1842.
History of the Ming Dynasty.
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per, and other metals, with silks and precious stones, so that there was no necessity for laying out much silver. At the commence- ment of Hungwu's reign, the precious metals ceased to circulate, and the emperor issued bank-notes to provide for this deficiency. Their value was soon reduced to nothing, and cash were cast, which has continued to this day to be the only coin in the empire.
To protect the sacred person of the emperor a large body-guard was maintained. But like Yishan's army at Canton, the whole host disappeared in the hour of danger, leaving none to defend the mo- narch in the time of need. The Chinese autocrats had standing armies long before the princes of Europe. In some of these hosts, if we are to believe the record, a single division amounted to 230,000 men, but in not a single instance could they be kept together. The pay and provisions soon fell short, and of course every body went home, leaving the officers with a few of their retainers alone in the field. Nor were these regiments able to fight for any length of time; if they gained the victory, they spread themselves to plunder; if they were worsted every man thought only of his own safety. And so it happened that the sons of heaven were usually destitute of an ef fective force, and when soldiers were most wanted, they were least to be had; so that amid a teeming population the emperor was almost defenseless. Yet the army lists were carefully kept, and a de- scription of all the corps stationed along the frontiers is given, who were engaged in the amiable duty of exterminating barbarians. A maritime and river navy existed, and the former was increased, on account of the Japanese war; still it fell far below the present state of the Chinese men of war-which are always invincible, except when they come in contact with an enemy.
The arms of the Chinese were similar to those at present used; it was under the reign of the latter emperors that cannons and match- locks became general. The first attempt at firing the new cast can- non proved fatal to the life of one Portuguese and several Chinese, and those engines of war fell into some disrepute. However one of the Jesuits mended the matter, by giving to each of the guns the name of a saint, and blessing them in regular Chinese style.
We have two volumes upon the kings, and their genealogy. Each of the princes of the blood received a small government in the pro- vinces, where they promulgated their race. As Hungwú had a large number of sons, and each of them received his own rule, their num- ber grew fast, and the historian has retained the lineage of each with a correctness that would put our heralds to the blush. Descend-
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