***
On March 18, the 17th year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's Dashun army surrounded the capital and attacked for a whole day. Artillery continued to bombard the city. Thick smoke enveloped the entire capital, and there were heavy black clouds. The city is about to be destroyed.
At this time, those who were desperately resisting at the top of the city were not the elite Ming army soldiers, nor the impassioned literati and officials in the past who looked down upon the world. It was eunuchs, at least sixty to seventy percent of the people.
I recall that back then, Zhu Yuan put up an iron sign at the gate of the palace that eunuchs were not allowed to interfere in politics. But at this last moment, the Ming Dynasty Imperial City had to rely on a group of Tailin to make the final resistance.
This is the sorrow of Chongzhen and the sorrow of Ming Dynasty.
After all, the eunuchs were not soldiers. Although they resisted tenaciously, under the fierce attack of the Dashun army, they suffered heavy casualties. The city was filled with mourning and crying, and many people began to waver.
Especially at Changui Gate, where the Dashun Army attacked the most violently, the gate tower with double eaves, Xieshan and three dripping water pavilions has been completely destroyed. Gray tube tiles and green glazed tiles are scattered everywhere. The city head is covered with corpses and blood. The top of the city was soaked until it was slippery, and the smell of gunpowder smoke mixed with the strong smell of blood gave people a suffocating feeling.
Just when the eunuchs at the top of the city were about to collapse, the Dashun army outside the city suddenly retreated, and the sound of cannons and guns stopped.
Eunuch Cao Yongyi, who led the crowd to guard Zhangyi Gate, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He looked through the fading smoke and saw under a large flag with the word "Li" outside the city. King Jin and King Dai were sitting on the left and right, with a tall man sitting in the middle. A middle-aged man, his eyes covered with a black mask.
Then I saw a man approaching Changui Gate and shouting at the top of the city: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, it's me, I'm Du Xun."
Cao Yongyi couldn't help but exclaimed when he saw it, as if he had seen a ghost.
Cao Yongyi had this reaction, and there was another reason: Du Xun was originally the supervisor of the Xuanfu, March 6th. When Li Zicheng attacked Xuanfu, the commander-in-chief Wang Chengyun and Du Xun were about to go out of the city to meet Li Zicheng. Governor Zhu Zhifeng cursed: "Your Majesty relied on the letter and sent you specially to seal the territory for you. When you arrive, you will join the bandits. How can you show your face to me?" "
Du Xun said nothing and laughed away. Seeing that the situation was over, Zhu Zhifeng hanged himself.
However, the Tang newspaper of the great dynasty falsely claimed that Du Xun had finished his duties in the Xuan Mansion. Chongzhen also granted Du Xun the title of eunuch Bingbi, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, and his nephew was the hereditary Jinyi Qianhu.
Everyone thought Du Xun was dead. At this time, he appeared under the city with corpses all over the ground. No wonder Cao Yongyi mistakenly thought he had seen a ghost.
Cao Yongyi licked Shichi's lips and asked suspiciously: "Are you really Du Xun? Why are you here?"
Du Xun, who was at the bottom of the city, shouted: "Cao Yongyi, you don't have to worry about why our family is here. We, the King of Dashun, don't care about ourselves. I'll give you a chance. Send someone down quickly. I, the King of Dashun, have something to tell the emperor." "
Can Li Cheng have anything nice to say to the emperor? I'm afraid whoever sends the message later will suffer disaster, but the Dashun army is about to break the city, and Li Zicheng wants to talk to the emperor at this time. Maybe there is a turn for the better, Cao Yongyi, who was hesitant in his heart, said quickly: "We will release a person as a hostage, please come forward."
Du Xun said impassionedly: "I, Du Xun, have nothing to fear, so why do I need hostages? Let the rope down quickly."
that's all. Du Xun was summoned to the city, but after Du Xun was taken outside the imperial city, his intention was made clear, but none of the ministers dared to report the matter to Chongzhen. Fearing that he would suffer disaster in Chongzhen's rage, he delayed it for a long time.
Later, the young eunuchs in the palace discussed the matter privately, and Chongzhen overheard it. Chongzhen then asked the eunuch Wang Chengen, the eunuch Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch to bring Du Xun in.
After Du Xun met Chongzhen, he bowed down and saluted honestly for the sake of his own life.
Chongzhen held back his anger and asked coldly: "Du Xun, what did Li Zicheng send you to do?"
"Back to the emperor, King Dashun has millions of troops, and the city can only be destroyed in an instant. Please think about your situation," Du Xun said bravely.
