Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 69: Qi Shaobao's life! [Seeking follow-up reading]

Liu Kuan said, "Qi Jiguang's ancestral home is Dingyuan, Fengyang. He is a descendant of the military commander who followed Your Majesty in establishing the Ming Dynasty. He later moved to Shandong and inherited the position of Deputy Commander of Dengzhou Guard."

"Before suppressing the Japanese pirates, Qi Jiguang was not well-known, but he performed his duties conscientiously. Especially after being promoted to the position of deputy commander of the Dengzhou Guard, he reorganized the garrison, trained soldiers, and improved military equipment, thus protecting the Dengzhou coast from Japanese pirate attacks."

"The court learned that he was effective in preparing for the Japanese invasion, and since the Japanese invasion in the southeast was difficult to control, they transferred him south to Zhejiang."

"After arriving in Zhejiang, he discovered that the local garrison troops had lax discipline, the quality of their recruits was extremely poor, and their military equipment was in disrepair, making them completely unfit for combat."

"Although he used all his ingenuity and bravery, and cooperated with other generals who came to aid Zhejiang, he defeated the Japanese pirates many times, but in one battle, due to the poor quality of his troops, his entire army was almost wiped out."

"After reflection, Qi Jiguang decided to train a new army using Yiwu miners as the main source of soldiers."

"In the process of training the new army, Qi Jiguang not only integrated the military training methods he had learned in the past, but also took into account the changes of the times, introduced new ideas and compiled the 'New Book of Jixiao'."

"Therefore, Qi Jiguang required the new army to follow the military discipline of Yue Fei's army and invented the famous Mandarin Duck Formation."

"Thus, in just two or three months, they developed an elite force that was considered the best in the entire Ming Dynasty, and even the world at that time—the Qi Family Army!"

"After that, Qi Jiguang led the Qi Family Army, first suppressing the Japanese invasion in Zhejiang, then moving on to Fujian and Guangdong, completely pacifying the Japanese pirates in the southeast!"

"After the southeast was stabilized, due to the Mongol invasion, Qi Jiguang led the Qi family army north to Jizhou and Xuanfu."

"Because Qi's army's original tactics were unsuitable for the northern plains and grasslands, he created a new military formation using chariots, cavalry, infantry, artillery, and musketeers, and repeatedly defeated the enemy!"

"Afterwards, he reorganized the northern border troops and garrisons, built the Great Wall, and filled the gaps in the northern border defense."

"Since Qi Jiguang took over the military post for more than forty years, he fought in battles across the country and made countless military achievements. He was promoted to the positions of Left Commander-in-Chief, Junior Guardian, and Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince. Therefore, the people and later generations respectfully called him Qi Shaobao!"

"Later generations will call those who can resist foreign enemies national heroes. Qi Shaobao is the most outstanding person in suppressing the Japanese rebellion in the southeast, and he deserves the title of national hero!"

"Qi Shaobao took into account the changes of the times, mainly the emergence of firearms such as muskets and cannons, and invented the Tiger Crouching Cannon and the Mandarin Duck Formation."

"He also compiled the 'New Book of Records of Effectiveness' and reorganized the Ming army in the north and south, making it highly effective again. So why wouldn't he be called the 'Military God of the Ming Dynasty'?"

After listening to Liu Kuan's passionate talk about Qi Jiguang, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao were speechless for a long time.

To be honest, if we only look at military achievements, many of the founding generals of the Ming Dynasty at that time were not inferior to Qi Jiguang.

But both father and son did not forget that Qi Jiguang lived in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, not the early Ming Dynasty.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty court was in darkness, the armies in the north and south had neglected training, and their weapons and equipment had been disused for a long time. From a military perspective, it was mostly a situation of silence.

Under such circumstances, Qi Jiguang's series of military exploits and achievements seemed extremely difficult - after all, Qi Jiguang's subordinates were not the elite soldiers and generals of the early Ming Dynasty.

After coming to his senses, Zhu Biao recalled what Liu Kuan had said about Qi Jiguang's final title and frowned, "Qi Jiguang had achieved so many military feats, yet the court didn't confer him a title?"

Old Zhu was also puzzled. "After we established the Ming Dynasty, although we were cautious about bestowing titles, let alone during the Jiajing period, Qi Jiguang's contributions were so great. Even at this time, shouldn't he have been granted the title of Earl?"

"Isn't Emperor Jiajing a wise man? Why didn't he know that the title of nobility could win over this famous general?"

Seeing Old Zhu and Little Zhu looking puzzled, Liu Kuan sighed and said, "The reason is very simple. The Ming Dynasty at that time was no longer the Ming Dynasty today. Back then, the Ming Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, and the atmosphere was almost the same as that of the Northern Song Dynasty."

"At that time, the government was controlled by the civil officials in the cabinet, and even Emperor Jiajing had to rely on political intrigue to fight against them."

"When a military commander like Qi Jiguang appeared, the civil officials in power in the court were too busy suppressing him, so how could they have granted him a title?"

