For the Ming Dynasty, the second year of Ming Chongzhen (1629) was an ominous year. In just one year, due to discord within the bureaucracy, internal friction increased, resulting in the internecine killing of two important generals, accelerating the decline of the Ming Empire. These two people were Mao Wenlong, who was famous at that time, and Yuan Chonghuan. For Yuan Chonghuan to kill Mao Wenlong, it has become the focus of controversy; for Chongzhen to kill Yuan Chonghuan, it has also stirred up the monstrous waves of history.
(1) Why did Yuan Chonghuan have to kill Mao Wenlong? What exactly did the two of them have a vendetta? In fact, it is just a mountain that does not allow two tigers.
In June of the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan, the superintendent who had just been appointed by Chongzhen, took a boat to the area under Mao Wenlong's jurisdiction in the name of military parade and invited Mao Wenlong to watch the exercise. After meeting Mao Wenlong, Yuan Chonghuan arrested Mao Wenlong in a surprise attack and counted Mao Wenlong's so-called "Twelve Great" crimes. What is "night lang self-styled, autocratic party", "risking merit and bullying, no sweat and horse work." So without reporting to the imperial court, Yuan Chonghuan beheaded Mao Wenlong without authorization. Mao Wenlong's family was poor in his early years, he was ambitious, before the age of 30 he was still an idle person without a job, that year he heard that guanfang emergency he "secretly went to Guanning, checked the situation in the mountains and rivers, planned to look for opportunities, but there was no pawn." "Yuan Chonghuan's Collection of Materials"
Mao Wenlong
His uncle saw that his nephew was so ambitious, so he recommended it to Wang Huazhen, the governor of Liaodong Province, and praised him as "a wizard, generous and strategic, and has been concerned about current affairs for a long time, trying to travel with one brigade, will be able to serve the country and succeed in name." "At the end of the Ming Dynasty Chronicle", Wang Huazhen looked at the face of his old friend and specially granted Mao Wenlongdu the position of Dusi, "Before the trumpet, the hairpin is flowered, and the clothes are arched on." Mao Wenlong wept excitedly and prostrated his head, so much so that he broke the leather belt on his body and swore: "Those who do not die to repay the country have such a belt." "Draft History of the Ming Dynasty"
After that, Mao Wenlong did not live up to expectations, and in May of the first year of the Ming Dynasty's Apocalypse, Mao Wenlong led 197 people to cross the sea for 3,000 miles, captured the rebel generals, and recovered hundreds of miles of the Liaodong Peninsula in one fell swoop, causing a sensation in the dynasty. At that time, some people commented: "The Qing army is strong and invincible." Ming had no victory, the Great Qing had no defeat, and after the incident, the independent general said that he dared to look up slightly. "Dongjiang Shu Reveals excerpts". Since then, with the accumulation of military achievements, "in a few years, more than 10,000 slaves have been slaughtered and dozens of captives have been sacrificed." The Ming dynasty's top brass was very satisfied with his performance, saying that he was "full of guts and full of soldiers." "Good General Caiye" "Dongjiang Shu Revealed Excerpts"
After that, he was promoted to the rank of guerrilla training and chief military officer, the general of Pingliao, the governor of Zuo Du and gave Shang Fang the sword. Mao Wenlong had a distinct personality, his military discipline was very strict, he was not greedy or possessive in the army, nor did he bow down to any Ming Dynasty official, "Yu Quan must not give a legacy, or send silver thousand and two, must be ginseng eight hundred catties, but if the price of silver is repaid, so there are many angry people, and this will also cause disaster." "The End of the Chronicle of the Late Ming Dynasty"
So why did Yuan Chonghuan kill Mao Wenlong without authorization after being granted heavy power? According to the analysis of later scholars, Mao Wenlong infiltrated many spies within the Qing army, heard and leaked the news of Yuan Chonghuan's secret negotiations with the Qing army, and killed Mao Wenlong with the intention of killing him. Second, Mao Wenlong has a stubborn personality and a distinct personality, and when he listens to Yuan Chonghuan's dispatches, is there any arrogance? When Yuan Chonghuan left Beijing for his post, the cabinet minister Qian Longxi was worried that Mao Wenlong "might not be capable", and Yuan Chonghuan immediately said: "If it is available, it will be used, and if it is not available, it will be killed." "Ming Shilu" happened to happen at this time, and a major event occurred at this time, which accelerated Yuan Chonghuan's action. Shi Zai: After Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, "Wen Long was also jealous of Emperor Yingming, and thought of self-reliance. Nai Tong Yu Qing, willing to donate two million gold, Yi Jin, Fu Er Wei Di, play the restoration work, invite the reward, has become a covenant. "Dongjiang Shu Reveals excerpts"
Yuan Chonghuan learned that after he was afraid that Mao Wenlong had robbed the first merit, he offered a higher price, but the Qing army attached great importance to the oath of alliance, insisted on it, and was strong again and again, and still did not make progress, Yuan Chonghuan's people around him offered advice: "Now only behead Mao Wenlong's ear, in the Qing is not a negative contract, I can reap the credit." So Yuan Chonghuan was impatient to kill Mao Wenlong. When Yuan Chonghuan rebuked Mao Wenlong in the Ming Shilu Chongzhen Shilu, he could see the urgency of executing him to take away military power: "You dao honbuyuan is a scholar, and honbuyuan is a first general!" And he swore an oath: "Kill Mao Wenlong today, if the headquarters cannot restore the whole Liao to return to the imperial court, I am willing to try the Fang Sword to pay for er's life!" "Say goodbye and kill Mao Wenlong." Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, relieving the Houjin army of its worries about moving south in a big way, and finally leading to the "change of the army" in Kyoto. Leaving aside the specific reasons, fundamentally speaking, Yuan Chonghuan wants to concentrate all power, and the ancient law of "one mountain does not tolerate two tigers" is very appropriate for this.
