Chapter 39 Absolute Sound
Gu Baisong is Gu Baihua's cousin. The two guys' backgrounds are both officials and thieves: they were once officers and soldiers, later they were horse thieves, and then they were sent to the army again - exactly the same as Guan Sheng, Yun Gao and Fujidou. Their life experiences should start from the Wanli period.
Everyone is familiar with the three major campaigns of Wanli, and many people even talk about them, especially the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea. It is very satisfying to talk about it with joy, and Ah Q is proud of "My ancestors were also rich." However, if we look at it objectively from the perspective of big history, we will find that the theory that "the Ming Dynasty died in Wanli" is indeed well-founded.
One of the symptoms is the self-destruction of the Great Wall - yes, the self-destruction of the Great Wall is just a symptom. Because this dynasty is rotten to the core!
It didn't take many years from Wanli to Chongzhen. Whether it was Li Zicheng's invasion of the capital that swept the capital, or the devastation of the Manchurian cavalry, many people couldn't help but wonder: Where did the once majestic Qi Army go? Why did it seem to suddenly disappear out of thin air?
In fact, they did not disappear out of thin air. The destruction of the invincible Qi army on the battlefield was the least noticeable of the direct consequences of this war. In the war to resist Japan and aid Korea, the Qi Jiajun, as the Ming Dynasty's ace force, not only participated, but also continued its glorious record. Subsequently, their tragic fate came to an end, and the fate of this army has since been mostly lost in the vast sea of historical materials that are glossed over.
When the Qi Army was sent to the Korean battlefield, Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng had already fallen. However, as a force trained by a generation of military gods, they were still majestic and unmatched on the battlefield! However, this unit that had lost its support could only be regarded as a guest army - the commander-in-chief of the army, the general commander of the aid to Korea was Li Rusong, and the direct troops were his Li Jiajun in Liaodong.
Li Rusong’s father’s name is Li Chengliang!
Li Chengliang was not only the commander-in-chief of Liaodong during the Wanli period, but also the largest military leader in the area.
A few digressions.
Li Chengliang himself gave birth to a bunch of sons with very interesting names: Rusong, Rucypress, Ruzhen, Ruzhang, Rumei, Ruzi, Ruwu, Rugui, Runan - he "became" a "beam", Stop talking nonsense, the kids all have to be made of wood!
In addition to a bunch of wooden sons, Li Chengliang also has an even more remarkable "godson" (similar meaning, don't be too careful about the words): Nurhachi!
"Nu'erha Chifang is young, Li Chengliang looks down upon him."
——"An Examination of Dongyi".
"At that time, Nu'er Hachi was in his fifteenth or sixteenth year. He hugged him into a beam and asked for death. Chengliang took pity on him and did not kill him. He left him under the tent to protect him like an adopted son. When he went in and out of the capital, he took Nuer Hachi with him every time."
——"The beginning and end of Jianyi's appointment of officials"
(Personally, I have always had doubts: Is the Chinese character for the name Nurhaci a homophone that was changed by the Manchus in order to avoid the derogatory name "nuer"? It remains to be clarified by the Fang family.)
The commander-in-chief of the battle was Li's eldest son. His younger brothers Rubai and Rumei each led an army to participate in the battle. The direct troops were of course the "Li Family Army". The other troops are naturally from outside forces - not to mention the Qi Family Army, which is very capable of fighting despite having no backers!
Haha, can you do it? If you don’t become cannon fodder, who will? You go first.
Huh? It really came down!
Well, the next battle is yours!
Hoho, it’s been beaten down again? Come again, come again, you continue!
ah! Actually won again? ! How the hell is this happening! I feel a little scared when I think about it...
What the court is most worried about is this: I am nothing special. I know this very well and don’t need anyone to tell me. So... I'm acting like a bastard, and I'm not afraid of being a coward, but you're so awesome, I'm really having trouble sleeping!
What? Stop being such a bastard?
That's impossible - if you don't act like a bastard, how can you still be called a bastard!
What to do?
Well, we have to find a way to destroy it!
As a result, the fate of this army was doomed: after returning to China, most of them were massacred on the charge of "mutiny on pay"!
