In 2012, Sotheby's in New York, the United States, auctioned a book of eight points of Jinnong, the first of the "Eight Monsters of Yangzhou", "Qian Shixin's Story", the price was only 218,500 US dollars, compared with Jinnong's other works, it was really not on the table, but the content recorded in "Qian Shixin's Story" subverted history, and even washed away a grievance of Chongzhen, the king of the subjugated country.
Qian Shixin, a native of Pinghu, Zhejiang, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, gongsheng of the Ming Dynasty, a figure not recorded in the history books, only left traces in the "Qian Shixin Chronicle". "After the early Shen (1644), he did not shi, and traveled to Heshuo as a hero. Works, paintings. Poor old to die... To make up for the winter official. But Shi Xin does not take. Just a few lines outlined Qian Shixin's character. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, it was better to die poorly than to go with the flow and go along with the world as an official.
According to the "Qian Shixin Chronicle", Qian Shixin left a total of two works, namely the "Jiashen Transmission Letter" and the "GengDi Collection", of which the "Jiashen Transmission Letter" recorded the turbulent deeds of the late Ming Dynasty, but it was very different from the mainstream history books such as the "History of Ming".
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642), after Qian Shixin was admitted to the Gongsheng Examination, he traveled around to study. In 1644, Qian Shixin came to her uncle's house in Beijing and accidentally met Li Mingrui, who advocated the southward migration of the imperial court. After that, Qian Shixin lived in Beijing for 3 years, personally experiencing the entire process of the Jiashen Revolution in which the Ming Dynasty fell, Chongzhen was martyred by death, Li Zicheng entered Beijing, and the Qing army entered the customs.
In 1646, some people brought some books, such as "National Change", "Jiashen Ji Change", "National Difficulty", "Smelling Jiluo" and dozens of others, but after Qian Shixin read it, he found that it was obscene, heretical, and many of them were hearsay, in order to restore the original source of history, Qian Shixin used his own personal experience and visits to personally experience, and finally spent 7 years to write "JiaShen Biography".
Therefore, the "Jiashen Transmission Letter" is considered to be a relatively subtle note recording the history of Jiashen Nian, showing us a chaotic era at the end of the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of the low-level people, and more truly reflecting the magnificent and strange history of more than 300 years ago.
However, due to the fact that the content of the record is too amazing, and Qian Shixin is not famous, there are only 3 copies of the "Jiashen Chuanxin", which was not included in the "Historical Series of China's Internal and External Disasters" until 1935, when Guo Moruo's "Jiashen Three Hundred Years Festival" was published in Chongqing's "Xinhua Daily", and the "Jiashen Chuanxin" attracted widespread attention. Because Qian Shixin was of good character, the content he recorded had a certain degree of credibility, showing us a chaotic era at the end of the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of the people at the bottom.
As the king of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, the supreme decision-maker of China at the end of the Ming Dynasty, is full of mysteries and controversies, one of which is: the mystery of the southward migration!
History of The Ming Dynasty. The Biography of the Later Concubines records: "The post-nature is strict and cautious. Trying to be anxious, (Empress Zhou) whispered, "There is still a home in Wunanzhong (Suzhou). "The emperor asked, so he did not say a word, and Gai intended to move south."
The "Ming Ji Testament" records that on the third day of the first lunar month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), Li Mingrui advised Chongzhen to abandon Beijing and move south as soon as possible, "There is only one strategy for moving south, which can alleviate the current urgency", but the Chongzhen Emperor told him: "Ruyi and Yuanyi, but the foreign ministers do not obey, why not?" ”
According to these historical records, Chongzhen intended to move south, but he did not want to bear the charge of "losing the Zongmiao Temple and the northern territory", so he repeatedly "replied" to the topic of moving south, but was relentlessly refuted by the ministers, and finally completely missed the opportunity, so that he finally angrily scolded "the king of the fallen country, the ministers are also the subjects of the country.".
Thus, it also outlines the image of an emperor who does not want to be responsible.
