Chapter 12 Chapter Eleven

The Battle of Songjin exhausted the vitality of the Ming Empire, and was the last desperate battle between the Qing Empire and the Ming Empire.This battle was the last battle that Huang Taiji personally commanded at the front line during his lifetime. His judgment and command were superb, and it was the pinnacle of his military career.From then on, the Ming Dynasty no longer had the power to deal with its internal and external enemies. Two years later, the Ming Empire collapsed. The second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty and the third year of Tiancong in the Houjin Khanate (1629 A.D.).This year, Huang Taiji detoured Mongolia for the first time to attack Beijing, the capital of the Ming Empire.At almost the same time, peasant riots led by Gao Yingxiang and others broke out in succession in the Shanxi and Shanxi regions of the northwest.

Since then, the Ming Empire was full of wars, and it had to fight against the Qing cavalry while trying its best to contain the rioting peasants running around. Under such circumstances, both Huang Taiji, Zhang Xianzhong, and Li Zicheng benefited greatly.They formed a de facto united front, and became close comrades-in-arms who had never known each other before, fought on different fronts, and launched an attack on their hated common enemy, the Ming Empire. In this way, the Ming Empire was once extremely tyrannical and extremely arrogant because it felt too good, but now it is hated by both external enemies and the people under its own internal rule.The empire dealt extremely hard between internal and external powerful enemies, and almost in a blink of an eye, it fell into the dilemma of being attacked from both sides and fighting on all sides.

Huang Taiji once talked with his subordinates about his overall strategy for the Ming Dynasty: Daming is like a big tree with deep roots and luxuriant leaves, and it is not so easy to overthrow it all at once.Therefore, I want to lead them to cut down the branches, roots, tips and branches of this big tree.When the branch is bare and its roots are rotten, it will fall to the ground with a slight push.The first time he attacked the city of Beijing, Huang Taiji looked at the majestic and picturesque city of Beijing, and said contemptuously that taking down the "fool" in the imperial city was probably a piece of cake. It is easy but difficult to defend, so he gave up attacking Beijing.Huang Taiji has extremely strong concentration, and his strategic thinking is obviously clear and consistent.For this reason, some subordinates even thought that he was too cautious and cautious.

This time, he took a detour to attack the Ming capital, and Huang Taiji achieved great results.In the years that followed, he successively launched four large-scale long-distance detour raids, each of which was fruitful, and generally achieved the following two goals: first, he plundered a large amount of human and animal supplies, and second, he consumed a lot of money. Daming power.In addition, consciously or unconsciously, in the sense of the second battlefield and two-front warfare, he particularly strongly supported and cooperated with the development and growth of Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng.

The Battle of Pine Brocade can generally be regarded as his final blow to Daming, an old tree, after a lot of felling work. General Man Gui, who was considered a pillar of the country, died; Zhao Lediao, who was known as a generation of famous generals and was relied on by Yuan Chonghuan as his arm, died.In any case, after all, they died on the battlefield, on the ground against the enemy, and they died well.Xiong Tingbi, who had an unrivaled talent, died; Yuan Chonghuan, who was known as a man of courage and loyalty, died.They died at the hands of their own emperor, a tragic death, and a death full of negative values.And Sun Chengzong, another highly respected figure, was also dismissed from his post by the emperor without any explanation, and returned home sadly.

When people at that time and later generations talked about the Ming Empire at this time, the words they often used were: bribery for public affairs, fierce party disputes, inversion of punishments and rules, and rampant curfews.It means that corruption and bribery have become an open secret. In the officialdom of the empire, people don’t ask whether they are right or wrong, they only look at whether they are their own people. Right and wrong are confused. Most of the people who are rewarded by the state are villains. Or they will be marginalized soon, while corrupt officials and little villains happily run around the magnificent temples of the empire.Under the influence of internal and external enemies and the above-mentioned factors, the Ming Empire seemed to have completed the whole process from being full of flowers to being riddled with holes in a blink of an eye.

The speed is jaw-dropping, with little time to react. The Battle of Songjin took place between Huang Taiji and Hong Chengchou. At this time, in the huge Ming Empire, if there are any figures who can compete with Huang Taiji, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting may be the only ones.There was a real tragicomedy between them. Hong Chengchou was born in Nan'an, Fujian Province, with the word Hengjiu, and a Jinshi in the 44th year of Wanli.This person is capable of writing and martial arts, and is full of talents. He was once the real nemesis of Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong.

When Li Zicheng was still Gao Yingxiang's Chuang general, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang was defeated in a battle commanded by Hong Chengchou. He himself was captured by Sun Chuanting commanded by Hong Chengchou and sent to the capital for execution.Li Zicheng became Queen Chuang, and in the battle with Hong Chengchou's Tongguan Nanyuan in Shaanxi, the entire army was wiped out. Li Zicheng only led eighteen cavalry and fled into Shangluo Mountain.At this time, Huang Taiji launched a military operation against the Ming Dynasty.If Emperor Chongzhen had a little more political strategy and strategic mind, and hadn't hurriedly transferred Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to deal with Huang Taiji, Li Zicheng might never have a chance to stand up again.He may die in Shangluo Mountain instead of Jiugong Mountain later.Wu Weiye, a great poet and scholar at that time, believed that the "perilous situation of the Ming Empire really depends on this". (Wu Weiye's "Suikou Jilue" Volume 6) As time goes by, we will realize that this view is indeed well-founded and very accurate.

