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"Sex is cunning, thirsty for killing, not killing for a day, and unhappy."
This is the evaluation of Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the peasant army and the founding emperor of the Great West, in the "History of Ming". That is to say, Zhang Xianzhong is a natural murderer, he likes to kill, if he does not kill people for a day, he will be very depressed.
According to legend, when Zhang Xianzhong attacked Chongqing, he entered a temple outside Chongqing and forced the monks in the temple to eat meat. He also claimed that if the monk did not eat, then he would slaughter the city after capturing Chongqing.
In order to save the people of Mancheng, the monk had to eat meat, but when he ate, he said ten words to indicate the reason for doing so, and these ten words became famous sayings through the ages.
So, why did Zhang Xianzhong ask that? What did this monk say again? Why did Zhang Xianzhong slaughter like this? Is the story of "Zhang Xianzhong Tu Chuan" true?
Zhang Xianzhong, as the leader of the peasant army, had previously invaded Sichuan. However, at that time, he was mobile and could not defeat many big cities.
In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, that is, the first month of 1644 AD. At the same moment that Li Zicheng launched the Eastern Crusade, Zhang Xianzhong also began his attack on Sichuan again, determined to realize his grand hegemony here. He first attacked Cuizhou, the gateway to Sichuan, in the area of present-day Fengjie in Chongqing.
The terrain here is treacherous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, but probably because the Ming Dynasty was stormy at this time, the general trend was gone, and the defense in Cuizhou was also very weak. Zhang Xianzhong soon captured this strategic location, and then connected Mount Keliang, Chungju and Fuzhou to Chongqing, and the legend of "forcing monks to eat meat" probably occurred during this period.
Because the only time Zhang Xianzhong led troops to attack Chongqing was at this time, and although the Great Western Army also attacked Chongqing, it was no longer commanded by Zhang Xianzhong.
Chongqing was already a big city at that time, and the Ming army was also heavily defended here, and Zhang Xianzhong had to make a lot of preparations before attacking the city. So in order to inspect the terrain, Zhang Xianzhong and others came to a temple outside the city, probably because it was located on a mountain and had a better view.
Zhang Xianzhong was also hungry after inspecting the terrain, so he and his subordinates took out wine and meat, and ate and drank near the temple. Just at this time, the monks in the temple were also eating, Zhang Xianzhong saw that he was eating big fish and meat, but the monks were eating fasting rice, so he wanted to tease the monks, so he entered the temple with his subordinates.
When the monks saw a group of people entering the temple with swords, they naturally knew that the person who came was not good, and when they learned that it was Zhang Xianzhong, the leader of the rebel army, they were even more respectful, for fear that they would offend him somewhere. However, Zhang Xianzhong did not come to eat and worship the Buddha, and when he came, he indicated his purpose: we are big fish and meat outside, but you are vegetarian here, which is too bitter. We brought some wine and meat, you guys eat it!
The monks looked at each other, was Zhang Xianzhong joking or had a bad brain? Don't you know the clear rule that monks can't drink wine and eat meat? But the other party was menacing and powerful, and the monks did not dare to refute him. For a while, everyone fell silent, and the scene was very embarrassing.
Seeing that Zhang Xianzhong was about to get angry, after a period of silence, a monk named Shaoshan said:
"I can drink wine and eat meat, but if I eat it, you won't slaughter the city after you break through Chongqing, okay?"
Zhang Xianzhong also wanted to see what it was like for the monk to drink wine and eat meat, so he agreed and gave him a bowl of meat and a glass of wine.
So the monk of the broken mountain first took the wine glass: "I will replace tea with wine today!" "Drink the wine in your glass. Then he picked up the bowl again: "I'm going to cook meat today!" ”
Eating all the meat in the bowl, he said a famous saying while eating: "Wine and meat pass through the intestines, and the Buddha has left in his heart!" ”
This means that although I drink wine and eat meat, I don't eat it because I can't stand the temptation of wine and meat, but to save more people.
Although the wine and meat entered my stomach, I still had Buddha in my heart. Zhang Xianzhong was shocked, so he solemnly promised that the monk would not slaughter the city, and later he did not slaughter the city after he attacked Chongqing.
Of course, some people may immediately think of Jigong, saying that "wine and flesh pass through the intestines, and the Buddha leaves in his heart" Isn't the phrase Jigong said, how did it become a famous saying of a monk who broke the mountain?
However, in fact, although the prototype of Jigong is a person from the Southern Song Dynasty, a series of legendary stories of Jigong, especially the "Legend of Jigong" that we relish today, were compiled only in the Qing Dynasty, later than Zhang Xianzhong's period.
So from the perspective of time, the words of the mountain-breaking monk should be the prototype.
