At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were external troubles, and internal rebel armies swarmed and attacked the city strategically. The rise of the external Manchu Qing Dynasty seriously threatened the security of the Ming Dynasty's frontiers and inland.
In this situation, in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Dynasty, the Ming army collapsed, the general surrendered, and finally even the emperor was martyred. But among the many people who are working for the survival of the empire, we do not see the figure of the Ming Dynasty princes.
It is reasonable to say that the core of the rule of the Zhu Ming Dynasty is the Princes of the Zhu Family, the princes of the last years of the Ming Dynasty can not lose or lose, the Zhu family is everywhere, and the Zhu Family Prince occupies a large area of good land mansions, the family gold and silver are piled up, and the grain and rice are full of warehouses. However, at a time when the country was in danger, those who should have contributed the most and who were most capable of helping the country collectively lost their voices.
In that earth-shaking historical change, there was no figure of the Princes of the Zhu Family.
What is the reason for this? Are the princes of the Zhu family all dazed and ignorant, or are they all cowardly and dare not fight?
Today we will talk about this topic.
In order to consolidate his rule, Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to consolidate his rule, during the Hongwu period, zhu Yuanzhang gave the surname of Zhu a great prince and ordered them to guard the important city pass and ensure the security of the frontier for the country.
The Ming dynasty princes during the Hongwu period not only had relatively independent financial and personnel power, they also had private guards, such as the King of Yan, the King of Ning and others had strong fighting pro-army.
However, this situation of real power was completely changed after the Battle of Zhu Dijing, the ancestor of Ming Cheng.
Zhu Di eventually won the victory by rebelling against the king of the domain, and in order to prevent the reappearance of rebellious princes like himself behind him, he reformed the monarchy system. Zhu Di took back the personnel and administrative and military powers of the kings, leaving only the kings with relatively independent financial power. In particular, the deprivation of military power can be said to be clean and thorough, and the fact that the royal family had elite private armed forces during the Hongwu years no longer existed, and Zhu Di stipulated that all royal families could not have private guards, and once they found that there were private armed forces, they were immediately punished as rebellion.
This provision never changed again.
Later, Emperor Wuzong of Ming rebelled, and as a result, he was easily taken by several magistrates, indicating that the political and military power of the Ming dynasty royal family was completely deprived.
During the Chongzhen period, the Eight Banners Army besieged Beijing, and the Tang king Zhu Yujian organized thousands of armed troops and volunteered to go to Beijing to escort The King of Qin.
However, the prince who served the country in this way was eventually dismissed from his post by Chongzhen for violating the ancestral system.
Just imagine, in this situation, which other prince can stand up in danger? They have neither strength nor power.
The rebel army swept through the Central Plains Guanzhong Huainan and other places, successively killing and capturing the kings of the Ming Dynasty, these princes who were well-bred but had no will to fight and the ability to fight could only become the drink of the rebel army, and their family wealth could only become the military assets of the rebel army.
Famous people such as Zhu Changxun, the King of Fu, who sat on the wealth of the entire Central Plains, could not organize a decent army in the end, was ridiculed and despised by the rebel army, and finally chopped into meat sauce.
The ming princes annexed a large amount of fertile land, they obtained countless gold and silver treasures, they were usually powerful and blessed, the magistrates had no right to ask questions, and they enjoyed various privileges but did not bear the responsibility of taxation and servitude.
At the time of the overthrow of the world, this huge number of rentiers, which occupy huge social resources, has made no achievements in politics and military, and it can be said that it is a completely humiliating role.