Chapter 28 Chapter 24 Dust the Stars
When the news of Qi Jiguang's transfer to Guangdong General Soldier reached Li Chengliang's ears, Li Chengliang's heart was immediately cast a shadow.
It's the death of a rabbit and the sorrow of a fox, it's a thing that hurts its kind...
"You have been a soldier all your life, so why did you come here?" He thought silently, his emotions filled with sadness and helplessness: "You have commanded millions of soldiers, fought thousands of miles, and lived and died for decades, but your head is still pinched in the hands of the emperor. I am so happy!" I put it on your neck when I was young, maybe I will be unhappy one day, and I will go back with a single move. With Qi Shuai's meritorious deeds, this is the end. He has been in Jiji for sixteen years. ..."
He thought about it over and over again, the more he thought about it, the worse his mood became; during these days, the changes in the court caused by the sudden death of "Mr. It is even more "the sound of wind and cranes, and the grass and trees are all soldiers"; Emperor Wanli has officially issued an edict to pursue Zhang Juzheng's official position in Shangzhu Kingdom, Taishi, and Wenzhong's posthumous title, and the people promoted and appointed by "Mr. Fortunately, after Feng Bao, the "Mr. Zhang's people" who resigned, dismissed officials, and were convicted have fallen one by one like dominoes, and now even "Qi Shuai" has an accident-the next round Who is it?Could it be me?I am also "Mr. Zhang's person" in the minds of others!
He felt shuddering, and paid close attention to every news from the capital with vigilance and fear every day, and kept sending people to the capital to deliver letters and gifts—Li Rumei, who was sent to the capital to give gifts by him last time, did not come back. A few days later, he was sent to Beijing again with a large amount of antique jewels—but even though he had done everything he could, he still couldn't dispel the anxiety and anxiety in his heart. disturbed.
Especially when thinking of the example of "Qi Shuai"...
"Qi Shuai" guarding Ji and defending the capital has always been hailed as the "Great Wall" of our dynasty. Of course, there is nothing to say about the degree of reliance on it; but this time, for a small incident, Zhang Dingsi The letter said that Qi Jiguang was not suitable for the north, so he was immediately transferred to the south as the general army of Guangdong; Yinxin, going south soon...
"It's because 'Mr. Zhang' is gone, and 'Qi Shuai' is no longer suitable for North..."
Thinking of this in his heart, he unconsciously twitched the corners of his mouth, and the muscles on his face twitched accordingly; he had spent more than half his life in officialdom, and he knew without even thinking about it, the so-called "not suitable for the North" was in the In this round of power struggle, the victor imposed "unnecessary" charges on the loser; in fact, everyone knows that the real reason why Qi Shuai is "unsuitable for the North" is because he is "Mr. "—Just for this reason alone, it is enough to offset all the contributions he has made to the country, including exterminating the Japanese pirates, keeping the southeast half of the dynasty, and resisting Altan and barbarians so that they dare not invade south and defend the country. The meritorious deeds of the capital and others in exchange for wisdom and blood and sweat.
However, a military genius who made great contributions to the country, defeated countless enemies on the battlefield, but finally lost to the emperor he was loyal to and the dirty political struggles - from Jizhou to Guangdong, that is not true. The out-and-out "Eight Thousands of Chaoyang Road in the Evening Blink"!
"Qi Shuai is always high-spirited, I really don't know how uncomfortable he will feel at this moment!"
Li Chengliang let out a long breath slowly, and looked into the distance with too much gloom in his eyes.
Considering Qi Jiguang's contribution to the country, even he, who is also a general, will feel respect in his heart...
Qi Jiguang, courtesy name Yuanjing, was born in Shandong. His ancestors inherited the command of the Dengzhou Guard because of his military exploits. Dayi, familiar with military books, which makes him a rare talent with both civil and military skills.
At the age of seventeen, his father died of illness, so he took over the post, and soon he was recommended to be the commander of the capital, preparing for Shandong Province. , Shaoxing and Taizhou counties.
At that time, these places were the places where the pirates from Japan were the most violent. The people were ravaged by the Japanese pirates, and the people were already in dire straits. He was responsible for defending these places, with great responsibilities and many difficulties. It was also the first-line battlefield. It can be said that he was holding his own head in office; however, his career in life began from then on.
In the thirty-fourth year of Emperor Sejong's Jiajing reign, he officially took office in Zhejiang. After he took office, he found that the guard army formally established by the imperial court at that time could not go to the battlefield at all; Fleeing in the face of the wind, when robbing the people, everyone is scrambling to be the first, and it is often heard that killing good people and taking meritorious service; country?Therefore, he wrote to the imperial court, requesting that the old soldiers be dismissed, and that new troops be recruited and trained.
With the support of Governor Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang successfully recruited 3,000 strong men in the areas of Jinhua and Yiwu, where the folk customs have always been fierce, and organized them into a new army, subjecting them to strict military training.
