In 1598, a European missionary named Matteo Ricci walked into the imperial city of the Ming Empire with his lingering burden of servants. He was shocked by the city in front of him. At that time, the famous European city of Paris had a total population of only over 200000, while Beijing was a super city with millions of people. The Ming Empire, centered around him, was one of the largest civilizations in the world, and its impact on the surrounding areas can be imagined. Just before 1559 AD, a remote Jurchen mountain stronghold located in the northeast mountainous region welcomed the birth of a baby boy. The child’s crying broke the silence of the valley, and no one would have expected that decades later, it was the little life lying in this cradle that brought a turning point in the fate of his entire tribe, and even rewrote the history of Northeast Asia. The baby boy’s name was Aisin Gioro Nurhaci, and he and his descendants came from outside the pass, but ultimately took control of the Central Plains, establishing the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history. Lumu Yuyao Brick and Tile Factory, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. This is a hot summer morning. In this inconspicuous workshop in Lumu Town, Xiangcheng District, Suzhou, craftsmen continue a century long tradition in front of the red stove. This is Yuyao, which has always only produced floor tiles and gold bricks used for special palace buildings. The craftsmanship of gold bricks is complex and exquisite, requiring more than 20 specific processes such as soil sampling, mud refining, blank making, shade drying, kiln firing, polishing, and oil blasting. A piece of gold brick takes more than a year from mud extraction to kiln discharge, and it is said that the value of each brick is equivalent to one or two gold, hence the name gold brick. The hardness of the golden brick symbolizes the eternal stability of the country, thus winning the love of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Hall of Supreme Harmony of the Forbidden City in Beijing, there are 4718 pieces of such gold bricks, representing a mature civilization and a magnificent imperial aura, silently showcasing the long history and profound cultural heritage of this ancient Eastern empire to the world. After Italian missionary Matteo Ricci arrived at the Ming Empire, he presented a complete map of the world to the Chinese emperor. In this world map that has been around for hundreds of years, Australia is still a sea, while China is depicted in the center, which seems to imply the admiration of Europeans for the Ming Dynasty. Matteo Ricci and Xu Guangqi, Professor of History at Tsinghua University in Taiwan – Huang Yinong: In the late Ming Dynasty, the two civilizations of the East and the West had their first large-scale contact in modern history. Then, in the late Ming Dynasty, some major events occurred, such as war. On the one hand, it was the rise of this peasant army, and on the other hand, the Manchu regime outside the border was constantly expanding outward. These two internal and external pressures had a significant impact on the Ming government. Therefore, military reform and upgrading were also very urgent for the Ming government. So, starting from Matteo Ricci, they directly and indirectly intervened in these things. Of course, Matteo Ricci did not really participate in military affairs, but he slowly introduced some knowledge of technology, related knowledge, including geometry and various aspects of trajectory to China. With the assistance of Western missionaries, Sun Yuanhua, a famous Western artillery expert and Governor of Denglai in the Ming Dynasty, established the strongest combat force in China in Shandong, using Western style artillery equipment and even hiring Western military advisors to personally train soldiers. It seems that the strength of the Ming Dynasty is beyond doubt, but how could it be destroyed in less than a hundred years? At this period when Eastern and Western civilizations began to enhance communication, a series of unusual changes were also taking place within the entire East Asian civilization system, which were concentrated in the Northeast Asia region. In 1598 AD, Japan’s Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched the invasion of Korea. With the assistance of the Ming Dynasty, Japan was defeated and began to negotiate peace with Korea, returning prisoners and withdrawing from Korea. Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s melancholy ultimately shattered Japan’s first dream of the East Asian continent, and Japanese power returned to its homeland. The Lee Dynasty of the Korean Peninsula, on the one hand, sent tribute and Yan envoys to inform the Ming Dynasty, maintaining strategic ties with the Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, they also felt the strong pressure of the rise of the Jurchen Empire and were worried about maintaining the strategic relationship between the two. The Ming government has long strongly supported the Chahar tribe’s Lin Dan Khan in depriving the year coins given to other Mongolian tribes and transferring them to Lin Dan Khan, in order to achieve mutual resistance against the rising Jurchen forces. