Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Wanli is actually "Four Signs"

Speaking of the wars during the reign of Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun (reigned from 1573 to 1619) of the Ming Dynasty, apart from the war with the Liaodong Jurchen in his later years, the "Three Wanli Marches" are familiar to everyone today.Beginning in the 21st year of Wanli (AD 1592), after the "Zhang Juzheng Reform", the Ming Dynasty, which had been in peace for a long time, experienced three consecutive large-scale wars: Ningxia quelled the rebellion of worship, the War to Resist the Japanese and Aid Korea, and Bozhou to pacify Yang Yinglong The victory of the three battles and the victory of the three battles made the Emperor Wanli find the feeling of "ruling the world", and the martial arts and martial arts of "Wanli Zhongxing" reached their peak.

However, in fact, when the Ming Dynasty was fully carrying out the "Three Great Expeditions", in the Qinghai-Tibet region in Northwest China, the "Fourth Great Expedition" - Zheng Luoping's Battle of Qinghai-Tibet took place.The reason why this war is not mentioned much today is mainly because it is not as ups and downs as the "Three Great Marches", but its significance for maintaining the rule of the Ming Dynasty in the Northwest is no less than the previous three. There are many opinions about the rights and wrongs of these wars during the Wanli period. The Ming history compiled by the Qing Dynasty believes that it was the several wars during this period that exhausted the financial reserves left by Zhang Juzheng’s reforms, and the Ming Dynasty fell into a financial crisis for a long time. situation of scarcity.Even at that time, the Ming Dynasty had different opinions on whether to send troops to fight. It was Emperor Wanli's firm determination to fight the war that finally allowed the war to go smoothly.So what are the effects of these four wars?

Or let us look at it one by one. In terms of the three major wars, which one is the most well-known today, it must be the Ming Dynasty’s War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea that began in 1592. In fact, at that time, this was the war that the Ming Dynasty did not want to fight. The War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea was called the "War of Imchen and the Patriotic War" in North Korea, and the "Battle of Wenlu Qingchang" in Japan. It broke out in April of the 21st year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1592).The fuse was that Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the actual ruler of Japan, sent an envoy to North Korea, asking North Korea to "borrow" Japan to help Japan attack the Ming Dynasty.The actual reason is that Toyotomi Hideyoshi ended Japan's "Warring States Era" and unified Japan. In order to stabilize the rule, he adopted a foreign expansion policy, and proposed that he was "born in a dream" and "wherever the sun shines, it is the land of Japan." ", this is the earliest "militarism thought" in Japan.Before the war of aggression against Korea broke out, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had already prepared a "three-step plan". The first step was to destroy North Korea, the second step was to destroy the Ming Dynasty, and the third step was to occupy Indochina and dominate the world.After decades of civil war and long-term harassment of China's southeast coast, the Japanese princes and princes have long been overwhelmed, and their attitude towards China's Ming Dynasty has gradually turned into a flat eye, and they no longer treat it as a heavenly kingdom.All over Japan, there is a wave of enthusiasm for expansion and war. After North Korea rejected the "excuse" request, Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately turned his face and sent 200,000 troops into North Korea, which opened the prelude to the war of aggression against North Korea.

At this time, North Korea was under the rule of the Lee Dynasty. It had been a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years.On April 14th, Japan sent troops. On May 2nd, the Japanese army occupied Seoul. On May 8th, the Japanese army occupied Pyongyang. On June 11th, King Lee Song of Korea fled to the Yalu River. Seven of the eight provinces of North Korea had been lost.Seeing that the country's subjugation was imminent, at the same time, North Korea also hurriedly sent envoys to the Ming Dynasty, asking the Ming Dynasty to send troops for assistance.After the Korean King Li Song fled to the Yalu River, he submitted his letter of credence to Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty again. The Korean envoys also visited the ministers and cabinet members of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to requesting troops, they also hoped to take refuge in Liaodong.The king of North Korea even cried to Emperor Wanli in his letter of credence: "It is better to die in the country of parents than to die by Japanese pirates." He really regarded the Ming Dynasty as his own mother.

The "mother" of the Ming Dynasty reacted very slowly to the situation in the Korean War. At the beginning, there were even rumors in the capital that the King of Korea had colluded with Japan in an attempt to lure the Ming army to North Korea and wipe them out, so as to achieve the goal of invading the Ming Dynasty.After the fall of the seven provinces of North Korea, the Ming Dynasty sent Tong Yangxing, the deputy commander of Kuandian Fort on the Yalu River in Liaodong, and led 8 soldiers across the river to scout the enemy. Tong Yangxing reported back: "There are few Japanese soldiers, and they can be defeated." The two factions of "the main battle" and "the main peace" are even more quarreling.Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, advocated a rapid attack to eliminate Japanese pirates, but most of the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate opposed it, and Emperor Wanli did not express his position.The main reason for the hesitation of the Ming Dynasty was the rebellion in Ningxia at this time (that is, the Ningxia Rebellion in the "Three Great Expeditions"). The strategic focus of the Ming Dynasty was also to counter the rebellion and fight on two fronts. Naturally, it must be carefully considered.

