The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 299 Borrowing Money to Resist the Qing Dynasty
To be honest, when the Later Jin entered the pass, Zhu Youjian originally did not intend to send Lu Xiangshan north to defend the emperor.

Lu Xiangshan and Hong Chengchou were the core commanders in the bandit suppression campaign. If they came to the emperor's aid, what would happen to the bandits?
It should be understood that in Chongzhen's mind, the Eastern barbarians beyond the Great Wall were certainly hateful, but Liaodong was, after all, a harsh and desolate border region, and its temporary loss was tolerable.

After all, Liaodong wasn't lost under his watch, so the blame can't be pinned on him.

But the bandits led by Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were a different story.

This group of peasants wreaked havoc in the heart of the Ming Dynasty, destroying production, ravaging prefectures and counties, and undermining the foundation of taxation.

Among them, the petty thief surnamed Jiang is the most hateful, as he has already established a separatist regime.

Originally, Chongzhen planned to send Lu Xiangshan and Hong Chengchou to attack Sichuan from two directions. Even if they could not annihilate the Sichuan rebels in one battle, they would not allow Jiang Han to develop in peace.

But to everyone's surprise, the thieves Li Zicheng and Xian Yu took this opportunity to destroy the ancestral graves of the Zhu family in Fengyang.

This is a matter of paramount political importance, concerning the legitimacy of the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing that the bandits were about to threaten Southern Zhili and the Jiangnan region, Zhu Youjian abandoned his plan to advance into Sichuan.

If the bandits were to conquer Jiangnan and cut off the grain transport, then the north would be completely finished.

Left with no other choice, Emperor Chongzhen could only send troops to suppress Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong.

Compared to the Later Jin forces far away in Liaodong, these bandits are the real threat and must be eliminated first.

Therefore, when the Qing army first entered the pass, Emperor Chongzhen gritted his teeth and withstood the pressure, and did not send Lu Xiangshan and Hong Chengchou to the capital to defend the emperor.

According to news from the front lines, the number of Qing troops entering the pass this time is not large. Presumably, the garrison troops in Xuanfu, Jizhen and other places should be able to hold out.

However, reality slapped Zhu Youjian hard in the face.

In April of the ninth year of the Chongzhen reign, while Lu Xiang-sheng was still struggling to suppress the remnants of Gao Ying-xiang's forces in the Yunxiang Mountains, Ajige led 20,000 elite troops and swaggered into Xuanfu territory from Dushikou.

The Qing army advanced as if they were in an empty field, and none of the garrison troops at the border forts along the way dared to fight back.

Upon hearing the news, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu, Yang Guozhu, was greatly alarmed and immediately reported the situation to Liang Tingdong, the Governor-General of Xuanfu and Datong.

Liang Tingdong responded quickly upon receiving the alarm.

Based on past experience, he judged that the Qing army's entry into the pass this time was most likely the same as the previous two times, with the intention of plundering the Xuanfu and Datong areas and making a quick profit before leaving.

Therefore, he immediately ordered Wang Pu, the general of Datong, to lead his troops to reinforce Xuanfu.

At this time, Wang Pu was in the Shahu Pass area, using the pretext of "trading horses in the border trade" to plot and kill Tumed Mongols who came to trade, engaging in the despicable act of killing innocent people and claiming credit for their services.

Upon receiving orders from his superior, Wang Pu dared not delay and immediately led his troops eastward to Xuanfu.

Although Wang Pu presented himself as loyal to the emperor and devoted to the country, he was secretly scheming how to preserve his strength without being impeached by the military supervisor.

However, when he rushed to Xuanfu, he was surprised to find that something seemed wrong.

The main force of the Qing army that entered the pass seemed to have no intention of getting entangled in the Xuanda area for too long.

After Ajige led his troops into the pass, he did not attack any town, but instead headed east and directly attacked Yanqing Prefecture, the northwest gateway to the capital!

During this period, Yang Guozhu, the general of Xuanfu, was quite active. He imitated Yuan Chonghuan's "tactic of exhausting the enemy" in Liaodong and sent troops seven times, each with several hundred men, to harass and delay the Qing army.

