Wei Zhongxian was just a white glove when Hou Jin came in
Wei Zhongxian is a person, everyone should know something. He was originally just a ruffian, illiterate, and had a lot of debts due to gambling, and there was really no way out.
So, he took the knife himself, cut off his life, and entered the palace as a eunuch.
Wei Zhongxian, from a low-level slave to a celebrant and a eunuch. In the early days of entering the palace, he was only a small role in managing the warehouse of the inner house, and almost no one cared about him. Even if he is very close to Zhu Youxiao, the eldest grandson of the emperor, it is difficult to get attention.
After all, Zhu Youxiao still had to face the double pressure of the crown prince Zhu Changluo and Emperor Shenzong. However, just when he was over half a hundred years old and was about to spend an ordinary life, the opportunity quietly came.
After the death of Mingshenzong, Mingguangzong Zhu Changluo also died of excessive indulgence, and in just one month, the death of his grandfather and father made Zhu Youxiao the fifteenth emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and Wei Zhongxian also emerged.
After Xizong ascended the throne, Wei Zhongxian was quickly promoted to the eunuch of the ceremonial supervisor Bingbi with his own efforts, from being responsible for cooking to being responsible for wearing red for the emperor, and concurrently serving as the governor of Dongchang.
The speed of such promotion is as fast as a rocket.
In the middle and late Wanli period, it was the famous Donglin Party that soared together with Wei Zhongxian. They are known as "clear streams" and influence the best in the country. When Guangzong and Xizong alternated, Guangzong's favorite concubine Li Xuanzhi tried to control the imperial court, and Yang Lian, a direct minister of the Donglin Party, and a group of colleagues who were not afraid of death stepped forward, and finally forced Li Xuanzhi to leave the Qianqing Palace and successfully proclaimed Xizong as emperor.
After Xizong ascended the throne, in order to repay their support for their merits, he vigorously promoted the Donglin Party members and let them occupy important positions in the court, such as the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, and the Dali Temple.
However, this displeased the opposition factions such as the Qi Party, the Zhejiang Party, and the Chu Party, and they formed a coalition to confront the Donglin Party. However, thanks to Xizong's trust, the Donglin Party was victorious in this court struggle, and their position was more secure.
When the members of the Qi, Zhejiang, and Chu parties looked at their sworn enemies, Chun Feng, they were full of unwillingness. At this critical moment, the Donglin Party decided to beat the water dogs.
Zhao Nanxing, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, used the six-year Jingcha to try to expel Qi Shijiao, the leader of the Qi Party, Ying Zhen and Wu Liangsi, the leaders of the Chu Party, and Zhao Xingbang, the backbone of the Zhejiang Party, from the officialdom.
Although the official history evaluated Zhao Nanxing as impartial law enforcement and no favoritism, in the eyes of members of the Qi Party, Zhejiang Party, and Chu Party, his approach was too much. Qi Shijiao and others took refuge in Wei Zhongxian, who they originally looked down on, while Zhao Nanxing paid the price for his actions.
Above the Ming Dynasty, a new political group was born formed by Wei Zhongxian and the forces opposing the Donglin Party, and they were called the Eunuch Party. Although the name "Eunuch Party" conjures up images of a group of eunuchs vying for power with the Donglin Party, in reality, most of the eunuch members were civil officials, and the number of eunuchs was not large.
The conflict between the eunuchs and the Donglin party stemmed from historical contradictions, and at the beginning, the Donglin party had the upper hand because of its prosperity. However, the eunuchs did not give up, and they soon gained power and launched an even more fierce struggle with the Donglin party.
This struggle directly affected the war in Liaodong and seriously threatened the Liaodong defense line of the Ming Dynasty.
After the Battle of Sarhu, although the Ming army was heavily damaged by Nurhachi, it also had the defense system and army of Liaodong as the backing. As long as the command is done properly, it is not easy for the Eight Banners Army to enter Liaodong.
However, it was precisely the command that went wrong. In the first year of the Apocalypse, Xiong Tingbi was dismissed, and Yuan Yingtai, a member of the Donglin Party, took over as the governor of Liaodong. However, Yuan Yingtai's serious command mistakes in the Battle of Liaoshen led to the Ming Dynasty easily losing Shenyang and Liaoyang.
Yuan Yingtai committed suicide and martyrdom, leaving behind a lot of chicken feathers, and the Donglin Party had no choice but to suggest that Xizong reactivate Xiong Tingbi and appoint Wang Huazhen as the governor of Liaodong. However, in the Hexi Offensive in the second year of the Apocalypse, the contradiction between Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen on offensive and defensive issues led to the annihilation of the 140,000 Ming Army, and Xiong Tingbi had to abandon Guangning, Jinzhou, Dalinghe and other large and small fortresses, and retreated into Shanhaiguan with the common people.