This incident happened in the winter of the eleventh year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty and the third year of Chongde in Qing Dynasty (1638 AD).The events of this winter and afterward are full of dark humour, and their plots are so unbelievable that they may be enough to make any novelist, however rich his imagination, dumbfounded. When Hong Chengchou served as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi in the Ming Empire, he was responsible for quelling the peasant riots in the Guanzhong area. Sun Chuanting was his extremely capable subordinate.Sun Chuanting has great talent, runs the army strictly, and has a fierce and strategic fighting style. He has repeatedly made great achievements in dealing with rioting peasants.Gao Yingxiang died in his hands, and Li Zicheng was also defeated by him. A large number of peasant army leaders have suffered a lot from him.In his early military career, he seems to have lost no battles. The author of "History of Ming Dynasty" believes that he is "shen yi and more strategic", which means deep, fortitude, resourceful and decisive. (Biography No. 150 of "History of Ming Dynasty", Sun Chuanting) If he is lucky enough, or if God can give him another talent, he may become the figure who turned the tide in the last years of the Ming Empire.Unfortunately, his luck is not good enough.In other words, God didn't care enough for him. He didn't endow him with the ability to handle military affairs, but at the same time endowed him with talents that are more valued by imperial officials, such as observing words and demeanor, following others' favorites, being more cute, and being more lovable, etc. .As a result, this characteristic of his character and talents caused his immediate superiors to be very angry, and the consequences became particularly serious.

Almost at the same time when he made great achievements repeatedly, Emperor Chongzhen fell in love with Yang Sichang with special obsession, and almost gave him full power to deal with military affairs with one person under ten thousand.However, Sun Chuanting could not agree with many of his decisions, and wrote to the emperor to appeal his views, which caused Yang Sichang to hate him.Before and after this, Sun Chuanting also offended Gao Qiqian, a great eunuch who also couldn't afford to offend, because of his lack of ability to do what others liked.As a result, the rewards and promotions that Sun Chuanting should have received were repeatedly suppressed by Yang Sichang, and his subordinates naturally received the same treatment.

After the Tongguan Nanyuan War, Li Zicheng's entire army was wiped out, and only eighteen cavalry fled to Shangluo Mountain with him.Just when Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou were about to thoroughly search and suppress Shangluo Mountain, the emperor hurriedly ordered the two to lead their troops into Beijing to defend the capital and deal with Huang Taiji.In this regard, Li Zicheng got a glimmer of life, while Sun Chuanting fell into a boundless nightmare. Sun Chuanting received an order from Emperor Chongzhen, appointing him as the right servant of the Ministry of War and the censor of Youqin capital, and bestowing Fangjian on behalf of the governor Lu Xiangsheng who had just died in battle against the invading Qing soldiers.At this time, Sun Chuanting led his troops to the outskirts of Beijing.Yang Sichang and the eunuch Gao Qiqian, who was deeply loved by the emperor, did not want Sun Chuanting to see the emperor. The two found many reasons to prove that Sun Chuanting was very annoying, and persuaded the emperor to issue an order to "cut the blame" - denounce Sun Chuanting, and use the capital In the name of martial law, he was not allowed to go to Beijing to see him. At this time, Hong Chengchou also rushed to the suburbs of Beijing.The emperor not only sent someone to the suburbs to reward him, but also ordered him to meet the emperor immediately, which made Sun Chuanting feel depressed and depressed. Subsequently, under the auspices of Yang Sichang, a series of decisions were made.At this time, Sun Chuanting still hadn't learned to read people's faces, he still insisted on what he thought was the correct approach, and argued endlessly with Yang Sichang.He believes that Shaanxi elite soldiers should not be transferred away from the Shanxi and Shaanxi areas for a long time to prevent unforeseen consequences.Everything he said was confirmed by later developments. A year later, Li Zicheng recuperated and made a comeback after the Shaanxi troops were transferred away.Unfortunately, however, the seer himself was not only deaf in both ears, but was forced to spend time in the emperor's prison while his predictions were being confirmed. Regarding the process of Sun Chuanting's deafness, the records in "Ming History" are very brief. (The 150th biography of "History of Ming Dynasty", Sun Chuanting) showed that his deafness was related to his extreme anxiety and depression. The general process of Sun Chuanting being arrested and imprisoned is as follows: When Sun Chuanting accepted the emperor's transfer order, he once wrote to the emperor, in which he said: "The frontier affairs have deteriorated to such an extent