A hero is known in the time of misfortune. Yang Jiajiang was celebrated through the ages because Yang Jiazu of Sun San's generation made immortal contributions in the struggle against the plundering and war of the Central Plains people by the Qidan nobles. People hope that Yang Jiajiang's anti-enemy spirit will last forever, so they have created Yang Jiajiang's heroes in legends, stories, novels and operas.
We have no reason and no need to use historical truth to research Yang Jiajiang in literary and artistic works, so as to distinguish its authenticity. Because literary and artistic works, including biographical novels, are allowed to be exaggerated, exaggerated or even fictional. However, as a historical science, the real history of Yang Jiajiang should not be confused with artistic models.
On the one hand, scholars of past dynasties tried to study the real history of Yang Jiajiang, on the other hand, they often confused history with literature and art. Influenced by this research method, some contemporary researchers in Yang Jiajiang appeared some confusion in their writings.
This article is not a comprehensive exposition of Yang Jiajiang, but only clarifies and comments on several historical issues related to Yang Jiajiang from several aspects to arouse discussion.
First, Yang Ye is not from Shanxi.
There are always two versions of where Yang Ye came from. One is from Taiyuan and Bingzhou; One said that he was from Linzhou (now Shenmu) in Shaanxi.
According to Taiyuan, there are a brief history of the Southern Song Dynasty, such as Wang's claim to be the capital of the East, the Song history of the Yuan Dynasty, Ji Kang's A Brief History of Jincheng in the Qing Dynasty, Wu Renchen's The Spring and Autumn of the Ten Kingdoms, and some local and county chronicles. (4) Some modern books and periodicals also say that Yang Ye is from Taiyuan, Shanxi.
In fact, Yang Ye was born in Linzhou, Shaanxi Province and lived in Linzhou as a teenager. So Yang Ye is not from Taiyuan, Shanxi, but from Linzhou, Shaanxi.
In order to prove that Yang Ye is from Linzhou, we must first find out where Yang Xin, the father of Chu people, lives.
On the one hand, the Biography of Yang Ye in the History of Song Dynasty says that Yang Ye was born in Taiyuan, Bingzhou, and on the other hand, it goes on to say that Xin Fu is the secretariat of Hanlin County. "A Brief Introduction to the East Capital" and "A Brief Introduction to the Golden City" are equivalent to "History of the Song Dynasty", which means "My father believed in Liu and was the secretariat of Hanlin County." "The industry merged with Taiyuan people, and the father believed that Linzhou was a secretariat."
Sima Guang's Zi Zhi Tong Jian clearly pointed out that "Yang Xin, a local tyrant in Linzhou, was a historian, was ordered by Zhou, believed in his death, and his son valued the cultivation of his heirs". ⑤
As can be seen from the above, Yang Ye's father, Yang Xin, has lived in Linzhou for a long time. He is a "local tyrant" and a secretariat of Linzhou. Since Yang Xin lives in Linzhou, his eldest son Yang Ye (also known as Northern Han Liu) should have been born in Linzhou. Books such as History of Song Dynasty not only admit that Yang Xin is from Linzhou, but also insist that Yang Ye is from Taiyuan, which is contradictory and unreasonable.
Yang Ye is from Linzhou. In Ceng Gong's Longping Collection in the Song Dynasty, he made it very clear: "Yang Ye, or Ji Ye, was from Linzhou." ⑥
More reliable than Longping Collection is the epitaph written by Ouyang Xiu, the literary leader of the Northern Song Dynasty, for Yang Qi. In this epitaph, Ouyang Xiu said that Yang Qi was a "treasure minister, surnamed Yang, from Linzhou, Xinqin. The New Qin Dynasty had a close relationship with Hu, and was used to shooting in war, but mainly by force. His great-grandfather kept the secret (that is, Yang Xin), was a state secretariat, and his ancestors kept the secret honor (that is, Yang Ye's younger brother). He also served as a national defense envoy ... The uncle of the monarch inherited his business, and when Taizong was an observer in Yunzhou, he fought with the Khitan and gave him a letter. " ⑦ It is clear here that the Yang family is from Linzhou. Ouyang Xiu is very strict in writing history, not to mention epitaph, so be careful. There can be no mistake about the birthplace of Yang Xin and others.
The above historical data is enough to prove that Yang Ye is not from Shanxi at all, but from Linzhou, Shaanxi. Therefore, the article "Yang Ye" in the Historical Volume of Ci Hai affirmed that Yang Ye was from Linzhou (now Shenmu, Shaanxi) is accurate.
