Unlike any dynasty in Chinese history, the Ming Dynasty never cut up land, paid no reparations, did not make peace, and did not pay tribute. The Son of Heaven guards the gates of the kingdom, and the king dies! The Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was also different from the fallen monarchs of other dynasties, and being faint and unscrupulous and incompetent was not Zhu Youjian's label. Strive to rule, eliminate the traitor Wei Zhongxian, use Yuan Chonghuan, reuse Yang Sichang... These are the signs of the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian, and even more the signs of the Ming Dynasty's seemingly moving towards ZTE.
The Chongzhen Emperor, who could have been the lord of Zhongxing, eventually became the king of the subjugated country, which made people sigh. Among them, the reason is closely related to the Chongzhen Emperor's treachery and loyalty, suspicious use of people, partial listening and partial belief, and the "Wen Ge Lao" who has been misused for more than ten years in the city government and looks loyal and treacherous is even more a booster for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
"Elder Wen Ge" is Wen Tiren, a 26-year-old who entered the Examination in the twenty-sixth year of the Wanli Calendar and entered the Hanlin Academy. At the age of 50, he became a ceremonial attendant. Six years later, he was promoted to Rebbe Shoshu. Scheming, he has been an official in the capital for a long time and is well versed in the way of official promotion. In the late Ming Dynasty, the situation in the DPRK and China was complicated, and Wen Tiren, who was extremely deep in the city government, showed the illusion of "no party", neither defecting to Wei Zhongxian's castrated party clique nor participating in the struggle of the Donglin party.
Although he was powerless, he grasped the emperor's mind of hating party strife and liking the "partyless" ministers, and naturally, he was promoted to a rich, and the emperor was favored, and his hands came to him.
During the seventeen years of the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor, more than 50 cabinet members were replaced, with Wen Zhongxiang's Posthumous Zhenmeng being the shortest reigning one and Wen Tiren the longest serving.
In the first year of Chongzhen, the castration party lost power and the cabinet was vacant, and the Chongzhen Emperor issued an edict to push the cabinet elder. Qian Qianyi, Cheng Jiming, Wang Yongguang, and so on, who were leaders of the civil servants, were all in the list of cabinet members drawn up by the officials. "Body benevolence is light, not with also", Wen Tiren was not recommended, disappointed to the extreme. Also unsuccessful was Zhou Tingru, whom the emperor liked. As soon as these two people combined, they came up with a conspiracy trick. Wen Tiren then turned over the old case from seven years ago, folded it, wrote to the emperor, and attacked the cabinet electionist, Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin Party, as the chief examiner, for cheating and accepting bribes. (Seven years ago, Qian Qianyi was a student of politics and was selected to be the chief examiner in Zhejiang, Qian Qianqiu planned a fraud case and wanted to bribe Qian Qianyi, but Qian Qianyi was not moved, and did not participate in the fraud, but as the main examiner, he could not escape the blame, took the initiative to expose, wrote to the emperor, and punished Qianyi for three months.) ）
Many years have passed since this matter, and it is naturally ill-intentioned to mention the old matter again. Wen Tiren turned over this old case that had been closed, and when the dprk confronted Qian Qianyi, who was unprepared, was intimidated by the aggressive Wen Tiren, and in desperation, he had to admit that Wen Tiren was not wrong to impeach himself, but he was not stupid after a long time in the official field, how could he tolerate the repeated aggression of the other party, so he repeatedly stressed that the Criminal Investigation Department had closed the case.
At this time, the sleek ministers defended Qian Qianyi one after another, but Wen Tiren, who had been prepared earlier and only wanted to get ahead, said: "Qian Qianyi has formed a party for personal gain and accepted bribes, because he is jealous of his power, so no one dares to say it." But I can't bear to see the emperor isolated from above, and it is difficult to understand the people's hearts and govern the country, so I have to say it! "
On the surface, these few words are completely humble courtiers, considering the emperor and worrying about the affairs of the country. In fact, it further strengthened the Chongzhen Emperor's view that Qian Qianyi would hold on to him and form a party for personal gain. According to the prior arrangement, Zhou Tingru, who was favored but failed, went along with the trend, saying, "Although it will be nominally promoted to promote fairness, the real host is only one or two people, and the rest of the people dare not say anything more, and even if they do, it will be in vain to increase the disaster." The matter of Qian Qianqiu's bribery of Qian Qianyi has been closed, and there is no need to ask the ministers about their intentions! "
As soon as these words came out, the Chongzhen Emperor, who was suspicious of people and wary of Qian Qianyi, was even more angry and corrupt, and ordered qian Qianyi to be dismissed from his post and punished, and the officials who defended him were demoted, and the members listed were not counted, and the cabinet system was temporarily not implemented. The Hui push incident not only successfully prevented Qian Qianyi from entering the cabinet, but also made the emperor firmly believe that Wen Tiren was "lonely and loyal" and worth reusing!
