From a farmer to an official rank, how did Ma Qianling achieve a counterattack in life and let his son rule Ningxia

In 1912 AD, this year also has a title: the first year of the Republic of China.

On August 21 of that year, Yinchuan, then called Ningxia Fucheng, suddenly came an army wearing a new military uniform in earth yellow, causing panic among the people.

Last year, during the Xinhai Revolution, after the Western Army sent by the Qing Dynasty to suppress the revolutionary uprising occupied the capital of Ningxia, it wantonly plundered and killed innocents, making the whole of Ningxia restless and causing great harm to the people of Ningxia. Although a year has passed, people still talk about the Western Army and change color, and some people even tremble.

The army that entered the city today was very similar to the dress of the Western army that looted and burned in Ningxia last year. The residents on both sides of the city widened their eyes and entered Yinchuan, terrified and confused. People whispered in pairs, wondering what kind of army it was and what the purpose of coming here was.

This unit is called the Zhaowu Army. The man who led this unit, named Ma Fuxiang, was the first Ningxia town guard appointed by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China, and the military and political commander of Ningxia.

The Qing Dynasty set up provinces in the localities, with provinces under them, and Ningxia as the prefecture, which belonged to Gansu Province. In the early years of the Republic of China, the establishment did not change, and the capital was changed to Dao, and the city of Ningxia was later Yinchuan.

Coming to take office, Ma Fuxiang took his own armed forces, the thirteenth battalion of the Zhaowu Army. The commander of the cavalry battalion of the Zhaowu battalion was his nephew Ma Hongbin, and the deputy battalion commander was his son Ma Hongkui. The history of the three of them ruling Ningxia in Yinchuan began for thirty-seven years. The three of them were later known as the "Three Horses of Ningxia".

Therefore, when Ma Hongkui was the chairman of the National Government of Ningxia Province, he always lost his temper and always pointed at his military and political leaders and scolded: "When you first came, the sticks you wore with hemp shoes were beaten down by my ancestors." ”

And Ma Fuxiang said in his "Book of Admonitions to Sons and Nephews": "But the prosperity of my family, the foundation of my father, the big one of the middle brother, and the success of the one give more power." ”

Such an evaluation is relatively objective and fair.

"Emperor Wuzong's residence in the Han family is the Yangwa Mountain, and for several generations, the world's merchants and farmers, no readers, since the great-grandfather above can not test his faction." Ma Fuxiang's family was just an ordinary Hui peasant family in Jiyangwashan, a han family in the west of Hezhou (present-day Linxia), Gansu, and his mother, a Han woman, had no prominent family background.

As a family that has been farming for generations, the turning point of the Ma family began with Ma Fuxiang's father Ma Qianling, who laid the foundation for Ma Qianling, and Ma Fuxiang's second brother Ma Fulu drove the development of the family.

This needs to start with Ma Qianling first.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial court was corrupt, the economy was withering, and the people's livelihood was difficult. In the early years, Ma Qianling, like everyone else, inherited the family business and made a living as a farmer. Like other farmers, ma Qianling began to go to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to do some small business in the situation where his family was gradually in distress, and he needed to improve his family's situation through business.

Hezhou is a commercial and trade distribution center on the ancient Silk Road, the Silk Road, the Tang Dynasty Ancient Road, the Ganchuan Ancient Road intersect here, is the loess plateau agricultural area and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau pastoral area "tea horse mutual market" center, merchants gathered, known as "western China dry wharf". The main production and daily necessities of the masses in Tibetan areas rely on imports from here. The peasants living here, especially the Muslims, have innate business advantages and experience, and often in addition to farming, they transport such daily necessities as cloth, matches, tea, and so on to Tibetan areas for sale, and then smuggle some furs, medicinal materials, horses, cattle and sheep from Tibetan areas to Lanzhou and other places to make profits from them.

Ma Qianling is also like this, "occasionally into the trade". He often went to the area around today's Haixi Prefecture to do business. Haixi Prefecture is now Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, bordering Jiuquan City in Gansu Province to the north, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang to the west, Yushu and Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures to the south, and Haibei and Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures to the east.

