In August 1630, Yuan Chonghuan, a military commander of the Daming Dynasty, was sentenced to death on charges of "treason".
Yuan Chonghuan was tied up and sent to the western city of the capital, and the executioner spent three days and slashed 3543 knives on his body, until the flesh and skin were exhausted, Yuan Chonghuan still screamed between his heart and lungs, and died of anger half a day later.
On the day of the execution, the entire city of Beijing was empty, and a large number of people gathered around the execution scene, and while they scolded Yuan Chonghuan as a "traitor", they competed to buy Yuan Chonghuan's cut flesh and skin from the executioner.
After the torture was completed, the people smashed Yuan Chonghuan's bones with knives and axes, and a generation of famous generals ended up with no bones.
Yuan Chonghuan's death, in the end, was the Chongzhen Emperor deceived and self-destroyed the Great Wall, or did Yuan Chonghuan deserve it?
Yuan Chonghuan's 46-year magnificent and tragic life.
In 1584, Yuan Chonghuan was born in Dongguan County, Guangzhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province, and at the age of 35, Yuan Chonghuan was admitted as a junior scholar and was appointed Shaowuzhi County in Fujian.
Although the official is a civilian and his place of office is far from the border plug, Yuan Chonghuan is very interested in the border Sai war, he likes to talk about the art of war with people, and prefers to listen to veterans tell about the war that happened on the border plug.
In 1622, Yuan Chonghuan was transferred to the military headquarters, and at this time the war outside the border was tight, and the imperial court was discussing who to send to guard Shanhaiguan. After Yuan Chonghuan learned this, he rode to the outside of the pass to check the terrain and said: "As long as I am given enough money and food for soldiers and horses, it is enough for me to guard Shanhaiguan alone!" ”
Since the Battle of Salhu, the Houjin forces have become stronger and stronger, repeatedly invading the border of Daming, but Daming has repeatedly lost battles against Houjin, almost unable to fight back. Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan's bold words made the entire Daming court cheer up, and Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Ming Xi promoted Yuan Chonghuan to the rank of military officer, supervise the foreign army, and allocate him 200,000 silver to recruit troops.
Soon after Yuan Chonghuan arrived at Shanhaiguan, he had a strong disagreement with his superior, King Jingliu of Liaodong, over the setting of the Jin defensive line.
Wang Zaijin advocated focusing the defense near Shanhaiguan, while Yuan Chonghuan believed that if all troops were deployed near Shanhaiguan, if Shanhaiguan was lost, the capital would be directly exposed to the enemy's attack range, so he suggested that the defense line be moved outside the pass and Ningyuan City be the main position for defense.
In the end, Sun Chengzong, a university scholar, agreed with Yuan Chonghuan: "Inside the customs, you must guard the outside of the customs, and you must guard Ningyuan!" and sent Yuan Chonghuan to Ningyuan City to personally garrison it.
After arriving in Ningyuan City, Yuan Chonghuan implemented the strategy of "raising the Liao people with the Liao soil and guarding the Liao land with the Liao people", and selected refugees from outside the customs to join the Ming army to resist Houjin. On the other hand, it not only rebuilt and strengthened the city wall of Ningyuan, but also used nearly four years to occupy Jinzhou, Songshan, Xingshan, Youtun, Da and Xiaolinghe and other places, and repaired the city defense and garrisoned it for a long time, opening up the territory and regaining 200 li.
In October 1626, Sun Chengzong was deposed by Wei Zhongxian and other castrated parties, and the first thing Gao Di, who succeeded him, did after his arrival was to demand that all the garrisons outside the Guanxi be withdrawn to Guan.
After arguing with Gao Di to no avail, Yuan Chonghuan was determined to stay and defend Ningyuan City, saying that even if he died in Ningyuan, he would not retreat.
In the first month of 1626, Nur Hachi led an army to cross the Liao River west to invade Ningyuan City, Gao Di and the general Yang Lin were frightened and helpless, and with heavy troops at Shanhaiguan, they refused to rescue Ningyuan, and Ningyuan became a lonely city outside the lonely pass.
However, Yuan Chonghuan was not afraid, and he wrote a blood letter and swore an alliance with the generals Man Gui, deputy generals Zuo Fu and Zhu Mei, and the general Zu Dashou, swearing to coexist and die with Ning Yuan.
