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

Even without Zhu Ziming's explanation, Chongzhen could guess what kind of lavish gift Huang Taiji had given Zhao Shuaijiao.

Zhao Lüjiao had been guarding Liaodong for many years and had clashed with Huang Taiji on the battlefield many times. The two could be said to be sworn enemies on the battlefield. Now that Huang Taiji had discovered that Zhao Lüjiao was alone, he would not let him go.

suffocated.

It's so frustrating.

"Zhao Shuaijiao fell into Huang Taiji's ambush. He had escaped once before, but this time he did not escape. He died in battle from exhaustion. The four thousand elite soldiers who went to his rescue were also wiped out. Zunhua County, which lost its reinforcements, quickly fell. The soldiers surrendered, and the governor also died in the chaos of battle."

"It wasn't until Zhao Shuaijiao died in battle that the entire Ming Dynasty realized that the Jin army was already pressing in on the border."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but scratch his head.

The Jin army, numbering 100,000, pressed in, yet the entire Ming Dynasty remained completely unresponsive until a general was killed in battle, at which point they finally realized what was happening.

"Let's take another look at what Yuan Chonghuan, as the key figure and the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, was doing at this time?"

"In fact, we have already discussed Yuan Chonghuan's actions in general. Yuan Chonghuan's behavior is also so bizarre that it is hard to understand. This point has been debated for hundreds of years. When we try to understand a person or thing that is hard to understand, the first thing we should look for is one thing: motive. So, this time we will review the situation comprehensively and try to find the motive behind all of Yuan Chonghuan's actions."

"First of all, Yuan Chonghuan, as the commander-in-chief of Jiliao, was the first to learn of the Jin army's advance from Zhao Shuaijiao. However, he appeared calm and composed, and as always, he remained on the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line, lecturing to students, inspecting officials, and assessing the enemy's situation. He only sent Zhao Shuaijiao with four thousand elite troops to provide support."

"It wasn't until Zhao Shuaijiao died in battle and Zunhua fell that Yuan Chonghuan finally realized the truth."

"Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan personally supervised the army, leading more than 20,000 infantry and cavalry, and hurriedly set off from Shanhaiguan to reinforce Jizhou. Why Jizhou? Because there was a defensive barrier between Zunhua and the capital, which was Jizhou."

"On November 11, Yuan Chonghuan arrived in Jizhou and set up defenses there, preparing to block Huang Taiji. On the 12th, Huang Taiji's army arrived in Jizhou a step later."

"Since entering the pass, Huang Taiji has captured every city he encountered, so Yuan Chonghuan judged that Huang Taiji would definitely attack Jizhou as well."

Why did Yuan Chonghuan make such a judgment? It was because if Huang Taiji crossed Jizhou and went deep into enemy territory, it would be tantamount to cutting off his own retreat. This was an extremely dangerous move and could easily put him in a corner.

"However, Huang Taiji really had the guts to be a trapped beast. He saw that Yuan Chonghuan had taken Jizhou first and knew that Yuan Chonghuan was a tough nut to crack, so he simply didn't attack Jizhou. Instead of attacking Jizhou, he chose to bypass Jizhou and head straight for the capital of the Ming Dynasty."

"Yuan Chonghuan was stunned by Huang Taiji's decision to cut off his own retreat. At this time, he made another surprising and incomprehensible decision: instead of following Huang Taiji to the west, he went to Hexiwu, located southwest of Jizhou, to replenish his supplies, allowing Huang Taiji to move freely from Jizhou to Tongzhou to Shunyi, burning, killing and looting all the way."

"From the 12th to the 16th, for a full five days, Huang Taiji looted the outskirts of Beijing, causing immense suffering to countless people. Yet, Yuan Chonghuan not only made no move to resist, but also seemed to have vanished without a trace. The entire court and the public were gripped by fear and wild speculation that Yuan Chonghuan had colluded with the enemy!"

"It wasn't until the 17th that Yuan Chonghuan arrived in the capital from the south, taking an exceptionally treacherous route. By then, Huang Taiji had already set up camp north of the capital, his army besieging the city!"

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen clenched his teeth again.

