When I first read the relevant biography of the Chongzhen Emperor, I saw such a point of view: "If it were not for the Chongzhen Emperor's stupidity and stubbornness, refusing the peace talks of the Qing Dynasty, how could the Ming Dynasty have reached the point of ruin?" ”
This statement is actually very ridiculous, and at first glance it is the false news spread after the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains.
Because daqing was a foreign race, when talking about the reason for entering the Central Plains, it was always said that he was avenging the Chongzhen Emperor and wanted to kill Li Zicheng. When talking about the war between the Ming and Qing dynasties, the reasons for the war were imposed on Daming.
According to the most popular saying at that time, we in Daqing loved peace, always wanted to find an opportunity to negotiate peace with Daming, and then help Daming clean up the Liukou together. The Chongzhen Emperor was stupid and stubborn, and he was unwilling to negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty no matter what, so we could only passively choose war.
For this kind of argument, we only need to look at the basic historical facts to know: the wars between the Ming and Qing dynasties were all provoked by the Qing Dynasty, and Daming has been passively responding to the battle and playing the defensive tactics of "city wall cannons".
The news that Daqing wants peace talks is false, so is the news that Daming wants peace talks true?
This is probably true, but at a time when the exiles were becoming more and more rampant, a voice came out from the court: We should talk with the Great Qing and concentrate on resolving internal contradictions.
Of course, there is a certain truth in "outside must first be inside", and only by concentrating most of our energy can we solve the current problem in the shortest possible time. If the energy is distracted, the end is likely to be "chicken and egg fight an empty".
But the above assumptions are only from the most ideal result. If we proceed from reality, I can only say that proposing peace talks with Daqing is not a good idea.
If peace is negotiated with Daqing, will Daqing stay in the north in peace? If peace is negotiated with the Qing Dynasty, will it not have to bear the military expenses of the northern border defense every year? The answer is no.
This is nothing more than wishful thinking, and this wishful thinking has been repeated throughout history.
The six countries have all actively held peace talks with the Qin state, but the reality is that regardless of whether the Qin state agrees to peace talks or not, they have never stopped the pace of eastward expansion.
Why is that? Because for the Qin state at that time, fighting a war was more convenient and quick to grab benefits than peace talks. Under the premise that the Six Kingdoms failed to hurt the Qin State and raise the cost of fighting the Qin State, the so-called peace talks were nothing more than paying salaries to fight the fire. Not only could it not curb the ambitions of the Qin state, but on the contrary, it provided the qin state with economic, political and military resources, and further strengthened the strength of the qin state.
A truly successful peace talk, as I understand it, should be like the peace talks between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty.
Although the Southern Song Peace Talks suffered a lot of criticism, there were many twists and turns in the process (including Yue Fei's killing). But judging from the results, the Southern Song peace talks were very successful, because a long-term peace was achieved between the Song and Jin.
Why was the Southern Song Dynasty able to successfully negotiate peace with the Jin Dynasty? Obviously, because the Southern Song Dynasty had the strength to rule by crossing the river, the Jin State's attack on the Southern Song Dynasty was bound to gain more than it lost. In this context, the two sides can honestly sit down and negotiate, although in the process of peace talks, the Southern Song Dynasty suffered more losses.
If a bureaucrat at the end of the Ming Dynasty dared to say: I can guarantee the realization of peace, just like the southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty in history, I estimate that the entire Ming Dynasty hall will offer him up, because this is something that the Buddha can do.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty had already surrendered Mongolia and Korea, and Mao Wenlong had already entered the coffin; at this time, Daming had almost lost the ability to fight in the field, and the internal rogues were constantly making trouble.
Looking at the army again, the most powerful army at the end of the Ming Dynasty was the Guanning Army, but the Guanning Army faced the attack of the Qing Dynasty, and the main force did not even dare to go out of the city gate, so that the enemy repeatedly led the army to go deep into the Great Wall, burned and plundered and calmly left.
In such a disparity in power contrast, it is too beautiful to expect how a paper agreement can be done.
When the news of the peace talks came, the Hanlin Academy's cultivation of the Zodiac Zhou immediately expressed his opposition, and the point of his opposition was also very real: The enemy is strong and we are weak, is it not wishful thinking to engage in peace talks now? The agreement reached in this context is of little use, do we dare to cut military spending on the northern frontier?
