China knows everything for 5000 years

Chapter 56

In 1629 A.D., the soldiers of the Hou Jin Dynasty went south in a large scale, and Beijing was in a tight spot.In order to keep the capital, the Ming government summoned troops from all directions to rush to the capital.Li Zicheng set out from Gansu with the general Wang Guo, and passed through Jin County (now Yuzhong County, Gansu Province). The soldiers demanded payment, but the Wang Guo refused to pay.So there was a mutiny, and after the soldiers killed the kingdom, they fled in all directions.Li Zicheng took dozens of soldiers to defect to the peasant army led by Wang Zuogua and became a leader.

Yang He, the governor sent by the Ming Dynasty, was very frightened when he saw the increasing number of rebels.On the one hand, he sent troops to suppress, and on the other hand, he recruited the generals of the peasant army with high-ranking officials and generous salaries.Unable to resist the temptation, Wang Zuogua wavered and surrendered, and Li Zicheng had to find another team.Later, he found out that Gao Yingxiang led an uprising and claimed to be "Chuang Wang", so he decided to join Gao Yingxiang.Gao Yingxiang was very happy to hear that Li Zicheng had led troops to defect, and immediately asked him to be the general of a team, and everyone called him Chuang Jiang.From then on, Li Zicheng began to step onto the historical stage of the late Ming Dynasty.

●Yuan Chonghuan was wronged and killed
In 1629 AD, Huang Taiji led the Hou Jin army to bypass Yuan Chonghuan's defense line in western Liaoning and attack Beijing.After hearing the news, Yuan Chonghuan led his troops to gallop starry night to help the capital.Along the way, every battle and every victory, until the city of Beijing.The two sides fought outside Guangqumen for 8 hours, and the Ming army finally won.

After the Qing army withdrew from Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian immediately arrested Yuan Chonghuan after he won the victory, but did not take advantage of the victory to pursue the Qing army.At that time, Yuan Chonghuan had 9000 troops and more than 10 Qing soldiers. If there was a battle, the Ming army would be defeated.Zhu Youjian was caught by Huang Taiji's countermeasures, and sentenced Yuan Chonghuan to the "Three Barbarians", that is, he wanted to kill Yuan's whole family, his mother's whole family, and his wife's whole family. ).

Because they believed that the Qing army was Yuan Chonghuan's slander, the common people in Beijing called Yuan a traitor. Before the executioner could do anything, he jumped on him and bit his flesh.The death of Yuan Chonghuan is a tragedy in Chinese society for thousands of years.If Yuan Chonghuan did not die, perhaps the subsequent history would not be like this.

●Hong Chengchou lost his integrity and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty
The Qing army was victorious in the battle against the Ming Dynasty, but the strength of the Ming army was still there at that time, including the 30 army commanded by Hong Chengchou.Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian only knew that Hong Chengchou obeyed his orders, but he didn't understand his character, and he didn't understand his merits and crimes as the governor of the three sides for eight years.It is predictable that this kind of person should bear the heavy responsibility of fighting against the Qing Dynasty and lose his teacher and humiliate the country.In the battle of Songshan, Hong Chengchou had no command, the elite troops of the Ming army were destroyed, and Hong Chengchou was captured by the Qing army.

Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty knew that Hong Chengchou was weak and could be bribed, so he treated him very generously.When Hong Chengchou arrived in Shengjing, the food and beverage account was equal to that of a prince.In the early days, Hong Chengchou still put on airs, refused to eat and drink, exchanged tears all day long, and swore to serve the country to the death.The Qing Dynasty sent Han ministers to persuade them in turn, but Hong Chengchou refused to listen, and sometimes retaliated with bad words.Fan Wencheng, Minister of the Ministry of Officials of the Qing Dynasty, spied on Hong Chengchou's situation several times in light clothes, and saw through his secrets.Fan Wencheng knew that Hong Chengchou was an old bureaucrat, and he would not be loyal to Zhu Youjian until the end.Fan Wencheng volunteered to see Hong Chengchou, first to comfort him, and then to express his sympathy.Hong Chengchou gradually broke through his tears and replied that Fan Wencheng did not talk about surrender, but only talked about the rise and fall of ancient and modern times. Hong Chengchou was quite moved.While the two were talking to each other, suddenly the dust from the roof beams fell on Hong Chengchou's robe, so he took out his handkerchief and gently wiped the dust away.After Fan Wencheng resigned, he immediately had an audience with Huang Taiji, and said, "Chengchou is not dead." He told what he saw and talked about, and explained: "Chengchou still loves this robe so much, let alone his body? "Later, Hong Chengchou lost his integrity and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty under the beauties of Huang Taiji's wife, Empress Xiaozhuang.

