"Hongnong Yang Clan" is one of the most famous gates in the ancient north of China, and the character is so grand that it is difficult for other families to look back.
In 529 AD, Yang Chun, the Taibao of the Northern Wei Dynasty, proudly said to his descendants: "Since the emperor of my family, there have been seven counties and thirty-two prefectures below Gaozu, and there are prominent positions inside and outside, and the flow of time is less than that", this statement is really not a brag.
Yang Xi, who took away the most valuable thigh in history
The origin of Hongnong Yang's family stems from a lucky event with a small probability. The Later Han Shu Yang Zhen Biography recounts the yang clan's origin and says: "Yang Zhen zi Bo Qi, Hongnong Huayin people also." The Eighth Emperor Zuxi, Gao Zushi had meritorious service, and was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Chiquan. ”
What merit did Yang Xi, the eighth ancestor of the Yang family, make to be made a marquis by Liu Bang?
According to the "Records of History", after Xiang Yu's death, "Yu Rode and trampled on the King of Xiang, killing dozens of people." Later, Langzhong rode Yang Xi, sima Lü Matong, and Langzhong Lüsheng and Yang Wu each got one. Five people meet together, all of them. Therefore, the land is divided into five. ”
Xiang Yu
The historical background of this event is as follows: in 202 BC, Xiang Yu's army was defeated and surrounded. In order to encourage the generals, Liu Bang issued a hunting and killing order of "rewarding thousands of gold and sealing ten thousand households".
Xiang Yu broke through with his soldiers and engaged in an encounter with the pursuing douccup. After Xiang Yu successfully killed more than a hundred Han troops on twenty-eight horses, his men were killed and wounded, leaving only Xiang Yu alone, who was covered in scars.
Xiang Yu let out a long sigh: "Heaven has killed me, not a war crime", and then said to the deceased Lü Matong, who was chasing him opposite, that he was willing to give this credit to Lü Matong. But this Lü Ma Tong was very timid, and he didn't believe Xiang Yu's words, and he didn't dare to come forward.
After Xiang Yu killed himself, his head was obtained by Lang Zhongling Wang Feng, the first to rush up. The rest of the Han army remembered Liu Bang's promise, so they rushed up and snatched Xiang Yu's remains.
Liu
In the end, Yang Xi, Lü Matong, Lü Sheng, and Yang Wu each snatched a piece of Xiang Yu's remains. After returning to the camp, Liu Bang also talked about credit, and made Wang Feng the Marquis of Duyan, Yang Xi the Marquis of Chiquan, Lü Matong the Marquis of Zhongshui, Yang Wu the Marquis of Wufang, and Lü Sheng the Marquis of Neiyang.
After Yang Xi and the other five cooperated to kill Xiang Yu, they divided Up Xiang Yu's corpse and returned to the camp to ask for merit, but the rewards received by the five people were different.
Among the five people, Yang Xi was the most enthroned with 1900 households; although Wang Feng won the first rank of Xiang Yu, he only had 1700 households; in addition, Yang Wu's food yi was 700 households, and Lü Matong and Lü Sheng's food yi history books did not record it.
Not only that, Yang Xi also received a "Danshu Iron Coupon" issued by Liu Bang, which consisted of two parts, half preserved in the Han Dynasty Zongmiao Temple, and the other half preserved in the Yang family, which was passed down from generation to generation.
The Danshu iron coupon reads: "Make the river like a belt, Taishan ruoli, the country with Yongning, And Miao." ”
This means that even if the Yellow River dries up and becomes a belt of clothing, and Mount Tai collapses into stone, the kingdom of the seal will still exist forever and will be passed on to future generations.
In the early Han Dynasty, there were many marquises who were awarded the title of great deeds for the founding of the country, and it was such a small soldier who actually let the glory of the Yang family continue for thousands of years.
Yang Xi, the Marquis, ranked only 103rd among the 136 marquises of Han Gaozu's division.
In this way, at that time, his position in the aristocratic group of military merit in the early Han Dynasty was not particularly high, and Yang Xi and his sons and grandsons did not serve as high-ranking officials such as imperial court secretaries and local county guards.
