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

Chapter 448 Parting on bad terms
After a few polite words, the two sides started to get down to business.

Mao Wenlong did not beat around the bush and directly talked about the officials' military pay, military rations, military equipment and waterways. Mao Wenlong was a straightforward person and directly explained the actual situation of Pi Island, telling Yuan Chonghuan that the transportation of materials in Pi Island had been running well for many years, but suddenly Yuan Chonghuan changed the original transportation mode after such a commotion in Shandong, which brought great problems to Pi Island.

There are more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians on Pi Island. Mao Wenlong spent a lot of effort to keep the Jiannu in the rear for so many years. If the route changes, it will cause problems in the replenishment of Pi Island's supplies, and it will also affect Pi Island's trade income, making Pi Island lose its financial resources and unable to support itself.

In view of the actual situation, Mao Wenlong hoped that Yuan Chonghuan could consider the reality, properly handle this problem, and restore the previous routes and transportation methods. If Yuan Chonghuan agreed, Mao Wenlong would be grateful. In the future, if Ji Liao needed cooperation in the war with Jian Nu, Yuan Chonghuan only needed to send a message to Pi Dao, and Mao Wenlong would fully cooperate.

In response to Mao Wenlong's words, Yuan Chonghuan immediately explained why he did this. He told Mao Wenlong that he should have heard about the Ningyuan mutiny before. Although the mutiny was suppressed by him, there were still many problems in Ji and Liao.

Yuan Chonghuan said that he had consulted Emperor Chongzhen and planned to rectify Liaodong military affairs and solve various problems. For this reason, the transportation and trade of materials in Dongjiang Town, also known as Pi Island, were also involved. Yuan Chonghuan believed that in normal transportation, it was inevitable that there would be spies or traitors of the Jiannu, who would use the previous waterway as a cover to do things that would harm national interests.

In order to thoroughly investigate and solve these problems, Yuan Chonghuan made this decision. He made this decision not targeting Mao Wenlong, Dongjiang Town and Pi Island, but entirely based on national interests and the entire Liaodong war situation.

It was inevitable that some problems had arisen in Pidao due to poor communication, and Emperor Chongzhen criticized him for this, hoping that Jiliao and Dongjiang could sit down and discuss to come up with a solution that would satisfy both sides. Yuan Chonghuan also knew the difficulties in Pidao, and that was why he had this meeting, hoping to communicate well with Mao Wenlong and solve this problem.

Mao Wenlong nodded slightly at Yuan Chonghuan's reply, and immediately asked how he would solve the current problem? How could he ensure the supplies and waterways of Pi Island?
Yuan Chonghuan smiled and said that there was no rush, he had already started to deal with it, and he was doing this for the good of Pi Island. He would seize the time and complete the reorganization as soon as possible. He hoped that Mao Wenlong would also understand him and cooperate with him to complete this matter. After the completion, everything would return to normal, so he waited patiently.

Mao Wenlong was displeased with this statement, which was clearly an excuse. He immediately asked Yuan Chonghuan how long it would take to rectify the situation and when the situation would be restored.
The entire Pi Island is waiting for food to be delivered. The situation is urgent and they cannot wait endlessly. Once the shipping route is cut off and military pay and rations cannot be delivered, Pi Island will be in big trouble.

Yuan Chonghuan was also a military commander, so he knew this was no small matter. If he waited a few days or ten days, Mao Wenlong could still find a way, but if it took too long, maybe a year or two, then the impact on Pi Island would be huge.

Yuan Chonghuan did not give a clear answer to Mao Wenlong's question. He told Mao Wenlong that he could not say for sure how long it would take. Maybe it would take more than a month? Or maybe it would take longer? This could not be guaranteed for the time being. However, he also understood Mao Wenlong's difficulties and promised Mao Wenlong that he would solve the problem as soon as possible, so that Mao Wenlong could rest assured.

It would be strange if Mao Wenlong felt at ease after hearing this. Yuan Chonghuan kept beating around the bush and refused to tell him the specific time. How could Mao Wenlong feel at ease? He immediately continued to question Yuan Chonghuan, insisting on getting an exact time.

