If Nurhaci had risen in the early Ming Dynasty and encountered Zhu Yuanzhang's military clique, who would have won?
If Nurhaci met Zhu Yuanzhang in the early Ming Dynasty, there was a high probability that he would directly surrender, or submit to the dispatch of his subjects, whether from the perspective of leadership quality or national strength, the difference was too great, and Nurhaci was not an opponent at all.
First of all, the national strength of the two major military blocs is different:
After Zhu Yuanzhang established the country, the biggest enemy was still the remnants of the Mongolian Yuan, and in the first year of Hongwu, the Ming army recaptured Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures. The land that had not been recovered for more than three hundred years in the two Song Dynasties was solved by Zhu Yuanzhang. In the third year of Hongwu's reign, he appointed Xu Da as a general in the conquest of The Enemy, and Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Tang He, and Deng Yu as deputy generals, and divided the Northern Expedition in two routes, defeating Timur and Taiwei Manzi.
In the twenty-first year of Hongwu's reign, he appointed Lan Yu as the general of zhengyu, Tang Zongsheng and Guo Ying as deputy generals, and a large army of 150,000 defeated the Yuan army at Yu'erhai. The remnants of the Mongol Yuan were swept away, and the Mongols fell into division and infighting, and for a long time they could no longer threaten Daming.
In terms of military strength alone, the Ming army at this time is undoubtedly the strongest, they are all battlefield fighters, and the quality of individual combat is by no means weaker than that of the Later Jin Army. In addition, there are countless famous generals, Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Lan Yu, Fu Youde, a thousand armies are easy to get and difficult to find, if Zhu Yuanzhang's generals are scattered to various dynasties and generations, they will also be famous generals who lead the side.
Zhu Yuanzhang also set up a system of guardhouses, during non-war periods, soldiers reclaimed wasteland, tuntian grain storage, not only to ensure the army's food problem, but also to reduce the burden of the state, wartime soldiers took up arms to participate in the war, although this system in the middle and late Ming Dynasty has great drawbacks, but in the early Ming Dynasty the effect is very large.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, military discipline was strict, and Zhu Yuanzhang issued a military order:
"On the day of the city, there will be no plunder, no burning, no murder."
Zhu Yuanzhang set up a special institution for horses, and the tea horse trade was strictly controlled by the state, which guaranteed the war horses and also ensured the combat strength of the cavalry. Hongwu's twenty-six years of Ming army totaled nearly two million troops, and under the command of many famous generals, Nurhaci had no chance of winning.
On the other hand, Nurhaci, on the eve of the Battle of Ningyuan, his strength should be considered the strongest, but he planted a big heel under the small Ningyuan City. Why Yuan Chonghuan shrank in Ningyuan City was because the Ming army at that time no longer had the ability to win the war with the Later Jin Army. If you compare Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou, and Zhao Lijiao with Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, and Li Wenzhong, it is self-evident which side has the stronger ability.
According to the weak strength of the Ming army at that time, the eunuch party in the imperial court, and the chaotic situation, Nurhaci was unable to attack the city of Ningyuan, and was also killed by Yuan Chonghuan and suffered heavy losses. If Nurhaci encountered the early Ming army that was good at field warfare, it would have no chance of victory, and it might be possible to directly destroy Houjin just by relying on Li Wenzhong's rapid advance.
The liaodong territory is cold and frozen, and there is a shortage of materials, which is of course not the main factor, but it also restricts the development of Houjin. If the early Ming forces were replaced by troops to fight against Nurhaci, the Battle of Salhu may become a great victory for the Ming army.
Second, whether the people want it:
Why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to unify the north and the south in a short period of time has a great relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang's war strategy and ethnic policy. The Mongols had only massacres and plunder on the road to the unification war, and although they occupied large areas of land, they had to face the hatred and hostility of the rebels at all times.
Zhu Yuanzhang was very wise in the war of reunification, he did not use 100% violence to solve the problem, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in cloth, understood very well that those who won the hearts and minds of the people won the world. Therefore, in the war of reunification, Zhu Yuanzhang repeatedly emphasized reducing unnecessary killings and prohibiting the looting of people's belongings.
