How did the Ming Dynasty fall? Learn about its history through the clips
There are many theories about how the Ming Dynasty fell, and today we mainly take a peek from a few small aspects, and after reading these snoops, the reasons for the fall of the Ming Dynasty are indeed there.
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, in 1642 AD, Huang Taiji sent Abatai to lead a total of 100,000 Manchu and Mongolian troops to enter the pass and plunder, and the Ming Dynasty sent reinforcements, as many as 400,000 people, but they did not dare to fight.
Worried, Shoufu Zhou Yanru organized a grand puja and invited more than 100 Taoist priests to recite the Lotus Sutra in the hope of driving away the enemy.
Later, Zhou Yanru went out to fight instead of Chongzhen, but he did not dare to fight with the Qing army, but hid in the city to drink and lied to Chongzhen about the military situation.
During the eight-month invasion, the Manchus captured 88 cities and enslaved 3690,000 people, plundered 225,277 taels**.
In such a critical situation, a staff officer of the Military Affairs Bureau named Zeng stepped forward, and he wrote in a letter to Chongzhen:"If the Manchurian Army has not yet entered the hinterland of our country, it can send 3,000 troops, 60,000 troops, and attack the sedan chair of the Qing army from Deng, Lai, and from the sea to Liaodong, and the Qing army has to return to help, so the crisis in our country can be solved.
When Zhou Yanru heard that this idea was good, he hurriedly sent someone to send a letter of praise.
Chongzhen also thought it was good, so he entrusted the Ministry of Industry to build a ship. Ministry of Labor immediately**:"How can you let me build it? Chongzhen allowed the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War to build 1,500 ships each. But the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War had no money, and the two ministries were merged, and Chongzhen said that these ships could be built in Guangdong and Fu.
Guangdong, Fujian, and other places listened sadly to the greetings of the families of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War. They ran from place to place, looking for various excuses, going back and forth several times, and after a few months, the Qing army withdrew. Two Cantonese people hurriedly wrote to say that the Qing army was gone, and the ship could not be built. Chongzhen's Decree replied: Yes.
In August of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Yue Tuo, a Manchu, led his army through the Miyun Zuoling next to the city wall and entered the pass.
As the local army generals became more and more distrustful of Chongzhen, Chongzhen sent Chongchen to control the eunuchs in the army, and these eunuchs had direct access to the emperor, and the army generals had to flatter them.
After the arrival of the Manchurian Army, Wu Guojun, the commander-in-chief, and Wu Aheng, the right attendant of the military department, celebrated the birthday of Deng Xihou. This is not surprising, Wu Aheng learned of the military situation and rushed to the rescue, but was killed by the Qing army.
In April of the 11th year of Chongzhen, Gao Qiqian, the eunuch guarding Shanhaiguan, sent six people, including Zhou Yuanzhong, a blind fortune teller, to Shenyang to negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty.
Despite this, the Manchus accepted envoys.
But genuine peace negotiations still require a decision by the summit. Yang Sichang, who holds real power, advocates"Peace negotiations", while Lu Xiangsheng advocated war.
When Dolgon led the Manchurian army into the pass, Lu Xiangsheng led 30,000 men to defend Changping and hold the pass. Yang Sichang divided 10,000 troops to meet Gao Qiqian, and then divided his troops with Chen Xinjia, and Lu Xiangsheng's army was only 5,000 people left.
At that time, all the Ming troops were hiding in the city, and only Lu Xiangsheng led the army to battle. He asked Gao Qiqian for help, but was refused. Lu Xiangsheng led his army to engage the Qing army, and the general soldier Wang Pu immediately fled. Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to fight to the death with the Qing army, and finally died on the battlefield.
The situation in the north became increasingly tense, and some suggested that Chongzhen move south. Even Empress Zhou gently reminded Chongzhen that we still have a home in the south.
Chongzhen also had this intention, but some ministers strongly opposed it and could not make a decision for a while.
