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In May of the first year of Hongguang (1645), the most ironic thing is that Emperor Hongguang, who had fled in despair to pick up the throne, fled a year later. But in the end, he did not escape the fate of perdition.
The shamelessness of his life and the cowardice and incompetence of his politics led to this inevitable end.
In March and April of the year of Jiashen (1644), Emperor Hongguang was quite embarrassed when he did not ascend the throne, and he was in a constant flight in fright, with tasteless food, restless sleep, and no peace. Lonely and lonely.
But he was famous for his mediocrity and was favored and used by Ma Shiying, and was sent to Yangzhou by Huaishang. came to this prosperous and wealthy place of singing and dancing, and his situation changed abruptly, and he was gifted.
Ma Shiying and his ministers, who had long mastered the psychology of Emperor Hongguang, promptly deployed their henchmen to do what they liked, and showed them food, beautiful women, singing and dancing, and prostitutes to their full enjoyment.
He did not shy away from seeing the sex, and in a short stay, he quickly selected two satisfactory prostitutes among the prostitutes: Chen and Wang.
A few days later, he was embraced to Nanjing, and when he became emperor, Chen and Wang Er were brought into the palace and made nobles. In the face of the two empathetic and infinitely lingering women, Emperor Hongguang is like entering the land of gentleness, and he is overjoyed and full of ambition!
Although the minister repeatedly pointed out that in the sacred inner court of the imperial palace and among the emperor's concubines, it was not a place for prostitutes to gain a foothold, and advised him to retire the two people.
At the same time, ministers, including Ma Shiying, suggested that concubines be selected throughout the country, that is, ladies were selected to enrich the palace. Of course, the selection of ladies is also very much in line with Emperor Hongguang's wishes, and it has been fully rolled out since he succeeded to the throne soon and has repeatedly issued orders to be strictly selected and quickly selected.
But his affection for Chen and Wang is still undiminished. He had no intention of retiring it, and of course his subordinates were helpless.
That's not all, Ruan Dacheng continued to offer female music and courtesans to him. He indulged in wine all day long and neglected the government.
Ruan Dacheng is good at literature and art, familiar with opera, has his own pear garden team, raises courtesans, personally writes operas and operas, and personally directs and conducts. His troupe performed in the palace and was deeply satisfied by the emperor. As a result, Emperor Hongguang only cared about drinking and watching plays, but he actually entered the role, played for fun, and forgot everything.
If there is a major incident in the palace, it is stipulated that the bell should be ringed in the middle of the night to call the police. One night, the palace suddenly sounded the alarm bell, and after the court heard the bell, it thought that the palace had a big accident.
So rushed to the rescue, and almost at the same time, the inner prison opened the palace door, a group of ghost catchers wearing masks numbered 10 people, jumping away, it turned out that Emperor Guang had rehearsed a new play, and was about to stage it, making the palace laugh inside and outside.
A few months after Emperor Hongguang became emperor, he handed over almost all the government affairs to Ma Ying, who liked to drink and covet women.
Seeking pleasure and constantly looking for "spring prescription", eating "** or "room Chinese medicine", Suzhou doctor Zheng Sanshan, every day to Hongguang Emperor into the "spring prescription", "how despying, favored", and Tiangong Road Yuan Benying into the "spring square", Hongguang Emperor because of taking the effect, in addition to joy, actually awarded the Taoist priest as Taichang Temple Shaoqing, and "with a yellow cover double stick", and someone told him that toad crisp can be made "room Chinese medicine", so he sent people to catch a large number of toads, commonly known as **, he thus obtained the nickname of "** Son of Heaven".
From then on, he summoned the ministers to the court just a routine matter of going through the motions, and the important thing for him was to "live in the palace, but to fish young girls, drink fire and wine, and act for fun", and built a palace with a lot of construction, and rewarded his ministers wherever he was happy.
And "the feasts and rewards are not festive", resulting in "the lack of national use".
Due to his indulgence, his body was greatly damaged, and on November 29, 1644, he was weakened to the point of being bedridden by "carelessness".
