Is Emperor Wanli considered a coward? Why is his death actually attributed to Wanli?

Emperor Wanli was not really a foolish emperor. Some even said that he was the last wise emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Faint kings, generally speaking, are ignorant, dissolute and immoral, and have committed many crimes against the country and the people.

Emperor Wanli exempted a large amount of agricultural taxes and provided disaster relief every year. He first ordered the disaster relief funds to be paid out of the inner treasury, then the special war expenses were to be paid out of the inner treasury, and then the money for river repair and water control was also included. If there is a shortage of money from the treasury, even if the military camp has a bad harvest, it will need to be subsidized by the treasury. Obviously he and Hunjun cannot be equated.

The so-called "the death of the Ming Dynasty actually occurred in Wanli" comes from the history of the Qing Dynasty.

The "Manuscript of the History of the Qing Dynasty" depicts the image of Chongzhen as quite great and full of tragic meaning, in order to divert the Han people's hatred towards the Qing Dynasty. But Chongzhen’s image was so glorious and great, so why did the Ming Dynasty still perish? Therefore, the Qing Dynasty had to find a scapegoat for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, so the Wanli Emperor, who had not been in court for more than 20 years, was very suitable to be the culprit for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

In general, although Emperor Wanli did not go to the morning court for 28 years, the Ming Dynasty was not in chaos. Wanli himself also remained the emperor for 48 years. If he was stupid and incompetent, he would probably have been kicked out long ago.

Extended information:

Wanli is the reign name of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun. The Ming Dynasty used this reign name for 48 years, which is the longest reign name used in the Ming Dynasty.

In the first ten years of Ming Shenzong's reign, due to his young age, his mother, Mrs. Li, was in charge of the affairs. The queen mother handed over all military and political affairs to Zhang Juzheng to preside over the ruling, and implemented a series of reform measures such as the whip law. The society The economy continued to develop, foreign military successes were also achieved one after another, and the imperial court showed a resurgence, which was known as the Wanli ZTE in history.

Emperor Wanli did not attend the morning court for 28 years. This is one of the arguments for later generations to say that Wanli was a foolish emperor. But not going to court and not doing anything are two different things. Although Emperor Wanli no longer goes to court, he still controls the entire court.

The best proof of this is that during the period when Wanli was not in power, he achieved three victories, which are known in history as the "Three Great Conquests of Wanli". These three wars refer to the pacification of the Mongolian Bai rebellion in Ningxia, the rebellion of Yang Yinglong, the chieftain of Bozhou, and the anti-Japanese war. Just imagine, without Emperor Wanli's decision and Wanli's strategizing, the three major conquests would not have been successful.

Reference source-Baidu Encyclopedia-Wanli

Reference source-Baidu Encyclopedia-Wanli Three Signs