Chapter 67 Chapter 67: Who Killed Mr. Yang Linggong

——The complicated and confusing battle of Chenjiagu The story of "The General of the Yang Family" is well-known in my country, including women and children, and characters such as Mu Guiying, She Taijun, Yang Liulang, and Yang Paifeng are deeply loved by everyone.The story of Yang Ye, the first generation head of the Yang family, was framed by others, trapped in Lianglang Pass, killed Li Lingbei, and died for the country. The Beijing opera "Bumping the Stele" based on this It is a repertoire often performed on the opera stage.So, what is the truth of history?This refers to the last battle of the "Yongxi Northern Expedition" in the early Northern Song Dynasty-the confusing battle of Chenjiagu.

In the third year of Yongxi in the Northern Song Dynasty (986 A.D.), Song Taizong aggressively attacked Liao.The West Route Army was deployed by Pan Meiren as the capital, and the famous general Yang Ye was deployed as the deputy capital, connecting Bayun, Ying, Huan, and Shuo. Attacking the West Route Army, the West Route Army retreated and escorted the people of the four states to move south.Under the unfavorable situation of the Song army, Yang Ye was forced to attack head-on, and met Pan Meiyue in Chenjiagu.Pan Mei and others first heard that Yang Ye had won, and they all went out to fight for merit. After knowing that the army was defeated, they led the army to flee.From noon to dusk, Yang Ye moved to Chenjiagu (in the south of today's Shuozhou City). He did not see any reinforcements, so he led the remnants to fight to the death.

The above is the general situation of the battle of Chenjiagu.Mr. Yang Laoling died for his country on a hunger strike for three days. There is no doubt that his death by hitting a monument is an artistic fiction. However, people have doubts about who extended the black hand that killed the old hero. Different viewpoints, today, we might as well hold a trial of this case, and listen to how the criminal suspects Pan Mei and Wang Yan, who traveled through the time-space tunnel to the present age, defended themselves. Pan Meiru said Regarding the death of Yang Ye, many articles on the Internet and in books believe that I deliberately framed Yang Ye out of jealousy, so that he was defeated by Chen Jiagu and died as a prisoner.I would like to solemnly declare here that this is purely fabricated out of thin air, rumors and slander, Yang Ye is a victim, and I am even more a victim, and I have been wronged for more than a thousand years, the injustice is as deep as the ocean, and it is even worse than Dou E No less.

Let me talk about the so-called "jealousy" first.Saying that I am jealous of Yang Ye will make my contemporaries and those who know Song history laugh out loud. Why should I be jealous of him?I can say without shame, I was the military strategist you often talk about now, and I made great contributions in the wars against the Southern Han, Southern Tang, and Northern Han.Moreover, my relationship with Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong is very different. According to the current saying, we are "iron buddies". The only person who can compare with me is the handsome Cao Bin. These are recorded in Wang Gong's "Suishouzalu" , which mentioned: "When Taizu was fine, he often called Pan Meidai to ban him to discuss politics, or drink with him to the point that he ordered the maids to undress, and there was no way to restore the emperor and ministers." He also said: "Taizu, when Taizong , All the envoys have released their military handles, but only Pan Mei is puzzled." So, at that time, I was already a "checking master" of the first rank, equivalent to the current commander-in-chief of the three armies.And Yang Ye's position is "Yunzhou Observation Envoy, Knowing Daizhou Affairs", which belongs to the fifth rank, which is equivalent to the current commander of a military division.You said, would I be jealous of a subordinate who is four ranks lower than myself?If you were me would you?

Let's talk about the so-called "framed" issue.At that time, when the Khitan had captured Huanzhou and the army was very strong, Yang Ye and the superintendent Wang Yu had a dispute over how to protect the people and move inland. Yang Ye suggested that Pan Mei send troops to attack from the side to attract the Liao army. , Covering the main force and the people quickly evacuated, but Wang Yu believed that the detour from the side would lose the national prestige, so he strongly demanded to send troops to attack Huanzhou and block the main force of the Liao army head-on.As the chief general, no matter whether I support Yang Ye or Wang Yu, there is no question of intentionally framing anyone, and in their dispute, I did not speak. Let's plot against Yang Ye together.

After Yang Ye led the troops to leave, I set up an ambush in Chenjiagu as agreed, which fully proved that I also supported Yang Ye's suggestion.Later, we mistakenly believed that Yang Ye won the victory, Wang Yu "wanted to fight for his merits, that is, led the troops to leave the valley", and I "couldn't control", so the original plan was disrupted.Under such circumstances, it is useless to defend alone, and if Yang Ye needs support after winning, I will miss the opportunity by standing still, and the consequences will be beyond my ability.In a dilemma, I "walked southwest along the Jiaohe River". After walking for 20 miles, I got the exact news of Yang Ye's defeat, so I led my troops away. , Not only can't complete the task of protecting the people moving inward, but it may also lead wolves into the house and endanger the rear.As the leader of an army, I had to choose the latter in terms of advancing and the Liao army desperately or retreating to protect the people and move inward.

