Entering China
Portrait of Wen Tianxiang. (Data map)
Wen Tianxiang and Li Tingzhi, two heroes who resisted the southward advance of the Yuan soldiers in the late Southern Song Dynasty. A native of Jiangxi, a native of Hubei, two important members of the same dynasty who were originally fighting the enemy together, but by mistake, staged a life-and-death drama in Jiangsu. Wen Tianxiang, who sang “Who has not died in life since ancient times, leaving Dan to take care of the sweat” was well-known and praised by later generations, and Li Tingzhi, who vowed “I am the only one who dies”, seems to be gradually forgotten by future generations.
Li Tingzhi on the battlefieldLet’s go back more than 700 years and see what kind of life and death feud this was.Two real men
In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, after the resistance of the Yuejia army was broken, the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin people maintained a confrontation on the Huai River for nearly 100 years. In 1234, the Mongol state destroyed the Jin, and the confrontation between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty became a confrontation with the Mongols, during which there were constant conflicts. In 1271, Kublai Khan proclaimed himself emperor and established the Yuan dynasty, which then began to expand to annex the Southern Song Dynasty. Gou’an’s Southern Song Dynasty was difficult to resist under the onslaught of the Yuan soldiers, and in just five years, the Yuan soldiers were on the verge of Jinling (Nanjing) and Lin’an (Hangzhou). The military generals of the Southern Song Dynasty fought or surrendered, while Wen Tianxiang and Li Tingzhi were staunch resisters.
Li Tingzhi was trapped in Yangzhou
Let’s talk about Wen Tianxiang’s anti-yuan experience first. Earlier, before the large-scale southern invasion of the Mongol army, Wen Tianxiang, who advocated resistance, disagreed with the ruling minister Jia Yidao and was sidelined. In the past 20 years, Wen Tianxiang, who was born as a champion, has risen and fallen in the sea, and he has not made too many achievements in doing things and being an official.
In 1275, the army of the Yuan Dynasty marched along the east of the river to threaten Jinling and Lin’an, and the imperial court issued an edict to King Qin. Wen Tianxiang, who was the governor of Ganzhou at the time, sold his property, gathered more than 10,000 people to respond positively, and led the troops to Lin’an as Jiangxi’s criminal envoy, and organized resistance in the area of Pingjiang Prefecture. With the defeat of the Song army and the retreat of Lin’an, at the beginning of 1276, Wen Tianxiang was ordered to serve as the prefect of Lin’an, the privy envoy, and the right prime minister. At this time, the royal family had decided to surrender, so Wen Tianxiang was appointed to preside over the peace talks, an errand that almost completely changed Wen Tianxiang’s fate.
Qing people painted the statue of Tianxiang
Unwilling to give in, Wen Tianxiang led a group of colleagues to fight with the Yuan Dynasty’s prime minister Boyan at Gaoting Mountain near Lin’an, and was detained by the angry Boyan. On the way to the north, Wen Tianxiang and his entourage sought an opportunity to escape, and ran all the way to Zhenzhou (Yizheng area), where they joined forces with the guard general Miao Zaicheng to try to resist. Unexpectedly, there were rumors in Yangzhou that the Yuan Dynasty secretly sent a prime minister to Zhenzhou to persuade him to surrender, and Yangzhou made Li Tingzhi believe it and ordered Miao Zaicheng to hunt and kill Wen Tianxiang. Miao Xin couldn’t bear it, and sent someone to send Wen Tianxiang outside Yangzhou City.Knowing that he was wanted by Li Tingzhi, the group fled all the way, and went to Tongzhou through Gaoyou, Taizhou, and Rugao, and was taken in by Yang Sifu, the governor of Tongzhou. After staying in Tongzhou for more than 20 days, Wen Tianxiang moved from Haidao to Suzhou and Wenzhou, and then continued to organize resistance in Fujian, Jiangxi and other places, and was defeated and arrested in 1278 and killed four years later.
