Chapter 10 Chapter 9 Yuan Chonghuan's Biggest Mistake in Life

In the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty, the first year of Tiancong in the Houjin Khanate (AD 1627), the whole year was full of vicissitudes and turbulence. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Huang Taiji, who had been on the throne for four months, took advantage of the civil strife and weak resistance in North Korea to send troops to North Korea; Two months later, on March 3, the King of Korea and the representative of the Houjin Khanate signed an alliance under the city, which was about a brotherly state; On May 6th, Huang Taiji sent troops to western Liaoning. After his father Nurhachi was defeated by Ningyuan City a year ago, he was defeated by Yuan Chonghuan at Jinzhou and Ningyuan City;

On the second day of July, Yuan Chonghuan, who had just suffered the second severe blow to the post-Golden Khanate, felt uneasy and resigned to return to his hometown under the pressure of Wei Zhongxian and court officials; On August 22, exactly one year after Nurhachi’s death, the 23-year-old Tianqi Emperor of the Ming Empire died of a lingering illness; Zhu Youjian, the school's seventeen-year-old younger brother, succeeded him as Emperor Chongzhen. Three months later, Emperor Chongzhen began to repair Wei Zhongxian; At the beginning of November, Wei Zhongxian, who had been so powerful, committed suicide, and the eunuch party dispersed.

The situation of the empire has changed. As the current situation continued to change, Yuan Chonghuan's fate also underwent major changes: first, Emperor Chongzhen ordered his official position to be restored, and then sent someone to his hometown to call him back to the court. In July of the following year, Yuan Chonghuan returned to the court in high spirits under the call of Emperor Chongzhen after a year of resignation.At this time, his title was Shangshu of the Ministry of War and the right deputy capital censor. He supervised the divisions of Ji and Liao, and also supervised the military affairs of Deng, Lai, and Tianjin.

From then on, Yuan Chonghuan made a wrong step in the political puzzle of the empire, and then he made a wrong step, and he never had a chance to get out. Speaking of it, Yuan Chonghuan's wrong first step was actually a very small thing, even just a few words.However, these are a few words about the fate of the empire, a few words that came from the mouth of the supreme military commander of the former enemy of the empire, and entered the ears of the head of state of the empire, so they became extremely important.If Yuan Chonghuan had been placed in an institutional environment with political rationality and wisdom, things might not have gotten so bad.However, when the imperial system he was in was an unreasonable system, a system in which one person could unconditionally determine the life, death, honor or disgrace of another, there was no room for maneuver, and Yuan Chonghuan had no choice but to retreat, so that the size is messed up.From then on, everything became irreparable and became extremely tragic.

After Yuan Chonghuan came to Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen immediately summoned Yutai to listen to him talk about the strategy of Ping Liao. The seventeen-year-old emperor Zhu Youjian met Yuan Chonghuan. He offered his condolences first, and then asked: "It has been ten years since the Jianzhou Jurchen clown jumped the beam, the land has been lost, and the people have died. You have traveled thousands of miles to answer the call. You are commendable for your loyalty and bravery. You can talk about any strategy and idea without any scruples." Yuan Chonghuan said: "All the minister's strategic ideas have been written in the report to the emperor."

The emperor said: "I will read the report carefully. You can talk about your main ideas first, such as when the border will be restored?" Yuan Chonghuan, who was forty-five years old at the time and had been through battles for a long time, still felt agitated when he talked about the border, so he made a generous statement, saying: "I owe the emperor's special favor and trust. Within a short period of time, this disaster will surely be quelled and the entire Liao Dynasty will be restored." Hearing this, the little emperor was overjoyed, and he became impassioned, saying: "Five years to destroy the bandits is the strategy! At that time, I will not be stingy with rewarding thousands of gold and sealing ten thousand households. You have to work hard and work hard to lift the world's upside down." Bitter, your descendants will be blessed."

Yuan Chonghuan bowed his head and thanked him. The little emperor, whose heart was about as agitated, happily turned back to the lounge to take a nap, probably to relieve himself.A colleague who participated in the summoning asked Yuan Chonghuan: "Are you sure about returning to Liao in five years? Do you have any specific ideas?" Yuan Chonghuan replied: "I don't have any specific ideas. I think the emperor is very anxious. I just said that to comfort the emperor." The colleague was anxious when he heard this, and warned Yuan Chonghuan: "The emperor is so wise, how can you promise casually? Five years later, if the emperor asks you to keep your promise, what will you do?"

According to historical records, Yuan Chonghuan suddenly felt "lost in comfort".After a while, the emperor turned back, and he hurriedly reported: "The matter in Liaodong is not easy to solve. Your Majesty trusts me, and I dare not shirk because of difficulties. I estimate that it will take about five years. But in five years, everything will be resolved. All must cooperate with each other, the first is money and food, the second is equipment, the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Industry must fully support it, and it will be very smooth." The emperor turned his attention to the Minister of the Ministry of Households and the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the two ministers quickly replied: "How dare you not do your best?"

Yuan Chonghuan continued to report: "Who are appointed by the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War, who are dismissed, and how to dispatch troops and generals, etc., must always be in harmony with the central government and the frontier in order to be handy." The emperor cast his eyes on the Ministry of Officials and the Minister of the Ministry of War, and the two immediately bowed their heads and replied, "How dare you not do your best?" Yuan Chonghuan kowtowed and said: "With the ability of my minister, I have more than enough to clean up Liaodong, but not enough to adjust the public. Once you leave the gate of the imperial court, it will be as far away as thousands of miles away. People who are jealous of the virtuous and capable and capable will exist everywhere. They are afraid of the emperor's testimonials." Majesty, even if you don't dare to use power to restrain your officials, you can still use opinions to disrupt your officials' strategy."

