The Ming Dynasty has a history of 276 years. Ever since Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, moved the capital to Beijing, it has always followed the Liangjing system. That is, Nanjing and Beijing together became the capital of the Ming Empire.
However, because Zhu Di’s fief was in the Beijing area, and he moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing seemed very embarrassing. For more than 200 years, the Nanjing government has existed for more than half of the time. a joke. Until the 17th year of Chongzhen, that is, after Li Zicheng entered Beijing in 1644, Nanjing's fate was completely changed.
Because after the fall of Beijing, Nanjing became the only capital of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, Nanjing had a complete official system and only one emperor was missing. Therefore, as long as a great tomorrow is appointed, the role of the Nanjing government can be fully reflected. However, since the establishment of the Nanming government until its demise, 44 years have passed, but it has still not been the opponent of the Manchu Qing Tiehu. Why?
Some people think that Nanming is a stunned ruler, which led to the demise of the Nanming regime. Some people think that it is because the minister refuses to serve his life and has no loyalty at all. In fact, this is not the main reason. The Ming prince of Nanming has Emperor Longwu Zhu Yujian, and the wise ministers include Shi Kefa, Huang Daozhou, Zheng Chenggong, etc., so I think there are other reasons for Nanming's demise, that is, internal fighting.
01 Hongguang imperial court only lasted 8 months, but the internal fighting never ended on a single day.
Shi Kefa is a very familiar loyal minister. He used his own flesh and blood to defend Yangzhou City, and eventually died in Yangzhou, and was praised by posterity as a loyal and good forever. He was indeed a very loyal courtier of Nanming, but what everyone didn't know was that Shi Kefa also had a very important identity, which was the Shangshu of the Ministry of War of the Nanjing court.
- Many people have a vague idea of the powers of the Nanjing Ministry of War. As the second capital, Nanjing also had a group of ministers at the time. The layout was exactly the same as Beijing, except that there was no cabinet and emperor in Nanjing. Among the ministers, the highest status is the Shangshu of the Ministry of War.
- That is to say, Shi Kefa has always been the number one in the Nanjing court . Although they did not have much power in normal times, after the demise of the Beijing government, the Nanjing government took control of the world. Not only the courtiers of Ming Dynasty in Beijing rushed to Nanjing, even the taxes from various places were also handed over to the Nanjing government.
- Shi Kefa suddenly became the core figure of the empire, so choosing a new emperor for Nanming became a burden on Shi Kefa's shoulders.
The reliable candidates at that time were the blessed king Zhu Yousong, the Lu king Zhu Changcun, and the Gui king Zhu Changying. At this time, two factions with completely different attitudes were formed in the DPRK.
First of all, Lu Wang Zhu Changcun was completely excluded because of his distant blood relationship with the Wanli Emperor. The Gui Wang Zhu Changying gave birth to Wanli’s own son and Fu Wang Zhu Yousong. He is the grandson of Emperor Wanli. So they are all very promising to become the successors of the empire.
At this time, many courtiers believed that Fu Wang Zhu Yousong was the grandson of Zheng Guifei, and his father Zhu Changxun was the favorite son of Emperor Wanli. In order to fight for Zhu Changluo to ascend the throne, the Donglin Party members did not hesitate to smash Emperor Wanli, and of course they offended Concubine Zheng.
Huinan discusses the establishment of a monarch, Zhang Shenyan, Lu Daqi, Jiang Yueguang, etc. said: "The King of Fortune is established by Song, the grandson of Shenzong, and the order is established, and there are seven things: greed, licentiousness, alcoholism, filial piety, and abuse If you don’t go to school, you’ll intervene in the department. The king of Lu, the nephew of Shenzong, is a wise man. Fengyang Governor Ma Shiyingqian and Ruan Dacheng discussed, the Lord Fu Wang, counsel can be used, but the seven can not be told. Shiying had already sent troops with Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo, Liu Zeqing, and Gao Jie to send the blessing king to Yizhen, so Kefa and others welcomed the king. --- "Ming History"
Of course the Donglin Party still keeps this in mind, so they are strict against Zhu YousongLi objected, Shi Kefa was half of the Donglin Party, and his teacher was the Donglin Party, so he must also take care of the feelings of the Donglin Party.
- So Shi Kefa excluded Zhu Yousong , he even told Fengyang General Manager Ma Shiying of this idea, and wrote a letter denounced Zhu Yousong's several shortcomings, saying that he could not be established. For the emperor.
- However, Ma Shiying did not expect that Ma Shiying turned the spear head, and with the help of the warlords of the four towns, Zhu Yousong supported the throne . In desperation, the Ministry of War is still a book and can only choose to go to the north to the warlord, not dare to stay with the emperor. Of course, the chief minister of the cabinet was not in his turn to do it, but was handed over to Ma Shiying, who had the merits of support.