This proves once again that the importance of command cannot be overlooked.
Both inside and outside the capital were shocked by the news of the fall of Kanwai. Follow"Whoever is in power, who is responsible"Gao Panlong, the backbone of the Donglin Party, asked Emperor Xizong to suggest that Sun Chengzong should serve as the secretary of the military department and go to Shanhaiguan to lead the defense of Liaodong.
Sun Chengzong is both the Donglin Party and Xizong's mentor, and belongs to people who can be trusted by both sides. Therefore, Xizong issued an edict on February 12, appointing Sun Chengzong as the secretary of the military department and going to Shanhaiguan for inspection.
Before Sun Chengzong left, Xizong also appointed Wang Zaijin as the Liaodong Economic Strategy and Yuan Chonghuan as the envoy of Shandong. Wang and Yuan arrived at Shanhaiguan first, but because of the armament problem, the two soon had an argument.
Yuan Chonghuan saw that the Later Jin army had no intention of occupying the western Liaoning corridor, so he advocated fortification in western Liaoning, that is, establishing forts in Ningyuan, Qiantun, Jinzhou and other places, and advancing the front to the north as much as possible.
Wang Zaijin was worried that the long battle line would lead to logistical supply difficulties, and he suggested abandoning Liaoxi and setting up a defensive line in front of Shanhaiguan, that is, building a new Guancheng at Balipu.
At that time, there were advocates for continuing the operation to recover Liaodong. On the basis of this proposition, Yuan Chonghuan and Wang Zaijin had different opinions and were ** each other. Soon after, after Sun Chengzong arrived at Shanhaiguan, he found that Wang Zaijin's plan was the easiest to implement and save money, but he was criticized.
And Yuan Chonghuan's plan, although difficult, was not criticized. Although the main attacker's plan is the most difficult and costly, it occupies the moral high ground. However, Sun Chengzong did not dare to take on this responsibility and decided to support Yuan Chonghuan, first restore the ruling order of the Western Liaoning Corridor, and then slowly develop.
After the plan is decided, the specific implementation begins. In August of the second year of the Apocalypse, Sun Chengzong invited himself to be the supervisor, let the original generals such as Ji and Liao supervise everywhere, and ordered Lu Zhijia to be responsible for collecting refugees outside the Guan, Yang Yingqian recruited Liao people to form an army, Yuan Chonghuan and Mangui garrisoned in Ningyuan, Zu Dashou garrisoned in Juehua Island, and Zhao led the garrison in Qiantun.
With the training and deployment of the army in place, the Guanningjin defense line also began to take shape.
Sun Chengzong hoped that the imperial court would provide military resources to strengthen the construction of the defensive line. However, his proposal was opposed by the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of War, citing excessive military resources. This is confusing, because aren't these two departments supposed to support the Donglin Party?
It turned out that during Sun Chengzong's time in Liao, the eunuch party gained the upper hand in the struggle and suppressed the Donglin party. At the beginning of Xizong's accession to the throne, he trusted the Donglin Party very much, but as time went by, he found that although the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party were both parties for personal gain, the former was more obedient.
He likened the eunuchs to pet dogs, greedy and troublesome, but loyal and obedient; The Donglin Party is like a pet cat, although it is taken care of well, but it always has a strained face, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't sell cuteness, and it often sprays the sky, the ground, and the owner.
Therefore, Xizong chose the Fuzheng Eunuch Party instead of the Donglin Party.
In the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624), Yang Lian asked for his life for the country and exposed the twenty-four major sins of Wei Zhongxian. Zuo Guangdou and Wei Dazhong followed closely behind, impeaching Wei Zhongxian in the 32nd article.
These two ** became the decisive battles between the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party. Under the hood of Xizong, Wei Zhongxian ordered the expulsion of Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong and others, and at the same time pointed the finger at Ye Xianggao, the head of the cabinet, simply because he had protected the Donglin Party.
Under the pressure of the eunuch party, Ye Xianggao was forced to resign and was also labeled as the "leader of the Donglin Party". After Sun Chengzong received the news, he wanted to take the opportunity of congratulating his birthday to ** Wei Zhongxian, but failed due to the leakage of the plan, and was framed by Wei Zhongxian instead.
Seeing that the general trend had gone, Sun Chengzong had no choice but to ask to return to his hometown. Feng Shui took turns, and in the fifth year of the Apocalypse (1625), the Donglin Party was completely eradicated by the Eunuch Party. In June, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and Wei Dazhong were arrested by Jinyiwei, tortured, and finally died tragically.
From then on, the Donglin Party declared a complete defeat in the struggle against the eunuch party.
Wei Zhongxian was responsible for driving out Nurhachi and recovering Liaodong. His performance was ordinary, and he sent Gao Di to serve as the governor of Liaodong. Gao Di was weak and incompetent, and removed the defense line and army in Jinzhou, Youtun and other places.
