In the process of the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Chonghuan played an important role. Without Yuan Chonghuan leading the Ming army and resisting the invasion of the Qing army to the death, the time for the ming dynasty to fall would be even earlier. Under his administration, the Liaodong region became an important position against the Qing army.
However, such a pillar of the imperial court was sentenced to death by the Chongzhen Emperor, and the people even ate his flesh. Such an end is really unbelievable.
So, what did Yuan Chonghuan do wrong to make the emperor and the people hate him to the bone?
A generation of famous generals Yuan Chonghuan
By the time the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty was already in tatters.
Extreme weather has caused a sharp decline in food production across the country, and the people are mourning. Many joined Li Zicheng's rebel army in order to solve the problem of eating, and there were rebels all over the country.
Above the court, Wei Zhongxian's party was spread all over the government and the public, and the phenomenon of forming parties for personal gain was very serious. The Later Jin regime, which had risen outside Guanwai, was staring at the Central Plains. It can be said that the Chongzhen Emperor was facing a country full of natural and man-made disasters, internal and external troubles.
In such a situation, the Chongzhen Emperor was naturally very dissatisfied, so after succeeding to the throne, the Chongzhen Emperor vigorously carried out a series of rectifications, executed Wei Zhongxian, and vigorously eradicated the rest of the party. After sorting out the internal affairs of the imperial court, the Chongzhen Emperor began to manage the country's troubles.
However, at this time he realized that he was unable to handle these matters, and that it was only up to the ministers to do them. And these ministers refused to do their best, so much so that the Chongzhen Emperor issued a message"
The subject of the situation that cannot be supported
Sigh. But there is one exception, and this person is Yuan Chonghuan.
On the issue of Hou Jin threatening Daming, Yuan Chonghuan promised Chongzhen that he could destroy Hou Jin within five years and make the Ming Dynasty as stable as Mount Tai. Such assurance was exactly what the Chongzhen Emperor needed most, so the Chongzhen Emperor had high hopes for Yuan Chonghuan and provided him with any support he needed.
In addition to verbal promises, Yuan Chonghuan's series of measures also gave the Chongzhen Emperor hope of reviving the great ming. As early as the apocalypse years, Yuan Chonghuan repaired the city of Ningyuan, so that the north had an important military stronghold, achieved a great victory in Ningyuan, and dealt a heavy blow to Houjin.
At this time, the significance of Ningyuan City was more important, so Yuan Chonghuan focused more on rectifying Ningyuan's defenses. And this practice of his was also strongly supported by the Chongzhen Emperor.
Under the painstaking management of Yuan Chonghuan, Ningyuan became a pure land for the merchants to and from, and the crisis of Houjin was alleviated.
Yuan Chonghuan's achievements made the Chongzhen Emperor very satisfied, so as long as it was Yuan Chonghuan's decision, the Chongzhen Emperor would never stop it. The two men cooperated tacitly and trusted each other, and Yuan Chonghuan also became a minister of the Ming Dynasty.
However, this was only a short honeymoon period, and the gap between the Chongzhen Emperor and Yuan Chonghuan was gradually revealed, until the end of the development, the two were on the same page.
Emperor Chongzhen's heart disease
When it comes to the Chongzhen Emperor, people usually evaluate him as "blessed with the way", as if the emperor was a good emperor, but his luck was too bad.
This is also true. In the face of the dilapidated dynasty, after the Chongzhen Emperor ascended the throne, he showed the qualities that a generation of Ming emperors should have, and worked hard to rule and eliminate the traitorous party, and the atmosphere of the imperial court was new. It seems that apart from natural and man-made disasters, the Chongzhen Emperor himself did nothing wrong.
In fact, the chongzhen emperor's biggest problem was not in behavior, but in mentality.
Since at the beginning of his reign, the government was controlled by Wei Zhongxian, and the group of ministers was only the leader of his horses, so the Chongzhen Emperor did not have any good feelings for this group of ministers who formed parties and engaged in private affairs.
Even after the execution of Wei Zhongxian, the Chongzhen Emperor was still unable to give enough trust to his courtiers.