Why do historical books such as History of the Song Dynasty and some local chronicles, novels and operas all write that Yang Ye is from Taiyuan? Do Yang Ye's parents live in Taiyuan, and was Yang Ye born in Taiyuan? No, there is no historical evidence that Yang Xin has been to Taiyuan. Is it true that Yang Ye was brought to Taiyuan after being born in Linzhou and grew up in Taiyuan? Not exactly. Similarly, there is no historical evidence to prove this.
The reason why Yang Ye was mistaken for a native of Taiyuan lies in Yang Ye's "weak crown". That is to say, Yang Ye followed Liu Chong around the age of twenty. Liu Chong didn't stay in Linzhou for long, so he went to Taiyuan. Yang Ye followed Liu Chong to Taiyuan. Since then, Yang Ye has been in Taiyuan for a long time and served as a military attache for decades under the Northern Han regime until the Northern Han Dynasty was destroyed by Song Taizong and Yang Ye surrendered to the Northern Song Dynasty. Because Yang Ye spent his youth in Taiyuan, most literary historians mistakenly think that Yang Ye is from Taiyuan. In this way, one mistake after another has been handed down until the present era.
According to Yang Ye's death, Yang Ye was described as "a gifted scholar in Gansu, Mao Shi in Shanxi" and pet-name ruby to prove that Yang Ye was from Shanxi. Some people called Shanxi Bingzhou and Taiyuan in ancient times to prove that Yang Ye was from Shanxi. Song Taizong's words are a general compliment to Yang Ye. The emperor is unlikely to know Yang Ye's life, especially his birthplace. Yang Ye, a general in the Northern Han Dynasty, lived in the Song Dynasty for only eight years and was not a trusted minister of Song Taizong. If these two sentences are really regarded as "imperial edicts", then the second sentence "Zu Mao in Shanxi" proves that Yang Ye's ancestral home "Ben" is Shanxi, and the first sentence "outstanding talents in Gansu" can prove that Yang Ye is from Shaanxi. As for Bingzhou and Taiyuan, they generally referred to Shanxi in ancient times, not to prove that Yang was born in Shanxi. For a person's native place, it is generally necessary to point out its specific location. Only refers to Shanxi, how to use it as the basis of native place?
According to Xie Jinwu's zaju in Yuan Dynasty, Yang Liulang said that Yang Ye was from Shaanxi. This argument, not to mention opera as an art, has little historical value. Moreover, Yang Liulang, the son of Yang Ye, said that he was "originally from Hedong", which can be understood as his father living in Hedong.
According to the records of Qianlong Baode, it was also proved that Yang Ye was from Baode, Shaanxi. Attending: Actually, after explaining that "Yangye Taiyuan people were called native of this state in the old annals", local chronicles raised doubts, pointing out that this may be because "Shang was originally from Taiyuan, and later moved here, so it is unknown to get married here." Yang Ye is a prudential is not sure. Local chronicles can be used as materials for studying history. However, many local chronicles, especially historical figures, have not been studied in detail, and some are only classified and comprehensive transcripts. Taking local chronicles as data, we can only quote them correctly after textual research. If you must quote local chronicles, then more local chronicles say that Yang Ye is from Taiyuan County, not Baode. Jiajing's Taiyuan County Records said that Yang Ye was from Taiyuan, and Guangxu's Shanxi Tongzhi also said that Yang Ye was from Taiyuan. However, this is not sufficient evidence. Because these are just words from historical books such as The History of Song Dynasty.
Second, Yang Ye was too young in the first half of his life.
Yang Ye's Weak Crown Matters Liu Chong. In 942 AD, Liu Chong was appointed as the secretariat of Linzhou under Liu Zhiyuan. At about this time, Yang Ye was working under Liu Chong. Soon, Liu Chong went to Taiyuan, and Yang Ye followed.
In 95 1 year, Liu Chong proclaimed himself emperor and started his own business, which was known as the Northern Han Dynasty in history. Yang Ye became a general in the Northern Han Dynasty. The Northern Han Dynasty existed for 32 years, and Yang Ye worked for the Northern Han Dynasty for 32 years. Thanks to Yang Ye's efforts, his status is getting higher and higher, and his power is getting bigger and bigger. Until he was promoted to our time, he was given the surname Liu and changed his name Liu. In 979, Song Taizong destroyed the Northern Han Dynasty, and Yang Yecai fell to the Northern Song Dynasty.
This is Yang Ye's resume for the first half of his life.
