Yuan Chonghuan (1584-1630), a senior minister of the Ministry of War in the late Ming Dynasty, was the right advisor, and concurrently supervised the military affairs of Hebei, Liao, Deng, Lai and Tianjin. After being repelled many times, the Jin army attacked and was executed by Chongzhen on nine counts.

In the forty-seventh year of Wanli (16 19), he took the senior high school entrance examination in Yuan Chonghuan and served as the magistrate of Shaowu, Fujian.

In the second year of the Apocalypse (1622), Yuan Chonghuan met the first noble person in his life-Yu. Hou Xun admired him very much and promoted him to the Ministry of War. In the battle of Guangning, the Ming army was defeated and retreated to Shanhaiguan, and the land of western Liaoning fell.

At this time, Yuan Chonghuan, who was just a pawn of the Ministry of War, made an amazing move and quietly left the Ministry of War. No one knows where he went. Until he returned to the court, he said, "Give me Qian Gu, and I will defend myself." It turned out that he was on a field trip outside Shanhaiguan.

Yuan Chonghuan went to the front line as he wished, and then he met the second noble person in his life-Ministry of War Shangshu, Du Shi of Liaodong and Sun Chengzong, a university student of Dongge. Sun Chengzong recognized Yuan Chonghuan's military talents and ordered Yuan Chonghuan to guard Ningyuan (Liaoning). In the following years, Yuan Chonghuan lived up to expectations, appeased the military and civilians, prepared for border defense, and recovered lost territory, with outstanding achievements.

Just as Yuan Chonghuan became famous and made great achievements, Sun Chengzong, his backstage supporter, was knocked down by Wei Zhongxian. The new leader, Gaudi, thought that the Commissioner could not keep it, and ordered all the troops to withdraw. Yuan Chonghuan said that he would rather die in Ningyuan than leave. "Lying alone in a lonely city, be a deaf ear!" Gaudi couldn't force Yuan Chonghuan, so he evacuated all the soldiers and civilians in Jinzhou and other places, leaving Ningyuan alone to face the upcoming Daikin fighters.

Nurhachi is a bad neighbor who likes to fish in troubled waters. When he heard that Sun Chengzong was dismissed, he immediately called his troops. At this time, Nurhachi was full of lofty sentiments. He has fought against the Ming army before, and has been invincible from Salhu to Guangning. This time is no exception.

Unexpectedly, this Ningyuan City, guarded by Yuan Chonghuan, became a nightmare of his life.

Nurhachi surrendered to Yuan Chonghuan first, but was sternly rejected. Yuan Chonghuan made a special trip to have him summoned to the court, hoping to be beheaded if he caught deserters from Ningyuan. This spirit of "life is worse than death" has greatly inspired the morale of the defenders and is willing to live and die with the city. Ningyuan at this time is an isolated city, which has cut off all logistical supplies and no reinforcements. There are only over 10,000 defenders in the city. Sun Tzu's Art of War said: "Ten will encircle it, five will attack it, and two will fight it." Nurhachi forces far exceed Yuan Chonghuan, directly ordered the siege.

It's a pity that although the latter 8 Jin Army had an advantage in number, it didn't guard against the secret weapon of the Ming Army-the Red Yi Gun. The war lasted for two days, and the situation was extremely fierce. After the first day, the Jin army pushed the rafters and lifted the hook ladder, and rode in droves to attack the southwest corner, but was repelled by the fierce artillery fire of the Ming army. Nurhachi also ordered the troops to move south, and under the cover of a rafter, cut a gap in the weak defense between the two sets of city gates. At this critical juncture, Yuan Chonghuan personally moved earth and stones to plug the gap. Fighting late into the night, 8 jin j suffered heavy losses and had to suspend the attack. The next day, Nurhachi continued to command the siege. From morning till night, the two sides fought fiercely for a day. The Ming army fired into the city, killing a large number of late Jin cavalry. 8 jin j afraid of gunfire, dare not into the city. The generals of the late Jin Dynasty drove the soldiers away with knives, only returned to the city gate, snatched the bodies and transported them to the west gate of the city for incineration. Nurhachi had no choice but to give up his troops and Ningyuan to defend the victory of the Ming army.

Nurhachi died shortly after withdrawing troops. There are different stories about the cause of his death in history, one of which is that he was injured by a cannon during the siege. The battle of Ningyuan was the first victory in the frontal battlefield of the Ming Dynasty, which broke the myth that the late Jin army was invincible and had far-reaching influence.

Ningyuan won, and a new general, Ran Ran, rose, bringing a ray of new light to this depressed court.

After the death of Nurhachi, Huang Taiji, who acceded to the throne, was very unwilling and sent troops to invade Daming again. Ningyuan is still a hurdle that he can't get around. It is difficult for the late Jin cavalry to play a field advantage under the strong city and sharp guns. This time, Huang Taiji came up with a new trick. Facing Ningyuan, a tough bone, he surrendered without a fight and directly crossed Ningyuan to fight Jinzhou. However, it turns out that this is not a good idea.

