Summoning of the Great General of the Great Qin Empire

Chapter 208

In addition, Zu Dashou’s former colleague Mao Wenlong was also included.

On February 1576, 2 (the eleventh day of the first lunar month in the fourth year of Wanli), Mao Wenlong was born in Zhongxiao Lane, Qiantang County, Hangzhou Prefecture, Zhejiang Province.His grandfather, Mao Yushan, used to run an official salt business in Shanxi, but due to business needs, his family moved to Hangzhou.His father, Mao Wei, abandoned business and followed Confucianism, took donations as a supervisor, and married his wife Shen.The Shen family is a prominent family in Hangzhou, known as "Hangzhou Jia family, Shen is the most".Mao Wei and Shen had four sons together, the third son died, and the rest were the eldest son Mao Wenlong, the second son Mao Zhonglong, and the fourth son Mao Yunlong.

When Mao Wenlong was nine years old, Mao Wei died of illness. His mother was 26 years old at the time, and she lived with her son and younger brother Shen Guangzuo.Shen Guangzuo was a famous eunuch in Hangzhou, a Jinshi in Yimo in Wanli, a Tuiguan of Kaifeng Prefecture, a governor of Shandong Province, and Yin of Shuntian Prefecture[1]. After Mao Wenlong joined the army, he was supported and recommended by this uncle.

When Mao Wenlong was a child, he was influenced by his mother's family and received the traditional Confucian orthodox education of "learning from a young age, studying the classics to create a career", but he was never interested in the Four Books and Five Classics, and liked to read the book on the art of war, "Shame on learning and promote career, good for Sun Wu" "The Art of War", so in the late Ming Dynasty, when culture was valued over military affairs, it was difficult to obtain a decent reputation, and therefore he never married.It was not until he became an officer in his 30s that he returned home to get married and married Zhang, a Shanxi gentry woman.The Zhang family was unable to have children, so they later took a concubine, the Wen family, in Liaoyang and gave birth to a son, Mao Chengdou.After Liaoyang was captured by Hou Jin, the Wen family died in the war. Mao Chengdou was rescued and sent to Hangzhou, where the Zhang family cared for him as if he were his own child.

(Spring of the 33rd year of Wanli), Mao Wenlong adopted his uncle Mao Dechun in Anshan, Liaodong as his heir, so he went to the north alone, first went to Beijing to visit his uncle Shen Guangzuo, and was recommended by him to Ningyuan Bo Li Chengliang's tent, and began his military career in Liaodong.At that time, Nurhachi continued to annex Jurchen tribes, and the situation in Liaodong became increasingly tense. Mao Wenlong paid more attention to the situation of mountains and rivers and the enemy's situation. In September of the same year, he took part in the military examination in Liaodong. Soon he was promoted to general manager, and in 1608 (the 36th year of Wanli), he was promoted to the garrison of Kuiyang.

Later, he led troops to aid North Korea as the capital and stayed in the area of ​​Liaodong. After the fall of Liaodong, he fled back by sea and killed Jin Zhenjiang's guard in the empty defense. As a result, the two began to have resentment.At that time, the people in power in the imperial court were appreciating Huazhen, so Mao Wenlong was appointed as the chief military officer, and gradually promoted to Zuodudu.

Phi Island is also called Dongjiang. It is [-] miles long in the sea along the coast of Deng and Lai. There is no vegetation. It is far away from the coast and close to the north shore. North Korea.

Looking at Denglai, the governor of Jiezhen in the Ming Dynasty, Yuan Keli was the only Denglai governor who effectively supported Mao Wenlong from the overall situation for a long time.Less than ten months after Yuan Keli took office, Mao Wenlong was promoted to a higher rank and directly awarded Shangfang Sword. [2] He had many achievements in containing Wenlong. Mao Wenlong's main achievements and honors were achieved during this period.With the support of Yuan Keli, Mao Wenlong was continuously promoted and began to take pride in his merits. At that time, the court officials' doubts about Mao Wenlong were getting higher and higher.

