Why did Emperor Chongzhen choose to commit suicide even though there were many ways to preserve his country

Hi, it’s time to meet everyone again. Today, the History Encyclopedia editor has brought an article about Chongzhen. I hope you like it.

In the more than 5000 years of Chinese history, countless dynasties have changed. Regardless of the size and succession of dynasties, the terminator of their leadership, the so-called ruler of a fallen country, is full of color and drama. They often have many stories worth pondering, which require us to spend time slowly refining. For example, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youjian, killed numerous concubines and two princesses with his sword when Li Zicheng led a large army to attack Beijing. He then rushed all the way to the back mountain of the Forbidden City and hanged himself on a crooked neck tree, which is known as the famous “Jiashen Incident”.
But why would a proud monarch of the Ming Dynasty end up in the tragic situation of hanging himself? Although Li Zicheng’s army has already invaded Beijing, the situation is precarious. But if escorted by the existing Ming army, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian would have had more than enough time to escape. As the saying goes, keeping the green mountains is not afraid of running out of firewood. There are not many cases where rulers choose to flee in the face of unsolvable crises. After all, as long as you protect yourself, there is a possibility of a comeback in the future. You can still enjoy the pleasure of sitting alone in the dragon throne, commanding and guiding the country with great glory. But why doesn’t he run? Is it a lack of insight and the need to live or die together with the country? Answer: No!
How can we resist foreign enemies when the national treasury is empty and people’s hearts are scattered?