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Pan Zhenping: The trade relations between the Ming Dynasty, Korea, Mongolia, and Jurchen should actually be understood more deeply. This is the norm, the longest norm, which is how people exchange materials and survive with each other. War is only one aspect. Mongolia was driven to the grasslands by the Ming Dynasty in the 15th century, and after returning to the grasslands, it split. The eastern and western regions were divided, and they fought against each other, so the so-called Golden Family system could not be restored strongly. It means that he was all puppets, so when it came to Dayan Khan, he was re established. That is to say, he was re established. The Jin family and the descendants of Kublai Khan are called Yuan descendants. They regained control and should have entered Liaodong during the mid Jiajing period, The more you come, the more you enter whose territory it is. It was the original territory of the Jurchen people who controlled this group of Jurchen people. There are scattered records of this in the history of Mongolia, mainly because after the Mongols entered, the region began to be turbulent, which is a fundamental background for the rise of Manchuria later on. At that time, Nurhaci, who claimed to be the Khan of Jianzhou, gradually unified the various Jurchen tribes in Northeast China through more than a decade of conquests and established the powerful Later Jin regime outside the border, only one step away from openly using force to confront the Ming Dynasty. So why did the political upheaval in Northeast Asia happen simultaneously in the 17th century? Yu Hongliang, Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The period from the second half of the 15th century to the 17th century was a small ice age in the northern region and the northern hemisphere. The climate characteristics of this era were marked by the activity of sunspots, which affected a large area around 40 degrees north latitude, centered around the Central Plains region of the Ming Dynasty. So during this period, there were significant changes in the climate, mainly reflected in the frequent occurrence of various natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and locusts, which brought great difficulties to the survival of the nomadic ethnic groups in the north. They had to constantly search for living space in the south, which also brought enormous survival pressure to the mature agricultural civilization and agricultural countries in the Central Plains region. The Jintai Ancestral Mausoleum in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, is located between the white mountains and black waters in the northeast region of China. It is inhabited by many ethnic groups with a long history. The Jurchen was a relatively weak force in the rectification pattern of Northeast Asia at that time, and its ancestors can be traced back to the Sushen period in the pre Qin period. It has close ties with the Western Zhou Dynasty. Sushen was called Yilou in the Han Dynasty, Wuji in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and changed to Mohe in the Sui Dynasty. Despite the frequent changes of the Central Plains dynasties, the ancestors of the Jurchen have maintained close contact with the Central Plains dynasties, repeatedly condemning tribute. Yu Hongliang: The Jurchen tribe has been active in the northeast region of China, and it has a long history in Chinese history. It existed continuously from the pre Qin period to the Ming dynasty. By the Ming dynasty, it was roughly divided into three parts: Jianzhou Jurchen, Haixi Jurchen, and Yeren Jurchen. There were also many small tribes under it. Starting from the seventh year of Yongle, the Ming dynasty established a formal administrative management organization in the northeast region, called Nur Gandusi. Nur Gandusi managed a large area from the north to the Outer Xing’an Mountains and east to Kuye Island. This was the official administrative management organization, starting from the seventh year of Yongle. Speaking of which, it belongs to the formal territory of the Ming Dynasty. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Zhu Chengru: Their Jurchen tribe has been constantly moving since the Jin Dynasty. The Jurchen tribe in Jianzhou moved the fastest, moving from the Heilongjiang River Basin to the Changbai Mountains and finally settling in the eastern mountainous area of Xinbin, Liaoning. It should be said that in Ming Dynasty China, it was already a highly developed feudal culture. Therefore, the agricultural economy and culture of the Han region and the current feudal economic form must have had an impact on them in ethnic minority areas. The closer you are to the Han region and are influenced by the economy and culture of the Han region, the faster this ethnic minority improves. Beizhen Drum Tower Beizhen City, Liaoning Province, is located in today’s Jinzhou, Liaoning Province. It was called Guangning City in the Ming Dynasty. It was an important military town and guard of Guangning in eastern Liaoning. At that time, Li Chengliang, the chief soldier of eastern Liaoning, led troops and stationed here. He fought many times with the regime of the Later Jin Dynasty to fight for governance