In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Xu Da:
"The people of the Central Plains, who have long suffered from the masses, have been displaced from each other, so they will march north and save the people from water and fire." The merits of the ancestors are in the people, and their descendants are reckless and reclusive to the people, and the heavens are disgusted with them. The king is guilty, and the people are not guilty. On the occasion of the revolution of the previous generation, it was wantonly slaughtered, abused the people against nature, and could not bear it. The generals kecheng, do not wantonly burn and plunder and kill people, the ancestors of the Yuan, and the preservation of Xian Qi. ”
The world is in turmoil, the guilty are the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, and the people are innocent. After conquering the city, not only to ensure the safety of the people, Zhu Yuanzhang also reduced taxes in various provinces in large quantities. The cultural level of the people may not be high, but it is still clear who is good to them. The Ming Dynasty was where Huaxia Zhengshuo was located, and Zhu Yuanzhang deserved to win the world.
In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang was also very friendly to the Mongol people who remained in the Central Plains, as long as they intermarried with the Han people, they could continue to live, and the talented could also serve as officials in the dynasty. This practice not only assimilated the Mongols, but also eased ethnic contradictions, which cannot be said to be unwise.
Nurhaci did a pretty bad job on this issue, and after Ning Yuan's defeat, Nurhaci was furious and spread his anger on Juehua Island not far away. Juehua Island was the material supply point of the Ming army, on which a large amount of grain and grass armaments were hoarded, and the cold winter froze the ice surface, giving the Houjin army the opportunity to land on the island, and thousands of Ming troops and 78,000 people on the island were slaughtered by houjin.
Where is Nurhaci's wisdom and benevolence? War is cruel, but the people are innocent. If Zhu Yuanzhang faced Nurhaci, Zhu Yuanzhang might be able to subdue his army without a fight, and if a war broke out, Houjin would be defeated.
Finally, the comprehensive qualities of rulers are different:
Zhu Yuanzhang was born a commoner, his mother and brother died violently, he worked as a beggar and a monk, and he tasted the cold and warmth of the world. This also made Zhu Yuanzhang extremely strong in his heart, he was determined and decisive in killing, he could command the army on horseback, he could rule the country when he got off, and he could handle government affairs diligently and earnestly.
To say that the monarch with the strongest ability to command troops in history is Tang Taizong Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang ranked second or third is no problem. In June of the twentieth year of Zhengzheng, Chen Youyu attacked Taiping, killed Xu Shouhui, and later became emperor, with the state name Of Han. Chen Youyu joined forces with Zhang Shicheng to attack Zhu Yuanzhang's Ying Tian.
Some generals suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang regain Taiping, and some suggested that Zhu Yuanzhang take the initiative to attack Chen Youyu's troops, but Zhu Yuanzhang said:
"No, you can't. He embellished me with a partial division, and the whole army tended to Jinling, which could be reached in half a day down the river, and it was difficult for me to return in a hurry, and it was difficult to lead me back in a hundred miles, and the art of war was taboo, and it was not a policy. ”
This means that if Chen Youyi uses small troops to contain him, and the large troops go down the river, it will be difficult for our troops to return quickly, which is not a good strategy. Zhu Yuanzhang's approach was to order Hu Dahai to attack Xinzhou, contain Chen Youyu's army, and then ask Kang Maocai to write a letter to Chen Youyu and deceive him into quickly moving east.
Chen Youyu was indeed deceived, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Chang Yuchun to set up an ambush in the Ash Mountain, Xu Da was rumored in the South Gate, and Zhu Yuanzhang himself supervised the battle at Lulong Mountain. Taking advantage of the heavy rain, Zhu Yuanzhang's troops advanced on land and water, defeated Chen Youyu in one fell swoop, recovered Taiping, and captured Anqing.
Zhu Yuanzhang was rarely in military decision-making, he was always able to capture the key elements and make correct judgments, and the ability to judge on the battlefield was one of the most important qualities of the commander. That is to say, if Zhu Yuanzhang was allowed to deal with the Houjin army, he would not make the mistake of the Battle of Salhu, and Nurhaci could not find loopholes in the strategic decision-making level.
Of course, history is not so much, if, the military strength and national strength of the late Ming Dynasty have long been much worse than before, and the rise of Nurhaci is not accidental, and backwardness will be beaten, which is a truth that will not change.