How could Yuan Chonghuan give a specific time? He was still playing Tai Chi in his words, giving a lot of reasons and difficulties, but he could not give a specific time.

Even though Mao Wenlong talked until his voice was hoarse and drank several bowls of tea, there was still no result. Finally, Mao Wenlong couldn't help but slam the table and curse, and Yuan Chonghuan persuaded him again and again, and Mao Wenlong barely suppressed his anger.

This so-called meeting finally had no effect at all. The two men talked for several hours but it was all in vain and there was no practical effect at all.

Seeing this, Mao Wenlong had no intention of staying in Ningyuan any longer and asked to return to Pi Island. Yuan Chonghuan tried to persuade him to stay, but seeing that Mao Wenlong was determined to leave, he had no choice but to personally escort him out of the city.

When seeing Mao Wenlong off, Yuan Chonghuan comforted him and told him not to worry, and that he would deal with the matter as soon as possible and try to give him a definite answer. In addition, Yuan Chonghuan also proposed that, in order to show his sincerity, he planned to go to Pi Island to visit Mao Wenlong in person, and then meet and discuss the matter, and he would definitely give Mao Wenlong a satisfactory answer.

Yuan Chonghuan's attitude made Mao Wenlong, who was angry, a little relieved. He bowed to Yuan Chonghuan and said goodbye, and told Yuan Chonghuan that he would wait for Yuan Chonghuan to visit him in Pi Island. He hoped that Yuan Chonghuan would not break his promise and give him a clear answer at that time. If the matter could not be resolved, Mao Wenlong could not guarantee that there would be no unexpected situation in Pi Island. Once Pi Island became a riot, Mao Wenlong would definitely write a memorial to the capital with all the causes and consequences of the matter, so that Emperor Chongzhen could comment on who was responsible.

"Don't worry, Marshal Mao. I will keep this in mind and give you a reply as soon as possible."

"In that case, I will wait for the commander-in-chief's reply. Goodbye!" Mao Wenlong clasped his fists, turned around and strode away. Then he mounted his warhorse and led his men towards the direction of Juehua Island. Seeing Mao Wenlong and his party going away, Yuan Chonghuan narrowed his eyes and looked at them coldly, as if he was looking at a dying man.

When meeting with Mao Wenlong this time, Yuan Chonghuan had no intention of solving the problem of Pi Island. He had been thinking of solving Mao Wenlong's problem from the beginning, and then controlling Pi Island. Moreover, Yuan Chonghuan had long been eyeing the favorable geographical location of Pi Island, and was even more jealous of Mao Wenlong's huge profits from monopolizing trade on the sea trade route.

If all of these could be obtained, then Yuan Chonghuan's imminent military pay problem would be solved. In addition, Dongjiang Town and Pi Island could be brought under his control, thereby enhancing his own strength.

To achieve all this, Mao Wenlong is a stumbling block. As the founder of Dongjiang Town, Mao Wenlong would never give up his army and power, let alone be willing to be under others and obey Yuan Chonghuan's orders.

You should know that although Yuan Chonghuan was the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, holding the imperial sword in his hand, Mao Wenlong was not bad either. He was not only the general of Dongjiang Town, but also the prince's grand tutor and the left governor, and also had the imperial sword. In terms of official rank, Mao Wenlong was a first-rank official, while Yuan Chonghuan was only a second-rank official. Although the civil officials were more important than the military officials in the Ming Dynasty, when it came to the level of military commanders like Mao Wenlong, this difference was negligible.

This time Yuan Chonghuan tried his hand at tricking Mao Wenlong, and at the same time he wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could win Mao Wenlong back. If Mao Wenlong understood, Yuan Chonghuan might let him go, as long as he obeyed his orders and commands, it would not be impossible to keep Mao Wenlong.

However, from the time they met to the end of the meeting, Mao Wenlong did not show any respect to Yuan Chonghuan at all, and even acted as if he was on an equal footing with him, which made Yuan Chonghuan very dissatisfied.

