Cut off the northwestern region and divide the king and reward the army with millions, and retreat to Henan... Since he was enthroned, he was willing to suppress the hordes in the imperial court, especially to help suppress the Liao domain with strong troops, but he did not follow the edicts and ears.
In March of the seventeenth year of Daming Chongzhen (April 1644), the wheel of history once again drove to a fork in the road, and Li Zicheng's three conditions made the Chongzhen Emperor unable to make a decision for a long time. At this moment, Li Zicheng had already surrounded the city of Beijing, and as long as he gave an order, the destruction of the city would only be in the morning and night. Agree to Li Zicheng's conditions, the backbone of the Ming Dynasty for more than two hundred years will be broken here, but if he does not agree, the two hundred years of the Ming Dynasty will also end here. Between the backbone and the fall of the country, the Chongzhen Emperor finally chose the former.
The Chongzhen Emperor, who had no chance of taking the throne, was appointed at the age of 17 and took over the mess of the Ming Dynasty. At the beginning of his reign, he liquidated Wei Zhongxian and took the imperial power into his own hands. The Chongzhen Emperor, who aspired to revitalize the Ming Dynasty, began to reform some of the long-standing shortcomings, such as the post station system. In the first year of Chongzhen (1628), the Ming court ordered the reduction of the post and the abolition of redundant stations and personnel, and the 22-year-old Shaanxi boy Li Zicheng was also dismissed because of major mistakes in his work. In order to eat a mixed meal, Li Zicheng chose to enlist in the army as a soldier, but his superiors mutinied the army because of the withholding of military salaries.
At this time, Li Zicheng was completely disappointed in the Ming Dynasty and decided to join the peasant army, and even though his superiors were recruited by the imperial court, he insisted on staying in the camp of the rebel army. In the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), Li Zicheng went to Shanxi to defect to his uncle Gao Yingxiang, and a few years later became the supreme leader of this rebel army. In January of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), Li Zicheng ushered in the highlight of his life - the founding of the country and the emperor. Li Zicheng established his own political power with the title of "Dashun", the yuan "Yongchang" and The capital of Xi'an. Li Zicheng, who claimed to be emperor, did not settle for the status quo, but continued to march to The Ming Dynasty's Beijing, and two months later the army came to the city of Beijing.
At this time, although Li Zicheng had the identity of an emperor, his legitimacy was not recognized, and he himself had doubts about his identity. The peasant mentality of being a little rich and peaceful made him choose to sit down and negotiate with the Chongzhen Emperor, so that he could have taken Beijing with a single blow, and he offered only 3 conditions: splitting the land and sealing the king, giving military expenses, and giving privileges. At this time, Li Zicheng had actually controlled the northwest region centered on Xi'an, and all he wanted was for the great tomorrow to give him a legal identity and name. It is not easy for the army to come to Beijing for a trip, and this 1 million taels of "travel expenses" is naturally reimbursed by Chongzhen. Therefore, Li Zicheng's two appeals are really not excessive.
As for the third condition, "do not follow the edict and go to the court", in other words, Li Zicheng hopes to have a certain degree of autonomy in the future. However, Li Zicheng did not take these benefits in vain, and he also expressed his willingness to assist the imperial court in "suppressing the Liao Domain" and eliminating the Qing Dynasty regime outside Guanwai. There is no doubt that compared with the destruction of the city and the destruction of the country, these three seemingly excessive conditions are definitely a good deal for the Chongzhen Emperor who is at the end of the road. Not only can Li Zicheng retire from the army, but perhaps he and the Qing Dynasty will be defeated, and all he needs to give is the position of a king of a different surname and 1 million taels of real gold and silver. However, it was such a cost-effective deal that the Chongzhen Emperor chose to refuse.
Since Liu Bang and his subjects signed the "White Horse Alliance", successive dynasties have no longer divided the titles of kings with different surnames, and the kings of Wei in the Han Dynasty and the Kings of Jin in Cao Wei are only preparatory work before usurping the throne. The Ariake generation, even the founding hero Xu Da, was only posthumously crowned a king after his death. Therefore, even if it was only a matter of saying a word to Li Zicheng, the Chongzhen Emperor was unwilling to break the Ming Dynasty's tradition of not having a king with a different surname. In addition, the 1 million taels of military expenses demanded by Li Zicheng could not be taken out by the Chongzhen Emperor, and the state treasury had been emptied for many years, and the Manchu dynasty's important ministers were only concerned with protecting their own interests.
As for Li Zicheng's conditions, with the character of the Chongzhen Emperor, he would never accept them, even if he wanted to accept him, he could not meet them. Not to mention dodging this time, what to do next time? If Li Zicheng had retired, and the next siege of the city would be the Qing army, what would the Chongzhen Emperor do to negotiate peace? Instead of living in a state of ferventure, it is better to die violently. When the city was destroyed, the Chongzhen Emperor "removed his crown and covered his face with hair", ended his life with a rope, and also announced the demise of the Ming Dynasty.