After persuading Yuan Chonghuan to surrender to no avail, Nurhachi led his army to attack the city. At this time, Yuan Chonghuan revealed his trump card killer - the red-clothed cannon. Under the strong walls of Ningyuan City and the powerful power of the red-clothed cannons, the Houjin army was defeated and suffered heavy damage, and even Nur Hachi was injured by shells, and finally Houjin had no choice but to withdraw.
The victory in the defense of Ningyuan was the first victory of the Ming Dynasty against Houjin in the past nine years, and the Daming court was jubilant, and Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to the post of Right Imperial Governor, and two months later he was promoted to Governor of Liaodong.
After Yuan Chonghuan was appointed governor of Liaodong, he continued to adhere to the principle of avoiding the enemy's strengths, attacking the enemy's weaknesses, relying on the principle of holding the city firmly and gradually forging ahead, and strengthened and expanded Jinzhou, Ningyuan, Zhongzuoshou, Zhongqiansuo, Youtun, Dalinghe and other castles outside the pass, with Ningyuan City as the center, and built a "Ningjin Defense Line".
In 1627, Nur Hachi's successor, Emperor Taiji of Later Jin Khan, led an army of tens of thousands to attack the Ningjin front, but the Ningjin defense line was solid under Yuan Chonghuan's painstaking management, and there were powerful red-clothed cannons, and the Later Jin army besieged Ningyuan and Jinzhou for 24 days, not only did not advance an inch, but suffered thousands of casualties. Even Huang Taiji's Chinese army tent was destroyed by artillery fire, and Heshuobele Zilharang was seriously wounded.
Emperor Taiji had to withdraw his troops, and this battle was the biggest victory of the Ming Dynasty since the war between Later Jin and the Ming Dynasty, and was known in history as the "Great Victory of Ningjin".
However, because Yuan Chonghuan offended Wei Zhongxian, he was impeached by the castration party. Just a month after Ningjin's victory, Yuan Chonghuan resigned in anger and returned to his hometown.
Just two months after Yuan Chonghuan resigned, Emperor Zhu Youxiao of the Ming Dynasty died, and since he had no heirs, he was succeeded by his younger brother Zhu Youzhen the Prince of Xin, who was the last emperor of the Daming Dynasty, the Chongzhen Emperor.
After the Chongzhen Emperor came to power, he quickly eradicated the gelding party headed by Wei Zhongxian, and in order to calm the northern war, he not only reactivated Yuan Chonghuan, but also appointed him as Shangshu of the military department and concurrently served as the right deputy capital Yushi, and supervised Jiliao, Denglai, and Tianjin military affairs.
In other words, at this time, Yuan Chonghuan had become the largest military chief in Jiliao, Denglai, and Tianjin, and he no longer had to worry about someone holding back his strategic plans.
However, as his personal career gradually reached its peak, Yuan Chonghuan's mentality was also quietly changing.
In July of the second year of Chongzhen's rise to power (1628), he summoned Yuan Chonghuan on the platform to discuss the plan for Pingliao.
At this time, the emperor opposite, the proud Yuan Chonghuan boasted to the emperor about Haikou: Give the minister five years, and the minister will definitely recover Liaodong!
Since the day of Nurhach's rebellion against the Ming in 1618, the Ming Dynasty has been harassed by the Houjin attack for ten years, and Houjin has become a major threat to the Ming Dynasty, and it is also the first problem that troubles the Chongzhen Emperor.
At this time, Chongzhen heard Yuan Chonghuan's confident promise of "five years to restore Liao", and his excitement can be imagined.
Afterwards, Chongzhen sent Xu Yuqing to ask Yuan Chonghuan about the plan to restore Liao, but Yuan Chonghuan said disapprovingly: "What is the plan for Fuliao, I just saw that the emperor was anxious about this matter, and said comfort." ”
Xu Yuqing was shocked when he heard this, and he reminded Yuan Chonghuan: "Today, the saint is wise and martial, how can you be a child who can be fooled at will, if the time limit has reached and you fail to recover, what should you do if the saint investigates?" ”
Since the words spoken could not be taken back, Yuan Chonghuan simply did not do anything and opened his mouth to Chongzhen.
