Chapter 8 Chapter 8: People Who Persist To The End

On December 1, the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Yuan Chonghuan received instructions, and the emperor summoned him to enter the city immediately. The reason for the summons was to discuss rates, in other words, to pay wages. The order also said that the Ministry's general Zu Dashou had an audience with him. From ancient times to the present, things like getting wages have been done on the run.Without further ado, Yuan Chonghuan ran to the city immediately, so he ignored the following question: Since it was a discussion of salary, why did he invite Zu Dashou? He ran to the bottom of the city, but no one greeted him, and he didn't open the city gate. After waiting for a long time, he threw down a basket and asked Governor Yuan to squat in and pull it up.

Although this method of entering the city was relatively cold, he managed to get in anyway. Under the guidance of the defenders in the city, he came to the platform. Man Gui and Hei Yunlong also came, waiting for him. In this place that once brought him great honor and glory, he met Chongzhen for the third time. When he came for the first time, Chongzhen was very polite and obeyed him, giving him what he said and what he wanted.The second time I came, I was still very polite. It was November, and the city was very windy (I tried it before), so it was fun to take off my clothes without saying a word.

The third time he came, Chongzhen was very straightforward. He looked at Yuan Chonghuan and asked him three questions in a deep voice: 1. Why did you kill Mao Wenlong? 2. Why the enemy was able to drive straight in and invade Beijing. 3. Why did you hurt Man Gui? Yuan Chonghuan did not answer. Regarding his reaction, many history books said that he failed to react, so he did not speak. In fact, even if he reacted, it would be difficult for him to answer. For example, Comrade Mao Wenlong was chopped up because he was really disobedient and not pleasing to the eye. It is probably impossible to tell Chong Zhenming.Another example is why the enemy army drove straight in. This is a long story. It is best to take a map, draw a few strokes, explain the tactical concept, and finally introduce your own combat characteristics by the way.

As for the question of Man Gui in the end, it is a bit nonsensical for Governor Yuan, because he really doesn't know about it. All in all, after these three questions, Governor Yuan became stupid. Chongzhen was even more angry about Dushi Yuan's silence, and he immediately ordered Man Gui to take off his clothes and show his scars. In fact, Yuan Chonghuan is rather inexplicable, well said, why are you taking off your clothes?I didn't hit it, it's none of my business. But Chongzhen didn't think so. Yuan Chonghuan didn't say anything, so he took it as acquiescence, and immediately ordered Yuan Chonghuan to take off his official uniform and put him in prison.

This was a move that surprised everyone present. Although some people already knew that Chongzhen was going to punish Yuan Chonghuan today, they never expected that this guy would play too big and take him down on the spot.More importantly, Yuan Chonghuan holds the military power and is the commander-in-chief of the Ming army outside the city. The enemy is still outside the city. If you kill him, who will command? Therefore, Cheng Jiming, a cabinet scholar, and Bi Ziyan, a minister of household affairs, immediately objected and said a lot of words: the general meaning is that the enemy is still there, and one cannot be impulsive, and impulsiveness is the devil.

But Chongzhen is really a character who can't be pulled back by four cows. I will not let him go after I catch him. Yuan Chonghuan's army is led by Zu Dashou, and Man Gui is the commander-in-chief of the Ming army. That's it! Now you should understand why, apart from Yuan Chonghuan, Man Gui, Hei Yunlong and Zu Dashou were also called during the two platform summons. Zu Dashou is Yuan Chonghuan's confidant, as long as he is present, he is not afraid of Yuan Jun's mutiny, and Man Gui is Yuan Chonghuan's mortal enemy. If Yuan Chonghuan is captured, he can take over immediately. Such scheming is frightening.

Looking at Chongzhen's performance, the assertion is as follows: Anyone who says he is stupid is really stupid. But this watertight arrangement still leaks. When Yuan Chonghuan was arrested, Zu Dashou didn't look surprised. He didn't make any loud noises, or make any high-profile protests, or even say a word.After all, after arresting Yuan Chonghuan, Chongzhen immediately made a statement. This matter has nothing to do with other people, and he can do whatever he should. But the history books still recorded his abnormal behavior - trembling, wrong steps when going out and so on.

