Chapter 19 [Murder like grass without hearing a sound] -1

The success or failure of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong In 1644 AD, the 17th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, March 19th in the lunar calendar.night.Palace of Qianqing in the Forbidden City, Beijing. The emperor's bedroom. A lean man about 1.83 meters tall, with dark skin and thin yellow hair, was standing naked next to the huge golden bathtub in the palace bedroom.More than a dozen young and beautiful court ladies dressed in Ming Palace official uniforms frantically helped him wipe his body, and water droplets kept rolling down from the man's hair, which was as soft as mouse hair.When the big black man turned sideways, an image suddenly appeared in the Western-style dressing mirror that was as tall as a person, with protruding cheeks and concave cheeks, one eye was open and the other was dim, and there was a fierce slanting light in the unblinded eye. Veined veins emerged—the big man was startled, the vigilance he had cultivated over the years as a soldier made him yell, shake his shoulders and kick his legs, and several court ladies who were cleaning his body fell heavily to the side.

The guards at the gate of the palace rushed into the palace quickly upon hearing the sound. Seeing the lingering fear of the big man, he glared at the full-length mirror in horror. "Understood!" The big man waved his hand, and Hu Wei immediately disappeared into His Highness.The new owner of the Forbidden City in Beijing is none other than the famous Li Zicheng. Those who have read Mr. Yao Xueyin’s novels must be surprised by the author’s description—the Li Zicheng described by Mr. Yao is handsome, majestic, wearing a felt hat and a red cloak. Image—that kind of description is completely a literary conjecture and a political interpretation.Even Li Zicheng's most obvious appearance symbol "one-eyed dragon" is not written. Mr. Yao is too "beautifying" this gravedigger of the Ming Dynasty.

A court lady surnamed Dou knelt down on a huge dragon bed embroidered with flying dragons, sucking and stroking the new master of the palace.What is strange is that the black man, like the previous Emperor Chongzhen, has extremely inconspicuous physiological reactions. One is because of the many years of "rogue" life that makes this "Chuang Wang"'s organs use up and down, and the other is because he At that time, there was still the biggest lingering worry in my heart: Where is Emperor Chongzhen?No one is alive, no corpse is dead.Although the capital was conquered, and the symbolic figures of the Ming Dynasty were still unknown, it was still not a final victory.

Two days later, a young eunuch in the palace found Chongzhen's "imperial horse" at the foot of Meishan Mountain. Soldiers of the Peasant Army tracked down the trail, and finally found the Emperor Ming who had hanged himself to death on a tree with a crooked neck on the mountain. On the white silk sleeves of the thirty-six-year-old emperor, several lines of scrawled and messy characters were found, apparently written hastily by Emperor Chongzhen before he hanged himself.One line is: "I have lost my country, I have no face to see my ancestors, and I dare not finally go to bed"; the other line is: "All officials are going to the East Palace (Prince) to go."

Seventeen years of emperor's career, for Emperor Chongzhen, can only be summed up in a poem by Du Fu: hardships and hardships hate the complicated temples! Except for the fact that Emperor Chongzhen was "wise and powerful" in the matter of killing Wei Zhongxian, every step that Emperor Chongzhen took after he succeeded to the throne was almost wrong, and he led his Ming Dynasty to destruction step by step. The cunning postman Cheng Wangye Li Zicheng's road to Henan and Huguang's conquest Li Zicheng cooked and killed Fu Wang Zhu Changxun in Luoyang. The army had a "Fu Lu Banquet" and rested for a whole day before raising troops to attack Kaifeng.

Because Li Xianfeng, the governor of Henan in the Ming Dynasty, was attacking "traitors" in the Huaiqing area at that time, and the Kaifeng defender also led the troops out because of Luoyang's emergency, resulting in weak defense forces in Kaifeng.After Li Zicheng learned of this situation, he immediately led 30,000 elite soldiers and marched hurriedly for three days and three nights, preparing to conquer Kaifeng by surprise. The king of Zhou in Kaifeng was not stingy with money. He gave out 500,000 taels of silver to the army to help the people, and at the same time increased the rewards.Under the heavy reward, brave men were sent out, and the soldiers and civilians enthusiastically attacked the bandits, and rushed out of the city to fight.Li Zicheng's army was terrified and retreated several houses.At this time, the government troops who sent aid to Luoyang rushed back in time, and Kaifeng was finally saved from being captured.

Unwilling to give up, Li Zicheng rode his horse to the city to observe the terrain.The officers and soldiers in the city fired arrows, and one of the arrows hit Li Zicheng's left eye, and the arrowhead went deep into the bone, almost killing the leader of the peasant army.Since then, Li Zicheng has become a one-eyed dragon. Kaifeng siege. Afterwards, Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, who had abandoned Zhang Xianzhong, joined forces, entered Huguang from the west of Henan Province, and captured Fu Zonglong (former minister of the Ministry of War) in Mengjiazhuang.The thieves escorted Fu Zonglong to Xiangcheng, wanting him to open the city gate. Unexpectedly, Governor Fu yelled and cursed loudly and was killed immediately.Although Xiangcheng had not yet fallen, after this battle, Li Zicheng's subordinates added more "official troops" who were able to fight in Shaanxi in the past, and they became more powerful, so they began to call themselves "Chuangwang".

After the Battle of Xiangcheng, the peasant army swept across central Henan.Li Zicheng defeated Ye County and killed the defender Liu Guoneng; he conquered Xiangcheng and killed the defender Li Wanqing.For the two people who were killed, Liu Guoneng was nicknamed "Crossing the Sky", and Li Wanqing was nicknamed "Shooting the Sky" , are Li Zicheng's old "revolutionary" comrades in arms.After they surrendered to the government a few years ago, they were loyal and loyal to the Ming Dynasty. In the battle of Nanyang, the fierce generals of the Ming Dynasty were as fierce as a tiger, and Liu Guangzuo was also killed in battle with the peasant army.Li Zi became famous.

In this case, Li Zicheng started his second attack on Kaifeng. The peasant army besieged Kaifeng for three months, until the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642), Kaifeng was still unable to attack.In desperation, Li Zicheng ordered the soldiers to force the civilians outside the city to dig more than a dozen large holes in the city wall and set tens of thousands of catties of gunpowder. Then, the soldiers of the Peasant Army cast a hundred torches together, and waited for the city to collapse and enter the city. Unexpectedly, the power of the gunpowder was too great, and after the sound of the sky falling and the earth cracking, thousands of peasant soldiers who were riding their horses and preparing to enter the city were all smashed into pieces.