According to historical records, Emperor Chongzhen stood up, listened carefully, and after a while, he said: "Your report is vivid, one by one, no doubts, no need to be humble, I will preside over it myself." University scholars Qian Longxi, Liu Hongxun and others also praised Yuan Chonghuan: "He has courage, loyalty, knowledge and strategy, all kinds of things are commendable. What a wonderful man!" At this time, only about half a year had passed since Emperor Chongzhen wiped out Wei Zhongxian and his accomplices.To be honest, Emperor Chongzhen did this on his own without the support of his military officials.At that time, people felt Wei Zhongxian's immense power, magnificence and fear, and often forgot the fact that he was just a parasite on the emperor under the imperial system.Therefore, the subjects of the empire showed their sincere admiration and admiration for the seventeen-year-old Emperor Chongzhen who could easily kill Wei Zhongxian.The sky is wise, the plan is arbitrary, the opportunity is unique, the far-sightedness, the great talent and the strategy are the words that are especially commonly used on the emperor when people talk about this incident.

Judging from his life, Emperor Chongzhen himself must have agreed with these praises, and really thought he was such a great emperor.If he is truly politically rational and wise, he should be full of gratitude for the imperial system painstakingly designed by Zhu Yuanzhang and other ancestors, instead of feeling too good about himself.In fact, it is precisely such a system that can so easily cultivate a giant monster like Wei Zhongxian in the center of the empire in just six or seven years; Simply helping Emperor Chongzhen get rid of such a seemingly invincible monster. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was in a good mood and felt great about himself.Now, he also felt that Yuan Chonghuan was a trustworthy and truly talented general, so he gave him extremely high courtesy.In order to unify the power, under the suggestion of the scholars, Emperor Chongzhen withdrew the Shangfang sword bestowed on other frontier civil and military forces, and only gave it to Yuan Chonghuan, and explicitly allowed him to act cheaply, which meant that all decision-making and management powers were delegated to Yuan Chonghuan. Allow him to make independent decisions according to the actual situation, according to the time, place, and circumstances. Since then, the rather rash promise of "recovering Liao in five years" has become a real nightmare, weighing heavily on Yuan Chonghuan's heart.Later, he made a lot of efforts, trying to expand a little wiggle room for his gaffes caused by being considerate of the emperor. As a result, every effort he made turned into a new rope, binding him even more firmly, the unreasonable imperial system drove him to the edge of a cliff. Yuan Chonghuan is familiar with Xiong Tingbi.Many years ago, when he went to the front line of Liaodong for the first time, he had a long talk with Xiong Tingbi; he was more familiar with Sun Chengzong's situation, and almost heard and witnessed the whole process of Sun Chengzong from peak to trough.After knowing this, like Xiong Tingbi, Yuan Chonghuan really shouldn't trust the emperor's sincerity, shouldn't be easily intoxicated by the royal family's favor and care without any institutional guarantee, and shouldn't return to this extremely sinister imperial political puzzle again. come.In thousands of years of political and cultural traditions, the royal family has always had the supreme status and power, but all institutional guarantees have been tilted to the side of the royal rights and interests. There is no setting and design to protect them from an institutional perspective, so suppression and mutilation have become a situation they often need to face.This is the inevitable result of a private world rather than a public world.In fact, based on this alone, we can say that the Confucian ideology of the three cardinal principles and five constant principles is a really bastard and nonsense preaching, and we can regard those who uphold this kind of preaching as the really despicable, low-spirited bones and national souls The thief, no matter how high-sounding they behave, how much they look like a gentleman.Because almost all the tragedies involving people with lofty ideals in the history of our country are deeply related to this. Yuan Chonghuan was not completely unaware of this.Just one year ago, when he was about to be forced to resign, Yuan Chonghuan wrote a letter to the emperor, in which he said very sadly: If you attack the enemy bravely and fearlessly, the enemy will surely hate you; It can't be done; for those heroes and capable ministers, slander letters filled the emperor's drawers, and rumors slandering him filled the emperor's ears, all of which have been like this since ancient times. All of what Yuan Chonghuan said has indeed existed in the political history of our country for thousands of years.This time, Yuan Chonghuan wrote a letter to the emperor again after making a promise in a state that should