Therefore, at this time, the Yang clan was not yet an influential family, and even by the time of Emperor Wu of Han, the Yang family was already very depressed economically, and after Emperor Wu of Han learned of it, he also specially gave Yang Xi's grandson Yang Shangmao ling ten pounds of gold as the last preferential treatment of the Han Empire to the descendants of the heroes of the Han Dynasty.
Emperor
The origins of the Youngs
The "Chronicle of History" records that this Yang Xi died in the twelfth year of Xiaowen, and his son Yang Yin attacked the knight; after Yang Yin's death, the son Yang Harmless attacked the knight. Yang Wuxian gave birth to a son named Yang Chang.
From him, the Yang family embarked on the road of soaring yellow tengda.
Yang Chang
Yang Chang lived during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Han and was deeply appreciated by the great general Huo Guang, who was in power, and was invited by Huo Guang to serve as a long historian in the shogunate of the great general. Under Huo Guang's cultivation and promotion, Yang Chang has always been an official and prosperous, serving as a grand sinong and a royal master, and has always achieved the high position of chancellor, and has been given the title of Marquis of Anping.
In the second year of Yang Chang's tenure as chancellor, Emperor Han Zhao, who was only 22 years old, died without leaving any heirs. Huo Guang then chose Liu He, the king of Changyi, to succeed to the throne among the princes. After Liu He succeeded to the throne, he was unscrupulous, so Huo Guang wanted to depose Liu He and establish a new emperor.
This is a matter of the fate of the empire, but also about the lives of the participants. Huo Guang sent The Grand Master Farmland Yannian to the Chancellor's Mansion to ask Yang Chang for advice, and Yang Chang was so frightened that he sweated and could not speak for half an hour.
Taking advantage of the gap between Tian Yannian's toilets, Mrs. Yang Chang, who had been hiding in the compartment to eavesdrop on the conversation, said to Yang Chang: "The great general is determined about this matter, just to inform you." If you do not decisively side with the great general, you will be doomed. ”
Stills of Tian Yannian
Madame's words woke up Yang Chang. When Tian Yannian returned, Yang Chang responded positively and expressed his firm support for Huo Guang.
Sure enough, after Huo Guang deposed the King of Changyi and established Emperor Xuan of Han on the throne, Yang Chang not only retained the position of chancellor, but also received a new reward from 3,500 households.
Madame Yang is only a female stream, why can she be so proficient in politics and decisive?
It turned out that people were not ordinary people, but she was Sima Qian's own daughter! Sima Qian had no sons, and he devoted his life to writing the "Records of History", a large part of which was copied with the help of Lady Yang, so Lady Yang can say that she has seen too much about the political struggles in history, although she is a woman, she has much more political experience than her husband.
Sima Qian
Due to the right team, the Yang family ushered in the first brilliant period. In addition to Yang Chang, his son Yang Yun (杨恽) was also awarded the title of Marquis of Pingtong for his merits, and Zhonglang was promoted to Guanglu Xun (光禄勋) and became one of the Nine Secretaries.
The other brothers and nephews of the Yang family also ascended to heaven one by one, in Yang Yun's words, that is, "ten people who ride the Zhu Wheel." That is to say, at that time, there were as many as ten people serving as high-ranking officials in the Yang clan, although except for Yang Chang, Yang Zhong, Yang Yun and a few others, the names of others were not recorded in the history books, but the Yang clan gradually squeezed into the ranks of famous and prestigious families from this time on, there is no doubt.
Yang Yun was a erudite Confucian who liked to read the "Records of History", had the legacy of his maternal grandfather Sima Qian, and befriended Gao Shi mingru.
After becoming a high-ranking official, Yang Yunxing eliminated the advantages and disadvantages, rectified the administration of officials, and recommended many talented people. It was just that this person's popularity was small, offended some colleagues, and was finally framed to death by political enemies, and Yang's power also suffered the first heavy blow.
Yang Yun
However, Yang Yun still left a rich legacy to the family. He himself was a great Confucian and pioneered the Yang family's path of studying scriptures.
Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty exalted Confucianism, Confucianism has been the key to the foothold of the family family. Only by practicing Confucian ethics can it be possible for future generations to continue to rise and succeed along the path provided by the examination system, and become the highest gate of the generations of public secretaries.
Under the influence of the social atmosphere of generally attaching importance to Confucianism, Yang Yun took a solid step towards the formation of a generational Confucian tradition for his family.
