Reading guide
Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen was the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was diligent in government affairs all his life, lived frugally, and originally wanted to "revive" the Ming Dynasty, but due to serious internal and external troubles, coupled with natural disasters for many years, the situation has become irreversible. Although he himself sought to be cured, he was stubborn and self-serving, and this objective and subjective reason made the foundation of the Ming Dynasty for more than 270 years finally completely destroyed in his hands. Emperor Chongzhen should be the most embarrassing figure among the last emperors of all dynasties. Zhang Tingyu, the author of "History of the Ming Dynasty", commented that Chongzhen "is not the king of the dead country, but the luck of the dead country".
Eliminate the "nine thousand years old" Wei Zhongxian, and control the real power of the Ming Dynasty for three months
On August 11, the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), Emperor Xizong Zhu Youxiao made an edict, and the throne was inherited by his half-brother, Zhu Youzhen, the king of letters. Eleven days later, on the 22nd day of the eighth lunar month, Emperor Xizong died, and Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne.
At the beginning, Wei Zhongxian, who was 59 years old, thought that the 16-year-old little emperor Zhu Youzhen was just a doll, and it was obviously okay to play with him in the palm of his hand.
After Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, he already felt the heavy killing opportunities inside and outside the Ming Dynasty, and he didn't dare to eat the food in the palace, because most of the eunuchs and palace maids inside and outside the court, including the eunuchs and palace maids around him, were arranged by Wei Zhongxian, so he could only secretly eat the cakes he hid in his sleeves;At night, the young emperor even ordered that all the candles in the main hall and the sleeping palace be lit, because he feared that the darkness did not know if there were traitors who tried to assassinate him.
In the "Enthronement Edict" that announced to the world, Zhu Youzhen said: "I use Chong people (young age) to inherit the Hongye. Ancestral merit and virtue, only obey the canon;It is difficult for officials to govern the people, and they will seek to be flexible. ”The rule of officials is the first step he is about to operate, and the object of the operation is undoubtedly Wei Zhongxian.
Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen behaved very forbearant at first, and on the surface he was respectful to Wei Zhongxian, but secretly began to eliminate the eunuch forces around him step by step. He first dismissed some unknown people around him, and then selected some new eunuchs to serve him.
Then, he ordered Wei Zhongxian's cabinet minister Huang Liji to resign and return to his hometown, and then asked Li Chaoqin and a group of Wei Zhongxian's henchmen to go to work in a "begging" way. Wei Zhongxian felt bad, so he tentatively said to the little emperor Zhu Youzhen, Your Majesty, I want to resign as the governor of Dongchang, but Chongzhen deliberately did not agree, because he felt that the time had not yet come, and he had to wait, so he still tried his best to "retain" the "factory duke".
From the inside out, Emperor Chongzhen began to peel back the cocoon layer by layer, eliminating Wei Zhongxian's forces little by little.
Emperor Chongzhen was methodical and advanced step by step, which also caused some of the wall-to-wall grasses in the court to take refuge in Wei Zhongxian. Seeing that the new emperor may want to clean up the government, the new Nanjing general envoy Yang Suoxiu and the officials all gave Chen Eryi the meaning of the little emperor in the matter, so he sparsed Wei Zhongxian's old subordinate and Cui Chengxiu, the secretary of the military department, said that he had done bad things about the Donglin party in the past, but Chongzhen temporarily suppressed this.
Soon, Yang Weiyuan, the imperial historian of Yunnan Province who originally followed Wei Zhongxian but was not reused, also wrote a letter one after another, reprimanding Cui Chengxiu for "being a factory minister inside, being good at government affairs outside, greedy and abusive", which set off a storm of courtiers attacking Wei Zhongxian's forces.
Chongzhen's strategy was to appear to be immobile himself, but secretly encouraged the courtiers who opposed Wei Zhongxian, and used Wei Zhongxian's former henchmen to launch a campaign against Wei Zhongxian's sins.
