Chapter 41: This Great Victory Is Not That Great Victory
Update time:2012-10-08
The so-called "Songshan Victory" was far less sensational in Beijing than the "Ningyuan Victory". Although the level of beheadings differed by a few, Shi Dayong did not achieve such great feats as "severely inflicting heavy losses on the slave chiefs". Moreover, he was a slave chief at that time.
Nurhaci personally led an army of tens of thousands to storm an isolated city in Ningyuan. The sheer force alone was much more frightening than the thousands of Jiannu slaves encountered at Dalinghe City.
In addition, the previous adults in the imperial court thought that Ningyuan would be lost, and the slaves would march straight into Shanhaiguan. The capital had already imposed martial law, and the imperial edicts ordering the kings of Qin from all over the country were also sealed. However, Yuan Chonghuan miraculously saved Ningyuan City, allowing everyone to move forward.
They all breathed a sigh of relief. Although the price was a bit high, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on Juehua Island were massacred by Jiannu, but after all, the slave chief also withdrew his troops in a hurry. If the slave chief withdraws his troops, Shanhaiguan will be in danger, and Shanhaiguan is not in danger.
The capital will naturally be safe. In this case, why is it not a great victory?
Therefore, everyone from top to bottom fully affirmed the victory of Ningyuan. At that time, it was really a sensation in the government and the public, everyone was surprised, and everyone praised Yuan Chonghuan as an unparalleled general, the pillar of strength outside the Ming Dynasty, and the restoration of Liao Dynasty was just around the corner.
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Even the imperial censors, who had always been the most aloof to other people's meritorious deeds, collectively turned their heads and praised Emperor Tianqi for Yuan Chonghuan's memorials flying into the palace like snowflakes. Of course, each memorial pointed out the biggest reason for Ningyuan's victory.
The meritorious official is the emperor’s personal attendant—the nine thousand-year-old Eunuch Wei![
Eunuch Wei, who had made a false alarm, would not let go of such a famous move, so the government and the public mobilized together. This "Ningyuan Victory" would not be possible if it was not a great victory, and Yuan Chonghuan would not be able to do it if he did not want to be in the limelight.
The battle that took place at the foot of Dalinghe City was a complete encounter. It was far less eye-catching than the Ningyuan battle. No one knew that there would be such a battle in advance. How could you ask the officials of the imperial court to feel this close to their skin?
, do you think this is really a great victory comparable to the Battle of Ningyuan?
Of course, it is really exciting that Zu Dashou led his troops to behead more than 200 people. After all, there was a rebellion against the slaves, and there were only a few who could kill so many enemy soldiers in one battle. But among the court officials
It seems that no matter how much you boast about the Battle of Songshan in Liaodong, the court can only describe it with the sentence "the generals worked together and worked together to achieve this great victory." It is impossible to publicize it as much as it did in the past.
We can't blame the officials in the capital for viewing the "Victory of Songshan" in this way. When it comes to the significance of this battle to the Ming Dynasty, the emperor, and them, it seems that it really has none.
Firstly, they did not kill the generals and capture the flag, secondly, they did not regain the lost territory, and thirdly, they did not gather and annihilate the invading slaves. No matter how you look at it, calling it a great victory like Ningyuan seems to be a bit too high.
Put aside the opinions of the officials and talk about the people. The people will definitely be happy when they hear that it is a great victory. But if you ask how many Tatars were killed, how will they answer? If you answer that it was the Northern and Eastern Tatars,
There were more than two hundred, but the common people still didn't curse: "What kind of bullshit victory is this? You only killed two hundred Tatars and you dare to call it a great victory. The leader of the army is too damn proud, right? Think of Wanli back then."
When I was here, our Ming Dynasty killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese pirates in North Korea. This large army returned to the dynasty even though it was not a great victory. Now it is better to cut off 200 heads and dare to call it a great victory. Is it possible that our Ming Dynasty is really worse every day?
Is it day yet?"
Although there were very few beheadings in the Ningyuan battle, after all, the slave chief did come with a large army, unlike the Songshan battle where he only faced Jiannu, Xianghuang and Xianghong, two flags and two Niulu, plus what Zu Dashou said
The Zhenglan Banner's elite troops only numbered four to five thousand men. Their momentum was truly incomparable, and this great victory was truly indescribable.