Although Yang Yun's death slowed down the pace of the Yang clan's development in Hongnong, the Yang family later produced a Yang Zhen known as the "Confucius of Kansai", which eventually made the Yang clan grow into a first-class prominent family in the country.
The house of the "Four Dynasties and Three Dukes"
Yang Zhenzi Boqi was an outstanding thinker, politician, and educator in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since his youth, Yang Zhen has been familiar with scriptures and books.
At the age of twenty, he set up a museum to teach apprentices, trained nearly 3,000 disciples, and praised him as "Confucius of Kansai". The imperial court repeatedly asked him to become an official, but he did not answer. It was not until he was in his fifties that he was promoted to Maocai by the great general Deng Xiaoju, and then he was promoted several times, and finally he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
Yang Zhen
Yang Zhen is most well known for his story of "Twilight but Gold". On the way to the post of Taishou of Donglai, Wang Mi of Changyi County, who had been favored by him, came to visit Yang Zhen one night and gave him ten catties of gold. Yang Zhenjian resigned, Wang Mi said that no one knows about this matter, you just accept it!
Yang Zhenzheng said, "I am a former friend of you, but you don't understand who I am." This matter is known by heaven, earth, I, and you, how can you say that no one knows! Wang Mi's face was flushed with words, and he had to resign. Since then, Yang Zhen has been given the nickname of "Mr. Four Knowledge".
Throughout his life, no matter what official position he held, Yang Zhen took "innocent official" as his motto and insisted on doing things impartially. The treatment of children is also a strict requirement, "children and grandchildren often walk with vegetables and food".
Relatives and friends persuaded him to buy some family property for future generations, but Yang Zhen resolutely refused, saying that it would not be much better to let his descendants become the descendants of "innocent officials" and leave this clean name to them than other inheritances?
Yang Zhensheng had five sons, the eldest son Yang Muguan to Fu Boxiang, and Yang Mu's two sons Yang Tong and Yang Fu later served as Lang officials by the emperor's side.
Yang Zhen's other son, Yang Bing, was the key figure of the Yang family to become the most prominent scholar clan in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the "Four Dynasties and Three Dukes" of the Yang Family refers to the situation in which two generations of emperors and four generations of emperors and four lieutenants appeared in the four generations of Yang Zhen, Yang Bing, Yang Ci, and Yang Biao, becoming a first-class scholar at that time.
Yang Bing became a teacher of Emperor Huan of Han because of his proficiency in the Book of Shang, and served as a servant of the four prefectures of Yushi, Yu, Jing, Xu, and Yan throughout his life, and later became a lieutenant and one of the three dukes;
Yang Bingzi's son Yang Ci was the teacher of Emperor Ling of Han, and later became Sikong and was given the title of Marquis of Jin; Yang Biao, the son of Yang Zhi, was promoted to Sikong in the sixth year of Emperor Zhongping of Ling, and was always loyal to the Han Dynasty.
In 189 AD, Dong Zhuo wanted to move the capital to Guanzhong, and there were no officials who dared to oppose it, only Yang Biao stepped forward and fiercely opposed it. Dong Zhuo was very angry and wanted to kill Yang Biao, but considering that Yang's foundation was very deep, he had to give up.
After Cao Cao's dictatorship, he tried his best to win over the Yang clan. Cao Cao's political purpose in doing so was because the Eastern Han Dynasty was a regime supported by a large lineage, and in order to consolidate his rule, Cao Cao had to win over those powerful clans.
Yang Biao's son is very famous in the folk, that is, Yang Xiu, who has the reputation of "prodigy". However, although Yang Xiu served the Cao clan, he was not obedient to Cao Cao and repeatedly challenged his authority, which Cao Cao was very jealous of.
Yang Xiu, like Xun Yu, wanted to borrow Cao Cao's hand to support the Han Dynasty, so he firmly supported Cao Zhi, who had no intention of usurping the Han, rather than Cao Pi, who "had the intention of representing the Han Dynasty".
After Cao Zhi and Cao Pi failed to compete for the throne, Yang Xiu still had close ties with Cao Zhi, so he became a problem for Cao Cao's confidants, and Cao Cao finally found an excuse to kill Yang Xiu.
