The late Ming Dynasty happened to be a period of frequent droughts, and there were three droughts in the Wanli period, all of which caused plagues. In the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, another drought lasted for four years. With the drought raging, it is not only refugees who flee for their lives, but also rats need to look for food everywhere, so it is logical for a large number of rats to enter human settlements.

Yersinia pestis spread the virus to refugees through fleas stored on refugees, and the migration and flow of refugees spread the virus to a larger area. North China, as the main battlefield in the late period of the peasant war in the late Ming Dynasty, suffered from natural and man-made disasters, and the great plague in the late Ming Dynasty began to brew under such a background.

16 18. In the forty-sixth year of Wanli, heavy snow began to fall in Guangdong, marking the beginning of the "Little Ice Age". Since then, China has suffered from persistent drought and low temperature. To 1638, Chongzhen 1 1, Caohe River dried up, 65438+.

At the end of the dynasty, most parts of Chinese mainland entered the Little Ice Age, and droughts, locust plagues and plagues all over the country were repeated year after year. For a big agricultural country, it is simply unable to resist this blow. Natural disasters are accompanied by internal disturbances and rebellions in the northeast and southwest.

From Chongzhen 10 to 14, severe drought occurred in North China for four consecutive years. In Chongzhen 14, in the afternoon of a spring drought wilderness in northern Shanxi, a flea that blocked the digestive tract and could not suck blood jumped on a gray mouse and bit it desperately. At this time, a large number of Yersinia pestis entered the bitten gray mouse.

As a result, Yersinia pestis multiplied more rapidly in this new home, which is countless times larger than fleas. After more than ten hours, the little gray mouse began to have high fever symptoms, and its internal organs began to fester and bleed. When the gray rat died, a large number of Yersinia pestis in its body began to transfer to other rat groups in the annex, and then spread from one rat group to another.

After years of drought, food decreased, mice were weak and their immunity decreased, and soon the whole area was covered with Yersinia pestis. Drought and water shortage also lead to the faster reproduction of Yersinia pestis.

Soon groups of mice with bacteria became unbearable because of high fever, and they desperately searched everywhere for water to drink. So in order to find water, the mice set out in droves and began the process of moving in all directions. During this journey, more infected mice joined the mobile army.

In the summer of Chongzhen 14, swarms of rats suddenly appeared in the mainland of China, biting each other's tails, crossing rivers and obstacles in droves and entering Anhui, Henan, Hebei and other provinces.

During the Chongzhen period, 50% was drought, which resulted in a substantial reduction in grain production, a serious decline in the national physique and extremely deteriorating sanitary conditions. In Chongzhen 14, the country was still generally dry, and it hardly rained in Hebei in spring. The army of rats could not find water to drink and continued to March further south.

At the same time, people who were in a hurry in the famine began to steal the food hidden by mice in their holes and eat the pieces of mice that died on the side of the road. The plague outbreak that swept across the country finally began.

So left in China's history books, Chongzhen 14 years, Daming House plague line, nine times out of ten people died, fierce. There was a great famine in Guangping Prefecture, and people ate people. Great plague in Beijing and Tianjin. There was a great epidemic in Henan Province, and Wu Yang County of Kaifeng Prefecture died 19 people, killing countless people. Yang Rong, when people die, the road is deserted in March.

Pandemic occurred in Qingzhou, Jinan, Dezhou, Tai 'an and other places in Shandong. The plague in Anhui, the blue fly is as big as a jujube, Fengyang Prefecture, Anqing Prefecture and Luzhou Prefecture have been successively captured by the plague, and the death toll in the most dead places has reached 90%. Therefore, there are no people in Luzhou Prefecture, which is now Hefei, and the bustling streets are like silent nights, and no one walks.

2. Peasant Uprising in the Late Ming Dynasty:

Also known as the peasant war, uprising, Li Zicheng uprising, Zhang uprising, etc. It broke out in the apocalypse and Chongzhen years in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, natural disasters and man-made disasters continued, and class contradictions became increasingly acute. Faced with the threat of Huang taiji's leaving the border and the famine in the mainland, the Ming court was forced to reform the post office in order to save money and streamline its organization. However, there was a drought in Shaanxi, and people could not live, so they had to take risks.