The first phase of the war ended in triumph (a total of two battles). The Qi Jiajun, who had a good record, happily waited for the court to fulfill its promise and receive rewards based on merit. The result was: it is an honor to die for the country! As a Ming Dynasty person, never ask what Ming Dynasty wants, but ask yourself what else you can contribute to Ming Dynasty! Why don't you even have this awareness and still want wages? Get out!
Facing the angry Qi Jiajun rights defenders, Wang Bao, the commander-in-chief of Jizhen Town, smiled with a smile on his face: "You should, you should! Come on, brothers, line up at the school ground and distribute the money!"
The soldiers who were lured to the school field never imagined that what was waiting for them was the butcher knife of "one of their own"!
The soldiers who fell in a pool of blood died with their eyes open. In order to cover up the unbearable facts, various official records are vague. Some sources say there were hundreds of people, and some said there were thousands. Considering that the Qi family army generally maintains a few thousand people, my personal guess is that it should be about a thousand people.
The remainder were deported back to their place of origin.
History books downplay this as: mutiny.
I!
No!
letter!
There are two reasons.
First of all, if it is a mutiny, whether it is against Japanese or captives, the Qi army will always annihilate the opponent's army and have "zero casualties", complete professionalism, and a firearm penetration rate of nearly 50%... I would like to ask: Those "fixed changes" in Jizhen "Is the army enough to fill the gaps in your teeth?" This is a lie that no fool will believe - we know that the way military merit was recorded in the Ming Dynasty was that the number of beheadings equal to one percent of the number of soldiers reported was a first-level merit. In other words, if the general records in the Ministry of War archives that he led 10,000 troops, then after the battle, he only needs to bring back 100 heads, which is considered a first-level achievement (of course, as we have said before, the heads must be strictly inspected). The reason for this is actually because the imperial court also understood that when the general reported 10,000 troops, 40% of them might actually be false reports. The real number of troops was only 6,000, and most of them were beggars who were used to make up the numbers. There were also an unknown number of private serfs. If you farm the land for him, the only people who can really fight may be the three to four hundred soldiers and servants that this guy raises with his greedy military salary - these people are well-fed, equipped and well-trained. The size of Qi's army remained at around 3,000 for most of the time, until Qi Jiguang's death. How many people can you guess at the number of beheadings?
Over 100,000 levels (of course, objectively speaking, there is a lot of water)!
With this kind of fighting power that is unprecedented and unprecedented, like Thanos, if we really want to "mutiny", who can "annihilate" it? The Qi family's army's record even brought the imperial court's reward for first-class merit to the lowest point in history! We often talk about the first-level gong, but what is the price of the first-level gong in the Ming Dynasty?
The answer is: no.
The most expensive ones are Donglu (Jurchens, fellow Manchus), with a maximum price of fifty taels per head. In the early Ming Dynasty, when the world was still uncertain and the Mongolian compatriots had not yet given up their plans and fled to Mobei, their heads were equally valuable: twenty-two pieces per piece, plus a promotion to a first-level position. If you don’t want to be an official and just want money, that’s fine, fifty taels, one price. According to Mr. Gu Cheng's research, during most of the Ming Dynasty, the market price of a head averaged around three to five taels. The less valuable ones are the heads of the mainland rebels, which are nothing compared to those of the Eastern and Northern pirates: twenty heads are considered first-level! However, this is not the cheapest - it can only be considered a "cabbage price", far from a green grass price. The price of green grass is the head of the Japanese pirates - don't look at it, it has been rising all the way since the opening of the market, it is extremely high, dozens of taels... Then Qi Jiguang entered the market! Lao Qi had never heard of such terms as "dropping the limit" or "ankle-cutting", so he just smashed all the way, and in the end, the price dropped into a bottomless sinkhole: more than 300 levels are counted as one (of course, it's really a Japanese Far from that many, the vast majority are "from the Japanese" (will be discussed in detail later)!
There is only one explanation for the fact that this kind of tiger-wolf-like troops want to break their backbones in one fell swoop. They were disarmed—unarmed.
Who has ever seen a "mutiny" with bare hands?
That’s called “asking for pay,” right?