Chongzhen said nothing and looked at Du Xun coldly. He wanted to kill people, but at the same time he also knew that Du Xun was right. The capital might not be saved. Li Zicheng's army came too suddenly. He even ordered the soldiers and horses of the world to be diligent. It was too late, and the city was already crumbling. Wang Chengen had already known this to him.
Did the Ming Dynasty really die like this? Do you really want to be the king of subjugation? Chongzhen's heart was extremely angry, extremely sad, and at the same time full of unwillingness.
Seeing that Chongzhen was silent, Du Xun had no choice but to continue to say: "Li Zicheng said that as long as the emperor agrees to canonize him as king, cut off the northwest as a fiefdom, and reward the army with millions of silver, King Dashun is willing to withdraw from Henan immediately and accept After the sealing, it was originally intended to contain the bandits within the imperial court and control Liao Shen from outside, but he did not follow the order. "
The city was about to be destroyed and the city was in danger. Chongzhen was really unwilling to give in. He didn't want to die like this, let alone bear the eternal infamy of a subjugated king after his death. He was moved by Li Zicheng's conditions.
However, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have been rules such as no marriage, no indemnity, no cession of territory, no tribute, and the emperor guarding the country. There is also the ancestral precept that people with different surnames cannot be crowned kings. Once he agreed to Li Zicheng's conditions, Chongzhen also had to bear endless infamy.
These ancestral rules are like mountains pressing on Chongzhen's head.
However, if the Ming Dynasty does not agree, the country will be destroyed.
Chongzhen was silent for a long time and said to Wei Zaode, the chief assistant: "The matter is urgent. As the chief assistant, what are your countermeasures?"
Wei Zaode lowered his head and said nothing.
Chongzhen gritted his teeth and said, "Say, as long as you speak, I will immediately issue an order and obey it."
Chongzhen said this, and even a fool knew what it meant, but Wei Zaode did not dare to say it, kowtowed to the ground, and could not stand up for a long time.
He knew very well that as long as he proposed to accept Li Zicheng's conditions, Chongzhen would definitely agree.
But he, Wei Zaode, would have to bear all the infamy and be despised by the world. Moreover, as soon as Li Zicheng retreated, he would definitely die.
When Chongzhen saw Wei Zaode lying on the ground without saying a word, he couldn't help but get angry. He turned to Du Xun and said, "I have made a plan and have a decree." After saying this, he glanced at Wei Zaode with angry eyes, overturned the imperial seat, and went straight back to the harem.
Du Xun was taken out of the palace and lowered down the Changyi Gate, but Chongzhen's words were vague, "I have made a plan, and I have a decree and an agreement." What plan? When will the plan be decided? What is the contract? Become a king, a marquis, or an official
Of course, Li Zicheng would not be satisfied with this answer. In order to put further pressure on the city, Li Zicheng immediately ordered the siege to continue.
***
The Dashun army was in a hurry to attack the city, and the city was in chaos. After the third watch, Zhang Jinyan, the Minister of War, patrolled the city from east to west, approaching Zhengyang Gate. But there was a banquet in the city, and a person was sitting in the middle. Because the lights were dim, his face could not be seen clearly. The people sitting next to him were all eunuchs from the inner palace. Seeing Zhang Jinyan's arrival, several eunuchs nearby hurriedly came down to greet him.
Zhang Jinyan asked who was in the city, and the official replied: "The Governor of the city." Jinyan was surprised and asked how he could get there? The official didn't answer, but took out a piece of straw paper. On it were written in red ink the words "Talk to him again".
Seeing the ink pen, Zhang Jinyan understood that this was the emperor's royal letter.
Listening to the rumble of cannon outside the city. Shouting for death, Zhang Jinyan sighed sadly as he looked at the papyrus in his hand. After passing Zhengyang Gate, he hurried to Zhangyi Gate in the west, preparing to talk to Li Zicheng again.
But before they had gone far, he saw Li Guozhen, the governor of Xiangcheng, running from the opposite side. Zhang Jinyan was shocked and asked anxiously: "Brother Xiangcheng, why are you here in such a hurry?"
Li Guozhen replied sadly: "We are defeated, what can we do! I still have three thousand strong soldiers. I will fight to the death with the thieves, that's all!"
Zhang Jinyan didn't care to say more and hurried away to Desheng Gate. The Dashun army has poured into the city like a tide. There are torches and shouts everywhere, and there is chaos everywhere.
talk. Who else can I talk to at this time? Zhang Jinyan burst into tears for a moment...