●Zhang Xianzhong captured Xiangyang
Zhang Xianzhong was a native of Liushurun ​​(now east of Dingbian, Shaanxi) in Yan'an Wei in the Ming Dynasty.In 1630 AD, riots broke out among hungry people in Shaanxi. Zhang Xianzhong immediately raised his army and called himself "Eight Kings".Later, he and Li Zicheng, another leader of the rebel army, led the troops to join Gao Yingyang, the leader of another rebel army.Soon, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng had conflicts and split. Zhang Xianzhong led his troops to the Yangtze River area, while Li Zicheng moved to the Yellow River Basin.In 1639 AD, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian sent Yang Sichang, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, to Huguang to besiege Zhang Xianzhong.Yang Sichang led 10 horses to Xiangyang, and first sent Zuo Liangyu and other generals to surround the rebel army on all sides.Zhang Xianzhong's whole army fell into the enemy's encirclement and was defeated by Zuo Liangyu's army.Zhang Xianzhong led 1000 cavalry to break through successfully and moved from Hubei to Sichuan.Later, Yang Sichang also led his army to Chongqing to pursue and suppress the rebels.

In 1641 A.D., Zhang Xianzhong found out that Yang Sichang had put all his troops in Sichuan, and Xiangyang was empty, so he got rid of the Ming army, and suddenly led his troops to leave Sichuan and move eastward. He hurried three or four hundred miles a day and night, leaving Yang Sichang's army far By the door of the back corpse.When Yang Sichang got the news, he quickly sent envoys to Xiangyang and ordered the Ming army in Xiangyang to guard it closely.When the envoy walked halfway, he was found and arrested by the rebel army, and tokens and documents were found on the envoy.Zhang Xianzhong asked his adopted son Li Dingguo to dress up as Yang Sichang's envoy and sneak into Xiangyang City.That night, the insurgents who sneaked into Xiangyang set fire to several places in the city at the same time.In the chaos, the rebel army opened the city gate, and a large group of people rushed in, and it was too late for the officers and soldiers to resist.After the rebel army entered the city, they sent people to open the prison to rescue the captured rebel soldiers and their families; at the same time, they went straight to the Xiangwang Mansion and captured Xiangwang Zhu Yiming alive.

The news of Zhang Xianzhong's attack on Xiangyang spread to Sichuan, and Yang Sichang was stunned.His carefully planned plan to besiege the rebel army all went bankrupt, and Zhang Xianzhong made a sudden attack under his nose, and captured a vassal king.Knowing that he could not explain to Zhu Youjian, he committed suicide and died.

●Chuangwang Li Zicheng enters Beijing
After Gao Yingxiang's death, Li Zicheng became King Chuang with the support of his followers.From 1636 AD to 1638 AD, some of the leaders of the uprising army surrendered, and some were recruited due to the situation. There were also those in the army of Chuang Wang Li Zicheng who surrendered to the court.King Chuang fought hard one after another and suffered heavy losses. Especially in the battle of Tongguan, Shaanxi, the team was broken up, and only dozens of cavalry were left to hide in Shangluo Mountain.King Chuang took advantage of this opportunity to hide and rest, riding and shooting during the day and reading at night, summing up the lessons of failure, waiting for the opportunity, and trying to make a comeback.This played a big role in his later military operations.

