Chapter 67 9. The Change of Jiashen

After Li Zicheng established his name in Xi'an, he redefined the official and noble system. With Niu Jinxing as the Bachelor of Tianyou Temple, the original six governments set up the post of Shangshu.In addition, additional official offices such as Bachelor, Hongwenguan, Wenyuyuan, Admonishment, Zhishi Zhengzheng, Tonghui, Shangqisi, Yanma Temple, Zhizheng Envoy, and Writing Room were added. Nine people including Feng Tian Jianxiu and Liu Zongmin are Marquises, 72 people including Liu Tichun are Earls, 30 Viscounts and 55 Barons.He also rewarded the meritorious officials, Liu Zongmin and others each gave two liters of jewelry and one thousand taels of silver.

In addition, coins were minted and imperial examinations were held. On the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, the Qing regime in Liaodong wrote a letter to Li Zicheng. Its text is as follows: It is said that this letter was written by Hong Chengchou. This letter of credence was handed over to Dashun Yulin Guard General Wang Liangzhi on March 3rd. Seeing that it was a letter to the "marshals", Wang felt that he seemed to meet this standard, so he opened it and read it. After reading it, Wang Liangzhi realized that this letter of credence involved extremely important diplomatic and military decisions, and it was by no means something he could open and read privately, so he was dumbfounded.In order to cover up his fault, Wang Liangzhi returned the original document and a note signed with his name to make Chi Yunlong promise that he would pass on the contents of the letter to his superiors.The records of this event in the history books end here.Whether Wang Liangzhi reported the content of the letter to Li Zicheng has become a historical suspense.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month in the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng led an army, crossed the Yellow River eastward and entered Jin Dynasty, and embarked on the northern expedition to Yanyun to overthrow the rule of the Ming Dynasty. Within the Dashun Army, not all voices were in favor of the Northern Expedition. The Northern Expedition faction was represented by Gu Junen; while the opposition faction was represented by Niu Jinxing.Niu Jinxing was definitely not worried that the Northern Expedition would not be able to win, but that after the victory, the Dashun Army would not be able to guarantee the fruits of victory.Regarding the overall situation of the world, Niu Jinxing has a farther view than Gu Junen - he not only saw a great civil war situation, but also foresaw the upcoming entry of the Qing Dynasty.

Decades later, an old Gongsheng in Henan told a story of his own experience: My family and Niu Jinxing are related by marriage. After they conquered Xi’an City, I went to Xi’an to ask him for an official position. I didn’t realize that he would not agree, but I said: “Nowadays the world is in chaos, and you are not capable enough to be an official!” Unconvinced, he asked him: "Do you think the Northern Expedition can't be successful?" Niu replied: "The main force of the Ming army has been lost. Even if there is resistance, our army will be defeated as soon as it arrives. How can it be in vain?" , then the overall situation of the world will be determined, how do you always say that I can't be an official?"

Niu Jinxing sighed deeply: "The reason why I say you are not capable enough is because of this! You are also a person who has read history books. Have you ever seen a monarch like Dashun Dynasty? With such strong strength, but only for Others make wedding clothes..." There is no strategic vision, although its power is strong, it is just to repel others' ears! "I threw myself into it just to avoid disaster, and now I can't even grasp what the future holds. After our army goes north, you should flee back home as soon as possible, and don't take part in this disaster again!"

I was reluctant to leave and stayed at Niu's house. A few months later, the Dashun Army returned to Xi'an, and the scale of operations was quite different from a few months ago.I found it strange, so I asked Niu Jinxing again.Niu was sad and silent, but just called "Naihe". During this period of time, every time Niu came into the meeting, he would often come out of the sun, and then he would not even go home for a few days.One day, he suddenly invited me to drink, and when he got emotional, he sighed and said, "Living in a troubled world, there is no such thing as high or low, it's all retribution!" Pointing to his head, he said, "Now it seems that we must keep This guy is very difficult! I probably still have a chance to survive in this net of disaster... Even if I am cut down to show off to the public in Xuanzhi City, it is justified. But you are forced to be trapped in this net, so why bother? "

"Young man, it's not me who kicked you out. You should move to another place to live. If something happens, you can escape for your life and keep your head!" So the two of us cried a lot and broke up. Although even Niu Jinxing objected, the huge temptation of capturing the affluent Beijing city and overthrowing the Ming Dynasty no longer allowed the leaders of the Dashun Dynasty to think calmly. Li Zicheng, who was dazzled by the victory, finally decided to continue to execute Gu Junen The plan is to attack Beijing from the north of Shanxi. Although Niu Jinxing was helpless, he still served as a military counselor with the army, hoping to benefit from it.Tian Jianxiu and Mrs. Gao, Li Zicheng's wife, stayed behind in Xi'an.

