For a long time, there has been a misunderstanding in people's cognition, that is, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, because the Qing Dynasty succeeded the Ming Dynasty.
But in reality, it was someone else who overthrew the Ming regime.
This person is a famous figure in history - Li Zicheng, the king of the trespasser.
Li Zicheng's legendary experience of climbing from a peasant in northern Shaanxi to the establishment of the Dashun regime and proclaiming himself emperor is simply a replica of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty.
But he was not as lucky as Zhu Yuanzhang, not only did the road of the uprising go difficult, but his love life was also full of ups and downs.
So what kind of bitterness is hidden behind Li Zicheng's uprising?
Why did his friend Gao Jie kidnap his wife?
Li Zicheng rose up against the Ming and ascended to heaven in one step
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters occurred frequently in various places, and the peasants who depended on the sky for food lived a poor life without food.
However, due to the continuous border wars, the Ming Dynasty continued to collect taxes, which caused the people to have a poor life and the people's resentment boiled.
Northern Shaanxi is the Loess Plateau, which was a place where nomads lived during the Qin Dynasty.
Therefore, the people here also have the blood and strength of nomads in their bones.
The peasants in northern Shaanxi lived on the Loess Plateau, the agricultural environment conditions were very harsh, and life was always not rich enough, coupled with the imperial court's continuous looting of silver from them, the straightforward peasants in northern Shaanxi could not bear it, so they rose up and broke out a vigorous peasant uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
In Mizhi County in northern Shaanxi, there is a young descendant whose name is Li Zicheng.
Because Li Zicheng's family was very difficult and his father was unable to support his children, he sent him to a temple, so he became a small monk and herded sheep for local landowners.
Li Zicheng was just in his early twenties, and he was already helpless and adrift alone.
By chance, he found a good job and worked as a pawn at the Yinchuan post station, which was regarded as working for the imperial court.
However, the good times did not last long, and in order to save money, the imperial court wanted to cut the post station and pawns, which was also unfortunate to say, and Li Zicheng was on the list of those who were cut.
I finally had a stable errand, and now it's gone.
This not only became a turning point in Li Zicheng's fate, but also a turning point in the fate of the Daming Dynasty.
Li Zicheng, who lost his job, returned to his hometown in northern Shaanxi and was followed by creditors behind his ass to ask for debts, but how could Li Zicheng have the money to pay off the debts.
The creditors had no choice but to take legal measures to protect their rights and interests.
In this way, Li Zicheng was accused in the county, and the county order estimated that he took the benefits of the creditor, but he was unceremoniously treated Li Zicheng, treating Li Zicheng as a felon, escorting him through the streets, and enduring strange eyes.
This was a great harm to Li Zicheng's heart, he hated the county order, and even more hated the darkness of this great light, and at this moment, the seeds of resistance were planted in his heart.
Fortunately, Li Zicheng had several good brothers and managed to save him.
But where can Li Zicheng swallow this mouthful of sacs.
On a dark and windy night, Li Zicheng sent the creditor to see Yan Wang Ye in a fit of anger.
The so-called death debt is eliminated, Li Zicheng has no money debt, but he has a life debt.
What makes Li Zicheng even more angry is still behind, his wife is also not loyal to him, and often hooks up with others.
The relationship suffered betrayal, Li Zicheng had nowhere to spread fire in his heart, and killing people was considered experienced, so he took his wife's life in a fit of anger.
Li Zicheng couldn't stay in northern Shaanxi at all, but fortunately, the information was not smooth at that time, and it was more difficult for the county government to issue a wanted warrant for this serial murderer, and it was not very effective.
He took advantage of such a loophole and fled to Gansu, cornered and ready to join the army.
At that time, there was no need for political trials to become a soldier, as long as your limbs were sound and you had the strength to do it, no matter what you did before, those who came did not refuse.
In this way, Li Zicheng and his nephew became soldiers in the army of Gansu.
Not long after, Li Zicheng also mixed with a leader.
Who knows, after the northeast Jin army and the Ming Dynasty fought hotly, the Ming Dynasty's men and horses were in a hurry, and the troops in Gansu were to be transferred to the front line to support.
Fate is so cruel, Li Zicheng just mixed up his personal appearance, the imperial court will intervene to prevent Li Zicheng from living in peace.
This is really about to go to war, and the soldiers are unwilling, because the salaries have not yet been paid, and everyone is unwilling to go to the front to work for their lives.
At that time, the generals of the army, the kingdom, embezzled the soldiers' salaries and did not give them, and if they did not return, they killed the kingdom in a fit of anger.
Before this battle could be fought, there was a mutiny.
At this time, Li Zicheng was cornered, so he led his men to join the peasant army.
However, it did not go well, and he lost many battles.
Fortunately, his uncle was the peasant leader at that time, and Li Zicheng relied on this relationship to become a general.
