Li Chengliang and Qi Jiguang were both Zhang Juzheng's heavy border guards, why did Li Chengliang die at home after Zhang Juzheng's death, but Qi Jiguang died of poverty in his hometown.
Li Chengliang and Qi Jiguang were both generals who guarded the border pass in the early Ming Dynasty, and both were valued by Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant in the early years of the Wanli Dynasty. One of them guarded the northeast (Li Chengliang) and the other guarded the north china (Qi Jiguang). However, after Zhang Juzheng's death and Emperor Mingshen's pro-government, Qi Jiguang suffered repeated blows in his career. He was first transferred from the post of commander-in-chief of Jizhou in North China to the general of Guangdong, and in 1585 he was impeached and dismissed by Emperor Mingshenzong. After Qi Jiguang deposed the official and stayed at home, few friends still interacted with him, he had very little savings, he was destitute in his old age, and even the medical expenses were not continued, and on January 5, 1588, Qi Jiguang died of illness in his hometown.
However, Li Chengliang did not like Zhang Juzheng after his death, he still guarded Liaodong for 30 years, and in the past 30 years, Li Chengliang has played ten great victories and received great praise from the Ming Wanli imperial court until he died at home with a 90th birthday in 1615. Nurhaci also dared to establish the Later Jin regime in Hetuala a few months after his death, and his sons Li Rusong and Li Rubai were brave and good at war, with the style of father and brother, and were known as the "Nine Tiger Generals of the Li Family".
The rise of Li Chengliang and Zhang Juzheng did not have much to do with it, and Qi Jiguang's entire career was not less supported by Zhang Juzheng, and in the eyes of Wan Li, he was Zhang Juzheng's person. Since the death of Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the "old friend" cabinet, the attack on Qi Jiguang, the great hero of the Ming Dynasty, has suddenly become overwhelming. Although the people on the frontier and coast who were sheltered by him and lived peacefully still regarded him as a parent and were full of gratitude to him. However, the "elites" who had not been on certain battlefields and would have fired cannons at him threw a "big hat" at him, some slandered him for forming a party for personal gain, some scolded him for falsely reporting his military achievements, and all kinds of vicious attacks, and the sentences were unbearable.
After Ke Ming's death, Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Record of Military Training" and other tomes were enshrined as treasure books by Zeng Guofan and other modern elites. The famous "Xiang Army" was born precisely from Qi Jiguang's military thinking.
In Qi Jiguang's own words: "Looking back, or facing the fengdi, or in the face of water and fire, or supervising me, or in power, or for the sake of hanging, or for the sake of suspicion, the real number is in the land of death and invites heaven to be lucky to live his whole life." In his opinion, as a soldier who was born into death for most of his life, did not die on the battlefield, nor did he die in the trap of the traitor, and was able to return home safely to spend his old age, this is what God's care, it is already "invited to heaven".
Compared with Yu Qian, who also stood up for the country but died in an unjust case, and even compared to Di Qing, who also fought the enemies of the country in the southern conquest and the northern war, but died in fear in the framework of the civil servants, Qi Jiguang, who had "old age", was not only not miserable, but on the contrary, he was already very good at life, if he was not cautious enough, whether he could go home to spend his old age was a problem.
On the other hand, Li Chengliang, in the seventh and eighth years of the Wanli Calendar, Li Chengliang successively made great contributions in the Battle of Red Clay City and the Battle of Yongdian, and Emperor Mingshen decided to change Li Chengliang's Ningyuan Bo from a liujue to a hereditary title of eight hundred stones. However, Li Chengliang's approach surprised everyone, not only did he not accept the hereditary title, but he also took the initiative to "play the earl" to the Ming Shen Sect.
In this regard, Ming Shenzong was not angry and happy, he did not expect that Li Chengliang, who was "a master who will be victorious", could not love the position of power, and he did not expect that Daming at this time could still have such a "good general", so his attitude toward Li Chengliang's "Count of Songci" was "to make great achievements in Chengliang, to be a non-indiscriminate, to be loyal and courageous, in an attempt to repay the name, not to resign." Through the attitude of the Ming Shen Sect, we can see that whether Li Chengliang is sincere or false, his "non-love for power position" has completely won the appreciation and trust of the Ming Shen Sect, and it is precisely because of this that Li Chengliang did not leave like Qi Jiguang after Zhang Juzheng's death.