Chapter 577: People are quiet in Liaodong at night (Part 2)

In the past, most officials in the court were afraid of Xiong Tingbi, but Zhang Heming did not buy his account. Why? Zhang Heming made outstanding achievements in quelling the rebellion of Qiangui, and his prestige was no less than or even higher than Xiong Tingbi. Because Zhang Heming took the lead, the court officials also publicly overthrew Xiong. To be honest, Xiong Tingbi's personality did offend many people. This person's personality is a bit like the PDF of later generations, which is too straightforward and too emotional.

Governor Wang Huazhen has 140,000 troops, but Xiong Tingbi has only 5,000 troops. He was undermined by the officials in the court. Xiong Tingbi has made things this way, no matter how high a military genius you are, you can do nothing. However, Xiong Tingbi still does his own way and has no intention of correcting it at all.

Some people may say that Xiong Tingbi was excluded because of the appearance of treacherous ministers in the court, and the ninth thousand-year-old Wei Zhongxian, the tragedy of Xiong Tingbi was entirely caused by Wei Zhongxian. If there were no treacherous ministers, Xiong Tingbi's fate would never be so tragic.

In fact, there have been distinctions between loyalty and treacherous dynasty in all dynasties. Loyalty and treacherous are relative. The question is how you control this situation. In terms of destroying the Jurchen forces, all the officials in the court have the same purpose, and Wei Zhongxian is no exception. Wei Zhongxian did not want to see the Tartars become bigger. He did not get any benefits from the Tartars. For example, when Yuan Chonghuan was in power, Wei Zhongxian was still very active in supporting the war in Liaodong.

Xiong Tingbi should make good use of this consistency and seek common ground while reserving differences in a complex political environment. He should not just get involved in the fire, nor should he hurt others. If a politician cannot control his weaknesses in his personality, his fate will be very sad.

Just when the Jingfu and the Guards were quarrel over the issue of war and defense, just when Wang Huazhen was about to launch a battle to cross the river, the second year of Tianqi, that is, on the 18th day of the first lunar month of the sixth year of the Tartars, Nurhaci led a 100,000 Eight Banners cavalry to break through the ice and swept towards the western Liaoning like a storm. A battle that determined the survival of western Liaoning finally began.

The troops arranged by Wang Huazhen on the bank of the Liao River were solved by Nurhaci without any effort. Immediately afterwards, a 100,000 army surrounded Xipingbao, a small town with only 3,000 troops. Luo Yiguan, the guard of Xipingbao, faced a strong enemy a hundred times more than him, and was not afraid of him. He used the advantage of firearms to repel the attacks of the Eight Banners soldiers many times. The battle went on extremely fiercely, and the city was filled with the bodies of the Eight Banners soldiers. The battle lasted for a whole day, and Xipingbao was still standing tall. Nurhaci was furious but had no choice but to leave a small number of troops to continue to siege, leading the army to fight and attack Zhenwubao.

Wang Huazhen in Guangning City learned that Xiping Fort was surrounded, and immediately lost his mind. Xiong Tingbi issued an order from the Youtun Guard, ordering Wang Huazhen to send troops to remove the siege of Xiping Fort. Facing the pressure of Jurchen soldiers, Wang Huazhen, who had not passed the battle formation, was completely confused and obeyed Xiong Tingbi's orders at this moment. He ordered Sun Degong to be the vanguard and led the Guangning defenders, the Zhenwu defenders, the Luyang defenders and others to quickly reinforce Xiping Fort. He encountered the Tartars who were attacking Zhenwu at Pingyang Bridge. Sun Degong was the vanguard and the vanguard should be at the forefront, but he encouraged General Liu Qu to take the lead and wait and see him from behind.