"Biography of Yuan Chonghuan in Ming Dynasty" records that "on 26th, the post-Jin Army besieged the city15th. It is impossible to attack the city by military means; Discuss peace by political means, but do not discuss it; Lure him out of the city to fight in other places, but he can't get out; Raiders of the lost ark's layout hit the aid and didn't win. At the beginning of summer, the officers and men of the late Jin Dynasty were exposed to the wilderness, food was scarce, and people were tired and morale was low. " After Jin Jun besieged Jinzhou City 15 days, all kinds of methods tried their best to storm and lure all the surrounding points to help. He was strong by others, and the bright moon shone on the river. You were stormy and I didn't move.

Jinzhou was unable to attack for a long time, and Huang Taiji decided to go back to Ningyuan. As usual, the Ming army set up obstacles outside the city, and Chengtou artillery met them. After the defeat of 8 jin j, huang taiji tasted the bitter fruit of his father in those days, but he gave up his troops.

Ningyuan and Ningjin won the two wars, which effectively curbed the attack of the late Jin army and saved the country from peril. With two battles, Yuan Chonghuan became famous all over the world.

In the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Yuan Chonghuan became the governor of Hebei and Liao as the minister of war. In May, he designed to kill Mao stationed in Dongjiang (Pidao) without authorization.

Mao Longwen, an anti-gold general. In the early days of the Apocalypse, he attacked Zhenjiang (now Jiuliancheng Scenic Resort, northeast of Dandong) where Jin was stationed, captured the guarding city generals alive, recovered Zhenjiang in one fell swoop, and was promoted to company commander with meritorious military service, and then stationed in Dongjiang. Based on Pidao and constantly attacking Houjin, Huang Taiji was at home and determined to pull it out quickly. For this reason, the imperial court rewarded him many times, accumulating to the left commander-in-chief, hanging general print, and giving Fang a sword, which made him highly respected.

Yuan Chonghuan came to Dongjiang in the name of military parade, and Mao came to meet him. Yuan Chonghuan read Mao several charges in the name of rectifying military discipline and killed him directly. Yuan Chonghuan's killing of the general before the war was very bad, which also had a great negative impact on his reputation and set the stage for his tragic ending.

In October of the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Huang taiji prepared to attack Daming again, calling it the change of his own side.

Yuan Chonghuan doesn't panic about preferring the same one. Sun Chengzong, a great scholar, built a defense line for decades to resist the attack of 8 Jin Army. Among them, Shanhaiguan is the backing of the defense line, Ningyuan City is the backbone of the defense line, and Jinzhou has become an outpost. During this period, a number of forts were built as defensive strongholds.

Checkpoints are dead, people are alive. Thinking hard, Huang Taiji finally figured out the only way to cross the Guanning defense line-not through the defense line. China is so big that it doesn't have to attack from Liaodong. If Liaodong can't go, we will bypass Mongolia and go in from there.

In this way, Huang Taiji personally led the army to launch an attack that decided the fate of Yuan Chonghuan.

This is a surprise attack that goes down in military history. History says it has changed. Huang taiji bypassed the Jingning defense line and broke through Mongolia, and the soldiers matched Zunhua, a major town in the Ming Dynasty. Zunhua is located in the northeast of Beijing, only over 200 kilometers. Once it falls, Beijing will have no danger to defend.

This is a big mistake.

Yuan Chonghuan hurried to Huiyuan, finally repelled the late Jin army at the gates of Beijing, and saved the country again. Unfortunately, it is not the admiration and promotion of the world that awaits him this time.

1630, in the third year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan repelled the 8 Jin Army and was imprisoned by Emperor Chongzhen. Eight months later, he was executed that year, and his wife and children were implicated. "Emperor Chongzhen's Imperial Palace summoned the auxiliary ministers and the five offices and six departments, replied to the Duchayuan, the General Political Department, the Dali Temple and the Hanlin Academy, and declared:" Yuan Chonghuan's entrustment is ineffective, relying on deception, stealing the city meters, cutting handsome with money, fighting against the enemy, stopping fighting, and reinforcing in four episodes, Enemy at the Gates, disbanding. ("Chongzhen Long Edition" Volume 37)

There is great controversy about Yuan Chonghuan himself and the truth of these nine charges. Only one hypothesis is put forward here: If Yuan Chonghuan does not die, can he save the Ming Dynasty?

You know, although the Ming Dynasty died at the hands of bandits, it would not be so easy for Li Zicheng to break through the city without the intervention of the Ming army and Chongzhen.

For example, in the sixth year of Chongzhen, Cao Wenzhao led thousands of Guanning troops to defeat the peasant army in Shaanxi. After Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng and Zhang fled to Henan, they were surrounded by many Ming armies such as Zuo Liangyu. However, in the seventh year of Chongzhen, after the second invasion of 8 Jin Army, Cao Wenzhao was transferred to Datong to resist gold, and the peasant army took the opportunity to break through.

For example, in August of the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), the Qing soldiers entered the customs from Qingkou Mountain and Qiangziling Road, and launched the fourth entry operation. Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou and others were transferred to Liaodong to guard against the Qing army. Li Zicheng, which had suffered many wars and defeats before, got a respite, gradually recovered and finally became a climate.

