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

Chapter 472 Nightmare
Zhu Shenzhui was proceeding step by step. The Ming Dynasty had blocked its borders due to an outbreak of smallpox on the grassland, but it did not affect the Ming Dynasty's border areas, especially Shanxi.

In Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji-Liao, was extremely nervous because Huang Taiji of Liaodong had started to send troops again. He had just sold so much grain to Huang Taiji a few months ago. He originally thought that he could use this method to appease Huang Taiji and stabilize the situation in Liaodong, and then ease the relationship between the two sides through peace talks. It would be best if Huang Taiji could take the initiative to submit to the Ming Dynasty and return part of the Liaodong territory of the Ming Dynasty that he had previously occupied. Although this would not achieve the goal of pacifying Liaodong in five years, it would at least give an explanation to the court.

But no one expected that Huang Taiji had no martial ethics at all. He had eaten and used Yuan Chonghuan's food and services, but now he turned against Yuan Chonghuan. Not only did he reject Yuan Chonghuan's request to continue peace talks, but he also put forward conditions that Yuan Chonghuan could not bear at all.

Just when Yuan Chonghuan was trying to find a way to continue communicating with Huang Taiji and make him make appropriate concessions, Huang Taiji's Eight Banners Army had already had a small-scale conflict with the Ming army on the Jinzhou front line, and there were obvious signs that his main force was being mobilized.

"This Jiannu! Barbarians! No credibility at all!" Huang Taiji's behavior made Yuan Chonghuan so angry that he couldn't help but curse.

He took such a huge risk, tightened his belt and even sold military rations to the other side, but the other side turned against him in the blink of an eye. How could there be such a shameless person in the world?
However, facing Huang Taiji's dispatch of troops, Yuan Chonghuan could not sit idly by. He quickly arranged for various troops to be on guard to prevent Huang Taiji from breaking through the Ningjin defense line. At the same time, to be on the safe side, he personally went from Ningyuan to Jinzhou for inspection.

After arriving in Jinzhou, Huang Taiji's Eight Banners had officially started fighting with the Ming army, and the two sides fought several battles. In these battles, the Ming army was defeated by the Eight Banners and was at a disadvantage. In the field, it was no match for the Eight Banners. Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly ordered the main force to withdraw to Jinzhou and rely on Jinzhou City for defense, which stopped the attack of the Eight Banners.

Although the losses in the battles were small and the scale was small, Yuan Chonghuan was extremely nervous because he knew that Huang Taiji's dispatch of troops this time was definitely not just a test, and from the intelligence he received, Huang Taiji mobilized a lot of troops this time, far more than what was seen.

In order to prepare for defense, Yuan Chonghuan stayed in Jinzhou for a month, and only returned to Ningyuan after the situation on the front line stabilized. As soon as he returned to Ningyuan, something made Yuan Chonghuan feel a little better, because the Liaodong war broke out again. Before going to Jinzhou, Yuan Chonghuan submitted a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, telling him not to worry at this time, saying that as long as he was there, Jinzhou would never fall.

And this is indeed the case. After Yuan Chonghuan arrived in Jinzhou, he quickly adjusted the defense deployment and stopped Huang Taiji's Eight Banners in Jinzhou. When the news reached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen was very happy. To commend Yuan Chonghuan, Emperor Chongzhen specially issued an edict to confer the title of Prince Taibao on Yuan Chonghuan.

The Prince's Grand Tutor was one of the three masters. Although this position was an honorary position, not a real title, it was enough to show that Emperor Chongzhen valued and appreciated Yuan Chonghuan. Moreover, this title was of the first rank, which meant that after Yuan Chonghuan was appointed as the Prince's Grand Tutor, he was promoted directly from the original second rank to the first rank, which was a great honor for a civil servant.

You should know that Yu Qian, who saved the Ming Dynasty from crisis, held the highest official position of the Prince's Guardian. Whenever Yu Guardian is mentioned, you know that he is talking about Yu Qian.

The fact that Emperor Chongzhen rewarded Yuan Chonghuan with the title of Prince Taibao further shows that Emperor Chongzhen had great expectations for Yuan Chonghuan. He regarded him as his own Yu Qian and hoped that Yuan Chonghuan could establish merits like Yu Qian and assist him in rebuilding the Ming Dynasty.

Yuan Chonghuan was naturally happy about his promotion. Soon, the Ji and Liao tribes also received the good news that the court had conferred the title of Prince Taibao on Yuan Chonghuan. As Yuan Chonghuan's subordinates, everyone congratulated him. Even Korea sent envoys with gifts after hearing the news, which made Yuan Chonghuan feel much better.

A banquet was set up and everyone was entertained in the governor's office. Yuan Chonghuan drank a little too much because he was happy. After being drunk, Yuan Chonghuan went to bed early and fell asleep on the bed. He slept until midnight. When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly woke up. He sat up with a terrified expression, an extremely ugly face, and gasped for breath.

After calming himself down, Yuan Chonghuan finally looked around clearly after a long while. When he found himself in the familiar bedroom bed, he breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his hand to wipe his forehead, which was covered in sweat. The terrible scene in his previous dream was still emerging in Yuan Chonghuan's mind.

This was a dream that made him feel palpitating. In the dream, Yuan Chonghuan dreamed that he was kneeling in the hall, with civil and military officials on his left and right, and sitting on the throne in front of him was Emperor Chongzhen. This emperor, who had always been kind to him in the past, was now cold and ruthless, staring at him with a pair of stern eyes like knives. Cold words without any emotion came out of the mouth of the young emperor, and he directly asked the Jinyiwei to put him in prison.