At that time, the auxiliary ministers hurriedly approached the dormitory to wait, and the eunuchs whispered, "There are fingers, and a long time is to retreat", at this time he was "worshipping the good inner (female color)", and the eunuchs gathered around him became his intimate person.
At that time, there were many rumors that among the eunuchs, Zhang Zhi, who was only nineteen years old, was the most favored by Emperor Hongguang. Zhang took advantage of the situation to make a fortune, and it was very difficult for the ministers to enter and curry favor.
When he occasionally appeared in public, he was even more arrogant and disrespectful, "But when Ma Shiying comes to the door, or leaves a clear tea, Shiying feels very honored." ”
In fact, the most powerful and trusted eunuch of Emperor Hongguang is Tian Cheng, the eunuch of Si Li.
Ministers often relied on him to gain the emperor's favor. And approaching him must take a bribe. As a result, political success or failure depends entirely on bribery, and the government is in a mess.
At that time, there were folk songs such as "the golden knife is not tried to cut, the longbow is wound in the morning, the field is deserved, and the horse is the official", Tian refers to Tian Cheng, and the horse is Ma Shiying. This is a true and vivid portrayal of the Hongguang dynasty.
Emperor Hongguang indulged in self-destruction, almost incorrigible, but he still did not know how to restrain himself. The outspoken and loyal ministers were either expelled from the court, or resigned and returned to China, and the government was completely controlled by Ma Shiying.
However, no matter what the government of the dynasty and the state affairs were, Emperor Hongguang did not ask about anything, even to the point that he did not want to think about it, and on the Chinese New Year's Eve of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), he was "quietly unhappy" and urgently sent various officials to see him.
All the ministers thought that the Qing army was about to go south, and the situation in Jiangbei was tense, so they "frowned on the defeat of the army" and "kowtowed to apologize". He sat there demented, unresponsive.
He was silent for a long time before he said
"I don't have time to worry about this, and those who are worried, none of the children of Liyuan are good. It is intended to select a good family to fill the court, but the ears of the Qing Dynasty are early!”It turned out that he urgently summoned the ministers into the palace, just for this matter, which really made the ministers cry and laugh. One of the ministers said to him in disappointment: "Your Majesty is worried that the enemy is not lenient, or think of the first emperor, how can you mean this!."And all the princes dispersed.
He also hung a couplet in the inner courtyard: "Everything is better than a cup in hand, and a hundred years and the moon are at the head." "Marginal note cloud" Dongge University scholar Wang Duo Feng Edict". This is a true record and portrayal of his mentality. He is politically degenerate, to the point where he is drunk and dreams of death, and he can get by.
Emperor Hongguang didn't take state affairs to heart, which is exactly what the traitors can't ask for.
For this reason, Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng "lured the boys and girls every day" and led him step by step to the abyss.
After entering the first year of Hongguang, the Qing army had begun to move south, and the situation was tense. On the twelfth day of the first month, Emperor Hongguang passed the decree to the treasury, and 53 eunuchs entered the palace to act, "vocal music does not stop", he watched the play and drank at the same time, and after getting drunk, he actually "killed two virgins and girls", it turned out to be a young prostitute in the old courtyard, after this kind of ugly thing happened, the eunuchs "picked up the victim from Bei'anmen, and paid the bustard to bury it".
And "there have been many incidents since then, and the girls in the song have been exhausted for a long time. ”
Under the exhaustive search of Ma and Ruan Zhi, among the six courtyards where prostitutes were concentrated in Nanjing, the "girls" were all killed by Emperor Hongguang. For a time, prostitutes disappeared.
One night in March, someone actually wrote a couplet on Ma Shiying's hall: "There is no way for thieves, and horses are rampant all over the world;The culprit has ears, and he smashed the Central Plains. ”
Ma Shiying was angry and frightened, but "begged for others". It is obvious that the "thief has no door" here scolds Ma Shiying, and the "culprit has ears" scolds Ruan Dacheng, either a thief or a murderer.
The vast number of scholars bitterly hated its rampant and domineering, misleading the country and bullying the king. It's a pity that these Hongguang Emperors are not clear.
He was still kept in the dark.
