The Chongzhen Emperor knew that hundreds of officials had money, so why would he rather beg the courtiers for donations than raid their homes?
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng attacked the capital, and the Chongzhen Emperor could not bear the insult of the king of the fallen country, and hanged himself at Coal Mountain. The reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty was largely due to the problem of money, the people suffered from bone-to-bone exploitation, and the soldiers on the front line still did not receive food. The uprisings continued one after another, the army was scattered, Chongzhen was lonely, and the Ming Dynasty was determined.
Before that, the Chongzhen Emperor made one last attempt, that is, to call on the ministers to donate money. Chongzhen was a very good-looking emperor who pretended to be diligent and hardworking, but when he reached a desperate situation, he could only pull down his body and plead with the minister for donations to solve the urgent need. Theoretically, in such a situation, Chongzhen should mobilize all resources to save the country, such as directly forcing officials to use their assets as military expenses, while Chongzhen is quietly collecting donations.
First of all, Chongzhen's character has always been at both ends of the rat:
The emperor was the supreme ruler of the country, and Chongzhen did not order the confiscation of property, but instead sought perfection and used the least efficient method, that is, to collect donations. The process of fundraising alone takes a long time, and there is almost no point in everyone prevaricating for a while.
The Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian was the fifth son of Emperor Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo and the half-brother of Emperor Mingxi Zhu Youxiao. Thanks to his father, Chongzhen had a very unhappy childhood. The Wanli Emperor did not look up to Zhu Changluo, and it came from the fact that Zhu Changluo's mother was an ordinary palace girl. It was because of a casual encounter that Princess Wang Gongfei conceived a child and gave birth to the crown prince Zhu Changluo.
What followed was a mighty battle over the foundation of the country, in which the Wanli Emperor did not want to make Zhu Changluo the crown prince, but wanted to make Zhu Changxun, the son of Concubine Zheng Guifei, the crown prince. Of course, the ministers did not agree, the emperor, Zheng Guifei, and the ministers fought endlessly, and Wanli simply did not go up to the dynasty, nor did he read the song chapter.
In the twenty-ninth year of the Wanli Calendar, Zhu Changluo was made crown prince, and the imperial court remained turbulent afterwards. In the thirty-ninth year of the Wanli Calendar, the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian was born, and given the often unstable status of his father Zhu Changluo, coupled with Zheng Guifei's powerful enemies, Zhu Youjian would not receive much good treatment.
Since the birth of the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian, he has been in a negative environment, the Ming Palace Attack Case, the Red Pill Case, the Palace Transfer Case, and the Imperial Palace Shrouded in unknown conspiracies, all of which occurred around Chongzhen. In a complex upbringing, Chongzhen was both inferior and conceited, suspicious and anxious, he wanted to revive Daming, but he lacked confidence, he wanted to appoint talents, but he did not take advice.
In the face of major decisions, Chongzhen will always be hesitant at both ends of the rat. In the first month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the chancellor Li Mingrui advised the Chongzhen Emperor that it was best to move the capital to Nanjing. Chongzhen Road:
"Ruyi and Yuanyi are united, but the ministers outside do not obey, why not?"
This means that Shuo also wants to move south, but the ministers outside do not agree, what should I do?
Li Mingrui continued:
"The Mandate of Heaven is very dense, and when the Sacred Heart is broken within, do not cause the umbilicus to worry."
This means that the time has come to make a decision, the situation is urgent, and there can be no further hesitation.
Chongzhen, on the other hand, has been hesitant, it is obvious that he does not have the firmness and determination of Zhu Yuanzhang, and between hesitations, the opportunity no longer exists, and after Li Zicheng entered the city, he had to commit suicide and martyrdom.
Ten years after Chongzhen, Emperor Taiji once again sent troops south, and Chongzhen ordered Lu Xiangsheng to serve as the governor of the military and defend the Beijing Division. At that time, Chongzhen intended to negotiate peace, while Lu Xiangsheng insisted on resisting the war and hesitated to repeat itself. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Lu Xiangsheng was besieged by several times the Qing army in Julu, the eunuch Gao Qi sneaked up and held heavy troops but did not come to the rescue, Lu Xiangsheng died in battle, and the empire buried a good general. Gao Qiqian's wish to see death and not be saved stemmed from the Chongzhen Emperor's desire for peace talks, as well as Gao Qiqian's speculation on the holy will, after all, the eunuch could only rely on the emperor, of course, the final peace talks were not achieved.
Second, the officials of the Ming Dynasty and the emperor have been separated from Germany:
At the last moment, Chongzhen had no money, the national treasury had no money, and the military salaries could not be paid, so at this time, military expenses should be raised at all costs. And Chongzhen once again fell into the entanglement, he did not want to offend the scholar, but also wanted to maintain the dignity of the emperor, and finally chose the compromise method, which is also the most unreliable method, to collect donations.
