Zhu Chao accompanied me to watch short videos

Chapter 342: Qi Family Army’s Mandarin Duck Formation

Xu Jie then submitted detailed defense plans four times and personally inspected the defense situation in the capital, which was in sharp contrast to Yan Song's actions.

After Xia Yan was framed and killed, Yan Song had no strong rivals in the court. In addition, the emperor had not been to court for a long time, so all orders were controlled by Yan's father and son. Yan Song and Yan Shifan took this opportunity to form cliques and engage in corruption. Anyone who opposed them would be brutally suppressed by them. Therefore, Xu Jie's coming forward this time aroused Yan Song's jealousy and put him in a very dangerous situation.

In order to avoid this disaster, Xu Jie stepped up his marriage with Yan Song's grandchildren to get through the danger. However, Xu Jie knew very well at this time that blindly protecting himself was not a solution. As long as Yan's father and son did not fall, he would never have a chance to make a breakthrough, and he might even lose his life if he was not careful.

However, due to the power of Yan Song and his son, he could only choose to find opportunities in obedience, otherwise he would be doomed if he was not careful.

Before this, Xia Yan's death was due to the conspiracy between Yan Song and General Qiu Luan. Qiu Luan was unwilling to be controlled by Yan Song after this incident, so he exposed the crimes of Yan's father and son.

Yan Song and his son immediately lost the emperor's trust. This was a good thing for Xu Jie, but he was very cautious: if Yan Song fell, it would be good, but what if something else happened? So he resolutely chose to wait and see. Sure enough, just as Yan Song and his son were hugging and crying, Qiu Luan died of illness.

The relationship between Yan Song and his son in the court was complicated and there was a high possibility that they would turn the tables again. Xu Jie immediately wrote a letter to accuse Qiu Luan of collaborating with the enemy, thus invalidating all the accusations made by Qiu Luan during his lifetime. Yan Song escaped from the current crisis. After this incident, the relationship between Xu Jie and Yan Song was completely eased.

But Yan Song didn't know that all this was just a token of Xu Jie's trust. From then on, Xu Jie relied on his excellent acting skills to obey Yan's father and son on the surface, but secretly gathered a large number of colleagues who were against Yan.

Finally, in 1562, the 59-year-old Xu Jie got his chance. At that time, there was a Taoist priest named Lan Daoxing, who was famous in the capital for his ability to use the divination, which probably refers to the possession of gods.

Xu Jie then bribed him and recommended him to Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty. Since Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty admired Taoism, he trusted Lan Daoxing very much and treated him as a guest of honor.

When Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty asked Lan Daoxing why the government was not in order, Lan Daoxing immediately performed a ritual and then appeared to be possessed by a god. He wrote: "The treacherous ministers are in power, and the virtuous ministers are not given important positions. The treacherous ministers are Yan Song and Yan Shifan, father and son. The loyal minister is Xu Jie."

In fact, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty was skeptical about this statement, but Lan Daoxing went on to write: "Today a treacherous minister reported something." As a result, not long after, Yan Shifan entered the court.

Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty immediately believed that this was the intention of the gods. Of course, all of this was arranged by Xu Jie. Xu Jie immediately had people impeach Yan's father and son overnight.

Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty saw the impeachment memorial the next day and immediately ordered a thorough investigation into the Yan Song case. Yan Shifan and his minions were all exiled.

According to Emperor Shizong's intention, Yan Song just wanted to retire with dignity, so Yan Song was not seriously injured.

Even though he was already 82 years old and had basically no chance of turning things around, his power in the court was deeply rooted, and his son Yan Shifan still had the possibility of making a comeback. Sure enough, with the help of Liu Fang, Yan Shifan returned to his hometown halfway and gathered people there to prepare for a comeback.

However, the censor Lin Run, who had impeached Yan Shifan, got the news. He was worried that the Yan family would come to power again, so he wrote another letter to accuse Yan Shifan of gathering a crowd to rebel.

Emperors of all dynasties were very sensitive to rebellion, and Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, who was obsessed with Taoism, was no exception. So they sent people to capture him immediately.

But Yan Shifan was not panicked when he was arrested. Previously, Shen Lian, Yang Jisheng and others were persecuted to death for impeaching Yan Shifan and his son.

So after Yan Shifan was arrested, his cronies bribed the three judicial officials, hoping that the officials from the three ministries would mention more about the redress of Yang Jisheng and others in the case documents, and then convict him in this name.

Afterwards, Xu Jie summoned the officials from the three ministries. He had a very sharp eye and immediately discovered the trick in the case document. And as long as the emperor saw it, Yan Shifan would be innocent.

Because Yang Jisheng and others were all executed by order of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, if it was emphasized that the killing of Yan Shifan was for the purpose of rehabilitating him, it would mean that the emperor made a mistake and unjustly killed the minister.

