Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 446: A series of missed attempts
By doing this, Yuan Chonghuan not only controlled Mao Wenlong's supply of military rations and salaries, but more importantly, he directly cut off the trade route to Pi Island.

How could Mao Wenlong sit still at this moment? Dongjiang Town was founded by Mao Wenlong himself. The entire Dongjiang Town has more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians, of which 30,000 combat soldiers are the main force of Dongjiang Town.

The military pay allocated by the imperial court was not enough and was often in arrears. In order to feed the army, Mao Wenlong took advantage of the geographical location of Pi Island and started a trade transit business, obtaining funds to support the army through trade. In addition, all merchant ships passing through the Pi Island route were required to pay Mao Wenlong a portion of the toll, which was also one of Mao Wenlong's main sources of income for supporting the army.

Everything was fine, but now Yuan Chonghuan suddenly cut off Mao Wenlong's supplies and trade channels with this move. How could Mao Wenlong bear this? Mao Wenlong was not a pushover. After receiving the news, he immediately wrote a memorial to Emperor Chongzhen, protesting that Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Ji and Liao, was abandoning the easy and pursuing the difficult, and pointed out that Yuan Chonghuan, as the governor of Ji and Liao, had exceeded his authority by intervening in the military and political affairs of Dongjiang Town without reason.

This memorial was quickly sent to the capital. Emperor Chongzhen was unable to make a judgment after reading it for a while, because Yuan Chonghuan had already written a memorial to explain the matter before Mao Wenlong's memorial arrived. Moreover, Emperor Chongzhen did not understand military affairs and was not familiar with the situation in Dongjiang Town. He only felt that Yuan Chonghuan's words made some sense through Yuan Chonghuan's written report. He was dissatisfied with Mao Wenlong's behavior of doing business and collecting tolls in Pi Island, so he agreed to Yuan Chonghuan's operation.

But now Mao Wenlong also submitted a memorial, expressing his extreme dissatisfaction in it, and explaining the huge impact of the route interruption on the entire Dongjiang Town.

Mao Wenlong was a general in the court, and Dongjiang Town was a nail that the Ming Dynasty drove into the rear of the Jiannu. Although Emperor Chongzhen had never met Mao Wenlong, he knew Mao Wenlong's ability and skills. Back then, Mao Wenlong led 200 people to stir up earth-shaking changes in the Later Jin Dynasty, and was promoted to deputy general. In the following years, he made many contributions. Moreover, Mao Wenlong was not only a first-rank military officer but also the Prince's Grand Tutor who was awarded the Shangfang Sword. When his brother, the emperor, was in power, Mao Wenlong was praised many times. Emperor Chongzhen would certainly not ignore him.

Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong suddenly quarreled over this matter, which made Emperor Chongzhen feel a little embarrassed. One of them was a veteran general with great military achievements left by his brother Emperor Tianqi, and the importance of Dongjiang Town was self-evident. The other was a pillar of the country that he personally promoted and reused, and the governor of Ji-Liao who had severely damaged Nurhaci in Ningyuan and even killed Lao Nu.

If the conflict between the two intensifies, it will not be a good thing for the Liaodong war. After thinking for a long time, Emperor Chongzhen felt that it would be better for both sides to give in. If one was civil and the other military, they could work together to deal with the Liaodong battlefield, then they would definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort. If the internal conflict intensified, it might bring trouble to the subsequent plan to pacify Liaodong.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen wrote back to the two of them, and the meanings were similar. He asked the two not to just think about themselves, and to communicate more to avoid intensified conflicts. Everyone is for the Ming Dynasty and the Liaodong war situation. What can't be discussed properly? You have to look down on me, and I think you are targeting me?
Wouldn't it be better to sit down and discuss calmly to come up with a plan that both sides can accept? To put it bluntly, Emperor Chongzhen's reply was actually a way of smoothing things over. Without really understanding the situation, Emperor Chongzhen felt that it was the most appropriate thing for him to do. Moreover, his reply did not mean to stop Yuan Chonghuan's actions, which directly gave Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong the illusion that Emperor Chongzhen was biased towards Yuan Chonghuan on this matter.