He wrote a note to Chongzhen: "The task of restoring Liao in five years is very arduous, but I will do my best to complete it, but within five years, the household department will transfer military salaries and grain, the Ministry of Works will supply military supplies, the Ministry of Engineering will appoint officials, and the military department will transfer troops and select generals. ”
In order to avoid the situation that he was impeached by the official and forced to resign, Yuan Chonghuan also sent a letter to Chongzhen: "Unlike the ministers in the court, they should only look at the overall situation of success or failure, and do not care about the small mistakes in their words and deeds." ”
The implication is that as long as I can win the battle ahead, Your Majesty, you should not listen to the public opinion of the official to blame me for my mistakes at the end of the details.
At this time, Yuan Chonghuan's mind was obvious, and he listed a series of preconditions for Chongzhen to "restore Liao in five years", so that almost the entire court, including the emperor himself, would serve his "five-year restoration of Liao" plan.
And if Chongzhen agreed to the conditions he put forward, then there would be no constraints above the entire court, and everything would go smoothly, and it should not be too difficult for Yuan Chonghuan to use his own ability to complete the five-year restoration of Liao.
This time, Yuan Chonghuan not only overestimated his own ability, but also underestimated Chongzhen's eagerness to regain Liaodong.
Chongzhen not only fully agreed to all of Yuan Chonghuan's requests, but also made him crown prince, and under such a heavy favor, Yuan Chonghuan could no longer turn back on the road of "five years of restoration".
But facts have proved that Yuan Chonghuan, a person, has the courage and insight to complete the task resolutely and thoroughly when there is a commander (such as Sun Chengzong);
In a desperate situation, he was resolute and indomitable, and he was indeed a hard bone to chew;
But let him coordinate one side, but he lacks the corresponding strategy and means.
Therefore, when he was not high-ranked, he fought victories again and again, which made people excited, but when he reached the peak of power, he fainted, and finally buried the Pingliao business that he had been painstakingly operating for many years, and even buried his own life.
In 1629, a great famine broke out in Mongolia and Houjin, and although they had a large amount of silver in their hands, they could not buy food, so that there was a situation of "cannibalists".
The Mongols sent people to Yuan Chonghuan, begging Yuan Chonghuan to sell grain to the Mongols, and vowing that "China will never be forgotten" and "never dare to lure slaves into Jiliao."
In fact, at this time, Mongolia was already in very close contact with Houjin, and the Ming general Mangui once wrote that "the thirty-six furniture of the second department of Shu and Bo will be returned to the Great Qing (Houjin)", and if they sell grain to Mongolia, Mongolia will definitely fund Houjin; If they do not sell grain to Mongolia, they are afraid that Mongolia will completely fall to Houjin and deal with Daming together.
Yuan Chonghuan's idea for this matter was to sell grain to Mongolia, but to make the Mongol tribes who bought the grain guarantee to break off contact with Houjin.
This idea is really ridiculous, not to mention how fragile the guarantee between countries is, and besides, the Mongols have always been at the top of the two ends between Daming and Houjin, and whoever is stronger will fall to whom, and who can guarantee that Mongolia will keep its promises after the famine?
The Chongzhen Emperor's idea was much more practical, he promised to pull grain for Mongolia, but to strictly prevent Mongolia from transporting grain to Houjin, he asked Yuan Chonghuan to "find out how much the tribe is, and count the amount of rice for rice."
In other words, Chongzhen demanded that Yuan Chonghuan pull grain according to the number of Mongolian people, so as to prevent the Mongols from using excess grain to fund Houjin, and Chongzhen also demanded that "no rice grain and prohibited goods shall be sold", and that violations of the law will be "punished as the crime of tongyi".
From this point of view, Chongzhen's plan is much more feasible than Yuan Chonghuan's plan.
However, Yuan Chonghuan did not strictly follow Chongzhen's will, he did not strictly control the border market to prevent grain and grass from flowing into Houjin, but repeatedly claimed that "today, Zhuyi swears that he will not forget China", and continued to sell grain to Mongolia, and even believed that "the Mongols bought one or two horses of cloth for the Jurchens".
Under Yuan Chonghuan's loose control, a large number of Houjin ginseng mixed with the Mongols came to buy grain in the Ming Dynasty, "such as the opening of the market in Jinzhou, the Ming is a western prisoner, but in fact it is a mixture of rebellion and slavery."
Many people reminded Yuan Chonghuan to be strictly disciplined, but Yuan Chonghuan was unmoved, and even his old superior, Sun Chengzong, lamented that he had been deceived by the Mongols.
"(Yuan Chonghuan) buys rice foolish bundles (Mongolian bundles not prefectures), and shu yu."