In 1639 AD, a severe famine hit Henan, and hungry people were everywhere. However, the imperial court still demanded money and food, causing the people to flee and resent.King Chuang left Henan from Shangluodong, raised his arms, and the hungry people responded, and soon developed from a few dozen people to a team of tens of thousands.He conquered cities and plundered land, opened warehouses to help the poor, and eradicated landlords and tyrants. In response to the situation of uneven land and severe food shortages at that time, he clearly put forward the slogan of "equalizing the land and exempting taxes".People poured into the ranks of the rebel army like a tide, singing everywhere: "Looking forward to the stars, looking forward to the moon, looking forward to King Chuang's proposition." If you don't work on errands and don't pay your food, everyone will have a good time." Everyone is looking forward to the early arrival of King Chuang's team.Because of such a solid mass base, King Chuang's team increased by tens of millions of people within a few days.Chuang Wang's rebel army moved to all parts of Henan with a new attitude. He strictly disciplined the troops, did not loot, did not kill people, did not occupy houses, and traded fairly with businessmen. The places where the troops passed did not commit any crimes. trust.The soldiers of the Ming army also often defected in front of the battle and joined the rebel army in large numbers.Coupled with Chuang Wang's commanding skills and proper use of strategies and tactics, he soon won a brilliant victory in Henan's "five overthrows of the official army".The rebel army broke through Luoyang and killed Fu Wang Zhu Changxun, which shocked the whole country.

In 1643 A.D., King Chuang sent his army southward, and it took less than a month to occupy almost all the counties in northern Hubei.So he set up an official system and was supported by his subordinates as King Xinshun.In order to completely overthrow the rule of the Ming Dynasty, a meeting was held in Xiangyang, and a new strategic policy was determined: enter Guanzhong, eliminate the only powerful Ming army at that time, Sun Chuanting's troops, cross the Yellow River east, and directly attack Beijing through Shanxi.In August of this year, the two armies of King Chuang and Sun Chuanting fought two fierce battles in Jiaxian and Ruzhou in western Henan, and Sun Chuanting's hundreds of thousands of troops suffered a devastating blow.Chuang Wang took advantage of the victory to advance, broke through Tongguan in October, killed Sun Chuanting, occupied Xi'an, and quickly eliminated the hostile forces in Shaanxi and Gansu.

In 1644 A.D., King Chuang took Xi'an as his capital, named his country as Dashun, and named it as Yongchang.In February, the army flew across Longmen and pointed directly at Taiyuan. The Ming army surrendered in anticipation, and the people lined up to welcome them.King Chuang's troops were divided into two groups. One was led by General Liu Fangliang out of Guguan (in today's Shanxi) and headed south to Zhending (in today's Hebei) to cut off the enemy's escape route to the south; ), Daizhou (in today's Shanxi), broke Ningwu, fell into Datong, Xuanfu, and took Beijing directly.The peasant army marched rapidly, and surrounded the city of Beijing on March [-].In order to prevent the people from suffering from the disaster of the war, King Chuang sent people to shoot in Shucheng to persuade Emperor Chongzhen to surrender.After being rejected, King Chuang ordered all the armies to attack Beijing the next day, annihilating the "three major battalions" of the Ming army guarding Beijing, seizing a large amount of luggage and cannons, and preparing weapons for capturing the capital.

On March [-]th, Li Zicheng issued an order to storm the city of Beijing. The rebel army attacked from three sides and fought at Zhangyimen (now Guang'anmen), Xizhimen, Pingzemen (now Fuchengmen), Deshengmen, etc. It was very fierce.People in the suburbs risked their lives to fill the trenches and help the rebels attack the city.In the evening of that day, the rebel army captured Zhangyimen, and then attacked the gates of the inner city.The city of Beijing was full of voices and screams, and the flashing of artillery and shaking torches illuminated the night sky of Beijing city.The dignitaries and dignitaries in Beijing were terrified. At dawn, Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian hanged himself to Longevity Mountain (Jingshan), and the Ming Dynasty fell.

In the early morning of March [-]th, the sun shines on the ancient city of Beijing. Citizens decorate with lanterns and festoons, burn incense and set up cases, stick a red sign on the door saying "Long live the King of Shuntian in the first year of Yongchang", and walk out of their homes, lanes (alleys) , standing neatly on both sides of the street, waiting for King Li Chuang.At noon, Chuang Wang Li Zicheng entered Beijing.The invasion of the king into Beijing caused a series of major changes in Chinese society, leading to the demise of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty.

●Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in Jingshan
In 1642 AD, the Qing army defeated Songshan, and Zu Dashou also surrendered Jinzhou to the Qing Dynasty.In September, Li Zicheng broke through Kaifeng.In 1643 AD, Li Zicheng conquered the city and seized land all the way, and established the Dashun regime in Xi'an in 1644 AD.Seeing the loss of the Three Qin Dynasty and the collapse of the Ming army, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian lamented: "Lian is not the king of subjugation, everything is a sign of subjugation." By the time of Sanqi, the capital was already in panic.On March 40th, Emperor Chongzhen summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures, and suddenly received an emergency memorial. After reading it, Emperor Chongzhen was shocked.It turned out that Li Zicheng had entered Changping from Juyongguan, burned down the Xiangdian of the Twelve Tombs of the Ming Dynasty, and [-] peasant troops had surrounded the capital.