For this sign, everyone thinks it is normal-the leader has been arrested, shaking a few times is nothing. Only one person discovered the mystery. This person is Yu Dacheng, who was then a doctor in the Ministry of War. As soon as Zu Dashou left, he found Liang Tingdong, Minister of the Ministry of War, and said to him: "The enemy army is approaching the city. If the Liao army has no commander, there will be chaos!" Liang Tingdong didn't care: "With the great birthday of the ancestors, it will not stop here!" Yu Dacheng replied: "The one who caused the chaos must be this person!"

Liang Tingdong ignored Yu Dacheng and returned to the cabinet. From Minister Liang's point of view, Yu Dacheng told a joke.So, he told this joke to Zhou Yanru, a great scholar who was also in the cabinet. Telling this joke to ordinary people means laughing, but Master Zhou is not ordinary people. Zhou Yanru, courtesy name Yusheng, was born in Changzhou and was a Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli. Comrade Zhou Yanru's reputation is very great.When I first looked up the history of the Ming Dynasty more than ten years ago, I specifically looked up his biographies, but I couldn't find them.After several searches, it was discovered that this dear man was included in a special biography - Biography of a Traitor.

It's hard to say about treacherous ministers, but treachery is certain.This person is talented and intelligent. The so-called Jinshi in the 41st year of Wanli is a modest statement.In fact, he was the number one scholar that year, not only the first in the exam, but also the first in the interview (palace exam). Hearing this sentence, Zhou Yanru, who has a keen sense of smell, immediately got up and asked: "Where is Yu Dacheng?" Yu Dacheng came and asked: "Do you think Zu Dashou will rebel?" Yu Dacheng replied: "It must be reversed." "How many days?"

"in three days." Zhou Yanru immediately instructed Liang Tingdong to pay close attention to the movements of the Liao army and report any abnormalities immediately. On the first day, December 2, nothing happened. The next day, December 3rd, nothing happened. On the third day, December 4th, something happened. Without instructions, Zu Dashou led the Liao army to withdraw from Beijing in the early morning of the same day. He did not surrender to the enemy and left a message before leaving, saying that he would return to Ningyuan. Going back to Ningyuan is the opposite.The emperor was very shocked. Guan Ning's iron cavalry was the main force of the elite, and the enemy was still there. If they all ran away, how would they clean up the stall? Zhou Yanru was very calm, he immediately called Yu Dacheng and took him to talk to the emperor. The emperor asked: Zu Dashou led his army away, what should we do? Yu Dacheng replied: Yuan Chonghuan was arrested, Zu Dashou was afraid and would not surrender to the enemy. The emperor asked again: How to let him come back? Yu Dacheng replied: There is only one thing that can pull him back. This thing is Yuan Chonghuan's letter. It's easy to handle, immediately send someone to the prison to write a letter to Governor Yuan. Yuan Dushi did not write. It is understandable that people took away the official uniforms on the spot and locked them in a cell, so it is inevitable to have opinions. In addition, Master Yuan is not a good man and a believer, so you can say what you want, so you won't write. In a hurry, the cabinet scholar, plus six ministers, set up a visiting group, and all went to the prison, taking turns to persuade, drooling.Governor Yuan still refused, and explained the reasons for his refusal: "It's not that I don't write, it's just that it's useless. Zu Dashou listened to me because I'm the supervisor. Now that I'm in prison, he will definitely not obey." It's okay to fool Chongzhen with these words, Yu Dacheng knows his business: why you are a supervisor, he only listens to you, then Chongzhen is still the emperor, didn't he run away too? But if this is broken, it is meaningless, so Comrade Yu Dacheng changed his way of speaking, first praised Yuan Chonghuan, and then gave Yuan Chonghuan a profound education in terms of national righteousness. Write. After receiving the letter, Chongzhen immediately sent people to chase him day and night, but Zu Dashou ran too fast, and by the time he caught up, everyone had arrived in Jinzhou. Facts have proved that even if Governor Yuan changed his career to sell deep-fried dough sticks, he still counted on what he said.When Zu Dashou saw the letter (he hadn't seen anyone yet), he burst into tears immediately, and led the troops back to Beijing without saying a word. The situation temporarily stabilized, but reversed again a day later. On December 17, Huang Taiji launched another attack. The target he chose this time was Yongding Gate. It is estimated that he went around and didn't grab many real things, so Huang Taiji decided to play a big one. He gathered all his troops and stormed Yongdingmen. The Ming army lined up in the city, commanded by Man Gui, with a total force of about 40,000, to face Houjin. The results of the battle once again proved that the ancient nomads had an advantage in risking their lives. After a whole day of fierce fighting, the Ming army suffered heavy casualties, and