The last 24 hours in der untergang: Emperor Chongzhen could do nothing. What did Queen Zhou do?

1644, 18 In March, the Li Zicheng Rebels captured Peking with little resistance. In this way, the Forbidden City is like a thin wing, swaying in the wind and rain.

Facing the present situation, Emperor Chongzhen stood on the Fengtian Temple and sighed, regretting it. But for the dignity of the empire, he knew it was time to tell the truth to the harem.

It's less than 24 hours from der untergang.

As usual, Empress Zhou of Chongzhen put on a little makeup with a handful of clean water, and took out the thin shirt pressed at the bottom of the box.

This thin shirt is her favorite thing. It is soft and flawless, and it wakes up like a fairy in the morning.

Every time Emperor Chongzhen saw her costume, he would send intoxicating eyes and make Queen Zhou's heart flutter. Later, Tian Guifei, Yuan Fei, etc. Visiting one after another has unconsciously become a fashion. From time to time, Queen Zhou put the thin shirt on the shelf again, and everyone refrained from overstepping it.

Just because she knows that her husband forgets to eat and sleep, and is busy with the affairs of the country and the world, the harem should abide by its duty and not distract him and increase his troubles.

The reason why I want to take out my blouse today is because Queen Zhou has her own reasons. Although it's close at hand, my husband hasn't come to Kunning Palace for nearly half a year. The reason why I didn't come was because of the nasty war and the peak smoke everywhere.

Not long ago, Zhou Jia came to report that "Li Fei" had occupied Shaanxi and Gansu, established himself as the king and became the emperor of Dashun. It is said that he had crossed the Yellow River and headed for Beijing.

During this period, she personally survived the lotus seed soup and went to Fengtian Temple, but was declined by the guards. Later, I learned that Tian Fei cooked dinner for an audience, and she was scolded loudly by her husband. Obviously, the situation in our country is dangerous and irreversible.

So, she wants to put on a thin shirt and go to Fengtian Temple.

However, everything is too late.

Soon, outside the city, horses neighing, guns rumbling, and the fire splashed across the Zhengyang Gate, killing the sky. Did the thief army come to Beijing so soon? Zhou feels ominous.

Sure enough, someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came to report that the thief army had broken the city, and the army was pouring in, burning, killing and looting in the city. The only fig leaf left in the empire is the Forbidden City.

Queen Zhou stood on the spot, tearful and horribly pale, and then took off her blouse. She still wants to go to Fengtian Temple to ask her husband what happened to the empire.

When she first saw her husband, she couldn't believe her eyes. She saw that he was haggard, with stubble and bloodshot eyes, which was a far cry from his beautiful eyes. In just a few days, white hair suddenly covered with sideburns, as if ten years older. There is no doubt that this is the answer. Queen Zhou felt sour in her heart and her eyes were moist.

Is this still the high-spirited letter king?

Eighteen years ago, the palace issued an imperial edict to let my husband go to Fengtian Temple to succeed him. Zhangyan, the emperor's sister-in-law, told me to be careful with the guests and Wei Peng's party, and to establish a new emperor.

So, Queen Zhou got up in the middle of the night, mixed wheat flour and added a little brown sugar. After steaming them one by one, she was worried that the wheat cakes would touch her clothes, so she burned them with slow fire, wrapped them in small cloth bags and hid them in her husband's sleeve, just to avoid the poison of the official party.

In the faint morning light, when my husband boarded the chariot, he cast an affectionate glance. How warm his eyes are, and his bravery is completely different from today.

Looking at each other, Queen Zhou understood her husband's situation and the broken mountains and rivers of Daming.

She still has some complaints. Because her husband was headstrong and moody, he killed many loyal ministers and good generals at will.

She didn't dare to discourage it, because there was a strict order on the palace wall that "the harem should not interfere in politics"; Because her husband claimed to be the country and family, he tried his best to lead the empire without any deviation. But civil servants and military commanders are afraid, and everyone is in danger. What's that for?

In fact, as a bystander, Queen Zhou can see clearly. In order not to flatter Long Lin, she beat about the bush many times, hoping to awaken her husband's confusion.

Once she said, "I still have a home in the south." It is intended to point out Chongzhen. At the end of the road, you can move the capital to Nanjing, temporarily avoid the edge of the rebels, and then regroup and recover the rivers and mountains in the future.

Will Chongzhen listen? Obviously not. When he was at the end of his tether, he couldn't let go of his dignity after all. Because the ancestral motto "the emperor defends the country and the monarch dies", even if she evades it temporarily, Queen Zhou's proposal will naturally be drunk.

But today, she clearly saw the word "regret" written on her husband's face.

The eunuchs in the inner palace all went out to fight, some died and fled, some dispersed, and there was no one around. The so-called disaster is imminent and everything is understandable.

And she, now the queen of Zhujiajian, has to do something since the mother instrument is in the world.

