Chapter 11 Chapter Ten: The Biggest Unjust Case After Yue Fei: The Death of Yuan Chonghuan

In October of the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty and the third year of Tiancong in the Later Jin Dynasty (1629 AD), more than three months after Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, Huang Taiji, who had finally got rid of the threat of the flank for many years, began to move westward on a large scale and launched a war against the Ming Empire. An extremely daring and extremely risky military operation.In previous studies of the history of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the significance of this military operation may have been severely underestimated.In fact, this action had a particularly huge impact in terms of politics, economy, military affairs, and society. Some people even believe that this action almost caused the complete disintegration of late Ming society.

For the researchers of war history, this military operation has extremely high military imagination and superhuman creativity, and has reached a state of extraordinary excellence, excellence, and heroism in terms of combat will, strategic and tactical guidance, and military operations. .Based on this battle alone, Huang Taiji was far superior to all political and military figures of his time. From the forty-sixth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1618), when Nurhachi challenged the Ming Empire at the Battle of Fushun, to the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1629), after eleven years of war, the border between the Ming Empire and the Houjin Khanate has been closed. From the line of Fushun, Qinghe, Kuiyang, and Kuandian to the line of Songshan, Xingshan, Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Dalinghe.This area starts from Yiwulu Mountain in the east, reaches Shanhaiguan in the west, faces the Songling Mountains in the north, and faces the Bohai Sea in the south. It naturally forms a narrow corridor that blocks mountains and seas and slopes from north to southwest. It is the only passage connecting the Northeast Plain to the North China Plain. Throat.This Liaoxi Corridor has extremely high strategic and geographical value for both the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty, and it is a place that both sides must contend for.Yuan Chonghuan and Sun Chengzong insisted on sticking to Ningyuan and Jinzhou, which was obviously much better than the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty.

For the attackers, the geographical situation here is basically a grand canyon between mountains and rivers. For the offensive situation of the large corps in the cold weapon era, there are many obstacles, and it is extremely difficult to exert combat power and be effective.At first, Huang Taiji certainly didn't realize this, so after Naifu Nurhachi suffered a serious setback in Ningyuan, he came here again and stumbled on the same brick again.The fall was extremely painful, prompting Huang Taiji to look carefully at what it was, and knocked both father and son to the ground.As a result, he suddenly discovered three things and one person.Those three things are: Jiancheng, Cannon, and the terrain of the Liaoxi Corridor, and that person is Yuan Chonghuan.

The Eight Banners cavalry was good at field battles, but short at attacking fortifications, so Huang Taiji did not come to attack fortifications. The Ming army liked to use cannons, so Huang Taiji also began to develop cannons intensively.He provided favorable treatment, recruited Han craftsmen, and made guns and cannons for himself; as a result, only five years after Tiancong, the army of the Houjin Khanate had red cannons designed and manufactured by itself.The advantage of the Ming Empire in leading the post-Golden Khanate in terms of weapons and equipment for an era was gone within a few years.At this time, what Huang Taiji had to deal with was Yuan Chonghuan who was blocking the narrow corridor in the west of Liao Dynasty.

After rectification, Yuan Chonghuan roughly completed the integration of troops and military deployments in Jinzhou, Ningyuan, Shanhaiguan, Jimen, Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Tianjin.Under his command, there are four towns of soldiers and horses, about 153,000 people, and more than 81,000 horses.From a rough look, Yuan Chonghuan's military strength is not much different from the overall strength of Huang Taiji's Manchu, Mongolian, and Han armies. In the Liaoxi Corridor, Jinzhou, Ningyuan, Songshan, and Xingshan were all important foreign towns in Shanhaiguan at that time, forming a network defense system with each other.In this area of ​​less than 400 miles, there are more than 64,700 heavy troops stationed.Yuan Chonghuan has indeed managed this place into an impregnable fortress.If Huang Taiji wanted to enter Shanhaiguan from here, he had to attack every key point point by point, facing the topography of the fortified city, the cannon, and the Liaoxi Corridor, and then add Yuan Chonghuan.That may be a road of marching with corpses piled up like mountains and blood flowing like rivers.Moreover, the biggest possibility is that after the corpses piled up like mountains and the blood flowed into rivers, the road to march became the road to destruction.

It was under such circumstances that Huang Taiji bypassed the Liaoxi Corridor and started a large-scale military operation that not only killed Yuan Chonghuan alone.Later, Huang Taiji explained his thoughts to his generals in this way: "Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou are tightly defended, and it is useless to attack. The only correct way is to go deep into the interior and seize those unsuspecting cities." ("Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty" Volume 6) Under the guidance of this kind of strategic thinking, Huang Taiji personally led an army of 80,000, detoured thousands of miles, and made a long-distance attack to Beijing, the capital of the Ming Empire.

Their marching route is: leave Shenyang, travel northwest, cross the Liaohe River and Juliu River, pass through Doerbi, which is today's Zhangwu County, Liaoning Province, enter the Horqin Grassland of Inner Mongolia, join the Northeast Mongolian Army, and then continue northwestward to reach the Qing Dynasty. City, and then join the Karaqin Mongolian army. At this time, Dabeile Daishan and Sanbeile Manggurtai couldn't hold their breath anymore. They found Huang Taiji overnight and insisted that they could not go any further and they should teach immediately. Their worries can all be established in theory——

If the army can't enter the border of the Ming Dynasty, there will be a shortage of food and grass; If the Ming Dynasty mobilized the army to intercept the rear and cut off the retreat route, then I am afraid that they will die in an ugly way, and may even die without a place to bury them. The most frightening thing is that this time, the three big Baylors were dispatched, and only one Amin stayed in Shenyang, and his strength was not strong.If Yuan Chonghuan came to encircle Wei and rescue Zhao, and sent troops from Ningjin to Shenyang, no one would dare to think about the consequences.Or, even if Yuan Chonghuan didn't go, but just sent a general, such as Zu Dashou, to attack Shenyang, the 80,000 army would turn into a mess without others attacking.

