The Ming Dynasty: A bookstore sells the history of the Ming Dynasty, leaving Emperor Chongzhen bewil

Only by winning this war can the Ming Dynasty have a chance to catch its breath.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded in deep agreement with Zhu Ziming's words.

While reading the History of Ming, he also reread the Jisi Incident, which changed the landscape of the country and the fate of many people.

To be honest, he found it quite puzzling.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty was Beiping, which was moved from Shuntian Prefecture after Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) ascended the throne.

Besides the fact that when Emperor Chengzu was still the Prince of Yan, his fief was Beiping, another more important reason for moving the capital was that Beiping was close to the Great Wall defense line. Moving the capital there could strengthen military control over the northern frontier and directly deal with the threat of the northern barbarians moving south.

The saying "the emperor guards the nation's gates" originates from this.

Beiping, nestled between the Taihang and Yanshan Mountains, is connected to the Shanhaiguan Pass, the only major road leading to Liaodong. Guarding Shanhaiguan Pass meant guarding the nation's borders. Furthermore, the defense system of the capital region was of paramount importance. Therefore, the entire Ming Dynasty was quite confident in the defense of the capital.

However, under such circumstances, Huang Taiji easily tore open a gap, and the Jin army was like a sharp knife, piercing straight into the heart of the Ming Dynasty.

Both the result and the process are incredible.

At this moment, Zhu Ziming brought over a map.

"We've already discussed the Jisi Incident when we talked about Yuan Chonghuan, but now we need to do a full review of this war."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and listened attentively.

Zhu Ziming said, "To fully review this war, we must first understand its background."

"More than 20 years ago, in the 44th year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, Nurhaci raised an army with 13 suits of armor and formally established the Later Jin regime, encompassing the Jianzhou Jurchen, Haixi Jurchen and Donghai Jurchen, and completed the unification of the Jurchen tribes. Two years later, Nurhaci swore an oath to attack the Ming Dynasty and captured Fushun, Qinghe and other places. Three years later, he swept through Liaoshen and moved the capital to Liaoyang. The following year, he took Guangning in western Liao and then moved the capital to Shenyang, which he called Shengjing. A year later, in the sixth year of the Tianqi reign, Nurhaci launched a western expedition against the Ming Dynasty. He was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan in the Battle of Ningyuan and died in August from a carbuncle on his back."

"After Nurhaci's death, his eighth son, Huang Taiji, succeeded him. He was thirty-five years old in ten years, a time when he was in the prime of his life."

"When Huang Taiji ascended the throne, the Later Jin still faced great difficulties. Externally, the Ming Dynasty had built the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line and joined forces with Korea and Mongolia to blockade the Later Jin. Internally, the four Beile (princes) system hindered the Khan's power. In addition, natural disasters were occurring frequently, and both ethnic and class conflicts were becoming increasingly intense. Therefore, Huang Taiji urgently needed a breakthrough to stabilize the Later Jin regime."

"And the breakthrough point is the Ming Dynasty."

"In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, Huang Taiji personally led a large army to conquer the Ming Dynasty. This time, he chose the conventional route and broke through from Ningjin. The Ming army successfully defended the city and the victory was known as the 'Great Victory of Ningjin'."

"Having suffered a setback on the Ming side, Huang Taiji made considerable progress on the Mongolian side. He led an expedition against Chahar and won victories against Xierha, Xibotu, Ying, Tang, and other places. At this time, three years had passed since the last Ningjin battle. Huang Taiji once again turned his attention to the Ming, which was the Jisi Incident that was about to take place a few months later."

"This war is a high-stakes gamble. If Nurhaci gambled on the entire Liaodong region when he attacked Fushun, then Huang Taiji is now gambling on the entire world!"

Emperor Chongzhen nodded.

He understood most of what Zhu Ziming was saying, but he didn't have a clear framework, especially regarding the situation in the Later Jin, which was actually very important.

Because knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle.

Zhu Ziming continued, "Now that we've discussed the background of the war, let's take a look at the route Huang Taiji chose for this attack."

"Look here."

Zhu Ziming pointed to a place on the map and said, "This is Shengjing of the Jin Kingdom. The usual route to invade the Ming Dynasty from Shengjing is through Jinzhou, then Ningyuan, and finally Shanhaiguan. This place is surrounded by mountains and the sea, with the Yanshan Mountains to the west and the Bohai Sea to the east, forming a natural barrier."

"Therefore, the military defense line built by the Ming Dynasty to resist the Later Jin was also based on these three places. It was generally oriented north-south, with Shanhaiguan as the rear, Ningyuan as the central base, and Jinzhou as the vanguard, and extended northward to the Daling River and Xiaoling River area."

"These three lines of defense can be said to be the life and death line of the Ming Dynasty. Once the last pass, Shanhaiguan, is breached, the northern border of the Ming Dynasty will be indefensible, and the Jin army will have no way to advance."