Later, the Punishment Department interfered and asked Qian Qianqiu, and after a multi-official trial at the Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Inspection Yuan, the conclusion was still consistent with what Qian Qianyi and others had previously said, that is, Qian Qianyi did not accept bribes and form parties for personal gain, so the fact that Wen Tiren said could not be established, but the result of the establishment was not changed: Qian Qianyi was stripped of his official position and his selection was suspended for one year. Until the second year of Chongzhen, Zhou Yanru entered the cabinet in a special way.
The result of the unfair handling has triggered the discussion of many officials, and many officials have written to impeach Wen Tiren. Wen Tiren's forced purchase of merchant timber caused a lawsuit to be exposed by Yushi Mao Jiuhua, and Wen Tiren, who was well versed in the way of officialdom, chose to bribe the eunuch Cui Chengxiu to exonerate himself. In addition, Wen Tiren's illegal deeds such as marrying prostitutes, receiving gold, and seizing family property were impeached by Yushi Renzanhua. The Chongzhen Emperor ordered Wen Tiren to confront Mao Jiuhua and Ren Zanhua face to face. Wen Tiren, who was extremely deep in the city government, insisted that both of them were Qian Qian's death party and made the appearance of being wronged.
The Chongzhen Emperor comforted and completely favored Wen Tiren, and instead of punishing him, he severely punished the officials who impeached him. In June of the third year of Chongzhen, Wen Tiren entered the cabinet to participate in the pre-flight maintenance at a special order, and his career was frank and regrettable.
In June of the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiliao, was forced by the situation to kill Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of Dongjiang. In October, emperor Taiji of the Later Jin Dynasty led the Mongol cavalry to avoid the Ningjin defense line set up by Yuan Chonghuan and bypass the Mongol raid on Beijing, Yuan Chonghuan had to lead the cavalry back to Beijing Qinwang, and won the victory at the Battles of Guangqu Gate and Zuo'anmen, forcing the Later Jin army to withdraw.
However, the suspicious Chongzhen Emperor caught emperor Taiji's counter-plan and arrested Yuan Chonghuan and imprisoned him. When Yuan Chonghuan was a junior soldier, the chief examiner was Han Ye, who was a member of the Donglin Party and the first assistant of the cabinet. Yuan Chonghuan was not a member of the Donglin Party, let alone a person who committed the most heinous crimes, he was a general who resisted foreign enemies and made meritorious achievements, and the Chongzhen Emperor did not think of killing him, but Wen Tiren, in order to eliminate dissidents, repeatedly played and attacked Yuan Chonghuan, and wanted to pull han Ye, the first assistant of the cabinet related to Yuan Chonghuan, and the second assistant Qian Longxi, who were related to Yuan Chonghuan, into the water, so he vigorously advocated killing Yuan Chonghuan.
The successive performances of the "lonely and loyal" ministers deepened the emperor's suspicions, and the loyal minister Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Ling Chi, and the first assistant and second assistant of the cabinet stepped down. After Yuan Chonghuan's death, the Ming Dynasty rarely had a famous general who could resist the attack of Later Jin, so the Chongzhen Emperor's dream of Zhongxing was shattered, and the demise of the Ming Dynasty could not be recovered.
After the Yuan case, Zhou Tingru became the first assistant to the cabinet, the conflict of power and interests gradually deepened, and the cooperative relationship between Zhou Tingru and Wen Tiren was about to end.
Wen Tiren, who was extremely deep in the city government, naturally did not clash directly with his former partners, and on the surface he was still bending over to meet Zhou Tingru, and behind the scenes, he was always coveting the power of the first assistant of the cabinet, and even planned to replace it. In the fourth year of Chongzhen, the emperor deposed the official Shangshu Wang Yongguang, and Wen Tiren, because he was favored, recommended his fellow villager Min Hongxue.
Min Hongxue and Wen Tiren colluded to shield the party and crack down on dissidents. Zhou Tingru felt that he was Wen Tiren's "Bole", so he did not care about Wen Tiren's little tricks, and when he really realized that Wen Tiren's power in the dynasty had surpassed him, and even the right to employ people was weakened. Although Zhou Tingru was a scholar and was appreciated by the emperor, he was greedy and misbehaving, and was impeached by many officials, who were the mastermind behind the scenes of Wen Tiren.
Boiling frogs in warm water, Zhou Tingru did not jump for long. Two years later, Chen Zanhua said that Zhou Tingru had ganged up, embezzled and accepted bribes, and boasted that he had the power to return to heaven and was "a person who is now the emperor of Xi Dynasty." This self-righteousness of his completely angered the Chongzhen Emperor. Zhou Tingru, who was in a precarious situation, asked his "partner" Wen Tiren for help, how could Wen Tiren help him? Wen Tiren, who was good at calculation, not only did not help, but also took the opportunity to remove Zhou Tingru's cronies from their posts, and Zhou Tingru was isolated and helpless, and was forced to resign and go home. Wen Tiren was successfully promoted to the position of first assistant to the cabinet, and became increasingly jealous of his ability and imperiousness.
