As the saying goes, a good man does not eat the loss in front of him; the Ya people say that those who know the times are Junjie; if they are indecent, they can bend and stretch.
Therefore, whether the Chongzhen Emperor was a good man or a junjie, Chongzhen really had this thought in his heart.
But Chongzhen is an arrogant person, and to say that it is not good to say that he is a person who wants face. He wanted to leave, afraid that the ministers would say that he recognized him and said that he was a breed, and hoped that the ministers would speak out first, and the ministers knew that Chongzhen was irritable and self-conscious, and they could not understand his thoughts, and did not dare to propose to move south, for fear of being the head bird.
As the saying goes, there are birds in the forest, and there are more officials who are not afraid of death. On the third day of the first lunar month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), a minister named Li Mingrui dared to propose to move south, and Chongzhen was full of joy when he heard it, but he was still afraid of the jokes of the ministers, so he was embarrassed to open his mouth.
It was not until the fourth day of March of that year that Chongzhen kicked the ball to the courtiers: "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? "
The proposal to move south was unanimously opposed by the chancellor Chen Yan and Bing Ke ZhiGuang Shiheng, who severely condemned Li Mingrui and threatened: "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? ”
Guang Shiheng also denounced the ulterior motives of the ministers who suggested moving south: Do you want Your Majesty to become Emperor Tang Ming when you take the crown prince to Nanjing?
Objectively speaking, this heroic performance of theirs is very similar to that of Yu Qian yu Shaobao in those days, but more objectively speaking, they will only say words that are righteous and righteous like Qian, but in fact they do not have the ability or even willingness of Yu Qian to defend the capital. Yu Qian, who only learned the first half of the school, was really not as good as not learning for the Jiangshan of the Ming Dynasty.
During the Anshi Rebellion of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Tang Ming fled the capital of the country, and the crown prince Li Heng took the opportunity to seize military power, put the emperor in the air, and declared himself emperor.
Chongzhen was already multi-minded, and when he heard Guang Shiheng say this, his heart muttered again. In this way, Chongzhen hesitated until Li Zicheng entered Beijing and hanged himself on the coal mountain.
Time cannot be turned back, history can no longer be changed, we can only assume, if Chongzhen moves south, will it be supported by the southern provinces?
To answer this question, the key lies in when Chongzhen moved the capital, let's look at the time point, Li Zicheng attacked Beijing on March 17 of the 17th lunar calendar of Chongzhen.
If Chongzhen had decided to move the capital and begin to move south in the first month, he would certainly have the unanimous support of the southern provinces.
Because the vast majority of Chinese have been brainwashed by the Way of Confucius and Mencius, Zhongjun thought very firmly. Every important courtier was hand-picked by the Chongzhen Emperor and had a deep affection for the emperor. The emperor moved south, and they had the opportunity to curry favor with the emperor, curry favor with the emperor, and make meritorious achievements. Everyone will be active and enthusiastic, scrambling to show loyalty to the emperor.
You can imagine that the Manchu Qing were foreign to the Han chinese, but Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zeng Guofan were still stubbornly loyal to Cixi. When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing and Cixi fled, the Han ministers did not abandon Cixi, not to mention that Chongzhen was the orthodox emperor of the Han family. There is no reason why those Daming officials who have been deeply favored by the Emperor should not express their full support and resolute support.
The fact is that even if Chongzhen hanged himself, none of the southern warlords dared to establish another central government, which is enough to show that the Zhu family still had political legitimacy in China at that time.
Regardless of whether they were willing or unwilling in their hearts, no one raised objections to Chongzhen's southward migration. Therefore, at this time, when the southward migration, Chongzhen's Daming regime will definitely be continued, and I dare not say that it has been overturned, but it is still practical to survive.
Although Chongzhen's prestige will be affected to a certain extent, in times of crisis, it is not enough to care. The lesser of two evils is also a good choice compared with staying in the capital and waiting for death.
On the first day of the first month of the 17th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng was still proclaimed emperor in Xi'an, the soldiers had not yet arrived in Gyeonggi, and the road to the south was not cut off, and Chongzhen at that time still had a great chance to break through to the Jiangnan area.
But if Chongzhen escaped from the battlefield and ran away in a hurry before Li Zicheng's soldiers came to the city, what would be the next situation?
The seventeenth year of Chongzhen was a critical juncture for the Ming Dynasty, on the eve of Li Zicheng's entry into Beijing, in addition to the Qing army and the rebel army. At that time, the most powerful was Zuo Liangyu, who was stationed in Jiujiang at that time, and his troops were called 800,000, which can be said to be an important position in the Ming court.
Although Zuo Liangyu was arrogant and arrogant, in addition to being a little selfish, he still obeyed Daming, and in the 15th year of Chongzhen, he defeated Zhang Shizhong and recaptured Wuchang in Hanyang. When he received chongzhen's order to go to Beijing to relieve the siege, Zuo Liangyu knew that he was invincible to the crowd, and it was common for people to hesitate repeatedly. However, after the Fu King Zhu Yousong ascended the throne, Zuo Liangyu immediately expressed his support, and accepted the title of Marquis of the Southern Ming Court, and had full command of the defense of the Yangtze River.
If Chongzhen were to move south, Zuo Liangyu should be more supportive.
In addition to Zuo Liangyu, the next most powerful were Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo, who also recognized the legitimacy of the Southern Ming Emperor and accepted the emperor's appointment.
And Zheng Zhilong will not easily tear his face with Daming, although Zheng Zhilong is a chameleon, but the position is still on the side of the Han people.
In the first year of Hongguang (1645), the brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui were made emperors in Fuzhou, with the era name Longwu. Instead of claiming the title of emperor themselves, it shows that they still have a little self-knowledge, at least they will not challenge Chongzhen's authority. After Chongzhen moved south, as long as it was not at the last moment, Zheng Zhilong would not oppose Chongzhen.
Although Wu Sangui did not fight for Daming in order to preserve his strength, he would not fire at Chongzhen under any circumstances. On March 5, Wu Sangui was awarded the title of King of Pingxi by Chongzhen, and on the 29th, Wu Sangui arrived at Shanhaiguan, how to say Wu Sangui is still interesting enough. When the Chongzhen Building was about to fall, Wu Sangui stepped forward, and if Chongzhen moved south, he must be a hundred supporters.
In the end, the result of Wu Sangui's surrender to the Manchu Qing was caused by Li Zicheng's bitter compulsion, which was forced to act, and there were great variables.
In summary, even if Chongzhen did not choose to move south in the first month, and then moved south after the peasant army killed the capital, it was also too late, dare not say that the salted fish turned over, but at least can continue the life of Daming, no one in the south dared to come forward against the Chongzhen Emperor, most of the generals will fully support.
As for whether the escort army can break through Li Zicheng's territorial blockade, it depends on Chongzhen's creation.