For many days, the Ming army, inspired by Wang Huazhen's strategy of scattering the square, had an unprecedented high morale and was unstoppable. As soon as they came into contact, they killed the Tartar soldiers and retreated. The Ming army in western Liaoning at that time were all elite troops transferred from all over the country. At that time, the rebel army in Shaanxi had not yet broken out, and the Ming army could concentrate all their efforts in western Liaoning. Therefore, as soon as the war started, the wild boar skin suffered a great loss. Found that the war was unfavorable, Nurhaci and the Beale hurriedly adjusted their troops and pulled the new force up. The two sides continued to fight bloody battles together.

Field battles were the advantage of the Tartars, and the combat effectiveness of the Taurus cavalry was invincible in China at that time. Not long after the battle, the Ming army gradually became dissatisfied. Sun Degong took the opportunity to shout: Defeat, defeat, run away while shouting. As soon as he ran away, the Ming army immediately became in chaos. General Liu Qu, Qi Bingzhong, and deputy general Liu Zheng died one after another. The Ming army was defeated on a large scale. A considerable number of Ming troops were killed by the Tartars, and the remaining Ming army rushed to escape to Guangning with Sun Degong.

In Guangning, the Luyang defenders were defeated. Nurhaci turned around and attacked Xiping Fort again. Before the attack, Li Yongfang persuaded surrender and asked someone to hold a flag to shout under the city: "I know that General Luo is a good man in the city. If you descend quickly, you should be rich and prosperous." Luo Yiguan responded at the top of the city: "Why should the court fail you and rebel? Don't you know that Luo Yiguan is a righteous man?" At the same time, he also ordered people to raise the flag to surrender and persuade Li Yongfang to surrender.

Nurhaci reorganized the attack when he saw that he was persuaded to surrender without any persuasion. This time the fight became even more intense. The Tartars attacked three times repeatedly but failed to capture them. The Tartars' bodies were in line with the city walls, and more than a thousand people were killed. After the gunpowder was used up in the city, there was no reinforcement from the Ming army. Luo Yiguan drew his sword to commit suicide in despair. All three thousand soldiers were killed in battle, and no one surrendered.

The Battle of Xiping Fort was the most tragic battle since the Ming and Jin Dynasties. The Ming army used only 3,000 troops to fight against tens of thousands of Tartars and severely damaged more than a thousand of them, making the enemy frightened. Luo Yiguan wrote a hymn to fight against the invasion of foreign races with his heroic spirit of facing death. Luo Yiguan, as a national hero, will always be admired, and traitors like Sun Degong and Li Yongfang should always be nailed to the pillar of shame of the nation.

As soon as Sun Degong, who fled back to Guangning, entered the city, sent troops to seize the city gate, block the treasury, and promoted it in the city. After being defeated in the front, the people in the city should quickly shave their hair to welcome the Khan into the city, so as to avoid the disaster of the massacre of the city, and mobilize soldiers to capture Wang Huazhen alive. This traitor was very active in welcoming the arrival of the wild boar skin.

Wang Huazhen was handling official documents at the Governor's Office, and had no idea about the situation outside. Sun Degong's subordinates were running towards the Governor's Office, and the situation was extremely critical. Jiang Chaodong, a general under Wang Huazhen, broke into the door, and Wang Huazhen also scolded him for being rude. Jiang Chaodong told him that Sun Degong rebelled and surrendered to the enemy. Guangning City had been occupied by Sun Degong's rebels, and the Lord should immediately follow the general and rush out of the city to take the next step.

Wang Huazhen was so shocked that he was at a loss. Under Jiang Chaodong's escort, he came to the stable. The horses had already been ridden by his subordinates and ran away from his life. There were only two camels left in the stable. Jiang Chaodong gave his mount to the governor, and then placed some important documents, seals, etc. on a hunchback and rushed out of the city.

Xiong Tingbi received news of the loss of Xiping Fort and hurriedly led only 5,000 soldiers to reinforce Guangning. On the way, he met Wang Huazhen who was fleeing in a hurry. At this time, there were only a few dozen people left by Wang Huazhen, and his appearance was quite embarrassed. After meeting Lord Jingli, if he met a savior, he burst into tears and burst into tears.