Since then, the "Monk Great Compassion Case", "Beilai Prince Case", and "Tong Concubine Case" have occurred one after another, which has disappointed Emperor Hongguang. And Zuo Liangyu led his troops to "commit a crime", which surprised him even more. At the request of Ma Shiying, he desperately withdrew the river defense to defend against the left army.
As a result, Jiangbei was empty, the Qing army drove straight in, and Nanjing was in danger.
On 26 April, the situation was quite critical. On this day, after Emperor Hongguang went to court, he listened to the ministers report that Yangzhou had been lost, Shi Kefa was martyred, and the Qing soldiers would soon cross the river. He began to be afraid, and he thought that he had to leave Nanjing as soon as possible and asked his ministers about the plan to move the capital.
Qian Qianyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, strongly objected and thought that it was impossible. The other ministers just looked at each other, unable to come up with a feasible idea. Emperor Hongguang, who had no opinion, saw this scene, so he had no choice but to stop asking and return to the palace with melancholy.
At this time, Emperor Hongguang had no master, and he pondered for a moment, it was really unlucky that he should be so worried about the emperor, and it was better to be at ease when he was wandering. complained about Ma Shiying's "strong emperor" at that time, and regretted becoming the emperor.
At this time, the alarm came again and again. Due to Ma Shiying's obstruction, Emperor Hongguang got only a small part of the news, and on the 27th, the Longtan Post scout flew to the horse and reported: "The enemy weaves a wooden raft and rides the wind down." ”
Another newspaper said: "One cannon in the river, Jingkou City will go to the four stacks." ”
The enemy moved quickly and with heavy fire, which was a serious enemy situation. But in the end, Ma Shiying's nephew-in-law Yang Wencong, the supervisor of Jingkou, ordered the arrows to fly and said: "There are several rafts in the river, suspected to be enemy soldiers, because of the artillery under the city, the fire came from the rear, and the city was half overthrown. Three shots were fired early, and the river raft was shattered. ”
To say that the enemy is strong and we are weak is that the enemy is weak and we are strong, and the facts have been completely reversed. In response to this completely different military report, Ma Shiying's attitude was to order "the two former newspapers will be tied up, and Yang Envoy will be rewarded." Naturally, the alarm is silent".
In this way, Emperor Hongguang, who has been blinded by his ears, is even more ignorant of the true information of the outside world. But he had a premonition that the situation had taken a turn for the worse.
On the 28th, Emperor Hongguang went to court as usual and summoned his ministers. At this time, due to the sinister situation, people were already panicked, and they didn't know what to say, and there was no word up and down.
After the terrible silence lasted for a long time, it was Emperor Hongguang who spoke, and he was almost saying to himself, "Outsiders are all saying that I want to go out."
In fact, "wanting to go out" is his original intention, this is what he said in his heart.
Wang Duo, a scholar, asked the question: "Where did this phrase come from?"Emperor Hongguang would also cover up, and hurriedly pointed to the little eunuch beside him.
Wang Duo said to the little eunuch very seriously: "You can't talk outside. ”
Then Wang Duo talked about the topic of innocence: he wanted to hold a sutra feast and ask for the date of the lecture for the emperor.
Emperor Hongguang's heart was like overgrown grass, and he was very irritable, so he didn't have the heart to listen to the class, so he said: "Let's go through the Dragon Boat Festival." ”
On the 29th, when Emperor Hongguang met with his ministers in the Wuying Palace, some ministers could no longer hold back their indignation at the loss of Yangzhou and the failure of the imperial court to send troops to rescue them in advance.
Yao Yongyan and Qiao Kepin were so angry that they raised their wat and slammed Ma Shiying and said: "Why do you sit back and watch the trouble of the heart?"”
Emperor Hongguang sat there dumbfounded, not saying a word. He was so confused that he didn't know what to say. Just when he was in a daze, the ministers persuaded and calmed down the argument on their own, and then dispersed.
