That night, Huang Taiji suddenly felt restless. He tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep lightly. Suddenly, he had a dream.
Huang Taiji dreamed that when he was commanding the army to form an array, he suddenly saw mountain eagles swooping down from the sky. After landing, they no longer flew up, but walked towards him with their heads held high.
That arrogant and mighty look seemed to be a demonstration to himself. Huang Taiji couldn't help but feel angry, but he shot two arrows in succession, but failed to hit the mountain eagles.
It wasn't until a general standing next to him handed him another arrow, that he was able to hit the mountain eagle, but he was about to order someone to go up and take the dead eagle to take a closer look.
But suddenly, he found a big green snake rushing out of a forest, and fled southward at a speed that was very fast, so he quickly rode in pursuit, but he couldn't catch up no matter what.
, so anxious that he was sweating profusely.
But upon closer inspection, I discovered that the green snake had many legs, so it ran as fast as a meteor.
Just when he was worried about this, he suddenly saw a white stork flying down from the sky. It suddenly opened its iron mouth and pecked the big green snake on the head. After that, the big green snake flew down.
The snake's movement gradually slowed down.
The white stork pecked the big green snake one after another. Finally, after several times, the big green snake was so exhausted that it could no longer move.
He felt very strange and thought that the white stork was probably a bird specially designed to deal with the big green snake. Therefore, when the big green snake saw it, it would become frightened and panic, and would not dare to resist at all.
While Huang Taiji was thinking wildly, he suddenly woke up for some reason!
Early the next morning, he summoned Fan Wencheng, Xifu, Gang Lin and others from the Imperial Academy of the Qing Dynasty into his imperial tent, and then told him one by one about his strange dream last night.
They listen.
Finally, he asked them: "In your opinion, was my dream last night a good omen or a bad omen?"
Everyone thought for a while and then said one after another: "If you want to return to the emperor, this is a good omen, a great omen."
Huang Taiji was delighted when he heard this, but then he frowned and asked, "Where is Ji?"
His eyes looked at one person in particular, Fan Wencheng, a bachelor of the Internal Secretariat, and asked him another question: "Scholar Fan, you have come to fulfill this dream for me. Don't just choose those that sound nice."
Speaking of words, I want to hear you tell the truth and listen to me!"
Among all the Han civil servants in the Qing Dynasty, Fan Wencheng was the most trusted by the slave chief Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji had to discuss many extremely important military and state plans with him secretly and listen to his opinions before making decisions.
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Fan Wencheng, courtesy name Xiandou and nickname Huiyue, was a guard from Shenyang, Liaodong Province in the Ming Dynasty. According to legend, he was a descendant of Fan Zhongyan, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty.
He was born in the 25th year of Wanli and came from a family of officials. His sixth ancestor, Fan Yue, was convicted as early as the Hongwu period and his family was relegated to Shenyang Guards in Liaodong. The Fan family has since become a native of Shenyang.
His great-grandfather Fan Rui served as Minister of War during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and his grandfather Fan Chen also served as the commander of the Shenyang Guards. Although they were not from a wealthy family, they still had enough food and clothing.
Fan Wencheng was a studious, smart and agile young man. When he was eighteen years old, he and his brother Fan Wencai were admitted as student members of Shenyang County. They were indeed young talents.
He is smart, alert, and calm and resolute. He loved reading when he was young, and his favorite is the so-called "overlord's strategy"!
In the forty-sixth year of Wanli, the old Tatar slave Nurhaci led his army to capture Fushun in Liaodong, plundered and looted more than 200,000 people and livestock, and rewarded them to his generals who had made meritorious service in the battle, and the surrendered people were compiled by him as A thousand households became slaves of each banner.
Fan Wencheng was living in Fushun at that time and unfortunately became one of the captives. It was only because of an extremely accidental factor that he was not killed by the Tatars and spared his life.
In fact, the reason why Fan Wencheng was able to save his life was actually due to his own appearance advantage.
Although Fan Wencheng was a scholar, he was tall and mighty and had the demeanor of a tiger general. Although the old slave Nurhaci hated the Han people, especially those Confucian scholars of the Ming Dynasty.
The old slave Nurhachi's policy towards the Han people was actually to massacre and plunder them into slaves. He believed in the policy of "killing the Han people and raising the Manchus", and he was even more disgusted with the Ming Dynasty Confucian scholars, always thinking that "all kinds of abominations are here" generation."
