budding capitalist economy. In the history of various countries, feudal states have deprived industry and commerce of excessive profits. What the Ming Dynasty did was just to increase the tax rate under a clever name. There was no situation during the Han Dynasty when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered merchants to give half of their property to support the government, which led to "a large-scale destruction of merchants and above." However, Ming Dynasty industrialists and merchants had become quite powerful social forces and could not tolerate such tax increases. Large-scale opposition to the mine supervisors occurred, and civil unrest among tax envoys continued to occur. (See "Confucian Civilization") From the perspective of the growth of new things, appropriate conflicts and contradictions are conducive to their growth and expansion.

There are even more contradictions within the ruling class. Since he ignored government affairs, the ministers' memorials and his edicts were all conveyed by his internal servants. The long delay in appointing a crown prince has led to conflicts among various factions of the bureaucracy, and party disputes have intensified. The incompatible struggle between the Donglin Party members and the evil party lasted for a long time, and the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. In the forty-eighth year of Wanli (1620), Zhu Yijun died at the age of 58 amid internal and external turmoil and wind and rain. Buried in Dingling, his posthumous names were Fan Tianhe, Daozhe, Sudun, Jianguang, Wenwen, Renzhixiaoxian, and his temple name was Shenzong.

[Edit this paragraph] The harm of mining tax

In the twenty-fourth year of Wanli (1596), Ming Shenzong sent eunuchs to serve as mine tax inspectors to plunder merchants and people. If there are mineral seedlings underground, all the houses must be demolished to facilitate the mining. If the mining is not completed in time, nearby businesses will be accused of "mine theft" and must pay all the compensation for "mine theft". Wherever the mine supervisor went, the people were destitute and their wealth was exhausted. They "whipped officials and robbed travelers, and the merchants and people were bitter to the bone." Question" became a major evil policy in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Geng, the first assistant, said sadly: "Today's political power is not controlled by the cabinet, but is transferred to the Secretary of Li." University scholar Shen Li also pointed out in "Please stop the mining tax" that mining taxes "are all assigned to the people by the Secretary to compensate them." also". Tian Dayi, a member of the household department, once criticized him unbearably: "Money, pearls and jade are the lifeblood." From the twenty-fifth year of Wanli (1597) to the thirty-third year of Wanli (1605), the mining tax brought nearly three million taels of silver into the inner treasury. , "half to help float, half to sell jewelry", more property flowed into the eunuch's pockets.

[Edit this paragraph] The Three Great Expeditions of Wanli

Indicates the Battle of Ningxia and the Battle of Bozhou that suppressed the rebellion during the reign of Shenzong Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun (1573-1619) and supported Korea in fighting Japanese aggression The Battle of Korea. All three battles were successful, but the Ming Dynasty also suffered huge losses in manpower and material resources.

