History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 1021: Yang Family Generals

【Yang Family Generals】

Yang Ye, originally named Yang Chonggui, was from Taiyuan, Hedong. His father was Yang Hongxin, the governor of Linzhou. He initially followed Liu Chong, the governor of Hedong. Liu Chong established the Northern Han Dynasty and promoted Yang Ye to be the governor of Jianxiong Army, stationed in the important border town of Daizhou. Yang Ye fought with the Khitans for a long time here, which frightened the Khitans. He was nicknamed "Yang the Invincible". Later, Liu Chong gave him the surname of the country and changed his name to "Liu Jiye", ranking among the nephews of Liu Chengjun. After Emperor Taizong destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, Yang Ye returned to the Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizong restored his original surname Yang and removed the word "Ji" which had a strong Northern Han flavor. From then on, he changed his name to Yang Ye.

Because Yang Ye had been in Daizhou for a long time to resist the Liao Kingdom, Taizong still let him stay in Daizhou and gave him full trust, and Yang Ye did not disappoint this trust.

Previously, Emperor Jingzong of Liao led three expeditions against the Song Dynasty. As Pan Mei's deputy, Yang Ye defeated the Liao army at Yanmen Pass, killed the Liao emperor's son-in-law, captured the Liao army's commander-in-chief Li Chonghui alive, and shocked the Yanmen Pass. Yang Ye was also awarded the title of Yunzhou Observation Envoy for his merits. It is said that from then on, the Liao army would panic and flee when they saw the big flag with the word "Yang" on it.

A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, and Yang Ye had a natural defect - he was born a surrendered general, which was also an important reason for his sacrifice in the future. His colleagues were jealous of him and always slandered him secretly and reported him to Zhao Guangyi. Zhao Guangyi packaged all the memorials that slandered him and forwarded them to Yang Ye to show his absolute trust in him.

During the Yongxi Northern Expedition, Pan Mei was the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army, and Yang Ye was still the deputy commander, and they achieved great success in the early stage. With the great defeat of Cao Bin's main force, the Song army retreated across the board, and Pan Mei and others retreated to Daizhou. Emperor Taizong ordered Pan Mei to relocate the people of Yunzhou, Yingzhou, Shuozhou, and Huanzhou to the inland areas, so-called "thieves never leave empty-handed". However, when Pan Mei received the immigration task, 100,000 Liao reinforcements had arrived at the battlefield, recovered the lost territory, and had already conquered Huanzhou.

Yang Ye proposed a plan. The overall idea was to use a feint attack to divert the enemy's attention and force the officials and people of Yun, Ying and Shuo states to move inland (Huanzhou had already fallen, so there was no point in trying).

The military supervisor Wang Quan accused him of being afraid of the enemy and even mocked him by his nickname "Yang the Invincible". He said, "You have always been known as Yang the Invincible. Now you have tens of thousands of elite soldiers, but you are timid and cowardly. Do you have other ideas?" Liu Wenyu, who was standing by, also fanned the flames and echoed Wang Quan, while the commander-in-chief Pan Mei remained silent.

"Could it be that he has other ambitions?"

This was undoubtedly a fatal accusation for Yang Ye, who was a surrendered general. Yang Ye was filled with grief and anger, saying that I, Yang Ye, was not afraid of death, but the situation was not favorable to my army. This time, not only would I die alone, but tens of thousands of soldiers would die with me! Since you suspect that I am afraid of death, I will die first (Now that you blame me for not dying, I should die first for you).

Yang Ye led his troops to Shuozhou to fight against the Liao army. Before leaving, Yang Ye bid farewell to Pan Mei in tears, saying that he was a surrendered general of the Northern Han Dynasty and should have been killed long ago. Thanks to the emperor's favor, not only did he not kill me, but he also granted me military power. He was thinking about killing the enemy to serve the country and repay the holy lord every moment. If I go to meet the enemy today, it will be a battle of defeat and death. If you insist on me going, then I will go... Then he pointed to Chenjia Valley not far away and continued: I will try my best to lure the enemy here, and all the troops must line up and draw their bows here, set up an ambush, and then we will attack together, and there may be hope of a comeback, otherwise, my troops will be annihilated!

Pan Mei then set up an ambush with Wang Quan in Chenjia Valley.

Great minds think alike. Yang Ye ordered Pan Mei and Wang Quan to set up an ambush in Chenjia Valley, while Liao general Yelu Xizhen ordered his uncle Xiao Dalin to set up an ambush in the rear.

Soon, Yang Ye and Yelu Xizhen met, and the two armies engaged in close combat. Yelu Xizhen pretended to be defeated and retreated, but Yang Ye pursued him relentlessly. After entering Xiao Talina's ambush circle, ambushes sprang up everywhere, and Yang Ye was defeated.

