-- The book continues --

Yuan Chonghuan, the word element, the number is free, the minister and famous general in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.

Yuan Chonghuan's ancestors came from the mountain--Xilishang, from Fu-Jianninghua, Jiang-Xi-Yan-Du, Xin-Feng and Guangzhou-Zhou-Nan-Hai migrated to Dong-Dongguan Tea Garden, Wentang and other places, until Yuan Chonghuan's grandfather Yuan Shixiang began to settle in Dong-Guanshuinan, Yuan-House-Dun. The Yuan family has been farming for generations, and Yuan Chonghuan's father, Yuan Zipeng, went to Guangzhou-West-Pingnan Baimawei to open a shop and do business in the timber business, and Yuan Chonghuan also grew up there.

Yuan Chonghuan has liked military affairs since he was a child, "dreaming of attacking military strategies, fine martial arts, and good at riding and shooting".

In the twenty-fifth year of Wanli, he passed the children's examination and became a student member of Tengxian County.

In the thirty-fourth year of Wanli, Yuan Chonghuan went to Guilin, the capital of Guangxi Province, to participate in the township examination. Since then, he has participated in the examination four times, all of which are named Sun Shan.

In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Yuan Chonghuan finally passed the examination, and was awarded the same Jinshi in the palace examination with the 40th place in the top three, and watched the government in the Ministry of Industry.

When Yuan Chonghuan was appointed as Fu-Jian-Shaowuzhi County, he was "bold and courageous, carefully loved the people, redressed grievances, was good at hearing lawsuits, and was meticulous", a house was on fire, Yuan Chonghuan wore boots to go up to the house to put out the fire, "walking on the rock wall as if walking on the ground", and the disaster relief work afterwards was also "well-organized".

Until the Houjin regime established by Nurhachi arose in the northeast and captured the Liaoshen region of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Chonghuan was worried about the current situation, "only on the side of the self-promise", while waiting for the results of the plan, he decided to ride alone to Shanhaiguan to inspect the front-line situation, and returned to Beijing after about twenty years, the Houjin regime established by Nurhachi arose in the northeast and captured the Liaoshen region of the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Chonghuan was worried about the current situation, "to the side to promise himself", and decided to ride alone to Shanhaiguan to inspect the front-line situation while waiting for the results of the plan, and returned to Beijing after about twenty days

At the same time, he suggested to the imperial court to recruit the brave and warlike Liangguang infantry (10,000 people) and Guangzhou-Western wolf soldiers (5,000 people) to form an elite army, led by Yuan Yupei, the governor of his clan, and Lin Xiangfeng, the governor of Yongping Prefecture, a relative, respectively, to ensure that the victory of the Ming army in Korea and Banzhou would be repeated.

After Yuan Chonghuan took office, he was first stationed in Shanhaiguan. At that time, after the Jin conquered Guangning, Yizhou and other places, they returned to the east, and the area of western Liaoning was occupied by the Mongolian tribes such as Harashen (Karaqin). In June, the king of Liaodong Jinglu ordered Yuan Chonghuan to move to Zhongqiansuo in Jin.

Guang-Ning-Qiantunwei (now Liao-Ning-Province-Sui-Zhong-County-Qianwei Town) had many displaced Liao people who needed to be resettled.

Wang Zaijin ordered Yuan Chonghuan to go to Qiantunwei to settle the Liao.

Yuan Chonghuan "walked in the thorny tiger and leopard at night, and entered the city with four drums", and his courage was admired by the soldiers.

During this period, Yuan Chonghuan argued with Wang Zaijin because of the refugees from the Thirteen Mountains who resisted Jin and Wang Zaijin's strategy of re-shutting down. Yuan Chonghuan urged the rescue of the refugees from the Thirteen Mountains, and opposed the strategy of re-passing, advocating Ningyuan outside the customs as the fulcrum of defense. In order to resist the strategy of re-shutting down the country, he reported the situation to the cabinet chief minister in June.

At the same time, Yan Mingtai was promoted to the governor of Liaodong, and Yuan Chonghuan took over as the governor of Shanshi and prepared the road, leading the Ningqian soldiers to prepare the road. In September, Sun Chengzong arrived at the customs and arranged for Yuan Chonghuan to be responsible for the construction of the barracks, and was also responsible for the installation of the Liao people in the castles outside the pass.

In the winter of the same year, Yan Mingtai, the governor of Liaodong, ordered Yuan Chonghuan to inspect the recruits and verify the void. Yuan Chonghuan killed two privately hired replacements in the garrison Mo Dagong camp, and did not report it afterwards. When Sun Chengzong learned of this and questioned the reason, Yuan Chonghuan only said that he was ordered by the governor, and Sun Chengzong angrily scolded him for "not killing and not asking, not killing and not hearing, and not telling him if he has any radical changes."

