Along the Fenghe River in southern Beijing, there are a number of villages named after "Ying", and most of the villagers are descendants of Shanxi immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty. In that year, immigrants from the same county were organized into a battalion, a total of 58 battalions. After migrating to the banks of the Feng River, they still live in battalions and are known as the "72nd Company Battalion". In fact, seventy-two is an exaggerated number. Later, those immigrant settlements gradually evolved into villages, and the word "Ying" remained in the name of the village. The Ming Dynasty government set up a Fan Education Department along the Feng River to manage the resettlement of immigrants and the raising of livestock.
The soil along the Feng River is a double soil, which is heavier than sandy soil and lighter than soil, which is suitable for growing millet. With millet comes millet, and the straw of millet provides fodder for mules and horses. As a result, immigrants have taken root along the Fenghe River and multiplied for generations. Judging from the current administrative division, the 72nd Company Battalion roughly involves the three towns of Caiyu, Qingyundian and Changziying in Daxing District.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, immigrants were stationed on the border
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, due to years of war, agricultural production in the Beijing area suffered a heavy blow and the population plummeted. According to the record of volume 29 of "Ming Taizu Records": "When the soldiers were revolutionized for many years, the roads were jammed and the population was cut off. "As a northern military base for the conquest of the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, the strategic position of the Beijing area is obvious. It became a top priority for the Ming Dynasty to enrich the population of the Beijing area as soon as possible, restore and develop agricultural production, and strengthen its economic and military strength. As a result, the Ming Dynasty began to migrate to the Beijing area in a planned and organized manner, and each time the migration was carried out by tens of thousands of households, and the largest immigration wave was concentrated in the 35th year of Hongwu (1402) to the 15th year of Yongle (1417).
Zhu Di, the king of Yan, ascended to the throne through the "Battle of Jingjing" and became the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty, that is, the Yongle Emperor. Zhu Di believed that the Ming Dynasty was not stable, because the remnants of the Mengyuan forces that had been expelled to the Mobei grassland were eyeing the south and might invade the south at any time, so he ignored the opposition of the ministers of the imperial court and deliberately planned to move the capital, and finally moved the capital of the Ming Dynasty from Nanjing to Beijing. As the fief of King Yan back then, Beijing was Zhu Di's land of Longxing, which may be one of the reasons why he moved the capital, but the more important reason was that it was conducive to sending troops to Mobei and fighting against the remnants of Mengyuan. Therefore, Zhu Di's move to move the capital is called "the Son of Heaven guarding the country".
Beijing is located at the junction of agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization, and can control the vast area outside the Guanwai to the northeast, and to dominate the Central Plains to the south, and at the same time, it can form an effective deterrent to the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in Mobei. So, when Zhu Di ordered the construction of Beijing, he began an unprecedented large-scale migration.
According to historical records, immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty mainly came from the densely populated Shanxi provinces of Taiyuan, Pingyang, Fenzhou, Datong, Lu'an, Liaozhou, Qinzhou and Zezhou. The largest number of immigrants were in Binh Duong Province, and under the big locust tree in Guangji Temple in Hongdong County, Binh Duong Province, it became a gathering place for immigrants, where the imperial court officials "organized and relocated" the immigrants into "battalions" with counties as units and implemented militarized management. To prevent the migrants from escaping, officers and soldiers tied their hands behind their backs and connected them with a rope. As the migrant's arms were tied for a long time, the nerves gradually became numb. Later, the backhand became a habitual movement for them.