Xiong Tingbi was very happy when he saw that the governor who was usually talking wildly and was arrogant and now became this kind of virtue. He couldn't help but sarcastically say, "Where did you want to mention the pride of 60,000 soldiers to destroy the slave chief in one fell swoop? What is this?"

Wang Huazhen was ashamed of being unreasonable. At that time, some people made suggestions to quickly march back to Guangning while Guangning was still in chaos. Some people also proposed to defend the vanguard of Ning. Xiong Tingbi saw refugees who fled from Guangning everywhere, and sighed and said, "It's too late, now I can only scatter into Shanhaiguan and defend the vanguard."

Wang Huazhen was already a defeated general at this time, so he dared not refute it. After Xiong Tingbi's order, the defenders and people outside the pass left the city and fled, and the fertile fields outside the pass were instantly ruined. In fact, Xiong Tingbi had the possibility of counterattacking Guangning City at that time. However, he gave up voluntarily. From then on, this place became the territory of the Tartars.

According to historical records, the Mongolian soldiers who were relying on Wang Huazhen took the opportunity to kill and loot, and the fleeing soldiers also robbed them. The fleeing people made the most of the people. Only one ten remained, and the abandoned young and old were wailing beside the road, and there were corpses who were ravaged and trampled to death. The people in western Liaoning did not die under the iron hoofs of foreign races, but instead became ghosts under the swords of the official army and the Mongols.

The governor fled and Sun Degong occupied Guangning. He immediately reported the news to Nurhaci. Nurhaci was overjoyed. He led his army to Guangning. When he arrived not far from Guangning, he saw Sun Degong leading the surrendered soldiers and civilians in the city who had shaved their hair to burn incense, beat drums and drums, and blowing trumpets to welcome Nurhaci into the city.

When he entered the city, he saw that every household was decorated with lights and the people in the city had shaved their hair and knelt on both sides of the street, cheering to welcome the new owner of Guangning City. Sun Degong was unique and laying yellow cloth at the city gate. Nurhaci entered Guangning City on the yellow cloth symbolizing the emperor.

[Author’s note: You must remember Sun Degong, a traitor! His son is Sun Sick who appeared in "The Deer and the Cauldron"!]

Guangning City changed hands, and there were no generals who followed Xiong Tingbi into the pass in western Liaoning, who led their troops to surrender to the Tatars one after another. They were: Liu Shixun, the general of the Zhenjing Fort. Yan Yin, the guerrilla warrior of Daqing Fort, He Shiyan, the guerrilla warrior of Daling River, Zhu Shixun, the guerilla warrior of Xixing Fort, Huang Zonglu, the truant of Right Guard, Chen Shangzhi, the truant of Jinfubao, Jinfubao, Jinfubao, Jinfubao, Jinfubao, Jinfubao, etc.... There are many people who are willing to be traitors.

Nurhaci was very happy and celebrated at the city's general banquet and rewarded the soldiers of the Eight Banners. In order to commend Sun Degong's achievements, Nurhaci appointed him as a guerrilla and guarded Guangning. On February 11, the seventh year of Tianming (1622), an unimaginable thing happened. Nurhaci actually received the concubines of the Liaoyang City Abahai, the concubines, and the concubines of the Beile from Guangning, and the commanding ministers and their group of soldiers went out of the city to pay their respects.

Outside the yamen, the road was covered with red felt. At the time of Si, "The Great Concubine led the Concubine to the Khan and said, "The Khan was favored by heaven, and he got Guangning City." The wives of the Bele kowtowed three times outside the hall and retreated. Later, they held a great banquet with the ceremony of welcoming the Concubine." The atmosphere of celebrating the victory of conquering Guangning reached its climax due to the arrival of these women.

