The Mongol cavalry once swept across the Eurasian continent and established a glorious empire. However, when the Ming army captured the capital of Yuan, this once powerful dynasty went to the abyss of destruction. How tragic was the moment when the Yuan Dynasty fell? Countless lives were destroyed, and families were destroyed. This bloody history makes people shudder. The tragic scenes seem to be vivid...... When the Yuan Dynasty fell, what kind of tragedy did it experience? Let us find out.
The fall of the Mongol Iron Cavalry
The sky above the capital city was covered with dark clouds and black oppression. The mournful sound of trumpets echoed inside and outside the city, heralding the beginning of a terrible battle.
Emperor Yuan Shun was alone in the capital, and when he saw the Ming army's army coming to the border, he ordered the whole city to be on guard, preparing to fight to the death with the Ming army. However, the majesty of the Mongolian iron cavalry has long since disappeared. Decades of decaying rule have left this once-brave and warlike army a wide open and listless force.
As the iron hooves of the Ming army got closer and closer, there was panic in the capital. The Mongol nobles fled one after another, leaving only a few diehards and Emperor Yuan Shun to support themselves in the city.
Finally, at dawn in 1368, the Ming attack arrived. Tens of thousands of Mongol warriors fought bravely, but in the face of the elite divisions and advanced firearms of the Ming army, they were quickly defeated.
The artillery fire at the head of the city continued, and the capital was in a sea of fire, full of screams and severed limbs. Emperor Yuan Shun saw that the general trend had gone, so he had to lead his cronies to escape from the city and go to the Mongolian Plateau. In this way, this iron horseman, who had swept through Asia and Europe, was destroyed in the last battle of the homeland.
The fall of the Mongol Iron Cavalry marked the end of a glorious dynasty. Those brave and warlike iron cavalry warriors in the past can now only be displaced and uprooted from their homes. They once traveled across the Eurasian continent with stirrups, but now they can only flee their homes in a hurry, and the future is bleak.
The suffering of the common people
After the destruction of the capital, the suffering of the common people is even more indescribable. For a time, it was full of displaced refugees, who once lived and worked in peace but are now homeless.
The streets of the city were full of hungry and cold people. Some people are skinny and walking has become a luxury, while others are unclothed and shivering in the wind and snow with bare feet. Some children are even frozen in the streets, never able to open their eyes again.
There are even some refugees whose families are ruined, so they can only wander around the city, picking up some tree bark and grass roots to satisfy their hunger. Their eyes were dark, as if they had lost the last shred of hope for life.
In this human purgatory, the screams of women can be heard from time to time. In order to vent their savage desires, some Ming soldiers wantonly plundered and humiliated the unarmed civilian people. Countless innocent people have been subjected to cruel treatment worse than death in this catastrophe.
The conditions in the camps are equally deplorable. Due to the chaotic management, diseases and plagues raged in the camp. Some of the frail elderly and children were soon killed by the disease. Those who survived lived a life worse than death, and could only eat some moldy residues every day to satisfy their hunger.
In this hell on earth, there are occasionally some poignant stories. For example, there is a mother who has to cut her own flesh to feed her young child, or an elderly couple who voluntarily gives up their food rations in order to keep the young alive......
In the face of such a tragic scene, even those soldiers of the Ming army who were once invincible couldn't help but burst into tears. The trauma that this war has inflicted on civilians is beyond words.
The collapse of the social order
After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the entire Central Plains fell into chaos. As a result of the collapse of the central government, local governments in various places also collapsed and lost effective control.
In this empty vacuum, bandits began to run rampant with impunity. Some former homeless people and remnants of the army formed a huge group of bandits, looting and committing crimes everywhere. Some of them rode horses and bandits, while others committed crimes by boat, committing crimes on both sides of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River.
In order to protect themselves, some local officials had to use their wealth to hire these bandits as private armies, and the situation of collusion between officials and bandits became more and more serious. Later, some places completely became the world of bandits, and the lives and property of the people were no longer guaranteed in any way.
What is even more terrifying is that some of the original warlords and local tyrants and shoddy gentry also took the opportunity to cause chaos. They gathered the villagers, occupied one side, and ran rampant in the township. Some even proclaimed themselves "kings" and "dukes" to confront the central government of the Ming Dynasty.
In the midst of this chaos, it is natural that ordinary people are the first to suffer. Some rural areas are often looted by bandits, and farmers' crops and livestock are looted. What's more, some bandits even set fire to the village, burning the disobedient villagers alive.
Even cities are not immune. As a result of the war, the walls of some cities were destroyed and they lost their defensive capabilities. The robbers took advantage of the situation and plundered on a large scale. What's more, they will also hijack the rich for ransom, triggering a series of hostage cases.
In the midst of this turmoil, famine also followed. Due to the ravages of war, many farmlands have been barren, and natural and man-made disasters have drastically reduced grain production. In 1370, a great famine broke out in the Central Plains, and countless people died as a result.
In the face of such a tragic situation, although the central government of the Ming Dynasty was already trying to restore order, due to the shallow foundation, it would be difficult to completely curb this trend of social turmoil for a while. The entire Central Plains was plunged into an unprecedented chaos.
The cruelty of the "rule of Hongwu" in the early Ming Dynasty
Although the central government of the Ming Dynasty was already trying to restore social order, it was difficult to completely calm this turbulent tide in a short period of time due to the shallow foundation and the deep trauma caused by the fall of the Yuan Dynasty.
In order to completely sweep away the remnants of the old dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, ordered a brutal "purge" campaign against the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty. Countless former Mongol nobles and officials were killed in the campaign, and their families were confiscated or exiled.
What's even more cruel is that in order to prevent trouble, the Ming Dynasty carried out strict control over some "key groups". For example, in some northern regions, the Ming Dynasty ordered the detention of all Mongols in concentration camps. These innocent civilians were forcibly driven out and embarked on a long road of hardship.
Along the way, some frail elderly and children collapsed on the side of the road, unable to move forward. Some people were beaten and humiliated by the Ming army on the road. This "road of life" has thus become a miserable "road of death".
Eventually, the surviving Mongols were sent to remote areas such as Yunnan and Guangxi, where they lived a life worse than death. They are deprived of all their right to survive and can only survive by catching wild meat and collecting wild fruits.
At the same time, in order to completely eradicate the influence of the old dynasty, the Ming Dynasty also ordered the burning of a large number of Mongolian documents and classics. These precious legacies, which recorded the long history and culture of the Mongolian people, were reduced to ashes in the "literary prison" of the Ming Dynasty.
Even those former Han Chinese officials could not escape their fate. As long as they have a relationship with the Yuan Dynasty, they will be regarded as "traitors" and will be severely punished. According to historical records, at least tens of thousands of Han Chinese officials and gentry were sentenced to death during this "purge" campaign.
In the face of such harsh measures of the Ming Dynasty, the remnants of the old dynasty were all afraid. In order to escape persecution, some people have to flee and leave their homes to live a life of wandering.
It was not until the Hongwu period that the "purge" movement of the Ming Dynasty gradually stopped. However, the wounds that this movement has inflicted on society are far from fully healed. The entire early Ming Dynasty was shrouded in a dark haze.