Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 142 It's lamentable that the Southern Dynasty was full of cowards, who only used their flesh and blood to build a high platform!

In late December, the imperial court should have been busy preparing for the annual financial settlement, the performance evaluation of officials, and the grand court assembly, but it was overshadowed by the war in Liaoxi.

Huang Taiji estimated the time and retreated from Shanhaiguan. Before retreating, he captured fortresses such as Balipu, Tiechangpu, Yong'anbao, and Sanshanyingbao. Because Huang Taiji advanced diagonally into Shanhaiguan, the garrison troops in these fortresses, which were originally outposts of Shanhaiguan, were unable to retreat in time, and all 539 garrison troops were wiped out.

The garrisons at Qiantun, Zhongqiansuo, and Zhonghousuo numbered only a little over a thousand. Facing Huang Taiji's 20,000 cavalry, they were already living in fear and trembling as they cowered in self-preservation, let alone offering any assistance!

Huang Taiji erected pillars in front of Shanhaiguan to hang the corpses of Ming soldiers, and built a mound in front of the Jiangnu Temple to watch over the dead, inscribing words of mockery on the walls:

The Qin built fortified cities and the Han set up passes, where the bones of ten thousand men piled up like mountains.

Is shrinking back a sign of a true man? It wastes the people's wealth protecting the cowardly and stubborn!

Iron cavalry swept across the border like the wind, leaving you all in a state of panic and sorrow as you closed the city gates.

It's a pity that the Southern Dynasties were full of scoundrels who built high platforms with their own flesh and blood!

When this poem reached the capital, the court officials were in an uproar. The pro-war faction was in unprecedented fervor, while the pro-peace faction... there was no longer a pro-peace faction in the Ming Dynasty!
Besides clamoring to go to war, the main focus was on impeaching Yuan Keli, the Liaodong military commissioner: such a big incident had occurred, the Jurchens had caused chaos in western Liaoning, and he, as the military commissioner, had not even offered an explanation.

If the Liaoxi Corridor is allowed to be entered by the Jurchens as if they were nothing, then what is the point of the imperial court spending so much manpower and resources to recover Jinzhou and build Ningyuan City? It would be better to follow the advice of Wang Zaijin and Gao Di and simply withdraw back to Shanhaiguan.

Wang Zaijin was displeased upon hearing this. He said that he had said he wanted to withdraw from Shanhaiguan, but he did not mean to completely retreat into the pass. Rather, compared to Sun Chengzong's three-pronged approach, the recovery of Liaodong, and the direct construction of a defensive line from Jinzhou, he preferred to start building a defensive line and fortresses from Shanhaiguan and advance step by step.

This was a desperate measure taken when the situation deteriorated, military preparedness was neglected, and there was no way to defend against the Jurchen's fierce attacks. Now that Ningyuan and Jinzhou have been fully fortified, how can we bring up old grievances?!

However, he was still very unhappy with Yuan Keli. He had said, "Build two mountain strongholds in the mountains as a defensive strategy. All three passes are easily passable. As the saying goes, 'Place them in a desperate situation and they will survive.' I have also said that border troops are good at fleeing."

Even if the killing cannot be stopped, and the flames of war dissipate, who will then be the one to kill? Therefore, two cities were built to secure their hearts, while in reality, they were placed in a position of certain death to encourage their unwavering resolve. I, your subject, had no reply.”

He thought that since the Liao soldiers had fled, they could be left outside Shanhaiguan, leaving them with no way to retreat and preventing them from fighting the Jurchens to the death. However, there were now two cities outside Shanhaiguan, but these cities were too well-fortified, and the Liao soldiers outside the pass still dared not fight the Jurchens.

Wang Zaijin was furious and submitted a memorial impeaching a long list of people, demanding that the emperor dismiss Yuan Keli and arrest and punish Zu Dashou and Man Gui.

"Your Majesty," Wang Zaijin declared fervently, "Yuan Keli has accomplished nothing in Liaodong for a year. Facing the Jurchens, he has shown only cowardice, refusing to fire a single arrow or utter a single word. I beg Your Majesty to dismiss him! I volunteer to be stationed in western Liaodong, to command the generals, to confront Huang Taiji, to avenge our defeat, and to strengthen our national prestige! I pledge to sign a military order: if I show any fear of the enemy, may Your Majesty behead me!!!" He was deeply offended by being compared to Gao Di. He was a defeatist strategist, but not a traitorous capitulationist; he wanted to prove he was no coward!
"Good heavens, what ambition!" Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Zaijin's boasting with great helplessness. He did not doubt that Wang Zaijin could keep his word, but he did not believe that he could really win the battle.