And when Empress Dowager Zhang (Empress of the Apocalypse, Chongzhen's sister-in-law) asked about Chongzhen, Chongzhen's first reaction was to ask who told the news to Empress Dowager Zhang, who knew Chongzhen's temperament and knew how to dismiss the whistleblower.
The proposed southern area of Chongzhen is also unresolved and under endless pressure.
In 1644, when the Ming Dynasty reached its most critical moment, Li Zicheng marched into Beijing and was invincible from beginning to end. Chongqing had no money to redeem the captured Li Zicheng, so the bureaucrats levied silver taels again. The three eunuchs who donated the most donated 50,000 taels each, including the eunuch Wang Chengen, who later committed suicide with Chongzhen.
Chongzhen old man Zhou Kui gritted his teeth and donated 10,000 taels, Shoufu Wei Zaode donated 500 taels, and Chen Yan, a scholar, cried sadly, and no one donated.
Later, when Li Zicheng was copied with salary, Zhou Kui's family asked for more than 500,000 taels, and Chen Yan took the initiative to take 40,000 taels.
Didn't resist Li Zicheng's army?
Ningwuguan Zhou Yuji swore not to surrender, with a small number of soldiers and horses to block Li Zicheng's army, the battle was very fierce, the corpses outside the city wall piled up, straight to the head of the city. Zhou Yuji not only held out, but also took the initiative to attack Li Zicheng's army. In the end, Zhou was outnumbered and captured and killed.
Li Zicheng shouted: If all the guards are like Zhou Yuji, I can't come here.
Unfortunately, Li Zicheng's army traveled thousands of kilometers from Xi'an to Beijing, but Li Zicheng was the only one besieging the city, and the rest of the city's residents always tried to surrender or open the city gates.
When Li Zicheng's army approached Xuanfu, the prefect Zhu Zhifeng wanted to lead his troops to resist, but his subordinates had already surrendered, and Zhu Zhifeng's subordinates who wanted to resist had to commit suicide. Du Xun, the chief eunuch who had long been preparing to surrender, put on a python suit and trekked thirty miles to meet Li Zicheng's army.
Chongzhen wanted to transfer Wu Sangui to be the emperor, but the important ministers Wei Zaode and Chen Chen refused to express their position, because Wu Sangui's defense of the war meant losing a large area of Shanhaiguan territory, and he was unwilling to take responsibility. Chongzhen went to ask Wu Sangui's father Wu Xiang's opinion, and Wu Xiang scolded in his heart"Wei and Chen don't call the shots, how can I make the decisions? "So he replied to Chongzhen that the Wu army needed 1 million taels of ** to help. Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty has no money, and Chongzhen can't stop it.
Later, Li Zicheng's army approached, Chongzhen was forced by Wu Sangui to boil his blood, Wu Sangui did not come, and the capital fell.
In March 1644, after some controversy, Chongzhen finally issued an edict ordering all war horses to serve the king, allowing Wu Sangui, Zuo Liangyu, Tang Tong, Huang Degong, Cao Youyi, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, Gao Jie, Ma Dai, Ma Ke and others to bring soldiers and horses into Beijing. Many of these conscripted generals were corrupt and self-serving, refusing to obey the edicts. Liu Zeqing was nearby, so he fled south with his soldiers and horses. Zuo Liangyu's army of more than 100,000 was on the other side of the river to the south.
In the end, only Tang Tong arrived in Beijing with 8,000 men. Chongzhen was overjoyed and asked Tang Tong to lead his troops to guard Juyong Pass, the gateway to Beijing. As soon as Li Zicheng's army arrived, Tang Tong and the chief eunuch Du Zhiqi quickly surrendered.
We all say that Wu Sangui is a capricious villain, and this is exactly what happened. But during Chongzhen's conscription, only Wu Sangui loyally obeyed the order to enter Beijing. Other civil and military generals either surrendered or fled.