because of mistakes in decision-making; after the current work is over, I ask the emperor to allow me to discuss major plans face to face." (Biography of "History of Ming Dynasty" One hundred and fiftieth, Sun Chuanting) Not long after, when the martial law was lifted in the capital, the emperor reappointed him as governor of Baoding, Shandong, and Henan military affairs.Sun Chuanting also naturally asked to see the emperor.When Yang Sichang found out, he was shocked, thinking that Sun Chuanting was going to deal with him in front of the emperor.Therefore, the person sent by Sun Chuanting to submit the letter was turned away, and the letter to the emperor was returned to him.Sun Chuanting was very annoyed, and immediately wrote to the emperor, "begging for a rest due to illness", that is, asking for resignation on the grounds of illness.When Yang Sichang saw it, he immediately wrote to the emperor to impeach Sun Chuanting, saying that he was not really deaf, but used this as an excuse to vent his grievances against the emperor.Emperor Chongzhen was furious and ordered Sun Chuanting to be revoked from all positions and deposed as a commoner.Then, thinking about it was not enough, and sent a provincial official to check whether Sun Chuanting was really sick or fake, and whether his ears were really deaf or fake.After verification, the official reported: Sun Chuanting is really deaf, not an excuse.The emperor was furious again, and simply put the official and Sun Chuanting into prison. "History of the Ming Dynasty" records that everyone in the court knew of his injustice, but no one spoke for him, because no one dared to make the emperor and Yang Sichang unhappy. After that, Sun Chuanting stayed in prison for three years.In the past three years, Yang Sichang suffered a crushing defeat, and Sun Chuanting's prediction came true, and it was the worst of all possibilities—after the elite soldiers from Shaanxi left the Shanshan area, Li Zicheng was able to make a comeback.Emperor Chongzhen thought of Sun Chuanting again, so he released him from prison and asked him to make new contributions.In three years, the world has changed into another look. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have become popular. Under the persecution of the emperor, Sun Chuanting died on the battlefield in a daze. If Sun Chuanting met a dark and humorous fate, what Hong Chengchou performed was a classic experimental drama in a small theater that is full of sorrow and joy. Hong Chengchou must be very aware of Sun Chuanting's talents and conduct.We don't have exact information, so we can't know what impact Sun Chuanting's experience had on Hong Chengchou. At about the same time that Sun Chuanting was arrested and imprisoned, Hong Chengchou accepted the important task of Governor Ji Liao's military and against Huang Taiji.This is really an ominous position. Since the Battle of Salhu, in the past twenty years, no one has made great achievements in that position and returned unscathed.Almost all those who faced this mission were either ruined or their families were ruined.In fact, this alone is enough to prove how frivolous and surly the Ming Empire is when it comes to its own life and death. Hong Chengchou is rich in strategy, famous and popular. In this dangerous position that is enough to make people schizophrenic, he was successfully torn into two people, thus becoming a special exception. The thirteenth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty and the fifth year of Chongde in Qing Dynasty (1640 A.D.).After Huang Taiji dispatched a large army for the fourth time and won a complete victory, he accepted the suggestions of some Han officials and began to adjust his overall strategy. . In the proposals of these Han officials, the overall vision of the Ming strategy was put forward, which was divided into three strategies: first, it was a stabbing strategy, advocating to go straight to Beijing, and after the capital of the Ming Empire was captured, the whole country would be pacified; , as a strategy to break the throat, advocated to bypass Ningjin, go straight to the Shanhaiguan Pass, and win the first pass in the world in one fell swoop, and then counterattack and sweep Ningjin and other cities, and then plan to enter the pass; third, it is a strategy of pruning heavy branches and cutting down beautiful trees , First go down to Ningjin, then arrive at the closed gate, and enter the whole country. Huang Taiji accepted the third strategy, and further developed it into: choose Yizhou (that is, Yixian County, Liaoning Province today) as the forward base for stationing troops and advancing Jinzhou.It is located ninety miles north of Jinzhou, between Guangning and Jinzhou, with open terrain and fertile land, which is conducive to reclaiming wasteland and farming.The Qing army stationed here, effectively approaching the Ming army's cities outside Shanhaiguan, threatening their production and life. After several detours and long-distance raids, Huang Taiji must be deeply aware of the great strategic value of the Liaoxi Corridor: if Jinzhou and Ningyuan are not captured, not only will the avenue from Shanhaiguan to Beijing not be opened, but also the detour through the Great Wall will also face