Although he already knew that Yuan Chonghuan had made many deceptive moves during the Jisi Incident, Chongzhen still couldn't help but grit his teeth when he heard the details.

Yuan Chonghuan was a complete scoundrel!

Zhu Ziming said, "After saying so much, we still need to get back to the motive. Why did Yuan Chonghuan do this? Some people say that Yuan Chonghuan colluded with the enemy, while others say that Yuan Chonghuan was afraid to fight Huang Taiji in open battle and wanted to defend the city."

"But I don't think that's entirely true. First of all, Yuan Chonghuan wouldn't have been a traitor. If he really had been, he would have taken the capital long ago by joining forces with Huang Taiji."

"Secondly, Yuan Chonghuan did not dare to engage in open field battles with Huang Taiji. He wanted to defend the cities and hold them firmly. I think this is true, because from the Ningyuan Victory to the Ningjin Victory, Yuan Chonghuan won by defending the cities. So now, in Jizhou and the capital, Yuan Chonghuan would certainly want to repeat the same trick: 'Defend first, then fight.'"

"But I think Yuan Chonghuan actually had an even bigger ambition, which was to trap and beat the dog."

"Think about it. Huang Taiji's long march must have been short of food and siege equipment. Moreover, Huang Taiji bypassed Jizhou like a mad dog, cutting off his own retreat. If we can trap this mad dog in the Ming Dynasty and slowly starve him to death, then there will be no need for the five-year plan to recover Liaodong. The Later Jin will simply perish."

"Let's take a look back at what Yuan Chonghuan did."

"First, we deployed defenses in Jizhou. After Huang Taiji bypassed Jizhou and cut off his own retreat, we didn't pursue him. Instead, we detoured through Hexiwu and then returned to the capital. You see, Jizhou, Hexiwu, the capital, and the Great Wall to the north form an encirclement. If we can trap Huang Taiji in this encirclement, relying on the strong defenses, we can continuously wear down this mad dog, Huang Taiji, until his army is exhausted and we can finally kill him!"

Upon hearing this, Chongzhen's eyes lit up immediately.

"Unfortunately, this dog was too ferocious. Yuan Chonghuan overestimated himself. Not only did he fail to keep the dog locked up after bringing it into the house, he also allowed the dog to bite and gnaw everywhere, injuring countless people. It even almost bit the owner of the house, Emperor Chongzhen."

"As a result, Yuan Chonghuan became a traitor who brought the wolf into the house. Not only was he executed by slow slicing by Emperor Chongzhen, but after his death, the people of the capital rushed to buy his flesh. Even though each piece of flesh sold for one qian of silver, it was quickly sold out. Moreover, people would curse him as a traitor before eating his flesh."

"Now, does this explanation make sense of Yuan Chonghuan's entire perplexing behavior?"

Emperor Chongzhen nodded in deep agreement.

Zhu Ziming said, "In fact, the failure of Yuan Chonghuan's strategy of 'closing the door to beat the dog' was not only due to Yuan Chonghuan himself, but also because Emperor Chongzhen had a lot of problems."

Emperor Chongzhen frowned: "Do I have a problem too?"

Zhu Ziming said, "Not only is there a problem, but the problem is very big."

"Faced with Huang Taiji's army at the city gates, Chongzhen appeared unusually flustered and helpless, impatient for victory, and repeatedly ordered the Ming army to leave the city to fight the Later Jin in the field."

"His impatience ran directly counter to Yuan Chonghuan's strategy of attrition. Furthermore, the countless doubts from both the court and the public overwhelmed Yuan Chonghuan like a flood, leaving him no time to catch his breath, let alone any chance of attrition."

"So, this led to all of this. Huang Taiji was like a vicious dog. He barged into the large and powerful family of the Ming Dynasty. The guard Yuan Chonghuan originally wanted to close the door and beat the dog, but unexpectedly, he let this vicious dog in. Not only could he not kill it, but the vicious dog also bit people, stole things, and almost bit the master. So everyone blamed Yuan Chonghuan and urged him to drive the dog away. For this, the master even executed Yuan Chonghuan. In the end, the vicious dog stole enough, ate its fill, and swaggered away."

"If it happened again, how do you think you should deal with this mad dog?"