in eastern Liaoning. In order to commend Li Chengliang’s meritorious garrison in eastern Liaoning, the Ming Dynasty built a special stone memorial archway. This Li Chengliang stone memorial archway still stands in the northern town today. To the south of the Drum Tower, the Ming Dynasty has always implemented the management of the Jurchen tribes, which is still inferior to the old customs and unified its parts, that is to divide them. The strategy of governing and restraining each other is not to allow one family to dominate. Daming has always been the screen of Chahar Mongolia and North Korea, and paid attention to the balance between the various departments of Jurchen. Therefore, Li Chengliang led troops to constantly circulate among various forces, and once again attacked the Jurchen tribe, Jue Chang’an and Tak Shi, father and son, served as guides for Li Chengliang, but were mistakenly killed by soldiers. As compensation, Li Chengliang represented the Ming Dynasty and appointed Jue Chang’an’s grandson as the commander of the Left Guard in Jianzhou. Little did they know that this newly appointed young man was Nurhaci, who would dominate the future and shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Many Jurchen leaders became officials appointed by the Ming Dynasty through such political appointments. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that all the garrisons in Jianzhou should pay tribute according to the time. The tribute system was a unique form of ancient China’s management of neighboring vassal states, which included a dual purpose of politics and economy. On the one hand, vassal regions regularly reported their duties to the Central Plains Dynasty through tribute, reported local management affairs, and contributed tribute items to the central government; On the other hand, through rewards from the imperial court and the horse market system, the vassal state obtained production and living materials such as salt, iron tools, and agricultural tools. As the commander of the Left Guard of Jianzhou, the young Nurhaci also led his pilgrimage team to pay tribute to the central government. The vast territory and abundant resources of the Central Plains, the great temptation of imperial power, and the deep-seated hatred of killing ancestors and fathers may have already begun to make Nurhaci’s heart restless at that time. Hetu Ala City, Fushun City, Liaoning Province Hetu Ala is a Manchu pronunciation, meaning Henggang. Walking on the streets of Laocheng Village, Yongling Town, Xinbin County, Liaoning Province, we can recall the hardships of Nurhaci in founding this first capital city. From 1583 AD, Nurhaci gathered the strength left by his ancestors and began to unify the various tribes of the Jurchen tribes in Jianzhou. By 1603 AD, he built Hetu Ala City and quickly achieved the unity of the Jurchen tribes. He avoided conflicts with the Jurchen tribes in Haixi and cooperated with Mongolia and Korea, showing respect to the central government of the Ming Dynasty. Every year, Nurhaci quickly achieved the unity of the Jurchen tribes, avoiding conflicts with the Jurchen tribes in Haixi. Punish envoys and pay tribute to the New Year coins. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Pan Zhenping: He is more calm and composed. He is different from the ordinary leaders of the barbarian tribes we describe, so the barbarian tribal leaders are very generous. When I encounter these situations, I react, and then I kill and chop. He is not like that. Nurhaci, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, was not only brave but also cunning. After conquering the various tribes of the Jurchen tribes in the East China Sea to the east and annexing them to the west, attracting a large number of people, he initially established a ruling order and established a rule form of using flags to control people, using flags to control troops, preparing for war when going out, and integrating agriculture, military, and politics when entering. This is the Eight Banners system implemented by the Manchu rulers. The so-called Eight Banners are based on four color flags of yellow, white, red, and blue, with organizational forms such as Niulu and Gushan. Later, due to population growth, four color flags of yellow, white, red, and blue were added. There are eight flags in total. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Pan Zhenxing: The Eight Banners system is actually a property relationship, which solves a problem of distribution and ownership of property. It was still very clear from the Qing Dynasty until the entry of the People’s Republic of China that whoever had their cattle recorded how much was rotated, which was very fair. You can’t even say that everyone went, everyone went. The so-called Eight Banners all had to go fight, and everyone had to share the spoils of war. The most important ability of these leaders of ethnic minorities was their organizational and mobilization abilities. Genghis Khan and Nurhaci were like this, but the most important ability was to provide an organizational form for them. Everyone follow him. According to Ming records from Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, the Mausoleum of Emperor Taiji, Nurhaci admired the Three Kingdoms and the Water Margin, claiming to have strategies. These preserved old Manchu wooden slips illustrate this point. In 1599, Nurhaci ordered the creation of Manchu script using Mongolian letters and the pronunciation of Jurchen language, further completing his great cause of unifying various Jurchen tribes. In 1616 AD, Nurhaci traced back to his predecessor, the Jurchen regime of the Northern Song Dynasty – Jin, and established a new regime, the Great Jin, also known as the Later Jin. He claimed to have been ordered by heaven to raise the wise Khan of other countries, changed his reign to Tianming, and began to learn the political culture of the Central Plains region. