Huangming

Chapter 90 The Jizhou Mutiny, Exoneration and Redress

Zhu Youxiao stepped forward and helped Tong Zhongkui and Qi Jin up, saying, "An old steed in its stall may still aspire to gallop a thousand miles. You two are both excellent generals of our Great Ming Dynasty, so there is no need for such formalities."

Tong Zhongkui and Qi Jin dared not raise their heads to confront the emperor, and rose up, flattered and overwhelmed.

"Your Majesty, please ascend the throne!"

The throne had already been arranged in the inner training ground.

After the emperor took his seat, he addressed Qi Jin, who was seated below him:
"General Qi, let's begin!"

"I will obey your orders!"

Qi Jin clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, his white beard fluttering in the wind as he turned to face the Erlangs, who were now arrayed in the inner training ground, and shouted:

"open!"

He pointed his command flag diagonally toward the sky, and his five hundred former troops simultaneously deployed into the Three Talents Formation.

These Zhejiang soldiers were all bound with iron armor on their shins. The wolf-tooth spearmen charged forward like a forest, while the rattan shield bearers stood like boulder, their halberds flashing coldly amidst the clash of their weapons.

"Change!"

The old general's voice was as loud as a bell.

The drums in the formation suddenly changed from three short beats to one long beat, and the front-line soldiers suddenly split apart to both sides like a tide.

The ten-person "Mandarin Duck Formation" was formed in an instant.

The wolf-tooth club stirred up dust and sand that obscured the sun, the long spear thrust out like a venomous snake from between the rattan shields, and the halberd-wielders took turns stepping and spun around to block the flanks.

Zhu Youxiao's pupils constricted slightly when he saw that the rattan shield could actually block the smoke from the test firing of the muskets.

Qi Jin waved his command flag again, and suddenly a team of twelve soldiers wielding divine arrows appeared in the formation.

They followed the "firm yet flexible steps" personally taught by Qi Jiguang, moving swiftly in a formation of shields.

As the old general stomped his foot on the yellow earth, a hundred rockets, trailing white phosphorus flames, traced arcs and precisely struck the bullseye of the wooden target a hundred paces away.

"kill!"

Five hundred throats burst forth with thunderous roars.

The Mandarin Duck Formation instantly transformed into the Five Elements Formation, with the wolf-tooth spear sweeping across like an angry dragon swinging its tail, and the spear tip thrusting like a rain of pear blossoms.

"Woooooo~"

The gong sounded to signal the end of the battle. Before the yellow sand on the training ground had settled, the five hundred armored soldiers stood solemnly in place, as if cast in bronze and iron. Only the steam rising from their breastplates testified to the thunderous power they had just displayed.

Zhu Youxiao clapped his hands and stood up.

"Qi Family Army, it truly lives up to its reputation!"

Zhu Youxiao expressed his sincere admiration.

Although he had seen the strongest army on Earth, that was in later times.

In the era of feudal infantry, this Qi Family Army was probably one of the most elite units.

But Zhu Youxiao was not at ease. Even the elite Qi Family Army could not withstand the Jurchen's blade.

According to the original historical account, after Yuan Yingtai took control of Liaodong, Qi Jin's Zhejiang troops and the remaining elite Qi Family Army were surrounded and killed by the Jurchens at Hunhe River.

Admittedly, the fact that their own people were holding them back was a factor, but the Jurchens' fighting prowess should not be underestimated.

Seeing that the emperor was satisfied with the fighting strength of the Zhejiang soldiers, Qi Jin finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, he was not arrogant, but said with a face full of regret:
"This humble general is incompetent and can only exert thirty percent of Qi Shaobao's strength. If General Qi were alive, and if the elite troops of the old Qi family army in Jizhou were still there, this powerful army would be invincible. The mere Jurchens are nothing to mention."

Unfortunately, Qi Jiguang had already died.

However, he is gone, and we must look forward.

Is it really true that Qi Jiguang's army is no longer viable?

No.

The country was failing, leaving no room for Qi Jiguang's army to perform.

As Han Yu wrote in his essay "On Horses," "If one is not well-fed, one will lack strength; if one's talents and beauty are not outwardly displayed."

He wanted to clear away any worries for the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, so that they could do their best to fight the enemy and serve their country on the front lines!
Jingle bell bell~
Zhu Youxiao stood with his hands behind his back before the throne, the golden bells on the yellow silk canopy ringing clearly in the wind.

His gaze swept over the five hundred armored soldiers in the training ground, still smelling of gunpowder, and he said to Qi Jin, "General Qi has guarded the border for thirty years, and his merits are great. I hereby bestow upon him the Jade Unicorn Sword to guard the mountains and rivers on my behalf."

Before the emperor had finished speaking, two Imperial Guards had already brought up a heavy sword, five feet three inches long, which was the standard weapon of Qi Jiguang's army.

