In the founding battle of the Ming Dynasty, famous generals such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Fu Youde, Deng Yu, Tang He, Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, and Lan Yu emerged. Later, although a batch of people were left behind in the family road and killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, in the ensuing Battle of Jingnan, Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, Xue Lu and others stood out again, forming a new general lineage of the Ming Dynasty. In particular, Zhang Fu, the son of Zhang Yu, can be called the pillar of the army of the four dynasties of Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande, and Zhengtong, and almost none of them were defeated in the southern conquest and northern war.
When the Ming Dynasty was founded, it was really called a junming courtier, and there were many generals and soldiers
However, as the national policy since Renxuan shifted from external expansion to internal governance, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army has declined visibly. In particular, Zhu Zhanji, a "good saint grandson" favored by Zhu Di, almost completely overthrew the foreign military policy of the Yongle period. During the Xuande period, the Ming Dynasty's military strength in the north not only retreated in great strides, but also began to be depleted, the military tuns were almost completely abandoned, the army began to decay, and the border was almost undefended.
It was under these circumstances that the power of the Mongol tribes, such as the Tatars and the Wala, which had been toyed with by Zhu Di, was restored and grown, and soon the Ming Dynasty was deeply distressed at the Battle of Tumu Fort.
When it comes to Tumu Fort, it always reminds people of Zhu Qizhen and Wang Zhen. In fact, it was a big happy thing for the prince to braid, even if Zhu Qizhen was captured and captured, it would not be a big deal, after all, there was still Zhu Qiyu. In fact, the biggest impact of this fiasco on the Ming Dynasty was not only the total annihilation of its elite troops, but also the elite bureaucratic class was also almost wiped out--52 ministers led by the British Gong Zhangfu were killed; and then after the change of the door that was restored in Zhuqi Town, a large number of civil and military officials such as Yu Qian, Fan Guang, Shi Heng, and Shi Biao were implicated and died, which caused an unprecedented gap in the military and political talents of the Ming Dynasty.
Statistics of officials killed in the Battle of Tumubao – for the Ming Dynasty, this is an irreparable and huge loss
Civilian officials are still easy to handle, after all, there is a steady stream of talent provided by the imperial examination, but the military generals have no way. After all, in ancient times, there was no military school, and those who wanted to harvest talents were either eliminated by cruel wars or passed on by the gate. However, after the Battle of Tumu, the generals of the Ming Dynasty basically eliminated the incense, and they could not quench their thirst by relying on actual combat training.
Fortunately, the Ming Dynasty's fate should not be extinguished. Since the military generals do not stand up to the matter, then the civilian officials will top the matter. As a result, the "Three Kings" of Mingzhong took advantage of the rise of the situation, among which king Weiningbo, who had gone out of the country three times, attacked Tatar twice, and finally recovered the Hetao region, and had almost undefeated after more than ten battles in his life, was the most prominent.
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Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, according to our Northeastern dialect, is somewhat "across the road" - the meaning is probably that the ideas and behaviors are different from normal people, which is a bit difficult to understand. Therefore, many of the rules that had been continued for hundreds or even thousands of years in the past were a piece of waste paper in lao Zhu's eyes, and they were not dismissed at all.
If Lao Zhu hadn't come up with those brain-opening "ancestral precepts", perhaps the Ming Dynasty would not have been able to make so many moths later
For example, as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, the system of fifth-class lords (gonghou bozi male) was established, and by the Ming Dynasty, there were only third-class knights (gonghou bo). What is even more unacceptable to many people, especially civilian officials, is that Lao Zhu also stipulates that if a civilian official dies, he cannot be made a duke, and the highest can be mixed with an earl, and he must also make military merit.
Therefore, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, as long as the officials were at a certain level, the situation of the prince and prince who was naturally equal to the body was completely extinct in the Ming Dynasty. Like those famous ministers such as Zhang Juzheng, Li Dongyang, Yang Shiqi, Yang Tinghe, Xu Jie, and Liu Jianhe, even if they can make the official above ten thousand people under one person, it is purely a dream to want to get a knighthood.
Moreover, in the ming dynasty, the relationship between the emperor and the civil officials was not very harmonious, so the descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang in the past were very satisfied with this "ancestral precept" and were rarely willing to make exceptions for these annoying guys. Therefore, I went through the information for half a day, and found that only 9 civilian officials were knighted during the 276 years of the Ming Dynasty.
