"Donglin Party?"

Hearing Li Xiao's words, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but echo him.

The Donglin Party, as the name suggests, is a party and an interest group.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang naturally think of the people who were known as Huaixi Xungui when he was the emperor before.

Regarding the party struggle above the court, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been deeply aware of evil.

Whether it is the dynasty recorded in history, or his own at the beginning of the rebel army.

Zhu Yuanzhang has seen a lot of bad consequences caused by party disputes.

In serious cases, it will even lead to the collapse of the dynasty because of party strife.

Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang was the emperor himself, he hated to see any small groups above the court.

This can also be regarded as his original intention to establish Jinyiwei.

He just wants to spy on the officials in the world to see who is secretly forming gangs and forming small groups.

Factions between officials in the DPRK and China not only affect internal unity, but also pose a threat to the imperial power.

After all, when some powerful ministers are all standing together.

Even the emperor has nothing to do with them.

Moreover, once there are several parties in the court, these courtiers will only focus on fighting dissidents and forget to sort out the court program.

Whether it is to govern the country, to govern the world, or to be able to stabilize the imperial power of the old Zhu family.

Engaging in party strife and small groups is something that Zhu Yuanzhang cannot tolerate.

Therefore, in the Hongwu Dynasty, those officials of the imperial court were trembling and walking on thin ice.

There is no such thing as a partisanship, let alone partisanship.

Even some officials have exercised special restraint in their social visits to friends.

Unexpectedly, in the hands of his children and grandchildren, all the moths came out.

Whether it is the harem or the eunuchs in power, now even the party struggle above the court has come out.

"Alas"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh deeply.

He couldn't understand why these descendants of his old Zhu family were so uncompetitive.

Glancing at Zhu Youzhen, Zhu Yuanzhang showed a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't say anything, but kept quiet.

He planned to continue listening to Li Xiao.

Zhu Youzhen on the side also had a heartbeat when he heard the words 'Donglin Party'.

He really doesn't know what to say about the Donglin Party.

Zhu Youzhen also knew very well in his heart that the court could not be dominant.

Therefore, even if he released those people from the Donglin Party, he still supported others to check and balance the Donglin Party.

But he still underestimated the strength of the Donglin Party.

The last court was still dominated by the Donglin Party, and many national events were basically decided by the officials of the Donglin Party.

It can even be understood that the original court was ruled by Wei Zhongxian alone.

After that, the court became the dictatorship of a group of people from the Donglin Party.

In the face of these Donglin parties, Zhu Youzhen was also powerless.

The Donglin Party is not comparable to Wei Zhongxian.

Wei Zhongxian is just a eunuch, no matter how powerful he is, he is just a slave of the royal family.

To kill Wei Zhongxian, in the final analysis, it is still a matter of a few words from the emperor.

The Donglin Party is different.

They are the entire civilian-official group, and they are the interest collectives of those families in Jiangnan who have joined forces.

Once you want to move, it's a human head rolling.

That movement must be countless times bigger than Wei Zhongxian.

Moreover, at that time, the Donglin Party had a very high status in the literati circle, and it almost had the right to speak.

In other words, at that time, it was the Donglin Party that held the leading power of public opinion.

Those pretentious literati, once they start scolding, it will be more beneficial than the other.

The ten major crimes of impeaching Wei Zhongxian back then came from the hands of these people.

If Zhu Youzhen really wants to do something against the Donglin Party, I am afraid that the literati in the world will scold him to death.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen of the Donglin Party has always been a blind eye.

Even if you are angry in the back, there is no way to do it.

Speaking of which, this Donglin Party is much more difficult to deal with than Wei Zhongxian.

Regarding the Donglin Party above the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youzhen did admit that his methods were shallow and failed to control these people.

The changes in the expressions of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Youzhen were seen by Li Xiao, but Li Xiao didn't care.

He still said to himself: "The Donglin Party is a bureaucratic class political group dominated by Jiangnan scholars. ”

"During the Wanli period, Gu Xiancheng and others repaired the Donglin Academy where Yang Shi lectured in the Song Dynasty, and like-minded people such as Gao Panlong and Qian Yiyi lectured in it."

"Gradually, I got to know a group of officials with common political views."

"These people take Donglin Academy as their own faction and call themselves Donglin."

"At the same time, after the students from these people's disciples entered the court as officials, they also regarded themselves as the Donglin Party."

"Gradually, with more and more members, the Donglin Party is getting stronger and stronger."

"They successfully defeated other opponents above the court, and faintly became the biggest force above the court."

"It wasn't until Wei Zhongxian's appearance that he suppressed the Donglin Party to the death, and even almost wiped out the Donglin Party."