In this case, Chongzhen killed Yuan Chonghuan, which really destroyed the Great Wall.

If Chongzhen doesn't kill Yuan Chonghuan, can Yuan Chonghuan save the crisis of Ming and Wu?

I find it difficult.

Yuan Chonghuan is not handsome. Character determines fate, and Yuan Chonghuan was finally killed, which has a lot to do with his own personality defects. Yuan Chonghuan likes to talk big, boasting to Chongzhen that "the whole Liao country can be restored in five years". However, the forces of the late Jin Dynasty became stronger and stronger, and even the enemy came to Beijing at the gates. Chongzhen was disappointed in him; Yuan Chonghuan's headstrong personality, in the absence of any instructions, killed the anti-gold general Mao, and his relationship with his subordinates was full of friction. More or less, it can be seen from the above things that Yuan Chonghuan lacks the ability to tolerate people. He may be a master, but he will not be a qualified overall commander and lacks the ability to plan the overall situation. It's hard to turn things around.

Second, Yuan Chonghuan is better at defense. Looking at Yuan Chonghuan's outstanding achievements, Ningyuan, Jinzhou and Peking all relied on fortified cities and guns to defend the war. After Jindu proclaimed himself emperor, it became a climate, which could not be eliminated by passive defense alone. More importantly, in 1633, there was a mutiny in Dengzhou in the Ming Dynasty. After crossing the sea, the rebels took refuge in Houjin, and they brought advanced machinery manufacturing ability and firearms technology to Houjin army. Since then, in addition to the field ability, the level of siege of the earth cavalry has also been greatly improved.

Third, Chongzhen is not a famous monarch. Compared with his brother Apocalypse, Chongzhen is a better emperor. After he ascended the throne, he humiliated and killed the eunuch headed by Wei Zhongxian. He is diligent in politics and not materialistic. But Chongzhen also has a fatal flaw-impulsive, irritable and suspicious. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, nearly 20 cabinet records were changed and many important ministers were killed. The ruling strategy also changed frequently, and the wartime and wartime peace talks were strongly opposed by many ministers, but they were not reached in the end. This character of Chongzhen doomed him to find it difficult to trust capable courtiers to eliminate chaos and rebellion.

Fourth, the historical situation at that time did not allow it. Li Zicheng attacked Beijing, and Daming died of refugees. What is a refugee? Refugees are floating population. Generally speaking, the government's control over population movement is quite strict. When the population moves, no one will farm the land, and the government will have no food tax. But by the late Ming Dynasty, there were thousands of refugees. Why?

According to historical records, after Chongzhen came to power, droughts occurred in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and other places. Worst of all, in the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640), this time, "there was a great drought in the whole province, and all the plants and animals were starved to death, and there was a great famine." Faced with such a tragic situation, the people have no food, and they have to resist in order to survive. Li Zicheng, Zhang and others were defeated by the Ming Dynasty many times, but there was no shortage of soldiers. On the contrary, the loyalists of the Ming Dynasty fought less and less, and their fighting capacity became weaker and weaker. "Eat his mother, wear his mother's clothes, and the king will not accept food when he comes." The similar situation is similar to that at the end of Yuan Dynasty. During the drought in Huaisi, Zhu Yuanzhang rose up and led the rebel army to finally overthrow the rule of the Yuan Dynasty.

Before his execution, Yuan Chonghuan wrote a poem: "A lifetime of career is empty, and a lifetime of fame is in a dream. Don't be brave after death, the loyal soul still protects Liaodong! " A generation of famous soldiers died unjustly in prison, and the ending was deplorable. But in any case, Yuan Chonghuan's loyalty to serving the country and resisting foreign aggression will always be remembered by history.

Finally, let's imagine how the country can save its rule in the face of internal and external troubles.

Personally, I think at least one of the two conditions should be met: the unity of monarch, minister and people, and the elimination of disputes internally; Keep a low profile. You can't fight both sides at the same time. Unfortunately, these two conditions were not available in the Ming Dynasty. Civil servants love money, military commanders are afraid of death, the imperial court is smoky, there are droughts for years, refugees are everywhere, and people's hearts are unstable; Later Jin and the peasant army took turns to attack, not giving the Ming Dynasty a chance to breathe.

1644, when Li Zicheng arrived at the gates of Beijing, Zhang Jinyan, the minister of the Ministry of War, took the initiative to open the city gate and welcomed the invading army into the city. Chongzhen hanged himself in Jingshan, and the testamentary edict lamented that "the ministers misunderstood me."

In fact, the crime of Daming's death lies not only in the princes, but also in the fact that his luck has been used up.

reference data

1, Zhang (Qing): Ming history.

2. Wang Ji (Qing Dynasty): Chongzhen Long Edition

3. Historical data of drought in Shaanxi in Ming Dynasty collected by Wang Shejiao.

4. Li Hongbin: "The Rise of the Manchu Dynasty and the Establishment of the Qing Empire"

5. Mingyue: "Those things in the Ming Dynasty"