No matter whether the construction of the prisoners must not be paid, the money must not be successful, the success must not be long, even if the money is not, the money is complete, and the army is long, where can the soldiers of Ningyuan, Jinzhou, Zunhua, Jizhou, Xuanfu, and Datong be withdrawn? And after the construction of the money, the army can be withdrawn from the Central Plains to curry favor with liukou, and this is not much to think about! - "The State Of The Kingdom", vol. 96.
Huang Daozhou spoke quite realistically, but he did not finish his words: whether or not he negotiated peace with daqing and whether the peace talks were successful or not, the military expenditure of the northern border defense could not be reduced or dared not be reduced.
The peace talks were Yang Sichang's suggestion, which was the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638 AD), as early as the second year of Chongzhen (1629 AD), yuan Chonghuan was arrested and imprisoned, Zu Dashou led the Guan Ning army without saying goodbye, and the nature of the warlord was exposed.
At this time, although Zu Dashou was no longer the leader of the Guanning Army, the leader of the Guanning Army was Wu Sangui, the nephew of Zu Dashou. In other words, at this time, the Guan Ning army still did not listen to the dispatch of the Chongzhen Emperor.
What would have happened if the Chongzhen Emperor had successfully negotiated peace with the Qing Dynasty and taken the opportunity to cut off the supply of the Guanning army? People who don't have food will do anything, and everyone can play to their full potential.
If things really developed to this point, then the Chongzhen Emperor was the standard to find nothing to do.
Most of those who support peace talks like to avoid real problems. In addition to Yang Sichang, later another Chen Xinjia proposed peace talks, but Chen Xinjia proposed that the peace talks were already in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642 AD).
Although Daming at this time had not yet perished, compared with the later Nanming, it was also the level of difficult brothers.
Prior to this, in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen (1641 AD), the Qing Dynasty won the victory at the Battle of Songjin, Li Zicheng conquered Luoyang, and Zhang Xianzhong conquered Xiangyang.
By the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the strength faction that could honestly obey was only Sun Chuanting. In the same year, Sun Chuanting was also defeated by Li Zicheng.
At this time, Daming did not have the qualifications to be compared with the Great Qing, not even to be compared with Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
Some people may say that Zuo Liangyu and Gao Jie and others are not still government troops? But they just hung up the sign of the government army, and their behavior was no different from that of the warlords at the end of the dynasty.
At this time, besides the immortals, who can save Daming?
During the seventeen years of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the north of the Great Wall was gradually unified, and the south of the Great Wall was gradually divided; the north of the Great Wall gradually centralized, and the south of the Great Wall gradually weakened; the army controlled north of the Great Wall was more and more, and the army controlled south of the Great Wall was less and less.
This is a real interest, but some people like to look at history in isolation.
There was a passage circulating on the Internet: "For two hundred and seventy-six years, I have been in a dynasty of two hundred and seventy-six years, and I have not been able to make peace, I have not paid compensation, I have not cut off the land, I have not paid tribute, the Son of Heaven has guarded the gate of the country, and the king has died in the community." ”
This is a very uplifting statement, giving people a feeling of pure grandfather, but is this the truth? Apparently not.
Whether or not the peace talks succeed or not, they are based on practical interests, not on reputation and integrity. People who like to talk about fame and integrity have one biggest commonality: they like to pretend to be big-tailed wolves.
In the beginning, in order to avoid a two-front battle, Daming began to support the Mongols to contain Houjin (not yet called Daqing at that time). In the forty-fifth year of the Wanli Calendar (1617 AD), Daming opened the town of Guangning as a treaty port to facilitate trade between Mongolia and Daming. In addition, Daming gave silver to the Mongol leader Lin Dan Khan every year, initially only one thousand taels, and then increased year by year, reaching 120,000 taels in the forty-eighth year of the Wanli calendar (1620 AD).
This is the legendary "Bu Na Gong"? Of course, it is true that it is not a nagun in name, but what the specific facts are, everyone should have a number in mind.
Don't be misled by the passages circulating on the Internet, what "no peace talks", just do not qualify for peace talks. If you can negotiate peace, pay tribute, and pay compensation, Daming will certainly not give up, after all, reputation is always less important than fate.