After a period of operation and construction, Ningyuan City rose from the ground, "more than 50,000 military and civilian families, planted to 50 miles, far and near are attached."

Yuan Chonghuan proudly wrote to the cabinet ministers: "If you are in Ningyuan, Chang'an (referring to Beiping) can lie down!" ”

In August, the fifth year of the Apocalypse, the Ming army was defeated in the Battle of Liuhe, and Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly blocked the defeated soldiers and let them each return to Xindi to defend, thus preserving the cities outside the Guanwai.

In October, Sun Chengzong resigned. Yuan Chonghuan was deeply disappointed by this, and when he saw Sun Chengzong, he burst into tears and even asked to resign with him. [172] Soon after the arrival of the new Liaodong Jingluo Gaodi, he ordered the soldiers and civilians of Jinzhou, Youtunwei, Ningyuan, and Qiantunwei to enter the customs and abandon the places outside the customs.

Nurhachi, who had not attacked Ming in a big way for four years, personally conquered western Liao, and crossed the Liao River on the 17th.

Yuan Chonghuan killed the deserters who retreated from the battle, and moved Zhao Shujiao, the chief soldier of the former tun guard, and Yang Qi, the chief soldier of the Shanhaiguan, saying that anyone who saw a deserter would be arrested and executed as a spy.

In the pre-war mobilization, Yuan Chonghuan stabbed blood as a book, bowed down to all the soldiers, and ate grass to inspire them: "Gou can defend with one heart, I am a cattle and sheep to repay, and I am also willing!" The soldiers were moved and asked to fight to the death.

Soon Nurhachi's army arrived at the city of Ningyuan, stationed five miles northwest of the city, claiming that he had 200,000 troops, and persuaded Yuan Chonghuan to surrender, but Yuan Chonghuan replied that Nurhachi was no more than 130,000 troops and refused to surrender.

In the next three days, Nurhachi attacked Ningyuan with chariots and heavy cavalry, and Yuan Chonghuan commanded the Ming army to return fire with firearms such as Hongyi cannons and firearms, and continued to use stones to block the holes carved by the Houjin army in the city wall, the stubborn resistance of the Ningyuan army and civilians caused heavy casualties to the Houjin army, Nurhachi had to decide to withdraw to Shenyang on the 27th, and before the withdrawal, he also sent troops to cross the frozen sea and kill all the soldiers and civilians on Juehua Island to vent his anger.

Previously, the Ming court had no hope for Ningyuan's defense, but Yuan Chonghuan commanded the Ming army to win the first head-to-head victory against Houjin since the Battle of Sarhu, so he was called "Ningyuan Qijie" or "Ningyuan Great Victory" by the Ming side.

The good news came to Beiping, the government and the opposition cheered, Ming Xizong said, "This seven or eight years have never been, deep enough for the closure of the frontier exhalation", and added Yuan Chonghuan to the right of the Imperial Historical Title.

Yuan Chonghuan asked for resignation, but Ming Xizong did not allow it.

On the ninth day of the first month of March, Yuan Chonghuan was ordered to patrol Liaodong, Shanhai and other places, and gave him the right to act cheaply.

In Ningyuan, he blocked the offensive of Houjin Khan Nurhachi, achieved a great victory in Ningyuan, and was promoted to the governor of Liaodong for his merits.

After the Battle of Ningyuan, Yuan Chonghuan originally planned to unify the power of Liaodong, and with the support of Wang Yongguang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, he began to discuss the plan of abolishing the Jinglu and the general army, and unifying all the powers in Liaodong, but Xizong did not listen to this discussion, and first sent six eunuchs to serve as supervisors, and then changed Jingluo to the supervisor, and replaced Gaodi with Wang Zhichen, who was above Yuan Chonghuan.

In addition, after Nurhachi's death, Yuan Chonghuan wanted to "take the opportunity to attack" on the occasion of the change of the throne of the Later Jin Khan, and first used his power to act cheaply and sent Lama Li to Shenyang to spy on the reality of the Later Jin Dynasty in the name of paying tribute to Nurhachi.

Wei Zhongxian, the great eunuch in power, supported Yuan Chonghuan's claim, so the Ming and Jin sides began to negotiate peace in December, during which Yuan Chonghuan first repaired the two cities of Songshan and Xingshan, and then the three cities of Jinzhou, Dalinghe, and Xiaolinghe.

