The mystery of vassal reduction

 

The mystery of vassal reduction

 

Burmese horse dealer Fang Shidi chatted with Agudengba and coachman Azhuo about Wu Sangui's rebellion against the Ming Dynasty and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Fang Shidi said: When Wu Sangui went south to become king, I was Wu Sangui's horse officer.

Fang Shidi said:

After the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, the Nanming regime continued to hold high the banner of anti-Qing. Emperor Longwu of the Southern Ming Dynasty was captured and died, and King Zhu Youlang of Gui claimed to be the supervisor of the country. Soon, Emperor Longwu's younger brother, King Zhu Yu of the Tang Dynasty, succeeded to the throne in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The following year was the first year of Shaowu, and he was named "Emperor Shaowu". A few days later, King Zhu Youlang of Gui also ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in Zhaoqing, Guangdong. His reign name was Yongli, and he was called "Emperor Yongli". The two emperors Shaowu and Yongli fought for legitimacy and immediately went to war. As a result, Yongli's army was defeated. The following year, the Qing army captured Guangzhou, Emperor Shaowu was defeated and martyred, and Emperor Yongli became the sole ruler of the Southern Ming Dynasty.

After the Qing army captured Kunming, Emperor Yongli went into exile in the Toungoo Dynasty of Myanmar. The Taungoo Dynasty was a powerful feudal dynasty in Myanmar's history. The dynasty was founded in Taungoo in 1531, hence the name. Taungoo was an important regional center in ancient Myanmar and was the center of the Ming Dynasty from the Yunnan Chief Envoys and the Cochin Chief Envoys to all Myanmar departments.

In 1659, Wu Sangui, who had surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, guarded Yunnan. Subsequently, Wu Sangui led his army to invade Myanmar. After the Burmese king Mangbai received the news that the Qing army had entered Burma, he dedicated Emperor Yongli to Wu Sangui. Emperor Yongli, his father and son, and 25 of their family members were strangled to death by bowstrings at Giezipo in Kunming at the age of 40. The place where he died was later renamed Biseipo. The Ming Dynasty imperial line was completely destroyed.

Because Wu Sangui defeated the short-lived Nanming dynasty, he was later named General Pingxi by Emperor Kangxi and was canonized as prince. Wu Sangui, King Geng Jingzhong of Jingnan, and Shang Kexi, King of Pingnan, were known as the "Three Feuds".

Previously, in order to facilitate the war with Nanming, the Qing government handed over full military and political power in Yunnan to Wu Sangui. Emperor Shunzhi once issued an edict: "...Order Wu Sangui, the king of the West, to move to Yunnan. Now I think that the vassal is loyal and diligent. It is well-trained and capable. It is qualified for this job. When the place is initially determined, all civil and military officials of the province Whether the virtuous are good or not, screening and impeachment. All matters related to the welfare of the people, the rise and fall of the revolution, as well as the money and food for the army, are all temporarily reported to the general manager of the vassal for implementation. There must be no constraints from the internal and external yamen. The responsibilities of the common people are exclusive. The power of affairs is unified..."

Wu Sangui gradually used this privilege to expand his power. He hereby ordered all ministries to appoint their favorite officials as officials. All ministries were afraid of his power. Even if they had previously selected and appointed officials, they still changed them according to their wishes. Therefore, it was sometimes called the "Western Selection".

San Francisco imitated the Eight Banners military system and had relatively strong military strength. Because Wu Sangui had been fighting against the chieftains of Nanming, Burma, and Yunnan and Guizhou for many years, he gathered elite soldiers and generals under his command, and his actual military strength far exceeded the establishment prescribed by the imperial court. Wu Sangui set up Pingxi Palace in the old palace of Emperor Yongli on Wuhua Mountain, and took the former Ming Mu Palace Manor as his own. He also opened the mountain to mint money privately.

Fang Shidi said: I served as a horse officer under Wu Sangui and participated in the Mongolian trade to purchase military horses. At that time, Wu Sangui seemed to have the posture of an independent kingdom, and the three vassals gradually became invincible. In the twelfth year of Kangxi's reign, Emperor Kangxi made a decision, that is, he decided to abolish three vassal kings with different surnames headed by Pingxi King Wu Sangui who guarded Yunnan, that is, to "remove the vassal". This triggered the "San Francisco Rebellion".