The collapse of the city was not completed, and one's own people were greatly damaged.In this way, Li Zicheng's second break with Kaifeng still failed. After Fu Zonglong's death, the Ming court appointed Wang Qiaonian as the three-sided governor of Shaanxi.This Lord Wang believed in strange powers and chaotic gods, so he was not in a hurry to dispatch troops. First, he sent people to dig up Li Zicheng's ancestral grave in Mizhi County, and caught a small snake from it. The feng shui of the big thief's house has been ruined. Logically speaking, the good times of Lao Li's family should come to an end.The ridiculous thing is that Li Zicheng is fine, he is doing well all the time.Because Zuo Liangyu led his troops to escape, the peasant army captured Xiangcheng and captured Wang Qiaonian alive who was digging Li Zicheng's ancestral grave.

Therefore, within a few months, Li Zicheng fought like the autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves in the eastern part of Henan, cleaning up the periphery of Kaifeng, and surrounded Kaifeng for the third time, and he was bound to win. The Ming court attached great importance to the safety of Kaifeng, and immediately dispatched Ding Qirui, the commander-in-chief, and Zuo Liangyu, the commander-in-chief, with nearly 200,000 people, known as 400,000, to camp on the bank of the Yellow River and prepare to fight the peasant army. Li Zicheng had a plan. In order to prevent the situation of being attacked by the enemy, he first sent someone disguised as an official army to send a letter to Kaifeng, asking the army in the city to guard against death and not to go out lightly.Then, he concentrated his strength to go forward and fought against the Ming army in Zhuxian Town. At this time, the Ming army was full of ghosts, and the governor Ding Qirui was incompetent. Facing a strong enemy, he was confused before fighting.General Zuo Liangyu took the lead in retreating without a fight, and the rest of the generals swarmed and collapsed. The general Jiang Mingwu was captured and killed, and the Ming army was defeated. Li Zicheng, with the spirit of victory, led his troops to surround Kaifeng again. Li Zicheng was very patient in besieging Kaifeng this time. He was not in a hurry to attack the city. He first sent people around to trap the city, and finally turned Kaifeng into an isolated city. After being besieged for more than four months, Kaifeng was fasted, and a large number of people starved to death, numbering hundreds of thousands.After eating all the cowhide, squirrels, water plants, mason, and clay, the defenders had to eat the dead bodies for food.It can be said that the defenders just refused to open the city and surrender. In desperation, the Ming army adopted the method of cutting the river to irrigate the enemy, digging up the embankment of the Yellow River in Zhujiazhai to attack the peasant army.Of course Li Zicheng did not show weakness, he rebelled against the Majiakou Yellow River embankment.But both sides failed to break the embankment, the river only flooded outside the city, only three or four feet deep. In the end, the siege was long, and the peasant army took advantage of the continuous rain and the swell of the river to block the dikes on the east, west and south sides, and then tens of thousands of people wielded hoes and dug vigorously to dig up the upper dikes of the Yellow River in the north. As a result, the Yellow River flooded across the river, and Kaifeng City suddenly became a flooded country, causing countless deaths and injuries among residents.Needless to say, the old and weak, women and children were drowned soon.In Kaifeng City, only the second floor of the Bell and Drum, King Zhou City, and Yanqing Temple were not flooded. These places saved the lives of some residents.Soon, most of these people froze to death or were eaten by hungry people.The city is full of corpses, which is unbearable to hear. When the peasant army dug the embankment, 10,000 to 20,000 people were unable to dodge in time, and they were scared by the fish. Taking advantage of the chaos, King Zhou of the clan of the Ming Dynasty had the honor to escape by boat under the protection of the Ming army. Although Kaifeng has become an abandoned city, it is no longer owned by the imperial court. Afterwards, the official army of Sun Chuanting's department in Shaanxi that entered Henan from Tongguan was defeated by the coalition forces of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai. Almost all the land in Henan belongs to Li Zicheng. The "Gezuo Five Battalions" (old Huihui Ma Shouying, Ge Liyan He Yilong, Zuojin King He Jin, Ruler Liu Xiyao, and King Lin Chengcheng) who had been wandering around the border areas of Anhui, Henan, and Hubei went north to Henan to join forces with Li Zicheng , The peasant army is in full swing. After joining forces, the peasant army attacked Runing together.After conquering the city, after killing the vassal king Chong Wang and his family, he tied up Yang Wenyue, the "Governor of Baoding" of the Ming Dynasty who resisted stubbornly, and blasted him to pieces with cannons to vent his hatred. Dading, Henan.Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai and the "Gezuo Fifth Battalion" joined forces to attack Huguang.Historians of the "Red Age" praised this kind of action as the "great talent" and "far-sightedness" of the "leader of the peasant uprising".In fact, it is not the same thing - Henan has suffered from drought and locust floods for a long time, and it has been in depression for thousands of miles. Hundreds of thousands of peasant troops only engage in killing and looting but not production, and food has become a top priority.Huguang is a land of fish and rice, and food and grass are what the "leaders" think.Therefore, looking at the history of peasant wars in the late Ming Dynasty at first glance, ordinary people can't remember the marching routes of these people at all, from east to west, from south to north.Walking and running so erratically, everyone thought that the peasant army was rushing around to win out of strategy. In fact, they were mobile robbery teams, and they would kill wherever there was food and where the officers and soldiers were weak.Because of this, they are called "flow thieves". According