Snowflake patterns are faintly visible on the blade, and the newly engraved characters "Dang Kou" (meaning "suppressing bandits") on the hilt shine brightly in the sunlight.

Qi Jin knelt on one knee to receive the sword, his aged knuckles brushing against the three dents on the sword's spine.

"This humble general thanks Your Majesty for bestowing the sword upon me!"

Then, Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Tong Zhongkui, the deputy commander-in-chief of Liaodong, and said to him, "Minister Tong, I also have a reward for you."

Just as Tong Zhongkui was about to decline, Wei Chao, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, presented a gilded silver tally to him.

"Commander Tong has rendered meritorious service by rushing to the aid under the cover of night. He is rewarded with five hundred taels of silver and granted a flying fish tally that allows him to report directly to the military."

This is the power to reach the heavens!
Tong Zhongkui looked at the gilded silver talisman on the red plate and secretly swallowed.

With this item in hand, who in Liaodong would dare to insult Tong Zhongkui?
The reluctance he was about to utter was instantly forgotten.

He solemnly knelt on one knee, presented the silver talisman with both hands, and accepted it.

"Your Majesty, I thank you for bestowing this token. Your Majesty's great favor is beyond measure, and I will repay it with my life!"

Zhu Youxiao helped Tong Zhongkui up and said with a smile, "The country is in crisis, and it needs good generals like Commander Tong who are willing to serve the country. After you go to Liaodong, if you have any matters to report, you can submit them directly to the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

In Liaodong, some border generals were bullied by the eunuchs and civil officials in charge of the area, mostly because they could not get direct access to the emperor.

Zhu Youxiao wanted to emulate Emperor Yongzheng by communicating more privately with border generals and officials in various regions, so as to grasp state affairs as much as possible and avoid being misled by his subordinates.

It's always good to have more channels for expression.

Afterwards, Zhu Youxiao surveyed the five hundred Zhejiang soldiers on the drill ground.

"Remove your masks and let me see what you look like."

As soon as the imperial decree was issued, the sound of armor plates clanging rang out in the training ground.

Five hundred Zhejiang soldiers removed their face armor, revealing faces ranging from eighteen to sixty years old.

The young ones were new recruits, while the older ones might have fought alongside Qi Jiguang.

Looking at their faces, Zhu Youxiao was filled with emotion and said, "The elite army is undergoing a generational change, and you are all meritorious officials of my Great Ming Dynasty!"

After speaking, he raised his hand and lifted the yellow silk beside him, revealing a small mountain of snowflake-shaped silver ingots.

The accompanying eunuch and the Great Han General brought dozens of jars of fine wine, distributed bowls and plates, and poured wine for the five hundred soldiers of Qi Family Army who had just finished their military exercise.

Zhu Youxiao descended from the throne, while Wei Chao held up a red plate piled high with gleaming silver.

"You have endured wind and rain, sleeping in the open, to guard this border; you have suffered greatly."

Emperor Zhu Youxiao personally placed the first ingot of silver into the cracked palm of the old wolf-tooth mace.

The old man's hair was white at the temples, indicating he was quite old.

He joined the army at fifteen and returned home at eighty.

Soldiers in this era were never just young men; there were also elderly men with graying temples.

The old soldier tremblingly accepted the silver ingot, slamming his knees heavily on the marble slab of the inner training ground. Tears streamed down his face as he stammered, "Your Majesty!"

His rough, gunpowder-smelling fingers caressed the silver ingot, and his graying sparse hair swept across three arrow scars on his forehead, clear evidence of his long and arduous battles.

"When I was fighting the Japanese pirates with Commander Qi, our pay was mixed with sand and gravel! For seven years, we were stationed in Jizhou, and all we received was moldy rice and stale grain!"

The veteran's Yiwu accent, mixed with his lisp, spurted out:
"Commander Qi taught us to sing 'With one heart and one mind, even mountains can be shaken,' but those literary geniuses insisted on tearing up the banners bearing the character Qi's name and using them as toilet paper!"

"Injustice! Injustice!"

The veteran cried out in anguish, "Your Majesty, please do justice for the Qi Family Army brothers who were unjustly killed in Jizhou! Please exonerate them! They shed their blood for the Ming Dynasty, and they didn't die at the hands of the Japanese pirates or the Jurchens, but at the hands of their own people! Please, Your Majesty, do justice for them!"

The veteran was already weeping uncontrollably, and Zhu Youxiao knew what he was talking about: the Jizhou Mutiny!

Of course, in Zhu Youxiao's view, this could be described as the Jizhou massacre!

