On March 17, 1644, a peasant army led by Li Zicheng besieged the city of Beijing.
The defensive forces originally deployed outside Beijing have lost the ability to compete with the peasant army. In Beijing, from ministers to ordinary people, they are all trying to survive.
On the night of March 18, the Chongzhen Emperor saw that the situation was irreparable, paced around the main hall, pounded his chest, sighed all night, and shouted one after another: "The ministers inside and outside have misunderstood me!" Mislead me! ”
Then, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered Gong Yonggu, the commander of the Archery Capital, to use his own family to escort the crown prince to flee to the south. However, at this time, Gong Yonggu prostrated his head and said, "Relatives are not allowed to hide armor, how dare I have a family!" The Chongzhen Emperor could only weep silently.
Soon, Li Zicheng led a peasant army to attack the inner city of Beijing. On March 19, just after dawn, the Chongzhen Emperor knew that the defeat was decided, and accompanied by the eunuch Wang Cheng'en, climbed the Shouhuang Pavilion on the top of the coal mountain. The Chongzhen Emperor wrote a suicide note in despair. Then, he covered his face with messy hair, chose a crooked neck tree, opposed Wang Cheng'en, and hanged himself.
What happened to the Chongzhen Emperor in the period before the fall of the empire that led him to choose to hang himself in despair?
Chongzhen
First, be diligent and earnest, and do not enjoy happiness in a high position
Emperor Chongzhen's elder brother Zhu Youxiao died at the age of twenty-three and had no heirs. Brother and brother, the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian ascended to the throne.
Zhu Yu School
However, unlike his drunken brother Zhu Youxiao, Chongzhen was an emperor who worked hard all his life. However, the Chongzhen Emperor, who was in a high position, was not like his ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang, who was dressed at night and diligently maintained the government. Although the Chongzhen Emperor was physically busy, his spirit and heart were painful.
Zhu Yuanzhang
As an emperor for seventeen years, Chongzhen faced a "mess" left by the previous emperors due to laziness and slackness, and the government and the opposition were full of dangers and chaos. The Chongzhen Emperor was tired of running for his life, and sitting on the dragon chair was like sitting on a needle felt.
If the Chongzhen Emperor had been born decades earlier, and had been emperor at that time, he would have been diligent and diligent, busy and busy, and would definitely be a good emperor who stood out from the crowd and had achievements, and perhaps he would still have a history. Unfortunately, by the time the Ming Dynasty reached 1627 AD, it was already in ruins and in danger.
Subjectively, the Chongzhen Emperor did make an effort. He is not a good dog, no absurd habits. Chongzhen once "repeatedly summoned the platform", that is, personally received the courtiers and handled government affairs. This kind of situation in which the emperor personally handled government affairs basically disappeared from Emperor Wuzong to the emperors of the Six Dynasties. The Chongzhen Emperor not only restored him, but also persisted.
The Chongzhen Emperor solemnly promised that, in addition to the extremely harsh weather such as severe cold and heat, he would personally visit the imperial government and preside over the government affairs, "at that time, the Imperial Wenhua Hall, all the chapters, and the auxiliary ministers should be consulted in detail, and whether they could be separated or not, so as to be appropriate."
The Chongzhen Emperor also faced the reality and mobilized the masses to solve the problem together. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty suffered a drought, and Chongzhen urged all the courtiers to reflect. He also listed in one breath what is a kind of evil atmosphere of the moment:
First, the group of courtiers "deceived in many things" and did not tell the truth. The second is "improper employment", and talented people cannot be appointed. The third is that "the incumbent prevaricates", many people occupy their positions and cannot perform their duties, and the corpses are vegetarian. The fourth is that "the punishment is lost, but the prison is wronged", accusing the East Factory, the West Factory and other judicial corruption. Fifth, "ink officials run rampant, while small people are lost"...
However, although the Chongzhen Emperor knew the crux of the problem, he had no way to solve it.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was like a company on the verge of collapse. Emperors and courtiers are like employers and employees. As several emperors, including Chongzhen, broke the contract one after another, one after another who followed the rules and worked diligently were either wrongly killed or deposed. And those employees who are slippery, mischievous, and full of money are appreciated and promoted.
As a result, there is no trust between the employee and the employer, there is no contract between the monarchs, and the employee no longer obeys the contract and no longer trusts their employer.
Second, a great drought fell from heaven, and the levy was violent and lost the hearts of the people
The Chongzhen Emperor not only lost the hearts of his subjects, but also the hearts of the people. During the Chongzhen period, natural disasters continued, and the year was worse than a year. In the summer of chongzhen's first year, there was a drought in Qifu, which caused the land to crack for thousands of miles. In March of the third year of Chongzhen, the drought came again, and the Chongzhen Emperor chose an auspicious day to pray to the heavens.
