At the beginning of Chongzhen's accession to the throne, after several temptations, he quietly and violently wiped out the Yen Group headed by Wei Zhongxian and concentrated his power in his own hands. The downfall of Wei Zhongxian brought some fresh air to the dark political arena at that time, and also won the cheers and praises of wise kings for Chongzhen.
However, seventeen years later, on March 14th, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (A.D. 1644), five days before he hanged himself in Jingshan Park, Chongzhen did an incredible thing in the despair of being surrounded by soldiers and the building collapsed. He secretly ordered the re-burial of Wei Zhongxian's remains, and the tomb site was chosen in Biyun Temple in Xiangshan, which Wei Zhongxian had long been optimistic about. In the panic and despair of the country's demise, why did Chongzhen suddenly change his original intention of overthrowing and denying Wei Zhongxian, and unexpectedly collected bones and erected a monument for him?
Wei Zhongxian, whose real name is Wan Wu, is from Suning, Cangzhou, Hebei Province, Han nationality, formerly known as Li Jinzhong.
He castrated himself into the palace because he owed a lot of gambling debts. During the reign of Emperor Xizong of Ming Dynasty, it was renamed Wei Zhongxian, which won people's hearts and was called 9900 years old, so that people only knew loyalty and righteousness, not emperors. Unofficial history records that Wei Zhongxian was promoted quickly because he was not castrated completely, that is, castrated incompletely, and he fell in love with the wet nurse Hakka of Ming Xizong.
Wei Zhongxian is a traitor, arbitrary in state affairs, cruel and vicious, and arrogant. This is a historical fact and cannot be overturned. However, due to the contradiction between Wei Zhongxian and the civilian group that controls public opinion, his disadvantage has been infinitely magnified, and his true face has also changed beyond recognition and been stigmatized. In fact, no matter whether Wei Zhongxian is "autocratic" or "dictatorial", he is very principled and resourceful on the issue of the survival of the country and the nation. Here are a few examples.
First, Wei Zhongxian once pushed for the popular support, boldly used Xiong Yanbi, who suffered slanderous remarks after Liaoyang's defeat, unselfishly and decisively dismissed Yuan Chonghuan, who could not retreat in Ningjin World War I, put aside personal grievances and recommended Zhao Nanxing, Sun Chengzong and other capable ministers against his will.
Second, the court has no money to collect taxes. At that time, businessmen in the south had money and farmers had no money. However, the representatives of businessmen are Lindong Party, and they are opposed to raising taxes on gentry, businessmen, craftsmen and mine owners. Regardless of these, Wei Zhongxian tried to tax the upper and middle classes so that the Ming Empire would not be dragged down by finance.
Third, the war in Liaodong is tight and horses are badly needed. According to the old practice of Ming Dynasty in Wei Zhongxian, ministers with special contributions can enjoy the privilege of riding horses in the palace. As a condition, riders should present a good horse to the emperor on holidays. Wei Zhongxian suddenly gave hundreds of eunuchs the privilege of riding horses in the palace, and then he kept issuing letters for them to offer horses, forcing these eunuchs to criticize their mothers. Wei Zhongxian forced the sale of the right to ride horses in the Forbidden Palace, which offended a large number of officials and did not reach out to farmers. Wei Zhongxian also donated money to the country, and used his private property to finance the Liaodong war weapons, horses and other items.
Four, Wei Zhongxian Group in all parts of the country to collect all kinds of business tax, customs duties, although there is a lot of corruption, but did not increase people's tax revenue. Henan was also tax-free when it was hit by the disaster. When Zhejiang was hit by the disaster, Neiku could still allocate funds for disaster relief. The contradiction between the Yen faction and the civilian faction is sharp, but there are not many acts of invading the people and killing them indiscriminately. Because Wei Zhongxian was born as a farmer, he knew the difficulties of farmers. During Wei Zhongxian's administration, the domestic situation was good and the situation in Liaodong was stable. This ability, this courage and this achievement should still be recognized and affirmed.
After Wei Zhongxian's death, as soon as Chongzhen came to power, Lindong party member, who advocated Confucianism, immediately began to use it. However, at the moment of domestic turmoil and critical border issues, what role will those literati Confucianism who are good at empty talk and lack the skills of governing the country play?
In order to win the hearts of the people, Lindong Party, which was in power again, was exempted from many taxes. No more commercial taxes such as salt tax and cloth tax; Due to the lack of economic resources, farmers' taxes have to be increased. No matter whether there is a disaster or not, the tax will remain unchanged, and the previous tax will be paid back. In Li Zicheng's hometown, when eunuchs were in power, they paid two yuan tax per mu. After the Lindong Party came back to power, they paid a tax of two taels of silver per mu. Businessmen don't increase taxes, only including the money on farmers, plus the continuous natural disasters that haven't happened for hundreds of years. Farmers can't survive, so they have to take part in the refugee uprising. If the money can't be collected, it should cost a lot of money. The Donglin Party alone defended Liao, which consumed nine million taels of silver from the national treasury every year, and consumed the finance of the Ming Dynasty within a few years. Li Zicheng surrounded Beijing, and the national treasury was in deficit. When Chongzhen borrowed money from courtiers, he lost his patriotic rhetoric. They have no money. No, as soon as Li Zicheng went to Beijing, he searched 70 million from them. They would rather destroy the country than pay the price for it. From this point of view, the loyalty of civil servants to the court is not as good as that of eunuchs in Wei Zhongxian.
