Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

The sky continues.

A one-eyed man with a haggard face and wearing a Fanyang hat appeared in the picture.

behind his back.

The big flag with the word "Chuang" is dancing wildly in the wind.

[There are many different versions of Li Zicheng's birth. ]

[However, it is certain that Li Zicheng's family was relatively well off in his early years. He had studied and raised horses.]

[Later, his family fell into poverty, so he worked as a groom at a post station.]

[Originally, we had a job and could make do with our lives. 】

【But when Chongzhen laid off employees, Li Zicheng was laid off with honor. 】

[This is also a typical negative example of layoffs in history. ]

【Originally, Chongzhen received the report from the ministers.】

【It is said that this post station is now supported by the state.】

【But it was very confusing.】

[Officials from all over the country used the post stations to make money and enjoy themselves. ]

【So it is recommended to reorganize the post stations, which can save a lot of expenses. 】

[Chongzhen saw that the post station was indeed poorly managed, with a large number of official buses being used for private purposes, and that this was indeed something that needed to be regulated.]

【So he ordered layoffs with a stroke of his pen. 】

[As a result, the money saved has not been seen where it went, but has instead led to a large number of idle people in society. ]

[After Li Zicheng lost his job, he stayed at home for a while, was bullied by local tyrants, and fled to Gansu to join the army.]

[Li Zicheng fought bravely and became a minor officer.]

【But at this time, the Later Jin invaded, and Li Zicheng's troops were ordered to enter the capital. 】

[However, due to the collapse of the imperial court's finances and layers of deductions, Li Zicheng's troops were deducted from their pay for a long time.]

[The soldiers haven't had a full meal for a long time.]

[On the way, the soldiers mutinied and demanded their salaries.]

[But both the commander of the army and the local officials refused to pay the salary. ]

[The soldiers were furious.]

【So Li Zicheng took the lead and killed the army commander along with the local refugees. 】

【Officially announced: I am a rebellion! 】

[Yes, there was actually no great reason behind Li Zicheng's rebellion, it was simply a matter of salary.]

【And we should note that Li Zicheng was not even an ordinary citizen. 】

【Instead, they were members of the Ming Dynasty's violent organization and military. 】

[He was a brave warrior in the army, performed actively, and even became a minor official.]

[Then why did even the mighty Ming army fall to the point of taking the lead in rebellion because of hunger? ]

[This brings us to the so-called eunuch party's theory of saving the country. ]

[The theory that the eunuch party can save the country refers to the eunuch group represented by Wei Zhongxian. Although they are also corrupt, they are loyal to the court.]

[He was able to represent the imperial power and compete with the civil officials for profits, and received a large amount of silver for the country. ]

【Allowing the state machinery to be maintained. 】

【Actually, haha! 】

[Before Chongzhen ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty's army was already seriously in arrears.]

[Especially in the late Tianqi period when Wei Zhongxian was in power, wage arrears occurred on a large scale! ]

[From the 38th year of Wanli to the 7th year of Tianqi, the accumulated arrears of wages in the Ming Dynasty over the 18 years exceeded 900 million taels.]

[Shaanxi is particularly serious.]

[When Chongzhen ascended the throne, Shaanxi's military pay had been in arrears for more than 30 months.]

[In some places, there was even a situation where not a single cent was paid for three years.]

【The imperial court was in arrears with food and salaries.】

【Generals at all levels must also squeeze like crazy. 】

[The military system of the Ming Dynasty had completely collapsed by the end of the Ming Dynasty.]

[The soldiers were equivalent to the generals' household slaves. A large number of Ming soldiers were poorly clothed and hungry.]

[When Lu Xiangsheng was inspecting Shanxi, he saw a large number of soldiers wearing thin clothes in the middle of winter, without pants or shoes.]

【It made him burst into tears. 】

[In order to survive, the soldiers had no choice but to sell their wives and children and pawn their weapons and armor.]

[There is absolutely no fighting spirit at all. 】

[When they encounter war, they often mutinied and fled. ]

[The only part of the army that can maintain its combat effectiveness is the private servants of the generals who are specially supported.]

[But we can’t blame the ordinary troops for having low morale. ]

[Is it possible to maintain morale in a situation like this? ]

【That would be a disaster! 】

[Not only were these bankrupt soldiers unable to maintain the Ming Dynasty's rule, but they also fled in large numbers to join the peasant army.]

[It was precisely because of their joining that they became the core factor in the rapid increase in the combat effectiveness of the peasant army. ]

【…】

【It can be seen in the early stage of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty. 】

[The professionally trained government troops often chased after the peasant army.]

[The peasant army’s military strength was often several times or even ten times that of the government army.]

