In the long river of history, the tragic end of Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is often embarrassing. His life is a portrayal of the struggle against fate and the epitome of the tragedy of the times. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), as Li Zicheng's Dashun army invaded Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen chose to hang himself in the coal mountain and martyred the country, leaving behind the tragic last words of "I am not the king of the country, you are the minister of the country". However, counting Chongzhen's tragedy, it may not be his direct enemies Wu Sangui or Li Zicheng who really killed him, but those who were closest to him but failed to give him enough support at critical moments - his courtiers.
At the beginning of the succession of Emperor Zhu Youzhen, Chongzhen was faced with a country full of holes. There was the invasion of the Houjin outside, and the beacon fire of the peasant uprising broke out everywhere. He worked diligently to save the situation, eradicated the powerful Wei Zhongxian, and tried to rectify the dynasty, but his efforts did not seem to fundamentally change the fate of the Ming Dynasty. The tragedy of Chongzhen lies in the interweaving of his personal self-righteousness and the selfishness and short-sightedness of the courtiers, which together contributed to the fall of the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Chongzhen's character flaws were part of his tragedy. He was suspicious and arbitrary, often difficult to adopt the opinions of his subordinates, and even too impatient in some key decisions, such as the unjust murder of Yuan Chonghuan, which not only lost the pillars of the anti-Qing front, but also dealt a great blow to the border defense forces. The deeper problem, however, lies in the collective incompetence and passivity of the courtiers.
At the critical moment when Li Zicheng was approaching Beijing, Chongzhen considered moving south in an attempt to make a comeback, but this proposal was strongly opposed by many civilian officials. They may be selfish, fearing that they will lose their position of power in Beijing, or they may stick to the old ways, believing that moving south is a land of abandonment of their ancestors, and that they are disloyal and unfilial. Jiang Dejing, a cabinet scholar, angered Chongzhen because of his outspoken admonition and was dismissed. Guang Shiheng and others were even more resolutely opposed to moving the capital to Nanjing, and their short-sightedness and selfishness finally ruined the last glimmer of life of the Ming Dynasty.
Among Chongzhen's close people, there are many loyal people, such as Wang Chengen, who accompanied him to the last moment of his life, but most of the courtiers chose to protect themselves instead of going through the difficulties together when the country was in trouble. At the last moment, Chongzhen may have realized that what really left him alone and finally on a desperate path were these courtiers who kept saying that they were loyal and patriotic, but in fact shirked their responsibilities and had selfish intentions at a critical juncture.
The tragedy of Chongzhen is a profound reflection on the relationship between monarchs and ministers under the feudal imperial power. It reveals a truth: the rise and fall of a country depends not only on the wisdom of the monarch, but also on whether the entire ruling class can unite and overcome the difficulties together. Chongzhen's death is not only a personal tragedy, but also the inevitable result of the comprehensive effect of the political system and cultural mentality of that era. The lessons of history have taught us that true loyalty and wisdom should be embodied in the moments when the nation needs it most, not just in words of loyalty and empty slogans.