From the perspective of future generations, looking at the Songjin Armageddon that is related to the final fate of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are actually several reasons why the Ming Dynasty lost so badly.

First of all, looking at the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji swept away Jinzhou by Li Xiao, cut off the dragon veins of the Qing Dynasty, and buried alive the people of Hetuala, the land of the Qing Dynasty's dragon rejuvenation, Huang Taiji was firmly unmoved, and stared at the ultimate goal, which was to seize Liaoxi and eliminate the 130,000 Ming army.

This strategic vision and perseverance, even the sworn enemy Li Xiao had to be admired. In the Battle of Songjin, Huang Taiji showed outstanding military talent in the selection of strategic targets, the grasp of combat timing, the strategy of using troops, and the command of the battle.

The most prominent thing is: he is good at attacking the enemy's shortcomings with his own strengths, such as using the eight banners of elite soldiers and good generals to be good at attacking the long of field battles, in order to avoid its shortcomings that are not longer than attacking the city, so in the Battle of Songjin, he has always adopted the tactics of besieging the city to send reinforcements, inducing the Ming army to take the initiative to fight, and finally not only eliminated the 130,000 reinforcements led by Hong Chengchou, but also forced the Ming army defenders in Songshan, Jinzhou, and Xingshan to surrender the city, destroying the Ningjin defense line that the Ming army had been operating for many years, and paving the way for the Central Plains to enter.

For the Ming Dynasty, the consequences of the failure of the Songjin War were too serious. The most fundamental reason for this fiasco was the political corruption of the Ming court, and the following points were particularly prominent in this battle: The first point is to blindly urge the war.

At that time, Emperor Chongzhen, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, and others were biased

Zhang Ruoqi, the Liaodong Prison Army, who "originally belonged to the criminal Cao, did not know the soldiers", blindly urged the war with his words of lightly advancing the enemy. Therefore, Hong Chengchou

"If you enter the division lightly, you can't break through when you advance, you can't deal with the aftermath when you retreat, and you can't see the situation,...... So that the important ministers and generals chose to lead the horse, and the crowd of 100,000 was wiped out."

The second point is the discord between the superintendents and the superintendents. The governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, according to the troops outside the Guanhai and the Jinzhou guard general Zu Dashou

The opinion of "forcing the car battalion, not fighting lightly" advocates fighting and defending, step by step, and gradually advancing to relieve the siege of Jinzhou.

But the prison army Zhang Ruoqi objected,

"Raise your arms and work hard, support the momentum of the troops, take over the power of the governors, and command with all your heart", so the Ming army

"But I know that there is Zhang Bingbu, but I don't know that there is Hongdu Governor, and the governor has nothing to do." The governor and the overseer army were in each other's hands, and the Ming army did not know what to do.

The third point is a command error. Although Hong Chengchou was proficient in military tactics, he succumbed to the power of Chen Xinjia, Zhang Ruoqi and others because he considered his personal gains and losses.

while

"Chen Xinjia is interesting, and he can't help but enter the Yidun Division." , he went deep alone; while

"Zhang Ruoqi was confused, and he retired from the army to pay", he led the army to flee south. Therefore, Hong Chengchou showed hesitation and vacillation in commanding operations, which inevitably led to the defeat of the Ming army.

The fourth point is that the generals are afraid of death. When the Ming army fought against the Qing army in Songshan, the soldiers and firearms were superior to the Qing army, and they should have fought to the death to relieve the siege of Jinzhou, but some Ming generals were afraid of death, but abandoned the battle and fled south, such as the general soldier Wang Pu for his own life, regardless of the safety of the whole army, breached the contract and escaped, resulting in the defeat of the Ming army in Songshan.

For example, in order to save Hong Chengchou, the Ming court ordered Yang Shenwu, the governor of Shuntian, and Fan Zhiwan, the squire of the military department, to lead the army to Songshan to relieve the siege, but

"All the soldiers dare not come out". [1] The above four points eventually led to the tragic end of the Ming Dynasty in Liaoxi, and the defense line that had been painstakingly managed since the Apocalypse was destroyed.

The four cities of Songshan, Jinzhou, Tashan, and Xingshan fell, and Zu Dashou surrendered the city

"The elite of the nine stops, the grain of China, all the money is thrown, but it can't be continued, and the temple is in ruins!" The great earthquake in Beijing, Wang Puyi

He was arrested for the crime of "first escape", and the judicial department held a trial. Yu Shi Hao Jin spoke: "The six towns are guilty of the same crime, and they are all suitable for death." ”

"Sangui Shiliao's left general, fled without a fight, but he rebelled against the Admiral." Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, reconsidered,

"But Gu Nianqi (Wu Sangui) has meritorious service in guarding Ningyuan, and can be demoted with Li Fuming, Bai Guangen, Tang Tong, etc., and served as officials." Beheaded Wang Pu alone, and executed Wang Pu on May 19, the fifteenth year of Chongzhen.

Zhang Ruoqi was sentenced to death, and Ma Shaoyu, the head of the Ministry of War, was given the punishment of having his status reduced. Wu Sangui was demoted and guarded Ningyuan.

