It has been almost 20 years since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne. Although the Ming Dynasty had already begun to decline when he first took the throne, it was not on the verge of collapse. However, in just over ten years, the imperial court was on the verge of death. Even though Lao Zhu was only alive I'm afraid it's hard to be rejuvenated. Is this because Emperor Chongzhen is lazy and incompetent?
Calling him incompetent may be a bit wrong, but it would be a huge injustice to call him lazy in politics. Among the hundreds of emperors since the Qin Dynasty, in terms of diligence, he is firmly in the top five if not the top three.
However, even such diligent people failed to improve the decline of the imperial court. Instead, they fell deeper and deeper into the quagmire. The reason why Ming Dynasty collapsed so quickly was because of two forces, one was domestic thieves and the other was foreign enemies.
The rebellion of domestic thieves started when Gao Yingxiang came to the throne, which happened to be the year he ascended the throne. From the beginning, he thought he was just a little Karami and didn't take much notice of him. Who knew that a single spark would start a prairie fire? The situation was out of control, and during his reign he suffered from anxiety and suffering in order to put out the fire.
But if you just attack the courtyard, it may not be so painful, because at the same time there are foreign enemies to resist.
Although domestic thieves are difficult to deal with, foreign enemies are even more difficult to deal with, and the focus of the imperial court has always been on resisting foreign enemies. Although the slogans are to calm down the inside first and then attack the outside, it always backfires. Foreign enemies will not give you time to calm down the inside. If he comes to deal with me again, he will always take advantage of it when you are in peace.
What's more, the foreign enemies started revolt earlier. Counting from when Nurhachi pulled the flag, it was the forty-sixth year of Wanli, 1618 AD. At that time, Emperor Chongzhen was only seven years old. Now it is the eighteenth year of Chongzhen, the end of 1645 AD. Twenty-seven years!
How did Chongzhen come here in the past twenty-seven years?
When he was five years old, Nurhaci established Dajin in Hetuala and made himself Khan. When he was seven years old, Nurhaci officially rebelled against the Ming Dynasty. He went south and spent three years conquering 70 cities of the Ming Dynasty. When he was ten years old, Nurhaci moved the capital. Liaoyang, Nurhaci moved the capital to Shenyang when he was fourteen years old. A year before he ascended the throne, Nurhaci attacked Ningyuan and was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan and died of illness. Then came the Huang Taiji period. At this time, the family thieves also started to make trouble...
In other words, words like Nurhaci, Houjin, Tatars, and Manchus have been with Emperor Chongzhen in his mind since he was a child, making him live in these shadows since he was a child! From the humiliation in my ears before taking the throne to the contamination in my eyes after taking the throne, it can be said that I have been living in fear for more than ten years!
Over time, psychological diseases and fear of clearing developed!
Although since Chang Yu was born, Tatar has been beaten hard several times to make his fear go away. However, the three feet of ice are not frozen in a day, and the shadows and fears of more than ten years will not disappear all at once!
In his deepest heart, he is still extremely afraid of the Tatars. After all, no matter how noisy the family affairs are, there is still room for negotiation, but foreigners want to subvert you and kill you to replace you. In fact, the Tatars have been doing this for so many years. While doing this, all the great lands outside the pass were invaded and plundered, and from time to time they would enter the pass to burn, kill and plunder, and even wanted to destroy the imperial capital...
How can you not be afraid!
Although this fear has been downplayed by Chang Yu in the past two years, it is unrealistic to think that it will disappear in a short time. Therefore, whether Emperor Chongzhen behaved in front of the courtiers or Chang Yu in terms of regaining the lost territory, it was unrealistic. How fearless he was and how determined he was, but he still felt guilty about starting a war with the Manchus!
He felt that it was quite good to be able to maintain the current situation. It was a great blessing to be able to keep the Tatars out of Shanhaiguan and keep Ningyuan City intact. As for regaining the lost ground... shouting and shouting a few times to create a lively atmosphere. It's okay to build momentum, but if you really do it...it's better to wait until your strength increases and you have greater confidence. If you send troops hastily, you might end up overturning...
In other words, although he also wanted to regain the lost ground in his heart and wanted to regain the lost ground, he was also afraid that he would not be able to defeat him or that he would overturn.
Fortunately, after the battle in Ningyuan, Chang Yu's victory was settled. It was said that the border would be peaceful for two years, and he could take advantage of the two years to regain his strength and clean up the house thieves in the yard.