Yuan Chonghuan was shocked and cried out that he was innocent, but Emperor Chongzhen would not listen. He waved his sleeves and the Jinyiwei rushed up, knocked off the black gauze on his head, stripped off his court clothes, and directly escorted him away. Not long after he was imprisoned in the imperial prison, the imperial edict came down, listing several major crimes of Yuan Chonghuan. The two most serious ones were that he failed to fulfill his trust and relied on deception and concealment, and that he killed Mao Wenlong without authorization. As for other crimes, there were many more, and Yuan Chonghuan was finally sentenced to death.

Then, Yuan Chonghuan was tied up and taken to the market, where he was beheaded in public.

In the dream, Yuan Chonghuan could still feel the chill of the executioner's raised sword falling on his neck, and the feeling of endless darkness coming in an instant. The dream was so real and so frightening that Yuan Chonghuan could hardly tell whether he was still in a dream or back to reality after waking up.

After a long while, Yuan Chonghuan finally recovered. It was impossible for him to continue sleeping at this time. He threw back the quilt and got out of bed. He walked to the side and picked up the teapot on the table, but found that the teapot was empty.

"Somebody come!"

Yuan Chonghuan opened his mouth to shout, but a hoarse sound came out.

"My lord, what do you want?" The servant waiting outside hurriedly asked. Yuan Chonghuan coughed and cleared his throat, then said in a voice that had returned to normal: "Give me a pot of tea, strong tea!"

"Yes..." The servant responded quickly, and brought in a pot of tea a moment later.

Yuan Chonghuan asked the servant to put the tea on the table and waved his hand to let them leave. After they left, he poured himself a cup of tea from the teapot. The hot tea was steaming, but Yuan Chonghuan didn't care. He picked up the teacup, blew it twice, and drank it in small sips.

After drinking the tea, his throat felt much better, and the palpitations caused by the previous dream were also driven away by the fragrance of the tea. Yuan Chonghuan's mood gradually calmed down.

He didn't know why he had such a dream, but apart from the initial palpitations, Yuan Chonghuan, who had calmed down, couldn't help shaking his head and smiling bitterly. In his opinion, although this dream was bizarre, it was also terrifyingly real, but dreams were dreams after all, not reality. And didn't the folks say that dreams and reality are often opposites? How could things in dreams be taken seriously?

After drinking a cup of tea, Yuan Chonghuan regained his usual calmness, but he couldn't fall asleep anymore. Yuan Chonghuan simply stood up and walked to the wall beside him. There was a map hanging on the wall, which showed the terrain of the entire Ji-Liao region.

Standing in front of the map, Yuan Chonghuan was in deep thought, his gaze gradually moving up to the location of Jinzhou. After looking at Jinzhou for a long time, he looked towards the northeast, where was the territory controlled by Huang Taiji.

Although the Jinzhou defense line cannot be said to be impregnable after Yuan Chonghuan's previous inspection, it is almost the same. Although the Ming army cannot compare with the elite Eight Banners soldiers in field battles, it can still stop Huang Taiji's Eight Banners north of Jinzhou with its strong city and powerful firearms.

Moreover, the Ningjin defense line is integrated, Jinzhou is not an isolated city, and there is Ningyuan where he is now. Once there is any change in the situation in Jinzhou, Yuan Chonghuan can completely reinforce Jinzhou from Ningyuan. As long as the two cities support each other, the entire Ningjin defense line will never be broken by Huang Taiji.

From this point of view, it was simply wishful thinking for Huang Taiji to break through the Ningjin Line of Defense and threaten the interior of the country. Yuan Chonghuan did have this ability, otherwise he would not have boasted in front of Emperor Chongzhen.

However, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly thought of a question, that is, why did Huang Taiji suddenly turn against him at this time? He knew that the power of the Eight Banners could not break through the Ningjin Defense Line he set up, but he still wanted to fight?
If it is said that Huang Taiji is a brainless reckless man who only knows how to do things, Yuan Chonghuan simply does not believe it. Although he has never met Huang Taiji, the two sides have fought a lot in the past two years. Moreover, as the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, Yuan Chonghuan also knows something about the situation of Jiannu. After Huang Taiji ascended the throne, he made many adjustments within the Eight Banners, not only eliminating dissidents and potential competitors, but also firmly controlling the Eight Banners through a series of means. How could someone who can do all this be a man of courage but no strategy?
Furthermore, Yuan Chonghuan discovered the unusual movements of the Eight Banners during his inspection in Jinzhou. Although the Ming army fought several battles with the Eight Banners in Jinzhou, the scale of these battles was not large, and the losses on both sides were also small. Judging from the scale and intensity of the war, the Eight Banners did not mobilize their main forces at all, and only a part of the Eight Banners fought against the Ming army.

According to the intelligence obtained by Yuan Chonghuan, Huang Taiji mobilized the main force of the Eight Banners this time. With the scale of its main force, it is impossible for it to have such a weak combat intensity. So, what is the real purpose of Huang Taiji doing this? Could it be that Huang Taiji intends to pull out the main force to scare himself? But there is no use at all to do so. I am not scared, and Huang Taiji is not a fool. There is no point in doing so.

After thinking about it, there is only one explanation, Huang Taiji may have other plans. He mobilized the Eight Banners but did not use the main force. He was probably holding back a big move. But even if Huang Taiji was holding back a big move, what? The defense of Jinzhou was arranged by Yuan Chonghuan himself. Jinzhou City was well-equipped. Even if Huang Taiji sent out the main force to attack Jinzhou, it would be no problem to hold out for a month with the arrangement in Jinzhou. Don't forget that Ningyuan and Jinzhou are still mutually supportive. Yuan Chonghuan can send troops from Ningyuan to rescue Jinzhou at any time. In this case, Huang Taiji's desire to quickly take Jinzhou is simply wishful thinking.

(End of this chapter)