Yuan Keli, courtesy name Liqing, was a native of Suizhou, Guide Prefecture, Henan. His ancestor, Yuan Rong, was granted a hereditary position as a battalion commander of the Suiyang Guard for his meritorious service while campaigning alongside the founding emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty. By the mid-to-late Ming period, the guard system existed in name only, and the Yuan family abandoned their military status to pursue the path of civil service examinations. In the 17th year of the Wanli reign, Yuan Keli passed the imperial examinations, and in the fourth month of the second year of the Tianqi reign, he was appointed as the Censor-in-Chief to oversee the administration of Dengzhou and Laizhou.
Before Yuan Keli’s tenure, ninety percent of Liaodong had fallen to the Jiannu, and the Ming Army was forced to rely on the defense line of the Shanhai Pass, Ningyuan, and Jinzhou. Once in office, Yuan Keli coordinated with Sun Chongzong, Li Banghua, Bi Ziyan, Mao Wenlong, Shen Yourong, Zhang Pan, and others, adopting a strategy of offense as a form of defense. (Yuan Keli directed the overall strategy; Sun Chongzong was responsible for pinning down enemy forces in the Ning-Jin region; Li Banghua and Bi Ziyan managed logistics; while Mao Wenlong, Shen Yourong, and Zhang Pan led operations on the front lines.)
Yuan Keli first oversaw the construction of warships and then trained his naval forces using the methods Qi Jiguang had developed for inland warfare. In just a few years, he bui…
Chapter 621