Guangning was defeated, and it was undoubtedly a blow to the ministers in the court who supported Wang Huazhen. The ministers who opposed Wang Huazhen immediately wrote a letter to demand severe punishment of Wang Huazhen. Emperor Tianqi was of course very angry. After the discussion, he captured Wang Huazhen and was dismissed from his post and returned to his hometown to wait for the treatment. Later, Xiong Tingbi felt that he was just right. If he stayed in his hometown, he might be framed by the political enemies in the court, so he returned to the capital from his hometown and asked for punishment with twelve confidence.

Perhaps he thought that Guangning's loss had nothing to do with him, and it just happened to verify the correctness of his original claim. What he did not expect was that some ministers and eunuchs who opposed him echoed each other, and he actually punished him with Wang Huazhen and arrested him and imprisoned him. Censor Liang Menghuan falsely accused him of embezzling 170,000 yuan in silver, and Censor Liu Hui reported that Xiong Tingbi's family had a million yuan in capital, but there was nowhere to be 170,000 yuan after the house was confiscated, of course, it was not even more 100,000 yuan.

The eunuch Wei Zhongxian ordered strict pursuit, and the officials in charge of the case actually confiscated the home of his in-laws. The magistrate of Jiangxia Wang Eryu said that Xiong Tingbi had a sable milk Qiuzhen at home, and when he searched the house, he still found nothing, so he wanted to arrest Xiong Ting's eldest son Xiong Zhaogui, and Xiong Zhaogui could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide. His mother called for injustice for him, and the magistrate Wang Eryu tied his two maids in front of the county government, took off his clothes, and whipped forty years.

People were very angry at Wang Eryu's rebellion and expressed infinite sympathy for Xiong Tingbi. Xiong Tingbi was rebelled and sentenced to death before Wang Huazhen, and his head was circulated on nine sides, and his fate was very tragic. Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, and some ministers asked for justice for Xiong Tingbi, but they did not get the consent of Chongzhen. It was not until the third year of Chongzhen that Chongzhen offered to ask his son to take over Xiong Tingbi's skull for burial, but it was not obvious.

In fact, to be honest, Xiong Tingbi's death was not unfair. He did have great responsibility for the fall of Guangning City. He was the governor of Liaodong, and he was definitely responsible for the leadership. Moreover, when Guangning was defeated, the Tatars only won the battle of Xipingbao and Pingyangqiao, and they were more than 200 miles away from Guangning. The Battle of Xipingbao severely damaged the Tatars. When the Battle of Pingyangqiao began, the Ming army defeated the Tatars, and the morale of the Tatars could not be unstoppable.

Where was Xiong Tingbi at this time? It was in Luyang Post. It was more than 100 miles away from Guangning. Xiong Tingbi still had 5,000 troops. If Xiong Tingbi could collect exile and inspire the people like he did when he first took office as the Liaodong Strait, he would soon gather 20,000 to 30,000 people. Although Guangning City fell into the hands of Sun Degong, if Xiong Tingbi led all the generals to attack Guangning and declared the righteousness to the soldiers and civilians in the city in the name of the imperial court strategy and the governor, Guangning could be taken back.

At that time, several officials around Xiong Tingbi also suggested that he march into Guangning quickly, but he did not accept it. Obviously, Xiong Tingbi was interested in deliberately abandoning Guangning City. Taking a step back, even if he did not take Guangning, there was still Xu Ling Castle around him to guard. The Youtun Guard (i.e. Dalinghe City) stationed by Xiong Tingbi was one of them.

If he could motivate the soldiers like Luo Yiguan and ordered them to defend themselves and fight to the death, each city would seriously damage the enemy soldiers. In this way, the situation of the war might change. What is incredible is that Xiong Tingbi actually made a ridiculous decision to abandon all the castles outside the pass and retreat into the pass. This is a shameful escape, and its nature is absolutely very bad. This order will cause a large area of ​​territory to fall and millions of living beings to suffer.

