Portrait of Yao Qisheng
Written by | Zhao Libo
In the twenty-second year of Kangxi (1683), shortly after the recovery of Taiwan, Kangxi criticized Yao Qisheng, who was in charge of rear warfare, and comprehensively denied yao Qisheng's many suggestions. Although a year earlier, Yao Qisheng had been awarded the title of Hereditary Knight Lieutenant and Jia Yiyun Knight Lieutenant for his exploits in conquering Haicheng, Kinmen, and Xiamen, he was ostracized and attacked by the imperial court because he could not live in the world smoothly.
In the seventeenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, (1678), Yao Qisheng, who had a crushing career, was finally awarded the title of Governor of Fujian. Previously, he was dismissed from Xiangshan Zhi County, Guangdong Province, because he violated the national policy of sea prohibition without authorization.
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However, Yao Qisheng is a person who can seize the opportunity to turn around at any time, from a county that was discussed by the Qing court and "never used" to a major hero in the reunification of Taiwan, which can be seen in Yao Qisheng's unique ability. During the San Francisco Rebellion, he raised funds and recruited troops, defected to the Office of Ai Xin Jueluo Jieshu, the Prince of Kang, because of his outstanding merits, he was reappointed to Zhuji Zhi County, Zhejiang, and soon promoted to Zhejiang Wen Prefecture Daoyou, when he was awarded the governor of Fujian, Yao Qisheng had become the highest official in charge of the two provinces, and Kangxi's use of him could be described as an out-of-the-box promotion.
Shaoxing yao qisheng "teenager has a lot of thoughts about the king hegemony" "Li Guangdi ▪ Rong village quotation sequel" "sexual arrogance, xi renxia" when he was young, he encountered bandits robbing women, he took the knife to kill the bandits, sent the women home. When he was doing Xiangshan Zhixian County, his predecessor "tens of thousands of former political negative classes, prison" he also "knew that it was in lieu of compensation" Yao Qisheng in the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" was like a chivalrous man who was righteous and righteous, who drew his sword to help each other when he encountered uneven roads, and who vigorously helped his predecessor in the official field and did not fall into the well.
Not only that, Yao Qisheng was very good at making money in business, and judging from the huge amount of money he donated later when he was a rear for the pacification of Taiwan, he made a lot of money during the San Francisco Rebellion. "After seven years of trade, we have to accumulate micro-capital, change the price of Zhejiang's ancestral property, and borrow from relatives and friends, and then have this after all these years."
However, his ambition is not in business, but in being an official, and his political thinking is quite pragmatic. After serving as the governor of Fujian, while supporting the Shi Lang army on the front line in the rear, he "eliminated the troubles for Fujian Province, opened the sea to the four provinces of Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangnan, and Shandong, counted the safety of the people, and removed the Zheng clan from Taiwan for decades." "The Biography of Yao Shaobao Qisheng"
In June of the eighteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Yao Qisheng and Li Guangdi, who was from Fujian, jointly guaranteed Shi Lang to be appointed as the admiral of the water division, and actively deployed the work of closing the taiwan.
Shi Lang film and television image
Four years later, Kangxi ordered the Battle of Penghu to be launched, ordering Yao Qisheng to be responsible for logistical support, and Shi Lang to lead the troops alone, specifically responsible for capturing Taiwan. Although Yao Qisheng was doing his best to ensure the rear, although he took out his savings many times, in order to further boost morale, he "counted all the silver pots and bowls in his home and the gold and silver jewelry of his wife and concubine." When the officers and men saw this scene, they "looked at each other and sighed. From the fourteenth year of Kangxi to the twenty-second year of Kangxi, Yao Qisheng raised a total of 428,000 taels of silver for the military, including building schools, providing relief to disaster victims, building houses, building more than 100 large and small warships, and replenishing more than 10,000 soldiers to Shi Lang. When he died of illness, the family "had no savings, and the sons sold their fields to hide, and they were as poor as ever." As he said when supplying at the back of the platform: "That is, the family is surrounded by walls, the debt is tired and embarrassing, and it is really willing." ”
In the nineteenth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, due to overwork, Yao Qisheng actually "fainted and unconscious, fangsu for a long time, and carried him into the city, but he was already in pain and numbness, and he was not in human form." After that, his physical condition became increasingly unbearable, but Yao Qisheng "although his illness has not yet healed, and the heart of a thief is particularly earnest, he will want to help the sick and go to justice." "Instead of dying at the hands of women, how about dying on the battlefield?" ”
Zheng Jing film and television image
Yao Qisheng was ordered at a critical moment, deeply feeling that the common people were trampled by the Qing army and the Zheng army, believing that "the soldiers occupied the houses of the people, the Migufa County purchased, and the heavy servitude was difficult to do, and the harm was the most severe." Standing at such a height, Yao Qisheng first strictly restricted the Qing army's indiscriminate occupation of civilian houses, and achieved good results through a variety of measures to protect the people.
