In the Ming Dynasty, there were generally only two ways to be knighted: to kill the enemy on the battlefield and make meritorious contributions, as long as the war merits were accumulated enough, you could be awarded the earl, marquis or even duke, for example, most of the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty were knighted, and for example, the heroes of Jingnan were also knighted; Another way is to protect the life of the king of a country, such as Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen re-sat on the throne through the change of seizing the door, and Chen Heng, the hero of the change of seizing the door, was promoted to the title of duke.
It is also said that most of the people who could be knighted in the Ming and Ming dynasties were military generals, and it was almost impossible for Wenchen to get a knighthood. For example, "Sanyang", after the four dynasties of Yongle, Hongxi, Xuande, and Orthodoxy, became the minister of Tuogu, and assisted the young Yingzong in handling the government. "Sanyang" has been the first assistant of the cabinet for many years, and he is a very popular minister, but none of them have been knighted.
However, not all Wenchen were not awarded the title of Marquis, there were three such in the Ming Dynasty, although they were Wenchen, but they had great military achievements, and they were awarded the title of earl by virtue of their military exploits. And coincidentally, these three Wenchen who were knighted by their military exploits are all surnamed Wang: Jingyuan Bo Wang Ji, Weining Bo Wang Yue and Xinjian Bo Wang Shouren, so the world calls these three people the "Three Kings Earl". It is indeed a very surprising thing, and Wang Shizhen, a writer and historian of the Ming Dynasty, commented on this: Daqi! Daqi!
The "Three Kings Earl" can be inherited by future generations, but only the title of Jingyuan Earl Wang Ji can be inherited from generation to generation until the end of the Ming Dynasty; Why is that?
01 Jingyuan Bo Wang Ji
Wang Ji is a native of Baoding, Hebei Province, who has been strong since he was a child, is very good at riding and shooting, and has a resolute personality and is familiar with the art of war. When he was only 13 years old, he entered the county school and became a student. Subsequently, Wang Ji's parents died successively, and in the fourth year of Yongle (1406), Wang Ji was admitted to the Jinshi and was awarded the position of military department. However, it didn't take long for him to go to Shanxi to take up his post and ask Chengzu to reduce Shanxi's taxes by more than 200,000 stones. Immediately afterwards, Wang Ji successively acted as the governor of Tianfu and acted in the affairs of the Inspectorate, and Wang Ji handled it very properly in office, and was later promoted to the deputy envoy of Shanxi
According to the deputy envoy of the inspection in the Ming Dynasty, although Wang Ji only achieved the four-grade official in more than ten years, it is not a smooth step, but every step Wang Ji is very down-to-earth. So much so that the kings of later generations attach great importance to Wang Ji:
After the death of Ming Chengzu, Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne, recalled Wang Ji to the capital, and promoted him to Shuntianfu Yin (Zheng Sanpin); Because Wang Ji is well-governed, he was greatly praised by Renzong.
Renzong died after only 10 months of reign, and was succeeded by Zhu Zhanji, Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty.
In the first year of Xuande (1426), Xuanzong promoted Wang Ji to the right attendant of the Ministry of War, and acted for the affairs of the procuratorate, and soon acted as the secretary of the Ministry of War.
In the Yongle Dynasty, in 18 years, Wang Ji became the deputy envoy of the four products;
After the death of Chengzu, Wang Ji has become a second-class member in only two or three years, which shows how fast Maxima ran after meeting Bole; It can also be seen that "quantitative change will produce qualitative change". It is precisely because of Wang Ji's accumulation of more than ten years of experience in the Yongle Dynasty that he has become the new emperor Renzong and Xuanzong.
In the ninth year of Xuande, Wang Ji was officially awarded the post of secretary of the Ministry of War.
However, at this time, Wang Ji was still unknown, and he did not have too many commendable achievements, and he was able to rank in the second grade because of his conscientiousness, self-control and proper handling. After Zhu Qizhen ascended the throne from Ming Yingzong, Wang Ji was different, and really began to make meritorious deeds, establish outstanding military exploits, and win a hereditary earl title for his family with his military exploits:
In the first year of orthodoxy, the Tatar Ministry invaded Ganzhou, Liangzhou and other places many times, and the soldiers and servants were dealing with the matter, but none of them contained the invasion of the Tatar Department. In the second year of orthodoxy, Ming Yingzong ordered Wang Ji to deal with the matter.
As soon as Wang Ji arrived, he began to stand up:
Ask which general was the first to retreat when the Ming army pursued the Tatars to the fishing sea (Lake Baikal) before, which led to the rout of the army?