The peasant uprising broke out in northern Shaanxi at the end of Ming Dynasty. Poor land, backward production, severe taxes and years of famine led to peasant uprisings.

From the 7th year of the Apocalypse (1627) to the 15th year of the Qing Shunzhi (1658), the rebels fought against the Ming army 17 and the Qing army 14.

Wang Er, Li Zicheng, Zhang and other peasant armies grew up from small to large, from scattered to concentrated, from guerrilla mobile operations to mobile operations, and finally overthrew the Ming Dynasty. In the later period, out of national justice, the peasant army adopted the decision to unite the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

However, due to the limitations and strategic mistakes of the peasant class, coupled with the crazy suppression after the Qing army entered the customs, the peasant uprising eventually failed.

The peasant war in the late Ming Dynasty dealt a heavy blow to the decadent forces of the Ming Dynasty and the arrogance of the Qing army. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, two million peasant revolutionary armies fought hard with the landlord class army in the vast areas of Yu Sheng, north and south of the Yellow River and up and down the Yangtze River. This war is the climax and summary of all previous peasant wars in the history of China.

Extended data:

1, Wang er uprising

After Wang Er's first meaning, all localities responded in succession. In the eighth year of the Apocalypse (1628), Wang Jiayin from Fugu, Wang Daliang from Hannan and Gao Yingxiang from Ansai led a famine uprising, and all Shaanxi responded.

Zhang also rebelled in Mizhi and Yan 'an, and later joined the army. The most influential in this period was the Wang Jiayin Rebel Army, which once occupied Fugu and established a temporary revolutionary regime.

However, the peasant uprising army did not have a unified command, and its composition was complex, lacking a clear goal of overthrowing the Ming regime. As far as the whole country is concerned, it is still in a strategic defensive posture.

In July of the first year of Chongzhen (1628), Wang Jiayin, Liu Yang and Non-Sticky Mud held high the first banner of righteousness in Fugu, Shaanxi.

2. Zhang Uprising

In the third year of Chongzhen (1630), Zhang rebelled against Mizhi Village and became the Eight Kings. Because his face is long and yellow, he is called yellow tiger. After he became king, he became an army and moved to Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Hubei.

In the sixteenth year, Wuchang and Xuanke Changsha, known as the King of the Great West, announced that they would be exempted from money and grain for three years, and the farmers in Hunan and Jiangxi responded.

The following year, Sichuan was taken to establish the Daxi regime in Chengdu, that is, the throne and title were Dashun, and the resistance of the landlord class was severely suppressed. At the end of the third year of Dashun (1646), the Qing army went south. He led the troops and refused to fight, and was shot dead by an arrow at Fenghuang Mountain in Xichong.

Due to the need of the Qing court's rule, all his own killings were attributed to the dead uprising leader.

3. Li Zicheng Uprising:

Li Zicheng Uprising is an important part of peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty. During the reign of tomorrow and Chongzhen, there was drought and famine in northern Shaanxi for years, and farmers rioted in succession. Li Zicheng, a brave and resourceful warrior under Gao Yingxiang.

In the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Yan Li and Li Zicheng revolted, and put forward slogans such as "no tax on farmland", which were welcomed by the broad masses of the people, and there was a ballad of "welcoming the king and refusing food". The army has grown to millions and become the main force of the peasant war.

In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), Xiangyang was called Xinshun King. In the first month of the following year, the Dashun regime, named Yongchang, was established. Soon, he conquered Beijing and overthrew the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Emperor Zhu Youjian hanged himself in Jingshan Park.

After the victory of Wu Sangui, the leader of the rebel army, he failed to kill the Wu Sangui family, forcibly crusaded against Wu Sangui, and the Manchu nobles entered the customs to jointly attack the peasant army. Faced with failure, he withdrew from Beijing and led his troops to Henan and Shaanxi. On May 17, Li Zicheng was killed by local Xiang Yong in Tongcheng County, Hubei Province. The rest of Li Zicheng continued the anti-Qing struggle.

This uprising led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Baidu encyclopedia-plague in the late Ming dynasty

Baidu Encyclopedia-Peasant Uprising in the Late Ming Dynasty