Patreon supporter only: The twenty-four generals of Yue Gang (月港)

Scenic photo of Yuegang Ancient Town, now a tourist attraction.

Several months ago I explored the story of Zhang Lian (張璉), self-appointed Flying Dragon Emperor, which provides us a rare and interesting case study of a Chinese-led rebellion during Jia Jing Da Wo Kou (嘉靖大倭寇), and how different it was compared to Japanese-style Wokou raids that happened contemporaneously. For this month we will be looking at Twenty-four generals of Yue Gang (月港, lit. 'Moon harbour'), who despite their fancy name were bona fide smugglers, but of a very different nature to typical Chinese collaborators of Wokou.

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War cart regiment of Zeng Xian

Satellite map of modern Hetao region. 

The plan to reclaim Hetao

The region known as Hetao (河套) is a collection of flood plains located in northwestern China. Consists of vast grasslands in stark contrast to its arid desert/steppe surroundings, Hetao region has historically been of utmost strategic importance to both China and its nomadic enemies, as its fertile grasslands are suitable for pastoral and agricultural activities, making it an ideal staging ground for nomadic incursion into China's heartlands, while at the same time also served as an important source of warhorse for sedentary Chinese dynasties as well as allowing the Chinese to station large numbers of troops here as the first line of defence against steppe incursions.

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Equipment of a Ming soldier — Xian Mei (銜枚)

Drawing of the flat back side of a Xian Mei, with placeholder soldier and military unit names written on it. From 'Ji Xiao Xin Shu (《紀效新書》)'.

Xian Mei (銜枚, lit. 'Bit stick') or simply Mei (枚) was a simple wooden or bamboo stick used as a gag for soldiers, both to prevent unnecessary chattering while the army was on the move, as well as an aid for observing noise discipline during special military operation such as night raid and ambush. Such device had a very long history of military use in ancient China—records of soldiers conducting night raids with Xian Mei between their teeth can be found in some of the earliest Chinese texts such as Rites of Zhou and Records of the Grand Historians. 

Ming Dynasty iteration of Xian Mei, its design largely finalised by famous commander Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光), was a 4 cun (12.8 cm/5 in) long and 5 fen (16 mm/0.6 in) wide bamboo stick that came with a lanyard so that it could be worn around the neck or hung from the side of a helmet when not in use. Qi Ji Guang also specifically preferred semi-cylindrical slip over a round rod so as to have a writable surface, as he intended Xian Mei to double as identification tag for his soldiers.

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