Especially when Mao Wenlong called himself "Marshal", Yuan Chonghuan was even more angry. In Yuan Chonghuan's opinion, when he was a military governor, generals like Zu Dashou were also respectful to him, calling him "Sir" all the time and calling himself "young general" and "humble". Now Yuan Chonghuan is no longer the Yuan Chonghuan of the past. He is the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, and also the Minister of War. So what if you, Mao Wenlong, are the general and the left commander-in-chief? Even if you don't kowtow to him, you should at least bow your head and be humble, right?

But Mao Wenlong didn't do so. He always had equal dialogue with Yuan Chonghuan, and even entangled with him over the issues of material transportation and trade routes, and almost slammed the table and argued with him.

This was simply outrageous. Yuan Chonghuan had never seen such an arrogant military officer in front of him. He would not be able to calm down if he didn't kill such a person. So when Yuan Chonghuan sent Mao Wenlong away from Ningyuan, he had already made up his mind to get rid of Mao Wenlong. However, how to kill him and how to solve the future troubles, especially how to stabilize Dongjiang Town and Pi Island after killing Mao Wenlong, Yuan Chonghuan had not yet considered these. He had to think carefully. When he figured it out, it would be the day Mao Wenlong's head fell to the ground.

After the trip, Mao Wenlong gained nothing. Before he had time to catch his breath after returning to Pi Island, his son Mao Chengdou and several adopted sons came to him and asked about the meeting.

When Mao Wenlong told them about his meeting with Yuan Chonghuan, everyone was immediately outraged and could not help but curse Yuan Chonghuan for being a wicked son and playing tricks on Mao Wenlong.

Yuan Chonghuan was the one who proposed the meeting, but it was also he who failed to produce any results after meeting Yuan Chonghuan. If that was the case, why did Mao Wenlong make such a long trip? Could it be that Yuan Chonghuan was a high-ranking official in the imperial court, with a big temper? Don't forget that Mao Wenlong was not a soft persimmon that could be easily picked. He was a first-rank military officer, the Left General of the Ming Dynasty, the highest-ranking military officer in the entire Ming army. Even if you were a civilian general, you couldn't bully Mao Wenlong as if he were an ordinary person!
Everyone immediately talked at once. Some said that there was no need to give face to Yuan Chonghuan at all. They could just ignore Yuan Chonghuan and restore the waterway themselves. The governor of Ji-Liao was nothing as he had no navy. But it was different in Pi Island. Mao Wenlong had a strong navy. They could just send out the navy to force Yuan Chonghuan to surrender. What was the point of discussing it?

Some people also said that Yuan Chonghuan was too arrogant and was clearly targeting Dongjiang Town and Mao Wenlong. They couldn't just sit and wait like this. They had to immediately write to the court to explain the situation and use the court to pressure Yuan Chonghuan to submit. Dongjiang Town had made many contributions over the years and shed blood and sweat for the court. The court couldn't just watch Dongjiang Town being bullied. Is there any justice in this?
Faced with the indignation and suggestions of the crowd, Mao Wenlong became a little hesitant. If he did as they said, he might be able to break the blockade by Yuan Chonghuan, but he would also completely break off relations with Yuan Chonghuan.

Although Dongjiang Town was not under the jurisdiction of Ji Liao, the problem was that the military pay and food supplies of Dongjiang Town were transported from Shandong, and Shandong was Yuan Chonghuan's territory. If you offended Yuan Chonghuan, he would cut off your support. Even if your navy was strong, you couldn't just go to the shore and start a fight, right?
What's more, once a quarrel breaks out, what was originally reasonable will become unreasonable.

Considering the overall situation, Mao Wenlong did not want to go to this extent. He still had some illusions about Yuan Chonghuan. He felt that since Yuan Chonghuan could hold such a position as the commander-in-chief of Ji and Liao, he should understand the overall situation. Since Yuan Chonghuan said when he sent him away from Ningyuan that he would come to Pi Island to visit him soon, they could discuss this matter then.

Anyway, Pidao can still hold on now, so just wait a few more days. If it can be properly resolved, it will be better than a falling out. If it falls out, how will the court view Dongjiang Town? And how will it view Mao Wenlong?

(End of this chapter)