Chapter 112: The Last of the Qi Family Army

Juye.

“General Tong! You’re finally here! I feel much better now that you’ve arrived!” Yang Xin said weakly.

As he spoke, he clutched his chest and then downed a bowl of medicinal brew he claimed to have concocted himself. No one had a clue what strange concoction it really was.

Nearby, people like Yan Tiaogeng, who were familiar with the real situation, looked as if they were constipated.

This rascal had been shamelessly putting on this act for a while now, pretending his severe injuries hadn’t healed. Day after day, he extorted money, and he’d already squeezed out countless Silver Notes, heaven knows how much. As for what strange stuff he was drinking, well, he’d already consumed several pounds of ginseng alone! It made his face glow with health! Yet, whenever he was actually needed, out came the daily performance of holding his chest like the ailing beauty.

But the local gentry had no choice but to indulge him. After all, when he wasn’t putting on the ‘ailing beauty’ act, he was genuinely formidable in a fight.

He was more reliable than the official army.

When they counter-attacked Yuncheng, he charged ahead wielding his Ironwood staff, sending members of the Incense-Smelling Sect fleeing at the mere sight of him. Although he poured cold water on everyone’s enthusiasm that very night, he had indeed displayed his strength. Simply having him in Juye meant the local gentry and tyrants could sleep soundly, even though parting with their Silver Notes still stung terribly. And it wasn’t just Juye; even gentry from places like Caozhou, Jining, and Puzhou came to invite him to “recuperate”. The elites of Juye, however, adamantly refused to let him leave.

“Righteous Yang sustained grave injuries yet still fought valiantly for the nation, truly a model for our generation.” An old general said with emotion.

Indeed, judging by the reports in the Capital Gazette over this period, the image of Yang Xin fighting heroically despite his wounds leaped off the page. Whether it was infiltrating the bandit lair to slay key traitors, defending Juye and repelling the enemy outside its walls, or especially leading the counter-attack on Yuncheng, personally taking dozens of heads and being the first to breach the city walls – it all painted the picture of a man turning the tide. It was only natural that those unaware of the truth might misunderstand.

“General Qi! In this life, I admire only Lord Qi!” Yang Xin raised his cup and declared.

The old general, moved, raised his cup in a smile.

Well, this old general who didn’t know Yang Xin’s true colors was Qi Jin.

He was Qi Jiguang’s clan nephew, though modern research suggests he was actually his adopted son. It was common practice for Ming Dynasty generals to pluck promising youths from their own clan, adopt them, and groom them as successors.

That’s essentially what happened.

Qi Jin was a clan nephew from Qi Jiguang’s ancestral hometown, Dingyuan. Adopted and raised as a successor from a young age, his fate was tied to Qi Jiguang’s political downfall. Since Qi Jiguang was considered a partisan of Zhang Juzheng, Emperor Wanli purged him. Qi Jin, already a Deputy General at the time, was stripped of his post. He was reinstated during the war to aid Joseon Korea and afterward floated within the Ming Army system, serving in various garrisons but never seeing battle again. Because of Wanli’s inherent dislike toward Qi Jiguang, Qi Jin’s rank steadily declined. Now over sixty years old, he had little interest left in official advancement.

Prior to this, he had merely been a Battalion Commander at Zhending.

Two weeks earlier, he was hastily promoted to Deputy General. He was to serve as second-in-command to the newly appointed Regional Military Commander of Shandong, Tong Zhongkui. Their mission? To deal with Xu Hongru’s rebellion on behalf of Emperor Wanli.

Tong Zhongkui had previously served as the Sichuan Regional Military Commander. He had been leading the second wave of Sichuan Army reinforcements marching north to Liaodong.

Their path led them north along the Grand Canal, making it convenient to tackle this rebellion too. Emperor Wanli knew only relying on Shandong’s Garrison Soldiers, fresh from their devastating rout at Zou County (proving they couldn’t even beat farmers), was futile. The 5,000 Sichuan Army troops led by Tong Zhongkui were far more reliable. Besides, Tong Zhongkui didn’t just have these 5,000 men; he had many more coming up behind. He was merely the vanguard of this relief force bound for Liaodong. The real main force consisted of Deputy General Chen Ce from Zunyi and the subsequent Eastern Sichuan Tusi troops from the east – led by Qin Liangyu’s brother, Qin Bangping.

It must be said that Yang Xin had picked the most inopportune time for Xu Hongru to rebel.

These Ming Army units, famed later for their desperate stand at the Hun River – arguably the fiercest troops on the Liaodong front – were precisely marching north during these post-thaw months. Rumored to have already reached Yangzhou, they included the 3,000 Zhejiang Army troops who, during the Hun River battle, were under Qi Jin’s command. Truly, elite forces were converging on Western Shandong…

Of course, none had actually arrived yet. The Grand Canal remained frozen solid north of Huaian.

Tong Zhongkui had only just reached Anqing when he received his new orders. He was forced to disembark at Anqing with just 500 Cavalry, making an overland forced march to try and stabilize Shandong’s rapidly deteriorating situation. As for Qi Jin, he had rushed to join him with fewer than fifty personal Household Troops from his post.

He was the Battalion Commander of Zhending.

But Zhending was south of the Great Wall, holding no elite troops. Its Garrison Soldiers were no different from those here in Shandong.

The only forces available here for them to command were the motley Garrison Soldiers Yan Tiaogeng had scraped together.

Also present was Righteous Yang…

Well, Righteous Yang didn’t take orders from them!

