There were many outstanding people in the Ming Dynasty, but the one I admire most is Wang Shouren
Wang Shouren was the most outstanding person in the Ming Dynasty. He was gifted and intelligent, and his "Xin Xue" was unique and enjoyed a high status in the history of Chinese philosophy. On the battlefield, he used his troops like a god and returned with great victory. He was an outstanding military strategist.
Wang Shouren, also known as Yangming, was born into a prominent family. His ancestors can be traced back to Wang Xizhi, a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. When Wang Shouren was born, his grandmother dreamed of an immortal holding a child in the clouds. His grandfather named him "Yun" based on the dream. But when he was five years old, he could not speak. A senior monk touched his head and said, "What a good boy. It's a pity that the secret of his birth was revealed." This means that the word "cloud" revealed the secret of his birth. Grandfather suddenly came to his senses, changed his name to Shouren, and began to speak.
In 1481 AD, Wang Shouren's father, Wang Hua, won the top prize in high school. The young Wang Shouren followed his father to the capital. Wang Shouren not only liked poetry and books, but also liked riding and shooting. He always had different views on things and wanted to offer advice to the emperor (but was stopped by his father). However, Wang Shouren's official career was not smooth. After winning the imperial examination at the age of twenty, he failed in all subsequent examinations. It was not until the age of twenty-eight that he passed the Jinshi examination and entered his official career.
At that time, the eunuch Liu Jin was a favorite of Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty. Liu Jin relied on Emperor Wuzong's power to launch unjust prisons and arrested more than 20 people including Dai Xian, the censor in Nanjing. Seeing that Liu Jin was so bold and reckless, Wang Shouren reported to Emperor Wuzong. Wang Shouren's behavior offended Liu Jin, who was punished with a cane forty times and demoted to Longchang Station in Guizhou. In the same year, his father was also demoted to Nanjing and served as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
It was in the harsh and uncivilized Longchang that Wang Shouren realized the "unity of knowledge and action" and used it to educate people. Wang Shouren respected local customs and did many good deeds in Longchang, and the local people liked him very much. In 1510 AD, after Liu Jin was executed, Wang Shouren was able to return to the capital and served as the head of the Department of Officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In 1516 AD, on the recommendation of Wang Qiong, Minister of the Ministry of War, Wang Shouren was promoted to the position of censor of Zuoqiandu, where he patrolled the Nankang and Ganzhou areas.
At that time, bandits were everywhere in the Nanzhong area and occupied a powerful position. After Wang Shouren took office, he decided to attack Zhan Shifu in Tai Mo Shan. Wang Shouren led his elite troops and first pretended to withdraw his troops, then waited for the opponent to relax before launching a surprise attack. Wang Shouren used this method to defeat more than 40 villages and captured more than 7,000 people. Zhan Shifu was captured, and he won the first battle.
Wang Shouren felt that he did not have enough power to order the soldiers, so he asked the court to give him a flag (which he could command at will). After Wang Shouren obtained the command, he reformed the general system, defeated Dayu, captured Hengshui Zuoxi, and defeated other bandit forces one by one. Wang Shouren had never fought a war before, and the bandit forces that had been entrenched for decades were wiped out by him in a short period of time, and he was called a god by people.
In 1519 AD, Zhu Chenhao, King of Ning in Nanchang, launched a rebellion. Wang Shouren was originally sent to Fujian to suppress bandits. As soon as he arrived in Fengcheng, news of King Ning's rebellion came. After Wang Shouren learned about it, he actively prepared for war, allocated military rations, and issued a proclamation announcing King Ning's crimes. Wang Shouren was worried that King Ning would send his troops eastward and occupy Nanjing. Wang Shouren used false information to disturb King Ning, saying that he wanted to capture Nanjing.
King Ning did not believe it and hesitated for half a month. Seeing that Wang Ning had fallen into the trap, Wang Shouren took advantage of this opportunity to prepare to defend Nanjing. When King Ning attacked Nanjing, he had already lost the opportunity. It only took Wang Shouren 35 days to put down the Ningwang Rebellion. Wang Shouren was victorious, but Wuzong was peaceful. The villains around Wu Zong hoped that Wang Shouren would let King Ning go and let Wu Zong capture King Ning himself to satisfy Wu Zong's vanity.
Faced with this situation, Wang Shouren wisely handed Prince Ning over to the eunuch Zhang Yong and went home claiming he was ill. In 1521 AD, after Zhu Houcong, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty, came to the throne, Wang Shouren was awarded the award. In 1526 AD, the fifty-four-year-old Wang Shouren resigned again and returned to his hometown. He founded academies in Shaoxing and Yuyao to preach his own doctrines.
In 1527 AD, Lu Su and Wang Shou, the leaders of the ethnic minorities in Sien and Tianzhou, rebelled. Governor Yao Rong could not pacify the situation, so Shizong thought of Wang Shouren again. Wang Shouren was restored to his post, and he also served as the censor of Zuodu, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Wang Shouren felt that it was not appropriate for ethnic minorities to use troops and should focus on appeasing them. Wang Shouren had always been a master of military affairs. When Lu Su and Wang Shou learned that he was coming to suppress the rebellion, they were very frightened and took the initiative to surrender to Wang Shouren. After Lu and Wang surrendered, Wang Shouren continued to pacify other reactionary forces.
Before the rebellion was put down, Wang Shouren fell seriously ill.
After the rebellion was put down, Wang Shouren's condition worsened and he resigned from his post to Shizong and returned to his hometown. In 1529 AD, Wang Shouren died of illness in Nan'an on his way home at the age of 57. When the people of Jiangxi learned of his death, they all wore sackcloth to see him off. Because his posthumous title was Wencheng, later generations called him Duke Wencheng. Many people think that Wang Shouren's unity of knowledge and action is a combination of theory and practice (which is incorrect). A deeper understanding is that conscience should always act and refrain from doing things in accordance with people's behavior and psychology. Only in this way will we not lose our original intention, let our will be shaken by external things, and become a slave to external things.