After Yang Xiu's death, the Yang family was attacked and fell silent for a period of time. It was not until Sima Shi, as the representative of the shi clan, replaced the Cao Wei regime to establish the Western Jin Dynasty, that the Yang clan began to be active in the political arena again. After the descendants of the Yang family married the Sima family, they became an important family door valve.
Yang Xiu
The dormant period from prosperity to decline
During the Western Jin Dynasty, Yang Jun of the Yang family was a hot figure in the political arena. His daughter Yang Zhi was the second empress of Sima Yan, the emperor of Jinwu, and Yang Jun thus served as a powerful general of the Che Riders and was given the title of Marquis of Jin.
Yang Jun's younger brothers Yang Jue and Yang Ji also held the posts of General Wei and General Zhengbei respectively. The three brothers were powerful and powerful, controlled the government of the dynasty, were jealous of their abilities, and excluded the important ministers of the DPRK and China, which caused dissatisfaction among many ministers.
Before Emperor Wu of Jin died, he ordered Yang Jun to assist sima liang, the king of Runan. However, Yang Jun later forced Sima Liang to leave the town of Xuchang, and formed a great grudge with Sima Shi's clan forces, resulting in "resentment in the public office, and the world is indignant." "
Emperor Wu of Jin
The Western Jin Dynasty was established with the support of the Tuas clan. Yang Jun's unscrupulous monopoly on the government and government obviously undermined the situation in which the shi clan led by Sima Shi ruled the world together, and offended the two major forces of the clan and the shi clan.
In the first year of Yongping, Empress Jia Nanfeng instigated Sima Wei, the King of Chu, to launch a palace coup, and Sima Wei and Sima Miao, the King of Dong'an, personally led 400 palace soldiers to kill Yang Jun, and demoted the empress dowager Yang Zhi to a shuren.
After Yang Jun's death, Jia Nanfeng dismissed all of Empress Dowager Yang Zhi's internal attendants and palace personnel and did not give her food. Yang Zhi was starved to death at the age of thirty-four.
After Yang Jun's death, Yang Bing's side was not too implicated, and several celebrities such as Yang Hu, Yang Zhun, Yang Qiao, and Yang Xi appeared. At this time, the Yang family was in a period of political dormancy, and more energy was focused on governing the family and learning.
In 397, Yang Zhen and Yang Ji of the Yang clan of Hongnong defected to Northern Wei and gained the trust of Northern Wei and gained a firm foothold in Northern Wei politics.
By the time of Emperor Xiaowen, the brothers Yang Bo, Yang Jin, and Yang Shun of the Hongnong Yang clan had all served as the emperor's close attendants, ushering in a period of comprehensive political development of the Hongnong Yang clan.
The re-emergence of the Young clan
In order to stabilize his rule, Emperor Xiaowen also implemented the door valve system in the north, paying attention to the extension of Han scholars and seeking further political cooperation with the Han people.
Therefore, according to the "Book of Wei" and "Northern History", in the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were many Hongnong Yang clan out of the clan, including 3 people who ascended to the throne, 8 people who were Guanglu Doctors, 7 people who were Jiuqing, 9 people who were Shang Shuling and servants, 5 people who served in the service, and 11 people who served as assassins, 7 people who were knighted, "internal and external prominent positions, time flow is less than", becoming a famous clan of warriors in the Northern Dynasty.
After Emperor Xiaowen's reforms, the ethnic minorities in the north also learned the Han people's scholarly door valve system and Confucian culture, and the Yang family was a master in this regard.
Therefore, in the entire Northern Dynasty, the Yang clan once again appeared in the situation of "protégés and former officials all over the world", and the objects of their marriage were also those famous family families.
For example, Yang Yi married his wife Taiyuan Wangshi, Yang Shu married Luoyang Yuanshi, Yang Peizi married Jingzhao Weishi, and so on. The social status of the Hongnong Yang clan has been widely recognized and respected by scholars.
When Yang Zhen's fourteenth grandson Yang Zhong arrived, he followed the Northern Wei general Du Guxin to conquer Nanyang in Southern Liang and was given the post of governor.
During a hunt, Yang Zhong once resisted a tiger alone and saved the life of Yuwen Tai, the minister of prey, so he was appreciated by Yuwen Tai and was personally given the epithet "揜于" (meaning beast).