Still
In the fifth year of Chongzhen, the three provinces of Hangzhou, Jia, and Hu had not rained since August until October. In the sixth year of Chongzhen, there was a drought from Beijing to Jiangxi. In the summer of Chongzhen's tenth year, it did not rain from Beijing to the east of the Yellow River, and Jiangxi suffered another drought.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, drought also occurred in Liangjing, Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. In the twelfth year of Chongzhen, it was the turn of Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Zhejiang and other places to suffer drought. Thirteen years later, there was a drought in the two capitals and the three provinces of Nüdeng, Qing and Lai.
Fourteen years, two countries in Beijing, Shandong, Henan, Huguang and Xuan, dashi border drought. In May of the sixteenth year, He prayed to say that Yuze, and ordered his courtiers and craftsmen to repair the province.
However, it's not just drought, it's also locust plagues. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, there were locust plagues in Shandong and Henan. In June of the eleventh year, there was a great drought locust in Liangjing, Shandong and Henan. In May of the thirteenth year, there were great drought locusts in Liangjing, Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi. In June of the fourteenth year, there were great drought locusts in Liangjing, Shandong, Henan and Zhejiang.
In the last seven years of Chongzhen, locust plagues and droughts continued one after another, and the droughts were mainly in the northern region, the people were displaced, there was no food, and peasant uprisings occurred in many parts of the north.
However, Chongzhen bet on the distribution of money and grain and the suppression of the people by force, and the result was that the people were lost and joined the rebellion.
In order to suppress the peasant uprising, the imperial court needed money and grain to train troops, but the imperial court was in financial difficulties, so it had to send more money and grain to the peasants, which made the peasants, who were originally poor and weak, overwhelmed and turned to the uprising. Imperial court officials also had to increase their labor to oppress the peasants, and the more taxes were raised, the more uprisings there were.
In the depths of the Chongzhen Emperor's thoughts, he always believed that with money and grain, he could recruit soldiers, buy horses, train soldiers, and thus extinguish the peasant uprising and consolidate his rule. He very severely forced the courtiers and grass-roots officials to use all means to knock out the common people, and ordered that "the special master of the examination and selection of the department" was ordered.
Therefore, those who were officials "feared the punishment of demotion and demotion, and made it clear to the officials: 'Self-serving officials, do not care for the generations'. So I didn't blame the household, but the granary. Even richer grain has been pardoned, take the opportunity to chase along." Fearing that the sin would spread to him, the officials exerted pressure layer by layer and rebuked the grain chief.
As a result, it can be imagined that many people have quite complained and boiled over, and even some people would rather flee and become thieves.
Third, the army was defeated and fell, and it was suggested that the southward move should be faced
From the first month of 1644 AD, Li Zicheng led an army from the west to press the city of Beijing step by step. Since Li Zicheng's occupation of Xi'an, the news of the defeat of the front battle has been frequently reported, so that the Chongzhen Emperor has not slept well. He was like a needle felt, always with a sense of foreboding.
On the third day of the first lunar month, the Chongzhen Emperor specially summoned Li Mingrui to the palace for a visit. Obviously, the Chongzhen Emperor wanted to consult with the ministers. Li Mingrui had just entered the main hall, and the Chongzhen Emperor immediately went forward to inquire about a good strategy for repelling the enemy.
Li Mingrui asked the Chongzhen Emperor to retreat from his entourage, and then walked up to the emperor and whispered, "Since the emperor was summoned, he has listened to the thief's letter quite evilly, and now he is approaching Qidian, and this is a dangerous autumn of survival, and there is only one strategy to move south, which can alleviate the current urgency." ”
Li Mingrui suggested that the Chongzhen Emperor move south, but the stakes were high. Because, the Chongzhen Emperor recalled the absconding incident of Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen when he was under the city of Wa thorn troops, and was scolded by thousands of people. Chongzhen said, "If we do this again today, won't we be trapped in the situation of my subjugation of the country?" ”
Zhu Qi Town
Subsequently, the Chongzhen Emperor pointed to the heavens again and said, "I don't know what The Providence is?" ”
Li Mingrui said that the Mandate of Heaven is difficult to know, and suggested that the Emperor should not hesitate and should make a decision as soon as possible, saying: "The Mandate of Heaven is very dense, when the Sacred Heart is broken, do not cause the worry of eating the umbilicus." ”
Didn't the Chongzhen Emperor ever think of moving south? He said he wanted to move south a long time ago, but "because no one praised him, it was still late." In addition, he was also worried that the foreign ministers would oppose, "But the foreign ministers do not obey, why not?" ”
In his heart, the Chongzhen Emperor actually decided that moving south was one of the ways, but his appearance was not fully expressed. Since moving south meant keeping the north, the Chongzhen Emperor actually wanted his subjects to join forces to persuade him to leave Beijing with dignity.
