Chapter 57
【The destruction of the eunuchs and the execution of Wei Zhongxian were the highlight moments of Chongzhen, and he also reached the pinnacle of his life.】
【At this moment, Chongzhen completely controlled the power of the government. He planned to start his own era and realize the resurgence of the Ming Dynasty.】
【But he didn't know that this was the only highlight in his life. From then on, Chongzhen's life would usher in darkness again and again until the end of his life and the demise of Ming Dynasty.】
【The first crime of Chongzhen’s subjugation, late Yuan Chonghuan】
【Yuan Chonghuan's character element, nickname is Ziru, is from Guangdong. He was born in a merchant family. He studied and practiced calligraphy freely. He was also very interested in military wars. He was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty.】
【Although he won the Jinshi, he was at the bottom of the list. He was ranked among the top 30 and forty, and almost lost his place. This also led to Yuan Chonghuan having no real job to fill after he won the Jinshi. He had no choice but to idle at home for a year.】
【It was not until a year later that Yuan Chonghuan was appointed as the magistrate of Shaowu County, Fujian Province. This was a hard job because Shaowunai County, Fujian Province was a poor county located in a mountainous area.】
【Yuan Chonghuan's tenure was tepid until his three-year term expired and he went to the capital to report on his duties.】
【For Yuan Chonghuan, this is an opportunity to change his destiny, because he knows that if he cannot get out of the mountainous county, the pinnacle of his life will at most be the prefect of a place. This makes Yuan Chonghuan, who has been ambitious since childhood, very unwilling】
【Yuan Chonghuan resolutely embarked on the road north to pursue his dream】
【The official evaluation system in the Ming Dynasty was very strict. Needless to say, Beijing officials were inspected every six years, and many officials were eliminated each time.】
【Even if the county magistrate is far away, no matter it is a remote mountainous area or a vast desert, as long as his term is over, he must go on the road together and go to the capital to accept the assessment.】
【The assessment results are divided into five grades: good promotion, average retention, almost transfer, useless retirement, and direct dismissal for those who dare to act recklessly.】
【Yuan Chonghuan was pretty good during his tenure, in the first two positions. The best outcome for him would be to be promoted to the first level and return to the local capital to continue working slowly.】
【But Yuan Chonghuan was very lucky and met a noble person. This noble person was Hou Xun, who was the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate at the time and a member of the Donglin Party.】
【It was the second year of Tianqi, when the Eunuch Party had not yet risen, and when the Donglin Party dominated the court, Hou Xun immediately wrote a memorial to recommend Yuan Chonghuan to the court.】
【At this time, the Donglin Party was in power, and Emperor Tianqi didn't take care of things. When he saw the memorial, he immediately approved it.】
【Yuan Chonghuan was promoted immediately, directly from the local magistrate to the Sixth Ministry, and served as the director of the Ministry of War's Staff Department. He was promoted to the sixth rank and was promoted two levels in a row.】
【The Ministry of War can be said to be the most dangerous department in the world. The reason is very simple. In the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchens rose from Liaodong. The Ming Dynasty fought with the Jurchens for years and lost consecutive battles. The Ministry of War was the department that took the blame and could go to the front line to resist the Jurchens at any time.】
【Others are as afraid as a tiger, but Yuan Chonghuan has been fond of military affairs since he was a child. Not only was he not afraid, he even went to the Liaodong front line to inspect the Shanhaiguan defense line in person】
【Since the defeat of the Ming Dynasty and the Jurchens in the Battle of Sarhu during the Wanli Period, Liaodong has been gradually eroded by the Jurchens. The Jurchens openly rebelled, calling themselves Houjin, and began to attack Liaodong territory in successive years.】
【During the Tianqi period, the fall of Guangning, an important town in Liaodong, meant that the Hou Jin Dynasty was only one step away from the capital of the Ming Dynasty. As long as Shanhaiguan was captured, the capital of the Ming Dynasty would be under the attack of the Hou Jin Dynasty.】
【At that time, Guangning had just fallen. Emperor Tianqi took back Ye Xianggao's clothes and cried anxiously, saying that the inheritance of his ancestors could not be destroyed in his own hands.】
【But Yuan Chonghuan stood up at this time. He wrote to Emperor Tianqi, saying that if you give me money and food, I can defend Liaodong.】
【Saying this at that time was no different from seeking death, because everyone believed that if Liaodong was lost, Shanhaiguan would also be lost. Going to Shanhaiguan at this time was simply asking for death.】
【Because of this, Yuan Chonghuan had just submitted a letter, and Emperor Tianqi was greatly inspired. He immediately appointed him as the fifth-rank Shandong Inspector and Supervisor of the Army at Shanhaiguan, and went to Shanhaiguan to guard it.】
【In this way, Yuan Chonghuan was promoted quickly and sent to Shanhaiguan to take the blame. There, he met the most important person in his life, Sun Chengzong.】
【Sun Chengzong, the greatest strategist, military strategist, politician, thinker and national hero in the late Ming Dynasty!】
【Sun Chengzong was from Hebei, and his fate was also bumpy. He studied since he was a child, but he only passed the Jinshi examination at the age of forty-two, and was later appointed as an editor at the Hanlin Academy.】
【During this period, although Sun Chengzong was in a humble position, he got an errand, that is, to become Zhu Changluo's teacher.】
【During the Wanli period, Emperor Wanli did not like his eldest son Zhu Changluo, so no one in the Imperial Academy wanted to be Zhu Changluo's teacher. Only Sun Chengzong, who had no background, was assigned such a hard job.】
【However, Sun Chengzong had no complaints. He tried his best to teach Zhu Changluo until Wanli died and Zhu Changluo ascended the throne. Sun Chengzong became the teacher of Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao.】
【Zhu Youxiao respected Sun Chengzong very much. In the second year of Tianqi, Sun Chengzong asked him to guard Shanhaiguan. Although Emperor Tianqi was reluctant to leave, he still worshiped him as Minister of War and Dongge University Scholar. He was a second-rank official with high power and guarded the outside of Shanhaiguan.】
【After Sun Chengzong took office, he changed the lax atmosphere of the Ming army in the past. He eliminated deserters, dismissed defeated generals, and suppressed military discipline. During his four years outside the Pass, he achieved brilliant results.】...Dividing line.
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