Yuan Chonghuan's action to kill Mao Wenlong was unbelievable, Mao Wenlong was a high-ranking member of the imperial court, and to kill him, he needed to get orders from the emperor, however, Yuan Chonghuan did not do so, and his decision was completely personal.
What is even more surprising is that Mao Wenlong did not resist? Is there a secret hidden in this?
In the second year of Chongzhen, Mao Wenlong was killed on Phi Dao, and the cause of his death was attributed to Yuan Chonghuan. So, why did Yuan Chonghuan kill him? This is partly due to himself, and partly because he doesn't have a big picture.
Phi Dao was not originally a territory of the Ming Dynasty, but a part of the Later Jin, so how did it become the territory of the Ming Dynasty? You must know that Phi Dao is in the rear of the Later Jin, and if the Ming Dynasty has the strength to go deep into the rear of the Later Jin, then there will not be only a few lonely cities left in Liaodong.
Mao Wenlong's courage and wisdom are breathtaking. In the face of Nurhachi's army, he did not choose to flee or surrender, but chose to rise to the occasion and attack Houjin's Zhenjiang Fort.
This decision may seem risky, but it is actually full of wisdom, because Zhenjiang Fort can only be reached by water, and it is undoubtedly self-defeating to take the land route. Mao Wenlong's choice demonstrated his firm determination and extraordinary courage, and also made Phi Dao eventually become the territory of the Ming Dynasty.
In the face of the disparity in strength, Mao Wenlong chose to attack at night with his wisdom and successfully defeated the defenders of Zhenjiang Fort. Due to the sudden attack on the rear, the defenders of Zhenjiang Fort were in a state of surprise, and the visibility at night was extremely low, so that they were finally defeated with a clear advantage, and even the defender Tong Yangzhen was killed by Mao Wenlong.
When Nurhachi heard that someone had stabbed him in the back, he was furious and immediately ordered the withdrawal of his troops and attacked Zhenjiang Fort, determined to break Mao Wenlong's body into pieces. However, he didn't know that while Mao Wenlong attacked Zhenjiang Fort, he also successfully occupied Phi Island, and what was waiting was Nurhachi's attack.
When Nurhachi attacked, Mao Wenlong immediately withdrew his soldiers from Phi Dao. Because Nurhachi did not have a navy, he gave up the pursuit of Mao Wenlong, and Mao Wenlong was promoted from Mao Dusi to Mao General Soldier.
Because Phi Dao was defeated by him, and across the sea from the Ming Dynasty, if there was no him, who could become the chief soldier of Phi Dao?
In the second year of Chongzhen, the year Mao Wenlong died, the number of soldiers he led surged from the original 200 to more than 40,000, which is amazing. However, it is curious how he managed to achieve this feat on an isolated island?
Mao Wenlong was not only an excellent military general, but also excelled in the economy. Under the background of the Ming Dynasty's policy of "no pieces of board can go to the sea", he took advantage of the Ming Dynasty's silk, porcelain, and tea to sell well overseas and began the road of smuggling.
The coastal areas were also related to smuggling during the Jiajing Dynasty's war, and the biggest pirate leader, Wang Zhi, started his business through smuggling. Since the goods of the Ming Dynasty were so popular, why not carry smuggled goods on the ships carrying the supplies?
Mao Wenlong chose this path. According to statistics, his monthly income is as high as more than 100,000 taels**, which is equivalent to an income of 100 million yuan.
With wealth and the support of the imperial court, Mao Wenlong established a base in the territory of Houjin, harassing and smashing and looting Houjin, making it impossible for Houjin to conduct large-scale military operations.
According to the record of "Ming Xi Zong", "Mao Wenlong did not destroy slaves, but there was more than enough slaves".
It is interesting for Mao Wenlong to subsidize the national army with the money he earns, but there are still some ** advocates for dealing with him, because although he is nominally the chief soldier of the imperial court, he has actually become a warlord of secession, and Phi Island is under the control of Liaodong, but the governor and governor of Liaodong dare not interfere with him.
Because his power is already very strong, once he takes refuge in Houjin, his life may be in danger, and his role is also very important.
