Fuwang Zhu Yousong, the seventeenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongguang. On the 15th day of the fifth lunar month in 1644, he was crowned at the ceremony of sacrificing to the heavens in the southern suburbs of Nanjing, inheriting the throne of Zhu Youzhen, the Chongzhen Emperor who committed suicide two months earlier after Li Zicheng's peasant army conquered Beijing.
He was born on July 15, 1607, in the Forbidden City, Beijing. He is the darling of the Mingshen Sect and the son of the blessed king Zhu Changxun.
After the birth of Zhu Yousong, the son of the blessed king Zhu Changxun, it aroused the doubts of the ministers, and they repeatedly urged the Divine Sect to solve the affairs of the kingdom of the blessed king as soon as possible. However, Shenzong delayed for more than ten years for various reasons, and it was not until March of the 42nd year of Wanli that Zhu Changxun was allowed to go to Henan.
When he left the capital, Shenzong summoned him back to the court many times as a sign of special concern. When Zhu Changxun went abroad, Shenzong used a large number of ships and soldiers to transport a large number of gold and silver treasures to Luoyang, so that he could enjoy glory and wealth.
Zhu Yousong went to Luoyang with his father, and his living conditions were better and freer. His father, relying on the favor and privilege of the Divine Sect, wantonly looted the people's wealth, lived a luxurious life, and did not care about the people's livelihood and political affairs.
Although Zhu Yousong was a concubine, he was named King Dechang by virtue of his status. He didn't study hard, he only knew how to have fun every day, and lived a luxurious life.
However, the emergence of the peasant rebel army at the end of the Ming Dynasty shattered his carefree life. The sergeants were furious when they heard that King Fu had a lot of money, but they let them go hungry to fight the rebels.
Lu Weiqi, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department who was in Luoyang at the time, was very frightened when he heard about it, and he reminded Zhu Changxun that he should scatter his wealth and reward the troops to strengthen Luoyang's combat readiness, but Zhu Changxun did not care.
The Dashun army led by Li Zicheng advanced to Henan when countless hungry people were displaced under the invasion of severe drought and locust plague and great plague in the Central Plains.
On the 19th of this month, they reached the city of Luoyang and surrounded it. Late that night, the defenders of the city opened the north gate to welcome the peasant army into the city, and Luoyang was lost. Zhu Changxun, the king of Fu, was taken aback when he heard the news, and hurriedly fled with the princess and her son Zhu Yousong and others in despair.
Chang Xun because of his long-term pampering, he grew extremely fat and had difficulty moving, and hid in the Cheng'en Temple on the edge of the city after leaving the city, and was captured by the peasant army. He saw that Li Zicheng was "a terrible beggar".
Li Zicheng counted his crimes and killed them. King Fu's body was fat and heavy, and the peasant army "said that his meat weighed more than 360 catties." The belly is cut into shares and cooked with venison", and the "Fulu Banquet" is specially opened.
At the same time, the Fuwang Mansion, which was built with people's fat barriers, was burned down in one fell swoop. When Zhu Changxun fled and hid in Cheng'en Temple, Zhu Yousong did not dare to stay, continued to run, encountered stragglers on the way, clothes and property were all plundered, leaving only one life, and fled to Huaiqing (now Qinyang, Henan) in embarrassment, thus ending the life of his Fu Wang and embarking on the road of escape.
Soon after Zhu Yousong fled to Huaiqing, the main force of the peasant army withdrew from Luoyang and fought in Ruzhou (now Linru, Henan), and Luoyang was recovered by the Ming army, but this was not good news for Zhu Yousong, and it did not bring him joy, because the former luxurious Fuwang Mansion has changed beyond recognition at this moment, and it is full of ruins and ruins, which is miserable.
During the occupation of Luoyang, the peasant army took away all the belongings in King Fu's mansion and burned down the palace in one fell swoop. The raging fire "lasted for three days".