He personally taught the army combat skills and martial arts such as attacking and stabbing, and aimed at the tortuous and watery terrain in the south of the Yangtze River that was not conducive to the galloping of large groups of troops, and the Japanese pirates were good at setting up ambushes, charging, and good at hand-to-hand combat. The "Mandarin Duck Formation" formation uses twelve people as a combat group, with long and short weapons and shields to form a mobile, flexible and tight assembly, suitable for close combat.
In addition to combat skills, tactics, and formations, he also paid special attention to military discipline and military law. Therefore, after the training was completed, this army became the best and most efficient team in the country. Yum, "Qi's Army" became famous all over the world.
In the 40th year of Jiajing, Japanese pirates invaded eastern Zhejiang on a large scale, and in the second year they invaded Fujian again, and all of them were wiped out by the "Qi Family Army". Recruiting new entrants, expanding the number of people, becoming stronger and stronger, known as "invincible, invincible", coupled with the fact that there is no crime against the people, so the reputation is growing; The troops of Fujian General Yu Dayou and Guangdong General Liu Xian defeated the Japanese pirates in the Xinghua and Pinghai areas of Fujian. , Qi Jiguang won the first merit, was promoted to become the general soldier, and also gained the nickname "Qi Tiger" among the Japanese pirates.
In the second year, the Japanese pirates gathered the remaining 10,000 people and surrounded Xianyou, Fujian Province as if desperately struggling. The Japanese pirates in Fujian were wiped out completely, and then joined forces with Yu Dayou to wipe out the remaining Japanese pirates in Guangdong; the Japanese pirates who had been rampant along the southeast coast for 20 years were all put down, and the people were given a comfortable living space .
Two years later, in the first year of Longqing, because Ida violated Datong and Tatar barbarians violated Jizhen, which threatened the safety of the capital, Wu Shilai wrote to Wu Shilai to suggest that Emperor Muzong, who had just ascended the throne, transfer Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou to the north for special training. The border guards defended the capital, but at that time the imperial court decided to abandon the previous policy of having Xunchen generals in Guangdong and Guangxi, and changed each to a general. Therefore, it was decided that Yu Dayou would still be in the south and serve as the commander-in-chief of Guangxi. In the south of Xinjiang, Qi Jiguang was transferred to the north alone, and as the governor, he knew the prime minister's military training in the three towns of Jizhou, Changping, and Baoding.
The tune of "going north" made Qi Jiguang open the second peak of his career. Of course, the importance of Jingshuai is extraordinary. A booming career.
The most important reason for his military talents to be fully utilized without any restraint is to meet and be known by "Mr. Zhang".
The year when Qi Jiguang was transferred to the north was the year when Zhang Juzheng entered the cabinet; Zhang Juzheng, who had "knowledge of people", not only valued and respected Qi Jiguang's talent and ability, but also trusted him 100% and gave him absolute power. For him, he blocked the voice of opposition from the DPRK, and freed him from the worries of the complicated political level. Without any restraint, he gradually carried out his grand plan of rebuilding the military power of the DPRK.
During the sixteen years of Zhenji, he developed many tactics, formations and weapons suitable for the northern climate and terrain, and trained more elite troops; Piers were added, five feet high, with three floors in the middle, which can be used to garrison a hundred people; starting from Shanhaiguan, 1,200 piers were built within the border defense area of Ji Town, which stretched for two thousand miles, and it took five years. just finished.
And these buildings, troops, weapons, coupled with excellent strategy and tactics, make the 2,000-mile defense line that Qi Jiguang is in charge of defending the capital impenetrable; Afterwards, like the Japanese pirates, he gave up the idea of invading China.
In this way, the prestige of "Qi Shuai" deterred the enemy from south to north, kept a large area of the country, and benefited millions of people.
However, he was able to make these brilliant military exploits that no one else could, but he was not good at political struggle. With "Mr. Zhang" in Japan, he could fully support him and save him from worries. Once "Mr. Zhang" died, He immediately lost the battle for power in the court...
"I'm afraid, the defense line he has painstakingly built for more than ten years will be ruined by people, and Jibian will have troubles from now on..." After thinking and thinking, Li Chengliang finally couldn't bear it. I started talking to myself, and subconsciously flipped through the two books on the table in my hand. They were two military works by Qi Jiguang: "Real Records of Military Training" and "New Book of Ji Xiao". His years of combat and military training experience have long been recognized as the most important military works of this dynasty; however, as he casually flipped through them, his emotions deepened: "I have done meritorious service and made a statement-but I don't know how to be an official. After all, it’s all empty!”
Qi Jiguang's example of "not knowing how to be an official" is too numerous to write. He will not even add "first merit" to himself-the system of this dynasty. He doesn't kill prisoners, he doesn't kill surrenders, and he always fights desperately to eliminate them in one fell swoop, and doesn't know how to leave a "retreat" so that he can continue to fight and have merit; in the end, he gets too famous, The enemy did not dare to invade, and he had no battles to fight for years, so his "first merit" could not rise in a straight line. Therefore, despite his outstanding achievements, he was not able to be named "Bo"—unlike himself, "Uncle Ning Yuan" The title has already been obtained!
