in2ebook Chapter 35 The First Chenghua Plowing Court
Chapter 35 The First Chenghua Plowing Court
Lin Ke: "However, natural disasters wait for no one. Before long, many more refugees poured into the Jingxiang mountain area."
At this time, Zhou Hongmo, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, wrote an article entitled "On Refugees," which roughly means to emulate the Eastern Jin Dynasty's practice of establishing temporary settlements in counties and prefectures, assigning officials to be in charge, and allowing refugees to settle in these areas.
"This method received the support of the Chenghua Emperor, who dispatched Yuan Jie to the Jingxiang region in the twelfth year of his reign to pacify the displaced people."
"This group of refugees was lucky; they encountered a responsible official."
"After arriving at Jingxiang Mountain, Yuan Jie first surveyed the terrain and valleys, then investigated the local conditions, and settled the refugees in the newly established Yunyang Prefecture."
"It's time to make a choice again. Those who are willing to register their household registration will work for the grain, and those who are not willing to register their household registration will go back to their hometown. But many people have chosen to register their household registration. After all, they have already run away, which means that life in their hometown has reached a point where they can no longer survive."
“Yuan Jie vigorously developed Yunyang Prefecture and worked with the soldiers and civilians to reclaim fertile land. In just one year, more than 14,300 hectares of land had been reclaimed in Yunyang Prefecture. From then on, the problem of displaced people never caused riots again.”
"Later generations have judged the refugees of Jingzhou and Xiangyang. Xiang Zhong's pacification was a temporary achievement, while Yuan Jie's strategy brought benefits for generations to come."
"Therefore, drastic measures may not necessarily solve the problem completely; anything too forceful is prone to failure."
Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng & Liu Che (the pig): Why do I feel like I'm being targeted?!
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: Our old Zhu felt the same way!
General Judy (who led the Northern Expedition): Well done! @大明原杰
Da Ming Yuanjie: Your Majesty, I am unworthy of such praise. I have only done what a subject should do.
Xiang Zhong of the Ming Dynasty: You make it sound like I can't do it!
……
Lin Ke held up three fingers and said, "The third problem Zhu Jianru will face is the Jurchens' disloyalty."
"Starting with Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, the administration of the Jurchen tribes began. The Jianzhou Jurchen tribal alliance, centered on the Jianzhou Three Guards, was gradually taking shape until a piece of news broke the stalemate between the Jianzhou Jurchens and the Ming Dynasty."
"We've come to talk about our Great Ming War God again. The news of the Emperor's capture has greatly damaged the image of the Ming Dynasty in the eyes of the Liaodong Jurchens. In addition, the Ming Dynasty's military strength has been greatly reduced at this time, and it has lost control over the northern border and other places."
Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan of the Ming Dynasty (young): This kid's never going to stop!?
"The Jurchens are getting impatient. They used to think you were a king, but now that you've been taken down, how can the Jurchens still submit?"
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" and "Study of Jianyi", the Jianzhou Jurchens not only accepted gifts from Korea, but also repeatedly invaded Liaodong because they were humiliated and oppressed in the horse market.
"They even kidnapped Han people to satisfy their desire for better agricultural technology. Dong Shan of Jianzhou Left Guard was particularly serious about this. But after he did it, he would immediately apologize to the court. This repeated itself was unbearable for anyone!"
"Zhu Jianru then said, 'If you continue like this, I will fight you.' He was prepared for war, but still hoped to send someone to appease you. On the other hand, he sent Zhao Fu to Guangning to hold back his troops for the time being."
"However, Emperor Chenghua's warning was useless. Dong Shan and others outwardly obeyed, so the court arrested Dong Shan and imprisoned him. He didn't expect that he would be arrested! He immediately began to resist, but his fighting strength was not good at all, and he was suppressed on the spot."
Things have come to this point, and it seems there's no way to avoid it anymore.
"Zhu Jianru demanded that Korea send troops, and explained that the purpose of this mission was to destroy their stronghold and exterminate their kind."
"Therefore, in the third year of the Chenghua reign, Zhao Fu was ordered to lead an army of 50,000 men in four routes to join forces with Korea to annihilate the Jianzhou Jurchens."
"The Jianzhou Jurchens could not be considered an army at this time, so they were routed when faced with the overwhelming force of the Ming army. Li Manzhu and his son were killed by the Korean army, and another leader, Dong Shan, was killed after trying to escape after being captured."
"In this battle, the Ming army killed more than a thousand Jianzhou Jurchens, recovered more than a thousand slaves (i.e., Aha), destroyed four or five hundred villages, and swept away cattle, horses, livestock and other animals."
"Because it was a battle that took place in the year of Dinghai, it is also known as the Dinghai Battle. However, since the predecessor of the Qing Dynasty, which later replaced the Ming Dynasty, was the Jianzhou Jurchen, this battle is also known by later generations as the First Chenghua Plowing of the Court."
Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty
Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, never expecting that the Jianzhou Jurchens, whom he had taken lightly, would rise to the point of replacing the Ming Dynasty.
A group of barbaric, uncivilized people—it goes without saying what kind of situation the people of my Great Ming Dynasty would be in.
Once Old Zhu finds their ancestors, he'll wipe them out!
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang felt extremely distressed. "We're in the early days of the dynasty, and time is so scarce we wish we could divide ourselves into several parts to work simultaneously! We still need to recruit people! No, we need to select people through the imperial examinations!!!"
Hmph! As long as it wasn't a foreign race, even if a Han Chinese came to power, I, Old Zhu, would accept it!
Not only during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, but all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty thought of this: what exactly happened in the later period of the Ming Dynasty that led to its replacement by a foreign race?
……