(2) Yuan Chonghuan's promise of "five years of Ping Liaodong" was actually talking about playing, and when the Jin soldiers came in, Chongzhen was completely anxious.
After Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he strongly hoped to immediately reverse the situation in Liaodong, and quickly appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the Shangshu of the Bingbu, the Right Capital Imperial Inspector Ji Liao and the Governor of Tianjin Military Affairs, and handed over the affairs of Liaodong to him, and in July he met with Yuan Chonghuan to discuss the overall strategy of Liaodong in detail.
Chongzhen asked Yuan Chonghuan, "It has been ten years since the Jurchens jumped the beam, the territory has fallen, and the Liao people have been destroyed. Qing Wanli went to the summons, loyalty and courage are commendable, all The Pingliao strategies can be played in practice! Yuan Chonghuan replied: "Subjects are blessed by the emperor's knowledge, summoning subjects thousands of miles away, if the emperor can give the subjects the right to act cheaply, five years and the external troubles of Liaodong can be calmed, and the whole of Liaodong can be recovered." At that time, Yuan Chonghuan didn't want to say such a big thing casually, which was really an irresponsible remark to Chongzhen and himself.
Chongzhen
Chongzhen said excitedly after listening: "After five years of recovering the whole of Liaodong, Shuo will not skimp on the reward of a marquis, and Wangqing will work hard." After listening to the "five years of full Liao can be restored", the cabinet assistant ministers all praised Yuan Chonghuan and said: Chonghuan's liver and gallbladder are really extraordinary, and he is really a strange man! "The End of the Chronicle of the Ming Dynasty" gave Xu Yuqing a single soldier who did not believe it, and specifically asked Yuan Chonghuan, who actually responded with "talking about comforting the intentions", I am okay is just to make the emperor happy.
Such a major matter was ridiculed by Yuan Chonghuan so much that Xu Yuqing's head "buzzed" and asked him: "What if you take credit on time?" Yuan Chonghuan realized that "the joke is a bit big" so he kept making various requests to Chongzhen, but Chongzhen was convinced of his words, and what he needed to give, as long as he pacified Liaodong in five years.
Xu Yuqing, who was well aware of Yuan Chonghuan's "wave pair" in front of Chongzhen, hinted to Chongzhen: "Recently, the use of people has been excessive, and the minister of feudal territory is no longer aware of the law, please reiterate the law, and make it clear to the border ministers that in the future, if the enemy army cannot intercept the entry and attack the city cannot be guaranteed, it should be arrested according to the law." After reading this, the Chongzhen Emperor agreed with this seriousness of restraining the chancellor, and Yuan Chonghuan's behavior in the later period developed surprisingly as Xu Yuqing expected, but Chongzhen did not know the remarks of "Yuan Chonghuan amusing and playing" at this time.
After the "Change of YiWei", Yuan Chonghuan rushed to Hexiwu and discussed with his subordinates to go to Beijing to carry out the bomb suppression. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zhou Wenyu objected: "It is advisable for large soldiers to meet the enemy army, and it is not appropriate to enter the capital." Then he said many practical reasons, due to the lack of arrangement, the result should have been to block the Houjin people and horses from the line from Puzhou to Tongzhou, and launch a decisive battle, but in the end it became a "vertical enemy going deep", which led the war under the city of Beijing, and rushed to take the lama to the city to hide. At that time, there was also a folk song that satirized that "Yuan Chonghuan was cast, and the Easterners ran half" "Guo Yu".
Faced with an increasingly unfavorable situation, Yuan Chonghuan began to feel afraid of the promise of "five years of revival" that had once been "hippie smiling jokes". Not only did it not flatten Liaodong, but on the contrary, Huang Taiji's troops chased after the capital. After receiving the order to chongzhen to summon him, Yuan Chonghuan entered the palace wearing a green coat and a small hat. Seeing the courtiers, he tried to describe the enemy army as unstoppable, hoping that the courtiers would propose an alliance under the city and prompt Houjin to retreat. He even said, "The Easterners have come here to be emperors, and they have already ascended to the pole one day!" Frightened, Hubu Shangshu's tongue stuck out for a long time and could not retract back to the "Little Knowledge of the Emperor of Lie".