Second, look at the verdict. The first offender will be punished, and those who follow will be exiled. I would like to ask, if it is a serious crime of mutiny, after the first criminal is killed, the rest should be sent to the army. Why should they be sent back to their place of origin?
The only answer can only be: Some people are afraid that they will form an army again!
This is the main basis for my judgment.
Who is afraid?
What do you think?
Looking at the handling of this matter, the answer is ready to come out!
During the incident, Dai Shiheng and Yu Shi Wang Yishi spoke out loudly about this, complaining about the injustice of the Qi family's officers and soldiers, and demanding a thorough investigation. However, "Ma Wenqing, the censor who patrolled the customs, said that there were ten major rebellions by the Southern Army, and Shangshu Shixing echoed this" (Ma Wenqing listed ten major crimes against Qi's army, and Shangshu Shixing followed suit).
The result of the treatment is: Wang Bao was promoted (originally he was the "commander of the department", and "advancement of rank is the truth" based on "fixed change") + Yin Yizi. The governors and others involved in this matter "also became officials and received gifts"!
The Qi family army, who was already an orphan, was sent wherever there was a bloody battle. Then the military merits were taken away by "friendly forces", the food and salary were deducted by superiors, and once the value of their use was squeezed out, they were discarded like worn-out shoes. Finally, they became "traitors" reputation!
The disappearance of the Qi Jiajun was far from silent. They once let out heart-breaking screams of grief and anger. But their mouths were blocked, and the ears of the world were covered. So, the years were quiet, and everything seemed to have happened. Soon after, the entire dynasty collapsed and disappeared overnight!
A sigh.
Deserve it!
Although the so-called Qi Jiajun's spine has been broken since then, their blood and residual power are still there.
Hun River.
Absolutely noisy.
The leader of the army was Qi Jiguang's nephew Qi Jin. Qi Jiguang had a son in his old age. Considering his circumstances, he had no time, inclination, and inability to cultivate him, so the remaining lineage of the Qi family army was inherited by his nephew.
Under the desperate cover of the Baiganbing brothers, three thousand men of the Qi family army lined up against the water.
A car formation that frightens the Mongolian cavalry!
Nurhaci personally led the main force of the Eight Banners to attack in turns.
It’s hard to get past the trap!
There were corpses everywhere in front of the battle!
Reinforcements are in sight! Thirty thousand reinforcements led by commander-in-chief Zhu Wanliang and Jiang Bi were close at hand.
Nurhachi made a desperate move and sent Huang Taiji to intervene. Zhu and Jiang's 30,000 fish belly were chased by two to three thousand enemy troops, and they trampled on each other, killing more than 3,000 people...
When the ammunition is exhausted and the reinforcements are exhausted, use the chime for gunpowder.
Under the cover of shield vehicles, the Eight Banners broke into the vehicle formation.
The commander-in-chief Chen Ce was killed in battle.
Qi Jin and Tong Zhongkui looked at each other and smiled: "We two have to die", "A man should serve his country today"!
We have said that strictly speaking, this Zhejiang army can only be regarded as the remnant of the Qi family army.
However, they still fight to the death!
Because, the side branch is also Qi Jiajun! They also have:
Mandarin duck formation!
In the melee, the elite soldiers of the Eight Banners were knocked down one after another!
Looking around, the general flag of Qi Jiajun, although it has long been broken, is still flying proudly in the formation! Although the military formation has long been riddled with holes, it is still indestructible and impregnable!
If you rush over, a group will die, and if you rush another group, another group will die! bring it on!
The bloodthirsty Eight Banners were afraid. I’m scared from the bottom of my heart!
Those who broke into the formation could only shield themselves from the left and the right and try to protect themselves until they screamed and died! Seeing the heads of the "formerly brave" companions who were picked up by spears one after another emerging from the formation, the "bloodthirsty" "Manchu warriors" behind them collapsed mentally and began to hesitate and stop moving forward... …
Someone once described their toughness: if the number of people is less than ten thousand, if the number of people is less than ten thousand, they will be invincible in the world.
Ah!
More than ten thousand! Tens of thousands of Eight Banners cavalry surrounded thousands of Ming Army infantry, taking turns to attack, and the bloody battle lasted for days - but there was nothing they could do!