Li Zicheng fought unambiguously and worked very hard.
But "good tigers can't stop the wolves", and no matter how powerful Gao Yingxiang's peasant army is, there are no more than the Ming army.
The rebel army was quickly dispersed, and the remnants led by Li Zicheng also fled in all directions.
In this process, Li Zicheng and Gao Jie forged a deep "revolutionary friendship", and Gao Jie also helped Li Zicheng to grow his power and became Li Zicheng's right hand.
Gao Jie rebelled and surrendered to Lady Xing
Gao Jie and Li Zicheng are fellow villagers, so he is also mixed up under Li Zicheng.
However, the hero is sad and beautiful, not to mention that Gao Jie is not a hero, and that is even more unpassable.
As a fellow countryman, how could Gao Jie betray Li Zicheng and surrender to the Ming army?
What kind of grievances are involved?
This also starts with Li Zicheng leading his army to attack Longzhou.
At that time, Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army surrounded Longzhou, but after several days of siege, Longzhou could not be defeated.
At this time, the newly arrived governor Chen Qiyu sent his general He Renlong to lead an army to reinforce Longzhou.
Li Zicheng was able to capture Longzhou, so he sent people to contact He Renlong, firstly to delay the time for He Renlong to reinforce Longzhou, and secondly, to be able to take Longzhou as soon as possible.
But when this contact talked with He Renlong and came back to regain his life, he first went to see Gao Jie, and then met Li Zicheng.
At this time, Li Zicheng muttered in his heart, what is going on, there must be fraud in this.
Coupled with the fact that Longzhou could not be attacked for a long time, Li Zicheng suspected that Gao Jie had colluded with the Ming army in Longzhou City.
In fact, Li Zicheng had already fallen for the separation scheme between Chen Qiyu and He Renlong at this time.
Because Li Zicheng suspected Gao Jie, he transferred Gao Jie from the front line and arranged him in the rear barracks.
Gao Jie was also very dissatisfied with such a transfer in his heart, but he had no choice, so he had to obey the order and came to the rear.
Li Zicheng's wife, Mrs. Xing, was in charge of military resources in the ranks at that time and was also in the rear of the troops.
Gao Jie received ordnance supplies every day, and his contact with Mrs. Xing increased.
This time back and forth, the two talked very happily, and hated each other late.
But Li Zicheng was busy fighting at this time and snubbed this wife, so Gao Jie had the opportunity to take advantage of the void.
Gao Jie and Mrs. Xing have been in love for a long time, but the East Window incident is inevitable.
So, the clever Mrs. Xing began to discuss with Gao Jie what to do next.
According to Gao Jie, he was not covetous of Mrs. Xing's beauty, but was impressed by Mrs. Xing's talent and wisdom.
Gao Jie was already suspected by Li Zicheng and was in an embarrassing situation, and at this time he mixed up with Li Zicheng's wife, and he really didn't know what to do.
What to do about it?
Fortunately, Gao Jie took Mrs. Xing to join the Ming army.
After surrendering to the Ming army, Gao Jie served under He Renlong's subordinates, and he had a serious impact on Li Zicheng's troops.
Li Zicheng could not attack Longzhou City for a long time, and his wife was led by his subordinates to surrender to the enemy, the battlefield was not smooth, and the love scene was frustrated, and she was simply depressed to the extreme.
When Li Zicheng led his men to Ankang, Shaanxi, he was captured at Chexiangxia.
At this time, Li Zicheng pretended to surrender and gave Chen Qiyu some benefits, making good relations up and down, so he saved a life.
Chen Qiyu ordered people to escort Li Zicheng back to northern Shaanxi, but Li Zicheng killed the escort soldiers halfway, and then reversed.
After more than ten years of struggle, Li Zicheng led the peasant rebel army to occupy Luoyang, Xiangyang and other places.
Gao Jie was already a deputy general at this time, leading the army to fight Li Zicheng in Henan, but because the food supply could not keep up, Gao Jie lost in Li Zicheng's hands this time.
In 1643, Li Zicheng occupied Xi'an and changed Xi'an to Chang'an, calling it Xijing, with the founding name Dashun and the year name Yongchang, which means that his career can go smoothly and his rivers and mountains will always prosper.
The following year, he conquered Taiyuan.
When Gao Jie heard that Li Zicheng had conquered Taiyuan, he led troops to Shaanxi to fight Li Zicheng, but he was unsuccessful, so he had to cross the Yellow River to the Jianghuai area.
At this time, Li Zicheng's peasant rebel army marched all the way and quickly reached the city of Beijing with the momentum of sweeping away the leaves in the autumn breeze.
After two days of fighting, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, was completely captured.
The capital of the Daming Dynasty, when Tatar could not be attacked for a long time, how fierce the defense of Beijing was; Now, in just two days, it was captured by the peasant rebel army, and the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on the coal mountain.
