□Reporter Wu Yiyun Text/Photo
In June of the 22nd year of the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty (1683), General Shi Lang took the oath at Tongshan (present-day Dongshan Island), and then led his army to fight the fierce Battle of Penghu. This battle was a key battle to recover Taiwan, and there was a general who was extremely brave in this life-and-death battle, although he did not retreat from the battle, he was known as the "general with a broken belly". This person is none other than Lan Li.
There is a statue of Lan Li in the Zhangzhou Museum (middle)
Born with divine power
Vows to make a contribution
During the Mid-Autumn Festival National Day holiday this year, many tourists found that there was a four-character ancient inscription with "Songwan Ancient Land" embedded on the wall in front of the temple's Tianwang Hall. The font is strong and powerful, but the overall structure seems to be unsymmetrical enough, with majesty but not roundness. The upper paragraph of the ancient stele reads "Kangxi Xin Yudong", and the next paragraph is "Gimpo Lanlishu". People suddenly realized that this monument was actually from the hands of Lan Li, a generation of tiger generals who personally gave the "Invincible" and "Brave and Simple" plaques by the Kangxi Emperor!
The four-character ancient stele of "Songwan Ancient Land" is engraved with Lan Li
Speaking of Lan Li, it is really a person who has left a strong mark in the history of the early Qing Dynasty. Lan Li, Ziyishan, was born in Chiling, Zhangpu, Fujian Province in the sixth year of Shunzhi (1649), and was of the She ethnic group. The Qing History Manuscript, Volume 261, Legend 48 called it "less rebellious and extremely powerful." This Lan Li is infinitely powerful, and when he grows up, his body becomes more and more burly, and he is born with a tiger's head and a swallow, and his eyes are abundant, and he looks like a small mountain from afar. What is even more exaggerated is that, according to the Fujian Tongzhi, Lan Lineng "lifted hundreds of jun; Chasing the galloping horse with its feet, dragging its tail backwards; Sword and shield gunstone, not perfect". In ancient times, "one jun" was 30 pounds, according to this statement, Lan Li can carry a weight of several thousand kilograms, which is naturally impossible, but at least it shows that he has the ability to "pull the mountain". And the fact that he can catch up with a galloping horse just by running, and even drag the horse backwards, shows that he is not only strong, but also very agile and bold. Such a character, in the era of cold weapons, is not the material of a natural tiger general?
However, Lan Li, who was born in the countryside, could neither study nor become an official after the age of 16, and was at a crossroads in life. Because he had no source of income, some people persuaded him to engage in ramie weaving and dyeing, which the She people were very good at at that time, so that he could at least fill his stomach by dyeing cloth. Lan Li heeded this advice and really bought a cylinder to put indigo to do the work of dyeing cloth. It happened that one day, Lan Li met a clan uncle named Zanhuang, and Zanhuang saw that his hands were dyed blue, so he asked him what was the reason. Lan Li told the truth, and when Zanhuang heard this, he was furious, and while banging his forehead with a fan, he also scolded: "Born with a copper rib, it is despicable to do this!" It was really a word to wake up the dreamer, Lan Li was immediately awakened, and immediately took an axe to smash the indigo jar, vowing to make meritorious achievements in the world.
Twists and turns
Fortunately, Shi Lang favored it
Lan Li's fame has actually experienced twists and turns.
In the third year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1664), a group of pirates led by Lu Zhen harmed the people and poisoned the lives in Zhangpu Daisong and Jingwei, and Lan Li heard that dozens of warriors in the clan went to fight Lu Zhen. Lu Qin had two or three hundred subordinates, and in order to avoid a large number of casualties, Lan Li spoke out and wanted to single out Lu Zhen. As a result, Lu Qian was really fooled and appeared alone to duel with him. In the end, Lan Li slashed the thief and surrendered his subordinates. Lan Li was full of joy for this great achievement, thinking that the imperial court would definitely reward him and reuse it. Who expected that after informing the prefect of Zhangzhou, the prefect suspected that the duel between Lan Li and Lu Qian was a fire fight between two pirates. The government was supposed to behead Lan Li, but then felt that one person could be left behind, so he could trap the others, so he threw Lan Li into prison. This pass has been closed for more than ten years. Poor Lan Likong had a passion for serving the country, but the magistrate fainted here, causing him to suffer injustice and waste his time.
In March of the thirteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1674), Geng Jingzhong, the king of Jingnan who was defending Fujian, rebelled and responded to Wu Sangui, and the San Francisco Rebellion that shocked the whole country began. Geng Jingzhong ordered the release of all prisoners in Fujian, and ordered Lan Li and other outstanding martial artists to serve in Geng's army. Lan Li said angrily, "How can I be a thief who makes trouble? Taking advantage of Geng's unpreparedness, he slipped out of Xianxia Pass from the trail and joined Prince Qingkang. Subsequently, Lan Li acted as a township guide and led the Qing army to defeat the Geng army in Wenzhou. Soon, for his repeated combat merits, he was awarded the Songxi Battalion Guerrilla Campaign, and was later promoted to General of the Guankou Battalion. Just when Lan Lizhi was satisfied, he was dismissed for the crime of "false soldiers". At the same time, some of his soldiers killed people, and Lan Li took responsibility, so he was sent to prison again, and was released many years later.