being cut off from time to time. Therefore, it became the weakest chain in the iron chain that strangled the Ming Empire.If there is a strong and strategic commander in the Ming Dynasty, the long-distance expeditionary force will immediately fall into the anti-blockade situation, and the Ming army stationed in Jinzhou, Ningyuan, and Shanhaiguan will compete with the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry Ten Over the years of repeated fighting, they have also tempered into a team with considerable combat effectiveness, known as the Guan Ning Iron Cavalry.It is entirely possible for them to take advantage of the situation to attack Shengjing and Shenyang. At that time, the possibility of losing everything with one inadvertent move is not entirely impossible. The difference between a great commander and a mediocre is often manifested in that the former always considers the problem from the worst possible perspective, while the latter always thinks that he has no reason not to win.Napoleon once expressed a similar view-he was victorious in every battle just because he always felt that his opponent was much smarter than himself before fighting; but his opponents always regarded Napoleon as a fool.If you take a closer look, you will find that the above-mentioned situation just happened between the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. Probably because of this consideration, almost every time when Huang Taiji sent troops to attack far away, he would always send troops to attack the Ming army on the front line of Ningjin and beat them, so that their nerves were always in a state of tension, and they were always in fear. , for fear of being attacked, besieged or cut off by the Tartars.Sometimes, Huang Taiji would even personally lead the troops to Jinzhou, Ningyuan and other places to contain the Ming army, "to make things exhausted and unable to look at each other from head to tail, so that our soldiers in the Western Expedition can calmly attack the Central Plains." ("Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty" Volume 46) And the army of the Ming Empire never seemed to have thought that they could also sneak attack Shenyang, or cut off the retreat of the Tartars who fell into the customs, and besieged them in the hostile Great Wall, so that they could not find their way home. , dying especially ugly in enemy land.This kind of thinking may be far beyond the imagination of the emperors and ministers of the Ming Empire, and it will frighten them, making them dare not even think about it. Sadly, if that were all it was, it would be pretty good.The dire situation of the Ming Empire at this time has already gone far beyond these, reaching the point of unspeakable disgrace. Once, Huang Taiji led troops to the city of the Ming army, and Huang Taiji challenged him: "If you send 10,000 troops, I will fight with only 1,000; if you send 1,000 troops, I will fight with 100." .Let’s fight a war in an upright manner, and you can also cover up the crime of deceiving the emperor, otherwise, don’t you think it’s too shameful to lie to your emperor with empty words?” Huang Taiji has done this kind of challenge more than once. Once, the Ming Empire's army never had anyone to fight. (Volume 19 of "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty", Jimao Article in August of the eighth year of Tiancong) A minister told Emperor Chongzhen: There were only about 2,000 enemies in Nao County, Shanxi (now Yuanping), and more than 1,000 local men and women were captured. When they passed by the city of Daizhou, the captured people cried far away from their relatives on the top of the city. , the city never sent a single soldier to rescue, and let the Qing army plunder away.After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen "stamped his feet for a long time" and had no choice. (Volume 6 of Gu Yingtai's Addendum to Chronicles of Ming Dynasty, Entrance to Dongbing) There was a Minister of the Ministry of War named Zhang Fengyi.After the Qing army broke through the Great Wall and entered the mainland, he was worried that the emperor would punish him, so he volunteered to lead various reinforcements to fight against the Qing army.The emperor was very happy, and immediately approved his request, and gave him the Shangfang sword, ten thousand taels of silver, and five hundred merit cards.So, Zhang Fengyi led the army and set off in a very majestic manner.Shortly thereafter, the Qing army invaded the Hebei region. Our Minister of the Ministry of War and Liang Tingdong, the governor of Jiliao at that time, seemed to be seeing him off. They just followed the Qing army around and never fought. The climax of things came at the end. After the Qing soldiers plundered women, treasures, and livestock, they decided to go home.They chose Jianchang and Lengkou to retreat north.According to general military common sense, when withdrawing troops, elite soldiers should be placed in the rear to prevent the enemy from pursuing them.This time, the Qing army grandly adopted a rare approach—put the main force of the army at the front, and put all the supplies and looted supplies at the end. Vehicles of all sizes were filled with the joy of victory and meandered away.According to