Believing that he had defected to Emperor Taiji, Chongzhen deliberately made a gesture of consolation, and also took off his mink coat to give Yuan Chonghuan a few words of greeting, and when Yuan Chonghuan proposed to introduce troops to Deshengmen to rest, Chongzhen quickly and explicitly rejected the "Guoyu". Chongzhen immediately deployed the capital to prevent accidents, and after making all the preparations, he summoned Yuan Chonghuan again. Seeing Yuan Chonghuan, Chongzhen suddenly changed his face: "Wear a brocade robe and throw Your Highness!" The Jinyi guards rushed up, took off Yuan Chonghuan's imperial clothes, and escorted him to the Jinyiwei Lobby outside the West Chang'an Gate to begin the interrogation of the Ming Dynasty Northern Sketch.
Ming and Qing armies fought
Yuan Chonghuan's confidant Zu Dashou was greatly shocked to see the governor being captured, and he trembled with fright. When cheng jiming, a university scholar on the side, saw Zu Dashou's condition, he immediately prostrated his head and asked Chongzhen to be cautious, and said: "The enemy is under the city, and it is comparable to him when it is not him, and the emperor does not listen." Some of the auxiliary ministers advised Chongzhen xiaozhi to reason: "When the enemy is exchanged for a general, the soldiers are jealous", Chongzhen has already collapsed in anger, and he has said fiercely that "the situation has reached this point, and it is necessary to do so" "The Emperor of Lie's Small Knowledge".
In Chongzhen's eyes, Yuan Chonghuan, who had high hopes for himself, had been fooling himself, and when Yuan Chonghuan executed Mao Wenlong, he swore: "If I can't restore Liaodong, I would like to let the tooth Shangfang (sword) take Sheer." And he swore an oath to Chongzhen's sonata: "The subject cannot be a slave for five years, and asks the emperor to also curse the emperor with the name of the dragon." "The Little History of the Emperor Lie" predicted that in five years, instead of being able to defeat the Hou Jin soldiers, they were actually beaten into the city. Many years later, the scholar Zhang Dai made a strong criticism of Yuan Chonghuan's deeds: "Yuan Chonghuan is short and fierce, shaped like a small hedgehog, and has a violent personality, talking about the affairs of the world with his arms, how much he is not ashamed, and dreams all day long, falling into the clouds of the curtain." Five years to destroy the Kou, the Kou can not be destroyed, but self-extinguishing. ”
(3) Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan by mistake, and Daming's city wall completely collapsed.
On the afternoon of March 16, 1630, Chongzhen summoned cabinet ministers and other ministers at the Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace to discuss the handling of Yuan Chonghuan's issue, and then continued to summon the cabinet, the six ministries of the Five Provinces, and all the investigative agencies of Daming on the platform, involving many departments, and made comprehensive preparations for the execution of Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong Province. Chongzhen said to many of his subordinates: "Yuan Chonghuan's entrustment was ineffective, he was arrogant and deceitful, he stole money with the city, he cut off the leader with money, he drove the enemy for a long time, the troops did not fight, the reinforcements were dismissed in four sets, and when the soldiers came to the city, they secretly took the lama to enter the city, all kinds of crimes." After counting yuan Chonghuan's several major crimes, he asked the Qunchen, "Qing and others are known, but what is the crime of the fasi now?" After hundreds of ministers bowed their heads and said nothing, Chongzhen officially announced the decision to deal with Yuan Chonghuan: "According to the law! ”
Yuan Chonghuan
It is the coolest punishment, cutting off the flesh of the body piece by piece, and eventually the tortured person gradually dies under great pain. "Cut a piece of meat, the people of Jingshi won the raw food from the hand of the servants, and the servants pounced, and the people bought their flesh with money, and they were immediately exhausted." The people who opened their stomachs and intestines snatched it up, and those who got a section of it, and the shochu was eaten, and the blood flowed between the cheeks, and they were spitting and cursing. "Some people took Yuan Chonghuan's bones and chopped them with an axe, and finally there was no flesh and bones, and there was one head left, which was passed to the local guards.
As for Yuan Chonghuan's family, Chongzhen said: "According to the law, family members over the age of sixteen shall be beheaded, and under the age of fifteen shall be enslaved to the family of the meritorious heroes." At the end, Chongzhen asked again, "Do the ministers want to speak?" The cabinet assistant ministers hurriedly said, "His crime is not a crime", so Chongzhen issued a will to go to the prison and warned the ministers: "The ministers have been deceived and deceived, they have never received any report from you, and from now on they must wash their hearts and minds, for the sake of the monarchy", and the big and small ministers have hurriedly buckled their heads to cite the "Chongzhen Long Compilation".
After Yuan Chonghuan's death, his brothers, wives and concubines were exiled to Fujian, and the family wealth was confiscated, "Chonghuan had no children, and the family had no spare assets, and the world was wronged." In the end, it left a deep sigh in the history of the Ming Dynasty: "At the beginning, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong in vain, and finally Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan by mistake, and since then, there has been no one to use in the side affairs, and the signs of the Ming Dynasty have been decided" Ming History.