Stay in the private sector
Among the immigrants, in addition to the ordinary people of Shanxi, there are three types of people. First, the wealthy households in Jiangnan. During the Yongle period, about 3,000 wealthy families from the south of the Yangtze River moved into Beijing, and they were mainly concentrated in Wanping and Daxing. The second is the homeless and homeless. There is a village in Changziying Town, Daxing District, which was the settlement of displaced people back then. Later, the name of the village was changed to "Liumin" according to the homonym of "Liumin". The third is the prisoner. In March of the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417), "the Criminal Department and the Metropolitan Procuratorate transferred documents to the Divisions: In addition to the ten evils and robbers, they were sentenced to death and imprisoned for other crimes, and they were sentenced to death and imprisoned, and they were all paid back to their families and went to Beijing to atone for their crimes." "After these prisoners arrived in Beijing, they cultivated the land and atonemented for their crimes.
Of course, the largest number of people, the most tragic scene, and the most far-reaching influence are Shanxi immigrants, so that the poignant legend of "Shanxi Hongdong Big Locust Tree" has been passed down to this day.
Guhuai entrusts the feelings of the homeland
In the area of the Fenghe River in the south of Jingnan, people have a special affection for the locust tree and regard it as an auspicious tree. There is also a local folk song: "Ask me where my ancestors were?" Shanxi Hongdong big locust tree. ”
Two miles north of Hongdong County, Shanxi, there is a village called Jia Village. There is a Guangji Temple in the west of Jia Village, which was built in the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty. The temple is a landmark of the local area with its large scale, majestic halls, numerous monks and pilgrims. There is a stout and tall ancient locust tree next to Guangji Temple, the branches are luxuriant, covering the sky and the sun, and the old storks on the Fen River are nesting and dwelling in the trees in flocks. A carriage and horse avenue passes under the ancient locust tree, where weary travelers often rest. Because of the fame of the ancient Huai, during the great migration of the Ming Dynasty, the government used it as a gathering place for the emigrants. After migrants from all over Shanxi settled in the villages around the county seat of Hongdong County, they went to Guangji Temple in turn to go through the immigration registration procedures and receive their licenses and Sichuan funds. Then, from there, in accordance with the direction and route specified by the government, under the strict supervision of officers and soldiers, rushed to where they were supposed to go.
Who would be willing to leave their homeland and settle down in a distant and desolate place? But migration is forced, and there is no choice. Because the homeland is difficult to leave, there is a sad voice under the big locust tree. Some people desperately tugged at the low-hanging locust branches, as if as soon as they let go, they were separated by yin and yang. The officers and soldiers first drove them away with whips, and then simply cut off the branches of the locust trees. So, some people picked up the cut locust branches, and some people carried a handful of loess under the locust tree, dragged their children and daughters, helped the old and the young, and embarked on a long road. As they walked, they told the children around them to remember this big locust tree, which has been our home for generations.
As the folk proverb goes, the savages cherish the soil, and the grass loves the mountains. Out of nostalgia for their homeland, the immigrants who settled along the Feng River planted locust trees in front of and behind their houses, on both sides of the roads, and in Buddhist monasteries to convey their homesickness day after day, year after year. Some people also burn incense and pray, and bow down to the locust tree, just like praying for the blessing of the gods and Buddhas. In their minds, the locust tree is a symbol of their hometown and a sacred tree that can bring good luck and good luck. Whenever they encounter a major event, a difficult event or an untiring knot, they will pour out their hearts to the old locust tree and pray for the blessings of their ancestors. In the past, there were many ancient acacia trees that were four or five hundred years old along the Fenghe River, but in the sixties of the last century, they were almost completely destroyed.
It is located on the street side of the village of Xiachangziying
There is only one surviving ancient locust tree, which grows next to the street of Xiachangziying Village. On the north bank of the Feng River, there was originally only one Changziying Village, which was later divided into two and became the Upper Changziying Village and the Lower Changziying Village, and the Changziying Town Government was between the two villages. Located on the side of the street in Xiachangziying Village, this landmark ancient locust tree has a red belt tied on the trunk, red silk hanging on the branches, and a square stone tablet under the tree, which is engraved with the life history of the ancient locust. It is said that the local government also held an unveiling ceremony for the 500-year-old ancient acacia tree, and included it in the list of ancient and famous trees. As a symbol of the descendants of immigrants seeking their roots and asking their ancestors and a spiritual symbol of the Changziying people, this ancient acacia has witnessed the historical changes of the Changziying and carries the long-term nostalgia of generations of Changziying people.
