In the spring of 1644, there were many wars in and around Beijing. The Manchu army was approaching the city, and Li Zicheng's army was also preparing outside the city. This year is the last spring of the Ming Dynasty.
In desperation, Li Zicheng made an unexpected move. He suddenly handed an olive branch to Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Empire, expressing his willingness to sue for peace. However, Emperor Chongzhen, who was in dire straits, did not dare to accept Li Zicheng's kindness.
At the same time, Chongzhen personally recruited, and Tang Tong, who was originally the most capable of rescuing the Ming Dynasty, also chose not to enter the capital at the last moment.
Li Zicheng's peace and Tang Tong's failure to move forward became these two strange things before the death of the Ming Dynasty. They all seemed to be a remarkable turning point, but in the end they became the last straw that crushed the Ming Dynasty.
1. Li Zicheng's unexpected move to seek peace.
As one of the fiercest thieves in the world, Li Zicheng's original goal seemed to be to overthrow the corrupt Ming court and become emperor himself. But when his army had already arrived in Beijing, he tried to reconcile with Chongzhen.
According to historical records, on the eve of the attack on Beijing, Li Zicheng specially sent someone to send a letter to Chongzhen. The letter said that as long as Chongzhen made Li Zi the king of the northwest and gave him ** million taels, he would lead his troops back to the northwest and no longer launch a rebellion. This is undoubtedly a life-saving opportunity for Chongzhen, who has no way out.
However, the problem is that Li Zicheng has gone from being a small leader behind Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army to a strong player who can negotiate terms with the emperor, and Chongzhen is full of wariness of him. In Chongzhen's eyes, Li Zicheng only proposed a false desire for peace in order to seek benefits. Once he agreed to his terms, it would only inflate it even more, and eventually kill the Ming Dynasty.
So at this critical moment, Chongzhen made the choice of guarding the river and being suspicious. The fall of the Ming Dynasty was imminent, but he could not believe the kindness of the enemy, which is undoubtedly a very ironic thing.
Second, Tang Tongbing's failure to move forward disappointed Chongzhen.
Unlike Li Zicheng's quest for peace, Tang Tong's non-dispatch of troops was the strange thing that really caught Chongzhen off guard.
Among the many confidants of the last emperor, Tang Tong was the most powerful. He had tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command, and he was originally fully capable of relieving the siege of the capital. So when Li Zicheng approached Beijing, Chongzhen immediately sent someone to secretly summon Tang Tong to come to the rescue.
However, what Chongzhen never expected was that after Tang Tong received the emergency letter, not only did he not immediately enter the army, but instead sent people to monitor Chongzhen's actions. After Chongzhen found out that Tang Tong was spying on him, he was immediately furious, and then Tang Tong also stopped marching.
This result is undoubtedly worse for the isolated Chongzhen. Tang Tong was his last hope, but he didn't expect the other party to turn against him. Tang Tong's failure to move forward is tantamount to directly cutting off Chongzhen's way of life.
Why would Tang Tong take such a bizarre approach at this moment? Historians believe that Tang Tong was afraid of Chongzhen, fearing that once the siege was lifted, Chongzhen would be suspicious and restrictive. On the other hand, Chongzhen was also quite wary of Tang Tong, for fear that Tang Tong would take the opportunity to seize the throne.
All kinds of suspicions eventually led to the breakdown of the relationship between the two sides, which became the last straw that crushed the Ming Dynasty. Tang Tong's soldiers did not move forward, and Chongzhen was no longer alive.
3. Two strange things can be called the key to the death of the Ming Dynasty.
Li Zicheng took the initiative to sue for peace, which was a turning point and could give the Ming Dynasty a breather. And Tang Tong's reinforcements could have lifted the siege and turned things around. If these two things are successful, maybe Daming will still have a way to live.
However, all kinds of suspicions eventually made the reconciliation come to naught. Li Zicheng has no sincerity towards Chongzhen, and Chongzhen has no trust in Li Zicheng; Tang Tong was suspicious of Chongzhen, and Chongzhen was also suspicious of Tang Tong. As a result, great opportunities have been wiped out in mutual mistrust.
The failure of these two strange events was undoubtedly a key turning point in the fall of the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, it also reflects all kinds of corruption and infighting within the court and warlords in the late Ming Dynasty. These shortcomings have ruined the last chance to turn things around.
The mystery of Ming and Ming is still a sigh of rage. We have to ask whether Emperor Chongzhen was too suspicious; Li Zicheng back then, whether he really had the sincerity of reconciliation; Why did Tang Tong turn his back on his benefactor at a critical moment. All these suspicions made Daming perish in the wind and rain.
There is indeed no absolute what to do in history, but if the reconciliation of the year was successful, would the outcome of the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty be very different? I am afraid that no one will ever be able to solve this question. Throughout this exciting history, we can't help but ponder that the fall of a dynasty is often the accumulation of all kinds of small things. And the deadliest cancer among them is still the suspicion and trust that cannot be eliminated. This is the most important lesson we should learn when we look back at history.
On the way home is the New Year