Thinking of this, there was a smile on his face immediately - it was a complacent expression that surged up unconsciously, the first one, Qi Jiguang helped him a lot indirectly - because of Jizhen's stubborn Too "safety", the Tuman gave up the route of invading from Jizhen to the south, and then turned to Liaodong, which gave him many opportunities for meritorious service and promotion. It goes without saying that he is definitely the best of the frontier commanders; it is a fool in his opinion to only focus on military training and fighting like Qi Jiguang without taking his own future into consideration first—— Among several frontier commanders, Wang Chonggu's way of dealing with Mongolia was to live in peace and open horse markets with each other. Qi Jiguang tried to frighten them with one move, but the result was that there was no battle to fight, and it was difficult for him to be promoted; unlike himself, From time to time, they will provoke the Jurchens to kill each other, create troubles, and then find another trouble to send troops to attack. In this way, the "first achievements" will increase year after year, and even high-ranking officials and generous salaries will follow...
Thinking about it, Li Chengliang became complacent, he couldn't help but want to look up to the sky and laugh, to vent the feeling of complacency in his heart; however, as soon as he thought about it, his smile disappeared immediately, and his expression darkened again Come down: "High-ranking officials and generous salaries-you have to keep them!"
His mood was back to the worry of the political situation changing and the uncertain future, and his brows were furrowed again without realizing it; at this moment, a loud voice came from outside the door: "Father, the child is coming in like a cat! "
"Come in!"
Li Ruzi entered in response to the sound, walked up to Li Chengliang after entering the door, and immediately handed the letter to Li Chengliang respectfully, and said: "The fifth brother sent the urgent document from the capital for eight hundred miles, please take a look at it !"
When Li Chengliang heard that it was a quick letter from Beijing, he didn't read the content, he didn't know good or bad, his heart was already jumping up and down, but on the surface he tried his best to control it as calmly as possible, pretending to ask casually : "When did it arrive?"
"Just arrived..."
Before Li Ruzi's answer was over, Li Chengliang had already pulled out the letterhead and began to read; unexpectedly, before he had read a few lines, his face completely changed, the muscles on his face twitched, and cold sweat ran down his neck It flowed down, but my heart was panicked, numb, shocked and horrified by the black words on the white paper...
I wrote a letter to Huang Daozhan and others during the incident, saying that my father and elder brother were improperly living together in the important town, and that there was no father and son who were both the commander-in-chief of the important town. This matter was reported by Lord Shen, and the child was conspiring with him, and Lord Shen has promised to do his best to protect it... …
After reading the letter, he didn't say a word for a long time; the time has finally come, and after Qi Jiguang, he will also be unlucky; although Shen Shixing has received many important gifts from him over the years, he will definitely try his best to keep them, but on this occasion How much can he do when the political situation in the government changes, power is in turmoil, and there is a fierce struggle?Emperor Wanli seems to have made it clear that he doesn't like "Mr. Zhang's people", so what kind of decision will he make?
His heart was twisted into a ball, full of anxiety and uneasiness; at night, the bad emotions tormented him even more, making him unable to sleep at all. As soon as he closed his eyes, he would immediately wake up grinding his teeth; after a few days like this, his whole body became thinner, and his eye circles became dark and sunken.
One day, when the servants were waiting for him to wash and wash, he caught a casual glance and saw himself in the bronze mirror. For a moment, he was stunned.
The face in the mirror obviously showed old age, gloomy expression, sluggish eyes, and loose skin—the whole person's temperament was a mixture of helplessness and powerlessness; his heart was startled suddenly, and he dared not Believe that the old man in the mirror is yourself!
Where has all the glory of the past gone?Is life aging so quickly?He looked at himself full of suspicion and terror. After looking at him for a long time, his eyes blurred, and he had an illusion: what was reflected in the mirror was a vigorous body, and the radiant face full of vigor and vitality was spirit. Flying, riding a tall horse, galloping on the vast grassland, bending bows and shooting arrows for a while, dancing spears for a while, the sky and the earth are also changed - but this illusion suddenly changed, making his heart like a long arrow He was shocked violently with pain as if piercing through his chest. It turned out that the figure in the mirror was not him, but Nurhachi!
Nurhachi was full of ambition, high-spirited, and laughed at him - Li Chengliang was shocked, his throat moved, and an "ah" came out, the illusion in front of him disappeared immediately, and the mirror returned to normal calm, but, The fear in Li Chengliang's heart could not be calmed down for a long time.
The ups and downs of life have clearly shown a strong contrast in front of his eyes. At the age of fifty-eight, he is already at the end of the day, but at the age of twenty-five, Nurhachi is at the age of the rising sun—the law of life and the ruthlessness of time. In addition to worrying about the maintenance of power and fame, he suffered another major blow, and accelerated his aging...
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