The Battle of Ningxia was the suppression of the Kuaibai Rebellion. He was originally from the Mongolian tribe. He was promoted to the Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period and was promoted to the command of the capital through his meritorious service. In the early days of Wanli, he was a guerrilla general. He commanded more than a thousand soldiers and subordinates. He controlled Ningxia and gained many lives. In the 17th year of Wanli's reign, he became official as deputy commander-in-chief, and Zikui inherited the post. In the 19th year, Huo Luochi and other troops invaded the Taohe River and were in danger. He asked himself to lead 3,000 troops to help. When he arrived at Jincheng, he saw that all the soldiers from the towns had come out. On their way back, they took the road outside the fortress, and the soldiers also stayed away. Because of his arrogance and arrogance, he has the heart to despise the outside world. The governor Dang Xinmi suppressed him and accused him of cheating on wages. On February 18, 2001, Yibaiyin gathered his son Cheng'en, adopted son Yiyun, Tu Wenxiu and others to instigate Liu Dongyang, the military leader, to rebel. Killed Dang Xin and deputy envoy Shi Jifang, set fire to the office, collected the seals, and released the prisoners with money. The commander-in-chief Zhang Weizhong was coerced into reporting Dang Xin's "dramatic changes" by deducting pay, and asked for the imperial seal, but Wei Zhong hanged himself. Afterwards, Dongyang claimed to be the commander-in-chief, with Bai as his mastermind, Chengen and Xu Chao as his deputy commander-in-chief, and Tu Wenxiu and Yiyun as his assistant generals. He occupied the town of Ningxia and formed an alliance by punishing the animals. Troops were sent to attack Zhongwei, Guangwu, Yuquanying, Lingzhou (now Lingwu, Ningxia) and other cities, but Pinglu could not hold on. The rebels also used the Xuhua Machi area as a bait, and got the help of the Mongolian leader Jilitu and others from the Tao tribe. Their power became stronger and stronger, and the whole Shaanxi was shocked. On March 4, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Li Yu asked Governor-General Wei Xuezeng to take charge of the commander-in-chief's troops to suppress the army. However, the rebels relied on the support of Mongolia and were very strong. After that, the Ming Dynasty specially dispatched Deputy Magui to rush for reinforcements. Gui led the Cangtou Army to block the Mongols from Tao while attacking the city, and gained a lot. In April, Li Rusong was transferred as the commander-in-chief of the Ningxia army. Mei Guozhen, the censor of Zhejiang Province, supervised the army, and unified the Liaodong, Xuan, Da, Shanxi, Zhejiang and Miao soldiers to carry out encirclement and suppression. In July, Ma Gui and others destroyed the Taobu camp, chased them to Helan Mountain, and drove them all out of the fortress. Reinforcements from all walks of life, under the command of Ye Mengxiong, who was the governor of Daixue, surrounded the city of Ningxia and flooded the city. The rebels lost foreign aid and ran out of ammunition and food in the city. At the same time, internal fighting broke out. On September 16, Liu Dongyang killed Tu Wenxiu, Cheng'en killed Xu Chao, and later Zhou Guozhu killed Liu Dongyang. The morale of the army is weakened. After Li Rusong conquered the city, he surrounded Kuaibai's family and committed suicide by closing his door. Cheng'en and others were captured. At this point, the rebellion in Kuaibai had subsided.

Battle of Bozhou Bozhou is located between Sichuan, Guizhou and Hubei, with dangerous mountains and rivers and a vast territory of thousands of miles. Since Yang Duan of the Tang Dynasty, the Yang family has ruled here for generations and accepted appointments from the Central Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, Yang Keng attached himself to the throne and was appointed as the envoy of Bozhou Xuanwei in the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of Wanli, he was the envoy of Xuanwei in Bozhou. He was arrogant and domineering and committed many evil deeds. In the seventeenth year of Wanli, he openly caused rebellion. The Ming court was hesitant about Yang Yinglong's rebellion and took no effective countermeasures. Therefore, Yinglong himself pretended to the Ming Dynasty that someone would provide money to atone for his crimes, and at the same time he led Miao soldiers to attack dozens of forts and towns in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Huguang, searching for the residents, raping, and plundering. In the 26th year, Sichuan Governor Tan Xisi fortified Qijiang and Hejiang (now east of Luzhou, Sichuan). The following year, Yang Guozhu, the governor of Guizhou Province in Jiangdong, led an army of three thousand to suppress the army. However, he failed and Yang Guozhu was killed. The Ming Dynasty dismissed Jiangdong and replaced him with Guo Zizhang. Li Hualong, the censor of the former capital and the minister of the Ministry of War, was also appointed to control the military affairs in Sichuan, Hu and Guizhou provinces, and to mobilize Liu Wei, Ma Gui, Chen Lin, Dong Yiyuan and others for the southern expedition. In the twenty-eighth year, there was a large-scale recruitment. In February, under the command of Governor Li Hualong, the Ming army divided into eight groups and marched, with about 30,000 people in each group. Liu Wei marched into Qijiang and defeated Nanmu Mountain, Yangjiantai and Sandong natural barriers. He also defeated the Miao army commanded by Chaodong, the son of Yinglong. The heroine Qin Liangyu and her husband Ma Qiancheng also led troops to capture Jinzhu and other seven villages, and together with Youyang and other chieftain troops, they captured Sangmuguan and ranked first in the battle of Nanchuan Road. Several other Ming armies also achieved victory. At the end of March, Liu Wei captured Loushanguan. In April, Yang Yinglong led the seedlings to fight to the death and was defeated again. He advanced to occupy the dangerous areas of Longzhao and Haiyun, where Yang Yinglong relied, and reached Hailongdun (now northwest of Zunyi), where he encircled the area with other route armies. In June, Liu Wei defeated Dacheng again. Yinglong knew that the situation was over, so he and his second concubine hanged themselves. Zi Chaodong and others were arrested. The Ming army entered the city and Bozhou was pacified.