Some people may have such a question: Why didn't you stop the supervisor Wang Yu from leading his troops to leave without authorization?This is because the Supervising Army is neither my deputy nor my subordinate official, but the emperor's confidant.Not only can he supervise and coerce the generals abroad on behalf of the emperor, but he also has the right to execute generals who commit misconduct. He will not obey my orders at all. As the saying goes, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. I acquiesced to Wang Yu's suggestion. It is true that Yang Ye was captured and died due to a wrong decision. But a wrong decision and intentional frame are two completely different things and cannot be confused.

Therefore, it is completely untenable to say that I deliberately framed Yang Ye. Wang Yu said so In recent years, many people have complained for Pan Mei, thinking that I was the main culprit in Yang Ye's death. After I heard about it, I felt very angry and couldn't sleep or eat, because my injustice was as deep as the sea, and it was worse than "Wuben Ji". "The dead ghost in "returns his innocence." To be honest, before the battle started, Yang Ye and I did have differences, disputes, and conflicts in the strategy of fighting the enemy.He believes that the Liao army has a great advantage in strength and should avoid confrontation with it. He suggested that Pan Mei send troops to attack from the side to attract the Liao army, cover the main force and the people to evacuate quickly. However, I think that the detour from the side will lose the national prestige, and should send troops to attack Huanzhou. Block the main force of the Liao army.However, I am just a military supervisor, with only the right to make suggestions, but no decision-making power. Where is the decision-making power?It's in the hands of Pan Mei, the chief general of the West Route Army.In the end, Pan Mei said that Yang Ye's strategy of dividing troops to attract the enemy was too risky and should not be adopted. Instead, he adopted my comprehensive blocking strategy. At the same time, he agreed to deploy infantry in Chenjiagu to ambush according to Yang Ye's suggestion.

As I said before, I have a good face, strong vanity, do not want to lose national prestige, and are willing to share the victory. Therefore, when I mistakenly thought that Yang Ye had defeated the Liao army, I hurriedly led the army to leave Chenjiagu to fight with him. Round, however, Pan Mei has no need or obligation to follow me, he is the main general!As a result, I got the news that Yang Ye had been defeated on the way, and I panicked at that time, because I had never fought a war before, but Pan Mei is a veteran who has experienced many battles and a famous military strategist. He should not panic before the battle. To deal with it calmly, and should abide by the agreement with Yang Ye to provide rescue in Chenjiagu, but he ordered the entire army to retreat, completely leaving Yang Ye behind, thus making the entire battle situation lose the last chance to turn around, and exacerbated our army's "" The result of the disastrous defeat in the Yongxi Northern Expedition.

To sum up, the main responsibility for Yang Ye's death should be borne by Pan Mei, and I am at best an accomplice. Another point that needs to be explained is that Pan Mei's jealousy of Yang Ye is not out of thin air.As the saying goes, there are no waves without wind, and flies do not bite seamless eggs. Why don't people say that I am jealous of Yang Ye?I don't have that kind of mental state at all, but Pan Mei does, because during his time as the chief general stationed at the border defense in northern Shanxi, Yang Ye made great achievements as a deputy general, and his reputation among the army and the people was very high.As a veteran general of the two dynasties, Pan Mei was robbed of the limelight by her surrendered general Yang Ye (Yang Ye was a general of the Northern Han Dynasty, author's note). He had long been dissatisfied with this, and the feelings of jealousy and hatred had been secretly lurking in Pan Mei. From the bottom of his heart, he has been looking for a chance to be released. This should be one of the reasons why he supports my suggestion and not Yang Ye.

final sentence The direct reason for the defeat in the battle of Chenjiagu and the death of Yang Ye was the wrong decision to attack blindly.Objectively speaking, although it was the supervising army Wang Yu who made the wrong claim, the final decision was made with the acquiescence of the chief general Pan Mei, and then he made a mistake in his busy schedule and fled in Chenjiagu. A great opportunity to turn the tide of the war was lost. The court finally found that: Yang Ye’s death was caused by Pan Mei’s cowardice, administrative inaction and Wang’s vanity. Appearing, to accept criticism from readers and audiences, and at the same time, it should give everyone the opportunity to understand his previous military achievements; Wang Yu still appears in the movie as a villain of Wang Hui, accepting ridicule and criticism from the audience. The Battle of Chenjiagu was the last battle of the "Northern Expedition of Yongxi". The Song and Liao armies suffered no more than 3,000 casualties.However, this small battle that has nothing to do with the outcome of the battle is engraved in the annals of history because of the death of the famous general Yang Ye, and it is particularly tragic because Yang Ye died of the wrong decision of the main general Pan Mei and the failure of the appointment. Sima Gong once wrote in "Historical Records": "People are inherently mortal, and they may be as heavy as Mount Tai, or lighter than a feather." The death of Yang Lao Linggong should be as heavy as Mount Tai.