historical records, they made all the robbed women put on fresh clothes, put on heavy make-up, and then sit in the car. Then, the drums and music sounded like a triumphant scene. In this way, they walked for four consecutive days.Zhang Fengyi led the army to hide in the strong city, watching the enemy swagger away under his nose.In the end, Liu Jingyao, a eunuch who supervised the army, couldn't bear this kind of insult, and led his subordinates to fight out of the city. It is said that they had quite a harvest: they killed more than a hundred enemy soldiers and brought back some people. , livestock and supplies. After the war, Zhang Fengyi, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Liang Tingdong, Governor of Jiliao, ate big jute to seek death in order to fear that the emperor would be held accountable, and they died one after another.It was completely incomprehensible to people, since they knew that they would die, why they were unwilling to choose to die vigorously on the battlefield. In the game with Huang Taiji, the most comical scene appeared on Hong Chengchou's former governor of Jiliao. The governor's name is Wu Aheng.When the army sent by Huang Taiji entered the Great Wall, he and Wu Guojun, the commander-in-chief, were holding a birthday banquet for Deng Xizhao, the eunuch sent by the emperor to oversee the army.The eunuch of the Supervising Army has a lot of power because he is directly responsible to the emperor and has control over money, supplies, firearms and so on.Therefore, none of the former enemy generals dared to offend those who came from the emperor's side. At the birthday banquet, Governor Wu Aheng and the supervisor Deng Xizhao had less than a thousand cups of wine when they met their confidantes, and they agreed that everyone present must drink a hundred cups to celebrate the birthday of the superintendent.As a result, halfway through the drink, an urgent military report came that the Qing army broke through and invaded.Governor Wu Aheng has the demeanor of a general who is in front of the mountain collapsed and does not change his face. He is as calm as usual, and sent the general Wu Guojun to defend against the enemy. Then, as if he had never heard of the urgent military situation, he still insisted that he must finish drinking One hundred cups, the winner can be decided before giving up. In the end, the governor, who finally drank a hundred cups victoriously, was so drunk that he still didn't forget that the enemy had already entered.Thus, the drunken governor was supported on his horse by his subordinates, staggered all the way to kill the former enemy, and finally died in the chaos among the soldiers in a daze.The unlucky general Wu Guojun also died on the battlefield. Just like what we have seen so far, the two thousand years of imperial history tell us: Whenever a pig sits on the emperor's dragon chair, the part of the emperor's subordinates who is not a pig will be Will be eliminated quickly, such as Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Chonghuan, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting and so on.The remaining people will collectively behave more like pigs than their Majesty Long Live, such as this Governor Wu Aheng.People have sufficient reasons to sincerely lament the precision and accuracy of the saying "the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked". If this situation is to be reversed, it often requires the empire to exhaust its own energy, or the heavens to intervene, such as killing the pig. Unfortunately, when a pig dies, the new one is not as good as the previous one.On the foundation laid by the predecessors that people feel is already bad enough, the latecomers often have the ability to be worse than people's expectations, and the worse is even more bizarre, which makes people feel the fear that the blue is better than the blue again and again.The patriarchal clan system, the principles of Confucius and Mencius, the three cardinal guides and the five constant principles, etc., have paved a broad road for pigs and even worse animals to step onto the dragon chair in a grand manner.That's it, let's get down to business. In this way, starting with the fortification of Yizhou, Huang Taiji began to implement a long-lasting siege of Jinzhou.He successively sent Heshuo Prince Zheng Jierhalang and Duoduo to lead troops to besiege Jinzhou, and then he sent Heshuorui Prince Dorgon to besiege the city in turn, in order to achieve the goal of long-term siege without fail. This kind of siege and attack is not an easy task for both sides.At that time, the chief general of Jinzhou in the Ming Dynasty was Zu Dashou, who was known as a famous general. Under his command, Jinzhou City was well-defended and had sufficient food and wages, which made the Qing army fight very hard.The Ming army that was once besieged has not yet shaken, but the besieging Qing army is running out of food and grass. The former commander of the Qing army, Dorgon, has to order the entire army to retreat 30 miles in order to prevent the Ming army from suddenly rushing out of the city. The soldiers had to eat horses and grass, and ordered the lieutenant general to lead his subordinates back to Shenyang in batches to rest.This