In the early morning of March [-]th, Emperor Chongzhen cried with his officials. He knew very well that millions of officials and troops had been defeated and wiped out by the rebels over the years. Now there was nowhere to mobilize King Qin's troops. Beijing had become an isolated city. , can be broken overnight.At noon, the three major battalions outside the city of Zhangyimen (now Guang'anmen), Pingzemen (now Fuchengmen), and Xizhimen collapsed.

On March [-]th, the Dashun army set up a ladder to attack Xizhimen, Pingzemen, and Deshengmen.At this time, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty had not been paid for several months, and they were extremely war-weary.Li Zicheng went outside Zhangyi Gate and sent the eunuch who had surrendered into the city in a hanging basket to persuade Emperor Chongzhen to surrender. Emperor Chongzhen angrily reprimanded the people.In the afternoon, Cao Huachun, the eunuch in charge of the East Factory, opened the Zhangyi Gate to welcome the peasant army into the outer city.Emperor Chongzhen urgently summoned ministers to discuss countermeasures and prepare for street fighting.In the evening, Emperor Chongzhen and the eunuch Wang Chengen climbed up Longevity Mountain (Jingshan) together, only to see the city full of flames, linger for a while, and then return to the Qianqing Palace, write the imperial edict, and let Cheng Guogong Zhu Chunchen be in charge of supervising the army and assisting the prince.At that time, there was no one waiting, and the edict could not be delivered.Emperor Chongzhen saw that the end was coming, so he asked his three sons to leave the palace in disguise, and then hacked Concubine Yuan to death with a sword, and Empress Zhou also committed suicide in Kunning Palace.When Emperor Chongzhen came to Shouning Palace, Princess Changping pulled her clothes and cried. Emperor Chongzhen sighed: "Why did you give birth to my family?"Then, Emperor Chongzhen hacked and killed his youngest daughter, Princess Zhaoren, and several concubines.Then, Emperor Chongzhen changed into casual clothes, mixed with dozens of eunuchs and rode out of Donghua Gate, and when he arrived at Chaoyang Gate, he pretended to be the eunuch Wang and was ordered to leave the city.But the gatekeepers were afraid that there would be changes in the inner city, and insisted that they would not let them go until dawn.Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to detour from Baijialan (near Taiji Factory) and run back to Dongsi Assorted Garden Chengguo Duke Zhu Chunchen's residence. Zhu's family said that Zhu had not returned from the banquet.Chongzhen rushed to Andingmen again, but the gate was sealed.Chongzhen had no choice but to return to the palace.

On March 17th, just after dawn, the eunuch Wang Xiangyao opened the Xuanwei Gate and surrendered.Then, the defenders of Zhengyangmen and Chaoyangmen also opened their gates and surrendered, and the inner city of Beijing was destroyed.Emperor Chongzhen personally rang the bell in the front hall to summon the ministers, but no one came.Emperor Chongzhen was completely desperate. He climbed Longevity Mountain with Wang Chengen and hanged himself on a crabapple tree in front of Shouhuang Pavilion. This day was March 1644th in the 276th year of Ming Chongzhen (AD [-]).The Ming Dynasty, founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, perished with the suicide of its last emperor after [-] years.

At noon on March [-]th, Li Zicheng led the Dashun Army into Beijing.After Li Zicheng entered the palace, he did not find Emperor Chongzhen, so he ordered a reward.Two days later, people finally found the body of Emperor Chongzhen in Longevity Mountain.The next day, the Dashun Army parked the corpses of Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou together in a temporary mourning shed outside the Donghua Gate.In early April, their coffins were hastily buried in Changping Tiangui.

