In 986, the famous Northern Song general Yang Yebing defeated Chen Jiagukou, and after being wounded and captured, he went on hunger strike for three days and died unyieldingly. Influenced by the novel "Yang Jia Jiang", people believe that it was Pan Renmei who killed Yang Ye, because Pan Renmei refused to send reinforcements, resulting in Yang Ye's defeat and death. In fact, in history, it was not Pan Mei (pan Renmei's prototype) who killed Yang Ye, or yang Ye's death had little to do with Pan Mei, so who killed Yang Ye in the end?
It all started with the Yongxi Northern Expedition in 986. In order to recover Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures, Emperor Taizong of Song mobilized 200,000 troops and marched north in four ways. At that time, the main commander of the Western Route Army would be Pan Mei, the deputy would be Yang Ye, and the supervisor would be Wang Nong. At the beginning of the battle, the Western Route Army was like a bamboo, and successively captured Huanzhou, Shuozhou, Yingzhou, and Yunzhou. However, at this time, the main force of the Northern Expedition, the Eastern Route Army, was defeated, resulting in the Song army being forced to retreat completely.
The Song army was mainly infantry, and the retreat speed was not fast, but at this time, Song Taizong issued an edict asking the Western Route Army to move to the interior with the people of Yun, Shuo, Huan, and Ying Prefectures. At this time, the Liao army's fierce general Yelü Xieyun led the elite cavalry to kill and break the Song army at Wutai and Flying Fox. Under these circumstances, Yang Ye suggested not to fight the Liao army head-on, and to retreat as quickly as possible with the local people, while "sending a thousand strong crossbowmen to line up at the mouth of the valley, and using knights to help the middle road, then the people of the three states will be completely protected."
Yang Ye has been fighting on the battlefield for decades, has rich combat experience, has resisted the Liao army many times, and is well aware of the combat characteristics of the Liao army, so it should be said that his suggestion is reasonable. However, it was opposed by a person, who was not the main general Pan Mei, but the overseer Wang Nong. Wang Nong objected to Yang Ye's suggestion, arguing that "leading tens of thousands of elite soldiers and being afraid of cowardice is so!" But in the middle of the north river of the Yanmen Gate, the drums went forward. Wang Nong's suggestion was endorsed by another overseer, Liu Wenyu.
Yang Ye resolutely opposed Wang Nong's suggestion, "This will inevitably be defeated", but was ridiculed by Wang Nong, "The Prince of Su is invincible, and now he sees the enemy teasing and not fighting, must he have his ambitions?" Yang Ye was very angry, and in order to show his loyalty, he took the initiative to ask for help. Before leaving, Yang Ye asked the Lord to set up an ambush at the mouth of Chen JiaGu to receive Pan Mei. However, in the end, Yang Ye did not see the receiving troops, because these people were taken away by Wang Nong.
In summary, it is not difficult for us to find that on the issue of Yang Ye's death, Pan Mei's responsibility is not great, and the person directly responsible is Wang Nong, the supervisor. After Yang Ye's death, Emperor Taizong of Song punished the relevant personnel, Pan Mei cut the rank of third class, the supervising army Wang Fei cut his post to the people and issued Jinzhou, and Liu Wenyu was dismissed from office and assigned to Dengzhou. At the same time, Emperor Taizong of Song also praised Yang Ye, "giving him a lieutenant of the inspection school and the envoy of the Datong Army, and giving him a thousand horses of cloth and a thousand stones."
On the surface, it was the overseer Wang Nong who killed Yang Ye, but if we look through the phenomenon, we will find that in fact, the culprit who killed Yang Ye was Zhao Guangyi, the Emperor Taizong of Song. First, Emperor Taizong of Song pursued a policy of "emphasizing literature over force", sending civilian officials as supervisors to intervene in front-line military command. Wang Nong was a man of self-help, but he won the trust of Song Taizong, "when he was one year old, he traveled to and from the west, played more cheaply, and listened to more uses."
Second, the blind command of Emperor Taizong of Song. Due to Song Taizong's direct intervention in the deployment of the front, Cao Bin's Eastern Route Army collapsed. After this, the Song army retreated in its entirety, and Song Taizong made another move, "ordering the people of the four states to be relocated to the interior, so that the United States and others can protect them with their troops." The Western Route Army was not strong in strength and had to escort the people, so it was destined to be caught up by the Liao army. Therefore, although it was Wang Nong who killed Yang Ye, the culprit was Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi!
References: 1. "History of Song"; 2. "Continuation of Zizhi TongjianChang"