As the rebellion in Ningxia was approaching, Emperor Wanli finally made up his mind to go to war.His edict to his ministers "leaves no troubles in the future", which can be said to have seen through the real purpose of the Japanese at a glance.Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, offered to lead his troops to North Korea, but Wanli knew that he was a man of great ambition and lack of talent, so he chose Song Yingchang, Minister of the Ministry of War.In October, the Ming Dynasty officially appointed Li Rusong as the admiral of Zhengdong, and together with Song Yingchang, the Liaodong economic strategist, brought troops into the court.Prior to this, the Ming army had already suffered two defeats in North Korea. First, the Liaodong guerrilla Shi Ru led 3,000 troops into North Korea in June and launched a tentative attack on the Japanese army, but was hit hard.In July, Zu Chengxun, the deputy general of Liaodong, led another 5,000 troops into the DPRK, and was almost wiped out under the city of Pyongyang.After two small-scale battles, the situation of the Japanese invading troops in the Ming Dynasty was still vague, and even the total number of Japanese invading troops was not clear: North Korea said there were 300,000 troops, and Zu Chengxun reported that there were 30,000 troops .At this time, Nurhachi, who was entrenched in Jianzhou, also expressed his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty and expressed his willingness to assist the Ming Dynasty in fighting, but was declined by the Ming Dynasty.

After the Japanese army occupied the seven provinces of North Korea in the early stage, the reason why they were unable to take advantage of the victory and pursue it was that according to Korean history books, it was because the famous Korean navy general Yi Sun-shin repeatedly injured the Japanese army at sea, and at the same time, the resistance of the local rebel army in North Korea also delayed the Japanese army .The mainstream theory in China is that the Ming Dynasty appointed maritime merchant Shen Weijing as a special envoy to Japan, and used negotiations to confuse the Japanese and bought the Ming Dynasty time to gather troops.Judging from the later developments, the Chinese side's argument is more reliable-Li Rusong entered the court in December, and led 45,000 troops to the city of Pyongyang in January of the following year. It was for "peace talks", and Li Rusong almost succeeded in a surprise attack on Pyongyang.Another important reason is that although Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself is hot-headed, the actual commander-in-chief of the Japanese invaders Konishi is a sensible person. In his battle report to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he suggested that Toyotomi Hideyoshi should not rush to attack Ming Dynasty. North Korea, at least until the situation in North Korea is stabilized, and it is even more certain that the Ming Dynasty will definitely rescue North Korea with heavy troops.Facts confirmed his judgment. In January of the 22nd year of Wanli (AD 1592), when the Ming army arrived at the city of Pyongyang, Li Rusong first attempted to surprise Pyongyang directly under the guise of paying tribute, but because the attacking troops were too hesitant, President Konishi If you see through it, the surprise attack will fail.Before sending troops, the battle plan of the Ming Dynasty was not to fight a protracted war, but to complete all its achievements in one battle and completely wipe out the Japanese army with a big victory.As Ge Kun, an envoy of the Ming Dynasty, said to the King of Korea: "The plan of the Celestial Dynasty (Ming Dynasty) is to set the world in the first battle, so that there will be no Japanese pirates left behind."

On January 8, 1593 AD, with the purpose of keeping the Japanese pirates "untouched", the Battle of Pyongyang commanded by Li Rusong officially started.Li Rusong first ordered Wu Weizhong's Qi's army to attack Mudanfeng, which was the most heavily defended by the Japanese army. He did not demand to conquer it, but only to hold the Japanese army back.The Japanese army resisted extremely tenaciously. Although they suffered heavy casualties from the artillery fire of the Ming army, they still fired back with musket salvos.When the battle was at a stalemate, Luo Shangzhi, the general of Qi's army, led his Qi's army to surprise the South Gate and conquer it in one fell swoop, breaking the Pyongyang defense line.The Ming army took advantage of the momentum to pursue and conquer the city wall of Pyongyang. The Japanese army retreated into the inner city and fought street battles with the Ming army.Li Rusong didn't want to sacrifice needlessly, so when he saw the Japanese army retreating into the city's fortifications, he simply attacked with fire, burning the Japanese army inside the city to the point of crying and howling.The next day, Chief Konishi led the remnant troops to flee from the southeast gate of Pyongyang. Who would have thought that there was a big river outside the southeast gate of Pyongyang, and the panicked Japanese troops crossed the river in a hurry, drowning thousands of people.After crossing the river, he was intercepted and killed by the Ming general Li Ning who had already set up an ambush by the river, hacking hundreds of them to death.At this point, the Battle of Pyongyang was over, and the Ming army regained Pyongyang at the cost of 700 deaths. The casualties of the Japanese army were recorded in the Japanese military book "Japanese War History": the Japanese army invested a total of more than 30,000 troops in this battle. The 20,000 defenders of Nishi Gyoko and the 10,000 reinforcements of Kuroda Nagamasa), killed more than 20,000 (the injured are not counted).

After the war in Pyongyang, the Ming army pursued them all the way, but the previously bullish Japanese army was hit with "phobia" and almost fled from the Ming army.In Shangganling, there was a farce in which three Ming soldiers captured more than 100 Japanese soldiers.Li Rusong quickly pursued and wanted to recover North Korea's Wangjing (now Seoul) in one fell swoop. However, the defeated Japanese army was not reconciled. After careful planning, the Japanese base camp formulated a plan to gather and annihilate the Ming army. Encircle and annihilate.For this reason, the Japanese army assembled 60,000 troops in Seoul, and used a small group of troops to induce the Ming army to move south.Unexpectedly, the plan could not keep up with the changes. The more than 1,000 Japanese troops used to "lure the enemy" encountered the Ming army forward Cha Dashou in the Byekjekan in the north of Seoul, and the entire army was wiped out in a few strokes.Kuroda Nagamasa, the commander of the Japanese army, made a decisive decision and set up an ambush in Bichiguan to wipe out the Ming army on the spot.Zha Dashou's vanguard was suddenly surrounded by tens of thousands of Japanese troops, but the morale of the Ming army was high, they used "chariot formations" to fight back, and continued to launch counter-charges with cavalry. After fighting for a day and a night, tens of thousands of Japanese troops could not bear this. A small unit of the Ming Army.During the stalemate, Li Rusong, the admiral of the Ming army who was not aware of the situation, led his own soldiers to scout the front line, and unexpectedly crashed into the Bichi Pavilion, and was surrounded by the Japanese army together with Zha Dashou. The Japanese army who "won the lottery ticket" was ecstatic, and immediately concentrated their forces to launch a charge, intending to "capture the thief first and capture the king".Li Rusong, who had been on the battlefield for a long time, did not panic. To the surprise of the Japanese army, under the inferior force, Li Rusong launched a countercharge instead, attacking tens of thousands of Japanese troops with 3,000 cavalry.The Japanese army was caught off guard, and the encirclement was suddenly breached. Li Rusong took advantage of the opportunity to break through the siege. The Japanese army tightly surrounded and fought continuously. The fierce battle lasted from the morning to the evening of January 26. Li Rusong could not rush out, and the Japanese army could not attack. The two sides reached a stalemate.At this time, Li Rusong's general Yang Yuan learned of the situation and led 1,000 cavalry to attack from the outside. The exhausted Japanese army collapsed immediately. Li Rusong took the opportunity to break out, and a tragic encounter ended.

