In 1630, the third year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Liaodong who guarded the border pass, was executed by the Chongzhen Emperor.
The so-called Ling Chi is "a thousand knives and a thousand knives".
What did Yuan Chonghuan do wrong? Why did Chongzhen treat him so cruelly?
For those who do not know the truth, Yuan Chonghuan's death has always been a mystery.
So what did Yuan Chonghuan die for?
Yuan Chonghuan was born in the twelfth year of the Wanli Calendar, and at the age of 35, he was appointed as a County of Shaowuzhi in Fujian.
Yuan Chonghuan liked the art of war, had a strong interest in leading soldiers to fight, and thought he had the talent to guard the border pass.
In the second year of the Apocalypse, Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to the military department.
Soon, Quang Ninh was attacked by Hou Jin led by Nurhaci, and Yuan Chonghuan heard that the imperial court wanted to send people to guard Shanhaiguan.
Immediately quietly go to the outside of the pass alone to check the terrain.
After Yuan Chonghuan returned to the court, Mao Sui proposed himself: "Give our army Ma Qiangu, I alone will guard this." ”
When the ministers of the DPRK heard about it, they all praised Yuan Chonghuan for his outstanding intelligence. Yuan Chonghuan was again promoted to the rank of military armament, supervising the foreign army, and allocating 200,000 yuan of gold to recruit troops.
For the ambitious Yuan Chonghuan, these are all small meanings. What really allowed him to show his talents and make him earn a place in the center of power in the Ming Dynasty was the Battle of Ningyuan.
In 1626, Nurhaci took the opportunity of the Ming Dynasty's withdrawal in Liaodong and personally led 130,000 Eight Banners Army to Shenyang on the 14th of the first month, and crossed the Liao River in the west on the 17th, directly approaching Ningyuan.
At that time, the isolated city was far away, the defenders were less than 20,000, there were strong enemies in front and no reinforcements in the back, and the situation was very dangerous.
According to The Tongzhi Cheng Weiyi report: "When the horsemen are reached, every time a person is broken, the poor seven or eight thousand generals, seven or eight thousand merchants, all of them are more and more corrupt." ”
Before the Battle of Ningyuan, Nurhaci's iron horse had pulled out more than 40 cities, which can be said to be invincible and sharp.
At first, when they learned that the Qing army was coming, almost no one inside or outside the imperial court thought that Ning Yuan could hold it.
Only Yuan Chonghuan refused to give up and vowed to coexist and die with Ning Yuan. Yuan Chonghuan pierced his finger and wrote a bloody letter to arouse the morale of the soldiers.
This battle was fought very hard, and the battle lasted for 2 days and 2 nights.
Yuan Chonghuan is really not an ordinary person, and ordinary people cannot fight this battle.
He adjusted the position of the battery so that the cannon could rotate at 270 degrees Celsius and shoot the enemy in all directions without dead ends.
According to the Records of emperor Ming Xi, "The cannon passed everywhere, and it was not calculated to kill the northern horse", and "the attacking equipment was burned and lost." ”
He also splashed water on the city wall, and the temperature outside the pass was low, dripping into ice, which not only resisted the enemy's arrow rain, but also increased the difficulty of the enemy soldiers to enter the city.
He probably learned this trick from Cao Cao, who used it when he was fighting with the Western Liang Army.
Finally, the Battle of Ningyuan ended with the victory of the Ming Dynasty and the defeat of the Later Jin. So that the Ming Dynasty from "Ningyuan was besieged, the whole country was fierce", to hear the Ningyuan Jieyin, "Jingshi Shishu, empty alleys to celebrate".
Wang Yongguang of the Bingbu Shangshu praised Yuan Chonghuan's exploits to the emperor, saying that Ning Yuan's great victory was not only a great victory for "a thief in the past eight years". It is also a big victory for "curbing more than 100,000 strong prisoners and reviving the accumulation of decadence in eight or nine years".
Emperor Mingxi said, "Nothing in the past seven or eight years has been there, and it is deep enough to breathe for the sealing of the territory!" ”。
The victory of this battle established Yuan Chonghuan's position in the Ming Dynasty that could not be underestimated.
However, people are afraid of being famous pigs are afraid of being strong, and once people become famous, they will attract the attention of some people, especially the enemy.
