(This article was originally my answer to the Q&A in the headlines, without originality.) Discussion is welcome. ）
The Chongzhen Emperor's only highlight was the elimination of Wei Zhongxian when he was 17 years old when he had just ascended the throne. Wei Zhongxian served as a eunuch during the ming dynasty, and was so favored that he was known as "nine thousand nine hundred years old", so that people "only knew that there were loyal sages, but not the emperor". After the Chongzhen Emperor eliminated Wei Zhongxian's forces, he immediately began to appoint eunuch forces.
On March 18, 1644, Li Zicheng led the Dashun peasant army to capture the outer city of Beijing. Chongzhen saw that the great power of daming was gone and the sheji was about to collapse, and in desperation, he forced Empress Zhou to commit suicide with his sword, and then personally killed the youngest daughter Princess Zhaoren, and then cut the eldest daughter Princess Le'an, and finally ordered his attendants to escort the crown prince Zhu Cixiu to rush out of the Forbidden Palace to hide and flee. After arranging all this, the Chongzhen Emperor climbed the coal mountain behind the palace and hanged himself on a pine tree. There was only one eunuch Wang Cheng'en by his side.
Stills of the Chongzhen Emperor
so. Assuming that the Chongzhen Emperor did not commit suicide, what would be the result? History cannot be assumed, but it does not prevent us from imagining a little in the light of the history of the time. Even if the Chongzhen Emperor did not commit suicide, it was difficult for him to control the situation, and the historical trend was roughly three endings.
The best outcome is to live in a remote corner, forming a southern and northern dynasty that rules by river (this is also the most difficult), the middle outcome is to escape overseas (such as occupying Taiwan), and the inferior end is to be eliminated (the probability is extremely high).
In fact, can Chongzhen really not commit suicide? If he had not committed suicide, he would have been squirted by the moral kidnapping of the ministers, or he would have died clean. In the past, the Chongzhen Emperor was exhausted on two fronts, both inside and outside, there were li zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's peasant army, and there were the thriving Manchu qing small evil wolves outside, feeling that if it dragged on any longer, the Ming Kingdom would not be able to resist one day, so Chongzhen instructed the military department Shangshu Chen Xinjia to negotiate with the Manchu Qing and negotiate a settlement, so as to free up a hand and concentrate firepower to fight the peasant army. However, when the news leaked out, the ministers of the imperial court were like smashing pots, and the crowd was excited, and one after another accused the discussion and accusation of being a shameful act of traitor, demanding that the imperial court must fight the Manchu Qing Tatars to the end and resolutely not yield, otherwise they would be traitors and traitors, and their conscience would be greatly damaged. Chongzhen had no choice but to unjustly kill Chen Xinjia as an explanation. Chen Xinjia has been in the frontier for many years, has talent, courage, and learning side affairs, and can be a model for the commander of the literati, and such a talent has died on Chongzhen's "face". The Manchu Qing regime was also sincere and willing to reconcile, but when it heard that Chen had been killed, it felt that it had been tricked. Unwilling to be fooled, the Qing army attacked the Ming Dynasty on a large scale, and the Ming Dynasty suffered a great defeat...
Chongzhen had also considered peace talks with Li Zicheng. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng attacked the city of Beijing with hundreds of thousands of peasant troops, but at this time he had no intention of overthrowing the imperial court, and sent envoys to negotiate with the Chongzhen Emperor, with the intention of signing a peace agreement. Li Zicheng demanded that he be made the King of the Northwest, and that the imperial court only reward Dashun's generals with gold, silver, and treasure, and that Dashun's army be used by the imperial court.
Historical portrait of the Chongzhen Emperor
At this time, the situation was already extremely critical, and the best thing for the Chongzhen Emperor to do was to negotiate peace with Li Zicheng and avoid the risk of death and the destruction of the country. However, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty were impassioned, with a posture of burning with the thief jade, Chongzhen also had no opinion, so he asked Wei Zaode around him, and the old slippery head Wei Zaode did not express his opinion, but just looked down and listened, allowing Chongzhen to be anxious. Chongzhen had no choice but to let the envoy go back first and tell Li Zicheng that he had thought it out before replying. When Li Zicheng received a reply from the special envoy, he knew that there was no hope for peace talks, so he dispelled the idea of peace talks and decided to attack the city immediately. Eventually, the capital fell, and the Chongzhen Emperor did not have a good end.
Lee Zicheng stills
Well, let's assume that Chongzhen's face is thick and he didn't commit suicide.
If I were Chongzhen, I might reconcile with the Da Shun army and unite against the Manchu Qing outside guanwai, on the condition that I would later cross the river and rule. If the resistance to the Qing Dynasty was successful, the south of the Yangtze River would be given the territory of the Dashun Army, and the Ming Dynasty would retain the territory north of the Yangtze River. Wait for the time to ripen and then seek the next step of development. But the question arises again, will the moral emperors in the court allow him to do this? So, this one is the hardest.
Escaping overseas, such as going to Taiwan Island to avoid the wind, is actually a good and not good choice. At that time, Daming's navy was still relatively powerful, and there were still tens of thousands of elite navies. Although Taiwan is only more than a hundred kilometers away from Fujian, it is not so easy to attack. The disadvantage was that Taiwan had just been developed at that time, the population base was small, and the productive forces were not developed. If Chongzhen escapes to Taiwan, he should be able to support it for at least 20 years. It's hard to say how long it will be. Because he was the emperor after all, the goal was too big, and the enemy would definitely focus on this place and constantly send troops to attack. Therefore, in the end, the Ming regime will also be terminated here. But it is not entirely impossible to rely on orthodoxy to contact various localities in an attempt to make a comeback. But it is impossible to return to the past, at most temporarily occupying a slightly larger territory, and eventually being destroyed by a certain force.
Taiwan Province of China
If he does not die, being coerced by other royal families to abdicate is a blessing from God. He is most likely to be wiped out. The situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty was extremely complicated, and it is difficult for us to be sure which force destroyed Chongzhen, but the Ming Dynasty was obviously difficult to revive, because the foundation of the country had been completely rotten, Chongzhen obviously did not have the ability to control the complex situation, he was not a god, and it was difficult to escape death in the end. The edifice will fall, but can the individual save it?
Author: Skeptical Explorer