On March 19th in the 17th year of Chongzhen (AD 1644), Zhu Youjian, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, cherished infinite resentment and regret, and a crooked neck tree hung on the coal mountain and ruled China for 276 years The Ming Dynasty of Ming Dynasty was thus destroyed.
Different from other princes in history, Chongzhen Emperor is not the kind of licentious, lazy and sexual prince. On the contrary, he wanted to have something to do. He "Not sensual, worrying, persuading and encouraging " is completely the method of a master, but it is such a monarch who has become the king of subjugation. Hundreds of years have passed, and there are still many people who are full of sympathy and compassion for Emperor Chongzhen. They attribute the tragedy of Emperor Chongzhen to a bad time. They think that the Ming Dynasty when Emperor Chongzhen took over was a mess. "History of the Ming Dynasty" gave him a high evaluation:
After Emperor Chengshen and Xi, he was very promising. At the beginning of his ascension, Shen Ji was arbitrarily determined to eliminate the traitors, and the world wanted peace... Not the king of subjugation, but the luck of subjugation.
Even Li Zicheng rated him as "君非很暗" . Objectively speaking, the demise of the Ming Dynasty was caused by many factors, but as the "first person in charge", Emperor Chongzhen had an unshirkable responsibility for the demise of the Ming Dynasty. Today, the author will learn from the decision-making mistakes caused by Emperor Chongzhen’s character defects.
Suspicious, eager for quick success
As the saying goes: It’s not doubtful to employ people, but not to doubt. However, Emperor Chongzhen had committed this taboo. Emperor Chongzhen’s suspicion is mainly reflected in his extreme distrust of military commanders. Emperor Chongzhen reactivated the internal supervision soon after he was dismissed. After all, only this group of talents can reassure the suspicious Emperor Chongzhen. Since the appointment of Admiral Cao Huachun to Nanjing Zhifang in April of Chongzhen's second year, the eunuch Wang Yingchao was sent to monitor the army in the capital, and the eunuch Feng Yuansheng was sent to verify the number of troops in each line. According to the statistics, the number of people was allowed to be paid by the household department, and the eunuch Lu was sent. Straight to replace Chongzhen to give condolences to the soldiers and soldiers, the most unexpected is to admit the orders of Admiral Lu Zhi Jiumen and Huangchengmen. arrived in Chongzhen four years and simply restored the eunuch supervising army system . Those sent to the border town were called "monitoring" and those sent to the inland were called "supervisors", and they were given great powers and were above the governor. Chongzhen also secretly sent factory guards to monitor the army. Imagine that a group of eunuchs who don't understand anything go to take charge of the army. Can the commanders of the army be obediently obedient to their orders? Under such circumstances, what the generals of the unified army felt was the emperor’s extreme distrust of them. They lacked the minimum sense of security. Where could they still be in the mood to fight for Chongzhen? So the bane of renunciation was planted between the army and the imperial power.
Yuan Chonghuan’s tragedy is the most vivid expression of the suspicion of Emperor Chongzhen. 崇祯帝以袁崇焕 "The command does not work, the deceitful deception, the thief with the city's rice, the cut commander with the money, the enemy will be driven long, without fighting, and until the city, the reinforcements are four episodes. He was dismissed and brought a lama, insisting to enter the city "" and sent him to prison, and then he was put to death. Although all these charges were convicted, it was not these charges that Emperor Chongzhen was really afraid of, but that Yuan Chonghuan was afraid of collaborating with the enemy. After the change of Jisi, Huang Taiji deliberately released "Yuan Governor has a secret agreement" . The soldiers trapped in the capital was to force the court to agree to the peace talks between Yuan and Houjin. At the same time, the intention was to let "被明雲經人二人" overheard Yuan Chonghuan’s private transaction with Huang Taiji, and let them escape back to "貫明門明帝". This was enough to kill Yuan Chonghuan for Emperor Chongzhen, who had always been jealous. "Since Chonghuan's death, the side affairs are even more unmanned", In addition, the Liaodong defender Zu Dashou and others are afraid to walk on the old path of Yuan Chonghuan, worry that one day Chongzhen Emperor will be in a bad mood and will handle them, so they surrendered one after another. Huang Tai Chi. At this point, wherever the Jinbing went, it was "as if he had entered the land of no one." "Cambridge History of the Ming Dynasty in China" stated: "He (Chongzhen) believed the rumor and killed him in Beijing on September 22, 1630.General Yuan Chonghuan. ” Many people think that Emperor Chongzhen’s killing of Yuan Chonghuan was self-destructing the Great Wall. There is a certain amount of truth.