Emperor Wanli, upon learning Righteous Yang was still gravely wounded, had issued a special edict. He was to rest and focus on his recovery; war would have to wait. Wanli understood Xu Hongru was ultimately insignificant. Despite the alarming appearance, no mass mobilization of the populace had occurred locally. After all, the great famine hadn’t struck yet. Only established Incense-Smelling Sect members had joined the revolt. Such rebellions weren’t terrifying; they were manageable so long as they didn’t snowball. Men like Yang Xin were aces meant for dealing with Wild Boar Skin. If Yang Xin hadn’t been injured, Wanli might have let him fight. But injured? It was best he avoided this conflict.

In fact, Wanli summoned him back to the capital.

But Righteous Yang, a man of deep loyalty, couldn’t bear to part with his beloved gentry friends in Juye.

As they drank, an officer hurried in. He approached Yan Tiaogeng, the highest-ranking commander present – the Ji Garrison Military Defense Circuit officer – and whispered a few words.

Yan frowned.

“Regional Commander Tong, our scouts report unusual movements among the rebel forces at Liangjialou,” he informed Tong Zhongkui.

“Whatever their intent, we only need to hold Juye. Within a month at most, the main army will arrive. Then, gentlemen, you shall see me wipe out these bandits.” Tong Zhongkui said with a smile.

“Regional Commander Tong! I volunteer to scout outside the walls! I’ll bring back a few rebel heads to welcome you!” Yang Xin stood up to declare.

“Is Righteous Yang still taking medicine?” Tong Zhongkui asked, his expression hinting at irony.

Clearly, he was starting to understand this rascal and held him in considerable disdain.

“This stuff works as soon as I drink it!” Yang Xin retorted.

He then strode out with a decidedly displeased look.

Qi Jin glanced at Tong Zhongkui, giving him a subtle look with his eyes. Tong Zhongkui gave a slight nod back. Qi Jin immediately stood up and followed Yang Xin out. Once outside, his Personal Guards promptly joined him. The Household Troops accompanying him, who had been sitting outside drinking, stood up in practiced synchronization. Ming Dynasty Household Troops came in various forms: pure household slaves; hired mercenary forces who accompanied an official to new posts; or troops only usable at the appointed location. It wasn’t just military officers; even civil officials in risky posts might keep Household Troops. This was a system tacitly sanctioned by the court.

Undeniably, these Household Troops were formidable fighters. They weren’t afraid to duel Jiannu warriors one-on-one. In small skirmishes involving hundreds, they could even win against Jiannu forces.

But this system fragmented the Ming Army. Each general’s Household Troops obeyed only him. However, no single general had enough Household Troops to form a significant field army. They were like elite special forces – superbly skilled for small-unit combat, but facing a proper field army, no matter their prowess, they would inevitably be overwhelmed.

It was Qi Jiguang who tried to change this.

He aimed to return the Ming Army to a proper field army structure.

But no one else wanted that. For the court, it cost far too much; only a truly bold reformer like Zhang Juzheng would spend such exorbitant funds. For border commanders, the situation suited them perfectly. They needed bandits to remain a threat to justify their own importance. If field armies effectively crushed the surrounding enemies with one sweep, how would they play their game? They preferred the Li Chengliang approach: periodically leading a thousand or so elite Household Troops on devastating raids, bringing back heads and plunder to claim merit, but never truly eliminating the threat. This ensured the court kept funding them indefinitely. That was their play.

Civil officials saw no need for reform either.

A fragmented military was ideal.

Fragmentation meant officers’ power remained restricted, forever unable to threaten the dominance of the civil bureaucracy.

In the end, Qi Jiguang failed.

Then that fragmented Ming Army, facing the Jiannu’s cohesive field armies, essentially lost any real ability to resist.

As for the Ming Army’s actual field armies…

Half were only on paper. Those names represented non-existent soldiers – fictitious units created solely to draw pay to fund the expensive Household Troops. The other half? They were cannon fodder hastily recruited when needed; their sole purpose was to tire the enemy out. Thus, on the Liaodong battlefield, apart from the officers’ Household Troops and the equivalent of Tusi warriors like the White Pole Soldiers, the only Ming units bold enough to engage the Jiannu in open battle were the Zhejiang Army at the Hun River. These 3,000 troops were the last remaining field army still using Qi Jiguang’s battle tactics.

Why was Qi Jin commanding them?

Because he had trained them personally when he was the Jiangnan Regional Military Commander.

The genuine Qi Family Army no longer existed. The true Qi Family Army was the unit Qi Jiguang trained to fight Japanese pirates. Later, using it as a core, he drilled Ji Garrison troops in the north. But after his removal, Ji Garrison crumbled into disorder again. However, veteran soldiers and junior officers from Zhejiang who had returned home were later reactivated during the war to aid Joseon. This included Qi Jin, who Qi Jiguang had groomed as a successor. After the Joseon War, Qi Jin became Jiangnan Regional Military Commander. In Jiangnan, he continued training new recruits according to Qi Jiguang’s tactics, using veterans who had fought in Joseon.

Thus, a sliver of the Qi Family Army’s legacy remained.

But it was just a scaled-down, low-budget version.

Decades had passed since Qi Jiguang’s prime. Yet this reduced Zhejiang Army fought the Jiannu to an almost one-to-one exchange ratio during their open-field battle at the Hun River, inflicting such casualties it triggered an unusual Jiannu retreat.

This battle marked China’s final instance of military parity with Europe just as they were transitioning to gunpowder. Qi Jin’s death and the annihilation of his 3,000 Zhejiang Army on the Hun River became a steep cliff – severing the path China had walked alongside Europe in land warfare development. From then on, they could only watch Europe rapidly disappear into the distance…

Yang Xin spoke with a touch of sorrow, “I often wonder, if Lord Qi had held command at Ji Garrison for ten more years, would the Great Ming be in this state today?”

Behind him, Qi Jin, who had followed with his fifty Household Troops, remained silent.