At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was decaying, and although the chongzhen emperor, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, had great ambitions, he could only be sad in the face of this situation and was powerless to return to heaven. In fact, an important reason for the demise of the Ming Dynasty was that the minister did not have a sense of home and country and was unwilling to tide over the difficulties with the country.
When the treasury was empty, the Chongzhen Emperor had pinned his hopes on the princes and ministers or the imperial relatives and nobles, hoping that they would be generous and allow the Ming Dynasty to survive the difficulties. However, those ministers who were rich in money symbolically donated five thousand taels of silver, which was simply a drop in the bucket.
In such an environment, Daming eventually collapsed. so
Why didn't the Chongzhen Emperor use coercive means to raid his home directly?
In this way, perhaps the Ming Dynasty can hold out for a while, and will not fall so quickly.
Picture: Stills of the ministers who are rich in money
The Chongzhen Emperor pleaded with the minister, but the minister looked like he did not care, and in the end the matter could only be put to an end. However, after Li Zicheng invaded the city of Beijing, these ministers openly offered their family property for their own safety.
Although some ministers were reluctant to take the initiative to hand them over, they also took out the family wealth under The severe torture of Li Zicheng.
For example, Zhou Kui alone contributed three million taels of silver.
If it had been donated to the Ming Dynasty at that time, it might not have been subjected to such torture, nor would it have been necessary to hand over all of its family property.
In the final analysis, it was that the Chongzhen Emperor was too kind to the ministers at that time and had no deterrent effect. And the ministers, on the other hand, gave a symbolic contribution on the basis of the principle of putting their own interests first, without touching their own interests.
Photo: Stills of Li Zicheng's invasion of Beijing
So was the Chongzhen Emperor really too benevolent? In fact, the historical Chongzhen Emperor was not a benevolent emperor. It could be seen from his treatment of Wei Zhongxian. In addition, when the Chongzhen Emperor was in power, he killed many ministers and became famous for his cruelty.
If he has such a personality, why is he whispering about raising money for the national treasury? If he had also adopted the method of torture, there would naturally be a huge amount of silver to replenish the national treasury. In fact, to answer this question, we must consider the situation at that time and the situation of the Chongzhen Emperor.
It was the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, and at this time, the king had not yet reached Beijing, but it was also fast. If the Ming Dynasty is crumbling, if it uses violent means at this time, the rich ministers will be arrested and imprisoned, and then find an excuse to directly raid the house. It's true that money comes quickly, but is it appropriate?
Image: Stills of the Chongzhen Emperor
Similar things were also done by Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. After the world was secured, Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to protect his imperial power, began to kill the heroes who had followed him out of the dead and into life. These heroes are also in a high position of power at present, and if they create a rebellion, the loss will be great.
therefore
Zhu Yuanzhang created the "Four Major Cases of Hongwu"
Taking back the rights of those founding heroes and ending their lives is the best way to consolidate imperial power. Of course, these heroes did not have any objections, and Zhu Yuanzhang also made up various reasons when he hunted and killed, which can be described as painstaking.
Just like Li Shanchang, he was already in his seventies at that time. What is there to be afraid of at this age? I just want to enjoy my old age in peace. However, Zhu Yuanzhang still made up some reasons and killed all the old and young li shanchang's family.
Photo: Stills of Li Shanchang's family being murdered
Zhu Yuanzhang killed people not only to seize power and consolidate his rule, but also to "seize money."
The best example is Shen Wansan, the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, who also paid zhu Yuanzhang to build the nanjing city wall, but for such a favor Zhu Yuanzhang thought that he had disgraced himself.
To this end, Zhu Yuanzhang also made up a reason and sent Shen Wansan to Yunnan. Of course, Shen Wansan's wanguan family wealth naturally fell into the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, and the matter of pushing the boat along the water was over.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was so bold and arrogant at that time was nothing more than relying on the fact that the country was in a stable and peaceful situation. Those who were killed were not conducive to Ming rule for Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, the environment faced by the Chongzhen Emperor was so turbulent that if he used excessive means to deal with those ministers, it was likely to directly provoke resistance, aggravating the internal contradictions of the Ming Dynasty and further accelerating the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
Picture: Zhu Yuanzhang dealing with Shen Wansan stills
In the end, in the absence of hope of saving the country, the Chongzhen Emperor was discouraged and chose to hang himself to end his life. Then came the Southern Ming regime, founded by Zhu Yousong.
During his reign, he once did something of great significance, that is, to posthumously give the names of his ancestors in this line, and also to the martyrs in Beijing. He did this to show his respect.
However, it is puzzling that he also gave some founding heroes a posthumous title. At the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang mercilessly killed the founding heroes, why did he change his attitude when he came here?
In fact, the answer is very simple, that is, to alleviate the contradiction and admit the mistake of Zhu Yuanzhang's murder of the heroes, so as to please the people around them and make them willing to support the Southern Ming regime and revive the Ming Dynasty together.
Image: Stills of the Chongzhen Emperor hanging
In fact, during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor, he also used similar methods many times to win people's hearts and minds. The Chongzhen Emperor was bent on reviving Daming, and for this reason he worked hard all his life, being diligent and frugal.
He just wanted to let the world see through his own demeanor that emperor Zhu's style had changed, no longer only knowing pleasure, but serving the country and the people. furthermore
The Chongzhen Emperor also often reviewed his own faults, having made six of his own mistakes in his lifetime
"Sin against yourself"
。
To put it bluntly, he just wants the people of the world to see his ambition and get the support of the people.
However, he was the only one in the Ming court who had an enterprising spirit, and most of the ministers in the court were vulgar people who only knew how to seek their own interests, regardless of the lives of the people in the world. Who would still want to support such a Ming Dynasty?
Therefore, when Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, some people secretly opened the city gates to meet the rebel army, and even some people directly wanted to join the rebel camp. It can be seen from this that the hearts of Daming people have long been scattered, and the country is like a scattered sand, and it is effortless to pinch it.
Image: Chancellor stills of vulgar people
For this, the Chongzhen Emperor must have known this well. He could see from the fact that the ministers had donated money, and that these ministers had claimed to be loyal to the court, but in fact they were serving their own interests.
Originally, the Chongzhen Emperor also planned to awaken their conscience with pleading, but it had no effect. Therefore, the Chongzhen Emperor himself understood that the Ming Dynasty was running out of time. If so, what is the use of using cruel means to persecute these ministers? The Chongzhen Emperor was very clear and had no meaning at all.
Fighting a war is not all about materials, and it is not a matter of the treasury that can be won by filling the army. If we want to survive the crisis, the most important thing is that people's hearts are tightly tied and they share hardships with the Country.
But this point, the Chongzhen Emperor did not see it at all, so he himself gave up saving Daming, and finally decided to accompany Daming to the funeral, which was the last thing he could do for Daming.
Article author: Zi Haojun
The whole graphic was produced by the Zi Haoxin team!