the main general Man Gui died in battle. However, the Jin army also suffered heavy losses and failed to break through the city gate, so the whole army retreated. Four years ago, Yuan Chonghuan, an unknown civil servant of the fourth grade, stood in that isolated city called Ningyuan, facing Man Gui who only knew how to save money, Zhao Ledjiao who had been a deserter, and Zu Dashou who was passive and sabotage, and said: "Lonely lying in a lonely city, you can be a prisoner!" In desperation, they always believed that a firm belief would surely defeat a powerful enemy. After that, they defeated Nurhachi and Huang Taiji, and after that, they turned against each other, excluded, died in battle, convicted, and defected. Zhao rate teacher died, Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, and after Man Gui identified Yuan Chonghuan, he also died. Zu Dashou will eventually embark on the road of no return. Those who share weal and woe cannot enjoy happiness together. This is generally the case in the world. After the Battle of Yongdingmen, Huang Taiji, who hadn't gotten any hard goods, finally retreated—not really. He sent troops to occupy Zunhua, Luancheng, Yongping, and Qian'an, and appointed Amin, one of the four Baylors, to guard them as a stronghold, waiting for an opportunity to attack again. The situation of the war has become so bad that it can't be worse. Although the army of the King of Field Service has reached more than 200,000, since a fierce man like Man Gui has also died in battle, no one dares to act rashly. The imperial court has basically lost contact with the outside of the pass. How about Liaodong? , How about Shanhaiguan, the devil knows, people in the capital are panicked, and the situation is extremely dangerous. Then, the real savior appeared. Half a month ago, Sun Chengzong, a grassroots man, was called into the capital. The emperor said to him: "From today onwards, you are a bachelor. This is the trust of your superiors." Then the emperor said, "Since you are a scholar of Sun University, set off for Tongzhou now, the enemy will arrive soon." Sun Chengzong didn't say much about this kind of beating behavior that was not expected to be seen at ordinary times and was temporarily blamed. In his view, it was an obligation. But it is wrong to say that the superiors did not support it at all. When Sun Caomin entered Beijing, there was only one person by his side. When he went to Tongzhou to meet the enemy, the court still gave some people to Sun Dashi. The number of some people is, twenty-seven. Master Sun Dashi rushed out from the capital with twenty-seven people and headed for Tongzhou. At that time, Tongzhou was already the front line. Later, the Jin army looted everywhere, murdered and set fires, and engaged in car bandits and road tyrants. Scholar Sun fought several battles on the road, and five people died. When they arrived in Tongzhou, there were only 22 left. There are soldiers in Tongzhou, but less than 10,000 people, and people are in panic. The general soldier Yang Guodong was going to run away, but Sun Chengzong grabbed him, dragged him up the tower, and patrolled for a week, explaining that he would not leave, so he stabilized everyone . After Tongzhou was stabilized, Sun Chengzong, as a cabinet scholar and Minister of the Ministry of War, began to coordinate various armies and organize operations. In terms of rank, Master Sun is the commander-in-chief, but in practice, he is nothing. Not to mention Qin Wangjun in other areas, even Yuan Chonghuan, his direct descendant, didn't listen to his greetings. Sun Chengzong said, don't go around, set up defenses in Tongzhou, just block people back, but don't listen, coordinate and coordinate, and finally get out Huang Taiji coordinated to the city of Beijing. Then there was another crackling and beating, Yuan Dushi went into the cell, Huang Taiji didn't really leave, occupying four cities, ready to come back at any time.The more than 200,000 Ming troops near the capital also saw that there were too many people, and no one stood out at all. Guan Ning's iron cavalry was not reliable. Zu Dashou had escaped once, and there was no guarantee that he would not escape a second time. It is said that Sun Chengzong is a water life, so it is really suitable to be a firefighter. He went to Zu Dashou first. Zu Dashou is a rather difficult person, and has always been arrogant and domineering. Except for Yuan Chonghuan, he doesn't give face to anyone. But Sun Chengzong is an exception. In today's words, Governor Yuan always carried bags for him. The old leader's old leader is the square of the leader. Master Sun said: Governor Yuan has already entered, and you must continue to serve the country. Zu Dashou said, Governor Yuan has gone in, I don't know when I have to go in, and I'm still working. Sun Chengzong said: It is because Yuan Dushi went in that you don't make a fuss, write a review to the emperor quickly, and say that you want to make meritorious service and atone for Yuan Dushi. Zu Dashou agreed and immediately wrote to the emperor. After the fooling here is over, Sun Chengzong immediately went to the emperor again, saying that Zu Dashou had admitted his mistake, and hoped to have another chance to continue serving the country. As soon as