However, insisting on selling grain to Mongolia was not the biggest mistake Yuan Chonghuan made, and his biggest and fatal mistake was to kill Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of Pingliao, without authorization.
Mao Wenlong was originally a commander under Wang Huazhen, the governor of eastern Liaoning, and in 1620, he took advantage of Later Jin's large-scale attack on Liaoyang, and at the right time, he led more than 200 people across the sea to attack Zhenjiang, annihilating more than 1,000 people of the Later Jin army, and recovered more than 2,000 li of coastal islands such as Pig Island and Kuandian, Tangzhan and Dangerous Mountain.
Known as the "Great Victory of Zhenjiang", it was the first victory won by the Ming army since the battle against Houjin, and the first time to regain lost territory, Mao Wenlong became famous in the battle and was promoted to deputy commander-in-chief. However, Zhenjiang was located in the rear of Houjin, and it was difficult to hold it with Mao Wenlong's attack, so Mao Wenlong chose to retreat to Pip Island.
Pip Island is close to Zhenjiang, about ten miles from the land of the sea, although Houjin is strong and strong, but can not fight in the sea, can not go to the sea to pursue Mao Wenlong, so Mao Wenlong used Phi Island as a base to continue to receive displaced people, the strength grew rapidly, and the number of the team once reached more than 40,000.
Every time Houjin launched a large-scale military operation, Mao Wenlong would definitely take advantage of the emptiness in Houjin's rear and stir up trouble in his rear, so as to greatly contain Houjin and make Houjin dare not throw all his forces into the front line of fighting the Ming army.
Therefore, the evaluation of Mao Wenlong by the Ming Dynasty was that "Mao Wenlong did not destroy slaves enough, and there was more than enough slaves."
After Yuan Chonghuan took charge of the military affairs of Jiliao, he first planned to take Mao Wenbu for his own use, so he asked the imperial court to manage the military salaries of Mao Wenlong's department, which Mao Wenlong strongly opposed.
Although Yuan and Mao negotiated many times, neither side gave in. In the end, Yuan Chonghuan lost patience and convicted Mao Wenlong of twelve crimes, asked Shang Fang to sword, and killed Mao Wenlong.
Yuan Chonghuan thought that by killing Mao Wenlong, who disobeyed discipline, he would be able to receive Mao Wenlong's troops. But what he didn't expect was that the tens of thousands of sergeants on Phi Island were all led by Mao Wenlong, and as soon as Mao Wenlong died, the dragons on the island were leaderless, and there was no use for Houjin.
And Yuan Chonghuan quickly realized what a stupid decision it was to kill Mao Wenlong.
In October 1629, half a year after Mao Wenlong's death, Emperor Taiji, who did not worry that Mao Wenlong would attack in the rear, recklessly poured out of his nest and led his army through Mongolia, bypassing the Guanningjin defense line built by Yuan Chonghuan, and rushed straight to the capital.
The history of this war is called "the change of the self".
Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly sent the Shanhaiguan garrison general Zhao Shujiao to help, but Zhao Zhijiao was not an opponent of Emperor Taiji at all, and in the battle of Zunhua, Zhao led the sect to be killed in battle, and the entire army was destroyed, and Zunhua was lost.
Yuan Chonghuan was shocked and led the generals Zu Dashou, He Kegang and 9,000 Guanning cavalry to block the enemy. Yuan Chonghuan knew that if the Houjin army wanted to advance to the Jing Division, Jixian City was a place where the two sides had to fight, so he preemptively led his army to Jixian City.
According to common sense, the two sides will definitely start a fierce battle in Jixian City, but the development of the situation has surprised everyone.
Yuan Chonghuan sent Liu Ce to the army headquarters of Jixian to garrison Miyun, while he himself led the Guan Ning army and the Baozhen Cao Ming Lei army to garrison Jixian.
But strange things happened, after Huang Taiji led the army to Jixian, he did not fight with the Ming army, but played a "golden cicada shell" and quietly "sneaked over Jixian".
This is a little confusing, Yuan Chonghuan, as a defender, could not even figure out the enemy's movements, and Huang Taiji's tens of thousands of troops quietly crossed Jixian and went straight to Beijing.
What is even more puzzling is that after Yuan Chonghuan learned that Huang Taiji crossed Jixian, he did not directly follow the pursuit to the west, but chose to go south, passing through Hexiwu southwest of Jixian, and then detouring the south road into Beijing to escort.