The palace was completely destroyed, and it was not easy to clean up the ruins and rebuild it! It was difficult to do so with the financial and material resources at that time. Therefore, Zhu Yousong, the king of Dechang who fled from Luoyang, found it difficult to return to Luoyang and was homeless.
had to temporarily live in Huaiqing, and Henan Yousi "gave the hall to feed the food, and prepared the gift of the famine". Become a sender. Two years later, in July of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), Zhu Yousong was officially awarded the title of King Fu.
Emperor Chongzhen was especially generous to this difficult cousin: "Hand choose the treasure jade in the palace to pay the envoy to give it." In this way, this high-ranking prince was especially glorified.
Although in the embarrassing residence, he still does not reduce his luxury, as if he is born a rich lord, and the local officials and gentlemen dare not face it. But Ning Ri was not much, and only half a year after the attack, another catastrophe hit him.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the flames of peasant uprisings burned all over the land of China. The Dashun army divided into two routes and launched an attack on Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. The Dashun army led by General Liu Fangliang broke through the west gate of Huaiqingfu in January, and the city was in chaos, and Zhu Yousong and his mother Zou were so frightened that they went out of the city with the fleeing crowd.
At this time, the peasant army came, Zhu Yousong abandoned his mother, fled alone, and was finally rescued by the leatherman Chang Yingjun and escorted to Weihui Mansion City to join Zhu Changshu, the king of Lu. Subsequently, Zhu Changshu fled south, and Zhu Yousong followed him to Huai'an.
In Huai'an, Zhu Yousong became a displaced homeless man, ragged and haggard. When the news came, Jingshi had fallen, martial law had been imposed in the city of Nanjing, and people were panicking.
Zhu Yousong suffered the unfortunate news, which made it worse, and he fell into despair. But then, an unexpected happy event came to the door. Nanjing, the largest metropolis in the south of the Yangtze River, was the capital of the Ming Dynasty and had a bureaucratic team.
Since the end of March, when news of the fall of Kyoshi spread, martial law has been imposed here. The ministers were in a state of extreme tension. On the first day of the first month of April, Shi Kefa, the secretary of the Ministry of War, summoned all the ministers to issue a document against the thief Qinwang, and formed a Qinwang team to rescue Beijing and resist the peasant army.
After the oath, he personally led the Yangtze River and stationed in Pukou, opening the posture of "seeking revenge from thieves". At this time, Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, who was good at opportunism, received the news of several abandoned princes, and he thought that King Fu would be useful in the future, so he secretly sent someone to guide him and take the ship of Cao Yun Governor Lu Zhenfei to quickly go south for standby use.
On April 14, two eunuchs who had escaped from the palace arrived in Nanjing, and the officials of the Ministry of Science and Technology learned that Beijing had fallen and that Emperor Chongzhen had been martyred. When the ministers of Nanjing learned of this news, they urgently discussed the issue of supporting the new monarch.
According to the succession procedure of the father and the son, it is of course his son who should inherit the throne of Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen had three sons, all in the north at that time, and their whereabouts were unknown. In this way, it can only be considered from the imperial family's pro-branch.
The main objects of consideration were several feudal kings with more prominent status: Zhu Yousong, King Fu, Zhu Changrun, Zhu Changrun, Zhu Changhao, Rui, Zhu Changying, Gui Wang, and Zhu Changshu, Lu Wang. At that time, King Hui, King Rui, and King Gui were all excluded from the list because of the long distance.
There are only two in front of him, King Fu and King Lu, who are the most promising candidates for succession. In terms of kinship, King Fu is the grandson of Shenzong, and the tribe is the closest and most dominant.
And King Lu is the grandson of Mu Zong and the nephew of Shenzong, and the relationship is relatively estranged.
The ministers thought that the Fu King Zhu Yousong had bad character and historical problems, and did not want him to ascend the throne. Qian Qianyi, Lei Binzuo and others actively lobbied the military department squire Lu Daqi, the right capital imperial historian Zhang Shenyan and Zhan Shi Jiang said Guangli Lu Wang, and obtained their consent.
Shi Kefa agreed with King Lilu and listed the seven deadly sins of King Fu. Ma Shiying insisted on establishing a family, but he admonished Zhang Zhengchen to advocate the establishment of King Fu, thinking that he was the "national capital". The generals outside also supported King Lifu, and Lu Zhenfei expressed his support but could not leave the station.