What is admirable is that the military supervisor Gao Bangzuo escaped with Xiong Tingbi, but instead moved forward, taking Gao Yong and Gao Hou's two servants into the empty Songshan City. At this time, the Tartar soldiers were coming to Songshan. He said to the two servants: "I have received the kindness of the country and will not live in secret. I will repay you with my bones and return to my hometown to see my mother. I will bury me next to my father's tomb and let my father know that his son died for the crisis of the country." After that, he was about to hang himself. The two ran to the ground and persuaded each other hard, but Gao Bangzuo refused to listen. After taking a shower, he put on his official uniform, bowed to the direction of the capital, and hanged himself to death.

The servant Gao Yong said to Gao Hou: "Master treats me well. I can't bear to see my master die alone. I want to serve my master underground." After that, he followed him. Gao Hou knelt down and cried, "If I die again, who will bury the master?" So he cremated the bodies of his master and Gao Yong, and carried their bones and returned to Guangling (now Yangzhou).

When Xiong Tingbi heard about Gao Bangzuo's death, he didn't know what he thought? Should he be ashamed or disdainful? If Xiong Tingbi could organize the defeated army to retake Guangning, or rely on the right guard to defend, and dozens of other towns and forts could fight to the death like Luo Yiguan, then the Tartar soldiers would probably have to pay the painful price of the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. At this critical moment, Xiong Tingbi was completely confused and chose to escape. This was really incomparable to Yuan Chonghuan, who later defended himself in the Infant City.

The Ming Dynasty has always been very strict in punishing officials who defeated the war. Li Weihan, who lost Fushun, was exiled and later executed. Yang Hao, who fought in the Sarhu, was dismissed from office and executed. Xiong Tingbi fled without a fight this time, voluntarily gave up a large area of ​​territory in western Liaoning and more than 40 castles, leaving behind a large amount of supplies and food, resulting in serious consequences of the loss of the entire Liaodong area. He was sentenced to death, and the sentence should be considered to be appropriate.

The officials who tried Xiong Tingbi wrote the judgment of Xiong Wang and Wang in great detail, and the citations were as follows: "The emperor defeated Huazhen in the military and raised Tingbi in the fields, which was very favored. The man who died as a confidant, and the two were quite conceited as heroes, and they should repay them with gratitude and work together. If they were not satisfied, they would die. Unexpectedly, they would be enthusiastic and brave. They would join forces with each other. They raised Hexi and bowed to someone, and ended up with one escape."

"Hua Zhenquan did not know the army, but instead took the enemy's control, but instead used it. Sun Degong served the people every day without understanding, but only said that he would cross the river and fight to the decisive battle. When the drums sounded, the enemy cavalry was a hundred miles away and abandoned Guangning. How sad. Hua Zhen had a patriotic heart and no wisdom to plan the country. After this, the crime of escape was over. It was better to be punished to correct the innocent. If Tingbi knew his talent and courage, he would be arrogant for a lifetime, and he would be able to conquer Liao and survive in previous years, and if he left Liao and died, it would seem that the relationship would be very small."

"After starting his strategy, Tingbi actually agreed to Wei Huo himself, and everyone was Wei Huo. When he first left Chunming Gate, he issued an order to control the three parties. Those who knew it knew that he had no intention of broadening. After arriving at the gate of the gate, he said that our troops should not be wary, and the Western Barbarians were not trusted. The words and words were left to the left, and the wisdom of predicting things was far better than that of Hua Zhen. Only the stubborn nature was still strong and could not be broken. In order to fight for the chaos of Wenlong, the crime of the chaos of Wenlong was opened and the situation of the water and fire were divided, and the battle between Xuanhuang was successful."

"And they prepare for the horses and soldiers, they all set their guards outside the country. When they are in a hurry, they are stunned and do not know where to go. They are in a hurry to supervise the battle. If they win every day, they can become my name. They do not know the contradictions, and they both lose their battles and defenses. Although they want to lead the theory that they do not take the initiative to fight in order to reduce the situation, can they get it?"

