The Ming Dynasty began in the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

Emperor Chongzhen reached out and untied the belt from his dragon robe, then threw it forcefully onto the tree. The belt passed smoothly through the crooked neck of the old locust tree, hanging down for more than two feet.

Chongzhen gestured, and after tying a knot in his belt, it would hang just wide enough to suspend him. Remembering what the Crown Prince had said, Chongzhen couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.

"Could this crooked tree be the one my son was talking about?"

"Alas, this is fate!"

Emperor Chongzhen was gesturing wildly, already resigned to his fate, so he didn't feel anything. But his appearance terrified Wang Chengen...

Old Wang never imagined that the Emperor had come to Jingshan Park only to hang himself. He rushed forward, grabbed Chongzhen's leg tightly, and burst into tears...

"Your Majesty, please don't do anything rash. This old servant can stay with you and live in seclusion among the common people. We'll find a chance to secretly head south later, sob sob..."

Seeing Wang Chengen crying like a child, Chongzhen gently patted his shoulder:

"Otomo, don't be sad, run for your life!"

Old Wang clung to Chongzhen's leg and refused to let go:

"No, this old servant will never leave Your Majesty, and will never let anything happen to Your Majesty!"

Chongzhen knew Wang Chengen meant well, but his mind was made up. He gritted his teeth and shouted loudly:

"The emperor guards the nation's gates, the monarch dies for the state; do you want me to live on and be remembered with infamy for all time? Do not interfere with me, that is an order!"

Old Wang knew the Emperor's temperament; once he made up his mind to do something, nothing could sway him. Left with no other choice, he could only obey.

"This old servant dares not disobey the imperial decree. If Your Majesty departs, this old servant will not live on!"

"well……"

Emperor Chongzhen sighed deeply, tore off a piece of his robe, closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then decisively bit his index finger and wrote a blood letter on the robe:

"Seventeen years after I ascended the throne, the rebels have been pressing on to the capital. Although I am of meager virtue and have offended Heaven, causing the rebels to approach the capital, it is all due to the mistakes of my ministers. When I die, I have no face to meet my ancestors in the underworld. I will remove my crown and cover my face with my hair. Let the rebels tear my body apart, but do not harm a single commoner."

After finishing writing, Emperor Chongzhen was filled with grief and indignation, and roared angrily:

"I am not a ruler destined to bring about the downfall of the country; it is my ministers who have misled me, and many of them are ministers who will bring about the downfall of the country..."

Wang Chengen wanted to say a few words of comfort to the emperor, but he didn't know how to begin, so he could only cry out in grief and indignation:

"Your Majesty..."

Emperor Chongzhen looked up at the belt knot that was about a foot above his head, reached out to remove his crown, then disheveled his hair to cover his face, and said without hesitation:

"My lord, I'm in a lot of trouble. Please help me..."

"Your Majesty..."

Wang Chengen wept bitterly, for this was asking him to send the Emperor to his death!

As the most loyal chief eunuch in history, how could Old Wang bear to do this...?

But the shouts of the bandit army grew closer and closer. Old Wang knew that if he didn't escort the Emperor on his way, the Emperor would surely be captured, a result the Emperor absolutely did not want to accept.

With a heavy heart, Old Wang suddenly stood up, stepped forward, and forcefully lifted Emperor Chongzhen into his arms...

Emperor Chongzhen gripped the knot with both hands, resolutely hung his chin on it, and gently kicked Wang Chengen, signaling the old man to let go!

But Old Wang clung tightly to the Emperor's legs; how could he bear to let go? He knew all too well that letting go would mean goodbye forever…

Seeing that Wang Chengen wouldn't let go, Emperor Chongzhen grew impatient. He forcefully kicked Wang Chengen away, and the knot in his belt tightened suddenly, leaving Chongzhen hanging from the tree...

Wang Chengen hurriedly knelt at Chongzhen's feet and shouted:

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Emperor of the Great Ming..."

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Emperor of the Great Ming..."

"Respectfully bidding farewell to the Emperor of the Great Ming..."

"Waaaaah..."

Heartbroken, Wang Chengen wept bitterly and fainted at one point...

After a long while, Wang Chengen opened his eyes, looked up at the Emperor, and saw that the Emperor's body was hanging up, his right foot bare, his face desolate, full of resentment...

"Your Majesty, this servant has come to keep you company!"

Wang Chengen rose, decisively untied his python robe and belt, and committed suicide on a crabapple tree...

And so, the master and servant tragically hanged themselves from a tree in the southeast...

It began with a bowl and ended with a rope. The last Han Chinese dynasty in Chinese history came to a tragic end!

For over two hundred years, the Ming Dynasty nurtured scholars. When the dynasty declined, ministers surrendered one after another, while the emperor guarded the country's gates and the monarch died for the state!