be understandable, and the letter was equally pertinent and poignant: The Liaodong cause of the empire is gradual rather than sudden, pragmatic rather than bluffing.The employer and the person to be used are in the hands of the emperor. How to use without doubt and trust without doubt is the key.Controlling civil and military affairs on the frontier is very different from controlling the courtiers.The reason is that the frontier is an eventful place, and it is common to be surprised a few times a day; there are especially many surprising and suspicious things in the army, so I ask the emperor to only talk about the overall situation of success or failure, and not to pick out the flaws in words and deeds; the responsibility is heavy , resulting in more enemies, so everything that is beneficial to the major events of sealing off borders will be detrimental to the people who do these things themselves.What's more, the enemies who are cornered will also implement divisive tactics. Therefore, it is really difficult to be a minister of the frontier.Originally, Your Majesty loves and advises your ministers, so you don't have to be so suspicious; it's just that the relationship is very important, and I dare not let you know. Yuan Chonghuan seemed to be a prophecy.Everything he said was fulfilled one by one in the years that followed, and it was countless times more tragic. After arriving at the Liaodong front, Yuan Chonghuan realized that in the more than a year since he resigned, the Liaodong front was no longer what it was a year ago.Just like what Xiong Tingbi and Sun Chengzong faced in the past, everything is repeating the old story that has happened countless times: the officers in the army of the Ming Empire began to openly drink blood and bribe the soldiers, and the soldiers often failed to receive the full amount. Sometimes the food and salaries are simply not received at all, and the morale of the people has once again dissipated. The city defenses of Jinzhou, Xingshan, Gaoqiao and other places that were built with huge sums of money have also fallen into the hands of the Houjin Khanate and were destroyed again. Lose. Yuan Chonghuan had just arrived at Shanhaiguan, and the Ningyuan soldiers who had not received their military pay for four consecutive months mutinied, which really gave their old chief a blow.Yuan Chonghuan drove to Ningyuan starry night. While quelling the mutiny, he asked the court to allocate military expenditures in full and on time, and began to reorganize the troops. It is said that after Emperor Chongzhen saw Yuan Chonghuan’s application for military expenses, his reaction was: “If the soldiers who lead the soldiers can really treat the soldiers like family members and fathers and sons, they will naturally not dare to rebel, nor can they bear to rebel. Those who dare not rebel are because they fear Its prestige; those who can't bear to rebel are because of their virtue. How can there be a rebellion?" (Volume 1 of "Liehuang Xiaozhi") What the emperor said, although every sentence is the truth, and every sentence is worth ten thousand sentences, but it is also transparent. There was a strong smell that made people feel that it was not easy to mess with, and that being with you was like a tiger.The meaning inside and outside the words seems to be: It seems that Yuan Chonghuan is also a layman, and there is nothing new except asking for military pay.It was only not long ago that he showed great favor to Yuan Chonghuan.The little emperor who grew up in the deep palace seems to have no idea that people have to eat, so he asked Yuan Chonghuan why he didn't lead the soldiers to eat minced meat spiritually.In the worst case, he might even feel that Yuan Chonghuan was using the military as an excuse to extort military expenses from the royal family. In all fairness, Yuan Chonghuan did nothing wrong in this matter. What Yuan Chonghuan did wrong was to kill Mao Wenlong.This was probably one of the biggest mistakes he made in his life, and its seriousness surpassed his return to imperial officialdom again.Later, when Yuan Chonghuan was killed by Emperor Chongzhen, killing Mao Wenlong was one of his important crimes.After that, for a long time, people believed that Yuan Chonghuan deserved what he deserved—not to mention that he seduced the Manchurian Tartars to come to Beijing to kill people and set fire, but just because of killing Mao Wenlong, Yuan Chonghuan died unjustly.Later, after Yuan Chonghuan was unjustly killed by Huang Taiji's design, people felt sorry for Yuan Chonghuan.In order to cover him up, he tried his best to scold Mao Wenlong until he was bloody, which was useless.The surly and shameless political and cultural traditions have created surly and shameless historians.This is impossible. In fact, Mao Wenlong is neither as good as people said at the beginning, nor as bad as everyone said later.However, for the Ming Empire and the Later Jin Khanate, his existence is very important.Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan's killing of him was really a big mistake that could not be made by melting the iron of Kyushu. Mao Wenlong's name is Zhennan, and his ancestral home is Taiping, Shanxi. When his father was a businessman in Qiantang, Zhejiang, he gave birth to Mao Wenlong. Therefore, Zhejiang is his hometown.It is said that this person didn't like reading when he was young, but liked to talk about military affairs.Later, he ran away to join his uncle and inherited his uncle Baihu's position.In the early years, he served in the Liaodong Ming Army and was once Li Chengliang's subordinate.After the Sarhu War, when Nurhachi was about to sweep Liaodong, Mao Wenlong resolutely took the order and led a few subordinates to go deep into Nurhachi's enemy's rear to carry out guerrilla warfare and establish a base.They are active in today's North Korea, the contiguous areas of Jilin and Liaoning in our country, and Jin, Fu, Hai, Gai, Lushun and other places in the Liaodong Peninsula. They fight if they win, and run away if they don't win. No peace.With the intensification of Nurhachi's racial discrimination policy, Mao Wenlong's troops have also grown stronger, possibly reaching tens of thousands of people, and established a military base on Phi Island - Dongjiang Town. "Attack Jianlu from time to time, and gain something." (Tan Qian's "Guoyan" Volume 90) Phi Island is now North Korea’s Lime Island. It is said that the reason why it is called Phi Island is because the word "Lin" is pronounced "Pi" in Korean, and the army of the Ming Dynasty was stationed for a long time, so it is listed in the historical records of the Ming Dynasty. It was recorded as "Phi Island" in China.Turning over the map, it is easy to find that this island is close to the coast of North Korea, and the sea is very close to the southern Liaoning area. From here, it is impossible to prevent Nurhachi from harassing Nurhachi by climbing mountains or crossing the sea.After Nurhachi established the Golden Khanate and moved the capital to Liaoyang and Shenyang, Pidao and Mao Wenlong became his worries.Mao Wenlong once led his troops to go deep into the vicinity of his hometown in the rear of Nurhachi, turning the enemy's production, living, and fighting materials into his own materials, and then passed through Anshan, crossed Motianling, and was only a hundred miles away from Liaoyang and Shenyang. If you harass again, once you feel tired or see the situation is not good, you will safely retreat into the sea and sail away.Mao Wenlong succeeded repeatedly, so he was extremely arrogant. This situation is very stimulating to Nurhachi, because Mao Wenlong often haunts Yanji, Huichun, Tumen, and Wangqing in the Tumen River Basin. This is Nurhachi's hometown.It's just that after Nurhachi turned his family into a country, most of the young and middle-aged population in his hometown followed him to fight the world, and those who stayed there were old, young, sick and disabled. It was difficult for Nurhachi to deploy troops to defend the empty rear.And the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry is a typical northern soldier who is good at riding, and has no sense of the sea at all. Therefore, for a long time, the Houjin Khanate basically had nothing to do with Mao Wenlong. The reason why Nurhachi dared not boldly attack westward was to reach out to Mao Wenlong It has a great relationship with being able to caress one's own side and back.Therefore, the great historian Tan Qian recorded a passage describing Mao Wenlong like this: Just like the lice on Nurhachi's body, they can't be beaten or caught. Although they can't hurt the muscles and bones, they can make people feel uneasy day and night.This can also be regarded as a classic description of guerrilla warfare. Nurhachi once sent people to talk about the corruption of the Ming Dynasty to Mao Wenlong, and promised to seduce Mao Wenlong with a high-ranking official and rich salary, but Mao Wenlong sternly refused.Therefore, Mao Wenlong had a reputation as an anti-Jin Zhishi in the eyes of the people at that time.Dong Qichang, a fellow of Mao Wenlong's Jiangsu and Zhejiang University and a great calligrapher and painter, once reported to the court: "If the country can have two Mao Wenlongs, Nurhachi will be destroyed, Liaodong will be restored, and those rebels who surrendered to Nurhachi can only be caught without a fight." "Ming History" Volume 259) At that time, Mao Wenlong was indeed courageous, and his reputation was far higher than that of Yuan Chonghuan in the early days.Because of these not-so-small feats, Mao Wenlong received awards many times. He was appointed as the commander-in-chief, hung the seal of a general, was granted the title of governor of the left, and given the sword of Shang Fang. He opened a town in Pidao and set up a general's mansion. , A force that received special attention from the imperial court. Yuan Chonghuan stood out from the crowd and came from behind, and he became increasingly intolerant of Mao Wenlong, so much so that he wanted to kill him quickly, which was probably related to the following situations: It may be because Shanxi merchants and Zhejiang merchants are good at managing