Di Ming

Chapter 36 Acquaintance
The old man looked grief-stricken, his eyes filled with tears, and he turned away angrily, leaning on his cane, and walked back.

He never looked back again, and sighed:
"Forty years of marriage! In the end, all I can do is suffer poverty, old age, and illness! All I can do is live this life of suffering, poverty, old age, and illness."

"I do not know you, I do not know you! It is not a grievance, it is not a grievance!"

"I shouldn't have dismissed three concubines for your sake!"

"Hahaha!" The old man with the cane laughed loudly, then suddenly started coughing violently, "Cough cough... cough cough cough!"

His face was flushed from coughing, and his tall body was curled up like a bow.

The elderly woman in her late sixties, dressed in fine clothes, did not stop walking at all when she heard him cough.

She said indifferently, as if talking to herself, "Being separated from one's wife and children is what should be."

Touching the pile of jewelry on her head, she left without looking back.

"Father!" A chubby-faced boy in ill-fitting white clothes rushed over to help the old man.

The boy was only fourteen or fifteen years old. He pounded the old man's back with a worried expression, while looking at the old woman in fine clothes with resentment.

"My stepmother is so heartless! She drove away my mother and abandoned my father and me! She took all her valuables and went back to her parents' home to enjoy a life of luxury!"

"Go and bring her back, son!"

The old man, panting, grabbed his son's hand and said with a wry smile:

"Patriotism, I've wronged you too. I listened to her and sent your mother away."

"Now that things have come to this, it is actually her, the wife, who is the most heartless."

"If it's going to rain, it's going to rain; if a mother wants to remarry... cough cough, let her be... cough cough!"

The boy looked grief-stricken and indignant. "Father, why are you saying all this now! Your health is the most important thing! I'll go find my elder brother right now. Even if I have to do hard labor, I will still take care of you, Father!"

As the old man walked forward, he shook his gray head. "I am a dismissed official, a man under punishment. Heh, you are all part of Zhang Xiangong's faction. It is I who have implicated you."

“Right now, everyone is avoiding me and the Qi family, afraid of getting involved in the slightest. Even if you brothers were to do hard labor, no one would dare to hire you.”

"Everyone beats the broken drum."

Zhu Yin, who was not far away, saw this scene and heard this conversation. How could he not know the old man's identity?

Qi Yuanjing is none other than the famous Chinese general and national hero Qi Jiguang.

Qi Shaobao, Zi Yuanjing!
Although Zhu Yin knew that Dengzhou was Qi Jiguang's hometown, he did not expect that he would meet Qi Shaobao as soon as he returned to the Central Plains.

Isn't this a coincidence? Zhu Yin was both surprised and delighted.

Qi Jiguang was not only a hero who made outstanding military achievements in resisting Japanese pirates and a great military strategist.

He was also a poet whose military achievements overshadowed his literary accomplishments. Moreover, he was a prolific writer, leaving behind a five-volume collection titled "Zhizhitang Ji," and his poetry was of a very high standard, even highly praised by Qian Qianyi.

However, his military achievements were so dazzling that his "New Book of Military Tactics" overshadowed "Collection of Zhizhitang", making his poems and essays unknown to the world.

Qi Jiguang was also a martial arts master on par with Yu Dayou, proficient in combat techniques and a true expert.

The saying goes, "Li in the North and Qi in the South." Qi Jiguang was once known as one of the "Twin Pillars of the Empire," on par with Li Chengliang, during the war against Japanese pirates.

Both men were generals highly valued by Zhang Juzheng and were also Zhang Juzheng's "followers".

However, even after Zhang Juzheng was purged, Li Chengliang remained at the height of his power, and the court dared not make a move against him.

Qi Jiguang was dismissed from his post and stripped of his military power.

Qi Jiguang was an incorruptible official who never profited from the soldiers' suffering. Although he bribed Zhang Juzheng, he himself was not wealthy.

He is a person with a relatively perfect personality.

In addition, he liked to personally pay for the welfare of his subordinates, did not manage his businesses or farmland, and did not understand financial management or economics, nor did he know how to live frugally, so naturally he had no surplus wealth.

After being dismissed from his post, his income stopped, and his large family fell into poverty, soon struggling to make ends meet.

He originally had five sons, but two died young. Another son ran away from home. Only Qi Zuoguo and Qi Baoguo remained by his side.

The oldest, Zuo Guo, was only eighteen years old. Because his father was dismissed from his post and investigated, and was considered a criminal who had been sent back to his hometown, he was implicated and also failed to enter officialdom.

Qi Baoguo was only fifteen.

Although they were all sons of military families, they only knew archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship, and were not good at making money.

