The year 524 was a crucial year in the history of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This year was the fifth year of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei and the fifth year of Emperor Wudi of Southern Liang in the Southern Dynasty.
The reason why this year is very important is because this year took place a major event that changed the history of the North and South Dynasties, that is, the Six Towns Uprising.
The Six Towns Uprising, which we have already described in detail in "The Iron-Blooded Northern Dynasty", was the most serious civil strife in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, marking the transformation of the Northern Wei Dynasty from prosperity to decline and gradual destruction.
The Six Towns Uprising was a bit like the Anshi Rebellion to the Tang Dynasty to the Northern Wei Dynasty, a watershed event that changed the fate of the dynasty.
The Six Towns Uprising sounded the death knell of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and later the gravediggers of the Northern Wei Dynasty were all from the Six Towns, such as Gao Huan from Huaishuo Town and Yuwen Tai from Wuchuan Town.
Ten years after the outbreak of this worst civil strife in the history of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Northern Wei Dynasty finally collapsed, splitting into the Eastern and Western Wei dynasties, attacking each other.
After Gao Huan's death, his general Hou Jing defected to the Southern Dynasty. Immediately, the anti-flag was raised again, turning Jiangnan upside down, causing the most serious disaster in the history of the Southern Dynasty - the Houjing Rebellion.
The Houjing Rebellion directly led to the disintegration of Southern Liang, and the source of the Houjing Rebellion was actually the Six Towns Uprising.
It can be seen that a six-town uprising on a remote border changed the historical trend of both the north and the south.
It was not only the Southern and Northern Dynasties who were changed by the Six Towns Uprising, but even Yang Zhong, who had not yet appeared at this time.
What kind of connection does Yang Zhong have with the Six Towns Uprising?
This matter has to start with his father Yang Zhen.
According to historical records, Yang Zhen was a general of Ningyuan in Northern Wei, and he lived in Taluocheng, Shuozhou, when the Six Towns Uprising broke out. Seeing that the situation was becoming more and more turbulent, Yang Zhen wondered if these six towns could not stay in peace, and Baoqi would either die under the sword of chaotic soldiers or be wiped out indiscriminately by the officials and troops.
Yang Zhen naturally understood this truth, thinking of this, he packed up his things overnight, fled Tailuo City with his wife and children, and the destination was Zhongshan (present-day Dingzhou, Hebei) east of the Taihang Mountain.
At that time, Zhongshan guarded the North China Plain and the Taihang Mountain, and was one of the richest and most prosperous places in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Fleeing there is naturally not a worry about livelihood, and it is better than sitting in six towns and waiting for death.
Not long after Yang Zhen, who was dragging his family, settled in Zhongshan, he saw a message that made his heart beat faster:
The imperial court officials and troops defeated the main rebels in Wuyuan, breaking the Liuhan Baling, 200,000 rebels laid down their arms and surrendered, and the Six Towns Rebellion was put down.
How to place these 200,000 troops to make the big guys of the imperial court have a brain pain, this is a time bomb, the placement is slightly unsatisfactory, this gang of people immediately roll up their sleeves and "return to the old business", believe it or not?
The key to the problem is the problem of eating, three meals a day, 200,000 people, how much food do you calculate to eat in a day? The grain depots of the imperial court are about to be transformed into villas by rats, and there is no grain, so what to feed these 200,000 people!
Someone came up with a high trick, it doesn't matter if the imperial court has no food, Hebei has it, let's send the troops to Hebei for resettlement.
So, a group of court bigwigs slapped their thighs: You kid is really a talent, okay, I'll see it.
Immediately, an official document was sent to the six towns, sending 200,000 troops to Hebei, Ding, and Ying prefectures for resettlement.
Zhongshan (dingzhou) is one of the three states.
When the news reached Zhongshan, local officials fell silent.
There are ten people in your family, and after eating the last meal but not the next, they are worried, and the neighborhood committee has arranged for more than a dozen people to live in your house and let you help take care of it for a while.
Reporter: Are you in a good mood now?
Do you think it can be good?
Zhongshan officials were in this mood, a hundred unhappy, and did not dare to go against the will of the imperial court, so they could only accept it hard.
200,000 troops were escorted to Hebei under close surveillance, and those who did not want to leave their homeland continued to flee. After arriving in the three prefectures of Hebei, the treatment and situation may be very unsatisfactory, and another batch fled.
The remaining troops soon found that Hebei did not have much food for them to eat, and they were not calm down at this time.
