In Kaiping, Gao Pragmatic saw for the first time the Ming Dynasty's regular army - if the palace guards were not counted - the Ming Dynasty's Southern Army, which was known as the Qi Family Army in later generations.
Completely different from the half-beggar-like appearance of the frontier army as imagined, the Qi family's army was well-organized and had bright helmets. Although Qi Jiguang came in the name of patrolling defense this time, he only brought 500 musketeers and cavalry, and did not enter Kaiping Town. Sometimes they put on neat military formations for military parades or battles, but the high-spirited momentum of the Confederate soldiers even reminded Gao Pragmatic of the spirit of his fellow soldiers when he watched the National Day military parade.
Is this the Qi Jiajun who was established during the Jiajing period, traveled across land and water, and showed great success in the hands of three generations of emperors?
Standing on the city tower, watching the Qi family army coming from a distance, Gao Pragmatic felt a little dazed for a moment.
Among the three emperors of Jialong and Wanli in history, Jiajing was regarded as a coward and tyrant, Longqing was regarded as a mediocre master, and Wanli was even worse. They were directly forcibly labeled as "the Mingshi died in Wanli". It seems that when these people evaluated Emperor Jialong Wan, they directly ignored the fact that the lives of the common people were getting better and better under the great reforms of Jialong Wan, as well as the continuous emergence of famous ministers and generals in these three dynasties and the achievements they made.
Especially the Longwan period, the ancients themselves regarded it as a glorious and prosperous period, but somehow, in later generations, it was actually regarded as a precursor to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
There is no need to cite too uncommon examples, just look at how Feng Menglong described the Ming Dynasty during the Longwan period in "Warning Words":
"Sweep away the remnant barbarians and set up the emperor's headquarters, with dragons flying and phoenixes dancing in Cui Wei; on the left is the sea and the sky, and on the right is the Taihang Mountain surrounded by thousands of people. With swords and halberds on nine sides, the fortress is majestic, and all the nations are proud of their clothes; the people of Taiping are happy and happy, and they will live forever. The sun shines brightly in Ca Mau.
This poem only praises the prosperity of our dynasty in establishing the capital of Yanjing... From the ninth generation of Yongle Lord to Wanli Lord, this is the eleventh generation of emperors of our dynasty.
This emperor was intelligent, proficient in martial arts, possessing both virtues and virtues. He ascended the throne at the age of ten and reigned for forty-eight years, quelling three bandit rebellions. Those three places?
Hideyoshi Guanbaihei of Japan, Chengen of Xixia, and Yang Yinglong of Bozhou.
Ping Hideyoshi invaded Korea, and the local officials Kuai Cheng'en and Yang Yinglong rebelled, and they were defeated one after another.
The barbarians from far away were all afraid of submission and came to pay tribute. The truth is: if one person is happy, the people will be happy, and the world will be safe and the country will be at peace. "
Of course, there are always people who do not believe the Chinese records themselves, but believe in the so-called foreign scholars, thinking that their records are worthy of trust.
Well, let’s not argue about this first. Let’s take a look at how foreigners recorded the Longwan period based on what these people said.
"Collection of Matteo Ricci's Letters 4. Letter from Ricci to Mr. Roman, Director of the Spanish Taxation Department, written in Zhaoqing in September 1584 (the twelfth year of Wanli)":
"The fertility, beauty, wealth of China's land and the intelligence and ability of the Chinese people are truly extraordinary and extraordinary. It would take several large volumes to write about them in detail."
"In China, although people are frugal in consumption, it is very common to wear silk. In addition, there are also clothes made of hemp and other things that we generally don't have. They also use various wines made from sorghum and rice; Therefore, even a very poor person can buy wine for 50 cents, which is enough for a day, and he is not used to drinking water." - The "50 cents" here is probably Ricci's own conversion.
