Chapter 111 8. Cramp and peel to thank the world

After the death of Emperor Xizong, Chongzhen appeared on the stage. He first destroyed the Wei Zhongxian reactionary group, and then turned his attention to the ice and snow in Liaodong.Someone has to work for him in Liaodong. Chong Zhen thought: "Who should I let?" So the ministers recommended Yuan Chonghuan, who had resigned: "Your Majesty, let Yuan Chonghuan come over and manage Liaodong. No one will do this job, but he insists on rushing to do it. Doesn't this show that he is lacking in heart... No, no, this If you don’t make it clear that he still wants to show off, how about giving him a chance?”

"Okay, don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious." Emperor Chongzhen said: "Since you want to use Yuan Chonghuan, then give him full authority to go to the harem to get an unsharp sword, and give it to Yuan Chonghuan as a Shangfang sword. " Regarding the fact that Yuan Chonghuan was in charge of all the power in Liaodong, the courtiers did not comment—after all, he did not want to go to Liaodong, and others were not willing to go. However, there was one person who expressed the utmost disdain for Yuan Chonghuan's appointment. Phi Island Mao Wenlong! Mao Wenlong's unit stationed on Phi Island should probably be regarded as the earliest Northeast Anti-Japanese Alliance in Chinese history. Under the extremely harsh environment and conditions, Mao Wenlong, its commander, persevered in giving Nurhachi and his successor Huang Taiji a boost. trouble.But between Mao Wenlong and Yuan Chonghuan, there is also a contradiction. No one can say what this contradiction is. In short, you refuse to accept me.

In short, in Yuan Chonghuan's view, the situation he faced was relatively severe. He had to fight the enemy army of Nurhachi's son Huang Taiji, the puppet army who had surrendered to Huang Taiji, and the constant internal friction with Mao Wenlong's stubborn army. Friction, this won't work, how can it go on like this.Two fists are hard to fight with four hands, and one person is hard to fight against hypocrites. If you want to fight against the outside world, you must first secure the inside. You still want a country, a doctrine, and a big boss... So Yuan Chonghuan came to Pidao for inspection, and when Mao Wenlong came out to greet him, Yuan Chonghuan He bowed deeply to Mao Wenlong, and said: "You are a person who has made military exploits for the country. Please allow me to salute you before killing you. Please Shang Fang's sword and kill Mao Wenlong!"

Regarding Yuan Chonghuan beheading Mao Wenlong, historians have different opinions, and some say that he should be killed—since Yuan Chonghuan has been appointed to be in charge of the military work of the entire Liaodong, Mao Wenlong should be closely united around the leadership team with Yuan Chonghuan as the core, but Mao Wenlong is determined not to unite Come here, shouldn't you kill him?Some people think that they shouldn't be killed—after all, Mao Wenlong is also an ally, and Huang Taiji's deadly enemy.As the so-called Liaodong Yiye, eternal injustice, brothers fighting against each other, killing each other, wouldn't this make loved ones hurt and enemies happy?

But it's useless to say anything, anyway, Mao Wenlong has been targeted and cleared. ——But then again, even if it was wrong for Yuan Chonghuan to kill Mao Wenlong, how should he be punished? Do you want to chop his whole family into pieces?Do you want to peel off his meat and fry it? If you answered yes - then you must be Emperor Chongzhen, because that's exactly what he did. It is said that after Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, the Jurchen Huang Taiji changed the name of the country to the Qing Dynasty, and then led the tribal soldiers to detour to Xifengkou, screaming and rushing towards the city of Beijing—from a military point of view, Huang Taiji Such a method is tantamount to courting death. As long as Yuan Chonghuan steals the way from behind and the Ming army guarding Beijing is caught in the hatchback, the Qing Empire will be completely eliminated from the world.

However, military is military, and the most important thing in the Ming Empire is not military, but politics.Politics is that right now Huang Taiji is leading the Qing army to besiege the city of Beijing. As the commander-in-chief of the three armies, you must rush to escort the city of Beijing as soon as possible, lest Emperor Chongzhen be frightened.It should be said that Yuan Chonghuan was somewhat politically savvy. He withstood the test in the face of big right and wrong, and led his troops galloping, chasing Huang Taiji wildly, chasing all the way to the city of Beijing, and launched a decisive battle with Huang Taiji in Beijing.

