Since ancient times, China's dynasties cannot exceed three hundred years seems to have become an iron law, but this law is also traceable. When a dynasty is first established, it is most likely that it has just passed through a chaotic era, and its population has dropped sharply. Land in a large agricultural country is the top priority, and under the condition of a sharp decline in population, land is basically enough, and it is possible for everyone to eat enough.
In such a situation, as long as an emperor has a clear mind and rests with the people, even if he has no talent, he can create a so-called "prosperous world". But Chinese like to have children and prosper, and as soon as people are full, they want to have children. After several generations of population explosions, the land that began was naturally not enough to divide and not enough to eat.
So for the sake of a bite to eat, unrest took place, and that was how the peasant revolt took place. The cycle is generally three hundred years, with the focus on the lack of food caused by the population explosion. But the Ming Dynasty was even more miserable, they not only had a population explosion, but also shared a period of natural disasters in the Xiaoice River, the population explosion period coupled with frequent disasters in various places, and the great famine of more than ten years at the end of the Ming Dynasty appeared.
Even if the Chongzhen Emperor was not faint, and still had some means, he could not stop the anger of the people who did not have enough to eat. Peasant uprisings broke out one after another everywhere, and the fall of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be fate. One of the largest peasant rebel armies was Li Zicheng, the king of northern Shaanxi, who gathered millions of troops to resist grain and fields.
After more than ten years of development, the Ming Dynasty was finally overthrown in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), and the Chongzhen Emperor saw that the trend had gone, and finally hanged himself in coal mountains. But after all, it was a peasant uprising, and most of the troops under them were small and rich. They didn't expect to be able to win such a big victory, and after they attacked the Ming Imperial City, they were all intoxicated with such a victory.
Therefore, they ignored that outside the Pass, there was a foreign army that was looking at the tiger. A major general under Li Zicheng, who was immersed in victory, robbed Chen Yuanyuan, the concubine of Wu Sangui, the general of the Ming Dynasty, causing Wu Sangui to open Shanhaiguan in anger and put this foreign army into the Central Plains, Li Zicheng was invincible, and the Central Plains land changed its master from then on.
From the time Wang Dasheng entered Beijing and the Eight Banners Army of the Manchu Dolgun entered the pass, Li Zicheng fled, with a total of 42 days in between. What did Li Zicheng do during these 42 days? On March 19, 1644, the Dashun army broke through the city gate, and the people welcomed the arrival of the Dashun army with lights, at this time, Li Zicheng's army was still strictly disciplined, and the whole army had orders not to burn and loot.
But later, because most of the army was a peasant army, even if at first it was quite reserved because of Li Zicheng's orders. But when faced with magnificent buildings that have never been seen before, a variety of jewels and jades, and beautiful court beauties. Li Zicheng's orders were no longer binding, and within a few days they began to do no evil.
The local officials and rich merchants were extorted by them one after another, and his subordinate Liu Zongmin collected nearly 70 million taels of silver in just a few days. During that time, the whole capital was full of corpses, all of which were done by the Dashun army that could not control their hands. On the street, they dare to rob the women of the people to go back to be wives.
It is reasonable to say that the concubines and princesses in the palace will not let go, but when the Chongzhen Emperor committed suicide, he thought of such an end. The empress was ordered in advance to hang herself and kill her own favorite concubine, and the daughters did not let go. More than 200 palace eunuchs in the palace voluntarily jumped into the river to avoid the humiliation of the subjugation of the country.
Nearly 40 of Daming's loyal vassals and royal relatives also committed suicide to thank Daming. And some timid palace women who did not take the initiative to commit suicide were snatched away by the Da Shun army. One of the palace ladies, Dou Meiyi, was even made a concubine by Li Zicheng. As for the wives and daughters of those rich and noble families in the city, naturally they have not been spared. It also included the wives and daughters of some former Ming ministers.
For example, Chen Yuanyuan, the concubine of wu Sangui, a former Ming general, was taken by Liu Zongmin and beat Up Wu Sangui's old father violently. This is also a major reason why Wu Sangui later opened the Mountain Customs to attract the Manchurian Eight Banners Army, and it was also the reason why Li Zicheng's cooked duck flew. He did not restrain his subordinates, even if he was still righteous, he could not withstand the stupidity of his pig teammates.