Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen, the sixth and eighth emperors of the Ming Dynasty, first ascended the throne at the age of 9. Power gradually fell into the hands of a eunuch named Wang Zhen. Wang Zhenyuan is a street hooligan in Yuzhou City, Shaanxi Province. He is very lazy. In order to covet a better life, he entered the palace in vain. Because he could read a little, he taught the little eunuchs to read in the palace, and was called Mr. Wang. When Yingzong was a prince, he served himself. After Emperor Yingzong succeeded to the throne, he promoted Wang Zhen to be the eunuch in charge of the memorial. Wang Zhen has gradually formed a powerful evil force.
144 1 year, the newly-built three halls in the palace were completed, and the officials celebrated Yingzong. Eunuchs are not qualified to attend this banquet. Wang Zhen complained about this: "I am the Duke of Zhou today, why can't I attend the banquet?" Someone told Yingzong that Yingzong actually ordered the Donghua Gate to be opened to welcome Wang Zhen. This shows Wang Zhen's position in the eyes of Yingzong.
At that time, the main foreign invaders in the Ming Dynasty were Mongolian tribes in the north, the strongest of which was the Waci Department. In the border trade, Li Ming exchanged cattle and horses for tea and silk from Ming merchants, but secretly bought copper, iron and weapons at high prices. At that time, it was forbidden to export copper, iron and weapons in the Ming Dynasty. With the emperor's favor, Wang Zhen made a large number of knives and arrows privately and smuggled them to Mongolia for huge profits. Liu Qiu, assistant of Hanlin Bachelor's degree, advised Yingzong to watch out for Waci and was secretly executed by Wang Zhen. Therefore, officials are worried about themselves, and Wang Zhen and his henchmen are bossing around and doing whatever they want.
1449, he also got enough weapons from Wang Zhen, divided into four ways, and invaded the south on a large scale. At this time, Yingzong was over 20 years old, and he didn't listen to all Wu Wen's words. He just believed Wang Zhen, and Wang Zhen actually suggested that he use personal expedition.
Man Wu is against it, which is just a joke. It's too dangerous to send Yingzong, who has no combat experience, to the front. Kuang Yě, the minister of the Ministry of War, and Yu Qian, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, resolutely stood out to dissuade them, but Wang Zhi, the minister of the official department, led hundreds of officials to stay hard for several days. Yingzong didn't listen at all.
1449, 16 In July, Yingzong and Wang Zhen led a 500,000-strong army and set out from Beijing, accompanied by British Duke Zhang Fu, Chen Guogong Zhu Yong, Ministry of War ministers Wang Zuo, Kuang Yě and a large number of civil and military officials. When the army set out, it was dark and stormy. Everyone knows that this is not a good sign, and everyone is worried.
On July 19, the army left Juyongguan and arrived in Fu Xuan on the 23rd. It was windy and rainy for several days and the road was muddy. Many people fell on the road, and many ministers asked for a pause. Wang Zhen was furious, saying, "The imperial court has raised troops for thousands of days, but it used them for a while. Should we retreat before the confrontation? Who dares to obstruct a military law again? "
At the beginning of August, the army arrived in Datong, and military newspapers from all over the country came one after another. Passers-by and horses who knew Waci had entered the Great Wall and quickly went south, which threatened to cut off the army's way home. At this time, Wang Zhen panicked and decided to retreat. Deng Guo, deputy general of Datong, suggested to Yingzong that the army had better retreat to the southeast and return to Beijing through Zijingguan, which was safer. This retreat will pass through Wang Zhen's hometown Yuzhou. Wang Zhen wanted to invite Yingzong to visit his hometown and agreed to this suggestion. But after walking 40 miles, he suddenly changed his mind for fear that the army would trample on the crops in his field after crossing Yuzhou. He ordered to advance from the northeast, and he was afraid that the Waci army would occupy his hometown. He sent thousands of cars to Yuzhou, took his belongings with him, and arbitrarily commanded hundreds of thousands of officials and hundreds of thousands of troops along the way, just like driving cattle. The soldiers of the whole army were so angry that they complained bitterly during the March.
