Qi Jiguang: He fought against the Japanese pirates in the southeast and the Mongolian cavalry in the north. He had a full array of both civil and military forces and was an unrivaled warrior.
Early experience
Qi Jiguang was suave and very individual when he was young. Although his family is poor, he likes to read and is familiar with Confucian classics and historical books.
In the 23rd year of Jiajing (1544), Qi Jiguang inherited his ancestor's position and served as the commander of the Dengzhou Guard.
In the twenty-fifth year of Jiajing (1546), Qi Jiguang was responsible for managing the farming affairs of the Dengzhou Guards Station. At that time, the coastal areas of Shandong were burned, killed, and looted by Japanese pirates. Qi Jiguang was determined to kill the thieves and wrote "Feng" It is not what I want, but I hope the sea will be calm."
In the 32nd year of Jiajing (1553), Qi Jiguang was recommended by Zhang Juzheng and took up the post of commander of the capital, managing 25 guard posts in the three battalions of Dengzhou, Wendeng and Jimo to defend Shandong. Japanese pirates along the coast.
In the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing (1555), Qi Jiguang was transferred to the capital of Zhejiang, where he served as a general and defended the three counties of Ningbo, Shaoxing and Taizhou.
Southern Expedition of Japanese pirates
Battle of Cengang
In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing (1557), Japanese pirates invaded Yueqing, Ruian, Linhai and other places. Qi Jiguang led The army went to rescue him, but because the road was blocked, he was unable to make it in time. Therefore, the court did not punish Qi Jiguang. Later, Wang Zhiyu's party caused chaos in Cengang, and Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou's armies joined forces and went to besiege. But they were not captured for a long time, so the imperial court dismissed Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others and asked them to kill the enemy as guilty. The Japanese pirates stationed in Cengang could not resist the attack of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, so they planned to escape. ?
In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing (1558), the Japanese pirates built a large ship and prepared to escape at night. Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang took the opportunity to launch an attack and sank the Japanese pirate ship. The remaining party fled to southern Fujian. The Japanese pirates who escaped from Cengang went on to burn, kill, and loot in Taizhou. Luo Jingbin and others impeached Qi Jiguang for deliberately releasing the Japanese pirates from Cengang, and were suspected of collaborating with the Japanese. Just when he was about to be punished, Qi Jiguang was reinstated because of his contribution to pacifying Wang Zhi, and was asked to guard the three counties of Tai, Jin and Yan.
After Qi Jiguang took office in Zhejiang, he found that the soldiers in the guard station had average combat capabilities, while the people in Jinhua and Yiwu were more sturdy, so Qi Jiguang went to recruit 3,000 people, and under Qi Jiguang's guidance and training, they were An elite force was formed, later known as the "Qi Family Army". Qi Jiguang formulated a formation based on the swampy geographical features of the south, and equipped his troops with firearms, weapons, warships and other equipment. The Qi family army became famous all over the world.
Battle of Taizhou
In the 40th year of Jiajing reign (1561), Japanese pirates launched a massive attack on Taozhu, Qitou and other places. Qi Jiguang led his army to guard Taozhu and defeated the Japanese pirates in Longshan. Chase to Yanmen Ridge. After the Japanese pirates escaped, they took advantage of the opportunity to attack Taizhou. Qi Jiguang took the lead and killed the leader of the Japanese pirates. The remaining party members were desperate and all fell into the Gualing River and drowned. However, the Japanese pirates invaded Taizhou again, and Qi Jiguang led his army to annihilate them all in Xianju. After the great victory in Taizhou, Qi Jiguang was promoted to the third rank. Later, Japanese pirates from Fujian and Guangxi flowed into Jiangxi and caused chaos. Governor Hu Zongxian was unable to pacify them, so he asked Qi Jiguang to come for reinforcements. Qi Jiguang led his army to defeat them in Shangfangchao. The Japanese pirates rushed to Jianning, and Qi Jiguang led his army back to Zhejiang.
The Battle of Fujian
In the 41st year of Jiajing (1562), Japanese pirates invaded Fujian, and combined with Japanese pirates from Funing, Lianjiang and other places, they successively captured Shouning, Zhenghe, In Ningde and other places, the Japanese pirates who invaded from Nan'ao, Guangdong, combined with the Japanese pirates from Fuqing and Changle, captured Xuanzhongsuo, and invaded Longyan, Songxi, Datian, Gutian, Putian and other places.