Everyone replied: Commander Wang Jing.
When Wang Ji left the capital, he had already secretly told Yingzong to execute Wang Jing, and Yingzong agreed. So Wang Ji directly asked Wang Jing to be tied up and beheaded directly; At the same time, he severely reprimanded the governor Jiang Gui.
Seeing Wang Ji like this, all the generals trembled with fright, for fear of implicating themselves.
Wang Ji killed Wang Jing just to establish his authority, so naturally he would not implicate others. Then the review of the soldiers began. After the review was completed, Wang Ji eliminated one-third, and formulated a rotation method so that the soldiers could take turns to rest, which could also save food and grass.
Not long after, the Tatars invaded again, and Wang Ji went out with the generals. Governor Jiang Gui was the vanguard, while Wang Ji led the army to follow him, and agreed with Wang Gui: invincible. In this battle, the Ming army won a complete victory, capturing more than 40 officials such as the right prime minister, privy councillor, and Tongzhi of the Tatar department. The court rewarded meritorious deeds, and Wang Ji got double salaries (the military department Shangshu and Dali Siqing).
Not long after, Wang Ji was recalled to the capital and continued to manage the affairs of the military department.
In addition to the Tatars in the north, in the early years of orthodoxy, the Luchuan Xuanyu in the south made Si Renfa also unstable and launched a rebellion. Mu Sheng, the Duke of Qianguo, not only failed in the crusade, but also died of illness during the march, and his younger brother Mu Ang temporarily took over his position. Mu Ang asked the imperial court to send 120,000 troops to help him quell the rebellion together, and under the recommendation of the eunuch Wang Zhen, Wang Ji and the orthodox six years led 150,000 troops south.
In November of the same year, Wang Ji and the governor Jiang Gui led 20,000 people to attack Shangjiang directly, beheading more than 50,000.
Immediately after the victory, he pursued to Ma'anshan, and a month later, Wang Ji led a large army to reach the Luchuan lair.
Wang Ji led the generals to attack the seven camps of the Luchuan army, and the Luchuan army was burned to death, and tens of thousands of people drowned. Except for Si Renfa and his two sons who fled, and his army was almost completely wiped out, Wang Ji directly bulldozed Si Renfa's lair, and left the garrison to defend the place.
In April of the seventh year of orthodoxy, Wang Ji led the expedition against Wei Langluo, and except for Wei Langluo, who fled to Annam, the others, including Wei Langluo's wife and children, were all captured. Yingzong was overjoyed, not only in Fengtian to give a banquet to Wang Ji, but also accompanied by the ministers. Moreover, Wang Ji was named Jingyuan Bo, with an annual salary of 1,200 stones, and his family was allowed to hold the position of hereditary commander and Tongzhi.
Four months later, Wang Ji went south again to the governor of Yunnan Military Affairs, and consulted Si Renfa for the second time. After Si Renfa fled, he went to Burma, and Myanmar wanted to coerce the Ming Dynasty to cede Luchuan before handing over Si Renfa. The Ming court ordered Wang Ji to directly attack Burma.
In the winter of this year, Wang Ji led the attack on Si Renfa's lair and captured Si Renfa's wife and children, but still let Si Renfa escape.
In the thirteenth year of orthodoxy, Wang Ji led his troops south again, but he still did not catch Si Renfa.
Wang Ji sent troops to Luchuan three times, but he did not catch Si Renfa, and the ministers of the DPRK and China impeached Wang Ji for working so hard and consuming grain and grass, and stirring up the world because of the southwest corner. However, because of the protection of the eunuch Wang Zhen, Wang Ji was exempted from offence.
In the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, Wang Ji led his troops to quell the Miao rebellion.
At the same time, Yingzong led his troops to conquer Warat, but the whole army was wiped out at Tumu Fort, and Yingzong was captured. The ministers impeached the eunuchs Wang Zhen and Wang Ji, Wang Zhen had died in Tumubao, and his family and henchmen were all killed, exiled, or deposed. As for Wang Ji, because he was quelling the Miao rebellion, he did not deal with it for the time being.
When Wang Ji returned to the capital, the reigning emperor had already been Ming Dynasty Zong Zhu Qiyu. Daizong asked him to go to the military affairs of the governor of Nanjing, and those who know the history of the Ming Dynasty know that after Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, Nanjing became the accompanying capital, although there was also the establishment of the imperial court, but most of them were decorations. At this time, the secretary of the military department was Yu Qian, and Yu Qian did not attach importance to Wang Ji, but Wang Ji was an old minister after all, and the court was still more kind to Wang Ji.