And those Donglin party and people who have been suppressed by Wei Zhongxian and his gang for many years have also begun to break out, and a large number of sparse songs have been presented like snowflakes, among which Gongsheng Qian Jiazheng is even more sparse Wei Zhongxian has 10 major crimes such as "merging the emperor", "contempt for the queen", "making soldiers", and "settling the people".
After Chongzhen read it, his heart was shaken, and he immediately summoned Wei Zhongxian and asked the waiter to read it to Wei Zhongxian one by one, and every time he read a sentence, he reprimanded Wei Zhongxian and said, "What are you talking about?"So that Wei Zhongxian could only kneel on the ground and kowtow, not knowing how to justify.
Seeing that the 16-year-old little emperor was resolute and resolute, and in three months, he grasped the real power step by step, and his own henchmen were degraded and arrested, Wei Zhongxian was afraid, so he obediently took hundreds of followers and hurriedly followed the instructions of the little emperor and marched towards the ancestral mausoleum of the Ming Empire in Fengyang, Anhui.
But Chongzhen did not spare him. Zhu Youzhen immediately ordered Jinyiwei to pursue Wei Zhongxian, and prepared to arrest him and return to Beijing to continue to interrogate the crime, Wei Zhongxian, who learned the news, knew that it was impossible to escape death, so when he arrived in Fucheng, Hebei, he and his accomplices drank in the hotel until the fourth watch in the middle of the night, and then hanged himself.
At this point, Wei Zhongxian, a "nine-thousand-year-old" who has been calling for wind and rain for seven years, was declared defeated in just three months. The people cheered and praised him as a "saint".
Killing Yuan Chonghuan stirred up a monstrous wave
Under the leadership of the new emperor, it seems that the Ming Dynasty can regain its vitality and should have a different world, however, the development of history has gone in a different direction.
The second year of Chongzhen (1629) was an ominous year for the Ming Dynasty, in just one year, due to disharmony within the bureaucracy, internal friction aggravated, resulting in the cannibalism of two important generals, accelerating the decline of the Ming Empire. These two people were Mao Wenlong and Yuan Chonghuan, who were famous in the government and the opposition at that time.
Mao Wenlong was an important general in the late Ming Dynasty, resisting Houjin in Liaodong and achieving important victories many times. But he was finally booby-trapped by Yuan Chonghuan on the charge of "collaborating with the enemy". Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong became the focus of controversy on his body;And Emperor Chongzhen's killing of Yuan Chonghuan also stirred up the monstrous waves of history. What is embarrassing is that Yuan Chonghuan was killed by Emperor Chongzhen, two major crimes, one is to kill Mao Wenlong without permission, and the other is also "collaborating with the enemy".
After Emperor Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he strongly hoped to immediately reverse the situation of the war in Liaodong, and quickly appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the secretary of the military department, the right capital of the imperial history of the superintendent Ji Liao and the governor of Denglai Tianjin military affairs, Liaodong affairs were handed over to him, and in July Yuan Chonghuan was specially summoned to discuss the overall strategy of Liaodong in detail.
Emperor Chongzhen asked Yuan Chonghuan and said: "The Jurchen jumped off the beam, it has been ten years, the feudal territory has fallen, and the Liao people have been devastated. Qing Wanli went to the call, loyal and courageous, and all the strategies of Pingliao can be played according to the facts. ”
Yuan Chonghuan replied: "The minister receives the emperor's grace and summons the minister to be thousands of miles away, if the emperor can give the minister the right to act cheaply, five years and Liaodong's external troubles can be calmed down, and the entire Liaodong can be recovered." ”
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen said excitedly: "Five years to recover the entire Liaodong, I will not be stingy with the reward of a marquis, Wangqing works hard." After listening to the phrase "the whole Liao can be restored in five years", the cabinet ministers all praised Yuan Chonghuan and said: "Chonghuan's courage and wisdom are really extraordinary, what a strange man!."Xu Yuqing didn't believe it in the matter of the Dudu Military Division, and specially asked Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan responded with "chatting with the emperor", which means that I just make the emperor happy.