In order to correctly evaluate Yang Ye's merits and demerits in the first half of his life, we must briefly describe the situation of the Northern Han regime at that time.
After the founding of Taiyuan, Liu Chong could only control Shanxi Jinzhong and other places. This small independent regime surrendered to the Khitan nobles and oppressed and exploited farmers as much as possible at home. As a result, all parts of Shanxi have become "poor people in barren land, and they have to pay heavy taxes and suffer hardships for the internal troops and foreign qidan." 1 1 In this way, the corruption and reaction of the Northern Han regime are obvious.
Northern Han surrendered to Qidan, but opposed the regime in the later Zhou Dynasty and the late Northern Song Dynasty. The post-Zhou regime carried out political and economic reforms at home, but resisted the intrusion of Qidan nobles abroad and tried to recover the rivers and mountains of the Central Plains. The Northern Han Dynasty repeatedly joined forces with the Khitan nobles to attack the Later Zhou Dynasty. For example, in 95 1 year, when the Northern Han Dynasty was first built, 50,000 Liao soldiers (Qidan was renamed Liao in 947 AD and Qidan in 983 AD) joined forces to attack the Later Zhou Dynasty from Jinzhou. In 954 AD, the Northern Han Dynasty joined forces with the Liao Army to fight in Gaoping and was defeated by the later Zhou Dynasty. The following week, Chai Rong took the opportunity to invade Taiyuan at the gates, but failed due to insufficient preparation and other reasons. In 959, Chai Rong attacked the Liao army in Hebei, and the Khitan nobles quickly called the Northern Han Dynasty to attack the rear area of the later Zhou Dynasty. Due to the lack of written evidence, we don't know whether Yang Ye participated in these joint military actions of Northern Han and Liao countries. But one thing is certain, Yang Ye will never confront the Liao army at this time.
After the establishment of political power in the Northern Song Dynasty, in order to establish a unified political power, they marched into Taiyuan several times. The attempt to unify the Northern Han Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty was a progressive military action. The stubborn resistance of the Northern Han Dynasty is not desirable. Unfortunately, during this period, Yang Ye was one of the main generals in the Northern Han Dynasty who resisted Song Jun.
In 968, Li Jixun led an army to attack the Northern Han Dynasty in the Northern Song Dynasty. On the one hand, the Northern Han Dynasty "sent envoys to Liao and invited soldiers to help", on the other hand, it sent Liu and others to "lead a delegation in (now southeast of Qixian County, Shanxi Province)". Song Jun swept the board, reaching Taiyuan at the gates. "After he ascended the throne, he learned that he was outnumbered and also led the troops to Jinyang. Northern Han was furious and stopped his soldiers. " 13
In 969, Song Taizu personally marched in the Northern Han Dynasty, and in March, Song Jun surrounded Taiyuan City. At this time, "Liu Fu rode tens of thousands of troops to invade Dongzhai, and then came forward to succeed to the throne. Then several people, the successors hid in Tibet, and the northern Han soldiers helped them. The successors entered the city without being asked." 14 Yang Ye almost died.
Then, Yang Ye and others wanted to break out of Taiyuan, and they chose a thousand soldiers to assault. 15 failed to break through because "Liu injured his foot with a horse and led troops into the city first". However, due to the support of qidan nobles to the northern Han dynasty, Taiyuan was not captured in the end.
In 975, Northern Han ordered Liu, Liu and Liu to attack Jinzhou, and Wu Shouqi was defeated in Hongdong. The following year, "Taiyuan Rao led Liu to Hongdong County, and Qin Zuo was defeated, killing more than a thousand people and winning hundreds of horses." 16 Yang Ye was defeated by Song Jun many times.
In 979, Song Taizong personally marched into Taiyuan, with Pan Mei as the commander in chief. This time, the Northern Song Dynasty blocked the reinforcements of the Qidan nobles, so Taiyuan City was quickly breached. "Liu Jiyuan in the Northern Han Dynasty was outnumbered and Kaicheng surrendered to the Song Dynasty." At this time, "Yeyuan Han defended the southeast of Taiyuan City and killed many teachers in Song Dynasty." "After the fall of Yuan, (following Shang) is still fighting hard in the city." Song Taizong ordered Yang Ye to surrender, "Ye Nai mourned in the north again, and Shi Jia came to see him". 17 surrendered to the Song Dynasty.
