Sun Chuanting (1593-1643), also known as Boya, Baigu, and Baigu, was a native of Wuwei, Daizhou Town (now Daixian County, Shanxi Province).
He was born in the 21st year of Wanli of Emperor Shenzong of Ming Dynasty and died in the 16th year of Chongzhen of Emperor Sizong of Ming Dynasty. He was about 51 years old.
Jinshi in the forty-seventh year of Wanli (1619 AD).
In the fifteenth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1642), he served as the Minister of the Ministry of War and the governor of Shaanxi.
The following year, he was promoted to Minister of War (renamed Superintendent).
He led troops to suppress Li Zicheng and died in Tongguan.
Biography
Suppressing the Peasant Uprising
In Sun Chuanting’s life. Suppressing peasant uprisings constituted the main content of his military career, which began in the eighth year of Chongzhen (1635). In the autumn of this year, Sun Chuanting was appointed as a doctor, and later he was promoted to the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture (today's Beijing City). In the ninth year of Chongzhen (1636), he was promoted to the censor of Youqiandu. At this time, the peasant uprising army headed by King Tixi was occupying Shangluo (today's Shangzhou City and Luonan County, Shaanxi Province), seriously threatening the Ming Dynasty's rule in Shaanxi. Gan Xuekuo, the governor of Shaanxi, failed to suppress it many times, and the Shaanxi scholar-bureaucrats He recommended Sun Chuanting to supervise the Qin Dynasty, and Sun Chuanting inspected Shaanxi in March of the ninth year of Chongzhen. After Sun Chuanting took office, he ordered his deputy general Luo Shangwen to lead the Ming army to attack the rebel army in Shangluo area and kill King Tide. Soon, the peasant uprising army launched another struggle in the Guanzhong area. Sun Chuanting suppressed the most powerful Gao Yingxiang tribe in the uprising army in the Battle of Heishuiyu in Zhouzhi, Shaanxi Province, and captured and killed Gao Yingxiang, the king of Chuang. When the rebel army in Shaanxi suffered repeated setbacks, 17 rebel armies active in Henan, including Ma Jinzhong and Liu Guoneng, marched into Weinan. Sun Chuanting hurriedly contacted the Henan Ming Army to pursue and intercept the rebels. At the beginning of the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637), Ma Jinzhong and other troops crossed west again and entered Shaanxi, attacking Shangzhou, Luonan, Lantian and other places. Sun Chuanting led his troops and the various Ming armies used superior force to attack the rebels Shengshiwang, Guabeiwang, Yiyifei, Zhentianwang and other troops one after another, so that the area south of Guanzhong became pacified.
Suppressing the Shaanxi Rebels
Sun Chuanting compromised the Ministry of War's agreement to "cut off the front and defend Shangluo" and sent heavy troops to guard the strategic locations around Shangluo. When the rebel army led by the Great Heavenly King attacked Qingyang and Baoji, Sun Chuanting quickly returned to defeat them in Heshui. At the beginning of the 11th year of Chongzhen (1638), when the insurgent troops who passed through Tianxing and Huntianxing were heading from Hui (now Hui County, Gansu), Qin (now Tianshui City, Gansu) and other places via Fengxiang to Chengcheng, Sun Chuanting commanded some of the five Lu jointly attacked the rebel army in the Yangjialing and Huanglong Mountain areas, killing more than 2,000 people. They also attacked the deep gorge with a radius of three to four hundred miles to the west of Luzhou (now Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province) and east of Heshui. The tactics of dividing the troops to intercept and set up a mobile ambush defeated the rebel army again, and repulsed the Wan and Luo tribes led by Ma Jinzhong and Ma Guangyu who came to the aid of the Shaanxi rebel army. Then they and Hong Chengchou laid a heavy ambush in the southern part of Tongguan, making the Chuang King Li Zicheng's troops almost The entire army was wiped out, and Li Zicheng broke through with only 18 cavalry. At this point, the rebel army in Shaanxi was almost suppressed.