Emperor Chongzhen’s suspicion and eagerness for quick success are one. This is mainly reflected in the frequent changes of cabinet members. Chongzhen has been in power for 17 years and has shared more than 50 cabinet members. You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, there are only more than 160 cabinet members. Since the Qin Dynasty, Such long-term and frequent replacement of the national core circle is rare. In a feudal society that is still governed by man, people must speak empty. Therefore, the continuity of cabinet policy basically did not exist in the Chongzhen period. "上求治I was very anxious and called on the officials, most of them did not say the decree. Every time they were called clean, the officials became more and more worried.” It is precisely because of Emperor Chongzhen’s eagerness to seek governance that the civil and military officials were at a loss and could not display their truest talents. When they fail to meet the requirements of Emperor Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen, who is eager to "Zhongxing", will inevitably dismiss them. So it backfired. The goal of Emperor Chongzhen was not achieved, and the political situation went from bad to worse. Gong Wei said in "Chao Lin Bi Tan": " The Chongzhen dynasty was not without benevolence, and the faith was not expert. Soon after it was used, the villain of debts would advance, and the country would perish."
Zhang Dai also said: "The first emperor wanted to seek governance. , Inscribed in financial management, thirsty for employment, and abrupt practice in the law, so that in the seventeen years of the world, the world has been turned up and down, and the tide has changed in the evening. Before the ears and eyes, there is still a change, thinking backwards, it is useless, it is not worth the seventeen years of energy! "
It can be seen that during the Chongzhen period, it was not that there were no outstanding civil and military officials, but Chongzhen's suspicion, eagerness for quick success and quick success, strangled these pillars of the country in the cradle.
Blindly self-confident and self-confident
When Emperor Chongzhen was eighteen years old when he was enthroned, he was full of vitality, young and vigorous. He was ambitious and determined to revitalize the Ming Dynasty which was in the midst of the storm. is eradicating with Wei Zhongxian as the leader. After the eunuch, Emperor Chongzhen thought that the general situation had been set , so that he was overconfident in his own ability, and gradually became arrogant and self-serving. Once a minister praised Emperor Chongzhen, compared him to Emperor Taizong of Tang, and logically said Emperor Chongzhen I should be very happy, but Emperor Chongzhen said: "Tang Taizong sweeps away the heroes, I am ashamed of no talent. If the boudoirs are disorderly and the family law is turbulent, I will call it shame. "Emperor Chongzhen's words actually looked down upon Tang Taizong, an eternal emperor.
When the Qing army crossed the Great Wall and marched southward, the Ming army was doing its best to deal with it. The domestic uprising army. Emperor Chongzhen, in the dilemma of "encouraging foreigners" and "an internal", disregarded the favorable battle situation of countless soldiers in exchange for their lives, and ignored Sun Chuanting and others' efforts to persuade Sun Chuanting. The battlefield of “inner” was transferred to the battlefield of “expelling foreigners”. let Li Zicheng escape to Shangluo Mountain, and got a chance to relieve his breath. In the end, the results of years of suppression of banditry ended in a basket full of water, which was destroyed in the first place, due to Emperor Chongzhen’s rigid self-use This strategic mistake he made was enough to destroy the Ming Dynasty. Later, due to the shortage of military food, Emperor Chongzhen decided to send three additional salaries (Liao Salaries, Suppression Salaries, and Training Salaries), which was nominally "temporarily tiring our people for one year." The above is the regular tax, coupled with the excessive collection of local officials, resulting in the people living in dire straits. Some ministers suggested to Emperor Chongzhen to stop sending three payments. Emperor Chongzhen regarded it as a breeze and obsessed with his ears. As a result, the people were hungry and fled and became refugees. Finally, Joined the peasant uprising army. This move of Emperor Chongzhen is in sharp contrast with Li Zicheng’s "Welcome to the king, not pay for food". As Duoergun said There are also extermination and practice of payment, several times the real payment."
And the most vivid expression of the self-contained personality of Emperor Chongzhen is what Empress Zhou said before his death. A word: "Chen concubine has followed this past 18 years. Your Majesty has never heard a word from a concubine, so that you have today's ears. Your Majesty ordered the concubine to die, how can the concubine not die? " The Yanbijie belt hanged and died. The Emperor Zhou and Emperor Chongzhen are in harmony. Even so, Emperor Chongzhen has never heard her advice. Even a fierce man like Zhu Yuanzhang listens to the Queen of Horses.The admonishment of Emperor Chongzhen showed how hard he was.