to Zuo Liangyu, who was guarding Xiangyang, there were more than 200,000 people at that time. Facing the 400,000 Li Zicheng coalition forces approaching fiercely, he fled without a fight and left Xiangyang to Li Zicheng. Taking advantage of the victory, the peasant army conquered Jingzhou and killed the whole family of King Xiangyin; they went down to Chengtian, killed the commander-in-chief Qian Zhongxuan, and dug open the tomb of Emperor Jiajing's biological father. (Cheng Tian is Zhong Xiang). After seizing Hanchuan and Hanyang, Li Zicheng retired from the army, and since returning to Xiangyang, he began to count on his old "revolutionary" comrades. Li Zicheng shot quickly, quickly killing Luo Rucai and He Yilong.What he did was cruel.In the Jiaxian battle, the army he led had been defeated by Sun Chengzong. If there was no Luo Rucai who had no regrets, he would rush down from Xiangshan to save him and turn defeat into victory. He would have been killed by the army at that time. When the "revolution" was in a good situation, in order to ensure the stability of his first golden position, Li Zicheng took the lead and personally killed the unsuspecting benefactor Luo Rucai who was having sex with several beauties in the camp at that time.Luo Rucai was known by his nickname "Cao Cao" at that time.Previously, there was a nursery rhyme in Henan: "Zhengtai will return to Zhengtai, and Cao Cao will come again today", so he named it in response to the prophecy. After the murder, Li Zicheng immediately controlled all of Luo Rucai.Except for a few people who surrendered to Sun Chuanting's army, most of Luo Rucai's army was merged into Li Zicheng's subordinates. Several leaders of the "Gezuo Fifth Battalion" heard the news, and they were disappointed.Especially Ma Shouying, the "Old Huihui", stayed far away and did not dare to join forces with Li Zicheng again. "Old Huihui" was able to escape in Hunan at that time, and the remaining leaders had no choice but to allow Li Zicheng to annex the army and obediently become his generals. At the instigation of Niu Jinxing and others, Li Zicheng established a puppet regime in Xiangyang called "Chongyi Fu", calling himself "Fengtian Advocating Civil and Military Marshal", but at that time there was no name of Jianguo, nor did he change his Yuan.The reason for this is not that Li Zicheng didn't want to be emperor at the time, but because he couldn't make money or build a palace.Under superstition, he did not dare to call the country the emperor. At that time, Li Zicheng's peasant army had millions of people.Due to the killing and plundering of the peasant army, Jianghuai "within thousands of miles, the city was completely empty, and there were only four walls left, and the chickens and dogs were silent, and there was no farmer" (Xu Biao, Governor of Baoding, to Emperor Chongzhen Said his "experience"). It can be seen that in the large-scale battle between the peasant army and the official army, the people who suffered the most were the local people. The return of Shaanxi's "hometown" Xiangyang, Jingzhou, De'an, and Chengtian fell, and Huguang was naturally not safe.Emperor Chongzhen, who was in Beijing, was very worried. In the summer of the 16th year of Chongzhen (1643), he strictly ordered Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi in Xi'an, to leave the customs to find Li Zicheng for a decisive battle. At that time, there were only three major military forces left in the Ming Dynasty. One was the Liaodong army, which was trapped there to block the Manchus; The third is the Ministry of Sun Chuanting.In fact, if Sun Chuanting's troops stayed in Xi'an, Li Zicheng would have to worry about whether he attacked Beijing or Nanjing, which can be said to be the greatest deterrent and restraint to the bandit army. The king's order is hard to disobey, and the Shaanxi soldiers are capable of fighting, so Sun Chuanting led his army out of the customs in August, with Bai Guangen, Gao Jie, and Sheng Shenghu under him, a total of more than 100,000 elite soldiers.Because Sun Chuanting's identity is "Supervisor" At the same time, he called on Chen Yongfu, the general of Henan, to join forces in Luoyang, and called on Zuo Liangyu to advance the army to the west in order to pinch Li Zicheng. After Sun Chuanting left the customs, it went smoothly and soon recovered Luoyang.If the Ming army keeps pace at every step, the chances of winning are still great. However, Emperor Chongzhen of the Beijing court died.Fearing that he would be killed for "staying and watching", Sun Chuanting bit the bullet and headed south. Li Zicheng naturally attaches great importance to Henan military affairs.When he heard that the officers and soldiers had left Tongguan, he immediately transferred the peasant army from Huguang to Henan.He himself left Xiangyang and entered Henan.Since he has been a "traitor" in Henan for a long time, he has a clear understanding of the local topography.After careful consideration, he decided to lure the enemy deep. While deploying the main force to the south of Jiaxian County, he sent weak brigades to lure the enemy and attract the attention of the officers and soldiers. Sun Chuanting won consecutive victories and defeated Baofeng in a row.At this time, his thoughts were paralyzed, thinking that he could relieve the sufferings of the people and the worries of the emperor and father of the Qing Dynasty, and his only thought every day was to "destroy the thieves overnight". On the ninth day of September, after the government army conquered Baofeng County, they marched towards Jia County.On September 14th, the two sides fought, and the official army won the first battle and captured and killed the famous general "General Guo Yi" among the thieves.In this battle, Li Zicheng's life was hanging by a thread, and he himself was almost captured by the Ming army.The peasant army rushed to Xiangcheng.Frightened, several leaders wanted to kidnap Li Zicheng and surrender to the army. Li Zicheng was very resourceful, and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, my generation killed kings and burned tombs, and destroyed countless cities. The crime is not insignificant. You can fight to the death here. If you can't win, it's not too late for you to tie me up and surrender!" It