Chinese history is actually the history of the continuous changes of feudal dynasties, and the implementation of feudal autocracy is the dictatorship of kings. To understand feudal autocracy, feudalism, and feudal thought, we must first understand the meaning of "feudal".

What kind of national system was China before the Qin and Han Dynasties? The concept of "China" at that time was not the same concept as the "China" we talk about now. What was China that people were talking about at that time? It is the central country, which is the country located in the geographical center. There are many other countries outside the central country. The area we are now in China was called "Tianxia" at that time. In other words, people at that time believed that, There is only such a big area in the world, and there are only so many people. The "world" needs a leader. This leader is the son of Heaven, called "Son of Heaven". This is a concept.

Then in the "tianxia" there are many countries, some of the same ethnic group, and some of different ethnic groups. The "heaven" in the middle, the place in the middle, is called "China", and the ethnic minorities farthest around are to the east. They are called "Yi", those in the south are called "Man", those in the west are called "Rong", and those in the north are called "Di". There are also some Chinese countries, many countries, what are they called? They are called "states", and each "state" has its own head of state, who is called a "prince".

So what is the relationship between the emperor and the princes? That was the situation before Qin, which should be called the Alliance of Nations. They jointly supported the emperor, who was the leader of the Alliance of Nations. At that time, it was called the "Co-Master of the World". However, it must be understood that this "Co-Master of the World" was only in name. Although In the Zhou Dynasty, a concept was put forward, which is called "Everything in the world is the king's land; on the shore of the land, is it the king's ministers". But be clear, this "could it be" is nominal. As for the emperor, he is nominally the so-called "son of heaven". He owns the land granted to him by heaven, and then he enfeoffs the land. This is called "feudalism".

What does sealing mean?

"Sealing" means demarcating territory. The method of sealing is to have a border between countries. The emperor of Zhou sent people to plow a ditch there, turned up the soil in the ditch, and then planted trees on the soil. This It's called "Feng", and this area is given to you.

Build, what does it mean?

"Jian" means appointing a king, who not only seals a piece of land for you, but also assigns you a head of state. This is called "Jian". The combination of "Feng" and "Jian" is called "Feudal".

This "feudalism" can be feudal again. The emperor created a feudal vassal state. What would the vassals do after they obtained this territory? If he becomes feudal, he will divide his land again. To whom will it be divided? If it is allocated to the doctor, then what is the name of the place owned by the doctor? It's called "home".

So at this time, there were three levels of institutions, namely the world, the country, and the family. The country and the family were separated. This system was called feudalism. One world, many countries; one emperor, many kings. This is the feudal system with the most Chinese characteristics.

Fang Shidi continued:

When Qin Shihuang annexed the six kingdoms and unified the world, he abolished the feudal system and replaced it with the system of prefectures and counties. What is the system of prefectures and counties? Even the former states of the princes have now been changed to "counties", and the original "homes" of the officials have been changed to "counties". The counties govern the counties, and both counties and counties are directly under the central government and are no longer divided into feudal states, that is, they are one A government, a sovereignty, a leader, a country. This is a major historical change. So Qin Shihuang implemented this system for about ten years.

After the death of Qin Shihuang, this dynasty actually perished and was replaced by the Han Dynasty. So after the Han Dynasty destroyed Qin, will the original feudal system of the Zhou Dynasty be implemented? Or should we implement the prefecture and county system of the Qin Dynasty? This was a struggle between two lines. In the end, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, adopted a compromise, a middle line, which was to implement the system of prefectures and counties around the central government, the Gyeonggi area, and the area around the capital, which was the Qin system. In remote areas, the enfeoffment system of the Zhou Dynasty was implemented, and some kingdoms were still enfeoffed. That is one dynasty and two systems. We might as well call it "one dynasty, two systems", which is what most history books call the "parallel system of counties and states."

So these countries that were enfeoffed around the capital were called vassal states. Why were they called vassal states? What is a domain? Fan is a fence. Fan fence means that you are like a fence, surrounding and protecting the center. Therefore, these princes are called "vassal kings". When they return to their own kingdoms, they are called "returning to the vassal", which is also called "the country". , but what we need to understand is that these enfeoffed kingdoms are independent, have sovereignty, and have financial resources.

