Chapter 70 In the fifth quarter, Yang Liulang guards the three passes

In the end, Yang Ye showed his ambition by death and died heroically for the country. Almost all his sons also died in the battle of Chenjiagu.One of his sons broke through, and he was Yang Yanzhao, the second generation of the Yang family general, also known as Yang Liulang.So why is Yang Yanzhao called Yang Liulang?Is it because he is Yang Ye's sixth son? Yang Yanzhao is not Yang Ye's sixth son.Then why is he called Yang Liulang?Various theories are inconclusive, and the more generally accepted one is that the sixth star of the Big Dipper is the general star, which is dedicated to defeating the Liao Kingdom, so people in the Song Dynasty called Yang Yanzhao Yang Liulang.Yang Yanzhao was a general in the Song Dynasty, inheriting his father's behest and continuing to fight against the Liao Kingdom.In fact, when he was a child, he especially liked playing games like marching and fighting. Yang Ye was very happy and said, "This child is like me" and "Every expedition must be followed" ("Song History Yang Yanzhao Biography"). With Yang Yanzhao by his side, Yang Yanzhao has seen a lot of things on the battlefield, and he is very experienced in fighting.As mentioned earlier, in the Battle of Gaoliang River, Emperor Taizong’s horse was stuck in the quagmire. Yang Yanzhao carried the emperor up and gave him his own horse to ride; He finally broke through and survived. He was originally a young general with illustrious military exploits.After Yang Ye was martyred, the imperial court felt sorry for him, so he treated Yang's descendants generously, and Yang Yanzhao's official position was also repeatedly promoted.

In the Hebei folk song "Little Cowherd", there is a sentence "Yang Liulang guards the three passes". Which three passes do these three passes refer to?It is the three most important passes in Hebei today - Gaoyang Pass, Yijin Pass and Waqiao Pass.Yang Liulang was deployed from the last official to the deputy of Gaoyangguan, which is roughly equivalent to today's commander of a group army, facing the enemy head-on.After the Northern Expedition of the Song Army failed, Empress Dowager Xiao Yanyan of the Liao Kingdom and Emperor Shengzong personally led an army of 200,000 troops to the south to recover ten counties south of Waqiao Pass. These ten counties were occupied by Hou Zhou.The empress dowager beat the drums herself, and, like Han Shizhong's wife, commanded the Liao army to attack the city.At that time, Fu Qian, the commander-in-chief of the Song Army, had an army of 80,000, retreated to Dingzhou, and dared not go out to fight. His subordinates scolded him. He was so timid.Fu Qian's psychological quality is very good, he pretended not to hear, whatever you like to say, I won't fight.You said that I am an old lady, and the old lady is still alive, what if she dies in battle?During the war between the Song Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, many senior generals were killed in battle, because the quality of the Song army was really not very good, and they often dispersed in a hurry, leaving only the commander.When the Liao army reached Suicheng (now west of Xushui County, Hebei Province) guarded by Yang Yanzhao, there were only 3,000 soldiers in the city and tens of thousands of Liao troops outside the city.The city wall of Suicheng is low, easy to attack but difficult to defend.But God helped, a gust of wind blew and the temperature plummeted.Yang Yanzhao made a move. According to historical records: "It will be very cold, (Yang Yanzhao ordered the soldiers) to pour water into the city, but once it turns out to be ice, it is hard and slippery. The Khitan collapsed, and many people got their armor and battalions." ("Song History" "The Biography of Yang Yanzhao") Yang Yanzhao asked the soldiers to pour water on the city wall, and after a while the city wall became an ice skating rink.The Khitan people are good at field battles, but short at fortifications. Yang Yanzhao even turned the city wall into an ice rink. Originally, a small town like this was in disrepair for a long time, and the city bricks were all broken.But this turned into an ice wall, and the Liao army had no choice but to retreat.I have never seen such a fight, it is not common sense, and no military academy has taught how to deal with this kind of person.The Song army captured countless battle armors, and three thousand defenders defeated tens of thousands of Liao troops.It can be said that Yang Yanzhao, as the second generation of generals of the Yang family, was also famous on the battlefield against the Khitan.Later Song and Liao reached the Chanyuan alliance, and the Liao army returned to the north. Yang Yanzhao firmly opposed it, but the court had decided to negotiate peace with the Liao state.Yang Yanzhao's ambition was unrewarding, and he was very sad and indignant. Later, he died in the deployment of the deputy capital of Gaoyangguan at the age of fifty-seven.

The third generation of Yang family generals is Yang Wenguang.Yang Zongbao, Mu Guiying, Zhengxi the Twelve Widows, and Taijun She took command at a hundred years old, these are all made up.The folks have a desire for heroes, and feel that the three of them are not enough, so let's have a few more, but in fact there are none.Yang Wenguang's combat exploits are far worse than his father's ancestors. He mainly fought against Xixia, and Song Liao had already reconciled at that time.Yang Wenguang once accompanied Di Qing to conquer Jiaozhi. He is a local tyrant on the Vietnamese side of Guangxi today. He has made military exploits and later mainly fought against Xixia.Three generations of the Yang family defended the country and fought the enemy bravely, and the father and son died in office. Such deeds have inspired generations of Chinese people.Especially after Jianyan crossed the South, after the establishment of the Southern Song Dynasty, the deeds of the generals of the Yang family, regardless of whether they were official or private, were vigorously advocated and publicized, and passed down for thousands of years, forming many beautiful legends.There are legends about the generals of the Yang family in many counties in the outer suburbs of Beijing, and there are still some place names related to the generals of the Yang family, such as Liulangzhuang and Liangjiadian (it is said that Yang Liulang is drying his armor here, but in fact Yang Liulang could not have been here Yes. Because this place is Liaonan, if Yang Liulang hits here, Youyun Sixteen Prefectures will be recovered. But this also reflects the love of the people for the loyal monarchs who defend their homes and the country).

The two Northern Expeditions of the Song Dynasty all failed, and they were forced to start on the defensive, while the Liao Dynasty was about to take the offensive.What happened next?