The situation under the heavens will be divided for a long time, and it will be united for a long time. In China's more than two thousand years of feudal history, more than ten unified feudal dynasties have emerged. There are both the Great Qin Dynasty that died in the second dynasty, as well as the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty that have lasted for hundreds of years. Whenever the dynasty developed to a later stage, it always exposed all kinds of problems, followed by wars and dynasties.
Of all the feudal dynasties in China, the Ming Dynasty was the most miserable. In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, because of the corruption of the ruling class, social contradictions were sharp, and the people revolted. Millions of descendants of the Zhu royal family were exterminated by the rebel army.
1. The Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty was a great unified dynasty established by Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty also played a very important role in promoting the development of Chinese history. Before the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty was established by the Mongols. However, because there is a very big contradiction between the Mongol ruling class and the Han landlords and people.
In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, social contradictions were intensified, and the Red Turban Rebellion broke out among the people, and various places fell into a situation of war. Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from an ordinary peasant family, also joined the rebel army. And gradually gained leadership in the rebel army and defeated other enemies. Unify the whole country and establish a unified Ming Dynasty.
At the beginning of each dynasty, there were many effective emperors and officials who were honest and honest and loved by the people. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, adopted a policy of lightly giving away small gifts in order to allow the people to recuperate and recover from the war.
In addition, many water conservancy facilities have been built in the private sector, vigorously advocating and promoting the cultivation of cotton, hemp and other cash crops, and enriching the income of the people. In the imperial court and localities, many officials who were diligent in government and loved the people also emerged. Both the economy and politics of society are in a good state of clarity. Therefore, people refer to the period of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign as the "rule of Hongwu".
In addition to Zhu Yuanzhang's reign of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang's son Zhu Di created the Yongle dynasty during his reign. Subsequently, Emperor Akihito Zhu Gaozi and Emperor Mingxuan Zhu Zhanji created the reign of Renxuan. The social economy has been greatly developed, the world is stable and peaceful, and the strength of the country has reached its peak.
However, after Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, the Ming Dynasty as a whole began to decline. The emperor was young, which led to foreign relatives interfering in the government; the emperor favored the eunuchs, which in turn caused the eunuchs to cause chaos in the government. Although in the later period, there were also cabinet leaders such as Zhang Juzheng to carry out reforms, but they could not save the fate of the Ming Dynasty from decaying.
Second, the demise of the Ming Dynasty
In the late Ming Dynasty, there was a very fierce party struggle above the court. The eunuch party headed by the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the Donglin party headed by the jiangnan landlord class, and the Kun party, the Qi party, the Zhejiang party, and many other parties all competed for power and territory for their own interests, forgetting the official duty of being loyal to the king and loving the people.
For the sake of their own interests, these parties have increased their exploitation of the people, causing the people of the world to complain. Within the country, grievances continue to accumulate. Externally, the northern Houjin Kingdom is eyeing the tiger. Nurhaci of the Later Jin Dynasty continued to send troops to invade. But fortunately, there were such excellent generals as Yuan Chonghuan guarding Shanhaiguan and blocking the entry of Houjin soldiers.
However, due to internal chaos, serious corruption and corruption of officials, and extreme bad weather, the harvest of private farmland has been greatly reduced, and there has been a large-scale famine, making it difficult for the people to survive.
The people of every dynasty, as long as they can live a stable life, they will abide by the law and live their own lives, and they will not care about the affairs of the upper ruling class. But when the upper ruling class fainted and incompetence, making it impossible for ordinary people at the lower to survive, the peasants reacted most violently.
Therefore, in the face of both natural and man-made disasters, the peasants began to launch an uprising. Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Wang Ziyong and others organized rebel armies one after another, forming a confrontation with the imperial court. Li Zicheng's rebel army was stationed in Shaanxi, Henan and other regions. Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army was entrenched in Huguang, Sichuan and other regions.
Soon, Li Zicheng, who had the upper hand, led his army in the Northern Expedition, captured Datong and Juyongguan, and attacked the city of Beijing. The Chongzhen Emperor, who witnessed the demise of the country, hanged himself in the coal mountains. He became the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
Third, they were driven to extinction
After the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he crowned his sons as the kings of the domain, allowing these princes to live in the fiefdom. Although, every emperor wanted to weaken the power of the king of the domain. However, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was too busy to take care of himself, and there was no time to take care of these clan kings.
Therefore, after the death of the Chongzhen Emperor, King Fu of Nanjing and Zhu Yihai of Lu in Fujian established two "Southern Ming" regimes successively. A mountain does not allow two tigers, and a country does not tolerate two kings. Both Southern Ming regimes declared themselves to be orthodox emperors. As a result, the two regimes fought against each other. However, before they could distinguish between victory and defeat, they were once again attacked by foreign enemies.
Without the effective generals to guard Shanhaiguan, the Qing army soon invaded the Central Plains. In 1646, Qing soldiers captured Zhejiang and Fujian, and Zhu Yihai, the king of Lu who claimed the title of emperor in Fujian, fled overseas in a hurry. But he was soon captured by the Qing soldiers. In the end, Zhu Yihai was unwilling to surrender to the Qing soldiers and went on a hunger strike.
Another Zhu royalty, Zhu Yuyi, led a group of imperial descendants and ming courtiers to flee to Guangdong and proclaim himself emperor in Guangzhou, hoping to revive the Zhu royal family. Soon, however, the Qing army attacked Guangdong again. The regime was once again breached.
After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty lasted for a total of two hundred and seventy-six years, and there were sixteen emperors successively. In these two hundred years, the Zhu royal family continued to multiply and expand, and by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the number of people reached as many as one million. After the Ming Dynasty was overthrown, these descendants of the Zhu royal family also lived a life of exile.
In ancient China, the royal family, as well as their descendants, were considered to be the descendants of the Son of Heaven and had a high status. At the time of dynastic change, the kings of the new dynasty, in order to show their benevolence to the people of the world and convince the people of the world, they often give preferential treatment to the descendants of these former royal families.
However, the descendants of the Ming Dynasty Zhu clan did not receive preferential treatment. Because the people have long resented the royal family, the struggle between many rebel forces, and the Qing soldiers who entered the customs, they all exterminated the descendants of these Zhu royal families.
After the annihilation of many Zhu royal families, they finally woke up and showed their unyielding character of preferring to die. They would rather kill themselves than be taken prisoner. Therefore, after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, there were very few descendants of the Zhu royal family who could survive.
summary
Water can carry boats, but it can also cover boats. The king of a country, diligent in government and loves the people, can be loved by the people. However, if the king faints and causes the people of the world to complain, then this dynasty is not far from extinction. The extermination of the Zhu royal family was caused by the accumulation of public anger.