introduction
In the third year of Ming Chongzhen (1630 AD), Yuan Chonghuan, the inspector of Yuan Chonghuan, stepped onto the execution ground and was about to bear the punishment of 3543 swords. Before leaving, he dictated a poem "Linxingkou Zhan": "A lifetime of career is empty, and half a life's merit is in a dream." After death, there is no fear of brave generals, and loyal souls still guard Liaodong. "Even to his death, he still does not forget to serve the country, which shows Yuan Chonghuan's integrity." Then, why would such a patriotic general be killed by Chongzhen?
In the second year of the Ming Dynasty (1622 AD), Yuan Chonghuan, who had been in Zhi County for 3 years, returned to Beijing to report for duty. After the defeat at the Battle of Quang Ninh, at that time when people were panicking, Yuan Chonghuan went to Shanhaiguan alone to survey the terrain, and wrote a bold statement: Give the soldiers to the horses to give food, and ensure the defense of Shanhaiguan! So Yuan Chonghuan was sent to Liaodong, where he met a generation of legendary ministers Sun Chengzong, and was accepted by him as a disciple. Later, Yuan Chonghuan wounded Nurhaci in the Ningyuan Victory, and led his troops to Qin wang during the Emperor Taiji's surprise attack on Beijing, successfully relieving the siege of Jingshi. But just a few days later, he was imprisoned by Chongzhen and executed by Ling Chi the following year at the age of 46.
▲ Yuan Chonghuan sculpture
01
Flipping through the "History of Ming" Yuan Chonghuan, what appears in front of us is a benevolent man who has helped the building fall and turned the tide, and it is not too much to say that he is the "Great Wall" of Daming, and Chongzhen's move is tantamount to "self-destruction of the Great Wall". However, throughout Yuan Chonghuan's life, guanning iron horsemen who operated for several years did not recover any land, and the Haikou that was once boasted was only Haikou after all, and he also let the emperor Taiji hit the city of Beijing, making a serious political line error. Judging from his life's performance, he can also be a city-defending general, and he often does not follow the rules. As for what to turn the tide, let's take a break.
However, Yuan Chonghuan is indeed a person who can grasp the opportunity very well. When the Emperor of The Apocalypse had just succeeded to the throne, Yuan Chonghuan seized the young emperor's good daxigong mentality and boasted that he would be able to wipe out Liaodong as long as he had enough money, food, and soldiers; after Chongzhen's turn to succeed to the throne, Yuan Chonghuan once again boasted that Haikou would be pacified within 5 years, saying that he would definitely pacify Liaodong within 5 years, and also took the opportunity to ask the emperor for the sword of Shangfang and gain the power to act arbitrarily; riding on Chongzhen's appreciation, Yuan Chonghuan listed the "twelve crimes of beheading" to kill Mao Wenlong, who disobeyed, and thus truly became the emperor of Liaodong.
▲Portrait of Yuan Chonghuan
02
Regardless of the first two points, after all, it can be regarded as a necessary means for the superior, but the point of killing Mao Wenlong is too hasty. There is a saying that goes: "The enemy of the enemy is the friend." "To know that Mao Wenlong occupies Phi Dao, this is equivalent to burying a nail in the rear of the enemy." The geographical conditions of Phi Dao determined that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, that is, it was an immovable Iron King Eight, and The Emperor Taiji had a headache for it. Although the general did not like disobedient subordinates, he so decisively exercised the power of cutting first and playing later when employing people, but he did not think about what kind of eyes others would look at him.
Sure enough, there was a rumor that Yuan Chonghuan had defected to the enemy, and the reason was that he directly removed Mao Wenlong for Emperor Taiji with this hand. Generally speaking, Yuan Chonghuan had only two choices, either to wait to be escorted back to the capital by Tianzi for questioning, or to simply surrender to the enemy.
▲Chongzhen stills
As a result, Chongzhen was more mature than everyone imagined, and he made a decision that made anyone uncomfortable but was the most correct at the time--the decision to denounce Mao Wenlong's guilt and reward Yuan Chonghuan. The fact is obvious, at this time, for the sake of the dead Mao Wenlong, it is not good to deal with Yuan Chonghuan again, it is better to continue to let Yuan Chonghuan shine.
03
Chongzhen's terrible sanity didn't stop there. In the same year, Huang Taiji began a large-scale attack, pointing his sword at Beijing. I don't know what Yuan Chonghuan thought, but he actually put the Emperor Taiji under the city of Beijing, ready to fight another defensive battle that he was good at. He adopted the tactics he was familiar with when he was in Liaodong, following Huang Taiji's army all the way, but never taking the initiative to attack, and Huang Taiji grabbed all the way on the outskirts of the capital, and he followed all the way. This kind of move is another taste in the eyes of the imperial court, as if Yuan Chonghuan has reached a tacit understanding with The Emperor Taiji, and the two have performed a double reed.
▲ After the Ming Dynasty, the Jin and Jin armies fought
Chongzhen finally decided to summon Yuan Chonghuan. At this time, the entire imperial court, from top to bottom, thought that there was something wrong with this person and should be taken down immediately, with the exception of Chongzhen. Chongzhen still trusted him, and also took off his cloak and draped it on Yuan Chonghuan to show his grace.
It was not until the end when Emperor Taiji withdrew and Chongzhen began to calculate the general ledger after the siege of Beijing was lifted. At this time, Mao Wenlong's old account and the old account of the 5-year covenant were all turned over, and Yuan Chonghuan lost it again after getting everything a year later, and he never had the opportunity to turn over. To sum up a little, Yuan Chonghuan beheaded more than 200 people in three great victories, and also let the emperor swing and rob Beijing, and killed Mao Wenlong so that Hou Jin had no worries... Experts said that Yuan Chonghuan was not innocent at all, and as far as he did, no emperor could tolerate such a person living, and anyone would want to kill him.
▲ Huang Taiji stills
Why did the History of Ming praise Yuan Chonghuan so much that he was "chonghuan childless, his family had no spare money, and the world was wronged"? The reason is simple – it was written by the Qing Dynasty. Originally, the Qing army originally used the banner of avenging Chongzhen, after all, this benevolent brother was forced to die by Li Zicheng; but after a few generations, it was found that the Han people were still remembering Chongzhen's good, so the Qing Dynasty changed its strategy and had to find a way to blacken Chongzhen. So he blew yuan chonghuan loudly, so that the people thought that Yuan Chonghuan could save Daming, and Chongzhen completely died himself before losing Jiangshan. However, this view is only one of the folk sayings, which can be used as a reference but cannot be biased.
epilogue
To sum up, Yuan Chonghuan was born at the time of the turmoil of the dynasty, although he did not achieve perfection and did a lot of absurd things, but this life can also be called loyalty to the country and bow down. So many years later, people still regret his ending. But in the end, whether Yuan Chonghuan is a real anti-gold hero or an "embroidered pillow" packaged by later generations, it is still up to you to testify freely.
Resources:
"Linjingkou Zhan"
History of the Ming Dynasty