Chapter 93 Give Him a Military Supervisor

Chongzhen had just ascended the throne, so he could have played the same game with Mao Wenlong: you do your thing, I do mine.

But this time Mao Wenlong was really a little out of his mind. The tone of his memorial to Chongzhen demanding pay was stiff and even a bit threatening.

You should know that the person standing in front of you is Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty, who is famous for his soft-hearted temper and will not tolerate any tough treatment. How could he allow you to act recklessly in front of him?

Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said, "Brother, you really woke me up with your words! It's the number of people, how can we let him falsely report the number of people!"

Wang An nodded, hesitated and said, "But you can persuade Yuan Dudu in the letter. Although Mao Wenlong is a complete soldier rogue and has always held a negative attitude towards fighting against the Jiannu, his presence is always a thorn in Huang Taiji's back. Don't kill him easily!"

"Even if Mao Wenlong does not obey orders, we can only use pressure to divide his power in Pi Island."

In history, Mao Wenlong can be said to have the embryonic form of a warlord. Not only was he passive in fighting against the Jiannu, but he also secretly disobeyed Yuan Chonghuan's orders and only followed orders but not their instructions.

This was also one of the reasons why Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong. As a general, how could he allow his subordinates to be at odds with him or even hold him back?

Chongzhen frowned and said, "General Yuan is leading the Ji-Liao army to fight against the Jiannu. If Mao Wenlong doesn't obey orders, it will be a troublesome matter. If we can't control this man, I'm afraid General Yuan will still kill him. What can we do?"

"Divide!" Wang An chuckled and said, "There are many ways to control your subordinates. Killing them directly and replacing them with your own people is straightforward, but it depends on whether the newcomers can control the situation."

"Although Mao Wenlong has some flaws in his personal ethics, he is a good manager of his subordinates. Replacing him will only cause the morale of the Pi Island army to be weakened. In this case, the best way is not to touch him, but also to send a suitable person to the island to share Mao Wenlong's power and play a supervisory role, so as not to make him passive and lazy in the war."

Chongzhen said: "I'm afraid that apart from General Yuan, no one in Liaodong can suppress Mao Wenlong."

Wang An thought for a moment and said, "Yes, there is, but this person is not in Liaodong or the capital, and he is not even in the officialdom anymore. If we want to call him back, it is not something that Yuan Dudu can do."

Chongzhen's eyes lit up, but he suppressed his excitement and said, "Brother, please tell me what you want. Perhaps Commander Yuan can report to the emperor and appoint this person."

"That's true," Wang An nodded and said, "If Yuan Dudu really wants to use this person, given his position in the emperor's heart, it shouldn't be difficult for him to ask for someone."

Then he said, "This person is Jiang Yueguang, who I mentioned as being on a diplomatic mission to Korea and who praised Mao Wenlong."

"Is it him?" Chongzhen thought about it and had some impression of him.

At the beginning of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, this person was dismissed from his post for offending Wei Zhongxian and is currently still in his hometown in Jiangnan.

However, during this period, as Chongzhen ascended the throne, members of the Donglin Party gradually submitted memorials to the emperor, suggesting that Chongzhen use this person.

Chongzhen originally planned to have Jiang Yueguang go to Beijing to serve as the Right Vice-Chancellor of the Zhanshi Palace for observation for a period of time, and then use him if he really had talent.

Historically, Jiang Yueguang was indeed revived in the early years of Chongzhen. He first served as You Zhongyun and was later promoted to You Shilang of the Ministry of Personnel, which was a position of real power.

However, although this person was quite famous among the scholars, he was also said to be an honest official. Chongzhen was somewhat puzzled and asked, "This person is just a weak scholar. Can he suppress Mao Wenlong?"

Wang An said with a smile: "A soldier like Mao Wenlong needs a tough scholar to control him. If he can be given the title of military supervisor, it will definitely help to urge Mao Wenlong to actively fight against the Jiannu and win over the hearts of the people on Pi Island."

"You don't know that Jiang Yueguang is a member of the Donglin Party, right? What is the Donglin Party best at? Moral kidnapping! They can even use the brilliance of humanity to blind you!"

"And most importantly, although Jiang Yueguang is from the Donglin Party, he is not one of those hypocritical scholars who only know how to be strict with others and lenient with themselves. Instead, he is a typical example of someone who can practice what he preaches!"

"If such a person were to go to a harsh place like Pi Island, he would be the best at winning people's hearts. Imagine if the soldiers and civilians on the island saw that the military supervisor ate pickled vegetables and porridge like them, and that he was not like Mao Wenlong who ate empty salaries and drank the blood of soldiers, and even sought benefits for himself, would you be convinced and respect such a person?"

Historically, the Qing army besieged Nanchang for eight months and the city was out of food. Jiang Yueguang spent all his property to support the army's pay and food. When his subordinates advised him to break out at the last moment, he scolded them loudly and jumped into the water with his entire family of 32 people to die for his country.

It can be seen that although most of the Donglin Party members are of the "water is too cold" type, there is also a small group of people who have not forgotten their original aspirations and are willing to endure hardships and risk their lives for the sake of the nation, the country and their integrity.

This kind of civil official who is stubborn and not afraid of death is the nemesis of the military leader.

A person who is not greedy for money or afraid of death, who only thinks about completing his mission and who puts it into practice, is a moral benchmark that cannot be exaggerated or extended and has no blind spots in 360 degrees!

Moreover, such people are generally very popular. If Mao Wenlong really dares to take action against such people, his subordinates will become alienated from him.

Of course, there is another very important point, that is, Jiang Yueguang had been to Pi Island and knew the situation there.

While admiring Mao Wenlong, he also advised Tianqi in his memorials that Mao Wenlong's ability to establish Dongjiang Town with only 200 people showed that he had talent. He also believed that if Mao Wenlong could concentrate on guerrilla warfare in the enemy-occupied areas, it would play a crucial role in the situation in Liaodong.

He also stated in the memorial that although Mao Wenlong was talented and important, Dongjiang Town should not rely solely on him, "one should not make him a lone minister." He suggested that the court should make use of Mao Wenlong but should not rely on him alone.

From this point we can see that Jiang Yueguang was not only a civil official with integrity, but also had a certain strategic vision and was able to keenly discover Mao Wenlong's importance to him.

The most important thing is that Jiang Yueguang and Wang An have the same idea.

The best way to maximize the military role of Dongjiang Town is to fight guerrilla warfare!
And it coincides with Wang An’s idea that Mao Wenlong cannot be allowed to dominate Pi Island!
After Wang An's analysis, Chongzhen was moved and agreed, and nodded repeatedly.

"It turns out that Jiang Yueguang is such an important official, and he is also talented!" Chongzhen sighed and said, "I will definitely try to persuade General Yuan to appoint him as the military supervisor of Dongjiang Town!"

"It would be best if we can convince him." Wang An said indifferently. He didn't think that with Yuan Chonghuan's personality, he would listen to his younger brother, even if they were close friends.

Now that I have established contact with Yuan Chonghuan, there is something urgent that I want to remind him of.

(End of this chapter)