After receiving the reply from Emperor Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan felt relieved. He felt that compared with Mao Wenlong, his weight in Emperor Chongzhen's heart was completely different.

In this case, there is no need to worry about taking action against Mao Wenlong. However, Mao Wenlong is not an ordinary general. He is a general of a town and a first-rank military officer. It is not easy for Yuan Chonghuan to take action against a general of this level.

Yuan Chonghuan thought about it and decided to use the reply from Emperor Chongzhen to calm Mao Wenlong and dispel his defenses before making plans. Yuan Chonghuan immediately sent Xu Lian to deliver artillery and equipment to Mao Wenlong, and explained the reason for his doing so, and agreed to meet Mao Wenlong at sea.

Seeing Xu Lian, Mao Wenlong, who was already furious, could not help but curse, accusing Yuan Chonghuan of going too far, intervening in the military and political affairs of Dongjiang Town without authorization, and not taking him, the general and the left governor, seriously. Now he is pretending to send him artillery and equipment, does he think he will stop?
You have to know that these things that Yuan Chonghuan asked Xu Lian to send were originally his own, and should have been sent directly to Pi Island with military pay and rations. But because of Yuan Chonghuan, his supplies were directly seized in Shandong. Now he pretended to send these things. Could it be that he still had to thank him for his kindness?
Faced with Mao Wenlong's rebuke and dissatisfaction, Xu Lian calmly explained a few words, and also informed Mao Wenlong that Yuan Chonghuan had asked him to meet.

In addition, Xu Lian also advised Mao Wenlong that it would be best for both parties to sit down and talk it out calmly. This was not only Yuan Chonghuan's idea, but also Emperor Chongzhen's idea. Everyone was for the court and the Ming Dynasty. They were all family members. If there were any misunderstandings, wouldn't it be fine to just clarify them? Why insist on arguing?

Arguing will not lead to any result. Wouldn't it be better for both sides to talk and come up with a solution that both sides can accept? The Liaodong war is a chess game. Sincere cooperation is the key!

This made Mao Wenlong's anger gradually subside. Although he was very angry about what Yuan Chonghuan had done, Mao Wenlong was a general of the imperial court after all, and the commander-in-chief of a town. In addition, Mao Wenlong was different from ordinary soldiers. Although Mao Wenlong was a hereditary military officer, his family was not an ordinary military household. Mao Wenlong's father was a student of the Imperial Academy. He had been studying since he was a child and intended to take the imperial examination. In a sense, he was also born into a scholarly family.

If it were an ordinary soldier, he would not listen to Xu Lian's explanation, and he would be polite if he did not directly order people to beat him up. But Mao Wenlong was different. After calming down and analyzing the situation carefully, he finally agreed with Yuan Chonghuan's opinion for the sake of the overall situation and was willing to meet with Yuan Chonghuan for a talk.

After all, Yuan Chonghuan was holding his lifeline, and if this matter was not resolved, Pi Island would not be able to survive. Once time went on, Pi Island would be short of food and money, and the Dongjiang Town that he had worked so hard to create would inevitably collapse. At that time, the entire Liaodong situation would change dramatically. Without Pi Island to contain the Liaodong Jiannu in the rear, Huang Taiji would have no worries, which was not the result Mao Wenlong wanted to see. Considering the overall situation, Mao Wenlong agreed to meet with Yuan Chonghuan, and sent Dusi Xiong Wanxiang to accompany Xu Lian back, and agreed to meet at Beixunkou in the Lushun waters.

Soon, Xu Lian returned to Ningyuan and reported the matter to Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan did not say anything after learning about it, but just nodded to show that he knew. After Xu Lian left, Yuan Chonghuan showed an unfathomable smile, because Mao Wenlong had fallen into the trap.