Li Guo crossed the Yellow River first, followed by Li Zicheng's army, and captured the important town of Pingyang on the 23rd of the first lunar month.On February 5th, the Dashun army arrived in Taiyuan, and the city fell two days later. Most of the city guards in the Ming Dynasty died generously, but Jin Wang Zhu Qiugui surrendered. Li Zicheng issued the famous edict of the first year of Yongchang in Taiyuan, denouncing the decadent rule of the Ming Dynasty.But it also admits that "you are not very dark".Then divide the troops into two groups, Liu Fangliang on the south route went out of Guguan, entered Hebei, and surrounded Beijing from the south;

At Ningwu Pass, the Dashun Army encountered tenacious resistance.Zhou Yuji, the Shanxi general who guarded Ningwuguan, was the last general who was willing to fight to the death when he was a general of the Ming Dynasty.He persisted and did not surrender, causing heavy casualties to the Dashun Army. Li Zicheng even wanted to give up the Northern Expedition for a while.In the end, the Dashun Army took advantage of its large numbers, divided its troops into several teams, and attacked in turn regardless of losses. Ningwuguan was finally captured.Zhou Yuji fought in the street with the governors, and Ma later fought on foot, killing dozens of Dashun soldiers with his own hands, and finally he was captured with all his strength.He cursed unyieldingly, was hung on a high pole by the Dashun army, shot to death with random arrows, and his body was also chopped into pieces.General Zhou's wife, Mrs. Liu, also led her whole family to set themselves on fire and died quite heroically.

Li Zicheng was almost ready to return to Shaanxi because of his heavy losses at Ningwu Pass.Just at this time, the guards of Datong and Xuanfu sent letters of surrender at the same time.Li Zicheng was overjoyed, so he decided to continue going north.On March 1st, the Dashun Army occupied Datong, and on the 6th, they occupied Xuanfu. In the direction of the troops, Tang Tong, the guard of Juyong Pass, also surrendered on March 15th. The gate to Beijing City is open! At this time, the city of Beijing was suffering from the plague. According to historians, one-third to half of the population died of the plague. Under the toss of natural and man-made disasters, the city of Beijing had completely lost its resistance.On March 10, the Ming Changping garrison mutinied due to lack of payment.On the 16th, the Dashun Army occupied Changping Ming Emperor’s Mausoleum—there were only twelve tombs at that time, which did not make up the “Thirteen Tombs” we know today—burned down the twelve halls of worship, and cut down all the tombs. Protect the mausoleum pines and cypresses.

