Hello everyone, this is the editor of the History Encyclopedia. Today, we will tell you the story of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty. Welcome to follow us. What was the reason for the downfall of the Ming Dynasty? Is Chongzhen really an extremely immature politician? What are the shortcomings of Chongzhen?
I admit that Chongzhen was a very hardworking emperor, a very kind emperor, and also a very responsible emperor. But at the same time, he was also an extremely immature emperor.
Relatively speaking, Chongzhen is more like a lotus flower that emerges from the mud without staining itself, but this lotus flower is of no use in the position of the emperor.
Therefore, the tragedy of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty was twofold: on the one hand, it was the tragedy of Emperor Chongzhen himself, and on the other hand, it was also the tragedy of the entire Ming Dynasty.
From beginning to end, whether it was internal and external troubles, natural disasters or man-made calamities, or the invasion of barbarians in the north, all factors were not enough to destroy the Ming Empire. There were many measures and measures that could save the world.
Unfortunately, Emperor Chongzhen was all avoided one by one.
In theory, such an emperor must not be a good emperor, but it has been proven that Chongzhen was not as bad as we thought. Before his death, Emperor Chongzhen still cared about the world and people of the Ming Dynasty.
When Emperor Chongzhen faced an irreparable tragedy, he did not willingly become a prisoner like other emperors, but ended his life by committing suicide.
So for Emperor Chongzhen, I can only say that I respect him, but he is not a good emperor. Why?
There are several reasons as follows:
Point 1: Emperor Chongzhen was too hesitant
In the late Ming Dynasty, there were two paths to take in front of Emperor Chongzhen, and either of these paths could lead to a prosperous road.
But Emperor Chongzhen came up with a new idea, he wanted to take two paths together, mainly to maintain his reputation. It was precisely because of Emperor Chongzhen’s back and forth hesitation that ultimately led to an irreversible outcome.
As we all know, during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the entire country faced two contradictions. The first contradiction was external, and the second contradiction was internal.
At that time, when you said that the Ming Dynasty had lost its vitality, it was pure nonsense. No matter which contradiction was resolved, the Ming Dynasty could continue to persist. As for how long it could last, it all depended on the will of heaven.
At that time, due to various natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty, many ordinary people in China could not afford to eat. At the same time, the country has to carry out a series of marching operations, and in order to do so, money must be made. Where does this money come from?
We could only continue to seek help from the common people, so more and more of them began to go on strike.
We have no money left, if you ask us for it again, we will start to rebel. So more and more ordinary people began to put down the tools of their crops and instead picked up various iron tools, starting to kill the army of the Ming Empire.
This group of people can be collectively referred to as refugees.
At the same time, there were various enemies in the north of the Ming Dynasty, among which we can directly replace them with the Qing Dynasty. Anyway, sooner or later the Qing Dynasty will become the Qing Dynasty, and it doesn’t matter what name they are given.
The enemy in the north wants to fight against the Ming Dynasty, and the enemy in the south also wants to fight against the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is caught in the middle and suffers from both sides.
And at this time, Emperor Chongzhen was preparing to negotiate peace with whom?
It’s people from the north.
But at this time, some officials of the Ming Dynasty were conservative and believed that even if the people in the north had powerful weapons, they were just barbarians. Negotiating with barbarians was really damaging to the style of our Ming Dynasty.
In addition, various opinions have emerged one after another. Some people believe that if peace is negotiated with the north, it means that the Ming Dynasty has completely lost its backbone and will become the second Southern Song Dynasty.
In fact, it would be better to become the second Southern Song Dynasty, because the Ming Dynasty could not last for many years.
In theory, Emperor Chongzhen could make a decision on such matters alone, and he could do whatever he wanted. However, Emperor Chongzhen was also afraid that if he negotiated with the north, although the north could temporarily appease him, how would the officials in the court view him? How will the common people perceive themselves?
So Emperor Chongzhen secretly instructed Yang Sichang to express this opinion during the court session.
At this moment, I encountered another person’s rejection – Hong Chengchou.
They said seriously that if they surrender, I don’t agree.
But in fact, as a general, one can clearly express their views, and in the end, only Emperor Chongzhen made the final decision.
But Emperor Chongzhen was too scared and cared too much about his reputation, so he agreed with this general’s statement.
Since then, the Ming Dynasty has been struggling with two fronts of warfare, with an annual military expenditure of over 20 million, resulting in a serious economic deficit for the country.
During the period of feudal dynasty rule, if there was an economic deficit, it almost determined that the entire country was hopeless.
Point 2: Chaotic formation
In theory, any country will have marching battles, even during the Song and Tang dynasties when it was time to fight. Just handle this situation as you please.