Without the restraint of Wei Zhongxian eunuchs in the DPRK, the party struggle within the civil service group intensified, attacking and restricting each other. Lin Dong and party member, whose mission is to promote Confucianism, most of their memorials are stupid views of big talk and empty talk, absurd views on paper, and moral articles that are not helpful to state affairs. Chongzhen is ambitious and makes great efforts to deal with this situation. In seventeen years, he changed seventeen ministers of punishments and fifty cabinet college students, all to no avail.
Chongzhen ascended the throne. In the grim situation of domestic troubles and foreign invasion, the imperial court urgently needs an "able man" like Wei Zhongxian who has rich military experience and the ability to grasp the turbulent situation. Although it can't reverse the decline trend of the country, it won't collapse in a short time. However, Chongzhen thought he would be smarter than his brother, underestimated the arduousness and complexity of governing the country, trusted the empty talk of Lindong Party, and finally suffered the consequences. Before he died, Chongzhen lamented: "All civil servants can be killed" and "All civil servants are mistaken for me&; quot。 The Ming Dynasty died not at the hands of hooligans in Wei Zhongxian, but at the hands of corrupt literati who thought they had read the books of sages and governed the country well. It's really a joke and worth pondering. Before he died, Ming Xizong specifically told Chongzhen, "Wei Zhongxian is faithful and can do great things. Cao Huachun, the eunuch, also said, "If there were loyal people, current affairs would not have developed to this point. ".After doing it, there seems to be some truth. At least Wei Zhongxian was loyal to the Ming Dynasty, so he could put the national plan first.
If there is one thing in history that Emperor Chongzhen regrets most, it is undoubtedly that he killed Wei Zhongxian. It is rumored that Chongzhen regretted the bitter fruit he had made for himself shortly after killing Wei Zhongxian. What's going on here? The following announcement.
At the beginning of Chongzhen's accession to the throne, after several temptations, he quietly and violently wiped out the Yen Group headed by Wei Zhongxian and concentrated his power in his own hands. The downfall of Wei Zhongxian brought some fresh air to the dark political arena at that time, and also won the cheers and praises of wise kings for Chongzhen.
However, seventeen years later, on March 14th, the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (A.D. 1644), five days before he hanged himself in Jingshan Park, Chongzhen did an incredible thing in the despair of being surrounded by soldiers and the building collapsed. He secretly ordered the re-burial of Wei Zhongxian's remains, and the tomb site was chosen in Biyun Temple in Xiangshan, which Wei Zhongxian had long been optimistic about. In the panic and despair of the country's demise, why did Chongzhen suddenly change his original intention of overthrowing and denying Wei Zhongxian, and unexpectedly collected bones and erected a monument for him?
Before he died, Ming Xizong told Chongzhen that Wei Zhongxian was "faithful, but he could count great things". The dying man speaks the truth. So, if you don't kill Wei Zhongxian, can Emperor Chongzhen make a comeback?
Compared with Lindong party member who attacked and recovered Liaodong by nonsense regardless of the actual situation, Wei Zhongxian was much better.
The Ming dynasty was defeated by the small-scale peasant system at the beginning of the founding of the people's Republic of China. As a unified empire, its financial capacity is very weak. The implementation of government decrees needs financial support. Whether it is disaster relief or military use, the country needs universal equivalent to distribute the required materials. The narrow national view hindered the expansion of the imperial territory, the territory was shrinking, the population was increasing year by year, and the land was gradually concentrated. In addition, the carrying capacity of land is certain, and the increasing population year by year will inevitably lead to war and plague, otherwise there is only one way to expand, and the farming people are not interested in land that is not suitable or difficult to cultivate.
Sun Chengzong has been operating Liaodong for four years, taking training and repairing the city as its own responsibility, and gradually sending troops to Jinzhou, Songshan, Xingshan, Shitun and Linghe. In the fifth year of the apocalypse, the Ming army advanced 200 miles to Ningyuan, forming a Ningjin defense line centered on Ningyuan.
Sun Chengzong strengthened the fighting capacity of the Ming army in Liaodong, formed the Ningjin defense line, and consolidated the cities in western Liaoning by means of training, garrison and importing firearms. Both attack and defense can be carried out with ease, and even if it is unfavorable to send troops in the future, it can still be invincible. Later, Ningyuan won, Ningjin won, and Yuan Chonghuan curbed the onslaught of Jianzhou.
Sun Chengzong also reused a large number of loyal civil and military officials. "Jiang is the company commander. He should build a military system, build a worship camp, abolish Li Bingcheng to practice firearms, draw a good succession, and then unify the ancient army, Shen Zhuo and Du Xiu, for Chien Sun Fort, Licheng Lun, and for Guangning Road." After more than three years of preparation, a large-scale counterattack is about to begin, with "the weapons of the East have won the nineteenth" and "94,000 enemy troops, 16,000 defenders and 24,000 mixed soldiers".
Killing Wei Zhongxian is the stupidest thing in Chongzhen. If Emperor Amin changed to Yongzheng, would it last for 50 years? what do you think?