The vassal state in the Western Han Dynasty was an independent kingdom with independent sovereignty, its own finances, taxes, army, territory, and government. For such a thing, you say it is outside the central government. It is not reliable to be able to defend the central government, so we must suppress it. The way to suppress it is to reduce its territory. Don't make it so big. Cut it a little today, cut it a little more tomorrow, and cut it a little bit more the day after tomorrow. Cutting it into small pieces is called "cutting the fan".

Will the vassal kings be willing to "cut down the vassal vassal"? There is only one answer to this question: unwilling, because this is their vested interest. You said that a prince has so many vested interests, and who is willing to offer it to others is a fish or a bone in the mouth of a cat or a dog. You can't take it away. A prince or a king has vested interests. If you take it, you can take it away. It would be weird if you don't rebel.

There have been many rebellions in Chinese history:

First, Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty cut down vassal vassals, triggering the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion. In just three months, the rebellious seven kingdoms were eliminated. After the Seven Kingdoms Rebellion was quelled, the authority of the central government over the localities was established.

Second, the Tang Dynasty's Daizong, Dezong, Xianzong, and Mu Zong dynasties successively cut down the vassal vassal. They succeeded first and then failed, which exposed the shortcomings of the Jiedushi system. The Tang Dynasty was also destroyed by the vassal town, which provided a lesson for the Song Dynasty.

Third, Emperor Jianwen of the Ming Dynasty cut down the vassal vassals, which triggered the Jingnan War. After Zhu Di (i.e. Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty) seized the throne, he cut down the vassal vassals again.

Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty went a step further than reducing the vassal state. The withdrawal of the vassal state meant that the central government took back the administrative and military power of the fiefdom. It was a means to implement dictatorship and consolidate its ruling position.

Because of the strong power of San Francisco, he became the local emperor and was feared by the Qing court. He was regarded as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh. In the twelfth year of Kangxi's reign, Emperor Kangxi made a decision, that is, he decided to abolish three vassal kings with different surnames, headed by Pingxi King Wu Sangui who guarded Yunnan. Will three feudal kings with different surnames be captured without hesitation?

Emperor Kangxi ordered the withdrawal of the feudal vassal, and Wu Sangui felt great pressure and panicked. Wu Sangui, who had no choice but to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, rebelled when the imperial court withdrew the vassal state. Immediately, Wu Sangui claimed to be the "President's Grand Marshal of the World on Land and Water" and the General of the Xingming Conqueror. As a result, the rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming Dynasty triggered the San Francisco Rebellion.

Emperor Kangxi cut down the vassals and it took eight years to pacify the three vassals. This enabled the central government to establish vertical and effective local management.

Fang Shidi sang a folk song "What is Home and Country":

 

I love my home,

I love my country,

what is home,

What is a country?

How many people can know?

 

In ancient times, China was famous all over the world.

It’s a small place in the world,

Located in the center of the area,

The east side and the south side are called barbarians.

The west side and the north side are called Rongdi.

There are many countries in the world,

The heads of state are called princes.

The emperor of Zhou is the common ruler of the world.

The emperor granted lands to the princes,

Send someone to plow a ditch,

Plant trees on the ditch soil,

To seal a land is to establish a territory.

The founding of the country appointed a new king,

Put them together one by one,

This system is called feudalism.

Feudalism can be feudal again,

The emperor established feudal vassal states,

No matter how divided the land of the princes is,

A doctor's fiefdom is called home.

One world has many countries,

What is the feeling of family and country?

Loyalty to the emperor will lead to a fiefdom.

Qin Shihuang unified the world,

The enfeoffment system was abolished,

The county system is implemented throughout the country.

All the countries were changed into counties.

The doctor's house was changed to a county,

The prefectures and counties obeyed the orders of Qin Shihuang,

One country has one king.

Changes occurred after the Han Dynasty destroyed the Qin Dynasty.

Gyeonggi implements the county system.

Enfeoffment in remote areas,

A parallel system of prefectures and states was established in one dynasty.

The vassal states were entrusted outside the capital.

Like a fence around the center,

The princes were thus called vassal kings.

The power of the vassal state is extremely difficult to suppress;

The reduction of feudal vassals has led to constant chaos.

The central and local governments are in a dilemma;

Only relying on autocracy to stabilize the country.

 

I love my home,

I love my country,

Whose home is home?

Whose country is it?

How many people can read it?