Chongzhen, the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty, reiterates the state prohibition against female infanticide in 1629, while the empire and the Chinese economy begin to crumble.

In the same year, a third of the courier stations are closed down due to lack of government funds to sustain them.

Born Zhu Youjian, Chongzhen is the fifth son of the Taichang Emperor.

As such, he has grown up in a relatively quiet environment, since most of the younger sons are left out of the power struggle that their elder brother the Tianqi Emperor had had to endure.

Chongzhen succeeds his brother to the throne at age seventeen and immediately eliminates the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke, who had become de facto rulers of the empire.

Chongzhen tries to rule by himself and did his best to salvage the dynasty.

However, years of internal corruption and an empty treasury make it almost impossible to find capable ministers to fill important government posts.

The Chongzhen Emperor had taken the reign in 1627 at the age of sixteen, and in 1629 (at the age of 18) he grants Yuan Chonghuan the title of "Senior Guardian of the Heir Apparent".

The Chongzhen Emperor gives him his Imperial Sword and states that he will fully support Yuan's decisions.

Yuan now has to face again a larger Manchurian force (slightly above two hundred thousand) under Huang Taiji.

This time the Manchurians have incorporated many more men including the newly surrendered Mongols, rebel Ming army, and the conquered Korean forces and various small states of the North.

However, the Manchus are not confident enough to attack Jinzhou or Ningyuan again and change their strategy.

Bypasssing Jinzhou, Ningyuan and Shanhai Pass, the Manchus break through the Great Hall west of Shanhai Pass and suddenly appear north of Beijing in the winter of 1629.

Yuan rushes back with an elite army from Ningyuan to defend the capital, reaching Beijing just days before the Manchus.

Outside the city wall of Beijing, he defeats the Manchurian "Eight Banners", which number one hundred thousand, but is not strong enough to destroy the attacking army.

Yuan, instead of being fêted, is heavily criticized when he arrives in Beijing, and some eunuchs even accuse Yuan of collaborating with the enemy.

They have in fact been tricked by Huang Taiji into thinking that Yuan had betrayed them.