However, Ajige had a clear objective. He simply sent troops to disperse these small-scale raids or ignored them altogether, so his marching speed was not affected at all.

Yang Guozhu was terrified when he saw the Qing army's advance pointing directly towards the capital.

If the capital falls, even ten heads wouldn't be enough to chop off his head.

Left with no other choice, Yang Guozhu had to bite the bullet and personally lead the five thousand elite troops from the core of Xuanfu Town to intercept the Qing army.

But how could a mere five thousand Ming soldiers be a match for the elite Eight Banners troops at their peak?
The two armies clashed near Qingyangkou. The Xuanfu troops collapsed at the first contact, with more than 400 killed on the spot and countless others fleeing.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Yang Guozhu quickly gathered his defeated troops and retreated directly into the fortified city of Xuanfu, no longer daring to show his face.

Ajige was too lazy to attack the city, since their purpose was to plunder and draw the Ming army's attention.

Along the way, the Qing army burned, killed, and looted in the surrounding rural areas, seizing a total of more than 15,000 people and livestock.

Ajige ordered the spoils of war to be delivered to the nearest pass along the Great Wall and handed over to the troops specifically assigned to meet them at the Great Wall.

In order to attract the attention of the Ming court as much as possible, Ajige did not hesitate and led his army straight to Changping Prefecture.

Changping is no ordinary place.

At the foot of Tianshou Mountain here are the tombs of all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty from Emperor Chengzu onwards, and it is also the location of the "dragon vein" of the Ming Dynasty.

The Changping garrison dared not retreat as easily as the Xuanfu troops. If they ran away and their ancestral tombs were destroyed, it would be a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their families!
Therefore, the garrison commander of Changping urgently deployed defenses while simultaneously requesting reinforcements from the capital.

When the news reached the Forbidden City, Zhu Youjian was so shocked that he almost jumped off the dragon throne.

The painful memories of the Jisi Incident and the destruction of Fengyang flooded back instantly. Was the nightmare about to repeat itself?
Emperor Chongzhen dared not delay. He immediately ordered Zhang Yuanzuo, the Vice Minister of War, to go to Changping to oversee the troops, and also sent his trusted eunuch Wei Guozheng to Tianshou Mountain Imperial Mausoleum to supervise the battle and ensure the safety of the mausoleum.

Ironically, Wei Guozheng, the eunuch who was repeatedly criticized by the civil officials, did not dare to delay for a moment after receiving the order and immediately set off for Tianshou Mountain.

Zhang Yuanzuo, the Vice Minister of War whom Emperor Chongzhen had placed high hopes on, inexplicably dawdled in the capital for three whole days before setting off.

Upon learning of this, Emperor Chongzhen flew into a rage in the palace, roaring at his cabinet ministers:
"You all spend your days attacking my appointment of eunuchs, but now do you see clearly who is truly dedicated to serving me?!"

However, both the loyal and diligent Wei Guozheng and the lazy Zhang Yuanzuo were a step too late.

Before they could even reach their posts, Changping had already fallen, and the speed of the fall was astonishing.

The fall of Changping can be seen as a clear microcosm of the corruption in the officialdom and the neglect of military preparedness at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, various rumors have been circulating in Liaodong, Jizhou, Xuanfu and other places.

The civil and military officials of this border town have always claimed that Nurhaci and Li Yongfang, among others, were able to manipulate people's hearts, leading to the surrender of the city by internal traitors.

In the early stages of Nurhaci's rise to power, this was mostly an excuse fabricated by defeated generals to shirk responsibility.

At that time, the Later Jin was merely a peripheral force, and no one with a modicum of sense would easily submit to it.

But times have changed. After several crushing defeats, many officers, soldiers, and even civilians in the eastern border towns of the Ming Dynasty gradually came to recognize a harsh reality:

The Ming army was truly no match for the Qing army in open field battles.

And Huang Taiji, the "Tartar Emperor" from beyond the Great Wall, seemed to have a real chance of conquering the Central Plains.

From this time onward, the number of people with quick wit and agility began to quietly increase.