In the end, with such a strong reason, they couldn't convince Huang Taiji at all, and the two sides began to argue.They quarreled until midnight, but failed to reach an agreement, and finally broke up, and Daishan and Manggurtai left angrily.At this time, Yue Tuo and a large group of young Baylor waited outside Huang Taiji's camp to wait for instructions.When Yue Tuo entered the tent, he saw Huang Taiji blushing and extremely annoyed. After a while, Huang Taiji said angrily, "Let all the generals go back to rest. Since my plan doesn't work, what's the point of staying here?" "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty" Volume 5) Then, Huang Taiji secretly told Yue Tuo and other people present about his strategy.As a result, Yue Tuo and other young generals all supported Huang Taiji's proposition and agreed to move forward.

So, in the early morning of October 20, after persuading Daishan and Mang Gurtai, the army set off and arrived at Laohahe on the 24th.Huang Taiji "instructed each to plan and divide the troops to advance." Jierhalang and Yuetuo led the right-wing Four Banners soldiers and the right-wing Mongolian army to attack Da'ankou; Azige and Abatai led the left-wing Four Banner soldiers and left-wing Mongolian soldiers to attack Longjing Guan; Huang Taiji and Dabeile Daishan led an army to attack Hongshan Pass.It is scheduled that all the armies will join forces in Zunhua, an important town in the Ming Dynasty.In the middle of the night on the 26th, the troops of the Later Jin Khanate broke through the Great Wall from Xifengkou, Longjingguan, Da'ankou, and Hongshankou, and swarmed into the border of Daming.

It seems that there is God's will in the dark.For the first time, Huang Taiji entered the heartland of the Ming Empire from the Northeast. Apart from making a big circle to join the Mongolian tribes, the route he chose to enter the interior was the best route other than Shanhaiguan.From a military point of view, the choice of this route is not only unexpected and has the special advantage of being caught off guard, but also has a special advantage in military geography. Starting from Shenyang, heading west, along the northern foot of Yiwulu Mountain in the southwestern Daxingan Mountains, entering the Mongolian Plateau, and then from Yingzhou, which is Chaoyang in Liaoning Province today, passing Lingyuan to Pingquan, and going south to Xifengkou; or, passing Pingquan, Chengde, Luanping and west out of Gubeikou.This route runs through the Northeast Plain, North China Plain and Xuanhua Basin. It is not only a passage to control the Mongolian Plateau and the Northeast Plain, but also an important point to control the Northeast Plain, North China Plain and Xuanhua Basin.From north to south, the former conveniently points directly to Beijing and Tianjin, which are important cities in the heart of the empire.This passage is not only the transition zone of the three natural geographical regions of the Mongolian Plateau, the Northeast Plain and the North China Plain, but also has the transitional nature of economic and human geography. From north to south, it transitions from the plateau Gobi to grassland and pastures, and then transitions to farming and pastoral areas. .On the surface, it seems that there are so many mountains here that it seems difficult to trek.In fact, among the mountains, there are wide criss-crossing river valleys everywhere, which are especially suitable for the army's concealed march.Moreover, in the military, from north to south also has the advantage of being condescending and strategically located. Historically, the Daliao Empire, which tortured the Great Song Empire into agony, generally took this path to go straight to the Central Plains.When the Northern Song Dynasty united with the Jin Dynasty to destroy the Liao Dynasty, the Great Song Empire was unable to fulfill its promise to take Yanjing, so the Jin Kingdom cavalry also passed through this area, came out of Gubeikou, and went straight to Yanjing, which is today the capital of the Ming Empire, Beijing. Later, after Song and Jin fell out, the Jin Kingdom divided its troops twice to fight to Bianjing, and finally overthrew the "Shame of Jingkang" in the Northern Song Dynasty, one of the troops also entered the Central Plains from this way. In the era of cold weapons, if the Central Plains Empire established its capital in Xi'an, the northwest region would naturally become the center of defense; if it established its capital in Beijing, it would be easy to attack and difficult to defend, and it would become a soft underbelly that was extremely difficult to defend, and immediately became the weakness of the Central Plains Empire. ; In the Ming Dynasty, it even became the place of the gate of life.Unfortunately, as soon as Huang Taiji made a move, he directly attacked this weakness, thereby pinching the lifeblood of the Ming Empire.He sent troops to detour into the Central Plains five times to slash and kill the Ming Empire, and made the emperor Chongzhen, the head of the empire, feel worse than death. He also generally took the same direction from north to south, condescending.In this situation, how can we not make people sigh: God treats the Qing Dynasty so