Text | Yang Ziqiang
"Anshi Rebellion" is a catastrophe in the Tang Dynasty, and the most tragic battle in the "Anshi Rebellion" is the Suiyang defense battle from January to October of the second year of Zhide (757), Suiyang guards Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, led more than 6,000 Tang troops, no reinforcements outside, no grain and grass inside, and more than 100,000 rebels to fight, and finally the city broke and died, sacrificing his life for the country, Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan were respected as "double loyalty", and they were famous for a hundred years. Xu Yuan (709-757) here was a native of Yanguan County, Haining (Yanguan County, Hangzhou during the Tang Dynasty).
According to the records of the "Genealogy of the Xu Family of Haining", Xu Jian of the Jin Dynasty migrated from Gaoyang County to Yanguan with his family to avoid the war, and then settled here. From the Jin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, more than ten generations of descendants of the Xu family are imperial court officials, the most famous of which is Xu Yuan's great-grandfather Xu Jingzong, who is one of the eighteen bachelors of the Qin Mansion of Tang Taizong.
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Xu Yuan, the word Lingwei, was a jinshi in the last years of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, and he was engaged in Yizhou, and became the staff of Zhang Qiu and Qiong, the envoy of Jiannan Jiedu. Previously, Zhang Qiu and Qiong had a staff member named Yang Zhao, who was exquisite, did things properly, and won the trust of Jian Qiong, so he strongly recommended it to the imperial court. This Yang Zhao was recommended by him, and the official became bigger and bigger, and he became a generation of traitors - at that time, Yang Zhao had been given the name "Yang Guozhong" by Tang Xuanzong.
Because of this historical stain, Jian Qiong, as a prince, although his political achievements are not bad, he is not even qualified to stand in the old and new "Book of Tang", Xu Yuan is in the scene of Zhang Qiu and Qiong, he is outstanding and generous, and Jian Qiong wants to marry his daughter to Xu Yuan.
Of course, Jian Qiong wants Xu Yuan to be his son-in-law, which has more meaning: he was born poor and has Hu blood, so he "admires Qimen" and wants to raise his family by joining forces with the Xu family, but Xu Yuan does not admire Jian Qiong very much, he thinks very much about his family voice, and resolutely pushes away the hydrangea thrown by his boss. Zhang Qiu and Qiong were annoyed and ashamed, and demoted this "ignorant and unpromoted" Xu Yuan to Gaoyao County to be a small county lieutenant.
In the fourteenth year of Tang Tianbao (755), An Lushan rebelled in Fanyang, Suiyang should be rushed, and a capable person was needed to guard it.
In the first month of the second year of Zhide (757), An Lushan's second son An Qingxu killed his father and became the puppet Yan emperor. In order to open the southeast portal and cut off the economic lifeline of the Tang Dynasty, An Qingxu took Yin Zihu as the envoy of Henan Jiedu, and led 130,000 troops to the south, wanting to destroy Jiangnan and the Tang Dynasty.
At that time, there were only more than 3,000 soldiers defending the city in Suiyang. Xu Yuan knew that Suiyang was located at the throat of Jianghuai, and behind him was the undangerous but rich Jiangnan that was the lifeline of the Tang Dynasty's wealth. Zhang Xun knew that he would not be able to retreat after arriving in Suiyang, but he still did not hesitate and led 3,000 soldiers to help Weiyang.
The "Old Tang Book" said that Zhang Xun was "intelligent and talented." The "New Tang Dynasty Book" said that he was "well-versed in books and knowledgeable" and was a member of the army with both wisdom and bravery. Xu Yuan's official position is above Zhang Xun, but he knows that at this time, Confucianism does not practice soldiers, and public intelligence is both good and good. "Please Zhang Xun preside over the duty security work, Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan are exactly the same age, Zhang Xun is a few months older, and the time of the Zhongjin Shi is also similar, Xu Yuan respects Zhang Xun as a brother, the two work together, sincere unity, and the vigorous Suiyang defense battle began.
