Chapter Ten: The Battle Situation (Part One)
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In the city of Beijing, in the eastern part of the city, the mansion of Wei Zhongxian was brightly lit, with music drifting out from within. The sound of silk strings and bamboo flutes filled the air, as Wei Zhongxian sat upright, sipping fine wine and savoring delicious dishes, indulging in the spectacle of song and dance. Having just celebrated his birthday, officials from all over were vying to pay their respects, and he had received a staggering three large rooms full of gifts - countless gold, silver, and precious jewels. And now, before him stood more than a dozen stunningly beautiful singing girls. The life he was living was one that even the emperor, the ruler of the land, could not match. Thinking about his humble origins, it was truly remarkable to have achieved such greatness, enough to make future generations bow their heads in reverence.
The night was as black as ink, and Wei Guangwei, a university scholar, was sitting in a flying sedan chair, wiping the sweat while urging the bearers to hurry up.
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed far away in the dark night, and the gatekeeper of Wei Zhongxian's mansion saw that it was Wei Guangwei's sedan chair and rushed to report.
When Wei Guangwei hastily rushed to the front of Wei Zhongxian, he suddenly scared Wei Zhongxian who was in a good mood and immediately stopped all the singing and dancing.
"Something's wrong!" Wei Guang couldn't wait for the musicians and singing girls to leave, and hastily spoke out.
"What's going on, why the panic!" Wei Zhongxian was in high spirits when he was suddenly interrupted by Wei Guangmei, his mood naturally turned sour, and he scolded with a dark face.
Wei Guangwei didn't care about the displeasure on Wei Zhongxian's face, and pulled out a letter from his bosom, saying: "Lord Censor, Nurhaci has led an army of 300,000 to besiege Ningyuan, Ningyuan city is on the verge of collapse, the vanguard has already reached the foot of Shanhai Pass!"
"What?" Wei Zhongxian was shocked and lost his color, if Shanhai Pass is lost, the capital will lose its shield, Nurhaci will directly go down to Beijing City, how can he not be surprised.
"Zhezi is a high-ranking official of Gaoliang, sent back by Gaoliang's messenger with an urgent letter within six hundred miles!" Wei Guang continued.
"Who guards Ningyuan?" Wei Zhongxian's face turned pale and he asked in a shrill voice.
"Yuan Chonghuan, the former governor of Ningxia." Wei Guangwei replied.
"Is it him?" Wei Zhongxian was not unfamiliar with Yuan Chonghuan, he was the disciple of his arch-nemesis Han Zhen, and had a close relationship with the Donglin Party. He also had a close relationship with Xiong Tingbi, the former military commander of Liaodong. If it weren't for the fact that they hadn't caught him in any wrongdoing, plus he was far away on the border, they would have taken care of him long ago.
"What's the situation at Shanhai Pass?" Wei Zhongxian asked further.
"The Military Situation Report said that Nurhaci only cut off the connection between Shanhai Pass and Ningyuan City, and the army was stationed on the road to Ningyuan City, but did not attack Shanhai Pass." Wei Guangmi wiped his sweat.
Wei Zhongxian let out a sigh of relief and said, "This is good. Such a big thing can't be hidden. Go and inform the officials, tomorrow morning we will hold court to discuss the matter!"
Wei Guangwei was taken aback and hesitated: "What about His Majesty?"
"His Majesty is over there, our family will go and speak, you must inform all officials tonight." Wei Zhongxian was illiterate, and he didn't even look at the note before putting it into his sleeve.
Liaodong has risen again, and Nurhaci is attacking with all his might. Usually, the Ming dynasty's bannermen were defeated more often than they won against the Later Jin. Nurhaci came in a mighty rush, early in the morning before Emperor Tianqi had arrived at court, the officials were already in disarray in the Wenhua Hall, with the pro-war and pro-peace factions engaged in fierce argument, some even proposed to move the capital, spitting and shouting, more chaotic than a vegetable market.
Before long, Wei Zhongxian and the ailing Tianqi Emperor finally appeared in the great hall. The Tianqi Emperor seemed to have a gloomy face, and all the officials closed their mouths and lowered their heads one after another. In an instant, not a single sound could be heard in the great hall.
"They're all stunned, the Tartar army is approaching, can you ward off the enemy by making such a racket?" Tianqi Emperor said, sitting upright on his dragon throne.
Not a single one of the hundred officials in the hall dared to step forward and speak, as quiet as cicadas in winter. They all felt that the emperor's words today were sharp, directly pointing out the things they didn't dare to face in their hearts.
"All officials, be quiet! Anyone who makes another sound will be beaten with thirty rods!" Wei Zhongxian shouted in his shrill voice.
As soon as the edict was issued, all officials became even more afraid to speak out. Last year, when Gong Department Lang Zhong Wan presented a memorial involving Wei Zhongxian, Wei Zhongxian had him beaten to death in court with less than twenty blows of the rod. If it were thirty, how many officials in the imperial court could have endured it?
"Your Majesty, the Tartar leader Nurhachi led a large army to our border. Yuan Chonghuan disobeyed the order of General Zuo Liangyu and refused to withdraw his troops back to Shanhai Pass. That's why he was defeated by Nurhachi and Ningyuan city was besieged. I think not only can't we send reinforcement, but also should punish him for disobeying orders!" Minister Wei Guangmicro said.
The Minister of War, Wang Zhi Guang, stepped forward and said: "Your humble servant dares not concur with Lord Wei's words. Since Yuan Chong Huan did not respect the imperial edict, why has he only now reported to the court? Furthermore, Gao Ying Xiang abandoned a large area of national territory outside the pass and disregarded the lives and deaths of the people outside the pass. Your servant has long disagreed with this approach, however..."
"Your Excellency Wang, there is no need to say more. The Emperor has already issued an edict on this matter. To ensure the safety of the capital, the Emperor had no choice but to take action. Yuan Chonghuan refused to follow the imperial order and stayed outside the pass, and he even quarreled with General Gao Hongtu, shirking his responsibility and failing to carry out the imperial order, giving Nurhaci an opportunity to attack, laying siege to Ningyuan and threatening Shanhai Pass!" Another eunuch scholar, Gu Bingyan, interrupted Wang Zhi's words.
Jin Yiwei commander Shi Xianchun also petitioned: "This Yuan Chonghuan is acting strangely, with an unusual appearance and unorthodox methods. In fact, he is intentionally using the name of upholding the imperial court to gain fame for himself. He is a national thief!"
Then a strange scene appeared in the temple, and it was not that the enemy had already arrived at the door, but they did not even discuss the strategy of defending against the enemy together. Instead, they all spoke out to accuse the commander-in-chief who was fighting bloody battles on the front line. This is really a rare spectacle in history.
The final result, however, was even more astonishing. The Tianqi Emperor issued an edict ordering Gao Di, the commander of the Liaodong region at Shanhai Pass, not to send troops to rescue Yuan Chonghuan without permission, for fear of falling into Nurhaci's trap. Of course, this edict was secretly dispatched, and Wei Zhongxian was also afraid that if Yuan Chonghuan found out about it, he would surrender to the Later Jin, which would put Shanhai Pass in danger. However, later on, Yuan Chonghuan won, and Gao Di became a scapegoat. The historical records of Zhu Yizun's time only briefly mentioned this event, saying that Ningyuan was besieged, and when the news arrived, the court was in an uproar, unable to come up with a plan, thinking that Ningyuan would surely be lost.