In his opinion, these people may repeat the same mistakes at any time and play themselves in the palm of their hands. Therefore, the Chongzhen Emperor was never able to let go of the mustard in his heart and reached a reconciliation with the ministers.
This mentality led to a very terrible situation in the court at that time:
Ministers have not been rewarded for their merits, and they have been punished.
This has caused ministers to adopt a negative attitude and blame each other when dealing with affairs. After all, inaction is not a mistake, and if you do something, you may be punished.
It was the Chongzhen Emperor's distrust of his ministers that led to what he considered to be the situation of "ministers with an unsustainable situation in the DPRK". However, for this, the Chongzhen Emperor was not aware of it at all.
Although the Chongzhen Emperor gave Yuan Chonghuan enough trust, in fact, this trust was only based on an equivalent exchange for Yuan Chonghuan's ability to fulfill his wishes.
And once Yuan Chonghuan's promise cannot be fulfilled, the relationship between the two will come to an end.
Break it all
The rift between Yuan Chonghuan and the Chongzhen Emperor's courtiers gradually became apparent with the death of a man. This person is Mao Wenlong.
In the process of fighting against Hou Jin, the significance of Mao Wenlong's existence is even greater than that of Yuan Chonghuan.
Mao Wenlong's army was stationed in the town of Dongjiang in Eastern Liaoning. It was an inconspicuous island, but a great threat to Houjin.
Just as the so-called "outside must first be inside", the existence of Mao Wenlong made Hou Jin unable to be inside, so it was impossible to attack Daming with all its strength. Whenever Hou Jin's army was about to penetrate deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains, Mao Wenlong led his army to attack by boat, leaving the Hou Jin army stretched thin.
If Yuan Chonghuan is a shield against Hou Jin, then Mao Wenlong is a dagger against Hou Jin's soft ribs.
The two complement each other and suppress Hou Jin's invasion to the greatest extent. Later, Due to the lack of warships, Jin could not cross the sea, so he could not do anything about Mao Wenlong.
However, a wrong decision by Yuan Chonghuan broke this perfect situation. After reaching an agreement with Hou Jin, Hou Jin promised not to harass Daming as long as Daming got rid of Mao Wenlong. Yuan Chonghuan believes that this is the most perfect solution.
Therefore, during a military parade on the island, Yuan Chonghuan listed Mao Wenlong's many crimes and beheaded him.
After learning that Mao Wenlong was killed by Yuan Chonghuan, the Chongzhen Emperor was shocked, but because Yuan Chonghuan had the Shangfang Sword he had given him, the Chongzhen Emperor did not add guilt.
But Yuan Chonghuan's actions had already aroused the suspicion of the Chongzhen Emperor. After this, Hou Jin did not keep his promise and led an army of 100,000 to bypass Ningyuan and go deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains to reach the Beijing Division. Yuan Chonghuan, who learned of the military information, was surprised and immediately led the army to rescue.
However, when Yuan Chonghuan arrived, the Later Jin army did not attack Beijing, but left the battlefield. This move completely caused the Chongzhen Emperor to lose trust in Yuan Chonghuan.
Later, Jin spread rumors that Yuan Chonghuan was secretly conspiring with Houjin, so Houjin successfully entered the customs.
All kinds of signs made the Chongzhen Emperor unable to tolerate Yuan Chonghuan's actions. And the conspiracy in private is true,
Therefore, after Yuan Chonghuan successfully defended jingshi, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered that Ling Chi be executed, and on the day of the execution, the people of the capital watched, scolding the "traitor" and eating his flesh.
epilogue
The most rare thing between people is trust. Building trust is an extremely slow process, and any sudden occurrence in this process may completely destroy the trust that has been established before.
In the beginning, the Chongzhen Emperor had great trust in Yuan Chonghuan, and this trust can be seen as the Chongzhen Emperor's desperate bet in the face of internal and external troubles. However, Yuan Chonghuan believes that this trust is unconditional, so he self-righteously makes his own judgment.
This mistake directly led to the emperor's complete loss of trust in him. Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan's death is largely self-inflicted.