was raining in autumn and the road was muddy.As Sun Chuanting went deep alone, logistical support was difficult, and the transportation speed was slow, the Ming army soon ran out of food and grass.If at this time he returned to Luoyang and repaired his grain somewhere, he would not lose his initiative.But the desire to win became stronger, and Sun Chuanting felt that there was no turning back when he opened the bow, so he ordered the army to break through Jia County and eat. Jia County is indeed not difficult to attack, and soon fell into the hands of the government and the army.But the county here is small and poor, and there is no food at all.Fortunately, hundreds of mules and horses discarded by the peasant army were slaughtered by the army for food, and they were eaten within a few days. When the Ming court heard the news, it ordered Shanxi and Hebei to deliver food and pay nearby. Another mistake of Sun Chuanting was that when he led his army to conquer Tang County, he killed tens of thousands of family members of the bandit army concentrated there, causing "the bandits were all crying and swore to kill the officers and soldiers." The gas has been ignited. Li Zicheng strictly ordered his subordinates to plunder the four territories without leaving a grain of grain, which made it impossible for the officers and soldiers to raise grain on the spot. What is particularly scheming is that he sent general Liu Zongmin to lead an army of more than 10,000 people, and copy to the rear of the army, and cut off the logistics delivery line of the army in Baisha, Ruzhou, Henan.As a result, the Ming army was shocked and their morale was shaken.What is fought in war is food, if there is no food, a big defeat can be expected. Sun Chuanting woke up at this moment.He stayed behind with Chen Yongfu, the general soldier of Henan, and led his troops to stay behind. He was going to lead the Shaanxi army back to the army, and wanted to open the grain road first.The soldiers from Henan under Chen Yongfu became impatient, and shouted loudly: "You Shaanxi soldiers have returned to the army. You are going to fight first and let us Henan people stay here hungry and wait for the thieves to come and kill you. You missed!" They followed the Shaanxi soldiers and ran away. In the chaotic moment, Li Zicheng commanded the main force of the peasant army to launch an attack.The battle between the two sides turned into a pursuit of the peasant army against the official army. The officers and soldiers fled in a rout.Because the soldiers of the train battalion under General Bai Guangen of the Ming Dynasty untied the horses pulling the military carts and fled for their lives, the heavy military vehicles scattered all over the road, blocking the road, and the fleeing officers and soldiers became even more chaotic. The peasant army hated the officers and soldiers for killing their own family members in Tang County, their morale was high, and they chased and killed them all the way.Under the splash of blood, more than 40,000 Ming soldiers were killed.They flew for more than 400 li and lost countless mules and horses. Sun Chuanting himself and the commander-in-chief Gao Jie led thousands of remnants to cross the Yellow River and fled back to Tongguan via Heng County, Shanxi.After this battle, the Shaanxi Ace Army was basically reimbursed. Emperor Chongzhen was furious when he heard the defeat, and reprimanded Sun Chuanting for "lightly advancing and scheming" (in fact, it was his own decision), cut off the post of commander-in-chief, and asked him to take the blame to clean up the remnants of the soldiers and try to make atonement.At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen promoted Bai Guangen, who was defeated in Tongguan, to be the commander-in-chief of the aid and suppression army. He held the seal of "General of the Bandits" and assisted Sun Chuanting in order to keep Shaanxi. On the sixth day of October, Li Zicheng launched an attack on Tongguan.Gao Jie was defeated first (his men were all former "thieves"), Bai Guangen fled with him, and Tongguan fell. Sun Chuanting had no choice but to retreat to Weinan. When Li Zicheng gained power, he would not forgive anyone, and he gathered hundreds of thousands of people to attack Weinan.Sun Chuanting knew that it was inevitable, after the reserve team was exhausted, he and the Deputy Superintendent Qiaoqian Gao Shuang held their horses and prancing horses, rushed into the boundless army of bandits with a loud cry, and died in the battle. Sun Chuanting's wife, Mrs. Zhang, who lived in Xi'an, heard the news of her husband's death, and led Sun Chuanting's two daughters and three concubines to commit suicide by jumping into a well. Sadly, since the Ming court did not find Sun Chuanting's body, Emperor Chongzhen suspected that he was not dead, so he refused to grant him a posthumous posthumous title. Once Tongguan is broken, Xi'an needless to say.Zhu Cunshu, king of Qin, was also the kind of stingy man inherited from the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. He didn't give out a tael of silver to reward the army, which aroused public outrage.As a result, without waiting for the peasant army to attack, the generals defending the city took the initiative to open the city and surrender, and Xi'an fell into Li Zicheng's control. Li Zicheng was very bold, and ordered all his ministries to go out everywhere to secure three sides.A large number of high-ranking generals such as Bai Guangen and Chen Yongfu, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, surrendered one after another, and most of Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai were captured by the peasant army.In this way, the entire northwest region (except Xining) is already under Li Zicheng's world. On the first day of the first lunar month in 1644 (the seventeenth year of Chongzhen), Li Zicheng changed the name of Xi'an to Chang'an, the name of the founding state of Dashun, and the Yuan Yongchang.Here he conferred titles of marquis and generals, changed the official system, and opened courses to recruit scholars. He really has such an aura of an emperor starting a business and establishing a foundation.At that time, Li Zicheng had proclaimed himself emperor and changed his name to "Li Zicheng". Ministry