Among the emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Yongli Emperor Zhu Youlang reigned for the longest time, had the widest area of activity, experienced the most displacement and suffering, and the courtiers were the most loyal and treacherous, good and evil, and the struggle was extremely fierce.
However, the last emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty lacked assertiveness and often panicked in the face of changes.
The tragic fate of missing a good opportunity, which led to the hard work of loyal ministers and righteous people, and the destruction of the country, made people think deeply about his life.
The Adventures of Zhu Youlang: The Road to Huxiang Escape In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen (1641), Zhu Youlang married Wang. However, the following year, Zhang Xianzhong's Great Western Army invaded Hunan, and in August of the 16th year (1643), it occupied Hengzhou.
Zhu Changying, the king of Gui, fled with his palace dependents in a hurry, when his son and second son were captured and killed by the peasant army in Hengzhou. Zhu Changying fled by boat with Zhu Youlin, Zhu Youlang and others, and when he fled to Shiqi City in the south of Yongzhou (now Dong'an County, Hunan), he was caught up by the Great Western Army.
When the army king Shangyong led his soldiers to resist desperately, Chang Ying and his third son Zhu Youyang were able to escape and enter Guangxi from Quanzhou. However, Zhu Youlang was lost in a panic and was captured by the peasant army, and imprisoned in Yongzhou (present-day Lingling, Hunan), ready to be escorted to Hengzhou.
At this time, Yongzhou experienced Wu Jihei, who was originally a Ming inspector, and out of sympathy, he vigorously defended Zhu Youlang and deliberately delayed the time to send him to Hengzhou. He also specially asked Zhu Youlang for his opinion: When should I escort him to Hengzhou?
Zhu Youlang blurted out and said, "Twenty-four." At that time, it was already 21 days, and Wu Jisi and others still "thought it was too fast". So on the afternoon of the 24th, the city of Yongzhou was suddenly full of people, and it was rumored that the soldiers were coming.
The frightened Zhu Youlang thought that the peasant army had come from Hengzhou again, and his life was at rest. In the evening, Yang Guowei's subordinate commander Jiao Lian supervised the troops to capture Yongzhou City, went to the prison center, rescued Zhu Youlang from the threshold car, helped him get on the horse, and went out of the city.
However, Zhu Youlang, who has been accustomed to enjoying a privileged environment for more than 20 years, can only sit in a sedan chair and cannot ride a horse. Jiao Lian personally "lost the promise", crossed the river and got out of danger, and then "sent it to Guangdong".
In March of the seventeenth year, King Gui and his sons met in Guilin. In addition to the first son and the second son, the whereabouts of several of King Gui's other sons are unknown. He had only two sons by his side, Yuki and Yulang.
Qu Shiyun, Zheng Feng and Yang Guowei and other Guangxi ** people believed that King Gui was the prince of the imperial court, and now that he was suffering from difficulties, he should be provided with money, food and resettlement in time. However, Guilin was a fief of King Jingjiang, and King Gui and King Jingjiang should not live in the same city.
At this time, although Zhang Xianzhong had already left Hunan, Hunan had been seriously damaged in the war, and King Gui could not be allowed to return to the fiefdom immediately. There is only one place nearby where you can be placed, and that is Wuzhou.
They suggested that King Gui be moved to Wuzhou first, and then go and ask for the approval of the imperial court. King Gui agreed to this suggestion. In June, Zhu Changying arrived in Wuzhou with his two sons and palace dependents.
However, just as the ministers were discussing how to place King Gui in Wuzhou, earth-shaking changes took place throughout the country. Li Zicheng captured Beijing, the Ming Dynasty fell, and the Qing troops entered the customs.
In Nanjing, the ministers discussed the establishment of a new emperor, and according to the criteria of affinity and virtuousness, Zhu Changying, the king of Gui, was also considered. But due to the remoteness of his fiefdom, he was eventually excluded.
King Gui himself did not know about this. As soon as Zhu Changying arrived in Wuzhou, he received the news that Zhu Yousong, the king of Fu, was in charge of the country in Nanjing, and then, Emperor Hongguang's "Edict of Dengji" and Emperor Chongzhen's "Edict of Lamentation" arrived one after another.
When he read Emperor Chongzhen's "tragedy", King Gui "fell to the ground and mourned", grieved excessively, "absolutely recovered, so he couldn't afford it", and soon passed away and was buried in the north of Teng County.
After the death of Zhu Changying, the king of Gui, his funeral was carried out according to the funeral of the prince, and the expenses were huge. When they arrived in Wuzhou, Zhu Youlang, the king of Yongming, and Zhu Youyan, the king of Anren, were almost exhausted.
