Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 14 Yan Song’s confidant Wang Daoqiu
For example, Yan Song's performance during the Gengxu Revolution was widely criticized.

In the 29th year of Jiajing, the Gengxu year of the Ganzhi calendar, Ada Khan, the leader of the Tumut tribe in Mongolia, banned all border trade due to the Ming Dynasty's economic blockade against Mongolia.The Mongols were not allowed to exchange cattle, sheep, and horses for Ming Dynasty money, cloth, salt, and grain.

He sent an envoy to request the Ming government to abandon its policy of hostility to the Mongolian people and open border trade on the condition that it pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty.However, his request was rejected by the Ming Dynasty, which also killed the Mongolian envoy Shi Tianjue and others.Therefore, Anda Khan gathered all the Mongolian tribes in anger and launched a war against the Ming Dynasty.

Anda Khan led his army to surrender first, and the Duoyan Sanwei, the "Imperial Alliance Army" that the Ming Dynasty once supported among the Mongols, formed an alliance with the Duoyanwei chief Ying Ke.Then launched a large-scale attack on Ming Dynasty.

In May of the 29th year of Jiajing, the Duoyan Three Guards changed from the "Imperial Association Army" of the Ming Dynasty to the "Leading Party" of the Mongolian compatriots. They led the Mongolian army to invade Guangning and Liaoyang, and threatened Baima Pass and Huanghua Town.

In June of the 29th year of Jiajing, Anda Khan led his army to invade Datong. Zhang Da, the chief military officer of Datong in the Ming Dynasty, and Lin Chun, the deputy general general, were both killed in the battle.Qiu Luan, the governor of Xuanda, was frightened and had no idea what to do. Finally, he used his wisdom and came up with a brilliant idea. He bribed Anda Khan with a large amount of money and asked Anda Khan to stop attacking Datong and go attack elsewhere.

As a result, Anda Khan was also sincere, and after accepting Qiu Luan's money, he really stopped attacking Datong. He moved his army to the east, and under the guidance of Duoyan Wei Yingke and others, he attacked in the east and in the west.On August [-], they used thousands of cavalry to pretend to attack Gubeikou, and then led the main force to sneak attack Huangyugou from Pigeon Cave.

In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Ruxiao, the censor of the governor of Jiliao, and Luo Xihan, the commander-in-chief, mobilized the main force to fight back with artillery fire and arrows. However, the retreat was blocked and the entire army collapsed.

After I defeated the Ji Liao army of the Ming Dynasty, I moved from Shixiying to Miyun, then attacked Huairou and Changping, and arrived at Tongzhou, where I plundered the troops in all directions.

After the change of Tumubao in the Ming Dynasty, there was no police in the capital for a hundred years. Now that Ida suddenly came to the city, it was extremely terrified and at a loss what to do.At that time, the Imperial Guard in the capital had a nominal strength of 15 people, but in fact most of them were officers on empty pay. In fact, there were only 5 to [-] people, and half of them were old and weak, and half were from the families of nobles and officers. Children, relatives, help arrange employment.

Due to serious corruption in the army, military expenditures have mostly gone into the pockets of officers for hundreds of years. Therefore, their swords, guns, and armor have not been updated and maintained for many years. When the Mongolian army came, most of the armor in the Forbidden Army warehouse was rusty. tattered.

It can be said that the Ming Forbidden Army at that time had neither the ability to fight nor the will to fight.The helpless Emperor Jiajing could only temporarily recruit ordinary people to defend the city with Qi Jiguang and others who were taking the martial arts examination in the capital at the time.

Emperor Jiajing was still very embarrassed and summoned local soldiers from various towns to come to Qinwang.Anyone who knows a little bit about the history of the Ming Dynasty knows that the main force of the Ming Dynasty's army is centered around the capital, Beijing and the Xuanda and Jiliao areas outside Beijing. More than half of the annual military expenditures are spent on the troops in these places. Up.

You spend half of the country's military expenditure every year, and then you have to ask others to save your life when something happens. Just say how embarrassing it is!Especially Emperor Jiajing himself. This incident shows that he, the boss, cannot even manage the army under his nose. What kind of leadership ability is this?

It can be said that Emperor Jiajing, the eldest brother, allowed the Mongolians to directly block the house this time, and even made pitiful calls to ask the younger brothers to come and save his life. This really ruined the eldest brother's face.