Among them, Li Shanchang took advantage of the fact that Lao Zhu had not yet established this rule, and was able to be knighted as the Duke of Korea; and Liu Ji (Chengyi Bo) and Wang Guangyang (Zhongqin Bo), who were also the founding heroes of the country, only won a count; Ru Chang (Zhongbo), Yang Shan (XingjiBo), Xu Youzhen (Wugongbo) or because of his outstanding kung fu or correct standing in line, he made Zhu Di and Zhu Qizhen make an exception for him to be knighted; and the only people who really made a military contribution to the Ming Dynasty were Wang Ji, Wang Yue, and Wang Shouren, known as the "Three Kings":
"Although there were ten people before and after the Wenchen Fengbo, there were only three people who won the battle merits: Jingyuan Boji, Weining Boyue, and Xinjian Boshou Ren'er. All are king's surnames, and their prestige is flourished in the uncles, and they are very strange. ("Huang Ming Qi Shu
Today we will talk only about Wang Yue.
Wang Yue ,Chinese: 王越; pinyin: Wáng Đại, was a native of Jun County, Henan Province. Unlike most of the students in the Song and Ming dynasties, Wang Yue was an "angry youth" from an early age, and he was deeply unhappy that the two Song Dynasties died at the hands of foreign nationalities, so he grew up with both literature and martial arts, hoping to serve the country in the future. Coupled with his outstanding talent, not only can he read the sages and books, but he is also strong and strong, and he is also a sharp archer, which has laid a good foundation for him to ride on the battlefield in the future.
Because Lao Wang's reputation was once infamous, he did not even leave a serious portrait, and it is doubtful whether this picture is for himself
In the second year of Jingtai (1451 AD), the 26-year-old Wang Yuejinshi and the first were able to be appointed officials, and for the next 10 years he has been serving in various places to fight monsters and upgrade, and finally made some reputation. In the seventh year of Tianshun (1463 AD), due to the vacancy of the Datong Inspector, Zhu Qizhen could not find a suitable candidate, so he accepted the recommendation of the cabinet scholar Li Xian and let Wang Yue replace him.
From then on, Wang Yue embarked on the path of a border general as a civilian official—for most of the remaining 40 years of his life, he was relegated to the northwest of the Ming Dynasty. Even when he died in the eleventh year of Hongzhi (1499 AD), he fell on the front line of Ganzhou (present-day Zhangye, Gansu), thousands of miles away from his hometown.
Therefore, Emperor Mingxianzong Zhu Jianshen, who had worked with his monarchs for the longest time and knew Wang Yue the most, would leave such an emotion:
"Or Fu Linyunnei, or the main town of Kansai." In the twelve or three years of the frontier, the soldiers and the people were xianmu Qihui; with the thieves attacking the warriors one hundred and ninety, the king of Rong was also martyred. Ji Wulie, wei huo of the Han Dynasty, and Fan Han (i.e., Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi) of the Song Dynasty. (Wang Yue Ji, Appendix IV, Wang Yue's Edict II)
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To get such a high evaluation from the boss, it was up to Wang Yue to fight with a knife and a shot.
In the third year of Chenghua (1467 AD), the Tatars entered Kou Datong, and Wang Yue led an army to block the attack, and in the two battles, a total of 54 people were beheaded and 24 people were captured, repelling the enemy. After the war, Wang Yue served concurrently as the inspector of Xuanfu.
In the fifth year of Chenghua (1469 AD), the Tatars re-invaded Hetao, Wang Yue led his army to the aid, sat in Yulin and commanded all the troops to face the enemy, all of which were victorious, and the Tatars were forced to withdraw.
Wang Yue fought with the Tatars for most of his life, during which he was not defeated
In the sixth year of Chenghua (1470 AD), tens of thousands of Tatars invaded Yansui, wang Yue ordered the general Xu Ning and others to repel it, and was promoted to the right deputy capital Yushi for his merits; in the same year, Tatars were out of the border to disturb the border, Wang Yue and Zhu Yong led an army to break through the enemy at the Kai desert river, and Luo Luo escaped with wounds, and was promoted to the right capital Yushi because of his merits.
In the ninth year of Chenghua (1473 AD), Wang Yue was promoted to Zuo Du Yushi (左都御史) due to the defeat of the Tatar army at Wentianling. In September of the same year, the Tatar Mandulu Khan, Polo Ku, And Jia Silan led heavy troops into Kouqin Prefecture, and Wang Yue avoided the enemy's attack, personally leading nearly 10,000 horses to attack more than 300 miles day and night into the old camp of tatars in Hongyanchi. In this battle, the Ming army beheaded a total of 355 levels, captured countless livestock equipment and burned their tents and huts, causing heavy losses to the Tatars, and had to withdraw from the Hetao area and be forced to move west.
