The savior of the Ming Dynasty and the hero of the anti-gold resistance, why was he executed by Chongzhen
Whether it is a time of peace or war, a wise courtier is an important factor in the prosperity of the country and the dynasty. For the prosperous times, the virtuous minister is like the icing on the cake, and for the troubled times, the virtuous minister is the key to turning things around.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Later Jin invaded Liaodong, and all 50,000 elite soldiers were defeated. The following year, the Wanli Emperor died and Zhu Youxiao ascended the throne, eager to regain the lost territory, but could not find anyone who could bravely lead the army.
At a time when the country was facing a crisis, Yuan Chonghuan stepped forward and showed his courage and wisdom.
Yuan Chonghuan, a scholar from Guangdong, was 14 years old when he went to Guangxi with his father to visit his grandfather when he was just in time for the local children's examination. He was enthusiastic and bold, friendly to people, and was praised by his neighbors.
However, the imperial court law clearly stipulated that it was not allowed to be referred to in other places, which made Yuan Chonghuan face great difficulties. But he didn't want to give up the opportunity, so his grandfather managed to get a fake identity for him to take the exam.
Fortunately, Yuan Chonghuan did not live up to his grandfather's hard work, and finally passed the test and became a ** member, starting his brilliant and short life.
Yuan Chonghuan devoted himself to scientific research with enthusiasm, and successfully entered the Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli, embarking on his career path. After the palace examination, he was appointed as the magistrate of Shaowu County, Fujian, responsible for managing the county's livelihood affairs and working to correct unjust cases.
He had planned to continue on the path of civil officials, but in the same year that he became a jinshi, news of the defeat came from Liaodong. During his tenure as magistrate of Shaowu County, Yuan Chonghuan paid special attention to the situation of veterans and officers, and he tried his best to understand the beginning and end of the war in Liaodong and analyze the reasons for its defeat.
When he heard the news that Nurhachi planned to invade the Central Plains, he felt extremely angry, and the idea of abandoning literature and military force sprouted in his heart. Three years later, the imperial court summoned the county-level ** to Beijing to report on their work.
Yuan Chonghuan boldly said in the court: "As long as you give me soldiers, horses, food and grass, I can guard Shanhaiguan alone!" ”
During that period, Zhu Youzheng was worried about the lack of leadership. After hearing Yuan Chonghuan's words of Top Ambition, he greatly appreciated him and immediately ordered him to be promoted to the head of the military department.
Subsequently, Yuan Chonghuan was further promoted to the post of chief inspector of Shandong and the supervisor of Shanhaiguan. At the same time, the imperial court allocated 200,000 taels of ** as military expenses for him to use to strengthen the army.
However, on the battlefield of swords and swords, it is unpredictable, even if he has military power and is familiar with military books, Yuan Chonghuan is still a novice. But he was not a conceited man. Before sending troops to Shanhaiguan, he specially visited Xiong Tingbi, the dismissed Liaodong economic envoy.
After the two talked, he not only deeply understood the situation in Liaodong, but also decided to continue with Xiong Tingbi's defensive strategy - to fight only when necessary.
This dark and skinny boy impressed the battle-hardened veteran, and was in awe of his ability and determination. After visiting Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Chonghuan led the army across the checkpoint and began his most brilliant military career.
Despite repeated setbacks in the battle with the Houjin, the state still expected him to come to Liaodong to serve as the supervisor of the Quang Ninh army. However, the first step of this mission did not go well, and the main obstacle he faced was not from the enemy army Nurhachi, but from his boss Wang Jae-jin.
Yuan Chonghuan insisted that in order to hold Shanhaiguan, it was necessary to stretch the battle line to Ningyuan, two hundred miles away, but Wang Zaijin resolutely opposed it, and even suppressed it with his official position, not giving an inch.
The infighting intensified, and the war was approaching, Zhu Youxiao learned of this and immediately sent his mentor Sun Chengxian to help Yuan Chonghuan. With the full support of the emperor, Yuan Chonghuan was able to show his strength and build a defensive line in Ningyuan.
He thought carefully and put forward the strategy of "using Liao soldiers to support the Liao people and Liao people to defend the Liao land", repatriating soldiers from other regions, and using the saved military expenses for the elite troops.
And these Liao people are not only fighting for their country, but also for their own homeland. As a result, they showed themselves more heroically and fearlessly on the battlefield.
Yuan Chonghuan's policy of "Liao people defending Liao soil" successfully strengthened the border troops and laid a solid foundation for later resisting the attacks of the Later Jin. In 1626, Nurhachi led an army to attack Ningyuan.
Although the Ming Dynasty had weakened its national power, they still had fortified cities and advanced **. Before launching a full-scale assault, Nurhachi released the Ming civilians he had captured, trying to use them to persuade the Ming soldiers in the city to surrender.
However, Yuan Chonghuan firmly rejected the proposal. After the failure of persuasion, the Later Jin troops began to attack Ningyuan City fiercely. Yuan Chonghuan immediately led the soldiers of the city to fight bloodily.
In order to boost morale, General Yuan moved all the ** in the city to the city wall, and ordered that the soldiers who killed the enemy bravely should be rewarded, and the soldiers who escaped from the battle should be punished.
Under the leadership of Nurhachi, although the siege soldiers of Houjin were numerous, they were unable to withstand the sharp artillery fire and the rain of arrows on the walls of Ningyuan City due to their poor equipment.
Two days after the siege, the Houjin soldiers suffered heavy losses, and even Nurhachi himself was hit by artillery and was seriously wounded. In desperation, he had no choice but to order the withdrawal of the troops. The battle ended with a great victory for Ning Yuan, the first victory since Yuan Chonghuan led the army, and the first victory since the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty mobilized their troops.