financial management, this Mao Wenlong is also skilled in making money and has extraordinary talents.When the war was raging, this guy suddenly started a business, and he did it on a huge scale, making this anti-golden patriot not only a high-ranking imperial minister, but also a huge millionaire who was incomparably rich. Phi Island is the maritime hub for North Korea to enter the Bohai Bay and communicate with China. It can also control the maritime transportation from the Liaodong Peninsula to Shanhaiguan.Suddenly one day, Mao Wenlong suddenly ordered that all passing ships, regardless of size, be levied a toll tax.Then, a market was opened on Phi Island, an important military town, and merchants from all over the world were invited to "flee people" to trade with preferential policies in order to collect goods taxes.As a result, Bashilipi Island, which was uninhabited before he came, was bustling and prosperous. It is said that the resident and floating population has reached tens of thousands. At that time, the Ming Empire had already ordered to cut off the trade between Jin and Ming. It was illegal to sell the native products of the Jinhan Kingdom. As a result, those wealthy people in the inland who were eager to use ginseng for nourishment were ignorant of the plant that grew in the deep mountains of Liaodong. The roots are dying, and the price has skyrocketed above that of gold.Therefore, Mao Wenlong, who has an extremely keen market awareness and sense of smell, immediately organized the "fugitives" who came to seek refuge from the Houjin Khanate regardless of the situation, and set up a ginseng collection team, and the army escorted them on military ships in batches. , Up the Yalu River, landed in the birthplace of Nurhachi, and went to the deep mountains to collect ginseng.After returning, Mao Wenlong bought it at a low price, and then sent it to various ports in the Jiaodong Peninsula and even the capital for sale. For a while, Mao Wenlong became a wealthy man.Therefore, the old man of lofty ideals, now the rich man, on Phi Island, is known as the emperor of the sea, and entertains himself by calling himself the king of the sea.From then on, Wenlong didn't think about making progress. Mao Wenlong is confident in what he has done.The reason is that he reported to the court that he had a total of 200,000 troops under his command, and asked the court to pay him at least several million taels of silver a year.This was a lot of talking, maybe later even he himself believed that he really had 200,000 subordinates, which made the court extremely sad. At this time, Mao Wenlong's way of thinking is similar to that of his old chief Li Chengliang in his later years. He is proficient in the principles of redistribution of social wealth and knows that money in the world cannot be earned by one person. Under the eunuch's family, even Wei Zhongxian, who had several godsons among the officials in the frontier, could not pretend to Yuan Chonghuan at all, but he had to take a special look at him, and the cabinet scholars all seemed to be his twin brothers. Now, Wei Zhongxian has fallen, and the cabinet has changed several times. In addition, the annual silver tael is really not a small sum, which is almost more than the annual fiscal revenue of the court in a normal year. Even if the Liao pay is levied, it is still not enough Fill the mouth of a lion with such a wide mouth.As a result, the court officials who were sad began to complain, and finally decided to send someone to check the number of people.Although the visitor was treated like a king by Mao Wenlong, there was still no way to estimate the number of his subordinates at 200,000, so he had to report with 100,000.According to the regulations of the imperial court system at that time, Phi Island was also called Dongjiang Town, and administratively it was under the jurisdiction of Denglaidao, Shandong Province, and paid.Therefore, Mao Wenlong, who firmly believed that he had 200,000 subordinates, found a particularly sufficient reason to maintain his psychological balance for his extraordinary means of making money and making a living by himself. In addition, Mao Wenlong did not think that he should be grateful to the host when he was stationed on other people's territory. Instead, he felt that he should be thanked by the host, so he often asked the host for money and food in the name of assisting the host to defend his home and country, which made the king of Korea overwhelmed. bother.Nanurhachi is such a powerful character. He quickly sent someone to contact the King of Korea and reiterated his intention of friendship and alliance in order to jointly deal with the Ming Dynasty and Mao Wenlong.After Mao Wenlong found out the news, he immediately reported it to the court and asked the court to appoint himself as the supervisor of North Korea, which meant that he wanted to be the king of North Korea.Not to mention Emperor Chongzhen, even Emperor Wanli who had not seen his courtiers for thirty years, Emperor Tianqi who was obsessed with carpentry, and Wei Zhongxian who had more ideas than anyone