In the battle of Bichiguan, the Ming army used a total of 5,000 troops. It was not a large-scale battle, but the battle was extremely difficult. Li Rusong said in his post-war report that he was "sieged several times", which can be described as extremely difficult.More than half of the Ming army suffered casualties, but the situation of the Japanese army was even worse. In the list of dead reported by Kuroda Nagamasa alone, there were 30 generals and 8,000 soldiers.The battle of encirclement and annihilation launched by the Japanese army did not stop the Ming army from attacking.Li Rusong’s narrow escape from the Battle of Bichiguan made Li Rusong understand that the Japanese army still had strength and it would be difficult to eliminate it all at once. Therefore, he began to use a strange plan. First, in February, he sent dozens of death squads to surprise Longshan outside the capital city of Wangjing to kill the Japanese army. All food was burned.The Japanese army, which was short of food, had no choice but to withdraw from Wangjing in April, and at the same time sent envoys to Beijing to request "peaceful negotiations."In the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Zhigao, a cabinet scholar, and Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, suggested that the Ming army should end the war as soon as possible. Second assistant Zhang Wei used the example of the Vietnam conquest during the Yongle period to advise the Ming army to beware of falling into the quagmire of the Korean War.Seeing that Japan was softening, Emperor Wanli also expressed his willingness to negotiate peace. The two sides reached an agreement at first. The Japanese army withdrew from North Korea, leaving only a small number of troops stationed along the coast of North Korea.Thus ended the first phase of the Korean War.

But Toyotomi Hideyoshi did not really talk about peace, but used the peace talks as a cover to take the opportunity to prepare for war.The envoys of the two sides communicated closely, and the Japanese side pretended to accept the three major peace conditions of the Ming army: canonize Toyotomi Hideyoshi as the king of Japan under the vassal of the Ming Dynasty, withdraw troops from North Korea, and release the captive North Korean officials and civilians.In fact, since the armistice in April 1593, Japan has started a new round of preparations for war.In June 1593, Toyotomi Hideyoshi promulgated the "Military Law", stipulating that all men who have reached the age of 16 must serve in the military. At the same time, they will buy horses and train cavalry along the coast of Korea and Japan.In August 1594 AD, Toyotomi Hideyoshi paid a lot of money to buy the Portuguese, obtained Portugal's main warship "Centipede Ship" at that time, and ordered imitation drills.In September 1596, according to the "peace agreement" previously reached with Japan, Yang Fangheng, the envoy of the Ming Dynasty, went to Japan to "canonize" Toyotomi Hideyoshi.Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who thought that his strength had greatly increased, finally showed his fangs at this time. He first humiliated the Ming Dynasty envoy in public and expelled the Ming Dynasty envoy from the country. Li sun-sin wanted to rebel, which led to Li sun-sin being imprisoned.In January 1597 AD, Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent troops again, sending 150,000 troops to invade Korea, and the Korean War resurfaced. Unfortunately, this time the Japanese invaded the country, there was another war in the Ming Dynasty, and Yang Yinglong, the chieftain of Bozhou in the southwest, rebelled, and the Ming Dynasty was doing its best to suppress it.Therefore, when the Japanese army invaded North Korea, there were only more than 6,000 Ming troops stationed in North Korea.The North Korean side remained silent as before, and the Japanese army approached Wang Jing again like a broken bamboo.Yang Yuan, who rescued Li Rusong from the encirclement in the Battle of Bichiguan, defended Nanyuan to the death, and nearly his entire army was wiped out. At a critical juncture, 2,000 Jizhou soldiers (the flesh and blood of Qi Jiguang who trained in Jizhou back then) led by Jiesheng defended Jishan, and fought against 20,000 Japanese troops. The bloody battle successfully repelled the Japanese army and stabilized the battle for the Ming Dynasty.At this time, Li Rusong had passed away. In the Ming Dynasty, Xing Jie, Minister of the Ministry of War, was the governor of Jiliao, Ma Gui was the commander in chief of Japanese preparations, and Yang Gao was the military administrator of North Korea. He led 40,000 troops into the dynasty. The Ming army entered the court in October 1597, first attacked Xingzhou, and then set up an ambush in Qingzhou, severely injuring the Japanese army Mori Hidemoto's troops. Although the enemy was not completely wiped out in this battle, the Japanese army never launched an attack again, and the Ming army turned to defend. For the attack.On October 23rd, the Ming army divided into three groups to surround the Ulsan Kato Kiyosho Department. This is a crucial battle. If Ulsan can be successfully conquered, it means that the Japanese army’s retreat will be cut off, and the Japanese army will be divided. Encircle and annihilate.However, Ulsan has been painstakingly managed by the Japanese army for many years, and its army is