In response, Xu Jie told the officials of the three ministries that their final documents would not only fail to bring Yan Shifan to justice, but they themselves would also be implicated because of Zhang Shangguo. The so-called Zhang Shangguo was to highlight the emperor's faults, so Ming Shizong would definitely not approve it.

The officials of the three ministries panicked after hearing Xu Jie's analysis and hurriedly prepared to rewrite it. However, Xu Jie took out a document that he had already prepared, which was obviously expected. Sure enough, after seeing the final document, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty immediately ordered the beheading of Yan Shifan and others.

Because the charges in the document were very serious. He not only gathered people to rebel, but also colluded with outsiders. Although King Sejong asked the three judicial officials to verify the evidence, they only closed the case with a report of conviction.

At this point, Xu Jie used a fabricated charge to bring down a criminal who was supposed to be executed, which was a way of giving Yan Song a taste of his own medicine. Yan Song's power was completely destroyed. All his property was confiscated, and he was left homeless and died in the wilderness.

[Qi Jiguang, a famous general who fought against Japanese pirates, was so poor that he had no money to see a doctor. What kind of formation was the Mandarin Duck Formation of Qi's army? Historical trivia and historical figures]

This is the famous Qi Family Army, whose mandarin duck formation is impeccable and is an iron wall that the Japanese pirates along the coast cannot penetrate. The founder of all this is the famous general Qi Jiguang who is familiar to us. So what kind of formation is the mandarin duck formation?

Why did the Qi Family Army become the nightmare of the Japanese pirates? Why did Qi Jiguang, who devoted his life to protecting his country, end up penniless and dying alone in his later years?

In 1559, Qi Jiguang thought that the existing army had many problems, so he decided to recruit soldiers in Yiwu. After a rigorous selection, he formed a brand new army.

Then, through a practical training plan, he created the famous Qi Family Army, which is recorded in history books as "one man against a hundred". At the same time, Qi Jiguang created the Mandarin Duck Formation to target Japanese pirates. This formation played a crucial role in the subsequent Yuhuan battle.

Qi Jiguang not only valued the bravery of soldiers, but also paid more attention to teamwork. He never tired of reiterating the importance of teamwork. Under this combat concept, the Yuanyang Formation he created consisted of 11 people in a team, with the captain in the middle holding a battle flag or a spear and responsible for command.

Behind the captain are two teams on the left and right, and in front of the teams are two shield bearers.

One of them holds a wide and thick long shield to resist the swordsmen or spears of the Japanese pirates. The shield bearer is also equipped with a waist knife, so he can engage in close combat while protecting the team. The other shield bearer holds a copper shield, which is lighter and is mainly responsible for covering the attacks of the spearmen behind him.

On the side of the spearman there is a wolf-whip fighter. The wolf-whip is a piece of bamboo with branches and leaves retained and one end sharpened. Each wolf-whip is about 3 meters long.

The wolf-whip fighters would use the tip of the spear to help the shield fighters advance, and the branches and leaves could also block the sight of the pirates and dissolve the swords. When the wolf-whip confuses the pirates' sight, the spear fighters would take the opportunity to attack, and the spears could kill the pirates at this point.

The members of the Mandarin Duck Formation had clear division of labor and coordinated with each other, fully achieving both offense and defense, and the Japanese pirates could not find any flaws. Even when the Qi family army faced a considerable number of Japanese pirates, the Mandarin Duck Formation still did not lose out.

Two years later, Japanese pirates invaded the coastal areas of Zhejiang Province. Their main force attempted to contain the Ming army and attack Taizhou. After careful analysis, Qi Jiguang saw through the real intention of the Japanese pirates, so he led the Qi family army to the south and attacked the Japanese pirates with the mandarin duck formation, defeating them.

Qi Jiguang then chased them for more than 40 miles, killing and capturing hundreds of people on the way. The rest of the Japanese pirates all jumped into the river and died, and more than 5000 civilians were rescued.

Soon after, the Japanese pirates' follow-up troops were preparing to seize Lishui, Zhejiang. Qi Jiguang got the intelligence and immediately set up an ambush on the road that must be passed. He defeated the Japanese pirates with a small force and wiped out 2500 of them. He then fought 12 consecutive battles in other areas of Taizhou, killing or drowning more than 6000 Japanese pirates.

This was the first major victory of Qi's army since its establishment. After the war, the people of Zhejiang built a temple for him to commemorate his achievements.

Qi Jiguang then recruited soldiers in Yiwu, and the total number of Qi's army increased to more than 6000. Although the Japanese threat in Zhejiang was resolved, the Japanese pirates in Fujian began to become more rampant and powerful.