In the first year of Jingtai, after obtaining the consent of Daizong, Wang Ji's earl title could be hereditary.
After Wang Ji returned to Nanjing, he was in charge of guarding Yingzong, who was imprisoned in the South Palace. Jingtai three years Wang Ji retired at the age of 70, Jingtai eight years to participate in the change of seizing the door, with his children and grandchildren to welcome the restoration of Yingzong. Yingzong rewarded meritorious deeds and appointed Wang Ji's son Wang Xiang as the commander, and Wang Ji replaced Yu Qian as the secretary of the military department.
A few months later, Wang Ji returned to his hometown, and Tianshun died of illness in four years at the age of 83, and Yingzong posthumously named him the Marquis of Jingyuan.
After Wang Ji, the title of Earl Jingyuan was passed on for 7 and 8 generations in the Ming Dynasty until the end of the Ming Dynasty.
Willingberg Wang Yue
Wang Yue is a native of the Daimyo Mansion and was born in the first year of Xuande. When Wang Yue was born, Wang Ji was nearly half a hundred years old, and when Wang Yue was a student, he felt deeply about the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty, and was very resentful of it. Therefore, Wang Yue has been familiar with military books since he was a child, hoping to make contributions and make a difference when he grows up.
It is worth mentioning that Wang Yue is not only familiar with the scriptures and military books, but also has a slender body, very great strength, and is also good at hunting.
In the first year of Jingtai, Wang Yue won the third place in the township examination when he was 25 years old;
In the second year of Jingtai, he was admitted to the Jinshi and was awarded the post of Zhejiang Provincial Inspector of Imperial History.
In the third year of Jingtai (1452), he was ordered to patrol Sichuan.
From the third year of Jingtai to the seventh year of Jingtai, he kept filial piety for three years, and after the expiration of the mourning period, he was awarded the post of Shandong Provincial Inspector of the Imperial History.
In the fourth year of Tianshun (1463), Wang Yue was promoted to Shandong according to the inspector, and three years later was promoted to the right deputy capital of the Inspectorate, and Yingzong liked Wang Yue very much, and was ordered to Datong as governor not long after, even if Wang Yue's mother died, Yingzong did not agree to Wang Yue to return to his hometown to guard filial piety, but chose to win love. Because Yingzong thinks that no one can replace Wang Yue, and in fact, Yingzong really did not look at the wrong person, Wang Yue has quite a meritorious career in Shanxi.
In the third year of Chenghua, the Tatars invaded Datong, and Wang Yue praised military affairs and concurrently served as a reward for meritorious service; In September of the same year, he also served as the governor of Xuanhua.
In the fifth year of Chenghua, the Tatars invaded Walnut and other places, Wang Yue led his troops to the rescue, the Ming army won a complete victory, and the Tatars retreated.
In March of the sixth year of Chenghua, Wang Yue led his troops to conquer Aluo, and was promoted to the right capital of the Inspectorate because of his merits.
In the ninth year of Chenghua (1473), Wang Yue defeated the Tatars in Wentianling and was promoted to the imperial history of the left capital by virtue of his military exploits. Although the imperial court has changed generals three times, the military affairs of the governor have always been Wang Yue. Moreover, after this battle, the Tatars suffered heavy losses and led their troops away, and the western part of the Ming Dynasty was stable for many years. It was not until the eighth year of Hongzhi (1495) that the Tatars again raised troops into the loop.
In the tenth year of Chenghua, Wang Yue was the governor of military affairs, controlling the three sides of Yansui, Ningxia and Gansu, and all the commanders and governors had to obey Wang Yue's moderation. Later, because Jiang Wan was dismissed from the post of chief military officer, Wang Yue took over the post of chief military officer.
In the eleventh year of Chenghua, Wang Yue was in charge of the affairs of the Inspectorate together with Li Bin, the imperial historian of the left capital, and was also in charge of the 12th regiment battalion. At this time, Wang Zhi, the eunuch of the world who was in charge of the West Factory, became friends with Wang Yue this year. Two years later, Wang Yue was promoted to the secretary of the military department, and at the same time was in charge of the affairs of the Inspectorate, and was given the title of prince and taibao.
In the sixteenth year of Chenghua, Tatar Yisima invaded the border of the Ming Dynasty, and Xianzong ordered Zhu Yong to be the chief military officer, Wang Zhi to be the supervisor of the army, and Wang Yue to supervise military affairs, and go to conquer the Tatars. In this battle, the Ming army won a great victory. Xianzong rewarded meritorious deeds, not only named Wang Yuejin as the hereditary Wei Ningbo, but also named Wang Yue's son Wang Shijin as a thousand households.