She ordered Wan Qiu to inform the servants in each palace to come to Kunning Palace, and she wanted to take the initiative to say goodbye to them. At that time, maids from Ren Jing Palace, Yongshou Palace, Cining Palace and Yonghe Palace gathered in Kunning Palace.

At this time, she put away her tears and told them the truth about her motherland.

She took out the last savings and distributed them bit by bit, telling them to escape: men should try to avoid the swords of the thief army, and women should be more careful. Once arrested, they can't lose their dignity.

Go south as far as possible after fleeing, because there is no war there at present; Try to hide your identity, set up a three-point thin field, or build a beam shed to save your life.

There was sobbing in front of Kunning Palace, and the imperial secretary bowed down. A maid-in-waiting, in tears, put the broken silver on the stone steps, saying that she had lost her home in the world and the queen was her only support, and decided to die together.

When Queen Zhou was about to take off the hairpin on her head, Wan Qiu blocked her hand. She has long thought that whether she is alive or dead, whether the road ahead is bright or dark, she will hold on to the queen and never give up.

……

It's time to prepare dinner.

No matter what the road ahead is after tomorrow, we must prepare this last family dinner.

How time flies! When the dinner is ready, the candlelight has been lit in the Fengtian side hall, and the darkness has quietly arrived. Queen Zhou is full of thoughts. In fact, she prefers to stay in the royal restaurant forever, preparing dishes for her husband and children, watching the family sit around the table and listening to their stories.

Three sons are here. They are Prince Zhu Cilang, Wang Ding, Zhu Cijiong and Wang Yong. One by one embroidered robe and jade belt, dressed brightly, ready to send a big gift to my father.

They clearly know something, maybe it's gunfire outside the city, maybe it's a difficult dilemma. But they still sit back and relax and believe that there is nothing in the world that their father can't solve.

But today is really different. For the first time, Chongzhen asked them to cancel the complicated etiquette and cast affectionate eyes on the three children. Finally put his hand on Zhu Cilang's shoulder.

"This is no time for you to dress like this ... when you go to the palace, you should be careful everywhere. When you see an old man, you can call him an old man, or you can call him an uncle like me ... You are used to luxury, and you don't know the dangers outside the palace, so don't make public that you are a descendant of the Zhujiajian family. That would be a disaster ... Do you hear? "

The family dinner seemed to be a failure and finally turned into a bleak farewell.

Queen Zhou grabbed Zhu Cilang, stroked his cheek and hugged Zhu Cijiong again. Mother and son hugged each other tightly, and tears overflowed their skirts.

That night, the three children were sent out of the palace to meet their families at Zhou Kui and Hong Tian, and began their own sufferings.

Late at night in the Forbidden City, Emperor Chongzhen held a sword.

The first target was naturally Queen Zhou, the mother of the world, but he didn't use a sword, but said to her, "You are the mother of the country, so you should be a martyr. You need to show it to the whole world, so you don't need me to do it! " .

Empress Zhou is as cool as a cucumber, putting her life and death at risk. A day's careful preparation is to wait for this moment. But when she was leaving, she had a few words to say to her husband, and she didn't feel uncomfortable: "I have served your majesty 18 years." Over the years, I have been advising your majesty, and your majesty won't listen, so there will be today! " .

Say that finish, wipe away the tears and hang the beam with the silk already prepared.

Seeing his beloved hanged himself on the spot, Emperor Chongzhen burst into tears, but he still didn't let go of his poor self-esteem and started a crazy massacre.

Next, Yuan Guifei hanged herself, the ribbon broke, Chongzhen stabbed to death with a sword, and then fell in a pool of blood. Other concubines died, fled and fled, and the Fengtian Temple has become a river of blood.

Princess Changping was shocked and subconsciously blocked a sword with her hand. Chongzhen stabbed her left shoulder and stabbed her right shoulder. Princess Changping fainted on the spot, and Chongzhen burst into tears and said to her, "Son! Why were you born in the royal family? " .

Princess Akihito, who was only 6 years old, was stabbed in the heart by Chongzhen's sword and lost her breath.

..... Human tragedy, heaven and earth whimper, the country is ruined, and there is no peace!

1644, 19 In March, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in a crooked-neck tree in Jingshan Park, and the curtain of the Ming Dynasty fell.

On March 2 1 day, the insurgents dug three feet and finally found his body. Empress Zhou's coffin was moved out of the palace and displayed outside Donghua Gate. Shunzhi 16 1 1 month, the Qing court went to Chongzhen Hall to change the name of Emperor Zhuang Lie, and changed Empress Zhou Zhuang Lie to Empress Zhuang Lie, on the grounds that "the last generation of emperors was promoted, and the title was not called Zong".

This year, Queen Zhou was 34 years old (1611-1644).

References:

Ming history. Fan Shuzhi's biography of Chongzhen.