When Ajige's army arrived in the Tianshou Mountain area, they questioned the local people they had captured and learned that there was an unfinished imperial mausoleum there. They were overjoyed.

This imperial mausoleum is the De Mausoleum of the Tianqi Emperor.

Abatai immediately suggested that the Jin Dynasty imperial tombs that he and Sahalian had worshipped during the Jisi Incident were destroyed on the orders of this Tianqi Emperor.

The Jin Dynasty was nominally the ancestor of the Later Jin, so why not vent our anger?
Ajige readily accepted the advice and immediately led his army straight to Deling, burning and destroying all the buildings on the ground, including the ancestral hall, the stele pavilion, and the Minglou.

However, due to a lack of professional tomb raiding knowledge, the group could not find the entrance to the underground palace and had to give up.

In the mausoleum area, Ajige also captured hundreds of soldiers guarding the mausoleum, but upon closer inspection, they turned out to be all Mongols!
Ajige was dumbfounded. How did you Mongols end up guarding the mausoleum of the Ming emperor?
Could it be to repay the small annual reward that the carpenter emperor gave you?
After careful questioning, he learned that these Mongolians were actually Mongolian refugees from southern Mongolia.

Because the tribe suffered from the White Disaster and could not survive, they risked being beheaded and sought refuge with the Ming Dynasty.

A border patrol censor named Wang Zhaokun and a border patrol eunuch took in these Mongolian refugees, gave them food, and enrolled them in the roster to replace the hard laborers of the Beijing garrison who worked for the nobles, and to be responsible for guarding the imperial tombs.

Upon hearing this, Ajige's eyes lit up, and a plan came to mind.

He addressed the group of Mongolian refugees:

"Fine, we can't dig up this grave anyway."

"If you want to eat the imperial grain of my Great Qing Dynasty, then take a risk for me, run back to Changping City, and find a way to open the city gates."

"As soon as the city gates open, I will take you in and give you food!"

The group of desperate Mongolian refugees hit it off immediately with Ajige and agreed to the agreement.

So, this special group of inside agents hurriedly fled to Changping.

At this time, the eunuch Wang Xizhong and the general Chao Pichang were stationed in Changping.

Faced with this group of Mongol barbarians who had fled from Tianshou Mountain, Wang and Chao not only had no suspicions, but instead grasped at them as if they were a lifeline, and without saying a word, they took them all into the city.

The two of them were not capable of doing this because they were stupid.

They were forced by circumstances and had no other choice but to urgently need manpower to help defend the city.

These two individuals, along with the officials stationed in Changping, were so corrupt that they were essentially drawing salaries without working, leaving them with no one to command.

Originally, according to the records of the imperial court, there should have been 3,000 troops stationed in Changping, and another 2,000 Mongol barbarians guarding the mausoleum at Tianshou Mountain.

But in reality, due to embezzlement at all levels, the actual garrison in Changping City numbered only a pitiful three hundred!
However, there were more than fifty civil and military officials in the city!

Although Chao Pichang was nominally the commander-in-chief of a garrison, he only had about 150 warhorses at his disposal.

Such an absurd ratio of officers to soldiers and such a huge disparity in troop strength made it impossible for Wang Xizhong and Chao Pichang to figure out how to defend the city.

They viewed any external force as reinforcement.

When this group of Mongols came to surrender, not a single person in the city stood up to question them, accusing them of being traitors.

They didn't dare to think in that direction at all, and even subconsciously refused to question it.

The situation in Changping also explains why the actions of Zhang Yuanzuo, the Vice Minister of War, and Wei Guozheng, the eunuch, were inconsistent.

As a eunuch, Wei Guozheng may not have been fully aware of the inside story of Changping, which is why he appeared to be courageous and responsible, setting off on time.

As a civil official, and a high-ranking official in the Ministry of War, how could Zhang Yuanzu be unaware of the situation in Changping?

On the contrary, Zhang Yuanzuo knew perfectly well that going to Changping meant certain death.

That's why he dawdled in the capital for three days. Once the city fell, he wouldn't have to go to Changping to die.

And so, Ajige, a fierce general, led 20,000 elite troops to attack, but without a single battle, Changping fell without a fight.

