Go east out of Yintang Road, Zongyang County, drive about ten kilometers along G347 National Highway, and you will come to the Governor Bridge in the territory of Shan Town. Maybe you don't know why an ordinary highway bridge was named the Governor's Bridge by the local government, in fact, it is related to a local historical and cultural celebrity named Ruan Yi 500 years ago.
Shi Zai, Ruan He (1509-1567), the word recommendation, the number 𠙶 peak, Zongyang 𠙶 Mountain Ruan family Xiangtang people, Ruan Dacheng's great-grandfather. In the twenty-third year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1544), he was a Jinshi, a famous general of the anti-Japanese war, and an official to the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian.
When Ruan Yi first became the deputy envoy of Zhejiang Province (Baidu explained, equivalent to the current vice governor in charge of education or the provincial education director), he was frequently attacked by the Japanese and harassed the coastal people. Worried about the country and the people, he vowed to completely drive the Japanese out of the country. In peacetime, in addition to intensifying the training of local armed forces, even those weak scholars were organized by him, personally led them to practice arrows, familiarize themselves with formations, and be ready to fight against the Japanese at any time.
Sure enough, it didn't take long for the Japanese to land, burn and loot all the way, do all kinds of evil, the city gate of Hangzhou, passively closed, the people were panicked, a large number of people, fled to the city, begging to enter the city for refuge, the officials in the city, worried that the Japanese would take the opportunity to mix, and they did not dare to open the city gate for a long time. The people outside the city couldn't afford to kneel and beg, and their cries shook the sky. Seeing this, Ruan He angrily reprimanded the chief officer guarding the city: "For the sake of the official and for the people, why sit back and not save it?" The thief is still dozens of miles away, abandoning my people to be a thief? With that, holding a long sword, he supervised the soldiers to open the martial arts door.
In order to ensure all measures, while strengthening the garrison of the city gates, it was ordered that all young and middle-aged refugees carrying suitcases should enter from the left side of the city gate, while women and the elderly should enter through the right side of the city gate, so as to enter the city in an orderly manner, which can avoid stampede accidents caused by mutual crowding. In order to save time, he ordered the soldiers to run horses and distribute them to the fleeing people, and finally settled all the refugees in a safe place before the arrival of the Japanese invaders, leaving no one behind.
Ruan Que was immediately promoted to the governor of Zhejiang (equivalent to the governor). In the spring of the 35th year of Jiajing, the pirate leaders Xu Hai and Chen Dong led tens of thousands of pirates to land in eastern Zhejiang on more than 20 warships. Ruan Que and the guerrilla general Zong Li led 800 troops to meet the Japanese at the Chongde Sanli Bridge, and won three battles and three victories.
Unwilling to defeat the Japanese Kou, turned his head to attack Tongxiang, Ruan Que had already taken precautions, he killed into the city overnight, led the army and people to defend Tongxiang, and held a sword, and said to Jin Yan, the magistrate of Tongxiang, in a loud voice: "If I go, you will kill me, but you will too!" "The Japanese invaders surrounded Tongxiang County and attacked the city desperately. The county seat of Tongxiang has just been newly renovated for only a month, and it is precarious, and it has almost been captured several times. Ruan Que made a strange move, smelted molten iron, and poured the Japanese robbers. After more than 40 days of bloody fighting, Tongxiang was finally spared. After that, Ruan He led his army to pursue the victory and recover the Xianju that had been captured by the Japanese Invaders. Then move the troops to Yanmen, climb Zhoushan on a snowy night, and hit the Japanese invaders hard. The whole territory of Zhejiang was finally pacified, and the imperial court promoted him to one level and rewarded him with 5 gold coins.
Ruan He actively fought the main battle, and Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces at that time (later committed suicide in fear of crime because of his collusion with Yan Song's traitorous party, framing ministers, embezzling property, etc.), was ostracized, was transferred from Zhejiang, and was reappointed as the governor of Fujian. During his tenure, he led the army and civilians to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese invaders in the coastal areas of Zhejiang and Fujian. On March 16, 1558, the 37th year of Jiajing (1558), Ruan Que was framed and arrested and taken to Kyoto.
After Ruan Que left, Fujian Putian, Fuzhou, Ningde and other places were full of Japanese rebellion, and many places were occupied by Japanese pirates. Emperor Jiajing, who was obsessed with Taoism and the elixir of life, woke up like a dream and knew that Ruan He had been wronged, but because of the dignity of the royal family, he only released him after six days in prison, demoted him to a commoner, and returned to his hometown.
In the first year of Long Thanh (1567), Ruan Yu became seriously ill. His eldest son, Ruan Zilun, redressed his father's grievances, and with the joint help of Ma Sen, the secretary of the household department, and Huo Ji, the secretary of the military department, Emperor Longqing issued an edict to reinstate Ruan Ju officials. In December of the same year, Ruan He died, and he was given the general doctor, and he was the author of "Etiquette and Music" and "Fengshan Zhang Wenyi Gong Annals......
In 1598, Ruan Yi's second son, Ruan Yi, continued to run and appeal after being a jinshi in Central China, and finally in the forty-second year of Wanli (1614), Ruan Yi was completely rehabilitated, and found out that the impeachment of the official Song Yiwang was for the crime of "looting people's wealth and spending military salaries", which was publicly used to reward soldiers, and "cowardice and fear of the enemy" was false. In order to recover the bad influence and comfort the descendants of the Ruan family, the imperial court appointed Lian Jifang, the then prefect of Anqing, to personally go to the tomb of Ruan He to worship with the "Edict and Sacrifice Text". 47 years after Ruan He's death, he suffered 56 years of injustice, and finally got his way.
At the foot of the 𠙶 mountain not far from the south of the bridge, there is a tomb called "Huanglong Out of the Cave", which is the resting place of the townsman Ruan Yu. Today, the cemetery of this historical and cultural celebrity has been listed by the State Council as a national key cultural relics protection unit, and it is also a popular place for tourists in Zongyang and the surrounding areas to check in on cultural tourism on holidays.
In order to commemorate a generation of famous anti-Japanese generals, on the Qingming Festival in 2024, the author and his family took two separate cars to visit the cemetery of the sage Ruan Que to pay respects. Walking on the stone steps with profound cultural heritage, I was deeply shocked by the ancient and vicissitudes of stone men and stone horses on both sides, and the monuments and other sculptures. A historical and cultural celebrity can enjoy this honor after his death, which shows that the great achievements made in that year were still recognized by the imperial court. It is said that such a high-standard ancient tomb, in addition to the tomb of Emperor Ming in Fengyang, should be ranked second in Anhui Province.
Although Ruan Que was a man of letters, he took on the mission and duty of a soldier at a critical juncture, which is also of far-reaching and great educational significance in today's view. His legendary life is quite similar to Yue Fei, the anti-gold hero at the end of the Song Dynasty. It is gratifying that in order to remember this sage forever, the hometown of Zongyang and the villagers named this inconspicuous highway bridge over the Posuo River as "Governor Bridge" to commemorate it forever.
Author: Qian Xinhua