Yang Zhonghou accompanied Yuwen Tai to break the Eastern Wei in Shayuan and was promoted to the post of General of Zhengxi and Grand Master of Jin Ziguanglu. Later, he led his army to defeat the Southern Dynasty Liang and Northern Qi many times, and the Book of Zhou said that he was "magnificent in appearance, excellent in martial arts, deep in knowledge, and a general in strategy." ”
At that time, the Yuwen clan implemented the policy of combining the use of scholars and concubines, and did its best to win over the Han people, and implemented the "surname" of the Hu and Han people who followed them, so that they became "official clans". Yang Zhong was given the surname "Pu Liu Ru Clan" (浦六茹氏), and became a general of the Pillar State and became one of the top door valves of the "Eight Pillar State".
The Book of Zhou says that the Yang family was "prosperous at that time, and it was incomparable." Therefore, it is called the door valve, and the eight-pillar national cloud is salty. During this period, the marriage object of the Yang clan was also the same high-gate high-ranking clan, such as Yang Jian's sister married Longxi Li Licheng, Yang Su married xingyang Zheng, and Yang Jian himself married duguxin's daughter.
The Yang family's political position was further consolidated, and high-ranking officials such as Yang Su, Yang Chugang, Yang Xiong, Yang Shangxi, Yang Yi, Yang Da, Yang Wensi, and Yang Yue appeared.
Yang Jian
Established the Sui Dynasty, the peak of the Yang clan
After Yang Zhong's death, his son Yang Jian, as the father-in-law of Emperor Yuwen Yun of Zhou, blackmailed Tianzi to order the princes. Nine months later, Yang Jian usurped the throne, established the Sui Dynasty, and became Emperor Wen of Sui. Later, he destroyed Western Liang and Southern Chen, ending the division of China for hundreds of years.
Although the Sui Dynasty was a short-lived dynasty, only for the second generation, the Yang family did not fall.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Yang family was still one of the top clans. After Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion, in order to gain the support of the Yang family, he also married his younger brother Li Yuanji's wife Yang Shi back to the palace, for no other reason than because she was the daughter of the Yang family.
The Tang Dynasty had a four-surname marriage political group, which were "Li, Wu, Wei, and Yang". In the Tang Dynasty, the Yang surname produced eleven prime ministers, known as the "family of prime ministers".
The mother of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor of China, was from the first Kansai clan; Yang Yuhuan, one of the "Four Beauties", was also from the Hongnong Yang clan.
Although the changes in the political situation have a decisive impact on the rise and fall of a family, the Hongnong Yang clan has had many heirs since the Eastern Han Dynasty, and although it has also experienced a low, it is a worm with a hundred feet, dead but not stiff, in the words of the Zizhi Tongjian, that is, "the chaotic clan should be divided, in order to leave the seed." Even if there are occasional political accidents, there is no danger of extinction.
Hongnong Yang's branches and leaves are scattered, and the tree has large roots and deep roots. After the fall of the Yang Bingyi clan in the south, there were Two lineages of Yang Tai and Yang Mu rising in the north;
At the end of the Wei Dynasty, Yang Zhen's yang zhen's first house was wiped out, while Yang Ji's first house was not damaged; after the northern Qi Yang Chen's extermination, the Yang Mu clan that followed Yuwen's clan was incense-filled, and the status of the Yang family's Gaomen clan was always preserved.
Yang Bing
In the political background of the dominance of the clan from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the Yang family can be described as "the East is not bright and the West is bright", until Yang Jianjian built sui, and carried forward the glory of the Hongnong Yang clan to the peak.
The success of the Yang family also gave Yang Xi the title of "The First Lucky General of China". This little cavalry captain, because he got a thigh of Xiang Yu, was enfeoffed, and from then on, he created a brilliant chapter in which his descendants came and went, the secretaries of state continued, and the family flourished and developed for more than four hundred years.
Therefore, some people joked that Yang Xi was "hugging the most precious thigh in history", which is really not false!
Yang Xi
Resources:
Wang Lina: The Historical Changes of the Hongnong Yang Clan in the Han and Jin Dynasties
Wei Hongli: A Commentary on the Development of the Yang Clan in the Middle Ages