When Li Zicheng was 13 years old in Chongzhen, he proposed the policy of "equalizing the land and exempting it from endowment", and the main beneficiaries were the poor people who did not even have arable land. It is also under the blessing of this policy that Li Zicheng has gained the support of the poor people.
It should be known that during the Chongzhen period, there were natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the land harvest was poor, but the taxes collected by the government and the squires were not many, in this case, the Henan region where Li Zicheng was located was basically in a state of ten rooms and nine empty.
On the border of Henan, in addition to the people who could not stay in their hometowns, the people who remained could basically only hang on to one breath, and they were simply unable to pay the taxes apportioned by the imperial court.
Many ordinary people have even become a big problem in eating, so in this case, Li Zicheng did not lose the time to put forward the policy of "equalizing the land and exempting the endowment", which is of great significance to the local people.
In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, although natural and man-made disasters continued, this was not the main reason why ordinary people could not eat. The unbridled oppression of the Ming ruling class was the main reason for the rise of displaced people.
The problem of the people eating has become the most urgent problem to be solved, so it is a wise move for Li Zicheng to put forward the policy of "equalizing the land and exempting the endowment" at this juncture.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > taxes are fierce</h1>
You know, the people are squeezed without even a little oil and water, even if Li Zicheng wants to collect taxes, he can't collect anything. Therefore, Li Zicheng also wanted to understand, and directly targeted the official gentry and local tycoons at that time.
Presumably, many people can't figure it out, the whole harvest is not good, hunger is everywhere, can the so-called rich have "surplus grain"?
The answer is yes. The reason why ordinary people can't eat is largely due to the vicious annexation of land. Although simple natural disasters will cause losses, if it were not for the existence of vicious mergers and other problems, a large-scale uprising of the people would not have broken out at all.
It is precisely because many squire officials, without considering the lives of the people, want to take advantage of the opportunity to make the country rich. So the poor died, but the rich became richer.
The poor were so poor that they didn't even have to eat, and the rich had rotten grain in their granaries. Therefore, in order to survive, the poor either sell their land cheaply and work for large families. Or leave their hometown, go to other places to escape the wilderness, and go to work for rich families in other places.
Logically, this group of people who can't even eat enough to eat can always avoid paying taxes. If there is a disaster now, the people will be rescued, but at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it is an impossible thing, because the officials and masters want to accumulate wealth.
As a result, many people just left their hometowns, and the local area became empty. But this is not another family, there is only one family left to bear the taxes of these ten families.
To put it simply, as long as there are still living people, it is necessary to ensure that the taxes in this area are in place. And the more chaotic it is, the easier it is for those rich households and governments to accumulate wealth, and even if there is a famine, the grain in their hands will not be reduced.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > what Li Zicheng ate after Juntian was exempted</h1>
As mentioned above, in the granary of the government, there is enough grain in the granary, and even if you open one at random, it is enough for the local people to eat for a few years. Therefore, the simplest way is to take the victims who do not have enough to eat and grab the official food.
This contradictory relationship was used by Li Zicheng, and the problem of his own soldiers was perfectly resolved, and the common people only knew that they did not pay grain after the king of Chuang, and the king of Chuang took it with him to grab the grain. It is really difficult to refuse not to cultivate the land, but also to eat enough to eat, and by the way, to punish those officials who are arrogant and blessed in ordinary days.
Of course, in the early stage of Li Zicheng's uprising, he mainly relied on robbing official grain and circulating cases, and if he wanted to fill his stomach, he had to constantly fight wars and constantly attack the city, and the common people had a strong desire to fight.
In addition to robbing official grain, Li Zicheng also thought of transforming and grasping production, after all, eating official grain is eating the old money, the old money always has to eat up one day, if you want to be able to develop sustainably, you must have your own base.
Therefore, in the 16th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng also issued several orders to resume production after taking Xiangyang. By redistributing land in the occupied areas, supporting the cultivation of the people, and allowing those who cultivate the land to have enough to eat, Li Zicheng was half successful.
In addition to these measures, Li Zicheng was vigorously reviving the imperial examination after capturing Xi'an, with the intention of completing the transformation into a feudal dynasty. Li Zicheng never dreamed that he would be able to overthrow the Ming Dynasty.
In the case of a great advantage, he once negotiated with the Chongzhen Emperor about the conditions, just to become a northwest king. Li Zicheng's move must also be a transition through this move, so that his foundation can be more solid.
Perhaps the Chongzhen Emperor saw everything and even rejected Li Zicheng's proposal. Li Zicheng had no choice but to continue to attack in order to survive, but he did not expect to break into the capital of Daming in the 17th year of Chongzhen and overthrow the Ming Dynasty.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="25" > soldiers and generals have become troublesome</h1>
There were too many people who could not afford to eat in that era, And Li Zicheng's one eastern crusade ended the lifeblood of the Ming Dynasty, and he also recruited more than 200,000 Ming Dynasty descendants in minutes, which was originally a happy thing, but Li Zicheng's family did not have much surplus grain, which made him very sad.
Waiting for the people in the occupied areas to grow grain, the graves of these hundreds of thousands of troops have grown a few stubbles.
Li Zicheng had no choice but to continue to follow the old path and rob the rich. The rich merchants in the capital were really hungry, and the hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his hands were screaming with hunger, and in terms of policy, Li Zicheng could not hold back.
The bureaucratic rights and interests of the capital were not protected, and they all stood against Li Zicheng. And Liu Zongmin chased after the stolen money to half, and also annoyed Wu Sangui. As a result, Wu Sangui simply sided with the Manchu Qing and opened the city gate to lure the Qing soldiers into the pass, which became a turning point in Li Zicheng's downfall.
After some operation, Li Zichengshan Customs did not fight down, and lost Tongguan, so that the Great Northwest had no barrier and was forced to withdraw from the capital. Li Zicheng also slowly came to the end.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="31" > postscript</h1>
To sum up, the reason why Li Zicheng failed was that his team developed too fast, so fast that he did not have time to react.
The policy of "exempting the fields from the land" is correct, but because the subsequent situation changes too quickly, the construction of Li Zicheng's base area cannot keep up with the speed of the development of the team, and in this case, Li Zicheng has to continue to grab the big households, in order to let the team eat enough, thus losing the support of this class.
The resources of this part of the people are much greater than those of the people at the bottom, and the strength of this unity has not been united, so that although Li Zicheng has solved the problem of food and clothing in front of him, he has lost his future, which is a pity.