Later, it was divided into two prefectures: Zunyi and Pingyue, which belonged to Sichuan and Guizhou respectively.

The Battle of Korea was the battle to aid Korea and drive out the Japanese. In the 20th year of Wanli, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who held power in Japan, ordered Kato Kiyomasa and Konishi Yukinagawa to lead troops from Tsushima to capture Busan, North Korea, and then cross the Imjin River to attack Wangjing (today's Seoul). King Li Ho of North Korea indulged in wine and debauchery and relaxed his military preparedness, and his army collapsed at the wind. Li Huo fled to Pyongyang and later to Uiju (now northeast of Sinuiju). After the Japanese army occupied Wangjing, they destroyed tombs, robbed princes and ministers, and looted the treasury. They also invaded Kaesong and Pyongyang. Almost all of North Korea's Eight Routes fell. Under this situation, the Ming Dynasty responded to North Korea's request and sent troops to assist North Korea. However, the reinforcements were weak due to the small number of troops and unfamiliar geography. The guerrilla Shi Ru died in the battle, and the deputy commander-in-chief Zu Chengxun only escaped with his life. After the Ming Dynasty heard of the defeat, it appointed Song Yingchang as the manager and Li Rusong as the admiral of the Eastern Expedition, and gathered 40,000 troops to go to the court. In the first month of the following year, he attacked Pyongyang, defeated Konishi Yukinaga's troops, and won a great victory in Pyongyang. After that, he reopened the city and turned the tide of the war. Later, they advanced towards Wang Jing, but they were ambushed at Biti Pavilion, thirty miles away from Wang Jing, because they underestimated the enemy and suffered heavy losses. In March, Liu Wei and Chen Lin led their troops to the DPRK. The Ming army strangled Linjin, Baoshan and other places, and cut off the Japanese army's food routes. The Japanese army was short of food and had to abandon Wangjing and retreat to Busan and other places to start negotiations with the Ming army. Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty, advocated for peace talks. However, the negotiations broke down due to Japan's unreasonable demands such as using the Taedong River as the boundary. In the 25th year, the Japanese army launched another attack. Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun, went to Shixing and was imprisoned. He appointed Xing Jie as the governor of Jiliao and Ma Gui as the general to prepare for the Japanese. He transferred troops from Jiliao, Xuanfu, Datong, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Fujian, and Wusong sent sailors to aid the DPRK, and also recruited soldiers from Sichuan and Han Dynasties to help. In February of the following year, the Ming army was divided into four routes: Li Rumei in the middle, Magui in the east, Liu Wei in the west, and Chen Lin in the water. They advanced towards Busan in separate routes. Chen Lin worked closely with the North Korean navy general Yi Sunchen to defeat them at sea. The most elite unit of the enemy was Konishi Yukinacho. In August, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died and the Japanese troops withdrew. The Chinese and North Korean coalition forces took advantage of the situation and attacked, and the Japanese army was defeated. However, Yi Sunchen and Ming Army veteran Deng Zilong also died in the sea battle with the Japanese army. In November, the war was basically over.

Although the three battles were successful, the Ming Dynasty also suffered huge losses in manpower and material resources. Historical records: "In the past twenty years, Ningxia has spent more than 2 million yuan on troops. In the winter, North Korea has spent more than 7 million yuan on troops in the first and last eight years. In the twenty-seventh year, Bozhou has spent another 2 million yuan on troops. Three million. Three major conquests followed one after another, and the country was in short supply." After these three battles, the vitality of the Ming Dynasty was severely damaged, which became one of the important reasons for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

[Edit this paragraph] Jurchen Hori

At this time, the rise of Nurhaci, a Jurchen tribe in the Northeast, became a hidden danger to the Ming Empire in the future.

In 1619, Commander Yang Hao of the Liaodong Military Region launched a four-pronged attack on Houjin and was defeated in Saarhu. More than 40,000 people died. Kaiyuan and Tieling fell, and Beijing was shocked. Zhu Yijun used Xiong Tingbi to guard Liaodong and stationed troops to build cities, which turned the situation in Liaodong around. However, Zhu Yijun's thirty-year "decapitation politics", including "voting and drafting" and "Zhu's batch", have completely stopped. Even though military technology is ahead of the times and agricultural technology is obviously better than that of the previous dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's administration has been paralyzed for many years.