In addition, the local officials of the three prefectures in Hebei may look down on this group of troops in their hearts, and it is inevitable that they will show that kind of contempt. Over time, the anger of the soldiers came out, and the conflict between them and the local officials intensified.
Soon after, the unbearable surrender finally appeared in the situation of a second rebellion. Duluo Zhou opposed Shanggu (present-day Huailai, Hebei), and Xiuyu opposed Zhongshan (dingzhou).
Yes, the second season of the Six Towns Uprising is grandly debuted.
Yang Zhen, who settled in Zhongshan, was a little confused, but this time he did not run away, but chose to assist the imperial court in suppressing thieves, of course, this is a historical statement, we believe it here.
"It belongs to the Wei Mo who was in turmoil, and he took refuge in the mountains and made righteous disciples to ask for the cultivation rites, and then died." ——"Zhou Shu Yang Zhong Biography"
Yang Zhen recruited a group of "righteous disciples" to assist the Zhongshan officials and troops in their crusade against Xianyu Xiuli, but unfortunately his strength did not allow him to be arrogant, and his army was defeated, and he himself died in battle.
This is the only thing about Yang Jian's grandfather Yang Zhen, and he is still a martyr, which is a bit interesting.
Yang Zhong later developed, did not forget his martyr father, and posthumously presented the general of the Pillar State, Shaobao, and the Duke of Xingcheng County.
The year Yang Zhen died in battle should be the second year of Northern Wei Xiaochang (526), where was his son Yang Zhong at this time?
"Zhou Shu Yang Zhong Biography" revealed Yang Zhong's whereabouts, and he went to a place that no one expected.
"Visiting Mount Tai"
Eighteen-year-old Yang Zhong went to Taishan in Shandong Province to play, and this operation was strange.
The father died in battle, and the son played Mount Tai.
I always feel that something is wrong, as if there is a problem, Yang Zhong, what did he run to Mount Tai alone? Is it really to play Tarzan?
Even weirder things are yet to come.
Yang Zhong, who was visiting Mount Tai, was very unlucky and encountered the attack of the Liang army. Yang Zhong's legs and feet were unfavorable, and after the bloody battle, he never ran away, and was captured by Liang Jun and returned to Jiangnan.
It was really a tiger, and the young Yang Zhong showed his face on the battlefield, which severely shocked the people of the Southern Dynasty, and he really deserved to be the emperor of the Great Sui Emperor...
Wait, wait first.
Let me brush my mind for a moment.
Yang Zhen Zhongshan killed a thief (martyr of Great Wei), Yang Zhong traveled to Mount Tai and encountered the southern army, and was captured after a bloody fight (Great Wei Young Hero).
Did you notice something wrong?
These records quietly instilled a message in people: Yang Zhen was a loyal minister of Great Wei, Yang Zhong was also a general and a young hero, and the father and son had just debuted for the country.
Since the Yang family's father and son are meritorious in the society, it is logical and reasonable for Jiansui to be declared emperor later.
Presumably this is the "political task" shouldered by the history books, and it is used in a subtle and silent way to make people accept its arguments.
However, let's focus on this but.
However, behind these meticulous records, there are many flaws, or loopholes that cannot withstand scrutiny.
First of all, Yang Zhen could not find any other deeds except for the "Death King Matter", which was a "big book special book". Even whether there is Yang Zhen is a mystery, his face is blurred, how many secrets does the ethereal Yang Zhen hide?
Secondly, if Yang Zhen's killing of the thief and the death of the king is indeed true, this is definitely a plus for Yang Jian to claim the emperor, according to normal logic, he should honor Yang Zhen and other ancestors as emperors at the first time, and at the same time write about Yang Zhen's heroic deeds.
But what about the facts?
Yang insisted that the empress only honored his father Yang Zhong as emperor, and did not mention anything about the ancestors above his grandfather Yang Zhen, and did not express anything.
This operation is extremely abnormal and can be said to be impossible to explain at all.
Third, when Yang Zhenzhan died in Zhongshan, why did his son Yang Zhong appear in Mount Tai, far away from Zhongshan, and still go to play, and happened to encounter a sneak attack by Liang Jun, and was accidentally caught in Jiangnan again.
Why are there so many coincidences? History is written here in a flash, deliberately avoiding some key information.
Fourth, and the weirdest point. According to historical records, Yang Zhong was captured and returned to Jiangnan near Mount Tai, roughly in 525. However, there was no north-south war near Mount Tai that year, where did the mysterious Liang army come from? There seem to be many doubts about how Yang Zhong arrived in Jiangnan.