The situation quickly became tense and intense as partisanship and power struggles spilled off.
While the ministers of Nanjing were hotly discussing the issue of succession to the throne, Ma Shiying was nervously and quietly carrying out a lot of behind-the-scenes activities. He advocated the establishment of King Fu, but not in terms of blood or closeness, but because of the incompetence of King Fu and hoped to engage in political speculation through him.
So, he conspired with the infamous Ruan Dacheng, believing that it was very beneficial for him to support King Phuoc. After the policy was decided, he bribed Liu Kongzhao and Liu Zeqing, hoping that they would promote King Dai Fu together.
At the same time, he wrote to Shi Kefa and Lu Daqi and other ministers, saying: "Talent and virtue are not as good as blessing kings." Hopefully, Scofer will support his claim. However, the upright Shi Kefa and others were opposed, saying that they did not support the support of King Fu.
In this regard, Ma Shiying did not insist on his own opinion, and he also specially sent a private person to Shi Kefa to say: "To establish a monarch and be virtuous, you don't have to be stubborn about blood and closeness." "This shows Ma Shiying's flexibility.
Shi Kefa believed it and immediately replied to Ma Shiying with the objection of "seven can'ts". However, this is only a delaying tactic by Ma Shiying, who is planning a larger conspiracy.
Under his urgent deployment, warlords such as Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo formed a huge escort team and surrounded Zhu Yousong to arrive at Yizhen.
They went north, and the real battle for the throne began, demonstrating to the ministers of Nanjing. At the same time, the lord Liu Kongzhao and others launched a fierce contest in Nanjing. On April 26, Zhang Shenyan, Jiang Yueguang and other Nanjing** concentrated on discussing the issue of succession to the imperial throne.
Those who supported King Lu and King Fu each gave their reasons, but they did not give in to each other, and they argued from morning to noon, but could not reach a consensus. Just when the argument was over, Lu Daqi entered the venue.
He made a generous statement, exposing that King Fu had seven inconsistencies, expounding that he could not be the king, and strongly advocated the establishment of King Lu. These words were like a sudden pour of cold water into a pot of boiling water, which immediately caused **.
Liu Kongzhao was furious, Li Zhan suddenly rushed up the steps, and Guo Weijing and others, who supported King Lifu, rushed to Lu Daqi and said, "What is today's matter?
In terms of etiquette, respect for the monarch is the most important; In terms of military affairs, defending the emperor is the highest priority. If there is any dissent, die a death! ”
In the torrent of history, whether King Fu is the only king has become the focus of controversy. Liu Kongzhao, Han Zanzhou and others shouted loudly, no matter what, they would establish the king of Fu and vow not to give up.
Regardless of their status, they rushed to Lu Daqi and resolutely opposed "speaking out of confusion". The bookish courtiers of King Lilu watched in amazement as the court was monopolized by the faction that supported King Lifu.
In the chaos, Han Zanzhou took out the oath of supporting King Fu and asked everyone to sign it, and everyone "bowed their heads to the alliance" under the condition of force pressing. Shi Kefa accepted this fait accompli, Zhu Yousong got an unexpected blessing in the predicament, and he was about to make his debut.
When he replied to the letter of persuasion from the Ministry of War, he said: "There is no news about the mother of the country, and she has taken refuge in her arms, and the palace family has not brought a single person. At the beginning, he wanted to take refuge in a remote place in eastern Zhejiang, but he never dared to take refuge. These words showed his respect for the country and the emperor, but also showed his fearlessness and firmness.
Although he may have lacked virtue in some areas, he has always stood up to his beliefs and will not be shaken by anyone's threats. When the ministers boarded the boat in batches to meet him, he was very touched by the piety and loyalty of his subordinates.
In particular, Liu Kongzhao and other ministers who insisted on supporting him confessed to him with tears in their eyes, and he was even more moved to tears. His performance on this day can be said to be a manifestation of his love for the country and its people.
The throne is within reach, only Zhu Yousong's last "performance" is missing.