However, he looked at someone as powerful as Fan Wencheng in a different light, so he spared his life and was incorporated into the Eight Banners of Manchuria under the red flag, becoming a Han slave.
At this time, Fan Wencheng not only failed to be reused by the old slave Nurhaci, but also endured hunger and cautiously served his Tatar master, and endured the discrimination and humiliation he suffered.
With such a cruel life, he actually spent nearly nine long years in depression. However, at this moment, no one thought that he would actually help the emperor in the future and become one of the biggest criminals who destroyed the Ming Dynasty.
It was not until the second year of Tianqi that this situation changed slightly. At that time, the old slave Nurhachi was leading an army to attack the Ming Dynasty and captured Xiping, Guangning and other places in the Ming Dynasty, the important towns in Liaodong. Fan Wencheng went out as a slave to follow him.
It was during this series of battles that he fought bravely in order to no longer suffer discrimination and humiliation. He repeatedly made some small contributions and was treated kindly by the old slave Nurhaci, but he was not allowed to show his ambition. when.
Even at this moment, Fan Wencheng also got the opportunity to advise the old slave, but the old slave only wanted to plunder for a living, and did not have much interest in the Han people's system. On the contrary, although this system was quite different from his own, Because he was complacent, he did not reuse Fan Wencheng.
In this way, it was not until the sixth year of the Apocalypse that the old slave Nurhachi died of illness and the fourth elder brother Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne of Khan King, Fan Wencheng ushered in his spring.
After Huang Taiji inherited the position of Great Khan of the Later Jin Dynasty, because he wanted to ease the conflict between the Manchus and the Han people, he needed Han students to assist him, thus demonstrating the changes in the Later Jin Dynasty's policies.
It was against this background that the slave chief Huang Taiji established a literary museum in the second year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty with the theme of "taking lessons from the gains and losses of the emperors of the past dynasties and recording the gains and losses of their merits".
After the establishment of the library, the slave chief Huang Taiji even issued an edict to select knowledgeable Han members from all banners in Manchuria to fill the newly established library to serve himself.
The so-called "shengyuans" are actually the domestic slaves of the banner owners. Fan Wencheng is included in this category of "shengyuans".
It was during this selection that Fan Wencheng had the opportunity to stand out. Not only was he selected for the library, but he also became a backbone of it, finally ushering in his day of success.
From then on, he embarked on a life of cheating step by step, and eventually became a close adviser to the slave chief Huang Taiji. Especially after Huang Taiji became emperor, he often "called in the right and left".
Fan Wencheng not only participated in the process of changing the post-Jin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, but also promoted the integration between the Manchus and Han people in Liaodong. He was also deeply involved in the formulation of a series of strategies such as the conquest of Mongolia, the surrender of Korea, and the conquest of the Ming Dynasty.
Especially when it came to winning over the surrender of Han officials from the Ming Dynasty, Fan Wencheng spared no effort. It seemed that with every additional Han official who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, his reputation would get better!
Moreover, there is another particularly important contribution. Fan Wencheng solved the major problem of attacking the Ming Dynasty on behalf of the slave chief Huang Taiji, but the enemy was unknown.
Fan Wencheng proposed to Huang Taiji, "If the master is unknown, he should tell the people that Chahar Khan has fled far away..." This false strategy of attacking Guo was really insidious.
He proposed that since there was no legitimate reason to attack the Ming Dynasty, he could use the excuse to pursue Chahar Khan. When the army arrived in the Hetao area, he could use the excuse of Chahar Khan's troops to escape into the Ming Dynasty and attack the Ming Dynasty.
Shaanxi, Shanxi, Xuanda, etc.
Since Fan Wencheng gained the appreciation of the slave chief Huang Taiji, he has devoted all his wisdom and loyalty to the battlefield and strategizing for the Aisin Gioro family. He even worked harder and was more effective than some Manchu nobles.
Huang Taiji also had great trust in him and obeyed his advice. Every time when discussing major political matters, he always asked the ministers: "Does Fan Zhangjing know?"
If Huang Taiji feels that the results discussed by the kings, Baylor, and ministers are not satisfactory to him, or are still not enough for him to make a decision with confidence.
He would often ask: "Why don't you discuss this matter with Fan Zhangjing?"
And if everyone replies, "Fan Zhangjing has the same opinion," he will happily nod in agreement.