This made Emperor Chongzhen relieved in his heart, but he also knew that sooner or later he would have to fight the Tatars, but he didn't expect it to be so soon. Chang Yu clearly said that there would be no war at the border within two years, but this was just over the past year. Ah, Chang Yu obviously went to the border to build momentum, why did he want to be serious about it?
When Chang Yu left the capital to go outside the customs, very few people knew about it at first, but it soon became an open secret. However, most people guessed that he routinely inspected the border and inspected Zu Dashou as ordered by the emperor. Only Emperor Chongzhen and A few people know that patrolling the border is just one way to build momentum, make some noise to make the Tatars nervous, frighten them, and attract attention to make things easier for North Korea.
In the beginning, Chang Yu did exactly what he did in Ningyuan, hiding in Ningyuan City and not leaving the city, but it made everyone in the world know that he was coming, and it did attract Dorgon's attention, making him nervous. Tight, and because of this he knew nothing about things in North Korea, which made Doduo directly step on the thunder!
But soon, the information sent from Ningyuan made Emperor Chongzhen a little worried!
Some of this information was regular reports from Chang Yu, and some were secret reports from Jin Yiwei and Dongchang spies. These secret reports were divided into normal official documents of the yamen, and there were also secret reports from Emperor Chongzhen's own informants.
Does Emperor Chongzhen trust Chang Yu?
The answer is yes, Chang Yu is definitely the person he trusts most.
But the person you trust the most is not the same as absolute trust.
Just like Chang Yu, is Zhen Zhen loyal to the court?
Loyal, absolutely loyal.
But even so, he had to be cautious in everything he did, guard against Emperor Chongzhen, and leave a way out for himself.
Even he is like this, let alone the emperor!
So even though Chang Yu was already the most powerful supervisor in the dynasty, controlling the Dongchang, Jinyiwei and the army, there were a lot of emperor's spies here, watching his every move.
This is no secret to Chang Yu. Even Wu Mengming, who now wears the same pants as him, received a secret order to monitor him.
Chang Yu's report plus the spy's secret report, although Emperor Chongzhen could not say that he knew everything about the war at the border, he could still know about it. Even Chang Yu's various actions were also well known. For example, Chang Yu was in Ningyuan City What did he do in those more than a month? For example, Chang Yu went to Tashan Fort, for example, Chang Yu took the risk to go to Jinzhou City to assassinate Dorgon...
Especially the assassination incident in Jinzhou really shocked him beyond measure. He scolded this kid for being desperate for his life, doing things regardless of the importance or consequences, but he couldn't help but admire him in his heart, "Yong Ye!" Cow, b too~
Even in the morning, the superior exaggerated the matter so much that the civil and military officials in the court almost peed their pants. No matter whether they were friendly troops or political enemies, they were shocked by the courage and courage of the eunuch!
Of course, there are also a few words of obscenity on his lips. This person has no overall view of the overall situation, and he misses important things by showing off his bravery...
People with smart minds quickly realized one thing. The eunuch's visit to the border was probably not as simple as patrolling. It was teasing, and if it was such a teasing, a big accident might happen. Let’s go to war directly with the Manchus!
But right now, is the court or Zu Dashou ready?
What are you afraid of? An urgent report came from eight hundred miles away: There is going to be a war outside the customs. It is not a small fight, but the kind of life and death and superiority. If you win, you can push the battle line to the outside of Jinzhou City. , and even attacked Jinzhou directly. They were defeated and returned to Ningyuan. Zu Dashou's more than a year of hard work was in vain!
At this moment, those who knew the news became nervous.
The most nervous person was none other than Emperor Chongzhen.
However, there are still people who are nagging at this juncture, why the imperial court has just found out about such a big thing as starting a war, and the frontline actually makes the decision on its own without bringing it to the imperial court for discussion...
Some people also retorted, "It's not you who took the initiative to attack. You need to report this to the court. Now it's someone else who comes to do it to you. Why are you still discussing with the court whether to fight back..."
Others say that the eunuch should not poke someone else's hornet's nest. Now they have taken revenge and are going to send troops to go to war, but we are not ready at all. If we go to war, there will be no advantage at all...
But I am also extremely confident and not afraid, the eunuch of Dongchang is here!
There is no battle that he cannot win these days!
Among these people were the crown prince Zhu Cixiang and other Chang Yu's biggest fans, as well as Emperor Chongzhen himself. He had confidence in Chang Yu, but he couldn't help but beat his drum in his heart. After all, the situation on both sides was there, in terms of military strength and military strength. No matter the terrain, the weather, the weather, or anything else, our side doesn’t have an advantage!
So when Gong Yonggu asked this question, he couldn't help but sigh: Chang Yu may be too radical this time.
