Ming Dynasty was destroyed by plague.
During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the government's taxes became heavier and heavier. Then almost year after year, all parts of the country suffered disasters. First, then Heluo, then Qi, Lu, wuyue, Jingchu and Sanfu, there was a nationwide drought. During Wanli and Chongzhen years, droughts became more and more frequent, and the proportion of dry years was also increasing. Finally, the great plague that spread to several provinces in North China finally broke out in Shanxi.
In the eighth year of Wanli (1580), Datong suffered from plague, ten rooms and nine diseases, and the infected people died one after another. A family of several people is infected with this epidemic, and one in ten people can't afford to close the door. " In the same year, Taigu County, Xinzhou, Kelan Prefecture and Baode Prefecture of Taiyuan Prefecture (now Taiyuan) all recorded great epidemics. The following year, the epidemic spread to Liaozhou (now Zuo Quan) and then to Lu 'an Prefecture (now Changzhi), and the epidemic further expanded. Volume 26 of Wanli's Shanxi Tongforgetfulness records that Lu 'an was "a 20-year-old epidemic with a good swelling, and patients were afraid to ask and the dead were afraid to hang". The patient is swollen and highly contagious.
During the ten years of Wanli, the plague spread to the neighboring Fu Xuan (Xuanhua) area of Hebei Province, which was a military town with intensive military and strict hygiene. When the epidemic broke out, "people with swollen necks died in a day or two, which was a big-headed plague." From Xicheng to the city in autumn, the alley is definitely dyed. It will spread to Beijing in winter and to the south next year. "The epidemic not only caused a large number of deaths in Huailai Acropolis, but also spread to Beijing.
Around Beijing, until the Guangxu period in the late Qing Dynasty, local people can still recall: "In April of the tenth year of Wanli, the capital was infected with the epidemic. Tongzhou and Dong 'an are also infected. The dead in Bazhou, Wen 'an, Dacheng, Baoding and other places all suffered from pillow disease, although their relatives were afraid to ask. " "Big head plague" means swollen neck. In epidemic areas, the death toll accounts for about 40% of the total population. For example, Xinle County (now Zhengding), which is a stable prefecture, "a big head plague occurred in spring and summer in Wanli, and four-tenths of people died", and the records of Wuqiang and Luancheng counties are also the same. In addition, the data in local chronicles show that the plague also spread to Shandong and northern Henan.
From the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), the plague in North China began a new round of epidemic. The location of this outbreak is still Shanxi. A report in Xing County, Shanxi Province said: In "Chongzhen" in 1978, thieves in Xing County were killed or injured, which was very embarrassing. Plague in the sky, death at night. Overnight, people fled and the city was empty. "Death sooner or later" and "the whole family died and stayed behind" are descriptions of the characteristics of rapid onset and high mortality of plague. In the autumn of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), the plague spread south to Lu 'an prefecture. In the eighteenth year of Shunzhi, an epidemic situation was recorded in the "Lu 'an Taishouzhi" (15 Chronicle), saying that "the patient gave birth to a nucleus under his arm, or vomited light blood and died without taking bait. Although relatives and friends were afraid to ask about hanging, some people died and no one was buried. "
The plague in Shanxi also spread to neighboring provinces. From the ninth year to the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, major epidemics occurred successively in Yulin Prefecture and Yan 'an Prefecture, such as "Great plague, the dead in Mizhi City took their pillows in Chongzhen for ten years, thirteen years, another great summer plague, fifteen years, …… Great plague, sixteen years, barnyard grass, and the great county plague in July".
Similarly, Hebei is also deeply affected by the plague epidemic. In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Shunde Prefecture (governing Xingtai today), Hejian Prefecture (governing Hejian today) and Daming Prefecture (governing Daming today) all suffered from severe epidemics. "The plague spread and nine people died." In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the epidemic situation further developed. Daming Mansion "Spring rains never stop, locusts eat all the wheat, plagues run rampant, nine times out of ten people die, and nine times out of ten people are fierce." The mortality rate is quite high. There are many similar records in Guangping, Shunde and Calm. In July of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the plague was introduced to Beijing again.
Liu Shangyou of Chongzhen recalled the situation in Beijing, saying, "During the summer and autumn, there was a big epidemic. The doll gave birth to a bulge and died in a moment, which was called a pimple plague. Everyone suffers from it. Those who vomited blood in the spring also died for a long time, or several people in the family died together. " "Heart knot" is a name for lymph node enlargement in patients with bubonic plague. In the summer and autumn of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the death rate in Beijing was about 40%.
The epidemic in the suburbs of Beijing is also very serious. In Tongzhou, "in July of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, there was a great epidemic called gangrene, which was more contagious than houses, and people who lost their homes did not converge." "Changping Taishou Record" called "gangrene disease", "if you see it, you will die, and if you die, you will die". Another example is Hejian County. "In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen epidemic, patients vomited blood like watermelon water and died."
Beijing at that time was actually a terrible epidemic city. For example, the Archives of A Qing Dynasty mentioned the great plague in Beijing in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen: "Yesterday, there was a great plague in the capital, and ten rooms were empty, even the households were exhausted and no one converged." In Volume 6, Bao mentioned the city of Beijing in February of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, saying, "Great plague, people and ghosts are mixed. Twilight screen is not good. Merchants get more paper money and throw it into the water. If there is sound, it is money; if there is no sound, it is paper. Even during the day, walking on walls and roofs, teasing people. Every night, I cry and shout, and I hear voices and shadows. " There are so many dead people that ghosts can be seen everywhere in the city during the day, which is really creepy.
Gu Yingtai said in Volume 78 of Chronicle of the Ming Dynasty that "there are 154,000 strange castles in the inner and outer cities of the capital, and the elite eunuchs choose to go, 50,000 to 60,000 are weak, and 1,000 are castrated, but they don't make up." The soldiers of Beijing battalion were seriously weak after being attacked by the plague. So that on the wall of Beijing, there is a weak soldier guarding every three battlements on average. How can we resist the attack of Li Zicheng's elite division? Actually, Beijing is invincible.
In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, an epidemic of pneumonic plague broke out in Tianjin, and the same Qing dynasty file was quoted as saying: "There is a disaster in the sky, and the plague is prevalent. From August to now (September 15), it has reached its peak. Some died in a day or two, and some died at night. Every day, there are no fewer than hundreds of people, and even no one in the whole family dies. From house to house, no one is saved. " ..... One person was infected with the epidemic, which spread to the whole family, and died in two months. So far, it has been turned on, and it is everywhere outside the city, especially in the city, so that "the road is full of coffins and mourning". This is a tragedy. Strangely, Li Zicheng's army moved north and south, and there is no record of these people dying of the plague in the literature.
During the Chongzhen period, northern Henan was also an epidemic area of plague. Plague epidemics have been recorded in jia county, Ruzhou, Xingyang, Tongxu, Shangshui, Henan, and Guide. For example, in Wu Yang County, "the plague is great, the dead are nineteen, and countless insects are destroyed"; In Xingyang county, "there is a great epidemic in spring, people die and stay at home, and no one walks in March." The death toll is also quite alarming.
It is estimated that during the two plagues of Wanli and Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, the total number of deaths in the three provinces of North China reached at least l000 million. Because the epidemic of plague is accompanied by drought, locust plague and war, the death toll of the population in North China should be more during this period. The Qing soldiers successfully entered the Central Plains. This is providence.
In the first year of Shunzhi (1644), that is, the second year after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, the weather in North China became more and more favorable, and a large-scale plague epidemic was put out. The society began to recover, until 166 1 ushered in the prosperity of Kanggan. Clear, providence also.