generously! ? It is also for this reason that this area has always been a key area for the military defense of the Ming Empire.Qi Jiguang has been guarding Jimen for 16 years. In order to strictly guard against the deadly defense, Qi Jiguang once made great efforts to rebuild the Great Wall and enemy towers along the ridges and valleys of the high mountains in his area of ​​defense, including today's for the Chinese. The Badaling Great Wall has brought a lot of tourist foreign exchange.Later, the fragmentation of the military defense of this area may be largely due to the gift of Wang Huazhen and the then Governor of Jiliao, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, Donglin Cabinet and Emperor Tianqi. During the Battle of Guangning, we already know that it was precisely because of the concerted efforts of the above-mentioned people that Xiong Tingbi, the Liaodong strategist who is known as a world-class talent, was fiddled with in every possible way until he was inexplicably thrown away after the chaos. killed.One of the important plots is: Wang Huazhen shared the same goals with the governor of Jiliao at that time, and firmly believed that Lin Danhan, the unabashed leader of the Mongolian Chahar tribe, could not follow the example of Genghis Khan and sweep the Eurasian continent when he had 400,000 Mongolian cavalry. , but under the influence of their two personality charms, they helped the Ming Dynasty destroy Nurhachi.Therefore, they provided Lin Dan Khan with a financial subsidy of 82,000 taels of silver every year through the Ministry of War and the Donglin Cabinet, hoping that Lin Dan Khan, the descendant of Genghis Khan, who now also calls himself Genghis Khan, will really be able to live as he did back then. Genghis Khan led his 400,000 cavalry to sweep away Nurhachi's empress Dajin just like Genghis Khan swept away Wanyan Aguda's former Dajin. Therefore, Lin Dan Khan, who had a strong tone and was not necessarily strong and capable, entered the area we mentioned above in a grand manner in the name of helping the Ming Empire eliminate the Houjin Khanate.After playing around like this, not only did the Ming Dynasty not be able to use his power to regain an inch of lost land in Liaodong, but they gave him piles of silver every year for nothing, and actually lost large tracts of land in northern Hebei, northeastern Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia today. , handed over his life gate to a not so reliable ally. Later, after Nurhachi's death, this Lin Dan Khan did fight with Huang Taiji.Unexpectedly, after practicing three moves and two styles, this sweaty man with such a loud voice ran westward without looking back, until he reached Dacaotan in Qinghai. Under the rule, it is in today's Tianzhu County, Gansu Province.As a result, this land of the Chinese Empire, which was less than a thousand miles away from Huang Taiji, fell into the hands of some Mongolian tribes; In the hands of Huang Taiji and Houjin Khanate.This is the reason why Huang Taiji and the Qing Dynasty were able to follow this road all the way to Beijing. After understanding these ins and outs, will you still feel how little God treats Daming? The process of Huang Taiji smashing the Great Wall and entering the territory of the Ming Empire was beyond words. After breaking into the city in the middle of the night on October 26, several armies gathered in Zunhua, an important town in the east of Beijing, the imperial capital, as if entering no one's territory; on the first day of November, the imperial capital was put under martial law; On the same day, Huang Taiji led all his ministries to join forces under the city of Zunhua.On the fourth day, the process by which they took down Zunhua was similarly unspeakably simple.Because, at this time, the highest administrative and military officials in the Zunhua region of the empire were rectifying the local garrison, and those redundant soldiers who had been cut down by him, seeing that they could not eat the military rations of the Ming Empire, they simply opened the gate of Zunhua City , The Houjin Khanate army who greeted Huang Taiji seemed to want to change to another owner and continue to make a living.So the magistrate, who was committed to governance and rectification, had to hang himself with a rope. During this process and in the next few months, none of the worries of Huang Taiji and the leaders of the Houjin Khanate became a fact, proving that no matter what the basis of Huang Taiji's decision to march, even if it was purely based on intuitive judgment , are absolutely correct.When they came to a huge enemy country that had been hostile for more than ten years, it was like returning to the back garden of their own home. No one could stop them from getting the food and drink they needed, and no one could stop them from going where they wanted to go. place.Emperor Chongzhen could not do this, and Yuan Chonghuan also failed to do this. It is only a matter of time before Huang Taiji's troops point to Beijing. Zhao Ledjiao, known as a famous general, was one of the three generals Yuan Chonghuan relied on to issue military orders. He was the general soldier of Shanhaiguan at that time.After he got the news that the Hou Jin