He witnessed the whole farce.

The Qing army's siege caused extreme panic within the city, and hundreds of Mongol collaborators suddenly turned against the city, causing the defending troops to scatter in panic.

As for the more than fifty Ming officials in the city, they were all slaughtered by this group of Mongol refugees.

Upon seeing this, Ajige couldn't help but sigh repeatedly, wishing that the Ming army in Liaodong had dealt with things in the same way.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, General Chao Pichang tried to break out of the city with his personal guards, but he was caught red-handed by Ajige as soon as he left the city and captured alive on the spot.

Chao Pichang was terrified and shouted repeatedly, "I am willing to surrender! I am willing to surrender!"

Ajige merely glanced at him contemptuously before turning to his men and giving orders:
"When you send prisoners to the border in a few days, tell His Majesty that although this man is a general, he is actually a good-for-nothing."

"His Majesty loves to play tricks on surrendered generals, like offering them food and clothing."

"Your Majesty, please don't lower yourself to such a lowly person. This incompetent fool is truly unworthy."

Thus, after Chao Pichang was captured, no one in the Qing court respected him, and he was never given any important position again, disappearing from historical records.

After capturing Changping, Ajige was overjoyed and continued to lead his army towards Beijing. However, when the army reached Gonghua City (Shahe), they unexpectedly encountered effective resistance!

This is absolutely unprecedented.

Jiang Xuan (Jiang Xiang's younger brother), the garrison commander of Gonghua City, led his men to defend the city to the death. The Qing army's vanguard was driven back by the fierce artillery fire from the city walls as soon as it approached the city.

Ajige was very puzzled. He had been having a smooth journey so far, so why did he run into trouble here?

So he ordered his men to bring the prisoner Chao Pichang to be questioned.

Chao Pichang answered tremblingly:
"Your Highness, the garrison commander of Gonghua City is named Jiang Xuan, and he leads troops from the Beijing Garrison."

"Jingying?"

Ajige was even more puzzled after hearing this.

"Aren't the Beijing Garrison just a bunch of pampered soldiers and beggar soldiers?"

"I also came here back in the year of Ji Si. I remember your Beijing garrison only knew how to fight among themselves, and I think they even wounded that guy named Man Gui?"

"Why have you suddenly changed your appearance?"

Chao Pichang quickly explained:
"Your Highness is unaware of this."

"The emperor has given a high position to a general named Hei Yunlong, who is said to have escaped from the Daling River."

“This Black Cloud Dragon spent a few years in your country, and is quite familiar with your army’s tactics.”

"After Hei Yunlong escaped back, the Emperor trusted him greatly and appointed him as the deputy commander of the Beijing Garrison, entrusting him with the important task of reorganizing the Beijing Garrison."

"The emperor gave him whatever he wanted, and Hei Yunlong used this opportunity to eliminate a large number of the old and weak, and recruit many refugees from Mongolia and Liaodong to strengthen his army."

"Currently, the defense of the area from Gonghua City to Xishan is all under the responsibility of Hei Yunlong."

"The elite troops of his Shenshu Battalion are all soldiers drawn from the Nine Borders and personally trained by him. Their combat strength is indeed remarkable."

To be fair, although Zhu Youjian did a lot of stupid things since he ascended the throne, he did put a lot of effort into reorganizing the Beijing garrison.

Zhu Youjian amassed so much wealth from the people, but he didn't keep any for his own enjoyment; he used almost all of it to reorganize the army.

He knew that the Beijing garrison was corrupt and incapable of fighting, so he overruled the objections of others and appointed Hei Yunlong, a defector general with practical combat experience and familiarity with Qing army tactics.

They granted it considerable autonomy and resources in an attempt to build a truly elite force capable of defending the capital.

Hei Yunlong lived up to expectations, significantly improving the combat effectiveness of the Beijing garrison by weeding out the weak and retaining the strong, and changing training methods.

Although they may not be as strong as the elite troops of Guan Ning in Liaodong, they should be able to defend the city without any problems.

After hearing Chao Pichang's words, Ajige suddenly realized:
"Black Cloud Dragon?"