The eldest brother shouted for help, and the younger brothers also gave him help.Support troops from seven towns including Datong, Baoding, Yansui, Hejian, Xuanfu, Shanxi and Liaoyang arrived successively, totaling more than 5 people.But these armies were too timid to fight, and they lacked weapons, equipment, and food.So even though they arrived, they just camped near the capital to protect themselves and save their eldest brother's face.

After the so-called "reinforcements" from the rear arrived, Emperor Jiajing worshiped Qiu Luan as the general of Pinglu and commanded all the reinforcements.Then Jiang Fu, the Marquis of Dingxi, and Wang Bangrui, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, were supervised to guard the nine gates of the capital. Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and Wang Yongbin, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, were ordered to guard the four gates of the imperial city. A total of 4 citizens and military officials were recruited to help defend the city.

On August 29, the 21th year of Jiajing's reign, the Mongolian vanguard marched westward from Tongzhou and reached the Anding Gate of the capital. The Ming army retreated into the city and did not dare to fight. On the [-]st, the main force of the Mongolian army arrived on the outskirts of Beijing and plundered Xishan, Huangcun, Shahe, Xiaoyuhe and other places.Yan Song advocated using a strong wall as a top to let the Mongols plunder.

On August 22, the Mongols attacked the Ming emperor's tomb again and looted Xishan and the west of Liangxiang. Baoding and other places were shaken.Later, when the Mongols had plundered enough, I led troops to seize Baiyangkou in Yanqing. The main force wanted to return to Mongolia from there, leaving the remaining troops outside the capital as suspicious troops.

But when it came time to retreat, it was raining heavily. I felt that the Baiyangkou was too narrow and I was afraid of an ambush by the Ming army.So he turned around on the way and took half of the route from Gaoyakou, Zhenbiancheng and other places, and the other half from the old road of Gubeikou.When Anda retreated to Baiyangkou in the north, Qiu Luan followed him with his troops, trying to attack the straggler Mongolian cavalry.As a result, I turned back midway, and a counterattack came. The Ming army fled and collapsed without a fight. More than a thousand people were killed and injured. Even Qiu Luan himself was almost captured.

Afterwards, Anda led the Mongolian army to calmly retreat outside the fortress, and the Ming Dynasty capital lifted martial law.During the entire Gengxu Revolution, a total of 200 million people and animals were plundered by the Mongols in the prefectures and counties near the capital.

Afterwards, Emperor Jiajing thought this was a great shame and humiliation, and ordered the execution of Ding Rukui, the Minister of War.He also carried out a series of military reforms in the Ming Dynasty, such as changing the [-]th regiment of the capital into three battalions, with the third battalion as the Rong government; building the outer city of Beijing; setting up the governor-general of Jiliao, with jurisdiction over Jizhou, Baoding, and Liaodong. Three towns: Recruit soldiers from Shandong, Shanxi, and Henan to gather in the capital every year to guard against autumn, and then disperse after autumn, thinking they are custom-made. They also select elite soldiers from each border town to guard the capital, and use the capital camp generals to train frontier soldiers.

Throughout the Gengxu Incident, Yan Song always advocated holding on to the wall without fighting, saying that the Mongols would go away if they had robbed enough.Later, when the Mongols retreated, Emperor Jiajing ordered the Ming army to pursue them. Yan Song also asked Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, not to carry out this order and not to allow the Ming army to attack.

It was precisely because of Yan Song's two actions in this incident that later generations of scholars scolded Yan Song for letting the Mongolian soldiers rob the people regardless of the life and death of the people.He also said that Yan Song was timid and spineless. Even when the Mongols retreated, he did not dare to chase them. He was so embarrassing to the big man. He couldn't bear it. Yan Song was a traitor!

The experts are very happy to scold him, but experts, have you ever thought about it, if Yan Song really does what you think, what will be the result?
Whether you should do it and whether you can do it are two different things!Yes, as a government, when a foreign enemy invades, it should indeed send troops to protect its own people. This is only natural.

But with the cowardly appearance of the Ming army at that time, was he capable of protecting his people?Looking at the performance of the Ming army throughout the Gengxu Incident, you, experts, say, if you let those cowards like the Bangzi Army fight the fierce Mongols, is there any surprise in the outcome of this battle?
It can even be said that if the Ming army did not have the protection of city walls and camps and met the Mongols in the wild, they would have been able to escape without looking at the wind and still stand there, which would have been considered a rare strong force among the Ming army.