"However, until Li Zicheng captured the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself on Coal Hill, and the Ming Dynasty was declared dead, Shanhaiguan was never breached, which shows how strong this Guan-Ning-Jin defense line was."

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen showed a surprised expression.

When he was reading the History of Ming, he hadn't really noticed this point. From beginning to end, the Jin army never managed to get past Shanhaiguan. In the end, it was Wu Sangui, the general guarding Shanhaiguan, who surrendered and voluntarily led the Jin army into the pass, which led to the later Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Ziming continued, "The Guan-Ning-Jin defense line is impregnable. Both Nurhaci and Huang Taiji suffered heavy losses here. But Huang Taiji was determined to invade the Ming Dynasty. What could be done?"

"At this time, Huang Taiji fully demonstrated his military talent. Instead of choosing to fight to the death against the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, he led his army with the spirit of not being afraid to run away. He ran for more than half a month, from Liaodong to Liaoxi, then to Mongolia, and then from Mongolia into the Central Plains. He ran around the entire map."

As Zhu Ziming spoke, he drew Huang Taiji's marching route on the map. It was clear that Huang Taiji had covered half the map.

"Undeterred by hardship, Huang Taiji painstakingly traveled a long and winding route. When he finally saw the Great Wall, which had stood for thousands of years, all his emotions transformed into boundless ambition. At that moment, only two words occupied his mind: 'The world!'"

"What excited Huang Taiji even more was that most of the intelligence was correct, and the Ming army was completely unprepared in this area! So Huang Taiji ordered his troops to split into three routes, which broke through the Great Wall from Da'ankou, Longjingguan and Malanyu respectively. In just one day, the three armies broke through the Great Wall without bloodshed and marched toward Zunhua, a military stronghold of the Ming Dynasty."

"Let's turn our attention to how the Ming army is dealing with this."

Emperor Chongzhen was also very curious about what exactly happened to the Ming army at that time.

What kind of maneuvering allowed Huang Taiji to fight his way to the capital?

Zhu Ziming said, "At this time, the governor of Beizhili, Wang Yuanya, is stationed in Zunhua. This man has had the worst luck in the world. Four months ago, there was a mutiny here. The former governor, Wang Yingzhi, was surrounded by soldiers because he did not pay the soldiers. Fortunately, the soldiers here are relatively civilized, unlike the soldiers in Ningyuan who are so fierce. They beat Bi Zisu, the governor of Ningyuan, when they were arrested. They only restricted Wang Yingzhi's activities."

"However, after all, he was a governor. Like Bi Zisu, Wang Yingzhi had a temper, but the ways he did it were completely different. When Bi Zisu lost his temper, he would commit suicide, while when Wang Yingzhi lost his temper, he would poison the soldiers."

"This move was too ruthless. Even the people Wang Yingzhi had sent to poison him couldn't stand it anymore and leaked the news. Now, all the soldiers in Zunhua were in uproar, saying they wanted to kill Wang Yingzhi no matter what, and the army was in chaos. It wasn't until the imperial court issued an edict to execute Wang Yingzhi and Wang Yuanya was put in charge of calming things down that things stabilized a little."

"That was the situation in Zunhua at the time. The soldiers weren't receiving their pay and were constantly fighting with the bureaucrats. How could they possibly have the energy for training or reconnaissance?"

"Then, a strange thing happened: the first person to detect the exact information about the Jin army was Zhao Shuaijiao, the general of Shanhaiguan, who was hundreds of miles away."

"When Zhao Shuaijiao received the news that the Jin army was pressing in, he was greatly shocked and quickly led four thousand elite soldiers to ride west overnight to support Zunhua."

"Meanwhile, in Zunhua, Governor Wang Yuanya was busy reassuring the soldiers when he received the news that it was a false alarm."

"However, this is not the most outrageous thing. The most outrageous thing is that Zhu Guoyan, the commander-in-chief of Santunying, which is fifty miles away from Zunhua Town, was poor Zhao Shuaijiao. He led four thousand elite soldiers and did not sleep for three days and three nights. He traveled a thousand miles to Santunying and wanted to advance to Santunying to support Zunhua. However, Zhu Guoyan, the commander-in-chief of Santunying, refused to let him in no matter what. He kept saying four words: 'Refuse to enter the city.'"

"Zhao Shuaijiao was already exhausted, and now he was so angry that he was about to explode. But there was nothing he could do. The Santun Camp wouldn't let him in, so he had no choice but to ride west and head directly to Zunhua."

"At this time, Huang Taiji had actually arrived near Zunhua Town, but he did not rush to attack. Instead, he chose to ambush and scout first."

Soon, Huang Taiji discovered a very useful piece of information: a reinforcement army was on its way to Zunhua, and the general of the reinforcement army was none other than Huang Taiji's old acquaintance, Zhao Shuaijiao.

"Huang Taiji decided to first send Zhao Shuaijiao a generous gift."

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen felt a surge of resentment in his chest, so much so that he could hardly breathe...