The situation was so bad that Minister Li Mingrui advised Chongzhen to move his capital to the south, and the topic was called "Personal Expedition".Chongzhen agreed in principle, but he didn't want to bear the infamy of "running away from the emperor". He wanted to wait for Prime Minister Chen Zhan to come and lead all the officials to persuade him, and then he reluctantly agreed. But Chen Yan was afraid of taking responsibility, so he kept silent and dared not talk about moving the capital.Some ignorant officials actually suggested that if the emperor was unwilling to leave, he could send the crown prince to Nanjing first—in case the emperor insisted that "the king dies in the country", the crown prince could immediately inherit the throne.Emperor Chongzhen himself wanted to flee south, but he couldn't get down because of this group of people's intervention.There was endless debate in the court.After such a delay, Li Zicheng's army on the South Road entered Hebei, and the land route was already impassable. Chongzhen's mistake was that he desperately wanted to save face, and he didn't take the overall situation of the world as the priority at all.If he had gone south in time, or sent the crown prince to Nanjing, the history of Nanming would not have ended in a dispute between the kings, who were finally defeated by the Qing soldiers one by one. Perhaps, Nanming will be another Southern Song Dynasty.Unfortunately, history does not allow assumptions. Since you can't escape, you can only find a way to resist.The only thing Chongzhen could move at this moment was Wu Sangui's tens of thousands of troops stationed in Ningyuan.At the beginning of March, Chongzhen granted Wu Sangui the title of Xibo Ping, and ordered him to enter the capital of Wei urgently.Wu Sangui dawdled all the way until he reached Shanhaiguan on the thirteenth day, and he was already too late to make the trip. As soon as Wu Sangui left, Ningyuan, the last important town outside the pass, was immediately occupied by the Qing army. On March 17, Li Zicheng's army arrived at the foot of Beijing. There are about 40,000 troops defending the city, but the huge city of Beijing, with only 40,000 old, weak and remnant soldiers, can't defend it at all-only one soldier can be assigned to an average of three crenels on the top of the city.In addition to these 40,000 old and weak, there are also thousands of "purified men" who assist in defending the city-adding together will not be of much use.This group of old, weak and remnant soldiers owed wages for a long time. This time, they were paid 100 yuan each because they were required to defend the city desperately. Because no one was in charge of food, they had to ask for leave frequently and went to the city to buy sesame seed cakes to satisfy their hunger.Many Western cannons were placed on the top of the city of Beijing, but the defenders all fired empty cannons and did not load lead bullets. As a result, no one was killed. Chongzhen trusted eunuchs in recent years, but it was the eunuch Du Xun who ran back from Li Zicheng and advised Chongzhen to abdicate as soon as possible. The thief persuaded the emperor to surrender?Can this kind of joke be made?Chongzhen could really piss these guys off. On March 18th, Chongzhen actually ordered a "personal conquest". At this time, even the relatives of the emperor did not dare to help, and he did not know where he should go to arrest soldiers.Li Zicheng stayed in the city for two days. Seeing that the "emperor surrendering the thief" scene seemed to be going nowhere, he began to attack the city.That night, the great eunuch Cao Huachun opened the Zhangyi Gate and surrendered, and the city of Beijing was destroyed. This is the last night of Emperor Chongzhen.He hurriedly arranged for the funeral in the palace, but everything he did was incoherent.I want Cheng Guogong Zhu Chunchen to assist the prince, but whether Zhu Chunchen himself can survive is still a question; I wrote a letter to a certain general who commanded the army, but there is no beginning or end, and I don’t know who it was written to—the person has arrived At this time, I am afraid that most of them are like this. Chongzhen really couldn't think of any important national affairs to be done, so he asked the prince, Yongwang, and Dingwang to bring them here. Seeing that they were still wearing robes with crowns and belts, the father couldn't help but scolded the three sons again: "What time is it, are you still wearing this? Hurry up and change into old clothes!" He tied the belts on the children himself, and said to them sadly: "Today you are still the emperor's sons, but tomorrow you will be ordinary people... In this troubled world If you see an old man, you should call him an old man, and if you see a young man, you should call him an uncle." Chongzhen, who grew up inside the high walls of the palace, didn't know much about the myriad of truths in the world, but he still wanted to learn in a short period of time. Teach more to the children, poor parents all over the world!The people around couldn't help crying.After the confession, he sent someone to send the three princes to the relatives' house, asking them to help hide the children. After finishing these, Chongzhen went to bid farewell to his wife, Empress Zhou. Both of them shed tears—this empress was chosen by his brother Tianqi and his wife. The elder brother who passed away - he may not be a good emperor, but he should be a humane elder brother.Empress Zhou immediately hanged herself, and the emperor touched her dead body with a