History Live: Starting from Qin Shi Huang

Chapter 91: Yang Family Generals

[Yang Ye was well aware that he was in a dilemma.

If he listened to Wang Quan and others, he would surely be defeated, and would either die in battle or be punished for his defeat; and if he disobeyed Wang Quan and others, he would also be punished for disobeying military orders.

He finally obeyed the order, but he didn't want to die meaninglessly. He wanted to try to survive and win in this desperate situation.

So he asked Pan Mei to ambush strong crossbow infantry on the left and right sides of the entrance of Chenjia Valley, and when he led his men to fight here, they would take advantage of the situation to attack the enemy from both sides.

At this time Pan Mei agreed to Yang Ye's request and deployed a team at the entrance of Chenjia Valley to prepare for support.

However, not long after Yang Ye led his troops away, the military supervisor Wang Quan sent people to climb up to a high place to look around. When he did not see any Liao army, he thought that Yang Ye had defeated the enemy and the Liao Dynasty was defeated.

Wang Quan and others could not sit still. This was a military achievement! How could they not have a share? How could all of it go to Yang Ye?

So he didn't want to continue to abide by the original agreement, but wanted to take his troops away.

At this time, Pan Mei, as the commander-in-chief, once again failed to stop the actions of Wang Quan and others. He allowed them to leave with their troops and followed the team.

When they had marched twenty miles along the Mayi River, they finally heard the news of Yang Ye's defeat, but instead of returning to Chenjia Valley to rescue him, they led their troops to retreat.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Defang was stunned: "How could Wang Quan, Pan Mei and others act like this!" Moreover, after hearing the news about Yang Ye, they did not return to rescue. Was it because they felt they could not defeat the Liao army and could not rescue them, or did they simply use Yang Ye as a way to delay the Liao army?

Zhao Guangmei shook his head, thinking that something more serious was going on: "Wang Quan and the others decided to leave in order to compete for merit. Previously, he had argued with Yang Ye and thought that they should go straight to Yanmen. It seems that he also wanted to have greater merit. And the generals of the Eastern Route Army who were not even suppressed by Cao Bin still wanted to compete for merit."

What does this reflect? It reflects that Song Dynasty military commanders, including military supervisors, only wanted to win merit. In order to win merit, they could ignore their commanders, correct suggestions, and the lives of their colleagues...

In the face of such a systemic problem, Yang Ye’s death can be put aside for later.

Zhao Kuangyin was silent. When he was in power, he was able to suppress these arrogant and powerful generals left over from the Five Dynasties, and these people would naturally obey the commander he appointed. Unexpectedly, during the reign of Zhao Guangyi, the situation became somewhat out of control.

This aspect still needs to be carefully considered, and changing the atmosphere will not happen overnight. He could only sigh: "Yang Ye, what a pity!"

It was obvious that Yang Ye was basically going to die in the battle.

Tang Dynasty, the third year of Zhenguan.

Ever since the Eastern Army encountered trouble, Li Shimin had been concerned about the problem of arrogant soldiers and generals, and he took it even more seriously at this time.

No wonder Emperor Taizu of Song Dynasty deliberately restrained the military generals. If all the generals behaved like this, they really needed careful attention.

"However, this matter certainly cannot be hidden from Emperor Taizong of Song," Li Shimin expressed doubts, even though this person had performed a lot of miraculous operations before. "Could it be that Emperor Taizong of Song adopted the policy of controlling the military with civil officials for another reason? However, how can he be sure that the civil officials who joined the military system will not also compete for credit?"

"Your Majesty," Wei Zheng said, and Li Shimin listened attentively. "Arrogant soldiers and fierce generals seem to have started in the late Tang Dynasty, but that doesn't mean there were no such problems in the Tang Dynasty before. Throughout the dynasties, it is not uncommon to compete for merit, kill innocent people and claim credit, and even take the initiative to provoke war. Our Tang Dynasty has many plans for foreign policy, so we must guard against this in the future."

[Yang Ye led his troops south of Shuozhou for thirty miles. When Yelu Xizhen saw Yang Ye coming, he pretended to be defeated and retreated to Langya Village. The Liao general Xiao Talina led ambushes to attack from all directions, and the Song army was defeated.

After the battle, Yang Ye still had more than a hundred people under his command. He said, "You all have parents and wives. It is not worth dying with me. You can break out and report to the emperor." Everyone was moved to tears, but no one was willing to leave.

Yang Ye fought and retreated, from midday to dusk, and when he arrived at the entrance of Chenjia Valley, he saw that there was no one there, so he held his chest and cried. He knew that the only way left for him was the annihilation of his entire army.

At this time, he had been wounded dozens of times, but he still led his warriors in the battle, killing hundreds of enemy soldiers with his own hands. He then went into the deep forest, was shot in the mount, fell off the horse, and was captured.

At this point, all the generals and soldiers under Yang Ye had died in the battle, and his son Yang Yanyu also died in the battle.

After being captured, Yang Ye refused to surrender and died after three days of fasting. It was July 12, the third year of Yongxi.