Compared with Wen Tianxiang’s hasty mobilization of troops at the time of crisis, Li Tingzhi has more than 20 years of experience and experience in fighting against the Mongolian soldiers, and has already grown into a military and political officer who defends one side. The main route of the southward expansion of the Yuan soldiers was from Henan to Hubei, and then from Hankou down the river to the east. Li Tingzhi was originally from Henan and later moved to Hubei. These two places were the frontiers of the Southern Song Dynasty’s wars with the Jin and Mongols.
Portrait of Jia Rudao
In his early years, Li Tingzhi was supported by Meng Hui and Jia Yidao, who commanded the troops in Hubei, because of his talents. Jia Rudao moved his troops to two Huai, and Li Tingzhi fought with the army and made many achievements. In 1259, when the situation was critical, Li Tingzhi served as the prefect of Yangzhou, and soon continued to fight in Hubei. Subsequently, due to the urgency of the two Huai, Li Tingzhi returned to Yangzhou to serve as the envoy of the two Huai system, and stabilized the situation in Yangzhou and the surrounding areas such as Tong and Thailand in one fell swoop. In 1269, Li Tingzhi, who was transferred to the Jinghu system, led troops to reinforce Hubei, and repeatedly fought for several years, but Fan Wenhu, another subordinate of Jia Yidao, delayed the battle, and the battle of Hubei was lost, and Li Tingzhi was implicated and deposed.
Portrait of Li TingzhiIn
1273, the Yuan army besieged Yangzhou, and Yin Yinglei (a native of Nantong), who was the envoy of the Lianghuai system, died suddenly. At the beginning of 1775, while Wen Tianxiang responded to King Qin’s edict in Jiangxi, Li Tingzhi actively responded in Yangzhou, containing the defeated troops and punishing the surrendering faction. At the same time, generals such as Miao Zaicheng, Xu Wende, Jiang Cai, and Shi Zhong were assigned to go around to solicit information. The imperial court once appointed Li Tingzhi as the governor of the government and the privy council (deputy prime minister). Li Tingzhi persisted in resistance in Yangzhou, Taizhou, and Tongzhou for more than a year, and refused to surrender. In the spring and summer of 1276, the defenders of Yangzhou surrendered one after another, and Yangzhou was cut off from grain and grass, making it difficult to continue.
At this time, King Yi, who continued to resist in the south, appointed Li as Shaobao and Zuo Prime Minister, Li Tingzhi ordered Zhu Huan to guard Yangzhou, and he and Jiang Cai led troops to continue to resist by sea to the south. Entering Taizhou, Zhu Huan surrendered, and took Li and the families of the officers and soldiers to drive outside the city of Taizhou to persuade him to surrender, and the deputy general in the city took advantage of Jiang Cai’s illness to be unable to fight, and opened the door to surrender. Governor Li Tingzhi could not do anything, and committed suicide by throwing himself into the water, and was killed after being escorted to Yangzhou. Yangzhou Jitong and Tai became the last Jiangbei regions lost by the Southern Song Dynasty, thanks to Li Tingzhi’s persistence.
Therefore, in terms of fighting against the Yuan soldiers, whether it is qualifications or combat achievements, Wen Tianxiang at this time is not as good as Li Tingzhi. To paraphrase a modern saying: resisting the Yuan soldiers, Li Tingzhi is professional.