Previously, Zhu Youjian had wanted to appoint Wang Zaijin as the governor of Liaodong because of his "extremely pessimistic" style, but later he realized that he had misjudged him. This guy was just prone to extreme emotions.

What to do if soldiers desert? His solution was to cut off their retreat and force them to their deaths; when the enemy was strong, his plan was to shrink the defensive line, retreat to the end, and then hold on to the death; when the court showed some improvement, he wanted to fight the Jurchens to the death.

In any case, all the different approaches, whether left or right, have gone to extremes, leaving no way out for either the other party or themselves.

Zhu Youjian looked at Wang Zaijin, pondered for a long time, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Hiss, isn't this personality exactly the same as Yuan Chonghuan's? They're cut from the same mold! No wonder he admires Yuan Chonghuan so much; the two of them have a mutual respect for each other!"

Speaking of this, we must criticize Sun Chengzong again. Whether it was Wang Zaijin or Yuan Chonghuan, they were all discovered and promoted by Sun Chengzong. During the years when Sun Chengzong was in charge of Liaodong, he discovered a large number of talents, such as Man Gui, Zu Dashou, Zhao Shuaijiao, Mao Yuanyi, Ma Shilong, Yan Mingtai, Shen Yourong, and Cao Wenzhao.

Wang Zaijin was talented and relatively loyal to the Ming Dynasty, which is why Zhu Youjian kept him around despite his constant dissent. You can disagree, but you still have to do the work; you may have opinions, but I can ignore them.

However, Yuan Keli had been out of office and idle at home for too long, and his network of relationships in the court had fallen apart. Wang Zaijin was not the only one who impeached him.

He initially partnered with Li Banghua, the governor of Tianjin, to develop the Dengzhou-Laizhou navy over three years, building 4,000 ships. Together with Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Town, they recovered Lushun, Jinzhou, and Gaizhou. However, he was betrayed by Mao Wenlong and implicated in factional strife, and is now facing constant impeachment, just like he is now.

Tired of being impeached, Yuan Keli submitted seven memorials resigning his post and quitting. As a result, less than two years after his strike, the Dengzhou-Laizhou Navy mysteriously lost more than half of its ships, and within a few short years, the Dengzhou-Laizhou Navy fell into disrepair.

For the Ming Dynasty to accomplish anything is a long and arduous process, like building a tower from grains of sand; but to destroy it is a matter of a single moment. This was true of the Dengzhou-Laizhou navy, as well as Sun Chengzong's Guan-Ning army and the three-way deployment.

Besides refusing to fight, Yuan Keli has also gone missing. Even if you have your reasons for having to avoid battle, shouldn't you at least explain it to the court?
The road from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan has now been reopened. When the Shanhaiguan officials inquired about the situation in Ningyuan, Man Gui gave vague and evasive answers, claiming ignorance. He only stated that the military governor was not in Ningyuan, and that the Jurchens had withdrawn their troops from Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan but had not returned home; Jinzhou remained under siege.

Previously, the ministers impeached Yuan Keli for being weak, avoiding battle, and cowardly. Now, the tide has turned again, and the impeachment has become about Yuan Keli's accusations of abusing his military power and plotting a rebellion. During the Tianqi era, "abusing his military power" was one of the reasons for impeaching Yuan Keli, and now this situation is being repeated.

Even Zhu Xieyuan and Bi Ziyan privately asked the emperor what was going on, as they themselves were not at ease with Yuan Keli.

Public opinion can be incredibly powerful; under any other emperor, things might have really escalated to a fever pitch. But Zhu Youjian was different. He chose to believe Yuan Keli; after all, there weren't that many traitors!
However, Zhu Youjian faced a constant stream of impeachments as soon as he entered the court, and had to tirelessly appease the officials. He was truly exhausted and could no longer keep up, so he simply gave up and hid in the inner palace.

(End of this chapter)