"On the day when Guangning was in a hurry, Tingbi rolled up his armor and rushed forward, raised a sword to suppress the disaster, or defended the right trunk, collected the embers to recover, turned the defeat into success, and died and immortal. If you can't figure out this, you will run to the mountains and seas first, and you will have great achievements, and you will not be able to redeem the crime of losing your army."

"On the day when the meeting was met, Tingbi still stabbed him but did not lie down, and Hu did not lead the previous principles to view it. It was more than Yang Hao, and more than Yuan Yingtai, the death of Yuan Yingtai. If the punishment of Huazhen was strong and the punishment was too lenient to Tingbi, the punishment was the same, and it was not a punishment. It was better to enter the important ritual to warn the future."

In fact, Xiong Tingbi is not a timid person. His escape was obviously not for the sake of running away. But why did he finally make the choice to escape? The most likely thing is of course the mentality of watching jokes and gloating.

Xiong Tingbi was full of military strategies and asked Wang Huazhen to disturb him. Wang Huazhen relied on the power of the court to exclude him and ignore him. Xiong Tingbi couldn't stand this. He hated Wang Huazhen to the extreme. The sky had eyes, and the world was retribution. Wang Huazhen, you finally had this today. When Wang Huazhen fled to him in a mess, he did not ask about the specific situation of the war, but said "Gu Xiao". Gu Xiao looked at the people around him and smiled.

This smile revealed Xiong Tingbi's narrow-mindedness. In the face of national crisis, he should put the world first, but he was obsessed with the gains and losses between the two, which was really a matter of a real man. As a dignified Liaodong ruler, at this time, he was lucky enough to gloat. It was not an exaggeration to give up the opportunity to turn the tide in vain.

Secondly, Xiong Tingbi has always advocated perseverance. He knew very well about the tactics of the Tartars. Without solid fortifications, he could not resist the Tartars at all. Under the guidance of Wang Huazhen's offensive strategy, Guangning and the surrounding castles were not engaged in the construction of city defense fortifications at all, so they could not resist at all. They would be defeated in battle, and they would be severely punished in defeat. So he chose to escape. He thought that this escape could put all the responsibility on Wang Huazhen.

Due to the fall of Guangning City, the Ming army had no chance of recovering Liaodong. The situation in Liaodong was decayed since then. Wang Zaijin, who served as the governor of Liaodong after Wang Huazhen, was heartbroken about the fall of Guangning. He said: "On the east is damaged by Qingfu, two is damaged by Kaiti, three is damaged by Liao Shen, and four is damaged by Guangning. The first one is damaged by danger, the other is damaged by defeat, and the other is damaged by defeat, and the third is destroyed by the end of the game. As for the four, the whole Liao is abandoned without a situation. Retreat the mountains and seas, and there is no way to retreat."

The Ming Dynasty has always compared Liaodong to the left arm of the capital. When Guangning lost its left arm, the left arm was completely cut off. The Ming Dynasty's rule in Liaodong was basically over, and the Ming Dynasty was no longer a complete body. The Taurus regime pushed its strength to western Liaoning, cutting off most of the fantasies of restoration of Han people in southern Liaoning, and played a very important role in stabilizing the Taurus regime.

Due to the fall of Guangning City, the Tartars obtained a large amount of supplies, greatly enriching their own strength. The increase in power made them have higher desires. On the contrary, the strength of the Ming Dynasty was further weakened, and the morale of the Ming army also fell to the bottom.

What's even more terrible is that the fall of Guangning City made most of the Mongols fall into the arms of Jianlu. "The seventeen Beile of the Mongolian Erut tribes came back. They went to the banquet to serve him, and the five Khalkha tribes came back together." With the help of the Mongols, Jianlu's combat power became even stronger.
Chapter completed!