So if you are a smart person and think about the Gengxu Revolution seriously, what did Yan Song do wrong?Not to mention anything else, Zhang Juzheng, who was working at the Hanlin Academy in Beijing at the time and later became the most powerful prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, told Yan Song's mortal enemy Xu Jie: When strength is low, forbearance is the best way. Yan Shoufu did not wrong.

After Wang Daoqiu traveled to this world, his soul traveled back to the library when he had time to study the history of this era.After thinking about it, Wang Daoqiu believed that the Gengxu Revolution was not Yan Song's stain.On the contrary, this shows that Yan Song is worthy of the position of chief minister of the Ming Dynasty.When the country is in danger, he can keep his head clear, regardless of personal honor and disgrace, and make correct decisions.

For example, in later generations, he was scolded miserably. It was said that at the end of the Gengxu Incident, the Mongols began to retreat, and Emperor Jiajing also ordered a pursuit. Yan Song was still timid and cowardly, and asked Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, not to carry out the orders of Emperor Jiajing. The army is not allowed to attack.Later, when Emperor Jiajing asked about the incident, Yan Song pretended not to know and threw all the pots to Ding Rukui, causing Ding Rukui to be beheaded.For this reason, those angry young people in later generations scolded Yan Song bloody.

visit!Angry youths, do you have any brains?The retreat of the Mongols at that time was not about fleeing in defeat, but about returning home calmly after plundering enough.As cowardly as the Ming army was at that time, let them chase the Mongolian army and let everyone fight in the field. What would be the consequences?Wouldn't that mean giving away tens of thousands of Mongolian heads for nothing, and asking tens of thousands of white-haired families to give away black-haired people?
Besides, when we normal people make big decisions, we often have a motive.Angry young men, think about it for yourselves. What was Yan Song's motive for suppressing the emperor's order?

The order to pursue was given by the emperor, and the battle was fought by the generals.Does winning or losing have anything to do with him, the chief civil servant?Even the order given by Emperor Jiajing to pursue the army was given to the Ministry of War, not to Yan Song.Later, it was Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, who was frightened after receiving the order from Emperor Jiajing and took the initiative to find Yan Song.

So at that time, Yan Song could completely ignore this matter, and you can decide for yourself whether to chase or not.But Yan Song took care of it, and stopped it in time, which was obviously a wrong decision made by Emperor Jiajing due to impulsiveness in extreme anger.

With Yan Song's intelligence, doesn't he know how he will be scolded by moral gentlemen after doing this?But even if he had to face eternal infamy, he resolutely stopped this wrong decision.Just the clarity of mind and the courage to make big decisions!This is why he, Yan Song, is qualified to be in charge of the government for nearly 20 years.

And with Emperor Jiajing's intelligence and the pervasiveness of the Ming Dynasty's factory guards, would Emperor Jiajing not know about Yan Song's request for Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, to resist the decree?But how did Emperor Jiajing deal with it afterwards?
Looking at Emperor Jiajing's handling of the incident afterwards, this matter becomes very clear.There is no doubt that after the incident, when Emperor Jiajing calmed down, he also understood how stupid he was for letting the army pursue this order.Therefore, Emperor Jiajing was grateful for Yan Song's timely decision to stop his wrong decision and avoid greater war responsibility.

This is why after the Gengxu Revolution, Yan Song was scolded as a dog by angry young people of later generations, but Emperor Jiajing favored Yan Song more.As for Ding Rukui, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, he was in charge of the army, but the Mongols blocked the emperor in the capital. In addition, the performance of the Ming army in this incident was unsightly.Let me ask you, regarding the Gengxu Revolution, which dynasty and generation should be placed in charge, Ding Rukui, the army chief, does not need to use his head to explain to the world?Therefore, Ding Rukui, the Minister of War, deserved death, and it was impossible to say whether Yan Song harmed him or not.

Therefore, when studying the history of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Daoqiu believed that he did not know whether Yan Song had the bad habits that the experts said.But with Yan Song's calmness, wisdom, and courage in making big decisions during the Gengxu Incident, he is definitely qualified to be ranked in the list of famous Chinese prime ministers.

(End of this chapter)