Ben was the leader of the peasant rebels, but he was killed by the mountain people, what did he do wrong?
In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, due to the barbaric expansion of the Later Jin Dynasty, the imperial court continued to use troops on the northern border, coupled with natural disasters for many years, the Ming court's financial resources were exhausted, and the government sent three additional salaries to the peasants.
The three salaries of the newly added sect were more than double the normal land allowance, so that the world was empty of ten rooms and nine rooms, thus causing the hungry people to rebel against the ming. It was from this that Li Zicheng joined Gao Yingxiang's rebel army and eventually replaced him.
Li Zicheng was able to start with a pawn, sweep through Daming, force Chongzhen to die, and break out of a new world, which is definitely an extraordinary character. However, after the invading army entered Beijing, the dragon chair was not hot enough to sit on, and it had to flee Beijing.
Soon after leaving Beijing, he was hoeed and killed by the mountain people on the Nine Palace Mountain, which was really regrettable. In the end, the Great Qing Iron Rode on the third day of May in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen and entered Beijing, becoming the new lord of China.
Why did Li Zicheng, who was expected to become the new lord of China, lose to the Manchu Qing so quickly? Looking at the growth history of the intruders, there are roughly four reasons for their defeat:
First, looting for a living, without a consolidated rear
From the very beginning, Li Zicheng's troops were mobile operations, there was no consolidated rear, and the soldiers and supplies could not keep up, so they were defiled as rogues, and it seemed that they were not wronged.
Compared with his predecessors, Liu Bang, who also started at the bottom of the Han Dynasty, soberly realized the importance of the rear, so when he went out to fight, he let Xiao He support him in the rear to support a solid base camp that could be defended and attacked.
During the Chu-Han War, Xiao He remained in Guanzhong, making Guanzhong a consolidated rear of the Han army and one of the important supports for Liu Bang's defeat of Xiang Yu.
When Liu Bang summed up the reasons for the success of the founding of the country, he had a very pertinent evaluation of this: "In the midst of the husband's planning and planning, the decisive victory is thousands of miles away, and I am not as good as the sub-room." Town and state, care for the people, give food, endless grain, I am not as good as Xiao He. Even with an army of millions, the battle will be won, the attack will be won, and I am not as good as Han Xin. These three are all masters, I can use them, so I take the world. ”
Second, for the sake of the opposite, there is no clear program
The rise and fall of the army are all traceable. In the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637), Yang Sichang used the strategy of "four positive and six corners, ten sides of the net" to restrict the flow of compulsory troops and break through each one. In the end, Zhang Xianzhong's army was defeated, and Li Zicheng was ambushed by Hong Chengyu and Sun Chuanting at Weinan Tongguannanyuan and was defeated, taking only Liu Zongmin and 17 other remnants to hide in the Shangluo Mountains in southeastern Shaanxi.
After Li Xin defected to Li Zicheng, a man from Qixian County, he put forward the propaganda slogan of "Hoping to break into the king, welcoming the king, and the king of Chuang coming without paying grain" in the hope of winning the hearts and minds of the people.
In fact, "the king does not pay grain when he comes", it is not that he does not really pay grain, but that there is no grain to be paid. Because, they are walking all the way, grabbing a road, the folk are also ten rooms and nine empty.
The poor people living at the bottom, after joining the intruders, can not only not pay grain, but also rob others of food. Therefore, Li Zicheng, who was defeated and retired from Shang Luoshan, was able to rise rapidly because of the phrase "the king came and did not pay grain".
After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, the intruding army still followed the practice in the southern provinces and forced donations from officials and eunuchs and rich merchants. According to the "Ming Dynasty Northern Sketch", after Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he retrieved from the palace "37 million silver ingots, 10 million gold ingots", "the old town treasury gold accumulation year 37 million ingots, ingots are 500 taels, engraved with Yongle characters."
After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he still used the old method of plundering the southern provinces, and as a result, the people's hearts were lost, and countless people fled to death. After the Manchu Qing entered the customs, it was different, and a large number of Generals of daming were appointed to demote officials, thus quickly stabilizing the political power at all levels.
Third, we do not understand the current situation and are in a hurry to achieve results
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was also from the grassroots, heeded the advice of the strategist Zhu Sheng to "build a wall high, accumulate grain, and slowly become the king" in the battle for supremacy, and when other rebel armies were brave enough to take the lead, he raised troops to truce, accumulated strength, and waited for the opportunity to move.
When the Yuan army was almost consumed by other rebels, and the various rebel armies were also seriously damaged, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was waiting for work, took the timely shot and won the world in one fell swoop.
If Li Zicheng was not so eager to become emperor, he was not in a hurry to enter the capital, and gave Daming a chance to breathe, so that Chongzhen had the strength to fight with Dorgon, and the situation may change.
In this way, Li Zicheng could take advantage of this period of time to take the opportunity to consolidate the rear, to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and when the Ming and Qing dynasties were defeated and injured, he would then lead his troops north.
Fourth, the style of the rogue Kou did not change, and the demise of Dashun was accelerated
According to the "Northern Sketch", "When a thief first breaks the city, he first pretends to be forbidden to kill, and the cloud 'If there is a person who plunders the people, he will act as a lingchi'." So the residents put the word "Shunmin" on their faces, and the pot pulp and incense were burned to welcome the king's men and horses into the city; the merchants were open, and the street market was as usual. Soon, the Da Shun soldiers shouted along the street to call out to the horses and mules, "the residents drove the horses and mules out of production, and the thieves scrambled to ride." ”
At that time, about 400,000 soldiers and soldiers entered the city, and "the thieves ordered the capital to make a book of doors and send thieves to raise thieves" (Pingkou Zhi, vol. 9), and since then, these more than 400,000 soldiers and soldiers in scattered houses have not been bound by the barracks and have committed misdeeds among the residents.
When the invading army entered the city, it also applied for discipline, but it was difficult to enforce from top to bottom, and from the general to the soldier, the bandits were still angry, and the capital was plundered.
Liu Zongmin snatched Wu Sangui's concubine Chen Yuanyuan and pushed Wu Sangui into the enemy's camp at once, thus hastening the demise of Dashun.
Why did Li Zicheng lose his hard-earned world so quickly? In fact, it is very simple, all of this is related to the people's hearts and minds. The people's will is a terrible and lovely thing, and the reason why Li Zicheng can rise rapidly is because he conforms to the people's will.
However, once the emperor's dream came true and he entered the Forbidden City, he ignored the will of the people and destroyed the city and harmed the people, and the result was that his rise and death were also hurried. "Those who win the hearts and minds of the people win the world", such a simple cause and effect, Li Zicheng may not have been able to understand the truth until his death.
(Image from the Internet)