Before Emperor Chongzhen died, there were millions of troops in the Ming Dynasty. Why didn't Chongzhen move south? In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), on March 19th (April 25th of Gregorian calendar), the rebels led by Li Zicheng captured Beijing, and Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty hanged himself in Jingshan Park (now Jingshan), and the Ming Dynasty perished.
Many people are familiar with the above history, but there is a big doubt here, that is, before Emperor Chongzhen was martyred, there were millions of troops in the south of the Ming Dynasty, and the capital Nanjing had a set of spare central institutions.
Why didn't Chongzhen choose to move south? In fact, this question was put forward in October of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643). At that time, the situation facing the Ming Dynasty was already very dangerous. The Manchus in the north approached Shanhaiguan step by step, the peasant rebels in the south became a bonfire, and the officers and men were losing ground on various battlefields. An official of the imperial court suggested that Emperor Chongzhen go to Shandong to pay homage to Confucius at this time, and then visit Nanjing in the south.
Of course, paying homage to Confucius and visiting the South are all high-sounding reasons. To put it bluntly, Beijing was about to die, and the emperor fled to Nanjing, the capital! At that time, Emperor Chongzhen had a general understanding of the situation facing the Ming Dynasty, so he was also very interested in the proposal of this southern tour. However, a group of Lindong Party ministers in the imperial court resolutely opposed it. The reasons they put forward are naturally righteous words, for example, the son of heaven wants to guard the capital, and in this case, he must never escape.
Chongzhen is a respectable emperor. You said it was ok to persuade him to make a southern tour. You said he fled, why did his face hang up? The minister who suggested that the emperor could not leave, so he advised the prince to go to Nanjing. But this time Emperor Chongzhen was unhappy. If the prince goes to Nanjing, if the situation in the north is urgent and the ministers in the south support the prince to ascend to the throne, regardless of his father's life and death, then Emperor Chongzhen will be completely cold.
This kind of thing happened in the Song Dynasty. Therefore, there is no following about moving south. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), on the second day of February, Li Zicheng led the main force of the Rebel Army to March eastward and went straight to Beijing, the heart of the Ming Dynasty. At this time, if Emperor Chongzhen decides to move south, he still has plenty of time. However, the emperor and the minister are still arguing about whether to go or not, and this quarrel has lost the last chance.
The reason why Emperor Chongzhen had to take care of his face and did not insist on moving south was also his confidence. First of all, the city of Beijing is impregnable. In the history of the Ming dynasty, it was surrounded by enemy troops many times, but it was saved in the end. Secondly, the capital is surrounded by six military towns, Liaodong, Jizhou, Fu Xuan, Datong, Changping, Miyun and * * *, where soldiers with strong fighting capacity are stationed. If Li Zicheng's army dares to invade the capital, it can be used from within to wipe out Li Zicheng in the periphery of Beijing.
However, this time Emperor Chongzhen completely miscalculated. First of all, he didn't expect Li Zicheng to March so fast. Only a month later, Li Zicheng's troops were close at hand. And Li Zicheng also sent troops to cut off the route that Emperor Chongzhen fled south, so Chongzhen was humiliated and couldn't walk.
Secondly, in the eyes of Chongzhen, the officers and men with strong fighting capacity are vulnerable at this time. The officers and men of Datong, Fu Xuan and Changping surrendered. Chongzhen urgently ordered Wu Sangui, the company commander of Liaodong, Wang Yongji, the governor of Hebei and Liao, Tang Tong, the company commander of Miyun, and Liu Zeqing, the company commander of Shandong, to enter Beijing. As a result, Wu Sangui, the company commander in Liaodong, marched slowly, while Liu Zeqing, the company commander in Shandong, lied that he couldn't come because he was injured in a horse fall. Although Tang Tong, the company commander of Miyun, took the army, he surrendered before the war began.
Finally, what about the city that Emperor Chongzhen thought was impregnable? Li Zicheng Rebels arrived in Xizhimen on March 17 and began to attack the city. /kloc-in the early morning of 0/9, cabinet records Wei Zaode and Ministry of War Minister Zhang Jinyan took the initiative to open the gate to welcome Li Zicheng into the city, and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in despair.