In the second year of Yongle, an impeachment document pushed the founding father to the forefront. It is rumored that he committed suicide because of the trespass of the dragon and phoenix costumes, but what is the truth? Through the fog, we get a glimpse of a terrible decision-making mistake of the Jianwen court: let this expert defender of the city go to battle with the battle-hardened Yan King Zhu Di. What will be the end of Geng Bingwen? Did he really commit suicide? Or did you die in that fight to the death? What is the real scene hidden in the cracks of history books? Let's embark on a journey to find out.
The Great Wall of Desperation Forges Heroes: Geng Bingwen's Wizard of City Defense
Geng Bingwen has been influenced by martial arts since he was a child, and his father Geng Junyong is one of the twenty-four generals in Huaixi. In the chaotic era, Geng Bingwen was even more like a wolf and a tiger, and since the first year of Zhu Yuanzhang, he has shown amazing defensive skills in the corner of Changxingwei.
Although Zhang Shicheng Buhua commanded the world, he was repeatedly defeated under Changxing City. Geng Bingwen relied on his fighting style with few soldiers and high horses, and this is how he withstood the siege of Zhang Shicheng's 100,000-strong army for more than a month. The enemy army galloped across the city, besieging the city and throwing fire, at best destroying the battlements and towers, but it was indeed difficult to carve more carved stones and enter the city. Geng Bingwen commanded well, relying entirely on the camp to block the enemy, once the enemy soldiers infiltrated the city, he immediately guarded the regiment and tried his best until Chang Yuchun arrived to relieve the siege.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of Geng Bingwen's insistence on Changxing. Until Zhang Shicheng's brothers had no time to look east, he was never able to capture this important pass. Later history books praised Geng Bingwen as "outnumbered, invincible in dozens of battles". With a few hundred people and as many as 7,000 guards, Geng Bingwen's superb defensive skills were able to block tens of thousands of heavy soldiers for ten years.
The key to defending the city lies in making good use of the geographical environment to deploy defenses and to do a good job in controlling the morale of the army. Geng Bingwen is well aware of this, and he has shown this talent long before Jianwen. When Zhu Yuanzhang refused to transfer reinforcements to him, he had to rely on training elite soldiers to protect himself. At that time, his subordinates were good at fighting, all of which came from repeated drills in local military schools, and they were more able to fight bravely and well in the battle formation. This elite army, composed of farmers and fishermen, is the fundamental strength for him to survive Zhang Shicheng's countless sieges.
What's even more convincing is that in several desperate sieges, Geng Bingwen has never
Lao Zhu relied on training elite soldiers: Geng Bingwen's military wisdom
After the Battle of Jinyang, although Zhu Yuanzhang's men swept a large area of Hebei, they were still unable to drive straight into Beiping. The existence of an expeditionary army will directly determine whether the Ming Empire can unify the Central Plains. Faced with this dilemma, Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it repeatedly and decided to hand over the task of cultivating elites to Geng Bingwen.
At that time, Geng Bingwen was in his sixties and had been guarding Shaanxi for many years, but he had a lot of experience in this important task. He knows that Shaanxi is an ancient and important place in Guanzhong, and the local Han people are brave and strong, which can be used for plasticity. However, in the past, the imperial court only focused on preventing trouble on the frontier, and the training of the army was mostly a formality, and failed to give full play to local advantages.
Geng Bingwen first increased the frequency of drills, and at the same time reformed the outdated training methods. He no longer sticks to the rules, but conducts scientific training in accordance with local conditions and actual combat. The soldiers from all the guards, regardless of their status, rolled up their trousers and waded through the mud under his new training method, and endured the tempering of the scorching heat and cold. Once, a recruit was scolded by Geng Bingwen for his scattered attire, and he knelt down in public and cried that his family was poor and could not afford to buy new clothes.
In this way, under Geng Bingwen's hands, an elite cavalry team of Shaanxi was forged with the horse infantry army as the backbone and equipped with halberd spears. This team is well-trained, disciplined, and ready to call, which is admired by Lao Zhu. After Hongwu suppressed the Northern Yuan Dynasty in 20 years, the Ming army prepared to attack Mobei in the north, and Lao Zhu ordered Geng Bingwen to send a horse army to meet Fu Youde. At that time, the main force commanded by Fu Youde was accompanied by nearly 10,000 elite cavalry from Shaanxi.
