Chapter 8
08: Wu Sangui surrendered, and the Qing Dynasty entered the country! Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were furious!
Therefore, Zhu Gaoxun no longer elaborated on the internal troubles, and changed the subject:”On March 19, the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian hanged himself on Coal Hill, and the whole city of Beiping surrendered. At this time, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed……..As for the so-called Southern Ming, let’s not talk about it.”
Zhu Gaoxun had already mentioned this situation before, and now Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di didn’t find it harsh.
The king dies for the country. Although Zhu Youjian is mediocre, he has some backbone after all, and he is a descendant of the Zhu family.
Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang and the others nodded slightly, Zhu Gaoxun continued:”Li Zicheng entered Shuntian Prefecture, and he did have some abilities. He ordered: ‘Anyone who dares to hurt people and rob people’s property and women will be killed without mercy. ‘ For a time, Shuntian Prefecture was in good order, the people lived normally, and even the merchants were doing business normally”
“But this situation changed since March 27. This change also made Li Zicheng completely lose the possibility of competing for the world.”
In front of the other three emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxun analyzed the possibility of Li Zicheng’s fight for the world, and he was not embarrassed at all.
It was originally that his descendants were incompetent, and at this time Zhu Gaoxun could say no matter how harsh the words were.
When Zhu Youjian heard about the Southern Ming Dynasty, he still had hope in his heart, but Zhu Gaoxun did not mention it at all, which brought him to the bottom.
And at this time, Zhu Gaoxun analyzed the possibility of the rebel Li Zicheng seizing the world in front of him, which really made him ashamed and embarrassed.
As the saying goes: An incompetent general will tire out the whole army.
The same is true for governing the country.
Zhu Youjian knew that his ancestors were saying that he was incompetent, so he stammered and lowered his head, waiting for Zhu Gaoxun’s next words.
Zhu Di did not have as many thoughts as Zhu Youjian, and immediately said bluntly:”This Li Zicheng was born as a postman. I guess he has made the same mistakes as most grassroots rebels?”
“That’s right.” Zhu Gaolin nodded and said,”Since March 27th of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng has started to collect salaries and confiscate properties in the capital…….”
“This is too hasty. He is acting like this when people’s hearts are not yet stable. This person cannot achieve great success.” Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be thinking about it and said,”Gao Yu, the reason you are talking about this person is probably because something happened to him later?”
“Just as the emperor said.” Zhu Gaoxun nodded and said,”Li Zicheng’s scorching of salaries has caused terror in the capital, and people are in panic. The corrupt officials in Beijing even began to hope that the Tartars would enter the pass to save them…….”
At this point, Zhu Gaoxun’s voice became even colder,”During the Yuan Dynasty, there were corrupt merchants who colluded with officials and oppressed the people at will. During the Chongzhen Dynasty, there were also merchants who colluded with the enemy and sold out the country. After Zhu Youjian hanged himself, only a few of the so-called upright officials in the court followed him to die for the country. Some of them even wanted to jump into the well, but thought the water was too cold!”
“After Li Zicheng entered the capital, these so-called upright people showed their true colors, which were really annoying.”、
Hearing this, Zhu Youjian lowered his head a little, ashamed.
Many years ago, he was complacent about the prosperity of the court, thinking that there was nothing in the world that he could not solve. He did not expect that it would be so ridiculous.
“All civil officials can be killed!” Zhu Di sneered,”They just think about fighting for power and profit all day long, and don’t do their job…….After getting more power, they only think about how to benefit the family and how to gain greater benefits!”
“During the Yongle Dynasty, I kept a very strict watch on the civil officials. These guys, if you give them some color, they will dare to open a dyeing factory! The gentry’s monopoly on power in the world was too serious, and the common people had almost no chance to get ahead.”
Zhu Gaoxun glanced at Zhu Di calmly, and the following sentence was obviously meant for Zhu Yuanzhang to hear.
There are several meanings in these words. First of all, it explains that he supports the policies of his father Zhu Yuanzhang, and points out the unchanged pattern in China for thousands of years: that is, the aristocratic families and the gentry and wealthy families almost monopolize the power class of the entire dynasty, which leads to the same fundamental cause of the dynastic turmoil.
Furthermore, Zhu Di’s words may have been secretly complaining about the household registration system established by the old man Zhu Yuanzhang, which caused great trouble to the dynasties after the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Di meaningfully. He was so smart that he naturally understood what Zhu Di meant.
But at this time Zhu Yuanzhang was too lazy to argue with Zhu Di. He kept this matter in mind and said to Zhu Gaoxun:”The Hongwu Dynasty inherited the corrupt officialdom of the old court of the Yuan Dynasty. We have taken precautions against this, so we are extremely harsh on officials…….I didn’t expect that the Chongzhen Dynasty would be so corrupt. It must be God’s will.”
At this moment, Hongwu, Yongle, and Tiancheng reached a high degree of consensus on the treatment of civil officials: officials who can get things done are naturally precious, but most of the people in the world are mediocre.
The only difference is that Zhu Gaoxun has begun to reform in this matter – that is, to vigorously promote universal education.
After a few words, Zhu Gaoxun brought the topic back to the point and said slowly:”Li Zicheng thought that he could go to the world by himself, and he was very proud of himself. But at this time, an unexpected thing completely ruined him.”
“What’s the matter?”
The speaker was Zhu Youjian. He really couldn’t think of anyone who could threaten Li Zicheng after he entered the capital.
“Tartar!” Zhu Gaoxun sneered,”Li Zicheng tried to persuade Wu Sangui to surrender many times but failed, so he attacked Wu Sangui in April and fought the Battle of Yipanshi. By April 22, Wu Sangui was gradually exhausted, so he surrendered to the Tartar regent Dorgon!”
“Wu’s army joined forces with the Tartar army and defeated Li Zicheng, who fled to Xi’an. With the help of Wu Sangui, the Tartars entered the pass in May and occupied the capital. Since then, the Tartars have become powerful and began to plot to seize the world!”
“What!?”Zhu Youjian was shocked,”Wu Sucun actually surrendered to Jiannu? I asked him to resist Jiannu, but he surrendered to Jiannu?”
At this time, Zhu Youjian was more or less broken, and also revealed his uncertain temperament. His mood was revealed, and he was not fit for great use.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di did not pay attention to Zhu Youjian’s words at this time, and their faces were very embarrassed.
“Surrender to the Tartars?” Zhu Di’s face twitched, and he looked at Zhu Youjian and said,”What kind of people did you use? They are so unbearable!” Facing
Zhu Di’s rebuke, Zhu Youjian could only swallow his anger and dared not do anything…….I don’t know how to judge people, and I am speechless in front of my ancestors.
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Youjian and became even more disappointed with him. He said coldly:”This Wu Sangui must be killed!”
Li Zicheng won the world, and he was at least a Ming Dynasty man. But it was a great shame and humiliation for the Tartars to win the world!
I finally drove out the Mongols and restored Chinese clothing. Even after the founding of the country, I have been encircling and suppressing the remnants of the Mongols in the north, just to make future generations more stable.
Unexpectedly……The Jiannu Tartars still took over the world.
The Jiannu Tartars, their ancestors should be the Jurchens – they are not of our race, so their hearts must be different! Since the Tartars entered the country, the people of the world will have no rest.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly asked:”Have the Tartars treated the people well after entering the country?”
“Treat the people well?”
Upon hearing these four words, Zhu Gaoxun actually burst out laughing and said grimly,”Calling him a beast is an insult to the word beast!”