Not long after, Mao Wenlong took a boat to Beixunkou to meet Yuan Chonghuan as agreed, but Yuan Chonghuan was nowhere to be found. He asked the garrison at Beixunkou where Yuan Chonghuan was, but the local garrison knew nothing about it and had no idea that Yuan Chonghuan was coming.

Mao Wenlong was furious. The two sides had agreed to meet here, and it was you, Yuan Chonghuan, who proposed the meeting. Now that he was here, where were you? How come there was no sign of you?

Mao Wenlong was patient and did not lose his temper immediately. Instead, he waited at Beixunkou for two days. However, after two days, he still did not see Yuan Chonghuan. Instead, he heard the news that Yuan Chonghuan was in Dengzhou. Mao Wenlong was furious.

What exactly did Yuan Chonghuan mean? Was he playing a joke on himself? Mao Wenlong was furious and ordered the fleet to set sail and head directly to Dengzhou. When he arrived in Dengzhou, he still did not see Yuan Chonghuan. Dengzhou said that Yuan Chonghuan had never been there. Hearing this, Mao Wenlong was so angry that he almost vomited blood. At this time, his first thought was to return to Pi Island and not meet Yuan Chonghuan again. But as soon as this idea came up, Mao Wenlong's reason denied this idea. He came to see Yuan Chonghuan to solve the problem. If the problem was not solved, it would not be Yuan Chonghuan who would suffer, but himself.

Considering the more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians on Pi Island, Mao Wenlong suppressed his anger and did not return to Pi Island. But at that time he had no idea where Yuan Chonghuan was, so he couldn't see him even if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Mao Wenlong thought of an idea. Since Yuan Chonghuan was hiding from him, he could just go directly to his house.

Mao Wenlong knew that Yuan Chonghuan had set up his base in Ningyuan City after taking office as the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, so he concluded that no matter where Yuan Chonghuan went, he would eventually return to Ningyuan. Mao Wenlong decided to go all out and ordered another voyage to Juehua Island. He wanted to go to Ningyuan to wait for Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan couldn't just abandon his own commander-in-chief's office to avoid him, right?
In this way, Mao Wenlong, who had been tossing back and forth on the sea, went directly to Juehua Island. He arrived at Juehua Island a few days later and landed in the north of Juehua Island. After getting off the boat, Mao Wenlong took his men directly to Ningyuan. When he arrived in Ningyuan that day, he revealed his identity and directly asked where Yuan Chonghuan was.

"General Mao, why are you in Ningyuan? Didn't Commander Yuan make an appointment with you at Beixunkou?" When Ningyuan garrison commander Zu Dale saw Mao Wenlong suddenly coming to Ningyuan, he hurriedly welcomed him in and asked in surprise.

These words made Mao Wenlong stunned.

"What did you say? Commander Yuan went to Beixunkou? When did it happen? How come I didn't know about it?"

"He went there a long time ago. Didn't the commander have an appointment with you, Marshal Mao? He has been gone for several days." Zu Dale answered seriously.

Mao Wenlong didn't know what to say for a moment. He waited for Yuan Chonghuan at Beixunkou for two days but didn't see any sign of Yuan Chonghuan. He heard that Yuan Chonghuan was in Dengzhou, so he changed his route and went to Dengzhou to look for him. But when he arrived in Dengzhou, the people in Dengzhou said that Yuan Chonghuan had never been there. This made Mao Wenlong angry and furious, and finally he decided to go directly to Ningyuan to find Yuan Chonghuan.

But now, Ningyuan actually said that Yuan Chonghuan had already gone to Beixunkou as agreed. What was going on? Could it be that he and Yuan Chonghuan had missed each other? Mao Wenlong, who had come to question the culprit with great momentum, was stunned for a moment and could not speak for a long time.

(End of this chapter)