August 10, the army arrived in Fu Xuan, and the gas pursuers had caught up. The temple troops of English sects paid homage to Hou Kezhong, and the commander-in-chief Wu Keqin led the patrol. The Ming army ran back and forth, tired for many days, exhausted, and killed more than half. Wu Kezhong and Wu Keqin both died heroically.
On August 13, the troops retreated from Fu Xuan to Tumubao, an important post station surrounded by mountains and peaks, and only a few third-line roads could pass. At this time, it is only more than 20 miles away from Huailai County. If the army reaches Huailai, it can be defended according to the city. Because more than 65,438+0,000 cars carrying his belongings haven't arrived yet, Wang Zhen urges him to camp in the civil fort and wait. All officials thought it was dangerous to camp here, hoping to get to Huailai as soon as possible, but afraid of Wang Zhen, 65-year-old Kuang Yě risked his life to run to Yingzong. Wang Zhen scolded him: "What do you know about military affairs, you bookworm, and then you have to behead immediately?" Kuang Yě sharply replied: "Will I be afraid of death if I speak for the country and the people?" Wang Zhen asked the samurai to push Kuang Yě out of the door. Kuang Yě trembled with anger, while Wang Zuo and others were relatively silent in the tent, crying.
At dawn the next day, the horn sounded and the tile pierced, and immediately surrounded the station of the Ming army. The terrain of the civil fort is very high. The Ming army dug more than ten feet and couldn't get a drop of water down. The morale of the army was in a panic. At this time, although it was early autumn, the summer heat did not retreat and I didn't drink water for two days. People are hungry and thirsty. At that time, there were only more than 20 thousand cavalry in Waci army, but there were hundreds of thousands in Ming army. So cunning also ordered the army to retreat temporarily, sent messengers with letters to negotiate peace, and lured the Ming army to leave their positions for field operations. At this time, more than 1000 vehicles loaded with property had arrived. He wanted to find a chance to break through, so he ordered the whole army to go south quickly. First, I found that the Ming army left temporarily and stayed quietly. When a large group of Ming troops marched on the mountain road, they couldn't care about each other from beginning to end, and suddenly launched an attack, shooting at Ming troops from all directions with strong bows and hard crossbows. The Ming army was passively beaten, and the team was in chaos and fled everywhere.
At this time, the Yingzong compound was besieged, and the guards and eunuchs around him were shot to death by arrows. These arrows were sold to Waci by Wang Zhen at a high price. Yingzong was so scared that his legs were weak that he sat on the ground trembling, unable to say a word, and looked at Wang Zhen. Fan Zhongyan, the general of the guard, gnashed his teeth with hate, grabbed Wang Zhen and severely reprimanded him: "You dog eunuch, in charge of state affairs, can't run away. Today I want to exterminate pests for the whole world. " . Then he hit Wang Zhen on the head with a hammer, and all he heard was a bang. Wang Zhen's head was broken, and his brains and blood splashed on Yingzong. Finally, Fan Zhongzhan died for his country.
Wang Zhen regards the affairs of state as a selfish child's play. A eunuch, under the love of Yingzong, drove the civil and military officials and hundreds of thousands of Ming troops to a desperate situation. However, the soldiers of the Ming army at that time did not lose face to the motherland. The accompanying ministers, namely, British ministers, ministers, cabinet bachelor Cao Nai, assistant minister Ding Xuan and deputy imperial envoy Deng Meng, all died heroically. Many of them are civilians who have never experienced war, and some are white-haired old people. They are all armed and killed in battle. Only Yingzong, as the emperor, bowed before the enemy, his legs trembled with fear, and he could no longer stand, so he had to be carried away by the Waci soldiers.
In the Battle of Civil Fort, there were only more than 20,000 Waci troops. Under the command of Yingzong and Wang Zhen, 500,000 Ming troops were defeated, with more than half of the casualties, more than 200,000 mules and horses lost, and all the armor and trench were taken away by the enemy. This is the "change of civil castles" in history, and this painful lesson is worth remembering by future generations.