Some people have also questioned the story of the monk who broke the mountain, believing that it is fictional, in fact, this story should have been a story between a group of mountain thieves and a temple.
Some people also think that Zhang Xianzhong is just a joke with the monks, even if the monks do not drink and eat meat, he will not slaughter the city, after all, Zhang Xianzhong is originally a person who likes to tease others.
Of course, some people think that if the monks refuse to eat wine and meat, Zhang Xianzhong's brutal character will really slaughter the city. It's just that he is a person who keeps his agreement after all, and seeing that the monk eats wine and meat, it is not good to slaughter the city. However, although there are different opinions, there is one thing that everyone agrees on - that is, Zhang Xianzhong did not slaughter the city after attacking Chongqing at this time.
Of course, it can also be considered that the real prototype of the sentence of the broken mountain monk is actually earlier, although it is not necessarily the same ten words, but it expresses a similar meaning.
Because we must know that when Buddhism was first introduced to China, those early monks could also eat meat, and later monks in the Western Regions and Tibet also had records of eating meat. Including now, looking at the world, in places such as Southeast Asia and Japan, where Buddhism is widely spread, monks can also drink wine and eat meat, and even marry wives and have children.
Because the prohibition of drinking alcohol and eating meat is not a universal law of the entire Buddhism, this "pure rule precepts" are only related to the specific sects of belief, just as Christianity and Islam have multiple sects, and there are multiple sects within Buddhism.
For example, in Tibetan Buddhism and other schools of Buddhism in Japan and Southeast Asia, there is no rule prohibiting monks from drinking alcohol and eating meat.
The prohibition of monks drinking alcohol and eating meat already exists only in some Buddhist schools, so it is normal for a monk to say such things, and at most he can only say that he violated the rules of his own sect, not the rules of Buddhism as a whole. What's more, his "breaking of the ring" has also saved so many people's lives!
After talking about the problem of monks drinking wine and eating meat, let's move on to Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong's ambitions were not limited to Chongqing, he wanted to occupy all of Sichuan, like many separatist regimes in history.
After conquering Chongqing, Zhang Xianzhong marched northwest and took Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. By this time, the Ming Dynasty's defense system in Sichuan had basically collapsed, and Zhang Xianzhong was in full swing, starting from Chongqing in early July and approaching Chengdu in early August. Most prefectures and counties along the way fell in the wind, and Chengdu was shaken.
Long Wenguang, the governor of Sichuan in the Ming Dynasty, urgently summoned all kinds of reinforcements to defend Chengdu, and for a time all the reinforcements were integrated into the capital, which can be called huge. However, Zhang Xianzhong was not deterred by this momentum, because Long Wenguang panicked when summoning reinforcements, made mistakes in his busyness, and did not identify the source and number of the reinforcements in detail.
As a result, several troops under Zhang Xianzhong also mixed into the city under the banner of reinforcements, and it has to be said that Long Wenguang's counter-espionage ability is too poor. Subsequently, Zhang Xianzhong attacked the city from all sides at the same time, and the Great Western Army in the city also responded to Zhang Xianzhong.
Zhang Xianzhong attacked Chengdu in three days, and Long Wenguang and other officials refused to surrender and were killed.
Next, there was great controversy about Zhang Xianzhong's account in Sichuan. Regarding Zhang Xianzhong's behavior after he attacked Chengdu, three theories emerged.
The first theory is that Zhang Xianzhong hated the people of Chengdu for resolutely resisting him in battle, or wanted to "establish power", so he wantonly slaughtered the people in Chengdu, resulting in the massacre of the city.
The second theory says that Zhang Xianzhong did slaughter after entering the city, but only against the families of the gentry and bureaucrats and generals in the city, not against the entire city people. It's just that because it offended the interests of the gentry class, it was widely smeared.
The third theory says that Zhang Xianzhong did not commit any crimes after entering the city, and he also exempted the people from taxes for three years, and strictly prohibited soldiers from looting, and military discipline was strict.
What is the real situation is still controversial in historians, and we can only roughly speculate. Based on the later situation in Chengdu and Zhang Xianzhong's actions, the second statement should be more likely.
In November 1644, Zhang Xianzhong officially proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu, held a grand enthronement ceremony, established the state name "Daxi", changed the yuan to "Dashun", and made Chengdu the national capital. He also set up hundreds of officials, opened examinations, selected thirty junior officers, and assigned them to serve as officials in various places. Here we can also speculate that at least at that time, Zhang Xianzhong should not have killed in Chengdu.
After all, he has designated Chengdu as the national capital, how can he slaughter the city of his own national capital? Or, if Chengdu had been slaughtered by Zhang Xianzhong before, how could Zhang Xianzhong designate such an empty city as the national capital?
