Generally speaking, people in their sixties have begun to prepare for retirement, but in the Qing Dynasty, an old man in his sixties still had to personally lead the army to fight, the key was to win the battle, and finally was called "the old minister of the three dynasties" by the Qianlong Emperor. This person is Yue Zhongqi, and it is said that this person is the twenty-first grandson of the famous general Yue Fei (to be examined). Why do they have to personally lead the army to fight in their sixties? The reason was surprising: to pay off the debt, to repay the seven hundred thousand taels of silver he had previously owed to the imperial court. Even if this number is put into the present, it can be said to be a huge amount of money.
The matter should start from the beginning, Yue Zhongqi was born in a family of martial generals, and since childhood, he loved to study the art of war, read the books of war, and had a deep understanding of the art of war. In the fifty years of the Kangxi Dynasty, Yue Zhongqi was appointed as a guerrilla of the Chinese army and began a career of conquest of the battlefield and the expansion of territory. Worthy of being a descendant of Yue Fei, Yue Zhongqi's first participation in the war had a stunning performance. In the fifty-sixth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Dzungar Dan'er wanted to annex Qinghai-Tibet, Yue Zhongqi led a cavalry army into Tibet to engage in a major battle with Dzungar Dan, under his command, the Qing army was like a bamboo, recovering many lost places. Since then, Yue Zhongqi has won many surprise victories and quelled the rebellion in Lhasa. After this, Yue Zhongqi was promoted to viceroy of Sichuan. Shortly after taking office, there was another rebellion against the Qing in Qinghai, and Yue Zhongqi was once again ordered to fight. After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, Yue Zhongqi was ordered to march west to Qinghai, successfully recovering the entire region of Qinghai and expanding the territory of the Qing Dynasty. Yongzheng was overjoyed, not only promoting Yue Zhongqi to a knighthood, but also writing three poems for Yue Zhongqi to praise him.
Since then, Yue Zhongqi has made a lot of contributions to the Qing Dynasty, and his career has also been smooth and rising. After Nian Qianyao was given death, Yue Zhongqi was entrusted with a heavy responsibility and became the governor of Sichuan and Shaanxi, with heavy troops. Just as the so-called Mu Xiu yu lin, the wind will destroy it, Yue Zhongqi's outstanding performance, has been hated by many people. Some people rumored that Yue Zhongqi's mercenaries were self-respecting and wanted to rebel to avenge the Song and Ming Dynasties, and after the Yongzheng Emperor heard this, he smiled and did not care, and still entrusted Yue Zhongqi with a heavy responsibility. But in the end, these rumors also laid the foundation for Yue Zhongqi's career. In the eighth year of Yongzheng, Yue Zhongqi was once again ordered to march west, and at the beginning Yue Zhongqi marched all the way to the top, without stopping, but his grain and grass camp was secretly attacked by the enemy army, losing a lot of materials, and finally caused the army to be distracted and suffered heavy casualties. The Yongzheng Emperor was furious and severely reprimanded Yue Zhongqi, at which time the military chancellor Ortai took the opportunity to add fuel to the fire and impeach Yue Zhongqi. So Yongzheng stripped Yue Zhongqi of her top and put her in prison. After two years in prison, Yue Zhongqi was supposed to be beheaded, but the Yongzheng Emperor, seeing his previous merits, changed to beheading and punishing him with 700,000 taels of silver.
It was not until the yongzheng emperor died and Qianlong succeeded to the throne that Yue Zhongqi was released, but he was also reduced to a commoner. But he was still saddled with seven hundred thousand taels of silver. At this time, Yue Zhongqi was already a commoner, and he was also old, and he had no ability to repay 700,000 taels of silver at all, and the Qianlong Emperor did not expect him to pay it back at first. In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, there was another rebellion in Dajinchuan, and the Qing soldiers repeatedly failed to conquer the Great Jinchuan rebellion. At this time, the Qianlong Emperor suddenly thought of Yue Zhongqi, so the Qianlong Emperor summoned Yue Zhongqi to make him wear the guilt and make meritorious deeds and repay the debt. At this time, Yue Zhongqi was already sixty-two years old, resting at home for many years, and leaving the battlefield for a long time. However, after leading the army again, it took him less than a year to quell the Dajinchuan Rebellion. Qianlong was very happy after receiving the war report, and not only erased his fine but also rewarded him heavily.