Yuan Chonghuan was resolutely opposed. In the end, Gao Di withdrew to Guannei, and Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui and others held on to Ningyuan and successfully blocked Nurhachi. Feeling unwilling, Nurhachi stormed Kyaw Hwa Island and killed its inhabitants, burning stored grain and ships.
After the war, Yuan Chonghuan looked at the corpses all over Juehua Island and wept bitterly. He was deeply saddened by Gaudí's defeat, and he regretted that he had not stopped Gaudí's self-destruction of the Great Wall in time, which had led to such a tragic consequence.
After the Battle of Ningyuan, Gao Di was dismissed, and Wei Zhongxian reassigned Wang Zhichen as the governor of Liaodong. At first, Wang Zhichen and Yuan Chonghuan had a good relationship, but because of Man Gui's retention, the two had a dispute.
Wei Zhongxian eventually decided that Yuan Chonghuan was more reliable than Wang Zhichen, so he transferred Wang Zhichen back to Shanhaiguan, and Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to governor of Liaodong and governor of the military outside the Guan.
In August of the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Nurhachi died during the conquest of the Khalkha Mongol Bahrain Department, and Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne with the support of Daishan and Yuetuo. Yuan Chonghuan knew that Huang Taiji would definitely avenge Ning Yuan's revenge, so he began to ask the imperial court for help, and at the same time repaired the cities of Jinzhou, Zuotun, Daling, and Xiaoling.
After receiving Yuan Chonghuan's recital, Wei Zhongxian dispatched 30,000 horses from Datong, Xuanfu, Changping, Tianjin, Baoding and other places to the north. In the first month of the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), Huang Taiji saw that the Ming Dynasty was restoring the Ningjin defense line, so he sent people to hold peace talks with Yuan Chonghuan.
Huang Taiji's plan was that since the Later Jin was under the attack of the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, he would first solve the Korean problem and relieve his worries, and then attack the Ming Dynasty. He hoped that through the peace talks, Yuan Chonghuan would be stabilized and prepared for the next step.
With his unique strategic vision, Yuan Chonghuan put forward the military strategy of "defending as the right work, fighting as the strange work, and peace as the side". He believes that in the face of a strong enemy, we should adopt a variety of means to deal with the complex situation.
However, this strategy was not endorsed by the imperial court. Wei Zhongxian even openly objected, warning that if the imperial court negotiated peace with Jianyu, the Jin's alliance with the Mongols and Koreans would be broken.
This move made Yuan Chonghuan offend Wei Zhongxian, and many people expressed concern about it. However, Wei Zhongxian did not remove Yuan Chonghuan because of this, but was very important to him after the Battle of Ningyuan.
This also proves that Wei Zhongxian has a certain sense of the overall situation. With Wei Zhongxian's support, Yuan Chonghuan was able to preside over the defense of Liaodong and successfully rebuild the Ningjin defensive line. In the Battle of Ningjin in the seventh year of the Apocalypse (1627), Yuan Chonghuan once again adopted the tactics of "defending the city and using heavy artillery" and successfully resisted the attack of hundreds of thousands of troops led by Huang Taiji.
Yuan Chonghuan's tactics and actions proved his uniqueness in military strategy. His strategy of "defending the war and fighting" has important reference value not only at that time, but also today.
The reason why Yuan Chonghuan was able to defeat Huang Taiji in the Battle of Ningjin was inseparable from Wei Zhongxian's trust and support. However, the partnership between the two did not last until after the war.
Wei Zhongxian instructed his henchman Yuan Chonghuan on the grounds of not rescuing Jinzhou. Yuan Chonghuan knew that he could not resist Wei Zhongxian's forces, so he offered to resign. Subsequently, Wang Zhichen succeeded Yuan Chonghuan as the governor of Liaodong and was stationed in Ningyuan.
However, after Wang Zhichen arrived, he planned to abandon Jinzhou and shrink the front. Hearing that the superiors planned to retreat to the Guannei again, the soldiers and civilians of Liaoxi were speechless. They have had enough of this endless tossing and turning and hope that the days will end sooner rather than later.
However, Wang Zhichen's plan did not come to fruition in the end, as Wei Zhongxian died in August of the seventh year of the Apocalypse. After the death of Ming Xizong Zhu Youxiao, King Xin Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne and changed to Yuan Chongzhen.
When Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he was in awe of Wei Zhongxian and the power of the eunuchs, but after a period of observation, he found that these people were just paper tigers, so he secretly instructed his subordinates to ** Wei Zhongxian.
When Emperor Chongzhen decided to punish Wei Zhongxian and the eunuchs, the antipathy of the government and the opposition towards Wei Zhongxian exploded like a flood, and the recitals of Wei Zhongxian and the eunuchs sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.