This kind of confusing information is mixed together, forming Yang Zhong's enigmatic life.
Who is Yang Zhong? Are his ancestors who "have heads and faces" any of them, and is he related to Wuchuan Town? Wuchuan and Shandong, which is his real birthplace.
These sanctimonious history books turned over and over in my hands, always trying to find some hidden secrets between the lines. Putting these clues together one by one, I suddenly thought of a possibility.
The following analysis is completely the product of imagination, belongs to my inference, and is only for your reference.
I wondered if there was a possibility that the records of Yang Zhong's life and his ancestors in the history books were all false.
The so-called Hongnong Yang clan was proposed by the Book of Sui, and Yang Jian was already Emperor Wen of Sui at that time, and he needed to find a prominent ancestor for himself to show the legitimacy and legality of his title as emperor, so he raised the signboard of Hongnong Yang's clan.
The one who settled in Wuchuan was the ancestor Yang Yuanshou, which was proposed in the Book of Zhou. At that time, Yang Zhong was already one of the most prominent aristocratic families in Northern Zhou, not only the number one boss in the military, but also married Duguxin, the elder of Wuchuan, and tried to squeeze into the Guanlong group with the Wuchuan family as the core.
In order to narrow the distance with the Guanlong Group and make himself the "own person" of the bigwigs, Yang Zhong must package himself as a concubine of the Wuchuan lineage.
Just imagine, Lao Jiang can treat the Whampoa clan the same as the local faction. The Whampoa clan is its own people, and no matter how capable you can fight and how capable you are, the local faction is always an outsider, not my brother Jiang someone.
The reason is the same, if Yang Zhong is not a Wuchuan lineage, but a cold Shandong Yang family. Even if he has outstanding military achievements and outstanding abilities, even if he has laid down thousands of miles for the Guanlong Group, he is always an outsider, and it is impossible to truly integrate into it, let alone climb to the top of the power pyramid of the Guanlong Group.
It is a fate, predestined from the moment of birth. If Yang Zhong wants to change his fate, he can only tear it down and rebuild it all, and the first thing is to find a way to "become" himself into a Wuchuan person.
After careful planning, Yang Zhong finally got his wish and became a Wuchuan lineage. A mysterious ancestor named Yang Yuanshou moved to Wuchuan Town in the early years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, went to the Wuchuan Hukou, and became Yang Zhong's ancestor.
At that time, Yang Zhong didn't even dare to think about becoming emperor in the future, his wish was just to stuff himself into the Guanlong Group Noble Club, nothing more.
Therefore, after Yang Zhong's death, his epitaph introduced the family lineage only from Yang Yuanshou who settled in Wuchuan, deliberately emphasizing the noble identity of "Wuchuan lineage", and did not climb the more distant Eastern Han imperial lieutenant Yang Zhen, because there was no need.
Yang Zhong only wanted to blend into the Wuchuan lineage, and did not dare to have the luxury of becoming an emperor, so there was no need to create a glorious and dazzling family lineage by hand.
Not mentioning Yang Zhen is an expected inevitability.
If in order to squeeze into the Wuchuan lineage, Yang Zhong created the ancestor Yang Yuanshou, then the next few were solved.
If you want to change shotguns and achieve changes in identity and status, it is obviously not enough to create an ancestor. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties era, those wealthy and rival families monopolized most of the resources and wealth of society, and their power was extremely large.
Those people have been nobles since birth, the babies in their infancy are all princes, any big family is hundreds of years of glory, and the descendants are all dignitaries from generation to generation. The history of family honor can basically be pulled from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty in one breath, and you just push out a Yang Yuanshou, or a small Sima of Wuchuan Town (the official position is too big and estimated to be afraid of wearing gangs), which is obviously not interesting enough.
Therefore, Yang Lie and Yang Zhen in the back can be imagined, Yishui is a taishou and a general, proving that our old Yang family is also a substitute secretary.
It is easy to create a few names and official positions, but the difficult thing is to create deeds, which is also the unspeakable hidden in the history books that no deeds of those ancestors can be found.
If all the previous ones are artistic creations, then what is Yang Zhong's true face?
My intuition is that the real Yang Zhong appeared from Mount Tai.
Mr. Chen Yinke believes that Yang Zhong came from the humble Yang family of Shandong, and some people believe that the real Yang Zhong is the peasant child near Mount Tai. The so-called guest tour of Mount Tai and being captured by Liang Jun back to Jiangnan are all tricks, and it is the history books that are covering up the ugliness of the Yang family.
