Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 431: Promise to Ping Liao
The war between the Solon tribe and the Qing Dynasty began.

Huang Taiji conquered the Solon tribe and mobilized the Eight Banners to march northward.

The leader of the Solon tribe, Bomubogo, who had been prepared for a long time, did not engage in a head-on battle with the Eight Banners. He knew very well that the Solon tribe had no chance of winning in a head-on battle, so Bomubogo led all the young and old in the tribe to continue migrating northward, retreating to the north of the Heilongjiang River and even to the Yaksa area.

As the tribal leader, Bomubogo led his people to wage guerrilla warfare against the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty in the south of Heilongjiang River. They fought several battles. Although the Solon tribe was powerful and caused some losses to the Eight Banners, the Eight Banners had a large number of people and the coordination of tactics still forced the Solon tribe to continuously shrink its range of activities. Finally, they had no choice but to abandon the area south of Heilongjiang River and retreat to the north bank.

In the first expedition, Huang Taiji failed to conquer the Solon tribe, but he did achieve his initial goal. At least he forced the Solon tribe to abandon their original living place and retreat to an even more bitter and cold area.

At the same time, Huang Taiji swept the area south of Heilongjiang River and captured many of the Solon people who had not had time to retreat northward. All of them moved southward and were directly incorporated into the Eight Banners. In addition, capturing the wild Jurchens in the mountains and forests was also Huang Taiji's main purpose. The shortage of people in the Eight Banners had never been completely changed. The wild Jurchens could supplement the population of the Eight Banners, which was what the Qing Dynasty had been doing. In addition to subduing the Solon people, capturing a large number of wild Jurchens was also very important in this crusade against the Solon tribe.

While Huang Taiji was sweeping the north, Yuan Chonghuan, who had returned to his hometown to recuperate, had arrived in the capital.

After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he quickly resolved the problems of Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch party. After getting rid of Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Chongzhen had to consider the issue of Liaodong. Before Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, Yuan Chonghuan resigned on the grounds of illness, resigned from the post of Liaodong Governor, packed his bags and left Liaodong, returning to his hometown to "recuperate."

After Yuan Chonghuan left, there was a shortage of people to govern Liaodong. The court was still controlled by Wei Zhongxian at the time, so Wang Zhichen, the governor of Liaodong, was asked to temporarily take over the post of governor.

However, Wang Zhichen did not stay in this position for too long. Since Wang Zhichen was a person brought in by Wei Zhongxian, Emperor Chongzhen naturally could not use him. After Wei Zhongxian's downfall, Wang Zhichen naturally lost his backing. In addition, after Wang Zhichen succeeded Yuan Chonghuan, the war in Liaodong was very unfavorable. Soon the Battle of Jinxing broke out between the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. The Ming army actually suffered little loss in this battle, but later Wang Zhichen ordered the Ming army to voluntarily abandon Jinzhou, Xingshan, Tashan, Youtun and other places. When the news came, Emperor Chongzhen was furious. Emperor Chongzhen, who had planned to deal with Wang Zhichen, directly dismissed him from his post and had him escorted to the capital for questioning.

After Wang Zhichen stepped down, Bi Zisu succeeded him as the Governor of Liaodong.

Bi Zisu was once a subordinate of Yuan Chonghuan. Before Yuan Chonghuan became the governor of Liaodong, he was the Ningqian Military Preparations Commissioner, and Bi Zisu was the councilor of the Ningqian Military Preparations Commissioner at that time. From this point of view, Bi Zisu was Yuan Chonghuan's chief of staff and participated in the Battle of Ningyuan that year.

After the Battle of Ningyuan, Yuan Chonghuan was first promoted to Governor of Liaodong, and soon after he was promoted to Liaodong Military Governor. As Yuan Chonghuan's assistant, Bi Zisu also rose to a higher position and directly succeeded Yuan Chonghuan as the Ningqian Military Preparations Commissioner.

After Wang Zhichen left his post, the court had no one available, so they took a fancy to Bi Zisu. Emperor Chongzhen appointed Bi Zisu as the governor of Liaodong to replace Wang Zhichen and temporarily take charge of Liaodong's military and political affairs. In the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, Bi Zisu had been in Liaodong for quite a long time, had served as Yuan Chonghuan's right-hand man, had a good understanding of Liaodong's military affairs, and had participated in the Battle of Ningyuan. He should be a good candidate.

Bi Zisu was appointed as the governor of Liaodong after he became a minister of the king, and was in charge of Liaodong's military affairs temporarily. However, Bi Zisu's ability was limited, and he was forced to take the post of governor of Liaodong. With Yuan Chonghuan's arrival in the capital, Emperor Chongzhen had the most suitable person to govern Liaodong.

When Yuan Chonghuan was still on his way back, some people in the court kept recommending that Yuan Chonghuan be the commander of the Liaodong army. The number of memorials submitted to the court was so large that it could be seen that everyone in the court had high expectations for Yuan Chonghuan.

It was also for this reason that Emperor Chongzhen himself had great expectations for Yuan Chonghuan. After soliciting opinions from the cabinet elders, before Yuan Chonghuan arrived in the capital, Emperor Chongzhen issued a new decree, rewarding Yuan Chonghuan with the position of commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to compensate for his contribution to Ningjin.

That was not all. A few days later, Emperor Chongzhen issued another decree, directly appointing Yuan Chonghuan as the Minister of War and Right Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, supervising military affairs in Jiliao, Denglai, Tianjin and other places, replacing Wang Zhichen who had been dismissed previously.

From then on, before Yuan Chonghuan even arrived in the capital, he had already taken the position of commander-in-chief of Ji-Liao.