However, the Chongzhen Emperor was duplicitous and opposed the southward migration for the sake of face, "If things are unknowable, the monarch will die and righteousness will be righteous." ". However, he also asked Feng Yuanpiao, the inspector of Tianjin, to collect the ships and be on standby to clean the mouth for the purpose of moving south.
In order to reduce his own pressure and avoid being insulted in the future, the Chongzhen Emperor quietly hinted that Chen Yan led hundreds of officials to resolutely petition and advise him to move south. But Chen Yan was reluctant because he was also afraid of being charged with persuading him to move south in the future.
Chen Yan was originally a "mediocre and unlearned" person, but he was very good at meeting people. Therefore, since the Chongzhen Emperor was deposed by Zhou Yanru, he was the most favored. Therefore, the Chongzhen Emperor said to Chen, "This matter must be borne by Mr. Chen. ”
However, Chen Yan's reaction was unexpected by the Chongzhen Emperor, who was silent, neither a good strategy for retreating from the enemy nor a willingness to play the role of persuading the saint to move south. Therefore, Chen Yan said: "Zanli is invalid" and asked for sick leave to go home. The Chongzhen Emperor was very disappointed and helpless and said, "If you want to do it, sir, don't do it." ”
Fourth, on the last day, he made up his mind to kill his wife and daughter
On March 17, 1644, a peasant army led by Li Zicheng besieged the city of Beijing. The defensive forces originally deployed outside Beijing have lost the ability to compete with the peasant army. In Beijing, from ministers to ordinary people, they are all trying to survive.
Early the next morning, the day before Li Zicheng attacked the city of Beijing, the Chongzhen Emperor urgently summoned hundreds of officials to discuss countermeasures. However, the civil and military officials kneeling in the main hall looked at each other speechlessly, helpless, and only wept bitterly.
In the imperial case of the upper letter, there is the phrase "each civilian subject can be killed", which is secretly shown to the close attendant and then erased. At this moment, Chongzhen was already extremely disappointed in the group of subjects, and he hated them very much.
In the afternoon, the eunuch Cao Huachun surrendered and opened the Zhangyi Gate, and the peasant army rushed in. The eunuch Wang Lian hurried to inform the Chongzhen Emperor, who thought that Li Guozhen's army was still resisting. Unexpectedly, the eunuch Wang Lian said: "Wherever Your Majesty has soldiers, you can only go quickly." At this time, the eunuch Zhang Yin persuaded the Chongzhen Emperor to surrender early and was stabbed to death by a sword.
At this time, the Chongzhen Emperor sent Gong Yonggu, a lieutenant of Madu, to use his own family to escort the crown prince to flee to the south. However, at this time, Gong Yonggu prostrated his head and said, "Relatives are not allowed to hide armor, how dare I have a family!" The Chongzhen Emperor could only weep silently.
But Chongzhen did not give up, and then he hurriedly sent his men to send the prince, the Yong King, and the Ding King out of the city in disguise, and took refuge in the homes of relatives. Afterwards, Chongzhen summoned Concubine Yuan and Empress Zhou and ordered them to drink together, and Chongzhen drank dozens of cups in one gulp.
Drinking wine is to strengthen his courage, Chongzhen can not watch his concubine fall into the hands of the enemy, so he waved the sword in his hand and slashed at Yuan Fei, who immediately fell in response.
Subsequently, he hurriedly returned to Kunning Palace, hanged himself, and died of martyrdom. Before Empress Zhou was dying, she said to Chongzhen: "Concubines have followed you for eighteen years, and Your Majesty has not heard a word from concubines, so that today, now That Your Majesty has ordered your concubines to die, how dare concubines not die!" ”
It turned out that Empress Zhou had also persuaded Chongzhen to move south, suggesting that they still had a home in Nanjing. But helplessly, Chongzhen did not make up his mind, resulting in today's situation.
Princess Changping cried bitterly. The Chongzhen Emperor thought to himself, instead of letting his daughters be humiliated, it was better to be martyred. So the Chongzhen Emperor swung his sword, covered his face with his sleeve, and killed his young daughter Princess Zhaoren with all his heart. Princess Changping was cut off in the left arm, then cut off the right arm again and fainted on the ground. The Chongzhen Emperor cried out to his daughters with great sorrow: "Ru Nai He gave birth to my family? ”
Then, the Chongzhen Emperor said to several concubines, "Er wait and go!" He killed several more concubines.
The Chongzhen Emperor had completely lost his mind, but at this moment, he wanted to survive even more. So he hurriedly changed into civilian clothes and prepared to abscond out of the city. Where would he have thought that the first time he went out of the city was in the first year of Chongzhen, but it was to examine the people's feelings and the city's defense. At that time, he had just ascended to the throne and was full of ambition. And this time out of the city, it was actually for survival!