Just as Yuan Chonghuan was competing with Huang Taiji, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly called for another city.After Yuan Chonghuan left, Emperor Chongzhen asked softly, "Ah Huan, why did you kill Mao Wenlong?" Mao Wenlong?Yuan Chonghuan hadn't figured out what was going on, but the brave Jin Yiwei rushed up and dragged him into the dungeon. Yuan Chonghuan was captured, which frightened his general Zu Dashou. Zu Dashou immediately turned around and fled, destroying Shanhai Pass, and rushed to the barren mountains. Fortunately, it was Yuan Chonghuan who wrote a letter in the prison, and then called Zu Dashou again. return.

The return of Zu Dashou proved that Yuan Chonghuan had no second thoughts about the Ming Empire. The courtiers breathed a sigh of relief and ignored the screaming Qing soldiers outside the city, discussing how to kill Yuan Chonghuan. To kill Yuan Chonghuan, two problems need to be solved first - what crime is he guilty of?How should one kill? Moreover, the conviction and punishment here are also a political issue, not a legal issue. What is a political issue?What is a legal issue? The legal problem is that we should be convicted of any crime and punished as we should.The more serious the crime, the heavier the punishment.

The political issue is whether there is a crime or not, which is a secondary issue. Thinking about a crime is more important than reality.In addition, the heavier the conviction, the lighter the punishment, and the lighter the conviction, the heavier the punishment-if Yuan Chonghuan is really a traitor, then the problem will be easy to handle, and he will definitely be released by the court and commissioned He acted as an intermediary to negotiate peace with the Qing Dynasty.But the bad thing is that Yuan Chonghuan is not a traitor, and he has no evil deeds that must be killed. Now he will be miserable.

To be more clear, if Yuan Chonghuan deserves to die for his crimes, this is just a good opportunity to show Emperor Chongzhen's benevolent demeanor - I pardon you for your innocence!It is precisely because of your guilt that the emperor can pardon you for your innocence.However, Yuan Chonghuan was really not guilty, at most he just killed Mao Wenlong, but he was in charge of the Liaodong military, and Chongzhen gave him the Shangfang Sword, killing right or wrong was second to none, at least Yuan Chonghuan had this right Even if it was not the case, Mao Wenlong killed the wrong one, it was just a wrong decision.Since it is necessary to make a decision, it is inevitable to make mistakes, so it is not possible to cut Yuan Chonghuan into pieces, right?So the courtiers discussed and discussed, and the final punishment was to cut Yuan Chonghuan into pieces.And this is already extrajudicial grace, because Yuan Chonghuan has a young daughter in his family. Someone at the meeting strongly demanded that Yuan Chonghuan's daughter be dragged out, dragged to the street, stripped of her clothes, and the little girl's flesh was peeled off piece by piece.It was just because this move was too insidious, it was rejected by everyone in the end, and the poor girl was exiled into the army and dispatched three thousand miles away—why was she so cruel to Yuan Chonghuan?

It has been made clear, because Yuan Chonghuan is not guilty. There is also a view in the historian circles that Yuan Chonghuan's death was unjust.Because Yuan Chonghuan did make some mistakes when he was managing Liaodong.But this explanation is far from enough to make it clear. Just considering Yuan Chonghuan's mistakes, is the torture of cutting into pieces a crime as punishment?If it is true that if you make a mistake, you deserve to be cut to death, in any case, it will not be Yuan Chonghuan's turn to be the first to be stabbed. Therefore, whether Yuan Chonghuan was at fault or guilty has nothing to do with his miserable end. In fact, Yuan Chonghuan was the only person who did actual work at that time, even if he was guilty of mistakes in his work, he should not be tortured - but obviously, the common people didn't think so.According to historical records, when Yuan Chonghuan was cut to pieces, the people blushed with excitement and rushed forward, biting and tearing with their mouths. Yuan Chonghuan was not dead yet, but his intestines had already been bitten by the people and pulled out of his body. .Some people say that the common people don't know the truth of the matter and think Yuan Chonghuan is a traitor, so they hate him to the bone - this kind of excuse is meaningless.You don't know anything, where does such a cruel and poisonous hatred come from? In fact, the only reason why Yuan Chonghuan was slaughtered was that he was the only person with a conscience in the Ming Dynasty.In other words, he is the only person who does things for the country. He is so stupid and naive. If he doesn't know how to do things, he will inevitably make mistakes, and this country has always killed those who make mistakes without showing mercy. Tracing back to the source, Chongzhen was the chief culprit of Yuan Chonghuan's death. This abnormal emperor, not only failed to correct the bad social laws of the Ming Empire that had fallen below the bottom line, but pushed this injustice to the limit. .