Although the Ming Dynasty was a controversial dynasty, it was followed and loved by countless people, especially Emperor Chongzhen. Although many people think that Chongzhen did not think about moving south, in fact, this was not his intention, but forced.
Because Chongzhen was born in Jiangnan, his hometown was in Suzhou, and Jiangnan was still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty at that time. The thought he left for the people of the world was to return to Beijing and reopen a court.
Although Empress Zhou once raised the issue of moving south, Chongzhen did not accept it, but continued to stick to Beijing under the reprimand of Empress Zhang.
However, Chongzhen's persistence was not without a price, and he had to face the severity of the situation, as parts of Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, and Shandong had already been occupied by Li Zicheng.
But Chongzhen still did not give up, because he knew that only by returning to Beijing could he start over and potentially change the situation.
During the Chongzhen period, the matter of moving south became a hot topic in the DPRK and China. However, when the first assistant Zhou Yanru discussed the matter, he not only failed to reach a consensus, but leaked the matter.
Why did Chongzhen choose to discuss this matter with Zhou Yanru in the first place? It's nothing more than to save face. After all, once the news of the emperor's move to the south is made public, it will inevitably affect the morale of the army, and may even trigger the opposition of Empress Zhang.
Zhou Yanru was later executed, perhaps as a well-deserved death. Does Chongzhen admit to this? The answer is no, but it doesn't matter.
Because before the Ming Dynasty, there have been many similar examples, although Chongzhen does not say it, but I am afraid that he also has some ideas in his heart.
Li Banghua, the imperial historian of the left capital, and Lu Daqi, the governor of the Jiujiang Military Government, recommended Zuo Zhongyun and Li Mingrui to discuss the current situation with Chongzhen, and Li Mingrui suggested moving south. Chongzhen expressed concern about the matter, but reminded Li Mingrui not to bring it up lightly because he was worried that no one would support him.
The reason why Chongzhen confessed to Li Mingrui was because he knew that Li Mingrui was different from the ministers and could be used as his help in the court. At the same time, in order to avoid another Zhou Yanru, Chongzhen specially reminded Li Mingrui not to let others know about it.
On the third day of the first month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Mingrui publicly proposed the move to the south in the imperial court, but was unanimously scolded by the ministers.
Among them, Guang Shiheng was the most resolute in the military department, and even put forward the argument that "if you don't kill Li Mingrui, it is not enough to reassure people".
Despite this, Li Mingrui still insisted on his position and became a first-class existence at that time.
Are they really loyal and patriotic? Of course not, just to show themselves, Chongzhen's life and death are simply not worth mentioning compared to their reputation.
Later, Guang Shiheng, the person who surrendered the fastest, jumped out and defended himself, saying that if he scolded the thief and died, although he could not recover the crime of trapping the king, he could at least clear some of his charges.
But it turned out that he would rather choose to follow the thief than be loyal to the monarch.
The most radical scholars in the cabinet, Chen Yan and Wei Zaode, were also among the surrenderers, and the most offensive of them was Wei Zaode, who, in order to curry favor with Li Zicheng, even belittled Chongzhen, saying that he did not listen to others and led to today's crisis.
However, during his reign, he did not achieve anything, and only ate and waited for death. Even Li Zicheng felt that he was a villain, and when the new dynasty was first established, others still had the opportunity to reuse it, but Wei Zaode was imprisoned.
At this court meeting, Li Mingrui proposed to move south again, he knew that this was instructed by Chongzhen, but he expected that the opposition would resolutely oppose it, so he proposed another plan - the prince moved south.
However, Guang Shiheng jumped out again and put the hat of rebellion on Li Mingrui's head. So, everyone was silent, and no one dared to speak again.
The next day, Chongzhen publicly stated that he would stick to Beijing, because he knew that it was impossible to obtain the consent of the ministers, and it was better to treat a dead horse as a live horse doctor.
He believed that Beijing had survived the military pressure of the Jingtai and Jiajing dynasties before this, and it would definitely survive this time.
Chongzhen tried to move south when faced with the dilemma of Li Zicheng's attack, but because of the lack of unity of command, Li Zicheng broke his support one by one.
In the end, Chongzhen could only watch as his hopes, the crown prince, King Yong, and King Ding, were sent to the home of his father-in-law, Zhou Kui.
His mediocre behavior not only lost his face, but also lost Chongzhen's face. In the end, Zhou Kui surrendered his hopes, and Chongzhen hanged himself on Jingshan.
Chongzhen's failure was not accidental, his self-destruction was due to the fact that he could not let go of his dignity as an emperor, and the move south seemed to him to be just a matter of words, but he failed because of his self-esteem.
The history of the Ming Dynasty is not without examples of moving the capital, Zhu Di once moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, but Chongzhen would rather let go of the country and ask the ministers to ask him to move south.
However, how could the ministers of the Ming Dynasty be willing to do so? If Chongzhen is replaced by any of Zhengde, Jiajing, and Wanli, then the southward migration will definitely be realized.
Because they were able to listen to the minister's opinion, and Chongzhen did not do it. In general, the Ming Dynasty's qi has been exhausted, Chongzhen is not only incompetent in governing the country, he can't even run away, and he has been led by the ministers all his life.
Even his killing of Wei Zhongxian, Yuan Chonghuan and Nanqian was the result of being coerced by the ministers. If Chongzhen had a spirit in the sky, Zhu Yuanzhang might ask him: "Is face really that important to you?" ”
Although Chongzhen's self-esteem made him lose a lot, it also made him leave the famous saying "The king is the sheji, and the son of heaven guards the country".