Moreover, Yuan Chonghuan directly abandoned Tongzhou, the last blocking point on the way from Jixian to Beijing, and came directly to Beijing, where he and Huang Taiji fought to the death under the roots of the imperial city.
However, in this way, Huang Taiji went from Jixian to the capital without hindrance, and the Houjin army burned and looted all the way, causing the people to be ravaged and miserable. Yuan Chonghuan could obviously lead troops to ward off the enemy and protect the people of Li from being destroyed, but he chose to "not send a single shot" and sat and watched the Eight Flags Army plunder.
However, Yuan Chonghuan still arrived in the capital one step ahead of Emperor Taiji, and the Chongzhen Emperor, who was at a loss, urgently summoned Yuan Chonghuan to the palace and asked what was the plan to retreat.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Chonghuan made a surprising statement, and he asked Chongzhen to lead the army into the city to rest, and then fight with Huang Taiji.
Since ancient times, the border army entered the capital as if it were a rebellion, and Yuan Chonghuan's words made Chongzhen suspicious and flatly refused Yuan Chonghuan's request.
Now it seems that Yuan Chonghuan's request to Chongzhen this time is the last straw that crushes Chongzhen's trust in him.
The day after Yuan Chonghuan arrived in the capital, Huang Taiji also led his troops to kill, and Yuan Chonghuan sent troops to meet the attack, first annihilating more than 1,000 enemies at Guangqumen, and then firing artillery at Zuoanmen to repel the Eight Banner soldiers, and the siege of Beijing was temporarily eased.
However, the turn of the war could not eliminate the complaints of the officials and the people and the doubts in Chongzhen's heart.
On December 1, 1629, Chongzhen summoned Yuan Chonghuan for the last time and asked him why he had killed Mao Wenlong and let the commander of the Eight Banners drive straight in.
In the face of Chonghuan's questioning, Yuan Chonghuan quickly understood a truth: when a person trusts you, all your actions do not need a reason; And when a person is doubly suspicious of you, all your reasons are not reasons.
At this time, Yuan Chonghuan was speechless in the face of Chongzhen's rebuke, in fact, even if he had a hundred reasons now, Chongzhen would no longer believe him.
In the end, the Chongzhen Emperor ordered that Yuan Chonghuan be taken from office and imprisoned.
Although after being imprisoned, Yuan Chonghuan wrote a letter urging Zu Dashou to lead the Guan Ning Army to repel the Eight Banner Army and recover Zunhua and other places, he still could not remove the seed of doubt deeply planted in Chongzhen's heart.
In the end, under the repeated scripting of Wen Tiren and other officials, Chongzhen finally killed Yuan Chonghuan in August 1630.
Yuan Chonghuan was eventually convicted of twelve major crimes, "according to the law."
At this point, Yuan Chonghuan has completed his magnificent and tortuous life, leaving only the verse "loyal soul still guards Liaodong" for posterity to sigh.
Yuan Chonghuan's death, unjust or not?
Regarding Chongzhen's killing of Yuan Chonghuan, there have been many opinions for hundreds of years.
Some people say that Yuan Chonghuan is fiercely loyal and has the skill to ward off enemies, and Chongzhen killed him to self-destruct the Great Wall;
Some people say that Yuan Chonghuan is stubborn and insistent, and he is to blame for this fate;
Some people said that Yuan Chonghuan actually colluded with Houjin and was a veritable "traitor".
The author believes that the first thing that can be ruled out is that Yuan Chonghuan "collaborated with the enemy and treason".
In the Battle of Guangqumen, Yuan Chonghuan took the lead and bravely killed the enemy, and was almost beheaded by the Eight Flags Army, if he really "collaborated with the enemy", he would not put himself in danger like this.
Moreover, after he was imprisoned, his subordinate Zu Dashou angrily led his troops away, at this time Huang Taiji had not yet withdrawn his troops, and the city of Beijing was in danger. It was Yuan Chonghuan who wrote to Zu Dashou, persuading him to focus on the overall situation, and Zu Dashou led his army back to help and kill the Eight Banner Army. If Yuan Chonghuan was really "treasonous", he didn't have to do this at all, just wait for the Eight Flags Army to break through the city.
However, even if Yuan Chonghuan did not "collude with the enemy and treason", was his death unjust?
After Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned for eight months, Chongzhen announced Yuan Chonghuan's nine major sins: 1. Ineffective entrustment; 2. Arbitrariness and deception; 3. Theft with city rice; 4. Killing the marshal with money; 5. Driving the enemy for a long time; 6. Not fighting without fighting; 7. Dispersing the reinforcements in four sets; 8. Sending troops under the city and sneaking lamas (monks); 9. Insisting on entering the city, all kinds of crimes.
After Yuan Chonghuan was executed, when Chongzhen disciplined his courtiers, he added three major sins to Yuan Chonghuan - "conspiracy to rebel and deceive the monarch", "betraying the kingdom", and "treasoning and treason".
Looking at these 12 major crimes, "ineffective entrustment", "arbitrariness and deception" and so on are all false crimes, but Yuan Chonghuan's actual crimes are only three: 1. stealing with rice; 2. killing Mao Wenlong; 3. ineffective handling of "the change of one's own life".
These three culpabilities, Yuan Chonghuan is unclear.
1. Stealing with rice.
On the question of whether to sell grain to Mongol tribes. Yuan Chonghuan and Chongzhen disagreed, and there was no basis for empty talk about whose plan was more feasible.
Because Chongzhen did not agree with Yuan Chonghuan, Yuan Chonghuan did not thoroughly implement Chongzhen's plan.
However, as emperor, Chongzhen had already decreed that "no rice grain and forbidden goods shall be sold", otherwise he would be "punished as a crime of tongyi". Yuan Chonghuan still insists on his own opinion, turning a blind eye to the sale of grain, this is not looking for death, what is it?
When Chongzhen trusts you, maybe it's nothing, but once Chongzhen has the mind to get rid of you, it's definitely a big sin of cheating.
2. Killing Mao Wenlong.
There are many reasons why Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, some say that Yuan Chonghuan first took power and wanted to use Mao Wenlong to establish power, and some said that Yuan Chonghuan wanted to kill Mao Wenlong to please the emperor Taiji in order to achieve the purpose of peace.
The author feels that none of this is credible, at that time, Yuan Chonghuan had already won Chongzhen's trust, there was no need to kill such an important figure to establish power, and he had promised to "restore Liao in five years" at that time, and there was no motive to kill the future to please the emperor Taiji.
Yuan Chonghuan convicted Mao Wenlong of twelve counts:
1. Not subject to supervision; 2. Killing and surrendering refugees and risking merit; 3. The courtesy of no one to be a courtier; 4. Embezzlement of military food; 5. Adulteration; 6. Woo cronies; 7. Plundering merchant ships; 8. Forcibly taking children from the people; 9. Drive refugees away from stealing ginseng; 10. Worship Wei Zhongxian as his father; 11. Cover up defeat for merit; 12. Do not restore an inch of soil.
Honestly, these twelve mortal sins are basically facts.
Mao Wenlong is a warlord who grew up savagely on his own, and it is common for people and women to rob people, kill good and meritorious achievements, and drive refugees to steal ginseng.
Moreover, with the situation in Daming at that time, almost all generals had embezzled military salaries, lied about battle merits, and cultivated cronies.
And Mao Wenlong's fornication is indeed true.
Mao Wenlong expanded more than 200 people to more than 40,000 people on his own, but the military salary given to Mao Wenlong by the Ming Dynasty was only enough for half at most, and the other half was all financed by Mao Wenlong.
Therefore, Mao Wenlong illegally trafficked porcelain, silk and other items to North Korea, Japan and other places to make huge profits, and then used them as capital to feed the army for himself.
But what Mao Wenlong did, the imperial court actually knew for a long time, the reason why Mao Wenlong acquiesced to this is that Mao Wenlong was too useful for Houjin.
With Mao Wenlong present, Houjin did not dare to launch a large-scale attack at all. Although the more than 40,000 people under Mao Wenlong are mostly rabble, they are not vague at all when they grab things, and once the rear of Houjin is empty, they will definitely kill and harass Houjin.
More importantly, because Houjin did not have a navy, they had nothing to do with Mao Wenlong.
But it was such a big problem that Houjin could not solve, which Yuan Chonghuan solved.
Imagine, if Mao Wenlong was still there, in the "change of his own life", how dare Huang Taiji attack Daming for four months?
Therefore, killing Mao Wenlong was a stunned move by Yuan Chonghuan.
3. "The Change of Yourself"
In the change of his own life, it is true that Yuan Chonghuan led his troops to fight bloody battles to repel the enemy army, but his various behaviors are incomprehensible and true.