The Ming Dynasty, a warship that was already riddled with holes, was in charge of a captain like Emperor Chongzhen, and it was expected that it would go to an end.
cold and ruthless, make a name for it
The ruthlessness of Emperor Chongzhen is mainly manifested in the killing and detention of officials. Throughout the Chongzhen period, it can be said that there are a lot of talents. Military officials include Yuan Chonghuan, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, etc., and civil servants include Wen Zhenmeng, Qian Qianyi, Liu Zongzhou, etc., which can be described as Wenneng Anbang and Wu can fix the country. But it is a pity that these people have a tragic end. According to statistics, during the 17 years of Chongzhen’s rule, two ministers, four Shangshu, seven governors, and eleven governors were killed and detained, beaten, sentenced, exiled or indirectly forced to death by him using harsh methods. There are dozens of governor monks and ministers, and there are countless officials at all levels and below. According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty":
"He is appointed as the commander, the power is in the control, the merits and demerits are not rewarded, the loser will kill the general, the city will kill the official... Since his ascension, the seven governors Zhu, Chongjian, Yuan Chonghuan, Liu Ce, Yang Yipeng, Xiong Wencan, Fan Zhiwan, and Zhao Guangyanye." 145 people. Although some people were imprisoned for making mistakes, some of them were arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Chongzhen rashly because the secret agents around Chongzhen made small reports. The direct consequence of Emperor Chongzhen's indiscriminate execution was that the relationship between the emperor and his subjects was very tense. The scholar-bureaucrat who has always been eager to worship and join the cabinet once regarded this occupation as a high-risk occupation, because if one day offends this moody emperor, his head will have to move. Compared with being an official, life is the most important thing. Wanting these officials to assist Emperor Chongzhen to complete the "ZTE's great cause" is tantamount to a dream.
Emperor Chongzhen paid attention to the so-called fictitious name, which should have been borne by him, but he blindly criticized him too much. Facing the two-line battle, Emperor Chongzhen soberly realized that he should first negotiate with the Qing army and concentrate on dealing with the peasant uprising army. So he instructed Chen Xinjia, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, to preside over the peace negotiations. But because he did not act secretly and was known by the supervisor, there was an uproar in the court. After that, the scholar-officials who were bookish and business-oriented wrote letters, denounced the peace, and compared the negotiator to Qin Hui by the Song Dynasty analogy. Although Emperor Chongzhen also knew that these people were basically making empty talks to mislead the country, but in order to maintain his image as a sage, he could not take the responsibility, and finally had to let Chen Xinjia take the responsibility for him. "Ren and ministers have no foreign diplomatic relations. No one is in the court, who does not sue the emperor but who does not know how to make money. The Xinjia private money insults the country, and when the law of the walled city is lost, it is cut." In fact, many people understand that Chen Xinjia died unjustly. Without the approval of Emperor Chongzhen, would he dare to discuss peace by himself? But in the face of a self-sufficient master like Emperor Chongzhen, one thing is worse than one thing less.
Secondly, with regard to the southward move, Emperor Chongzhen hopes that the move to move south will be first proposed by the minister, and then he will follow the tide. The minister also knew that once the situation stabilized in the future, Emperor Chongzhen would definitely hold them accountable for abandoning the city and moving south. Therefore, the ministers also pretended to be deaf and dumb. At the time when the two sides were in stalemate, Li Zicheng had cut off the route of the Chongzhen Emperor's southward migration, so that the last line of life for the Ming Dynasty to survive and survive was shattered.
It can be seen that it was Chongzhen’s character defect that made the Ming Dynasty lose its last hope.
结语
Tan Qian’s evaluation of Chongzhen in "Guo Que" can be said to be a hit Therefore, the name is listened to but appropriate, the name is urgent and the talent is suitable for the market; clever at the beginning, stubborn at the end, as if there is no one in the society." Today, hundreds of years later, let’s examine this history again. Although Emperor Chongzhen was not a licentious and lazy tyrant, his character defects eventually made him not a qualified emperor. Emperor Chongzhen must bear his responsibilities for the demise of Ming, notIt is a sentence of "I am not the king of the country, and the ministers are the ministers of the country." Just as Gong Wei said in "Chaolin Bi Tan": "Ming Huai Zong said, I am not the king of the country, and all the ministers are the ministers of the country. He is so angry that he is angry too!".
References:
【1】《Ming History》
【2】《GuoQiao》
【3】《Chao Lin Bi Tan》
【4 】《The History of Qing Dynasty》
【5】《Shi Kui Shuhou Ji》
【7】《Cambridge Ming Dynasty History of China》