Qi Jiguang was ordered to lead the Qi Family Army to aid Fujian in 1562. Due to the geographical advantages of the Hengyu area, the Japanese pirates had occupied this place for three years, built strong fortifications, and also echoed with Zhangwan.

Qi Jiguang decided to break through this place first, and then force his way ashore to attack Hengyu, and recaptured the place in just half a day.

At that time, in order to wipe out the Japanese pirates' lair in Niuti, Qi Jiguang bypassed the various strongholds around it at night and suddenly attacked. As the Japanese pirates were not prepared, they were in chaos when they were attacked and were finally wiped out.

Only two months after Qi Jiguang's army entered Fujian, they had fought across thousands of miles and conquered many places. Generals from all over the country began to imitate Qi Jiguang in training troops, and the sluggish state of the Ming army changed drastically in a short period of time.

However, not long after Qi Jiguang returned to Zhejiang, Japanese pirates came to Fujian again. Qi Jiguang then expanded the Qi Family Army for the third time. In 1563, Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou and others gathered in Fuqing.

Under the leadership of Qi Jiguang, the Qi family army successfully broke through Pinghaiwei and beheaded more than 2000 Japanese pirates. They then continued to pursue and annihilate them, fighting 12 times in a month.

Later, another 2 Japanese pirates launched a siege on Xianyou City, which lasted for more than 50 days. Qi Jiguang received the news and quickly went to relieve the siege, and once again defeated the enemy with a smaller force. The Battle of Xianyou was another major victory for Qi Jiguang after the victory of Pinghaiwei.

During the battle, he correctly judged the strength and action plan of the Japanese pirates, which created conditions for effectively stopping the Japanese pirates' siege plot.

He also formulated a strategic plan based on the actual situation of the disadvantaged troop strength, such as hiding camps, dividing and encircling, and defeating the enemies one by one. In the end, he accumulated small victories into a big one, which became a classic example of war.

A minister once reported to the emperor: "Since we started to use military force in the southeast, there has never been such a battle and military achievement, and there has never been anything as amazing as this." After more than ten years of hard fighting, the serious Japanese threat on the southeast coast was finally quelled.

However, the Ming Dynasty's northern border troubles began to become prominent, so Qi Jiguang was assigned to the Shenjiying as a deputy general, a special unit in charge of firearms.

After that, Qi Jiguang wrote many letters to point out the problems existing in border defense, repeatedly emphasized the importance of training troops, and proposed the suggestion of recruiting new soldiers.

His idea was supported by Zhang Juzheng and others, and was therefore approved by Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, many people believed that Qi Jiguang's strategy and tactics could only be used to fight against the Japanese pirates, and were not suitable for guarding the northern border.

But not long after, Qi Jiguang repelled the attack of the Mongolian army. The history books recorded that "the army was greatly shocked by the sound of the wind, and the infantry blocked the way and defended the military force", and the ministers who opposed Qi Jiguang were slapped in the face.

When Qi Jiguang was 41 years old, he wrote a petition to build 3000 hollow towers to strengthen the border defense. Although the emperor approved the plan, the funds allocated were only enough to build 1000 towers. Qi Jiguang then requested to transfer 3000 soldiers.

It was raining heavily at the time, but the soldiers did not try to avoid it. The historical records say that "they stood still on the morning of the day". The border troops were shocked by this and gradually abandoned their bad habit of laxity. All 3000 hollow platforms were completed within two years.

Qi Jiguang and Zhang Juzheng had a special relationship. Whenever someone made things difficult for Qi Jiguang, Zhang Juzheng would try every means to transfer that person away. However, this relationship also brought adverse effects to Qi Jiguang.

As we mentioned in our previous video, after Zhang Juzheng passed away, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty launched a brutal purge against him, and Qi Jiguang, whom Zhang Juzheng trusted, was also impeached by many people at this time.

Some even thought that Qi Jiguang's border defense was ineffective, but that was not the case. Qi Jiguang repelled the invasion of the Mongolian Duoyan tribe several times, which not only failed to gain any advantage, but also caused heavy losses.

However, Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty followed the advice of those ministers and transferred Qi Jiguang to the south to guard Guangdong. However, Guangdong was relatively stable at that time, and Qi Jiguang, who had nothing to do, began to feel depressed.

In addition, the death of Yu Dayou and other friends and subordinates made Qi Jiguang feel lonely and turned to arms. He was constantly impeached and finally asked to resign in 1585.

However, when Qi Jiguang was fighting against Japanese invaders in the south and guarding the border in the north, he did not have any relatives, but he generously donated money. In addition, after he was dismissed from office, he had no salary, so he became poor and even had no money to buy medicine and see a doctor.

His wife also left because of their tragic marriage. Some ministers suggested that the court should re-employ Qi Jiguang, but the opposition sternly rejected it. Qi Jiguang eventually died due to the bad political environment and the torture of illness.