On 1 May, another poster appeared in Nanjing. The couplet posted on the gatepost of Chang'an in the east and west reads: "The blessed people are drunk and do not wake up, and it is all nonsense right away."The shogunate's triumphant song has been suspended, and I still listen to the changes in Ruanzhong. ”
Here the blessed people refer to the Hongguang Emperor, because of his original blessing king, the horse refers to Ma Shiying. The shogunate sentence refers to the military department under the command of Nguyen Dacheng, who has repeatedly passed on false good news.
When the situation is critical, and it is no longer possible to cheat and there is no victory to repay, Nguyen's opera songs and dances are still alive, and there is a couplet: "Fortune is over, only look at Lu before and after;Chongji is completely destroyed, and He Lao is in the east and west. ”
This is clearly the Hongguang regime has collapsed and is about to perish, Lu refers to Lu Jiude, that is, the eunuch of the ceremony. Jie refers to Zhang Jie, the secretary of the ministry, and Li Zhan, the left capital of the imperial history, and Ma Shiying is the same party. The people were full of grievances, which was a harbinger of the imminent collapse of the small court. Helplessly, Emperor Hongguang was ignorant of all of this.
On the third day of the first month of May, Ma Shiying asked the council to summon hundreds of officials to discuss the matter as usual, but something that had never happened before: no one came. The hearts of the people have been dissipated to the extreme.
Ma Shiying was so angry that he had no choice but to give up and return home, and the small court was no longer functioning.
On the fifth day of the first month, as a rule, the emperor was in the court, and on the day when hundreds of officials entered the congratulatory day, Emperor Hongguang made an exception to ignore the court with "flawless strings". At noon, the eunuch Che Tianxiang hurriedly told Emperor Hongguang, who was drinking and feasting in the deep palace, that "Beixin is urgent and dangerous", and reported the critical news that the Qing soldiers were about to kill Nanjing.
Emperor Hongguang listened to it, "He was furious, threw the bowl and got up, but he didn't want to hear it." He was reluctant to spoil his interest and disrupt his plans with bad news. It turned out that he had issued an edict at noon on this day, ordering the people to capture 20,000 toads and take Ouchi to peel and extract crisps for ** use.
At this time, he neither wanted to see the ministers nor listen to the news of the war, and he was already numb. The kings and ministers are at the end of the world, and they are not predicted from then on. Emperor Hongguang lost contact with his ministers.
On the seventh day of the first month, the city of Nanjing was stormy, hundreds of officials gathered, each whispered, and did not know what to do, and Ma Shiying, Wang Duo and other 16 people gathered in the Qing Hall to discuss confidential matters, and their opinions were not.
First, they broke up unhappily.
However, most people have decided to abandon Emperor Hongguang, and the lord Zhao Zhilong will come forward to "pay for the Qing". was ready to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, so he began to spread the tone of surrender: "I will surrender my will and humiliate myself, and I can't say it", "Although Qingxin is in a hurry, I might as well do it now." ”
Although the people of the hundred officials and scholars were panicked, the officials who were ready to surrender to the Qing Dynasty were calm, and when the Qing troops were approaching Jiangbei, only Ma Shiying deployed troops to prepare for war at this moment, because Ma Shiying had already received a certain report that the Qing soldiers were going to kill, and more than one channel said that the northern soldiers clearly "declared: But capture Ma Shiying and Hongguang, and the rest can be pardoned."
He was horrified. He was already notorious, and the Qing Dynasty did not want him. He had no way out at the moment, only to confront the Qing Dynasty, and his arrangement was to guard the filial piety tomb with 600 of his own soldiers. Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Caisuo led the naval division to defend the river, and Huang Binqing and Yang Wencong marched on the south bank. put on a posture of defending the enemy from outside the country. But the next day, that is, in the middle of the night of the eighth day of the first month, the Qing soldiers sent out from the warships of the Guazhou area on the north bank of the Yangtze River and attacked the south bank.
The second Zheng Zhou division fled into the sea, and the Hongguang Dynasty's defense line completely collapsed. In the early morning of the second day, the Qing troops landed on the shore, captured Zhenjiang, and then went down to Danyang to take the road to Jurong and came to Nanjing.
At this moment, Emperor Hongguang, who did not have a minister by his side, was still asleep and unconscious.
(End of text).
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