else, no one dared to issue such an order.Therefore, Mao Wenlong didn't care about harassing Nurhachi, but instead put on strict guard against North Korea, the best ally of the Ming Dynasty. If these were not enough to make Yuan Chonghuan gnash his teeth and hate him, Mao Wenlong talked to himself and put himself on an equal footing with Yuan Chonghuan.Judging from his actions throughout his life, Yuan Chonghuan had a strong personality, was decisive, and dared to act. He talked to himself and refused to listen to greetings, which seemed to be worse than Mao Wenlong.Prior to this, the imperial court had transferred two of Yuan Chonghuan's senior colleagues away, also because Yuan Chonghuan could not work with them.The same sex repels each other, and it is reasonable for him to be unable to tolerate Mao Wenlong, who has the same temperament.This is probably part of the reason why Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong in terms of character and emotion. There is also part of the reason, which may be related to Yuan Chonghuan's promise to the emperor to "restore Liao in five years". From Yuan Chonghuan's series of actions after he arrived at the front line in Liaodong, it can be seen that that promise really made him feel great pressure, making him particularly eager to integrate all the forces under his command according to his own will.For example, in order to reduce possible constraints and disputes, he abolished the military command inside and outside Shanhaiguan and merged it with three generals, and merged Jinzhou and Ningyuan into one town. Just as the governor, he assisted Zu Dashou to station in Jinzhou; he moved Zhao's teaching from Jimen to Shanhaiguan, while Yuan Chonghuan was stationed in Ningyuan.He and the above-mentioned three generals made an oath to restore Liaodong in five years. If the goal is not achieved by then, Yuan Chonghuan will kill the three generals with his own hands, and then cut off his head to thank the world.After reporting the above situation to Emperor Chongzhen, the emperor said: Yes. "Recovering Liao in five years" is easier said than done.Yuan Chonghuan's promise in front of the emperor was as serious as using his own wealth and life to issue a military order.For this reason, the emperor and the imperial government gave him the green light all the way, fulfilled almost all his requirements, and provided all the support he needed.Under such circumstances, if the job cannot be paid by then, it may become a doubt whether the young emperor who killed Wei Zhongxian quietly will be more polite to him than Wei Zhongxian.Therefore, Yuan Chonghuan must integrate all the forces within his authority as soon as possible to form a whole. Under his command, he will point to the Houjin Khanate like a finger, and never allow any situation of disobedience. These forces include all military units and military-related units in Ji, Liao, Deng, Lai, and Tianjin. Among them, Mao Wenlong's Pidao Dongjiang Town is of course an important one. During the mutiny in Ningyuan, Yuan Chonghuan asked the court to pay the army on time. The emperor was not happy. A scholar catered to the emperor and said: If the soldiers pay when they make trouble, what should the army in other places follow?For Yuan Chonghuan, this problem also exists.If Mao Wenlong doesn't listen to the call, and he has no way to fix him, what will the other forces do if they don't listen to the call?Five years have passed in a flash. At that time, what will I do to fulfill the promise of "recovering Liao in five years"? Mao Wenlong was courageous, resourceful and courageous, but he didn't listen to greetings. It didn't start with Yuan Chonghuan.When Xiong Tingbi was appointed as the Liaodong economic strategist, Mao Wenlong did not buy it, and only listened to the command of his old boss Wang Huazhen, which made Xiong Tingbi angry.Many years ago, before Yuan Chonghuan went to Liaodong for the first time, he had a very speculative long talk with Xiong Tingbi. Perhaps at that time, he knew Mao Wenlong's arrogance and difficulty from Xiong Tingbi. After the Ningyuan Defense War, Yuan Chonghuan was promoted to the governor of Liaodong. In order to coordinate all parties to act in unison, because Mao Wenlong was the bridge connecting the rear wing of the Jin side after the North Korean containment, he reported to the court and prepared to send him more elite soldiers and generals to improve the situation. Big Nurhachi was under the enemy's strength, but Mao Wenlong tried every means to obstruct it, and repeatedly wrote letters to criticize Yuan Chonghuan, making it seem that Yuan Chonghuan coveted his territory.In the end, Yuan Chonghuan's plan was finally "flooded" without a problem.Therefore, in Yuan Chonghuan's heart, Mao Wenlong may think that Mao Wenlong disregarded the country's plans for his own self-interest, and he looked like a separatist warlord who was a profiteer and pirate who added to the country's wealth. This is the difference between Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong.These two characters have somewhat similar