You can be bad at something, but you can't lack attitude. Chongzhen didn't know that his death would elevate the Ming Dynasty to a new level!

Wang Chengen was even more unaware that his death would make him the only eunuch in Chinese history to be buried in an imperial mausoleum!

In China, dying for one's country is the highest honor. Even if there are many controversies during one's lifetime, as long as one dies for one's country, history will be greatly elevated.

Lu Xiufu of the Southern Song Dynasty carried the eight-year-old emperor on his back and jumped into the sea at Yashan to die for his country, preserving the last dignity of the Song Dynasty and preventing the humiliation of Jingkang from being repeated. His past reputation was completely rewritten.

When Liu Xiang ruled Sichuan, he levied exorbitant taxes, waged wars, and oppressed the people. After collecting taxes for more than forty years, he was nicknamed "Liu the Burial Man."

However, when the War of Resistance against Japan broke out, Liu Xiang defied public opinion and, despite being ill, led the Sichuan Army to the anti-Japanese battlefield. He died on the front line in 1938, sacrificing his life for his country!

Before his death, Liu Xiang left a will stating that the Sichuan Army would not return home until the enemy withdrew from the country. He also requested that the Nationalist government hold a state funeral for him after his death.

When his remains were returned to his hometown, the people of Sichuan spontaneously saw him off, grumbling and cursing as they buried him next to the Wuhou Temple in Chengdu, to keep Zhuge Liang company.

Let's look at Tang Shengzhi again.

Before the Battle of Nanjing, he was showered with accolades.

He was the only general who dared to stand up and fight against the Japanese.

The only hero who dared to burn the ships and vowed to live and die with Nanjing.

The only person who vehemently opposed moving the capital and resolutely protected Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum.

If Tang Sheng could only defend Nanjing to the death, fight to the last moment, and ultimately sacrifice his life for his country.

So no matter how badly Tang Shengzhi fought, history textbooks will definitely dedicate a page to him, making him the first person in three hundred years to die for his country.

However, Tang Shengzhi, who had received all the scripts for dying for his country, deserted his post and abandoned the city, thus ruining his chance to be remembered in history!

If Zhang Xueliang had died in battle in Northeast China, and Puyi had assassinated the Japanese Emperor in Tokyo, the three of them would definitely have become known as the Three Saints of Modern Times.

Even if Puyi had committed suicide in Tokyo, BYD would at least have released a Qing Dynasty series, but unfortunately, they didn't have that kind of spirit.

Not all last emperors had the backbone of Chongzhen. Although he ruined the Ming Dynasty, he is still well-regarded by later generations...

……

A cold wind howled, and at the Shouhuang Pavilion in Jingshan Park, two corpses hung side by side, undiscovered...

March 19th

After the rebel army occupied the entire capital, Liu Zongmin led his trusted subordinates and was the first to storm into the Ming imperial palace...

At noon, led by the eunuch Wang Dehua, Li Zicheng entered Chengtian Gate and went into the inner palace.

Prime Minister Niu Jinxing, Minister Song Qijiao, Vice Minister Li Zhisheng, and others accompanied him.

Li Zicheng ascended the Hall of Supreme Harmony, sat on the throne, and looked down at his ministers. Suddenly, an indescribable feeling spread throughout his body.

Initially, Li Zicheng's rebellion was merely for the sake of having enough to eat; he never dared to dream that he would one day be able to overthrow the Ming Dynasty.

After a long while, Li Zicheng finally came to his senses, his single eye gleaming with astonishing light, and he loudly ordered:

"Issue the order to thoroughly search the inner palace and the imperial city. We need accurate information about Emperor Chongzhen. We must see him alive or dead. Confiscate all gold, silver, and treasures from the national treasury and Chongzhen's personal funds for future rewards. No one is allowed to take any of these privately. Anyone who disobeys will be executed without mercy..."

"The rebel leader's harem is empty. Emperor Chongzhen and his concubines have vanished without a trace. Only the bodies of a dozen or so palace maids who committed suicide remain, and there are only tens of thousands of taels of silver..."

No sooner had Li Zicheng finished speaking than Liu Zongmin arrived, looking utterly disappointed, and reported what he had seen to Li Zicheng.

Upon entering the imperial city, Liu Zongmin was the first to enter the palace, intending to plunder gold and silver and abduct palace maids.

However, the actual situation greatly disappointed Liu Zongmin. Apart from tens of thousands of taels of silver from Chongzhen's private treasury, not a single living beauty was found.

Rumors circulated that Emperor Chongzhen possessed millions of taels of gold and silver in his private treasury and thousands of concubines in his harem, but these now seem like a joke.