the words were finished, Zu Dashou's letter arrived. His Excellency the Emperor was very happy and replied immediately. Comrade Zu Dashou can do it without worry. I fully support your actions. Although he had said this to Yuan Chonghuan before, he did it this time. Two years later, Zu Dashou fought against Huang Taiji in the Daling River. He was arrested, surrendered and released again. Chongzhen didn't even ask. , and then use it.It was Sun Chengzong who fooled him to be so hardcore. After Sun Chengzong settled Zu Dashou, he went to Ma Shilong again. Ma Shilong was also a general of the Liaodong faction and had a good relationship with Zu Dashou. He was the one who took Yuan Chonghuan's letter to pursue Zu Dashou.This person's personality is very similar to Zu Dashou's, extremely domineering, the only difference is that he doesn't even give Yuan Chonghuan face. Before that, Liu Zhilun, a servant of the Ministry of War, led his troops out to fight Huang Taiji and ordered him to lead his troops to rescue him. Ma Shilong didn't come until Liu Shilang died in battle. But Master Sun is still an exception. Guan Ning cavalry, Guan Ning's defense line, and this group of generals who recognize people but not organizations are all created by him back then, and he is the only one who can hold the line. However, his subordinates went out to search for a few days, but they could not find this person, because Ma Shilong's troops were separated by the Houjin army in the west, and there was no news. But Sun Chengzong has a way. He paid some money, found a few people to be death squads, took his handwriting, rushed through the rear golden defense line, and found Ma Shilong. The old leader is the old leader. Seeing Sun Chengzong's letter, Ma Shilong immediately said that he would obey the command and come to join forces immediately. At this point, Sun Chengzong finally assembled the two strongest armies of the Liaodong Department, and his next goal was to defeat the invaders. Huang Taiji withdrew from outside the pass, and sent heavy troops to garrison the four cities of Zunhua and Yongping, as Houjin's office in the pass, so it would be good for him to take care of him next time he came to grab things. This kind of unauthorized business behavior is naturally prohibited. In February of the third year of Chongzhen (1630), Sun Chengzong assembled the Liaodong Army and launched an attack. When he heard the news of Sun Chengzong's attack, Huang Taiji didn't care. Calculated according to the year, Sun Chengzong was sixty-eight this year, and he was thin. , is really not worth caring about. The result is as follows: On the first day, Sun Chengzong attacked Luancheng, and one day, he was defeated. The next day, Qian'an was attacked, and one day, it was defeated. On the third day, Huang Taiji couldn't sit still, so he sent reinforcements. Leading the reinforcements was Huang Taiji's eldest brother, Amin, one of the Four Great Baylors. Amin is the eldest brother of Huang Taiji, and he is very capable of fighting among the four major Belles.Sending him there shows that Huang Taiji attaches great importance to Sun Chengzong, but I always suspect that Huang Taiji and Amin are a bit contradictory. Because the result of the battle was really horrible. Amin brought more than 5,000 people to Zunhua, just in time for Sun Chengzong's attack, but as soon as he arrived, he checked the situation and ran away. Sun Chengzong did not send troops to attack the city, he just placed all the cannons under the city. The battle process was very boring. Sun Chengzong had already mastered the use of artillery. After dozens of cannons were fired, the city wall collapsed. Amin was still clever and had already run to the last stronghold - Yongping. It would be too outrageous to just run back like this, so Amin set up a formation under Yongping City, and wanted to fight Sun Chengzong decisively. I won’t talk about the process of the decisive battle, let’s talk about the result directly, because since the beginning of the battle, there is no suspense about the outcome. Sun Chengzong’s control of the battlefield has reached the point of perfection. Seam butt. Amin has been battle-tested for a long time, but in front of old man Sun, his military skills are still at the level of elementary school students. He didn't even last a day. In this way, all the four cities in the pass that Huang Taiji was firmly defending fell, and the whole process only took five days. When the news reached the capital, Chongzhen was very excited. Without saying a word, he immediately ran to the ancestral temple to report to his ancestors, and decided that from now on, he would depend on Sun Chengzong. The matter ended in this way. Since November of the second year of Chongzhen, Huang Taiji led his army into the pass, threatening Beijing, burning, killing and looting along the way, and massacring the cities where he passed, with corpses strewn across the fields. In this war, innocent people were killed, the economy was severely damaged, several soldiers including Man Gui were killed, Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned, and the vitality of the Ming Dynasty was seriously injured. But everything has passed, and for Chongzhen, tomorrow is more important than yesterday. Of