Coupled with the deteriorating situation, local turmoil, and the fatigue of the people, the collection became less and less, and the warehouses of the royal palace were empty. At this time, there were more than 1,000 concubines, subordinates, and palace dependents in King Gui's mansion, and their daily ** was insufficient.
Zhu Youlang's own "food and clothing needs" are also "unsatisfactory", although he is the king, but the situation is very difficult. They barely managed to keep the palace going. Soon, the news of the collapse of the Hongguang regime spread to western Guangdong, and Chen Zizhuang, a registered scholar in Guangdong, decided to serve King Anren as the supervisor of the country in accordance with the conditions of the royal sect, so as to inherit the unification of the Ming Dynasty.
However, this plan was shattered by the news that Tang King Zhu Yujian was enthroned in Fuzhou. The plan was shelved. In August of the first year of Longwu (1645), Emperor Longwu Zhao Anren Wang Zhu Youqi inherited the title of King Gui and moved to Zhaoqing Mansion.
However, at this time, an unexpected incident occurred in Guangxi: Zhu Hengjia, the king of Jingjiang, rebelled, causing panic in the people. Fortunately, Qu Shiyun dealt with it decisively and turned the situation into a safe one.
Qu Shiyun, Jiaxuan, Jiangsu Changshu, Wanli Jinshi. He was loyal, resolute, upright, and had been an official to the right of the imperial history and the governor of Guangxi. During the Hongguang Dynasty, he received the edict to rectify the local area and stabilize the society.
However, Zhu Hengjia, the king of Jingjiang, brazenly raised troops, claimed to be in charge of the country, and moved to the prefectures and prefectures of Guangxi and the 45 caves of the left and right rivers to obey the order. Qu Shiyun, who had no soldiers in his hands, clearly objected, pointing out that "the two capitals have fallen, the unification is hanging in the balance, and the heroes are delaying the deer."
Once the Fujian edict has been issued, how can it be self-prospering and making internal difficulties for the benefit of fishermen"? He refused to go to Guilin to participate in the support, and at the same time made an emergency deployment in private, secretly ordering Si'en general Chen Bangfu to lead troops to defend Wuzhou, and urgently ordered the wolf soldiers not to obey the orders of the king of Jingjiang.
Soon after, Qu Shiyun was placed under house arrest in Guilin. His family rushed to Fuzhou to call the police and beg for a crusade, and Emperor Longwu issued an edict of rebellion. The response from all parts of Guangxi was ineffective, and King Jingjiang soon fell into isolation.
Qu Shiyun entered the right squire of the rank and military department, and was regarded by King Gui's father and son, who admired him, as "a person who can send the society to live in peace, and who does not win the big festival in the face of difficulties".
Sir, you take a rest first, everything depends on Sir, Sir, don't be sad like this. Qu Shiyun was deeply moved by this kind of kindness. Since then, he has focused all his energy on Zhu Youlang.
After Zhu Youlang died, Qu Shiyun discussed with Zhu Zhimi, the prefect of Zhaoqing, and welcomed Zhu Youlang back to Zhaoqing together, still living in the former palace. The lives of Zhu Youlang and his royal members improved.
Because of the death of his father and brother, he became the master of King Gui's mansion. However, the misfortune and hardship of the past two years have been too stimulating for Zhu Youlang, who has always been pampered, and he can't bear it, and he feels very frightened and at a loss.
After hearing the news of Emperor Longwu's martyrdom, Qu Shiyun immediately took a boat to Zhaoqing and said to Ding Kuichu, the governor of Liangguang: "King Yongming is the grandson of Emperor Shenzong, and he should have been established as emperor a long time ago.
In the past, Zheng Hongkui supported others, which led to arrogance and confusion from top to bottom, and gave ** generous and heavy power, resulting in the inability to execute orders and the world falling into chaos. Now only in the southern corner, there are still non-divided people who attack the old track, and it is impossible to restore the Ming Dynasty.
Only King Yongming should be made emperor, and it is determined between me and you. The civil and military ** of Chu and Shu will agree to this proposal. Ding Kuichu completely agrees with this view.
Therefore, Qu and Ding discussed with Wang Huacheng and Zheng Feng, the prefect Zhu Zhixi, the Jinyi Wei servant Ma Jixiang, and the eunuch pet Tianshou and others discussed together, believing that Zhu Youlang should immediately declare the prison state.