On the first day of November, Emperor Chongzhen issued an announcement, announcing that Wei Zhongxian was a heinous person who should have been executed, but considering that the first emperor Zigong was in the funeral, let him go to Fengyang to guard the tomb for the time being.
However,"Gu placed Fengyang"It's just a polite remark from Emperor Chongzhen. In the officialdom of the late Ming Dynasty, people usually cut the grass and eradicate the roots. Wei Zhongxian himself often does this.
He clearly knew that Emperor Chongzhen could not tolerate his existence. Therefore, before Emperor Chongzhen made his move, Wei Zhongxian committed suicide in fear of sin. After Wei Zhongxian's death, the eunuch party collapsed, and its members were dismissed, imprisoned, or even executed.
Thanks to this, the Donglin Party was able to survive and gradually be reused. However, the role of the Donglin Party in the crisis of domination has not improved. Because the Donglin Party represented the interests of the merchants and landlords of Nanzhili at that time, they opposed the imperial court's collection of taxes on industrialists and merchants.
After Emperor Chongzhen eliminated Wei Zhongxian, the Donglin Party took the opportunity to play a role in canceling or reducing the burden of overseas taxes, mining taxes, salt taxes, tea taxes and other taxes, so that the financial burden at the end of the Ming Dynasty was all on ordinary farmers.
This led to the bankruptcy of a large number of peasants and the formation of displaced people, which in turn gave birth to the great peasant uprising that broke out in the late Ming Dynasty in the first year of Chongzhen.
Many people believe that Wei Zhongxian is to blame for the decline of the Ming Dynasty, but I think this is unfair. Just like the decline of the Tang Dynasty cannot be blamed for Yang Guifei's beauty.
If I were Ming Xizong, I would also use Wei Zhongxian, because eunuchs are loyal to the emperor, and no matter what they do, they will not harm the imperial power. At the same time, the eunuch also knew that he was just a tool of the emperor, and he would only do dirty work.
The most important thing for a person is to be self-aware. After Chongzhen ascended the throne, his first mistake was to rush to force Wei Zhongxian to death, and he should leave Wei Zhongxian a way to survive and let him go to the vigil.
As long as Wei Zhongxian is alive, ** will have some scruples, and they will work steadfastly, instead of treating Chongzhen as a fool. It's like no matter how much Yuan Chonghuan makes trouble, as long as he is still valuable, Wei Zhongxian will not replace him.
In the fourth year of Chongzhen, he began to use eunuchs on a large scale, which was opposed by the cabinet and the six ministries. In the face of the wave of opposition, Chongzhen said that he did not distrust civil and military officials, but that the political environment in recent years has been very bad, and he has to do so.
If the civil and military officials are really conscientious, it is not impossible to remove them. Chongzhen's words were already clear, and he realized that the empire he had taken over was an empty shell that could collapse at any moment.
For a dying dynasty, the role of the true villain is far greater than that of the hypocrite.
Although Wei Zhongxian was not as unbearable as his political opponents described when he was alive, it cannot be said that when he was in power, Nurhachi could not get in. In fact, looking back at the wars outside the customs in the fourth to seventh years of the Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian's performance was not outstanding.
Four years before the Apocalypse, although Nurhachi captured Shenyang, Liaoyang and Guangning, due to the long front and insufficient ability to attack the fortifications, he was actually helpless against the Guanningjin defensive line.
If it weren't for Gaodi's command in Liaodong and indiscriminately, Nurhachi would not have dared to attack at all, and the Battle of Ningyuan in history would not have happened. Wei Zhongxian changed commanders at will, which led to a crisis in the defensive line, but fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui, Zu Dashou and others held on to Ningyuan, and they were able to stabilize.
Wei Zhongxian recognized the value of Yuan Chonghuan in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, and highly trusted and promoted him, laying the foundation for the victory of the Battle of Ningjin. But this is only a hole he dug himself, which he filled himself.
In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the war had improved, and Wei Zhongxian was in a hurry to remove Yuan Chonghuan and replace him with his own henchmen. If he hadn't died in time, if he had connived at Wang Zhichen's indiscriminate command, Huang Taiji might have entered the pass earlier than in history.
Therefore, Wei Zhongxian is alive, and Houjin cannot come in, which is a wrong view. If this point of view is true, we can also deduce "After Yue Fei's death, why couldn't the Jin ** team enter?" ”
irrational arguments.
The fall of the Ming Dynasty was a complex historical event, involving a variety of factors such as politics, military, economy, diplomacy, and even climate, which were far from being borne and resolved by any single group of Wei Zhongxian or the Donglin Party.
The Donglin Party did have problems, but it was not enough to shoulder the historical responsibility of saving the Ming Dynasty. Similarly, Wei Zhongxian cannot bear this historical responsibility alone. Excessive praise or belittling of either side is only for the sake of specific propaganda needs.