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Zhu Chengru: Nurhaci’s power continued to grow in less than 34 years from 1583, the eleventh year of the Wanli reign, to 1616. In reality, in modern terms, he was hiding his strength and recuperating himself. During these more than 30 years, the Ming government raised tigers as a threat, and his power grew stronger. In the end, he was able to confront the Ming dynasty. In 1618 AD, Nurhaci officially launched an attack on the Ming Dynasty with the slogan of “Seven Avengers” and defeated Fushun in one battle. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Pan Zhenping: The Jurchen people are all warriors, and their weakness is that they are scattered. As long as they are effectively organized, they can form terrifying combat effectiveness. Professor Huang Yinong from Tsinghua University in Taiwan: You can’t help but admire this nation. Many of its institutional methods are very unique. It is said that it stipulates that whoever climbs the city wall first and attacks the city first will be rewarded by me. So what’s so great about this? We can also think of it now. But what is the reward he gives you? He gives you a hereditary system, and he gives you a title. You are rewarded for this credit, and your descendants have the opportunity to continue to inherit it. So, you are not only for your own interests, but for the sake of a family. In 1619 AD, facing the rapid rise of the Later Jin Dynasty in Liaodong, the Ming Dynasty gathered several large armies, led by Liaodong Governor Yang Hao, with more than 88000 troops. North Korea appointed General Jiang Hongli as the Marshal of the Five Provinces and led more than 13000 people to assist in the battle. In addition, the Yehe infantry, who had not yet surrendered to Nurhaci, also came to participate in the battle, with a total force of over 100000 and divided into four routes, directly pointing to the capital city of Later Jin, Hetu Ala. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Zhu Chengru: In the late Ming Dynasty, the Weisuo was corrupt. Even if the soldiers were mobilized to prepare for war, they could not fight. If they were not trained for a long time, the Weisuo system and the officers and soldiers of the Weisuo were not only soldiers, but mainly engaged in production. The family also brought them along. They had no training there, and basically cultivated the land. However, Nurhaci’s military strength was only ten thousand, and although he was at a disadvantage, he boldly admitted that even though he had come a few ways, I had only gone one way. This was the Battle of Sarhu, where Nurhaci became famous. He won more with less, and the victory was vivid. After this battle, the power balance between Ming and Jin underwent a fundamental change. Yu Hongliang from the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The failure of the Battle of Sarhu on the surface was mainly due to the lack of unified scheduling and coordinated operations among several major armies of the Ming Dynasty. In the end, they were all defeated by the Jin Dynasty, resulting in a complete defeat. This exposed the Ming Dynasty’s long-standing corruption in military management, lack of training in field units, and fluctuating morale among soldiers, causing the army to immediately disperse in case of emergencies, without the ability to quickly organize effective defense or counterattack measures. From this later reflection, it can be seen that from frontline generals to court ministers, and even the emperor himself, all bear the responsibility. Therefore, the failure of this war reflects the late Ming Dynasty. The military, administration, and system are all on the decline, and this battle is the result of institutional corruption extending into the capillaries of grassroots organizations, A typical example of the serious consequences it brings. The Dahuofang Reservoir, located 400 years ago in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, is now submerged in water and has become part of the Dahuofang Reservoir area. The calm water surface makes it difficult to imagine how the Jurchen army’s golden army and iron horses once shook the world. The Battle of Sarhu caused a sharp decline in the reputation of the Ming Dynasty among Mongolia, Korea, and various vassal states. In 1621 AD, Nurhaci led a large army to the important towns of Shenyang and Liaoyang outside the Ming Dynasty, and later moved the capital to Shenyang, renamed Shengjing, and successively occupied more than 70 cities east of the Liao River. The overall situation in the Liaodong region was increasingly unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty, but the central government of the Ming Dynasty was still endlessly debating whether to fight or defend due to the eunuch Wei Zhongxian’s control of the court. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Zhu Chengru: In the central government, officials, local people, and gentry colluded with each other to form various gang groups within the court, which we call party struggles. This is one, and another is some eunuch parties. Even this eunuch group did not play a good role in the late Ming Dynasty. The direct result of corruption and party struggles was that Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong, was framed and wrongly killed by eunuch Wei Zhongxian. Xiong Tingbi’s tripartite strategy of rebuilding the Ming Dynasty’s policy of suppressing foreigners in cooperation with Mongolia, Korea, and Haido became a failure. From then on, it was difficult for the Ming court to choose a commander who could take on a major role. The defense system established in Liaodong for a long time was completely dismantled, and he was no longer able to carry out large-scale attacks, so he had to switch to defense. Ningyuan Ancient City, Xingcheng City, Liaoning Province, formerly known as Ningyuan, is a well preserved ancient city. In the center of the old city, there are still Ming Dynasty bell and drum towers. From the flying flags with the character Yuan written on the street, Ningyuan belongs to Yuan Chonghuan. Climbing the ancient city wall and walking to the corner of the city, you can also see the ancient battery, which was used to set up red clad cannons. It was this most advanced weapon that dealt a heavy blow to the surging army of Later Jin. Huang Yinong: So how did these cannons come from? They were not made by China itself. They were last in Guangdong. At that time, there was a Portuguese ship sinking, and there were cannons on board. It’s hard to imagine that in such a distant era, they had developed the technology of salvaging sunken ships and salvaged them from the seabed. Therefore, many cannons were salvaged at that time. The person in Guangdong salvaged the cannons. Assuming you are a local official, of course, you need to send the best things to Beijing. So after the cannons arrived in Beijing, about half of them stayed in Beijing, and the other half were sent to the front line and handed over to Yuan Chonghuan. Upon learning of the change of command in Liaodong during the Ming Dynasty, Nurhaci felt that his achievements were commendable. He raised all the elite Eight Banners and headed straight to the isolated city of Ningyuan outside the pass. Nurhaci, who had won countless battles, felt that he had a great chance of winning, but unfortunately he ran into Yuan Chonghuan. In 1626 AD, Yuan Chonghuan resisted the order of the Minister of War, Gao Di, to withdraw from the Guannei Pass and defended Ningyuan. Although his troops were small, he had a firm determination to coexist with the city. Nurhaci repeatedly failed to surrender, feeling impatient and attacking his heart. The Eight Banner Army launched a wave of attacks, and Yuan Chonghuan, with his injuries, boosted morale. He repeatedly repelled Nurhaci’s attacks and used red clad cannons transported from Macau to injure Nurhaci, forcing him to retreat. The Battle of Ningyuan was the first victory achieved by the Ming Dynasty in the battle against Later Jin. Good news came, and the capital was filled with scholars and commoners, celebrating in the streets and alleys. For Nurhaci, who has always been invincible, this is a fatal blow. The Compilation Committee of Qing History – Zhu Chengru: His purpose in attacking Ningyuan was to open it up, and he pushed towards the pass. He had this ambition, but he did not expect that Ningyuan could not be defeated. He was very sad. The reason why he died later was related to Ningyuan’s inability to be defeated. He felt that Ningyuan’s inability to be defeated was a great shame for him. After returning to Shengjing, Nurhaci, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, Huang Taiji Mausoleum fell ill and died on August 11, 1626. At the age of 34, due to his outstanding talent, he was promoted to the position of Khan by Zhongbeile. In order to realize the dream of ethnic domination in the Central Plains, Huang Taiji first strengthened his Khan power and obtained an exclusive position. Following the Ming system, he established six departments of household registration, ritual, military, and criminal labor, which were responsible for national administrative affairs. In terms of military affairs, as the number of ruling people increased, Huang Taiji created the Eight Banners of the Han Army and the Eight Banners of Mongolia, and incorporated the Han and Mongolian soldiers under his rule into the Eight Banners. The banner owners were appointed by the Khan and could not be hereditary. In 1627 AD, Huang Taiji sent troops to conquer Korea and established a brotherly alliance through the Jiangdu Treaty, forcing Korea to sever its ties with the Ming Dynasty. Huang Taiji also launched several westward expeditions against Lin Dan Khan, driving the Mongols of southern desert to become vassals of the Later Jin Dynasty. The wax museum of the Ming Palace is located in Beijing, while during the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen, who was only sixteen years old, ascended the throne in the Forbidden City in 1628. Despite his diligence, frugality, and hard work, he faced an extremely heavy mess. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, the northern region experienced years of severe drought, and hungry refugees began to gather in large numbers, leading to peasant uprisings in many areas. Yu Hongliang from the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: Many peasant uprisings in the late Ming Dynasty were actually due to the lack of food for the common people. In addition, the local government of the Ming Dynasty was very corrupt. In dealing with social security, officials and the government were unable to respond to the crises caused by these disasters in a timely manner, and the people did not receive relief. These corrupt behaviors eroded the government’s supposed functions of relief and disaster relief. If a regime is so corrupt that it cannot even play these functions, its legitimacy will face great problems. Li Zicheng’s Palace in Zhimi County, Shaanxi Province, was affected by the continuous military campaigns in Liaodong, resulting in heavy salaries and financial difficulties for the entire country. In 1629, in order to reduce expenses, the Ming court had to cut off 30% of the postal delivery system, resulting in communication interruptions. Local officials were unsure whether their memorials could ultimately be delivered to the capital. This led to a more serious indirect consequence, where a courier named Li Zicheng lost his job because the courier system was hacked. Yu Hongliang from the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: After losing his job at a post station, Li Zicheng also joined the ranks of refugees. In the end, he rose up because he had no livelihood and joined the great tide of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty. Prior to this, Gao Yingxiang in Ansei had already been known as the King of Chuang. It was only after Gao Yingxiang’s death that Li Zicheng became the King of Chuang. At this time, the Later Jin Dynasty gradually completed internal affairs reform, and the Jurchen people formed a new ethnic community by absorbing multi-ethnic elements such as Han, Korean, Mongolian, Daur, and Xibe. On November 22, 1635 AD, Huang Taiji officially ordered the name of the tribe to be Manchuria. He said that our country was established under the name Manchuria, with a long history and a long history. According to legend, from now on, everyone can only use the original name of Manchuria in our country and cannot continue to use it falsely. This marked the official formation of the Manchu tribe. In 1636 AD, Huang Taiji proclaimed himself emperor and announced the change of the country’s name from Jin to Qing. From then on, Huang Taiji focused his main strength on attacking the Ming Dynasty. Huang Yinong: What does Huang Taiji do? You have to admire him. Every battle he fights is outside the pass. What does he mean? He is just training his troops. Occasionally, you can see some specific records in history. How does he do it? When I fight this city, you see Huang Taiji sitting on a hill. He commands the troops of the three ethnic groups below him, including Manchu, Mongolian, and Han, infantry, cavalry, and artillery. He trains his troops time and time again, and in each battle, he transfers all the most elite weapons from Manchuria, including cannons, to attack your small city. In the Ming Dynasty, every city had cannons. I captured your city, and then I collected your cannons and used all of them to attack your next city. After training, in 1644, They began to enter the Central Plains, with a total of about 100000 people, carrying 100 red clad cannons, to take control of the Central Plains. In this process, if there were only such numbers, I’m sorry, he wouldn’t have had the chance to conquer the Ming Dynasty. However, from this starting point, in a short period of one or two years, one million troops of the Ming Dynasty surrendered, so history is not as simple as we imagine. I personally believe that this war is not really a war between the Manchu and Han ethnic groups. The two interest groups created very different histories in this process. Xiangyang Ancient City, located in present-day Xiangyang, Hubei Province, still retains the ancient city wall dating back to the Han Dynasty. In 1643, Li Zicheng was enthroned as the King of Xinshun here and changed Xiangyang to Xiangjing. The peasant army decided to first capture Guanzhong, base in Shaanxi, and then attack Shanxi and Hebei to advance into Beijing. Pan Zhenping: Later, when Li Zicheng entered Beijing, there was no one on the road, so there was no resistance. The Ming Dynasty later stayed behind, and in my opinion, the people who could lead troops were basically 99% warlords, all opportunists, only thinking about their own interests. They no longer have moral values, no moral values of warlords. At this time, in the northeastern region of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, the Shenyang Palace Museum, a dramatic event