His son Yang Yanzhao (originally named Yang Yanlang), grandson Yang Wenguang and others also inherited their father's and grandfather's will, were famous for their strategies, loyal and brave, guarded the border, and made many military achievements, hence the name "Yang Family Generals".

"Both father and son were famous generals, their wisdom and courage were known to be invincible, and even today, people all over the world, even children in the countryside, can talk about them." (Ouyang Xiu)
Song Dynasty, the third year of Taipingxingguo.

Zhao Guangyi was deeply moved when he saw Yang Ye fighting bravely and sacrificing his life for the sake of his loyalty. He took up arms to defend the country and thought of his generals when he heard drums. He fought the enemy to the death and established a firm loyalty. His sincerity was as strong as iron and his spirit was as powerful as the wind and clouds!

Turning back, he remembered that this general died at the entrance of Chenjia Valley, fighting alone until the end. He couldn't help but feel dissatisfied with the generals and supervisors of the Western Army: "It was these guys who didn't know the importance of the matter and didn't abide by the agreement and didn't rescue in time that made me lose such a loyal and brave general!" Oh, he was the one who surrendered personally, and he was on my side...

"Steal the credit, steal the credit, and steal the credit!" Zhao Guangyi looked angry and clenched his fists. "Why didn't I see them come out to steal the credit at this critical moment when my elder brother was here? Do they think I can't control them? In the future, when we fight the Northern Expedition, I must come up with a foolproof plan."

Will he continue the Northern Expedition? Of course, but he needs to come up with a new battle plan and a way to control these generals.

Qing Dynasty, the 28th year of Kangxi's reign.

After the development in the Yuan and Ming dynasties, opera had become very developed in the Qing Dynasty and had become an important form of entertainment. People were also familiar with the opera "The Yang Family Generals", including the ministers and emperor in the court.

An official asked: "Your Majesty, this General Yang..." Does anything need to be done?

Kangxi thought for a moment, then said: "It's okay, the Yang family generals are all loyal, filial, chaste and righteous people, and should be role models for the subjects of the Qing Dynasty. However, the ending can be changed. After all, tragedy is too harmful to the body, and it is better to have a happy ending." He looked at the minister and ordered: "You are responsible for it. Gather some literati and make sure that the people can accept it." "Yes." The official withdrew and began to think about the adaptation of his drama "The Yang Family Generals": loyal, filial, chaste and righteous people, that is, to try to write about the loyalty and filial piety of the Yang family generals; a happy ending, the Yang family generals are a manifestation of the dispute between the Song and Liao dynasties, which is a tragedy, how to make it perfect? ​​By the way, the Song and Liao dynasties negotiated peace! The Song and Yang family generals both negotiated peace with the Liao Dynasty, so naturally all the people are the people of my Qing Dynasty, and should be one with my Qing Dynasty!

When the news reached the capital, Zhao Guangyi was filled with grief and posthumously awarded Yang Ye the title of Grand Marshal and Jiedushi of Datong Army, and gave his family 1,000 pieces of cloth and 1,000 shi of grain.

At the same time, Yang Ye's eldest son, Yang Yanzhao, was appointed as the deputy envoy of Chongyi, and his second son, Yang Yanpu, and third son, Yang Yanxun, were also appointed as officials. Yang Yangui, Yang Yangui, and Yang Yanbin were all appointed as palace guards.

As for the main person responsible for Yang Ye's death in this battle, the military supervisor Wang Quan was dismissed and exiled to Jinzhou; Pan Mei was demoted three levels and appointed as the inspector of the imperial guards; and the armory keeper Liu Wenyu was dismissed and exiled to Dengzhou.

Song Dynasty, the first year of Kaibao.

Zhao Defang looked at the punishments for the men and said, "So it seems that Wang Quan and Liu Wenyu are the culprits, and Pan Mei is responsible for failing to control Wang Quan as the commander-in-chief?"

Zhao Kuangyin nodded: "As the commander-in-chief, Pan Mei failed to lead the army correctly and reconcile internal problems. This is his leadership responsibility, and Pan Mei has made great contributions to the Song Dynasty." Pan Mei's own abilities are not a problem, and he has made great military achievements before. It is impossible to completely overthrow him because of this incident.

"Wang Quan, who arbitrarily formulated an inappropriate plan, threatened Yang Ye with words to face a situation where he would surely die, and left early despite the agreement, should be held primarily responsible."

As for Liu Wenyu, except that he did not lead troops like Wang Quan, he was similar to Wang Quan in other aspects.

Ming Dynasty, Yongle period.

Zhu Zhanji looked up the relevant records of several people in the History of Song Dynasty, and suddenly discovered that in addition to Wang Quan, there was another person who was the military supervisor of the Western Army. He was Hou Mochen Liyong (surname Hou Mochen, name Liyong), a close confidant of Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi. Before serving as the chief supervisor, he was also the general of the right gate guard.

Thinking of the incident in the Song Dynasty where a military eunuch falsely accused a general who died in battle, Zhu Zhanji couldn't help but think, could it be that Hou Mochen was also involved and was trying to win military merit?
However, when he looked at the content he had written down, it didn't matter whether it was related to Hou Mochen Liyong or not. After all, he had not received any punishment, but was instead favored by the emperor.

