The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 276 Sun Chengzong

In the winter of the first year of Chongzhen's reign, the traitor Liu Zhaosun led a Manchu-Mongol-Korean coalition force of hundreds of thousands of troops, and successively broke through more than 70 cities in Liaozhong and Liaoxi. He occupied Liaoshen, massacred Guangning, broke through Ningyuan, and headed straight for Shanhaiguan City.

The capital, 600 miles away from Shanhaiguan, was under threat from the Kaiyuan army. The Forbidden City was in panic. On March 12, Zhu Youxiao declared martial law in the capital.

Wang Zaijun cannot escape blame for this situation.

He was the governor of Liaodong and the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao. Broadly speaking, the entire Shuntian Prefecture outside the capital was within his defense zone.

Theoretically speaking, no matter whether Liu Bei broke through Shanhaiguan or Longjingguan (Jizhou), Wang Jinglüe would be responsible for the outcome.

Not long ago, Wang Zaijin submitted a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen summarizing the Battle of Shanhaiguan. One of the passages reads:

"For three years, all the soldiers in the world have never dared to fight Liu the thief, nor to engage him in a duel. Now we are fighting with swords and spears, unaware of Liu's ferocity and fierceness. Fortunately, we have the protection of the Holy Emperor. The armies of the nine borders are furious at this thief, and now we have fought at Shanhaiguan, leaving corpses everywhere and defeating Liu the thief..."

When Wang Zaijin reported the victory, he also sent the one thousand "Kaiyuan bandit heads" captured by the Ming army to the Ministry of War for verification.

After verification, the Ministry of War stated:
"The goods are genuine, every one of them is Liu Ze's head."

No matter how inspiring the victory report was, no matter how "genuine and honest" Liu Ze's brains were, it was an indisputable fact that the capital was threatened by Liu Ze.

As the pressure on the defense of the capital increased day by day, Emperor Chongzhen began to be dissatisfied with the Liaodong Governor. There were rumors that Zhu Youxiao was preparing to replace Wang Zaijin and put Wang Governor Wang in prison.

Just like how Zhu Youjian dealt with Yuan Chonghuan in history, Zhu Youxiao now gradually began to have murderous intentions towards Wang Zaijing.

As long as the capital was besieged, it was conceivable that this unfortunate governor of Liaodong would face the fate of being cut into pieces and eaten by the people of the capital.

Wang Zai Jin knew this very well.

Therefore, he left himself a way out early on, so that if there was any change in the capital, he would immediately seek refuge with the Heavenly Khan outside Shanhaiguan.

On November 16, the first year of Chongzhen's reign, Grand Secretary Cheng Ji (Zi Jingzhi, a famous person in Daming, Beizhi), who had just joined the cabinet, strongly recommended to the emperor that cabinet minister Sun Chengzong be appointed as the Minister of War and Grand Secretary of Zhongji Palace, in view of the serious situation, to supervise the military, money and food, and be stationed in Tongzhou to control the eastern border of the capital and ensure its safety.

Zhu Youxiao accepted the recommendation and specially summoned Sun Chengzong, who had just taken office, to discuss the defense of the capital with him.

Sun Chengzong was a veteran minister who served three dynasties, successively serving the Wanli, Taichang and Chongzhen emperors. He had experienced many wars and was one of the few ministers in the Ming Dynasty who knew about the Liao affairs.

By the way, this person was the teacher of Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youxiao.

In the second year of Taichang, Sun Chengzong assisted Wang Huazhen in building a 200-li defense line in Ningjin, and made outstanding contributions. Later, he was attacked by Wei Zhongxian and resigned and returned home.

He had different opinions on Wang Zaijun's passive deployment of shrinking the defense line too much to the periphery of the capital.

In November of the first year of Chongzhen's reign, the Korean court official Li Ti'ran was commissioned by the Marquis of Ping Liao to pass through Shanhaiguan, Qian'an and Tongzhou, and enter the capital through Zuo'anmen. He submitted a letter to the Imperial Household Department and the six ministries, formally presenting the peace terms to the Ming Dynasty.

The government and the public were shocked.

What shocked Zhu Youxiao and his ministers was not Liu Zhaosun's bold usurpation of power, nor his arrogant demands such as giving up control of Korea, recognizing the independence of Liaodong, and opening Dengzhou as a trading port, but the fact that this foreign envoy was able to travel unimpeded from Shanhaiguan to the capital.