army smashed the Great Wall, he immediately led his troops to stop it.It's a pity that the soldiers he brought were only a few thousand. Compared with Huang Taiji's soldiers and horses, it was too few, and the power he could form was too weak.This well-deserved general was killed on the battlefield after dealing with the enemy for four days and nights, and all his subordinates were wiped out. Huang Taiji's super bold and creative actions posed a comprehensive challenge to the Ming Empire.The deadly system and decision-making mechanism of the empire were facing a fatal test, and the overall quality of the emperor was immediately reflected in the overall quality of the entire empire.What makes people sigh is that the history of our country has been the same for almost all dynasties: the IQ level of the whole country is about the same as that of the emperor.In the case of a normal distribution, most of the time, the IQ level of the entire country is even far below that of the emperor alone. The young emperor, who was less than twenty years old, grew up in the deep palace, surrounded by eunuchs and fans. Facing the sudden invasion, he panicked and issued a series of instructions that made people feel at a loss. ——He ordered all the soldiers and horses of the whole country to enter the King of Jingqin immediately, and the order was even issued to Shaanxi, Gansu and other places in the far northwestern region; ——He first ordered Yuan Chonghuan, who came from Starry Night, not to cross the defense line of Jizhou. soldiers and horses, but forbade the hungry and cold troops he brought to enter Beijing for a rest; ——Man Gui was a brave warrior who was born in Mongolia. He was regarded as a famous general of the generation who was like the pillar of the empire. He had always had a rift with Yuan Chonghuan. The important ministers of the empire who were unable to cooperate were transferred and arranged to work elsewhere. This Man Gui was one of them.At this time, Man Gui also led his subordinates to the outside of Beijing. Emperor Chongzhen immediately ordered Man Gui's troops to go to Beijing to rest, and canonized the general, whose power was much lower than Yuan Chonghuan, as Marquis of the Empire, making his noble title far higher than that of Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan; ——Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly recalled Sun Chengzong, a highly respected old man, from his hometown in Gaoyang, Hebei to Beijing. While the order to command Yuan Chonghuan to command the soldiers and horses of the King of Qin in the world has not yet been cancelled, he entrusted Sun Chengzong to go to Tongzhou to build the Jingdong defense line, and then canceled this commission , ordered him to stay in Beijing, stay by his side, and help him command the world's soldiers and horses; ——After Sun Chengzong was ordered to start urgent arrangements for the defense of the city, the emperor assigned him to go to Tongzhou as well, so Sun Chengzong, who was 70 years old at the time, rushed to Tongzhou again starry night. We can't find any evidence to explain Yuan Chonghuan's state of mind and thoughts at this moment, etc., and it is difficult to speculate whether he is aware of the dangerous situation he is facing.In theory, the section of the Great Wall that Huang Taiji broke through was under the jurisdiction of Governor Ji Liao, and Yuan Chonghuan did not need to be responsible for it.Moreover, Yuan Chonghuan once warned the emperor seriously about the defense of this place: "Jizhou's status is very important, but its military strength is not strong. If someone acts as a guide and leads the Jin army to attack from this place, it will be unknowable." (Edition A of "Historical Materials of the Ming and Qing Dynasties", "Manuscript of Yuan Chonghuan, the Supervisor of the Ministry of War") Therefore, he suggested to the emperor: "Jizhou is too thin, and heavy troops should be stationed." (Volume 6 of "Manchu Laodang · Taizong Dynasty") And I hope that the emperor can strictly urge the local armies to strengthen their fortifications and be on high alert, and regard this as the most urgent task.However, it is the top priority for Yuan Chonghuan, but not necessarily so important for the emperor.In fact, the emperor did not realize the seriousness of the problem, and just asked the relevant departments to study it according to the routine, but the result was nothing. The author of "History of Ming Dynasty" speculated that "Chong Huanfu went to rescue him thousands of miles after hearing the change, claiming that he had meritorious service and was not guilty." (Biography No. 147 of "History of Ming Dynasty", Yuan Chonghuan) It is very possible that Yuan Chonghuan really thought so.He even had reason to hope that the emperor and the court officials would realize their foresight through the current crisis, so as to give themselves more room for action.He didn't know that the seriousness of the situation was far beyond the worst he could imagine. There are various signs that Hong Taiji's work on another front is taking effect. The spies he sent to the capital cooperated with the military operations outside the city, and they were extremely successful in creating rumors