The Ming Dynasty could not defend Liaodong, and the most fundamental reason was to explain the management of the Liaodong region by the court and local governments. Secondly, under the paralyzed rule of the Ming Dynasty officials and the dictatorship of eunuchs, the Li Chengliang family deliberately turned the state's army into a "private army" in order to maintain its position, and at the same time, in order to maintain its own power forever, it took the initiative to dispatch regional turmoil. In the end, the war is not well fought.
Due to space limitations, I will mainly talk about Li Chengliang's question in this article, and I will answer the other two questions in other questions.
(1) In liaodong, the Li Chengliang family was in charge of the military for half a century, and the rise and fall of Liaodong was rooted in this family
Li Chengliang and Qi Jiguang rose at the same time, but they had a higher status and greater power than Qi Jiguang, and basically no one was willing to provoke them, but this caused a serious problem of "family interests and clan interests first".
Of course, in the late Ming Dynasty, "party struggles were frequent", as a famous general of Qi Jiguang's same period, Li Chengliang saw too many things, and he naturally had to think about himself. This is also something that cannot be done.
For example, Li Chengliang's killing of the people and his exploits, deliberately provoking infighting among various ethnic minority forces, and not knowing how to balance the weak and the weak and the powerful are all very common, and this is the routine at home and abroad. Therefore, I do not think that Li Chengliang connived at Nurhaci to expand his power, but that Li Chengliang just needed to constantly fight small-scale wars to "maintain his usefulness and value in Liaodong." Otherwise, like Qi Jiguang, Wu Kou was beaten almost to the point of being beaten, and after being transferred to the capital, he would return to ordinary.
(2) The Li Chengliang family, which has controlled the military of Liaodong for more than half a century
The Li Chengliang family ruled Liaodong for 49 years from 1570 to 1619. Li Chengliang became an object of unity and use from the cabinet to the middle to the Liaodong governor. Why? It was Li Chengliang who was able to suppress the Liaodong region.
He shouted very loudly about the "Southern Qi and Northern Li" in that era, but in fact, on the statement, on the status, on the power, Li Chengliang was bigger than Qi Jiguang. In five years, Li Chengliang rose from Sipin to Dudu Tongzhi from Yipin, facing the Mongol and Jurchen attacks of the entire Liaodong region. Because Liaodong is close to the capital, Li Chengliang's ability to stand in the political arena and the military from the age of 40 to 88 without falling down fully shows that Li Chengliang used his "value" to become an indispensable person in the Eastern Liaoning region.
In 1591, the 65-year-old Li Chengliang was deposed, but the Liaodong region remained under his control. From December 1597 to April 1598, his son Li Rusong, from April 1598 to February 1599, his son Li Rumei, and from 1601 to 1609, Li Chengliang himself was in charge of the Liaodong military.
In 1609, the 83-year-old Li Chengliang was impeached by Xiong Tingbi and others, and the language was fierce. Li Chengliang had to retire again. He was in charge of the Liaodong military for 8 years for the second time.
In the past eight years, Nurhaci's strength has gradually grown. In 1615, Li Chengliang died of illness at the age of 89. The following year, Nurhaci founded the country with the name "Dajin", known in history as "Houjin", and at this time, Nurhaci really "rebelled against Daming". You know, before 1615, Nurhaci was a pawn in the hands of the Ming Dynasty and Li Chengliang. However, the masters of chess have gone blind to their own eyes.
Even if Li Chengliang died, the Li family's power in Liaodong was still huge. As a result, from April 1618 to April 1619, his son Li Rubai and from April to September 1619, his son Li Ruzhen successively served as the commander-in-chief of Liaodong and held the power of Liaodong.