This battle was a battle for Wang Yue's fame and won high praise from all over the world. Zhu Jianshen therefore set up a three-sided general system for Wang Yue, and the soldiers and horses of the three towns of Yansui, Ningxia, and Gansu were all subject to his control, and at the same time, he was also named crown prince Shaobao. Even so, Yu Zijun, who later had a competitive relationship with him, still believed that Wang Yue would not reward him for his merits, and was willing to offer the post of Shangshu of the Bingbu Department:
"The more you forget your family, the more you lead the lone army, and go deep into the realm of captivity, this victory has never been seen before." (Records of Emperor Chun of Emperor Mingxianzong, Volume 173, Chenghua Thirteenth Year, December Jia Wushuo)
In the sixteenth year of Chenghua (1480 AD), tatar Yisma was invaded. Wang Yue and Wang Zhi led the Jing battalion and 20,000 elite soldiers from the towns of Datong and Xuanfu to Weininghai (near the right wing of present-day Chahar, Inner Mongolia) in the face of the wind and snow, taking advantage of the enemy's lack of adversary to cover up and kill, and then take a great victory. In this battle, the Ming army beheaded 437 people, captured 171 people, and obtained more than 12 flags, more than 6,000 livestock, and more than 10,000 pieces of armor equipment.
After the Battle of Tumu, the strength of the Ming army has not been restored, so Wang Yue's victory is particularly valuable
Because of the great victory of Weininghai, after the war, Wang Yue was knighted Wei Ningbo, given the coupon, and was given the title of Feng Tianyi Wei TuiCheng Xuan li shou zheng chen, special into guanglu doctor, pillar state, avoid two deaths, eat 1,200 stones, allow hereditary succession, and posthumously seal three generations.
In the seventeenth year of Chenghua (1481 AD), the Tatars entered and plundered from Haidongshan and other places, and Wang Yue once again went out of Datong with Wang Zhi and Zhu Yong to defeat the enemy army at Heishi Cliff, beheading 113 people, capturing 10 people, and obtaining 729 horses and more than 6,000 pieces of equipment. After the war, he was able to worship the crown prince Taifu and increase his age by 400 stones.
In the eighteenth year of Chenghua (1482 AD), the Tatars entered Kou Yansui and other places, Wang Yue and Wang Zhi sent troops to help, and successfully defeated the enemy army with the help of the border wall, beheading 401 people and capturing 6 people. However, at this time, Wang Yue had already aroused Zhu Jianshen's dissatisfaction because of Wang Zhizhi, so after the war, he only received a reward of 50 stones from Zenglu.
The following year, Wang Yue was deposed for Wang Zhi's crime. Until 16 years later, in the eleventh year of Hongzhi (1498 AD), because the "little prince" repeatedly violated the side and stirred up the three sides of the unrest, Emperor Xiaozong of Ming could only use Wang Yue again, and crowned the prince Taibao and the general system of the three sides. The following year, Wang Yuebing attacked Mount Helan in three ways— a Tatar nemesis who was over the age of ancient, but "your uncle is still your uncle", and beat Tatar Dayan Khan Batumunk all the way to the wind and fled. In this battle, the Ming army beheaded a total of 42 levels, captured 241 horses and camels, cattle and sheep, and thousands of wares.
In the same year, because the eunuch Li Guang committed suicide, the civilian officials who had never seen Wang Yue's displeasure wrote a letter of impeachment, accusing him of being Li Guang's party. Wang Yue, who was already elderly and wounded and sick, was full of grief and hatred, and finally died in Ganzhou (present-day Zhangye, Gansu) on December 1, 1499 (January 12, 1499 AD) at the age of 73.
Wang Yue epitaph (partial). To this day, Wang Yue's reputation is still polarized
After Zhu Youfan heard the news, he changed his previous attitude of ignoring Wang Yue, specially for him to quit the dynasty for one day, and posthumously gave Taifu the title of Xiangmin, and also ordered him to be sacrificed at nine altars.