If you can’t handle the problem, just punish the person who handled it.
Emperor Chongzhen also thought the same way, but no one expected that he would handle a group of people who dealt with problems.
Moreover, the group of people dealt with by Emperor Chongzhen had great official titles and influence, which directly led to almost no one being available to Emperor Chongzhen in his later period.
Anyone who wants to do something under Chongzhen’s command should not first consider serving the court, but how they can survive.
For example, when Emperor Chongzhen held power, 7 governors were killed and 11 governors were killed.
If you are not familiar with this period of history or the composition of official ranks in the Ming Dynasty, it is strongly recommended that you first briefly understand what the governor did.
Without further ado, any governor in any place, in any dynasty, must think carefully to minimize losses and find replacements as soon as possible.
Only in this way can there be a certain probability of arresting the governor and imprisoning him. Please note that this is about arrest and imprisonment, not direct execution.
But Emperor Chongzhen doesn’t think so at all. In Emperor Chongzhen’s mind, I see that you are becoming increasingly suspicious. Since you are suspicious, you must be eliminated.
The most aggrieved one among them may be Yuan Chonghuan, because Emperor Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan because he fell victim to the counter plot of Later Jin.
Everyone knows the great taboo of changing generals in the face of war. In theory, it is almost time for war and the country is at the point of life and death. At this time, if you suddenly engage in a fight with someone, no one can withstand it.
But Emperor Chongzhen resisted, to be precise, he had to resist if he couldn’t. If he couldn’t resist at this point, he would be a complete failure.
So the entire Ming Dynasty fell into an extremely delicate state. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were particularly anxious, and the ministers were also particularly anxious. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty were anxious whether the Ming Dynasty would collapse, while the ministers were anxious whether Emperor Chongzhen would kill me.
The people on both sides are not on the same line at all, hoping to win this war is a bit of a pipe dream.
Point 3: A weak heart and a weak hand
If Emperor Chongzhen had been ruthless, the Great Ming Dynasty would not have been like this.
Why do I say that?
It was because after Emperor Chongzhen ruled for 3-5 years, problems arose in the Ming Empire.
The core of this problem is still the lack of money. In other words, throughout the mid to late Ming Dynasty, it was always in an awkward state of asking for money without asking for a lot of people.
Moreover, the number of descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang can be said to be increasing, and these people still need to be supported by Emperor Chongzhen.
According to incomplete statistics, by the time Chongzhen became emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang’s descendants had already reached as many as one million. Of course, it is unknown whether this data is true or false, but it is undoubtedly a huge burden for the entire Ming Dynasty.
Soldiers marching and fighting in the front, there is no military pay for these soldiers in the rear. Will the soldiers still sacrifice their lives for you?
So in the late Ming Dynasty, it was found that more and more soldiers began to surrender and seek refuge with the enemy in the north or directly joined the refugees.
In this situation, Emperor Chongming realized that although he had no money left, these officials had money. So Emperor Chongzhen decided to borrow money from some officials in the court, and this idea was not a problem.
In fact, if Emperor Chongzhen had been able to implement this idea at that time, perhaps the Ming Dynasty would have been saved.
But unexpectedly, on the second day after Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking these words, all the civil and military officials of the Manchu dynasty were dressed in patched clothes, kneeling on the court hall, crying to Emperor Chongzhen and saying they didn’t have a penny.
It is incredible that Emperor Chongzhen actually believed these officials, believing that they had no money at all.
It is important to understand that later on, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, and when the enemy broke into the city of Beijing, they beat up these officials and eventually earned countless amounts of silver and various rare antiques from it.
If Emperor Chongzhen had realized this at that time, he would have closed the gate directly, and if he couldn’t come with the money, he wouldn’t have been able to leave alive. Maybe tens of millions of taels of silver would have been presented immediately.
And these tens of millions of taels of silver are enough to give the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty a full meal, and there is absolutely no problem fighting a full two years of war.
In this way, if we survive natural disasters and then ignore man-made disasters, and turn two line combat into frontline combat, and ultimately completely defeat the enemy, then the high probability should not be a problem.
But Emperor Chongzhen did not do so, it can only be said that the power of the Ming Dynasty has been exhausted.
For Emperor Chongzhen, we can only say that he was neither a good nor a bad person. You say he is kind, indeed kind, and you say he is diligent, indeed diligent.
But no matter what is said about him, good or bad, he is not suitable to be an emperor.
Especially in times of national crisis, it is not suitable to be an emperor.
If it were in an ordinary era, perhaps Chongzhen would have been an extraordinary emperor.