The fast horses that Zu Dashou and Qiu Hejia sent to the capital to report their victory that day were headed straight for Huijimen, with a clear goal - to go straight to the emperor. The cabinet did not know until the next day when someone from the Supervisor of Ceremonies came to tell them.
Not to mention whether Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant, was dissatisfied with Zuqiu and others for overstepping him, the individual military department was still quite dissatisfied with Liaodong's failure to follow the regulations. Shangshu Liang Tingdong's face turned cold at that time.
On the other hand, the officials were as excited as Emperor Chongzhen. Two years ago, the slave slaves went on a rampage in Gyeonggi, and their ferocious appearance was still fresh in their memories. Although there were no major wars outside the customs in the past two years, the slave slaves attacked North Korea again.
They also attacked the Mongols and made a lot of noise, but the Ming Dynasty restrained their efforts, which was really a bit embarrassing.
It's fine now. We finally had a war. The Ministry of War has inspected the heads. They are all real Tatars. Why aren't we happy?
Wang Hua from the Ministry of Rites was the first to write a letter to Shi Zhong to praise the great victory in Liaodong. Later, the Ministry of Punishment sent a letter to Shi Zheng Tai, and Shi Zhongannian and others followed suit.
The people in the hospital were even more excited. Qiu Hejia, the governor of Liaodong, was their colleague and a good old man. How could they, as colleagues, not help him!
For a time, all the officials took action and applauded the "Great Victory at Songshan", but all the memorials were suppressed by the cabinet without exception.
Suppressing the official memorial was not the first assistant Zhou Yanru, but the second assistant Wen Tiren.
It is said that after receiving the edict from Li Ke to Wang Hua in the matter, Wen Tiren said to Zhou Yanru: "More than this, no matter who comes next to applaud the Battle of Songshan, the cabinet should suppress it."
After hearing this, Zhou Yanru naturally wondered: "Why is this? The Ministry of War has inspected the heads, and they are all genuine Tatar mistakes. Since it is a victory, it is natural to praise it more, firstly to inspire people, and secondly to comfort the soldiers of Liaodong.
Thirdly, it will make the emperor happy. Such good things are rare, but why should the chief minister suppress them?"
Wen Tiren smiled, shook his head and said: "Since the Wanli year of the Liao Dynasty, there have been more bad news than good news. There have been countless losses of land and people. The court has spent huge sums of money to raise troops, but the soldiers have no courage, which has led to great changes in the second year of Chongzhen. Now Sun Cheng
The suzerain leader of the Liao Dynasty advocated that we should proceed step by step, fight steadily, and slowly recover. Daling River City began to be built in May, and it has been done three times. Every time it was built, the slaves who built it would raise troops to destroy it. In my opinion, it is inevitable this time, and I am afraid that the construction of the city will not be avoided.
The army of slaves will rush towards the Daling River in ten days. If we publicize the victory of Songshan with great fanfare at this time, let me ask, if Zu Dashou loses to the army of slaves, how will the cabinet deal with the aftermath?"
"This..." Zhou Yanru fell into silence.
"The Emperor is young and vigorous. When he first heard the good news, he was naturally overjoyed. But if this bad news comes soon, I'm afraid."[
Wen Tiren didn't say what he was afraid of.
Zhou Yanru naturally understood what Wen Tiren wanted to say, and nodded slightly: "In your opinion, how should the cabinet deal with it so that both parties can account for it?"
Wen Tiren said with a smile: "The cabinet must also take action. The rewards promised by the emperor will naturally be issued, but that's all. It would be best if this didn't happen. Whether the officials are making trouble or not, let's just pretend we didn't hear it.
.According to me, the chief minister should think about who can replace Sun Chengzong."
Um?
Hearing this, Zhou Yanru's eyes flashed with a trace of imperceptible joy, and he immediately pretended to be sad and said in a deep voice: "I hope that my ancestors will live up to the emperor's orders, and there will be no more mistakes in Liao affairs. If it is true as Chang Qing said, I will
I’m afraid the chief assistant will also be affected.”
After hearing Zhou Yanru's words, Wen Tiren glanced at him pretending to be casual and said nothing.