In the early morning of March 19, 17th year of Chongzhen, the bells of the Shang Dynasty came out of the Forbidden City, and no one knew that the person who struck the bell was the Chongzhen Emperor himself. However, no minister has returned to the court, and everyone has long since fled. Chongzhen really became a lonely man at this time, of course, he himself had no intention of escaping.
Chongzhen thought of xie guoren dying, and he ordered the eunuch Wang Cheng'en to be in front, and he staggered behind him, and the two masters and servants climbed to the top of coal mountain one after the other. At this time, Chongzhen was in a terrible state, wearing only a long blue coat, his hair was scattered, and only his left foot was wearing a shoe.
When the two arrived at the Coal Mountain ShouHuang Pavilion, the city of Beijing was already bright at this time, and the rebel army led by Li Zicheng also occupied the city and was looking around for the Chongzhen Emperor. As a result, everyone knows that Chongzhen hangs himself from a crooked neck tree.
Before dying, Chongzhen left a testament, "After reigning for seven years, Bo De bandited, invited heaven to sin, caused the captivity of the interior three times, rebelled against the thief and directly approached the Capital Division, and the ministers mistakenly degenerated." He saw his ancestors die in the ground without a face, and let the thief split the corpse, and do not hurt my people. ”
Li Zicheng searched for three days and finally found Chongzhen on the coal mountain, but unfortunately Chongzhen's body had long been frozen. After Chongzhen's body was found, Li Zicheng ordered his men to carry him outside the Donghua Gate for public display. During his lifetime, Chongzhen always complained that "the ministers were mistakenly degenerated." After his death, he left a will to hope that Li Zicheng's rebel army would "not hurt my people alone." ”
However, when Chongzhen's body was displayed, "thirty of the courtiers wept and worshipped, and sixty worshiped without weeping, and the rest were blinded." The emperor, who had once worked hard and was promising, actually ended up with such a fate, a sigh. The bodies of Chongzhen and Empress Zhou were publicly displayed for three days, except for the three eunuchs who were guarding, only Li Guozhen knelt in front of Chongzhen's corpse and wept bitterly.
Li Guozhen was the eighth grandson of Li Mao, the bo of Xiangcheng who had followed Zhu Di in launching the Battle of Jingnan. This man was first-class on paper, and the Chongzhen Emperor often exchanged military issues with him, mistakenly believing that he had military talent. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Guozhen was appointed as the governor of the capital and responsible for the defense of the capital.
It turned out that this was Chongzhen's biggest mistake, "Li Zicheng committed the crime of Jingshi. The three battalions collapsed without a fight. Stay again, the city sinks. The thief Le Guozhen surrendered, and the Guozhen disarmed and obeyed the order. However, Li Guozhen cried bitterly in front of Chongzhen's corpse, or let Li Zicheng "look at him with astonishment" and praise "Loyal subjects also!" ”
Regarding Chongzhen himself, a book titled "Narrative of the Ming Dynasty" commented, "Emperor Zhuang Lie had the courage to seek treatment, and he was different from the king of the previous subjugation of the country. However, inheriting the immorality of the Divine Sect and the Xi Sect, he was good at self-use and ignorant of people's knowledge. Gentlemen cultivate themselves and their families, it is advisable to guard against the habits of likes and dislikes, and the situation is flat in the world? Although there were no rogue thieves ravaging the sea at that time, the death of Ming was also decided. ”
References: History of the Ming Dynasty, Narrative of the Ming Dynasty