"But if there is only one voice in the court and it becomes a hall of words from a certain person or a certain group, it will be a bad thing for the court and the people."

Wei Zhongxian fell, and the rehabilitated Donglin Party took control of the government.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen's biggest threat did not come from within the imperial court, but from outside the imperial court.

The biggest problem in Chongzhen's early years was to recover the Liaodong region occupied by the Later Jin.

Zhu Youzhen handed over this important task to Yuan Chonghuan, the former governor of Liaodong, who had successively won the victory of Ningyuan and Ningjin in the last years of the Apocalypse.

Yuan Chonghuan was previously impeached for privately discussing peace and not saving Jinzhou, and had to resign and return to his hometown.

But in the end, Zhu Youzhen still tried his best to overcome public opinion and re-enable Yuan Chonghuan.

Zhu Youzhen replaced Wang Zhichen with Yuan Chonghuan, and served as the secretary of the military department and the right deputy capital of Yushi, the superintendent of Ji, Liao, Deng, Lai, Tianjin and other military affairs.

In the face of Zhu Youzhen's trust, Yuan Chonghuan was not ambiguous.

Directly in front of Zhu Youzhen, he expressed his stance that 'Liaodong will be restored in five years', and the eastern Liaodong region will be recovered within five years.

Zhu You was overjoyed after hearing this, and asked all the yamen to give Yuan Chonghuan special affairs and give him the greatest convenience.

And gave Yuan Chonghuan the sword of Shangfang, which can be cut first and then played in special circumstances.

After Yuan Chonghuan took office, he rectified the defense and appointed Zu Dashou to guard Jinzhou, He Kegang to guard Ningyuan, and Zhao to teach to guard Shanhaiguan.

Externally contact the Ming Dynasty's vassal Hala Shen Duoyan 36 families, open the market to reward, to appease.

On the fifth day of the sixth month of the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, the general soldier of the Dongjiang River, in Shuangdao in the way of first cutting and then playing, and then pleaded guilty.

Zhu Youzhen was shocked when he first learned that Mao Wenlong had been killed.

In terms of grade alone, the Daming Law stipulates: "All Beijing officials and officials above the fifth rank outside are allowed to ask questions without permission." ”

When Mao Wenlong was beheaded, his official position was Qincha, Pingliao, and the chief military officer, and the former general and the governor of the left army.

Among them, the "chief military officer of Qinchaping Liaobian should act" belongs to "envoy dispatch", that is, the position of temporary dispatch; "General before the conquest" and "Governor of the Left Army" are official positions. The general before the conquest was not permanent, and the governor of the left army was a minister.

That is, Mao Wenlong's real official position is the Zuo Governor of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies, which is a positive product.

From this point of view, even if Mao Wenlong is really at fault, Yuan Chonghuan can only "listen to the request" and "don't ask without permission".

Even if Yuan Chonghuan held the sword of Shang Fang given by Chongzhen, in the face of an important minister like Mao Wenlong, he should also know back to the court in advance.

After all, Shang Fang's sword is more of a symbol than a real slash before playing.

Although Zhu Youzhen was shocked by Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong, the person was already dead, and he had no choice.

The eastern Liaodong region still has to be recovered, and it is also the time to employ people at this moment.

Moreover, Zhu Youzhen was still naïve and had expectations for Yuan Chonghuan's 'five-year recovery of Liao' plan.

Therefore, there was no investigation or blame for Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong.

In late October of the second year of Chongzhen, Emperor Taiji of the Later Jin Khan decided to turn around and attack the Ming Dynasty on the way to the west of Mongolia.

The soldiers broke through the Great Wall Pass in Da'ankou and other places in three ways, and Zhao Lujiao, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, died in Zunhua.

Yuan Chonghuan led Guan Ning's army from Ningyuan back to defend Jizhou Town, but also failed to intercept it.

The Later Jin army approached the city of Beijing on November 20, which was a change for itself.

Yuan Chonghuan led his army to the rescue of Beijing and fought fiercely with the Later Jin army outside the Guangqu Gate, forcing the Later Jin army to retreat.

But this time the Jin army's direct approach to Beijing City also made Zhu Youzhen suspicious of Yuan Chonghuan.

Dajin's army passed directly from Jizhou, but Yuan Chonghuan actually turned a blind eye, so he let Dajin's army come to Beijing.

And this happened twice.

And Zhu Youzhen also heard the news that Yuan Chonghuan had negotiated peace with Houjin privately, which made Zhu Youzhen completely lose his trust in Yuan Chonghuan.

After Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, Mao Wenlong's subordinates Geng Jingzhong and Shang Kexi surrendered to Houjin with soldiers and horses.

Without the threat of Phi Dao in the rear, Houjin has no worries at all, and Daming's side is even more passive.