In the seventeenth year of Chenghua, the Tatars invaded the Ming Dynasty from Haidongshan and other places, Wang Zhi, Wang Yue and others led the troops again, the Tatars were defeated and fled, Xianzong made Wang Yue's son Wang Shijin as the governor of the capital, and the annual income increased by 400 stones.
According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, Wenchen could not be promoted to the title of prince, so Wang Yue changed to take charge of the former military capital governor's mansion and led the soldiers and horses of the five military battalions. And in this year, the son of Enyin Wang Yue, who was only 8 years old, was a hundred households of Jinyi Wei, and could be hereditary.
In the eighteenth year of Chenghua, Wang Yue once again achieved a great victory in Yansui.
In the nineteenth year of Chenghua, Wang Zhi fell, Wang Yue had always been good friends with Wang Zhi, and he was also deprived of his title and relegated to live in Anlu. Not only that, Wang Yue's three sons were all cut down because of Wang Yue's military exploits. As a result, Wang Yue once wanted to commit suicide.
Although he was dethroned, Wang Yue still rode and archery, vocal music, and enjoyed it very well.
In the first year of Hongzhi (1488), Wang Yue was pardoned and finally returned to his hometown.
In the seventh year of Hongzhi, because Wang Yue had many lawsuits, Xiaozong restored the title of Wang Yue's Inspectorate Zuodu Yushi, and awarded his son Wang Chun a thousand households and Wang Shi a hundred households.
Two years later, Dayan Khan of Tatar captured Datong and Xuanfu, and Yang Xun, the superintendent of the imperial history, recommended Wang Yue to lead his troops.
In this battle, Wang Yue did not live up to Xiaozong's expectations of him, but at the same time, Li Guang, the eunuch whom Xiaozong trusted very much, committed suicide for his crimes, and the ministers impeached Wang Yue as Li Guang's fellow party. Wang Yue thought that he would be belittled like the last time he was implicated by Wang Zhi, and he was terrified in his heart, and died of illness in Ganzhou in the eleventh year of Hongzhi at the age of 73.
Xiaozong learned the news of Wang Yue's death, and ordered him to drop out of the dynasty for one day, and set up nine altars to worship Wang Yue.
In addition, the imperial court ordered Jinshi Wang Shouren to go and supervise the construction of Wang Yue's tomb.
It is worth mentioning that the last of the "Three Kings Earl" is Wang Shouren, who built a tomb for Wang Yuedu, which is what we often call "Wang Yangming". And Wang Shouren really admires Wang Yue very much and wants to make contributions like Wang Yue.
Newly built Bo Wang Shouren
Wang Shouren's background is still good, his father Wang Hua was the champion of the seventeenth year of Chenghua (1481), and finally achieved the position of the secretary of Nanjing. Because of this, Wang Shouren received a very good education from an early age.
Wang Shouren didn't speak until he was 5 years old, went to private school at the age of 12, and lost his mother at the age of 13.
He has great ambitions and thinks differently from ordinary people, he believes that the imperial examination is not the first priority, the most important thing is to be a sage.
In the first year of Hongzhi (1488), Wang Shouren got married when he was 17 years old, but on the day of the wedding, no one could find any trace of him, it turned out that Wang Shouren was asking the Taoist priest for health skills, and the two sat facing each other, until the next day the father-in-law found Wang Shouren back.
In the fifth year of Hongzhi, Wang Shouren participated in the township examination for the first time and was lifted. After that, his studies also made great progress, and Wang Shouren became more and more fond of talking about military affairs, and he was very skilled in mounted archery. At this time, although Wang Shouren was full of talent, he was not necessarily suitable for the imperial examination, so he was not admitted to the Jinshi twice in a row.
In the twelfth year of Hongzhi, 28-year-old Wang Shouren participated in the examination again, and this time his performance was very good, ranking seventh in the second class, and he was able to enter the office. The first task after entering the government was to supervise the tomb of Wang Yue of Weiningbo, but he returned to his hometown for five years due to illness, and returned to the capital in the seventeenth year of Hongzhi and was awarded the post of director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War.
In the first year of Zhengde, Wang Shouren was demoted to Guizhou Longchang as a post keeper because he offended the eunuch Liu Jin, and his father Wang Hua was also driven out of the capital and transferred to Nanjing to serve as the secretary of the ministry.
In Guizhou Longchang, Wang Shouren enlightened, known as "Longchang enlightenment" in history.