"Isn't he that good-for-nothing who was captured alive by the Heshuotu army back then?"

"Now look what's happened, he went to Liaodong and came back as someone important?"

He thought for a moment and an idea came to him.

It is said that the Ming Dynasty emperors were suspicious, so why not follow the old trick of Huang Taiji in scheming against Yuan Chonghuan and use a counter-espionage tactic against this Black Cloud Dragon?

Perhaps we can kill Black Cloud Dragon without losing a single soldier.

So Ajige selected a few brave and clever prisoners and deliberately let them escape with a secret letter and return to Gonghua City.

The secret letter was written in Ajige's voice, and the language in the letter was ambiguous. It agreed that Hei Yunlong would cooperate from the inside and outside to hand over the gates of Beijing.

The letter was quickly intercepted by the garrison commander, Jiang Xuan.

When Jiang Xuan saw the contents, she was so shocked she almost collapsed.

He dared not conceal it and immediately presented Ajige's letter to the emperor in the form of a secret report.

Jiang Xuan sighed inwardly, thinking that with the Emperor's temperament, General Hei was probably doomed.
As expected, Hei Yunlong was soon summoned back to the capital by imperial decree and received at the Qianqing Gate platform.

Hei Yunlong rushed back from the front lines, his heart filled with doubt and unease.

He walked onto the platform and saw Emperor Chongzhen standing expressionlessly behind the white jade railing, the atmosphere around him heavy.

"His Majesty,"

After bowing, Hei Yunlong asked eagerly,

"The Jianzhou army is threatening Xishan, and we are at a critical juncture. Why is Your Majesty so eager to summon me back to the capital?"

"But has the military situation changed?"

Zhu Youjian did not speak, but gave Wang Chengen, who was beside him, a wink.

Wang Chengen understood, held up a letter, walked up to Hei Yunlong, and whispered:

"General, please take a look."

Hei Yunlong took the letter with a puzzled look and quickly began to browse through it.

After reading just a few lines, his expression changed drastically, and he became increasingly terrified as he read on.

He fell to his knees with a thud, banging his head on the ground, and shouted in a trembling voice:
"Your Majesty, this is a counter-espionage plot by the Tartars! They intend to eliminate this humble general and force you to destroy your own Great Wall!"

"Your Majesty, you must not believe this! This humble general is utterly loyal to Your Majesty and to the Ming Dynasty, as heaven and earth can attest!"

"If Your Majesty does not believe me, I am willing to accept a joint trial by the three judicial departments to thoroughly investigate this matter and prove my innocence!"

Hei Yunlong was terrified. He knew that it was on this very platform that Governor Yuan was captured on the spot by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and imprisoned in the Imperial Prison.

However, to his surprise, the emperor behind the railing did not react, but simply asked in return:

"Why do you say this, my dear?"

He paused, his tone calm.
"What I mean is that such a clumsy trick cannot fool me."

"I will not fall for the Tartars' tricks."

Upon hearing this, Hei Yunlong looked up abruptly, almost bursting into tears.

Emperor Chongzhen snorted coldly and continued.
"I summoned you here today to use a counter-strategy!"

"My dear minister, you may continue to communicate with that Tartar general, first gain his trust, then lure him deep into your territory, set up an ambush and kill him!"

He looked at Hei Yunlong, his tone carrying a hint of encouragement:
"Rest assured, my dear minister, even if the attempt to lure and kill him fails, I will not punish him."

"Just go for it!"

Having learned a painful lesson from the Jisi Incident, and especially after the Yuan Chonghuan incident, Zhu Youjian managed not to repeat the same mistake and surprisingly maintained a rare clarity and rationality.

Upon hearing this, Hei Yunlong was immediately moved to tears, overwhelmed with gratitude, and kowtowed deeply once more.
"Your Majesty's judgment is wise! This humble general could not repay your kindness even with ten thousand deaths!"

"This humble general will return to the front lines immediately and act according to the plan, and will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

After returning to the Xishan defense zone, Hei Yunlong immediately acted according to the plan and sent someone to reply to Ajige with a letter.