By this time, the scholars and doctors had already abandoned some principles and dignity, after all, the world belonged to his old Zhu family, and he was only working. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, it was just a change of boss, as long as the position of power could be retained, nothing else mattered. So the ministers cried poor, made plays, and cried out for injustice, and after a farce, only 200,000 taels were raised, and then Chongzhen despaired.
The Ming Dynasty is different from the Song Dynasty, and the Northern Song Dynasty is the closest to the real sense of co-governance, that is, the ministers are not only migrant workers, but also the rulers of the world. In the final Northern Song Dynasty, almost no scholar was killed, and the status of the civil servant was raised to an unprecedented level:
"Establish a heart for heaven and earth, establish a destiny for the people, continue to learn from the saints, and open up peace for all the worlds."
This should be the duty and mission of the scholars.
Although not all of the ministers were good, the song dynasty courtiers were more loyal to the imperial court than the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, Chongzhen's trust in both civilian ministers and military generals was very low, and the first assistant of the cabinet alone was replaced by forty-four, which is very telling.
Beginning with Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not regard their ministers as allies, but only as enemies or as migrant workers. The four major cases of the early Ming Dynasty, the Empty Seal Case, the Hu Weiyong Case, the Blue Jade Case, and the Guo Huan Case, implicated more than 100,000 people who were killed, and this alone was enough to offend all officials. Officials were corrupt, but the consequences of doing so also made the relationship between officials and the emperor extremely tense, so many officials only cared about his position of power and did not have a trace of family and country feelings.
After Yuan Chonghuan was captured, Zu Dashou led his troops to flee, never daring to enter Beijing again, and there was no one available in Liaodong. Yuan Chonghuan's style was not normal, but he would not be executed by Ling Chi, not considering Yuan Chonghuan personally, but also considering the generals and soldiers of Liaodong. Yuan Chonghuan has given everything for the country, even if he has made mistakes, he should not end up like this. In the end, the hearts of the Liaodong generals were chilled, and no one was willing to fight for the imperial court anymore.
Sun Chuanting was the last trump card at the end of the Ming Dynasty, in order to conquer the east and west for the imperial court, he made great military achievements, Chongzhen sixteen years, Sun Chuanting died on the battlefield, and the result was:
"Or if the undead are rumored to be in court, the emperor is suspicious, so he will not give it to him."
The Chongzhen Emperor did not commemorate the heroic martyrs, but was worried that Sun Chuanting was not dead, and did not even give him a title after his death.
When it came time to donate, of course, the ministers did not buy Chongzhen's account, some smashed pots and sold iron, some posted "this house for sale" on the door of the home, and some only donated a few hundred taels, so that Chongzhen "how can I be embarrassed". If it was the monarch and the subject, maybe Chongzhen would have moved south a long time ago, or simply negotiated peace with the emperor Taiji, and the ending should be much better.
In the end, if they rush to raid their homes, they will only force the officials to rebel, causing them to flee to Li Zicheng's camp:
In the process of Chongzhen's first rat at both ends, it may be worried that the magnates will become traitors, and things such as leading the way for Li Zicheng may occur. If you change to Zhu Yuanzhang and directly copy all the homes, there will be no other considerations at all, and Chongzhen thinks too much.
When Chongzhen called for donations, Wei Zaode, the first assistant of the cabinet, shirked that he had no money and only donated five hundred taels. Li Zicheng's soldiers were under the city, and Chongzhen asked Wei Zaode how it was good, as long as you opened your mouth, immediately gave the order. Wei Zaode was lying on the ground, his ass pouting and not saying a word. Li Zicheng attacked the capital, grabbed Wei Zaode and asked:
"Why didn't you die with the emperor?"
Wei Zaode replied:
"Fang seeks utility, then dare to die?"
This means that I am ready to serve the new court, how dare I die?
Although Li Zicheng was a thief, he did not look up to such a traitor, and under torture, Wei Zaode handed over a large amount of gold and silver, and finally died in prison.
The first assistant of the cabinet is like this, and the officials below can imagine that if Chongzhen forcibly orders the raid on the house, these guys will definitely directly defect to the enemy. The officials who cried in front of Chongzhen handed over a huge amount of property under the pressure of Li Zicheng, and Li Zicheng found a total of 70 million taels of silver in the capital, and most of these officials also became the ghosts of the sword. I don't know if this is Chongzhen's sorrow or the official's sorrow!
Later, there were also rumors that the Chongzhen Emperor's own small treasury contained more than 30 million taels of silver, but in fact, Li Zicheng deliberately smeared him and counted the silver of the hundred officials he had looted on his head.
The truth is, he really has no money...