In October of the third year of Apocalypse, the emperor commended: "Governor Qiandu Yushi Yuan Keli Juezhi has worked hard, and I give you Zhu Tiwen python. Ru Jia and Mao Shuai are arrogant and uncoordinated. Gu Yu soldiers, Manpu and Changcheng attacked Repay and dare to contribute.”

"It's the victories of Manpu and Changcheng. It means that the number of soldiers is less than a thousand. They have not fought a battle, and they have not spared a single arrow, so that (captives) trampled on each other. More than [-] of them were killed by cannons, and more than [-] were killed by horses. Stop. Yu Zhenyi paid [-]. The public (Yuan Keli) was quite suspicious, and privately said that he would report the truth later, and he was cautious."

"So he moved to the Dongjiang River to verify the facts. But Mao Shuai was jealous of the public, and asked the officials to find out the truth." [5] Yuan Keli was ordered to verify his battle reports and military pay, so Mao Shuai hated him.Suddenly, an eunuch Song Zhenhan fell in love with him, and an interest group composed of Song Shixiang, Fang Youdu, Pang Shanglian, and other Donglin people of the same age took advantage of the conflict between Mao Wenlong and Yuan Keli, and took turns to maliciously attack Yuan Keli.So much so that Emperor Tianqi couldn't see it, and openly complained and blamed: "The ministers go to stay and listen to the judges, and the officials and people should be general, and there is no need to attack."

At that time, the eunuch party was rampant in the court, and the factions attacked each other without a day, and the eunuch party also wanted to get rid of Yuan Keli in order to cut off the wings of Sun Dushi.Yuan Keli did not act out of emotion, but "strengthened his (Mao Wenlong's) bones"[4], and advised Mao to "don't bully his ministers". "The Duke (Yuan Keli) was surprised by his (Mao Wenlong's) courage and wisdom." He believed that Mao Wenlong's existence was related to the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty. The overall situation cannot be replaced by just anyone. In the end, I chose to "retire after success."

During the earthquake, he also asked the imperial court to "prepare for the relief of Commander Mao".On the second day of May in the second year of Tianqi, Yang Sichang asked the emperor for Yuan Keli's salary as soon as he took office: "The minister Yuan Keli was ordered to pay 20 yuan to pacify the troops and disperse the people. It seemed that he had no choice but to give some money. .”

There are also some radical court officials who value the mountains and the sea and neglect the coast accuse Yuan Keli of protecting Mao Wenlong, saying: "Mao Wenlong lives overseas and repeatedly travels to China and North Korea with false statements.

Yuan Keli left, and Mao Wenlong was unstoppable, which led to a series of tragic events later, which may have been unexpected by Mao Wenlong and the Ming court at that time.

However, although the situation in Dongjiang, where Mao Wenlong lives, is strong enough to contain Hou Jin, his strategy is limited, and the military salary he wastes every year cannot be calculated, and he only cares about recruiting merchants and selling prohibited items. When there is no military, he sells ginseng and cloth as his ministry. When there is war, he seldom gets his function.

In the case of the engineering department, Pan Shiwen impeached Mao Wenlong for wasting military pay and killing captives indiscriminately. Shang Baoqing and Dong Maozhong requested that Mao Wenlong's troops be withdrawn, and the troops in Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan were specially rectified.The Ministry of War discussed that it was not possible.Yuan Chonghuan was not happy with Mao Wenlong in his heart, and once wrote a letter requesting to send ministers to Mao Wenlong to clean up the food and payment.Mao Wenlong hated having civil servants around to restrain him, so he wrote a letter to refute it, and Yuan Chonghuan was very unhappy.When Mao Wenlong came to visit, Yuan Chonghuan greeted him as a guest, but Mao Wenlong was not modest, so Yuan Chonghuan became more determined to get rid of Mao Wenlong.