Furthermore, almost all important documents issued in the name of the Qing emperor, such as edicts to the ministries of Korea and Mongolia, etc., would be given to Fan Wencheng for inspection before being finalized and issued.
At first, Huang Taiji would review the manuscript again, but later he stopped reviewing it and even said directly to Fan Wencheng: "You can't be wrong!"
Now, Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty was worried that his dream might foretell something unlucky, so he hoped that Fan Wencheng, a knowledgeable and loyal man, could truthfully fulfill this strange dream for him.
Fan Wencheng suddenly did not directly answer Huang Taiji's question.
In his opinion, the big green snake most likely represents the Qing Dynasty, and the mountain eagle that Huang Taiji dreamed about before is more like the Ming Dynasty King who came from afar to aid Jinzhou.
Huang Taiji's two missed shots coincided with the current war situation between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which meant that both sides were equally matched and each would win or lose. As for the subsequent shot, it seemed to indicate that the battle would be won.
The appearance of the big green snake after that seemed to indicate that the Qing Dynasty would become stronger and more prosperous in the future.
But the white stork that appeared at the end could not be explained. In Fan Wencheng's view, the sudden appearance of this white stork seemed to interrupt the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty and seemed to indicate the changes in the Battle of Jinzhou.
But at this moment, he was not sure where this variable was, because in his opinion, he really could not imagine this possibility.
Is there still an unknown powerful force in the Ming army?
However, these thoughts and opinions in Fan Wencheng's heart naturally cannot be revealed to Huang Taiji.
I saw Fan Wencheng rolling his eyes and thinking about it for a moment, then he looked very confident, and he replied to Huang Taiji: "Ah, your Majesty did a very good job in this dream.
The eagle is the head of the raptor, which obviously refers to Hong Chengchou, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army who came from afar to help. His Majesty missed two arrows, but hit the third one, which indicates that although Hong Chengchou was lucky enough to survive in this battle, he must have been trapped in Songshan.
ending.
In the future, they will be destined to be unable to escape the snare set by our warriors of the Qing Dynasty, and will either be killed by our warriors or captured by our warriors!"
After listening to Fan Wencheng's analysis and explanation, Huang Taiji felt determined. He seemed to be of the highest level, and continued: "I would rather he be caught by the warriors than die at the hands of the warriors."
Suddenly he suddenly remembered that last night's dream was only half fulfilled, so he asked again: "But what does that green snake mean?"
Fan Wencheng had already expressed his doubts at this moment. He smiled slightly and replied in a mysterious manner: "The green snake refers to the Ming army who will flee in a hurry soon. Although they run very fast, they will not be able to escape because of their speed."
Your Majesty has already prepared an ambush, so he will be intercepted by our warriors and annihilated in one fell swoop.
That white stork refers to the ambush planned by His Majesty."
Huang Taiji nodded and expressed no objection, but not all of his questions were answered. He asked again: "But, why does the big green snake have legs?"
Xifu, a bachelor of the Neihong Academy of Arts, was already unhappy when he saw that Fan Wencheng was leading the way. At this time, he hurried forward and took the lead in explaining: "This is because the Ming army was frightened by our Qing warriors and fled in despair.
I wish I could have more legs!"
After hearing his explanation, everyone in the imperial tent burst into laughter involuntarily.
Huang Taiji was even more happy, and immediately ordered the shaman to perform a dance to thank the emperor for the auspicious dream!
However, that night, the changer had another strange dream. He dreamed of the old slave Nurhachi ordering four shirtless strong men to give him a jade seal. He hurriedly respectfully said it with both hands.
catch.
But he felt that the jade seal was very heavy, and he almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, he lowered his waist in time to steady himself and caught it firmly in his hand, but it also frightened him and woke him up.
So, he hurriedly summoned bachelors Fan Wencheng, Xifu, Gang Lin and others to come to the imperial tent and ask them to realize his dream again.
Fan Wencheng and others did not hesitate at all this time. They all said that this dream could not be more clear.
The jade seal is the treasure of the emperor. Emperor Taizu sent someone to award the jade seal to the emperor. Doesn't this indicate that the emperor will definitely enter the pass in the future and establish the great cause of the Qing Dynasty to unify the country?
Huang Taiji became even more happy when he heard this.
But on the fifth day of September, a bolt from the blue shocked all his joy into the sky!