Extreme Climate of Ming Dynasty: How did the Ming Empire come to the beginning of doomsday under the storm?

In the process of studying history, whenever we interpret the decline and fall of a dynasty, political, economic and other social factors are often listed as the main concerns. However, by understanding many dynasties in history, we will also find a problem that when many dynasties finally went to extinction, economy and politics were not the root of their extinction, but the emergence of natural disasters was the key to their extinction.

For example, the Ming Dynasty, the penultimate dynasty in the history of China, went to the road of extinction because of the appearance of the Little Ice Age. So what kind of influence will a dynasty be affected after natural disasters?

The appearance of extreme weather in Ming dynasty

At the end of the Ming dynasty, extreme weather conditions appeared in society at that time. There were frequent droughts and floods in summer. For the feudal society of China, which was dominated by small-scale peasant economy, such drought and flood disasters also made farmers lose their source of livelihood. At this time, there was a huge contradiction between the population and the national grain reserve. However, the disaster did not stop there. When winter comes, the whole country is covered with cold, and even the southernmost provinces such as Fujian and Guangdong have been hit by snowstorms.

In the history of Ming dynasty? There is such a record in the five elements:

Strong winds and fog, shaking houses, blowing sand, can't be seen at hand. ?

It can be seen that in the society at that time, the emergence of natural disasters had a great impact on the whole country.

Different from modern society, due to the low level of social productivity in ancient China, people's resilience was naturally not very strong at that time. At this time, with the reduction of grain production, the population of various places began to drop sharply. In this case, more and more victims, in the process of exile, the plague also broke out, so that the country's demise had a fuse.

The influence of extreme weather on the development of the whole society

In fact, for the general dynasty, the occasional drought and flood disaster will not lead to the destruction of the whole country. However, under the influence of extreme climate, people suffered from drought and flood disasters for a long time in the late Ming Dynasty. As a result, the country's grain reserves can no longer support people's lives. At this time there was a scene of starvation.

According to the records in Preparing for the Great Famine, we can see that in the society at that time, people also came up with many ways to survive.

Among them? In September, people compete for grass. It tastes bitter and astringent. Eating it can only prolong life. Peel the bark and eat it with other barks, which can be delayed slightly. ?

Thus, at the beginning of the disaster, wild plants in the mountains became the key to people's lives.

However, with the continuous occurrence of disasters, the once abundant weed resources are slowly exhausted. At this time, many people began to shift the goal of eating to their companions. There is such a record in "Reading the World":

Cooking human bones is paid, cooking human flesh is eating, and everyone I used to know is eating. ?

From this passage, we can feel that the people in the late Ming Dynasty did whatever it took to survive.

However, through the study of biological knowledge in modern society, we will find that cannibalism will lead to some inevitable plagues in society. At this time, in addition to droughts, floods and extremely cold weather, a large-scale plague broke out in the Ming Dynasty. At this time, due to the limited social medical conditions, many people died before receiving medical treatment. According to statistics, in Ming society, about 5 million people died of plague, which was not a small number for the society at that time.

Under the pressure of extreme weather, the Ming Dynasty finally came to an end.

After the appearance of extreme weather, the production base of Ming society and the economic strength of the country were greatly destroyed. At this time, many people who survived the natural disaster began to change their original ideas. For them, only living is the only goal in life.

Therefore, these people have become social unrest factors, and no matter what policies the state introduces to restrict them, it will be of no help. In many historical materials, it can be found that there were many uprising wars in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In fact, the source of these rebels is those lucky enough to survive the disaster.

In fact, if at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rulers could sympathize with the people's sufferings and solve the people's survival problems in time, then perhaps many insurgents would not openly confront the government, but at that time, in order to protect the security of the capital, the rulers also shared more tax pressure on farmers, so that people who had no hope of life naturally began to express their dissatisfaction with the government. At this time, the uprising appeared only to give yourself a chance to survive.

At the same time, with the turmoil in the Central Plains, peace in the border areas has also been threatened. At that time, ethnic minorities active in the northeast began to rise, and the rule in the central region had long lost its stable support. Therefore, under the social situation of internal troubles and foreign invasion, the rule of the Ming Dynasty finally came to an end.

Although the ultimate demise of the Ming Dynasty is closely related to the fatuity of the rulers, in fact, if it were not for the appearance of extreme weather, perhaps the rule of the Ming Dynasty would not quickly withdraw from the historical stage in a short time. For Emperor Chongzhen, if he can fully sympathize with the people and appease the frontier in extreme weather, perhaps the whole Ming Dynasty can successfully survive this terrible natural disaster.

Conclusion:

In fact, in the process of studying history, we can never ignore climate change. After all, the whole human race is dependent on nature. If great changes have taken place in the natural environment, it will be a great blow to the development of the whole mankind.

By analyzing the history of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, we will find that the situation of human beings is very passive when encountering extreme climate. The demise of the Ming Dynasty can also make us realize that in the future development process, we should pay attention to the care of nature under any circumstances, no matter how the level of human productivity is improved, if there is no suitable climate, then the development of human society is just empty talk. Only by living in harmony with nature can we have a longer-term future.