A life-and-death feud
Although Li Tingzhi’s hunting and killing of Wen Tianxiang originated from a misunderstanding, it brought Wen Tianxiang a catastrophe that was almost annihilated. Faced with the pursuit of Li Bu and Yuan Bing, Wen Tianxiang died nine times for life. In the “Afterword to the Guidebook”, Wen Tianxiang recounts the various crises of “deserving of death” from being detained by the Mongols to crossing to Wenzhou in the south:
“I don’t know how much it will reach the dead! Denigrating the Great Chief deserves death; scolding the rebel deserves death; and your chief for twenty days, arguing with each other, and repeatedly deserving of death; went to Jingkou, took a dagger in case of contingency, and almost killed himself; After more than ten miles of the north ship, he was looking for a patrol ship, and several died from the belly of the fish; Outside the gate of Zhenzhou, he was almost dying; For example, Yangzhou, crossing the Yangtze Bridge in Guazhou, actually made a sentinel, all of them died; Under the city of Yangzhou, there was no way to advance and retreat, and he was sent to death; Sitting in the soil enclosure of Guigongtang, riding thousands through its door, several thieves died; Jiajiazhuang was forced to die by patrolling the mausoleum; The night tends to be high, lost in the way, and several traps are trapped; The quality is clear, in the bamboo forest, dozens of people ride, and almost nothing escapes to death; Supreme Post, under the government of the system, almost to the death of the arrest; Walking the Chengzi River, going in and out of the chaotic corpses, the boat and the whistle came first, and several encounters died; To Hailing, like high sand, often fear innocent death; Dao Hai’an, Rugao, where three hundred miles, the north and Kou go back and forth, there is no day and not death; to Tongzhou, almost not to die; wading whales out of a small boat, helpless, and dead to pay the degree. Alack! Death and life, day and night. Death and death, and the realm is dangerous, and the layers are wrong, which is beyond the reach of the world. Learn from the pain, how painful it is”.
Stills from the Beijing opera “Wen Tianxiang and Kublai Khan”, Hu You as Wen Tianxiang
Obviously, many of these “deserving death” crises began with the expulsion of Zhenzhou. Wen Tianxiang was full of resentment towards Li Tingzhi, and a set of poems “Out of Zhenzhou” expressed his state of mind at that time:
“Someone from Yangzhou came last night and mistakenly guessed Zhongliang by sword. The strange way makes the king have no opinion, and the city gate should not be opened the day before yesterday. ”
“I went to see the city in my early clothes, and sighed on the trenches. Who knows that when he is closed out of the west gate, he is haggard and there is no one in the world. ”
“Everyone is fighting to persuade Huaixi to go, don’t be suspicious of Weng Weng. I asked Pingshantang to go down the road, and the loyal ministers saw that God knows. ”
Qionghuatang was at a loss, and the loyal ministers were in tears. Relying on those who make the king know righteousness, people want to kill me, and I have mercy. ”
Stills from the Beijing opera “Wen Tianxiang and Kublai Khan”, Hu You as Wen Tianxiang and Li Xiangyue as Kublai Khan
Zhongyi was suspected and hunted down, and his anger and painful mood can be imagined.
“Look at the sword in the city, and the suburbs are riding around. I couldn’t understand Yang Zhu’s crying all my life, and I knew how difficult it was to advance and retreat. ”
“The sea clouds are misty and the sky is cloudy, and the road is full of dust and is not free. If you take it to the table, it is better to die in Yangzhou. ”
In the above-mentioned poem “To Yangzhou”, seeing that Yangzhou, where Li Tingzhi is located, is strictly guarding against himself, and there are Yuan soldiers chasing him around, the mood of death arises spontaneously.
The intersection between Wen Tianxiang and Jiangsu is mainly the unbearable two-month escape life, and his complex feelings are condensed in the more than 20 words “death” in the “Afterword to the Guidebook”. These more than 20 dying situations are specifically described in his poems “Out of Zhenzhou”, “Zhenzhou Miscellaneous Fu”, “To Yangzhou”, “Yangzhou Miscellaneous Fu”, “Fa Tongzhou”, “Fa Hailing”, “Taizhou”, “Rugao” and other poems. If you don’t die, all you leave behind is “pain”, and you can learn from the pain!
The statue of Wen Tianxiang in Jitang Village, Bailu Township.
There is no need to doubt Wen Tianxiang’s resentment against Li Tingzhi; Similarly, there is no need to doubt Li Tingzhi’s “hatred” for Wen Tianxiang.