Such a major matter, being ridiculed by Yuan Chonghuan like this, made Xu Yuqing's head "buzz", and asked him: "What should I do if I am responsible for the credit on time?"Yuan Chonghuan realized that "the joke was a bit big", so he kept making various requests to Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen was convinced of his words, and he only needed to pacify Liaodong in five years.
Faced with an increasingly unfavorable situation, Yuan Chonghuan began to be frightened by the promise of "five years of resumption of Liao" that he had been "playing". Not only did they not level Liaodong, but on the contrary, they let Huang Taiji's troops chase them to the capital. After receiving the order summoned by Emperor Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan entered the palace wearing a green coat and a small hat. When he met the courtiers, he tried his best to describe the enemy army as unstoppable, hoping that the courtiers would propose an alliance under the city to prompt Houjin to retreat.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was convinced that Yuan Chonghuan had taken refuge in Huang Taiji, deliberately made a gesture of consolation, and took off his mink coat to put on Yuan Chonghuan, and simply greeted him. When Yuan Chonghuan proposed to bring troops into Deshengmen for rest, Emperor Chongzhen quickly and unequivocally refused. Immediately, Emperor Chongzhen defended the capital to prevent accidents, and after all preparations were made, Yuan Chonghuan was summoned again. Seeing Yuan Chonghuan, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly changed his face: "Wear brocade clothes and throw His Highness." Jinyiwei swarmed up, took off Yuan Chonghuan's court clothes, escorted him to the Jinyiwei lobby outside the West Chang'an Gate, and began to interrogate.
Yuan Chonghuan's confidant Zu Dashou was shocked when he saw the commander being arrested, and trembled with fright. Cheng Ji, a bachelor on the side, saw the situation of Zu Dashou, and immediately kowtowed to ask Emperor Chongzhen to be cautious, and said: "The enemy is under the city, and it is not comparable to him." "The emperor didn't listen. Some auxiliary ministers advised Emperor Chongzhen to reason: "Changing generals in the face of the enemy is taboo for soldiers." Emperor Chongzhen was already so angry that he collapsed, and said ruthlessly, "The momentum has come to this, and it has to be."
In the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan, who had high hopes for him, had been fooling himself.
On the afternoon of March 16, 1630, Emperor Chongzhen summoned cabinet ministers and other ministers in the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace to discuss the handling of the Yuan Chonghuan issue, and then continued to summon the cabinet, the six ministries and all the investigation agencies of the Ming Dynasty on the platform, involving many departments, to make comprehensive preparations for the execution of Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong. After enumerating Yuan Chonghuan's several major crimes, he asked the ministers: "Qing and others are known, what is the crime of the legal department today?"The ministers bowed their heads and were silent, and Emperor Chongzhen officially announced the decision to deal with Yuan Chonghuan: "According to the law (pronounced zhé pronounced 'folding'). "It's the coolest kind of chopping.
Some historians commented that at the beginning, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong in vain, and finally Emperor Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan by mistake.
In the long years since, Emperor Chongzhen is still like a firefighting captain, diligent all day long, but he has not seen any results. Daming is like a big ship that has hit a reef, shaken by the turbulence in the wind and waves.
refused to negotiate peace, and fell into the enemy's back
Historical records show that Huang Taiji once sent peace messages to the Ming Empire many times through various forms, expressing the hope that the two sides would stop the war, and each other's efforts would be cultivated and weaved in order to enjoy peace. After years of war, Huang Taiji obviously knew that it was better to plunder through war than to sell each otherAnd through the mutual market**, it is better to force the Ming Dynasty to lose money and supply.
It is a pity that the monarchs and ministers of the Ming Empire passively accepted the lessons of the Song and Jin peace negotiations after the "Jingkang Shame" 500 years ago, and no one wanted to be regarded as the same kind of Qin Hui. Especially when Yuan Chonghuan was killed, privately negotiating peace was an important crime.