The reason for this situation was attributed to Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong, which led to the instability of the army.

Before additioning, Yuan Chonghuan privately negotiated peace, and the Houjin army twice bypassed Jizhou and came to the city of Beijing.

Zhu Youzhen had already thought about Yuan Chonghuan.

In August of the third year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youzhen executed Yuan Chonghuan Ling Chi for the crime of rebellion and rebellion.

At this time, it was a critical moment when the war in Liaodong was stalemate, but the coach Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Ling Chi.

The situation in Liaodong deteriorated more and more, and the Ming court fell into a situation of complete decline.

On the other hand, because the Xiaoice period entered a more serious stage.

This has led to frequent famines and grain harvest failures, especially in the northwest and the Central Plains.

However, the increase in land taxes is still unabated, and even the more famine there is, the more onerous the taxes become.

In such a situation, social contradictions have been thoroughly intensified.

The Wang Er Uprising broke out in Chengcheng, Shaanxi Province, which suffered from a severe drought, and they killed the county magistrate and gathered in the mountains and forests, opening the prelude to the peasant war at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Because the imperial court had no money and no food, it also began to cut expenses and began to abolish some yamen and officials.

The first to bear the brunt are the post guards everywhere.

Desperate peasants who were already hungry and could not stand the confluence with deserters from border towns and dismissed post guards in various parts of Shaanxi rose up one after another.

These insurgents are fragmented and mobile.

With these people taking the lead, the oppressed people everywhere have also responded.

For a time, there were more or less riots or uprisings in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

Among these rebels was a retrenched post man, named Li Zicheng.

There were peasant uprisings inside, and Houjin tigers eyeing and invading the border gates.

In addition, during the Xiaoice River period, the grain harvest across the country was poor, and in many places there was no harvest, resulting in a large number of disaster victims.

The Ming court is also unable to make ends meet, and it can't take care of these at all.

Under such internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty began to collapse rapidly.

Since Chongzhen, Henan has "no happy years, drought and locusts one after another, and disasters are still frequent."

After the twelfth year of Chongzhen, it became serious, and in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, there was a "great famine", and by June, "the dead were not counted".

Under these circumstances, a large number of hungry people joined Li Zicheng's team, which made it grow and began to be called "King Chuang", and intellectuals such as Niu Jinxing and Song Xiance also defected to Li Zicheng.

Fourteen years before Chongzhen, although the internal and external situation became more and more unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty, it was not out of control.

Fourteen years after Chongzhen, the internal and external situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and the Ming Dynasty accelerated to the brink of collapse.

Huang Taiji has been founded, and the country is called the Qing Dynasty.

The attack on the Ming court became more and more fierce.

Even if there is a short-lived general like Sun Chuanting, he still can't save the decline of the Ming court.

There were peasant uprisings in various places, and there were even feudal officials who supported the army and respected themselves to defect.

Outside, the Qing Dynasty waved its troops and attacked fiercely.

The Ming Dynasty, which was already at the end of the crossbow, was already in danger of facing such a two-front battle.

Under the battle at both ends, it accelerated the process of the Ming Dynasty's demise.

The fourteenth year of Chongzhen is a landmark year for the decline of the Ming Dynasty.

This year, the rebel army led by Li Zicheng grew stronger and stronger, and they had all reached the border of Henan.

In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the Qing Dynasty directly attacked Songshan City, and Hong Chengchou was captured and surrendered.

In the same year, the Qing army conquered Jinzhou, and Zu Dashou surrendered.

In the face of the great rout of the two-front battle, the Ming court has reached the point of dying.

The image of the fall of the Ming Dynasty appeared, and the hearts of the people of the government and the wilderness were gradually dispersed.

The whole court, even the common people, are also panicked.

At this time, Zhu Youzhen planned to negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty.

However, it was opposed by the ministers, resulting in the failure of the peace negotiation.

Seeing the breakdown of the peace talks, Huang Taiji sent troops into the fortress for the sixth time in November, which was the change of Renwu.

The process of entering the plug this time is the same as the previous times.

After plundering for several months and capturing 88 cities, the Qing army marched away with 369,000 prisoners and more than 320,000 head of livestock.

This plundering of the Qing army completely broke the morale of the Ming Dynasty and scattered the hearts of the Ming people.

In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng established himself as the emperor, and the founding name was Dashun.

In March of the same year, Juyong Pass was broken and Tang Tong surrendered.

Also in March, Li Zicheng's vanguard arrived on the outskirts of Beijing, trapped Changping, and burned the imperial tomb.

On March 18, Zhu Youzhen hanged himself in the coal mountain.

At this point, the Ming Empire perished!

(End of chapter)