Zhang Lian is a native of Wushi Village, Raoping County, Guangdong. He was both a "White Whistle" (Mountain Bandit) and a "Sea Whistle Pirate"), and he was a famous figure at the time who had the dual identity of a Mountain Bandit and a pirate. Zhang Lian was a treasury official at the beginning, shrewd and capable, and a low-level official with wisdom and ambition.
He was born in Xiacang, Shangrao Wushi Village, Raoping County, Chaozhou, from a poor background, and was a chivalrous and righteous person, and was a Raoyi treasurer. During the reign of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1566 AD), the imperial court was corrupt and taxes were harsh. In the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing (1547 AD), the so-called "Japanese Invaders" harassed the coastal areas of Chaozhou and plundered Raoping County, when the local generals used the excuse to prevent the Japanese from using torture to plunder the people's property, and inspired the people to resist. with Tai Po Cheng.
8. Xiao Wan organized the "White Fan Society" uprising.
In the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing (1558 AD), Zhang Lian led more than 1,000 righteous troops to retreat from the south of the county after attacking Hulei. Zhang Lian was good at fighting and resourceful, after the death of Zheng Ba, he was promoted as the leader of the righteous army, and his power grew stronger and stronger, and with Lin Chaoxi of Chengxiang (now Meixian District, Meizhou City), Xiao Wan, Luo Pao, Yang Shun of Dapu, Zhang Gongyou and Lai Ci of Xiaojing, and Li Dongjin of the White Rabbit joined forces, gathered 100,000 people, made an alliance of blood, and was embraced as the commander.
In May of the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing (A.D. 1560), Zhang Lian was proclaimed emperor in Baisongguan, the border of peace and peace in today's Raoping, and called himself "Flying Dragon Lord", the country name "Flying Dragon", the official of the Kaike Bureau, and the king of Luo Pao. Build the imperial city as the base camp in Wushipu, build the "Zhucheng Yellow House" as the palace in Zhangxiangtian, build hundreds of small villages around it, and open up the wasteland in the adjacent hills of three counties such as Raoping, Pinghe and Dapu, and cultivate potato grain to fill the military salary. Since they are attached to the people, they are based on the camp, and they are bound to become horns.
In the fortieth year of Jiajing (1561 AD), Zhang Lian's Feilong Army divided its troops to attack four provinces, including Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Zhejiang. After Zhang Lian personally led a righteous army of 30,000 people to capture Pinghe County in May, he fell into Yunxiao City in June and took advantage of the situation to attack Zhangzhou Zhenhaiwei. Break Nanjing in August and capture Longyan in December. Later, they fell into Nanjing again, surrounded Yongding and Liancheng, cut off the official army, took advantage of the victory to win Changle, Xingning, Ningdu, Ruijin, Taihe, and directly attacked Longquan County in Zhejiang. Zhang Lian also ordered Wang Boxuan to lead the pirates to attack Chaozhou City, and the rebel armies from all walks of life successively captured dozens of cities, and the Feilong Army expanded from 100,000 to 200,000 people, and once hit the city of Guangzhou, threatening Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces. The Ming court was shocked, and in this year (1561 AD), Emperor Sejong ordered 200,000 people to meet the teachers of Zhudao, and ordered Zhang Gao, the governor of Liangguang, and Chen Gui, the general of Pingjiangbo, to mobilize a large army to recruit Zhang Lian, and the general Yu Dayou and other commanders and soldiers were divided into seven posts to attack and suppress. As a last resort, Ming ** also thought of recruiting the Portuguese to assist in the battle. The missionary Ludovicus Buglio recorded in his 1665 book "The Last Resort": "During the Jiajing period, the Guangdong pirate Zhang Xilao (Zhang Lian) seized Macao, and besieged Guangzhou. ”
After all, at the beginning of the rebel army, most of them were rabble, and the official army had a famous general Yu Dayou in charge, and the Portuguese used firearms to help the war, Zhang Lian's troops were defeated one after another, and they faced the danger of annihilation under Yu Dayou's encirclement and suppression.
Zhang Lian finally led the rest of his troops to sail out to sea by the Yunxiao River, traveled south, and grabbed a piece of land on Srivijaya Island (now Sumatra), which was also the realization of the emperor's dream.
On the other side, all departments of the Ming army reported that they had killed Zhang Lian, but in fact, they were all lying about the military situation. Zhang Lian retreated, and a few years later, he was seen as the country's port chief in Sriwijaya, effectively controlling the sea of Sumatra. The Commercial Press's "Dictionary of Chinese Names" contains: "Lian sneaked into the sea, seized the Three Buddhas, and became his own king. "History of the Ming Dynasty: Three Buddhas" also recorded: "There are thousands of Fujian and Cantonese people who have lived in Three Buddhas for a long time, and they may be the descendants of Zhang Lian's subordinates." According to the Japanese Dr. Fujita Toyohachi, the stone tablet engraved with the word "Flying Dragon" has been unearthed in Sriwijaya Island, Jiugang and other places, which has been identified as Zhang Lian's country name.
The Ming Dynasty used the power of the Portuguese to extinguish a domestic rebellion and was satisfied with the submissive attitude of the Portuguese in Macau.
In the 42nd year of Jiajing, Zhang Minggang, the governor of Liangguang, said that "Yi is in the Macao mirror, easy to examine, if the waves are white and the sea is vast, if there are different aspirations, it is also difficult to investigate, and it is still convenient for Yi merchants to stay in the mainland." (History of the Ming Dynasty.) The Legend of the Franc Machine).
Ming** agreed with Zhang Minggang's suggestion, so the Portuguese borrowed Macao to legalize. In fact, as Yu Dayou said: "Use officers and soldiers to control Shangyi, and use Shangyi to control rebels." The Portuguese were able to gain a foothold in Macao, to a large extent, due to the policy of the Ming government: using the Portuguese to eliminate their own "pirates" and restrain them would be beneficial to both the Ming and the magistrates. The Portuguese assisted the Ming army in suppressing pirates, which not only ensured the safety of their trade routes, but also won the trust of the Ming Dynasty, laying the foundation for the next step of development.
Note: Wang Yi of Jiajing Wanli wrote in his book "Continuing the General Examination of Literature" volume 236 "Three Buddhas":
In the forty-first year of Jiajing, the Guangdong thieves Zhang Lian, Lin Chaoxi, Huang Qijian, etc., built the city, the era, built officials, attacked and robbed, and the governor Liu Xian and the general Yu Dasan went to suppress, Xian and other yin bribes Lian, and killed hundreds of people under duress to report the victory. Lian and others escaped into the country of Three Buddhas. Wanli Ding Chou, Chinese Jianlian and others are in the Three Buddhas Qi Rank as Fan Bo Chief, Quanzhang people are many masters, such as the Chinese City Bo official system Yun. ”
In fact, Ming Ting already knew Zhang Lian's whereabouts, but the whip was helpless.