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Chapter 172: Heroes of the Late Ming Dynasty

[The best carpenter among emperors, and the best carpenter to be an emperor. Zhu Youxiao, History of the Ming Dynasty]

How does it feel to be an emperor doing this as a part-time job? The Ming Dynasty Carpenter Emperor loved carpentry more than the country. He was the best carpenter among emperors and the most capable carpenter to be an emperor.

Some people say he was an illiterate emperor, while others say he was a master at cleaning up messes. So what kind of person was Zhu Youxiao, the Ming Xizong? Why was he obsessed with carpentry? In this video, let's take a look at Zhu Youxiao's life.

Zhu Youxiao was born in 1605. He was the eldest son of the crown prince Zhu Changluo and the eldest grandson of Emperor Wanli. Zhu Youxiao had six younger brothers, but most of them died young. Only Prince Xin Zhu Youjian survived.

The two brothers huddled together in the Prince's Eastern Palace for warmth. Although he was the eldest grandson of the emperor and the future successor to the throne, Zhu Youxiao's childhood was far from happy. His father, Zhu Changluo, was not well received by Emperor Wanli, and Zhu Youxiao's childhood was full of disputes and fears. Zhu Changluo himself did not care much about his sons, and sent both Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian to be raised by Li Xianshi.

And this Li Xuanshi was not a good person either. She relied on the prince's favor to abuse Zhu Youxiao's mother to death, and she also beat and scolded Zhu Youxiao and his brothers at will.

Zhu Youjian was luckier and was soon sent to another palace for upbringing, while Zhu Youxiao was held tightly by Li Xuanshi as a bargaining chip for her future success. In this situation where his father did not love him and his mother did not care for him, the young Zhu Youxiao felt the love from his wet nurse Kebaba and the eunuch Li Jinzhong.

Li Jinzhong was a guard by nature and had served Zhu Youxiao's biological mother, Wang. After Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, he was given a new name - Wei Zhongxian.

The Ming Dynasty court had always been very strict in educating the princes and grandchildren. However, due to his father's lack of attention, Zhu Youxiao did not receive a good cultural education in his childhood, and instead focused all his skills on carpentry.

In fact, carpentry is also a job that requires very high technical skills. Zhu Youxiao was not only proficient in knives and painting, but also knew how to build pavilions and make simple machines. Even the skilled craftsmen of the time would feel inferior to the objects made by Zhu Youxiao.

If Zhu Youxiao was just an ordinary member of the royal family, his hobby of woodworking would not be a big deal, but if he was an emperor, it would be a disaster.

In 1620, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty passed away after 48 years in office. The fearful Crown Prince Zhu Changluo finally became the emperor. However, after only 27 days, Zhu Changluo died mysteriously, becoming the shortest-reigning emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youxiao, who was only 16 years old that year, became the 15th emperor of the Ming Dynasty. However, when the ministers were preparing to welcome Zhu Youxiao, they found that he was detained in the Qianqing Palace by Li Xuanshi.

At that time, Zhu Changluo's wife had died, and the harem was without a master, but Li Xuanshi regarded herself as the future empress dowager, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from the Donglin Party. How could the fourth army be entrusted to this woman when he was only 16 years old? Therefore, as soon as Yang Lian and others saw Zhu Youxiao, they pulled him from the Qianqing Palace to the Ciqing Palace.

However, Li Xianshi still refused to leave the Qianqing Palace. As the day of the coronation ceremony drew closer, the two sides were in a stalemate. In the end, the eunuch Wang An drove Li Xianshi out, and Zhu Youxiao was able to be registered as emperor and change the reign title to Tianqi.

Because Zhu Youxiao was obsessed with carpentry and had no intention of governing the country, the wet nurse Kebaba and the eunuch Wei Zhongxian came to the fore. The two of them colluded with each other and made the former dynasty and the harem a chaotic mess.