The Battle of Songjin marked the complete collapse of the Ming Dynasty's defense system in Liaodong, and the last line of defense of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong was only Wu Sangui's department at Shanhaiguan.

Since then, outside the Shanhai Pass of the Ming Dynasty, only a lonely city in Ningyuan remains, and the Guanningjin defense line has been completely destroyed.

In this battle, although the Ming army suffered a crushing defeat due to the mistakes of the upper command, the vast number of Ming army officers and soldiers

"Death is like home, and there are few beggars. Supporting the lotus generals, standing in the sea, stretching out their arms to shield, not hitting the arrow, not losing respect, and then dying"[10], tens of thousands of people died in the sea, showing the unyielding national integrity of preferring to die.

The people of the time talked about the relocation and commented: "The elite of the nine stops, the grain of China, all the money is thrown, but it can't be continued, and the temple is in ruins!" "The Emperor's Founding Strategy" said: "Taizong's divine strategy is brave, the victory is surprising, and the Ming soldiers are 130,000. "September 12 of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, Jingshi, Qianqing Palace.

The emperor sat on the dragon chair like a puppet, as if he had exhausted all his strength.

Another defeat, another utter defeat that could not bear to be seen. 130,000 elites, this is completely lost, the Guanning Jin defense line was completely destroyed, only a lonely city is left outside the pass, and such as Hong Chengchou Zu Dashou and other Ming Dynasty civil and military generals, a large number of Qing, so that the Ming Dynasty's original dying strength is on the verge of collapse.

Chongzhen almost thought in horror that after these elite armies were completely wiped out by the Qing captives, the already rampant rogues might no longer be able to control them.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered the former Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites who committed suicide in Sichuan because of his ineffective resistance to the Liukou, Yang Sichang, known as the Yang Pavilion Department, Chongzhen secretly thought, perhaps, if Yang Sichang was there, he would definitely try his best to dissuade himself from going to the rescue of Jinzhou, so that the 130,000 army would be wiped out.

At this moment, the emperor suddenly burst into tears. He would not have known that at the beginning of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, when Li Zicheng's peasant army crossed the Yellow River from Shaanxi and swept through Shanxi, Emperor Chongzhen looked sad and helpless in the face of the impending catastrophe at a meeting attended by senior bureaucrats, and said to his ministers with emotion: "I am not the king of the country, everything is the image of the country." When the ancestors were in the wind and rain, once they were lost, what face would they see underground? ”

"I am not the king of the dead country", only six words, from the bottom of my heart, is a natural expression of the defeat of the army, helpless flowers falling, and some unwillingness in my heart.

In all fairness, among the seventeen emperors of the Ming Dynasty, he is not only not the most mediocre one, but also comparable to Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty. The "History of the Ming Dynasty" compiled by the National History Museum of the Qing Dynasty also spoke highly of him: "He reigned for seven out of ten years, and he was quiet, diligent and diligent, and devoted to governance." From this, it can be seen that his self-evaluation

"I am not the king of the dead country" is not an exaggeration. However, the Ming Dynasty perished precisely at his hands, so history put him on his back

The notoriety of "the king of the dead country" seems a little unfair. People can only lament that he was born at the wrong time and explain it euphemistically.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" said: "The death of the Ming Dynasty is really the death of the Divine Sect." That means that the bane of the fall of the Ming Dynasty was planted by Zhu Yijun, the emperor of Wanli.

Meng Sen, the master of the Ming and Qing dynasties, gave full play to the above views in the "Lectures on the History of the Ming and Qing Dynasties", he said: "Xizong (according to: that is, the Emperor of the Apocalypse), the king of the dead country, but not the death, Zu Ze is still not finished." ”

"Sizong (according to: Emperor Chongzhen) and before Wanli, he was not the king of the country, but after the apocalypse, he will die." This kind of penetrating analysis not only reveals the truth of history, but also reflects the ruthlessness of history, so that Emperor Chongzhen, who is not the king of the country, staged a tragedy of the country.

This can't help but remind the author, the Russian writer Lev? There is a famous quote in Tolstoy's magnum opus, War and Peace: "The emperor is a slave of history." "In the eyes of ordinary people, the emperor is supreme and powerful, and can dictate to anyone, and it seems that he can also dictate to history.

In fact, as Toon said, human beings consciously live for themselves, but unintentionally, become a tool to achieve the historical goals of all mankind, and the emperor is no exception.

History is the unconscious collective life of human beings, who use all the moments of the emperor's life as a tool to achieve their own goals, and use this tool only for themselves.

It is in this sense that the emperor is a slave of history. Emperor Chongzhen tried his best to turn the tide, but the general trend had gone, and he was weak to return to the sky, so he confided in his inner monologue to the ministers: "I am not the king of the dead country, everything is the image of the dead country." In the Forbidden City, which was approaching the end of the dynasty, he often sighed to himself: "I don't want to be the lord of the country!" After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the old and young looked back on the past and couldn't help but sigh with emotion, but they all said in unison that Emperor Chongzhen was not a king of the dead country.