also the most effective among the Japanese invaders. After the attack of the Ming army started, many charges were frustrated. The battle lasted for more than ten days, and the Ming army could not move an inch.At the critical moment, the guerrilla general Chen Yin led the Qi’s army from Zhejiang to rush forward bravely and successively broke through the Japanese army’s Ulsan camp.Seeing that victory was imminent, Yang Gao, who had never thought of commanding this battle, ordered the Qi family army who was in charge of attacking the fortress to withdraw in order to let Li Rumei (Li Rusong's younger brother) get the credit. The great fighter just disappeared.Afterwards, the Ming army's repeated attacks were ineffective, and it was raining heavily, and the Ming army's firearms could not be bombarded, and the battle situation suddenly deteriorated.In January 1598, the Japanese army led by Konishi Xingchang led an army to help, breaking through the encirclement of the Ming army.Yang Gao, the commander-in-chief of the Ming army, actually ran away and took the lead in fleeing, causing the Ming army to be in chaos.Fortunately, Wu Weizhong and Chen Yin of the Qi family army resolutely blocked the attack and repelled the Japanese attack, finally allowing the Ming army to retreat completely.The Battle of Ulsan has been described as a major defeat in the "Ming History" compiled by the Qing Dynasty. It is said that the Ming army lost more than 20,000 people.According to the historical records of the Koreans, the exact number of Ming army losses is 3,258.The Japanese army also paid a heavy price: "Japanese War History" stated that there were 20,000 people in the Ulsan Kato Kiyomasa Department before the war, but only 5,000 remained after the war.Even so, the Battle of Ulsan did not achieve the goal of cutting off the Japanese army's retreat, and it can be said that it fell short. The Battle of Ulsan completely awakened the Japanese army. After this battle, the Japanese army’s strategy became a fortress and passive defense.Afterwards, the Ming army concentrated its forces several times to attack the three fortresses of Ulsan, Sacheon, and Suncheon, which were occupied by the Japanese army in North Korea.In October of the same year, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who launched the war of aggression against Korea, passed away. The "Five Elders" who succeeded Toyotomi Hideyoshi in power, at this time the main purpose has become how to get the Japanese army to retreat.The Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty, who was lurking in Japan, learned of this information in time.Therefore, Xing Jie, governor of Jiliao in the Ming Dynasty, decided to intercept the Japanese army from the sea while they were retreating, and completely wiped out the Japanese army. In November 1598, the main force of Japan began to retreat across the board.The Ming army adopted the tactic of "surround them and save them". Chen Lin, a famous naval battle general, and Li Rusong, a famous Korean navy general, joined forces to set up an ambush in the Luliang Sea to cut off the retreat of the Japanese leader Konishi Xingchang.On November 19, Yoshihiro Shimadzu of the Japanese army came to rescue Yukiko Konishi, but was surrounded by the Ming army. The Luliang naval battle broke out. The Ming army blocked Haikou with huge ships and severely attacked the Japanese army with artillery fire.The anti-Japanese hero unit "Yu Jiajun" founded by Yu Dayou took the initiative to charge, and Deng Zilong led the clippers to attack the Japanese ships. The two sides fought first with artillery and then with hand-to-hand combat.The unique turtle ship of the North Korean navy even adopted a "suicide charge" and sank the Japanese ship by hitting it.The Japanese fleet rushed from left to right, but was still unable to break through the siege of the Ming army. In Guanyinpu, the Ming army fired rockets and burned the Japanese ships. The Japanese navy that Toyotomi Hideyoshi painstakingly created fell into a sea of ​​​​flames.By dawn on the 20th, the battle was basically over. The Ming army sank and burned more than 450 Japanese warships and wiped out nearly 20,000 Japanese troops.Xingchang Xiaoxi, who was cut off from retreat, was also surrounded and suppressed by the Ming army, and 7,000 of his troops were killed in battle. Only he and dozens of personal soldiers seized the ship and fled.The Ming army also suffered heavy casualties in this battle. The deputy commander of the navy, Deng Zilong, and the commander of the North Korean navy, Li Rusong, both died in battle.So far, the 7-year War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea has come to an end. After the war, the Korean side was very grateful for the contribution of the Ming Dynasty. The king of North Korea specially set up a "big newspaper altar" in Wangjing to express his gratitude to the Ming Dynasty.At this time, Emperor Wanli, who had not been in court for more than ten years, also received his officials for the first time, and held a grand prisoner offering ceremony in Beijing in the twenty-fourth year of Wanli (AD 1596). The 7-year Korean War cost nearly 8 million taels of silver, but this war severely damaged Japan's vitality, and it obediently retreated to the Japanese island for more than 200 years.Tokugawa Ieyasu, who ruled Japan after Toyotomi Hideyoshi, obediently surrendered