- Nanming’s first infighting started like this , Ma Shiying was holding the letter from Shi Kefa in his hand, and he was delayed in handing it to Zhu Yousong. In fact, it was to threaten Shi Kefa. This was Shi Kefa’s life. Weakness. And the Donglin Party members were all in danger, thinking that they would be cleared from the court, so many people thought of surrendering to Manchu.
- The warlords of the four towns are not much better. , they have the merits of support, so they are all knighted. Except for Huang Degong who made military merits for Mingjiu before, he was named a marquis. Was made an earl. However, in order to compete for territory, they can actually fight, and the scale is not small, which shows how serious the internal fighting is.
In such an environment, the Hongguang regime only existed for 8 months before it was declared dead. When Dodor brought the Manchu army to the south, almost all the warlords in the four towns surrendered, and there were countless surrenders of the Donglin Party.
02 The internal struggle between the Longwu regime and the Lu King’s regime has never ceased.
The Hongguang regime is an orthodox regime recognized by all southern provinces, and its demise marks the southern provinces once again without a leader. At this time, in the Zhejiang area closest to Nanjing, the king of Lu, Zhu Yihai, declared the supervision of the country. At that time, there was this custom, and state supervision was equivalent to preparing the emperor, and he could enthroned after the inspection period.
But Zhu Yihai could not be recognized by the people of the world, because in Fujian, the Zheng Zhilong brothers helped up the Longwu Emperor Zhu Yujian. Zhu Yujian was originally Tang Wang, a very aspiring prince. In order to save Chongzhen from the king, he was even detained by Chongzhen in Fengyang Prison for 7 years.
Lu Wang Yihai, the tenth grandson of Taizu. Father Shouyong broke through Yanzhou with 15 years of soldiers from Chongzhen and died. In February of the seventeenth year, the king took the throne and sought the capital to sink to Lamphun. In April of Yiyou in the second year of Shunzhi, he moved to Jiangguang and temporarily stationed in Taizhou. And Zheng Zunqian and others rose up to discuss the recommendation, and entered the five kings of Zhejiang, but the king was the most virtuous. Zhang Guowei, the former veteran of the Ministry of War, was selected to welcome the king to Taiwan. In August to Shaoxing, that is, the state of imprisonment. With the sub-department as the line, the subjects are called the lord of the country, the edict is called the order, the system is called the edict, the group of officials persuades to enter, and Wang Gu does not allow it. ---"Southeast Chronicle"
Therefore, the Longwu regime and the Lu Imperial government existed almost simultaneously. So who should the people of the world listen to? Most people support Emperor Longwu, but the regime of King Lu Zhu Yihai also has a lot of power. The military leaders represented by Zhang Mingzhen and Zhang Huangyan supported Zhu Yihai.
So the two sides have been fighting each other, and a very serious war broke out. Even after the death of Emperor Longwu, Zheng Chenggong didn't have any favorable impressions of Zhu Yihai, and he didn't even recognize his privilege of supervising the country. He would rather serve Emperor Yongli from afar than support Zhu Yihai, King of Lu.
In addition, the Longwu Emperor's regime is actually unstable. At that time, Zheng Zhilong and Emperor Longwu were separated from each other. Zheng Zhilong planned to control Emperor Longwu so as to sell himself for a good price when he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty. Emperor Longwu didn't want to be a puppet.
As the only Mingjun in Nanming, Emperor Longwu planned to expedition to the north, so he got in touch with He Tengjiao. At that time, He Tengjiao collected hundreds of thousands of Dashun Army, and he had great power. Emperor Longwu hoped to be supported by He Tengjiao, so he went to Jiangxi alone.
As a result, He Tengjiao actually intends to be independent.No bird Longwu Emperor. The country has been shattered into this, but these ministers continue to fight inwardly. Can such a regime last? The Longwu regime also declared its demise, and Emperor Longwu himself and the empress were killed by the Qing army.
03 The internal fighting during the Yongli regime was simply astounding.
After the death of Emperor Longwu, two new regimes appeared at the same time in Guangxi and Guangdong.
One is the famous Yongli emperor Zhu Youlang . The Yongli regime he established is the longest regime in the Southern Ming Dynasty.
The other is the Shaowu regime established by Zhu Yuya in Guangdong. Zhu Yuya is the younger brother of Emperor Longwu Zhu Yujian. After Emperor Longwu was in trouble, scholar Su Guansheng and others believed that Emperor Longwu was orthodox, so his younger brother Tang Wang Zhu Yuya was naturally qualified to inherit, so he established the Shaowu regime despite the opposition of Emperor Yongli.
As a result, these two regimes actually fought a battle when Nanming was about to die, and the scale was not small. This can't help but surprise people. Does the Ming Dynasty know about internal fighting? As a result, the Shaowu regime only existed for a month before it was destroyed by the southern Qing army, so the Yongli regime of the Nanming Dynasty became a veritable orthodoxy.