flying all over the sky in Beijing. The core content generally points to doubts about Yuan Chonghuan: When Mao Shuai Mao Wenlong, who was determined to fight, was alive, Nurhachi and Huang Taiji never dared to enter the south of the Great Wall, because Mao Shuai would make them suffer from the enemy.Now that Yuan Chonghuan had killed Mao Wenlong, he and Huang Taiji were openly and secretly dealing with each other, and with all their efforts to advocate for peace, Huang Taiji was able to drive straight in without any worries, and killed him all the way to the city of Beijing.What the hell is Yuan Chonghuan doing?What does Yuan Chonghuan want to do?Now that he and Huang Taiji came to Beijing at about the same time, he was in collusion with Huang Taiji to lure the tartars to Beijing, to force peace by fighting, in an attempt to force the emperor to sign an alliance under the city to relieve him of the five-year restoration of the Liao Dynasty. . At this time, one of Yuan Chonghuan's generals suggested that Yuan Chonghuan should not let the Eight Banners soldiers attack the city of Beijing no matter what.As it turned out, the general had vision and insight.The reason is that most of the manors, villas, and real estate properties of the imperial relatives, high-ranking officials, and wealthy families of the Ming Empire are located in the suburbs outside Beijing.As soon as the Eight Banners cavalry arrived, the flames of war rose, first of all they suffered heavy losses.The emperor is surrounded by such a group of people every day, how can their bad breath not come from Yuan Chonghuan?Ding Rukui, Shangshu of the Ministry of War in the Jiajing Dynasty, is not far away from the Yin Jian, and he was decapitated for this reason. Poor Beijing citizens and court officials who had not experienced war and displacement for more than half a century fell into true suspicion, terror and resentment towards Yuan Chonghuan in the face of the burning, killing and looting by Huang Taiji and the Manchurian Tartars.As a result, there were many "slanders" against Yuan Chonghuan, and the emperor "heard about it quite a bit, and couldn't be confused"—the emperor heard too many people's resentment towards Yuan Chonghuan, and couldn't help but feel puzzled. ("History of Ming Dynasty" biography 147th, Yuan Chonghuan) In fact, without these gossips, Emperor Chongzhen's sensitive and suspicious heart was already excited by everything in front of him.He must have also asked the same question countless times: What exactly does Yuan Chonghuan want to do?The above arrangements of Emperor Chongzhen showed that even without Huang Taiji's countermeasures, his suspicion and anger towards Yuan Chonghuan would have been difficult to change. "Knowing people is a philosopher", Emperor Chongzhen was not a philosopher. In this complicated situation, our young emperor lacks the kind of wisdom to know people.If it was said that Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong arbitrarily, the emperor would be horrified by his unruly behavior, everything at this time may be enough to make the emperor doubt his infidelity. After careful observation of the situation at the time, it is fair to say that Yuan Chonghuan's military deployment after the change was not mediocre, or even substandard.Later generations of war history scholars believed that Yuan Chonghuan had lost his heroic demeanor when restoring the situation at that time.For example, after knowing the news that Huang Taiji bypassed the pass and entered the mainland, Yuan Chonghuan should know that the Liaoshen area at this time has become the weakness of Huang Taiji, and has become a key part of the weak defense of the Later Jin Khanate. If he goes straight to the city of Shenyang, the effect will be like a black tiger digging out his heart. Huang Taiji, who has traveled thousands of miles into the Ming Realm alone, will immediately be in chaos. It is impossible for people to imagine how he can deal with this beautiful straight punch. With the quarrel between Daishan and Manggurtai, he may not be able to clean up the future situation at all.It's a pity that it wasn't Huang Taiji who messed up, but Yuan Chonghuan.The story of besieging Wei and rescuing Zhao, which has become a classic of military art, has been passed down for thousands of years, but it seems to have left no impression on Yuan Chonghuan.Under the mobilization of Huang Taiji, he took the most mediocre step - bringing generals Zu Dashou and He Kegang led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to help Beijing starry night. On the third day of November, when Huang Taiji led his troops to join forces at Zunhua City, Yuan Chonghuan drove into Shanhaiguan in the starry night;At this time, Yuan Chonghuan continued the mediocre military arrangement-dividing troops along the way to guard the towns along the way-Funing, Yongping (today's Lulong County, Hebei Province), Qian'an, etc., resulting in fewer and fewer troops under his direct control.It is said that only the speed of Yuan Chonghuan's aid surprised Huang Taiji, because Huang Taiji did not arrive in Jizhou until the twelfth day. It stands to reason that since Yuan Chonghuan came to help him all day and night, he should