The "Round Song" by the poet Wu Weiye of the Restoration Society, to

The poem "Dinghu abandoned the world that day" to commemorate the death of the emperor. His historiographical masterpiece "Suikou Jiluo" spoke highly of the deceased emperor Chongzhen Emperor, to the effect that the emperor had worked hard for 17 years, his style was respectful and frugal similar to Emperor Hongzhi, and his heroic and decisive style was similar to Emperor Jiajing.

Dealing with official business is quick and quick, he can't let go of the scroll, likes to read and write, calligraphy is close to Ouyang Xun, has literary and military talents, is good at riding and shooting, and pulls a strong bow, and every shot must hit.

He was diligent in government affairs, got up at dawn, and worked until he was exhausted. When the court is dignified, it gives people a sense of upright gaze and solemn posture.

Such a respectful and frugal, heroic and resolute, capable of writing and martial arts, ended up in the end of a ruined country, which inevitably made the widows and young people like Wu Weiye sigh.

"Jiashen Chuan Xinlu" is in

Under the title of "Rui Mo Regrets", he commented on Emperor Chongzhen as follows: heroic and decisive, inheriting the political legacy of Wanli and Tianqi, putting things right, eliminating the maladministration of the previous dynasty, cracking down on the evil party, making great efforts to govern the country, diligent in the government, and hoping for the rule of Zhongxing.

However, wars on the frontier were frequent, the Central Plains was empty, there was hunger for many years, thieves were rampant, and the world was in need of the world for 17 years, and the dynasty fell and he was martyred.

Alack! Such a wise and wise monarch, who has never been happy and comfortable for seventeen years, has left what a great regret!

When these words should be written, Emperor Chongzhen has died, and there is no need to pat the horse to flatter, this is the penmanship of Ye Shi to write straight and leave a letter history for future generations, which should be credible.

And so it is. Emperor Chongzhen often said to his ministers: "I have been working hard all night since the imperial pole. Because he had to face a mess, the many shortcomings of the lax military equipment in the frontier, the long-term poverty of the people's lives, and the bad habits of officialdom.

So he often held imperial councils, which were called at the time

"Calling the right". This kind of summoning is extremely solemn, and the cabinet, the five governments, the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the General Administration, the Dali Temple, the six departments, the thirteen imperial histories, as well as the officials of the Hanlin Academy and the Jinyi Guard, all have to participate, and the content is to discuss state affairs, reform and accumulate defects, and implement new policies.

Therefore, he became a rare hard-working emperor since Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang had to personally handle all government affairs, getting up before dawn every day until late at night, with no holidays and no entertainment.

In this regard, he does have a striking resemblance to Zhu Yuanzhang, who is diligent and diligent all day long, and has trouble sleeping and eating.

Zhu Yuanzhang set the ancestral system of going to the court every day, and most of the later emperors regarded it as a fictional text, especially on the occasion of Longqing and Wanli, and openly changed it to go to the court every three, six, and nine days, and then simply even three hundred and sixty-nine

"Exempt from court". Emperor Chongzhen restored the ancestral system of going to the court every day, and insisted on it for more than ten years.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642), he reiterated again: to adjudicate political affairs with the ministers, only a few festivals can be exempted from the court, and every day should go to the court; After the completion of the court, if the minister wants to ask for instructions, he can sign up and wait for the summons

The crime of "adultery" shall be punished by death. After more than ten years, it is no wonder that he sighs

"I've been working all night". However, his

"Sleepy nightwork" did not receive the desired effect. Why? As early as the fifth year of Chongzhen, Hua Yuncheng, the head of the Ministry of War, had an analysis.

He bluntly pointed out to the emperor in his recital that the government of the government

"Welcome" with

"Worrisome". It is to the effect that in the past three or four years, the emperor has worked hard, the ministers have been in a hurry, and the laws and regulations are cumbersome, the subjects have disintegrated, the talents have been lost, and the country has been injured.

Finally, such a situation was formed: the emperor was anxious at the top, the ministers were cheating at the bottom, and all efforts were in vain.

He analyzed it from three levels: first, the person in charge used the emperor to be resolute and strict, and carried out severe punishments; Under the pretext that the emperor comprehensively checked the name and truth, he engaged in a big competition for baht, and finally made the officialdom compete for the name of the punishment, pursue the fragmentation, and turn the emperor's urgent mood for governance into a shortcut to the wits of the ministers; Second, the senior officials who led their subordinates were repeatedly shocked to confess their guilt to the emperor, and the supervision officials buried their heads in writing impeachment notes, resulting in the officials only asking about taxes, money and food, and the spirit of one heart and one mind turned into a contest of criminal documents; Third, the temple does not worry about people's hearts, the government does not focus on talents, and the four seas are gradually falling apart

The plan of "suppressing and appeasement" is equivalent to child's play, and the use of talents is uncertain. It's just that the declining and declining state affairs are really just this reason?

Of course not, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Chongzhen couldn't answer the answer to his own question, and the reason why the Ming Dynasty was gradually falling could only be known by Li Xiao, who had traveled back from later generations.