Virtual formations scare off enemy soldiers
People who migrated from under the big locust trees in Hongdong, Shanxi Province to the banks of the Feng River in Jingnan are nostalgic for their hometown in two ways, in addition to planting a large number of locust trees, and naming their new homes after the county name of their hometown. There is a Changzi County in Shanxi, and there is a Changziying Village along the Feng River; There is a Qinshui County in Shanxi, and there is a Qinshuiying Village along the Fenghe River. There are also Jiezhou Camp, Huozhou Camp, Zhao County Camp, Xiaoyi Camp, etc., which also correspond to the names of counties in Shanxi. At the beginning, the immigrants from a county were organized into a battalion, and the villages along the Fenghe River had the word "battalion" in their names. These 58 "battalions" are distributed along the Feng River, and the locals call them "72 Company Battalions". The reason why the numbers are exaggerated, perhaps to build momentum, sounds like thousands of troops lined up.
Fenghe Cultural Park
There is a story about the 72nd company battalion of Wutai and Eight Temples scaring off the Japanese soldiers, which is still circulating along the Fenghe River. It was August 1937, and a group of Japanese soldiers set out from the Langfang stronghold and attacked the villages along the Fenghe River with great vigour. Not far from Fengheying Village, they met a villager in rags. So, the Japanese army asked the villagers to lead the way and look for the hidden grain in the village. The villager was so frightened that he couldn't speak. The interpreter felt strange, so he asked him to tell the truth with both hard and soft measures. The villagers trembled and told the interpreter that if they went any further, they would enter the 72nd Company Camp of Wutai and Eight Temples in Daxing County. There were anti-Japanese army ambushes in every temple and battalion there, and there were mines everywhere. Once in the ambush circle, light and heavy machine guns and mortars are fired together, and grenades fall like hail, and there is no return. The interpreter was suspicious and asked him what was going on with the 72nd Company Battalion of Wutai and Eight Temples? Villagers said that this was a new method of arranging the anti-Japanese army, and many locals knew about it.
This kind of military array is interlocking, step by step, just like the Zhuxian array in "Romance of the Gods", there are dead doors everywhere, and you can't get out if you go in. The interpreter didn't believe that there would be a Zhuxian Array here, but he was worried about the seventy-two company battalions, if there were really seventy-two battalions, it would be more than 20,000 people, and their strength was not even a fraction of the number. After he reported to the Japanese commander, the commander hesitated and finally decided to retreat.
Actually, this ragged villager was a scout of our army. His name is Yan Weihan, a native of Fengheying Village, Daxing County, and before the "77 Incident", he was the principal of Yan's private primary school in Fengheying Village. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he abandoned his religion and joined Rong, organized the "People's Anti-Japanese Self-Defense Regiment", and was elected as the head of the regiment. Later, the Jizhong Military Region of the Eighth Route Army appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the Third Guerrilla Route. In 1939, Yan Weihan died heroically while fighting the Japanese army on the south bank of the Fenghe River at the age of 38. The "72nd Company Camp of Wutai, Eight Temples" mentioned by Yan Weihan is nothing more than a village with the words "Tai", "Temple" and "Battalion" in its name. He and the anti-Japanese armed forces he led relied on these villages to attack the Japanese puppet army in the Fenghe area, making the Japanese puppet army fearful.
For this heroic and fearless anti-Japanese hero, the people along the Fenghe River will never forget. And the story of his "Wutai, Eight Temples, and 72 Company Battalions" virtual army formation wisdom retreating from the enemy soldiers has become a good story along the Fenghe River.
(Source: Beijing Evening News, May 7, 2024, page 20; Author: Yue Qiang; Image source: The original article is illustrated, and the picture in the article is photographed by Yue Qiang. ）