Since the uprising led by Li Zicheng, various local main forces have been continuously eliminated. In 1644 AD, Li Zicheng led his troops to invade the capital city of Beijing, and the Ming army almost lost its fighting ability in repeated defeats, putting the entire Ming Dynasty in danger. At that time, the only remaining troops with combat capability were the Guanning Iron Cavalry led by Wu Sangui. At this time, if the most elite troops of the entire Ming Dynasty could be recalled from the border to confront Li Zicheng’s army, although they could not repel the enemy, they would still be more than enough to protect the entire city of Beijing. But this is the last straw of survival. Even if Emperor Chongzhen had reached the point of hanging himself to die for his country, he did not use it. So why?
Originally located in Ningyuan, Northeast China, Wu Sangui Guan Ning Tieqi’s main responsibility was to defend the Manchu people, guard against the rise of the Later Jin forces established by Huang Taiji, and ensure peace in the border areas. If the Guanning Army is transferred back to the capital, the northeast border will be in a state of loss, and the Manchu people will definitely take advantage of the situation to occupy the most important military stronghold outside Shanhaiguan – Ningyuan. This move will inevitably lead to the Ming Dynasty being attacked from behind and losing a large area of territory outside Shanhaiguan, which will leave a mark in history and be condemned by the world. Because the territory of the country requires not giving up a single step. But if he was just afraid of being criticized, would Chongzhen abandon his life and leave Daming behind? Of course not!
As early as a few months before Li Zicheng’s army invaded the capital, Emperor Chongzhen had repeatedly written urgent letters to contact Wu Sangui’s father Wu Xiang, hoping that they would lead their troops back to the capital to defend its safety. At first, Wu Xiang refused. Because once the Guanning Iron Cavalry withdraws, a large area of border territory will fall into the hands of the enemy. As a soldier, how could Wu Xiang give up the rivers and mountains of the Ming Dynasty? But beneath the nest, there are complete eggs? The enemy is coming fiercely, and once they capture the capital, it will not only be a problem of losing border land, but also the downfall of the country. With this in mind, Wu Xiang finally relented and offered to send his troops back to court, but he needed Emperor Chongzhen to provide one million taels of military pay.
Although the Ming Dynasty was the largest country in the world at that time, years of war and natural disasters had already cleaned up the foundation of this prosperous kingdom, and it was no longer able to support the heavy pressure of military pay. Under duress, Emperor Chongzhen had no choice but to reach out to his many high-ranking officials and nobles. In order to gather enough one million taels of silver, Zhu Youjian personally compiled a list of imperial relatives, nobles, civil and military officials, and demanded that they donate money to the national treasury one by one to share this hardship together. But the royal family and relatives refused to pay out of their own pockets on the grounds of poor living conditions and limited resources left. As members of the Zhu family, the imperial relatives and nobles all have such a posture, let alone the civil and military officials? Although that’s all, according to the emperor’s order, the ministers still need to do some superficial work. In order to avoid the emperor’s pressure step by step, all the officials have posted notes at their own doorsteps saying ‘destroy the family to relieve difficulties’. Thus, the event initiated by the emperor, which mobilized the efforts of hundreds of officials to raise tens of thousands of taels of military pay to overcome difficulties, ultimately ended in a farce.
The relationship between the monarch and the minister is tense, and Chongzhen’s self inflicted abuse is unbearable, so he can only seek more blessings on his own
The failure of the plan to transport the Ning Iron Cavalry to Beijing blocked a path for the Ming Dynasty to protect itself, but Emperor Chongzhen had other feasible plans, such as relocating the capital to the south. When it comes to relocating the capital, this is not uncommon in history, for example, the Tang Dynasty once relocated to the Sichuan Sichuan region to avoid war. For the Ming Dynasty at that time, relocating the capital was feasible and had many favorable conditions. Why do we say that?
Originally, although the army led by Li Zicheng was unstoppable all the way, they even captured military strongholds such as Shanxi and Taiyuan, and were on the verge of Beijing. But their main invasion direction is Shanxi and Shaanxi regions, with weaker control over the south. In addition, the number of rebel forces in the southern region was relatively small and controlled by Ming Dynasty officers. If Chongzhen abandoned the city and headed south, he could easily reach Nanjing and quickly establish a regime that opposed the enemy, relying on the favorable local situation, forming a situation of north-south confrontation. Once the situation stabilizes, Chongzhen can maintain his old business, regroup, and make a comeback, competing with Li Zicheng who occupied Beijing and reclaiming lost territory.
In addition, when Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty moved the capital to Beijing, he preserved a complete set of government institutions in the original capital city of Nanjing for future use. If Chongzhen moved south and built a city in Nanjing, he could quickly establish a brand new Ming court using the complete six ministries, cabinet and other institutions in the area, and compete with the enemy. Of course, the stable development of a dynasty is inevitably supported by a strong military force, and the Ming Dynasty at that time also had this capital. Since the attack of Li Zicheng’s army, although they have repeatedly captured wherever they go, they have only eliminated part of the main force of the army, and there are still more than one million regular troops in the south. As long as Chongzhen arrived in Nanjing, he could easily rise again and conquer the river. And by giving up Beijing, it could indirectly force Li Zicheng to confront the Later Jin directly, transforming the situation of the Ming Dynasty being surrounded by enemies from both sides into a situation of sitting on a mountain and watching the tiger fight, reaping the benefits of the fishermen.
In fact, Chongzhen himself also had this idea. He issued a secret order for the governor of Tianjin to prepare hundreds of large ships in Dagu, in preparation for relocating the capital to the south. At the same time, Chongzhen also sent trusted ministers to Nanjing to investigate the situation and arrange a way out; Gather the remaining troops in Kyoto to provide military support for one’s secret escape from the capital. But unfortunately, these ample preparations didn’t come in handy. Why?
It turned out that the courtiers opposed the relocation of the capital, and Chongzhen alone could not change the outcome. Speaking of this, many people may find it strange. Didn’t ancient emperors always speak with one word and cover the sky with one hand? Actually, it’s not entirely true. In the Ming Dynasty, although Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di abolished the Prime Minister and monopolized power, the Cabinet, a secret institution that assisted the emperor in handling military affairs, emerged to reduce decision-making errors.
In the development of the times, the cabinet evolved from an institution that assisted the emperor in handling government affairs to a decision-making body. It can be said that the emperor’s ideas need to be implemented with the approval of the cabinet and the permission of the six ministers. As an emperor, Chongzhen was already very prestigious, and he could not take the initiative to propose the relocation of the capital. Abandoning the land and protecting oneself that our ancestors have conquered will ultimately bring shame to ourselves and leave a negative impression of incompetence and incompetence on future generations.
It is imperative to move the capital southward. What should we do? Emperor Chongzhen found Chen Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet who had the same idea as him, and asked him to cooperate with him in a play, urging the ministers to propose the relocation of the capital first, which was finally approved by him. Unexpectedly, Chen Yan suddenly changed his mind the next day and strongly advocated a decisive battle with Li Zicheng’s army to defend the Ming Dynasty. Finally, the courtiers responded and Emperor Chongzhen’s wishful thinking once again fell through.
On the evening of the 18th day of 1643 AD, Li Zicheng’s army captured Beijing. Emperor Chongzhen climbed up the Coal Mountain and looked down upon the continuous flames of war and bloody scenes outside the palace. He let out a deep sigh and said, “All the ministers have wronged me, and the monarch has died. Once the world of 277 years is abandoned, it will all be the fault of treacherous ministers. Thus, he hanged himself on a crooked neck tree and died. The Ming Dynasty finally fell!