Zhu Yijun died in the second year of the Battle of Sarhu (1620) and was buried in Dingling. "Emperor Tombs of the Ming Dynasty" mentioned: Wanli's Dingling Mausoleum was excavated in 1958, and the bones of the Wanli Emperor were restored. "The upper part of his body shape was a hunchback during his lifetime."

[Edit this paragraph] Important Events

Sweet potatoes were introduced to China.

In the sixth year of Wanli period - Li Shizhen wrote "Compendium of Materia Medica".

In the twelfth year of Wanli - Matteo Ricci drew the first Chinese world map, "The Map of Mountains and Seas".

In the twelfth year of Wanli - Zhu Zai published "Lü Lu Jingyi".

In the twelfth year of Wanli - the construction of Dingling began.

In the 29th year of Wanli - Matteo Ricci introduced oil painting to China.

In the 29th year of Wanli - Yang Jizhou wrote "Acupuncture Dacheng".

July 13, the thirty-third year of Wanli—a 7.5-magnitude earthquake occurred in Qiongzhou, Hainan.

Thirty-sixth year of Wanli - Catholicism was introduced to Shanghai.

Born

In the sixth year of Wanli - Shen Defu, a writer

In the twelfth year of Wanli - Hu Zhengyan, an engraver

January of the thirty-ninth year of Wanli—Zhu Youjian, Ming Sizong

Passed away

Twenty-second year of Wanli—Liang Chenyu, playwright

< p> Thirty-three years of Wanli - Tian Yi, eunuch

[Edit this paragraph] Evaluation

"History of the Ming Dynasty: The Annals of Shenzong": "The theory is that the Ming Dynasty was actually destroyed. Yu Shenzong. "Zhao Yi's "Twenty-two Historical Notes: The Harm of Mining Tax in Wanli": "The commentator said that the Ming Dynasty died not in Chongzhen but in Wanli." Qianlong, Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty, wrote in "The Monument of Divine Merit and Virtue in Changling of the Ming Dynasty". Zhongze said: "The Ming Dynasty died not because of the bandits, but because of the absurdity of Shenzong and the tyranny of the eunuchs during the Apocalypse. The ministers were interested in salary, position and money, and the officials were dedicated to flattery. When Sizong came to the throne, although the eunuchs were punished, However, the power of the world is like a river that cannot be re-blocked, and a dead fish cannot be recovered. However, people are too cautious and want to avoid it. The common people are suffering without complaining, so they gather together and take advantage of the thieves. And the Mingshe Suiwu. Wow! Who knows what to fear?"

Huang Renyu linked the Wanli Emperor's neglect to the civil servants in his book "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli" Confrontation in the concept of "controversy over the establishment of the reserve". Negligence was a kind of revenge by Emperor Wanli on the civil servant group. Huang Renyu said: "No one can give an exact answer when the great change happened to him (the Wanli Emperor). But tracing back to the occurrence of the succession issue and the emergence of a series of problems that made the emperor feel very unhappy, then Dinghai in 1587, the fifteenth year of Wanli, can be used as a boundary. On the surface, there was no major turmoil in this year, but it was particularly important to the history of this dynasty. "

But if you stand. From a psychological perspective, Zhu Yijun's indolence can also be understood as a clinical manifestation of learned helplessness or depression.

At the end of the article "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli", it is concluded that "1587 is the 15th year of Wanli, the year of Dinghai. On the surface, it seems that the world is at peace and there is nothing to remember. In fact, our Ming Empire has... It has reached the end of its development. At this time, the emperor's efforts to govern or Yan'an's indulgence, the chief minister's dictatorship or conciliation, the senior generals' creativeness or their habit of being contentious, the civil servants' honesty or corruption, and the extremes of thinkers. The final result of progress or absolute conservatism is that there is no distinction between good and evil, and no meaningful development can be achieved in fact. Therefore, our story has to end tragically here. The yearbook of Wanli Dinghai is for history. A total record of failure.”

Compared with the Great Fool King, there are many more fools than him, but he is really not a wise king.