Qi Jiguang you don’t know! After 40 years on the battlefield, the old age of the anti-Japanese hero was very miserable.
Qi Jiguang, the famous anti-Japanese hero of the Ming Dynasty, fought for 40 years in his life, galloping on the battlefield and killing countless enemies. Such a great general with great military achievements was extremely miserable in his later years. His wife and children left him, he contracted diseases and had no money to treat him, and finally died of depression.
Qi Jiguang’s ancestral home was Dingyuan, Anhui, and he was from Dongmou, Shandong, which is now Penglai, Shandong. He has been familiar with military literature since he was a child, and his family background provided him with unlimited possibilities to become a famous general. When he was seventeen years old, Qi Jiguang inherited the position of his father, Cang Jingtong, and was appointed as the commander of the Dengzhou Guard, a veritable queen of generals. And he himself is also particularly outstanding, otherwise he would not still enjoy such a great reputation hundreds of years later. Also famous at home and abroad is the "Qi Family Army" he formed.
The "Qi Family Army" was formed when he was transferred from Shandong to Zhejiang and was promoted to a staff general to guard Ningbo, Shaoxing and Taizhou. Because when he reviewed the army, he found that the local army was too unworthy, so he decided to form a brand new army himself. The army is composed of local farmers and miners who have no military experience. They possess the unpretentious and excellent qualities of farmers, and they are easier to train because they have no military experience. It didn't take long for this army composed of 3,000 "non-staff personnel" to become the "Qi Family Army" that would scare the Japanese pirates in the future.
In battles large and small, from fighting against Japanese invaders to defending Jimen, Qi Jiguang led his "Qi Family Army" almost throughout the southeastern waters of our country. He fought hundreds of battles, large and small, with almost no defeat. . It is no understatement to say that his life is a heroic history of praise and tears. He used his unsurpassable achievements to compose his ambition of "I hope the sea will be peaceful"!
In May of the 40th year of Jiajing, Qi Jiajun won a complete victory in their first battle. The opponents were Japanese pirates with more than 10,000 people. The enemy invaded the coastal areas of Taizhou and Wenzhou in large numbers. The "Boy Scouts" - the Qi Army arrived in Ninghai at lightning speed, cut off the Japanese pirates' retreat, and forced the Japanese pirates to the Longshan area for a decisive battle to eliminate them. After being defeated, the remaining Japanese pirates tried to retreat from Wenzhou to Yanmenling. The Qi army continued to pursue the victory and finally defeated the enemy in one fell swoop. Later, Qi Jiguang and his "Qi Family Army" fought nine battles and nine victories in Zhejiang, annihilating more than 6,000 Japanese pirates, eliminating their influence in Zhejiang, and restoring local stability and tranquility.
In July of the 41st year of Jiajing, Qi Jiguang was appointed as the general and led 6,000 troops to Fujian to quell the Japanese invasion. At that time, Japanese pirates were mainly entrenched in Hengyu, Ningde, Niutian, Fuqing, and Lindun, Xinghua, in Fujian. They built a large number of Japanese fortresses here, and used these three places as bases to invade the coast of Fujian. If you want to regain Hengyu, you must first deal with the Japanese pirates in Zhangwan. Qi Jiguang brainwashed the Japanese pirates to make them surrender, ensuring that they would not be held accountable for their past crimes. Maybe the Japanese pirates were afraid of being beaten by Qi's army. After Qi Jiguang treated them with "movement and reason", they all put down their weapons. Subsequently, the Qi army attacked Xinghua with great momentum. They planned to annihilate more than a thousand Japanese pirates and captured Fuxinghua on the evening of the 13th. Three days later, they marched to Lindun, captured this stronghold, and basically eliminated the Japanese pirates in Fujian.
In Qi Jiguang's military career, whether it was offense or defense, Qi Jiguang always showed perfect results. The Qi Family Army he founded made great contributions to the stability of the Ming Dynasty. However, Qi Jiguang, who was shocked on the battlefield, still could not escape the miserable fate of his later years.