Zhu Youxiao had already learned about the entire incident before summoning the Zhejiang troops to the capital:

Before the outbreak of the Imjin War, the imperial court transferred Qi Jiguang's army, which was stationed in the south, to the north in preparation for entering the Korean battlefield. Before their departure, Song Yingchang, the military commissioner of Liaodong, promised to increase the annual salary of Qi Jiguang's army from 18 taels of silver to 43 taels of silver in order to encourage them to fight bravely. This amount was two and a half times that of the northern soldiers.

Qi Jiguang's army was in high spirits and fought bravely, showing outstanding performance. In particular, during the Second Battle of Pyongyang, they were the first to scale the city wall and made the greatest contribution.

Before the battle, Li Rusong promised that whoever was the first to charge onto the city wall would receive ten thousand taels of silver.

But after the battle, he kept quiet about it because the Qi Family Army was not his direct subordinate force.

Although Qi Jiguang's army harbored resentment, they did not show it.

After returning to China, Song Yingchang was impeached, dismissed from his post, and sent home. The promised double salary was lost, and the bonus was nowhere to be found.

The newly appointed Liaodong military commissioner, citing a lack of funds, directly suspended the salaries of Qi Jiguang's army.

Despite being in Korea, Qi Jiguang's army strictly adhered to military discipline and never harassed or robbed local residents.

They were highly effective in combat and strictly disciplined; the North Korean people even erected monuments in their honor along the way.

After the Battle of Pyongyang, the Ming troops stationed in Korea gradually withdrew and returned to China, and Qi Jiguang's army also returned to its base at Shimenzhai.

During the cold winter, the imperial court had been in arrears with military pay for a long time, and the soldiers were suffering from hunger and cold, making a living in dire straits.

Finally, they could no longer tolerate it and collectively demanded their back wages from the general, requesting that the promised salaries and rewards for climbing the city walls be honored.

General Wang Bao ordered the soldiers to collect their pay at the drill ground the next day. Qi Jiguang's army was overjoyed, hoping the problem would be resolved.

The result was that the archers and musketeers who had been carefully prepared at the drill ground killed all 1,300 members of Qi Jiguang's elite troops, who had risked their lives for the Ming Dynasty and were the only ones who did not disturb or harm the people and fought bravely and fearlessly.

Moreover, when the number of casualties exceeded half, Wang Bao entered the drill ground and began to call out names one by one. Every time a name was called, the person was immediately executed. The scene was bloody, terrifying, and chilling.

These soldiers had families to support, including elderly parents and young children.

After receiving orders, he went to fight in a distant land, hoping to make a name for himself through his military achievements.

When he returned from the battle, he not only received no reward, but he also lost his life.

Following the incident, opinions within North Korea and China split into two factions.

Dai Shiheng and Wang Yishi argued that Qi Jiguang's army had only demanded military pay and had not rebelled, yet they were killed by Wang Bao through a scheme, and therefore should be held accountable.

The Ministry of War ultimately decided to characterize the incident as a rebellion by the southern army and put Wang Bao in charge of suppressing it.

Emperor Shenzong of Ming gave Wang Bao special commendation for this.

The remaining soldiers of Qi Jiguang's army were eventually disbanded and returned to their hometowns, and this once elite force of the Ming Dynasty ceased to exist.

It wasn't until a year and a half later, when the Japanese invaded Korea again, that the imperial court hastily ordered Wu Weizhong, a veteran of the Qi Family Army, to recall the disbanded veterans of the Qi Family Army.

As a result, the veterans of Qi Jiguang's army preferred to starve to death rather than come. In the end, Wu Weizhong had no choice but to recruit 3785 people from other areas of Zhejiang to hastily prepare for battle.

The newly recruited Zhejiang soldiers had no time to train, and Wu Weizhong was already old and had no energy to rebuild the Qi Family Army.

The newly recruited soldiers were no match for Qi Jiguang's army of that time, and were even inferior to the elite troops from the north.

Even when they went to fight in Korea, they became just another ordinary person.

If Qi Jin hadn't returned to Liaodong, bringing with him many veterans of the Qi Family Army and retraining these Zhejiang soldiers, the Qi Family Army performing martial arts today would probably not be in this state.

"What are you saying, you soldier?"

The veteran's protests for justice have greatly distressed Qi Jin.

The Jizhou Mutiny was, after all, an edict issued by the Ministry of War on behalf of the Wanli Emperor.

If the injustice is overturned, how many people will be implicated?
The new emperor has only been on the throne for a short time, yet he wants to reject his grandfather's edict?
Isn't this putting His Majesty in a difficult position?
Qi Jin no longer hopes for exoneration; he only hopes that the imperial court will treat the Qi Family Army better so that they can concentrate on fighting on the front lines and serving the country.

"Old Ji, how can you say such things in front of the Emperor?" Qi Jin glared at the old soldier fiercely.

The veteran straightened his neck, turned his head away, and gave a cold snort, showing a rare stubbornness.

"If the imperial court were not extraordinary, why would Qi Jiguang's army be willing to risk their lives in battle?"