This made the family even poorer. Qi Jiguang couldn't even afford medical treatment.

Historically, this past winter, Qi Jiguang died of lung disease amidst poverty and hardship at the young age of sixty.

Looking at Qi Jiguang's desolate figure, Zhu Yin couldn't help but feel sorrow for him. A hero's life has ended.

Since ancient times, famous generals are like beauties, and they are not allowed to see their hair turn white in the world.

After Zhang Juzheng's death, Qi Jiguang was impeached as a member of the Jiangling faction and dismissed from his post. Someone petitioned the court to reinstate him, but this nearly resulted in his dismissal by the enraged Wanli Emperor.

The most brilliant general of the Ming Dynasty actually met such an end.

Zhu Yin also knew that seven or eight years later, Qi Jiguang's former troops who had made meritorious contributions in resisting Japanese pirates in Korea were tricked into going to a training ground and slaughtered because of "trouble for wages" and "rebellion".

The Qi Family Army, which had rendered great service to the Ming Dynasty, met a tragic end in such a brutal manner after losing its commander.

The Qi Family Army during the Battle of Hunhe was no longer the true Qi Family Army; it was merely the Zhejiang Army.

If Qi Jiguang knew the fate of his former subordinates, would he regret being a loyal subject of the Ming Dynasty?
The Ming Dynasty could not escape the description of "harsh and ungrateful" towards its soldiers who fought and bled for the country.

It's no wonder that decades later, when the Ming Dynasty fell, few military generals died fighting for their country.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yin felt even less favorably toward the current Ming emperor and his officials.

Look at you incompetent rulers and treacherous officials, what good things have you done?
What have you done to the once glorious Ming Dynasty?
Do you, these parasites and traitors who are high above and indifferent to the common people, feel so at ease?

"What's wrong?" Ning Caiwei asked.

Zhu Yin pointed to the old man who had already walked onto the dock, "Do you know who he is?"

Ning Caiwei's expression shifted. "Who? Surname Qi, could it be... Qi Jiguang?"

Xu Xiaobai suddenly interjected, "That's Qi Jiguang! I saw him outside Nanjing before."

"He was a henchman of Zhang Jiangling; it's really lucky he wasn't imprisoned or had his property confiscated."

"Alas, I never imagined that the renowned General Qi, the pillar of the southeast, would end up like this. He is truly a tiger fallen into the plains."

"While he was still alive, people in Jiangnan spontaneously built shrines in his honor. With such popular support, how could the court not be even more stringent?"

"Previously, the court said that Jiangling intended to rebel, and Qi Jiguang was his henchman. It's a real injustice."

"Who in Jiangnan doesn't feel sorry for him? Everyone says he's a hero."

Ning Caiwei whispered in Zhu Yin's ear, "How can we help him? We can't just ignore him."

Zhu Yin nodded, took a few steps forward to create distance between himself and Xu Xiaobai and the others, and said in a low voice:

"Qi Shaobao only had six months to live. Historical records say that he fell ill from grief and indignation and developed tuberculosis."

"We definitely have to save them, even if there's no return on our efforts."

Zhu Yin whispered a few more words to Ning Caiwei, then, with his short legs, he carried Xiao Hei and jogged after her.

"Dad! Dad!" Zhu Yin ran up behind Qi Jiguang, his clear, boyish eyes accompanied by a childlike smile.

"Hmm?" Qi Jiguang, whose face was flushed, turned around and saw that it was a fair-skinned boy. His expression immediately softened.

"Little brat, what do you mean by calling me that?" Qi Jiguang stopped and a kind smile appeared on his sweaty face.

Zhu Yin said, "I want to go to Dengzhou City. Father, could you tell me how to get there?"

As she spoke, she stroked the puppy in her arms.

Black Tiger could actually run away a long time ago, but he just liked to hold him.

Qi Jiguang didn't answer him immediately. He pointed to the puppy, then to the blazing June sun, and said, "It's a furry ball. Aren't you afraid of the heat?"

Without waiting for Zhu Yin's reply, he pointed south and said, "You can come with me there. I live in Dengzhou City, so I'll take you there."

His eyes suddenly narrowed as he looked at Lancha, who was tall, wearing a hat and dressed in Hanfu black robes.

"Little one, this is a fierce and ruthless man. Is he your follower?"

"Hmm? He doesn't seem to be Han Chinese... He's either a Jurchen or a Mongol?"

As he said this, his expression hardened, and he exuded a sharp aura.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?!"

"Tell it like it is!"

P.S.: I was in a terrible mood this morning and was busy all morning, so the update is late. Sorry.

(End of this chapter)