of people as "ancestors"). The real Li Zicheng in history is by no means the image of the "revolutionary leader" described by Mr. Yao Xueyin who loves the people like a son, has a broad mind, and is handsome and upright: Li Zicheng used a battalion of cavalry to patrol the outer perimeter of each garrison (soldier), and the book was changed at night, and the battalion was removed to rest.The police are tight, no one can escape, and those who escape will be chased.There are not many battalion soldiers to carry luggage.The soldiers each brought their wives and children, and gave birth to their children and abandoned them.Men over fifteen and under forty are considered adopted sons and slaves.Therefore (Li Zicheng) every time a city is broken, the number of people will increase by tens of thousands.Each elite soldier has more than 20 soldiers in reserve, and the horses and mules on their backs are different.The crowd is actually fifty or sixty thousand, and there are millions. Although the city is pulled out, the house is not listened to, and the curtain is placed on the sleeping place, and the hope is like a vault.The armor (helmet) is sewn with dozens of layers of cotton and silk, some up to a hundred. It is light and tough, and arrowheads and lead balls cannot enter.In every battle, one cavalry must have two or three horses, and the number of horses is easy to ride. They gallop all day long without getting tired.In the severe cold (time), they plundered the ground to borrow the horse's feet.Or cut out the belly of a human being as a manger, and feed it with chili peppers (it is cruel to kill people and feed them to horses).Drinking horses will lead people to ears, and blood will flow into the water.Horses are used to seeing it, but when they meet people, they neigh and think of drinking and eating. The soldiers marched suddenly, although they didn't know where they lived.The rooster crows again, stands up to produce food, and prepares the horses for waiting.There are millions of people, but (Li) Zicheng is the leader and looks forward, sweeping and tending.When encountering a big river, the Nangtu embraces the upper reaches, and although the Huaihe and Si rivers flow in turbulence, they will cross.Millions of people work together, do not carry food, eat as they are plundered, and discard the rest when they are full. Some people fast for several months without food and salt.Before the battle, the iron cavalry is triple, and if you look back, you will kill it.The battle is invincible, the horse soldiers go north, the officers and soldiers take advantage of it, the infantry (peasant army) refuses to fight, the horse soldiers circle around and encircle, all invincible.With Niu Jinxing as the mastermind, one chapter of the scriptures is preached every day, and Shi Yitong.Every time there is a plan, gather the crowd to plan it, (Li) does not say whether it is right or wrong, and uses his elders secretly, so many people can't predict it. It attacked the city in three times, day and night, surrounded by iron cavalry, and the infantry was thin-skinned to the city.People wear iron helmets, wear iron clothes, and carry axes to chisel the city. Once they get a brick wall, they return it, and it is easy for others to enter.The cave city can accommodate one person, and one person hides in it, and the dirt comes out, one after another, and passes through the side of the void.After four or five steps, a main pillar is left, and a huge thread is attached to it.Go to the city for ten hundred feet, pull the pillars down, and the city collapses. (Its method of siege is very unique) Those who watch the wind fall will not be burned and killed, but they will be slaughtered after one or two days and three or four, or if they do not fall for five or six days.Killed tens of thousands, gathered the corpses into a fire, and called it "Da Liang".The city will fall, and the soldiers will spread out outside Hao, and those who escape the city will kill them, so the city will fall without exception.Looting horses and mules is the highest merit, second in military battles, second in currency and silk clothes, and second in treasures.The gold and silver are always scattered and discarded, or put in the pot instead of lead.Massacre the city and destroy its walls.After the order, Mo Xing is the guard. (Li Zicheng has become a habit of massacring cities) (Li Zicheng's army) four in a straight line, and when a city is broken, four loses to the village.Those who descended have lost cards and passed through other villages, otherwise they will add troops.Wherever the card arrives, the sun is thousands of miles away. (Li Zicheng) has a cruel nature, cut off ears, plucked eyes, amputated fingers, folded feet, dissected hearts, and sawed bodies.His elder brother came from the Qin army, and (Li) Zicheng was captured and killed. (He) is indifferent in nature, and has no taste in food.One wife and one concubine, all old women, no slaves.No child, with Li Shuangxi as adopted son, (this person) bloodthirsty is even cooler than (Li) Zicheng. The overwhelming "Eastern Expedition" On the eighth day of the first lunar month in 1644, Li Zicheng's self-reigned army set off from Xi'an to attack Beijing.In addition to the main force, he still sent Liu Fangliang and others to lead an army as a partial commander, advancing south of the Yellow River, and clamping with the main force, blocking the possible road for Emperor Chongzhen to escape southward along the canal, and at the same time effectively preventing Southern Zhili and Shandong Ming Army's North Aid Route. After crossing the river, Pingyang Mansion surrendered without a fight.In this way, Li Zicheng's army marched towards Taiyuan calmly, and surrounded Taiyuan City on February 6. The irony is that King Gui, the royal family in Taiyuan City, offered three thousand taels of silver to recruit people to kill thieves, but Li Zhisheng, a student in Shanxi Province, exchanged it for "record paper notes".No matter what time, this corrupt official still wants to save money and embezzle money. Just over a day later, the generals of the Ming army guarding the new south gate of Taiyuan Kaesong surrendered, and Taiyuan fell.A large number of civil servants in Taiyuan Mansion were killed, but Li Zhisheng, who