Chapter 26 Chapter 26 Different endings of the "second officials" in the early Qing Dynasty

In the official history books of the Qing Dynasty, there is a very distinctive history book - "The Biography of Two Officials", which was compiled from the 41st year of Qianlong (AD 1776) during the reign of Emperor Qianlong Hongli.The characters in the book are all "second ministers" who served the Ming Dynasty first and then surrendered to the Qing Dynasty during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The purpose of compiling such a book is naturally to promote the "ideology of loyalty" in feudal society. The characters in the book are listed as "traitors" without exception. After all, surrendering is a disgraceful thing.

With its backward culture and disadvantaged population, the Qing Dynasty was able to successfully replace the Ming Dynasty and establish a great empire that lasted for more than 300 years. contribute.Since Huang Taiji took over Liaodong, the Qing Dynasty has always attached importance to the absorption of talents from the Ming Dynasty. Through wars, bribes and other means, they continued to win over talents from the Ming Dynasty, especially intellectuals.However, these people never imagined that in the era of the "Kang and Qian Dynasty" when the foundation of the Qing Dynasty was stable and the country was strong, their actions back then would be firmly nailed to the pillar of shame in history in such a way.

However, even when compiling "The Biography of Second Officials", Emperor Qianlong paid special attention to "screening". "Biography of Two Officials" included biographies of more than 120 "traitors".These 120 people were further divided into two categories. Among them, Category A were those who made great contributions to the founding of the Qing Dynasty after surrendering, and Category B were those who had made no achievements after surrendering and were despised by the rulers.Before they became traitors, most of them were well-known and respected gentlemen and capable ministers. With just one thought, their names before and after their lives were very different.

Let's pick out a few typical "second ministers" to see how pitiful, sad, hateful, and deplorable they are in the process of becoming traitors. Among the Class A characters in "Second Minister", the most dramatic one is Hong Chengchou. Before becoming the founding hero of the Qing Dynasty, for a long time, Hong Chengchou was regarded as the hope of saving the crisis of the Ming Dynasty and helping the Ming Dynasty. Hong Chengchou, courtesy name Yanyan, nickname Hengjiu, was born in Quanzhou, Fujian.Born in a poor local family, he worked hard and studied hard since he was a child.During the Wanli period, he was a Jinshi in high school, and he first served as a student in Zhejiang. Because he was very good at selecting candidates, he was famous in the officialdom for a while. During the Chongzhen period, Hong Chengchou had been promoted to participate in politics in Shaanxi.In the second year of Chongzhen (1629 A.D.), civil turmoil broke out in Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou recruited soldiers and horses and repelled the peasant army in Hancheng, Shaanxi. Since then, he has been fighting at the front line of suppressing peasant uprisings in the late Ming Dynasty.He once joined forces with Sun Chuanting to defeat Li Zicheng in Tongguan, Shaanxi.Chongzhen once commented: "Lu Xiang was promoted to supervise the southeast, Hong Chengchou supervised the northwest, and the world will be flat." It can be said that it was a pivotal force in the political situation in the late Ming Dynasty.Hong Chengchou began to suppress the peasant army in the fourth year of Chongzhen (AD 1631). After nearly ten years, he has put down more than 20 peasant army forces. Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other leaders of the peasant army have been hit hard by him. Do your best for tomorrow.

The turning point in Hong Chengchou's life from "loyal minister" to "second minister" occurred in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1642 A.D.).That year, Huang Taiji concentrated his army to attack Jinzhou, an important town in eastern Liaodong. Hong Chengchou led the army to rescue him as a supervisor.Facing the powerful offensive of the Qing army, Hong Chengchou advocated that every step should be taken at every step, and the defense should be used as an offensive. The two sides held each other for nearly a year, and the Qing army could not advance.At a critical moment, Chen Xinjia, Minister of the Ministry of War, made suggestions to Chongzhen, suspecting that Hong Chengchou was suspected of "supporting the soldiers and self-respect". Chongzhen was suspicious and issued several edicts urging Hong Chengchou to fight the Qing army.In desperation, Hong Chengchou had to take the initiative to attack, but was cut off by the Qing army, and the entire army of 130,000 was wiped out. This is the famous "Battle of Songjin" in history.After the Battle of Songjin, it was rumored that Hong Chengchou had died in battle. Emperor Chongzhen, who had always been mean to his heroes, also lamented unceasingly.The Ming Dynasty quit the dynasty because of the death of the border commander. It happened only once before. It was the death of the great hero Wang Yue who defeated the Mongols during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty. Those who were expected to be "martyrs" became "traitors".