It can be seen that the Ming army's defense in Jizhou, Shunyi and Sanhe was useless.

Zhu Youxiao urgently summoned Sun Chengzong to the Qianqing Palace.

Fifty-eight-year-old Sun Chengzong had white hair and beard, but he walked very briskly.

"Eunuch Xu, His Majesty is so anxious, what is it?"

Xu Xianchun helped Sun Chengzong walk through the dark corridor of the Qianqing Palace, fearing that the elderly cabinet minister would fall to the ground.

"It's all Liu's fault! This bastard sent a Korean to the capital to disturb people's hearts!"

Sun Chengzong had heard about this before entering the palace. Knowing that Xu Xianchun was sharp-witted and well-informed, he pretended to know nothing in front of him.

"Oh? Last month, not only did Wang Jinglie defeat Liu Zhaosun, he also injured Liu Zhaosun with a red cannon. I guess the Kaiyuan bandits are here to seek peace!"

Xu Xianchun looked flustered and lowered his voice:
"Did Lord Sun believe Wang Zaijin's victory report? What great victory? That's bullshit! We sent people to the Ministry of War to check, and there wasn't a single Jiannu head! That old bastard Wang Zaijin surrendered to Liu Bang long ago. They're in cahoots with him to deceive the emperor!"

Xu Xianchun became more and more excited as he spoke. He pulled Sun Chengzong aside and said in a trembling voice:

"Master Sun, let me tell you something. This official named Li Something Ran isn't here to seek peace. He's here to threaten the Emperor! Liu Zhaosun wants to seize control of the area beyond the Great Wall and wants the Emperor to execute him! Master Sun, when you see the Emperor later, you must speak for us. We must not let Liu Zhaosun succeed in his evil scheme!"

Xu Xianchun started to cry when he finished speaking.

Sun Chengzong didn't know whether the eunuch was really crying or acting, he just thought it was funny.

I didn't expect Xu Xianchun to be so afraid of Ping Liaohou. If I had known this, why did I provoke him in the first place?

Sun Chengzong, with a righteous look on his face, held the factory master's hands tightly and comforted Eunuch Xu:
"Please rest assured, Mr. Factory, I know what to say. The thief Liu wants to occupy the capital and sign a humiliating treaty with the emperor. He is dreaming." While the two were talking, they had already arrived at the Huangji Hall of the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youxiao sat alone on the dragon throne, his thin figure looking quite tired.

His eye sockets were sunken, with two dark circles under his eyes, and his hair at the temples was completely white. He didn't look like a teenager of sixteen or seventeen at all.

Since Zhu Youxiao inherited the throne, in just three months, the Liao situation had deteriorated and the Ming Dynasty was in decline. Not to mention compared with his grandfather, Emperor Wanli, even compared with his father, Emperor Taichang, it could be said that it was getting worse day by day.

It is rumored that Zhu Youxiao liked to do carpentry work when he was in the Eastern Palace. It should be pointed out that these rumors are not rumors, they are all true.

During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, there were actually more than just Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youxiao who liked handicrafts. For example, Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty was also a senior handicraft master.

Unfortunately, it happened to be a time of chaos, and as the emperor, any hobby that was not related to the imperial ambitions would be called absurd, just like Li Yu, the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, and Emperor Shundi of the Yuan Dynasty, all of whom would be ridiculed by later generations.

Emperor Chongzhen has tried his best to deal with Liu Zhaosun.

In the three months since his accession to the throne, under the advice of Donglin Party members like Chief Minister Huang Liji and Assistant Minister Han Yan, the young Zhu Youxiao squandered the entire 3 million taels of imperial treasury left to him by his grandfather and father, using most of it to pay Liao military pay and support his ancestral family in western Liaoning. In the words of the Donglin Party, "Liao people guard Liao territory." Zhu Youxiao also believed that as long as his great-grandfather was well-fed, he would be able to fight hard and stop the Liu Bei's expansion.

However, things went against one's wishes. Now that Zu Dashou was killed and Liaoxi was occupied by Liu Zhaosun, the court's influence outside Shanhaiguan has become increasingly weak.

Not to mention that Liu Ze was just one of the forces causing unrest in various places.

Just as the Kaiyuan army was approaching Shanhaiguan, there were civil uprisings across the Ming Dynasty, and the chieftain soldiers in Chongqing rebelled.