to the Ming Dynasty and became a younger brother to China. Even before the Sino-Japanese War started more than 200 years later, there were still members of the Japanese Diet who opposed the war against Japan and aid Korea on the grounds of China goes to war. The War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea is over. According to common people's guess, the Ming army that participated in the war should be rested after receiving rewards.But in fact, most of the soldiers who participated in the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea, such as Chen Lin who commanded the Battle of Lulianghai and others, were sent to participate in another war immediately after being received by Emperor Wanli: the Battle of Bozhou to Ping Yang Yinglong war.This war is the "Banzhou Rebellion" in the three major campaigns of Wanli. Speaking of the Banzhou Rebellion, I have to talk about the situation in the southwest after the founding of the dynasty.After the Ming Dynasty unified the whole country, most of the southwestern minority-inhabited areas were ruled by chieftains, that is, the chieftains of local ethnic minorities were conferred as chieftains.Although these chieftains were the "officials ordered by the court" of the Ming Dynasty, they were extremely independent.Especially those chieftains in remote areas, some people believed that "the sky is high and the emperor is far away", and they only maintained superficial submission to the Ming Dynasty, but they were actually an independent kingdom that dominated one side.For example, Yang Yinglong, chieftain of Bozhou in the Ming Dynasty. Bozhou, today's Zunyi, Guizhou, was part of Sichuan Province in the Ming Dynasty.The rule of the Bozhou area has been controlled by the Yang family of Bozhou since the early Ming Dynasty.The Yang family was in charge of Bozhou, which first began in the Song Dynasty.The ancestors of the Yang family were originally Han people in Taiyuan. During the Tang Dynasty, they went south with the army and fled to Bozhou. They married and lived with the Miao people there, and gradually became the leader of a party.In the second year of Daguan in the Song Dynasty (AD 1108), the Song Dynasty named Yang Guangrong, the ancestor of the Yang family, as "Jiedu Envoy of the Bozhou Army", officially recognizing the Yang family's rule over Bozhou.During the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan named Yang Bangxian, the ancestor of the Yang family, the "Peace Envoy of Bozhou".In the Ming Dynasty, the "Bozhou Xuanwei Division" was set up in Bozhou, and the Yang family continued to be canonized.The Ming Dynasty also gave Bozhou preferential policies, exempting Bozhou from taxes, and paying tribute only once every three years.At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Yang family was very law-abiding. Ming Chengzu conquered Annan, Ming Yingzong conquered Luchuan, and Bozhou sent troops to help in the war.Bozhou became a border trouble when Emperor Xianzong of Ming Dynasty, Chenghua Emperor Zhu Jianshen was in power. .During the more than 100 years from the Chenghua period to the Jiajing period, although there were frictions between Bozhou and the central government of the Ming Dynasty, most of them were small fights and did not attract the attention of the Ming Dynasty. In the fifth year of Longqing (1571 A.D.), after Yang Yinglong inherited the chieftain, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Yang Yinglong himself was brutal, extorting money from the local area, and causing great public resentment. His mother-in-law's family was also exterminated for offending him.At the same time, Yang Yinglong wantonly expanded his territory and plundered the land of the Miao people's villages under his rule. After arousing the Miao people's resistance, he instigated the Miao people to attack the surrounding Han villages and instigate ethnic vendettas.Since the Wanli period, some local Miao people in Bozhou have sued Yang Yinglong, and officials from Sichuan and Guizhou in the Ming Dynasty also reported to the court that Yang Yinglong had the heart of rebellion.At this time, the Ming Dynasty was serious about land annexation. In order to alleviate land conflicts, the Ming Dynasty moved a large number of landless farmers to the southwest region many times. Many of these farmers were the ancestors of the Hakka people in the southwest today.Yang Yinglong strongly resisted this, organized armed forces many times, massacred the Han people who migrated to the south, and even bloodbathed Han villages.Yang Yinglong was also very intelligent. He hired a Sichuan landed son, Sun Shitai, as his military adviser, and made offerings to him like Zhuge Liang. This Sun Shitai not only advised Yang Yinglong many times, but also suggested that Yang Yinglong take the opportunity to break away from the rule of the Ming Dynasty and become king on his own. Although some local officials repeatedly impeached Yang Yinglong, the Ming government turned a blind eye to this and turned major incidents into minor incidents.In the 21st year of Wanli (AD 1593), Ye Mengxiong, the governor of Guizhou, exposed Yang Yinglong's conspiracy to rebel. The Ming Dynasty once arrested Yang Yinglong and tried him in Chongqing. , Said that he was willing to lead troops to North Korea to help in the war.The Ming Dynasty immediately followed suit and pardoned his capital