personalities, but their personalities are very different. Perhaps Mao Wenlong's understanding of the imperial court is more thorough than Yuan Chonghuan's, but his character is far inferior to Yuan Chonghuan's.Therefore, he chose a path of preserving strength, accumulating money, and even falsely reporting the number of troops, falsely leading the army's salary, and smuggling and smuggling.If the politics is clear, he may be a good official in the borderlands. If the general environment is opposite, his logical development track must point to the warlords on the separatist side and the heroes in troubled times.Unfortunately, imperial politics provided him with the latter environment. Yuan Chonghuan may be a courageous and passionate man, a saint who has read the books of sages and sages, is full of family and country feelings, is courageous and resourceful, ambitious and defensive, eager for success and good righteousness, and knows what to do.Under China's political and cultural traditions, Yuan Chonghuan's fate is generally the standard ending for this type of characters in most eras except for a very few eras with clear politics.For example, Yue Fei five hundred years ago, Yu Qian more than a hundred years ago in this dynasty, and Xiong Tingbi not long ago. However, no matter what, at this moment Mao Wenlong doesn’t care whether he looks like a pirate profiteer, or a warlord who makes money from a separatist party, after all, he is just "like" that thing, not already "is" that thing.After all, he is still the commander-in-chief of the former enemy army along the eastern route of the empire. After all, in the situation where North Korea has become a brotherly state of the Houjin Khanate, he still insists there, forming a huge worry for the enemy's rear wing, so it has extremely important strategic value. , after all, tens of thousands of soldiers under him rushed out in the war with him.And under the imperial system, the most important thing is—after all, he is an important minister of the empire that only the emperor has the power to deal with.Under such circumstances, Yuan Chonghuan's painful killer, how could it not constitute a huge and far-reaching mistake! It was only a matter of time before Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong clashed between the two strong men.In fact, when Yuan Chonghuan was called to Beijing this time, Qian Longxi, a cabinet scholar who also hated Mao Wenlong, went to Yuan Chonghuan's residence to discuss with him how to treat Mao Wenlong.Yuan Chonghuan said: If Mao Wenlong can use it, use it; if he can't use it, kill him. (Volume 1 of "Compilation of Master Yuan's Posthumous Manuscripts and Posthumous Events") After taking office, Yuan Chonghuan once wrote a letter to the Minister of War, in which he said: "Huang Taiji repeatedly wanted to make peace with me, and some of the important court officials also advocated peace. If Mao Wenlong and I work together, I certainly have no doubts about him. No guess; otherwise, behead his head and use the power of the sword." (Tan Qian's "Guoyan" Volume 90) This letter actually reveals an extremely important message, that is: Huang Taiji, as Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong's common enemy may have had a great effect and influence in prompting Yuan Chonghuan to raise the Shangfang sword that killed Mao Wenlong. When Huang Taiji went to North Korea for the first time after succeeding to the throne, an important strategic goal was to wipe out the military bases of the Ming Empire stationed in North Korea during the process of conquering North Korea, referring to Mao Wenlong's troops.At the swearing-in meeting for going to North Korea held by Huang Taiji, the oath clearly stated: "North Korea has offended our country for many generations, and it should be punished. But this trip is not to focus on North Korea. Mao Wenlong of the Ming Dynasty was on the coast of North Korea, constantly recruiting and accepting Therefore, we are condemned by God." (Volume 2 of "Records of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty") In the negotiations with North Korea about a brotherly state, an important content was to ask North Korea to sever its relationship with the Ming Empire.Unexpectedly, the DPRK paid lip service but failed to deliver. Although the covenant was signed, it was not actually implemented.The troops of the Ming Empire continued to station, cultivate, and do business on Korean territory, threatening the rear flanks of the Later Jin Khanate.But Huang Taiji has no navy, no ships, and the Eight Banners cavalry rampage on land, but they can't find the north at all at sea. Therefore, Huang Taiji, like Nurhachi, is basically helpless against Mao Wenlong. Therefore, Huang Taiji, like Nurhachi, also asked Li Yongfang, the first general of the Ming Empire to surrender, to persuade Mao Wenlong to surrender. This kind of persuasion has worked on officials and generals of the Ming Empire many times in the past.But this time it was still rejected by Mao Wenlong, who reported the matter to the emperor.Therefore, Li Yongfang suggested to