withheld soldiers' rewards, bribed Li Zicheng's subordinates, and praised him as "the best writer in the world."In addition to his life, this person became the chief examiner of the "Da Shun" dynasty. After getting Jiancheng, an important town in Taiyuan, Li Zicheng was full of confidence.Here he announced the "edict" to show his ambition to calm the world: "God observes, in fact, only seeks to save. The people return to the past, and only cut to the Soviet Union. Fate is not constant, but love can be seen. Cantonese records the past dynasties, and knows the reasons for gains and losses; Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, I sat in Taining for a long time and relaxed the rules and regulations. The monarch was not very dark, isolated and concealed many; the ministers did their best for selfishness, and they were less loyal than the party and the public. Even bribed the palace, and the government was blessed. The day shifts; the lords who are good at benefiting the clan, the fat and fat of the left are exhausted. The princes all eat meat and hakama, and rely on them as their heart; the eunuchs eat food, dogs and pigs, and use their eyes and ears. Expropriations are heavy, and the people have the hatred of dying together. Since the sky is poor and benevolent, it has caused the people to suffer from disasters. I took up my common clothes, and saw the haggard shape, and I felt the pain. I thought that the sky would lead the earth, and I would suffer from poverty; Forbearance Yishui Yanshan, Weisu Tanghuo. Bow to Hengji, appease Qianli. Still worrying about your ruler and ministers, did not reach the emperor's heart, did not express my intentions. It is a serious complaint; you can embody the sky and remember the ancestors, After the trial of virtue, I will benefit the predecessors, and do not hesitate to do anything different. Like Qi, like Song Dynasty, enjoy the sacrifice of eternal prolongation, and use the filial piety of Er; if you have a family and a family, the people Xuqing, use the benevolence of Er. Work, Mian Bao Nai Pi, the rich salary of Mian Shang Sun, and the rest of Geng Jia Ke. Ke Tan Jue You, Chen Yi decadent.But today's edict, Yunbu's heart.The king thinks about it, don't intimidate and resent the ancestors, and don't endanger the ministers and concubines.The minister is prudent, still loyal to the emperor and father, and broadens the valley to his wealth.In the first year of Yongchang, a sincere edict. " This imperial edict is indeed well-written, eloquent, clear-cut, and eloquent.As for the author of the edict, it may be Niu Jinxing, Li Zhisheng, or Zhang Linran, a descended official of the Ming Dynasty who was good at writing articles. On February 26, after a short rest, Li Zicheng continued to go north. When passing through Ningwu, Zhou Yuji, the Ning general of the Ming Dynasty, resisted tenaciously, inflicting great damage on the peasant army.After conquering the city, Li Zicheng ordered the massacre of all the people in Ningwu City as a warning to others. On March 1, when the peasant army arrived at the city of Datong, Jiang Huan, the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, immediately opened the door and surrendered without any resistance.By the way, he seized Wei Jingyuan, the civil servant of the Ming Dynasty, the governor of Datong, and the acting king of the vassal clan, and handed them over to Li Zicheng. Li Zicheng had heard for a long time that Governor Wei Jingyuan was known as a clean and honest governor, so he did not kill him, but wanted to use him as an official.The loyal governor of Wei hanged himself in the temple to die for the country.Li Zicheng wanted to spare the governor of Wei, but he refused to spare the king, and ordered the whole family of the Ming Dynasty clan to be killed. Seeing the surrender of the Datong garrison to the peasant army, the whole country was shocked, and most of the Ming Dynasty generals were divided.Xuanda Governor Wang Jimo who was stationed in Yanghe wanted to lead his own soldiers to escort Ku Yin back to the capital, but his Ming soldiers suddenly rose up and mutinied, snatching all the money and good horses from Governor Wang, and took them to join the peasant army.After the general of Yanghe surrendered, Wang Chengyin, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu of the Ming Dynasty, was more attentive.Before Li Zicheng arrived in Xuanhua, he had already sent someone to send a letter of surrender.The local governor Zhu Zhifeng still wanted to resist, but Wang Chengyin, the commander-in-chief, had already secretly sent people to remove the fuzes of the cannons under the city and plug the muzzles, making these guards a pile of waste.After Zhu Zhifeng cried and scolded, he hanged himself and died for the country. Since Li Zicheng occupied Xi'an, Emperor Chongzhen hardly had a good night's sleep, and he knew that his days were numbered. The ominous premonition can't go away all day long. After choosing from the courtiers for a long time, Emperor Chongzhen had to send Li Jiantai, a senior scholar, to go out of Beijing to supervise the division for himself, in order to resist the aggressive offensive of the peasant army.Li Jiantai was a literati with no military strategy or general talent, because his family was a wealthy man in Quwo, Shanxi Province. Emperor Chongzhen chose him because he hoped that he could use his family money to pay for the army.At that time, Ouchi's official money was basically exhausted. To make matters worse, Emperor Chongzhen personally gave him a farewell party at Zhengyangmen (now Qianmen) in Beijing. He gave him wine in a golden cup, handed him an imperial edict, and gave him a Shangfang sword, saying that Li Jiantai could punish civil and military officials of all levels.This kind of courtesy is much higher than that given to Yang Sichang back then.Li Jiantai naturally wept and kowtowed, and vowed to repay it with death. After leaving Beijing, as soon as Li Jiantai arrived in Baoding, he was stopped there by Liu Fangliang, Li Zicheng's partial teacher.Looking around from the city, I saw the peasant army's flags and iron armor stretching for hundreds of miles, horses neighing and people shouting, so powerful that Master Li pulled his pants, and immediately decided to surrender. The