Jiaozhao was killed
At this time, Yuan Chonghuan arrived at Shuangdao by boat in the name of a military parade, and Mao Wenlong came to meet him.Yuan Chonghuan would hold banquets with him, drink wine and have fun until midnight. Mao Wenlong didn't realize what Yuan Chonghuan meant.Yuan Chonghuan discussed with him to change the battalion system and set up a supervisor, but Mao Wenlong was very unhappy.Yuan Chonghuan persuaded him by leaving his job and returning home. Mao Wenlong replied: "I had this intention before, but now I am the only one who understands the war in the east. When the war in the east is over and North Korea is weakened, I can take possession of it in one fell swoop."

Yuan Chonghuan was even more unhappy. On June [-], he invited Mao Wenlong to watch the soldiers shoot arrows. He first set up a tent on the mountain and ordered General Xie Shangzheng and others to arrange for soldiers in armor to ambush outside the tent.After Mao Wenlong arrived, his soldiers could not enter the tent.Yuan Chonghuan said: "I will set off tomorrow. All overseas affairs are entrusted to you. Please accept my worship."

After meeting each other, we climbed up the mountain together.Yuan Chonghuan asked the names of the officers who followed him, most of them were Mao.Mao Wenlong said: "These people are all my grandsons." Yuan Chonghuan smiled and said: "You have worked hard overseas for many days, and you only have one dendrobium per month. It hurts to say it, and please accept my worship, everyone. Do your best for the country." These people kowtowed in thanks.

Mao Wenlong was questioned about several violations of the order, and Mao Wenlong gave a confrontational defense.Yuan Chonghuan shouted at him, had his hat and robe taken off, and tied him up. Mao Wenlong was still stubborn.Yuan Chonghuan said: "You have twelve serious crimes that should be beheaded, you know? According to the system established by my ancestors, the generals must accept the surveillance of civilian officials when they are outside.

You are a one-man dictator here, and your troops, horses, money and food are not subject to verification, so you should be killed.There is no greater crime for a minister than to deceive the monarch. You deceived everyone who sent you memorials, killed surrendered soldiers and refugees, and faked military exploits. You deserve to be killed.If a minister does not have his own generals, he will kill them if they do.You wrote a letter saying that it would be easy to seize Nanjing by garrisoning troops in Dengzhou, which was a treasonous act and should be killed.Hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary are not paid to the soldiers every year, but only three and a half buckets of rice are distributed every month. If the army rations are usurped, four people should be killed.Opening a horse market on Phi Island without permission and interacting with foreigners without permission should be punished.

Thousands of people in the department pretended to be your surname, and thousands of pieces of cloth were distributed to the deputy general and below at will. The pawns and bearers all wore official uniforms and robes.On the way back from Ningyuan, he robbed merchant ships and became a thief himself, so he should be killed at all times.Forcibly marrying folk women without knowing the law and discipline, and his subordinates follow suit, making the people feel uneasy at home and should be killed.Drive refugees far away to steal ginseng for you, and those who don't obey will be starved to death. The island is full of bones and should be killed.

Sending gold to the capital in a car, worshiping Wei Zhongxian as his father, and carving a portrait of him on the island with the crown, he deserves to be killed.Tieshan was defeated in the first battle, and lost countless teachers, but he managed to cover up the defeat and should be killed on eleventh day.After setting up the town for eight years, if you can't regain an inch of land, sit on the sidelines and watch, appease and support the enemy, you should be killed in twelve. "After the announcement, Mao Wenlong was so distraught that he couldn't speak. He just kowtowed to save him from death.

Yuan Chonghuan summoned his generals to say, "Should Mao Wenlong be killed for such a crime?"Among those who praised Mao Wenlong's years of hard work, Yuan Chonghuan reprimanded him: "Mao Wenlong was just a commoner. He was the highest official, and his whole family was sealed up. This is enough to repay him for his hard work. How can he be so disobedient! "

Then he kowtowed to ask the emperor's will and said: "I killed Mao Wenlong today to rectify military discipline. There are generals who are like Mao Wenlong, and they must be killed. If I can't succeed, please kill me like Mao Wenlong." So He took down Shangfang's sword and cut off Mao Wenlong's head in front of the tent.The soldiers who came out and told him said: "Only kill Mao Wenlong, and the others are not guilty."