The above is the general situation of Yang Ye's resistance to Song Dynasty. In the military confrontation with the Northern Song Dynasty, Yang Ye stood firm and fought actively. Due to the disparity in military strength between the two sides, the northern Han army often ended in failure. Yang Ye's failure is not just about mining. Even if Yang Ye "killed a lot of Song teachers" and won temporarily, it's not just a matter of picking. This is because the Northern Han Dynasty's resistance to the Song Dynasty was against the historical trend. Historians who studied this issue paid little attention to it, or just objectively described Yang Ye's resistance to Song without comment. We can't deny the guilt of Yang Ye's previous resistance to Song just because Yang Ye later resisted Liao, just as we can't deny Yang Ye's resistance to Liao just because Yang Ye resisted Song. Yang Ye's resistance to Song Dynasty was futile.
There are two historical materials in the history books, which seem to prove that Yang Ye did not resolutely resist the Song Dynasty, but deliberately surrendered to the Song Dynasty. So these two historical materials are often quoted by people to defend Yang Ye. One is that before Liu Jiyuan surrendered to the Song Dynasty, Yang Ye once "advised him to surrender with Yuan to ensure a happy reunion." This historical data is obviously not credible. Because just after Liu Jiyuan surrendered to the Song Dynasty, Yang Ye was still "struggling to attack the city". Judging from Yang Ye's action logic, it is impossible to persuade Liu Jiyuan to surrender to the Song Dynasty. In fact, another Ma Feng persuaded Liu Jiyuan to surrender. On the night of Ma Feng's uprising in Taiyuan, the emperor sent guests to see Li Xun and demanded surrender. "18 because of this, other historical books have no historical materials in this respect, and only the History of Song Dynasty has records in this respect. Another historical data shows that the Song Taizu army surrounded Taiyuan and the Liao army was also at the gates of Taiyuan. " Liu Yue of the Northern Han Dynasty said:' The Khitan was greedy for profits and abandoned his faith, and our country will eventually perish. Today (Liao) reinforcements were arrogant and unprepared, and they took the original attack and won tens of thousands of horses. Because of his land in the east of the river, he returned to China, which saved the Jin people from being smeared with charcoal. Your majesty has enjoyed your precious favor for a long time. Why not? Northern Han ruled against it. "19" is historical data, and its reliability is also questionable. As far as the military situation at that time was concerned, it was difficult for Song Jun, Enemy at the Gates and Northern Han to take care of themselves. It was urgent for the Khitan to help Han. First, the Khitan army was stronger than Ma Zhuang, and Yang Ye's attempt to "defeat ten thousand horses" to surrender the Song Dynasty was a military adventure, but it was just empty talk and big talk. To say the least, even if Yang Ye intends to attack the Khitan army, it can't become a reality, which can't offset the fact that Yang Ye resisted the Song Dynasty many times.
Yang Ye has been in the Northern Han Dynasty for decades. Doesn't he have any historical achievements? After Yang Ye attacked the Liao State and was captured, it was recorded in the Biography of Liao History: "The succession was lost and captured. Xie Xun said, "You have won the championship with our country for more than 30 years. "How can you meet today?" It's just a capital crime to follow the business. "For this historical material, some people think that this is evidence that Yang Ye has been fighting against Liao for more than 30 years; Some people think that this is a sign of Yang Ye's disloyalty, while others simply deny the value of this historical material. In my opinion, after Yang Ye was captured, Ye Lvxie certainly exaggerated his achievements. Therefore, it is exaggerated to say that Jiao Sheng won for more than 30 years. Imagine that. Northern Han Dynasty has always been a vassal and nephew of the Qidan nationality. In fact, it is a small country under the protection of Liao. The Northern Han Dynasty turned to Qidan for help many times, and Qidan also helped the Northern Han Dynasty against the Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty many times. As one of the commanders of the Northern Han Dynasty, how did Ye and the Khitan nobles move towards "victory for more than 30 years"? Even if Yang Ye is willing to fight Liao, can the Northern Han Lord agree? Because the Northern Han Dynasty is connected with the Liao border, the Khitan nobles pretend to be the boss and are arrogant, so it is possible or even inevitable that minor violations, conflicts, frictions and disputes will occur on the border. In these conflicts, Yang Ye may be involved. In the history of the relationship between Northern Han Dynasty and Qidan, there is no record of major conflicts or wars, and there is no specific historical fact of Yang Ye's resistance to Liao Dynasty. Therefore, the statement that Yang Ye and Liao "have won for more than 30 years" is not credible. As for the suspicion of Yang Ye's infidelity on the basis of this historical data, there is also room for discussion, and that is another matter.