naturally do everything he can to keep Huang Taiji out of the capital.However, Yuan Chonghuan, who came to Jizhou in advance, easily let Huang Taiji bypass Jizhou City and continue westward; Yuan Chonghuan moved towards Beijing on another road almost parallel to Huang Taiji. In this way, Huang Taiji went down to Yutian, Sanhe, and Xianghe within three days, and drove straight to Tongzhou on November 15th. On the same day, Yuan Chonghuan came to the south of Xianghe River and the west bank of the canal. the area. At this moment, the general suggested to Yuan Chonghuan that the army should approach the enemy and not go straight into the capital.He suggested that Yuan Chonghuan look for fighter opportunities in the Tongzhou area. If it is easy to attack, he will fight. If it is not easy to attack, he must attack if he finds an opportunity. In any case, he must establish a line of defense between Tongzhou and Beijing, so that Huang Taiji must not be allowed to attack Beijing. .Obviously, this is a correct strategy.However, Yuan Chonghuan rejected this suggestion. As a result, the army of the Later Jin Khanate burned, killed and looted outside the capital, causing panic among officials and people in the city, and complaints abounded. Almost everyone could not understand what Yuan Chonghuan's strategic intentions were. In fact, the reason is very likely to be very simple, that is, Yuan Chonghuan's troops have been divided all the way, and now they are too weak.Coupled with more than ten days of galloping to help, his officers and soldiers were already exhausted.At this moment, the number of troops who came here with him is about 20,000.Compared with the at least 80,000 troops under Huang Taiji's command, this number is really too small.Therefore, he hoped to go to Beijing to rest for a while, and then with the support of the emperor, he would order the King Qin's troops from all over the world to deal with Huang Taiji calmly.Among them, it is difficult to rule out the possibility that he wants to negotiate a peace on this.He did so, proving that he probably thought so.So he picked out 9,000 elite soldiers and personally led them to the foot of the city of Beijing, and the remaining 10,000 people later drove to the foot of the city of Beijing to join him. On November 16, Yuan Chonghuan led his army to the outside of Zuo'an Gate in Beijing. The capital was under martial law and he was unable to enter the city.That day and night, almost at the same time as Yuan Chonghuan came to the foot of the city, the outpost of the Jin army appeared in the Tuchengguan area in the northeast corner of Beijing after the spies.For a time, the capital was shaken, and rumors abounded that Yuan Chonghuan summoned the enemy to Beijing.On the same day, a character resembling today's qigong masters, who was exceptionally reused by the emperor, also appeared on the stage, and staged a tragicomedy somewhat similar to the "Shame of Jingkang" five hundred years ago. Five hundred years ago, in 1127 A.D., when the army of the former Jin Kingdom attacked the city of Bianliang, the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, the last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty listened to a qigong master and offered him a lot of money to train 7770 Qigong with the method of Liuding Liujia. Seventeen men practiced magic skills.It is said that after the training is completed, they will be invulnerable to swords and guns, and it will be easy for soldiers to destroy gold and capture gold.As a result, this group of gods who were said to have been possessed by gods were either killed or injured in front of the gold and iron horses of the Jin Kingdom army. fall. Today's master is named Shen Fu. It is said that he was enlightened by the gods in the deep mountains and dense forests of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and he can drive demons and ghosts to kill the enemy and serve the emperor.When Emperor Chongzhen heard that there was such a strange person, he immediately summoned him, and immediately appointed him as the deputy commander-in-chief of the empire, and allocated 70,000 taels of silver for him to recruit magic soldiers and generals, and build a chariot for ghosts to fight.On the day Yuan Chonghuan arrived in the capital, Shen Fu had just ascended the altar to take an oath as a master, and then led the seven thousand rogues recruited in the city of Beijing, driving a chariot built with a lot of money, and rumbled out of the city of Beijing. The army of the Hou Jin Khanate clearly appeared in the northeast corner of Beijing, but after the master left the city, he went straight to the southwest to kill.Unexpectedly, this master was unlucky, but Huang Taiji sent a troop to move southwest of Beijing.As a result, Master Shen and his 7,000 soldiers and generals went all the way to the Marco Polo Bridge without encountering any opponents. Just when they thought they could breathe a sigh of relief, they ran into the real evil spirit head-on.In the end, the emperor used 70,000 taels of silver to build an army of immortals. It is said that they were slaughtered in an instant, and even the master was beheaded. The emperor at this moment has completely lost the ability to make