Chongzhen's seventh charge, "the four sets of reinforcements were discharged," refers to his transfer from Liu Ce, the commander-in-chief of Jiliao.
Jixian was the only way for Emperor Taiji to invade Beijing, and Liu Ce arrived in Jixian one step ahead of Yuan Chonghuan, and after Yuan Chonghuan arrived in Jixian, he sent Liu Ce to Miyun to garrison. However, Miyun is far in the north, and it is not Huang Taiji's marching route at all, let alone attack Beijing, even if Huang Taiji is defeated and flees, he will not choose to withdraw from the Miyun area at all.
Putting aside Yuan Chonghuan's "collaboration with the enemy", the most reasonable explanation for his arrangement was to prevent the Mongols from taking advantage of the fire.
But the Mongol tribes did not change at that time. And the great enemy is current, why is Yuan Chonghuan confident that he can block Huang Taiji in Jixian without Liu Ce's soldiers and horses?
And just after Yuan Chonghuan was stationed in Jixian, he actually let Huang Taiji quietly "sneak over".
The soldiers and horses of Huang Taiji are not hundreds or thousands, but tens of thousands, and how incredible it is that so many people quietly crossed the defense line without being detected!
Even if it wasn't Yuan Chonghuan deliberately letting it go, this "negligence" was too big!
And what happened next is even more puzzling, Yuan Chonghuan did not pursue after sensing that Huang Taiji "sneaked over Jixian", and chose another road to go straight to the capital, and even gave up Tongzhou, the last blocking point in the capital.
Many people speculated that Yuan Chonghuan's move was to avoid a field war with the Eight Flags Army, but this move caused the Eight Flags Army to burn, kill and loot all the way, bringing great disasters to the imperial court and the people. Moreover, Beijing City is not a city defense strong Ningyuan, once the Emperor Taiji soldiers come to the city, what if they can't hold it?
All these unreasonable behaviors little by little intensified Chongzhen's suspicions of Yuan Chonghuan, and in the end, he rashly invited the army to enter the city, which may be unintentional words for Yuan Chonghuan, after all, the Datong reinforcements who arrived earlier had already entered the capital.
But for Chongzhen, it has become another ironclad proof of Yuan Chonghuan's "rebellion".
Regarding the saying that Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan after winning the Emperor's Taiji dissociation scheme, just imagine, if it weren't for Chongzhen's suspicion of Yuan Chonghuan for a long time, how could he have fallen for such a pediatric counterplot?
Therefore, if Yuan Chonghuan's role in the fight against Houjin is excluded, his various behaviors have indeed reached the point where he can be beheaded.
Some people say that Yuan Chonghuan was killed because Chongzhen himself was suspicious and narrow-minded. But imagine if there was a minister:
If these performances are placed on the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, Yuan Chonghuan's end may not only be "according to the law", it is estimated that at least the "three tribes" will have to start.
It can even be said that these behaviors of Yuan Chonghuan were not tolerated by at least half of the emperors in ancient times.
Therefore, it is a pity that Yuan Chonghuan died, but he was not unjust at all.
The culprit that led to Yuan Chonghuan's tragedy was precisely Yuan Chonghuan himself
From the mighty Liaodong to the death of karma, Yuan Chonghuan took a sharp turn from the peak of his life, and it was Yuan Chonghuan himself who caused such a situation.
His loyalty is beyond reproach, but the flaws in his character make him bound to struggle in the stormy and undercurrent Daming court, and if he is not careful, he will be doomed.
In my opinion, Yuan Chonghuan's biggest problem is that he is too confident and self-centered in everything.
It can be seen from his first invitation to "guard Shanhaiguan alone" that Yuan Chonghuan has always been a person with high self-confidence.
At that time, Yuan Chonghuan had never been on the battlefield, and he didn't even know what the Houjin Army looked like, just based on listening to the veterans' stories before and his own understanding of the Guanxi type, he dared to say, "It's enough for me to guard Shanhaiguan alone!" ".
What self-confidence!
In the first half of his resistance against Liao, this self-confidence helped him greatly, and he won major victories such as Ning Yuan Dajie and Ningjin Dajie.
But after he became a high-ranking position, this strong self-confidence made him become arrogant step by step.