actually lifted the siege of Jinzhou.When Huang Taiji found out, he was extremely furious and ordered severe punishment.According to the family law of the Qing Dynasty, Dorgon asked himself to die. In the end, Huang Taiji ordered Dorgon to be stripped of his title of Prince He Shuorui, reduced to a county king, fined 10,000 taels of silver, and seized two cattle records.Afterwards, Huang Taiji's order was quickly executed, and the Qing army built a siege outside Jinzhou City. The connection with Xingshan, Songshan, and Ningyuan was blocked and cut off. Jinzhou became an isolated city and fell into a real crisis. After receiving the request for help from Zu Dashou, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Hong Chengchou to go to rescue and break the siege of Jinzhou.Hong Chengchou pointed out: If there are no 150,000 soldiers and horses, and there is not enough food and salary for a year, then it is impossible to talk about the defense of the war.Emperor Chongzhen agreed with Hong Chengchou's opinion and ordered the relevant departments to mobilize money and food for him in accordance with Hong Chengchou's request. In March of the 14th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty and the 6th year of Chongde in the Qing Dynasty (1641 AD), Hong Chengchou led eight generals and 130,000 troops transferred from various theaters across the country to Ningyuan. Songshan and Xingshan advance, aiming to solve the siege of Jinzhou. Hong Chengchou's strategic guiding ideology is to fight steadily and step by step, Ningyuan-Tashan-Gaoqiao-Songshan-Xingshan-Jinzhou, advance step by step, and finally unite with Jinzhou, echo internally and externally, and defeat the Qing army in one fell swoop.At this time, Zu Dashou sent soldiers to escape from the city of Jinzhou and came to Hong Chengchou's army. He sent a message, asking Hong Chengchou not to fight casually, that is, not to fight lightly, but to use chariots as a battalion, and approaching slowly is the best policy.Not only did the two former enemy commanders agree, but the emperor in Beijing and the heads of the highest military leadership of the empire also agreed.With an army of 130,000, sufficient food and equipment, and one mind, this method of warfare should be the most desirable way to win. This method of warfare caused obvious troubles to the Qing army. The former enemy coach, Jierhalang, tried to break the steady and steady march of the Ming army in field battles, and launched large-scale attacks many times, all of which failed. Even the camp and headquarters of the three armies stationed on the top of the mountain were once occupied by the Ming army.Dorgon, who had deprived him of the title of prince, also wanted to make a contribution to the army at this time. He led the army to attack the Ming army camp, but also retreated unfavorably. In Dorgon's report to Huang Taiji and later in the official history of the Qing Empire, these failures were glossed over, understatement: "After many battles, there is little damage." But in the report written by the Korean envoy to the country However, some real information was revealed, saying: "The soldiers and horses of the Qing Dynasty suffered a lot of casualties." After Huang Taiji in Shenyang heard the battle report from the front, he "vomited blood with worry and anger", indicating that the Qing army on the front line suffered a serious blow, and might even almost collapse.Later, when I read the history books of our country, the reason why I always had a feeling of cloud and mist about this great battle was not only because of the historians, but also because of Hong Chengchou, the supreme commander of the Songshan front line of the Ming army, and Zu, the supreme commander of the Jinzhou garrison. Dashou later joined the Qing camp. It was impossible for them to commend him for his illustrious might and martial arts at that time. So, on August 14th, Huang Taiji led the army to help while sick.According to historical records, Huang Taiji set off from Shenyang, traveled day and night, galloped nearly 600 miles in six days and nights, and arrived at the front line.Originally, the original plan was to start three days ago, but because of severe epistaxis, we had to wait three days later.On the 14th, he couldn't hold back anymore and ordered to set off.The younger brother Azig and others are willing to lead the army first, and persuade him to heal his illness.Huang Taiji said: "If I had wings, I wish I could fly there immediately." So he led his army to set off on horseback.According to historical records, along the way, Huang Taiji continued to suffer from nosebleeds, so much so that he had to hold a bowl in his hand to catch it.It is said that this situation lasted for more than three days before it improved slightly. Huang Taiji and Hong Chengchou met hand in hand. Before and after this, the inside of the Ming army, which was clearly in a favorable situation, lost its position.The reason was that Shangshu, the highest military chief of the empire, and the emperor himself who were thousands of miles away, disliked Hong Chengchou's tactics more and more. They sent an inspector representative to Hong Chengchou's army, who was directly responsible to the Shangshu of the