correct judgments and decisions.While trying to comfort Yuan Chonghuan, he put the troops from other places into the city to rest and reorganize, but he resolutely did not allow the troops brought by Yuan Chonghuan to enter the city. As a result, Yuan Chonghuan could only lead his exhausted subordinates to fight to the death with Huang Taiji. Observing the situation calmly at this time, it is indeed somewhat similar to the situation before Yue Fei was killed five hundred years ago.At that time, Wu Shu, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army, promised Song Gaozong Zhao Gou and his prime minister Qin Hui that they could negotiate peace and return the lost land in Shaanxi and Henan, but there was one condition, that is, Yue Fei must be killed.Later, after the Battle of Huaixi, under the instigation of Emperor Zhao Gou, presided over by Qin Hui, Yue Fei was unjustly killed, and the two parties really reached a peace agreement. Looking back at today's situation, in the long-term game between Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Taiji, Huang Taiji always seemed to have a positive attitude towards peace talks, and at the same time repeatedly asked Yuan Chonghuan to kill Mao Wenlong with the possibility of returning the land in Liaodong as a bait.Now that Mao Wenlong is dead, Yuan Chonghuan may really think that through peace talks, the lost land in Liaodong can be recovered.He didn't know that Huang Taiji's need for peace talks is the same as Yuan Chonghuan's need for peace talks. He has his own purpose. What Huang Taiji wants is not only Mao Wenlong's head, but his goal is actually Yuan Chonghuan himself. At this moment, among the important ministers of the Ming Empire, everyone had any ideas, but no one dared to speak out about peace.Because as soon as these words are spoken, it will be regarded as Qin Hui's rebirth, and he may die soon without a place to bury him. Among the historians of later generations, there is always a view that Huang Taiji was far-sighted, and in the game with Yuan Chonghuan, he actually designed a serial murder plan: using the return of the lost land in Liaodong as bait, he borrowed Yuan Chonghuan's knife to kill Mao Wenlong; Taking this as an opportunity, he pushed Yuan Chonghuan step by step to a situation where he couldn't argue with anyone, and then borrowed the sword of Emperor Chongzhen to kill Yuan Chonghuan. Among later generations of scholars of war history, a big question seems to support this view. After carefully reviewing the historical materials at that time, it is difficult for scholars of war history to find out what was the motivation of Huang Taiji to launch this large-scale military operation?What is his combat purpose?There is almost no record in the existing historical materials.Is it to loot supplies?To threaten Mingshi Jingshi?In order to open up the main combat channel of Shanhaiguan in the opposite direction?It seems that there is a little bit of all, and it seems that all of them are not quite so.When the Xuanshi went thousands of miles deep and fought alone in the hostile ocean, Huang Taiji was able to calmly deploy his greatest father-killing enemy, Yuan Chonghuan, in the midst of the busy schedule of fighting all day long. , and then on the enemy's land, wandering leisurely, giving and taking for seven months, and finally returned with a graceful attitude and a whole body.Based on this alone, Huang Taiji's military adventure is enough to be dazzling in the history of world wars, and Huang Taiji himself is enough to be called the top master of the Eastern style of political games. In fact, whether Huang Taiji is really so foresight is not so important.The important thing is that everything that actually happened has formed exactly the same lines as the above statement, forming the most favorable situation for Huang Taiji.It is said that for a long time, Huang Taiji insisted on reading the mansion newspaper of the Ming Dynasty, and he was well aware of the tricks of the emperors and ministers of the Ming Empire.During the frequent game interactions, Huang Taiji should have known very clearly that Yuan Chonghuan had not fully reported the situation of his peace talks with the emperor to the emperor.For Yuan Chonghuan, it was not unreasonable for the emperor to grant him full power to handle Liaodong affairs; but for the emperor, although Yuan Chonghuan was given this power, he did not seem to be mentally prepared for it.As a result, Huang Taiji grasped the psychology of the imperial officialdom, Emperor Chongzhen and Yuan Chonghuan almost exactly.In the end, Yuan Chonghuan was sent to a situation where no one could argue and could never recover. In his seemingly simple move that he learned from middle school, there are too many social and psychological factors on both sides of the fight.Among them, as we have seen so far, the most important aspects bring together almost all the basic elements of tragedy in China.The person who gave Huang Taiji this idea should be Fan Wencheng.This person really knows the behavior and character of people in Chinese officialdom, the rules of the game between the emperor and his courtiers in his home country, and the imperial tradition and emperor of our