From this point onwards, the Song and Liao dynasties produced two different accounts of the story. Let's first look at the Liao people's records:
Yang Ye retreated to Langya Village. Because his surname "Yang" is homophonic with "sheep", he thought Langya Village was unlucky and refused to enter. After his subordinates persuaded him, he reluctantly stayed in the village to rest. However, the Liao army's offensive was too fierce, and the Song army was eventually defeated. Yang Ye was shot and captured. Yelu Xizhen was very proud and came to Yang Ye to provoke and humiliate him: "You have been fighting against the Liao for more than 30 years. How can you face us now?" Yang Ye knelt down and apologized for mercy (Jiye only said that he was guilty of the death penalty). Three days later, Yang Ye died, and his head was sent to Empress Xiao by Yelu Xizhen to report his merits.

Let’s look at the records of the Song Dynasty:
Pan Mei and Wang Quan did set up an ambush in Chenjia Valley as agreed at first, but less than a day later, Wang Quan sent people to look out from a high place to investigate the situation on the front line and reported that the Liao army was repelled by Yang Ye. "Since the Liao army has retreated, let's go." Wang Quan immediately led his troops to retreat. Pan Mei could not stop him, so he also retreated 20 miles, and then heard that Yang Ye was defeated. "Since Yang Ye has already been defeated, we have to go." So Pan Mei and Wang Quan retreated all the way south without caring about Yang Ye's life or death.

The truth is:
It was getting close to evening. After a day of hard fighting, Yang Ye finally managed to retreat to Chenjia Valley. However, the scene before him made Yang Ye completely desperate. There was not a single soldier in Chenjia Valley. Yang Ye almost collapsed, beating his chest and stamping his feet. At this time, there were still more than a hundred warriors around Yang Ye. Yang Ye said to them: "Everything is over, I'm dead. You still have parents and wives, so don't die with me here. You should find a way to escape." As a result, the soldiers said they were unwilling to leave General Yang and were willing to die together. There were 300 Spartan warriors in Thermopylae and 100 Yang family warriors in Chenjia Valley. In the end, none of these loyal and brave soldiers survived and all died heroically.

General Wang Gui was an expert archer and horseman. He personally shot and killed dozens of people in the battle until his arrows ran out. He then killed several more people in close combat with the enemy and died a heroic death.

Yang Ye was wounded dozens of times and bleeding profusely, but he still insisted on killing more than a hundred people. He was eventually captured by the Liao army because his horse was seriously injured and he lost the ability to move. His son Yang Yanyu died heroically in the battle.

After Yang Ye was captured, he sighed, "The emperor has been very kind to me and only hoped that I would defend the border and kill the enemy. However, I was envied by treacherous ministers and forced to die, which led to the defeat of the royal army. How can I still have the face to live?" He then fasted for three days and died.

Obviously, the records of the Song Dynasty are more logical. First of all, according to the records of the battle by both sides, it can be seen that Yang Ye was obviously more skilled. He predicted the enemy's prediction. Yang Ye had seen through Yelu Xizhen's trick of feigning defeat to lure the enemy, so he played along with him and pretended to be ambushed by Xiao Talina, and then "collapsed" naturally, leading the Liao army into our ambush site - Chenjia Valley.

Secondly, it is impossible for Yang Ye to give in to Yelu Xizhen. The record that Yang Ye "only claimed the death penalty" appears in "History of Liao·Biography of Yelu Xizhen", and although there is no conversation between the two in "History of Liao·Chronicle of Emperor Shengzong", it is mentioned that "he died in three days because of the sore he had not eaten". In other words, Yang Ye was captured with serious injuries, and committed suicide by fasting after being captured. How could he give in to the enemy before his death? Moreover, this enemy was his lifelong enemy, and as Yelu Xizhen's humiliating words said, it was an enemy for more than 30 years!
After Zhao Guangyi received the report of the "Battle of Chenjia Valley", he was extremely sad and angry. He immediately demoted Pan Mei three levels, removed Wang Cong from office and exiled him to Jinzhou, and dismissed Liu Wenyu from office and exiled him to Dengzhou. He posthumously awarded Yang Ye the title of Taiwei and Datong Jiedushi, and gave his family 1,000 pieces of cloth and 1,000 shi of grain. His son Yang Yanlang was promoted to Deputy Envoy of Chongyi, Yang Yanpu and Yang Yanxun were made Gongfeng officials, Yang Yangui, Yang Yangui, and Yang Yanbin were made Dianzhi, all of them were incorporated into the system.

Yang Ye's wife also came from a family that resisted the Liao Dynasty. This was the Fuzhou Zhe family mentioned many times in the previous article. Yang Ye married the daughter of Zhe Dejian. Zhe Dejian's father was Zhe Congyuan. Zhe Congyuan appeared on the historical stage in the early years of the Later Jin Dynasty. Shi Jingtang ceded the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. Zhe Congyuan "disobeyed the order" and led the army and civilians to resist the Khitan. In the subsequent "Jin-Liao War", he used Fuzhou as a base and penetrated deep into the Liao territory to kill and plunder. Although the Jin, Han, Zhou, and Song dynasties changed, the Zhe family always stayed in Fuzhou and never gave up the great cause of resisting the Liao Dynasty.