sword, her eyes were red and swollen, her nose was sour and she walked away. The youngest daughter, Princess Zhaoren, was also stabbed to death by the emperor.Concubine Yuan Gui hanged herself and was cut on the shoulder by the emperor with a sword. Many other concubines were killed by the emperor himself.The emperor summoned his 15-year-old eldest daughter, Princess Changping, and said mournfully, "Son, why did you come into my family?" Only the left arm of the princess was chopped off. Seeing his daughter in a pool of blood, the emperor trembled so badly that he couldn't do anything anymore. He and the eunuch Wang Cheng'en drank a few glasses of wine to strengthen their courage. Holding a three-eyed blunderbuss, he led dozens of eunuchs out of the Donghua Gate to Chaoyang Gate, pretending that the eunuch Wang was ordered to leave the city.The eunuchs who followed him rushed to seize the gate, and the gate guards thought there was a civil strife, so they fired back. There were few people around Chongzhen, so they couldn't get out.Everyone remembered that Chaoyang Gate was the defense area of ​​Cheng Guogong Zhu Chunchen, so they went around to Zhu's house and wanted to ask Zhu Chunchen to open the door, but the gatekeeper of Zhu's house said that Cheng Guogong had gone to a banquet.Chongzhen sighed and ran to the Anding Gate again, but the gate was impenetrable, and at this time, it was almost dawn. Chongzhen returned to the palace disappointed, and rang the bell in the front hall to summon all the officials, but no one came.Since then, no one has seen the emperor again. It is rumored that he escaped from the palace with Consort Gong and eunuch Wang. On the 19th, Wang Xiangyao, the gatekeeper of Xuanwu Gate, opened the gate and surrendered. Zhengyang Gate and Chaoyang Gate also surrendered one after another. Princess Changping was still fainted at this time, Shangyi eunuch He Qin heard that the Dashun army had entered the city, fearing that the princess would be humiliated, he carried her out of the palace.The prince fled to his grandfather Zhou Kui's house, but no one answered the knock on the door, and the gatekeeper refused to let him in, so he had to hide in someone else's house.Fearful of humiliation, the maid Wei and others committed suicide by jumping into the Yu River, with more than two hundred servants.Many ministers committed suicide.Gong Yonggu, the son-in-law who was rumored to have escaped with Emperor Chongzhen, held the coffin of the princess and brought four of his children, and set fire to himself in the hall.The most important clue to trace Chongzhen's whereabouts was broken. The Dashun army searched everywhere for the whereabouts of Chongzhen and his son, but they could not find it, so they issued a strict order: "Those who offer the emperor will be rewarded with ten thousand gold, and they will be made earls, and those who hide will be Yiqi clan!" Two bodies were found blowing in the wind. Someone recognized it, and that was the missing Emperor Chongzhen. He and Wang Chengen were hanging on the tree facing each other, with long hair covering their faces, wearing a white robe and blue robe, white silk trousers, one bare foot, silk socks on the other, and red square shoes.Looking at the situation, it was Wang Chengen who first served Chongzhen and committed suicide, and then committed suicide himself. What Chongzhen hanged himself was a locust tree with a crooked neck. It is said that this locust tree lived for more than 320 years. After seeing all the sunsets of the Ming, Qing, and Republic of China, it was full of vicissitudes, and suddenly it was boring to be looked at. , in the movement of flattening and destroying tombs, they were regarded as feudal dross and destroyed.The tree on the hillside of Long Live Mountain is an out-and-out fake—a tree that has neither seen tears nor rise and fall. Today we stand there, looking towards the south, we can still see the ancient palace city, and see her haggard figure in the rising and setting of the sun and the moon.When I wrote these words, the world has changed, and six Jiazi have passed, all grievances and grievances have faded away, iron and blood have been melted away, leaving only a few legends, which are slightly worthy of the whispers of the world. Before breaking down the city, Li Zicheng, under Niu Jinxing's suggestion, declared military discipline: no wounding, no looting of property or women, and those who violated the law would be "killed without mercy."Therefore, when they first entered the city, the discipline of the Dashun Army was still good, and the markets were safe and secure.Some ordinary people spontaneously wrote "Long Live Long Live Emperor Dashun Yongchang" at the door, and some people pasted "Shunmin" on their hats. At noon on the 19th, Li Zicheng entered the city from Desheng Gate, walked around to Chengtian Gate, and entered the palace city on a black barge horse.Chengtianmen, today's Tiananmen, is the south gate of Miyagi.Li Zicheng drew his arrow and bent his bow under the Chengtian gate, and said to the left and right: "If I hit the middle, I will be unified!" But when the arrow went away, it shot under the word "天", and Li was quite unhappy.Niu Jinxing smoothed things over from the side: "The world is divided among the middle." Li Fang turned his worries into joy. The Dashun Army entered Beijing on March 19 and withdrew on April 13, staying in Beijing for a total of forty-two days. When they first entered the city, the Dashun Army had strict military discipline. Two soldiers robbed them and were killed