He changed into ordinary people's civilian clothes, mixed with many eunuchs, and left Donghua Gate to Chaoyang Gate. It is pretended to be going out of the city at the behest of the eunuch Wang Xiangyao. However, the gatekeeper insisted on verifying his identity after dawn and then releasing him. The eunuchs tried to seize the door, but were bombarded away by the gatekeepers.
The Chongzhen Emperor had no choice but to send people to the home of Zhu Chunchen, the Duke of Qi, who was in charge of the city guard, but did not see the Duke of Qi himself. Reluctantly, Chongzhen, who had eaten the closed door, went to the Anding Gate again, but because the gate was heavy, it could not be opened, and the road to survival was completely blocked, so he had to return to the palace.
Fifth, when the king entered Beijing, he had no choice but to spend the flowers
At dawn on the nineteenth day, the fire inside and outside the Forbidden City reflected the sky. The eunuch Wang Xiangyao surrendered at Xuanwu Gate, and the general Ofe Li Zicheng, the "King of Chuang", marched into the capital. Zhang Jinyan, the soldier shangshu who guarded the Zhengyang Gate, and Zhu Chunchen of the Chaoyang Gate also opened their doors to meet the surrender, and the inner city of Beijing fell into the hands of Li Zicheng's army.
Lee Zi-cheng
When the Chongzhen Emperor learned of this, he personally rang the bell in the empty front hall and summoned the civil and military officials, hoping that someone would come to accompany him in the last paragraph, but no one came. He looked up at the sky with a long sigh, bit his finger, and wrote a blood letter to Li Zicheng:
"Since he ascended the throne for seventeen years, the rebel thief directly approached the Beijing Division, although the Rebel Thieves were directly approaching the Beijing Division, although the Rebel Thieves were trampling on the Jing Division, although the Rebel Thieves were wrongly degenerated. Death, faceless ancestors in the ground, to remove the crown, to cover the face. Let the thief split the corpse, and do not hurt the people alone. ”
Immediately, the Chongzhen Emperor, with the help of his close eunuch Wang Cheng'en, trembled and climbed up the Shouhuang Pavilion (now Shoujing Mountain) on the top of the coal mountain. This was once the place where he inspected the training of the soldiers guarding the city, but now it was the place where he was going to meet the patriarchs.
At this moment, he just wanted to die early and leave this dust that made him desperate. Under an old begonia tree (now commonly known as the "crooked neck tree"), he threw a thick rope, covered his face with his hair, and hanged himself in opposition to Wang Cheng'en.
The Chongzhen Emperor was extremely embarrassed when he hanged himself, wearing a blue cloth dress with bare left foot and a red shoe on his right foot, and a suicide note on his body.
The death of the Chongzhen Emperor meant the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
In the capital city, there was not much sad atmosphere because of the death of the Chongzhen Emperor. The people of Jingshi set up incense sticks and set up desks, and posted various slogans welcoming Li Zicheng, the "king of Chuang", into Beijing: "Long live emperor Yongchang of Dashun!" Hooray! "Long live the first year of Yongchang, Long live King Shuntian!" And everywhere there were lights and lights, warmly welcoming the arrival of the peasant rebel army.
Li Zicheng, wearing a felt hat and a green cloth military uniform, surrounded by a tall black horse, escorted by hundreds of cavalry, marched majestically into the capital and entered the palace from the Chengtian Gate.
The peasant army led by Li Zicheng searched the palace several times inside and outside the palace, but did not find the Chongzhen Emperor. Li Zicheng said that he wanted to see people alive and corpses when he died, so he offered a reward of silver and ordered the sacrifice of the Chongzhen Emperor.
It wasn't until two days after the death of the Chongzhen Emperor that everyone discovered this already frozen monarch. The next day, the peasant army removed the coffins of the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou from the palace and stopped at Donghua Gate for public display.
In early April, Li Zicheng's regime sent people to bury the Chongzhen Emperor and Empress Zhou in the tomb of Concubine Changpingtian, which is the SiLing of the Ming Tombs.
brief summary:
On the eve of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Chongzhen Emperor said, "The emperor of the fallen country is not the king of the country, and all the subjects are the subjects of the country." He pushed the responsibility for the destruction of the country to the ministers, believing that it was "the wrong country for the ministers."
However, the demise of the Ming Dynasty has its historical inevitability. The Chongzhen Emperor's perverse moves, which caused the people's hearts to be lost and the ruling class to fall apart even more, were the decisive factors in the final demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Personnel have metabolism, and exchanges have become ancient and modern. After seventeen years of diligent administration, the Chongzhen Emperor still could not avoid the shame of carrying the king of the subjugated country. The ruthlessness of history is always a sigh.
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