Suppression of the Henan Rebel Army
At this time, only the Henan Rebel Army still posed a threat to the Ming court. Luo Rucai, Ma Jinzhong, He Yilong, Zuo Jinwang and other thirteen troops (i.e., the "Fifth Gezuo Camp") joined forces for dozens of miles and were waiting to attack Tongguan. Faced with this situation, Sun Chuanting believed that the main force of the rebel army was in Henan, so he led his troops to the east and defeated thirteen soldiers and horses in the mountains of Neng Township (now northwest of Lingbao County, Henan Province) and Lingbao. The rebel army was in an increasingly difficult situation. What's more, he had no choice but to ask Xiong Wencan to surrender. However, Sun Chuanting, who was known as the "main suppressor", did not accept Xiong Wencan's dissuasion and insisted on attacking the rebels. He finally stopped the attack after receiving a handwritten letter from Yang Sichang. Although the rebels were ordered to surrender, they did not disarm. Instead, they moved their troops and waited for an opportunity to attack the Shangluo area. Sun Chuanting ordered general Wang Wenqing and others to lead several battles against the rebels. The remaining rebels were forced to move to Neixiang and Xichuan.
Demoted to civilians
In August of the eleventh year of Chongzhen (1638), Dorgon and Yue Tuo led the Qing troops to separate from Qiangziling (now northeast of Miyun), Qing Shankou (now moved to the west and northeast) entered the Great Wall, and the capital of the Ming Dynasty was attacked. Governor Lu Xiangsheng, who supervised the troops of King Qin from all directions entering the capital, was killed in Julu. The Ming court then summoned Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou to take charge of the defense of the capital, and promoted Sun Chuanting to the position of Right Waiter of the Ministry of War and Censor of Youqiandu, commanding all reinforcements. After Sun Chuanting arrived in the suburbs of Beijing, due to deep conflicts between him and Yang Sichang of the Zhuhe faction and Zhongguan Xia Qiqian, Emperor Chongzhen issued an order not to allow him to enter the capital to see him. However, Hong Chengchou received condolences in the suburbs of Beijing and was ordered to enter the palace to pay homage to Chongzhen. emperor. Sun Chuanting was naturally very dissatisfied with this unfair treatment. Yang Sichang appointed Hong Chengchou as the governor of Jiliao, and advocated leaving all Shaanxi troops to defend Jiliao. Sun Chuanting strongly opposed this and believed that "the Qin army cannot stay. Staying will increase the strength of the thieves and will not benefit the border. It is necessary to withdraw the troops on behalf of the thieves." Yang Sichang ignored Sun Chuanting's opinion. Sun Chuanting was so depressed about this that he became deaf. The next year, the Ming Dynasty transferred Sun Chuanting to the military affairs of Baoding, Shandong and Henan. Sun Chuanting immediately went to Shu to see the emperor, but Yang Sichang failed in every possible way. Sun Chuanting felt angry and retired due to illness. But Yang Sichang still refused to let him go, saying that Sun Chuanting's illness was just an excuse. Emperor Chongzhen was furious. After demoting Sun Chuanting to a commoner, he imprisoned him pending judgment.
Reactivated
During the three years since Sun Chuanting was imprisoned, Xiong Wencan and Yang Sichang suffered consecutive defeats in the war to suppress the rebels. Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang, opened up the situation in Henan and supported his troops. Hundreds of thousands surrounded Kaifeng for the second time. Under this situation, the Ming court again appointed Sun Chuanting as the right minister of the Ministry of War in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642). Emperor Chongzhen personally visited the Wenyu Palace to inquire about Sun Chuanting's strategy for suppressing the rebel army, and held a banquet to calm his shock. Afterwards, he quickly ordered Sun Chuanting to lead the Imperial Guard to aid Kaifeng.
Governor of Shaanxi
Due to the strong defense of Kaifeng and the arrival of Ming reinforcements, Li Zicheng decisively withdrew from the siege of Kaifeng after being unable to attack for a long time. In the Battle of Xiangcheng, Wang Qionian, the governor of Shaanxi, was killed, and Sun Chuanting was ordered to go to Shaanxi to perform his duties. After Sun Chuanting took office, he immediately detained He Renlong, the former commander-in-chief of Fu Suppression, and executed him. In order to deal with the growing rebel army, Sun Chuanting stepped up military affairs day and night. In May of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen (1642), Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng for the third time. Emperor Chongzhen urged Sun Chuanting to leave the border and enter Henan quickly. Sun Chuanting replied: "The newly recruited soldiers cannot be used." But the anxious Emperor Chongzhen ignored it and just forced Sun Chuanting to rescue Kaifeng as soon as possible. Sun Chuanting had no choice but to send troops to rush for reinforcements and arrived at Tongguan at the end of September. It happened that there had been heavy rain for several days and the river water rose sharply. Li Zicheng then cut off the Majiakou section of the Yellow River and flooded Kaifeng. Just when Sun Chuanting's reinforcements had just left Tongguan, Li Zicheng had already sent his troops south and evacuated Kaifeng, which had become a water town. So Sun Chuanting sent his troops straight to Nanyang. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai joined forces and marched westward, fought with Sun Chuanting's Shaanxi army, and defeated them in Jiaxian. Sun Chuanting led the remaining troops to flee to Gong County and entered Shaanxi from Mengyuan.