Ministry of War.The name of the representative of the Minister of Defense was Zhang Ruoqi, and his position was the fifth rank of the Ministry of War Staff Fang Si Langzhong.This time, the name sent to the former enemy is "Zan Hua". We can understand this name as "chief of staff" or "chief planner".Who knows, this "chief of staff" who doesn't know anything about soldiers has two major characteristics: one is that his enthusiasm is particularly high, probably because of the Minister of the Ministry of War standing behind him. And the governor can do nothing." ("Historical Materials of the Ming and Qing Dynasties" Series B, Volume 4) That is to say, the chief of staff didn't take the commander seriously, and pointed fingers everywhere, so that the commander didn't know what to do; second, he had a special view of the war. An optimistic attitude, and likes to exaggerate favorable situations to a considerable extent. He may be too eager to make contributions as soon as possible, so every time the army advances, Zhang Ruoqi will report the victory to Beijing day and night, and promise with full confidence: as long as there is another victory, the siege of Jinzhou will be resolved immediately.He also told the officials in Beijing: Nowadays, the enemy on the front line is very difficult to keep food and pay. Their cavalry can only eat two meals a day, while their infantry can only eat one meal.Therefore, the Shangshu of the Ministry of War and the emperor's secret order Hong Chengchou were repeatedly asked to go to war as soon as possible, and fight a tough battle like a storm.No one knows how true the contents of this report are, but it is enough for those who read it to believe it. Therefore, the Minister of the Ministry of War, who was also eager for brilliant achievements, wrote to Hong Chengchou, saying: Your Excellency has been ordered to send troops for almost a year, and you have spent a lot of money, and the siege of Jinzhou has not yet been resolved. With the civil and military expectations of the full court, the death of the main worrying minister, and asking yourself on the night of Qingping, you must feel uneasy in your heart, right? The emperor obviously felt that what his minister of the Ministry of War said was very reasonable, so he changed his approval of the step-by-step tactics, and secretly ordered Hong Chengchou to enter the army within a limited time.Hong Chengchou had no other choice, he couldn't persevere, he didn't dare to take the big risk of disobeying the order, he could only obey the order. (Volume 5 of Gu Yingtai's Addendum to Chronicles of Ming History; Volume 257 of "History of Ming Dynasty", Biography of Chen Xinjia) The decision-makers of the Ming Empire lacked the mind and vision to control the overall situation, and lacked persistent political strategies and strategic principles. The damage far exceeds any treacherous minister's tricks and the blows of internal and external enemies.Or, the opposite can also be true: it is precisely because of the lack of quality of decision-making that such a serious situation of internal and external troubles has just been caused. Back then, at the beginning of the Liaodong War, the former enemy commander of the Ming Dynasty who commanded the Sarhu War was unable to take into account the weather, terrain and many other factors due to the emperor's strict instructions to defeat the enemy within a time limit. ; when Huang Taiji came to Beijing for the first time, the well-known Mongolian general Man Gui was seriously injured, and was repeatedly urged by the emperor to fight in tears and died in battle; Sun Chuanting, who had been in prison for three years, was released from prison In the end, the soldiers and horses were not trained well, and the food, grass and equipment were not prepared enough, so they hurriedly went into battle under the repeated pressure of the emperor, but died inexplicably at the hands of Li Zicheng, who had been defeated many times by him.Now it was Hong Chengchou's turn to stumble over the same rock. On the Qing side, the situation was completely different.This time, the troops led by Huang Taiji to come to aid actually only had 3,000 people.On the 19th, after Huang Taiji arrived at the front line, he climbed the mountain to observe the situation. Seeing that the Ming army was well-arranged, he sighed and said to his subordinates: "It is said that Hong Chengchou is good at using troops. It is true. No wonder everyone is afraid of him." Later, Huang Taiji discovered that Many troops of the Ming army are concentrated in the front, while the reserve team in the back is sparse and simple.Therefore, Huang Taiji boldly divided his troops: a large army was between Songshan and Xingshan, from the mountain to the sea, cutting off the main road, causing the payment and information between the two places to be completely blocked; another army was sent to attack the Ming army. The food protection troops in Tashan caused the Ming army's grain and grass base to fall into the hands of the Qing army. These two arrangements were neat and neat, and the situation on both sides was immediately reversed: the Ming army lost its supply roads and was at both ends of the line between the battle and defense, so