His self-confidence has hindered his objective and reasonable analysis and judgment of the situation, and it has also made him refuse to follow the advice of others.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Wang Feng's "Chongzhen Long Edition" recorded: "When Yuan Chonghuan was buying rice in Guan City, the courtiers were in the mountains and seas, and seeing that his actions were perverse, they knew that they would be bad for state affairs, and the suicide note was made to make it a place for the early days, and the later king had the neglect of forbidden rice and refutation." ”
It can be seen that in the "city rice theft" incident, someone reminded Yuan Chonghuan, but he did not care.
He killed Mao Wenlong, confident that he could control his old ministry, but it turned out that those people did not obey his command at all, Geng Zhongming and Shang Kexi were once Mao Wenlong's old ministry, and two of the three Han clan kings in the early Qing Dynasty began to drop gold after Mao Wenlong's death, I don't know how Yuan Chonghuan should feel.
And when Yuan Chonghuan was in a high position, he liked to be self-centered.
The most fundamental reason why he killed Mao Wenlong was that Mao Wenlong was "not subject to supervision."
According to his intention, he wanted to concentrate all the power in Liaodong in his own hands.
But Mao Wenlong also has his own reason, in Mao Wenlong's view: the territory is made by myself, the team is pulled up by myself, what I did, the emperor and other courtiers did not say anything, you Yuan Chonghuan wanted to come to pick peaches as soon as he came to power, there was no door.
However, at this time, Yuan Chonghuan only wanted to grasp the power in his own hands, and did not understand the law of seeking common ground while reserving differences, and saw that Mao Wenlong did not listen to the dispatch, and directly killed Mao Wenlong.
And in the "Change of Himself", he also commanded the entire campaign from the starting point of all military operations.
Feeling that it was risky for his army to fight a field battle with the Eight Flags Army, he simply allowed the enemy to drive straight in and let them brutalize the people.
Feeling that his army needed to rest after a long gallop, he directly ignored Huangwei's offer to lead his army into the city.
How can this practice of ignoring the life and death of the people and ignoring the authority of the emperor not attract the hatred of the people, and how can it not make the emperor suspect!?
Digression: If Yuan Chonghuan does not die, will he complete the goal of "five years to restore Liao"?
In the second year after Yuan Chonghuan proposed a five-year restoration of Liao, he was taken from his post by Chongzhen and imprisoned, if Chongzhen did not kill him, would he really achieve a five-year restoration?
The author believes that even if Chongzhen does not kill Yuan Chonghuan, it is almost impossible to realize the plan of "five-year restoration of Liao".
Against Houjin, Yuan Chonghuan's strategy was "defending for the right, attacking for the odd, and peace for the side", and what he relied on was the "Guanningjin Defense Line" that stretched for more than 200 li and cost millions of taels of silver.
This line of defense is so strong that it is almost impossible for Houjin to break through from the front.
But this line of defense has a weakness: it costs money.
It costs hundreds of thousands of taels of silver just to repair and maintain this defense line every year, and if it is damaged by the attack of the Eight Flags Army, it will cost more silver to repair it. Coupled with the continuous stretching of the defense line, more pawns will be needed, and the expenditure on military salaries will become larger and larger.
If the Ming Dynasty is prosperous at this time, this method of defending and attacking step by step may gradually eat away the Houjin.
However, at that time, the Ming Dynasty had been exhausted by endless internal struggles, and the national treasury was even more devastated and extremely empty, and it was simply unable to operate such a "gold-swallowing behemoth" as the Guanningjin Defense Line.
In order to protect the interests of their own clique, the Donglin Party transferred the financial and tax pressure from the Jiangnan gentry to the peasants, which eventually provoked a popular revolt, and Li Zicheng led the rebel army to rise up and invade Beijing.
Therefore, even if Yuan Chonghuan did not die, with the weak national strength of the Ming Dynasty at that time, it could not support his strategic measures, and if the Ming Dynasty was strong enough to support this line of defense, it could only loot more money from the people, which would cause popular revolts faster, and the Ming Dynasty might fall earlier.
Because it was not the Eight Flags Army that finally destroyed Daming, but Li Zicheng.
Epilogue:
How to evaluate Yuan Chonghuan?
It is actually a sadness that one's own talents and the environment in which they live cannot support their ambitions.
The building will fall, and the situation of Yuan Chonghuan and Chongzhen is the same.
Chongzhen is not the lord of the heroic ZTE,
And Yuan Chonghuan is not a pillar of the imperial court that can turn the tide.