Li Tingzhi, who had confronted the Mongols for more than 20 years, was a rare staunch main fighter in the Southern Song Dynasty, and he was unequivocal in suppressing surrender words and deeds. During this period, the Empress Dowager of the Southern Song Dynasty and the Emperor Er, who had surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty, issued two edicts to Li Tingzhi to surrender. For the first time, Li Tingzhi climbed to the top of the city and reprimanded loudly: I only know that I am ordered to defend the city, but I don’t know that I am ordered to surrender. The second time, the Empress Dowager sent someone outside the city to summon Li Tingzhi and said: We have surrendered and become a vassal, if you don’t surrender, who are you going to defend the city for! Li Tingzhi didn’t say a word, and directly ordered to shoot arrows outside the city, killing one person on the spot, and the rest fled. Li Tingzhi also sent the general Jiang Cai to lead his troops out of the city to try to recapture the Empress Dowager and the Young Emperor, but to no avail.
For such a loyal and brave general, the Mongols also appreciated it very much, and the commander Ashu sent people to surrender many times, Li Tingzhi not only ignored it, but also beheaded the envoy and burned the edict in public on the city wall. Li Tingzhi was not soft on others who agitated for surrender. There was a man named Li Hu who entered Yangzhou with a move and was killed. The chief producer Zhang Jun took Meng Zhijin (the son of Li Tingzhi’s mentor Meng Hui) to surrender, Li Tingzhi burned the surrender letter, and Zhang Jun and other five people were shown to the public.
Portrait of Meng Heng
It was precisely out of hatred for the surrender faction that when he heard that Wen Tianxiang, who had already “surrendered to the enemy”, was coming to surrender, Li Tingzhi did not hesitate to order the arrest and killing. It can be said that Li Tingzhi’s hatred for the “treasonous” Wen Tianxiang is genuine.
This is the life and death feud between Wen Tianxiang and Li Tingzhi, a family and country feud.
The rain blows and the wind blows
Li Tingzhi’s arrest of Wen Tianxiang occurred in the early third lunar month of 1276, and from late March to mid-March, Wen Tianxiang took refuge in Tongzhou, which was under Li Tingzhi’s jurisdiction. During this period, there is no written record of whether Li Tingzhi has changed his opinion of Wen Tianxiang. However, Wen Tianxiang lived in Tongzhou under Li Tingzhi’s rule for more than 20 days without being disturbed, although he relied on the private protection of Yang Sifu, the governor of Tongzhou, it is speculated that Li Tingzhi may have known that this was a misunderstanding at this time.
In late March, Wen Tianxiang left Tongzhou and went to the south to continue the fight against the Yuan. In June and July, Li Tingzhi also prepared to go south from the sea route, and at that time he may fight side by side with Wen Tianxiang. Unfortunately, he died before he made the trip, and the grievances between the two ended.
After crossing south to Zhejiang, Wen Tianxiang fought all the way, heard that Li Tingzhi was killed, and wrote the poem “Li Zhizhi Tingzhi”: “Leave the jade tent guard empty, and avoid pulsatilla.” The dead are long gone, and the Huaihai Sea is full of breeze. “It brought an end to this family and country feud. Six years later, with the death of Wen Tianxiang, the life and death grievances between the two due to misunderstandings were swept away by the wind and rain, leaving only a piece of patriotic Dan heart engraved in Danqing.
Li Tingzhi was killed by the Yuan army
Forever
On the way to escape, Wen Tianxiang himself died nine times, and his side was full of dead and wounded, especially General Jin Ying, who had followed him for more than 20 years, died of illness in Tongzhou, Wen Tianxiang was deeply saddened and buried him in the snow cellar in the west of the city, leaving an epitaph and crying Jin Ying’s poems.