In the twentieth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1681), the Kangxi Emperor put down the San Francisco Rebellion and was finally ready to free up his hand to recover Taiwan. At this time, Zheng Jun, who was stationed in Taiwan, was ushering in a period of turmoil, Zheng Jingye had died, and the 12-year-old Zheng Kecheng succeeded to the throne as King of Yanping, but the power was in the hands of Feng Xifan and Liu Guoxuan, and Zheng Jun fell into political infighting and panic. Seeing this opportunity, the Kangxi Emperor changed his previous policy of appeasement and planned to restore Taiwan by force. Yao Qisheng, the governor of Fujian, recommended Shi Lang to Kangxi as the governor of the navy division and stepped up the training of the water army. In the 22nd year of the Kangxi Reign (1683), the Qing court ordered Shi Lang to lead an army to launch an offensive against Taiwan. Shi Lang was extremely good at using troops, and he heard that Lan Li fought heroically, so he asked Lan Li to accompany him to fight thieves. Subsequently, Lan Li ordered the office to raise the right battalion guerrilla and lead the vanguard.
Bloody battles break the enemy
The emperor gave a plaque of commendation
On June 14, the 22nd year of the Kangxi Dynasty, more than 20,000 people of the Fujian naval division under the leadership of Shi Lang drove more than 200 warships and rushed straight to the Penghu Islands. And Liu Guoxuan, a famous general of the Zheng Army, had long led an elite naval division to wait for the Penghu Islands, and the entire Penghu Islands "built a short wall on the edge of the bank, placed a waistband, and surrounded it for more than 20 li as a barrier", which was very solid.
The Battle of Penghu began, and the battle was very tragic: Zhu Tiangui, the commander-in-chief of the Qing army, fought hard to burn the enemy ships and kill and wound the enemy. Unexpectedly, he was hit by a stray bullet and was martyred. Vanguard Lan Li rushed into the enemy position, killing more than 80 people. Who would have thought that the wind direction suddenly changed, the Qing fleet was scattered by the huge wave, and the main general Shi Lang's eyes were shot by a stray arrow. At this critical juncture, Lan Li roared: "Don't worry, General, Lan Li is here!" He ordered his warships to storm the waves and sink the two ships of Zheng with artillery. The generals of the Zheng army, Lin Sheng and Zeng Rui, did not show weakness and led their army to fight Lan Li to the death. During the battle, Lan Li was wounded more than ten times, and he was shot and fell, his abdomen was broken, and blood penetrated his robe. However, he endured severe pain, took the bleeding intestines into his abdomen, continued to command the battle, and finally repelled the Zheng army. Lan Li is also known as the "Broken Belly General". It is said that from that moment on, Zheng Jun would be afraid to see his banner. Shi Langshu played Lan Li's first merit and told the imperial court about Lan Li's deeds of breaking his stomach and dragging his intestines to fight.
Three days later, when he fought again, Shi Lang's division advanced, and the warships covered the river, launching a general attack on the Zheng army. Despite his injuries, Lan Li once again commanded the fleet to attack and rescue Shi Lang from the stranded handsome ship. Later, he and other soldiers fought bravely to kill the enemy, and won the final victory in the Battle of Penghu. After the recovery of Penghu, the Qing army directly attacked Taiwan and broke the deer gate. The young Zheng Kecheng saw that the general trend had passed, so he led the crowd to surrender. The Qing Dynasty recovered Taiwan, and Lan Li was awarded the post of general for his battle merits, plus the left governor, "used first in case of shortage". The Kangxi Emperor praised him for "breaking the enemy in bloody battles, and meritorious service lies first". As a result, General Lan Li became famous. Soon, Lan Li was appointed commander-in-chief of Xuanhua Prefecture and hung the seal of General Zhenshuo.
A few years later, due to "many thefts in the ocean", Lan Li made up Dinghai Town in Zhejiang. In Zhejiang for more than ten years, he repaired the Haiwen Temple, worshipped the martyrs, begged the desert, and even built road heads and foreign ports, making Dinghai prosperous. There is a Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang, and Lan Li, as a Hokkien native, has been associated with Buddhism for many years, and also goes to Putuo Mountain from time to time to worship Guanyin Bodhisattva. Today, outside the stone gate of Putuo Mountain's Daguan tent, there is a cliff carving of "Mountain and Sea Grand View", which is "Dinghai General Town, Zuo Dudu Lan Lishu", which is what General Lan Li left at that time.