Because the enemy is afraid that you will threaten his interests, he will find ways to suppress you, slander you, cut you out, and even look for opportunities to kill you.
In the sixth year of the Apocalypse, Yuan Chonghuan was appointed inspector of Liaodong. In the same year, the imperial court added Yuan Chonghuan as the right attendant of the military department, and hereditary Jinyi Qianhu.
Since then, Yuan Chonghuan has gradually become arrogant and disagreed with the general Man Gui, and Shangshu requested that Man Gui be transferred elsewhere, and the imperial court recalled Man Gui.
After Wang Zhi's ministers wrote to ask for Man Gui's retention, Yuan Chonghuan became at odds with Wang Zhichen.
In this way, Yuan Chonghuan successfully made many enemies for himself in the elite class.
After the Battle of Ningyuan, Nurhaci died. His son Emperor Taiji launched the Battle of Ningjin the following year, and Yuan Chonghuan won this battle again.
After the Battle of Ningjin, everyone else was rewarded.
Wei Zhongxian instructed his henchmen to impeach Yuan Chonghuan for not saving Jinzhou. When discussing the merits and rewards, Yuan Chonghuan was only promoted to a small rank.
Yuan Chonghuan was not convinced, and resigned in anger. The imperial court had Wang Zhichen succeed Yuan Chonghuan as the inspector of Liaodong and garrison Ningyuan.
In the same year, Emperor Mingxi died, Emperor Mingsizong Zhu Youjian took the throne, and Wei Zhongxian was executed.
At the recommendation of the chancellor, Yuan Chonghuan was able to be reinstated and appointed as the Bingbu Shangshu and concurrently served as the right deputy capital Yushi, supervising Ji Liao, concurrently supervising Denglai, and Tianjin military affairs.
With the increasing power, Yuan Chonghuan's temper is also getting bigger and bigger, his self-esteem is getting higher and higher, but his wisdom is getting lower and lower.
In July 1628, Yuan Chonghuan returned to the capital, and the Chongzhen Emperor summoned Yuan Chonghuan on the platform to "comfort even". Yuan Chonghuan swore an oath to the Chongzhen Emperor and said, "Your Majesty's special dependents are willing to take advantage of the cheap, count five years, and the whole Liao can be restored." ”
When the Chongzhen Emperor heard Yuan Chonghuan say this, he was overjoyed. Immediately promised: "Fu Liao, do not hesitate to seal the reward." Qing worked hard to solve the upside down of the world, and Qing's descendants were blessed by it. ”
Yuan Chonghuan, who was overwhelmed and overwhelmed, foolishly dug a deep pit for himself under Chongzhen's extreme favor.
During the incident, Xu Yuqing realized the seriousness of the problem and reminded Yuan Chonghuan to speak cautiously.
Yuan Chonghuan said lightly: "The Sacred Heart is anxious, and it is necessary to talk to comfort each other' ears." ”
Xu Yuqing said, "The emperor is wise, how can he be perfunctory?" What if you can't deliver on today's promises? ”
Yuan Chonghuan realized that he had run into trouble, so Shangquan said that the five-year plan to restore Liao was difficult to complete, and it required the cooperation of the household department, the ministry of works, the department of officials, the department of soldiers, and the internal and external affairs of the imperial court.
Unexpectedly, Chongzhen actually agreed to all of them, and immediately ordered the four departments to act according to Yuan Chonghuan's wishes.
Yuan Chonghuan also said that he was afraid that after he went to the border pass, someone in the court would slander him, so Chongzhen took back wang zhichen and Man Gui's Shangfang sword and gave it to Yuan Chonghuan.
Yuan Chonghuan also wrote to the court that the minister of border defense was different from the minister of the imperial court, and asked the imperial court not to interfere with how he used people.
Chongzhen did not hesitate to agree, and rewarded the python robe with jade belt and silver coins to Yuan Chonghuan, who did not dare to accept the python robe and jade belt.
In the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan wrote to the imperial court to send someone to manage Mao Wenlong's military salary on the grounds that Mao Wenlong in Dongjiang was spending too much money and grain.
Mao Wenlong did not like to have civilian officials restrain him, so he wrote to argue. Later, Mao Wenlong came to pay respects to Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan felt that Mao Wenlong was not respectful enough, so he decided to get rid of Mao Wenlong.