The word "Zhe" in surnames sounds the same as "snake", so in later folk romances, Yang Ye's wife Zhe was interpreted as "She Taijun".

Later generations cherished the memory of the anti-Liao heroes and gradually continued the story of "Yang Family Generals", making up many "descendants" for the Yang family. These made-up characters are deeply rooted in people's hearts, such as Yang Zhi, the "Green-faced Beast" in "Water Margin", Yang Zaixing, the anti-Jin hero and general of Yue Fei in "The Legend of Yue Fei", Yang Tiexin and Yang Kang in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", and Yang Guo in "The Return of the Condor Heroes"...

Many people are obsessed with "textual research", and are obsessed with overturning people's stereotypes, especially digging deep into the so-called truth or scandals of some heroes. Whether it is Yang Ye, Lady She, or Yue Fei, their names have transcended the scope of a natural person, representing not only that person in history, but all the heroes of that era. It can also be said that they are the epitome of the spirit of our Chinese nation to resist foreign enemies, a group portrait of the proud descendants of Yan and Huang, a concrete expression of Chinese civilization, and the driving force of our 5,000-year-old civilization and the tension that keeps us standing among the nations of the world.

"Yang Family Generals", Yue Fei, and even Lei Feng... You can be one, I can be one, and every Chinese can be one. Use our flesh and blood to build our new Great Wall. The Great Wall will never fall down, and the Yellow River will flow thousands of miles.

Finally, let’s talk about the “villains” who killed Yang Ye.

First of all, Pan Mei, the supreme commander, also known as "Pan Renmei" in the storytelling and romance, is the undisputed villain in the story of "The Yang Family Generals". He has been at odds with the Yang Family Generals for a long time, and has been condemned by thousands of people and reviled for all eternity.

The infamy of "killing the generals of the Yang family" has been carried for thousands of years. To be honest, Comrade Pan Mei was somewhat wronged. Because the other two people, Wang Quan and Liu Wenyu, were more responsible. This is also one of the reasons why in the final verdict, Pan Mei was only demoted, while the other two were directly exiled, which is second only to the death penalty.

Why was Pan Mei, the supreme commander of the army, unable to control these two people and even obeyed them to a certain extent? Because these two people had unusual backgrounds.

Wang Cong, his father was Wang Pu, the Privy Councilor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, who helped Chai Rong formulate the strategic policy of "first south and then north, first easy and then difficult". Wang Cong was more like the son of a military general. He had many military exploits and participated in the wars of destroying the Southern Tang and the Northern Han. He was promoted to the political commissar of the front army (the commander of the Western Route Army) for his meritorious service. This man was vigorous and resolute in his work and had a strong character. He was the kind of person who didn't care about life and death and would fight if he didn't obey. So when he heard about Yang Ye's despicable way of avoiding the enemy's edge, he was very unhappy, so he ridiculed Yang Ye for being greedy for life and afraid of death and having other intentions, forcing Yang Ye to confront him head-on. When he heard that the Liao army was defeated by Yang Ye, Wang Cong wanted to grab the credit for protecting the people and migrating, so he led his troops to withdraw from Chenjia Valley, which eventually led to Yang Ye's death.

Liu Wenyu was a relative of the Song Dynasty. Zhao Kuangyin's grandmother was his great aunt. His elder brother Liu Wenyuan was a martyr, and he made great contributions in suppressing the rebellion of Li Feixiong in Qinzhou. When destroying the Northern Han Dynasty, Liu Wenyu and Wang Quan divided their troops to control Shiling Pass. Later, he was appointed as the military supervisor of Gaoyang Pass. Together with Cui Yanjin, he repelled the invasion of more than 10,000 Khitan cavalry. Later, he was transferred to the western front and resisted the threat of Li Jiqian in Xiazhou together with Wang Quan.

In terms of origin, Wang Quan and Liu Wenyu are both of good family background; in terms of personal ability, they are by no means ordinary. Unlike other playboys, they are all brave generals who have experienced hundreds of battles and made countless contributions. It is precisely because of these two reasons that Yang Ye, who was born as a surrendered general and made many military achievements, will inevitably arouse the jealousy of the two. When Yang Ye proposed to develop in a wretched way, it also aroused the anger of the two, "Aren't you usually very awesome? Aren't you 'Yang Invincible'? Why are you so scared now? Go ahead!"

There is naked hatred among colleagues.

Their family backgrounds not only beat Yang Ye, but also made Pan Mei respect Wang Quan. Moreover, Wang Quan was the military supervisor. Although Pan Mei was the commander-in-chief, if his opinion was inconsistent with that of the military supervisor, the latter's opinion would prevail. So Pan Mei had no way to express his suffering.

The jealousy and bureaucracy of his peers were the real culprits that killed Yang Ye.

Thanks to my old friend "Yang Kui" for the monthly ticket support!

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(End of this chapter)