In September of the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), a major event occurred in the Ming Dynasty, and within ten days, two soldiers of the Ming Dynasty actually committed suicide by taking poison! One was Liang Tingdong, a former Bingbu Shangshu and current governor of Xuanda, and the other was Zhang Fengyi, who was currently a Bingbu Shangshu and was ordered to supervise the division. Bingbu Shangshu was in charge of the military work of the whole country, and the viceroy of Xuanda was a feudal official, who controlled the soldiers and horses of the three towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. So, why did the two commit suicide by taking poison?
It is said that in April of that year, Emperor Taiji took the throne in Shenyang, that is, the emperor, and changed the name of the country to Qing. More than a month later, Emperor Taiji launched a war against the Ming Dynasty. This time, Emperor Taiji did not personally go out on horseback, but was led by his younger brother, Azig, the king of Wuying County, and led an army of 100,000 people on the expedition. At the end of June, the Qing army entered the pass in three ways from Dushikou in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, assembled at Yanqing, and then pounced on Changping in the Gyeonggi region, and burned the Tomb of Emperor Mingxi.
After hearing the news of the Qing army entering the customs, the Chongzhen Emperor was very frightened, on the one hand, he ordered the king to serve the king, and on the other hand, he ordered "the minister of culture and military affairs to guard the capital gate separately." Not long after, the QinWang army in Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi and other places arrived one after another. However, the purpose of the Qing army was not to occupy Beijing, but to harass the Gyeonggi area, so after plundering near the capital, the Qing army began to turn to other areas, successively capturing Baodi, Dingxing, Fangshan, Zhuozhou, Gu'an, Wen'an, Xiongxian, Yongqing, Dingzhou and other places.
Azig's military campaign lasted about four months, conquering twelve cities and winning fifty-six battles. In total, more than 179,000 people and livestock were plundered. On August 30, Azig, carrying the stolen population and livestock, planned to lead his army out of the cold mouth. It is reasonable to say that the Qing army carried a large number of materials and population, and the speed of exit was very slow, which was a good opportunity for the Ming army. However, in four days, the Ming Dynasty did not send troops to block or intercept and kill.
The Qing army even cut down cypress trees on the mountain and inscribed the words "All officials are exempt from sending" on them to mock the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, the person in charge of the military department was Shangshu Zhang Fengyi, who served in Liaodong several times, and Sun Chengzong knew this person very well, and once commented: "Fengyi is contemptuous and timid, knows the dark and cunning, works for profit, and is clever at avoiding trouble." This means that Zhang Fengyi is a person with no talent and relatively little courage, but he is very cunning and good at "seeking profit" and "avoiding disasters".
Another very important figure is Liang Tingdong. In the second year of Chongzhen, Emperor Taiji led an army into the customs, Liu Ce, Yuan Chonghuan and other governors were arrested, and Liang Tingdong," who was "talented and knowledgeable", was reused by the Chongzhen Emperor and later served as the Shangshu of the Bingbu. Although Liang Tingdong has some talents, this person has poor character and always wants to get a higher position, but he is self-defeating and forced to leave his post. It was not until the eighth year of Chongzhen that Liang Tingdong was appointed by the Chongzhen Emperor as the governor of Xuanda.
Since the Qing army was entered by Liang Tingdong's "defense zone", the Chongzhen Emperor ordered him to "wear the crime and enter the aid". Zhang Fengyi, the head of the Bingbu Shangshu, was also terrified and could not live forever, "asking himself to supervise the teacher." Chongzhen's second-year "change of self" led to the execution of Emperor Chongzhen by Emperor Chongzhen. At that time, Liang Tingdong also wrote to the Chongzhen Emperor, urging yuan Chonghuan to be executed. Liang Tingdong never dreamed that now he had fallen to such a point.
At that time, Yuan Chonghuan also dared to personally lead an army to fight with Huang Taiji outside Beijing, but Zhang Fengyi and Liang Tingdong were as timid as rats and did not dare to fight at all. Because of the looting of the Gyeonggi region, the officials kept writing letters of impeachment. Zhang Fengyi and Liang Tingdong were well aware of the Chongzhen Emperor's personality, "after the lifting of the strict, they will be severely reprimanded", so the two chose to commit suicide "chronically" and "take rhubarb medicine every day to seek death". Soon after the Qing army left the customs, Zhang Fengyi died, and ten days later Liang Tingdong also died, and the two escaped the knife.
References: 1. "History of the Ming Dynasty"; 2. "History of the Late Ming Dynasty"