At this time, the old ministers Lu Daqi, Li Shuimao, Yan Rishu, Tang Laihe, Dong Tianhong, Zhou Dinghan, Fang Yizhi, Lin Jiading, Cheng Yuan, etc. came to Zhaoqing one after another, and they all thought that Zhu Youlang "was the right king, and he should be virtuous."
So, they jointly petitioned Zhu Youlang to supervise the country, but the result was rejected unexpectedly by the ministers. Zhu Youlang is only 24 years old, and he looks "very good", and his figure looks very similar to his grandfather, Emperor Shenzong Zhu Yijun.
The history is called "Emperor Duan, the sons of Shenzong (referring to Zhu Changying, King of Guiduan) Xiaozhi, and the grandsons are only Emperor Xiaozhi". "The emperor's body and dragon face resemble the divine ancestor, and the sexual evil is also slightly closer. ”
Not only are they similar in appearance, but they are also similar in temperament. "Sexual evil" means that they are lazy and tired, have nothing to do, are not successful, and are difficult to shoulder heavy responsibilities. He also said that he was "born dignified and prudent" and "took matters into his heart".
Again, this is a lack of concern for the world, and no opinion. This is a very serious deficiency, which is equivalent to a waste of people. Of course, he also has advantages, that is, "he is silent and rare birds, he has hobbies, does not drink, does not treat concubines, and is extremely filial to concubines".
Therefore, when the ministers reported to him about the matter of inviting him to supervise the country, he could not make up his mind. So he immediately reported to his mother, the princess. The princess has a firm attitude, "her heart does not want to stand, and her words are very earnest".
The princess admonished Zhu Youlang: Children are not talented in governing the world, and they are miserable for the people, and national affairs should be treated with caution. The ministers insisted, but the princess repeatedly refused, believing that she might not be able to do the job, and hoped that Zhu Youlang would choose another talent.
In the end, under the repeated requests of the ministers, the princess reluctantly agreed to Zhu Youlang to supervise the country. However, there were problems with the personnel arrangements in the early days of the prison state, with Ding Kuichu as the first assistant and the eunuch Wang Kun as the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi. "
Ding Kuichu and Wang Kun, an official to the right attendant of the military department, but because they could not resist the invading Qing soldiers, they were demoted to the border. The other is the old Jue, who has a bad reputation. After the fall of the Hongguang regime, Wang Kun was appointed as the eunuch of the celebrant and the eunuch Bingbi.
Their entry into the DPRK may hinder the development of talents or lead to a chaotic situation. While Zhu Youlang was in prison, Wang Kun advised him to evade the pursuit of the Qing army, but this evasion was not necessary.
The ministers were uneasy about Zhu Youlang's attitude of being a soldier, and Qu Shiyun advised him to cheer up and fight for the country and the people. However, Zhu Youlang did not listen to his advice and led the crowd to flee to Wuzhou, which also created a record for him to flee when he heard the alarm.
The princess was very angry about this.
Soon after Zhu Youlang fled Zhaoqing, a new situation appeared that surprised him. It turned out that the envoy he sent to announce the order of the state had not returned, and Zhu Yulu had already sent the envoy to Guangzhou, and sent Chen Bangyan, the chief of the messenger, to him.
Zhu Youlang knew that the existence of the two prison regimes was intolerable, and his courtiers were also aware of the political background of Zhu Yulu's prison in Guangzhou, which was a political gamble carried out by Su Guansheng because he was rejected by Zhaoqing's courtiers.
In order to preemptively strike, Ding Kuichu and other courtiers decided to ask King Yongming to officially claim the title of emperor. Zhu Youlang agreed to this suggestion, and he no longer considered the security threat of the Qing army's capture of Ganzhou and Zhangzhou, and immediately set off to return to Zhaoqing on November 12 to prepare to become emperor.
At this time, the news that Zhu Yulu had ascended to the throne as emperor on the 5th day of the first month of November came to make him even more angry and anxious. Originally, he wanted to be the emperor before Zhu Yulu, but he didn't expect it to be a step too late.
After he arrived in Zhaoqing, he held a ceremony on November 18 to pay tribute to the ancestors of heaven and earth, and ascended to the throne as emperor. That year is still called the second year of Longwu, and the next year is the first year of the Yongli calendar.
He posthumously honored his father Guiwang Zhu Changying as the Duan Emperor, the temple name Xingzong, and respected his mother Wang Concubine as the Empress Dowager of Cining, and his biological mother Ma Shi as the imperial concubine. The princess is the queen.
Emperor Longwu was promoted to Emperor Siwen and Empress Siwen, let us review this historical story together.