course, yesterday's problems must be dealt with before tomorrow's problems can be dealt with. The name of this question is Yuan Chonghuan. How to deal with Yuan Chonghuan, this is a problem. In fact, Chongzhen did not want to kill Yuan Chonghuan. On December 1st, the day Yuan Chonghuan was arrested, Chongzhen gave an explanation—dismissal. The meaning of these four words is to remove the position first, and then see to it. It's up to you, which means you don't have to. In fact, there were many people who spoke for Yuan Chonghuan at that time, depending on the situation, he might be released after a few days, and he might be able to resume his job in the future. But nine months later, Chongzhen changed his mind, and he made up his mind to execute Yuan Chonghuan. Why? For this change, many people's explanations come from a story. The story goes like this: On November 28, the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Huang Taiji, who was helpless outside Beijing, decided to play a trick. He sent someone to find the two eunuchs he had captured a few days ago, and arranged them in a specific camp and assigned special personnel to guard them. At night, in the dead of night, two people lived in the tent next to the eunuch's. These two people told a secret in a voice that humans could hear (at least the eunuch could hear it). The secret content is that Yuan Chonghuan has reached a secret agreement with Huang Taiji. In a few days, when Huang Taiji attacks Beijing, he will be able to enter the city directly. The two eunuchs lived up to expectations and heard the secret. The next day, Huang Taiji sent someone to send them back. After they went back, they found the relevant department and told about the incident. Chongzhen was furious and decided that Yuan Chonghuan was a traitor, so he was finally executed. The story is over. It's a pretty clever and pretty bullshit story. Twenty years ago, when I was in the second grade of elementary school, I believed this story, but when I grew up, I stopped believing it. But it doesn't seem very good to say nothing, so I'll make a correction: If the parties involved are all at the second grade level of elementary school, the tricks in the story can be successful. Because this story is too childish. First of all, you have to understand that Chongzhen is not a sophomore in elementary school, he is a seasoned and mature politician and the top leader of Ming Dynasty. Three years ago, the whole court was full of eunuchs, and he didn't say anything, and he settled the lawless Wei Zhongxian by himself; two years ago, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong without permission, but he still didn't say anything. The officials of the Ming Dynasty had professional ethics and liked to file complaints. Since Yuan Chonghuan took office, he has not stopped reporting letters. He said clearly that some problems may still be true, but he still did not say anything. When the enemy soldiers approached the city, everyone called Yuan Chonghuan a traitor. He took off his own clothes and put them on Yuan Chonghuan, and killed him without saying anything. So in the end, he heard the words of two eunuchs who ran out from the enemy camp, and finally said: kill Yuan Chonghuan. Speechless, completely speechless. I was very curious about how this speechless story came about. After comparing dozens of historical materials that recorded this incident, I determined that the earliest place where this story appeared was the "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty" compiled by Qing historians after the Qing army entered the customs. Understood. I remember the first time I went to see the original historical materials before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs. It was annoying, because according to the routine, these materials recorded by people hundreds of years ago were relatively difficult to understand, and they were basically in Manchu. Although I know a few, it is estimated that it is difficult to understand. The result was a surprise. I understood it, at least understood what this material said, and it was effortless, because in the historical material I opened, there were many embroidered images. The so-called embroidered portraits, in today's terms, are illustrations, and the painters are very good and detailed, and the battles and conversations are all drawn, which can be understood by individuals. Later, I read the Manchurian Records, and there are many illustrations, such as the Battle of Ningyuan and the Battle of Jinzhou, all of which are quite well drawn. This is a rather strange phenomenon. There are many illustrated books in ancient times, such as Jin Ping Mei, Journey to the West, etc., but generally speaking, things like political documents and historical records do not have illustrations in order to show solemnity. From Ban Gu to Zhang Tingyu who compiled the history of the Ming Dynasty, there is no such thing as the Twenty-Five Histories.By the way, if anyone can find Sima Qian's original illustrated Shiji, or Ban Gu's illustrated Hanshu, please let me know, and I will charge any money. After wondering for a long time, I finally found the answer - culture. Houjin is a nomadic people with a relatively backward culture. Although there are cultural