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When it comes to these outstanding feats of Wang Yue, some readers and friends may disagree - Lao Wang beheaded hundreds or even dozens of people in the First World War and dared to shyly claim great victory with a big face, and he was also knighted in battle. Then, like Bai Qi and Han Xin, who can kill tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of enemies in a single battle, don't they have to directly canonize the gods?
That seems to be true. I counted, Wang Yue fought for most of his life, the history books recorded that the first level plus a piece of only 1402 level, it is really Han Bai's leg hair is thicker than his waist...
It is basically impossible to fight in the war against the nomads like the battle of Changping
But realistically speaking, the above statement makes no sense. There are four reasons for this:
The first is that the objects of combat are different.
In history, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of enemies were killed in the first world war, most of which occurred in the civil war between the Central Plains dynasties. One of the main reasons for its great gains is the terrain - Chinese mainland mountainous, rivers, lakes, hills, often holding a few points, the defeated side has nowhere to escape, can only be cut off or captured by the victor; and the other is that the composition of the two warring arms is relatively similar, mostly infantry - everyone runs on two legs, plus there is morale and reward stimulation, so it is not too difficult to cut off the head or capture the prisoner.
But foreign wars are different. Most of the foreign wars in China's history have occurred in the northern frontier, especially the "three sides" for which Wang Yue has been fighting, that is, Yansui, Ningxia, Gansu and other places are mostly flat terrain, grasslands and deserts. Therefore, once the Tatars were defeated, they scattered, simply to run wherever they wanted, the Ming army could not block it, and could only stare dryly; more importantly, although the Ming army had some cavalry, the main force was still infantry, and the Tatars were almost all cavalry, and the two legs could run over four legs? Therefore, Wang Yue likes raids the most in battle, relying on a wave of streams to slaughter as much as he can, as for taking advantage of the victory to pursue and expand the results of the battle, it is purely to think too much.
Secondly, the tatars' own strength and strategy also limited the results that Wang Yue could achieve.
Historically, the Han and Tang Dynasties faced opponents such as the Xiongnu, Turks, and Tubo, especially the Khitans, Dangxiang, Jurchens, and Mongols faced by the two Song Dynasties, although there were many robbers who came in to catch a vote and ran away, but the main purpose of the battle was to attack the city and then seize the Central Plains, which they dreamed of. Therefore, when they fought against the armies of the Central Plains Dynasty, they often had a head-on situation and were willing to bear a relatively high price. Therefore, when the Han, Tang and Song dynasties faced such opponents, they could often win greater results, of course, once they lost, more heads were cut off.
The Tatars have long lost the ambition and courage of their ancestors, and they can run away as soon as they fight, which is very difficult to kill
The Tatars, on the other hand, were very different. Ever since emperor Tuoba Timur of Yuan Shun was sent back to his hometown in northern Saibei by Lao Zhu, the Mongols had long since lost the strength and idea of "recovering the lost land". From the war of the Wallachians who first launched the Battle of Tumu Fort to the Tatar leader Li Da to run around Beijing several times to "shop and eat", there was only one purpose besides robbery, that is, to ask the Ming Dynasty to open up trade. And the biggest "just need" that these aspiring Mongols demanded from the Ming Dynasty to open up exports was actually an iron pot that seems inconspicuous today:
"And the iron pot is used for cooking in the middle of the day." Every time the city is besieged, the first plunder, to get the pot as a strange goods... The discussion of the courtiers is that the pot is iron and pound, and it is feared that it will be used to create it, and it is not known that it cannot be fried in the prisoner. Raw pot destruction, hundreds of omissions to make up for the use of it, may not be stored in the skin to boil meat for food, this side of the Tong Ding also knows. The former captive wants to replace the broken pot with a new pot, and the situation can be known. (Ming Jing Shiwen Edition , vol. 317 , For the Purpose of Obeying the Ming Dynasty , Painting the Northern Yu FengGong Improper Matters )
For example, the change of Tumu Fort, which was regarded by the Ming Dynasty as a great shame, can be regarded as a "bloody case caused by an iron pot" to some extent - before Wang Zhen instigated Zhu Qizhen to limit the scale of tribute to the Wala people, the Wala mission had purchased more than 60,000 iron pots on the return trip of a mission, and the average Wala person had to carry more than 20 mouthfuls.
There was no iron pot to use, and he went crazy first, directly sending troops to break the waist pole of the Ming Dynasty, and even Zhu Qizhen was captured.
However, the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty were also stubborn, and still launched the "iron pot sanctions" endlessly, so that these poor Mongolian foodies could not cook well. As a result, this contradiction could not be resolved, and the two sides fought endlessly and bloodily.