In this arduous defense battle, Zhang Xun showed the outstanding military talent of a generation of famous generals, in the face of the disparity in strength between the enemy and us, he repeatedly came up with strange tricks, burning the enemy camp, straw men taking arrows, going out of the city to get wood, defrauding and borrowing horses, beating drums to disturb the enemy, setting up ambushes in the moats, cutting artemisia into arrows, and more than ten times his own If there is no initiative for Xianhe to fully support, Zhang Xun will not be able to give full play to his military genius.
However, at this time, Suiyang had no grain and grass inside, and no reinforcements outside. After a few months of fighting, the defenders of the city were only exhausted and more than 1,000 remnants, and what was worse, the food in the city was exhausted. At first, the soldiers could eat one spoonful a day, but then they could only dig the ground to catch mice, and later, they could only eat tree bark and boil waste paper, and the soldiers starved to death one after another, and Suiyang became a city of despair.
At this time, a tragic scene in the history of war appeared, Zhang Xun called out his beloved concubine, and said: "The princes have lacked food for many years, and their loyalty has declined a lot, I hate not to cut my muscles to eat the people, I would rather cherish a concubine and sit back and watch the hunger?"
In this way, a small Suiyang City, with more than 400 battles before and after, defeated the thieves with less than 10,000 people, defeated the thieves, and killed and injured more than 100,000 thieves, and held on for a full ten months.
In October of the second year of Zhide (757), Suiyang City fell. On the day of the city breaking, 36 people including the local soldiers and the generals Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun were killed, and Xu Yuan, as the Taishou of Suiyang, was escorted to Luoyang by the rebels to ask for a reward, and Bandao was also killed.
The battle of Suiyang can be said to have saved the crumbling Tang Dynasty, and Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan's loyalty and courage are also admired by the world, as the great writer Han Yu said: "Defend a city, defend the world, and do your best with thousands of dollars!" After the "Anshi Rebellion" was pacified, Tang Suzong, who ascended the throne in the counterinsurgency, posthumously presented Zhang Xun as the governor of Yangzhou, Xu Yuan as the governor of Jingzhou, and set up a temple in Suiyang, and sacrificed at the age of the year.
Han Yu, one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties", wrote a special article "The Later Narrative of Zhang Zhongcheng's Biography" to commend the achievements of Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan, which is also a masterpiece in the history of literature. During the middle years of Tang Xuanzong (847-859), he painted the portrait of Xu Yuan in Lingyan Pavilion to praise the martyrs. Many "Shuangzhong Shrines" have also been built in various places to express their admiration for Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan's hometown Yanguan County (now Yanguan Town, Haining City) Ximen Zhi Street, in the old days also built a "Shuangzhong Temple", Song Wang Anshi, Wen Tianxiang have inscription poems. A couplet in the temple "the countryman is unparalleled, and the loyal minister is not two loyal ministers", which is a famous couplet. Xu Yuan's mound is in Yangyuandai of Haining Yiqiao, which is commonly known as Xu Gongdun locally. There was a reading forest nearby, which was Xu Yuan's reading place when he was a teenager, and there was a ginkgo tree next to it, which was said to be planted by Xu Yuan's hand.
The national hero Wen Tianxiang once wrote a poem for Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan "Qinyuan Spring, Chaoyang Zhang Xu Ergong Temple", praising "scolding the thief Zhang Xun, loving Jun Xu Yuan", its word cloud:
Die filial piety for the son, die loyalty for the minister, and what does it matter if you die. Since Guangyue is divided, there is no complete section of scholars; the monarch and the minister are lacking, and who bears the rigid intestines. scolded the thief Zhang Xun, loved Jun Xu Yuan, and left a reputation for eternity. The latecomer, the exercise of no two princes, the steel of a hundred refinements.
Life is a passing day. It's a big bang. made the traitor at that time, willing to surrender, reviled by others, and lived in peace. The auspicious temple is gloomy, the appearance is elegant, and the orange wood jackdaw has a few sunsets. Under the post booth, there is a traitor who has passed here, thinking carefully.
[From Jiaxing Literary and Historical Memory.Jiaxing Volume]
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