Chapter 53: Great Ming produces talents

In the end, they were dragged to the outskirts of Beijing, and then they followed Yu Qian's example and fought the Battle of Beijing.

Although Huang Taiji was defeated in the end, it could be considered as making up for the mistake by operating well.

But Yuan Chonghuan made a series of bold moves and successfully killed himself.

First, he proposed that the Guanning Army be stationed in the capital, which was really a bit reckless.

At that time, the whole world suspected that Yuan Chonghuan and Huang Taiji had some kind of ulterior motive. Even when Yu Qian fought against the Oirat Mongols, he only dared to deploy his troops outside the Nine Gates. This guy actually proposed to lead his troops into Beijing when the whole world suspected him. It would be a miracle if people did not suspect that he had impure motives.

After the war, Chongzhen urgently recalled Yuan Chonghuan who was chasing Huang Taiji. He pointed at his nose and scolded him for a long time in the hall, but Yuan Chonghuan didn't say a word, neither explained nor apologized...

Just standing there straight, looking like a dead child in his rebellious period.

Moreover, it took eight months from the time Yuan Chonghuan was imprisoned to the time he was executed. This shows that Chongzhen was actually hesitant about whether to kill Yuan Chonghuan, and he did not turn against him ruthlessly as later generations said.

But Yuan Chonghuan was so stubborn that he refused to admit his mistake for eight whole months.

It is unknown whether it was because he was too confident in himself and felt that the Ming Dynasty could not do without him and Chongzhen was absolutely reluctant to kill him, or for some other reason.

In the end, he was executed by slow slicing. The people of the entire Beijing city hated him so much that they even rushed to snatch Yuan Chonghuan's flesh to eat.

How can I not hate it!

We asked you to lead the army in Ji and Liao, and you gave them money and men when they asked for you. But you "escorted" the Jiannu all the way to Beijing, and they even beat them into the second ring road, which scared the people.

However, Wang An did not say what really prompted Chongzhen to make up his mind to kill Yuan Chonghuan.

That is, Yuan Chonghuan had a very good relationship with Qian Longxi at that time, and Qian Longxi was the political enemy of Wen Tihen, the chief minister of the Changshou Cabinet, who was familiar to later generations.

In order to drag Qian Longxi into the water, Wen Tihen slandered and exaggerated Yuan Chonghuan's crimes, which led to Chongzhen's determination to send Yuan Chonghuan to death.

The reason why Wang An did not say anything was because Wen Tihen was not the Prime Minister at that time, and it had little to do with the questions raised by Chongzhen, so he did not "spoil" too much.

After hearing the causes and consequences of the Jiannu's attack on the capital, and learning the "easter egg" of Yuan Chonghuan's "death", Chongzhen suddenly felt that he did not hate Yuan Chonghuan as much as before. After all, he "had already" been cut into pieces by him.

Moreover, judging from what Wang An said, even if people all over the world would suspect Yuan Chonghuan of colluding with Huang Taiji in the future, he never really did anything treacherous until his death. It seems that although this person was strange and confusing, he was still loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

And he does have certain talents, and he can be useful if he is trained well.

Thinking of this, Chongzhen sighed.

The Donglin Party who was keen on fighting, Wei Zhongxian who was very good at withholding money, the eccentric Yuan Chonghuan, and the big soldier Mao Wenlong, what kind of talents could this Ming Dynasty produce!

If you say these people are useless, it doesn’t seem so; if you say they are useful, they do things that make it difficult to judge them.

Donglin loved factional struggles, but it also produced people like Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou who were not afraid of power; the notorious Wei Zhongxian had just made himself eight million taels of silver; Yuan Chonghuan, who was a master at courting death, was very good at defense and was able to repel Huang Taiji in a random battle outside the city; Mao Wenlong had extremely poor personal morals, but he could make the Jian slaves hesitate to act rashly.

"Alas, what kind of monsters are these!" Chongzhen sighed again.

Wang An chuckled and suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Oh, by the way, when Yuandudu goes to take up the post of Governor of Ji and Liao, remember to remind your uncle not to stay in Ningyuan." Chongzhen shuddered when he heard this. He felt that when he heard Wang An say "remind your uncle", he would have a psychological shadow, because when Wang An said this, bad things would definitely happen.

But he couldn't help asking, so he said with a bitter face: "What happened to Ning Yuan?"

"It's nothing, there was just a mutiny in Ningyuan!" Wang An said lightly.

Chongzhen spat out the hot tea before he could even swallow it. "What? Ningyuan is mutinying!"

Wang An wiped the tea off his face and said unhappily, "It's just a show of force, what else can you do?"

Under Chongzhen's questioning, Wang An told the truth one by one.

Although Ningyuan implemented military farming at that time, the income from the farming had to be sent to the capital first, and then the capital would distribute salaries and food.

In addition to the Liao people, the Ningyuan garrison at that time also included many migrant workers from Shu and Chu. These people had no harvest from the land, and the court owed them wages. Their families had no means of living and were about to starve to death, so they simply joined together to demand pay.

At that time, of the 43,000 defenders of Ningyuan, except for Zu Dashou's battalion, the remaining 35,000 people started to make a fuss. They rushed into the governor's office, arrested Liaodong Governor Bi Zisu, and beat him up.

Although the matter was finally settled by Yuan Chonghuan who had just taken office, the Liaodong Governor Bi Zisu felt insulted and was so ashamed and angry that he wrote a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen saying that the riots were caused by his failure to manage the local area well, and then he hanged himself.

Speaking of which, Bi Zisu was different from his brother Bi Ziyan. He was a man of integrity and talent, and was able to become an honest official. However, it was precisely because he was too upright that he committed suicide out of shame.

Speaking of which, isn't it just being spanked in public?

Wang An expressed his incomprehension, but Chongzhen said it was a bit extreme but normal.

Upon hearing that the problem was simply caused by unpaid wages, Chongzhen, who was now wealthy and powerful, immediately felt relieved. Things that could be solved with money were not considered problems.

At the same time, he secretly felt lucky again that he met Wang An and listened to Wang An's advice to keep Wei Zhongxian, otherwise he would have lost a few more hairs for silver.

After chatting for half a day, the reserved guests and Wang Chengen returned one after another.

So Wang An and Chongzhen drank and ate meat while looking at the title deed of the cargo yard and instantly felt that their life was perfect.

The sources of raw materials and the site are all ready, and Wang An can start preparing for production at any time.

Before he knew it, Wang An had drunk too much again. In his dream, he had become the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, with billions of assets and 17 or 18 concubines.

But when he woke up, he found that the two tablets, Xiaowu and Xiaoliu, were still pressing on him, and he immediately became furious.

"Didn't I tell you to sleep in a small bed? Do you understand the difference between men and women?" Wang An said angrily, pointing at a newly added small bed.

However, Xiaowu and Xiaoliu just said aggrievedly: "The small bed is too cold, Brother An's body is warmer."

"No one can sleep on me! I was wondering why I couldn't breathe in my dream. It turns out it was you two who caused it." Wang An pushed the two of them away in annoyance and got up on his own.

Xiaowu and Xiaoliu also got up hurriedly, some fetched water and some made breakfast.

(End of this chapter)