The Donglin Party was very dissatisfied with the emperor's favoritism towards Kebaba and Wei Zhongxian, but Zhu Youxiao turned a deaf ear to it. In Zhu Youxiao's view, Kebaba and Wei Zhongxian, who grew up with him, were like his own parents.

One night, Kebaba's two lovers quarreled in the palace, which alarmed Zhu Youxiao. Zhu Youxiao was not angry, but asked Kebaba which one he liked and wanted to drive the other one out.

However, the Ming Dynasty was already in the midst of internal and external troubles, and the Later Jin Dynasty was growing stronger and stronger. The Ming army was no longer able to contain Nurhaci. Nurhaci successively conquered the important cities of Shenyang and Liaoyang in Liaodong. In the Battle of Ningyuan in 1622, the Ming army was defeated, and Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi retreated to Shanhaiguan, and the Ming army lost all the land in western Liaoning.

The following year, Wei Zhongxian took charge of the East Factory and became even more powerful. He was called "Nine Thousand Years Old", and "Ten Thousand Years Old" naturally referred to Emperor Zhu Youxiao. Every time Wei Zhongxian came to report to Zhu Youxiao while he was doing carpentry, Zhu Youxiao was very annoyed and let Wei Zhongxian do it himself. With the emperor's consent, Wei Zhongxian became more unscrupulous and domineering.

Some civil servants who were dissatisfied with Wei Zhongxian also attached themselves to Wei Zhongxian and formed the Eunuch Party, which confronted the Donglin Party and attacked each other. In 1625, Yang Zuoguangdou and seven other officials impeached Wei Zhongxian for 7 major crimes. As a result, these seven people were cruelly persecuted by Wei Zhongxian, tortured and died unjustly. People called them the "Six Gentlemen of Donglin".

Since then, Wei Zhongxian's arrogance has become more rampant. He built ancestral temples all over the country. People only know about the "Nine Thousand Years Old" Wei Zhongxian, but not the "Ten Thousand Years Old" Zhu Youxiao.

However, neither Wei Zhongxian nor Zhu Youxiao had any talent for governing the country. At this time, various natural disasters had occurred in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. Coupled with land annexation and corruption among grassroots officials, there were more and more refugees, which became a huge time bomb.

As long as someone raised their hands, it would have disastrous consequences for the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty, which had been established for 260 years, began to decline, but Zhu Youxiao himself could not wait until then.

In 1627, Zhu Youxiao was seriously ill. Under the persuasion of Empress Zhang Yan, he decided to follow his conscience and pass the throne to his only brother Zhu Youjian, and told him that "my brother should be like Yao and Shun". A few days later, Zhu Youxiao died at the age of 22. He was posthumously named Xizong and buried in Deling.

——"The woodworking work that Zhu Youxiao was most satisfied with was sold to the public for more than 1,000 taels."

——"I think it's not a bad thing for people to have some hobbies."

——"This man is much stronger than Chongzhen. At least with Wei Zhongxian around, the Donglin Party hasn't been so rampant."

——"Indeed, Chongzhen killed Wei Zhongxian, and then the basic situation collapsed."

[The last general of the Ming Empire, understand Yuan Chonghuan's life in one breath. Yuan Chonghuan in the history of the Ming Dynasty]

Yuan Chonghuan, the last famous anti-Qing general of the Ming Empire, once killed Nurhaci with a red cannon and used his wisdom to bring peace to Liaodong, but was eventually executed by slow slicing.

So what kind of person was Yuan Chonghuan? Was his death really an injustice? In this video, let us walk into Yuan Chonghuan's life in chronological order.

Yuan Chonghuan was born in Dongguan, Guangdong in 1584. He passed the imperial examination at the age of 35 and was appointed as the magistrate of Shaowu, Fujian. Although Yuan Chonghuan was born a civil servant, he was very interested in military affairs and often interacted with veterans to understand the situation in the north.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was in decline, with the threat of the Later Jin outside the Great Wall, and fierce party struggles and contradictions inside. Shortly after the death of Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun, the successor Ming Guangzong Zhu Changluo died mysteriously, and the 16-year-old Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne. The Qingliu Donglin Party, which had supported him, was also reused, and Donglin flourished for a time.