people like Fan Wencheng running over from time to time, they are almost there after all. Not to mention Chinese characters, Manchu is just created, and there are too few people who know it. But for so many years, what things have been done must be remembered, such as holding a meeting, talking, etc., it is too laborious to convey one by one, and many people can’t understand it when it is written and printed, so I made an illustration version, Those who can read can read the characters, and those who can’t can read them as comics, and they can understand. In military operations, this is even more obvious. Nurhachi, Huang Taiji, and later Dorgon are all outstanding military strategists who are good at fighting, but they are basically trained by Ye Luzi, and they belong to the practical school.In this regard, the Ming Dynasty was roughly the opposite. Sun Chengzong and Yuan Chonghuan were all obtained through examinations and belonged to the theoretical school. The business of fighting is similar to fighting. If someone shoots you with a few bricks, you will know whether to use a kitchen knife or a brick next time, which is more ruthless, and it is difficult to make technical progress if you are always a spectator. Therefore, on the battlefield, the practical faction who rolls up their sleeves and works hard is often better than the theoretical faction who reads military books. But Comrade Marx told us that once theory is combined with practice, it will generate enormous energy. Successful examples, such as Sun Chengzong, are all famous generals. Huang Taiji and others realized the shortcomings in their work in time, so they presented the facts, found gaps, and decided to popularize the theory. Finding someone to teach in the Ming Dynasty is probably impossible, so the main method of education is to read military books.Anyway, military books are not contraband, so find someone to buy them from the Ming Dynasty, and give each person a copy, so you can read them slowly. The work went very smoothly, and I asked someone to go to the customs to buy, but the buyer was dumbfounded when he arrived at the place. Because from ancient times to the present, there have been many military books, not to mention Taigong's Art of War, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and Six Secrets and Three Strategies. In the Ming Dynasty alone, there were hundreds of military books, which are a new force in the publishing industry. In the face of difficulties, Huang Taiji and his colleagues were not discouraged. After careful study and comparison, they finally determined the final textbook on the art of war, and purchased a large number of them to ensure that they were distributed to every senior general. Afterwards, no matter when they were marching or fighting, the senior generals of the Houjin Army would take this designated textbook on the art of war and read it morning and evening. The name of this book is called. In fact, there is no need to be surprised. After all, books such as Sun Tzu's Art of War are indeed relatively esoteric. If you take someone back from the streets of the capital, you may not be able to read them.It is really difficult for people who ride horses and fight every day to read it. The language at that time is roughly equivalent to vernacular Chinese, which is easy to understand, and I believe that this book can easily resonate with the generals of the later Jin Dynasty - there are illustrations. Yes, the answer is in this book. If you don’t know the source of the so-called counter-planning story, you can refer to Jiang Qianzhong’s plan. Based on the above-mentioned information, with the cultural background of Huang Taiji and others, it is almost enough to make up such a story. But more critically, is the next question-why make up this story. This question has puzzled me for three years. By chance, I found the answer—my answer. I believe that this is a conspiracy, a long-planned and extremely clever conspiracy. Regarding the ins and outs of this conspiracy, since I have been thinking about it for a long time, I decided to take a breath and talk about it later. In fact, what changed Chongzhen's mind was not that naive countermeasure, but a conversation. This conversation took place a year ago. The two people who talked were Qian Longxi, a cabinet scholar, and Yuan Chonghuan, the newly appointed governor of Jiliao. The content of the conversation is as follows: Qian Longxi: How about the Ping-Liao strategy? Yuan Chonghuan: It's just Dongjiang and Guanning. Qian Longxi: What is the solution to Dongjiang? Yuan Chonghuan: For Mao Wenlong, use it if it is available, and get rid of it if it is not. Translated, the meaning is roughly this: Qian Longxi asked, what do you plan to do after taking office.Yuan Chonghuan replied, settling in Dongjiang and Guanning.Qian Longxi asked again: Why should Dongjiang be settled. Yuan Chonghuan replied: Dongjiang's Mao Wenlong, use it if you can, and kill him if you can't. Ordinarily, this was a secret conversation between the two, but it was recorded in the historical materials, which is really inexplicable. Moreover, the record of the conversation seemed to be nothing. Qian Longxi asked Yuan Chonghuan's plan, and Yuan Chonghuan said that he was going to deal with Mao