##No.20 The Torch of Six Series Civilization
●Xie Jin compiled "Yongle Dadian"

Xie Jin, courtesy name Dashen, was born in Jishui (in today's Jiangxi). He was intelligent, studious and quick-witted in his childhood.Later, Xie Jin won the Jinshi examination and became a Shujishi.After Ming Chengzu Zhu Di ascended the throne, he, Hu Guang and others were all promoted to Hanlin Bachelors and served as the emperor's advisers.Zhu Di asked Xie Jin to preside over the compilation of "Yongle Canon", and he transferred 146 people from various places to start compiling the Canon.More than a year later, they compiled a book and presented it to Zhu Di.Zhu Di titled the book "Document Dacheng", and rewarded 147 book editors, including Xie Jin, with money.However, Zhu Di still thought the book was too short, so he asked Yao Guangxiao (monk Daoyan) and Liu Ji, the junior teacher of the crown prince, to assist Xie Jin in adding to the original book, so that all the classics were included without omission. .

Yao Guangxiao was the emperor's confidant, and no one dared to reject his participation, money or people.So a compilation library was set up in the Wenge, and the Ministry of Rites selected talented officials and old Confucians from all over the world to be responsible for the compilation, and selected some students from the Imperial College who were good at calligraphy and some students from foreign prefectures and counties to be responsible for copying. More than 3000 people were recruited, and meals were provided by Guanglu Temple.This time it took nearly 3 years to compile the whole book.Zhu Di named the book "Yongle Dadian" according to his year name, and wrote the preface himself.

"Yongle Dadian" has a total of 22937 volumes, bound into 11095 volumes, with a total of more than 37000 million characters, all written in neat small letters.When Zhu Di moved the capital, he transported the "Yongle Dadian" to the Beijing Palace by boat, and hid it in the "Wenlou" in the palace, where it became a rare national treasure.

●Li Zhi's anti-feudal thought
Li Zhi's surname was Lin, and his first name was Zai Zhi. He changed his name to Zhi because he avoided the taboo of Emperor Mu Zong and Zhu Zai of the Ming Dynasty, and his name was Zhuo Wu.He was born in Quanzhou, Fujian. His family was a great merchant for generations. When his grandfather's family declined, his father Lin Baizhai had no choice but to open a school to teach students.Li Zhi was enlightened at the age of 7, and "reading, singing poems, and learning etiquette" with his father, and he was able to write a pen at the age of 12.He wrote an article titled "On Old Farmers and Old Gardens" to ridicule Confucius, and quite a few classmates secretly applauded him.

Li Zhi was very different in his youth, he liked to be unconventional and read the Four Books and Five Classics, but he didn't like Zhu Xi's annotations.Zhu Xi's notes are the content of the examination, whether it is the township examination or the general examination. It undoubtedly takes a lot of courage for him to dare to say that he doesn't like it, or even criticize it. After the age of 20, in order to support his family, he had to take the road of imperial examinations to seek official positions like his peers. At the age of 26, Li Zhi won the imperial examination, but he never took the imperial examination again.Li Zhi started his official career at the age of 30. After decades of ups and downs in the officialdom, he left immediately after his term of office as the magistrate of Yao'an, Yunnan Province expired in 1580 AD.When Li Zhi left Yao'an, "scholars and people blocked the way to send each other off, and the chariots and horses could not move forward." He took away "only a few volumes of books" and "aside from salary, there was nothing long-term."

After he resigned in 1581, Li Zhi lived in the home of Geng Dingli, a good friend of Huang'an, Hubei. He taught Geng's children while writing diligently.In 1584 AD, Geng Tingli died of illness. The incident was so sudden that he was at a loss for a while.Difficult to earn a living, he became a monk in Longhu Zhifo Temple in Macheng. He did not abide by the precepts and devoted himself to lecturing and writing. At the age of 62, he shaved off his hair. Someone asked him the reason, and he replied: "Those who lost their hair, because the idlers in the family raped me with common things, so I shaved my hair to show that I would not return... and there are not many knowledgeable people here. I am accused of being a heretic, so I am called a heretic in the name of Cheng Zizi. Those who have such a number, suddenly go out, and it is not their intention." This kind of behavior is obviously a bit of a protest.

In 1590 A.D., Li Zhi's collection of poems and essays "Burning Books" came out, which was a book challenging Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism.Li Zhi lashed out at the feudal Confucianism, Confucianism and Mencius, and the rulers regarded him as a "scourge" and believed that he was "confusing the public with leftist ways".Someone wanted to arrest him on the charge of "degrading public morals" and send him back to his hometown, but the matter was left alone.

(End of this chapter)