occurred in the Qing Dynasty. On August 9, 1643, the eighth son of Nurhaci, Huang Taiji, died suddenly. The Qing Dynasty experienced serious internal strife due to succession issues. Finally, the powerful Dorgon supported Huang Taiji’s young son, Fulin, who was six years old, to succeed the throne. Dorgon and his cousin Ji’erhalang acted as regents, resolving the succession crisis. Pan Zhenping: This is the result of the struggle. At that time, Haoge and Dorgon refused to let each other down, and in the end, Dai Shan played a significant role. In modern terms, these two people considered the overall situation and eventually made concessions. Therefore, sometimes I defined Manchuria as being good at learning, brave in innovation, and in critical moments, neither generation had any problems. You see, as a backward nation, there was no major struggle in the process of power transition, which is already remarkable. In 1644 AD, a series of major events occurred that year. During the Spring Festival, Li Zicheng officially declared the founding of the country and changed Xi’an to Xijing, with the country name Dashun and the year name Yongchang. In mid March, two peasant armies met at the foot of Beijing and began attacking the city. In the early morning of March 19th, Emperor Chongzhen choked his feet and hanged himself on a locust tree on the eastern foot of the coal mine. It is said that the Ming Dynasty, which ruled 276 in China, was overthrown for the 16th generation. On the morning of March 19th, the peasant army occupied Beijing. At noon, Li Zicheng entered Beijing and stepped into the center of power he had long dreamed of. As he wished, he sat on a dragon horse, but his The country is not stable. In the early spring of 1644, when the weather in the north had not yet warmed up, Prince Rui of the Qing Regent Dorgon was preparing to launch a large-scale attack on the Ming Dynasty when news of the destruction of Beijing came, which surprised Dorgon deeply. At this time in Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, Shanhaiguan, the Ming Dynasty’s Shanhaiguan General Wu Sangui, with heavy mercenaries, was hesitant about where to go. Qing History Compilation Committee – Pan Zhenping: He was originally planning to surrender to Li Zicheng, but when he arrived nearby, whether it was Yongping or some other place, his family came to report the incident. His family suffered a lot of trouble, mainly because his father was also imprisoned, interrogated, tortured, and tortured accounts. Li Zicheng’s army arrived in Beijing, and it seems that their intention is not to stay for a long time. At that time, he tortured the stolen money one by one. If you were an official, you must have stolen money. It was because I wanted to take a large amount of silver and transport it back home, and then I lived a peaceful life. It seems like this energy, from this perspective. So of course, Wu Sangui is the opposite. When the 140000 Qing army led by Dorgon arrived at Lianshan, he received a letter from Wu Sangui, crying with blood, requesting Qing to send troops to help Ming quell the rebels. Dorgon felt that the time had come to march into Guannei and occupy the Central Plains, so he returned to Wu Sangui, claiming revenge for the Ming Emperor, and traveled day and night to Shanhaiguan. Jiumenkou, located not far from Shanhaiguan, is a remnant of the Yanshan Mountains, with clusters of peaks and layers of peaks. The mountain is relatively high, with steep slopes and steep cliffs. The water from the mountains converges into first-class. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, Xu Da’s army went to Shanhaiguan to build the Great Wall. In order to protect the Great Wall from being washed away by floods, large granite strips of stone were laid around the bridge piers and upstream and downstream ground, covering an area of 7000 square meters. The riverbed was paved with over 10000 strips of stone, which were glued together with iron waists and looked like a huge slate from afar. Therefore, Jiumenkou is also known as a stone pass, and has been a must see military strategist for years. A place of contention. In 1644, the Shanhaiguan Battle, which determined the fate of China for the next three hundred years, took place here. Li Zicheng, who had just occupied Beijing, learned that Wu Sangui refused to surrender and personally led a 200000 strong army to attack. On April 21st, Li Zicheng’s Dashun army engaged in a fierce battle with Wu Sangui in areas such as Yishi and Xiluo City. Then, Li Zicheng’s army launched a fierce attack on the cities of Dongluo and Beiyi, and Wu Sangui gradually became more numerous. However, the next day, Manchu iron cavalry suddenly entered the battlefield and joined forces with Wu Sangui’s army. As the rain of arrows poured down like a spring, Li Zicheng, who was already exhausted from the battle, had to hastily respond. The encirclement of two enemy forces resulted in heavy losses of troops and a rapid and complete defeat. Pan Zhenping: Now it seems that the impact of Manchu cavalry is still very strong, but the farmers are not well prepared, they don’t know, and they don’t have the weapon to deal with this. Li Zicheng has also been too smooth, and you haven’t encountered