Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

After Zhu Dadian and Zuo Liangyu's troops received the report from the Runing Army, in addition to the whole army rushing to Fengyang to support them, they also dispatched fast horses to report the shocking news to the capital.

The messenger arrived in the capital in only three days. On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, the imperial court first learned the sad news from Zhu Dadian and Zuo Liangyu.Suddenly there was a strange silence in the court. Emperor Chongzhen and the ministers in the court were looking forward to a miracle, and even hoped that the news from Zhu Dadian and Zuo Liangyu was false.

But in the next few days, news of the peasant rebel army approaching Fengyang came from various places, which confirmed the news of Zhu Dadian and Zuo Liangyu.However, Emperor Chongzhen and his ministers were still lucky. They hoped that the peasant rebel army would not be able to capture Fengyang, and hoped that Zhu Dadian, Zuo Liangyu and other Ming troops would rescue them in time, so that such uncontrollable things would not happen.

But life often proves that the worst news is often the truest news!On the 21st of the first lunar month, Zhu Dadian and Zuo Liangyu, who were the closest to Fengyang, found out that Fengyang had fallen. They sent messengers again to report the news to the court on the 24th of the first lunar month.

The imperial mausoleum was burned, and the incident reached the sky.According to the usual practice, Emperor Chongzhen believed that this was his own immorality, and disasters would only come from God, so he had to reflect deeply and review his own immorality.

So in addition to grief and indignation, Emperor Chongzhen first did the formalism.First, I put on plain clothes and went to the Taimiao to cry to my ancestors. Later, I issued the "Edict of Guilt", self-reflection, and admitted that "I am responsible for all kinds of mistakes".

In the edict, Emperor Chongzhen also stated that he would share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, claiming to reduce expenses in life, eat and dress, and so on.In order to strengthen the soldiers to serve the country.

Of course, after self-examination, it's time to settle accounts with those ministers who have failed in their duties.Emperor Chongzhen believed that the problems in the country were closely related to the incompetence and lack of dedication of the ministers, so he asked the courtiers to wear plain clothes and conduct self-reflection.

After self-reflection, he still needs to be held accountable. As the person responsible for the incident, Fengyang governor Yang Yipeng was executed, inspector Wu Zhenying was sent to the garrison, and the guard eunuch Yang Ze committed suicide in fear of crime.But this behavior of Yang Ze is really ridiculous.Since he knew that there would be no good outcome and chose to commit suicide, why did he escape from Fengyang at that time?It's better to choose to live and die with Fengyang, at least the reputation will be much better!

Zhang Fengyi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, was also "frightened and eager to serve". Although Emperor Chongzhen did not blame him afterwards, his leadership responsibility was also impeached by a large number of officials.Emperor Chongzhen had to impose a "retain" punishment on him.But Zhang Fengyi, the little old man's heart obviously couldn't bear such a stimulation.Not long after, he fell seriously ill and died.

And the rest of the officials.They will also be dealt with separately after clarifying their respective responsibilities after the war.However, this also gave them a chance to perform crimes and meritorious deeds, including Henan officials such as Hong Chengchou and Xuan Mo, as well as a non-official Baiding-Wu Shigong.

And this kind of behavior of openly challenging the imperial power, of course, also brought crazy revenge to the peasant rebel army.The Ming court completely directed all its strategic focus to the peasant rebel army.

The first is to "instruct China and foreign countries to wipe out the national humiliation and kill thieves with all their heart", and transfer the Shaanxi soldiers under Hong Chengchou's command to leave the customs.Together with the government and army in the provinces of the Central Plains.After a tense deployment of troops and generals, the Ming court finally put together [-] officers and soldiers from the front and rear.Even the Sanqianguan Ning Cavalry in Liaodong, under the leadership of Zu Kuan, entered the pass to join in the suppression of bandits.

Then there is the issue of military pay.The imperial court distributed more than 100 million taels of capital, provincial and treasury funds as military pay, and even Emperor Chongzhen's internal treasury took out private money as military pay.

And these are not enough.Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen once again issued an order to send more than 120 million taels of "suppression payment" to the fields and acres of the world.Of course, the tax-exempt classes such as officials and gentry do not need to pay these "suppression salaries", and all the pressure is placed on the people of the world.making them poorer and bankrupt.

We know that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, in order to solve the financial crisis of the imperial court, the imperial court squeezed the people again and again for the military pay for suppressing the bandits, making them unable to survive, and making those people join the peasant rebel army one after another.

It seems that this behavior is very ridiculous.Historians of later generations also condemned this kind of behavior.But couldn't those capable ministers in the court at that time see the evil consequences?Didn't Emperor Chongzhen understand this too?Actually the answer is no.

Emperor Chongzhen and the important officials in the court also knew this, but the current situation made them unable to choose.Because it is necessary to wipe out the peasant rebel army as soon as possible, it is also necessary to raise military salaries as soon as possible.

If it is collected from the officials and gentry families who control the wealth of the world, even if Emperor Chongzhen finally uses his authority to suppress the opposition in the court, but the kind of wrangling with the ministers does not know that it will be involved in the year of the monkey. It's just that the far water can't quench the near thirst.It is better to expropriate the people who are easy to squeeze.So the current situation is completely drinking poison to quench thirst.

In fact, the truth is also very simple.One is to get the money after three years, but the Ming Dynasty may not survive three years; the other is to get the money immediately, but the situation may become more difficult.So which method would you choose?

Of course, there is another solution, which is to increase the power of the eunuchs and send some ruthless tax supervisors.But Emperor Chongzhen forced Wei Zhongxian to death a few years ago, which eunuch in the inner court would dare to do such a thing now?

It's not like there isn't a good way to have the best of both worlds.For example: like the Runing Army, increase the power of the localities, let them farm and raise troops, and gradually wipe out the peasant rebel army.

But in this way, it is very likely that there will be a warlord regime like the end of Tang Dynasty in the future.Because those warlords have their own territory, food and army, it is not conducive to the centralization of the Ming court.

In fact, this is the way to go in the future.For example, in the near future, Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, settled the fields.But at this time, Emperor Chongzhen and the important court officials felt that the situation hadn't gone so bad, and they were unwilling to give up a little bit of their power, so this option was completely impossible to consider.

But in any case, the current Emperor Chongzhen and court ministers are relatively optimistic.They all thought that although the strong man of the Ming Dynasty was somewhat weak, he still had some resistance to the poison of these poisonous poisons.

Because of Chen Qiyu's precedent of driving the peasant rebel army into a desperate situation within a few months, they believed that the bandit suppression army that concentrated all the strength of the Ming Dynasty could completely wipe out the huge peasant rebel army within six months.Therefore, there is plenty of time for those sequelae to heal them.

But Emperor Chongzhen and those ministers never expected that the situation is completely different! (To be continued..)