crime.Unexpectedly, Yang Yinglong changed his mind when he returned home. He not only refused to send troops, but also cut off all roads between Bozhou and the outside world in order to defend it to the death.Wang Jiguang, governor of Sichuan in the Ming Dynasty, led 3,000 people to attack, but was defeated.After winning the battle, Yang Yinglong immediately cheated, telling the Ming Dynasty that his subordinates were responsible for the incident, and sent 12 of his subordinates to the Ming Dynasty for punishment.The Ming Dynasty was fooled again, and Yang Yinglong will not be held accountable for the time being.In the next few years, Yang Yinglong invaded the surrounding prefectures and counties repeatedly, and even wiped out the whole family of the magistrate of Chong'an County.But the Ming Dynasty was busy negotiating peace with Japan and ignored him.As a result, raising tigers was a problem. In the 25th year of Wanli (1597 A.D.), Yang Yinglong, who thought he was full of feathers, raised a rebellious banner and sent troops to invade Sichuan, and even invaded Huguang.Only then did the Ming Dynasty realize that this capricious chieftain has become a serious problem now.Enraged, the Ming Dynasty decided to attack.In January of the twenty-seventh year of Wanli, Jiang Dongzhi, the governor of Guizhou, led 3,000 Ming troops to attack Yang Yinglong, and was ambushed at Kuanlian Fort. None of the 3,000 Ming troops survived.The reason why the Ming army only dispatched 3,000 people in the two campaigns was because most of the Ming army’s elite were concentrated in the north at this time, and it was also the time of the War to Resist Japan and Aid Korea, and multi-line operations were really powerless. It wasn't until the victory of the war against Japan and aid to Korea that the Ming Dynasty could finally concentrate on solving the Bozhou issue.In May of the twenty-eighth year of Wanli (AD 1600), Li Hualong, who had served as the governor of Liaodong during the war against Japanese aggressors, was ordered to control the soldiers and horses of the three provinces of Huguang, Guizhou, and Sichuan, and assumed the important task of countering the rebellion.When the Ming army was assembled, Yang Yinglong continued to do evil, first captured Anjiang, Sichuan, and then Qinjiang, Sichuan. What is heinous is that he caused a massacre in Qinjiang, "ten thousand people were killed and injured".Due to the lack of troops, the Ming army had to divide their defenses, and the two sides began a stalemate.Li Hualong worked step by step and gradually suppressed Yang Yinglong. In January of the 29th year of Wanli (AD 1601), the Ming army finally came to Bozhou.Li Hualong divided into eight routes to attack, the general Liu Teng went out of Qijiang, the general Ma Liying went out of Nanchuan, the general Wu Guang went out of Hejiang, the deputy general Cao Xibin went out of Yongning, the general Tong Wuzhen went out of Wujiang, and the general Zhu Heling went out of Shaxi. Li Yingxiang went out of Xinglongwei, and Chen Lin, the commander-in-chief, went out of Baini, with 30,000 soldiers and horses in each route, totaling more than 200,000 people.The biggest trump card in Li Hualong's hand was the 3,000 members of Qi's army from Chen Yin's tribe who came to join the battle.The Ming army won successive victories and finally approached Loushan Pass, the fortress of Bozhou. Immediately, the army flattened the river and completely broke through in June.On the sixth day of June, the Ming army had already occupied most of Bozhou. Yang Yinglong's family retreated to a fortress. The desperate Yang Yinglong hanged himself. His dog-headed military adviser Sun Shitai, his son Yang Chaodong and other 69 people were captured. They were escorted to Beijing and beheaded.So far, the chieftain of Yangjia Bozhou, which has been handed down for 29 generations, ends here.After the war, the Ming Dynasty "reformed the land and returned it to the local people" and established prefectures and counties, which were directly ruled by the central government. This three-year war started with the troubles of the Ming Dynasty raising tigers and ended with the extermination of the Yang family. It was of great significance to the Ming Dynasty's rule of the Southwest.After the Banzhou War, many chieftains who were also "independent kingdoms" were terrified and voluntarily handed over power to the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty's control over the southwest was greatly strengthened from then on. In the War to Resist Japanese Aggression and Aid Korea in 1597 AD, the Ming Dynasty suffered from the dilemma of "two-front warfare". Before the start of the Korean War, on February 28, 1592, a massive military disaster occurred in Ningxia—the Qibai Rebellion. Speaking of this military disaster, we must first talk about the protagonist of the rebellion, Kui Bai.He was originally a Mongolian Tatar who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty during the Jiajing period. He performed very well at first. He once served under the command of Zheng Yin, the general soldier of Ningxia. It climbed steadily, and in the early years of Wanli (1573 A.D.), he was already an official in Ningxia General Army. Among the promotion speeds of generals in the Ming Dynasty, it was considered relatively fast. Regarding his early behavior, today's history books say that he "has a