Yuan Chonghuan collected Mao Wenlong's 12 incriminating charges, took out shangfang's sword, and beheaded Mao Wenlong.
After Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, he feared that his subordinates would defect and planned to appease them by increasing their salary. Therefore, he wrote to the imperial court to ask for an increase in the salary of the soldiers.
Chongzhen was suspicious of the reduction of soldiers but the increase in military salaries, but when he saw that Yuan Chonghuan had asked for it, he immediately agreed.
From this incident, it can be seen that Chongzhen has completely spoiled Yuan Chonghuan to the point of no principle, and Yuan Chonghuan does not know convergence.
Everything has a degree, but it is too late. Any relationship in life must have a bottom line and principles.
This abnormal relationship between the monarch and the subject has actually laid the foundation of the curse long ago.
In November of the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Emperor Taiji raised hundreds of thousands of troops and entered Longjing Pass and Da'ankou respectively.
When Yuan Chonghuan heard this, he led his army into the guard, and Chongzhen was very happy at the time, ordering Yuan Chonghuan to be rewarded and yuan Chonghuan to command reinforcements everywhere.
However, soon after, Zunhua and The Santun battalion were attacked by the Houjin army, and Zhao Lijiao was also killed in the Battle of Zunhua. Inspector Wang Yuanya and commander-in-chief Zhu Guoyan were killed in the line of duty.
Emperor Taiji's army crossed Jizhou to the west and headed straight for the capital. Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly led troops to guard the Beijing Division.
Yuan Chonghuan ordered Dai Cheng'en to line up at Guangqu Gate, Zu Dashou to line up in the south, Wang Chengyin to line up in the northwest, and Yuan Chonghuan to line up in the west to prepare for battle.
In this battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties. Emperor Taiji's army retreated under the heavy artillery bombardment of Yuan Chonghuan, and the siege of Kyoto was lifted.
Curiously, after the siege of Kyoto, Yuan Chonghuan was punished.
The crime was collusion with the enemy. The evidence of the crime was emperor Taiji's army, which came from the pass under the jurisdiction of Liu Ce, the prime minister of Jiliao.
When Yuan Chonghuan learned of this, the Jin army directly approached the capital, and Kyoto was in a hurry. Thousands of miles of help, but the minister of the DPRK believed that Yuan Chonghuan was deliberately releasing qing troops into the customs.
Emperor Taiji also took advantage of the trap and said that he had a secret agreement with Yuan Chonghuan.
Yuan Chonghuan did have contact with Huang Taiji before, but that was because Chongzhen instructed Yuan Chonghuan to negotiate peace with Huang Taiji.
Perhaps Chongzhen also had doubts about Yuan Chonghuan, perhaps Chongzhen did not want the ministers of the DPRK to know that he had wanted to negotiate peace with Houjin, perhaps Chongzhen felt that Yuan Chonghuan did not have the ability to excel, but the imperial court was unconditionally meeting his requirements, or perhaps Chongzhen was afraid of Yuan Chonghuan's great difficulties?
In short, Chongzhen chose not to trust Yuan Chonghuan anymore, and in December of the same year, he sent Yuan Chonghuan to prison.
In order to avenge Wei Zhongxian, Wei Zhongxian's party also convicted Yuan Chonghuan of death on two charges: negotiating peace with the Houjin army without authorization and killing Mao Wenlong without authorization.
In August of the third year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Ling Chi, and his family was exiled for three thousand miles, and confiscated the family property, but in fact the family had no surplus wealth.
A person's career is too smooth, often not a good thing. Too smooth, people are easy to get carried away, easy to flutter and self-intoxicated.
Yuan Chonghuan's death, on the one hand, chongzhen no longer trusts him, on the other hand, he is too high-profile. Too high-profile can easily be the target of public criticism.
Wood shows will be destroyed by the forest wind, and flowers will be invaded by wild frost.
Yu Boya met Zhong Ziqi and achieved a good story, and Yuan Chonghuan met Chongzhen but played a sad song.
When people meet each other, they will love each other when they know each other, and they will kill each other when they doubt each other. Trust is the foundation of love, and jealousy is the soil of hate.