On May 25, 1959, Mei Lanfang, a 65-year-old opera master at the Beijing People's Theater, sang "It is not that I am in the country and I do not ask, and how much previous feelings have been aroused when I see Shuaiyin." The Yang family will sacrifice themselves to forget their homes and settle the society, and Kaige will also be graced by me to add a new grave. Qing Shengping rushed towards the small group in the hall, but the smoke rose but sent the marshal seal to Yangmen. '' lyrics. This lyric comes from the new Peking Opera "Mu Guiying Hangs Commander".
"Mu Guiying Hanging Commander" was already a classic repertoire of Yu opera earlier. And Mr. Mei Lanfang's "old bottle of new wine" is the "old bottle" that was famous in the world as early as the Northern Song Dynasty. As a famous loyal general in Chinese history, the 'Yang family' has left us with too many legends.
The generals of the Yang family who really existed in history deserve our respect.
In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, a great general named Yang Ye was famous and shocked the world. Yang Ye's father was Yang Xin, a powerful man who dominated linzhou (麟州, in present-day northern Shaanxi Province) during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Although Yang Ye was born in the relatively peaceful Prefecture of Taiyuan (present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi Province), due to his father's relationship, Yang Ye was still nurtured from an early age and had a firm belief in defending his family and defending the country.
The "History of Song" records that "The young man was a hero, good at riding and shooting, good at hunting, and gained more than anyone else." Such extraordinary strength almost doomed him to be extraordinary in the future. Just after reaching the age of twenty, Yang Ye served as a defense commander under Liu Chong. After that, he not only moved to jianxiong army, but also gained a good reputation for being brave and brave.
As Yang Ye himself said: "'I use soldiers every day, and I also use eagle dogs to chase pheasants and rabbits.' The once ambitious teenager, with his own strength, was invincible on the battlefield, almost invincible, and was called "invincible" by the people of the time.
Yang Ye's prestige spread all the way, even into the ears of Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of Song.
Emperor Taizong's "know his name, taste it". After Yang Ye and the former Northern Han Emperor Liu Jiyuan surrendered to the Song, Emperor Taizong of Song was overjoyed and appointed Yang Ye as the Right Leading Wei General. At this point, the story of the Yang family that we are familiar with will be the heroic righteousness of Song has officially begun.
What Yang Ye did for the Northern Song Dynasty, although it was not as fantastic as in various interpretations and legends, he did make a great contribution to the Northern Song Dynasty. Because Yang Ye had rich experience in garrisoning the border, he became the backbone of the Northern Song Dynasty's defense against the Khitan in the Yanmen area. Unfortunately, later in the Northern Expedition of the Song Army, due to the failure of the general Pan Mei's misjudgment and the cooperation of the generals, Yang Ye was attacked by the enemy and besieged by the Khitans.
This once invincible general was still at the forefront of the desperate situation, "His body was wounded by dozens, his soldiers were exhausted, and he had dozens of blades in his hands." Later, outnumbered, Yang Ye was captured by the Khitans. He sighed resolutely: "When he met me thickly, he hoped to curry favor with the thief, but instead he was forced by the traitors, causing the defeat of the king's master. ''Finally he went on a hunger strike and died.
When Yang Ye was besieged, his son Yang Yanyu was already killed in battle. After Yang Ye's death, the Northern Song court, in order to praise the Yang family's loyalty and bravery, appointed his son Yan Lang as the deputy envoy of Chongyi, the second son of the hall DirectLy Yanpu and Yan Xun as the worship official, and Yan Gui, Yan Gui, and Yan Bin as the Dian Zhi".
Among Yang Ye's sons, Yang Yanzhao, who was called 'Yang Liulang' by the Khitans, was the one with the highest achievements. He inherited his father's mantle and became another general in the Northern Song Dynasty against the Khitans. Emperor Zhenzong of Song once praised: "'Yan Zhao's father was a famous general of the former dynasty, and Yan Zhao's soldiers had a father's style, which was deeply commendable. ''
Unfortunately, later the Northern Song Dynasty's policy toward the Khitan changed, and the talk of peace gradually replaced conquest, and Yang Yanzhao, who was born for war, became a frontier and a "dispensable" existence. In the seventh year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1014), Yang Yanzhao, who was fifty-seven years old at the time, died helplessly.
After Yang Yanzhao's death, all three of his sons became officials in the dynasty, of which Yang Wenguang had the highest achievements. Yang Wenguang was initially rewarded by the famous minister Fan Zhongyan for his conquest of the thief Zhang Hai, and was included in Fan Zhongyan's command. It is a pity that Yang Wenguang has not been able to realize the ideal in his heart. He had just presented the imperial court with a battle map and a strategy to recover Youyan on his front foot, and his back foot suddenly died violently.
After these three generations, the Yang family gradually fell silent, and there is no record of Yang Wenguang's later in the main history. In the folk, the memorial of the Yang family and some legends have been handed down. Ouyang Xiu once praised: "Father and son (referring to Yang Ye and Yang Yanzhao) are both famous generals, and their wisdom and courage are said to be invincible, and so far the people of the world, as for Li'er Yezhu, can all be enlightened. ''
Today, in Xinzhou City, Shanxi Province, there is a luzhijian village. The history of this village dates back to the Yuan Dynasty, Yang Ye's thirteenth grandson Yang You and Yang Shan. The two brothers moved the Yang clan here by chance, so that more than half of the families in the village today are surnamed Yang. It's just that what has happened in the more than ten generations between Yang Ye and Yang You and Yang Shan is still difficult for us to know today.
''I don't lead the army, I don't lead the army!' Tell the waiter to quickly put the armor up with me, and carry the marshal to the school grounds to command the three armies. This is not only a lyric of Mr. Mei Lanfang in the play, but also a portrayal of the Yang family.
The people's love for the Yang family general is not out of thin air, but because they put the country above themselves, because they are loyal and heroic.