Empty talk harms the country

 

Empty talk harms the country

 

  "Empty talk will harm the country, but hard work will rejuvenate the country" has become a hot word nowadays. This is a word from historical experience, and it is also a warning from reality. When studying the history of the Ming Dynasty, from the four words "empty talk misleads the country", I often think of the last words of Emperor Chongzhen who sighed through the ages - "all the ministers mistook me". These last words were the words that Chongzhen made deeply in his heart before he bid farewell to this world more than 360 years ago. He most wanted to leave them in the world for future generations to interpret.

Fang Shidi chatted with Agudengba and Azhuo about the death of Chongzhen.

In 1644, Li Zicheng led a peasant uprising army to invade Beijing. Although everyone persuaded Emperor Chongzhen to surrender, Emperor Chongzhen decisively refused.

On March 18 of the lunar calendar, the 35-year-old Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian held the hand of Prince Zhu Ci and cried in the Ming Dynasty Palace. He taught his son to be careful on the way to escape: "When you see an official, the elders call him "Mr. Master, the young ones are called husband. If they meet common people, the elders are called father, and the young ones are called brother."

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen ordered his concubines and children to die. He also summoned all the officials and said this sentence: "The ministers have misunderstood me. The king died in the country, and once the world abandoned him after two hundred and seventy-seven years, it was all because of the misunderstanding of the treacherous ministers, which led to this."

Afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen climbed Jingshan Mountain and hanged himself on a crooked tree. Before he hanged himself, Chongzhen wrote a passage on his robe. The general meaning is that although he had been conscientious and diligent in political affairs for 17 years after he ascended the throne, the fate of the country had reached this point. All of this was due to traitors who misled the country, which led to the final invasion of traitors. Capital Master, I have no face to face my underground ancestors. I took off my clothes, covered my face with my hair, and allowed the traitors to dispose of my body. But please do not harm the people.

It is said that after Li Zicheng forced Emperor Chongzhen to death, Dorgon captured the Forbidden City under the pretext of annihilating the traitor Li Zicheng, rather than "changing dynasties." In order to further consolidate the mass base and win over the people. Therefore, he expressed regret for the death of Emperor Chongzhen. They deliberately found a locust tree on Jingshan Mountain and convicted it without any verification. It is said that an iron chain was tied to the criminal locust tree at that time and a monument was erected as a memorial to the people.

In today's Jingshan Park in Beijing, there is a locust tree. The inscription next to it reads "The place where Emperor Sizong of the Ming Dynasty died for his country." It is said to be the place where Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide. The locust tree is also called "Sin Locust Tree". However, the records in various historical documents are different.

Emperor Chongzhen was frugal throughout his life and did not build a mausoleum for himself during his lifetime. So where was Emperor Chongzhen buried after his death?

After Emperor Chongzhen hanged Jingshan, Li Zicheng's Dashun Army soon discovered his body. The coffins of Emperor Chongzhen and Queen Zhou were removed from the palace and displayed to the public at Donghua Gate.

Li Zicheng later ordered his subordinates to put Chongzhen's body into a willow coffin, paint Emperor Chongzhen's Zi Palace with red paint, and replace him with a Yishan crown, Gun jade and golden boots. However, after years of war, the financial situation at that time did not allow for a generous burial of Emperor Chongzhen. At this time, Zhao Yigui, the official of Changping Prefecture of the Provincial Sacrifice Office, thought of a way to raise donations. He contacted some wealthy local families and successfully persuaded them to donate. Finally, Emperor Chongzhen was Get a good burial. Finally, under Li Zicheng's order, they were buried together in the tomb of Concubine Tian.

After the Qing army entered the customs, in order to win over the Ming Dynasty elders and win the hearts of the people, Emperor Shunzhi specially allocated some silver coins to decorate the mausoleum of Emperor Chongzhen according to the specifications of the imperial mausoleum. At the same time, Chongzhen's mausoleum was changed to "Si Mausoleum", which was also one of the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Shunzhi once issued a strict edict on the renovation of Siling Mausoleum: "The Siling Mausoleum is to be run as quickly as possible. It has been ordered, so why should the prisoner play with it? Ran Weizhao and others will ignore it for the time being and go to work immediately to open the tunnel first. The rest will be reported in the coming spring. If it is delayed again, we will definitely take care of it again."

After the reburial of Siling was finally completed, it was repaired many times during the Qianlong period. Emperor Qianlong once felt very sorry for Zhu Youjian, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He believed: "The reason why the Ming Dynasty collapsed was because Emperors Wanli and Tianqi ignored the government affairs, resulting in the weakening of laws and regulations. When Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, state affairs could no longer be done. Although he worked hard to manage it17 Years later, he still could not remedy the crisis, and finally died for his country."

During his reign, Emperor Chongzhen was diligent in political affairs, practiced frugality, redressed injustices, and eradicated eunuchs. However, at that time, there were endless internal party disputes in the Ming Dynasty and constant disasters among the people, which eventually led to the outbreak of peasant uprisings in the region. Externally, the Hou Jin regime took advantage of the situation to rise and watched with eager eyes. The country was in a situation of internal and external troubles. In fact, the general trend of the Ming Dynasty is over, and it is difficult to return. The demise of the Ming Dynasty is inevitable, which is also the inevitable result of historical development. In the end, the Ming Dynasty came to an end, and Emperor Chongzhen became the most tragic emperor in Chinese history.

Fang Shidi sang a mourning song "Chongzhen":

 

Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty,

Practicing the emperor's duty to guard the country,

Advocate that the monarch and his subjects should die for the sake of the country,

Great ambitions lead to failure.

 

A foolish king is very suspicious by nature.

Acting harshly and without plan,

There are many treacherous ministers when people are incompetent.

He hanged himself to cause harm to the country and the people.

 

The thieves and bandits seize the king's power,

Sinful deeds destroy mountains and rivers,

The Manchus and Qing Dynasties entered the Pass and became hegemonic.

The Han people are willing to be slaves if they wear braids.

 

There was the Yuan Dynasty as a precedent.

Later, the Qing Dynasty took over the country,

The funeral of the Ming Dynasty makes it difficult to sleep at night,

The cock crows and rises to look forward to the dawn.

 

From afar, I heard the mournful cry of Long Live Mountain,

Tie the sin locust tree with an iron chain,

Looking back at the history of the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty,

No one offers sacrifices to heaven to mourn the emperor’s soul.