As for the few remaining people, only Yang Ye, a surrendered general from the Northern Han Dynasty, had made many military achievements and was very famous, which made the others look pale in comparison. The rest were all generals of the Song Dynasty, regardless of whether they were the confidants of Taizu or Taizong; plus the trend of competing for military merits had obviously not disappeared...

Zhu Di looked at him thinking, and then said: "The founding of the Song Dynasty relied on the military group of Song Taizu, and the atmosphere of arrogance and fighting for military merit left over from the Five Dynasties has not been eliminated. The exclusion of Yang Ye was partly due to fighting for military merit, and partly due to different military groups."

[Some say that the motive behind the Yang Ye incident was that a group of people were jealous of talented people, while others say it was to grab military merits. In fact, these two can be combined.

In addition, some people have suggested that the reason why Yang Ye was targeted was that he was a surrendered general of the Northern Han Dynasty and was at odds with the generals' faction of the Song Dynasty.

The reason why Pan Mei, an important figure and the highest leader in this matter, repeatedly condoned the actions of Wang Quan and others was probably related to the above reasons.

However, in later dynasties, some people proposed a new idea: to defile oneself in order to protect oneself.

Representative figures who hold this view are Wang Fuzhi and Aisin-Gioro Zhaolian.

The two believed that Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Guangyi, had always been suspicious of these generals who had achieved great success during the reign of Emperor Taizu. In order to protect himself, Pan Mei deliberately gave up Yang Ye and threw away this achievement, adding a huge stain to himself, thus saving himself and gaining high praise from the court after his death. 】

Most people are more accepting of the theory of factional struggle, but some people have different views on the later idea of ​​"defilement of oneself to protect oneself".

Others believe that no matter what the reason, Pan Mei abandoned Yang Ye, and the result of Yang Ye's death in battle cannot be changed, so his guilt cannot be eliminated.

Some people have also noticed the name "Aisin-Gioro Zhaolian" - it is not a Han Chinese surname, and the tone in which it is listed does not sound like a discussion of a person from outside the Central Plains. Could it be that this person is a foreigner who joined the Central Plains?
Qing Dynasty, the 28th year of Kangxi's reign.

The current content of the sky curtain did have some impact on the people of the Qing Dynasty.

"Aisin-Gioro Zhaolian"? His last name is Aisin-Gioro, which means he is at least a descendant of the royal family of the Qing Dynasty.

"Khan Ama, does our Qing Dynasty have such a person now?" the prince asked first.

Kangxi shook his head, indicating that he had never heard of it, and then ordered someone to check it out.

If this person does not exist now, then it must be a descendant. However, if it is a royal family, the royal family of the Qing Dynasty did not have a clear naming order, so there is no way to know which generation of descendants this is.

[After returning to the capital, Cao Bin, Mi Xin and others who had failed in the battle were also punished. Among them, Cao Bin was demoted to the general of the Right Guard, and Mi Xin was demoted to the general of the Right Tunwei.

After this great defeat, Zhao Guangyi's ambition to recover Yanyun disappeared a lot. He was also worried that the Liao Dynasty would take advantage of the situation to attack the Song Dynasty, so he made deployments on the border: Li Jilian was the commander of Cangzhou, Yang Chongjin was the commander of Gaoyang Pass, Liu Tingrang was the commander of Yingzhou, Tian Chongjin was the commander of Dingzhou, and Zhang Qixian was the governor of Daizhou.

Did the Liao Dynasty send troops? Yes, they did, and their target was Yingzhou.

In November of the same year, the Liao army divided into two routes, the western route and the eastern route, and attacked the Song Dynasty. The western route was led by Yelu Xiu'ge, and the eastern route was led by Empress Dowager Chengtian herself. They joined the western route army in the north of Hutuo River, crossed the river and headed straight for Yingzhou.

Liu Tingrang (Liu Guangyi), the defender of Yingzhou, is also a veteran general. He participated in the conquests of Shu and Northern Han.

Upon discovering that the Liao army was approaching Yingzhou, he quickly began to deploy and gave Li Jilian a group of elite troops as a mobile force, ready to provide support at any time.

The Song army made arrangements for the upcoming battle, and the Liao army also sent out a group of elite soldiers to cut off the Song army's retreat. Li Jilong and Wang Gao, the deputy commander of Cangzhou, who were leading a mobile force to assist Liu Tingrang, were stopped on the road and eventually did not reach the main battlefield, but retreated to Leshou. (This is controversial)
On the main battlefield, as this battle was fought in winter and the weather was extremely cold, the Song army could not draw their bows and crossbows. In addition, Yelu Xiu'ge deployed the Liao army to besiege the Song army, and the Liao army's reinforcements also arrived. The morale of the Song army began to waver. Sang Zan, the loyal assistant and brave commander who had fought bravely against the enemy, led his troops to retreat.

Among the remaining people, Yang Chongjin died in battle, Liu Tingrang's entire army was defeated, tens of thousands of people died, and only Liu Tingrang escaped with a few cavalrymen. Another general, He Lingtu, was captured. 】

(End of this chapter)