However, what is unexpected is that the Yongli regime was completely dependent on the Nanming regime established by the rest of the Western Army. The Great Western Army was Zhang Xianzhong's army, and it had always been the target of the Ming Dynasty's desire to annihilate. Obviously, the Great Western Army became the only main force in Nanming. It has to be said that fate is a joke.
The King of Gui ordered Lin Jiading and Wu Jingbo Li Mingzhong to lead the troops to Sanshui, and the emperor Chen Jitaiyuzhi (not Xijiang Chen Dashi). On the 29th, Tang Bing defeated in the west of the city. Jiading soldiers traveled day and night, and met Tang soldiers in Haikou on December 2. Tang soldiers are all big ships, and they use the southeast wind to send rockets and fireballs to burn Guizhou. Gui Bing landed ashore, the Nao was three feet deep, the troops were trapped, and the whole army was covered. Lin Jiading was killed by a cannon, and Li Mingzhong was spared with only a few dozen rides. --- "Overseas Crying"
- In the Yongli court, the king of Qin Sun is expected to control the power of the court. He is also the boss of the Fourth General of the Great West , so he has not caught a cold with these scholars in Nanming , So I killed more than a dozen bachelors in one go. After that, Sun Kewang merged with Li Dingguo, the king of the Jin dynasty. As a result, Sun Kewang led his troops to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, and almost the whole of Guizhou fell.
- This is not over yet. After Sun Kewang is gone, Li Dingguo has become the main force of the Yongli court . He fought fiercely. He once wrote to Zheng Chenggong, hoping to attack Guangdong with him so that he could join forces smoothly.
- However, a number of letters were sent to Zheng Chenggong in a row, but Zheng Chenggong who promised with all his words never fulfilled the contract . Alone, Li Dingguo had no choice but to abandon his plan to attack Guangdong and led his troops back to Yunnan. Of course Zheng Chenggong does not want to join forces with Li Dingguo at this moment, because after the merger, who will be the leader of the army? This is bad.
- Since then, Li Dingguo’s beloved brother Liu Wenxiu, the king of Nanming Shu, has been asking Emperor Yongli to sit in Guizhou , so that he can inspire Nanming’s soldiers to serve the country. Emperor Yongli thought so too, but Li Dingguo expressed serious opposition, and even wrote a letter asking him to return home.
Li Dingguo's meaning is very clear. If Emperor Yongli goes to Guizhou, then Liu Wenxiu is very likely to replace Li Dingguo in Nanming. But at that time Emperor Yongli was in Guizhou, which was the best way for Nanming to recover the world.
As a result, the patriotic general Li Dingguo forced Liu Wenxiu alive, and he even withdrew all the people from Guizhou back to Yunnan, so that the Qing Dynasty got Guizhou without any effort.
Soon after, the Nanming army retreated steadily, which led to the ultimate failure. Emperor Yongli even fled to Burma to survive, and was eventually captured by Wu Sangui and strangled in front of Dianchi Lake. It can be seen that the internal fighting in officialdom is absolutely fatal to Nan Ming.
Summary and reflection: If Nan Ming does not fight inwardly, he has at least four good chances to comeback.
- During Emperor Hongguang, if the warlords of the four towns did not fight together to defend the Nanjing government, the Hongguang regime would not end so soon. They have a total of at least 150,000 horses in their hands. This is not a small force, and it can compete with Dudor's army. If you add the troops of Zhang Mingzhen and Zhang Huangyan, you can definitely turn defeat into victory, and at least save half of the country in the south.
- During Emperor Longwu, if Zheng Zhilong and He Tengjiao did not choose to fight internally, , the hope of the success of the Northern Expedition of the Longwu regime is very great. Zheng Zhilong has 150,000 horses in his hands, and He Tengjiao also has 150,000 horses in his hands. They are all very powerful vassals in the local area, fully capable of fighting the Qing army.
- In the early days of Emperor Yongli, if Sun Kewang did not choose to fight with Li Ding, then he would be responsible for the government affairs in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Li Dingguo would be responsible for the expansion of the territory of the Northern Expedition. Then they can definitely cooperate with each other and restore the Nanming regime. At least including the Southwest is not a problem.
- In the late emperor Yongli, if Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu can cooperate , then Liu Wenxiu will be responsible for supervising in Guizhou, and Li Dingguo will be responsible for marching into Hunan, Hubei and other places. Then the hope of the Northern Expedition still exists, and Nanming will at least return Can save half of the country.
It is a pity that these situations did not appear. In the face of the powerful Manchu iron hoof, the Nanming regime was like a mess. Behind the seemingly powerful, there are countless internal disputes.
This reminds me of the battle for the throne between Dorgon and Hauge after the death of Huang Taiji. For the sake of the righteousness of the family, the country and the world, both of them chose to abandon the throne in order to avoid internal fighting. In comparison, we can see why Nan Ming died.
References:
"History of Ming Dynasty, Volume 274"
"Southeast Chronicle"
"Overseas Crying Notes"
"Southern Ming History"