For the sake of the mouth iron pot, I don't know how many lives were taken
But if you can fight for the iron pot, Mongolia will also have such a good man. The Tatars thought it was a pleasure to get a precious iron pot to cook, but it was obviously not a good deal to pay for losing their heads. You can imagine how bad and not resolute the will to fight of the Tatars who rob the iron pot is, and it is precisely that they are best at not fighting, but running (even their invincible ancestors are known for their "kite tactics" based on running). Therefore, whenever they fought against the Ming army, the Tatars grabbed like wolves and tigers when they had a bargain to take advantage of, and when they encountered hard stubble, they immediately fled to the tiger - in the face of this situation, they still wanted to cut off thousands of heads, not to mention Wang Yue, even if Han Bai fusheng did not get it well, he had to lament that "the concubines can't do it"...
In the fifth year of Longqing (1571 AD), the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars reached a tributary agreement, and the Mongols who had an iron pot to cook rice from then on completely disappeared, until the Ming Dynasty basically maintained peace on the border between the two sides.
What's that called...
It is also very important that the number of decapitations does not equate to the actual losses of the Tatars.
For example, the Great Victory of the Red Salt Pond, which made Wang Yue famous in the First World War, made the thirty-first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and the noble golden family heirMandulu heartbroken:
(Manduru) cried and rushed to chase. The more the formation is formed, the more ambush is set up. The enemy began to run out and moved for two thousand miles. (Guo Yu Vol. XXIX: The Ninth Year of Emperor Mingxian's Chenghua)
This can't help but feel very strange - the Ming army only beheaded 355 levels in this battle, how did it make the Mongol Khan "cry", and then fled west for two thousand miles in one breath, until 23 years later, in the eighth year of Hongzhi (1495 AD), he dared to return to his hometown in Hetao?
After the Battle of Tumu, the Wallachians soon declined, leaving tatars to ming dynasty
Another example is the Great Victory of Yansui. In this battle, Wang Yue commanded the five-way army to go out in unison, and the momentum was earth-shattering, but the final result of the battle seemed to be a bit unsure - beheading 401 and capturing 6. But actually? "However, those who do not dare to repeat the frivolous offense, the Yansui army and the people are quite relieved." (Records of Emperor Chun of Emperor Mingxianzong, Vol. 228, Chenghua Eighteenth Year, June 2018)
This illustrates the problem that the actual losses of the Tatars were far greater than the number of beheadings of the Ming army.
Since ancient times, the Central Plains Dynasty has basically fought with the northern nomads on foot, and even if there are cavalry, many of them are also so-called "horseback infantry", that is, riding horses and marching, dismounting and fighting. With few exceptions, such as the Tang Zhimo Knife Soldier and the Song Sword AxeMan, the biggest magic weapon of the Central Plains infantry to restrain the nomadic cavalry is to rely on the long-range strike of the strong bow and hard crossbow (after the Ming Dynasty, there were muskets and artillery). This created a serious problem - the Ming army shot down a large number of Tatars from a long distance, and as a result, most of the wounded with corpses were snatched away by their comrades, and they could not catch up, and they also beheaded the first rank of a woolen thread.
Therefore, unless the enemy army can be surrounded and annihilated, and then the battlefield can be cleaned up for a good time, the number of decapitations is not as good as the number of eleven killed enemies, and such examples abound in history.
Moreover, until the widespread use of antibiotics in the middle of the twentieth century, the high death rate from war wounds was always the most headache for various armies in ancient and modern China and abroad. Often in a battle, only a very small number of people are killed directly, and most of the losses are due to various complications caused by wound infection. Especially in the case of the extremely bad medical and hygienic conditions of the Tatars, don't look at Wang Yue fighting a battle to behead hundreds or even dozens of times, but it is not surprising that the actual losses of the Tatars may be ten times or even dozens of times this.
Don't look at Wang Yue as a jinshi, but in fact he was not welcomed by the civil bureaucracy of the Ming Dynasty. Whenever he went to war, he was surrounded by a large number of eunuchs or civilian officials who served as overseers. In this case, his low number of decapitations can still be recognized as a great victory, which shows that his battle achievements are not watery, and indeed caused serious losses to the Tatars.
Wang Yue's greatest achievement was to drive the Tatars out of the river loop, which suddenly reduced the military pressure on the Ming border towns
Finally, it has to be said that Wang Yue's achievements are most likely to be reduced under the manipulation of the civilian bureaucracy.