"lies!"

Qi Jin refuted the old soldier, then knelt before the emperor and apologized, saying, "Your Majesty, this arrogant old soldier is confused. What he says is nonsense. Your Majesty need not take it to heart."

"What nonsense are you talking about? These are all heartfelt words!"

Zhu Youxiao stepped forward and helped the old soldier up, saying, "The mutiny in Jizhou back then was indeed full of suspicious points. I will order the censor to investigate and give the Qi family army justice."

Since we are going to have Qi Jiguang's army fight to the death, we must not let the soldiers' spirits be dampened!

Moreover, by exonerating Qi Jiguang's army, the soldiers on the front lines could also learn about the emperor's thoughts.

Now that war has broken out on all nine borders, he will never resort to a policy of using civil officials to control military forces.

When it comes to fighting wars, it's best to leave it to the professionals.

woohoo~
Upon hearing the emperor's words, the veteran burst into tears.

bang bang bang~
He broke free from the emperor's support and knelt on the ground, kowtowing desperately.

"Your Majesty is wise and a sage ruler! Back then, General Qi said, 'The court will remember.' Now, forty years have passed, and Your Majesty truly remembers! If General Qi knew this in the afterlife, he would be smiling in his grave."

“The old man need not do this.”

Zhu Youxiao stepped forward again to help the old soldier up, saying, "You are all my subjects. I treat you as my own children. How can a father stand idly by when his children are wronged?"

Upon hearing the emperor's words, not only the old soldier but also the rest of Qi Jiguang's army burst into tears.

How could they not be moved when their long-standing injustice was finally redressed?
Zhu Youxiao was deeply moved by this sight: they were all loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty!
When Qi Jiguang recruited soldiers, he specifically chose honest people. However, after Zhang Juzheng fell from power, these honest people were severely bullied.

Now that he is the backer of Qi Jiguang's army, he will absolutely not allow this to happen again!

Zhu Youxiao personally distributed silver ingots, taking the hand of each soldier. After distributing them, Zhu Youxiao sighed, drew his sword, ascended the steps, and stood on the high platform. His black cloak billowed up the yellow sand of the training ground, and his voice resounded like a great bell to the heavens.

"You are the elite of the Ming Dynasty, and I will surely redress the injustices you have suffered!"

The emperor continued speaking without pausing:
"The Jurchens in Liaodong are rampant, yet there are rats in the court gnawing on your military merit records!"

"I hereby swear: all those who embezzle military pay shall be condemned to this fate! all those who have been wronged as soldiers shall be condemned to this fate!"

Before the words were finished, the divine arrow was launched like thunder, and the wooden target symbolizing corrupt officials a hundred paces away exploded.

"From this day forward, military merits will not be recorded on paper, but engraved on the bricks of the Great Wall! Military pay will not be put into embezzled pockets, but melted into swords used to kill the enemy!"

Upon hearing the emperor's words, the soldiers' eyes immediately turned red.

Your Majesty is a wise ruler!
He is a wise and benevolent ruler!
This is the Emperor we should be loyal to!
This is how the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty should be!

Five hundred soldiers slammed their iron spears into the ground, sparks flying from the bricks and stones of the drill ground.

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

"Long live!"

The shouts were deafening, and the Qi family army shed tears on the inner training ground. At this moment, everyone felt the emperor's kindness.

From this day forward, they will be the army that most supports the emperor.

They do whatever His Majesty commands, and they kill whomever His Majesty orders them to kill, without question!

Seeing the crowd's reaction, Zhu Youxiao was very pleased and immediately asked loudly, "Back then, Qi Jiguang's army made the Japanese pirates sing 'No one can live if they meet Qi Jiguang,' so today, can they make the Jurchens cry 'To meet Qi Jiguang is to meet Yama'?"

These soldiers of the Qi family army had long been roused by the emperor's words, and each of them strained their throats, shouting:

"can!"

"can!"

"can!"

"Hahaha~"

The emperor laughed heartily, grabbed the wine jar in front of him, tilted his head back, and drank it all in one gulp. The amber-colored nectar rolled down his light armor, which was adorned with dragon patterns. Afterward, Zhu Youxiao wiped the wine stains from his lips with a flourish and shouted to his soldiers:
"Drink this jar of murderous intent sealed forty years ago, and pile up the heads of the Jurchens into a mound for me! The blood and guts of the Qi Family Army shall shine as brightly as the sun and the moon!"

The emperor's words energized the five hundred Zhejiang soldiers as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

In an instant, the sounds of drinking, smashing bowls, and cracking the ground filled the air, and five hundred wolf-tooth spears were all pointed to the sky, their cold light piercing through the evening clouds as if they were going to a bloody battle.

"The Qi Family Army is willing to go through fire and water for His Majesty and crush the Jurchens!"

(End of this chapter)