The Japanese pirates were so powerful that the local officers and soldiers did not dare to attack, so Hu Zongxian sent an order for Qi Jiguang to lead troops to suppress the bandits. After receiving the order, Qi Jiguang led his troops to attack Hengyu Island first. The dangerous waterways around Hengyu Island were difficult to pass. Qi Jiguang ordered his soldiers each to hold a bunch of straw and fill the trenches. They defeated the Japanese pirates on Hengyu Island and beheaded more than 2,200 of them. Afterwards, Qi Jiguang took advantage of the victory and pursued the enemy to Fuqing, destroying the cattle fields and destroying the Japanese pirates' lair. The remnants of the Japanese pirates fled to Xinghua in a hurry, and Qi Jiguang did not stop. He chased them all the way, destroyed more than 60 camps of Japanese pirate strongholds, and beheaded countless people.
After Qi Jiguang pacified the Japanese pirates in Fujian, he returned to Zhejiang and traveled to Fuqing. He encountered a small number of Japanese pirates who had landed from Dongyingao. Qi Jiguang led his troops to attack and beheaded two hundred people. After several battles, Qi Jiguang almost killed all the Japanese pirates in the Fujian-Guangzhou area.
Battle of Xinghua
After Qi Jiguang returned to Zhejiang, new Japanese pirates from Japan were waiting for an opportunity to invade. As their numbers grew stronger, they attacked Xinghua, but were besieged. It had not been captured for several months. At this time, Liu Xian sent eight people to Xinghua with letters to convey the message, but they were intercepted and killed by the Japanese pirates. The Japanese pirates put on the clothes of Liu Xian's envoys and tricked them into opening the city gate and took the opportunity to capture Xinghua City.
After the Japanese invaders captured Xinghua, Liu Xian led his troops to approach Xinghua. However, due to the small number of troops, Liu Xian did not dare to attack the city without authorization. However, he was impeached and charged. [18] Yu Dayou, the commander-in-chief of Fujian Province, also expressed the need for a large army to encircle him.
In the 42nd year of Jiajing (1563), the imperial court appointed Tan Lun as the censor of the right capital, and the governor of Fujian came to support him. However, Ouyang Shen, the commander of the capital, was ambushed by Japanese pirates and died in a fight. The Japanese pirates Then he occupied Pinghaiwei. In April, Qi Jiguang led Zhejiang troops to come to support.
After Qi Jiguang arrived, Tan Lun immediately prepared for a general attack on the Japanese pirates. He first erected fences on each sea channel to block the Japanese pirates' return. Then Tan Lun assigned Liu Xian as the left army and Yu Dayou as the right army. Tan Lun led the central army and Qi Jiguang was the vanguard and besieged Pinghaiwei. He was defeated in one fell swoop and more than 2,000 people were beheaded. Qi Jiguang and others led his troops to pursue them, but the Japanese pirates' roads were blocked and more than 3,000 people were killed. So Liu Xian and others revived Xinghua. The imperial court recorded Qi Jiguang's previous military exploits in the Hengyu battle, and appointed Qi Jiguang as the commander-in-chief and the commander-in-chief of the army.
The Battle of Xianyou
In February of the forty-third year of Jiajing (1564), the remaining Japanese pirates gathered more than 10,000 people to besiege Xianyou and fought for three days. Qi Jiguang led his troops to After the siege was relieved, the Japanese pirates were defeated. Qi Jiguang led his army to pursue them until they reached Wangcangping, where they beheaded more than a hundred people. Many of them fell to their death from the cliff. Thousands of people from the remaining party fled and occupied Caipiling in Zhangpu. Qi Jiguang divided his soldiers into five sentries (ancient military establishment units) to climb up the rock and met the Japanese pirates at hand-to-hand combat, capturing and killing more than a hundred people. The remaining Japanese pirates robbed fishing boats and fled to the sea, and then invaded Funing. Qi Jiguang led Li Chao and others to defeat them, and then pursued them to Yongning, killing more than 300 people.