prefect of Baoding refused to surrender and led his army to resist.Li Jiantai responded internally to the peasant army, and finally Baoding was occupied by the peasant army. Li Ziben wanted to massacre the city, but Song Xiance persuaded him to buy people's hearts, thinking that if he didn't kill people wantonly, he could take Beijing faster.After being angry for a long time, Li Zicheng took back his order to massacre the city. Later, the Manchu Qing beat Li Zicheng away, and Li Jiantai surrendered to the big braided army, and was appointed as a "big scholar" of Hongwen Academy, majoring in "History of Ming Dynasty".He was dismissed shortly after taking bribes by pulling joints.While at home, Datong Jiang Huan rebelled against the Qing Dynasty.Li Jiantai, who harbored resentment, was finally captured and killed by the Qing army according to Taiping County's response.This repeated villain, although a great official, cannot find him in "History of Ming Dynasty", nor can he be found in "Biography of Two Officials" in "Biography of Qing History" and other books. It turned out that he was compiled into "Biography of Ni Chen". When dying, Emperor Chongzhen still had two options to think about, one was to move south, and the other was to transfer Wu Sangui and Liao troops outside Shanhaiguan into Beijing. When the wind and rain were about to come and the thieves forced the city, Emperor Chongzhen did have the idea of ​​​​fleeing south, that is, "going south" in the name of personal conquest. However, the crony struggle in the Ming Dynasty did not mean to stop at all when the dynasty was about to perish.The cabinet ministers were all harboring ulterior motives, they were afraid that after the emperor ran away, they would stay with the crown prince to defend Beijing, so no one came out to make a clear statement. Li Banghua, the stupid and bookish direct minister who was the censor of Zuodu at the time, said very aggressively: "The emperor should stay in the country!" He suggested that the prince Zhu Cihong go to Nanjing to "supervise the country" and entrust the two princes Dingwang and Yongwang outside the country. . This move is completely a replica of the Southern Song Dynasty before the fall of the country.Emperor Chongzhen was very angry, fearing that the ministers would support the prince to go to Nanjing to cause "a separate central government". What can you do!" The courtiers quarreled and discussed all day long, and Emperor Chongzhen couldn't escape if he fled south. In this way, the only way to go is to tune Wu Sangui.However, Wu Sangui's troops were far away and could not arrive in a short time, so Emperor Chongzhen had to order Tang Tong, the chief soldier of Jizhen, and Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier of Shandong, to join in.Liu Zeqing's character is very bad, first he lied that he was sick, and after receiving a reward from the imperial court, he led his troops to plunder in the Linqing area and retreat back to the original place.Tang Tong was okay, and he led 8,000 soldiers to the capital soon.However, Emperor Chongzhen was worried about the generals and sent eunuchs to supervise the army. This move angered Tang Tong, and he pulled his team back to Juyongguan.Emperor Chongzhen was helpless.In the early days, he had demanded Tang Tong's head long ago with a piece of imperial edict.Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian was indeed a heavy guesser. During his term of office, he executed seven governors and eleven governors.And the 14 Ministers of the Ministry of War under him either committed suicide (Zhang Fengyi, Yang Sichang), were killed (Chen Xinjia), or had their status removed, and few of them died well.When the soldiers approached the city, the majesty of Emperor Chongzhen suddenly lost. In a hurry, soldiers come to ask for money.What to do if there is no money, Emperor Chongzhen had to ask the ministers and eunuchs to contribute money.These corrupt officials who are so corrupt and money-crazed have prevaricated one after another. As the emperor's father-in-law, Zhou Kui donated only 10,000 taels, which means that he has no more silver taels in his family.In the future, Liu Zongmin "chased the stolen goods" and found more than one million taels of silver and gold treasures from Zhou Kui's house.The eunuchs in the inner court harbored resentment, and it was more painful to ask them to hand out the money than to cut off the inside. Some people even wrote "anti-marks" on the palace wall: "There is no place to keep people here, but there is a place to keep them."Therefore, after begging and begging, the Ming court did not extract much money from the officials and eunuchs, and finally only got 200,000 taels of silver, which is completely a drop in the bucket.After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he was "servant" with big boards and big clippers. He got more than 70 million taels of silver from these moths' homes all at once, and carried them away when he fled Beijing. Ming general Tang Tong left Beijing in a fit of anger and arrived at Juyongguan. He did not dare to be angry with Li Zicheng's army.On March 15, he made an emergency landing.Once the natural danger was lost, the city of Beijing was opened wide open in front of the peasant army. On March 16, Changping fell.At night, the outpost of the Peasant Army had appeared below the city.In the Ming Dynasty, Li Guozhen, the uncle of Xiangcheng in the Ming Dynasty, led three battalions of Beijing soldiers to meet the enemy outside the city. As a result, meeting the enemy turned into a welcome and forced landing. He took a large number of firearms and threw himself into Li Zicheng's "embrace". At such a critical time, what is even more strange is that all the troops in Beijing are commanded by eunuchs.In order to please his father-in-laws, the soon-to-be-deceased Emperor Chongzhen actually ordered the funeral of Wei Zhongxian—the nephew he had removed with his own hands!The reason is only a sentence from the eunuch Cao Huachun: "If (Wei) Zhongxian is there, current affairs will not be like this!"Perhaps Chongzhen really believed that the victory in Liaodong was indeed due to the factor of Wei Gonggong's "determined command". After Li Zicheng arrived at the city, he sent Du Xun, the