Ma Qianling is good at strategizing, can do some fist and foot kung fu, and has the character of fighting righteousness and neglecting money, but his early business is not very successful. It is said that one year, Ma Qianling went to Haixi to do business with goods, and met a young man with extraordinary equipment. At that time, Yu Wu had just gotten married and took the bride back to Haixi. The two immediately met, talked happily, became friends, and traveled together along the way. Entering the Great Luojia Mountain, in a small valley where people are sparsely populated, a group of bandits suddenly rushed out and surrounded Youwu, claiming to be Youwu's enemy. The bandits told Yu Wu's retinue to disperse as long as Yu Wu and his wife were killed. Ma Qianling generally carries the weapons used for self-defense when he goes out to do business, at this moment the road is uneven, angrily shot, with his companion Prancing Horse to kill and run over, a knife cut down the leading bandit, during the fight Ma Qianling was stabbed in the back, a large piece of blood oozed out, Ma Qianling not only did not flinch but was more courageous, and the rest of the bandits scattered and fled. Saving Youwu, this became a turning point for Ma Qianling. Youwu is actually the head of a Mongol tribe on the shores of Qinghai Lake. Since then, Ma Qianling's business will always be helped by Youwu, and his heroic deeds and righteousness will soon spread in the grassland, and many people are willing to do business with him, and even take the initiative to do business with him. The Ma family's business gradually flourished, and it developed, gradually developing into a prominent wealth in Hezhou.

In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), the anti-Qing movement of the Muslims in the northwest broke out that shook the whole country. Ma Qianling's hometown of Hezhou also had people who rebelled against the Qing, and the leader of the group was called Ma Zhan'ao. Ma Zhan'ao is Ma Qianling's niece and son-in-law.

As a rich man, Ma Qianling first faced the problem: how to protect his family and protect his wealth.

At first, Ma Qianling did not support or participate in the uprising, believing that he was leading everyone to jump into the fire pit, and sooner or later he would destroy everyone's family. He also set up a vigilante group and only looked after the nursing home for himself.

This did not lead to complete safety, and the danger came unexpectedly. The "Eighteen Battalions" of the Shaanxi Rebel Army were defeated in the dispute and retreated to Zhongchuanhui in Daxi Township on the south bank of the Yellow River, preparing to attack Guanting County, where the Ma family was located on the opposite bank. When Ma Qianling heard this news, he was very anxious, because in the face of the "Eighteen Battalions", Hezhou bore the brunt of it.

Ma Qianling judged the hour and sized up the situation, took the initiative to participate in the uprising, served as a counselor in Ma Zhan'ao's army, served as Ma Zhan'ao's strategist, and advised Ma Zhan'ao. In order to support the military activities of the uprising, Ma Qianling was very willing to spend money, often spending huge sums of money.

Ma Qianling personally went to dissuade the "Eighteenth Battalion" from attacking the official pavilion, met the leader of the other side, analyzed the stakes, and successfully persuaded the leader to dispel the idea of attacking the official pavilion with a clever mouth. After returning, Ma Qianling persuaded Ma Zhan'ao to deploy troops in the wilderness, forming a deterrent force and forcing the "Eighteen Battalions" to leave the territory. Because he was able to stand up at a critical moment, avoid the disaster in the township, and ensure the safety of the border, Ma Qianling was grateful and praised by the people in the township. It also protects the family wealth from infringement.

In the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, raised 12,000 troops and went from east to west to suppress the anti-Qing movement in the northwest. At that time, the anti-Qing forces in the northwest were the strongest in ningxia Jinji Fort Ma Hualong's troops, Zuo Zongtang commanded the Qing army to break through Jinji, after suppressing Ma Hualong, he waved his division to the southwest, and the army divided into three roads to besiege the civilian army led by Ma Zhan'ao in the Hezhou area. In the early days, in the face of the superior strength and advanced firearms of the forty battalions of the Qing army, the Hezhou people's army and the Qing army were all defeated in several fierce battles, and the passes such as Didao and Kangjiaya were lost one after another, and Fu Xianzong, the commander-in-chief of the Xiang Army, led his troops into the Taizi Temple in Guanghe County, Hezhou (the seat of the present-day Guanghe County Government), and the Taizi Temple was the last pass.

Ma Qianling advised Ma Zhan'ao to surrender: "It is really unwise to surrender after being surrounded until you can't hold on. Ma Zhan'ao and Ma Qianling analyzed the situation and decided to fight a victorious battle and then surrender.