In order to get support, Yuan Chonghuan's position gradually tended to be "eunuchs", and since the end of October, almost every time he went to the court, he had to praise Wei Zhongxian, and even said that "the ministers of Ningyuan this spring are in the battle of Ningyuan, and the ministers are also plotting

When the news of the Later Jin's invasion of Chaoxian came, he ordered Xu Yongzeng, Zhang Binliang, and Wang Zhu, the commanders of the Shuiying Prefecture, to lead 20 boats and 500 soldiers to the vanguard to aid Chaoxian in the east, but Chaoxian reached a peace agreement with Houjin in early March.

Ming Xizong listened to the advice of Feng Jiahui, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and ordered Yuan Chonghuan to take advantage of the Houjin to "sweep away the nest and void, select the elite of Guanning, choose the wise and brave generals, ride lightly into the pound, the soldier Chen He, and continue to help the enemy, so as to relieve the urgency of the subject country by taking the slaves".

At the same time, the peace negotiations between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin broke down, and Huang Taiji accused Yuan Chonghuan of "falsely claiming reconciliation and taking advantage of the city", and in May led his troops to attack the newly built Jinzhou and other cities. Yuan Chonghuan ordered Zhao to move to Jinzhou, along with Zuo Fu and Zhu Mei, and repelled the siege of Houjin on May 12. Later, Huang Taiji besieged but did not attack, Yuan Chonghuan mobilized troops and sent Man Gui, You Shilu and others to rescue Jinzhou twice, but they were unsuccessful. On May 27, after leaving troops to continue to surround Jinzhou, Huang Taiji led tens of thousands of troops to attack Ningyuan. Yuan Chonghuan advocated defending the city according to the previous year's style of play, but Man Gui insisted on taking the initiative to attack, and in the process of arguing, Yuan Chonghuan's arrow was broken.

In the end, Yuan Chonghuan sat in the city, and the generals of Man Gui, You Shilu, and Zu Dashou went out of the city to meet the enemy, bravely killing the enemy, and the power of the Hongyi cannon, the Houjin army lost in the siege battle on the 28th and 29th. Later, Huang Taiji returned to attack Jinzhou, but was repelled by Zhao Shujiao. On the fifth day of the first month of June, Huang Taiji withdrew his troops and demolished the unfinished cities of Dalinghe and Xiaolinghe along the way.

Just when Yuan Chonghuan returned to his hometown, Ming Xizong died, and his younger brother Xin Wang Zhu Youzhen succeeded to the throne, Wei Zhongxian was eradicated, and at the same time, many officials asked Yuan Chonghuan to deal with Houjin, to the point of "Zhangman bus".

Emperor Chongzhen officially appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the right capital of the Imperial History, and added the right attendant Lang Shi to the Ministry of Soldiers, and Emperor Chongzhen will "reward the marquis", and the four auxiliary ministers Li Biao, Qian Longxi, Zhou Daodeng, and Liu Hongxun also praised Yuan Chonghuan as a "strange man".

On the occasion of Yuan Chonghuan's departure from Beijing, he wrote a poem "The courtier's heart is expected to serve the country, and he vows to sing a triumphant return". On the way to take office, he caught up with the outbreak of the Ningyuan Mutiny, and the governor of Liaodong, Bi Zisu, committed suicide. Yuan Chonghuan staged a mutiny on the 2nd day of August, and then rushed to Shanhaiguan.

Yuan Chonghuan adopted a prudent approach, consulted with Guo Guang of Ning Qiandao, and recruited Yang Zhengchao and Zhang Sishun, who were the first evildoers, to confess the list of rebels and atone for their crimes. Yang, Zhang and Pantuo. On the 18th, Tian Rudong, Shu Chaolan, Song Zhongyi, Li Youren, Zhang Wenyuan and others were arrested, and Yuan Chonghuan ordered Guo Guang to identify them in court, all of which were the first evil of the day.

After Yuan Chonghuan took office, he also faced a thorny problem, that is, how to deal with Mao Wenlong, the commander-in-chief of the Dongjiang River.

Soon after Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, peace talks with Houjin broke down because the two sides had no room for negotiation on the issue of the return of Liaodong, and bilateral relations were strained again. Yuan Chonghuan had consolidated the defense of the Guanning area, but he was very worried about the defense of the Jizhou area near Beijing, so Yuan Chonghuan immediately sent the general Xie Shangzheng and others to lead 3,000 troops to Jizhou to assist in the defense. However, the governor of Suncheon, Wang Yuanya, thought that the alarm was inaccurate and ordered him to return.

In order to reward Yuan Chonghuan for his contribution to the defense of Houjin, Emperor Chongzhen crowned him as the crown prince.

——To be continued——