***
Chongzhen wanted to save face, hesitated, and ultimately missed his last chance of survival.
When the outer city was captured. Emperor Chongzhen climbed to Meishan Mountain and saw the flames of war raging in the sky and the sound of killings filling the city. He couldn't help but sigh sadly: "It's painful for our people."
Chongzhen lingered in Meishan for a long time. After returning to Qianqing Palace, he sent people to send the prince, King Yong and King Ding to the homes of his relatives, ministers Zhou Kui and Tian Hongyu. Then he struck the eldest princess with his sword, causing Queen Zhou to commit suicide.
On the 19th day of the twelfth day of the lunar month, the sky was still dark, and the imperial city was no longer defended. At this time, Chongzhen rang the bell and gathered all the officials. None of the civil and military ministers who usually crowded the court heard the bell and came.
In fact, when Chongzhen rang the bell to recruit ministers at this time, he was not trying to make a final resistance. He just wanted to see if the Ming Dynasty had raised scholars for three hundred years. When the country was ruined and the family was in ruins, there was one person who was willing to die for the Ming Dynasty;
It is said that when the Southern Song Dynasty fell, 200,000 soldiers and civilians threw themselves into the sea and died for their country, but now when the Ming Dynasty falls, no one comes.
Now that things have come to this, what can I do
Chongzhen climbed up Meishan Mountain again. At this time, it was already dawn, and the color of fish belly appeared in the east. Chongzhen, who was exhausted and despaired of all his thoughts, fell down in the pavilion and wanted to cry without tears. Finally, he bit his finger, wrote the edict on the lapel of his clothes, and then hanged himself with silk. In Shanting.
At this last moment, only one eunuch, Wang Chengen, stayed with Chongzhen and hanged himself in Shanting together with Emperor Chongzhen.
In China's thousands of years of history, many monarchs were captured or killed by enemies, but only Chongzhen committed suicide in danger. With his own life, he put an end to the Ming Dynasty's character of "the emperor guards the country, the monarch dies for the country".
Here I want to talk about the last edict left by Chongzhen. It is not long and was written with blood: I am cold and virtuous, but I bow to God and blame the sky for causing the rebels to approach the capital. All the ministers misunderstood me. When I die, I will not be able to see my ancestors with my face. I will take off my crown, cover my face with my hair, and let thieves divide me, without harming any of the people.
From the last sentence of this edict, it is not difficult to see that people are about to die, and their words are also good.
Some people say that Chongzhen continued to shirk responsibility until his death, saying that he was mean. In fact, this is not the case. According to common sense, there is no need for a person who is desperate to shirk responsibility.
Throughout the seventeen years of Chongzhen's rule, he was certainly responsible for the demise of the Ming Dynasty, but the responsibility did not lie with him alone.
When he came to the throne, he decisively eliminated Wei Zhongxian's eunuch clique; then, while severely punishing corrupt officials, he encouraged governors from all over the country to cheer up and work hard for the country, and warned ministers to abandon their sectarian opinions and seek common ground through differences.
He was determined to revive the Ming Dynasty, and he worked hard to achieve this goal, working day and night, for seventeen years without slacking off.
However, let's look at what those ministers who were highly employed did. First, Qian Qianyi bribed eunuchs to exclude dissidents in order to compete for cabinet positions, which once again aroused the dispute between the Donglin Party and other parties.
Then tens of thousands of people were restored to form a party to control public opinion, attack dissidents, control the imperial examinations, and influence the government, using all possible means.
Then Yuan Chonghuan called out the five years of Ping Liao, which exhausted the last essence and blood of the Ming Dynasty, but the result was... Let's not mention it.
There are so many of these.
Some people say that Chongzhen himself was stubborn and careless in employing people. Let me ask, the whole dynasty is full of ministers who form factions and seek selfish interests. Who can Chongzhen trust
Was he headstrong from the beginning? It was after the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty disappointed him time and time again that the appointed ministers had to give up their recommendation and promote more officials. This was a big reason why Chongzhen was accused of being self-willed.
Looking back at Chongzhen's posthumous edict, he said that "all the ministers misunderstood me", which shows that he was not just shirking responsibility.
And this edict announced the defeat of a great country and the beginning of a catastrophe for Chinese civilization.
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ps: I have read too much news about the missing HP370 passenger plane. Last night I dreamed about large passenger planes flying around. Unfortunately, I never dreamed about where the missing HP370 passenger plane was flying.
Blessings to the passengers on board. (To be continued...)
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