【But he was beaten and fled everywhere. 】

【Great victories are everywhere! 】

[Everywhere there are reports of 300 government troops beating 2000 peasant soldiers! ]

【But it’s strange. 】

[Although the imperial court frantically suppressed the peasant uprising and won victory after victory. ]

【But the number of peasant armies that revolted increased. 】

[The scope of the impact is getting wider and wider. ] [From northern Shaanxi to the whole province. ]

【To the Central Plains, to Huguang, to Sichuan. 】

[Across the entire Ming Dynasty, half of the country was engulfed in peasant uprisings.]

[Even in the eighth year of Chongzhen, the rebels captured Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang’s hometown.]

[All the Zhu family’s ancestral graves have been dug up.]

[And Chongzhen didn’t receive the news until a month later.]

Outside the sky.

Zhu Yuanzhang had calmed down after being angry for a long time.

Calm mood.

And think about countermeasures.

But at this time, he saw that his hometown had been occupied by bandits.

Or an instant red temperature.

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at the burning Zhu family tomb on the screen, his eyes full of disbelief and the muscles on his face twitching uncontrollably.

"What do our descendants eat?"

"Fengyang is the foundation of our Zhu family. If they can't even protect the ancestral tomb, how can they face our ancestors?"

"I started as a poor boy who could not even get enough food to eat. I worked hard step by step and went through so many hardships and difficulties before I built this Ming Dynasty."

"It is to bring honor to the Zhu family and let future generations enjoy wealth and glory."

"But what about now? These unworthy descendants have caused the Zhu family's ancestral tombs to be burned down."

"This is going to cut off the roots of my Zhu family!"

"Li Zicheng! We will kill all your clans!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was filled with grief and indignation.

Seeing that Empress Ma was in a very good mood, she gently hugged Zhu Yuanzhang's head and stroked it gently.

"Zhongba, the unworthy descendants of later generations are indeed too much."

"But our Ming Dynasty is still doing well."

"Now the sky has pointed out the problem."

“It gives us an opportunity to correct it.”

"Let's continue to see what other problems the Ming Dynasty encountered in the future."

“Maybe the mess that Chongzhen took over wasn’t that bad after all?”

……

The sky continues.

[In order to wipe out the peasant army, Chongzhen also tried many ways. ]

[There was no good solution at first, but a commander named Yang Sichang came up with an executable strategy.]

[His plan was to ignore the Jurchens outside the Great Wall for the time being.]

【Concentrate all efforts to annihilate the peasant uprising.】

[The four sides, six corners and ten directions were used to set up a network, dividing the provinces of the country into war zones, and coordinating to encircle and suppress the peasant army. ]

[However, in order to implement this strategy, 12 soldiers need to be trained. ]

[Increase the military pay by several million taels of silver.]

[Chongzhen highly approved of Yang Sichang's strategy, but the court was indeed out of money.]

【So Chongzhen asked if he could get help from local finances? 】

【Yang Sichang replied: Most of the local finances were used to support the royal family.】

[Chongzhen asked again: Can the financial budget other than that of the royal family be used to implement the strategy?]

【However, Yang Sichang also said: Apart from the royal family's salary, there is no room for misappropriation. 】

[The court could not get money from other places. ]

[Chongzhen was unwilling to start with the royal family, so he could only make the common people suffer more.]

[Specialized troops were dispatched to suppress the rebellion.]

[Although it seems that the proportion of the suppression pay is not high. ]

【However, even Emperor Chongzhen himself knew in his edict that he wanted to get the money from the common people through layers of exploitation.】

[For every penny the imperial court gets, the people actually have to bear more than ten times the burden. ]

[Although Chongzhen said with tears in his eyes that he would let the people suffer for another year, the suffering became a permanent one.]

【Then it cost so much. 】

【After the people suffer. 】

[What is the effect of implementing Yang Sichang's strategy? ]

[It can be said that the effect is very significant. ]

[After the court officially began to implement Yang Sichang's strategy of setting up a network in all four directions and six corners. ]

【The entire peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty fell into a trough. 】

[A year later, Zhang Xianzhong, one of the biggest leaders of the uprising, surrendered.]

[Most of the peasant armies were either wiped out or accepted the amnesty.]

[Only the Chuang army remained. "Everyone in the world surrendered but the Chuang army did not."]

[But even the most die-hard peasant army leader Li Zicheng. ]

[His army was also ambushed by the government troops and almost completely wiped out.]

[Only a dozen people were left, hiding in the Shangluo Mountains in Henan. ]

[There are even rumors that Li Zicheng is dead.]

[Whether Li Zicheng himself is dead or not, one thing is certain. ]

[That means Li Zicheng's main force has been destroyed. ]

[He only has a few remaining soldiers and generals left, and can't cause any trouble. ]

【By the end of the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the overall situation in the country had almost been pacified.】

[On the surface, there are not many peasant soldiers still fighting.] (End of this chapter)