Chapter 6 hell on earth

The last moment has come.Yin Ziqi knew that the foreign aid of the Suiyang defenders had been completely cut off, and immediately stepped up the siege of Suiyang. Faced with this hopeless predicament, the soldiers proposed: abandon Suiyang and retreat to the Jianghuai area.Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan also had to consider the feasibility of abandoning the city.But at the end of their discussion, the common conclusion they came to is still-stick to it. They believed that Suiyang was the gateway to the Jianghuai River, and if they abandoned it, the rebels would march straight in, and by then all the wealth and wealth of the empire would fall into the hands of the enemy.What's more, now that the soldiers are too hungry to walk, they may not be able to break out of the encirclement.Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan believed that even in the Warring States period, the originally hostile princes rescued each other in times of crisis, not to mention He Lan Jinming and others who were sitting on the army?Therefore, the conclusion of Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan is-continue to hold on and wait for reinforcements.

However, the soldiers have no food, how can they stick to it?The bark in the city has been stripped off long ago, and even the tea and paper have been eaten up. What else can I eat next? Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan's answer is: eat horses. Soon, the horses were also eaten, and the soldiers could only "dig for mice".Within a few days, the sparrows and mice were all eaten up, so the soldiers could only stare blankly at Zhang Xun with their eyes green with hunger. Zhang Xun looked at them silently, then suddenly turned and walked down the tower. After a while, Zhang Xun came back with a heavy sack on his shoulder.The soldiers couldn't wait to untie the sacks, their green eyes turned red instantly.

Because they saw—a pile of meat in the sack. That's human flesh. To be precise, it was a woman's flesh. From the pile of bloody and broken limbs, a few careful soldiers recognized it—it was Zhang Xun's woman, his concubine! The soldiers were stunned for a moment, ashamed for a moment, and moved for a moment.However, after a short moment, they pounced on the pile of meat like a pack of hungry wolves... They are so hungry. What is astonishment in the face of hunger?What is guilt?What is it to be moved? Zhang Xun's concubines were all eaten up in a blink of an eye.Immediately afterwards, Xu Yuan also brought several big sacks - which contained several domestic slaves killed by him.

However, the meat of several people is far from enough to eat. In the days that followed, the soldiers began to hunt and kill the women in the city.No matter where they hide, they will be caught and cooked one by one in the end.When women eat up, they eat old men and children... Maybe at the beginning, the soldiers still had some bad psychological and physical reactions, but later on, everyone got used to it.Because after eating too much and for a long time, the feeling of difficulty in swallowing and nausea will naturally disappear.In the end, they came to a conclusion-in fact, cannibalism is not as difficult as imagined.

In this way, Suiyang became a hell on earth. Whenever night falls and the Yan army's offensive recedes, piles of bonfires will be lit on Suiyang City.The soldiers were gathered around the fire in groups of three and four, each holding a hand or a leg and biting.The firelight elongated their figures, making them look like a group of ghosts with teeth and claws.Beside them, there are long or short, thick or thin white bones scattered.Suiyang City, which was originally lit by thousands of houses, now only remains in darkness and dead silence.Every house, every alley, and every corner exudes a fishy, ​​rancid smell.Under the pale moonlight, the heads of old and weak women and children, as well as large and small blood-stained palms and soles can be seen everywhere that were randomly discarded by the soldiers...

From August to October, the Suiyang garrison led by Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan used this cruel method of "cannibalism" to maintain an unimaginable existence.According to "New Book of Tang Zhang Xun Biography", as many as 30,000 old and weak women and children were eaten by the Suiyang defenders in the last two months. At the same time, the Yan army has not stopped attacking the city.At the beginning of October, more than 1,000 Suiyang defenders died in battle, and finally only 400 remained. To be precise, there are 400 remaining patients who are sick and dying. Their vitality and combat effectiveness have been completely exhausted by this protracted battle.

On October 9th, when the Yan army rushed to the head of Suiyang city like a tide, the generals of the Tang army could no longer raise their swords and guns. Zhang Xun was desperate.He bowed to the west and shouted loudly: "I have exhausted my strength, and I can't use the whole city. I can't repay your majesty in life. I will be a ghost to kill thieves in death!" (Volume 220) Subsequently, Yan Jun captured Zhang Xun, Xu Yuan and others alive.Yin Ziqi ordered someone to bring Zhang Xun to him, stared at this frightening opponent for a long time with his one eye, and suddenly grinned, and said, "I heard that you grind your teeth every time you fight. Why?"

Zhang Xun looked up to the sky and laughed wildly: "I am determined to swallow the traitor alive, but I only hate being unable to do what I want!" Yin Ziqi immediately pried open Zhang Xun's mouth with a knife, and he saw that there were only three or four teeth left on the gum.Yin Ziqi was immediately in awe.He wanted to save Zhang Xun's life and then recruit him, but the left and right were firmly opposed.They said: "Zhang Xun is a person who values ​​integrity more than life. He cannot be used by me. Moreover, he has won the hearts of the army. If he is kept, it will be trouble for the future."

Yin Ziqi thought about it and felt that this statement was not unreasonable. In the end, he had to behead Zhang Xun, Nan Jiyun, Lei Wanchun and other thirty-six Tang generals.Xu Yuan was escorted to Luoyang, where he died not long after. Zhang Xun was forty-nine years old. It is said that when he died, "the color was not chaotic, and the movement was as usual", he was worthy of being a man of iron bones and indomitable spirit. The Battle of Suiyang lasted ten months, with more than 400 battles before and after. Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, with a force of less than 10,000 people (6,800 at the beginning, and 3,000 more later), resisted Yin Ziqi's dozen or so troops. The army of ten thousand (130,000 at the beginning, tens of thousands of troops later), beheaded 300 enemy generals and killed 120,000 enemies. It can be called a classic example in the history of ancient Chinese warfare where the weak controlled the strong with few enemies.