In the crucial battle of attacking the Taizi Temple, Ma Zhan'ao surprised his troops to win, implemented the "black tiger digging out the heart" tactic, first cut off the Qing army's grain routes, disturbed the Qing army's morale, and then sent the pioneer officer Ma Haiyan to lead a death squad of 500 gunmen, each with a wooden rafter, a pot of water and a piece of adobe, late at night to explore the Qing army position, with adobe rafters to support rafters, around the rafters to water while building adobe, taking advantage of the cold of the dripping water in the deep winter, overnight in the middle of the Qing army position to build three camps. The Qing army that woke up early in the morning was greatly shocked, that is, launched a fierce attack on the three fortresses, Ma Haiyan arranged for his gunmen to take turns to change the loading and pressing bullets and shoot continuously, resulting in countless casualties of the Qing army and could not get close, and Fu Xianzong, the commander-in-chief of the Xiang Army, was also killed in the battle. The commander was killed, the army was in chaos, Ma Zhan'ao led the crowd to besiege from the outside, and under the attack from inside and outside, the Qing army was defeated. The forty battalions of the Xiang army were completely shaken, and the Hezhou people's army counterattacked continuously, forcing the Qing army to retreat to the Sanjiaji. The Qing army was defeated, and the nationalist army was greatly encouraged, and demanded that they take advantage of the victory to attack zuo Zongtang's camp at Anding (present-day Dingxi) and kill Zuo Zongtang Xuehe.

However, Ma Zhan'ao called a meeting of the chiefs and proposed to surrender to the Qing court. When the initial battle was won, it was supposed to be pursued by victory, but Ma Zhan'ao suddenly put forward the idea of surrender, which made everyone feel stunned, and for a while there were those who fought the main battle and those who surrendered, and there were different opinions. Ma Qianling stepped forward in time and supported Ma Zhan'ao. He also came forward to persuade everyone to make the leaders of the People's Army realize that a temporary victory cannot change the fundamental situation of the disparity between the enemy and our forces, and there is no hope of final victory. In the end, most people favored taking advantage of the victory and surrendering to the Qing army.

So Ma Zhan'ao ordered the troops to stop attacking the Qing army and let his subordinates "cultivate the land in the future, and do the business." He himself wore straw shoes on his feet, tied himself to iron ropes, and personally went to Zuo Zongtang's camp to beg. Zuo Zongtang was doubly comforted, and that night Zuo Zongtang summoned Ma Zhan'ao alone in his bedroom, and it was a night of happy talk, and then he reorganized Ma Zhan'ao's troops into the Three Banners Horse Brigade, gave Ma Zhan'ao the title of Governor belt and central flag pipe belt, and reported to the Qing court to accept the Six Pins of Military Merit.

Ma Qianling was praised by Zuo Zongtang as a "good return" for his meritorious persuasion and was also heavily rewarded.

Ma Zhan'ao transformed from an anti-Qing leader into an official serving the Qing court, joined Liu Jintang's westward march to "counter-rebellion", and forced the villages to collect firearms, successively presenting zuo Zongtang's army with more than 4,000 horses, more than 14,000 guns and spears, and 1 million grains, helping the Qing army to extinguish the peasant uprising in Hezhou and Xining, and receiving three pins of canonization and five pins of flowers to wear.

Ma Qianling was also rewarded and was given the title of Lan Ling Dusi, although he had no name and no power and no military position, but he got rid of the identity of ordinary people and rose to the rank of an official, and he was also considered an official.

After receiving the title, Ma Qianling returned to his hometown to live, and he saw that Ma Zhan'ao's father and son had become a prominent family in Hezhou by attaching themselves to the official palace, and realized the counterattack of life. So he decided not to let his sons follow the traditional path of life, but to devote themselves to studying and learning martial arts, hoping that they would be able to enter the official palace through the imperial examination.

Ma Qianling had four sons: Ma Fucai, Ma Fulu, Ma Fushou, and Ma Fuxiang.

A few years later, the second son, Ma Fulu, was a high school martial artist, and the fourth son, Ma Fulu, served as the ningxia town guard in the Beiyang government, and was in charge of the government.