After occupying Beijing, Li Zicheng sat on the dragon chair and opened a science and technology.
In the south, Gao Jie met Ma Shiying, the governor of Fengyang, who held military power in his hands, and under Ma Shiying's persuasion, Gao Jie supported Fu King Zhu Youxiang as emperor and established the Hongguang regime.
In the establishment of the Hongguang regime, Gao Jie did play a mainstay role.
Li Zicheng's situation at this time was already very critical, but he did not know it.
Li Zicheng and his soldiers were immersed in the joy of victory, but they did not know that they would face a two-sided attack between the Qing army in the north and the remnants of the Ming army in the south.
The ending of Gao Jie and Mrs. Xing
Soon after the Hongguang Emperor ascended the throne, he made Gao Jie Xingpingbo and ordered to guard the area around Xuzhou and Sizhou.
It can be said that at this time, Gao Jie was prosperous all the way, and Li Zicheng had reached the point of exhaustion and the end of the road.
The political struggle in the Southern Ming Dynasty was very brutal and more dangerous than on the battlefield.
Will Gao Jie survive the political struggle in the Southern Ming?
In the first year of Hongguang, the Southern Ming decided to launch a Northern Expedition, and Gao Jie, as a general, was sent to Guide.
Gao Jie was bent on recovering the Kaifeng area as soon as possible, pacifying the south bank of the Yellow River, and making meritorious achievements.
At that time, Xu Dingguo, the commander-in-chief of Suizhou, sent his son across the Yellow River as a hostage of the Qing Dynasty to express his determination to surrender the Qing Dynasty.
Someone reported this matter to Gao Jie, but Gao Jie did not believe it, so he ordered Xu Dingguo to come to Guide to ask him in person, but Xu Dingguo politely refused with military affairs.
Gao Jie thought that this matter was very important, so he personally went to Suizhou to find out.
Xu Dingguo did not dare to slack off and went out of the city to greet him.
At that time, his subordinates advised Gao Jie that it was better to settle the matter outside the city for safety, but Gao Jie did not listen.
Gao Jie arranged for the main force of his army to be stationed outside the city and entered the city himself.
Xu Dingguo held a banquet to receive the wind for Gao Jie, it was obvious that this was a banquet, but Gao Jie, who was a farmer, knew the dangers.
During the banquet, Gao Jie ordered Xu Dingguo to start immediately, and Xu Dingguo pretended to agree.
Gao Jie was very happy in his heart, let go of his vigilance, and this meal was a pleasant meal.
In the middle of the night, when Gao Jie was sleeping soundly, he was tied up, and Xu Dingguo killed Gao Jie on the spot, which was a big blow to Nanming, known in history as the "Suizhou Change".
The next day, the main force stationed outside the city did not wait for Gao Jie's appearance, so they immediately attacked the southern gate of Suizhou, and by this time, Xu Dingguo had crossed the Yellow River and joined the Qing army.
In retaliation, Gao Jie's subordinates killed all the people in Suizhou City to slaughter the city to relieve hatred.
Gao Jie's end is indeed sad, but as a peasant, he is also a general who surrendered to the rebel army, and he will inevitably be jealous and calculated in the power struggle in the Southern Ming, and he himself does not have much political wisdom, does not know the sinister hearts of the people, and eventually pays the price of his life.
The news of Gao Jie's killing reached the Southern Ming court, and the Hongguang Emperor was saddened and immediately withdrew.
An edict was issued posthumously crowning Gao Jie as crown prince taibao, and his wife, Lady Xing, Li Zicheng's ex-wife, inherited his title.
Gao Jie and Lady Xing had a son, and Nian had meritorious service in Gao Jie's defense of the country, and their son was also given the title of Jinyi Wei Baihu, which could be hereditary.
Later, at the request of the minister, Gao Jie's son inherited his title of Count of Xingping.
In order to stabilize Gao Jie's remnants, the imperial court ordered Gao Jie's wife Lady Xing to govern.
However, in the battle with the Qing army, the Southern Ming army was defeated step by step, and the rest of Gao Jie also fled, surrendered, and Gao Jie's wife Lady Xing and son also surrendered to the Qing army.
Gao Jie and Li Zicheng were both peasant rebels, but the outcomes were very different.
Li Zicheng served as emperor for a few days, and was finally killed.
Gao Jie, on the other hand, held a high position in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and although he was killed by his subordinates, his wife Lady Xing and his son were also able to be saved, which was also a kind of favor from heaven.
In comparison, Gao Jie and Mrs. Xing ended much better than Li Zicheng.
Bibliography:
"On Gaojie and the Hongguang Regime"
"Peasant War at the End of the Ming Dynasty"
History of the Southern Ming Dynasty
"Analysis of the Rapid Demise of the Hongguang Regime"