Moreover, soon Zhang Xianzhong basically occupied the whole of Sichuan. Judging from the previous situation in the prefectures and counties, Zhang Xianzhong's disposal policy at that time should still not be so harsh.
Otherwise, if he really slaughtered cities so furiously, as some accounts say, how could those cities surrender to him? At most, one or two cities surrendered, and the others would have to fight to the death.
Of course, it can only be said that Zhang Xianzhong is still not so cruel and murderous at this time, but not necessarily after that.
Because although Zhang Xianzhong realized his dream of dominating Sichuan Shu, he still had two heart problems. One is the northern gateway of Sichuan and Shu - Hanzhong is not yet in his hands, but in the hands of the Dashun regime in the north.
Without taking Hanzhong, Zhang Xianzhong could not safely divide Sichuan and Shu after all. The other was that the gentry class in Sichuan were extremely dissatisfied with him, and a large number of landlord forces appeared in various places, who constantly attacked Zhang Xianzhong's local garrison in an attempt to destroy Daxi's rule.
Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng were both leaders of the peasant army and were former comrades-in-arms. However, at this time, in order to stabilize the regime, Zhang Xianzhong could not care so much.
He sent his righteous son Sun Ke to attack Hanzhong, but was defeated by He Zhen, who was arranged by Li Zicheng to guard Hanzhong. In the first month of the following year, Zhang Xianzhong personally led troops to attack Hanzhong, but was ambushed by the Dashun army and defeated again. Zhang Xianzhong had to withdraw his troops and gave up the idea of capturing Hanzhong.
On the other hand, Zhang Xianzhong's operation to eliminate the landlords' armed forces was not completely successful. The Southern Ming regime also sent people to fight Zhang Xianzhong for Sichuan, which complicated the war situation in Sichuan. Although Zhang Xianzhong defeated the landlord armed forces many times, they always "spring breeze blows again".
Therefore, because he was extremely unsuccessful in both aspects, and at the same time had to face the pressure of the Qing army going south, Zhang Xianzhong, who was already impatient, became more and more irritable, and gradually began to slaughter wantonly at the slightest disobedience, and even liked to torture people with all kinds of torture, and watched it in person.
The general Liu Jinzhong advised him not to kill indiscriminately, but Zhang Xianzhong did not listen and wanted to kill him as well, so Liu Jinzhong defected to the Qing army. In the unfavorable situation of the war on the front line, Zhang Xianzhong's spirit became more and more unstable, coupled with his lack of hope for stable rule in Sichuan in the later period, and at the same time, in order to rob the people of food to supply military supplies, Zhang Xianzhong even slaughtered.
Of course, some records say that Zhang Xianzhong slaughtered Sichuan, and even that he killed 60,000 people, which is pure nonsense. You must know that at that time, let alone Sichuan, there were no 60,000 people in all of China, where did Zhang Xianzhong find so many people to kill? Could it be that he killed Sichuan, killed China, and killed the whole world?
And judging from the fact that a large number of anti-Qing forces can emerge in Sichuan since then, and the Qing army has also left many records of slaughtering cities in Sichuan, Zhang Xianzhong is obviously not to the point of slaughtering Sichuan.
If Zhang Xianzhong killed Sichuan, then how could the Qing army have so many people to kill? Did those anti-Qing forces appear out of thin air?
Although Zhang Xianzhong is not good at governing the country, he still has basic national integrity. After the Qing army went south, he repeatedly recruited Zhang Xianzhong and promised him "eternal wealth", but Zhang Xianzhong resolutely refused. In the end, Zhang Xianzhong confronted the Qing army in the area of Phoenix Mountain, and the Chinese Qing army died with arrows.
However, after his death, the remnants of the Great Western Army still insisted on resisting the Qing for 15 years, and his righteous sons Sun Kewang, Li Dingguo, Liu Wenxiu and others later launched a great counterattack against the Qing Dynasty in 1652, setting off a second round of anti-Qing upsurge, and Li Dingguo created the myth of "two famous kings".
Unfortunately, in the end, the Great Western Army broke out in internal strife and in the same room, allowing the Qing army to take advantage of the void. In 1662, the remnants of the Great Western Army were finally destroyed, and this is the next story.
To sum up, although Zhang Xianzhong is cruel, he also has basic principles and integrity. At that time, the Ming army, the Qing army, and the warlord troops in various parts of Sichuan did not do less slaughter, and the Qing army was no more merciful than Zhang Xianzhong when it coerced the people to attack the city and slaughter villages and towns that "may collude" with the anti-Qing forces. Although Zhang Xianzhong participated in Tu Chuan, Tu Chuan's pot cannot be held on Zhang Xianzhong alone.