An interesting question in Ming dynasty

When the eunuchs in Wei Zhongxian made the politics of the Ming Dynasty malodorous, Nurhachi, the great Khan of the late Jin Dynasty, was constantly attacking the Ming army in Liaodong. After the Salhu War, the Ming Dynasty sent veteran Xiong Tingbi to command the Liaodong army. He was a brilliant general, but Wang, the governor of Guangning (now Beizhen, Liaoning Province), thought that going through customs affected his position and tried his best to obstruct Xiong Tingzhen's command. In A.D. 1622, Nurhachi attacked Quang Ninh, and Wang Huazhen took the lead in escaping into the pass. Unable to resist, Xiong Tingbi had to protect some people and retreat to Shanhaiguan.

Quang Ninh fell, and the Ming Dynasty indiscriminately put Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen into prison together. Wei Zhongxian took the opportunity to blackmail Xiong Tingbi and demanded that Xiong Tingbi take out forty-two thousand pieces of silver to avoid his own death. Xiong Tingbi is a decent man. Where can he get the money? Of course he refused. Eunuchs framed Xiong Tingbi for corruption and put him to death.

After the Ming Dynasty killed Xiong Tingbi, who was sent to resist the late Jin army? The Ministry of War yamen in charge of military affairs is in a hurry. Just then, the headmaster (official name) Yuan Chonghuan suddenly disappeared. The people in the yamen found his home, and the people at home didn't know where he was going. A few days later, Yuan Chonghuan didn't come back. It turned out that he saw the national emergency and rode alone to inspect outside Shanhaiguan.

Yuan Chonghuan studied the situation inside and outside the customs in detail and came back to report to Sun Chengzong, the minister of the Ministry of War, saying, "As long as I am paid, I can be responsible for defending Liaodong."

Some court ministers were frightened by the attack of the late Jin Dynasty. Hearing that Yuan Chonghuan volunteered, they all agreed to let Yuan Chonghuan have a try. Ming Xizong approved to pay him 200,000 yuan and put him in charge of supervising the Ming army through the customs.

After several years of war, the Shanhaiguan Pass was desolate, and the bones of fallen soldiers were everywhere. In addition, the ice and snow, wild animals rampant, the environment is very difficult. After Yuan Chonghuan went through the customs, he took a few soldiers, galloped through the night on horseback in the wilderness, and arrived at Qiantun in Ningyuan (now Xingcheng, Liaoning) before dawn. He took in refugees there and built fortifications. There is no one there who does not admire Yuan Chonghuan's courage and perseverance.

Yuan Chonghuan in the Commissioner's office, after some on-the-spot investigation, decided to send troops to Ningyuan to build fortifications there. After he reported his ideas to the court, he immediately got the support of Sun Chengzong.

Yuan Chonghuan built a wall three feet high and two feet wide in Ningyuan, equipped with all kinds of firearms and cannons. Sun Chengzong also sent several troops stationed in Jinzhou and Songshan near Ningyuan to support Ningyuan.

Yuan Chonghuan, with strict orders, is deeply loved by the military and civilians. Businessmen from all over the country heard that Ningyuan's defense was consolidated and flocked to Ningyuan from all directions. The critical situation in Liaodong soon took a turn for the better.

Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan were making good progress in guarding Liaodong, but they were suspected by Wei Zhongxian. Wei Zhongxian instigated the eunuch to speak ill of Sun Chengzong, and Sun Chengzong was forced to leave.

Wei Zhongxian crowded out Sun Chengzong and sent their comrade Gaudi to command the Liaodong army. Gaudi is a mediocre and incompetent guy. As soon as he arrived at Shanhaiguan, he called a meeting of the generals, saying that the 8 Jin Army was too strong to keep out of Shanhaiguan and demanded that all the Ming troops withdraw into Shanhaiguan.

Yuan Chonghuan is firmly opposed to withdrawing troops. He said: "We can easily gain a foothold outside the customs, how can we give up easily!"

Gaudi insisted that Yuan Chonghuan give up Ningyuan. Yuan Chonghuan said angrily: "My duty is to defend Ningyuan. I will die there even if I die, and I will never retreat."

Gaudi said that he refused to accept Yuan Chonghuan, so he had to promise Yuan Chonghuan to lead some Ming troops to stay in Ningyuan, but ordered the Ming troops in other parts of the pass to retreat to the pass within a time limit. This order came out of expect the unexpected, and the defenders all over the country were unprepared. They quickly retreated and threw away hundreds of thousands of rations stored in the customs.