they could only gather their troops and line up with their backs against Songshan City. Huang Taiji accurately concluded that Hong Chengchou's army would never carry more than five or six days of food and grass when they set off from Ningyuan to Songshan.Therefore, Huang Taiji ambushed heavy troops at various key passes between Songshan and Ningyuan, inviting the Ming army to intercept the retreat, and at the same time increase troops to defend the grain and grass base just captured.Huang Taiji himself led the army to line up and wait. In the middle of the night on August 21, the Ming army broke through to Ningyuan.At that time, all the armies took turns in the rear, retreating one after another, in order.Unexpectedly, after a few days of fighting, the army was at a loss, and the troops were flustered.Huang Taiji ambushed soldiers everywhere, intercepting and killing everywhere, and the entire Ming army collapsed.Wu Sangui and other generals escaped into Ningyuan with only their own lives.Hong Chengchou waited for less than 10,000 people to be intercepted in Songshan City. The Ming army killed more than 53,000 people, abandoned tens of thousands of guns and firearms, and the whereabouts of the four generals were unknown.The Qing army claimed that there were only ten casualties in total. At this point, the grain and grass in Jinzhou City are about to run out, and there is no hope of breaking through the siege; Hong Chengchou, the commander-in-chief of the army, is trapped in Songshan and is surrounded by the Qing army.The armies of Ningyuan lost their commander, filled the whole city with remnants and defeated generals, and completely lost their fighting spirit.But Huang Taiji completely reversed the situation of the battle only three days after arriving at the front line.As a result, Huang Taiji reached the glorious peak of his military command career. Afterwards, Huang Taiji sent troops to surround Jinzhou and Songshan, dug trenches and built high walls to trap them.The Liaodong armies of the Ming Dynasty are in danger. One month later, on September 13th, Huang Taiji secretly left the front line of Songjin, and after another six days and nights of traveling day and night, hurriedly returned to Shenyang, Shengjing. It is said that news came from Shenyang that Concubine Zhuang, the sister of the later Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and the most beloved Concubine Chen of Huang Taiji, was seriously ill, and she was dying at this time.This imperial concubine is named Hai Lanzhu. Among Huang Taiji's famous Chongde Five Palaces, Guanju Palace, the East Palace, ranks second, and her status in the harem is second only to her aunt, who lives in Qingning Palace. Zhe Zhe, Queen of the Central Palace.She may be the woman that Huang Taiji really fell in love with in his life.After the amorous emperor turned the tide of the battle, he left the whole army and quietly rushed back to Shenyang to visit his sick. 从松锦前线到沈阳的路程，大约为六百华里，皇太极在第六天清晨赶到沈阳。进城前得到消息：宸妃已经病逝。据说，为了赶路，皇太极昼夜兼程，六百里跑死了六匹马。 在这一个月里，他指挥部下将洪承畴统帅的十三万明军大部击溃，彻底扭转了被动局面，这应是皇太极敢于放心离去的重要原因。 由此，被围困得密不透风的松、锦二城稍许透上了一口气，遂靠从天津海运粮饷至松山以济久困之师。而偌大的大明帝国风雨飘摇，已经再也没有力量派兵救援了。 第二年，大明崇祯十五年、大清崇德七年（公元1642年）二月，洪承畴部下一个叫夏成德的副将投降清军，约为内应。松山城由此陷落，洪承畴等被俘。随后，皇太极命令将洪承畴解送沈阳，同时下令把几乎所有被俘官员、将领、士兵共计三千余人全部杀死。据说，在今天的松山，还有一个地名，叫“马失前蹄处”，就是洪承畴突围时，在此处被绊倒，继而被俘之处。 就这样，洪承畴的悲喜剧，还没有达到高潮就进入尾声了。原因是，由于大清朝官方史学工作者和汉族士大夫结合后，生下了一个怪怪的史籍怪胎，令洪承畴到沈阳后的遭遇变得高度扑朔迷离，读起来颇有神龙见首不见尾之功效，让喜欢较真的读者，会时常一头雾水地怀疑古人或者怀疑自己的智商。于是，我们只能拼凑各种史籍上的记载，尽可能地去还原当时的情形。 据说，还在松山城中时，就曾经有人劝说洪承畴投降，被承畴坚决拒绝。叛徒献城而被俘后，清兵将他带到主帅面前，强迫他下跪，他轻蔑地说道：“我乃天朝大臣，岂能在小邦王子面前下跪！”在我国历史上，除非极特殊的情况，一般说来，战败者若敢于在胜利者面前说出这种轻蔑语言的话，很少有人能保住自己的头颅。 到沈阳后，洪承畴被关押在三官庙里。他决心一死，每天披头散发，赤着脚，骂不绝口，并绝食不进水米。皇太极和历史上那些禀赋极厚从而开创出大格局的如李世民、赵匡胤一样，器量、胸怀极大，一心想要收服洪承畴为己所用。于是，把沈阳城中所有能动员的人包括那些洪承畴昔日的同事全部动员起来，让这些大明朝过去的臣子现身说法。结果，无一例外地遭到洪承畴的冷落、轻蔑或痛骂，闹得臊眉耷眼好生无趣。 范文程没有做过大明朝的官，自然就比那些挨骂的人从容了许多。《清史稿》记载说：“承畴方科跣谩骂，文程徐与语，泛及古今事。”（《清史稿》列传二十四，洪承畴）洪承畴披头散发光着脚跳脚骂人时，范文程不理他，慢慢地谈古论今，两人居然聊起天来。在这个过程中，范文程注意到，房梁上的尘土落到洪承畴的身上，洪承畴将其轻轻拂去。回来后，范文程告诉皇太极：“承畴肯定不会死，这种时候，他连衣服尚且爱惜，何况生命呢。” 后来，发挥了重要作用、促使洪承畴投降的人，应该就是那位大名鼎鼎、在大清朝受到广泛尊敬与爱戴的庄妃——孝庄皇太后了。 洪承畴投降后，《清史稿》中记载了发生在皇太极与洪承畴之间的一次对话： 皇太极问洪承畴：“明朝前方将帅力战被俘或者力不能支投降后，他们的妻子儿女都要被皇帝下令杀死，或者沦为奴隶，这是过去就有的制度，还是新立的规矩？” 到此时，洪承畴似乎仍然不愿意说出对崇祯皇帝不敬的话，他答：“过去没有这种制度。近年来，朝臣们一再对皇帝讲，才这样做的。” 皇太极叹息道：“君昏臣奸，才会这么滥杀无辜。将士们力战被俘，应该拿出多多的财宝把他们赎回来才对呀，怎么反而要迁罪于他们的妻子儿女呢？残忍暴虐到了这个份儿上，也未免太过分了。” 洪承畴泪流满面，说：“皇上说的真是至仁之言。” 随后，皇太极命令设宴款待洪承畴，他自己回到了后宫，叫人带话给洪承畴：“我的妻子刚刚去世，不能参加欢迎你们的宴会，你们不要介意。”（《清史稿》列传二十四，洪承畴） 揣度此时洪承畴的心境，他或许会想起熊廷弼、孙承宗、袁崇焕，想起莫名其妙战死沙场的前任总督卢象升，想起自己的老同事与部下孙传庭，想起不久前被崇祯皇帝下令杀死的三十多位高级文武官员。这些官员中，确有罪有应得者，而多数则是无辜的，有的人根本就有功无罪。仅仅因为皇帝和中央政府指挥调度失误，需要有人做替罪羔羊，也需要平息皇帝的愤怒，于是，他们和他们的妻子儿女便只能走上刑场。 洪承畴的命运表明：当一个国家由于它的领导阶层失道失德失去理性而最终失去了人心的话，那么，哪怕是世界上最为严格的制度性约束和最为严酷的非制度性惩罚都将失去作用。届时，由于社会性的不公正，将导致人们不再认为祖国与荣誉是值得珍视的，人类情感中最接近动物性本能的——诸如明哲保身、好死不如赖活着、爹死娘嫁人各人顾各人等等低级趣味，将成为人们最自然而然的选择，不论面临这种选择的人曾经拥有过多么高贵的地位。 在这个意义上，公正客观地说：兵力人数超过了皇太极的洪承畴，实在是败在了自己的国家而不是敌人手中。 史书记载说，洪承畴投降后，皇太极极为喜悦，除赏赐了大量财物外，还下令“陈百戏”——大约就是举办盛大演出，以示庆贺。为此，贝勒、将军们很不高兴。因为不管怎么说，洪承畴也是他们的手下败将，如今，却比俘虏了他的人们还要风光，这是怎么闹的？ 皇太极问他们：“咱们栉风沐雨、出生入死，所为何来？” 诸人曰：“想打进中原呀。” 皇太极说：“对啦。咱们就像行路的盲人，现在，我好不容易找来一个引路的，如何能不快乐？”史称：众人咸服。（昭梿《啸亭杂录》卷八） 两年后，清军大举入关。在平定中原、江南和西南地区的进程中，洪承畴发挥了极为巨大的作用，证明皇太极的心胸与眼光深邃远大，的确不同凡响。而洪承畴也为此受到了汉族知识分子长久的鄙视。至今，对于此人仍然言人人殊，无法盖棺论定。 这位大明帝国与大清帝国的两朝重臣，是一位饱读诗书、博览经史的渊博之士。由此推断，对此，他应该早就有了思想准备才对。