Wenlong, that's all. But it was this conversation record that killed Yuan Chonghuan. On December 7th of the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Yushi Gaojie went to Shu, and impeached Qian Longxi and Yuan Chonghuan for colluding with each other. After some disputes, Qian Longxi was forced to resign. The famous historian Meng Sen once said that there were two major disasters in the Ming Dynasty: the first was the eunuchs, and the second was the eunuchs. In my opinion, this sentence is wrong.The Yanguan should be ranked in front of the eunuch. If the eunuch is a hooligan, the Yanguan is the 2.0 version of the hooligan-cultural hooligan. In view of the fact that the political atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty was too enlightened, and in order to maintain political balance, the emperor did not care much about these people since Zhu Yuanzhang.As a result, the temper became more and more used, talking about things when they had something to say, talking about people when they had nothing to do, scolding whoever was caught, and stepping on whoever they saw (including the emperor). In Chongzhen, an organized and systematic hooligan group had basically formed. their hands. In this matter, they were very active. For six months since then, there has been a steady stream of black materials about Comrade Yuan Chonghuan's rebellion, surrender to the enemy, and even his life style, and each one is more ruthless (many posterity believe that the so-called Yuan Chonghuan defected to the enemy and betrayed the country. The ironclad evidence comes from this). After cursing like this for half a year, a more ruthless one finally came out. In August of the third year of Chongzhen (1630), Fan Shangshu, the censor of Shandong, impeached Qian Longxi for accepting tens of thousands of taels of bribes from Yuan Chonghuan. He even made it clear where the money was placed. It's too insidious. In the Ming Dynasty, collecting some black money and earning some extra money was basically an internal problem, and it was not a big deal, but this memorial is completely different. Because he said that the person who gave the money was Yuan Chonghuan. Even if the money was given by Hades, it would be fine, except Yuan Chonghuan. Because Yuan Chonghuan is the commander-in-chief, and Qian Longxi is the cabinet minister.According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, if the frontier commander colludes with his close ministers, he will undoubtedly die (suspected of treason). Ten days later, Chongzhen held a meeting and decided to execute Yuan Chonghuan. In December of the second year of Chongzhen (1629), Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned. A group of people scolded him for eight months, and finally, he died of scolding. Is that the way it is? no. Behind the group of seemingly aimless and unorganized officials, there are a pair of black hands, correct me, two pairs. The masters of these two hands are Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru. Comrade Zhou Yanru has already introduced it before, here is the resume of Comrade Wen Tiren: male, from Huzhou, Zhejiang, style name Changqing, Jinshi in the 26th year of Wanli. These two people will talk about it later, so I won’t say much here. If you are interested in these two people, you can go to the history of Ming Dynasty.By the way, it's easy to find, just flip through the biography of the treacherous official, Comrade Zhou Yanru is right behind Yan Song, followed by Wen Tiren. It should be said that Yuan Chonghuan's change from "listening and behaving" to "listening and beheading" is basically the credit of these two.But the most ironic thing about this matter is here. Because Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru actually had no enmity with Yuan Chonghuan, and they never wanted to kill Yuan Chonghuan at all. The person they really want to get rid of is Qian Longxi. I'm a little confused, take your time. For a long time, Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru wanted to get rid of Qian Longxi, but Qian Longxi was cautious and powerful, so it was very difficult to eradicate him.Coincidentally, he has a very good relationship with Yuan Chonghuan, and it happened that Yuan Chonghuan had an accident this time, so as long as Yuan Chonghuan's matter was magnified, and Qian Longxi was dragged into the water with his crimes, his goal would be achieved. The reason why Yuan Chonghuan was killed was not because of himself, but because of Qian Longxi. The reason why Qian Longxi had an accident was not because of himself, but because of Yuan Chonghuan. Manipulation behind the scenes, speech officials are sparse, and there is a lot of scolding, just for a political purpose. The next puzzle to be solved is why they got rid of Qian Longxi. Some people think it's a question of revenge.It was caused by party disputes. Both Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren were eunuchs. Because they were punished, they took advantage of this to attack the Donglin Party and avenge their hatred. In my opinion, this is a problem of basic historical skills, which is caused by too little reading of historical materials. Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren are definitely not eunuchs. Although they are not good birds, I can vouch for them.In fact, if the eunuch party had talents like them, they probably wouldn't be able to fall. In the first year of Chongzhen (1628), when Chongzhen was beating the eunuchs with great fanfare, Wen Tiren was honorably promoted to be Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhou Yanru was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Rites.The majestic eunuch, committing crimes against the wind, openly colluded with the emperor who severely punished the eunuch to get promoted, which is outrageous. Among the people who attacked Yuan Chonghuan, there were indeed eunuchs, but the behind-the-scenes planners of this matter were by no means the same kind. After all the disguise was removed, the real motive was always only two words-power. The cabinet has a lot of power, but too few positions. If you want to squeeze yourself up, you can only squeeze others out.In fact, they did achieve their goal. Because Yuan Chonghuan's matter was too big, Qian Longxi immediately offered to resign, and the university scholar Cheng Jiming who had a good relationship with Qian Longxi also dismissed get out of class after a few months, and Wen Tiren joined the cabinet, becoming a bachelor. And Yuan Chonghuan was just an innocent victim. On August 16th in the third year of Chongzhen (1630), Chongzhen held a meeting on the platform—the fourth meeting. The first time, he promoted Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan was very happy; the second time, he undressed Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan was very moved; the third time, he arrested Yuan Chonghuan, and Yuan Chonghuan was very surprised; not there. Although Yuan Chonghuan was unable to attend the meeting (he was in prison), he did not hinder the grand occasion of the meeting. The various units participating in the meeting included the cabinet, the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, the Secretary of General Administration, the Five Governments, the Six Divisions, Jinyiwei, etc., and even Hanlin The hospital came to gather the number of people. When everyone arrived, Chongzhen began to speak. The content of the speech was to list Yuan Chonghuan's crimes.It mainly includes giving money to people and officials, doing nothing, and killing Mao Wenlong, allowing the enemy to drive in, playing passively, and so on. After speaking, ask: "How did the San Judicial Division convict?" No one said anything. With so many people coming, talking so much, and asking for opinions, you can do whatever you want. So Chongzhen stated his ruling: Yilu, Lingchi. There was no sound at the scene. Yuan Chonghuan's fate was thus determined. He was wronged. Everyone present is a murderer. Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru may not want to kill Yuan Chonghuan, Chongzhen may not know that Yuan Chonghuan was wronged, and Yuan Chonghuan may not know why he died. But he just died. It's funny, history is sometimes so funny. Yuan Chonghuan was escorted to Xishi for execution. Maybe until the last moment of his life, he doesn't know why he died, and he will never know that in this world, there are many rules, whether explicit or hidden, that must be adapted to, principles must be abandoned, and conscience must be deviated from, to walk with the light , otherwise, no matter how great your ambitions and brilliant ideals are, they will eventually be annihilated. Yuan Chonghuan didn't know that he was in the same dust as the light. From the beginning to the end, he was an ungodly person.He has talent, he has ambition, he has personality, he uses his talent, he realizes his ambition, he expresses his personality, that's all. That day, Yuan Chonghuan walked out of the cell and went to the execution ground. People watched and cursed along the way. He looked one last time at the country he'd given his all for, and the civilians he'd defended with his life, but cursed and accused him. I put my heart and soul into it, and I only got this result. I often wondered what Yuan Chonghuan was thinking at that time. He should be very desperate and lost, because he doesn't know when his grievances will be washed away and his ambitions will be understood. Maybe there will never be that day, and all his efforts may end up being nothing more than a long-lasting infamy. However, on the execution platform, he read his last words: This is a verse left by a person who was misunderstood, wronged, and about to be hacked to pieces at the last moment of his life. So I know that at that moment, he was not desperate, lost, or wronged. In his heart, there were only two words—perseverance. All along, almost everyone told me that Yuan Chonghuan's life was a tragedy. But in fact, it's not. Because in my opinion, in his life, he has at least accomplished one thing, which many people cannot do-persist. A hard-working student in a barren land, a county magistrate in Fujian, a small principal in the capital, Ning Yuandao who sticks to the isolated city, the governor of Ji Liao who is so powerful in the world, generals who are arrested and imprisoned, and prisoners who have died of injustice. Regardless of success, frustration, ups or downs, always persevere. 或许不能改变什么，或许并不是扭转乾坤的关键人物，或许所作所为并无意义，但他依然坚定地，毫无退缩地坚持下来。 直到生命的最后一刻，他也没有放弃。