#History#In 1644, the Dashun regime led by Li Zicheng captured Beijing, leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty, and thus began an era of leaderless dragons. During this period, the four major powers fought each other, including the Qing Dynasty, the Dashun regime, the Daxi regime, and the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty.
Generally speaking, the so-called "those who win the hearts of the people win the world" in the ancient saying do not mean the support of ordinary people, but the support of the gentry class of the society at that time. In ancient times, the imperial power was not as good as the county level, and below the county level was controlled by clans, and the representatives of these clans were the gentry class, who represented the interests of the poor people, so the ancient word "people's heart" actually referred to the support of the gentry class.
During the turbulent period of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the gentry and bureaucracy represented everyone, so whoever could win their support was likely to win the world. In the end, the Qing Dynasty gained the world by winning the support of the gentry and bureaucracy.
Why didn't Li Zicheng's Dashun regime and the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty win this "people's heart"? The following may answer your doubts.
In the process of establishing the Dashun regime, Li Zicheng did not receive the support of the official gentry. This is because these gentry initially surrendered to Li Zicheng, not because of his charm, but to preserve their wealth and status. However, Li Zicheng later implemented a policy of property recovery and pay, which displeased the gentry, so they did not support his regime.
The small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty could have been a continuation of the Ming Dynasty, but it had more flaws than merits. It continued many of the Ming dynasty's bad traditions, especially the issue of infighting and party strife. Among them, the Hongguang regime was created as a result of party strife. At that time, the Donglin Sect opposed the establishment of Zhu Yousong, who was closest by blood, as emperor, because the Wanli Emperor had wanted to support Zhu Yousong's father Zhu Changxun as the crown prince, but was opposed by the Donglin Party and failed. Therefore, a deep hatred was formed between the Donglin Party and Zhu Yousong.
At the end of the Southern Ming Dynasty, party strife within the imperial court and the dereliction of duty by the gentry class led to the increasing decline of the Southern Ming regime. In order to win more support, Zhu Yousong had to bow to the military generals of the four towns in Jiangbei for help, and eventually succeeded in becoming the Hongguang Emperor. However, these military generals became conceited and arrogant because of their merits, and did not even take the imperial court seriously. At this time, the Southern Ming government had fallen into the miasma of infighting among ministers and military generals monopolizing military power, losing a good opportunity to recover lost territory, and also making the gentry class lose confidence in the Southern Ming government.
When the Qing army went south, the ministers of the Southern Ming Dynasty surrendered to the Qing army in order to preserve their position and wealth, and opened the city gates, expressing their loyalty. This is because the Qing court protected the interests of the gentry class at the beginning of its entry into customs, and drove out Li Zicheng and other warlords who robbed the rich and helped the poor, and this measure was widely recognized and supported, so that the Qing court quickly consolidated its dominance at the end of the Southern Ming Dynasty. Without these measures by the Qing court, the gentry class might have abandoned the Southern Ming regime long ago, and the invasion of the Qing army would not have been so smooth.
The Qing dynasty, led by the regent Dolgon, took a number of measures to safeguard the interests of the gentry class. This included declaring that all land seized by the rebels would be "returned to their owners" and restoring the fields and property granted by the former dynasty. In addition, the Qing Dynasty stipulated that the collection of land endowments should be carried out in accordance with the registers of the Wanli year, and at the same time stopped the collection of Liao salaries, the suppression of salaries, and the practice of wages, and these policies provided certain care for the general public.
In terms of official appointments, Dolgon not only appointed the original Ming officials, but also hired officials who surrendered to the Dashun regime and were promoted. For example, Zhou Boda served as the Guanxi Province of Shaanxi during the Ming Dynasty, and was later promoted to Gansu Jiedu Envoy in the Dashun regime. Liu Daze was a former Linfenzhi County in the former Ming Dynasty, and was promoted to the rank of Inspector of Henan in the Dashun regime. The Qing did not reinstate them to their original official positions, but appointed them according to the official positions promoted by the Dashun regime.
Through these measures, the Qing court succeeded in attracting the support of the gentry class. At the same time, Li Zicheng's Dashun regime and the mud of the Southern Ming could not support the wall, forming a sharp contrast. The Qing dynasty's aggressive actions dealt a blow to the rebels, which made the gentry more inclined to support the Qing dynasty.
Although the Qing army later strengthened its rule by shaving and changing clothes and suppressing the gentry class, by that time the Qing Dynasty had unified the whole country. The resistance of the gentry class is useless, and they can only regret it.