In addition, Geng Bingwen also relied on the brave characteristics of the people of Shaanxi to continuously send a large number of recruits to the imperial court. The most famous of these was the Shaanxi and Gansu armies that pacified Yunnan, and the core was the 20,000 brave cavalry forged by Geng Bingwen. Although this heroic division is not Geng Bingwen's personal leadership, its genes undoubtedly originate from the heroic training of General Guanzhong.
Under Zhu Yuanzhang's remembrance and commendation, Geng Bingwen became famous for a while, and he can be called a model of a general in his later years. He was impeached twice for his fierce military training methods, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not take the carving insect as a flaw after all. At one point, even officials were expelled from the playground by him, just to be able to supervise them personally
The new dynasty misjudged the use of talents
After Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne, in order to consolidate the rule of the new dynasty, he was determined to weaken the power of the old remnants of the previous dynasty. He wanted to take the opportunity to sweep away the encirclement and suppression of Zhu Di, the king of Yan, in one fell swoop, so the deployment of talents seemed to be in a hurry and inappropriate.
In the spring of that year, King Yan waved his army to evacuate Beiping and drove his own expedition. Zhu Yunwen was shocked when he heard the news, and urgently summoned the generals to Fenyin, Shanxi, wanting to break the Yan King halfway with lightning speed. On the one hand, he issued an edict to all roads to dispatch troops, and on the other hand, he also sent someone to inform Geng Bingwen, who was in his sixties that year.
Geng Bingwen was already old and frail at this time, and he was in charge of the Shaanxi Mabu military, but he had never been on the battlefield. He originally planned to refuse, but Zhu Yunwen personally ordered him to quickly raise his division to the north and supervise the generals to crusade against King Yan, so he had to come forward with illness.
Zhu Yunwen's approach of employing people and generals is really a bit hasty and inappropriate. Geng Bingwen is old and strategic, but he focuses on defense and defense, and has no offensive experience; Moreover, at that time, his body was gradually exhausted, and he was unable to fight in the big battle. In contrast, it was the young generals in the Shaanxi Ma Army, who had been trained for a long time and were brave and good at fighting, so they were obviously more suitable for going on a crusade.
However, since Geng Bingwen had been called to the camp, Zhu Yunwen tried his best to beautify this appointment to strengthen his momentum. He not only gave Geng Bingwen the title of "General of Pingxi", but also ordered Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and other places to send troops to help, and ordered him to command all the armies. The army was extremely brave during the Hongwu period, and everyone in the government and the opposition was excited, ignoring Geng Bingwen's lack of actual ability.
At this time, Zhu Yunwen regarded King Yan as the biggest political threat and was eager to "annihilate" to consolidate the foundation of the dynasty. However, negligent decision-making and sloppy selection led to the eventual defeat. The will of the command and the generals sent are all ignorant of military reality, and they are inevitably in the style of officialdom.
Compared with Zhu Yunwen's hurried temporary, Zhu Di's preparation can be described as dripping through stones. From the way of the Northern Expedition, he sent people to spy on the tiger's ears and always control the intelligence. Zhu Di struck first, rushed straight to Fenyin with a very fast marching speed, and personally shot Geng Bingwen with an arrow, and the army was immediately defeated. Only then did Zhu Yunwen realize his miscalculation, and saw that the new dynasty was in turmoil...
There is no difference between life and death
After Zhu Di withdrew his troops from Beiping, he had already predicted that Zhu Yunwen would use all his troops to extinguish him. Therefore, he did not dare to delay, and decided to strike preemptively with lightning speed.
In April of that year, Zhu Di raised troops from Beiping, and the flag was directed at Fenyin. He was well deployed, marched quickly, and had complete logistics and supplies, showing the quality of a veteran on the battlefield. On the way, he specially sent his confidant Zhao Liangzuo to take people to spy on the reality of Fenyin, and learned that Zhu Yunwen was still unmoved, so he decided to attack Fenyin by surprise.
At noon on 15 May, more than 10,000 male divisions under Zhu Di's command had already set up a position and were stationed a few miles outside Fenyin City. Only then did Zhu Yunwen realize that Zhu Di's soldiers were approaching the city, and hurriedly mobilized the officers and troops to defend the city. Seeing that there were few officers and soldiers in the city, he decided to go to the front of the battle to supervise the battle despite the dissuasion of the old ministers.