Taking the southwest as an example, the White Spear Soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and the Ming troops in Sichuan and Guizhou suffered repeated defeats. It is estimated that it will take some time for She Chongming to occupy Chengdu and join forces with the Yunnan chieftains.

When Zhu Youxiao saw Sun Chengzong coming, his gloomy eyes suddenly lit up.

After Sun Chengzong finished his greeting, the two sides exchanged a few words. Xu Xianchun stood silently by the side. Emperor Chongzhen did not waste any words and asked directly:
"From Shanhaiguan to the capital, the defenses are shattered and completely unprepared! How will Sun Qing arrange this for me?"

Sun Chengzong coughed lightly, signaling everyone to leave. Zhu Youxiao hurriedly asked Xu Xianchun and the two palace maids to leave, leaving only a young eunuch named Wang Chengen standing far away at the door of the hall on standby.

"I heard that the king is stationed in Sanhaiguan, Zhu Mei in Shunyi, and Hou Shilu in Sanhe. This is a good strategy. The three armies will support each other and prevent Liu's sudden attack. However, I heard that transferring Hou Shilu to Tongzhou seems a bit inappropriate."

Zhu Youxiao asked, "Sun Qing, do you mean to defend Sanhe?"

Sun Chengzong picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip carefully, and then said:
"Your Majesty, defending Sanhe can prevent the enemy from fleeing westward and stop the Liu thief from advancing southward."

Both the king and his ministers knew that Wang Zaijin had most likely defected to Liu Zhaosun, and the existence of Shanhaiguan was no longer of much significance.

Considering that Liu Bei has formed an alliance with the Khorchin and Kharchin tribes of Mongolia and can break through the pass from the east and north to threaten the capital, in addition to strengthening the defense in the direction of Shanhaiguan, the weak Jizhen defense line also needs to be further reinforced.

Sanhe is located between Jizhou and Tongzhou. Defending Sanhe can thwart the enemy's attempt to invade Tongzhou and approach the capital, and can also prevent the Kaiyuan army from moving south to Xianghe and Wuqing and encircling the southern wing of the capital.

"I heard that this time, the Jizhen General, Man Gui, feigned illness and refused to send troops to aid Liao. This man is an old acquaintance of Liu Zhaosun. He is truly despicable!"

Sun Chengzong waited until Chongzhen finished speaking before he said cautiously:
"Your Majesty, you must not rashly move Man Gui at this time. After the great battle, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties. You must not rashly mobilize again!"

"Your Majesty, in this time of emergency, you do not care about the lives of your soldiers, but rather let them suffer from hunger and cold. This is probably not a foolproof strategy."

Seeing Zhu Youxiao's serious look, Sun Chengzong then proposed specific measures such as rectifying military equipment, offering generous rewards, and consolidating people's hearts.

Zhu Youxiao nodded with satisfaction:
"Sun Qing is absolutely right! How should we best handle the envoy sent by the thief Liu?"

Wang Chengen, who was standing at the door, heard the peace talks finally mentioned and poked his head over to take a look.

Sun Chengzong replied:
"Your Majesty, Liu Zhaosun has acted recklessly, like a dog in Shu barking at the sun, infuriating both humans and gods. He even dared to use Shanhaiguan to threaten the imperial court. This is truly treasonous. However, since Wang Zaijin has already surrendered to the traitor Liu, we should proceed with discretion..."

Chongzhen persisted: "What do you mean by following the rules? Please tell me everything you know. I won't hold you accountable if you are wrong."

Sun Chengzong wiped the sweat from his forehead, knowing that he couldn't fool people, and lowered his voice and said:

"The peace talks must not be leaked. Dengzhou must not be given to the traitor Liu. The other terms can be discussed in detail."

"Where's Xu Xianchun?"

Sun Chengzong looked around, leaned close to Zhu Youxiao's ear, and whispered:

"Your Majesty, I heard that the factory owner sent people to Kaiyuan to assassinate Liu Zhaosun, and then went to Shandong to arrest Liu Zhaosun's concubine, which caused all these troubles. This person must not be allowed to stay..."

Chongzhen listened without saying anything. After a while, he looked up at the man standing at the door:
"Wang Cheng'en, pass on my oral instructions. Have the cabinet draft them and the Imperial Household Department approve them. Sun Qing will be my governor of all defenses within and outside the capital, and will be fully responsible for negotiating peace with Kaiyuan!"

(End of this chapter)