"In fact, not only was Qi Jiguang not granted a title, but his later years were also extremely miserable."

Is the later years still extremely miserable?
Old Zhu and Little Zhu frowned even deeper.

Liu Kuan paused, then continued, "After the Jiajing reign, the Ming dynasty was in a state of extreme decline, practically on the verge of collapse." "But fortunately, Zhang Juzheng emerged among the civil officials, and a large number of renowned military generals like Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, and Ma Fang emerged, prolonging the Ming dynasty's life for several more decades."

"The Qi Family Army trained by Qi Jiguang was actually a semi-official, semi-private army. To ensure that his soldiers adhered to military discipline and fought bravely without fear of sacrifice, Qi Jiguang paid them almost twice as much as the Ming Dynasty's border troops at the time, and he never withheld any money."

"However, the Qi Family Army's military pay wasn't allocated by the imperial court. Initially, it was mainly donated by the gentry and local tyrants in the southeast, because they hoped to quell the Japanese rebellion as soon as possible."

"Later, he relied mainly on battlefield spoils and personal subsidies from Qi Jiguang. Qi Jiguang sold all his property, leaving only an old house and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in foreign debt."

"In addition, in order to smooth over various connections for the Qi Family Army, Qi Jiguang had no choice but to curry favor with Zhang Juzheng and sent him a lot of gold, silver, jewelry, and beautiful women."

"It is precisely for this reason that Qi Jiguang was considered a member of Zhang Juzheng's faction. After Zhang Juzheng's death, the Wanli Emperor resented his suppression and not only retaliated against Zhang Juzheng, overturning many of his New Deal measures, but also frantically suppressing Zhang Juzheng's factions."

"Qi Jiguang, then in his fifties, was dismissed from his official position because of this. Not only was he left with only his ancestral home, he was also burdened with huge debts. He also suffered from illnesses from decades of fighting and had no money for medical treatment."

"Most importantly, he was suppressed by the Wanli Emperor and many court officials who had previously opposed Zhang Juzheng. Anyone who had anything to do with him was doomed to failure."

"As a result, his wife, Wang, who had been with him for decades, left him. Finally, in the 15th year of the Wanli reign, Qi Jiguang died in poverty at the age of 61."

"But the Wanli Emperor hated Qi Jiguang and offered no relief upon learning of his death. It wasn't until two years later, when Qi Jiguang's eldest son came to the capital to plead his case, that the court issued an imperial decree to bury him."

"The imperial court gave him the posthumous title 'Wu Zhuang'. Several decades later, after the Wanli Emperor passed away, during the reign of the Tianqi Emperor, a court official proposed that 'there has never been such a situation where great merits were rewarded so little', and the posthumous title was changed to 'Wu Yi'."

After listening, Lao Zhu and Xiao Zhu remained silent.

They didn't know what to say.

A strange thought even came to Old Zhu's mind - the rulers and ministers of the middle and late Ming Dynasty were so foolish and selfish that they treated state affairs as a joke and regarded loyal ministers and good generals as enemies. He put himself in their shoes and thought about it, and actually had a feeling that he wanted to rebel against the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Biao was silent for a while, then he sighed deeply and said, "Such a loyal and famous general was treated so harshly because of the court struggle. It's really..."

What the hell, he shouldn't even comment on it.

However, at this moment, a strange smile crossed Liu Kuan's face, and he said, "Your Highness, do you think that Young Master Qi's fate is bad enough? In fact, it is more than that."

More than that?
Both Old Zhu and Little Zhu looked puzzled.

How tragic could it be that such a famous general died of poverty and illness?
When both Old Zhu and Young Zhu looked over, Liu Kuan said, "Although Qi Jiguang died of poverty and illness a few years after being dismissed from office, the Qi Family Army he founded still exists."

"This army was first used in the north to defend against Mongolia, and later was transferred to Korea to participate in the war against Japanese invaders and aid Korea. It also made many contributions and produced many capable generals."

"But this army has not received any reinforcements. Only two to three thousand men remain, and much of their equipment is in disrepair."

"After the Wanli Korean War ended, this army should have received many rewards for its outstanding military achievements. However, the court did not allocate military pay and rewards as promised."

"To resolve this situation, the Jizhen general devised a diabolical plan. He lured the Qi family soldiers to the martial arts arena under the pretext of paying them wages. Since they were there to collect their wages, the Qi family soldiers were not wearing armor or carrying weapons, so they were ambushed and slaughtered by the general's servants!"

"The Qi Family Army thus disappeared from the ranks of the Ming army..."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao's face was filled with disbelief, and he murmured, "How could this be? How could this be? Has that Jizhen General gone crazy?"

boom!
A loud noise was heard in Fengxian Hall.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he slammed the imperial desk.

He said angrily, "It's not the Jizhen general who's crazy, but the Wanli Emperor and his ministers! Without the imperial court's instructions, how could a mere general dare to massacre an elite army that has made countless achievements?!"

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(End of this chapter)