lot of dead soldiers", which means that he has long had the intention of rebellion.During the Jiajing and Longqing dynasties of the Ming Dynasty, the frontier defense was tight. Although the issue of worship was often exposed, when people were available, they turned a blind eye.In addition, Bai Bai himself is also very good at business affairs, and he has made many friends with the frontier generals of the Ming Dynasty.In the northern frontier defense of the Ming Dynasty, there was a tradition of recruiting Mongolian soldiers into the army. Among them, the officers were called Tartar officials, and Qibai had many contacts with many Tartar officials.During the Wanli period, Qi Bai continued to be promoted, until he became the deputy general of Ningxia, and became a senior official in charge of the local military and government in Ningxia.It was the Hetao Incident in the seventeenth year of Wanli (AD 1589) that really aroused the rebellion of the worshipers.Xiaobai was proud of his victory, and when he returned to the army, he even sent troops to loot, and was reprimanded by Dangxin, the governor of Ningxia.At the same time, the embezzlement of military pay by Baibai was discovered. Because of his great achievements, the Ming Dynasty finally dealt with it leniently and only issued a document reprimanding the incident.However, because of this, Xiaobai became even more resentful and rebellious.After Hetao returned, Qiaobai replaced many generals in the army with his own cronies under the pretext of rectifying military affairs. This incident was exposed by Sun Li, the censor of Ningxia in the Ming Dynasty.After receiving the report, the Ming Dynasty still hoped to calm things down, so they made a compromise and did not pursue the crimes of Qiangbai. They only ordered Qiangbai to retire in the name of old age, and his son Bo Chengen succeeded him as the "deputy commander-in-chief". duty.However, this move is a temporary solution, not the root cause. The rebellion of Qi Bai has turned into "underground activities", and chaos is imminent. On February 18th, the 20th year of Wanli (AD 1592), the long-planned Qibai officially launched a rebellion. Together with his cronies Liu Dongyang, Tu Wenxiu and others, they launched a rebellion. They first killed Dang Xin, the governor of Ningxia, and then forced Zhang Weizhong, the general soldier of Ningxia, to hang himself. .The cronies of Qibai stationed in various parts of Ningxia also took the opportunity to create chaos. Because the incident happened in a hurry, the Ming government had no time to respond. In just one month, only Pingyao City in Ningxia was not conquered due to its strong defense.At the same time, Qibai also contacted the Tatar Talik and the Barbarian tribes, and exchanged their support for the transfer of the grasslands in northern Ningxia.Qi Bai, who is backed by someone, is even more confident, and acts perversely in Ningxia.All the land of Han and Hui people in Ningxia was plundered by him and turned into pastures, and a large number of people were expelled and massacred.The most absurd thing is that when Qiaobai wanted to establish himself as king in Ningxia, his counselors gave him the title of "king" one after another, which can be described as extremely arrogant. Of course, the Ming Dynasty could not tolerate his arrogance, and worshiped the February rebellion. On March 4, the Ming Dynasty army came to suppress it. The first person in charge of suppressing the rebellion was Wei Xuezeng, Governor of Ningxia.Most of the troops dispatched by the Ming Dynasty came from the interior of Henan and Shaanxi. They were all "peaceful soldiers" who had not gone through a war. Naturally, they were not opponents of the Ningxia rebels.After being frustrated in the first battle, the Ming Dynasty dispatched Ma Gui, the former general of Datong who had retired, to help. , had to retreat to the old nest of Ningxia City (now Yinchuan).But at this moment, an accident happened. The foreign aids of Qibai, Lalik and Tuman sent troops to rescue one after another. General Magui stationed heavy troops in Helan Mountain, and fought a bloody battle with the Mongolian reinforcements. Into a stalemate. When the attack failed for a long time, the Ming Dynasty took another heavy hand and transferred Li Rusong, the general soldier of Shanxi, to suppress the rebellion.The Ming Dynasty also set a precedent by ordering Li Rusong to supervise Ningxia. This was the first time that the Ming Dynasty had a military commander supervise the army.Wei Xuezeng, who was unfavorable in the previous battle, was also replaced and replaced by Ye Mengxiong.In terms of the army, the Ming Dynasty mobilized elites. The Qi family army in Jizhou, the Liaodong iron cavalry in Liaodong, and the Xuanda elite cavalry in Xuanfu and Datong were all transferred to Ningxia. It can be said that they are determined to win. By July, the Ming army had surrounded the city of Ningxia. At the same time, Magui, who was helping in Helan Mountain, also reported success frequently.On July 12, Ma Gui, led by the Qi family army, destroyed the camp of the Mongol reinforcements, chased and killed them for 70 miles, and almost wiped out all the Tatar reinforcements.So far, Ningxia City, which was surrounded by the Ming army, has become a dead city.Qibai's resistance was quite tenacious. Ningxia City was an important town on the nine