Yuan Chonghuan did not want to see such an outcome, and before he left Beijing, he had promised Chongzhen that he would be able to recover Liaodong within five years. When he was preparing for the five ranks, he had already seen the serious consequences caused by the discord between the generals and the commanders.
Although the position of the governor of Liaodong was higher than that of Jinglu, the governor had an army of more than 100,000 people, and Jinglu only had a few thousand people, so he could not command these troops. Moreover, the two disagreed, one advocated defense and the other advocated offense, resulting in the battle, the main defender would try to stay away from the battlefield, and the main offensive was overconfident, not knowing that the army ** had a spy, and the originally good situation was wiped out because of a defeat.
The main defender saw the embarrassment of the main attack, and in order to retaliate, he actually surrendered Liaodong to Houjin, and all the soldiers and civilians withdrew to Shanhaiguan.
The defeat of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong was due to their mishandling of Mao Wenlong. Mao Wenlong was the only one who could make the soldiers obey, but Yuan Chonghuan decided to kill him.
Although he may have thought that Mao Wenlong's subordinates would follow his orders, in fact, the soldiers would only follow the orders of Mao Wenlong's henchmen. As a result, Phi Dao was desolate by Yuan Chonghuan, and the generals defected to Houjin one after another, and the prosperity of the past was gone forever.
Emperor Chongzhen did not know about Yuan Chonghuan's killing of Mao Wenlong, otherwise, he would not have praised Yuan Chonghuan's heroic behavior in "History of the Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Yuan Chonghuan".
Although the general soldiers of the Ming Dynasty were not high in grade, Mao Wenlong not only served as the chief soldier, but also served as the governor of the left capital, and the governor of the left capital was the highest position. In addition, Mao Wenlong also held the Shang Fang Sword rewarded by the Emperor of the Apocalypse, a privilege that not all first-class masters could enjoy.
However, why did Yuan Chonghuan dare to kill him? The reason is that Yuan Chonghuan also held the sword of Shang Fang rewarded by Emperor Chongzhen, although this is a secondary reason, but it is enough to explain his position of power.
When Yuan Chonghuan became a four-rank civil official, he killed Du Yingkui, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong, without the emperor's permission, for the reason of **. Although this move made Du Yingkui deserve it, he violated the rules and was reprimanded by Sun Chengzong of the former superintendent Ji Liao.
Sun Chengzong's words: "If you can kill people casually, what is the use of Shang Fang's sword?" In this regard, Yuan Chonghuan subconsciously thought that with Shang Fang's sword, he could kill people at will.
However, Mao Wenlong did not ignore the rules, he realized that it was not Chongzhen's order to kill him, but Yuan Chonghuan's words: "The emperor gave Shang Fangzheng for this."
Mao Wenlong's death triggered a series of evil consequences. As the Houjin got rid of their worries, just a few months later, the Ming Dynasty suffered"The change of self", the Later Jin army even attacked the city of Beijing.
Yuan Chonghuan lost his life as a result. First of all, he promised to restore the Liao land within five years, but three years have passed, and not an inch of land has been recovered. Secondly, led by Yuan Chonghuan"Battle of Ningyuan"with"Battle of Ningjin"It was two important victories of the Ming Dynasty against the Later Jin, and the reason why these two battles were able to be won was because of the strategy of defending first and then fighting.
However, Yuan Chonghuan had the idea of transferring troops into the capital, which was obviously his low political consciousness. After all, the capital is a very sensitive place, and if he really does it, it may trigger"Chenqiao mutiny", which led to the direct change of dynasty in the Ming Dynasty.
In the end, although he killed Mao Wenlong for the sake of the country, if he did it without falling off the horse, then killing Mao Wenlong would have become a crime of taking refuge in Houjin.
When Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, he held Shang Fang's sword and made an oath that if he could not recover Liaodong within five years, he would apologize with death. As it turned out, his vow came true.
One might think that there were only three years, but even if he was given five years, he would not be able to recover Liaodong, because there was a fatal problem: lack of funds. You must know that Liaodong was in turmoil at that time, and the rebel army was also resisting.