anything along the way. Except for the evil battles he has personally experienced, he fought in the Guannei Pass. Li Zicheng is not a very flamboyant person, nor is he a talkative person, but also a person with deep intentions. However, if that unit enters Beijing and doesn’t enter Beijing, let’s assume that he didn’t enter Beijing and directly pulled to Shanhaiguan to fight. The situation may also be different. People who enter Beijing have different thoughts, with money in their pockets. Carrying a full bag, I quickly made a comfortable living on the ground. Why do I lick blood on the blade? Well, this motivation is really lacking. So, don’t you have a good military organization, Control him, and the combat effectiveness of the troops will be affected. On April 26th, Li Zicheng returned to Beijing. On the 29th, Li Zicheng led the new government’s civil and military officials to hastily ascend to the throne at the Wuying Hall in the Forbidden City. After a night’s imperial dream, he left Beijing in a miserable state on the 30th and returned to Guanzhong, hoping to rise up later. On the first day of October, Fulin, the young master of the Qing Dynasty, who was invited by Dorgon from the prosperous capital of Shenyang, ascended to the throne of the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in the Forbidden City. Ban ascended to the throne and issued an edict throughout the country, entering the mountains and customs, breaking through 200000 bandits. He then took Yanjing, pacified the Middle Xia, welcomed me to Beijing, received great treasures, settled in Beijing, and took control of Zhongyuan, marking the beginning of the last imperial era in the history of Chinese civilization as a member of the Manchu people. In the fourth year after Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself, in 1648 AD, another great drama of dynastic changes was staged in England, but the content of the script was completely different. The British parliament passed a resolution to judge the king, consisting of 135 members of parliament, legal scholars, and military personnel. After multiple heated debates, King Charles I of England was sent to the guillotine in the palace square under the pretext of being a tyrant, traitor, murderer, and national enemy, and England became a republic. The deaths of the emperors of both Eastern and Western empires were equally tragic, but their impact on the future of the two empires was completely different. In the land of China, the Qing Dynasty, which had taken control of the Central Plains, went into seclusion during its 300 year rule, while the death of Charles I opened the curtain of modern world history. Yu Hongliang, Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: The collapse of a large number of traditional empires in the 17th century changed the world order. In fact, Europe was prepared for modernization and quickly entered the form of a modern state. Its scientific and technological advancements, enlightenment trends, and so on occurred one after another. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty in China, the northern ethnic groups that relied on picking and hunting for a living emerged victorious in this game, establishing the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty then began to rebuild the traditional governance model of the Central Plains region, which led the East and the West to embark on completely different paths. This may be a coincidence in history. After the rise and fall of the Qing Dynasty, which was once renowned for its cultural and military achievements, the strong ships and cannons of the British Empire also came across the ocean, bombarding China’s locked doors. Since then, the Chinese nation has begun to fall into a serious crisis. Different civilizations run on different tracks, and one day they will meet and confront each other, either in 1644, 1840, or any day in the future. 90 seconds in history: pacifying the world. On March 19, 1644, the Forbidden City, which used to be filled with birds singing and swallows dancing, suddenly turned into a mortal hell. The towering city walls of Beijing failed to stop the peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng. The rushing peasant army rushed into the deep royal palace. In a hurry, the 34 year old Emperor Chongzhen looked around affectionately on the Jingshan Mountain behind the Forbidden City and resolutely hanged himself, known as the Jia Shen Incident. The Ming Dynasty’s rule, which lasted for 276 years, collapsed with a tragic end. In 1644, Beijing was also a historical stage. In 1661, on the ninth day of the first lunar month in the 18th year of the Shunzhi reign, which was the third day after the death of Emperor Shunzhi, Xuanye ascended to the throne at the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, inheriting the throne with the reign name Kangxi. This was the longest reigning emperor in Chinese history. He ruled for 61 years, marking the beginning of the Kangxi and Qianlong prosperous era in Chinese history. Later generations praised him as diligent in national affairs, recorded in historical books, eager to learn, tirelessly reviewing at midnight, and every midnight.
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