Seeing the retreat of the Ming army, Nurhachi thought that the Ming Dynasty was easy to deal with. In A.D. 1626, he personally led130,000 troops across the Liaohe River and attacked Ningyuan.

At that time, the Ming army guarding several strongholds around Ningyuan had been withdrawn, leaving only more than 10 thousand soldiers in Ningyuan city, which was very isolated. But Yuan Chonghuan was not discouraged. He bit his finger, wrote a bloody book to resist gold, showed it to the soldiers, and said an encouraging word. Hearing this, the soldiers were moved to a boiling passion and expressed their desire to follow General Yuan to defend Ningyuan.

Then, Yuan Chonghuan ordered all the people outside the city to withdraw into the city with food and utensils, burned down the houses outside the city, and called the late Jin army, without food and shelter. He assigned tasks to officials in the city, some were responsible for the supply of rations, and some were responsible for investigating spies. He also wrote to the commander-in-chief of the Ming army in Shanhaiguan, saying that if Ningyuan was found fleeing back to Shanhaiguan, they would be beheaded. With these orders, the people of Ningyuan will settle down, and everyone has no other idea except to defend the city and kill the enemy wholeheartedly.

Twenty days later, Nuerhachi led 8 jin j angrily to Ningyuan at the gates. A large number of soldiers in the late Jin dynasty wore shields and braved the arrows and artillery fire of the Ming army to attack the city. Although the Ming army bravely resisted, the nomadic people behind fell down again. At this critical juncture, Yuan Chonghuan ordered the use of guns that had been prepared long ago to fire at the backward 8 Jin Army ... On hearing the gunfire, I saw a fire, and the soldiers in the latter Jin Dynasty were blown to pieces, and those who stayed behind were forced to retreat.

The next day, Nurhachi personally bid and concentrated large forces to attack the city. Yuan Chonghuan boarded the watchtower, calmly monitoring the action of 8 jin j after. It was not until 8 jin j rushed to the place near the city wall that he ordered the gunner to aim at the enemy's crowded place and fire. This shot made the late Jin army suffer more casualties. Nurhachi, who was supervising the war in the back, was also seriously injured and had to order a retreat.

On hearing the enemy's withdrawal, Yuan Chonghuan fought his way out of the city and chased it for three miles before returning to the city.

Nurhachi returned to Shenyang with serious injuries. He said to his men, "I have been invincible since I was twenty-five." I didn't expect Ningyuan Town to attack. " He is angry and sad, and his injury is getting worse and worse. After a few days, he swallowed. His eighth son, Huang Taiji, succeeded him as the late King Khan. After Nurhachi died of serious injury, Yuan Chonghuan sent a special envoy to Shenyang to mourn his late king. Huang Taiji was full of resentment against Yuan Chonghuan, but he needed a rest because of King Kong's defeat. Besides, he also wants to test the attitude of the Ming Dynasty. So we not only received the envoy of Yuan Chonghuan, but also sent an envoy to Ningyuan to express our gratitude. On the surface, the two sides eased down and secretly stepped up preparations for the next battle.

In the second year, Huang taiji personally led the army to attack the Ming army. After that, 8 jin j split up and went south to the third road, and surrounded Jinzhou city first. Yuan Chonghuan knew that Huang Taiji's goal was Ningyuan, so he decided to stay in Ningyuan and sent four thousand cavalry to rescue Jinzhou. Sure enough, before the reinforcements started, Huang Taiji had divided his troops to attack Ningyuan. Yuan Chonghuan personally went to Chengtou to supervise the soldiers guarding the city and slammed 8 Jin J with artillery; The Ming army reinforcements outside the city also attacked inside and outside the city, driving away the 8 Jin Army behind.

Huang taiji withdrew his troops from Jinzhou again, but the Ming army in Jinzhou was heavily guarded, and with the warmer weather, the morale of the Jin Army behind him was low. Huang taiji had to withdraw.

Yuan Chonghuan once again swept the board. But Wei Zhongxian kept the credit in his own name, instead of blaming Yuan Chonghuan for not saving Jinzhou himself. Yuan Chonghuan knew that Wei Zhongxian wanted to embarrass him and had to resign.

In A.D. 1627, the fatuous Ming Xizong died, and his brother Zhu Youjian acceded to the throne, namely Ming Sizong, also known as Emperor Chongzhen (Chongzhen is the national title).