Qi Jiguang's wife Wang is the daughter of General Wang Dong of Nanxi, a household of ten thousand households. At that time, Wang Dong was the commander-in-chief and Qi Jiguang's leader. He was appreciated by his leader and father-in-law Wang Dong, which also provided conditions for Qi Jiguang's future achievements. Naturally, the Wang family is also a hard role of "tiger father but no dog daughter", so it is obvious that Qi Jiguang is afraid of his wife. However, the Wang family never gave birth to a boy and a half girl for Qi Jiguang, so Qi Jiguang secretly married two concubines and gave birth to five sons. Naturally, his married wife, Mrs. Wang, couldn't bear it and left him in anger.
Qi Jiguang was able to shine like a star on the battlefield of the Ming Dynasty for forty years. In addition to his own abilities, he also needed someone in front of the emperor. This person was the famous Zhang Juzheng.
During the Jiajing period, Zhang Juzheng only supported Qi Jiguang to a certain extent. It was not until the Longqing period that the political relationship between Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng became closer.
Historical records: "The ministry decided to use Jiguang alone, so he was called as the deputy general of the Shenji Battalion. He met with Tan Lun to supervise Liao and Ji, and gathered 30,000 infantrymen and recruited 3,000 Zhejiang troops. Just train. Emperor Kezhi." At this time, it was known to everyone that Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng were in the same team.
Qi Jiguang was reused and made many military exploits, and the party defending the country was stable. Zhang Juzheng was also at the top of the court, with power in both the government and the public. There is an old saying: A big tree attracts the wind. There is another saying: People are afraid of being famous, but pigs are afraid of being strong. The more eye-catching you are, the easier it is to make enemies. They don't care whether you are doing it for your own selfishness or to benefit the country and the people. Anyway, you are doing so well just to make me have no way to go and block my way. A foreign general and a close minister of the emperor, everyone dares to be angry but dare not speak out. In addition, Zhang Juzheng vigorously promoted reforms, which offended the vested interests of many people.
Feng shui turns, Hedong in thirty years, Hexi in thirty years. After Zhang Juzheng died, all the ministers rose up to impeach him. When Zhang Juzheng was holding the sky with one hand, the emperor himself dared to be angry but dared not speak out. The impeachment of the ministers played into his hands. As a result, Zhang Juzheng's home was ransacked, his son was forced to death, and his family was exiled. Historical records:
"The imperial edict reduced the rank of official to the official position, took away the seals and imperial edicts of the four generations given before, and showed the crime to the world. It was said that he should be cut into a coffin and killed, but he was spared. His younger brothers all commanded him. Yi and Zi edited and repaired, and they all defended the smog-stricken land."
For Qi Jiguang, "there are still eggs under the cover of the nest." Although Qi Jiguang worked hard for the country and established immortal achievements, you and Zhang Juzheng had a good relationship. The emperor was unhappy with it. Zhang Juzheng fell, and the next one was Zhang Juzheng's accomplice-Qi Jiguang. Qi Jiguang's society was not in vain. Without Zhang Juzheng as a big tree, he would not be able to take advantage of the cold in the court. In addition, he was already in his fifties. After he was transferred to Guangdong to serve, he soon followed The emperor wrote a resignation letter, saying that he was too old and could no longer do the job, so he should go home and take care of himself. Perhaps the emperor did not kill Qi Jiguang because of his record of life and death for the country, but allowed him to resign and let him go home. Historical records record: "When Juzheng died half a year old, Zhang Ding thought that it was not suitable for Jiguang to go to the north, and the leader of the country suddenly changed his place to Guangdong. Jiguang was frustrated, so he left, and he died after a year. Zhang Xigao, who was in charge of the matter, When he was impeached again, he finally gave up."
One can imagine Qi Jiguang's situation after he was dismissed. A person's glory only lasted for a few decades. , Qi Jiguang walked away from the previous wave, and there would always be subsequent waves that would kill him on the beach. Without the protection of Zhang Juzheng, he could no longer make military exploits, and no one cared about him anymore. Infinite people rushed towards him with the feeling of cold tea. In addition, the Wang family took away all the family's money when they left, so Qi Jiguang was really moneyless, powerless and powerless. He was even seriously ill and had no money for treatment. Qi Jiguang, who was poor and sick, could only die in depression and be hastily buried.
Nowadays, most of us only know him as a "famous anti-Japanese general", but we don't know the desolation after his return home. It is really sad!