So,With the growing peasant rebel armies such as Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, the empire increasingly fell into the dilemma of being attacked on its back and fighting on multiple fronts in the north and south at the same time. For this reason, some knowledgeable ** once suggested that Emperor Chongzhen should discuss and appease Houjin and concentrate on relieving internal worries. Judging from the situation in which Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Lu Xiangsheng, and others fought against the peasant army at that time, it was entirely possible to do this. Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen categorically refused, gave a stern order, and those who dared to speak out were killed!As a result, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were silent.
In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiangyang and killed King Xiang. Li Zicheng took advantage of the great famine in Henan to put forward the political slogan of "Greet the king, do not pay for food" for the first time more than ten years after the army was raised, and as a result, hundreds of thousands of hungry peasants enthusiastically joined his ranks, and immediately captured Luoyang, an important town in Henan, and captured Zhu Changxun, the uncle of the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen. As a result, the pattern of the Central Plains battlefield has undergone a fundamental reversal.
A.D. 1643 is the sixteenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty and the eighth year of Chongde of the Qing Dynasty. In this year, many major events occurred in the Qing Dynasty that history will never forget—Huang Taiji died, Fulin succeeded to the throne, and Dolgon was promoted from an auxiliary king to a regent. The Ming Dynasty also ushered in its last moment in the midst of anxiety.
In this year, Zhou Yanru, the chief scholar of the Ming Dynasty cabinet, was ordered to die by the emperor. This was the second time that Emperor Chongzhen executed the chief scholar after killing Xue Guoguan, and as a result, Zhu Youzhen became the only emperor in the entire Ming Empire to kill two prime ministers.
Speaking of which, Xue Guoguan's ability to become the chief scholar has something to do with Dorgon. In 1638 A.D. (that is, the eleventh year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty and the third year of Chongde of the Qing Dynasty), Dolgon led the army to break into the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty for seven months, and the blow to the Ming Dynasty was unprecedentedly huge, Lu Xiangsheng and Wu Aheng were killed in battle, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting were transferred from the front line in Shaanxi, and Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong had a chance to breathe, all because of this war. The Chief Scholar at the time misbehaved during this period and lost his position as First Assistant. So, Xue Guoguan sat in this position.
Soon, the monarch and the minister were worried about economic distress and lack of military spending. Xue Guoguan gave a suggestion to the emperor, and he suggested that the emperor issue "national bonds" to borrow money from ministers and relatives of the emperor. This guy deliberately cited a relative who was far away from the emperor, Marquis Li Guorui, as an example, saying that it should not be difficult for him to come up with 400,000 taels.
In order to show that he had no money, Li Guorui demolished the house, and then put all the broken copper and iron in his house on the street to sell, saying that he wanted to exchange money to help the country tide over the difficulties. When Zhu Youzhen heard about it, he was furious and ordered to take away Li Guorui's Juelu, causing Li Guorui to die of palpitations. The father of Empress Zhou, another important imperial relative, also cried poverty everywhere and reluctantly donated 10,000 taels. Later, after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, it is said that at the father's house of Empress Zhou, he extorted 530,000 taels**.
In the 17th year of the Chongzhen Dynasty, a total of 50 cabinet scholars were used, known as "Chongzhen Fifty Phases", which means that Emperor Chongzhen had 50 prime ministers who died in the country.
Losing the last chance to move south, Jingshan hanged himself
The New Year's Day of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty (1644) was really a black day for Emperor Chongzhen.
According to historical records, from the early morning of that day, Beijing was full of strong winds, "shaking houses and blowing sand, and there was no sight at hand". Emperor Chongzhen came to the main hall early, sat on the dragon chair, and waited for the ministers to come to congratulate. Who knows, after the bell of the upper dynasty rang, I couldn't see a ** upper dynasty for a long time. It may be that the wind is too loud, and the ** people waiting outside didn't hear it, mistakenly thinking that the emperor hadn't gotten up yet. So, the emperor ordered the bell to be rung again, and the east and west gates were opened. After waiting for a long time, there was still no one to see.