Regarding Hong Chengchou's rebellion, it is said in history that Hong Chengchou originally intended to go on a hunger strike, but Huang Taiji personally met him and asked about his health, which finally moved Hong Chengchou who originally planned to kill himself to become a benevolent.Another more "hanging" theory is that Huang Taiji sent his favorite concubine Concubine Zhuang to seduce Hong Chengchou, and finally pulled Hong Chengchou into the water.Neither of these two claims has been definitively confirmed.And another fact is: when Hong Chengchou suppressed the peasant army, he was often made things difficult by Yang Sichang, the favorite minister of Chongzhen.Wang Bangji, a survivor of the Ming Dynasty, commented on this: "(Hong Chengchou) is not disloyal, but his heart is dead."

Not only was there an uproar in the Ming Dynasty, but also opposition from within the Qing Dynasty when Hong Chengchou, who was "dead in heart", was recruited.But Huang Taiji said: "Hong Chengchou is my guide to the Central Plains." Even so, when Huang Taiji was alive, Hong Chengchou only got a job and was not reused.He really flexed his muscles when Huang Taiji died of illness and Dorgon became the queen regent.Dorgon relied heavily on Hong Chengchou and "taught him as a teacher".After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, it was Hong Chengchou who suggested to Dorgon to incorporate all males over the age of 15 into the army and gather 200,000 troops into Beijing.After the Qing army drove away Li Zicheng and seized Beijing, it was Hong Chengchou who proposed to put up a list to calm the people and enforce military discipline.At the same time, Hong Chengchou also put forward the slogan of "revenge for Chongzhen". This move even deceived the officials of the Southern Ming Dynasty, thinking that the Qing Dynasty was here to help the Southern Ming Dynasty suppress the thieves.

Hong Chengchou's great contribution to the Qing Dynasty was mainly in the pacification of the Nanming regime.In 1646 AD, the Qing Dynasty issued an order to shave their hair, and Jiangnan rebelled everywhere. Hong Chengchou was ordered to be the governor of Liangjiang in the face of danger.He changed the brutal suppression policy of the previous Qing Dynasty, and proposed to focus on appeasement, reduce taxes in the south of the Yangtze River, pardon criminal officials, stabilize the local situation, and quickly extinguish the anti-Qing fire in the south of the Yangtze River.At the same time, Huang Daozhou, Jin Sheng, Xia Wanchun and other anti-Qing righteous fighters also died tragically in the hands of Hong Chengchou.Because of this taint, Hong Chengchou's mother and younger brother were ashamed of Hong Chengchou, and his mother refused to recognize Hong Chengchou for decades.After that, Hong Chengchou was ordered to be the governor of the five southern provinces of grain and pay. He reduced or exempted taxes many times to reduce the burden on the people, and solved the problem of military pay by confiscating the property of officials in the former Ming Dynasty.The Qing Dynasty finally pacified the Zhulu Nanming regime, which cannot be separated from the credit of this "Minister of Logistics".

Because of this, in the early days of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Chengchou's official career was prosperous. During the Shunzhi period, he was the "Prince Taishi and Dongge University Bachelor", and the first Han prime minister in the history of the Qing Dynasty. On his 60th birthday, Emperor Shunzhi even came to the The Hong Mansion's birthday celebration can be described as extremely honorable and favored.But after the Qing Dynasty unified the country, Hong Chengchou was gradually treated coldly.In the same year that the Yongli regime fell, he was relieved of his position as minister of the Ministry of War, and only retained the false title of a bachelor. The knowledgeable Hong Chengchou retreated bravely and resigned on the grounds of "eye disease". Since then, he has faded out of politics and died of illness in 1665.He died extremely lucky, because it was he who recommended Wu Sangui to guard Yunnan, which eventually caused the San Francisco Rebellion.If he hadn't died early, Wu Sangui would have been implicated in the rebellion.

The characters in "The Biography of Two Officials", no matter they are "Class A" or "Class B", no matter whether they are alive or dead, they are all "traitors" who are cast aside by the world.There is only one exception. Although he has been an official for two dynasties, most people are very understanding to him, and some even regard him as a loyal minister - Zu Dashou. Zu Dashou, a native of Ningyuan, Liaodong, a famous general in the late Ming Dynasty, and his nephew was Wu Sangui who let the Qing army enter the pass.Compared with this traitor nephew, Zu Dashou joined the army very early. Before surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, he was one of the most difficult opponents of the Eight Banners Army that swept across Liaodong.