eunuch who had surrendered in Xuanfu, into the city to negotiate with Emperor Chongzhen. At first, the big thief asked for a price that was not high at all, and proposed to cut off the northwest area for himself, make himself king, and reward the army with millions of silver.If Emperor Chongzhen agreed to the conditions, he would withdraw from Henan, and said that he could also destroy the bandits for the Ming Dynasty and contain the Qing soldiers outside. Emperor Chongzhen called Wei Zaode, a senior scholar, to discuss. Old Wei was afraid that he would follow in the footsteps of Chen Xinjia, so he kept bowing and bowing his head, never saying a word, so angry that Emperor Chongzhen waved his sleeves to dismiss him. With nothing to worry about, the eunuch Zhang Yin ran over and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, this slave has a clever plan." Chongzhen grabbed the straw and asked what to do. Zhang Yin said: "If the rebel army really enters the city, they can surrender, and they will be fine!" Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen almost died of anger, drew a sword from the case, and stabbed Eunuch Zhang Yin to death on the spot.This was also the first time in his life that he killed himself with his own hands. It is a pity that there are only seven or eight thousand exhausted soldiers defending the city in Beijing, and all the strong soldiers were transferred away as guards by the eunuchs who had been sent from the capital to the four places to supervise the army.There are quite a few eunuchs in Beijing, and there are tens of thousands of people running around the city. They are bossy, and they all look like "political commissars". At the beginning of Beijing's defense of the city, there were people delivering meals.The little eunuch sent people randomly to the city to deliver several large buckets of coarse rice, and let the soldiers collect food with their hands.After the 16th day, the food delivery person disappeared, and many soldiers guarding the city died of starvation. The peasant army began to attack the city on a large scale. Holding a three-eyed gun, Emperor Chongzhen led dozens of eunuchs around the city for more than half a circle, but none of them could leave the city gate and returned disappointed. 农民军攻彰义门时，监军太监曹化淳开门投降，引大军入城，齐攻内城。 回宫后，崇祯帝知道大势已去。但他还存一丝幻想。于是，他唤来皇亲新乐侯刘文炳以及驸马巩永固，想让他们带家丁护送太子及二王出城。二人跪地哭诉：“国法素严，我们哪敢在家里私蓄武装家丁。即使把所有仆人带齐，也就几百个人，这些人平素皆不习武，何能出城逃跑时与贼军相抗？” 崇祯帝彻底失望。 无奈之下，他又召首辅魏藻德议事。老魏仍旧一语不发。 绝望的绝望之余，崇祯帝命官人上酒。痛饮数杯后，他先让皇后周氏自缢。 同座的袁妃不想死，遽起离座想逃，被崇祯帝追上，数剑砍死。接着，他手提利剑在宫内自己动手杀掉嫔妃数人后，行至寿宁宫，正遇自己十五岁的长女乐安公主。 三十六岁的朱由检含泪叹息道：“汝为何生于帝王之家！”掩面朝爱女挥剑。 乐安公主一声惨叫，右臂被断，昏死于地。 接着，朱由检咬牙下手，把自己的幼女、时年仅六岁的昭仁公主也亲手杀掉，以免她日后遭人玷污。 然后，崇祯帝拉住已经吓得发傻的太子朱慈烺的手，恸哭言道：“你们今日是太子、王子（二王也在场），北京城破，你们就是百姓小民……各自逃生吧，不要恋我。朕必死社稷，也无面目见列祖列宗于地下！你们出宫后千万谨慎小心，见到做官的人，长者呼为老爷，年青的呼为相公。如遇平民，长者呼为老爹，少者呼为老兄。呼文人为先生，呼兵士为长官……”，父子情深，崇祯帝泪下如雨，至嘱切切。 三月十八日夜，崇祯帝与太监王承恩逃上煤山（景山），四望之下，北京城内杀声一片，农民军已经入城。 叹息良久，崇祯帝写下遗言。然后，他与王承恩相对缢死于树间。大明王朝，至此落下帷幕。（崇祯自缢处说法很多，有说是衣帽局，有说是树上，皆无定论。）王承恩大公公陪皇帝同死，其余的大小宦者皆希翼富贵，导引李自成等人入宫，并以极高效率为宫内嫔妃按像貌为标准分出三等，详写姓名于一册，呈与李自成、刘宗敏，以供二位贼头淫乐。 献门的大太监曹化淳文化高，为博“新帝”一笑，他口诵谀文：“万姓归心，独夫授首，比尧舜而多武功，迈汤武而无惭德。” 李自成并不买帐，对这些公公们叱责道：“汝曹背主献城，罪应当斩！”公公们跪倒一片，好多人当时就拉尿满裆。 太监杜之秩（居庸关投降）还算脑子快，乞哀道：“奴才们承天顺命，故来孝顺。”李自成当时心情好，没下令杀他们，叱令他们立即滚出城去。 于是，数千大小宦官，狼狈出逃。农民军的孩子兵争相上去拳打脚踏以为戏乐，群呼“打老公”。 昔日的大太监们没那么好运，不少人在随后的“追赃”中基本都被折磨死，算是报应。 至于锦衣卫方面，这些昔日滴水不漏的特务机关，皆作鸟兽散，一个不见。 李自成用于宫内守卫的，是他自己的“龙衣卫”，皆是他老营将士，自己的绝对心腹。对于原先锦衣卫和东厂的中高级头目在京未逃者，李自成下手果断，整家整家予以诛杀，根除殆尽。此举，对京城百姓来讲倒是大快人心。 十九日黎明时分，得意洋洋的李自成从西长安门入紫禁城，手发三箭射承天门匾，矢失其二，仅有一箭中于“天”字下端。 牛金星一旁言道，“真乃天意，此即定鼎天下之意！” 李自成大笑。 入宫后，望见遍地鲜血，袁妃、公主狼籍于地，李自成也叹息：“皇上太忍！” 三月二十一日，崇祯与王承恩的尸体被发现，李自成等人终于心中一块大石落地。 兵卒们用两块门板把两具尸体抬至东华门荫凉处，买了两具柳木棺（仅值二十串铜钱），把帝国最有权势的两个人装了进去（一为帝王，一为首席太监）。 两位爷头下皆枕以土块，尸体上蒙以草苇。不久，自杀的周皇后尸身也被放置于侧，可能有宫女细心，尸下垫以锦褥，上覆锦被。 崇祯帝尸体暴露一天后，倒是李自成兵士中有人看不过眼，撤周皇后尸身上的锦被，蒙于崇祯帝尸身之上。 二十三日上午，农民军终于从市集找来两个卖丧敛之物的商贩，有一个稍有良心的小宦者在旁，指挥他们为崇祯帝和周后的尸体穿戴靴帽。 农民军看守士兵在一旁见到崇祯帝空脚穿靴，周皇后脸上无蒙布，就问小宦者为什么这样做。 小宦者熟悉内廷典故，躬身答道：“凤不裹头，龙不裹脚。”可叹的是，这一龙一凤，在九天之上昂首舞爪飞扬，只是一种奢侈、离奇的梦想。 明朝所有群臣中，临“梓宫”而痛哭者，惟兵部主事刘养贞一人。 三月二十四日，李自成听见东华门方向哭声大震，惊问是什么人。兵卒禀报，乃北京城内老百姓聚集，请求新朝礼葬先帝。李自成很“顺从”民意，加上心情又好，下令可以用帝礼葬崇祯，祭祀以王礼。 有大贼头“口谕”，明廷的光禄寺才敢以祭礼追奠“大行皇帝”。至于昔日满朝文武，敢来祭拜者廖廖，仅有数人来观，也是远远瞻望而已。他们大多惟恐表现不佳，耽误自己在新朝的任用。 四月初三，“大顺”政权派出挑夫三十多人，轮流换肩，把崇祯帝和周皇后的尸身挑到昌平州的田贵妃墓地埋葬。由于新朝态度简慢，极其“节约”，重挖田贵妃墓的工钱都不够，当地十名士绅思恋旧主崇祯帝，凑钱“三百四十千”，勉强雇人挖开了田贵妃墓。 由于崇祯帝的薄皮棺材太过寒酸，当地的农民军监葬小官自作主张，把田贵妃外棺套于崇祯帝薄棺之外，总算凑齐一套“棺椁”。至于坊间传说李自成亲自率众将士哭祭崇祯帝说什么“我来与汝共享江山，如何寻此短见”等等传闻并以皇帝尊礼下葬崇祯的事情，皆属讹传。首先，李自成没那种“好心肠”，其次，他缺少真正开国帝王的那种修养。 敲骨榨油的“追赃” 李自成入京后，崇祯皇帝的三个儿子很快就被抓住。这三个孩子皆着民间破烂衣服，帽子上与绝大多数北京市民一样，贴“顺民”二字。 李自成本人没儿子，看见这三个眉清目秀的玉孩儿，心中不由自主生出怜爱，安慰他们说：“你们今日即同我儿一般，不失富贵！”他立刻唤人为他们换上新衣。 这几个孩子智商很高，但自他们幼长于深宫，没有经历过世事，说话口无遮拦，回答李闯问话时，言及农民军，还一个一个“贼”字。对此，李自成也不怪。 李自成问太子朱慈烺：“知道你父亲的事情吗？” 太子：“知道，父皇崩于寿宁宫。” 李自成：“你们老朱家为什么失去天下？” 太子：“父皇误用庸臣。” 李自成闻言也笑：“你也明白这个道理。” 太子可能是平日听左右儒士教诲，恨恨地说：“满朝文武官员无情无义，很快就会来向您朝贺求官。” 李自成闻言，若有所思的点点头。对于明朝官员的贪腐，他本人感触自然不浅。崇祯帝太子之言，无形之中又加深了他对明朝官吏的憎恶。有了这种恶意，加上刘宗敏等诸将的贪婪，才最有可能是导致紧接而至的对明朝北京大官们的“追赃”拷掠的起因。 相比朱棣纂位后建文帝诸臣的殉难，崇祯一朝不是太多，仅仅三十多位臣子，且多为文人士大夫。但这些人的殉节之烈，不愧前人。 世臣戚臣方面，宣武伯卫时春、新乐侯刘文炳、驸马巩永固，或阖门自焚，或全家跳井；文臣方面，首推大学士范景文，他在壁上大书“谁言信国（文天祥）非男子，延息移时何所为”后，毅然投井自杀。户部尚书倪元璐，自缢殉国。状元刘理顺，闻贼入城，书绝命辞云：“成仁取义，孔孟所传。文山践之，吾何不然！”一家十八口阖门自缢。左都御史李邦华（劝阻崇祯帝南逃那位爷），在阁门上大书：“堂堂丈夫，圣贤为徒。忠孝大节，之死靡他”，仰药自尽。太常寺少卿吴麟征，一直在城上指挥守卫，城陷后上吊自杀。农民军兵士久闻其名，过其门而不敢入内抢劫，叹赞：“好男子，真忠臣也！”户部给事中吴甘来，题诗堂上：“到底谁遗四海忧，朱旗烈烈凤城头。君臣义命乾坤晓，狐鼠干戈风雨秋。 极目山河空泪血，伤心萍浪一身愁。洵知世局难争讨，愿判忠肝万古留！”引佩带自缢于室。兵部主事金铉，投河自尽。其母、妻闻之，泣言曰：“我等为命妇，焉能辱于贼手！”相继投井而亡。其弟殡敛母兄嫂尸之后，亦投井而死……；可称的是，城破国亡之际，紫禁城内宫女自杀者数百人，赫赫烈烈，直让成千上万降臣羞死！ 李自成命人遍索皇宫，发现大内府库中只有黄金十七万，白银十三万，骇异之下，失望至极。本来，他“建国”之后当大赏将士，如今金银缺少，如何是好！ 李自成回想崇祯太子一番话，又有刘宗敏等人窜掇，李自成下令“追赃”。 至于明末清初士人杨士聪在《甲申核真略》中所记说明宫中有银三千七百万两，完全是臆测和道听途说。崇祯帝再财迷，也知道金银在国亡时只徒为贼军当赏金，他的“觉悟”不会低到那份上。可就这份类似“小说”的记载，被后世无数学者当“口实”，攻讦明廷国亡之际仍吝啬守财。 最早向大顺军“献财”的，乃大太监曹化淳，他一出手就是五万两白银，很让李自成高兴了一把。三月二十日，新朝“宰相”牛金星发布文告：“各官俱有次日朝见。朝见后，愿去者，听之。敢有抗违逆令者，斩！”一时间，明官纷纷报名晋见。 转天，李自成等人坐于朝堂，牛金星手执花名册，一一点名，“嬉笑怒骂，恩威不测”。李自成坐一会儿就不耐烦，与刘宗敏起身离去。 忽然之间，明朝各官皆被二骑押一人，全体驱往西华门外四牌楼街。众人愕然之余，以为是将要遭受集体屠杀，不少人吓昏过去。大顺兵押送途中，棍棒交下，如驱牛羊。 忽然间，农民军中有传令：“前朝犯官俱送刘宗敏将军处听侯发落”。 于是，这大批人转向，被驱赶至刘宗敏处。当时，这位将爷正拥妓欢笑，饮酒为乐，叱命兵士把朝官押回军营待审。于是，百官皆换上监狱号服，被捆系于军营的马棚待处理。他们饿了一天多，转天才复被带至刘宗敏处听审。 结果，刘宗敏根本不审，也不问，只让人传令：“以官第献银，一品必须献银累万，以下必须累千。痛快献银者，立刻放人；匿银不献者，大刑伺侯。” 由于官员太多，刘宗敏自己所住的大王府容纳不下，便把其余诸人转送至贼将田虎和李遇的府中。 一时之间，棍杖狂飞，炮烙挑筋，挖眼割肠，北京城内四处响起明朝官员的惨嚎之声。同时，城中富民不少人也被当作“反革命份子”加以拷掠，平民的薪米尽被农民军抢掠以供军用。城内饿尸遍地。 李自成闻报，也觉有些过份，趁集会时对刘宗敏等人讲：“你们为何不帮助孤王作个好皇帝？” 刘宗敏马上顶他一句：“皇帝之权归你，拷掠之威归我，你别说废话！” 李自成默然。