After Liu Jin was executed, Wang Shouren was also promoted to the head of the Nanjing Criminal Department.
In the ninth year of Zhengde, Wang Shouren was promoted to Honglu Temple.
In August of the 11th year of Zhengde, because Wang Qiong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, admired Wang Shouren, Wang Shouren was appointed as the Imperial History of the Inspectorate and went to Nan'an, Ganzhou and other places to be governors. Due to the rampant thieves in the central and southern parts of Jiangxi, Wang Shouren was pacified as a thief who had been suffering for decades in the twelfth year of Zhengde.
During this period, Wang Shouren restored the army protection system in Hakka, Jiangxi;
The establishment of a school in Ganzhou has created a new atmosphere in the southern Ganzhou area for a while.
Moreover, after Wang Shouren quelled the rebellion, he left a new county in western Fujian, southern Jiangxi, and eastern Guangdong, and people respectfully called Wang Yangming the "county father".
In the fourteenth year of Zhengde, the Chenhao Rebellion broke out (the rebellion of Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning), and Wang Shouren put down the rebellion in only 35 days.
However, Wang Shouren's work in quelling the rebellion was not recognized by Wuzong Zhu Houzhao, because Wuzong had many traitorous ministers around him, and these people had a deep relationship with Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning, and these people hoped that Wang Shouren could release Zhu Chenhao, and then let Wuzong of the southern tour personally "capture" him. In the face of such a situation, Wang Shouren did not covet his counterinsurgency skills, retreated bravely, and handed over Zhu Chenhao to the upright eunuch Zhang Yong to avoid getting involved in court disputes.
Therefore, in the final Wuzong Dynasty, Wang Shouren was not rewarded for his efforts in quelling the rebellion.
After Wuzong died of illness, Ming Shizong Zhu Houxi ascended the throne, and Shizong had a brief appreciation for Wang Shouren, but soon his attitude was much weaker.
Wang Shouren took the initiative to resign and return to his hometown, but Sejong did not agree, and promoted him to the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department; Later, it was agreed that Wang Shouren could return to his hometown to visit relatives, and Wang Shouren was named a new uncle, and he was hereditary.
In the sixth year of Jiajing, there was a rebellion in Liangguang, and Wang Shouren concurrently served as the imperial history of Zuodu with his original official position, and the governor of Liangguang and concurrently served as the governor, responsible for quelling the rebellion. In May of the seventh year of Jiajing, the rebellion was put down. And Wang Shouren's lung disease also worsened because of this, and asked Sejong to agree to return to his hometown for retirement. However, without waiting for the approval of the imperial court, Wang Shouren set off to return to his hometown. However, Wang Shouren died of illness on the way, and when Wang Shouren's coffin passed through Jiangxi, many people were wearing linen clothes and crying to see Wang Shouren.
By the time of the Longqing Dynasty, Wang Shouren was posthumously named the Marquis of Xinjian and nicknamed Wencheng.
After Wang Shouren's death, his son Wang Zhengyi inherited the new earldom.
After Wang Zhengyi's death, Wang Chengxun inherited the title of earl and held the position of governor of Caoyun for 20 years.
Originally, the new earl title could be inherited in this way, but because Wang Chengxun's eldest son Wang Xianxin inherited the title and died without heirs, it triggered a hereditary dispute for the new earl title that lasted for decades, and finally Wang Chengxun's younger brother's son Wang Xiantong inherited the earl title, and was finally killed by thieves in the capital.
epilogue
In the Ming Dynasty, there were three Wenchen who were awarded the title of Earl for their military exploits, and they were all ambitious people, although they were admitted through the imperial examination, they should be officials and auxiliary kings like other Wenchen. However, for various reasons, they led troops to quell the rebellion or conquer the forces that invaded the Ming Dynasty, and made a lot of military exploits, and were named earls for their outstanding military exploits.
Of the three earls, only the title of Earl Jingyuan has been inherited from generation to generation, and it has never been broken until the end of the Ming Dynasty.
As for Werningberg and Xinjian Bo, neither of them has been passed down from generation to generation:
The title of Earl of Weining was broken after only one generation, because when King Weining Boyue fell in the nineteenth year of Chenghua, his earldom had already been abolished. Although it was later reactivated, it did not reinstate its earldom, let alone hereditary.
The new Earl King Shouren, after the earl title was passed on for three generations, because the great-grandson Wang was the first to die, resulting in no one inheriting the earl title. And Wang Shouren's descendants also began to compete for the title for decades, and finally Wang Xiantong inherited the title.