This is my guess, and the evidence is completely absent. However, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty were habitual offenders in doing such a bad job, and their "glorious history" also abounded in the history books.
One of the most famous pieces of evidence is the Battle of Yingzhou fought by Emperor Mingwu Zhu Houzhao himself.
In the twelfth year of Zhengde (1517 AD), the Ming Emperor, known for his absurdity, sneaked out of the capital and ran to Yanghewei (present-day Yanggao, Shanxi) to find a few Tatars to fight a battle. As a result, a few Tatars were not found, but tens of thousands.
The leader was the "little prince" (Dayan Khan Batumunk), who had fought with Wang Yue. This cargo led 50,000 people to the vicinity of Datong to grab a few iron pots to go home to cook rice, but did not expect to bump into Zhu Houzhao, who was also not very reliable, and the two people stared at each other for half a day, and they all felt that it was better to fight.
The cumulative strength of the two sides in this battle was about 100,000, and the fierce battle lasted for 5 days. The fiercest day of the war was simply fought from morning to night, "more than a hundred battles", "several traps by public opinion" (Ming Shi, vol. 327 Liechuan 25) - that is to say, even the small photographs protected by heavy soldiers were almost captured alive by the Tatars, and then pulled home as fat sheep for the New Year.
However, the small photo is not in vain, always insisting on not retreating, and it is said that he personally came out with a sword. Encouraged by His Majesty the Emperor, the Ming generals were not afraid of death and fought desperately, and in the end, the Tatars, who could not take advantage, had to play their special skills and disperse again.
According to normal logic, the tens of thousands of casualties on both sides of the Battle of Yingzhou must be conservative estimates
Such a great victory, after the packaging of the Group of Officials and Civil Servants, became the following look:
"It is a service, beheading sixteen ranks, while our army (dead) fifty-two people, seriously wounded five hundred and sixty-three people, by public opinion several traps." (Records of Emperor Mingwu Zongyi, Volume 154, Zhengde 12 years)
It is said that even if such a large number of people are brought together to a quiet meeting, once the organization is not good enough to make a stampede, it is estimated that the death and injury will be more than this. It can be said that those shameless civilian officials have justifiably defined the nature of this campaign of 100,000 people as a large-scale villagers' armed fight or a hooligan fight, where do you let Zhu Houzhao go to reason (Xiao Zhaozhao was angry and went to the 10th to protest)?
The reason why the civil officials denigrated Yingzhou's great victory was because they were not accustomed to taking care of this maverick emperor. Wang Yue's situation was not much better, he not only acted as a civilian official and became a "scum" in the shilin, but also made friends with eunuchs, so he was repeatedly attacked by the masses. As long as Wang Yue won the battle, what was strange about those civilian officials in the court treating him like chicken blood as a cotton bomb, and then shrinking his results? Even if Wang Yue handed over thousands of Tatar heads, the result after falling into black and white would probably be the same as Zhu Houzhao's Yingzhou victory, leaving dozens or hundreds of them. After all, in thousands of years of history, both emperors and military generals have cut off the heads of countless civilian officials, but they have never taken away the pen in their hands.
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Wang Yue was able to make such a special achievement, but it was really not just by god to appreciate the food.
Although he has been studying military books since he was a child, and he is good at shooting, he does look like a Ban Chao and Chen Tang-like figures, but behind his success, there is still a profound background of the times.
The civil service leaders in history are mostly tragic, and Wang Yue is a rare exception
Historically, the large-scale replacement of civilian officials with military generals began in the Two Song Dynasties. However, at that time, there was only "the famous party outside the Donghua Gate as a good boy", so in the two Song Dynasties, as long as a certain talented article can write a wonderful pen, the mouth cannon can be beaten, and I happen to have read a few military books, then basically it is a proper literary and martial arts all-rounder, and it is completely out of the question to lead the soldiers to fight.
A typical example is like the Zhang Jun I mentioned in the previous article (for details, see "The Tragedy Caused by The Inability to Do So—Why Is Zhang Jun's "Merit" in Destroying the Song Dynasty No Less Than Qin Jun's?"). Such so-called "all-rounders of literature and martial arts" have no use in the slightest way except to harm the country and the people, harm others and destroy themselves.