In August of the 22nd year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Yao Qisheng gave Kangxi a summary and analysis of Taiwan's political, economic, and geographical situation, and firmly advocated that "it is not too late to keep it, and it is also natural that this phase will come to an end." This opinion was put forward several months earlier than the forward general Shi Lang, and he was the first person who advocated that Taiwan must stay.
Yao Qisheng was outspoken and fast-talking, and he accidentally fell into the great whirlpool of politics. Shortly after the decisive battle against Taiwan, Shi Lang began to shock Yao Qisheng's public opinion. In his recital to Kangxi, he said a lot of bad things unfavorable to Kangxi: "Yao Qisheng did not go to Penghu to inform him, and went straight to Taiwan in vain, and the important affairs of the military state were regarded as a child's play by him. Not only did he write to the book, he also sent someone to "play the chen face" to Kangxi. Scholars such as Mingzhu and Wang Xi often discussed matters around Kangxi, most of them speaking for Shi Lang and rendering Yao Qisheng's various rumors.
Yao Qisheng film and television image
The trigger of the incident was that Yao Qisheng's own words were inevitable and more so that the imperial court seized the opportunity, originally Kangxi had ordered the commendation of the Penghu Great Victory Shi Lang was deeply commendable, and Yao Qisheng was also very commendable, which actually listed him as the second meritorious person, but Yao Qisheng wrote to express his humility and resignation, which caused Kangxi to be dissatisfied, coupled with the continuous artificial rumors, which made Kangxi more and more disgusted. However, Yao Qisheng, in the case of being seriously ill, wrote seven pieces of music to Kangxi in one breath, but it attracted a severe rebuke from Kangxi.
Kangxi film and television image
For example, the proposal to restore the relocation of the borders of the five provinces, the opening of the sea ban in the six provinces, the dismissal of redundant officials, the pardon of money and grain, and the return of private houses were of great importance to the national economy and people's livelihood at that time, but when Kangxi received several pieces of music, he took advantage of the title to play and severely accused Yao Qisheng of "quite a lot of falsehood" and "no merit", and even the original guarantee of Shi Lang became a crime of "vain words to protect Shi Lang, decorated as useless words". Not only that, but even Yao Qisheng's bankruptcy of his family to support the rear has become a major crime: "Repeatedly donating 270,000 or 80,000 taels of silver, about the most of them are floating" Finally, he set the tone and said: "The Ming Dynasty is selling the name of the city, and it is not compatible, and this is not allowed." Ordered to stop his "purpose of discussion" Not long after, the 60-year-old Yao Qisheng was overwhelmed and died suddenly.
Yao Qisheng's life was full of twists and turns, from a never-ending shelved ZhiXian to a hero in the cause of pacifying Taiwan and national reunification, but when he was about to achieve success, he fell from the peak of politics. After Taiwan was taken back, Kangxi repeatedly praised Shi Lang and awarded him the general of Jinghai, the Marquis of Jinghai, and hereditary resignation. In the second year after Yao Qisheng's death, although Kangxi's evaluation of him was more affirmative than before, it was not at the same level at all compared with Shi Lang. This famous minister who had made great contributions to the unification of the Qing Dynasty bowed down and did his best, but he suffered injustices in his lifetime, and the tide surged like an ocean wave, like a lament.