Emperor Chongzhen knew for a long time that Wei Zhongxian was evil and the public's anger was too great. As soon as he acceded to the throne, he announced that he would sue Wei Zhongxian and exile Wei Zhongxian to Fengyang. Wei Zhongxian knew he couldn't live any longer and committed suicide on the way.

Emperor Chongzhen punished the eunuch, rehabilitated Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou and others, and wanted to cheer up. Many ministers demanded that Yuan Chonghuan be recalled to the imperial court. Emperor Chongzhen accepted this opinion and promoted Yuan Chonghuan to the post of Minister of War, who was responsible for commanding the entire military in Hebei and Liaodong. Emperor Chongzhen personally summoned Yuan Chonghuan and asked him what he was going to do. Yuan Chonghuan said: "As long as you give me an order, all the ministries of the imperial court will work together to restore Liaodong within five years."

Emperor Chongzhen was very excited. He gave Yuan Chonghuan a shot and gave him carte blanche.

Yuan Chonghuan returned to Ningyuan, selected general talents, reorganized the team, had strict military discipline and high morale. Mao, the company commander of Dongjiang, failed to fight effectively, falsely reported the meritorious military service and did not listen to Yuan Chonghuan's command. Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao with his sword.

Huang taiji defeated, of course, refused to give up. Knowing that Ningyuan and Jinzhou were well defended, he decided to change the invasion route. He made all the preparations. In October 1629, he led hundreds of thousands of late Jin troops from Longjingguan and Daankou (now Zunhua North, Hebei) to Hebei, and went straight to Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

This move surprised Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan sent troops to stop 8 jin j on the way, it was too late. After 8 jin j, to the suburbs of Beijing. Yuan Chonghuan got the information, walked anxiously with the Ming army for two days and two nights, arrived in Beijing without rest, and fought fiercely with the 8 Jin J behind him ... Don't Lu Mingjun, but also arrived one after another and went into battle.

After Jin Jun suddenly attacked Beijing, the whole city was shocked. Emperor Chongzhen was in a hurry and didn't know what to do. Later, I heard that Yuan Chonghuan was plotting to arrive, and my heart was settled. He personally summoned Yuan Chonghuan and hosted a banquet for him. However, some of Wei Zhongxian's figureheads spread rumors that after this time, the nomads from Beijing made a detour, which was completely introduced by Yuan Chonghuan. Maybe there's something in it.

Emperor Chongzhen is a suspicious man. After listening to these rumors, he also has some doubts. Just then, a eunuch captured by the nomads from the army fled back and reported to Emperor Chongzhen that Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Taiji had conspired against Beijing. The news came as a bolt from the blue and stunned Emperor Chongzhen.

It turned out that there were two eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty who were arrested by the late Jin army and held in Jinying. One night, a eunuch named Yang woke up in the middle of the night and heard two herders guarding them talking softly outside.

A Jinbing said: "Today, we got cold feet, which is exactly what the emperor (referring to Huang Taiji) meant. Do you know? "

The other said, "How do you know?"

Another said, "Just now, I saw the emperor riding towards Mingying camp. Two men from Mingying camp rode over and chatted with the emperor for a long time before going back. I heard that the two men were sent by General Yuan, and he had made a secret agreement with the emperor, and it was about to happen ... "

Eunuch Yang overheard this conversation, and while the herdsmen guarding him were not paying attention, he sneaked away and ran back to the palace to report to Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen also believed it. How did he know that the information was completely false? The conversation between the two Beijing nomads from Beijing was arranged by Huang Taiji in advance.

Emperor Chongzhen ordered Yuan Chonghuan to enter the palace at once. Yuan Chonghuan was ordered, I don't know what happened, and hurried into the palace. Emperor Chongzhen asked morosely, "Yuan Chonghuan, why did you kill General Mao without authorization? Why are the nomads from Beijing and your reinforcements haven't come yet? "

Yuan Chonghuan can't help but be dazed. Where do these words come from? He was about to answer when Emperor Chongzhen ordered the Royal Guards to tie up Yuan Chonghuan and put him in prison.

A minister was surprised to know that Yuan Chonghuan was loyal to the country on weekdays. He advised Emperor Chongzhen to say, "Please think carefully!"

Emperor Chongzhen said, "What is access? Caution will only make things worse. "

Emperor Chongzhen rejected the minister's suggestion, and some Wei Zhongxian henchmen took the opportunity to frame him. In the second year, Emperor Chongzhen finally ordered the execution of Yuan Chonghuan.