The Ming Dynasty, on the other hand, was very different. If a civilian officer wants to lead a soldier, he must have a minimum of military quality. For example, Yu Qian, when he was a child, was very keen to study military issues, and instead of being satisfied with "familiar reading military books and battle strategies" like ordinary students, he analyzed and studied more deeply and accumulated a large number of reading notes. Another example is Wang Yangming, who has not only been skilled in martial arts since he was a child, but also practiced martial arts diligently, and his archery skills are even more advanced than those of professional military attachés.
In addition to these basic qualities, the Ming Dynasty also paid special attention to the systematic training of leading civilian officials, and Wang Yue benefited from this--before he became the trilateral general system, he first went to the northwest as a royal historian to supervise military affairs, and then accompanied Marquis Zhu yong of Ning in the name of Xiangli military affairs. After personally experiencing the hardships and cruelties of the war and summing up and understanding the actual combat experience, Wang Yue had the opportunity to stand alone and finally make outstanding achievements.
Therefore, although the ming dynasty has withered away since the end of Yongle, the "Wen Shuai" was able to top it in time and repeatedly made military achievements, and also made Chen Zilong, a hero of the anti-Qing dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty, sigh with emotion:
"Ranying and Jingshi had Wang Ji and Yu Qian; Xian and Xiaoshi had Han Yong and Wang Yue; Wu and Shishi had the subordinates of Wang Shouren and Yang Yiqing, and the eldest ranked fifth, and the younger ones embraced the Festival. ("Soldier's Speech· Preface")
How important is this process of learning and practicing? Wang Yueke personally endorsed it—in his memoir Xiang Min Ji, he wrote that he had many thoughts and opinions on the matter of joining the army before personally going to the northwest front to train. As a result, after actually walking around the battlefield, Wang Yue found that he was a waste of brain cells, and those who had previously thought were all nonsense things, and they were useless on the battlefield except for bad things.
Theory and practice are often separated by a huge gap, and those who can become famous generals by imagination seem to be just a Zhao Kuo
It was precisely this great turning point in the mental journey that made Wang Yue different from most civilian officials who also held military positions. This is especially reflected in the fact that he does not discriminate against the warriors, but is willing to get close to and communicate with them, and humbly accepts the correct opinions, truly achieving equal treatment and fair reward and punishment. Therefore, the generals of the Ming Army were not only willing to fight for him, but also took the initiative to contribute ideas. For example, in the Battle of Red Salt Pond, Wang Yue was reluctant due to bad weather, but fortunately an old man stopped him in time, so that he did not bury the chance of victory:
"Coming, the storm will rise and the dust will be clouded. An old man said, 'God praise me too.' Go and the wind, so that the enemy is unconscious. Return to the army, encounter the return of the Kou, deal with the inferiority. Riding on the wind, the contempt is overwhelming. 'The more you get off the horse, the more you get into a thousand households. "Ming Shi Vol. 171 Liechuan No. 59"
Wang Yue was able to mingle with ordinary soldiers and never spared money and rewards, so much so that he was repeatedly impeached by the counselors for "using wealth like water". And for outstanding talents, he always strongly recommended, such as Yang Shousui, Ling Zhong, Tu Yi and other famous ministers during the Chenghua and Hongzhi years, Wang Yue was their Bole.
What is very interesting is that Wang Shouren, another of the "Three Kings", who won the title of New Uncle for military merit and later became the grandfather of the Heart Learning Ancestor, was also Wang Yue's super "little fan brother". It just so happened that Xiao Wang was just in time for the death of Lao Wang when he was admitted to the jinshi, and he also put on an errand to repair the tomb for the latter, which became a good story:
"When the gentleman did not first taste the dream of Weiningbo, he left a bow and sword. It was Qiu Qin who sent the overseers to build the tomb of King Weiningbo, and the servant Wasshi Wufa, who rested to eat, and then drove the 'Eight Arrays' in a hurry. At the end of the matter, the Weining family gave thanks in gold and did not accept it; it was a gift of the sword that Weining wore, which was suitable for the dream charm, and received it. (Wang Wencheng's Complete Book, Vol. 32, Appendix, Chronology)
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Wang Shouren and Wang Yue, who were also Haojie at the same time, would naturally feel sorry for each other. But unfortunately, the vast majority of civilian officials at that time were not heroes, and naturally how to see How Wang Yue was not pleasing to the eye, and he had to find some trouble for him when he seized the opportunity.
The biggest stain on Wang Yue's body is undoubtedly the so-called "collusion and eunuch". The main object of his alleged collusion was Wang Zhi, the most favored eunuch in the Chenghua period.