However, the content recorded by Qian Shixin in the "Jiashen Transmission Letter" is very different from it!
On February 15, 1777, Gong Yonggu, the duke of The Horse Dynasty, proposed to move south, but it was recorded that "Shang did not listen".
On February 28, 1777, Li Mingrui and Xiang Yu proposed to move south, but Chongzhen was "repeatedly observed, angry, less, and calmer." But the matter remained in the palace, and did not send it."
On the fourth day of March in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, the Ming Dynasty held a meeting, and another minister proposed to move south, and Chongzhen responded that "The Emperor blamed the ministers for righteousness, and to make the prince out was to advocate escape." It's called Sheji Ho! However, according to the "History of Ming" and "Ming Ji Testament" and other records, Chongzhen has always intended to move the capital, and on the fourth day of march, Chongzhen said to the ministers: "Li Mingrui has neglected to persuade Him to move south. When the monarch died in sheji, where will the union go? He also taught the crown prince to go to Nanjing first, what did Zhu Qing think? Chen Yan strongly opposed the "southward migration," and Guang Shiheng even made a stern remark, "Not killing Li Mingrui is not enough to calm the people's minds." If you don't kill Li Mingrui, how can you rule the world! ”
Judging from the records of the "Jiashen Transmission Record", Chongzhen has always had no intention of moving south, which confirms that Chongzhen has been smeared miserably!
What is puzzling is that regarding the mystery of the southward migration, the historical records are all records that Chongzhen wanted to live but did not want to be responsible, but the records that were not widely circulated corroborated the records of the "Jiashen Chuan letter", the most typical of which is Wang Shide's "Chongzhen Testament".
Wang Shide, the commander of the Jinyi Guards at the end of the Ming Dynasty, after the river shattered the emperor's self-hanging, with a heart of sorrow for the subjugation of the country, Wang Shide took his family and relatives all the way to escape, ran to Jiangnan, and from then on lived in seclusion and did not enter the career path, settled in a bland folk life, but left a copy of the "Chongzhen Testament", as a witness to record the deeds of the Chongzhen years, including the issue of moving south, which mentioned that "Li Mingrui advocated the proposal to move south, and he was not confused."
Yuan Keli's disciple, Ni Yuanlu, who died tragically, also said that Chongzhen had the ambition of "the death of the king". In 1644, on the day of the fall of the city, Ni Yuanlu dressed up and worshipped Que, and the big book said: "It is a matter of duty to thank the country with death." Don't bury me after death, but I will be buried outside, and I will talk about the sorrow in my heart. "Then he sat south, took the veil and hanged himself.
Judging from the "Jiashen Transmission Record" and "Chongzhen Testament", Chongzhen has always had the determination to die for the sake of the society. As for the southward migration mentioned in the canonical history, it is likely that he wanted the crown prince to move south to oversee the country, and he himself died in sheji, not that he himself wanted to flee to the south.
Objectively speaking, although the record of the southward migration in the Jiashen Chuanxin Cannot 100% overturn the relevant contents of the Ming History and so on, it is more in line with Chongzhen's consistent thinking. In fact, an emperor who has died heroically has already explained everything with actions, and Chongzhen, who is "unwilling to be responsible" in the "History of Ming" and so on, may be deliberately portrayed by the Donglin Party and the Qing Emperor!
As a nearly perfect history book in the mouth of many scholars, the "History of Ming", is actually not perfect, with the discovery of various ancient books and documents, many of the contents of the records have been overturned, and the "Jiashen Transmission Letter" may be just another one!
It is worth mentioning that in 1644, Li Zicheng's rebel army was unstoppable, the Qing army outside Guanwai was looking at the tiger, the Ming Dynasty was in turmoil, and after moving south, it gave up the eroded north to Li Zicheng to compete with the Manchu Qing, without losing a good move. Chongzhen's refusal to move south, although there is a pedantic side, but it also reflects the backbone of an emperor! If this kind of backbone is regarded as stupidity, it is the sadness of the Chinese nation!