What is the truth that Yang Zhongke was arrested in Taishan Tour? Mr. Chen Yinke found the answer in the Book of Wei, which he believed might be related to the Xingqi uprising in Northern Wei history.
The Xingqi Uprising was also the aftermath of the Six Towns Uprising, and Duluo Zhou and Xianyu Xiuli led hundreds of thousands of troops in Six Towns to surrender and rebel, ravaging the Hebei prefectures. Forcing more than 100,000 local people in Youzhou and Jizhou in Hebei to flee to Shandong, the leader of these people was Xing Qiao, the former chief of Youzhou Beiping Prefecture.
Xing led this group of people into the territory of Beihai, Qingzhou, Shandong (present-day southwest of Weifang, Shandong), but there was also a shortage of food in the local area, and so many people were squeezed in at once, and the locals were very angry.
Xing's team, who could not find food, had to feed themselves with elm leaves, and the locals called them "tongue-tongued elm thieves".
The people in the stream were first ignored by the natives, and when they heard of the rebellion, they came and went, and between the end of the month, there were more than 100,000 people. Plundering the village docks and poisoning the people, Qi people called them "Yu thieves". - "Weishu Liebian II"
The people of Hebei, who wandered in Shandong, were humiliated by the locals at every turn, and Xing Qiao rose up in anger to loot the villages. The people who heard the news threw themselves into Xing's army, and within a month, they gathered 100,000 horses.
Yang Zhong is likely to have also joined Xing Qiao's team, and in order to feed his stomach, there is no way. However, the good times did not last long, and the Northern Wei army suppressed it, defeating Xing's main force in one fell swoop, and Xing was escorted to Luoyang to be killed.
In order to avoid pursuit, Yang Zhong had to flee to Jiangnan for refuge, which may be the truth behind the extremely strange "guest tour of Mount Tai" in the history books.
Yang Zhong later became one of the twelve generals of the Western Wei Dynasty, with a prominent status, in order to cover up the "stain" of participating in the Xing Qiao thief army, he created a meme of "being captured by Taishan in a guest tour".
After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian was even more secretive about his father's experience, and resolutely covered it up. So a Liang army appeared to attack the vicinity of Mount Tai and captured Yang Zhong to Jiangnan.
There is also evidence that Yang Zhong came from a Hanwei peasant family, that is, he intermarried with the Lu clan of Jinan, who was also from a Hanwei family, and married Lü Kutao, the daughter of the Lü clan.
Do you hear this name, Lu Kutao, will those gate families call it like this? The Lü family is an authentic Shu ethnic group, and there is no sense of presence in Jinan.
Yang Zhong and Lu Kutao got married, and this result was very magical. If he was really from the Hongnong Yang clan, he would not know that he stepped on a red line - marriage was lost.
What does that mean?
In the Wei and Jin dynasties and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the gate family attached great importance to marriage, and the Shi clan and the Shi clan intermarried, and it was never allowed to intermarry with the Yu clan.
If marriage and political status are inconsistent, for example, if the son of the first prince family in Jiangnan marries a younger sister of a family of the Shu family in Huiji County, this is called "marriage loss of class", which is a very serious issue of principle.
This issue is not trivial and cannot be examined in terms of today's freedom of marriage.
When Hou Jing defected to the Southern Dynasty and became a guest of Emperor Wudi of Liang, he asked Emperor Wudi of Liang to marry a woman from Wang Xie's wealthy family, but Emperor Wudi of Liang politely refused.
This is a typical example, no matter who it is, no matter how great the military merit, you can't mess with the rules.
If Yang Zhong was really a descendant of the Hongnong Yang clan, how could he not know this? Mr. Chen Yinke's conclusion that Yang Zhong was born in the Yang family of Shandong through analyzing the situation of Yang Zhong's wife's family is very reasonable.
Through the above analysis, it can be concluded that Yang Zhong is neither a descendant of the Hongnong Yang clan, nor a Wuchuan lineage, he is an ordinary Shandong Yang clan's disciple. His father may not be the mysterious Yang Zhen, maybe he is an old farmer, everything is possible.
Because of his involvement in the Xingqi Rebellion, Yang Zhong fled to Jiangnan and hid for five years after the defeat. Five years later, a chance opportunity to return to China appeared, and Yang Zhong seized the opportunity to smoothly return to Northern Wei, who had been parting for five years.
So what kind of opportunity is this? Whether it was a blessing or a curse for Yang Zhong, he didn't know, and he gritted his teeth and stomped his foot and went back.