Wen Tianxiang's posthumous Zhenmeng was a jinshi in the second year of the Apocalypse, who was deposed for impeaching Wei Zhongxian, and after the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, he was reassigned with a heavy responsibility and served as a Japanese lecturer. A year after Wen Tiren became the head of the cabinet, Wen Zhenmeng entered the cabinet at the behest of the emperor and became the target of Wen Tiren's new attack. Wen Zhenmeng was a scholar by birth, an upright person, outspoken and unscrupulous, and had no city government. Although he was a descendant of Wen Tianxiang, his personality was difficult to gain a foothold in the official field, and wen Tiren, who thought that he was a snake and had two sides and three knives, was doing things behind his back, and Wen Zhenmeng, who had been in the cabinet for less than three months, was caught in the handle and pushed out of the cabinet.
After the Ming Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety and successfully excluded Wen Zhenmeng, Wen Zhenmeng's friend Zheng Zhenmeng of the same year became a thorn in Wen Tiren's eye. In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Wen Tiren caught the wind and caught the shadow, and according to the false words of Zheng Yantang's maternal uncle, he wrote to the emperor and accused him of "mother of the staff". When the Chongzhen Emperor saw such a detrimental thing as the "Mother of staff", he was furious and ordered her to be arrested and severely punished. After interrogation, the Criminal Investigation Department held that the evidence in the case was insufficient and could not be closed. After being submitted to Jinyiwei for review, Jinyiwei also determined the fact that Zheng Yu did not have a "staff mother", but the emperor did not express his position, and the "poor ghost" Zheng Yan was imprisoned.
Two years later, Wen Tiren was deposed, and Zheng Wanwan, who thought that things had turned around and could be closed, did not expect that the emperor still believed Wen Tiren's accusations against him, and stubbornly ordered Zheng Lingchi to be executed despite the investigation results of the Punishment Department and Jinyiwei. A generation of loyal ministers died unjustly, and the two-faced and three-bladed cabinet chief assistant only resigned, which shows how much the emperor trusted "Wen Ge Lao"!
Many acts of injustice will kill themselves, and Wen Tiren, who was once prosperous, was also deposed.
Wen Tiren once had dissatisfaction and resentment against Qian Qianyi, who had been deposed and returned home for ten years. Emperor Tiangao was far away, and Wen Tiren instructed Zhang Hanru, the master of changshu Yamen, to fabricate facts and attack Qian Qianyi for running amok in the countryside. Zhang Hanru filed a complaint in the capital, and Wen Tiren, in place of the emperor, issued a decree to arrest Qian Qianyi and imprison him! Qian Qianyi was not a person to be manipulated, so he sought help from Cao Huachun, a eunuch who had always been a eunuch who had a friendship, and after Wen Tiren knew about it, he secretly played the emperor and requested that Cao Huachun be put in prison. Cao Huachun asked the Chongzhen Emperor for orders to personally interrogate Zhang Hanru.
Therefore, Wen Tiren's conspiracy and bribery of Zhang Hanru to frame Qian Qianyi was exposed, and the false accusations against Qian Qianyi and even Cao Huachun were Wen Tiren's handwriting. The Chongzhen Emperor suddenly realized that Wen Tiren had a party! Even in order to form a party for personal gain, he did not hesitate to frame Zhongliang and frame Qian Qianyi, who was dismissed from his post, as a citizen! The Chongzhen Emperor, who had just woken up from a dream, could not bear it, so Wen Tiren was deposed and deposed.
The Chongzhen Emperor reigned for 17 years, Wen Tiren entered the cabinet for 7 years, and served as the first assistant for 4 years, which was the longest-serving cabinet member. This person does not seem to be greedy or evil, but during his tenure, he has never offered a plan or strategy for governing the country, and a simple word to describe him is a "mediocre" word, doing nothing, not making a head bird, but as long as personal interests are involved, carrying out retaliation is a first-class capable family. Couldn't the later Jin Dynasty and the peasant uprising attract the attention of the First Assistant of the Cabinet? Could it be that the first assistant of the cabinet will only pay attention to party strife and do everything possible to eliminate others and save themselves? Wen Tiren did.
In the end, the government was corrupt and the state affairs could not be managed, and the Chongzhen Emperor, who had dreamed of Zhongxing, could only let out a sigh:
"The king of the fallen country is not the king of the fallen country, but the subject of the fallen country!"
"Everyone can kill!"
"The ministers misled me!"
The fall of the Ming Dynasty, the inherent responsibility of the Chongzhen Emperor, such traitors Xiao Xiao also contributed a lot, when the official field has fallen into a situation of depression, the party struggle and infighting are not tired, everyone only cares about fame and profit, state affairs do not care about themselves, one or two seemingly Ming emperors can not pull the decadent trend of the entire old empire after all.