Wang Gonggong is actually not so bad, on the contrary, he has made many meritorious achievements for the Ming Dynasty
This Wang Gonggong is indeed a problem with his body. For example, flying and stumbling, such as wantonly gaining power, for example, it has also mutilated a lot of "Zhongliang". In particular, he used the West Factory to go around probing the gossip of the ministers for Zhu Jianshen--that is, how many of the self-proclaimed loyal and honest civilian officials were clean under their butts? So they were all disgraced by Gonggong Wang, and many of them were arrested and beaten up, can they not hate him to the bone? So they shook their pens and scolded Wang Gonggong with a dog blood sprinkler, making him listed in the Qing history alongside Wang Zhen, Liu Jin and Wei Zhongxian as the four major eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty.
But realistically speaking, Wang Zhi is not so bad, on the contrary, he is a character with a very complex personality and it is difficult for people to make judgments. For example, Wang Zhijing would repay and mutilate Zhongliang, then Yang Jizong and Qin Hong had offended him in person, and even hit him directly, but Wang Zhi did not mind at all, but instead recommended to Zhu Jianshen, believing that these two people were zhichen and xianchen. For example, Duke Wang's military ability can be called the bearer of the eunuch circle of the Ming Dynasty, not only once suggested to Zhu Jianshen to open a martial arts, but also repeatedly commanded Ruoding in battles with Tatars and Jianzhou Jurchens, and achieved great victories. Later, the civil officials joined forces to fool Zhu Jianshen, and finally demoted Wang Zhi to the Imperial Horse Guard in Nanjing (Wang Yue was also demoted to Anlu Prefecture, which is now Zhongxiang, Hubei). As a result, as soon as Wang Zhi left, Bianzhen was even defeated, and even Datong was almost lost.
Of course, this was already the nineteenth year of Chenghua (1483 AD). Before that, Gonggong Wang was a red man in front of the imperial court, and he said a hundred sentences in front of Zhu Jianshen. As a border minister, Wang Yue, faced with a complex and harsh military situation, what he needed most was support from the rear, especially the center, that is to say, he had to find a reliable backer. But who can he find? As a literati who grew up reading the books of the sages, it was not good to look down on eunuchs in Wang Yue's heart, but he should know very well that if he did not want to be suddenly removed from the border town and did not want to be stabbed in the back while the front line was being scorched, the best way was to have a good relationship with The legitimate red Wang Gonggong. After all, he was not one of those civilian officials in the DPRK who stood and spoke without waist pain, and his every move was related to the success or failure of the war, and to the life and death of countless people.
Just like Hu Zongxian during the Jiajing period, if he had not been sheltered because he had married Yan Song's father and son, and still resisted the Wokou of a woolen thread? It is estimated that I went home early to nibble on the old nest head.
The so-called heroes see the same thing - Lao Wang and Lao Hu both choose not to have a reputation and specialize in practical things
Therefore, since Wang Yue was transferred to bian town, he tried every means to make friends with Gonggong Wang, which gave him the opportunity to cross the battlefield and make meritorious achievements. Later, although he was implicated by Wang Zhi and was unlucky, after the second uprising, Wang Yue still insisted on hooking up with "new Internet celebrity" Li Guang, which had a big victory in directly pounding Helan and directly caused his death.
In the ming dynasty, anti-eunuchs have always been the greatest political correctness in the eyes of civilian officials. But whoever dares to violate this iron law will be beaten to dust and his reputation will be infamous.
And this is precisely Wang Yue's original sin.
Therefore, although he was loyal to the Ming Dynasty and had great achievements in battle during his lifetime, he still rose and fell several times, and even fell to the point of being imprisoned for crimes. However, Wang Yue still "did not change his dead nature", after all, since he was a child, he had "felt the death of the two Song Dynasties, the hatred of the Invasion of Hu Yu, and often resentful in his chest" - as long as he could sit at the border pass to fight the Tartars, he could open up anything.
When Wang Yue was alive, he was annoyed all the time, and the civilian officials hated that they could not put him to death when they seized the opportunity. But when Wang Yue really died, the ming dynasty monarchs discovered how precious it was for a King Yue who could secure the frontier and win the battle:
"The more time comes, the more people blame them for their greed. and death, and the pawns will be lazy, and the work will be even worse, and the border ministers will not be as transgressive as the ones. (Ming Shi Vol. 171 Liechuan No. 59)