The reason why Zhang Xun achieved such an impressive record is first of all because of the common hatred and bravery of the soldiers of the Tang army, but there is also a very important point, that is, Zhang Xun has infinite opportunities when facing the enemy. When Zhang Xun fought, he never stuck to the rules, and he didn't even follow the ancient art of war. Instead, he let his generals command the soldiers as they wished.Some people were deeply puzzled by this. Zhang Xun explained: "The main force of the Yan army is Hu people. They have always fought in a way of 'clouds unite and birds disperse, abnormality is not constant'. In just a few steps, the situation is very different. Therefore, it is necessary to react in an instant. If everything is reported to the commander, it will be too late. Therefore, I try my best to let the soldiers understand the general's personality, and the general is familiar with the psychology of the soldiers. , can be used as freely as the palm of the hand directs the fingers. Once the soldiers and generals know each other well, they can fight on their own, and they can adapt to the situation and win by surprise."

As one of the most outstanding generals in ancient China, both "Tang Shu" and "Tang Shu" made high evaluations of Zhang Xun, saying that he: "Treat people with sincerity, without doubt; Letters of rewards and punishments, share joys and sorrows, cold and heat with everyone, so fight for death." However, the fact that Zhang Xun had to eat people in order to stick to Suiyang caused an uproar behind him, and it has been controversial for thousands of years.First of all, there was a lot of controversy in Suzong's court over whether he should be recognized as a hero.Those who demoted Zhang believed that "Zhang Xun would not go to Suiyang to guard Suiyang, instead of cannibalizing people, he would be like a whole person."Those who are quite Zhang think, "Xun uses the few to attack the masses, uses the weak to control the strong, and protects the Jiang and Huai Rivers to wait for your majesty's teacher. When the teacher arrives and patrols to death, the merit of the patrol is great" (Volume 220).Moreover, the fact of cannibalism is a last resort, so he should be credited with a great credit and a monument should be erected. The controversy quickly came to a conclusion. The upright ones win. "Everyone's discussion starts and ends." Zhang Xun deservedly became a hero of the Tang Dynasty. However, the recognition of Zhang Xun by the Li and Tang courts could not eliminate the accusations against him by later generations.The views of Wang Fuzhi, a thinker in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, should be quite representative.He first acknowledged Zhang Xun's achievements of "donating his life to die for the country, fighting bloody battles to protect the river and Huaihe River", but at the same time he also believed that "guarding the lonely city, refusing foreign aid, and being discouraged when food is exhausted. A gentleman here can only die to complete his ambitions." ", "Those who go beyond this will be trespassed, and it is only appropriate to use thieves and benevolence to kill righteousness. Regardless of the survival of the city, regardless of the life or death of the body, what must not be done, people will eat each other."Therefore, his conclusion is: "It is also a cannibal, so it is not inhumane or not." (Volume 23 of "Du Tong Jian Lun") To this day, the "deprecating Zhang faction" and the "supporting Zhang faction" are still tit for tat.The former believes that in order to preserve his loyalty, Zhang Xun did not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of civilians. This is a typical practice of sacrificing others for the sake of ideals, which is no different from fascism.The latter believes that each era has different values, and today's people should not criticize the ancients with the concept of "human rights". Therefore, under the extreme circumstances at that time, Zhang Xun's approach was really justifiable. So, how should we evaluate Zhang Xun? On the one hand, as Wang Fuzhi said, we should fully affirm the strategic significance of Zhang Xun's defense of Suiyang.Because Suiyang is the gateway to Jianghuai, and Jianghuai is the wealth center of the empire, once Suiyang falls, the Yan army will drive straight in and sweep Jianghuai.At that time, guys like He Lan Jinming, Xu Shuji, and Shang Heng who support their own self-respect and refuse to save themselves will definitely surrender if they are defeated.If so, Suzong's court in the barren land in the northwest will immediately lose the supply of money and food in the Jianghuai area. At that time, not only will it not be able to regain the two capitals, but even Suzong's court itself will be in danger of collapse.Therefore, it is of great strategic significance for Zhang Xun to stick to Suiyang for ten months and firmly contain the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Yan Dynasty.If Zhang Xun had been defeated and fled early, or had "died" as Wang Fuzhi said to show his will, then the situation of the entire war would have been completely different, and the schedule of the Li and Tang courts to recover the two capitals would have been postponed indefinitely. On the other hand, we have to say that although Zhang Xun's practice of using human flesh as military rations is justifiable, it is unforgivable!In fact, it is not necessary to use today's concept of human rights to criticize the ancients, but to use ancient Confucianism to easily discover the lack of morality in Zhang Xun's move.As we all know, the core of Confucianism is "the benevolent loves others" and "don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do to yourself".The 30,000 old, weak, women and children eaten by Zhang Xun and the others were definitely not voluntary, so Zhang Xun's actions have obviously broken through the bottom line of human morality, which is why Wang Fuzhi said: "It is not inhumane to eat people." No."In other words, Zhang Xun's practice of cannibalism should be condemned no matter in ancient or modern times, in China or abroad, no matter in ordinary circumstances or in extreme circumstances.In other words, although Zhang Xun's actions are understandable and worthy of sympathy, he cannot escape moral judgment.This principle is the same as that of negligent crimes. The sentence can be reduced as appropriate, but it must not be acquitted.