Defend Tongguan
After Sun Chuanting was defeated and returned to Shaanxi, he determined to defend Tongguan to control the important areas upstream of the capital. At that time, the Ming army suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Jiaxian and recruited many new soldiers. Based on this situation, Sun Chuanting formulated a strategic policy that it was not advisable to fight quickly, but to cultivate farmland, repair weapons, and store grain. In order to deal with Li Zicheng's powerful cavalry and enhance the firepower and protective capabilities of the Ming army, Sun Chuanting specially built 30,000 "trains" carrying artillery. This "train" can withstand the impact of cavalry when traveling, and can surround the enemy when stationed. Formation of defense. In May of the 16th year of Chongzhen (1643), the Ming court granted Sun Chuanting the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, and supervised the military affairs of Henan, Sichuan, Shanxi, Huguang, Guizhou, and Jiangnan and Jiangbei provinces, ordering him to quickly leave Tongguan. At this time, Li Zicheng had annihilated several main forces of the Ming army one after another. He had experienced battles for a long time and had strong troops and horses. Sun Chuanting knew that fighting against such a powerful opponent would be a disaster, and he couldn't help but sigh: "What the hell! I know that I will never go back, but how can a man fight against the jailer again!" He expressed his determination to die on the battlefield. . On August 10, Sun Chuanting's army left Tongguan and initially defeated the rebels in Ruzhou, Lingbao, Tangxian (now Biyang, Henan), and Jiaxian. However, he suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle of Xiangcheng and fled back to Shaanxi.
The rebel army captured Sun Chuanting's flag, and their morale was greatly boosted. They made great efforts to seize the victory and attack Tongguan. Sun Chuanting and the deputy envoy of the supervisory army moved to Qiaoqiao. Gao rode their horses and shouted loudly, but died in the battle. However, Sun Chuanting's body was never found, and Emperor Chongzhen later became suspicious of his whereabouts and never gave him a posthumous title. Sun Chuanting's death made Guanzhong easily accessible to Li Zicheng's rebel army. At the same time, the Ming court no longer had a powerful team that could compete with Li Zicheng.
When Chuanting died, Ming Dynasty died
In the 25 years from when Sun Chuanting became a Jinshi in the forty-seventh year of Wanli (1619) to when he was defeated and died in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen (1643), He gradually rose from the county magistrate in Yongcheng to the Minister of War, commanding the military affairs of seven provinces. He participated in and presided over dozens of suppressive activities against the peasant uprisings in the late Ming Dynasty, and was deeply appreciated by the Ming court. Whether in the joint encirclement and suppression of the "Four Positives and Six Corners" or in the independent operation of "Flood Guard Passage", he used his unique cunning, resourcefulness and decisiveness to put the peasant uprising army into difficult situations many times and became the leader of the Ming Dynasty. Ting has a rare trump card in his hand. Therefore, there is a saying in "History of the Ming Dynasty" that "when the Chuan court died, the Ming Dynasty died."
Sun Chuanting's Tomb
Sun Chuanting's tomb is located in the east of Xiahuazhuang Village, Yangmingbao Town, Dai County, with green water to the south of Beiping Qingshan. It covers an area of ??7,000 square meters. The tomb is 4 meters high and has a circumference of about 22 meters. rice. Surrounded by red walls, it is planted with pines and cypresses, and there are sound halls, tombstones, etc. The brick corridor is well built, with stone figures, horses, pigs, and sheep on the side, and an archway is built in front of it. In May of the 16th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1643), the emperor personally gave him a sword. Sun Chuanting went out with the title of Minister of War and Supervisor to fight against Li Zicheng's rebel army. He was defeated and died in Tongguan, Shaanxi Province. His family buried him here with his clothes and the remains of his wife and concubines. The "Cultural Revolution" was extant. Feng Quxiang, a member of the Ministry of Punishment of the Qing Dynasty, wrote "The Epitaph of Bai Gusun Gong Feng Shuren, the Minister of War of the Seven Provinces of the Ming Dynasty, who was buried together". It was engraved on six stone slabs and contained more than 6,000 words, detailing his life. Deeds.