The Kangxi Emperor was also extremely kind to this "broken belly general", and specially gave him plaques of "Invincible" and "Brave and Simple". Later, Lan Li was transferred to guard Tianjin, an important place in Beijing. And Lan Li did not disappoint Kangxi, he diverted water from the Jun River in Tianjin and irrigated rice fields, which greatly increased grain production and eased the demand for grain in Jingshi. The Kangxi Emperor then gave him all 150 hectares of paddy fields that he had reclaimed, and called them "Blue Fields". In the 46th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1707), a "brave and simple" stone archway was erected in Yuekou Street, Zhangzhou. This archway is divided into three by twelve pillars, and it is magnificent. In the center of the beam is a carved sacred decree plaque with the word "Imperial Book". The main plaque is composed of six bluestones, the north side is engraved with the large characters "Brave and Simple", and the south side is the four characters "Invincible". This stone archway is a concentrated display of the Kangxi Emperor's favor and encouragement of Lan Lien. For the Lan family, it is also a supreme honor.
The "Brave and Simple" stone archway located in Yuekou Street, Zhangzhou
On the south side of the stone archway, there is a four-character stone plaque with the words "Invincible"
stubborn as a mule
The merits have been left in history
In the forty-fifth year of the Kangxi Reign (1706), Lan Li was promoted to the overland governor of Fujian and stationed in Quanzhou. After Lan Li took office, he first strengthened local security, sent troops to arrest thieves everywhere, and for a time "local rats and thieves were searched and cleared" (see Qing Dynasty's "Fujian Governor Lan Gongli Family Biography"), so that "the people do not close their night households, and travel to and from the stars". Later, he personally visited the people's sufferings and learned that there were cases of fraud in power by Xu servants, local tyrants and tyrants, and lawyers' exploitation of the people, and he dealt with them according to the law. In order to vigorously develop the local economy, according to the "Fujian Tongzhi", Lan Li also "built thousands of shops in Putou and Shima in Zhangzhou, Xinqiao, Anhai, Shaxi, and Tuling in Quanzhou, opened the streets and facilitated trade with the people", winning the reputation of the people. The Wenchang Palace of Xiadong Academy in Zhangzhou still enshrines the statue of Lan Li, the "Broken Belly General".
The Wenchang Palace of Xiadong Academy enshrines the statue of Lan Li, the "General with a Broken Belly"
The area around Anhai Anping Bridge in Quanzhou was the focus of Lan Li's economic revitalization plan, when he rebuilt Xidai near Anping Bridge to restore local agricultural production; Organize the construction of the "Da'an Canal" water diversion project from Sizhoutang to Xidai in Nan'an Xiwei Township, which is 6 miles long to divert water to irrigate 1,000 mu of farmland in Xidai; In addition, "Zhongting Street" more than one mile long was built in the middle pavilion of Anping Bridge, and 168 shophouses were built. A year later, it was extended to Anhai Town District, intending to revitalize Anhai commerce with a "new street market". However, Lan Li's subsequent actions in Anhai can be described as mixed. He was stubborn and planned to build Anhai in a crude and simple way, infringing on the vested interests of local tycoons and the legitimate rights and interests of indigenous people, and some of his subordinates secretly colluded with local bullies to blackmail and blackmail wealthy households, which was jointly backlashed by local tycoons. Quanzhou people printed many anonymous posts at that time, depicting a tiger to allude to Lan Li as a "tiger plague" and listing his various crimes. These anonymous posts spread to the capital, and Lan Li was immediately discredited. Kangxi sent Qin to serve as the governor of Fujian to investigate and handle the case. Although many bad things were done by Lan Li's subordinates, Lan Li did not know about it. But Lan Li was still willing to plead guilty and did not defend himself. In the end, the case was closed, and Lan Li was originally sentenced to death for the crime of embezzlement and bending the law. However, the Kangxi Emperor remembered his past merits, spared him the death penalty, and was incorporated into the banner register.
Lan Li once built "Zhongting Street" in the middle pavilion of Anping Bridge. The picture shows the stone inscription in the pavilion of Anping Bridge.
Back to the aforementioned Quanzhou Chongfu Temple, this temple was built in the Five Dynasties and the Northern Song Dynasty, and has been in ruins for thousands of years. During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, the Dao Pei Zen Master of Gushan ordered his disciple Ji Rui (Zi Xijue) to rebuild Chongfu Temple, and later built the Ten Thousand Buddhas Dojo, where disciples from all directions gathered. During Lan Li's tenure as the overland governor of Fujian, he helped rebuild the temple in the name of the abbot Ji Rui. It is said that Chongfu Temple was originally located in Songlin Bay, and the temple was surrounded by pine forests, so in the 50th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1711), General Lan Li, who was over sixty years old, inscribed the four-character inscription "Songwan Ancient Land" when visiting the temple. At that moment, he had resigned from his official position and sat alone in the temple, surrounded by the sound of Lin Tao, I wonder if he would remember the sounds of the battle in the Penghu Naval Battle and the bold words that came out when he was charged?
Lan Li once renovated Chongfu Temple
In the 56th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1717), the Dzungar tribe of Xinjiang rebelled, and the imperial court sent troops to recruit them, and ordered Lan Lijun to serve in front of him. In the 58th year of the Kangxi Reign (1719), the quasi-army was defeated, and Lan Li was given the return to Beijing on the grounds of old age. In the 59th year of the Kangxi Reign (1720), Lan Li died in Beijing at the age of 71. A generation of tiger generals has finally returned to the annals of history.
Responsible editor: Huang Donghong