In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), Li Zicheng led the rebel army into the city of Beijing, Chongzhen called a hundred officials in the front hall, and no one came, Chongzhen said: "The ministers are mistaken, the monarch is dead, and the world of two hundred and seventy-seven years, once abandoned, is the mistake of the traitors, so much so." In the end, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on a crooked neck tree, accompanied only by the eunuch Wang Cheng'en.
Before the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself, he had asked for help from Ningnan Bozuo Liangyu, who had 800,000 troops. However, the Chongzhen Emperor did not wait for Zuo Liangyu's request for help, and the Ming Dynasty ended like this? What was Zuo Liangyu doing at this time? The Biography of Ming Shi Zuo Liangyu records: "Neglect, did not follow the order, Wen Jingshi was trapped, the generals were fierce, with Jiangnan to establish themselves as kings, please lead the troops to the east." Liang Yumin cried and swore not to allow it. The deputy general Xiu Fen: "If there are those who do not follow the official orders to repeat the words of the East, I will strike at them!" "If you put a cannon on a giant ship and cut off the river, the crowd will be determined."
Zuo Liangyu, who had a heavy army in his hands, did not come to save the Chongzhen Emperor for three reasons:
The first reason: the Ming Dynasty has exhausted its qi number, internal and external troubles, and it is no longer possible to save
The seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644) was a year of great changes in Chinese history, a year in which the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the Dashun Trilateral Game. At that time, Li Zicheng's army had already reached Beijing. Outside the Ming Dynasty's Guanwai, Wu Sangui was in Ningyuan and became an isolated city outside Shanhaiguan. By this time, Dorgon's army had arrived at Onghou. Although Zuo Liangyu had a heavy army in his hands, he did not want to martyr the country with Chongzhen, so it was better to preserve his strength, take a corner of peace, and get a place in the chaotic world.
The second reason: the military general Qin Wang did not have a good ending
In the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Emperor Taiji led tens of thousands of Qing soldiers to bypass Mongolia, in order to avoid Yuan Chonghuan's Guanningjin defense line, reached the city of Beijing, launched a fierce attack, at this time Yuan Chonghuan only took 9,000 cavalry, from Liaodong to quickly reinforce, Yuan Chonghuan did not fear the cold, and fought a bloody battle with the Eight Banner Army under the city of Beijing. At the moment of this thousand guns, the Chongzhen Emperor suddenly summoned Yuan Chonghuan to the Forbidden City, and what was unexpected was that Chongzhen actually ordered yuan Chonghuan to be arrested.
Yuan Chonghuan's final ending, the Biography of Ming Shi Yuan Chonghuan, records: "In August of the third year, Sui Chonghuan was in the city, and his brother's wife flowed for three thousand miles, from his home. Chonghuan has no children, and his family has no spare money, and the world has been wronged. Killing Yuan Chonghuan, the Chongzhen Emperor thought he was very clever, but in fact he did a "stupid thing", the "Biography of Ming Shi Yuan Chonghuan" recorded: "Since Chonghuan died, there was no one to benefit from the side affairs, and the Ming Dynasty was determined." Zuo Liangyu was afraid, and went to the prince himself, and after falling into the same fate as Yuan Chonghuan, Zuo Liangyu did not go to Qin Wang.
The third reason: the gap in strength
Let's take a look at the situation of Zuo Liangyu's 800,000 troops from the historical data, "Ming Shi Zuo Liangyu Biography": Liangyu soldiers 800,000, millions, the first five battalions are pro-army, the last five battalions are surrendered. Every spring and autumn, the volunteers of Wuchang are full of mountains and colors, and the valleys are full. The military law uses two people to clip the horse, saying: "Over the right." The horse's feet moved like thunder, and the sound was heard for miles. The zhuzhen soldiers were only Gao Jie the strongest, not as far as Liang Yu. Ran Liangyu was defeated since Zhu Xianzhen, and the elite was exhausted, after that
Although the military is strong, the laws and regulations are no longer intimidating. The Liangyu family was annihilated in Xuzhou, and in Wuchang, the various camps of you prostitutes sang and danced, and liangyu was alone, without Ji Shi. Taste the night feast, summon more than ten prostitutes to drink, stagger the footsteps, and look at the left and be careful, and lead out in a second way. The guests were solemn, and they did not dare to look up. Its control has a body, and it is served by many of them. Rather, when Liangyu was old and sick, he had no intention of doing so.
Zuo Liangyu had a heavy army in his hands, but it was far from Li Zicheng's 100,000-strong army that captured Beijing, don't look at Li Zicheng's peasant army, who has been honing with Li Zicheng in the fires of war for so many years, and his combat effectiveness is no longer what it used to be. Otherwise, it would be impossible to travel from Xi'an to Beijing. Besides, Zuo Liangyu had once lost to Li Zicheng, and there would be some resistance in his heart. Coupled with the fact that Zuo Liangyu himself is old, Zuo Liangyu did not go to Beijing Qinwang according to the above three points.
Zuo Liangyu's final ending
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), Zhu Yousong, the Prince of Fu, was proclaimed emperor by Ma Shiying and Lu Jiude, and promoted Zuo Liangyu to be marquis, and King Fu entrusted the affairs of the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River to Zuo Liangyu, and later Li Zicheng was defeated at Shanhaiguan, and the Biography of Ming Shi Zuo Liangyu recorded: "Liangyu was able to restore Jingzhou, De'an, and Chengtian in the western region of Chu. The Governor of Huguang, He Tengjiao, and the governor Yuan Jixian lived in Jiangxi, both of which were shielded by Liang Yushan and the southern capital. ”
Later, after Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng took power, they were afraid that Zuo Liangyu and himself would not be able to get by, and on the surface they befriended Zhang Liangyu and secretly built Banji City as a barrier for the western defense, and later Zuo Liangyu's Imperial History Huang Peng bumped into Ma Shiying, and Ma Shiying ordered the capture of Huang Peng, Zuo Liangyu did not agree, and Huang Peng took this opportunity to ally with the general of the Thirty-sixth Battalion. Later, Zuo Liangyu rebelled, descending the river east from Hankou, and after reaching Jiujiang, he wanted to kidnap Yuan Jixian and ally with himself.
Yuan Jixian refused to ally with Zuo Liangyu, so Zuo Liangyu Hao Secretly entered Jiujiang, burned the city down, and left. The Ming Shi Zuo Liangyu records: "Liang Yu looked at the fire in the city, and said: "To the negative Yuan Gong." "Vomiting blood for several liters, is the night death." Shi Shunzhi 2nd year April also. The generals did not mourn, and jointly pushed their son Menggeng as a queen. On the seventh day, the army went east and ordered Huang Degong to cross the river to prevent suppression. ”