According to historical records, Wen Tianxiang, who was stranded in Tongzhou, not only took refuge, but also planned with Yang Sifu of Zhizhou to raise hundreds of warships, and joined forces with Huai’an, Xu Wende and others. Wen Tianxiang went to Zhejiang and reported the relevant plans to Chen Yizhong, the prime minister who was in charge of the government at the time. Perhaps in order to take credit, Chen Yizhong, who was unimpressed on the surface, avoided Wen Tianxiang and directly sent Yang Sifu to contact. Because there was no letter from Wen Tianxiang, Yang had doubts and finally surrendered to the Yuan Dynasty.
The more than 20 days of refuge in Nantong were a relatively peaceful time in Wen Tianxiang’s escape career. Here, he left a number of poems related to Nantong, one of which “Selling Fish Bay” wrote:
The wind rises thousands of waves, and the tide generates thousands of acres of sand. Crab roe in the spring red pile, and salt flowers in the late white.When the country is in the news, the boat is everywhere. The wolf mountain is two points green, and the extreme eye is the end of the world.
Selling fish bay is located in Tongzhou Shigang, it is from here that Wen Tianxiang left Nantong to go to the south. Although the poem has its own helplessness of wandering, it is more about the love for Nantong and the mountains and rivers of the motherland, which is obviously different from other poems in the “Guide Book” full of the embarrassment of fleeing and the oath of serving the country, and has become a rare document that describes the nature and products of Nantong in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Because of the insistence on resistance, especially in Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong area of the experience of fleeing, the people here are very admirable Wen Tianxiang, have built a shrine to commemorate, among which the ancestral hall in Nantong area is all over the city, Wolf Mountain, Shigang, Guanyin Mountain and Rugao and other places, such as the suburbs of Songjiaqiao Village, the “Prime Minister” is said to be Wen Tianxiang’s stay. The chronicles are all passed down and praised.
Taizhou Sanzhong Bridge (Yinfeng Road Cross-River Bridge)
If Wen Tianxiang left more than two months in northern Jiangsu was pain, Li Tingzhi, who was not as famous as Wen Tianxiang, seemed to have left more love, and his love for the land and people who had been guarded for more than 10 years. At the beginning of the Yangzhou prefect and the two Huai system envoys, it was the aftermath of the catastrophe in Yangzhou and its surroundings, the houses were destroyed, the salt people escaped, and Yangzhou and the surrounding areas that relied on the salt industry were in a depression.
Li Tingzhi arranged to borrow money to build the house, thereby waiving the arrears for the construction of the house. Within a year, both the government and the people had a place to live. At the same time, the organization resumes production. In order to reduce the pressure of land transportation, Li Tingzhi organized the excavation and dredging of salt transportation channels, such as the salt transportation river connecting Tongzhou Xiting, Jinsha and Yuqing (Yuxi, Yuzhong, Yudong) salt farms. He also arranged for the salt farmers to be exempted from their debts for many years, and the salt farmers who fled abroad returned one after another, the salt industry production resumed, and social life was on the right track.
In addition, he also organized the construction of schools in Yangzhou, advocated etiquette, and used official and private money to relieve famines, “promoting the people’s virtue as parents”. It is precisely because of the prestige established when he first arrived in Lianghuai that more than 10 years later, in the Lianghuai crisis, Li Tingzhi became the best candidate to stabilize the overall situation of Jiangbei.
Yangzhou Shuangzhong Temple site
As far as Jiangsu is concerned, Li Tingzhi can be regarded as an official with outstanding eunuch deeds. After the death, Yangzhou built a Shuangzhong Shrine to worship Li Tingzhi and the general Jiang Cai; Taizhou has built three loyal shrines, dedicated to Li Tingzhi and his generals Sun Huchen and Jiang Cai. Because in his later years as an official in Jiangsu, and to protect this land sacrificed their lives, his descendants moved to Haimen, became a real Jiangsu people, after the Ming Dynasty, dozens of people have passed the imperial examination to embark on the official career, quite a political voice.