In the evening of the same day, the two sides made diplomatic moves in Fenyin City. Zhu Di went into battle to order the three armies, and he said: "The eunuchs are dictatorial, accumulate power and create grievances, and force the ministers to raise troops." Today, it is a shame for the country, open peace for the descendants of all generations, do not kill Zhu Yunwen and other rebels, and uphold the heavens! After so inspiring the morale of the army, Zhu Di personally led the elite to attack the Chinese army.
Geng Bingwen, who was strongly defensive, supervised the formation at the head of the city, and he was calm and in danger, and used all his strength to command the city defense. Suddenly, when he saw a breakthrough in the northern corner of the city, he couldn't help but be shocked and urgently ordered to transfer troops for reinforcements. Before long, the city wall collapsed, and Zhu Di's horse infantry army rushed straight into the city like a raging wind and grass, and the two sides immediately launched a fierce white-knuckle fight.
Just when the officers and troops were retreating, Zhu Di personally pulled his bow and mounted his horse and commanded in danger. With a longbow in his hand, he shot an arrow at the crowd like a living creature, only to see one of them fall to the ground instantly. That person was Geng Bingwen, who supervised the fight against the official army. Geng Bingwen was killed, and Zhu Yunwen's official army was in chaos, and finally the whole army was wiped out at dusk.
This battle can be described as a desperate fight, and the life and death of both sides are unpredictable. Zhu Yunwen was unwilling to lose, and personally supervised the army to meet the battle the next day, but was finally defeated due to the loss of military morale. Zhu Di successfully occupied Fenyin, attacked the Quartet, and from then on took the capital all the way east, and ascended the throne as emperor in the first month of the following year. And Geng Bingwen, a veteran, was seriously injured in his old age and died on the battlefield, which is really regrettable.
Geng Bingwen's Death: Truth and Questioning
There have always been two very different theories about the cause of Geng Bingwen's death.
One theory is that Geng Bingwen was killed in the Battle of Fenyin and was shot by Zhu Di himself. This statement was first seen in the official revision history of the Ming Dynasty "Ming Taizu Record", and was later confirmed by the "History of the Ming Dynasty" and other historical books. According to these historical records, Zhu Di personally went into battle with the officials and troops outside Fenyin City, and he held a longbow and shot arrows calmly, and an arrow hit Geng Bingwen, who supervised the formation, causing him to fall to the ground and die.
Another way of saying it is completely different. According to the record of the "Annals of Geng Wenzhong Gong" written by the Ming Dynasty literati Zeng Ting, Geng Bingwen did not die in battle, but committed suicide after the defeat of Fenyin. Zeng Ting's book is written for a very special reason, which is based on the original archives and the genealogy passed down by the Geng family. The book contains a very detailed account of Geng Bingwen's last days: he was captured after the defeat, hated and refused to surrender, so he hanged himself. Tsang Ting even quoted the oral testimony of witnesses at the time.
In the face of such contradictory records, most of the scholars of later generations are inclined to the former statement - Geng Bingwen really died in Fenyin. They believe that as official history, historical books such as "Actual Records" and "History of the Ming Dynasty" are credible in principle; Moreover, Zhu Di set up a military order to "capture Xiaoxiao" and "kill all the thieves and generals", if Geng Bingwen was captured, Zhu Di would never spare his life. Moreover, the defeat of Zhu Yunwen's side also proved that they had been completely annihilated in the position.
However, there are still a few scholars who agree with Zeng's statement. They believe that Tsang's sources are authoritative and well-documented; There is no exaggeration or contrived suspicion. Moreover, although Geng Bingwen is old but has a strong physique, if he really fights in person, he may not be shot down by Zhu Di's arrow. Therefore, the self-hanging theory is more in line with the arrogant character of the general.
end
Whether Geng Bingwen died in battle or committed suicide, the cause of his final death seems to be inextricably linked to Zhu Di. Perhaps, as some scholars have said, Geng Bingwen himself has become a sharp sword for Zhu Di to weaken the old dynasty, dooming him to a tragic end. It's just that the specific cause of death still needs to be excavated and interpreted by more historical materials.