At this time, there were tens of thousands of fierce and powerful officers and soldiers under Mao Wenlong's command. They were all afraid of Yuan Chonghuan's prestige, and none of them dared to move.Yuan Chonghuan ordered people to bury Mao Wenlong in a coffin.The next day, he was sacrificed with meat wine and other sacrifices and said: "It was the law of the court to kill you yesterday; today I sacrifice you because of the feelings of colleagues and friends." And shed tears for him.Then Mao Wenlong's 8000 soldiers were allocated to the Fourth Association, and Mao Wenlong's son Chengzuo, deputy general Chen Jisheng, general Xu Fuzuo, and guerrilla Liu Guangzuo were appointed as leaders.Take back Mao Wenlong's imperial seal and Shangfang sword, and let Jisheng take charge of it on his behalf.

He also rewarded the sergeants, preached to appease the people of the islands, and completely abolished Mao Wenlong's tyranny.After returning to the town, he reported the matter of Mao Wenlong to the emperor. At the end, he said: "As a general, Mao Wenlong is not something I can kill without authorization, so I will be punished." It was May of the second year of Chongzhen (1624).Emperor Zhuang Lie was shocked when he heard the news, but he thought that Mao Wenlong was dead and he was relying on Yuan Chonghuan at that time, so he issued an edict to praise him.Soon after, a decree was issued to disclose Mao Wenlong's crimes to stabilize Yuan Chonghuan's heart;

Mao Wenlong's minions in ambush in the capital also ordered the Justice Department to hunt them down.Yuan Chonghuan wrote another letter saying: "Mao Wenlong is a mere man who does not abide by the law to such an extent, because it is easy to cause chaos overseas. His army counts 7000 people including the old and the young, pretending to be [-], and there are many civilians among them. There are less than [-] soldiers, and a thousand generals were appointed without authorization. Now it is not convenient to appoint a commander-in-chief, so it is convenient to use Jisheng to act in his place." Chongzhen replied yes.

Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong, fearing that his subordinates would launch a mutiny, so he increased the salary to 18 taels of silver.However, after the soldiers on the island lost their commander, they gradually lost their minds and became more and more unrequisitionable.In the future, until there are those who defect to the enemy.Yuan Chonghuan said in a letter: "One town in Dongjiang, if you want to contain the enemy, you must rely on it. Today it is designated as the Two Associations, with ten battalions of the horse army and five battalions of the infantry army. The annual salary is 42 taels and 13 stones per meter." Chongzhen because It is a bit emotional to reduce the food and pay for the soldiers, because Yuan Chonghuan specially followed his request.

In Liaodong, Yuan Chonghuan determined the military system with Zhao Liaojiao, Zu Dashou, He Kegang, etc., and gradually implemented it to Deng, Lai, and Tianjin. After the Dongjiang military system was determined, there were a total of more than 15 soldiers in the four towns, and more than 480 horses. The annual cost of payment is more than 120 million taels, which is [-] million less than in the past.

After Yuan Chonghuan beheaded Mao Wenlong, it can be said that he relieved his worries for the future when he drove southward. Three months later, the "Jisi Change" occurred when the Houjin soldiers came to Beijing. Zunhua was captured at the mouth of the mouth, and it directly forced Beijing, the capital of Ming Dynasty.

It is said that Mao Wenlong had seven so-called "collaboration letters". One of them was sent after Mao Wenlong's death, but it was said to be written by Mao Wenlong.Among the remaining letters, one was translated from Chinese into Manchu, and the Manchu was translated back into Chinese, which should be very different.There are two other seals with the seal of "General Ping Liao", but Mao Wenlong's seal is actually "General Zhenglu", while Zhao Shujiao, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, bears the seal of General Ping Liao, so some people speculate that it may be a private seal. , but failed to produce evidence.

(End of this chapter)