borders, with strong defenses and dozens of cannons.Li Rusong tried his best to pile up sacks to climb the city, but was repelled and ordered the troops to dig tunnels, but was poured with water. Li Rusong simply cast dikes and flooded the city with water, and the entire Ningxia city became a swamp.With ammunition and food running out, Qianbai finally couldn't hold on anymore. On September 17th, the Ming army took advantage of the water to launch a general attack. Qianbai fled in a hurry, but was stopped by Ming general Yang Dengwen, and his son Bo Chengen was captured alive. Take advantage of the situation and enter the city.In desperation, Qiaobai set himself on fire at home and died.At this point, the Ningxia rebellion was settled, and the victorious Li Rusong and Liaodong Army were able to withdraw from Ningxia and go to the Korean battlefield. The Qibai Rebellion was the longest and largest "Tartar official" rebellion since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. The victory of the Ming army not only stabilized the situation in Ningxia, but also deterred the Mongolian tribes that had been harassing the border of the Ming Dynasty. .After the Battle of Ningxia, the Mongolian tribes around Ningxia "had a large number of people seeking surrender." The reason why the Ming Dynasty was able to destroy the Japanese army in the first war against Japanese aggressors and aid Korea was also because most of the troops participating in the Korean War Withstood the baptism of the Battle of Ningxia, especially Li Rusong, as the commander in chief, who was deeply impressed by the tenacious resistance of Ningxia City, and only then did he learn a lot of wisdom from a fall in the battle, and wiped out tens of thousands of Japanese troops in the Battle of Pyongyang. wonderful pen. Compared with the above-mentioned familiar "Three Great Marches of Wanli", the Ming Dynasty in the last 10 years of the 16th century actually experienced a war that is not mentioned much today but is absolutely important-the battle of Zheng Luoping to conquer Qinghai-Tibet. Speaking of this battle, it is actually not unrelated to the previous Ningxia battle.The fuse of Qi Bai's rebellion was the battle of the Western Expedition to Hetao in the 17th year of Wanli (1589 A.D.). This war has a name in the history books of the Ming Dynasty: the Hetao Change. The protagonist of the Hetao Incident is Talik, Khan of the Mongolian Tumed Department. Although this person is not well-known, his grandfather is very famous--the Mongolian Tatar Khan Altan who created the "Geng Shu Change".After Altan accepted the canonization of the Ming Dynasty, he was named "Shunyi King" by the Ming Dynasty. The large-scale war between Ming and Mongolia came to an end, and the two sides have had peaceful exchanges since then.After the death of Altan, his son Huang Taiji also inherited the friendly policy towards the Ming Dynasty. In addition, the mutual market trade between Ming and Mongolia brought benefits to most Mongolians. Shanxi, Shaanxi and other places that were originally battlefields have long since It is a peaceful scene.As Altan's grandson, Lalik inherited the title of "King of Shunyi", but he was not satisfied, and began to expand continuously. While merging the surrounding Mongolian tribes, he began to develop into the Han land.此时明朝陕西、山西等地皆兵强马壮，轻易惹不得，所以他的矛头，就对准了明朝防御相对薄弱的青海、甘肃地区。 明朝中期以后，青海草原地区渐成蒙古部落的活动区域，阿勒坦可汗受封“顺义王”初期，因他在蒙古部落中的巨大影响力，尚能震慑各部，他死后，继任的黄台吉无力约束青海蒙古部落，因此明朝西部边患日重。扯力克受封顺义王后，对青海蒙古部落采取联合方式。这时候由于明蒙互市，许多青海蒙古部落皆经过甘肃参加互市，扯力克便时常纵兵抢掠，不断吞并当地部落。万历十六年（公元1588年），扯力克进入青海，与当地部落联合，攻打西部的瓦剌部落。次年又在西宁修筑寺庙，与明朝甘肃总督梅友松发生冲突。除此以外，他们还时常打劫经丝绸之路进入中原的各国商旅，掠夺财物。对明朝而言最严重的事情是，这些蒙古部落进入青海地区后，大肆屠杀当地原本忠实于明王朝的藏族部落，迫使他们南迁，明朝甘肃御史严振就在万历十二年（公元1584年）上奏说：“长此以往，边境藩篱渐少，必为大患。”根据明朝兵部尚书郑洛的统计，从阿勒坦去世的万历十年（公元1582年）开始，至万历十七年（公元1589年），蒙古部落多次进入甘肃劫掠，累积杀害边民2000多人。从万历十五年（公元1587年）起，明朝方面要求对青海动武的呼声甚高。但这时期西部的边患，多是小打小闹，直到万历十八年（公元1590年），一场大的变乱发生了。 万历十八年（公元1590年）六月，自以为实力强大的扯力克和明朝翻脸了，先是4000蒙古军袭击明朝甘肃临洮、渭州、河州三地，明军严防死守，击退了蒙古军的进犯，临洮副总兵李连芳意图乘胜追击，反中了蒙古军埋伏身亡。一个月后，蒙古军又攻打河州，河州沦陷。蒙古军在进攻西宁时遭到西宁守将李奎拦截后，一番激战击毙李奎。短短一个月间，明朝两位总兵战死，5座军镇沦陷，边境军民死伤无数，一时间“西北大震”。 边报传来，明朝上下群情激奋，小小扯力克，竟然敢打天朝的主意，如此耻辱败仗怎堪忍受？各级官员纷纷上书，要求明王朝调重兵至青海平叛。明朝甘肃总督梅友松因战败免职，原宣大总督郑洛接替。同时明朝还停止了与扯力克之间的“通贡贸易”，对扯力克进行经济封锁。眼看一场大规模战争就要爆发，此时，一个改变战局的人物登场了——郑洛。 对蒙古人来说，郑洛是个老熟人了。隆庆年间（公元1567年～1572年）阿勒坦在山西接受册封，与明王朝化干戈为玉帛时，郑洛就是山西参政，这以后又做过山西巡抚，一直在和蒙古人打交道，蒙古人的内部情况非常清楚。正因如此，面对朝野上下一派主战的呼声，他却非常冷静。他到任后，并没有立刻集结重兵发起反击，反而给扯力克使“阴招”。十月抵达兰州后，第一件事就是切断青海与河套草原之间的一切通道，断绝两地蒙古部落的联系，同时警告河套地区蒙古部落，谁敢帮扯力克闹事就治谁。盘踞青海的扯力克，一下子成了断绝外援的孤军。另外派人在青海各地蒙古部落里广发告示，重金悬赏缉拿扯力克等人，并声明“胁裹者无罪”，引得不少部落纷纷投诚。接着郑洛又拉拢青海当地受扯力克欺压的藏族部落，给予优厚的赏赐，策动他们协同明军作战。当然舆论攻势也没少，青海当地纷纷传言，明朝大军来了，有50多万…… 几番攻势下来，扯力克势力大减，原本和他合伙攻打甘肃的火筛、脱脱等部落，不是仓皇逃窜，就是向明朝投降，诸路蒙古部落也纷纷和扯力克划清界限。原本被扯力克赶离青海的藏族部落，也有不少纷纷北归，甚至助明朝进攻。阴招使完了，郑洛又使明招，他带来的军队里，包括戚继光留在蓟州的3000戚家军骑兵，这是彼时明朝最精锐的骑兵部队，但郑洛却不正面进攻，他把骑兵分散在青海与蒙古草原之间的各个要道上，专打扯力克的辎重队伍，打完了就走，和扯力克拼速度。从是年十月开始至次年一月，3个月里明军没打大仗，小仗却接连不断，“斩获辎重无算”，彻底给嚣张的扯力克断了奶。原本在河洮之变后牛气哄哄的扯力克，不到几个月，就陷入了众叛亲离、四面楚歌的境地。 但扯力克毕竟是明朝册封的顺义王，如果消灭，又有可能激反其他的蒙古部落，郑洛的办法很简单：让他自己离开青海。他一面通过各种小规模的军事行动打击扯力克，一面向扯力克下“最后通牒”，声称若扯力克继续留在青海，明王朝将剥夺他“顺义王”的封号。同时他命山西明军集结边境，随时准备直捣扯力克的河套老家。利弊权衡下，扯力克服软，公元1591年一月，扯力克离开青海，回到了他的老窝。扯力克走后，滞留在青海的蒙古部落群龙无首，郑洛随即开始了攻击，当年伙同扯力克组织“联军”的巴都尔、超呼尔等部落纷纷被打垮。公元1598年，明军发动大小松山战役，攻破最后一支扯力克青海嫡系势力阿图海，迫使其西逃。至此，青海蒙古部落作乱问题彻底解决。 纵观郑洛在青海7年恩威并施的过程，并未发生大规模的战役，但意义却非同一般。明朝稳定了青海的局势，保证了西部丝绸之路的畅通，并通过打击扯力克，震慑了西部蒙古诸部。而另一个现实意义是：就在河洮之变发生的第二年，即爆发了宁夏战役和抗倭援朝战争，如果当年明朝在青海投入重兵开战，那么很可能就陷入三线作战的泥潭了。