Chapter 71 I don't want to be named Marquis, but I hope Haibo will be peaceful.

Before liberation, a kind of noodle cake was widely sold along the coast, with a slightly salty taste, smooth skin and a small hole in the middle. People called it "light cake".It is said that this light cake was made for Qi Jiguang to fight Japanese pirates. It turned out that the Japanese pirates were rampant back then, their whereabouts were erratic, they swarmed ashore at one time, roared away at another, and sneaked up at night from time to time, murdering and setting fire.Qi Jiguang led the volunteers to hunt down and hunt down and suppress them. The soldiers were extremely fast, and they always thought of the problem of delaying the cooking time, so they couldn't think of a way.

Once, when Qi Jiguang marched to the east gate of Longshan in Cixi, an old farmer offered many salty cakes with a small hole in the middle and sesame seeds on the outside as comfort.And said: "Don't look at the bareness of this cake, you can wear it with a rope and carry it around, tear it off when you are hungry, and you can satisfy your hunger." Qi Jiguang repeatedly praised: "Old man, you are so thoughtful, I really want to thank you Yes. With this light cake, there will be no delay in marching in the future." As the news spread, people from all over the country rushed to make light cakes and dedicated them to the army, and the name "light cakes" has been handed down ever since.Because this kind of cake has a slightly salty taste, it is also called "Xianguang cake" in some places.

The story of "Guangbing" tells us that the story of Qi Jiguang's fight against the Japanese is so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people that it entered their lives in the name of pancakes.This shows Qi Jiguang's influence on people's lives. As a generation of famous generals, Qi Jiguang has made a lot of achievements, just because the Anti-Japanese War he led had such a profound impact on the history of that time and later generations, this achievement conceals his other achievements, although they are also very important. Qi Jiguang is a native of Penglai, Shandong Province. He was born in a general family. He was determined to fight on the battlefield since he was a child, to protect the country and defend the people. At the age of 17, he inherited his father's position as the commander of the Dengzhou Guard. At the age of 25, he was promoted to be the commander of the capital, responsible for the coastal defense of the entire Shandong Province against Japanese pirates, and achieved remarkable results.Soon, the Japanese plague rose on the southeast coast.Qi Jiguang was transferred to Zhejiang, where the Japanese infestation was serious, as the capital secretary. Soon he was promoted to general and guarded Ningbo, Shaoxing and Taizhou.

The Japanese pirates who ravaged the southeast coast were different from ordinary pirates.Most of the pirates are mobs, and as soon as the purpose of plundering property is achieved, they will rush away.But Japanese pirates are not.After they landed, they usually established bases and sometimes besieged cities.These pirate leaders were so prestigious that they colluded with the local gentry and even got married.They openly repaired ships along the coast, and ordered the villagers to accept their summons.This maritime authority, though still in its infancy, must, if allowed to develop, threaten our country based on an agricultural economy.

The unscrupulous activities of pirates forced the government to take tough countermeasures.However, as soon as the conflict broke out, the political and military weakness of the Ming Dynasty was fully exposed.Once a battle broke out, some troops simply fled. Although some troops dared to fight, due to the tactics of sticking to the dense formation, it often resulted in the consequence of "one man loses, ten thousand people collapse". The Japanese pirates were almost invincible in the early stages of the invasion, mainly due to their superior tactics and sophisticated weapons. When Qi Jiguang was transferred to Zhejiang in 1555, a group of pirates with 50 to 70 people created a miracle.After they landed, they went deep into the hinterland, killing people and stealing goods everywhere, as if entering a land without people, they actually passed Beixin Pass in Hangzhou, entered Shexian County in Anhui via Chun'an, approached Wuhu, made a big circle around Nanjing, and then went to Moling Pass to Yixing, and then returned to Wu Jin.Although they were wiped out later, it is said that as many as 4,000 people were killed or wounded by them.Nanjing is the accompanying capital of this dynasty, and it is recorded that there are 120,000 troops stationed there.Such military actions should also be called rare in the history of world wars.