This was the position Yuan Chonghuan had always dreamed of, and the previous person who held this position in the Ming Dynasty was the famous Sun Chengzong. Now Yuan Chonghuan finally got this position, and he received the imperial edict halfway through the journey, which made Yuan Chonghuan feel deeply moved and proud.

After receiving the imperial edict, Yuan Chonghuan rushed to the capital at full speed. After arriving in the capital, he was exhausted and had no time to rest before he received the news that Emperor Chongzhen wanted to see him.

On the platform, Emperor Chongzhen summoned all the ministers. In addition to the cabinet elders and officials from the ministries and departments, Yuan Chonghuan, who had just arrived in the capital, was also among them.

The young Emperor Chongzhen sat down and looked towards where the ministers were standing not far away. He asked directly whether Yuan Chonghuan had arrived.

"Your Majesty, I, Yuan Chonghuan, pay my respects to Your Majesty..." Upon hearing the voice, Yuan Chonghuan hurried out to pay his respects.

"Are you Yuan Chonghuan?" Emperor Chongzhen looked at the man in front of him with a sharp gaze. Yuan Chonghuan, who was wearing court robes, was not very noticeable among the ministers. He was short and dark-skinned, with a weathered face but surprisingly bright eyes, which made Emperor Chongzhen look at him for a long time.

"This Yuan Chonghuan has such a great reputation, but he doesn't look that good. No wonder some people say he is a southern barbarian." Emperor Chongzhen thought so in his heart, but a smile appeared on his face. As the saying goes, you can't judge a book by its cover, and you can't measure the depth of the sea. He had heard Yuan Chonghuan's name so many times in recent days that his ears were callused, and today he finally saw him.

"My dear Yuan, please come closer so I can have a better look at you." Emperor Chongzhen waved at Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan did not act in fear. Instead, he walked forward a few steps without hesitation. He did not stop until he stood in front of Emperor Chongzhen, with his back straight and a calm look on his face.

"Great! What a person who remains calm in the face of a huge crisis! Perhaps that is why he has made such great achievements in Liaodong." Yuan Chonghuan's move not only did not disgust Emperor Chongzhen, but on the contrary made Emperor Chongzhen very happy and he even had a good impression of Yuan Chonghuan.

"Yuan Chonghuan!"

"Chen is here!"

"I heard that you have been in Liaodong for many years. In the previous victory at Ningyuan, you injured the chieftain Nurhaci with cannonballs, causing him to be seriously injured and die. You have made great contributions. The ministers in the court have praised you a lot these days and recommended you to govern Liaodong. Is this true?"

Yuan Chonghuan calmly saluted Emperor Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, the Battle of Ningyuan was not won by me alone. It was won by the unity of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians in Liaodong, and the support of the late emperor and the great men in the court. At that time, I was the governor of Liaodong, and it was my duty to garrison Ningyuan. My small contributions are nothing."

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was even happier. Yuan Chonghuan's attitude was magnanimous, and it seemed that he was indeed a talented person.

"Although you are like this, your contributions are real. Although I have just ascended the throne, I have heard of your name. Now that Wei Zhongxian and his eunuch party have been eliminated, the court of our Ming Dynasty is clear and bright, and it is the time for revival. But the Jiannu in Liaodong has been eyeing us covetously, which is a great threat to our Ming Dynasty. Since you have been in Liaodong for a long time and have fought many battles with the Jiannu, even the old slave died at your hands before, I think you are not unfamiliar with the war in Liaodong. Today I want to ask you how to solve the Liaodong problem and how to completely pacify the Hu. I wonder if you have anything to teach me?"

"Your Majesty, I am deeply honored and dare not talk about religion." Yuan Chonghuan bowed quickly.

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hands with a smile and said generously: "It's okay. Today's summons is not a court meeting. You can speak freely."

"Your humble servant obeys your command." Yuan Chonghuan bowed again and said, "Since Your Majesty has asked me, I will speak freely. In my humble servant's opinion, although the Jiannu in Liaodong have been causing trouble for many years, they are not incapable of being dealt with. No matter how arrogant they were in the past, they have now become dry bones in the tomb. Our Ming Dynasty is rich, with a vast territory, many soldiers and generals, and is simply not comparable to the Jiannu. I think the Jiannu threat is only temporary, Your Majesty does not need to worry about it..."

At this point, Yuan Chonghuan secretly raised his eyes to look at Emperor Chongzhen. Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen was smiling and in a good mood, he felt more relieved and continued, "If Your Majesty can entrust the affairs of Liaodong to me, I will use my power to wipe out the Jiannu in Liaodong for Your Majesty, and the whole Liao will be restored!"

As soon as these words came out, Emperor Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly asked: "Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!" Yuan Chonghuan stood firmly, with a confident look: "As long as Your Majesty trusts me, I can do it naturally."

"Then how long will it take for your bureau to completely pacify Liaodong?"

Yuan Chonghuan stretched out his left hand without hesitation: "It's only five years! I only need five years to pacify Liaodong and chop off the head of the Jiannu chieftain and present it to Your Majesty!"

"Good! Good! Good!"

Emperor Chongzhen was so happy that his eyes lit up. He clapped his hands and praised loudly, saying, "You are truly the pillar of the country! If you can really pacify Liao within five years, I will not let you down. Today, I will make a promise to you in front of all the ministers. After you pacify Liao, I will not hesitate to reward you with a title of nobility to show your merit!"

"In that case, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your generous gift." Yuan Chonghuan still replied with a smile, and respectfully saluted Emperor Chongzhen, which made Emperor Chongzhen even happier and more satisfied with Yuan Chonghuan.

(End of this chapter)