In his letter, he said that he betrayed the Qing Dynasty because the emperor had detained his family members, and he had no other choice but to do so.

Deep down, I have always longed for the Qing Dynasty, and now I am willing to abandon darkness and embrace the light, acting as an inside agent.
After sending the letter, Hei Yunlong immediately set up an ambush in the Xishan area, waiting for Ajige to take the bait.

As a result, he waited for many days, but Ajige completely ignored him.

Although Ajige was usually muddle-headed, he was still very clear-headed when it came to fighting.

Upon receiving the reply, he immediately concluded that there was a trap involved, and that it was impossible to launch an attack on Beijing from the vicinity of Xishan.

Therefore, Ajige completely ignored Hei Yunlong's surrender, decisively changed his plans, and led his army around the Xishan defense line to Liangxiang.

The problem is that Liangxiang had already been looted by the Shanxi loyalist army during the Jisi Incident, leaving it impoverished.

In addition, before the expedition, Huang Taiji specifically instructed that the same place should not be plundered repeatedly to avoid exhausting resources.

Ajige rested in Liangxiang for two days and found that the surrounding areas had been ravaged and there was nowhere left to plunder.

After discussing with Beile Abatai, he made an extremely bold decision—to divide his forces.

Abatai led his troops south, while Ajige led his army east.

The Qing army that entered the pass this time numbered only 20,000, yet Ajige dared to divide his troops, demonstrating his arrogance.

When the news reached the capital, Zhu Youjian in the Forbidden City was furious.

A mere 20,000 enemy cavalry dared to so brazenly divide their forces and plunder right under his nose, completely disregarding the Ming Dynasty!
He had no choice but to issue another edict, ordering all the troops in the country to rush to the capital to defend the emperor!
At the same time, he learned from the lesson of the mutiny of the various loyalist armies during the Jisi Incident due to lack of food and supplies, and forcibly ordered the Ministry of Revenue to raise funds to reward the army with food and pay.

However, the national treasury was already empty at this time.

Zhu Youjian searched high and low, trying to find some money in the capital, but found nothing.

The officials below turned a deaf ear and passed the buck to each other.

Only Hou Xun, the Minister of Revenue, offered a helpless suggestion:

Grain trading in the Gyeonggi region will be temporarily suspended and centrally allocated.

Yan Jizu, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, made an even more outrageous and absurd suggestion: he actually submitted a memorial proposing to directly confiscate the grain stored in the homes of ordinary people in the capital and use it to supply the army!
When Emperor Chongzhen saw this memorial, he was so angry that he almost ordered Yan Jizu to be dragged out and beheaded on the spot.

He is, after all, the ruler of a country. How could he do something like openly robbing his people and destroying his own foundation?

It must be said that, at least on the surface, the Ming Dynasty still maintained its last shred of dignity and basic human rights.

If it were the old wild boar Nurhaci, he probably would have started slaughtering the "people without food" long ago.

Left with no other option, Zhu Youjian decided to find a solution himself, and he planned to borrow money from nobles.

He issued an order, saying:

"Because border defenses are difficult to maintain, the imperial treasury is depleted, and the people are suffering from poverty."

"To reward the loyal troops, I hereby order the Ministry of War to borrow 400,000 taels of silver from Marquis Li Chengming of Wuqing to reward the Guan Ning Army."

"Borrow 100,000 taels of silver each from the Imperial Son-in-Law Wang Bing, Wan Wei, and Ran Xingrang to reward the troops of Datong and Xining."

"Order the Ministry of Works to borrow 100,000 taels of silver from the eunuch Tian Zhao to manufacture armor; and borrow 50,000 taels of silver from Wei Xueyan to manufacture barracks."

"When the imperial treasury is more abundant in the future, it will be returned in full. If anyone is willing to donate righteously, I will reward them handsomely."

This edict is truly rare, both in ancient and modern times.

A feudal emperor who held the reins of power over the entire country was so impoverished that he had to "borrow" military funds from his ministers, and even his household servants and eunuchs.

Their dire situation is truly heartbreaking.

But here's the question: Did Emperor Chongzhen really have no money at all in his private treasury?

(End of this chapter)