You see, in the eyes of foreign scholars, during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the people were so wealthy that they drank wine instead of water. If they were not full, but "eat chaff and drink water", is it such an exaggeration to use wine instead of water?
This is not the end yet, let’s look at Matteo Ricci’s next statement:
“In particular, the output of wheat, rice and other vegetables far exceeds that of Spain. This is what I have seen with my own eyes... This is due to the good relationship between care and sowing and the cultivation of the land. Their farming seems to be better than ours. better."
"China is naturally curious and optimistic. The whole country looks like a big garden, with indescribable tranquility and serenity. ... In short, the land and water roads are open to anyone, just like a big Venice."
"The whole of China seems to be planned by a mathematician and measured with a compass. Every village and town has its place... Because there are so many small farms and small cities, I can say that the whole of China is like an incomparable Big city.”
"People say that they can be compared with the works of the Romans in beauty. The few things I have seen are really beautiful. The streets are straight, paved with tiles, and there are archways everywhere, more than the city of Rome. Because of these archways, the city has become It must be more solemn, showing that the country is well governed and the project is great. It has marble inscriptions and exquisite words engraved on it, which seems to be much better than ours."
"The land of China is very clean and healthy. I remember that there were no plagues or infectious diseases there, so there were old people with white hair everywhere. Although we can attribute this to the good government... there is dancing and music throughout the year, and there are also There are places for recreation, ponds for fishing, and other places for recreation.”
"Farmers all have one or two pieces of good-looking clothes for meeting officials or friends, or for receiving guests. They usually keep them. If there are no good-looking clothes, it is difficult to receive guests or meet officials. ... Ordinary people and nobles do not wear the same clothes. They’re the same, but they all look good, with lots of accessories in their hair.”
"...I confess to you that what I am about to describe would be unbelievable if I had not seen it with my own eyes: the ports are continuous all the way. If you go to Guangdong and then go to other markets, even the two major ports of Lisbon and Venice are not like this. Large shipping throughput, here, in a word, you can buy anything anyone wants. Some neighboring countries such as Japan, Cochin China, Siam, Malacca, Java, Molucca and others all come to China trading."
“This cannot be said to be the happiest land, rich in products, rich in all kinds of gold, silver and various precious stones, with crisscrossed rivers, dense lakes, fruit trees and flowers everywhere; so the people in this land neither believe in nor hope for the Garden of Eden. , they regard the land they own in this world as paradise on earth."
While he was distracted, Gao Jingshi suddenly found that his arm was touched by someone. When he came to his senses, he heard Gao Mo reminding him in a low voice: "Young Master, the person in front wearing the big red silk python robe should be Qi Nantang Qi. General Rong."
Gao Pingshi looked attentively and saw a tall, red-robed general with steady and fast steps walking towards him. There were several generals following him, but he waved his hand to stay. rear.
Gao Pragmatic was now wearing a cyan civilian official uniform, with a white pheasant patch on his chest - this was based on his fifth-grade status as a "fake bachelor". As mentioned earlier, the word "fake" here means "agent" or "temporary". Although the emperor made it clear that being too pragmatic is too pragmatic regardless of rank, the Hanlin Academy itself also wants to save face. You are pretending to be a bachelor, which is equivalent to being an agent. Holding the second or third position in the Hanlin Academy, if you don't even get a nanny, it wouldn't be embarrassing for you to be higher than someone else, but it would be embarrassing for me in the Hanlin Academy.
As for the python robe Qi Jiguang was wearing, it was supposed to be of super grade. In terms of rank, the fake fifth grade pragmatist was actually a million miles above the average.
However, Qi Jiguang strode forward. Gao Pragmatic stepped forward to greet him, but before he could even offer his hand, Qi Jiguang had already stood far away, raised his hands, and bowed his head to the bottom: "Qi, the chief military officer of Ji Town, has seen Gao Attendant reading.”
Gao Pangshi, who had a smile on his face, froze when he saw this scene.