Faced with such an anxious situation, Qi Jiguang's task was by no means limited to simply defeating the Japanese pirates.He first wanted to organize a new type of army.Qi Jiguang started to organize his new army. The source of soldiers was not from military households and guards, but from volunteers recruited in the interior of Zhejiang Province.Qi Jiguang's principle of recruiting troops is to only accept farmers and not urban residents.He considered people from the market place to be cunning and scoundrels. Qi Jiguang's approach has been strongly supported by the government.For this kind of support, Qi Jiguang warned the soldiers that they should be grateful in his lectures.He said: "When you are a soldier, even if it is windy and rainy, you will be able to sit with your hands up, and you will not miss three cents a day. This silver cent is all collected by the government from the people in your locality. Which one of you is not farming at home?" You think about the hardships and hardships of farming at home, that is to say, it is easy to eat money today. You don’t need to farm and work, and you have been raising it for a year, but I hope you will win in one or two battles. You don’t want to kill thieves. What is your use? Even if the military law slips through the net, the sky will kill you with a fake hand!"

The persuasion of moral obligation, coupled with the inherent religious beliefs of the masses, enabled Qi Jiguang to establish iron discipline among his recruits. In response to the characteristics of the Ming army's wide variety of weapons and equipment, rough coastal terrain, and scattered small groups of Japanese pirates, Qi Jiguang created the "Mandarin Duck Array" that was suitable for both offense and defense. With 12 people as a team, long and short weapons were stacked, and both stabbing and guarding were taken into account. He changed his formation according to the location and defeated the Japanese pirates repeatedly.Taking advantage of the gaps in combat training, he wrote "Ji Xiao's New Book", expounding the theories and methods of selecting soldiers, forming troops, drilling, and going out, and using this to train Qi's army, making Qi's army famous all over the world.

Qi's army's record of victory is second to none.Beginning in 1559, this army has repeatedly said that it has attacked, cleared, confronted, and pursued, but has never been defeated by Japanese pirates in battle.In addition to the quality of the troops, coach Qi Jiguang's excellent command ability is a key factor in determining victory.The repeated victories of the Qi family army made them famous, and this reputation made the local soldiers more motivated. They could conquer Japanese pirate strongholds that other officials and troops could not solve within months, and annihilate the enemy within a few hours.

Qi Jiguang, Tan Lun, Yu Dayou and other famous anti-Japanese generals fought bloody battles for more than ten years, and basically wiped out the Japanese invasion in the southeast coast.Qi Jiguang himself also became the highest officer and general of military commanders.Soon after, he was appointed as the governor and Tongzhi, the prime minister of the military affairs of Jizhou, Changping, and Baoding, and led the troops to guard the northern border.After he took office, according to the operational characteristics of the Mongolian cavalry, he established infantry battalions, cavalry battalions, vehicle battalions, and black heavy battalions mainly based on arquebus guns, and made each battalion a combined army that could conduct coordinated operations under a unified command. .At the same time, on the basis of the old Great Wall, the original side walls were heightened and thickened, heavy city walls were built in important places, and hollow enemy towers were created along the Great Wall, thus truly building an unbreakable strong line of defense.During his 16 years at the northern border, "the border was prepared and repaired, and Jimen was safe."In the midst of busy military affairs, he also found time to write his military works and poems.His second military work was entitled "Records of Military Training", which was published in 1571. Nine years later, his collection of poems and essays "Zhi Zhi Tang Ji" was published.

During Qi Jiguang's military career of more than 40 years, "three hundred and sixty days a year, most of the horses are on the go", either to wipe out Japanese pirates on the southeast coast, to clarify the sea frontier; or to train troops in the north to keep Jimen safe.None of the warriors of Qi Jiguang's contemporaries could establish such brilliant achievements.For this he received all the honors a military attache can receive.Even in terms of official position, being in the general army has reached the pinnacle.Because the rules of the Ming Dynasty did not allow a warrior to hold military power in more than one province, even if there was a promotion, it would only increase the official salary and rank.

Qi Jiguang's success is of course due to his personal talent.But what cannot be ignored is that he received the wholehearted support of two senior officials, Governor Tan Lun of Fujian (later transferred to Minister of the Ministry of War) and Chief Assistant Zhang Juzheng.In an era where people make things happen, the latter point may be more important.Qi Jiguang's disappointment in his later years was also completely related to Zhang Juzheng's loss of power.Qi Jiguang's strength is that he did not regard these personnel advantages as the capital for opportunism and promotion and fortune, but only as a means to build a new army and defend the country.