In the same year, the Chaozhou Japanese pirates gathered 20,000 people, and they worked as horns with the pirate Wu Ping to plunder Chaozhou. Yu Dayou led his troops to defeat the Japanese pirates, and surrendered Wu Ping, allowing Wu Ping to be stationed in Meiling. But soon after, Wu Ping gathered more than 10,000 scattered Japanese pirates who had been defeated by the Ming army, and together with Lin Daoqian and Zeng Yiben, they landed in Zoumaxi and Bopuao, and looted Nancun Fort and Gangkang Village. Qi Jiguang immediately led his troops to encircle and suppress the enemy. After learning about it, Wu Ping abandoned Meiling, which he had previously defended, gathered more than 100 large ships, fled into Nan'ao, and built Dazhai for defense.
In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing (1565), Yu Dayou led the navy and Qi Jiguang led the infantry. The two worked together to encircle Wu Ping. Wu Ping was defeated and fled to Fenghuang Mountain alone.
Northern Tatars
In the first year of Longqing (1567), Wu Shilai reported to Emperor Mu Zong of the Ming Dynasty and suggested that Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou and others train the Tatars in the Jimen area. Soldier. However, after the court meeting, it was decided that only Qi Jiguang would be appointed. So the imperial court appointed Qi Jiguang as the deputy general of the Shenji Camp. At that time, Tan Lun had just recruited 30,000 infantrymen in the Liao and Ji areas, and another 3,000 soldiers in Zhejiang. He asked Qi Jiguang to train them, and got Mu Zong's permission.
In the second year of Longqing (1568), Emperor Muzong of the Ming Dynasty asked Qi Jiguang to train soldiers from Jizhou, Changping, Baoding and other places. Officials below the chief military officer were all under Qi Jiguang's control. [29] After Qi Jiguang took office, Jizhou had the commander-in-chief Guo Hu, and Qi Jiguang was the prime minister. He could not unify the orders, so the court transferred Guo Hu away and appointed Qi Jiguang as the commander-in-chief to guard Jizhou, Yongping, Shanhai. Waiting places. Qi Jiguang was also promoted to the right governor because of his meritorious service in defeating Wu Ping. At that time, the Northern Barbarians invaded Qingshan Pass, and Qi Jiguang led his troops to repel them.
In the first year of Wanli (1573), the young prince of the Northern Barbarians and Dong Hu planned an invasion. They asked for rewards from the Ming court but were rejected, so they burned, killed and looted at Xifengkou. After learning about it, Qi Jiguang led The soldiers went to quell the chaos and almost captured Dong Fox alive. In the summer of the same year, Dong Hu invaded Taolin and was repelled by Qi Jiguang. Then Dong Chang'ang, Dong Hu's nephew, invaded Jialing and was defeated again. Dong Hu repeatedly invaded the border and not only failed to gain any advantage, but also suffered heavy losses. So he presented the border to ask for rewards, and the court promised to give him annual rewards.
In the second year of Wanli (1574), Dong Changang invaded the border again but was unable to enter through the pass, so he forced his uncle Dong Changtu to invade the border. Qi Jiguang led his troops to defeat him and captured Dong Changtu alive. Dong Hu and Dong Chang'ang led 300 people from their clan to Qi Jiguang Pass to plead guilty. Dong Hu, wearing plain clothes, cried and begged for the pardon of Dong Changtu. Qi Jiguang decided to accept his surrender after discussing with his subordinates. Dong Hu then released the looted people and vowed not to rebel again. From then on, Dong Hu and Dong Changang no longer dared to invade Jimen.
The Jimen guarded by Qi Jiguang was impregnable and the Northern Barbarians could not attack, so they turned to invade Liaodong. Qi Jiguang led reinforcements and assisted Liaodong defender Li Chengliang to repel them. The imperial court granted Qi Jiguang the title of Taibao of the Crown Prince, and then granted him the title of Shaobao.
The fall of famous generals
In the tenth year of Wanli (1582), Zhang Juzheng, the chief minister of the imperial cabinet, died of illness. Zhang Dingsi took the opportunity to say that Qi Jiguang should not be placed in the north, so Qi Jiguang was dismissed by the imperial court. Transferred to Guangdong. ?
In the thirteenth year of Wanli (1585), Zhang Xigao impeached Qi Jiguang again. As a result, Qi Jiguang was dismissed and died of illness after returning to his hometown.
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