The battle silenced all those who questioned Yuan Chonghuan, and he also established prestige in the hearts of the border soldiers. After the news of this victory was transmitted back to the imperial court, Zhu Youxiao was overjoyed, and the court was also immersed in the joy of victory.
Soon, Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to governor of Liaodong, overseeing the defense of the Guanwai.
There are different theories about the cause of Nurhachi's death. One of the theories is that he was seriously wounded and died in the Battle of Ningyuan. According to the Korean scholar Li Xingling's Chunpotang Sun and Moon Record, Yuan Chonghuan sent envoys to Houjin Yingzhai to apologize to Nurhachi after the Battle of Ningyuan.
However, this was just Yuan Chonghuan's mockery, he said in the letter: "The veteran has been rampant in the world for many years, and today he was defeated by the kid, is this fate? ”
At that time, Nurhachi was already seriously injured, and coupled with Yuan Chonghuan's stimulation, his anger and illness intensified, and he finally died. Whether it was death from illness or serious injuries caused by defeat, Nurhachi's death was closely related to the Battle of Ningyuan.
Although Yuan Chonghuan did not personally kill the Jurchen veteran, his actions were the direct driving force behind the latter's death. After Nurhachi's death, Huang Taiji took his place.
Prior to this, Yuan Chonghuan had taken the opportunity of his condolences to ask the Later Jin for peace, and Huang Taiji agreed to his request in the first month of 1627 and led an army to attack Korea.
The Ming Dynasty took this opportunity to seize the time to repair the city walls and replenish armaments. However, in May of the same year, Huang Taiji withdrew from North Korea and went straight to Jinzhou. Since the defenders of Jinzhou were unable to resist, they asked Ning Yuan for help.
However, due to Ning Yuan's limited forces, he could not leave easily, so Yuan Chonghuan sent 4,000 cavalry around the rear of Huang Taiji's army to disrupt Hou Jin's siege plan.
In the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin, Yuan Chonghuan was an excellent general, he led tens of thousands of troops to defend Ningyuan, and successfully resisted the attack of Huang Taiji. The battle, known as the Ningjin Victory, won two victories for the Ming Dynasty.
However, fate is always unexpected. After Ning Jin's victory, Yuan Chonghuan's exploits were not duly recognized, but only promoted to a first-level official position. This was because the great eunuch Wei Zhongxian, fearing the expansion of Yuan Chonghuan's power, attacked him and accused him of not rescuing Jinzhou.
Yuan Chonghuan was dissatisfied with the emperor's favor and trust in the eunuchs, turned a blind eye to his own merits, and angrily resigned and returned to his hometown. However, after the death of Zhu Youxiao in September 1627, Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne and eliminated Wei Zhongxian**, eliminating the worries of eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty.
In November of the same year, Yuan Chonghuan was reactivated and became a military general relied on by the emperor. According to the "Later Collection of Shikui Books" written by Zhang Dai, a historian and writer in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, in April 1628, Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to the secretary of the military department.
In July of the same year, Zhu Youzhen summoned him and asked how to quell the threat of the Jurchens and restore the lives of the Liao people. Yuan Chonghuan was full of pride and replied confidently: "If the emperor can give me some autonomy, then within five years I can pacify the enemy in the east and restore the entire Liaodi." ”
When Zhu Youzhen heard this, he was very happy, met all Yuan Chonghuan's requirements, and awarded him the Shang Fang Sword.
Yuan Chonghuan was once at the pinnacle of his military career, but as the old saying goes, "prosperity and decline". In his hands, the pi of history also inevitably happened. In 1629, Mao Wenlong, the general of Zhenliao, disobeyed military orders, and Yuan Chonghuan ordered him to be executed in order to rectify military discipline.
This move undoubtedly challenged the authority of Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen, although the emperor did not hold him accountable at the time, he still had a defensive attitude towards Yuan Chonghuan in his heart. In November of the same year, Huang Taiji bypassed the border defense and approached Beijing, and General Yuan immediately led his troops back to the capital.
Yuan Chonghuan fought fiercely with the Houjin army outside Beijing for many rounds, and the two sides were inseparable. In the end, although Huang Taiji was successfully repulsed, the Ming army also paid a huge price.
However, this battle to protect the capital not only did not add military merits to him, but instead became a turning point in the estrangement of the relationship between the monarch and the minister. Due to the urgency of the situation, Yuan Chonghuan returned to the capital without receiving the emperor's edict, so some civil officials accused him of leading troops to the capital without authorization.
Some people even accused Yuan Chonghuan of colluding with Houjin. Although Zhu Youzhen did not fully believe these accusations, his doubts were aggravated by this. When the trust between the monarch and his courtiers was about to break, Huang Taiji used a discord to falsely claim that Yuan Chonghuan had secret dealings with him, further exacerbating the tensions.
Yuan Chonghuan: Yuan Chonghuan, the life-sustaining lamp of the Ming Dynasty, was identified as a traitor and collaborator under the framing of many parties, and was finally executed by Ling Chi. Although his ending is regrettable, he is indeed the last life-sustaining lamp of the Ming Dynasty.
Without him, the Ming Dynasty might have perished prematurely under Nurhachi's onslaught. However, Yuan Chonghuan's tragedy was not only because of the emperor's suspicions, but more because of the internal problems of the Ming Dynasty at that time.
The eunuchs were autocratic, the government was corrupt, and the Manchu civil and military were addicted to party struggles, and they had long lost their feelings for their family and country. Yuan Chonghuan's appearance was like a short-lived rain, although it temporarily rescued the Ming Dynasty, but it could not change the outcome of its demise.