Huang Taiji: "I am afraid that Mao Wenlong will cut off the way when soldiers enter China; it is best to write a letter to Yuan Chonghuan, pretending to agree to return Liaodong to him, on the condition that Mao Wenlong must be killed." Huang Taiji followed Li Yongfang's suggestion. It was done, and Yuan Chonghuan replied in secret, agreeing to the terms of exchange. (Ji Liuqi's "Ming Ji Beilue" Volume 4) The "Ming History Chronicle" records: "At the beginning, when Yuan Chonghuan was the governor of Liaodong, he sent people to Jianzhou for peace talks, and then resigned, but there was no result. This time he came out again, in order to complete the five-year restoration of Liao. The promise is to plan again Peace talks. Huang Taiji's reply was: "If there is sincerity, Mao Wenlong's head will be exchanged for the land in eastern Liaodong." Chong Huan believed in it." It is said that Yuan Chonghuan presided over the frontline work in Liaodong twice. Even when he negotiated peace with Huang Taiji out of strategic considerations, Huang Taiji must always insist on one condition, that is, the peace talks can be made, and the lost land in Liaodong can also be returned to Daming. Letter, the first letter from Mao Wenlong." ("Shi Kui Shu Hou Ji" volume 10, Mao Wenlong's biography) I can't believe you unless you take Mao Wenlong's head in a box.Therefore, after Yuan Chonghuan came back this time, he "concentrated on killing Mao Wenlong and using his head in exchange for the lost land in Liaodong." (Ji Liuqi's "Ming Ji Beilue" Volume 4) Obviously, Huang Taiji's approach is almost exactly the same as what his ancestors said to the Song Emperor Zhao Gou five hundred years ago: If you want peace talks, get back Shaanxi, The two provinces of Henan can lose their land, but the condition is that Yue Fei must be killed. But Mao Wenlong, the beheading knife was already on his neck, and he was still making troubles there.可能是出于挑拨离间的考虑，存心让袁崇焕与毛文龙掐起来，因此，皇太极一方面与袁崇焕和谈，另一方面又派人去和毛文龙和谈，使他们觉得只有自己才更有资格成为和谈的主角。毛文龙不知是出于真心主战，还是想借此表明自己的重要，以便索取更多的军饷，他立即将皇太极找自己和谈的消息报告给了皇帝，并说了不少大话，核心意思就是灭掉后金不是什么难事。同时，对于把自己部下兵额核定为二万八千人，大为不平，一而再再而三地“请饷甚急”。 毛文龙的这种态度，特别容易得到皇帝的赏识。自从主战的岳飞被冤杀之后，在我国官场与民间就形成了一种十分难以化解的刚性思维模式：不论是对内还是对外，态度越强硬，越容易被认为是忠诚的，是岳飞的战友，哪怕偏激一点都没有关系；反之，是秦桧的同伙，哪怕纯粹出于策略性的考虑，则可能是有问题的。史书记载说：袁崇焕“恶文龙扰之，乃决计斩文龙”。（《明崇祯实录》卷二） 袁崇焕满心希望乘一败努尔哈赤、再败皇太极之余威，以军事上的严阵以待加上外交手段，即“以捭阖纵横之计”收回那辽东失地。（《明史纪事本末补遗》卷五，宁锦战守）为此，他不顾人们包括皇帝的看法，坚持公开和秘密地与后金汗国进行和谈。而且，他很有可能没有将和谈的详细情形，特别及时地向皇帝请示报告。显然，他和毛文龙的不同表现，在毛文龙被他杀死之后，十分有助于加深皇帝对他的疑虑，令皇帝更加相信他与皇太极之间是别有默契。此外，很难找到其他的解释。所以，大史学家谈迁评论说：“袁氏身膺不当之罚，则杀岛帅，适所以自杀也。”（《国榷》卷九十）信哉斯言。袁崇焕杀毛文龙，真的就和自杀一样啊。 促使袁崇焕最终下决心干掉毛文龙的，可能是下列两件事情： 其一，鉴于毛文龙一再在军饷问题上纠缠不清，甚至暗指袁崇焕有意克扣，袁崇焕上书皇帝，请兵部派大员为毛文龙打理军饷事宜。毛文龙又是一阵矫情，和以前连连上书反对袁崇焕为他增派精兵良将一样，如今他连连抗疏痛驳袁崇焕，反对朝廷派人为他理饷。至此，这毛文龙真的就像一根搅屎棍和滚刀肉，不但逼得努尔哈赤和皇太极父子拿他没有办法，就连袁崇焕也一样，被他逼得杀心大起，只能是杀之而后快了。 另一件事情则是件小事：袁督师到任后，其属下应按制度前来谒见。不知道袁崇焕出于什么心理，是要试试毛文龙对自己的态度，还是尊重毛文龙的功勋地位，反正在毛文龙谒见时，袁崇焕不是以上级接见下属的礼节对待毛文龙，而是待之以宾主之礼。而毛文龙这厮作为下级，居然当仁不让，大模大样地对自己的上司还之以宾客之礼。用今天的语言描述就是，毛文龙忘了自己姓什么，没有搞清楚自己是谁，没有摆正自己的位置。于是有史家认为，就是在那一刻，袁崇焕下定了除去他的决心。 大明崇祯二年、后金天聪三年（公元1629年）六月，袁崇焕以犒劳部队的名义，泛海来到双岛，邀毛文龙相会。史书记载说，二人见面后，袁崇焕对毛文龙慰问备至，二人经常宴饮到半夜。六月六日，袁崇焕以阅兵为名，在山上搭设帐篷，令甲士埋伏下来，除毛文龙身边将领之外，其余人等全部被挡在外面。 袁崇焕对毛文龙施礼曰：“您在海外担当重任，请受我一拜。”毛文龙连忙还礼。袁崇焕又询问那些将领的姓名，回答大部分都姓毛。毛文龙解释说：“这些都是我的儿孙。”袁崇焕笑着说：“你们在海外为国家效力，也请受我一拜。”众人慌忙顿首答谢。 大家落座后，袁崇焕随即指责毛文龙不法情事，毛文龙抗辩不屈。袁崇焕立命将毛文龙剥去衣冠，绑于堂下，并列举其十二款大罪，款款该杀。譬如，说他专制一方，耗费国家钱饷无数；杀难民冒功；口出狂言，说是取南京易如反掌；擅自开通马市，交通外番；部下数千人姓毛，滥予官职；抢掠商船，强夺民间女子；重金行贿京师，拜魏忠贤为义父等等。袁崇焕问他带来的那些部将，毛文龙是否该杀？那些将领惊惶失措，有的说“该杀”，有的则说毛文龙多年抗敌，没有功劳亦有苦劳，等等。 袁崇焕大义凛然训斥曰：“毛文龙以一介布衣，如今官居极品，满门富贵，国家给他的酬劳算是足够多了，为什么还要如此悖逆？”遂请出尚方宝剑，顿首请旨，曰：“臣为了整顿军纪，今天要杀掉毛文龙，诸将领中若有人想效法毛文龙，全部杀无赦。异日如果臣不能成功，请皇上用杀文龙的剑杀臣。”请旨毕，崇焕命自己带来的一位海军军官赵可怀，以尚方剑将毛文龙斩于帐前。（《明崇祯实录》卷二）随即，袁崇焕对毛文龙部将宣布：只杀毛文龙一人，其余人等无罪。 第二天，袁崇焕以大将之礼安葬毛文龙。祭奠毛文龙时，袁崇焕泪流满面，曰：“昨天杀你，是出于朝廷公义；今日哭你，是出于同僚私情。”随后，拿出十万两白银，给毛文龙的部下每人发了三两，将皮岛局势暂时稳定下来。 崇祯皇帝听说帝国东江镇总兵毛文龙就这么着让袁崇焕给杀了，着实吓了一大跳，惊骇莫名。他可能知道袁崇焕素有蛮子之名，却大约无论如何也想不到他会生猛到如此程度，竟然敢于杀掉只有自己才有权处置的一路大军统帅。 崇祯皇帝继位不久，毛文龙就曾经给皇帝上过一个奏疏，言辞激烈地痛陈自己有五大不平，请求皇帝另选贤能来替代自己。这种以退为进的伎俩，是明朝官员们的拿手好戏。因此，皇帝鼓励他说：“文龙孤悬海外，备尝艰辛，屡建功勋。如今正值辽东局势危难之际，岂能说退就退？你要再接再厉，多方牵制，以舒解皇帝我的焦虑。”（《崇祯长编》卷二） 如今，这毛文龙没有说退就退，却被这袁崇焕说杀就杀了。据说，仅仅因为正在倚重袁崇焕，所以皇帝没有指责他，反而通令嘉奖袁崇焕，并将毛文龙的罪行收集起来，通报全军。当时，有些人认为毛文龙是被冤枉的，因此在京师奔走，为毛文龙鸣冤。崇祯皇帝将这些人一概归入毛文龙亲信死党，下令捉拿严办，以安抚袁崇焕。 这种情形，充满了乖戾不祥的气息。 毛文龙罪不当死，特别是不当这样的死法。袁崇焕妄杀毛文龙本来就是错误的，不光是崇祯皇帝“意殊骇”——特别惊骇，而且，史书记载道：“天下闻之，诧为奇举。”（谈迁《国榷》卷九十）没有人能够理解袁崇焕此举的真实意图，不知道他到底要干什么。如今皇帝也糊里糊涂加入战团，企图以权势压人，毫无疑问是错上加错，君臣制造了一起令人无法心服口服的悲剧。 悲剧的后果，不久便显现出来了。袁崇焕显然没有用诛杀毛文龙在皇太极那儿换来他承诺过的任何东西。仅仅过了三个月多一点，没有了任何后顾之忧的皇太极便大举进军，他绕过袁崇焕严防死守的宁、锦、山海关一线，深入大明帝国京畿地区烧杀抢掠，时间长达七个月。这是双方开战以来从来没有过的，标志着战祸已经从辽东地区蔓延到了帝国腹心。 此时，皮岛已无毛文龙。统帅在没有太大说服力的情况下被杀，也没有进行很好的善后与后续工作，人心士气一下子就散掉了，没有人具有足够的威望和能力指挥那几万大军，从而差不多是自动解除了对于后金汗国侧后翼的威胁。就这样，坚持多年的一块敌后根据地，基本丧失了战略价值。 而袁崇焕也在一步走错之后，步步走错，除了穷于应付之外，似乎完全没有了曾经有过的英气与灵气，直到被崇祯皇帝逮捕入狱，直到八个月之后，死于皇帝的酷刑。 三年后，悲剧的恶果进一步加剧扩展：毛文龙的部下，孔有德、耿仲明等，必定是对朝廷已经彻底绝望，于是先是在山东登、莱地区掀起大乱，皮岛驻军守将陈有德也在皮岛杀死另外两位守将，率部响应。随后，他们携带大明军队最新引进的红夷大炮和工匠技师等浮海投敌。 加上同是毛文龙部下的尚可喜，大清朝册封的四位汉族亲王，有三位是当年跟着毛文龙，令努尔哈赤一年数惊、寝食难安的骄兵悍将，如今则成了皇太极和多尔衮的急先锋，构成了皇太极组建汉军八旗的主体。他们杀进自己的故国家园，大砍大杀，几乎所向无敌地从大东北一直打到南海之滨，打到云贵高原的千山万壑，打到大清朝天下太平之后。平心而论，仅仅将他们斥之为汉奸、卖国贼、叛徒之类大约是远远不够的。 后来，他们和最后加入进来的吴三桂一道，成为大清朝需要被清除的异姓藩王，演出了受到后代直到今天热烈赞颂的“平三藩”悲喜剧。