immediately, and their corpses were displayed to the public.But just like when Huang Chao entered Chang'an back then, after hundreds of thousands of troops entered the city, looking at the capital city full of flowers, not to mention soldiers, even the generals were a little dizzy. It is not that there are no wise men in the Dashun army. Someone suggested: 1. Li Zicheng himself temporarily withdrew from the inner palace, nominally to wait for the government to repair it before entering the palace, but in fact he tactfully hoped that Li could take the lead; 2. The officials of the Ming Dynasty were dealt with separately. Some corrupt officials with a bad reputation were severely pursued and their property was confiscated; Na; 3. Withdraw large troops and set up camp outside the city, waiting for deployment.It is not suitable for people left in the city to borrow houses; But such a suggestion, not to mention that it could not gain support in the army, even Li Zicheng failed to pass it.The Dashun Army started out as rogues, and most of the generals and schoolmasters have been fighting for a long time in order to make their children beautiful, and the encouragement for the soldiers is often promised to use women's wealth to join the army after defeating the enemy.For example, during the third World War in Kaifeng, Luo Rucai wanted to withdraw his troops. Li Zicheng offered to hand over the east city to him after the city was broken, and Luo Rucai agreed to stay. Since the Northern Expedition, high-ranking generals from Li Zicheng and below have also repeatedly used their children's treasures as a means of boosting morale after entering Beijing.But now, you have become the emperor, but the conditions you offered have not been fulfilled. Of course, the soldiers are not satisfied. Therefore, within a few days, the military discipline of the Dashun Army was abolished. The soldiers first went to ordinary people's homes to borrow pots and bowls, and then began to borrow beds to sleep in. After two days, they asked others to borrow wives, daughters and sisters as companions. They escorted the men to search everywhere, but they had to stop.In Anfu Hutong, more than 370 people died of adultery overnight. Don't the officials care? official?Generals and academies, big and small, have long been "distanced from rich families, happy to have no children", and the soldiers who herded sheep naturally wandered around the streets, searching for copper and horses under the pretext of "plundering along the door".Some Dashun soldiers stationed at the top of the city robbed women on the city wall and insulted them, "or they would throw (the women) out of the city for fear of being blamed if they encountered bandits passing by."Hundreds of thousands of troops are doing this, even a few responsible generals can't handle it, so they simply turn a blind eye, close their eyes... just don't let me see it. The Dashun army was in Beijing, and there were two things that were very disappointing, one was adultery, and the other was torture. Copying pay is a bit like apportionment, the difference is that the apportionment objects of the government are ordinary people, while the apportionment objects of thieves are officials, big and small, and relatives of the emperor.It is said that the people in charge of copying pay are Liu Zongmin and Li Guo. "North Strategy of Ming Season" records an operation process. First gather the officials and go hungry all night.Early the next morning, more than 800 people were taken in groups of five to Emperor Tian's mansion, and they were tortured with sticks first, and then asked how much money they had stolen. This went on for ten days. Sometimes Liu Zongmin got interested and came out for interrogation in person, and everyone had to recognize the stolen goods.The heavy ones are tens of thousands of taels, the light ones are thousands of taels, and at least one thousand taels is needed. There is a Mr. Shen Xuelu who is so poor that he clinks. deny?Then put sticks on your legs, the kind with ribs and nails, and put a hoop on your head, so that your eyes will pop out and you can see the stars in broad daylight. It's easy to handle if you can't pay the money, send a few soldiers to escort you to the Qianmen official store to borrow.The shopkeeper dared not refuse to borrow, so he could only ask for an IOU.It is said that there is an IOU that reads: "A certain official and his wife, a certain family, borrow a certain amount of life-saving silver." That's it, I also borrowed money. Here is a price tag based on official rank.100,000 for the cabinet, 70,000 for the Ministry, Jingtang, and Jinyi Shuai, 50,000 or 30,000 for Ke Dao and Libu Lang, 10,000 for the Hanlin, and several thousand for the Ministry of Cao.It's miserable for the royal family and relatives. Their price tag is called "indefinite amount", which means that it doesn't matter how much you pay, and you still have to eat a stick. In order not to eat the stick, the officials showed their special skills.There was an old censor who sneaked into Liu Zongmin's shogunate as a purveyor, and finally escaped; there was a Mr. Yang Rucheng, who gave his beautiful maidservant to the torturer, and was given a lighter sentence... Until the first day of April, the military adviser Song Xiance really couldn't get used to it. He persuaded Li Zicheng to suspend his sentence under the guise of astronomical warnings.Another six days later, on April 7th, Li Zicheng visited Liu Zongmin's residence and saw hundreds of people wailing there, so he told Liu to stop.