Zu Dashou worked as a guerrilla under Wang Huazhen during the reign of Tianqi, and he was really appreciated when Sun Chengzong supervised Liaodong.In the battle of Ningyuan, where Nurhachi was killed, he was Yuan Chonghuan's confidant and general, and he was devoted to Yuan Chonghuan, and he was the backbone of Guan Ning's cavalry.After Yuan Chonghuan supervised Ji Liao, Zu Dashou was appointed as the forward general.Later, Yuan Chonghuan was "traitored" by the traitors. Zu Dashou led his army back to Liaodong in a fit of anger, and returned to the division to rescue under Sun Chengzong's persuasion, and took the lead in the battle to relieve the siege of the capital.In the Ming Dynasty army at that time, he was known as a brave and loyal character. Huang Taiji also appreciates such a role very much.In the Battle of Daling River in the third year of Chongzhen (1630 A.D.), Zu Dashou was ordered to build a city in Daling River. Huang Taiji personally led the army to attack. Before the war, he ordered that Zu Dashou must be captured alive.After the Qing army repelled the reinforcements of the Ming Dynasty, they surrounded the Daling River. Zu Dashou resisted tenaciously when the foreign aid was cut off. He led thousands of remnants to pretend to surrender, and "fooled" Huang Taiji that he could help him persuade the Jinzhou defender to surrender, and Huang Taiji really hit the trick.After Zu Dashou arrived in Jinzhou, he stayed in Jinzhou instead and continued to fight against the Qing army.After Hong Chengchou's entire army was annihilated in the Songjin Battle ten years later, Zu Dashou stood firm in Jinzhou and was eventually defeated and captured.Huang Taiji was extremely tolerant of this person who "fooled" him, and once again tried his best to recruit him to surrender.Zu Dashou, who had nowhere to go this time, chose to surrender and was appointed as the general soldier, but he soon asked to resign on the grounds of illness.For more than ten years, he lived at home with the title of "General Soldier" until he died of illness in 1659 AD. He never fought a battle against the Qing Dynasty throughout his life. In "The Biography of Two Officials", there are Zu Dashou, who is still well evaluated by today's people, Hong Chengchou, who has mixed praise and criticism, and another person, whose reputation before the Qing Dynasty was far greater than Hong Chengchou, who can be called a "model" of the Ming Dynasty. The character, the story after the Qing Dynasty, was interpreted as a joke by later generations——Qian Qianyi. Qian Qianyi, courtesy name Shouzhi, was born in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. Before the fall of the Ming Dynasty, he was the leader of the literary world in the late Ming Dynasty, and he was known as the "Contemporary Article Master". At the age of 15, he wrote "Liu Hou Lun", which is amazing in momentum.In the thirty-eighth year of Wanli (1610 A.D.), Qian Qianyi began to emerge as one of the top three candidates in the imperial examination.He was both the literary leader of the Ming Dynasty and the leader of the Donglin Party. He was included in the "blacklist" by the Eunuch Party - "Donglin Dianjianglu": "Tianqiao Star Prodigal Son Zuo Chunfang Zuo Yude Qian Qianyi", so he was dismissed return home.It can be described as a "Master of Chinese Studies" and a "Political Elite".There is also a lot of gossip. His wife is Liu Rushi, a famous Qinhuai prostitute. This is such a character, after the Qing Dynasty occupied Jiangnan, he was impassioned and declared that he would sacrifice his whole family.On the day of martyrdom, seeing that he was about to commit suicide by throwing himself into the lake, he refused to be martyred no matter what with the excuse that "the water is too cold".In a few days, he took the initiative to respond to the order to shave his hair and completely surrendered to the Qing Dynasty.Such behavior was naturally cast aside at the time, and even his wife Liu Rushi left him.But the Qing Dynasty also looked down on him, and only gave him the vain title of "Bachelor of the Secretarial Academy", without even a salary.In May 1646, he resigned with excuses, but was subsequently imprisoned by the Qing Dynasty twice, and his family property was confiscated.In his later years, he was impoverished and made a living by writing epitaphs for people.Before his death, Huang Zongxi, a survivor of the Ming Dynasty, came to visit him. Qian Qianyi complained about his hardships and cried for a long time, only to get Huang Zongxi's mocking sentence: Isn't it too late now if he didn't die? When Qianlong compiled "The Biography of Second Officials", he still did not let him go, and listed him as the first "Class B" of "Second Officials". He destroyed more than 100 works including his "Beginner Collection", and personally He wrote poems to ridicule him, especially Wulu poems. I have talked about integrity in my life, the two surnames are kings, and there is no basis for advancing or retreating, so the article is bright.It's really worthy of covering the wine urn. I often see chanting the sachet. At the end of the day, I escaped to Zen. It was Meng Balang.