empire. On November 23, Emperor Chongzhen summoned Yuan Chonghuan and other civil and military officials.According to historical records, Yuan Chonghuan left the envoys who came to pass the decree in the camp, and came to the court by himself wearing a green coat and a small cap.It is customary for imperial officials to dress like this only when they are guilty of crimes.Chong Huan "first raised the emperor's enemy's power to overwhelm the courtiers, and hoped to make a proposal. The same is true of the above. I comforted him for a long time. Chong Huan was afraid of being wise, so he dared not speak up. First, please lead the troops into the city, not allowed."It means that Yuan Chonghuan first sensationalized the enemy's momentum in front of the officials, with the intention of promoting peace talks, and it was the same after meeting the emperor.For this reason, the emperor comforted and encouraged him for a long time.He was afraid that the emperor would be wise, and he never dared to speak out the proposal for peace talks. He just insisted on asking for permission to lead his troops into the city, but the emperor refused.Judging from what happened later, Yuan Chonghuan may indeed have such an idea, otherwise he would not have brought the envoy sent by Huang Taiji here to negotiate peace with him into the capital. Two days later, on November 25th, Yuan Chonghuan once again asked to allow his soldiers to enter the city to rest in accordance with the practice of other reinforcements, but the emperor still refused. (Tan Qian's "Guoyan" Volume 90, Jiachen and Bingwu Articles in November of the second year of Chongzhen) On November 27th, Yuan Chonghuan led the Ningjin iron cavalry and the Eight Banners iron cavalry to fight outside Guangqumen. Yuan Chonghuan was injured several times, but he was saved from death in battle only because he was wearing heavy armor.据说，如果不是他的一个助手拼死格斗，一个八旗骑兵的大刀就砍到他的头颈上了。激战中，京营官兵据城观望，并不救援；而危急之中，那已经占了上风的八旗铁骑居然离奇地撤离了战阵。几天之内，在北京城下，这种情形已经是第二次发生，而且都是发生在八旗军与袁崇焕所部交手之际。这时，袁崇焕就是浑身是嘴，也说不清这其中的奥妙了。 当时，还发生了几件事，证实袁崇焕已经受到北京军民深重的怀疑： 袁崇焕的主要助手祖大寿和袁崇焕一起率军驰援北京。在北京城下，他带来的部队和袁崇焕其他部下一样，被拒绝进城休整。而且城头上的守城军民痛骂他们是贼，纷纷抛石块袭击，结果砸死了几个战士。祖大寿派遣巡逻的士兵，也被守城军民当成间谍杀死。他手下的将士后来曾经痛哭流涕地诉说自己的委屈：“在北京城下驻扎时，城上军民一度用大炮轰击，炸死了不少战友。” 袁崇焕危矣。 大明崇祯二年、后金天聪三年（公元1629年）十一月二十七日深夜，激烈厮杀了一天的北京城下，硝烟尚未完全散去。城头上刁斗声声；城外八旗兵营里，除了巡逻兵和偶尔传来的战马嘶鸣，一片沉寂。沉沉黑夜，似乎在酝酿着更大的厮杀与阴谋。 两个明朝太监，一个叫杨春，就是在许多史书上反复提到的杨太监，另一个叫王成德。他们本来在北京永定门外南海子皇家游乐场里工作，前几天被八旗兵俘虏，如今由汉军将领高鸿中、鲍承先、宁完我负责看押。此时，看押他们的将领出去了，两个俘虏在恐惧中难以入睡。突然外面传来脚步声，他们赶快装出熟睡的样子。高鸿中、鲍承先走进军帐后，警惕地来到太监身边，仔细观察他们是否睡熟。随后，二人压低嗓音议论说：刚才汗王单独一个人走向敌营，和他们营里出来的两个人说了很长时间的话，现在才知道白天撤退是汗王的大计。看来，和袁崇焕的合约成功了，咱们马上可以进北京了。 两天后，十一月二十九日夜里，杨春与王成德趁敌人看守松懈，逃回北京。他们狂奔回皇宫，声称有重大机密要立即求见皇上。崇祯皇帝听完二人讲述后，认为与自己对袁崇焕的怀疑完全吻合，遂下定处理袁崇焕的决心，从而揭开了整个晚明前清历史上至为惨烈的一幕。（《明史》列传第一百四十七，袁崇焕） 十二月一日，崇祯皇帝朱由检以议饷之名再次召见袁崇焕等一干文武。会议开始后，崇祯皇帝朱由检劈头责问袁崇焕：为什么要杀毛文龙？为什么援兵逗留不进？为什么和皇太极几乎同时到达北京城下？为什么一再要求进入北京？为什么在袁崇焕的兵营里有皇太极的使者？袁崇焕事出突然，一时瞠目结舌，竟不知该如何回答。皇帝随即下令捆绑袁崇焕，交锦衣卫镇抚司监禁。一位大学士看到皇帝竟然如此处置袁崇焕，颇为不安，叩头请求皇帝慎重，皇帝道：“慎重就是因循姑息，有什么用？” 袁崇焕被捕的消息传出后，史书记载说：随袁崇焕、祖大寿驰援京师的辽东三军将士，在北京城下放声大哭。 八个月以后，大明崇祯三年、后金汗国天聪四年（公元1630年）八月十六日，袁崇焕被凌迟处死，他的妻子兄弟被流放到了边远地区。在皇帝为此下达的圣谕中，历数袁崇焕的罪恶，说他阴谋叛逆，欺骗皇帝，危害国家，为了获得敌人的信任而杀死大军统帅，导引大敌入犯京师，屯兵观望，暗藏敌人使者，坚请入城，居心叵测，是一个不齿于人类的万恶之徒云云。（谈迁《国榷》卷九十一，崇祯三年八月癸亥条） 袁崇焕从受到崇高而广泛赞誉、奉皇帝召唤出来重新工作，到他被捕入狱，时间不到一年半，到他被凌迟处死的时刻，刚满两年时间，他时年四十八岁。他的家人受到了同样野蛮而严厉的处置：十六岁以上者全部被杀死，十五岁以下者，发配给功臣为奴。朱由检做出上述判决后，群臣顿首称谢。朱由检问他们还有什么可说的，所有臣僚都认为：袁崇焕实在是罪不可赦。包括一年前那些给予了他崇高赞誉的人。由此，我们大体可以知道，这是一个多么不可理喻、多么可怕的官僚机器。 从袁崇焕被捕入狱到被处死的八个月中，几乎没有什么人认为他是冤枉的，没有什么人试图帮助他摆脱困境。从皇帝到满朝文武，再到士绅民众，几乎所有的人都对他切齿痛恨，认为他罪该万死，万死不足以蔽其辜。直到后来改朝换代之后，在敌人的文件中知道了他的冤枉为止。 袁崇焕被杀前三十年，公元1600年，一个名叫布鲁诺的意大利人被烧死在罗马百花广场。据说，当他被绑在火刑柱上时，罗马人民纷纷向他投掷石块并向柴堆上添加木柴，大火燃烧起来后，这位人类科学的殉道者所说的最后一句话是：“神圣的愚昧。”史书记载说，袁崇焕是在历时半天、被剐了三千多刀之后才死去的。帝国首都居民“争食其肉，皮骨已尽，心肺之间叫声不绝，半日而止，所谓活剐者也”。行刑的刽子手神情惨淡地告诉别人：从来没有听到过被杀的人心肺间能够发出那种声音。一位目睹者回忆说：“百姓将银一钱，买肉一块，如手指大，啖之。食时必骂一声，须臾，崇焕肉悉卖尽。”（计六奇《明季北略》卷五，逮袁崇焕） 就这样，从大明天启六年、后金汗国天命十一年（公元1626年），袁崇焕在宁远城下重创努尔哈赤起，到大明崇祯三年、后金汗国天聪四年（公元1630年）止，在皇太极与袁崇焕长达四年的博弈中，如今终于分出了成败胜负。 平心而论，不管是行险还是行诈，皇太极胜得超越、豪迈、大气；而袁崇焕，其杰出的胆略与才华也确是不同凡响，他的失败实际是败在了皇太极、崇祯皇帝、他的同事和人民，再加上帝国制度与政治文化传统联合绞杀的政治迷局之中。 袁崇焕的死和大明帝国的死一样，其内在逻辑无可回避。不同之处在于：袁崇焕的死令人扼腕叹息；而大明帝国的死，毫无值得惋惜之处，这个烂透了的政权早就该死了。 事实上，对于这个王朝死去需要扼腕叹息的地方，仅仅在于其死去的过程拖得太长、民族与社会为此付出的代价过高而已，而这可能恰好是大明帝国臣民所必须承受的。他们真正需要的只有一样东西，那就是反省。袁崇焕被捕之后，大明朝军队兵败将死，帝国腹心京畿地区百孔千疮，一片糜烂。 ——除袁崇焕外，被视为帝国柱石的一代名将满桂战死，被袁崇焕倚为臂膀的大将赵率教战死，帝国军队中高级将领有三十多人战死、被俘、投降或失踪； ——后金汗国军队经过的地区，敌军未到便已经逃亡一空的有良乡、滦州、香河、固安、张家湾；城中一空而敌军并未进入的有霸州、三屯；投降数日后敌军方才姗姗而来的有玉田、迁安；军队先降而行政官员尚不知情的有遵化、永平（即今天之河北卢龙）；插上降旗而敌军并不理睬擦城而过的有顺义；敌军压城后没有反应不知是想降还是想战的有房山；敌军来后降、走后守的有乐亭、抚宁。（计六奇《明季北略》卷五，党还醇良乡殉难） 上述情形明白无误地宣示出下列判断是有根据的： ——大明帝国不仅仅是在打一场完全缺少总体战略指导的战争，而且是在为以往欠下的一切，连本带利地付出代价。这个帝国从此变成了一个正在解体中的帝国。 史书记载说，由于组织工作过于缺乏水准，这次来京入援的地方部队中，很多将士不但领不到军饷，有时甚至连饭都吃不上，由此导致了不止一次的哗变。当时，陕西发生饥荒，盗贼蜂起。皇太极兵临京师城下后，延绥、固原、甘肃、临洮、宁夏五镇总兵全部率兵进京勤王，西北一带地方空虚，致使遭遇灾荒的当地饥民暴起为寇之后，迅速蔓延。而山西巡抚率领五千精兵驰援北京时，由于调动没有章法，将士疲于奔命，且没有粮饷供应，结果饥寒之兵抢掠民间以充军用。事发后，那位巡抚被捕，五千劲卒一哄而散，就这样西北援军纷纷溃散。许多证据显示，那些来自上述地区的哗变军人，烧杀抢掠着踏上了回乡之路，很快汇进了当地的农民暴动之中。他们中的很多人都成了暴动农民中的勇猛战士，有的还成为最为著名的农民军领袖，譬如，有记载说，李自成就是甘肃总兵杨肇基部下的把总，他就是在此次赴京勤王途中，走到金县时哗变的。（《明季北略》卷五，李自成起） 这个国家烽烟四起再无宁日，大体上就是从这个时刻开始的。 而亲身体会到了这一切的后金汗国将士，士气高昂饱满得似乎要爆炸。他们纷纷要求皇太极下令攻打北京城。皇太极意气风发，微微一笑，说道： “现在拿下皇城里的那个傻小子，易如反掌。不过，他们疆土大，根基还在，不是旦夕之间就能垮掉的，得之易，守之难，不如练好我们自己的精兵强将，等着天意亡他那一天。”（昭槤《啸亭杂录》卷一，太宗伐明）具有这种头脑的一个人，他的确有理由蔑视自己的对手——崇祯皇帝，那个自我感觉极好的“城中痴儿”——皇城里的傻小子。