In 1622, Yuan Chonghuan came to Beijing as a county magistrate and was promoted to the head of the Military Affairs Department with the recommendation of the censor. After the defeat in the Battle of Guangning, the Ming army lost all the land in western Liaoning. Yuan Chonghuan patrolled the area around Shanhaiguan alone for seven days and seven nights. After returning, he told the court that as long as he was given enough soldiers, money and food, he could defend Shanhaiguan alone.

When this statement came out, the whole court was stunned. Yuan Chonghuan became famous for a while and was promoted to the military assistant again. The Jin official allocated 20 yuan to Tang Jin to let Yuan Chonghuan recruit troops. From the seventh-rank county magistrate to the fifth-rank military assistant, Yuan Chonghuan was able to be promoted four levels in a short period of time, which was inseparable from the relationship with the cabinet minister Han Yu.

In addition to the importance of fellow townsmen, the Ming Dynasty officialdom also emphasized the relationship between teachers and students. Yuan Chonghuan was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli, and the chief examiner at that time happened to be Han Yu, so Han Yu also became Yuan Chonghuan's teacher. It was because of this relationship that Yuan Chonghuan was promoted twice.

Wang Zaijin, the governor of Liaodong at that time, relied heavily on Yuan Chonghuan, but Yuan Chonghuan felt that Wang Zaijin had no foresight and was unwilling to obey his orders. After a fruitless argument, he took the case to Sun Chengzong, the Minister of War, who then went to Liaodong to replace Wang Zaijin, listened to Yuan Chonghuan's advice, and moved the defense line to Ningyuan.

During the period when Sun Chengzong was stationed in Liaodong, he relied heavily on Yuan Chonghuan. Under Sun Chengzong's leadership, the Liaodong defense line became impregnable and a large area of ​​lost territory was recovered. However, due to party strife, Sun Chengzong was eventually dismissed and returned home. The Later Jin thought it had an opportunity, so it launched a large-scale attack on Ningyuan in 1626. However, under the command of Yuan Chonghuan, the Later Jin was repelled by the fierce artillery fire of the Ming army, suffered heavy casualties, and was forced to withdraw.

Soon Nurhaci died of illness. Some people said that Nurhaci died of serious injuries during the siege, while others said that he died of grief and anger after the defeat in Ningyuan. But in any case, the Ningyuan victory was a great encouragement to the Ming army. Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to the governor of Liaodong, but at the same time Wei Zhongxian also sent his confidants to Liaodong to suppress Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan failed to succeed in his several resistances.

Based on the principle of joining if you can't defeat them, Yuan Chonghuan turned to praising Wei Zhongxian and even wanted to build a shrine for Wei Zhongxian, in an attempt to please Wei Zhongxian and preserve his own achievements.

In 1627, Yuan Chonghuan defeated Huang Taiji in Ningyuan and Jinzhou, and the Later Jin suffered countless casualties, which was known as the Ningjin Victory in history. However, when it came to rewarding merits, Yuan Chonghuan was excluded by Wei Zhongxian and was forced to resign and return home.

Not long after, Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao passed away and Emperor Zhu Youjian ascended the throne. Wei Zhongxian's good days finally came to an end. As soon as Zhu Youjian took office, he began to purge the eunuch party, redress unjust cases, recalled Yuan Chonghuan, and ordered him to supervise Denglai.

Before leaving, Lu Rujie personally visited Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan said a fatal word to the emperor: "Recover Liao in five years." Zhu Youjian happily sent Yuan Chonghuan away. Tongliao asked him if he could really pacify Liao in five years? Yuan Chonghuan said that this was just to comfort the emperor.

The tragedy is that the emperor took this seriously, which directly led to Yuan Chonghuan's miserable end in the future. There are risks in making promises, especially for the emperor. After Yuan Chonghuan returned to Liaodong, he held military and political power and became a veritable frontier official, but he had a very troublesome subordinate, Mao Wenlong.