It is said that Emperor Chongzhen once had a dream in which an elder gave him a piece of paper with the word "有" written on it. Emperor Chongzhen showed it to everyone, and everyone said that it was a sign of great luck, and the Lord meant "great" and "rich in the world". Later, a person who can dismantle words and interpret dreams told him that this word is very ominous, because the word "have" is dismantled, which means "big is not big, Ming is not clear", which means that the Ming is broken.
At this time, Li Zicheng's forces were developing rapidly in Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and other places, and the plan to send troops to Beijing was being implemented. The southern region is also in full swing. Zhang Xianzhong led a large army from Nanchang to the south, successively captured Changsha and Hengzhou, and many places in Jiangxi and Guangxi also fell one after another. After entering Jiashen, Zhang Xianzhong traced Jiangxi to Sichuan, defeated Qin Liangyu, a famous female general who was loyal to the imperial court, and captured Wanxian and other places in one fell swoop.
On the third day of the first lunar month, Emperor Chongzhen summoned a ** named Li Mingrui to ask about the strategy of the imperial court. Li Mingrui asked him to order everyone to avoid it, and then bluntly suggested that the only feasible way was to move south at this time when the world was turbulent. Go back to Nanjing, where the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty started a business. Judging from the situation at that time, only Jiangsu and Zhejiang were still a little calmer in the whole country.
Zhu Youzhen pondered for a long time and said: "This matter is too important to be said casually. ”
Up to this point, the proposal of moving south may be Zhu Youzhen's only chance to delay the vitality of the Ming Empire. It is a pity that the major defects in the emperor's political talent and personal character once again played a role at a historical juncture.
On the one hand, he should be very soberly aware that Nanjing, as the capital of Liu, has a complete set of ** institutions and is heavily garrisoned, and it is possible to try to cheer up again. To this end, he secretly ordered two hundred ships and one thousand elite guards to be prepared on the coast of Tianjin, ready to sail southward at any time. On the other hand, he was especially afraid that his subjects would perceive him as cowardly and that he would lose face. Among them, there may also be a fear of shaking the hearts of the people. For this, he hesitated, the first rat at both ends.
As Li Zicheng's army approached Beijing, Li Mingrui could no longer remain silent, and he publicly wrote to the emperor recommending that he move south immediately. Emperor Chongzhen was still hesitant.
At this time, there was a ** who was extremely loyal and patriotic, and was particularly impassioned, and this person was named Guang Shiheng. He wrote to the emperor, fierce ** Li Mingrui. This time, the emperor hesitated again, and in the court, he impassionedly announced: "The monarch is dead, Zhengye, I have made up my mind." ”
After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, the ministers who advocated moving south either fled or committed suicide, but they did not surrender. It was that Guang Shiheng who surrendered to Li Zicheng almost immediately.
On 17 March, Li Zicheng came to the city of Beijing. In the early days, none of the ministers dared to speak, and some people stood there and wept silently. Emperor Chongzhen seemed a little nervous, and from time to time he wrote a few words on the desk, let the people on the side take a look, and then erase them, and no one else knew what was written. There is a saying that he repeatedly wrote that "the ministers are all the ministers of the country" and "all the ministers can be killed".
On the morning of March 18, only three ** came to see the emperor. About everyone already knew what the emperor wrote on the case, so no one dared to touch the emperor's moldy head. Late that night, the emperor summoned the three princes and brothers, personally changed the three sons into shabby clothes, tied their clothes tightly for them in turn, and told them:"Today you are still a prince, tomorrow you will be a commoner. After dawn, you should forget who you are, hide yourself, and do not tell anyone your name. When you see an old man, you should call him grandpa, and when you see a young person, you should call him uncle. If you survive and avenge your parents, don't forget today's warning. ”According to the history books, tears fell from those present.
In the early morning of 19 March, Zhu Youzhen, after being blocked from escaping from the city in many ways, came to the Shouhuang Pavilion in Jingshan and hanged himself from an old locust tree, accompanied only by a celebrant eunuch named Wang Chengen.
At noon on the same day, Li Zicheng entered Beijing from Deshengmen. The Ming Dynasty, which was founded 276 years ago, entered history.