Finally, Nurhaci finally understood the fact: if he continued to fight hard, he would have to lose all his belongings in Hunhe!
So he ordered: withdraw the troops. Change the rotation of the formation into a long siege.
The arrogant Eight Banners soldiers could only surround the lone army that had chewed their teeth out, and fired thousands of arrows.
Then they transferred the Ming Dynasty surrender troops from Shenyang and set up artillery to bombard them from all sides...
Three thousand men will not retreat from the bloody battle and will not surrender to the death!
No one survived.
In the Battle of Hunhe, the Qi Army was the only army in the Ming Dynasty that was completely wiped out.
In the afterglow of the sunset over the Hun River, Qi Jiajun roared out a tragic and tragic sound with his last drop of blood.
However, the Qi family army has nothing to do with the Gu family brothers. Their life experiences come from another consequence of the three great campaigns of Wanli: the depletion of national finances.
"In the 20th year of Wanli, Ningxia mercenaries spent more than 2 million yuan in gold. In the winter, North Korea used troops, and in the last eight years, more than 7 million yuan in gold was spent. In the 27th year, Bozhou used troops, and also spent more than 7 million yuan in gold. Two to three million. Three major conquests followed one after another, and the country was in short supply. In the twenty-fourth year, the Qianqing and Kunning palaces suffered disasters. In the twenty-fifth year, the Huangji, Jianji, and Zhongji palaces suffered disasters, and there was a lack of construction. Capital. The ministers have their hands tied, and the mining tax has greatly increased."
Emperor Wanli spent all his money, what should he do?
Easy to handle - collect taxes!
How to collect taxes without income?
The court doesn’t care whether you have income or not! That's none of my business, don't come after me, we are only responsible for collecting taxes and we are following orders!
Of course, layer upon layer of overweighting is not only necessary, but also a certainty. For example, the imperial court's order was to "set up the tax house" and "temporarily borrow the rent of private houses for one year" - that is to say, each household in the city, regardless of its size, would be taxed one cent of silver. When it reaches the lower level, it becomes "one denarius for each room in the facade" - and it is collected every year!
Also: You have a mine, dare you say it is not income?
Is there a mine? Why don't I know?
Be bold! Someone reports that you have a mine, but you still dare to deny it? Do not believe? I'll tear your house apart and take a look! If you are not dug out, you are lucky. If you are dug out, you will be deceiving the court and waiting to be beheaded! As for your home being demolished? Deserve it!
"Later, it was said that the miners were fighting to get out of the palace" - there was an endless stream of people who came to the capital to report the discovery of mineral deposits in various places!
Of course, the great emperor of Germany and the world has always convinced people with his virtue: Do you want to check it out? So, "The emperor immediately ordered the officials to go with him, and the world was ready": The land of China was full of father-in-laws sent by the emperor to verify the situation.
What about the verification results?
Haha, of course it is 100% true - everyone else has it, but you don't? What do you mean, oh, wrong, how many heads do you have? By the way, if "yes", you are the project leader...understand?
Now, looking back at the above article, are you so impressed by the breadth and depth of the Chinese language? "The world is there" - does this "there is it" refer to the father-in-laws sent by the great emperor, or the mine discovered by the father-in-law?
Okay, the spirit of the document is explained. Whether you have it or not, it’s up to you to choose.
So, "there really isn't" turned into "there can be", then "there is indeed", and finally "there is not only mine A", "but also mine B"!
The ancestors of Brother Gu Baihua are Han Chinese. In order to escape the war in their early years, they moved all the way to Yunnan and finally settled in Lijiang.
*After the Manchu Dynasty settled the Central Plains of Ding, many original records were deleted for the sake of "image", but we can still find clues of this battle: nine well-known generals died in this battle, including a man named Nurhachi who personally presided over the memorial ceremony. The people of Yabahai - "Yabahai, I am willing to pray to heaven for you, and you will also tell the king of Yama where you are going, that you will be reincarnated in my uncle Khan's family. Otherwise, you may be born among your brothers and Shuobeile. Any family. Or born in any family from Heshuo Baylor to Gushan Ezhen and above." Those who were so close died here. The fierceness of this battle can be imagined.