Yuan Chonghuan wanted the court to send a civil official to supervise Mao Wenlong's military pay, which caused Mao Wenlong's strong dissatisfaction. So Yuan Chonghuan found an opportunity to meet Mao Wenlong and killed him with the imperial sword. Zhu Youjian did not blame Yuan Chonghuan after hearing about this. But he began to doubt Yuan Chonghuan's loyalty because he was suspicious by nature.

In 1629, the Later Jin Dynasty evaded the Ningyuan defense line, attacked Hebei via Mongolia, and approached Beijing. Yuan Chonghuan hurried back to Beijing to provide support, but the Jin army found it difficult to capture the city after the high moat was deep, so they looted the area around the capital.

At this time, officials in the court began to condemn Yuan Chonghuan for being stubborn and self-righteous, so Zhu Youjian ordered Yuan Chonghuan to be thrown into Tianlao. It is worth mentioning that later historical books said that Yuan Chonghuan was a Huang Taiji who was unjustly killed by the Ming Dynasty because of a counter-espionage plan.

However, among the many charges against Yuan Chonghuan at the time, there was no evidence of collusion with the Later Jin to betray the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, even if the Later Jin used a counter-espionage strategy, it was probably not discovered by the Ming Dynasty. In August 1630, Yuan Chonghuan was executed by slow slicing at the age of 8.

——"Don't argue. Yuan Chonghuan's death was not unjust at all."

——"Forget about him. If he hadn't killed Mao Wenlong, the Qing army wouldn't have attacked the Ming Dynasty so recklessly. In fact, he was a member of the Donglin Party, and was placed on the border to engage in smuggling."

——"Come on, there are people criticizing Yuan Chonghuan too. It's obvious that his merits outweigh his faults."

[Understand in one breath, the national hero, the last backbone of the Southern Ming Dynasty - Zheng Chenggong Ming Dynasty History Zheng Chenggong]

He was the last backbone of the Southern Ming Dynasty, and his lifelong goal was to restore the country. He drove away the Dutch colonists and recovered Taiwan Island, but he only lived to be 39 years old and was eventually angered to death by his own son.

So why did Zheng Chenggong order the killing of his wife and children before his death? Why did he not hesitate to destroy his own appearance? In this video, let us walk into the life of the national hero Zheng Chenggong in chronological order.

Zheng Chenggong, whose real name was Zheng Sen, was born in Nan'an, Quanzhou in 1624 in Hirado, Kyushu. His father, Zheng Zhilong, was a maritime smuggling leader who traveled between China and Japan. Later, he surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and served as a guerrilla general. Zheng Zhilong married Tagawa Matsu in Japan, who was Zheng Chenggong's mother.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Fujian suffered from droughts, and Zheng Zhilong organized local residents to migrate to Taiwan to reclaim wasteland and settle there. Taiwan has fertile land, but the southern part was occupied by the Dutch East India Company.

Although the Lanhe colonists lived in the coastal areas of Fujian, they were defeated by Zheng Zhilong several times. Zheng Chenggong lived with his mother in Japan during his childhood. After Zheng Zhilong surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, he took his son back to Fujian to study.

At the age of 21, Zheng Chenggong went to Nanjing Imperial College to study and became a student of Qian Qianyi. He changed his name from Zheng Fusong to Zheng Sen, which means deep and serious. His teacher Qian Qianyi also gave him the character "Da Mu".

At this time, the Ming Dynasty, which had been established for 276 years, had reached a critical moment of life and death. In the year when Zheng Chenggong came to study in the south of Beijing, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing and Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself. Soon after, Wu Sangui led the Qing army into the pass, and Li Zicheng was defeated and fled. The four towns in northern Jiang supported Prince Fu Zhu Yousong as emperor.

——"The Southern Ming Dynasty is such an era that is hard to describe in words."

——"It's hard to describe it in a few words. It's just the truth. It can be summed up in one word."